Hastings, << HAY stihngz >>, Warren (1732-1818), was the first governor general of India. He laid the foundation of British rule in India and improved the courts and tax systems. He also encouraged the study of Indian culture.
Hastings was born on Dec. 6, 1732, in Oxfordshire, England. In 1750, he went to India as a clerk with the British East India Company, a trading company. In 1772, Hastings was appointed governor of Bengal, and in 1774, he was named governor general. He resigned in 1784 and returned to England. There, political enemies led by Edmund Burke, Charles James Fox, and Richard Brinsley Sheridan impeached him on charges of corruption and misuse of power. After a trial that lasted from 1788 to 1795, Hastings was acquitted (declared innocent). But the trial used up all his money, and he lived the rest of his life on a pension. He died on Aug. 22, 1818.
