The Governor-General of Bengal was made the Governor-General of India by which Act?
- A.Regulating Act, 1773
- B.Charter Act, 1813
- C.Charter Act, 1833
- D.Charter Act, 1853
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, the Charter Act of 1833. This Act was the final step in centralising British administration in India: it vested all civil and military powers in the Governor-General of India, took away the legislative powers of the Bombay and Madras governments, and made the East India Company a purely administrative agency holding its territories in trust for the Crown. Lord William Bentinck became the first Governor-General of India under it. Option A, the Regulating Act of 1773, is wrong because it created the lesser office of Governor-General of Bengal, first held by Warren Hastings. Option B, the Charter Act of 1813, is wrong because it dealt with trade, missionaries and education. Option D, the Charter Act of 1853, is wrong because its contribution was a separate legislative council and open competition for the civil service.
Read the full article: Company Rule Acts 1773 to 1853: Provisions and PYQs
Practice Questions
View allWarren Hastings became the first Governor General of Bengal in ______.
- A.1772
- B.1778
- C.1775
- D.1773
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The Regulating Act of 1773 changed the designation of the Governor of Bengal to Governor-General of Bengal and created an Executive Council of four members to assist him, and Warren Hastings, who had been Governor of Bengal since 1772, became the first holder of the new office.
Read the full explanation →Which Act of the British Parliament created the office of the Governor-General of Bengal?
- A.Regulating Act, 1773
- B.Pitt's India Act, 1784
- C.Charter Act, 1813
- D.Charter Act, 1833
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It was the first attempt by the British Parliament to regulate the affairs of the East India Company: it redesignated the Governor of Bengal as the Governor-General of Bengal, gave him a Council of four, made Bombay and Madras subordinate to him and provided for a Supreme Court at Calcutta.
Read the full explanation →The Board of Control, which supervised the civil, military and revenue affairs of the Company's Indian territories, was set up by which Act?
- A.Regulating Act, 1773
- B.Amending Act, 1781
- C.Pitt's India Act, 1784
- D.Charter Act, 1793
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The Act separated the commercial and the political functions of the East India Company, leaving trade to the Court of Directors and placing civil, military and revenue administration under a newly created Board of Control answerable to Parliament.
Read the full explanation →Which Act ended the East India Company's monopoly of trade with India, leaving it only the tea trade and the trade with China?
- A.Charter Act, 1793
- B.Charter Act, 1813
- C.Charter Act, 1833
- D.Charter Act, 1853
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Pressed by British manufacturers who wanted a free market in India, Parliament threw Indian trade open to all British subjects and allowed the Company to keep only the tea trade and the trade with China.
Read the full explanation →Who was the first Law Member of the Governor-General's Council, appointed under the Charter Act of 1833?
- A.Lord Macaulay
- B.Lord Cornwallis
- C.Sir Elijah Impey
- D.Lord Dalhousie
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The Charter Act of 1833 added a fourth, law member to the Governor-General's Council for legislative work, and Thomas Babington Macaulay took up the post in 1834.
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