Lord Canning or Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning, KG, GCB, KSI, PC, also known as The Viscount Canning and Clemency Canning, was a British statesman and Governor-General of India during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
He was the first Viceroy of India after the transfer of power from the East India Company to the Crown of Queen Victoria in 1858 after the rebellion was crushed.
Lord Canning passed the Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act, 1856 which was drafted by his predecessor Lord Dalhousie before the rebellion.
Canning is credited for ensuring that the administration and most departments of the government functioned normally during the rebellion.
He also took major administrative decisions even during the peak of the Rebellion in 1857, including establishing the first three modern Universities in India, the University of Calcutta, the University of Madras and the University of Bombay.