92-688: Warren Hastings FRS (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal) , the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal , and so the first governor-general of Bengal in 1772–1785. He and Robert Clive are credited with laying the foundation of the British Empire in India. He was an energetic organizer and reformer. In 1779–1784 he led forces of
184-585: A British expedition from Madras under Robert Clive arrived to rescue them. Hastings served as a volunteer in Clive's forces as they retook Calcutta in January 1757. After this swift defeat, the Nawab urgently sought peace and the war came to an end. Clive was impressed with Hastings when he met him and arranged for his return to Kasimbazar to resume his pre-war activities. Later in 1757, fighting resumed, leading to
276-763: A Chair (all of whom are Fellows of the Royal Society ). Members of the 10 Sectional Committees change every three years to mitigate in-group bias . Each Sectional Committee covers different specialist areas including: New Fellows are admitted to the Society at a formal admissions day ceremony held annually in July, when they sign the Charter Book and the Obligation which reads: "We who have hereunto subscribed, do hereby promise, that we will endeavour to promote
368-527: A divorce from her husband. The process took a long time and it was not until 1777 that news of the divorce came from Germany, and Hastings was finally able to marry her. Hastings arrived in Madras shortly after the First Anglo-Mysore War of 1767–1769, when the forces of Hyder Ali had threatened the capture of the city. The Treaty of Madras (4 April 1769) ended the war but failed to settle
460-495: A fortune while in India. Eventually, having run up enormous debts, Hastings realised he needed to return to India to restore his finances, and applied to the East India Company for employment. His application was initially rejected as he had made many political enemies, including the powerful director Laurence Sulivan . Eventually, an appeal to Sulivan's rival Robert Clive secured Hastings the position of deputy ruler at
552-789: A garrison. In 1717 they had been granted immunity from taxation throughout Bengal by the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar . The city flourished, with a large volume of trade travelling down the Ganges River . The attitude of the Nawabs of Bengal , the regional governors of the territory, had been one of limited toleration towards the European traders (the French and Dutch as well as the British); they were permitted to trade, but taxed heavily. When
644-543: A letter to Governor Drake. It was no less than a declaration of war. The first disaster to befall the Company came quickly. On 3 June the nawab's forces surrounded the ill-prepared East India Company fort at Cossimbazar , whose numbered only 50 men. Two days later, the garrison surrendered; the only shot fired was by the garrison commander, who committed suicide rather than submit. The nawab's army confiscated all Company guns and ammunition, then marched on to Calcutta. When
736-479: A more generous sense of feeling for their natural rights, and teach us to estimate them by the measure of our own. But such instances can only be obtained in their writings: and these will survive when the British dominion in India shall have long ceased to exist, and when the sources which once yielded of wealth and power are lost to remembrance. During Hastings' term as governor-general, much administrative precedent
828-418: A philosophy that was grounded in trying to establish a more understanding relationship with India's inhabitants and their rulers, and he often tried to mediate between the two sides. During Mir Jafar's reign, the East India Company exerted an increasingly large role in the running of the region, and effectively took over the defence of Bengal against external invaders when Bengal's troops proved insufficient for
920-492: A pretext to drive the company from his lands; he found two. The first pretext centered around Kissendass , the son of a high-ranking Bengali official, Raj Ballabh , who had incurred Siraj-ud-Daula 's displeasure. When he was released after a brief imprisonment, Ballabh had arranged for the company to allow Kissendass to enter Calcutta along with the son's pregnant wife and family fortune, while Ballabh joined forces with those who opposed Siraj-ud-Daula's succession. The fact that
1012-459: A room measuring 18 by 15 feet, with only 23 surviving the night. The story was amplified in contemporary literature, becoming a notorious incident, but the facts are now widely disputed. The city – renamed "Alinagar" – was only lightly garrisoned by the Indians, and was recaptured in January 1757 by a force led by Robert Clive ; the Nawab led a counter-attack, but this was itself attacked outside
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#17327832656441104-519: A short story by the Indian writer Uday Prakash , was adapted for stage under the same title by the director Arvind Gaur . It presents Hastings's interaction with traditional India in a work of socio-economic political satire. A short story by the Hindi author Shivprasad Singh 'Rudra' Kashikeya called Bahti Ganga features Chait Singh , then Raja of Banaras, in conflict with Hastings, who is imprisoned by
1196-696: A top scholar but was forced to leave at sixteen, when his uncle died. He joined the British East India Company in 1750 as a writer (clerk) and sailed out to India, reaching Calcutta in August 1750. There he built up a reputation for diligence and spent his free time learning about India and mastering Urdu and Persian . His work won him promotion in 1752 when he was sent to Kasimbazar , a major trading post in Bengal , where he worked for William Watts . While there he gained further experience in
1288-1326: Is a significant honour. It has been awarded to many eminent scientists throughout history, including Isaac Newton (1672), Benjamin Franklin (1756), Charles Babbage (1816), Michael Faraday (1824), Charles Darwin (1839), Ernest Rutherford (1903), Srinivasa Ramanujan (1918), Jagadish Chandra Bose (1920), Albert Einstein (1921), Paul Dirac (1930), Winston Churchill (1941), Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1944), Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis (1945), Dorothy Hodgkin (1947), Alan Turing (1951), Lise Meitner (1955), Satyendra Nath Bose (1958), and Francis Crick (1959). More recently, fellowship has been awarded to Stephen Hawking (1974), David Attenborough (1983), Tim Hunt (1991), Elizabeth Blackburn (1992), Raghunath Mashelkar (1998), Tim Berners-Lee (2001), Venki Ramakrishnan (2003), Atta-ur-Rahman (2006), Andre Geim (2007), Bai Chunli (2014), James Dyson (2015), Ajay Kumar Sood (2015), Subhash Khot (2017), Elon Musk (2018), Elaine Fuchs (2019) and around 8,000 others in total, including over 280 Nobel Laureates since 1900. As of October 2018 , there are approximately 1,689 living Fellows, Foreign and Honorary Members, of whom 85 are Nobel Laureates. Fellowship of
1380-737: Is confirmed by the Council in April, and a secret ballot of Fellows is held at a meeting in May. A candidate is elected if they secure two-thirds of votes of those Fellows voting. An indicative allocation of 18 Fellowships can be allocated to candidates from Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences; and up to 10 from Applied Sciences, Human Sciences and Joint Physical and Biological Sciences. A further maximum of six can be 'Honorary', 'General' or 'Royal' Fellows. Nominations for Fellowship are peer reviewed by Sectional Committees, each with at least 12 members and
1472-421: Is nominated by two Fellows of the Royal Society (a proposer and a seconder), who sign a certificate of proposal. Previously, nominations required at least five fellows to support each nomination by the proposer, which was criticised for supposedly establishing an old boy network and elitist gentlemen's club . The certificate of election (see for example ) includes a statement of the principal grounds on which
1564-451: Is obtained by social communication with people over whom we exercise dominion founded on the right of conquest, is useful to the state... it attracts and conciliates distant affections; it lessens the weight of the chain by which the natives are held in subjection; and it imprints on the hearts of our countrymen the sense of obligation and benevolence.... Every instance which brings their real character... home to observation will impress us with
1656-586: Is the name of one of the four schoolhouses in La Martiniere Calcutta (Kolkata). It is represented by the colour red. "Hastings" is also the name of one of the four schoolhouses in Bishop Westcott Girls' School, Ranchi , again represented by the colour red. "Hastings" is a senior wing house at St Paul's School, Darjeeling , India, where all the senior wing houses are named after Anglo-Indian colonial figures. RIMS Warren Hastings
1748-708: The American War of Independence (1775–1783), the Americans had captured a British field army at the Battle of Saratoga during the Saratoga campaign . This emboldened the French to sign a military alliance with the new United States of America and declare war on Great Britain. The French concentrated in the Caribbean islands, and in India. The presidencies of Madras and Bombay became involved in serious quarrels with
1840-464: The Battle of Plassey , where Clive won a decisive victory over the Nawab. Siraj ud-Daulah was overthrown and replaced by his commander-in-chief Mir Jafar , who initiated policies favorable to the East India Company traders, before falling out with them and being overthrown. In 1758, Hastings became the British resident in the Bengali capital of Murshidabad – a major step forward in his career – at
1932-663: The Black Hole of Calcutta . For a while, Hastings remained in Murshidabad and was even used by the Nawab as an intermediary; but, fearing for his life, he escaped to the island of Fulta, where a number of refugees from Calcutta had taken shelter. While there, he met, fell in love with, and married Mary Buchanan, the widow of Captain John Buchanan (one of the victims of the Black Hole of Calcutta). Shortly afterwards
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#17327832656442024-659: The East India Company against a coalition of native states and the French . In the end, the well-organized British side held its own, while France lost influence in India. In 1787, he was accused of corruption and impeached , but he was eventually acquitted in 1795 after a long trial. He was made a privy councillor in 1814. Warren Hastings was born in Churchill, Oxfordshire , in 1732 to Reverend Penyston Hastings and his wife Hester (née Warren), who died soon after he
2116-627: The Government of West Bengal ). In 1784, he supported the foundation of the Bengal Asiatic Society, now the Asiatic Society of Bengal , by the oriental scholar Sir William Jones. This became a storehouse for information on the subcontinent and has remained in various institutional guises to the present day. Hastings' legacy as an administrator has been somewhat dualistic: as governor, he instituted reforms that would change
2208-581: The Manchu emperors , who threatened Bhutanese independence. Zhidar was soon overthrown and forced to flee to Tibet, where he was imprisoned and a new Druk Desi, Kunga Rinchen, installed in his place. Meanwhile, the Sixth Panchen Lama , who had imprisoned Zhidar, interceded on behalf of the Bhutanese with a letter to Hastings, imploring him to cease hostilities in return for friendship. Hastings saw
2300-426: The post-nominal letters FRS . Every year, fellows elect up to ten new foreign members. Like fellows, foreign members are elected for life through peer review on the basis of excellence in science. As of 2016 , there are around 165 foreign members, who are entitled to use the post-nominal ForMemRS . Honorary Fellowship is an honorary academic title awarded to candidates who have given distinguished service to
2392-421: The 35-year-old acting governor general of Calcutta, stated that they were only preparing for their own protection-strongly implying that the nawab would be powerless to provide it. Rumours quickly spread that the Company gathered forces from Madras (now Chennai) and planned to invade Bengal . By the end of May, a huge army of 50,000 strong, had been assembled under the command of Raj Durlabh . The nawab sent
2484-415: The British traders and a small garrison at Kasimbazar were left vulnerable. On 3 June, after being surrounded by a much larger force, the British were persuaded to surrender to prevent a massacre. Hastings was imprisoned with others in the Bengali capital, Murshidabad , while the Nawab's forces marched on Calcutta and captured it . The garrison and civilians were then locked up under appalling conditions in
2576-516: The Calcutta officials continued to harbor Kissendass after Siraj-ud-Daula had become nawab—and had spurned his demand that they surrender the young man and his fortune to him—nurtured the young ruler's conviction that the company were actively plotting with his enemies at court. The second incident concerned the construction of new fortifications by both the Company and French at their Bengali strongholds. Both had long been battling for dominance along
2668-486: The Companies outpost and that suspicion was confirmed when two letters from the nawab's camp (Siraj ud Daula's camp) were found addressed to Omichand. Kissendass , who was a house guest at the time of Omichand's plight, was also arrested when found with Omichand. They were then incarcerated in a small jail near Fort William 's southeast bastion , in a room that was used to house drunken and disorderly sailors. The cell
2760-533: The East India Company an opportunity to try to replace him with a new Nawab. Meanwhile, Siraj's growing involvement with the French East India Company would provide the pretext to go to war. The result was the Battle of Plassey , on 23 June 1757, which was a decisive defeat for Siraj - betrayed by Mir Jafar , a military commander who had agreed to change sides. The battle firmly established East India Company control over Bengal, with Mir Jafar
2852-590: The East India Company responded militarily. When Calcutta dispatched troops anyway, Mir Qasim executed the hostages. British forces then went on the attack and won a series of battles culminating in the decisive Battle of Buxar in October 1764. After this, Mir Qasim fled into exile in Delhi , where he died in 1777. The Treaty of Allahabad (1765) gave the East India Company the right to collect taxes in Bengal on behalf of
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2944-483: The East India Company's opium monopoly . The same year, he sent Company troops to support the wazir of Oudh , Shuja-ud-Daula , in a campaign against the Rohillas , a people of Afghan origin. The Company troops were paid by the wazir for their assistance. This short campaign, while enlarging the Company's main ally in northern India, was the first of several wars which harmed Hastings's reputation. In 1777, during
3036-623: The Hindu caste system through the influence of exclusively high-caste Hindu scholars advising the British on their laws. Where British translators or interpreters read in the Arthashastra a caste system in India, the actual wording speaks of varna and jati : skin-colour and birth, i.e. clan, and it speaks of the four societal classes, not castes: from upper-class Brahmin to lower-class Shudra. In 1781, Hastings founded Madrasa 'Aliya at Calcutta (transformed in 2007 into Aliah University by
3128-721: The Mughal emperor. Hastings resigned in December 1764 and sailed for Britain the following month. He left deeply saddened by the failure of the more moderate strategy that he had supported, but which had been rejected by the hawkish members of the Calcutta Council. Once he arrived in London, Hastings began spending far beyond his means. He stayed at fashionable addresses and had his picture painted by Joshua Reynolds even though, unlike many of his contemporaries, he had not amassed
3220-587: The Raja, but escapes, though ordinary people of the city make fun of him. The Hastings career is much discussed in the historical mystery novel, Secrets in the Stones , by Tessa Harris . Hastings is named in Book 5 of George Eliot 's novel Middlemarch , where his greed for Daylesford is compared to the character Joshua Rigg's greed for money. Hastings was rumoured to be the biological father of Eliza de Feuillide ,
3312-613: The Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society ( FRS , ForMemRS and HonFRS ) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge , including mathematics , engineering science , and medical science ". Fellowship of the Society, the oldest known scientific academy in continuous existence,
3404-439: The Royal Society has been described by The Guardian as "the equivalent of a lifetime achievement Oscar " with several institutions celebrating their announcement each year. Up to 60 new Fellows (FRS), honorary (HonFRS) and foreign members (ForMemRS) are elected annually in late April or early May, from a pool of around 700 proposed candidates each year. New Fellows can only be nominated by existing Fellows for one of
3496-663: The Society, we shall be free from this Obligation for the future". Since 2014, portraits of Fellows at the admissions ceremony have been published without copyright restrictions in Wikimedia Commons under a more permissive Creative Commons license which allows wider re-use. In addition to the main fellowships of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS & HonFRS), other fellowships are available which are applied for by individuals, rather than through election. These fellowships are research grant awards and holders are known as Royal Society Research Fellows . In addition to
3588-648: The assent of the EIC Court of Directors, Samuel Turner was appointed chief of the Tibet mission on 9 January 1783 with fellow EIC employee Samuel Davis as "Draftsman & Surveyor". Turner returned to the Governor-General's camp at Patna in 1784 where he reported he had been unable to visit the Tibetan capital at Lhasa, but received a promise that merchants sent there from India would be encouraged. Turner
3680-620: The award of Fellowship (FRS, HonFRS & ForMemRS) and the Research Fellowships described above, several other awards, lectures and medals of the Royal Society are also given. Siege of Calcutta The siege of Calcutta was a battle between the Bengal Subah and the British East India Company on 20 June 1756. The Nawab of Bengal , Siraj ud-Daulah , aimed to seize Calcutta to punish
3772-405: The bastions were so rotten that they could support far fewer cannons than intended, and most of the cannons proved unusable in any case. All the south wall warehouses, or godowns, had been erected outside the fort, which precluded any flanking fire from the two south bastions. The East India Company's chief engineer, John O'Hara, advised the council to demolish the buildings surrounding the fort so
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3864-612: The cause of science, but do not have the kind of scientific achievements required of Fellows or Foreign Members. Honorary Fellows include the World Health Organization's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (2022), Bill Bryson (2013), Melvyn Bragg (2010), Robin Saxby (2015), David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville (2008), Onora O'Neill (2007), John Maddox (2000), Patrick Moore (2001) and Lisa Jardine (2015). Honorary Fellows are entitled to use
3956-644: The city of Madras. He sailed from Dover in March 1769. On the voyage on board, the Duke of Grafton became ill, and he was cared for by the German Baroness Marian von Imhoff (1749–1837) and her husband. He fell in love with the Baroness, and they began an affair, seemingly with her husband's consent. Hastings' first wife, Mary, had died in 1759, and he planned to marry the Baroness once she had obtained
4048-600: The city on 2 February and defeated. The result was a recognition of the status quo in the Treaty of Alinagar , signed on the 9th, which permitted the East India Company to remain in possession of the city and to fortify it, as well as granting them an exemption from duties. However, the situation was fragile. Siraj was forced to send much of his army westwards to protect his territory from Ahmad Shah Durrani , leaving him militarily weak; this, coupled with personal unpopularity at home and extensive political machinations at court, gave
4140-420: The company for the unauthorised construction of fortifications at Fort William . Siraj ud-Daulah caught the Company unprepared and won a decisive victory. A trading post had been established in the area of Calcutta at the end of the seventeenth century by the East India Company , who purchased the three small villages that would later form the base of the city, and began construction of Fort William to house
4232-486: The daughter of Philadelphia Austen Hancock and a cousin of Jane Austen . Some scholars have seen parallels between Hastings and Colonel Brandon in Austen's Sense and Sensibility : both left for India at age 17; both may have had illegitimate daughters named Eliza; both participated in a duel. Linda Robinson Walker argues that Hastings "haunts Sense and Sensibility in the character of Colonel Brandon." Fellow of
4324-517: The defenders could have a clear shot at an enemy attacking from any direction. The council members' and chief military officers' houses would have to be leveled, so the council ignored O'Hara's suggestion. They decided instead to draw up a defensive line that encompassed the Company Enclave that huddled about Fort William, leaving the sprawling expanse of native dwellings and marketplaces known as "Black Town"--home to well over 100,000 Indians—to
4416-607: The demands he relayed from his superiors. In 1761, he was recalled and appointed to the Calcutta council. Hastings was personally angered when investigating trading abuses in Bengal. He alleged that some European and British-allied Indian merchants were taking advantage of the situation to enrich themselves personally. Persons travelling under the unauthorised protection of the British flag engaged in widespread fraud and illegal trading, knowing that local customs officials would be cowed into not interfering with them. Hastings felt this
4508-588: The disappearance of native manpower, as their lascars fled along with most of Black Town's population as the news of Siraj ud Daula 's approach spread. Omichand was the only Hindu wealthy enough to own a house in the European "White Town". Omichand recently had lost the prestigious position of chief investing and purchasing agent for the East India Company in its transaction with the Bengalis. Suspicion grew that, to gain revenge for this considerable slight, Omichand had secretly urged Siraj ud Daula to attack
4600-548: The dispute and three further Anglo-Mysore Wars followed (1780–1799). During his time at Madras, Hastings initiated reforms of trading practices which cut out the use of middlemen and benefited both the Company and the Indian labourers, but otherwise the period was relatively uneventful for him. By this stage, Hastings shared Clive's view that the three major British presidencies (settlements) – Madras , Bombay and Calcutta – should be brought under single rule rather than being governed separately as they currently were. In 1772, he
4692-443: The elderly Alivardi Khan died in 1756, he was succeeded as Nawab of Bengal by his grandson, Siraj ud-Daulah . The policy of the government changed abruptly; instead of the practical and sober approach of Alivardi, Siraj was mistrustful and impetuous. He was particularly distrustful of the British, and aimed to seize Calcutta and the large treasure he believed would be held there. From the moment he became Nawab he began searching for
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#17327832656444784-500: The exclusive national interests of the colonizer, and one represented by Burke, of sovereignty based on a recognition of the rights of the colonized. Following the indictment by the House of Commons, Hastings was tried by his peers in the House of Lords; the trial started on 13 February 1788 and continued for 148 days of hearings over a period of seven years. These hearings continued at great personal cost to Hastings, who complained that he
4876-528: The fellowships described below: Every year, up to 52 new fellows are elected from the United Kingdom, the rest of the Commonwealth of Nations , and Ireland, which make up around 90% of the society. Each candidate is considered on their merits and can be proposed from any sector of the scientific community. Fellows are elected for life on the basis of excellence in science and are entitled to use
4968-540: The good of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, and to pursue the ends for which the same was founded; that we will carry out, as far as we are able, those actions requested of us in the name of the Council; and that we will observe the Statutes and Standing Orders of the said Society. Provided that, whensoever any of us shall signify to the President under our hands, that we desire to withdraw from
5060-579: The greatest of the native states. Madras with the formidable Hyder Ali of Mysore and with the Nizam of Hyderabad, and Bombay with the Marathas . France sent a fleet under Admiral Pierre André de Suffren . The combination meant Hastings faced a formidable challenge, with only Oudh as an ally. In six years of intense and confused fighting, from 1779 to 1784, Hastings sent one army marching across India to help Bombay, and another to Madras. His greatest achievement
5152-556: The help of British troops they pushed the Bhutanese out of the Duars and into the foothills in 1773. The Druk Desi returned to face civil war at home. His opponent Jigme Senge, the regent for the seven-year-old Shabdrung (the Bhutanese equivalent of the Dalai Lama), had supported popular discontent. Zhidar was unpopular for his corvee tax (he sought unreasonably to rebuild a major dzong in one year), as well as for his overtures to
5244-429: The instigation of Clive. His role in the city was ostensibly that of an ambassador but as Bengal came increasingly under the dominance of the East India Company he was often given the task of issuing orders to the new Nawab on behalf of Clive and the Calcutta authorities. Hastings personally sympathised with Mir Jafar and regarded many of the demands placed on him by the company as excessive. Hastings had already developed
5336-433: The local treasuries later became the main line of attack in the impeachment brought against him. In 1773, Hastings responded to an appeal for help from the Raja of the princely state of Cooch Behar to the north of Bengal , whose territory had been invaded by Zhidar, the Druk Desi of Bhutan the previous year. Hastings agreed to help on the condition that Cooch Behar recognise British sovereignty. The Raja agreed and with
5428-554: The mercy of the attacking army. Batteries were placed across the three main thoroughfares leading to the fort from the North, South, and East. The smaller streets were blocked by palisades . The plan that was drawn up would require the defensive line to be adequately manned. Yet when the garrison was mustered, everyone, including Captain-Commandant Minchin , was surprised to find only 180 men fit for duty, and only 45 were British or Irish. The rest were European half-castes, whose fighting capabilities were deemed questionable. A militia
5520-491: The nascent Raj created by Clive of India , Hastings resigned. He was replaced by the Earl Cornwallis ; Cornwallis served as Commander-in-Chief of British India and Governor of the Presidency of Fort William, also known as the Bengal Presidency. On return to England, Hastings was impeached in the House of Commons for alleged crimes in India, notably embezzlement, extortion and coercion, and an alleged judicial killing of Maharaja Nandakumar . At first thought unlikely to succeed,
5612-463: The nawab's anger by promising to submit to all of his demands, but it was too late. Only then did the council members begin to examine the state of Fort William — and found that the fort had been neglected for so long that it was falling apart. The walls of the fort (18 feet tall, 4 feet thick) were crumbling in many places. Along the east wall large openings had been excavated during the long years of peace to admit air and light. The wooden platforms of
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#17327832656445704-434: The new fortifications, he immediately ordered them to halt their work and to raze any new construction, promising to protect both foreign enclaves from attack as his grandfather had before him. The French, realizing just how tenuous their position in Bengal really was, meekly replied that they were not building foreign fortifications, merely repairing their existing structures. The Company reacted differently. Roger Drake ,
5796-413: The news of disaster finally reached Fort William, the fog of complacency there was replaced by panic and indecision. Acting Governor Drake combined a disastrous incapacity for planning and decision making with a degree of personal arrogance that had already alienated most of his fellow countrymen. The few men there who were capable and levelheaded were too low in the company's hierarchy, and their advice
5888-479: The opportunity to establish relations with both the Tibetans and the Bhutanese and wrote a letter to the Panchen Lama proposing "a general treaty of amity and commerce between Tibet and Bengal". In February 1782, news reached the headquarters of the EIC in Calcutta of the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama. Hastings proposed sending a mission to Tibet with a message of congratulation, designed to strengthen amicable relations established by Bogle on his earlier visit. With
5980-447: The path India followed in subsequent years, but he retained the distinction of being also the "architect of British India and the one ruler of British India to whom the creation of such an entity was anathema." The city of Hastings , New Zealand, and the Melbourne outer suburb of Hastings, Victoria , Australia, were named after him. There is also a road and the neighbourhood of Hastings, Kolkata , in India named after him. "Hastings"
6072-522: The politics of East India. British traders still relied on the whims of local rulers, so that the political turmoil in Bengal was unsettling. The elderly moderate Nawab Alivardi Khan was likely to be succeeded by his grandson Siraj ud-Daulah , but there were several other claimants. This made British trading posts throughout Bengal increasingly insecure, as Siraj ud-Daulah was known to harbour anti-European views and to be likely to launch an attack once he took power. When Alivardi Khan died in April 1756,
6164-460: The post nominal letters HonFRS . Statute 12 is a legacy mechanism for electing members before official honorary membership existed in 1997. Fellows elected under statute 12 include David Attenborough (1983) and John Palmer, 4th Earl of Selborne (1991). The Council of the Royal Society can recommend members of the British royal family for election as Royal Fellow of the Royal Society . As of 2023 there are four royal fellows: Elizabeth II
6256-493: The proposal is being made. There is no limit on the number of nominations made each year. In 2015, there were 654 candidates for election as Fellows and 106 candidates for Foreign Membership. The Council of the Royal Society oversees the selection process and appoints 10 subject area committees, known as Sectional Committees, to recommend the strongest candidates for election to the Fellowship. The final list of up to 52 Fellowship candidates and up to 10 Foreign Membership candidates
6348-473: The prosecution was managed by MPs including Edmund Burke , encouraged by Sir Philip Francis , whom Hastings had wounded during a duel in India, Charles James Fox and Richard Brinsley Sheridan . When the charges of the indictment were read, the 20 counts took Edmund Burke two full days to read. According to historian Mithi Mukherjee, the trial instituted debate between two radically opposed visions of empire – one based on ideas of power and conquest in pursuit of
6440-542: The severe Bengal famine , which resulted in between two and ten million deaths. The Regulating Act of 1773 brought the presidencies of Madras and Bombay under Bengal's control. It raised Hastings from Governor to the new post of Governor-General , but limited his power by making the governor-general one member of a five-man Supreme Council. This was so confusingly structured that it was difficult to tell what constitutional position Hastings actually held. According to William Dalrymple : In 1774, Hastings assumed control of
6532-413: The site of the Hastings family's medieval seat. Thereafter he remodelled the house to designs by Samuel Pepys Cockerell with classical and Indian decoration and gardens landscaped by John Davenport. In 1801, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society . In 1816, he rebuilt the Norman church, where he was buried two years later. In spite of substantial compensation from the East India Company, Hastings
6624-410: The south wall. The gunners had no time to bring their guns up, and the Indians swarmed in. They then attacked the rest of the fort, and in little time, the fort was captured. The captured prisoners were held in a prison called the Black Hole. A narrative by one John Zephaniah Holwell , plus the testimony of another survivor to a select committee of the House of Commons, placed 146 Company prisoners into
6716-532: The southeast coast of India, known as the Carnatic . So far, they had kept the peace in Bengal, their rivalries confined to the marketplace. But with war, though as yet undeclared, being waged between the two nations in Europe, officials at Calcutta and Chandernagore decided that their long-neglected defenses needed to be strengthened in case hostilities erupted in Bengal. When the newly enthroned nawab learned of
6808-478: The stipend for nearly 29 years. Throughout the years of the trial, Hastings lived in considerable style at his leased town house, Somerset House, Park Lane . He subsequently sold the lease at auction for £9,450. Among many who supported him in print was the pamphleteer Ralph Broome . Others disturbed by the perceived injustice of the proceedings included Frances Burney . Letters and journals of Jane Austen and her family, who knew Hastings, show that they followed
6900-409: The task. As he grew older, Mir Jafar became gradually less effective in ruling the state, and in 1760, EIC troops ousted him from power and replaced him with Mir Qasim . Hastings expressed his doubts to Calcutta over the move, believing they were honour-bound to support Mir Jafar, but his opinions were overruled. Hastings established a good relationship with the new Nawab and again had misgivings about
6992-533: The trial closely. Hastings' supporters from the Edinburgh East India Club and a number of other gentlemen from India gave a reportedly "elegant entertainment" for Hastings when he visited Edinburgh. There was a toast to "prosperity to our settlements in India" and a wish that "the virtue and talents which preserved them be ever remembered with gratitude." In 1788, Hastings bought for £54,000 an estate at Daylesford, Gloucestershire , including
7084-667: Was a Royal Indian Marine troopship built by the Barrow Shipbuilding Co. and launched on 18 April 1893. The ship struck a rock and was wrecked off the coast of Réunion on the night of 14 January 1897. Hastings took an interest in seeing the Bhagavad Gita translated into English. His efforts led to a first translation by Charles Wilkins appearing in 1785. He wrote the introduction to it which appeared on 4 October 1784 in Benares . "Warren Hastings and His Bull",
7176-518: Was appointed to be the governor of Calcutta, the most important of the presidencies. In Britain, moves were underway to reform the divided system of government and establish single rule across all of British-controlled regions in India with its capital in Kolkata (Calcutta). Hastings became the first governor general in 1773. While governor, Hastings launched a major crackdown on bandits operating in Bengal, which proved largely successful. He also faced
7268-428: Was being bankrupted by the cost of defending himself. He is rumoured once to have said that the punishment would have been less extreme had he pleaded guilty. The House of Lords acquitted him of all charges on 24 April 1795. The Company subsequently compensated him with £4,000 annually, retroactive to the date he returned to England, but did not reimburse his legal fees, which he claimed to have been £70,000. He collected
7360-400: Was born. The family had been lords of the manor and patrons of the living of Daylesford in direct line from 1281 until 1715. The Daylesford estate was then sold, there having been a considerable loss of family wealth due to support given to Charles I . Within nine months of Warren's birth, his father remarried and moved to Barbados, leaving behind Warren and his elder sister Anne. Young Warren
7452-419: Was bringing shame on Britain's reputation and urged the authorities in Calcutta to put an end to it. The Council considered his report but ultimately rejected Hastings' proposals. He was fiercely criticised by other members, many of whom had themselves profited from the trade. Ultimately, little was done to stem the abuses, and Hastings began to consider quitting his post and returning to Britain. His resignation
7544-424: Was hastily formed from the young Company apprentices (who were known as 'writers'), the crews of many vessels that still crowded the harbor, and the European population. Manningham, and Frankland whom Drake had made Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel were appointed to command the militia. The militia added another 300 men to the defense of Calcutta , for a total of 515 troops. Defensive preparations were hampered by
7636-452: Was ignored. After the small garrison at Cossimbazar was lost, Drake and the council sent desperate pleas for help to the French and Dutch settlements. Neither wanted to join the Company in their predicament. The Company then implored the authorities in Madras to send reinforcements — but the issue had been decided before the letters could be answered. Drake then attempted to appease
7728-471: Was ill-lit by two small, barred slits for windows that provided little light. Foul smelling and ovenlike, the small room earned the appropriate nickname, " The Black Hole ." On 13 June the advance guard of the nawab's army was within 15 miles of Calcutta , a day's march away. All English women and children were ordered to take refuge in the fort, and the outer batteries and palisades were rushed to completion. He then surrounded Fort William, and then assaulted
7820-655: Was in breaking up the hostile coalition. By 1782 he made peace with the Marathas. The French fleet had been repeatedly delayed. Suffren finally arrived in 1782 to discover that the Indian coalition had fallen apart, that Hastings had captured all the French ports, and Suffren could achieve nothing. When the wars ended in 1784, British rule in India had not changed, but the French position was now much weaker. The East India Company now had an efficient system in operation. However, Hastings's multiple wartime operations needed large sums of money and London sent nothing. His methods of using
7912-636: Was instructed to obtain a pair of yaks on his travels, which he duly did. They were transported to Hasting's menagerie in Calcutta and on the Governor-General's return to England, the yaks went too, although only the male survived the difficult sea voyage. Noted artist George Stubbs subsequently painted the animal's portrait as The Yak of Tartary and in 1854 it went on to appear, albeit stuffed, at The Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in London. Hasting's return to England ended any further efforts to engage in diplomacy with Tibet. In 1785, after 10 years of service, during which he helped extend and regularise
8004-421: Was not a Royal Fellow, but provided her patronage to the society, as all reigning British monarchs have done since Charles II of England . Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1951) was elected under statute 12, not as a Royal Fellow. The election of new fellows is announced annually in May, after their nomination and a period of peer-reviewed selection. Each candidate for Fellowship or Foreign Membership
8096-467: Was of little use: it needed to be elucidated by religious commentators well versed in the lore and its application. This approach accentuated the Hindu caste system and to an extent the frameworks of other religions, which had at least in recent centuries been somewhat more flexibly applied. So British influence on the fluid social structure of India can largely be seen as a solidification of the privileges of
8188-430: Was only delayed by the outbreak of fresh fighting in Bengal. Once on the throne Qasim proved increasingly independent in his actions, and he rebuilt Bengal's army by hiring European instructors and mercenaries who greatly improved the standard of his forces. He gradually felt more confident, and in 1764, when a dispute broke out in the settlement of Patna , he captured its British garrison and threatened to execute them if
8280-466: Was raised by his grandfather (also called Penyston) and attended a charity school in Daylesford, Gloucestershire. Eventually, he was taken in by his uncle, Howard Hastings, and moved with him to London in 1740. Hastings attended Westminster School , where he coincided with the future prime ministers Lord Shelburne and the Duke of Portland and with the poet William Cowper . He quickly excelled as
8372-419: Was set, which profoundly shaped later attitudes towards the government of British India. Hastings had great respect for the ancient scripture of Hinduism and set the British position on governance as one of looking back to the earliest precedents possible. This allowed Brahmin advisors to mould the law, as no Briton thoroughly understood Sanskrit until Sir William Jones , and even then, a literal translation
8464-659: Was technically insolvent on his death. In the last quarter of the 18th century, many senior administrators realised that to govern Indian society it was essential to learn its various religious, social, and legal customs and precedents. The importance of such knowledge to the colonial government was in Hastings' mind when he remarked in 1784, in his introduction to the English translation of the Bhagavad Gita by Wilkins: Every accumulation of knowledge and especially such as
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