List of governors of Bengal Presidency

In 1644 Gabriel Boughton, procured privileges for the East India Company which permitted them to build a factory at Hughli, without fortifications. In 1650, the factories of Balasor and Hughli were united. On 14 December 1650, James Bridgman was appointed as the chief of the factories. However, in 1653, Bridgman left suddenly and Powle Waldegrave assumed his charge.

On 27 February 1657, the company resolved its holdings into four agencies:- Fort St. George, Bantam, Persia, and Hughli. George Gawton was appointed as the Agent of Hughly. Additional three factories in Ballasore, Cassambazar and Pattana were put under the Hughly agency. In 1658, Johnathan Trevisa was appointed as the second to Gawton and was meant to succeed him after the latter's death. On 6 February 1661, the company reduced the Hughly agency under the Fort St. George, and then agent Trevisa was made the "Chief of Factories in the Bay of Bengal". On 24 November 1681, William Hedges was appointed as the "Agent and Governor for the affairs of the East India Company in the Bay of Bengal". On 21 December 1684, William Gyfford who was the President and Governor of Fort St. George was given the additional charge of Bengal due to increasing mismanagement. John Beard was appointed as the "Agent and Chief in the Bay of Bengal" and become the subordinate to Gifford.

On 20 December 1699, the Court of Directors (London East India Company) declared Bengal a Presidency, and then Agent Charles Eyre was made the " President and Governor of Fort William, in Bengal". The President or Chief in the Bay of Bengal for the English East India Company was Sir Edward Littleton in whose commission and instructions, dated 12 January 1698, it was also stated that power had been obtained from his Majesty to constitute him the "Minister or Consul for the English Nation" with all powers requisite thereunto.” Littleton was later deposed by the Court of Directors in 1703.

The union of the two East India Companies took place on 23 July 1702. For united trade in Bengal, a Council was appointed, of which Nathaniel Halsey and Robert Hedges were to take chair each in their week alternatively as per the dispatch from United Company on 26 February 1702. In a dispatch of 12 February 1704, it was ordered that if Beard shall die, no one will be appointed as President to succeed him. After the departure of John Beard to Madras, Ralph Sheldon assumed the position of Chief of Council, and his appointment was confirmed in a dispatch of 7 February 1706.

On 30 December 1709, Anthony Weldon was appointed as the "President in the Bay, and Governor and Commander-in-Chief for Fort William, in Bengal" for the United East India Company. His appointment was later revoked and was supposed to be succeeded by Sheldon. Since Sheldon had died by the time dispatch arrived in Bengal, John Russell was ordered to succeed as the Governor. By a letter of 8 May 1771, the Court appointed Warren Hastings to be Governor of Bengal. By Act of Parliament 13 Geo. III., cap. 63, the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal will headed by a Governor-General, and Hastings was appointed as the first Governor-General. He assumed the office on 20 October 1773.

No.	Name	Portrait	Took Office	Left Office	Remarks	Appointer
1	Anthony Weldon		30 December 1709	4 March 1711	Appointment revoked by the Court of Directors Resigned on March 1711	East India Company
2	John Rusell		4 March 1711	3 December 1713	Dismissed by the Court
3	Robert Hedges		3 December 1713	28 December 1717	died in office
4	Samuel Feake		12 January 1718	17 January 1723	Left for England due to illness
5	John Deane		17 January 1723	30 January 1726	Returned to England
6	Henry Frankland		30 January 1726	25 February 1732	Returned to Europe
7	John Stackhouse		25 February 1732	29 January 1739	Resigned
8	Thomas Broddyll		29 January 1739	4 Feb 1746	Left for England
9	John Forster		4 Feb 1746	March 1748	Died in office
10	William Barewell		18 April 1748	1749	Dismissed by the Court
11	Adam Dawson		17 July 1749	1752	Dismissed by the Court
12	William Fycthe		5 July 1752	8 August 1752	Died in Office
13	Roger Drake		8 August 1752	20 June 1758	Deposed by the Court
14	Col. Robert Clive		27 June 1758	23 January 1760	Resigned
15	John Zephaniah Holwell		28 January 1760	27 July 1760	Handed over to Vansittart who was appointed on 23 November 1759 to the office
16	Henry Vansittart		27 July 1760	26 November 1764	Returned to England
17	John Spencer		3 December 1764	3 May 1765
18	The Lord Clive		3 May 1765	20 January 1767	Returned to England
19	Harry Verelst		29 January 1767	24 December 1769	Retired from the service
20	John Cartier		26 December 1769	13 April 1772
21	Warren Hastings		13 April 1772	20 October 1773 (office superseded)	Appointed as the Governor-General of Fort William in Bengal in 1774

Under the Charter Act 1853 the Governor General of India was relieved of his concurrent duties as Governor of Bengal and a separate Governor of Bengal shall be appointed. Until then a Lieutenant Governor will be appointed. F. J. Halliday became the first lieutenant governor of the Bengal presidency. William Duke served as the last lieutenant governor after which the office was superseded by the Governor of Bengal province in 1912.

No.	Name	Portrait	Took office	Left office	Appointer
1	Frederick James Halliday		1854	1859	The Marquess of Dalhousie
2	John Peter Grant		1859	1862	The Earl Canning
3	Cecil Beadon		1862	1866
4	William Grey		1867	1870	Sir John Lawrence, Bt
5	George Campbell		1870	1874	The Earl of Mayo
6	Sir Richard Temple Hart		1874	1877	The Lord Northbrook
7	Sir Ashley Eden		1877	1882
8	Sir Augustus Rivers Thompson		1882	1887	The Marquess of Ripon
9	Sir Steuart Colvin Bayley		1887	1890	The Earl of Dufferin
10	Sir Charles Alfred Elliott		1890	1893	The Marquess of Lansdowne
11	Sir Anthony Patrick MacDonnell		1893	1895
12	Sir Alexander Mackenzie		1895	1897	The Earl of Elgin
13	Sir Charles Cecil Stevens		1897	1898
14	Sir John Woodburn		1898	1902
15	James Dewar Bourdillon		1902	1903	The Lord Curzon of Kedleston
16	Sir Andrew Henderson Leith Fraser		1903	1906
17	Francis Slacke		1906	1908	The Earl of Minto
18	Sir Edward Norman Baker		1908	1911
19	Frederick William Duke		1911	1912	The Lord Hardinge of Penshurst

The Earl Curzon, the Viceroy of India, proposed the Partition of Bengal on religious lines into Hindu-majority Bengal and Muslim-majority Eastern Bengal and Assam and put it into effect on 16 October 1905. Dacca became the capital. The partition stoked controversy among Indian nationalists, who described it as an attempt to "divide and rule" the Bengali homeland.[7] Sir Bampfylde Fuller was the province's first Lieutenant Governor. However, at the Delhi Durbar in 1911, King George V announced that the British government had decided to annul the partition. Eastern Bengal was reunited with western Bengali districts, and Assam was made a Chief-Commissionership.

No.	Name	Portrait	Took office	Left office	Appointer
1	Sir Bampfylde Fuller		16 October 1905	20 August 1906	The Lord Curzon of Kedleston
2	Lancelot Hare		20 August 1906	1911	The Earl of Minto
3	Sir Charles Stuart Bayley		1911	21 March 1912	The Lord Hardinge of Penshurst

After the Independence, the state of West Bengal was headed by a Governor and his powers were laid down in the Government of India Act, 1935. On 15 August 1947, C. Rajagopalachari was appointed as the first Governor of West Bengal. When the constitution of India came into effect on 26 January 1950, the office of Governor of West Bengal became a ceremonial position.

No.	Name	Portrait	Took office	Left office	Appointer
1	Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari		15 August 1947	21 June 1948	The Viscount Mountbatten of Burma
2	Kailash Nath Katju		21 June 1948	1 November 1951	Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari

Following the Partition of India, the muslim-majority part of Bengal province i.e. the East Bengal became the province of the Dominion of Pakistan. The Governor was the ceremonial head of the East Bengal province. The province of East Bengal was dissolved on 14 October 1955 when then Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Bogra implemented the One Unit scheme which merged the four western provinces into a single unit called West Pakistan while East Bengal was renamed as East Pakistan.

No.	Name	Portrait	Took Office	Left Office	Appointer
1	Sir Frederick Chalmers Bourne		15 August 1947	31 March 1950	Muhammad Ali Jinnah
2	Sir Feroz Khan Noon		31 March 1950	31 March 1953	Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin
3	Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman		31 March 1953	29 May 1954	Sir Ghulam Muhammad
4	Iskandar Ali Mirza		29 May 1954	May 1955
-	Muhammad Shahabuddin (acting)		May 1955	June 1955
5	Amiruddin Ahmad		June 1955	14 October 1955