5 Most Important Sections of Modern History

 The History section in the CDS exam is placed under General Knowledge section that is mandatory for all AFA, IMA,  INA and OTA exams. A total of 15-22 questions are asked in the History section of the CDS exam. Below, you’ll find 5 most important topics of history that contributes more than 50% of History section for CDS exam. 

 

5 Most Important Sections of Modern History

Below are the 5 Important Sections of Modern History

• Revolts
• Battle in Indian History
• Indian National Congress
• Gandhian Era
• Governor General

We are providing the complete notes for these 5 Important Sections of Modern History.

Revolts

British colonialism faced revolt not only by the civilian population but also by the tribes of various regions throughout colonial India. The strong wave of resistance against British rule was there in present-day Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bengal and North-Eastern state.

Tribal Revolts in India During British Period

• The tribal population of the contemporary Orissa region is considered to be first among these groups to revolt against the tyranny of British colonial rule.
•  On the basis of the geographical area occupied by different tribal groups, these uprisings are further subdivided into two categories:
  (a) Uprisings by Non-frontier tribes
  (b) Uprisings by Frontier tribes

The major Causes for such tribal uprisings were:

1. Exploitative land Revenue Policies and Expansion of agriculture and plantation activities on forested land by outsider non-tribal population in areas inhabited by the tribal population.
2. Works of numerous Christian missionaries were looked with suspicion and as interference in social-economic customs of tribal population.
3. Due to increased demand for wood for larger construction projects like the expansion of Railways various Forest Acts were passed that established complete Government monopoly over forested lands of tribal areas.
4. The uprisings by the north-eastern tribal groups were usually reactions against outsiders (dikus), zamindars and rulers, the support provided to the latter by the British administration.
5. Due to the induction of notion of the private property now the land could be bought, sold or mortgaged which led to the loss of land by the tribals.

1. Non-Frontier tribal revolts

Years	Uprising	Facts related to the uprising
1778	Pahriyas rebellion	Place: Rajmahal Hills Led by: martial Pahariyas Cause: against the British expansion on their lands
1776	Chuar uprising	Place: Bengal Led by: Chuar aboriginal tribesmen Cause: economic privatization by the British
1831	Kol uprising	Place: Chotanagpur Led by: Buddho Bhagat Cause: British rule expansion and land transfers
1827-1831	Ho and Munda uprising	Place: Singhbhum and Chotanagpur Led by: Raja Parahat and others Cause: British expansion and revenue policy
1890s-1900s	Later Munda and Ulugulan uprising	Place: Ranchi and Chotanagpur Led by: Birsa Munda Cause: against feudal and zamindari system and exploitations by money lenders, denial of their rights over forested areas.
1855-56	Santhal rebellion	Place: Bihar Led by: Sido and Kanhu Causes: · Against feudal and zamindari system and exploitations by money lenders. It later turned out Anti-British and was suppressed. · Among the numerous tribal revolts, the Santhal uprising was the most remarkable one. When the    Permanent Settlement was introduced in Bengal in 1793, the Santhals were employed as laborers with the  promise of wages or rent-free lands. However, they were forced to become agricultural surfs, exploited at will.
1837-56	Kandh uprising	Place: from Tamil Nadu to Bengal Led by: Chakra Bisoi Cause: Interference in tribal customs and imposition of new taxes.
1860s	Naikada Movement	Place: M.P. and Gujrat Cause: against British and caste Hindus.
1870s	Kharwar rebellion	Place: Bihar Cause: against revenue settlement activities.
1817-19 & 1913	Bhil revolts	Place: regions of Western Ghats Cause: against company rule and to form Bhil Raj.
1967-68;1891-93	Bhuyan and Juang rebellion	Place: Kheonjhar,Orissa Led by: Ratna Nayak and Dharni Dhar Nayak Cause: Policy of annexation
1880s	Koya revolts	Place: Godavari region of Andhra Pradesh Leader: Raja Anantayyar Cause: against feudal and zamindari system and exploitations by money lenders, denial of their rights over forested areas.
1910	Bastar revolt	Place: Jagdalpur area Cause: New feudal and forest levies.
1914-15	Tana Bhagat movement	Place: Chhota Nagpur area Led by: Jatra Bhagat and Balram Bhagat. Cause: against interference of outsiders, began as Sanskritization movement.
1916-1924	Rampa revolts	Place: Andhra Pradesh region Leader: Alluri Sitarama Raju Cause: Interference in tribal customs and imposition of new taxes.
1920 onwards	Jharkhand uprising	Places: Chhotanagpur region; parts of Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal. Adivasi Mahasabha was formed in 1937.
1920s-1930s	Forest Satyagrahas	Led by: By Chenchu tribals & by Karwars Cause: · British interference in internal affairs of tribal areas · British administrative innovations · Excessive land assessments
1940s	Gond uprising	· To bring together the believers of Gond dharma.

2. North-East Frontier Tribal Uprisings

Years	Uprising	Facts
1823-33	Ahom’s’ revolt	Place: Assam Cause: against non-fulfilment of the pledges of the British after the Burmese War. Result: · The British had pledged to withdraw after the first Burmese War(1824-26) from Assam but in contrast, the British attempted to incorporate the Ahoms territories in the company’s dominion after the war. · This initiated a rebellion in 1828 under the leadership of Gomdhar Konwar. · Finally, the company decided to follow a conciliatory policy and handed over upper Assam to Maharaja Purandar Singh Narendra and parts of the kingdom was restored to the Assamese king.
1830s	Khasi’s revolt	Place: Hilly regions of Meghalaya Leader: Nunklow ruler Tirath Singh Cause: against the occupation of hilly regions. Result: · Due to the compulsory enlistment of labourers for road construction led the Khasis to revolt under the leadership of Tirath Singh, a Khasi chief. The Garos joined them. · The long and harassing warfare with Khasis continued for four years and was finally suppressed in early 1833
1930s	Singhpho’s rebellion	Place: Assam Cause: British interference in internal affairs of tribal areas and administrative innovations along with Excessive land assessments.
1917-19	Kuki’s revolt	Place: Manipur Cause: aginst  Britsih labour recruitment policies during WW1.
1920s	Zeliangsong Movement	Place: Manipur Led by: Zemi and Liangmei tribes Cause: British failed to protect these tribes during Kuki’s violence.
1905-31	Naga Movement	Place: Manipur Led by: Jadonang It was against British rule and about setting up of a Naga Raj.
1930s	Hereka Cult	Place: Manipur Led by: Rani Gaidinliu As a result of this movement, Kabui Naga Association was formed in 1946

Battle in Indian History

Battles in Indian History - Ancient Indian Wars

War	Fought between	Date	Won by	Description
Battle of Venni	Chola King Karikala & Pandya & Cheraa kings	Around 130 CE	Chola King
Battle of Hydaspass	Alexander and Porus	326 BC	Alexander defeated King Porus	Valour of Porus impressed Alexander, so he permitted him to keep his kingdom
Battle of Koppam	Chalukya king Someshvara I & Chola kings Rajadhiraja Chola& Rajendra Chola II	Around 1054 CE	Chola King
Battle of Maski	Chalukya empire & Jaysimha II	1019-1020 AD	Chalukya Empire
Kalinga War	Maurya king Ashoka & Kalinga	261 BC	Maurya King	It was one of the worst wars in human history, with lakhs of people slain on both sides. Ashoka was overcome with regret, so he took a vow of nonviolence and became a Buddhist.

Battles in Medieval History

War	Year	Fought between	Won by	Treaties/Description
1st battle of Tarain	1191	Sultan Mohammad Ghori & Prithviraj Chauhan	Prithviraj Chauhan
2nd Battle of Tarain	1192	Sultan Mohammad Ghori & Prithviraj Chauhan	Sultan Mohammad Ghori
3rd Battle of Tarain	1216	Shamshuddin Iltutmish & Yaldoz	Shamshuddin Iltutmish
Battle of Khanwa	1527 A.D	Babur and Rana Sanga	Babur defeats Rana Sanga	Following this fight, Babur was given the title of Ghazi.
Battle of Ghaghara	1529 A.D	Babur and  Muhammad Lodi	Babur defeats Afghans	This was Babur's third great war, following which the Mughal Empire's dominion over India was gained and permanently established.
Battle of Haldighati	1576 A.D	Maharana Pratap and Mughal Emperor Akbar, who was led by Man Singh	The undecisive battle between Raja Man Singh of Mughal Army and Rana Pratap of Mewar.
Battle of Plassey	23 June 1757	Siraj-ud-daulah with French & British East India Company	British East India Company	-
Battle of Buxar	22 October 1764	East India Company & Alliance of Mir Qasim, Shah Alam II & Shuja-ud- daulla	British East India Company	Treaty of Allahabad
Battle of Goa	1638- 1639	Portuguese & Dutch	Portuguese	-
Battle of Wandiwash	26 Jan 1760	British East India Company & French	British East India Company	-
Battle of Chausa	26 June 1539	Mughal emperor Humayun & Sher Shah Suri	Sher Shah Suri	Sher Shah became Emperor of India, thereby ending Mughal rule in India
1st Battle of Panipat	21 April 1526	Ibrahim Lodi & Babur	Babur	Earliest battle in Indian History. Involved Gunpowder firearms & field artillery
2nd Battle of Panipat	5 Nov 1556	Forces of Hemu, Chief Minister of Adil Shah Suri & Akbar	Mughal	-
3rd Battle of Panipat	14 Jan 1761	Maratha Empire & King of Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Abdali	Afghans	Treaty of Surat
1st Carnatic War	1744-48	English & French		Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle
2nd Carnatic War	1748-54	English & French		Treaty of Pondicherry
3rd Carnatic War	1756-1763	English & French		Treaty of Paris
1st Anglo Maratha War	1775- 1782	British East India Company & Martha empire	Marathas	Treaty of Salbai
2nd Anglo Maratha War	1803- 1805	East India Company & Maratha empire	British East India Company	Treaty of Deogaon, Treaty of Surjianjangaon, Treaty of Rajghat, Treaty of Bassien
3rd Anglo Maratha War	1817- 1818	East India Company & Maratha empire	British East India Company	Treaty of Mandasor
1st Anglo Mysore War	1734-1766	Mysore & East India Company		Treaty of Madras
2nd Anglo Mysore War	1780-1784	Mysore & East India Company		Treaty of Mangalore
3rd Anglo Mysore War	1790-92	Mysore & East India Company		Treaty of Sriranghapatam
4th Anglo Mysore War	1799	Mysore & East India Company		British Subjugated Mysore
1st Anglo-Sikh War	1845-46	Sikh Empire & British East India Company	British East India Company	Treaty of Bhairowal
2nd Anglo-Sikh War	1848-1849	Sikh Empire & British East India Company	British East India Company	-
1st Anglo-Afghan War	1838- 1842	British East India Company & Afghans	Afghans	Tripartite Treaty between Ranjit Singh, Shah Shuja & Lord Auckland
2nd Anglo-Afghan War	1878-80	British East India Company & Afghans	British East India Company	Treaty of Peshawar, Treaty of Gandamak
3rd Anglo-Afghan War	1919	British East India Company & Afghans	Afghans	Treaty of Rawalpindi

 

Indian National Congress 

• The social, economic and political factors had inspired the people to define and achieve their national identity. People began discovering their unity in the process of their struggle against colonialism.
• The sense of being oppressed under colonial rule provided a shared bond that tied different groups together. Each class and group felt the effects of colonialism differently.
• The social and religious reform movements of the 19th century also contributed to the feeling of Nationalism.
• Swami Vivekananda, Annie Besant, Henry Derozio and many others revived the glory of ancient India, created faith among the people in their religion and culture and thus gave the message of love for their motherland.
• The intellectual and spiritual side of Nationalism was voiced by persons like Bankim Chandra Chatterji, Swami Dayanand Saraswati and Aurobindo Ghosh.
• Bankim Chandra’s hymn to the Motherland, ‘Vande Matram’ became the rallying cry of patriotic nationalists. It inspired generations to supreme self-sacrifice.
• The Revolt of 1857 created a kind of permanent bitterness and suspicion between the British and the Indians.

EMERGENCE OF INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (1885)

• Allan Octavian Hume, a retired civil servant in the British Government took the initiative to form an all-India organization.
• Thus, the Indian National Congress was founded and its first session was held at Bombay in 1885.
• The history of the Indian National Movement can be studied in three important phases:

1. The phase of moderate nationalism (1885-1905) was when Congress continued to be loyal to the British crown.
2. The years 1906-1916 witnessed- Swadeshi Movement, the rise of militant nationalism and the Home Rule Movement. The repressive measures of the British gave rise to extremists within Congress like Bipin Chandra Pal, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai (Lai, Bal, Pal), along with Aurobindo Ghosh
3. The period from 1917 to1947 is known as the Gandhian era.

Important Sessions of Indian National Congress 

• Congress met each December. The first meeting was scheduled to be held in Poona, but due to a cholera outbreak there it was shifted to Bombay.
• Hume organised the first meeting in Bombay with the approval of the Viceroy Lord Dufferin.
• W. Chandra Banerjee was the first president of Congress.
• The first session was held from 28–31 December 1885 in Mumbai and was attended by 72 delegates.
• Mahatma Gandhi presided over the Belgaum session of INC in 1924.
• The first woman president of INC was Mrs Annie Besant.
• The first Indian woman president of the INC was Mrs Sarojini Naidu.
• The first Englishman to become the president of INC was George Yule
• The first Muslim president of the INC was Badruddin Tayabji.
• The president of INC at the time of India's independence was Acharya JB Kriplani.

List of Important Sessions of Indian National Congress 

Check the following table for the Important sessions of the INC:

Year	Venue	President
1885	Bombay	W.C.Bannerji
1886	Calcutta	Dadabhai Naoroji
1893	Lahore	"
1906	Calcutta	"
1887	Madras	Badruddin Tyyabji (first Muslim President)
1888	Allahabad	George Yule (first English President)
1889	Bombay	Sir William Wedderburn
1890	Calcutta	Sir Feroze S.Mehta
1895, 1902	Poona, Ahmedabad	S.N.Banerjee
1905	Banaras	G.K.Gokhale
1907, 1908	Surat, Madras	Rasbehari Ghosh
1909	Lahore	M.M.Malviya
1916	Lucknow	A.C.Majumdar (Reunion of the Congress)
1917	Calcutta	Annie Besant (first woman President)
1919	Amritsar	Motilal Nehru
1920	Calcutta (sp.session)	Lala Lajpat Rai
1921,1922	Ahmedabad, Gaya	C.R.Das
1923	Delhi (sp.session)	Abdul Kalam Azad (youngest President)
1924	Belgaon	M.K.Gandhi
1925	Kanpur	Sarojini Naidu (first Indian woman President)
1928	Calcutta	Motilal Nehru (first All India Youth  Congress Formed)
1929	Lahore	J.L.Nehru (Poorna Swaraj resolution was passed)
1931	Karachi	Vallabhbhai Patel (Here, resolution on Fundamental rights and the National Economic Program was passed)
1932, 1933	Delhi, Calcutta	(Session Banned)
1934	Bombay	Rajendra Prasad
1936	Lucknow	J.L.Nehru
1937	Faizpur	J.L.Nehru (first session in a village)
1938	Haripura	S.C.Bose (a National Planning Committed set-up underJ.L.Nehru).
1939	Tripuri	S.C.Bose was re-elected but had to resign due to protest by Gandhiji (as Gandhiji supported Dr.Pattabhi Sitaramayya). Rajendra Prasad was appointed in his place.
1940	Ramgarh	Abdul Kalam Azad
1946	Meerut	Acharya J.B.Kriplani
1948	Jaipur	Dr.Pattabhi Sitaramayya.

Gandhi Era

• Real Name - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
• Date and Place of Birth : Oct. 2, 1869 and Porbandar, Gujarat (Note: UNO declared Oct 2 as "International Non-Violence Day")
• Father: Karamachand Gandhi
• Mother: Putali Bai
• Political Guru: Gopal Krishan Gokhale
• Political Guru: Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Private Secretary: Mahadev Desai.
• Literary Influence on Gandhi: John Ruskin’s Unto the Last, Emerson, Thoreau, Leo Tolstoy, the Bible and the Gita.
• Literary Works: Hind Swaraj (1909), My Experiments with Truth (Autobiography, 1927)-reveals events of Gandhi’s life upto 1922.
• As an Editor: Indian Opinion: 1903–15 (in English & Gujarati, for a short period in Hindi & Tamil), Harijan: 1919-31 (in English, Gujarati and Hindi),
• Other Names: Mahatma (Saint) - by Rabindranath Tagore, 1917; Malang Baba/Nanga Faqir (Naked Saint) - by Kabailis of Noth-West Frontier, 1930; Indian Faqir/Traitor Faqir-by Winston Churchill, 1931; Half-naked Saint by- Franq Mores, 1931; Rashtrapita (the Father of the Nation)- by Subhash Chandra Bose, 1944.

Important Year & Events: 

• 1893: Departure of Gandhi to South Africa.
• 1904: Foundation of Indian Opinion (magazine) and Phoenix Farm, at Phoenix, near Durban.
• 1906: First Civil Disobedience Movement (Satyagaraha) against Asiatic Ordiannce in Transvaal.
• 1907: Satyagraha against Compulsory Registration and Passes for Asians (The Black Act) in Transvaal.
• 1908: Trial and imprisonment-Johanesburg Jail (First Jail Term).
• 1910: Foundation of Tolstoy Farm (Later-Gandhi Ashrama), near Johannesburg.
• 1914: Awarded Kaisar-i-Hind for raising an Indian Ambulance Core during Boer wars
• 1915: Arrived in Bombay (India) on 9 January 1915; Foundation of Satyagraha Ashrama at Kocharab near Ahmedabad (20 May). In 1917, Ashrama shifted at the banks of Sabarmati;
• 1916: Abstain from active politics (though he attended Lucknow session of INC held in 26–30 December, 1916, where Raj Kumar Shukla, a cultivator from Bihar, requested him to come to Champaran.)
• 1917: Gandhi entered active politics with Champaran campaign to redress grievances of the cultivators oppressed by Indigo planter of Bihar (April 1917). Champaran Satyagraha was his first Civil Disobedience Movement in India.
• 1918: cooperation Movement. In Febuary 1918, Gandhi launched the struggle in Ahmedabad which involved industrial workers. Hunger strike as a weapon was used for the first time by Gandhi during Ahmedabad struggle. In March 1918, Gandhi worked for peasants of Kheda in Gujarat who were facing difficulties in paying the rent owing to failure of crops. Kheda Satyagraha was his first Non
• 1919: Gandhi gave a call for Satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act on April 6, 1919 and took the command of the nationalist movement for the first time (First all-India Political Movement), Gandhi returns Kaisar-i-Hind gold medal as a protest against Jallianwala Bagh massacre-April 13, 1919; The All India Khilafat Conference elected Gandhi as its president (November 1919, Delhi).
• 1920-22: Gandhi leads the Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movement (August 1, 1920–Febuary 1922), Gandhi calls off Movement (Feb. 12, 1922), after the violent incident at Chauri-Chaura on Febuary 5, 1922. Non-Co-operation Movement was the First mass based politics under Gandhi.
• 1925–27 : Gandhi retires from active politics for the first time and devotes himself to ‘constructive programme’ of the Congress; Gandhi resumes active politics in 1927.
• 1930–34: Gandhi launches the Civil Disobedience Movement with his Dandhi march/Salt Satyagraha (First Phase: March 12, 1930–March 5, 1931; Gandhi-Irwin Pact: March 5, 1931; Gandhi attends the Second Round Table Conference in London as sole representative of the Congress: September 7-December. 1, 1931; Second Phase: January 3, 1932-April 17, 1934).
• 1934–39: Sets up Sevagram (Vardha Ashram).
• 1940–41: Gandhi launches Individual Satyagraha Movement.
• 1942: Call to Quit India Movement for which Gandhi raised the slogan, ‘Do or Die’ (Either free India or die in the attempt), Gandhi and all Congress leaders arrested (August 9, 1942).
• 1942–44: Gandhi kept in detention at the Aga Khan Palace, near Pune (August 9, 1942-May, 1944). Gandhi lost his wife Kasturba (Febuary 22, 1944) and private secretary Mahadev Desai; this was Gandhi’s last prison term.
• 1946: Deeply distressed by theory of communal violence, as a result Muslim League’s Direct Action call, Gandhi travelled to Noakhali (East Bengal-now Bangladesh) and later on to Calcutta to restore communal peace.
• 1947: Gandhi, deeply distressed by the Mountbatten Plan/Partition Plan (June 3, 1947), while staying in Calcutta to restore communal violence, observes complete silence on the dawn of India’s Independence (August, 15, 1947). Gandhi returns to Delhi (September 1947).
• 1948: Gandhi was shot dead by Nathu Ram Godse, a member of RSS, while on his way to the evening prayer meeting at Birla House, New Delhi (January 30, 1948).

Governor-General of India

The objective of Introducing Viceroys and Governor Generals 

• Britain was able to accomplish this incredible achievement because of the strong and efficient bureaucracies that it created in its colonies.
• The British were able to establish this authority in India through Governors-General and Viceroys.

Introduction of Governor-General of India

• Bengal Governor-General (1773-1833): When the East India Company arrived in India, it established an office called "Governor of Bengal"
  • First Governor of Bengal: Robert Clive
• However, with the passage of the Regulating Act 1773, the office of Governor of Bengal was renamed "Governor-General of Bengal"
  • First Governor-General of Bengal was Warren Hastings
• Governor-General of India (1833-58): The office of Governor-General of Bengal was renamed "Governor-General of India" by a Charter Act in 1833
  • The first Governor-General of India was William Bentinck.
  • This position was mostly administrative in nature, and it reported to the East India Company's Court of Directors.

Introduction of Viceroys

• Following the 1857 uprising, the company rule was dissolved, and India was placed under the direct administration of the British crown.
• The Government of India Act of 1858 was passed, which replaced the post-Governor General of India with the Viceroy of India
• The British government appointed the Viceroy immediately.
• Lord Canning was India's first Viceroy.

List of Governor-General of India

Governors-General of India	Acts / Events During Regime
Warren Hastings (1773-1785)	Regulating Act of 1773 Pitt’s India Act of 1784 The Rohilla War of 1774 The First Maratha War in 1775-82 and the Treaty of Salbai in 1782 Second Mysore War in 1780-84
Lord Cornwallis (1786-1793)	Third Mysore War (1790-92) and Treaty of Seringapatam (1792) Cornwallis Code (1793) Permanent Settlement of Bengal, 1793
Lord Wellesley (1798-1805)	Introduction of the Subsidiary Alliance System (1798) Fourth Mysore War (1799) Second Maratha War (1803-05)
Lord Minto I (1807-1813)	Treaty of Amritsar with Ranjit Singh (1809)
Lord Hastings (1813-1823)	Anglo-Nepal War (1814-16) and the Treaty of Sagauli, 1816 Third Maratha War (1817-19) and dissolution of Maratha Confederacy Establishment of Ryotwari System (1820)
Lord Amherst (1823-1828)	First Burmese War (1824-1826)
Lord William Bentinck (1828-1835)	Abolition of Sati System (1829) Charter Act of 1833
Lord Auckland (1836-1842)	First Afghan War (1838-42)
Lord Hardinge I (1844-1848)	First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46) and the Treaty of Lahore (1846). Social reforms like the abolition of female infanticide
Lord Dalhousie (1848-1856)	Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49) The annexation of Lower Burma (1852) Introduction of the Doctrine of Lapse Wood’s Despatch 1854 Laying down of first railway line connecting Bombay and Thane in 1853 Laying down of first railway line connecting Bombay and Thane in 1853 Establishment of PWD

List of Viceroy in India

Viceroys of India	Acts / Events During Regime
Lord Canning (1856-1862)	Revolt of 1857 Establishment of three universities at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay in 1857 Abolition of East India Company and transfer of control to the Crown by the Government of India Act, 1858 Indian Councils Act of 1861
Lord John Lawrence (1864-1869)	Bhutan War (1865) Establishment of the High Courts at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras (1865)
Lord Lytton (1876-1880)	The Vernacular Press Act (1878) The Arms Act (1878) The Second Afghan War (1878-80) Queen Victoria assumed the title of ‘Kaiser-i-Hind’ or Queen Empress of India
Lord Ripon (1880-1884)	Repeal of the Vernacular Press Act (1882) The first Factory Act (1881) Government resolution on local self-government (1882) The Ilbert Bill controversy (1883-84) Hunter Commission on education (1882)
Lord Dufferin (1884-1888)	The Third Burmese War (1885-86). Establishment of the Indian National Congress (1885)
Lord Lansdowne (1888-1894)	Factory Act (1891). Indian Councils Act (1892). Setting up of Durand Commission (1893)
Lord Curzon (1899-1905)	Appointment of Police Commission (1902) Appointment of Universities Commission (1902) Indian Universities Act (1904). Partition of Bengal (1905)
Lord Minto II (1905-1910)	Swadeshi Movements. (1905-11) Surat Split of Congress (1907) Establishment of Muslim League (1906) Morley-Minto Reforms(1909)
Lord Hardinge II (1910-1916)	Annulment of Partition of Bengal (1911) Transfer of capital from Calcutta to Delhi (1911). Establishment of the Hindu Mahasabha (1915)
Lord Chelmsford (1916-1921)	Lucknow pact (1916) Champaran Satyagraha (1917) Montagu’s August Declaration (1917) Government of India Act (1919) The Rowlatt Act (1919) Jallianwalla Bagh massacre (1919) Launch of Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movements
Lord Reading (1921-1926)	Chauri Chaura incident (1922) Withdrawal of Non-Cooperation Movement (1922) Establishment of Swaraj Party(1922) Kakori train robbery (1925)
Lord Irwin (1926-1931)	Simon Commission to India (1927) Harcourt Butler Indian States Commission (1927) Nehru Report (1928) Deepavali Declaration (1929) Lahore session of the Congress (Purna Swaraj Resolution) 1929 Dandi March and the Civil Disobedience Movement (1930) First Round Table Conference (1930) Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931)
Lord Willingdon (1931-1936)	Communal Award (1932) Second & Third Round Table Conference (1932) Poona Pact (1932) Government of India Act of 1935
Lord Linlithgow (1936-1944)	Resignation of the Congress ministries after the outbreak of the Second World War (1939) Tripuri Crisis & formation of Forward Bloc (1939) Lahore Resolution of the Muslim League (demand for a separate state for Muslims) 1940 ‘August Offer’ (1940) Formation of the Indian National Army (1941) Cripps Mission (1942) Quit India Movement (1942)
Lord Wavell (1944-1947)	C. Rajagopalachari’s CR Formula (1944) Wavell Plan and the Simla Conference (1942) Cabinet Mission (1946) Direct Action Day (1946) Announcement of end of British rule in India by Clement Attlee (1947)
Lord Mountbatten (1947-1948)	June Third Plan (1947) Redcliff commission (1947) India’s Independence (15 August 1947)
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1948-1950)	The last Governor-General of India, before the office, was permanently abolished in 1950