The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947, the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, frequently abbreviated to Viceroy of India) was the British king's official in India and, following India's independence in 1947, the Indian head of province's official. In 1773, the Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William was created. He had command authority of just Fort William, although he was in charge of other East India Company commanders throughout India. The executive was given entire control over the whole of India in 1833, earning him the title of 'Governor-General of India.'

As a result of the Indian Rebellion the previous year, the East India Company's territory and assets were placed under the direct authority of the British Crown in 1858, and the Company's reign in India was replaced by the British Raj. The Governor-General (today sometimes known as the Viceroy) was the head of the Indian central government, which oversaw the administration of British India's provinces such as the Punjab, Bengal, Bombay, Madras, the United Provinces, and others. Outside of British India's divisions, there were hundreds of purportedly autonomous princely states or 'native kingdoms' whose connection was one of reverence to the British monarch as sovereign heir to the Mughal dynasty, rather than with the British authorities or the U.K. The extra title of Viceroy was conferred to the Governor-General in 1858 to reflect his new function as the monarch's envoy in loyalty ties with princely nations, and the new post was dubbed 'Viceroy and Governor-General of India.' 'Viceroy of India' was a common abbreviation.

When British India was divided into two autonomous dominions, India and Pakistan, the title of Viceroy was dropped, but the offices of Governor-General remained in place in each nation until they accepted republican constitutions in 1950 and 1956, accordingly.