lord canning was the first british viceroy as well as governor general of india.
first british viceroy as well as governor general of india?
lord canning
following adoption of the government of india act 1858, which transferred control of india from the east india company to the british crown, the governor-general as representing the crown became known as the viceroy. the designation "viceroy," although it was most frequently used in ordinary parlance, had no statutory authority, and was never employed by parliament. although the proclamation of 1858 announcing the assumption of the government of india by the crown referred to lord canning as "first viceroy and governor-general," none of the warrants appointing his successors referred to them as "viceroys," and the title, which was frequently used in warrants dealing with precedence and in public notifications, was basically one of ceremony used in connection with the state and social functions of the sovereign's representative. the governor-general continued to be the sole representative of the crown, and the government of india continued to be vested in the governor-general-in-council.
viceroy
the original target date for the transfer of power to the new dominions was june 1948. however, fearing the rise of inter-communal violence, the british viceroy lord mountbatten advanced the date to 15 august 1947. this gave only 6 weeks to complete all the arrangements for partition. mountbatten's original plan was to stay on the joint governor general for both the dominions till june 1948. however, this was not accepted by the pakistani leader mohammad ali jinnah. in the event, mountbatten stayed on as the governor general of india, whereas pakistan chose jinnah as its governor general. it was envisaged that the nationalisation of the armed forces could not be completed by 15 august. hence british officers stayed on after the transfer of power. the service chiefs were appointed by the dominion governments and were responsible to them. the overall administrative control, but not operational control, was vested with field marshal claude auchinleck, who was titled the 'supreme commander', answerable to a newly formed joint defence council of the two dominions. india appointed general rob lockhart as its army chief and pakistan appointed general frank messervy.
indo-pakistani war of 1947–1948