Warren Hastings was the first Governor General of
India. He occupied this position from 1773 to 1784. Hastings was born at
Churchill, Oxfordshire. He joined the British East India Company in 1750
as a clerk. In 1757, Warren Hastings became the British Resident of
Murshidabad and in 1761 he was appointed to the Calcutta council. Warren
Hastings went back to England in 1764. He returned to India in 1769 as a
member of the Madras council and was made Governor of Bengal in 1772. In
1773, Hastings was appointed the first Governor-General of India.
Warren Hastings extended and consolidated the control of East India
Company established by Robert Clive. He was a patron of Indian learning
and took a keen interest in Indian literature and philosophy. Warren
Hastings was instrumental in the translation of Bhagvad Gita into
English.
