Governor-General of India

The Governor-General of India was the head of the British colonial government in India from 1773 until 1948, and the head of state for an independent India from 1948 to 1950.

The office was first established in when the British Parliament passed the India Regulating Act. The Act changed to charter of the East India Company and represented the first step towards direct colonial government, the British Raj.

To recognize India's importance in the British Empire, the Governor-General's position was given the title of Viceroy. When India gained independence in 1948 to old title was revived and Chakravarthy Rajagopalachari (rajaji) became the only native to ever hold the post.

List of Governor-Generals

• 1773-1786 Warren Hastings
• 1786-1793 Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
• 1793-1797 John Shore, 1st Baron Teignmouth
• 1797-1805 Richard Wellesey
• 1805-1805 Corwallis, again
• 1805-1807 George Hilario Barlow
• 1807-1813 Gilbert Elliot, 1st Earl of Minto
• 1813-1823 Francis Rawdon-Hastings, Marquess of Hastings
• 1823-1828 William Pitt Amherst, Earl Amherst
• 1828-1835 Lord William Cavendish-Bentinck
• 1835-1842 George Eden, Earl of Auckland
• 1842-1844 Edward Law, Baron Ellenborough
• 1844-1848 Henry Hardinge, Viscount Hardinge
• 1848-1856 James Andrew, Maquess of Dalhousie
• 1856-1858 Charles John Canning, 2nd Viscount Canning
• 1858-1947 See: Viceroy of India
• 1947-1948 Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
• 1948-1950 Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, known as Rajaji