Online Collection

The Online Collection showcases a selection of our objects for you to discover and explore. This resource will grow as the Museum's Collection is catalogued and computerised, and as new acquisitions are added.

Warren Hastings, Governor General of Bengal, 1773 (c)

Mezzotint by Thomas Watson, after Sir Joshua Reynolds, published by Thomas Watson, London, 1777.

As the first governor general of Bengal (1773-1785), Warren Hastings (1732-1818) laid many of the legal and administrative foundations of British rule in India. He was appointed via the Regulating Act of 1773, which signalled the British state's growing influence over the Company's affairs. Although Hastings was very open about receiving gifts, the Company's opponents in Britain denounced him as a corrupt 'nabob' and he was impeached in 1787. After spending much of his fortune defending himself, he was acquitted in 1795.

NAM Accession Number

NAM. 2000-11-104-1

Copyright/Ownership

National Army Museum, Out of Copyright

Location

National Army Museum, Study Collection

Object URL

https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=2000-11-104-1