The Viceroy of India reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Viceroy of India

The Viceroy of India was the highest position in the Indian administration during the British Raj and the Portuguese Empire. Under British rule, it was considered one of the most powerful offices in the world.

The term viceroy derives from vice ("sub-") and roy (French roi, "king"), indicating his role as direct representative of the monarch. The Viceroy's wife was called the vicereine.

Portuguese viceroys

The office was created by king Manuel I of Portugal in 1505 for Francisco de Almeida, after the discovery of the Atlantic route to India by Vasco da Gama.

List of British viceroys

The office was created in 1858 after the Sepoy Rebellion, as an expansion of the office of Governor-General. It was abolished upon the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947 and replaced with the Governor-General of India and Governor-General of Pakistan.

1. Charles John Canning, 1st Earl Canning 1858 - 1862
2. James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, 12th Earl of Kincardine 1862 - 1863
3. Sir John Laird Mair Lawrence 1864 - 1869
4. Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo 1869 - 1872
5. Thomas George Baring, 2nd Baron Northbrook 1872 - 1876
6. Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Lord Lytton 1876 - 1880
7. George Frederick Samuel Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon 1880 - 1884
8. Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Earl of Dufferin 1884 - 1888
9. Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne 1888 - 1894
10. Victor Alexander Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin, 13th Earl of Kincardine 1894 - 1899
11. George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Curzon 1899 - 1905
12. Gilbert John Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto 1905 - 1910
13. Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst 1910 - 1916
14. Frederic John Napier Thesiger, 3rd Baron Chelmsford 1916 - 1921
15. Rufus Isaacs, 1st Earl of Reading 1921 - 1925
16. Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Baron Irwin 1926 - 1931
17. Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Earl of Willingdon 1931 - 1936
18. Victor Alexander John Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow 1936 - 1943
19. Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell 1943 - 1947
20. Louis Mountbatten, 1st Viscount Mountbatten of Burma 1947

This is the "Viceroy of India" reference article from the English Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.