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Lord Ellenborough: The Pro-military Governor General of India Lord Ellenborough (Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough) was the Governor General of India from 28 February 1842 to June 1844. He was born on 8 September 1790 in London. His father's name was Edward Law, 1st Baron of Ellenborough. His father was the Member of Parliament. He represented the Newtown Parliamentary Borough on the Isle of Wight. He was appointed as the Attorney General by Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, who was the Prime Minister of UK from 17 March 1801 to 10 May 1804. He also acted as the Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales. The person holding this position is mostly called as the Attorney General and is the Law Officer to the British Crown and British Government. Attorney General can attend the meetings of Cabinet. Apart from giving legal advice to the British Crown and the Government, Attorney General represents them in the Court of Law. In 1802, Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough, became the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. This Legal Officer is considered as the Head of the Judiciary of England and Wales and also President of the Courts of England and Wales. He was also made the Baron of Ellenborough, a suburb in Maryport, Cumbria (Northwestern England). He was the Member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. The Privy Council is the Advisory Body to the Crown of United Kingdom. The mebership of Privy Council is given to the senior politicians who are either the current or former members of House of Commons or House of Lords. In 1806 he served as the Chancellor of Exchequer for a very brief period. It is a Cabinet level post and the Chancellor of Exchequer serves as the main person responsible for the economic and financial matters. One can say that Chancellor of Exchequer in short carries out the functions which are carried on by the Finance Ministers of various countries in contemporary times. Since 13 February 2020 Suella Braverman is holding the post of Attorney General of England and Wales. Her parents are Christie and Umayya Fernandez who are of Indian origin and migrated to England from Kenya and Mauritius in the decade of 1960. At present the Chancellor of Exchequer or Head of Her Majesty's Treasury is Rishi Sunak. He is of Indian origin. He was born on 12 May 1980 in Southampton city of Hampshire county in southeastern England. His father is Yashvir Sunak and mother is Usha Sunak. His grandparents had gone to UK from East Africa in 1960s. Rishi Sunak has studied at Lincoln College, University of Oxford and Stanford University, California. Lord Ellenborough's mother's name was Ann Towry. Lord Ellenborough was educated at Eton College (the independent boarding school in Eton town of Berkshire county in Southeastern England and St. John's College, (Formal name is College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge), University of Cambridge. Lord Ellenborough was the Member of Parliament from the rotton borough of St. Michael's, Cornwall from Southwestern England. Rotton Boroughs were the Parliamentary Constituencies existing before the Reform Act of 1832. Later on, after the death of his father, Lord Ellenborough became the member of House of Lords, the Upper House of British Parliament. Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington after becoming the Prime Minister appointed Lord Ellenborough as Lord Privy Seal. Lord Privy Seal or Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal used to be responsible for holding the Personal Seal of the Monarch. At present this office is sinecure (the office which entitled for salary but has no active role or responsibility. This officer can take active part in government deliberations but lacks the power). Nevertheless, the holder of this office is given a place in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. Lord Ellenborough was the Lord Privy Seal from 26 January 1828 to 10 June 1829. It is said that Lord Ellenborough used to assist the Prime Minister Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington in the matter of foreign affairs unofficially. Lord Ellenborough wanted to become the Foreign Secretary (Foreign Minister) but he was not able fulfill the ambition of holding this important post in the British Cabinet. Lord Ellenborough was appointed as the President of Board of Control in 1839 for the first time. Board of Control (The Right Honourable Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India or India Bord or Board of Control) was existing between 1784 to 1858. The main responsibility of the Board of Control was to look after the affairs of British Government in India and East India Company. By the East India Company Act, 1784 also known as the Pitt's India Act of 1784 the affairs of British East India Company were brought under the control of the British Government. This Act made the provision of Board of Control and Board of Directors for looking after the activities of the East India Company. The Board of Control was to oversee the political activities and the Board of Directors were to look into the commercial and financial activities of the East India Company. The Board of Control was consisted of six members. This Act is named after William Pitt the Younger, the Prime Minister of Great Britain from 19 December 1783 to 1 January 1801 and again from 10 May 1804 to 23 January 1806. The President of the Board of Control was equivalent to the post of Cabinet in United Kingdom. This post was abolished after the Revolt of 1857 and replaced by the post of Secretary of State. Interestingly, later on Lord Ellenborough served as the President of Board of Control from 6 March 1858 to 5 June 1858 and he was replaced by Lord Stanley as the President of Board of Control who remained in this post from 5 June 1858 to 2 August 1858. Lord Stanley, subsequently became the first Secretary of State after the abolition of the post of President of Board of Control after the Revolt of 1857. Henceforth, Secretary of State for India became responsible for the affairs of British India on behalf of the British Government in UK. The Governor General of India continued to remain the Chief Administrative Officer in India, who now came to be called as Viceroy as well. It was Lord Ellenborough who in the capacity of President of Board of Control had sent Alexander Burnes (Captain Sir Alexander Burnes) to India in 1930-31, especially to explore the Sindh and Afghanistan from political point of view for the British. Around this time British were increasingly becoming suspicious of the Russian designs from the north of Afghanistan. They were thinking that from North via Afghanistan Russians may trouble the British possessions in India. Hence, British wanted to safeguard the western frontiers of British India and in this whole game Sindh and Afghanistan were having prominent place. From his travels, it can be said that Alexander Burnes had mastered the dressing style and other cultural aspects of the people of Sindh, Afghanistan and Central Asia in general. He had travelled from Sindh to Afghanistan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia. He had been to Kabul and Bukhara (Uzbekistan). It is said that he advised the British to place Dost Muhammad on the throne of Afghanistan. But, unfortunately this advise was not given attention by Lord Auckland (Governor General of India from 4 March 1836 to 28 February 1842) and Shah Shuja was placed on the throne of Afghanistan which ultimately led to lots of trouble for British in Afghanistan. In October 1831, due to the efforts of Alexander Burnes, a meeting between Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Governor General Lord William Bentinck was held. It is said that Maharaja Ranjit Singh had shown the world famous 'Kohinoor' diamond to British during this meeting. Alexander Burnes was called as 'Bokhara-Bukhara Burnes' as he had important role in exploring and estalishing the relations with this Central Asian city in Uzbekistan. He had published his memoir titled- 'Travels into Bokhara' in 1835. He got killed in Kabul at the hands of angry Afghan mob. During Sir Robert Peel's (Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet) second Prime Ministership- 30 August 1841 to 29 June 1846, Lord Ellenborough was appointed as the Governor of General of India in 1842. The three most important events of the tenure of Lord Ellenborough as the Governor General of India were the capture of Kabul (Capital of Afghanistan) and retreat to India after rescuing the hostages (in short, Lord Ellenborough brought an end to the First Anglo-Afghan War), Conquest of Sindh and the War with Gwalior. The First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-42) was the effect of or part of the Big Anglo-Russian Rivalry on the Chessboard of Central Asia. Around 1826 Dost Muhammad became the ruler of Afghanistan. British thought that he was incapable to stop the Russian interference and their advance towards Central Asia, hence he was replaced by Shah Shuja by the British in 1839. Shah Shuja also known as Shuja Mirza or Shuja-ul-Mulk was the Shah (King) of Afghanistan from 1803 to 1810 and again from 1839 to 1842 (this time due to the blessings of the British). But, the proud tribe of Afghans or Pathans retaliated and targetted the British troops or forces in Kabul. Many people which included British and Indians were taken captive. Akbar Khan, the son of deposed Shah, Dost Muhammad played important role in this Afghani retaliation. Ultimately, Shah Shuja got killed during this war. Kabul exchanged hands with Afghans and British on few occasions during the war.