Governor of Bengal
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From 1690, a governor represented the British East India Company in Bengal, which had been granted the right to establish a trading post by the local rulers, the nawabs of Murshidabad, who were nominal vassals of the Mughal emperor in Delhi.
- 1700–1701: Charles Eyre
- 1701–1705: John Bead
- 1705: Edward Littleton
- 1705–1710: Ruled by a council
- 1710–1711: Anthony Weltden
- 1711–1713: John Russell
- 1713–1718: Robert Hedges
- 1718–1723: Samuel Flake
- 1723–1726: John Deane
- 1726–1728: Henry Frankland
- 1728: Edward Stephenson
- 1728–1732: John Deane
- 1732–1739: John Stackhouse
- 1739–1746: Thomas Broddyll
- 1746–1748: John Forster
- 1748–1749: William Barwell
- 1749–1752: Adam Dawson
- 1752: William Fytche
- 1752–1756: Roger Drake
Under the leadership of Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, British troops and their local allies defeated the nawab on 23 June 1757 at the Battle of Plassey. The nawab was assassinated in Murshidabad, and the British installed their own replacement. Clive became governor.
Governors, 1757-1854
- 1757–1760: Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive
- 1760–1764: Henry Vansittart
- 1765–1766: Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive
- 1767–1769: Harry Verelst
- 1769–1772: John Cartier [1]
- 1772–1774: Warren Hastings
- 1786–1793: Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Earl Cornwallis
- 1797–1805: Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley
- 1805: Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
- 1848–1854: James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie
Under the Charter Act 1853 the Governor General of India was relieved of his concurrent duties as Governor of Bengal and empowered to appoint a lieutenant-governor from 1854.
Lieutenant-Governors 1854-1912
- 1854–1859: Frederick Halliday
- 1859–1862: John Grant
- 1862–1866: Sir Cecil Beadon
- 1866–1871: William Grey
- 1871–1874: George Campbell
- 1874–1877: Sir Richard Temple
- 1877–1879: Sir Ashley Eden
- 1879–1882: Steuart Bayley
- 1882–1885: Sir Augustus Thompson
- 1885–1887: Horace Cockerell
- 1887–1890: Sir Steuart Bayley
- 1890–1893: Charles Elliot
- 1893–1895: Anthony MacDonnell
- 1895–1897: Alexander Mackenzie
- 1897–1898: Sir Charles Stevens
- 1898–1902: John Woodburn
- 1902–1903: James Bourdillon
- 1903–1906: Sir Andrew Fraser
- 1906: Lancelot Hare
- 1906–1908: Sir Francis Slacke
- 1908–1911: Sir Edward Baker
- 1911–1912: Sir William Duke
In 1912, the British reunited east and west Bengal to form a single province under a governor.
Governors 1912-1947
- 1912–1917: Thomas Gibson-Carmichael, 1st Baron Carmichael
- 1917–1922: Lawrence Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland as Earl of Ronaldshay
- 1922–1927: Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton
- 1927–1932: Sir Stanley Jackson
- 1932–1937: Sir John Anderson
- 1937–1939: Michael Knatchbull, 5th Baron Brabourne
- 1939–1943: John Arthur Herbert
- 1944–1946: Sir Richard Casey
- 1946–1947: Sir Frederick Burrows
