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Constitutional history (1773–1950)
1773 – 1950
Key events
| 1773 | Regulating Act |
| 1798 | Subsidiary Alliance |
| 1813–1823 | Policy of paramountcy |
| 1848–1856 | Doctrine of Lapse |
| 1854 | Wood’s Despatch |
| 1858 | Act of 1858: rule by the Crown |
| 1861 | Indian Councils Act, 1861 |
| 1878 | Arms Act and Vernacular Press Act |
| 1883 | Ilbert Bill controversy |
| December 1885 | Indian National Congress founded |
| 1892 | Indian Councils Act, 1892 |
| 1905 | Partition of Bengal |
| 1907 | The Congress splits |
| 1909 | Indian Councils Act, 1909 (Morley-Minto) |
| 1916 | Lucknow Pact |
| 1919 | Rowlatt Act |
| 1919 | Government of India Act, 1919 (Montagu-Chelmsford) |
| December 1920 | Nagpur session: Non-Cooperation adopted |
| 1927–1928 | Simon Commission |
| October 1929 | Irwin’s offer of dominion status |
| December 1929 | Lahore session: Purna Swaraj |
| November 1930 | First Round Table Conference |
| 5 March 1931 | Gandhi-Irwin Pact |
| December 1931 | Second Round Table Conference |
| September 1932 | Poona Pact |
| 1935 | Government of India Act, 1935 |
| 1937 | Provincial elections |
| 1939 | Congress ministries resign |
| 1942 | Cripps Mission |
| August 1942 | Quit India |
| 16 May 1946 | Cabinet Mission plan |
| 9 December 1946 | Constituent Assembly meets |
| 13 December 1946 | Objectives Resolution |
| 3 June 1947 | Plan of 3 June: freedom with Partition |
| 15 August 1947 | Independence |
| 26 November 1949 | Constitution adopted |
| 26 January 1950 | Constitution comes into force |
Governors-General and Viceroys
| Warren Hastings (1773–1785) | The first Governor-General; reforms in justice, with two courts in each district. |
| Lord Wellesley (1798) | Devised the Subsidiary Alliance. |
| Lord Hastings (1813–1823) | Began the policy of paramountcy. |
| Lord William Bentinck (late 1820s) | “Reforming” policies: Western education, ideas and institutions. |
| Henry Hardinge | Tried to modernise the army’s equipment. |
| Lord Dalhousie (1848–1856) | The Doctrine of Lapse; Awadh annexed in 1856. |
| Lord Canning (1857) | Urged leniency towards the rebels in 1857 and was mocked for it in the British press. |
| Lord Curzon (1905) | Partitioned Bengal. |
| Lord Irwin (1929, 1931) | Offered ‘dominion status’ (1929); signed a pact with Gandhiji (1931). |
| Lord Willingdon (after 1931) | The new Viceroy after the Second Round Table Conference; deeply unsympathetic to Gandhiji. |
| Lord Linlithgow (1939) | Talks with him on India’s part in the Second World War broke down. |
| Lord Wavell (until February 1947) | Brought the Congress and the League together for talks. |
| Lord Mountbatten (from February 1947) | Announced that British India would be freed but divided. |
| C. Rajagopalachari (after 1947) | Free India’s first Indian Governor-General. |
Next steps
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Years are from YugMap’s records; dates marked c. are approximate. Printed from yugmap.com.