Lord William Cavendish Bentinck
(1774-1839), Governor-General of India; son of 3rd Duke of PortlandRegency Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 2 portraits
Lord William Cavendish Bentinck was Governor General of Bengal from 1828 until 1833 and of India from 1833 to 1835. An aristocrat who sympathised with many of the liberal ideas of his day, he made important administrative reforms in Indian government and society. He reformed the finances, opened up judicial posts to Indians and suppressed such practices as suttee, or widow burning, and thuggee, or ritual murder by robber gangs. The innovations effected in his years of office were milestones in creating a much more interventionist style of government than preceding ones, a style that involved the westernisation of Indian society and culture.
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