BENTINCK, LORD WILLIAM

born September 14, 1774, Bulstrode, Buckinghamshire, Eng. died June 17, 1839, Paris, France in full William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, Lord Bentinck British governor-general of Bengal (182833) and of India (183335). An aristocrat who sympathized with many of the liberal ideas of his day, he made important administrative and humanitarian 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 decisive milestones on the road that was ultimately to lead to Indian independence more than a century later. Additional reading There is no good biography. John Rosselli, Lord William Bentinck & the British Occupation of Sicily, 18111814 (1956), examines his actions during his Sicilian appointment, while Lord William Bentinck: The Making of a Liberal Imperialist, 17741839 (1974), places Bentinck's career in historical perspective.