Lord Curzon was Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905, known for the partition of Bengal in 1905, a series of centralising administrative reforms, the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904 and a forward policy on India's frontiers.
Curzon came to India at thirty-nine as one of the most self-assured administrators of the British Empire. He had travelled widely in Asia, written on Persia and Central Asia, and believed deeply in the moral mission of British rule. He saw India as the centre of the empire and wanted to make its administration more efficient and its frontiers secure against Russian influence.
His viceroyalty coincided with the famine of 1899–1900 and with the growing confidence of educated Indians. Curzon distrusted the Congress, which he once said was "tottering to its fall", and believed that efficient rule would win Indian loyalty better than political concessions. His reforms were wide-ranging, but many Indians saw them as attempts to reduce Indian participation in public institutions and to weaken nationalist centres.
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