MARQUESS OF (1754-1826), British soldier and governor-general of India, born on Dec. 9, 17S4, was the son of Sir John Rawdon of Moira, Co. Down, fourth baronet, who was created Baron Rawdon of Moira, and afterwards earl of Moira, in the Irish peer age. Lord Rawdon, as he was then called, was educated at Har row and Oxford, and joined the army in 1771 as ensign in the 15th foot. His life may be divided into four periods : from 1775 to 1782 he was engaged with much distinction in the American war; from 1783 to 1813 he held various high appointments at home, and took an active part in the business of the House of Lords; from 1813 to 1823 was the period of his labours in India; after retiring from which, in the last years of his life (1824-1826), he was governor of Malta. He was created an English peer, Baron Rawdon (1783), and succeeded his father as earl of Moira in In 1812 he was appointed governor-general of Bengal and commander-in-chief of the forces in India. He landed at Calcutta, and' assumed office in succession to Lord Minto in Oct. One of the chief questions which awaited him was that of relations with the Gurkha state of Nepal. Lord Moira, after travelling through the northern provinces to study the question, declared war against Nepal (Nov. 1814) . The enemy's frontier was 600 m. long, and Lord Moira, who directed the plan of the campaign, resolved to act offensively along the whole line. In 1816 the Gurkhas abandoned the disputed districts, ceded some territory to the British, and agreed to receive a British resident. This affair brought Lord Moira the marquessate of Hastings (1817) .
He had now to deal with a combination of Mahratta powers. In 1816 the Pindaris entered British territory in the Northern Circars, where they destroyed 339 villages. Before the end of 1817 the preparations of Lord Hastings were completed, when the peshwa suddenly broke into war, and the British were opposed at once to the Mahratta and Pindari powers, estimated at 200,000 men and Soo guns. Both were utterly shattered in a brief cam paign of four months (1817-18) . The peshwa's dominions were annexed, and those of Sindhia, Holkar, and the raja of Berar lay at the mercy of the governor-general, and were saved only by his moderation. Thus, after 6o years from the battle of Plassey, the supremacy of British power in India was effectively established.
While Lord Hastings's achievements were appreciated in India, the court of directors of the East India company grumbled at his having extended British territory. They also disliked his measures for introducing education among the natives and his encouraging the freedom of the press. In 1819 he obtained the cession by purchase of the island of Singapore. In finance his administration was very successful, as, in spite of his wars, he showed an annual surplus of two millions sterling. Lord Hastings did not escape unjust detraction. His last years of office were embittered by the discussions on the affairs of the banking-house of W. Palmer and company. Annoyed by the insinuations made against him, he ten dered his resignation in 1821, though he did not leave India till the first day of 1823. He was much exhausted by his nine years of labour in India, and his fortune was gone. In 1824 he received the comparatively small post of governor of Malta. He died on Nov. 28, 1826, leaving a request that his right hand should be cut off and preserved till the death of the marchioness of Hastings, and then be interred in her coffin.
See Ross-of-Bladensburg, The Marquess of Hastings ("Rulers of India" series, 1893) ; and Private Journal of the Marquess of Hastings, edited by his daughter, the marchioness of Bute (1858) .