Lot 1609 , George Phillips after Thomas Phillips R.A., mezzotint, 'General Lord William Cavendish Bentinck, GCB, late Governor General of India', published by Hodgson & Graves 1838, visible sheet 80 x 56.5cm

George Phillips after Thomas Phillips R.A., mezzotint, 'General Lord William Cavendish Bentinck, GCB, late Governor General of India', published by Hodgson & Graves 1838, visible sheet 80 x 56.5cm
£100-150
Lord William Bentinck, in full William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, (born September 14, 1774, Bulstrode, Buckinghamshire, England—died June 17, 1839, Paris, France), British governor-general of Bengal (1828–33) and of India (1833–35). 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.

Sold for £300