Editing Warren Hastings (section)

===Madras and Calcutta===
Hastings arrived in Madras shortly after the [[First Anglo-Mysore War]] of 1767–1769, when the forces of [[Hyder Ali]] had threatened the capture of the city. The [[Treaty of Madras]] (4 April 1769) ended the war but failed to settle the dispute and three further [[Anglo-Mysore Wars]] followed (1780–1799). During his time at Madras, Hastings initiated reforms of trading practices which cut out the use of middlemen and benefited both the Company and the Indian labourers, but otherwise the period was relatively uneventful for him.<ref name="turnbull 52">Turnbull p. 52.</ref>

By this stage, Hastings shared Clive's view that the three major British presidencies (settlements) – [[Madras]], [[Mumbai|Bombay]] and [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] – should be brought under single rule rather than being governed separately as they currently were.<ref name="turnbull 52"/> In 1772, he was appointed to be the governor of Calcutta, the most important of the presidencies. In Britain, moves were underway to reform the divided system of government and establish single rule across all of British-controlled regions in India with its capital in Kolkata (Calcutta). Hastings became the first governor general in 1773.

While governor, Hastings launched a major crackdown on [[Outlaw|bandits]] operating in Bengal, which proved largely successful. He also faced the severe [[Bengal famine of 1770|Bengal famine]], which resulted in between two and ten million deaths.