Viceroy

The India Office in Britain directed policy, while a viceroy represented the monarch in India and carried out that policy. The change was substantial: authority passed from a commercial company to the Crown. However, it did not bring Indian independence.

Two important parts of Spanish rule were viceroys, who represented royal authority, and encomiendas, which gave individual colonists rights over Indigenous tribute and labour. These arrangements helped Spain govern and exploit its empire, but the interests of royal officials and wealthy colonists could conflict.

Lord Curzon, Viceroy from 1899 to 1905, was a committed imperialist. He believed that the British Empire was a great force for good and that aristocrats were especially suited to leadership. His attitude was paternalistic: Britain should govern for Indians’ benefit, but Indians should not share equally in power.