ABSTRACT
Lord william bentinck, who assumed office in 1828, was fortunate enough to be one of the few Governors-General whose term of office was wholly peaceful, and few men could have been more suited by temperament and abilities to utilise a time of peace in bringing about social and administrative reform. His power to effect reforms was seriously limited by his loyalty to the doctrine of non-intervention in the affairs of Indian states which was laid down from home and which his own temperament predisposed him to accept. Lord Auckland, who became Governor-General in 1836, ushered in a new policy of expansion, which during his tenure of office could perhaps more accurately be described as unwise aggression. Lord Hardinge decided upon a policy of moderation and declined to annex the Punjab. The Punjab was annexed and the famous Punjab Commission, which attracted to its service some of the finest Englishmen in India at the time, came into being.
