Warren Hastings was the first and most famous of the British governors-general of India, who dominated Indian affairs from 1772 to 1785 and was impeached (though acquitted) on his return to England. His view of the role of the British in India was later to be regarded as a very conservative one. He saw no “civilizing” or modernizing mission for them. Bengal was to be governed in strictly traditional ways, and the life of its people was not to be disturbed by innovation. To ensure good government, however, he felt that the British must actively intervene. In what was to be the most constructive period of his administration, from 1772 to 1774, Hastings detached the machinery of the central government from the nawab’s court and brought it to the British settlement in Calcutta under direct British control, remodeled the administration of justice throughout Bengal, and began a series of experiments aimed at bringing the collection of taxation under effective supervision. Recounting her experiences in Calcutta and Bengal, Haimabati Sen was living in the aftermath of Hastings’ consolidation of control.

Sources:

“Warren Hastings”. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Warren-Hastings

Sen, Haimabati. Because I am a Woman.