Governors-General & Viceroys — PPSC previous year questions

Warren Hastings became the first Governor-General of Bengal under the Regulating Act of 1773 (D). Lord Wellesley began the Subsidiary Alliance system in 1798 (C). Lord Minto I made the Treaty of Amritsar with Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1809 (B). Lord William Bentinck abolished Sati by Regulation XVII of 1829 (A). So the correct matching is I-D, II-C, III-B, IV-A.

Sir Charles Metcalfe was acting Governor-General in 1835–36. He repealed the strict Licensing Regulations of 1823 through the Press Act of 1835. This freed newspapers from prior licensing. It earned him the title 'Liberator of the Indian Press'. The 1823 regulations were John Adams's. The Licensing Act of 1857 was Canning's wartime measure. The Registration Act of 1867 came under Lawrence.

Lord Curzon (1899–1905) gave the Archaeological Survey of India its present form: he made it a permanent central department, appointed John Marshall Director-General in 1902 and passed the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904. The Survey had first been set up in 1861 under Lord Canning, with Alexander Cunningham as its head, but Canning is not among the options. When a paper offers both, 'established' is Canning and 'reorganised' is Curzon.

All four events belong to Lord Ripon's rule (1880-84). The first complete synchronous decennial census and the first Factory Act both came in 1881. The Hunter Education Commission came in 1882. The Ilbert Bill row broke out in 1883. Ripon also passed the Local Self-Government Resolution of 1882 and repealed the Vernacular Press Act. Warren Hastings (Governor-General 1773-85), Bentinck (1828-35) and Curzon (1899-1905) are from other eras.

Lord Wellesley founded Fort William College in Calcutta in 1800 to train young Company civil servants in Indian languages, laws and customs. It was named after the fort in Calcutta.

Warren Hastings, Governor-General of Bengal from 1773 to 1785, made this remark in 1813, long after leaving office, when he gave evidence to the House of Commons during the debate on renewing the East India Company's charter. He admired Indian learning and had supported the Calcutta Madrasa and the Asiatic Society. The stem's 'in 1813 which governor general' means the former Governor-General; none of the four names held the office in 1813.

The Vernacular Press Act, 1878 was enacted under Lord Lytton (1876–80) to gag the Indian-language press; it was repealed by Lord Ripon in 1882. Lord Curzon (1899–1905) is associated with the Partition of Bengal, the Indian Universities Act and the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act. The other pairs are correct: Dalhousie's Doctrine of Lapse, Minto's Indian Councils (Morley–Minto) Act of 1909, and Wellesley's Subsidiary Alliance system.

The Delhi Durbar of 1911 celebrated the coronation of King George V. He attended in person with Queen Mary. It was the only Durbar attended by the sovereign. The transfer of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi was announced there. So statement 3 is correct. The first Durbar (1877) was held by Lord Lytton to proclaim Queen Victoria Empress of India. She never visited India. The 1903 Durbar was organised by Lord Curzon for Edward VII's coronation. Lord Cornwallis had died in 1805, and the capital shift was announced only in 1911.

The Charter Act of 1833 made the Governor-General of Bengal the Governor-General of India. He got full civil and military authority over the whole of British India. Lord William Bentinck was the first to hold the title. The Regulating Act of 1773 had created the post of Governor-General of Bengal (Warren Hastings). Pitt's India Act of 1784 set up the Board of Control. The Charter Act of 1793 only renewed the Company's monopoly.

Postage stamps for use across India were introduced in 1854 under Lord Dalhousie, who also passed the Post Office Act 1854 and set up the Railway (1853) and Telegraph systems. Wellesley is known for the Subsidiary Alliance, Bentinck for the abolition of sati, and Mountbatten for the transfer of power in 1947.