Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings (1732-1818), First British governor-general of India. Hastings went to India at the age of 17 and quickly rose in importance. In 1772 he became governor of Bengal and two years later he was appointed governor-general of India. Although an able administrator, he aroused some opposition and on his resignation and return to Britain (1785) he was impeached for corruption and cruelty (1788). The trial dragged on for seven years, at the end of which he was acquitted.
