During whose Viceroyalty was the capital of British India shifted from Calcutta to Delhi?
- A.Lord Curzon
- B.Lord Minto II
- C.Lord Hardinge II
- D.Lord Chelmsford
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, Lord Hardinge II. The transfer of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi was announced by King George V at the Delhi Durbar of December 1911, during Hardinge's term, and the same Durbar annulled the partition of Bengal. Delhi formally became the seat of the Government of India in 1912, and the new city built by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker was inaugurated in 1931. A bomb was thrown at Hardinge during his ceremonial entry into Delhi in 1912. Option A, Lord Curzon, had partitioned Bengal in 1905. Option B, Lord Minto II, is remembered for the reforms of 1909. Option D, Lord Chelmsford, was Viceroy during the Rowlatt Act, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919. Candidates should note that the announcement of 1911 and the formal inauguration of New Delhi in 1931 are two different dates, and papers often use one as a distractor for the other.
Read the full article: Viceroys of India 1858 to 1947: List and Major Events
Practice Questions
View allWho was the first Viceroy of India after the Government of India Act of 1858?
- A.Lord Dalhousie
- B.Lord Canning
- C.Lord Mayo
- D.Lord Lytton
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The Government of India Act of 1858 transferred the administration of India from the East India Company to the Crown and renamed the Governor-General of India as the Viceroy; Canning, who was already Governor-General when the Revolt of 1857 broke out, became the first Viceroy in 1858 and held the…
Read the full explanation →Which Viceroy of India was assassinated while in office?
- A.Lord Mayo
- B.Lord Northbrook
- C.Lord Elgin
- D.Lord Lansdowne
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He was stabbed to death by Sher Ali Afridi, a convict, during a visit to the penal settlement at Port Blair in the Andaman Islands in February 1872, and remains the only Viceroy killed in office.
Read the full explanation →The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 was passed during the Viceroyalty of
- A.Lord Ripon
- B.Lord Lytton
- C.Lord Dufferin
- D.Lord Curzon
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The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 required the publisher of an Indian language newspaper to execute a bond and allowed the government to seize the press if seditious matter was printed, while English newspapers were left untouched; it was therefore called the gagging Act.
Read the full explanation →Who is called the father of local self-government in India?
- A.Lord Canning
- B.Lord Mayo
- C.Lord Ripon
- D.Lord Minto
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His Resolution on Local Self-Government of 1882 proposed boards for rural and urban areas with a majority of elected non-official members and a non-official chairman, and asked that they be given control over local funds, which is why he is remembered as the father of local self-government in India.
Read the full explanation →The partition of Bengal of 1905 was carried out by which Viceroy?
- A.Lord Curzon
- B.Lord Minto II
- C.Lord Hardinge II
- D.Lord Lansdowne
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He announced the partition of the Bengal Presidency in July 1905 and it came into force on 16 October 1905, creating the province of Eastern Bengal and Assam; the official reason was administrative convenience, but the real purpose was to divide the Hindu and Muslim population and weaken the nationalist…
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