and created a State paper currency. He died in the midst of his splendid task; but his name still lives as that of the first and greatest finance minister of India. The Bengal Tenancy Act, a memorable measure which secured the land-rights of the peasantry of Bengal, was passed under Lord Canning's auspices in 1859; the Penal Code, originally drawn up by Macaulay in 1837, became law in 1860; with Codes of Civil and Criminal Procedure in 1861.
Lord Elgin, 1862-1863.—Lord Canning left India in March 1862, and died before he had been a month in England. His successor, Lord Elgin, only lived till November 1863. He expired at the Himálayan station of Dharmsála, and there he lies buried.
Lord Lawrence, 1864-1869.—He was succeeded by Sir John Lawrence, the saviour of the Punjab. The chief incidents of his rule were the Bhután war, followed by the annexation of the Dwárs (Dooars), a submontane strip on the North-Eastern frontier of Bengal, in 1864, and the terrible Orissa famine of 1866. In a later famine in Bundelkhand and Upper Hindustán in 1868-1869, Lord Lawrence laid down the principle, for the first time in Indian history, that the officers of the Government would be held personally responsible for taking every possible means to avert death by starvation. An inquiry was conducted into the status of the peasantry of Oudh, and an Act was passed with a view to securing them in their customary rights. After a period of fratricidal war among the sons of Dost Muhammad, the Afghán territories were concentrated in the hands of Sher Alí, who was acknowledged as Amír by Lord Lawrence. A commercial crisis took place in 1866, which seriously threatened the young tea industry in Bengal, and caused widespread ruin at Bombay. Sir John Lawrence retired in January 1869, after having passed through every grade of Indian service, from an assistant magistracy to the viceroyalty. On his return to England, he was raised to the peerage. He died in 1879, and lies in Westminster Abbey.
Lord Mayo, 1869-1872.—Lord Mayo succeeded Lord Lawrence in 1869, and urged on the material progress of India. The Ambála darbár, at which Sher Alí was formally
