British Government in India, Volume 2George Nathaniel Curzon (1859-1925) was a British politician, traveler, and writer who served as viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905 and foreign secretary from 1919 to 1924. The somewhat confusingly titled British Government in India: The Story of Viceroys and Government Houses was one of Curzon's last books, completed after he left the Foreign Office in January 1924 and posthumously published. The two-volume work is a study of Calcutta (present-day Kolkata), capital of British India in the period 1772-1911, and home of the governors and viceroys who represented the British East India Company and later the British government from the early 18th to the early 20th century. As Curzon states in the preface, his plan to write the book went back to his time in India, when he "resolved to write the history of Government House--that stately building, by far the finest Government House in the Empire, designed upon the model of my own home of Kedleston in Derbyshire--which had sheltered the rulers of India for exactly one hundred years...." In addition to being a study of the house, the book contains notes and observations on viceroys and governors such as Robert Clive, Warren Hastings, and Lord William Bentinck. The last chapter in volume one, entitled "Forms, Ceremonies, and Entertainments," is an especially interesting overview of ceremonial life at the viceregal residence, which reflected a blend of British and Indian traditions. Other chapters cover the famous Black Hole of Calcutta or touch upon important historical events, such as the Indian Mutiny and the Anglo-Afghan Wars. |
Contents
CHAPTER | 1 |
CHAPTER XI | 47 |
List of Governors General 17741856Distinction between Gov | 58 |
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afterwards Lord already appointment arrival Barrackpore Barrackpore House Barrackpore Park Bengal Bentinck Board of Control bungalow Cabinet Calcutta career century character Clive colleagues Commander-in-Chief Company Court of Directors Crown Despatches duty Earl East India Government House Government of India Governor General's Governor of Madras hand head Home Government honour House of Commons howdah India Office Lady Lawrence Lord Auckland Lord Cornwallis Lord Dalhousie Lord Dufferin Lord Elgin Lord Ellenborough Lord Hardinge Lord Hastings Lord Lytton Lord Mayo Lord Minto Lord Northbrook Lord Ripon Lord Wellesley Macpherson Marquis Member of Council ment military months Mutiny Napier native never occasion Parliament political predecessors President Prime Minister Princes Private Letters recalled resignation retired return to England river Rulers of India Secretary Sir John Shore successor term of office Viceregal Viceroy Viceroyalty Warren Hastings Wellesley's wife William wrote