 The Kingdom of Benares was given official status by the <unk> in 1737 , and continued as a dynasty @-@ governed area until Indian independence in 1947 , during the reign of Dr. <unk> Narayan Singh . In the 18th century , Muhammad Shah ordered the construction of an observatory on the Ganges , attached to Man Mandir Ghat , designed to discover imperfections in the calendar in order to revise existing astronomical tables . Tourism in the city began to <unk> in the 18th century . In 1791 , under the rule of the British Governor @-@ General Warren Hastings , Jonathan Duncan founded a Sanskrit College in Varanasi . In 1867 , the establishment of the Varanasi Municipal Board led to significant improvements in the city 's infrastructure and basic amenities of health services , drinking water supply and sanitation 
