Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck (14 September 1774 – 17 June 1839) was a British statesman who served as Governor-General of
India from 1828 to 1835. He was the second son of the
3rd Duke of Portland.
Early career
Bentinck joined the Coldstream Guards in 1791, rising
to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1803 he was, to some surprise, appointed Governor of Madras. Although his tenure was moderately
successful, it was brought to an end by a mutiny at Vellore in 1806, prompted by Bentinck's order that the native troops be forbidden to wear their traditional attire. Only after
serious violence was order restored and the offending policy rescinded, and Bentinck was recalled in 1807.
After service in the Peninsular War, Bentinck was appointed commander of British
troops in Sicily. A Whig, Bentinck used this position
to meddle in internal Sicilian affairs, effecting the King's withdrawal
from government in favour of his son, the Crown Prince, the reactionary
Queen's disgrace, and an attempt to devise a constitutional government for the troubled island, all of which ultimately ended in
failure. In 1814, Bentinck landed with British and Sicilian troops at Genoa, and commenced to make liberal proclamations of a new order in Italy which embarrassed the British
government (which intended to give much of Italy to Austria), and led, once again, to his recall
in 1815.
Governor-General of India
On his return to England, Bentinck served in the House of Commons for some years before being appointed Governor-General of India in 1827. His principal concern was to
turn around the loss-making British East India Company, in order to ensure
that its charter would be renewed by the British government.
Bentinck engaged in an extensive range of cost-cutting measures, earning the lasting enmity of many military men whose wages
were cut. Although his financial management of India was quite impressive, his modernising projects also included a policy of
westernisation, influenced by the Utilitarianism of Jeremy Bentham and James Mill, which was more controversial.
Reforming the court system, he made English, rather than Persian, the language of the higher courts and encouraged western-style education for Indians in order
to provide more educated Indians for service in the British bureaucracy.
Bentinck also took steps to suppress suttee, the death of a widow on her
husband's funeral pyre, and other Indian customs which the British viewed as barbaric. Although his reforms met little resistance
among native Indians at the time, it has been argued that they brought on dissatisfaction which ultimately led to the great
Mutiny of 1857. His reputation for ruthless
financial efficiency and disregard for Indian culture led to the much-repeated story that he had once planned to demolish the
Taj Mahal and sell off the marble: According to Bentinck's biographer John Rosselli, the story
arose from Bentinck's fund-raising sale of discarded marble from Agra Fort and of the metal from a famous but obsolete Agra
cannon.[1] However, others, led by the Archaeological
Survey of India, still believe and argue that a sale by the British East India
Company was planned under Bentinck's watch, though no satisfactory buyers were found[2][3].
Bentinck returned to the UK in 1835, refusing a peerage, and again entered the House of Commons
as a Member for Glasgow. He died in Paris four years later. The reforms which carrid by lord benticks 1. financial 2. social 3.
administrative 4. educational 5. judicial 6. public work
References
- ^ Rosselli, J., Lord William Bentinck: the making of a Liberal
Imperialist, 1774-1839, London Chatto and Windus for Sussex University Press 1974, p.283
- ^ Saurabh Sinha, East India Co tried to sell Taj
Mahal, The Times of India, August, 20 2005
- ^ Amy Waldman, The Taj Mahal Is a Glorious Survivor, The New York Times, May, 16,2004
| Parliament of Great Britain
(1707–1800) |
Preceded by
James Macpherson
William Smith |
Member of Parliament for
Camelford
with William Smith
1796–1796 |
Succeeded by
William Joseph Denison
John Angerstein |
| Parliament of the United
Kingdom (1801–present) |
Preceded by
Lord Edward Cavendish-Bentinck
Charles Pierrepont |
Member of Parliament for
Nottinghamshire
with Lord Pierrepont 1796–1801
Lord Pierrepont 1801–1803
1796–1803 |
Succeeded by
Lord Pierrepont
Anthony Hardolph Eyre |
Preceded by
Viscount Newark
Anthony Hardolph Eyre |
Member of Parliament for
Nottinghamshire
with Viscount Newark
1812–1814 |
Succeeded by
Viscount Newark
Frank Sotheron |
Preceded by
Viscount Newark
Frank Sotheron |
Member of Parliament for
Nottinghamshire
with Frank Sotheron
1816–1826 |
Succeeded by
Frank Sotheron
Viscount Lumley |
Preceded by
John Walpole
Marquess of Titchfield |
Member of Parliament for
King's Lynn
with John Walpole
1826–1828 |
Succeeded by
John Walpole
Lord George Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck |
Preceded by
James Oswald
Colin Dunlop |
Member of Parliament for
Glasgow
with James Oswald 1836–1837
John Dennistoun 1837–1839
1836–1839 |
Succeeded by
John Dennistoun
James Oswald |
| Political offices |
Preceded by
William Butterworth Bayley |
Governor-General of
India
1828–1835 |
Succeeded by
Sir Charles Metcalfe, Bt |
| Military offices |
Preceded by
Sir Edward Barnes |
Commander-in-Chief,
India
1833–1835 |
Succeeded by
Sir James Watson |
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