Richard (Colley), 1st Marquess of Wellesley, KP, Governor General of India (miniature on ivory)

Richard (Colley), 1st Marquess of Wellesley, KP, Governor General of India, 1804 circa. Oval miniature on ivory by Charles Shireff. Half-length in red coatee with blue facing, probably East India Company Staff uniform with gold fringed epaulettes and the Star of the Order of St Patrick. In 1797 Wellesley was appointed Governor-General of India where he pursued an aggressive policy of expansion, partly in order to reduce the French presence on the subcontinent. He also defeated Tipu Sultan, the powerful ruler of Mysore and aided by the military talents of his brother Arthur (later Duke of Wellington), checked the power of the Marathas. However, the policy of subsidiary alliances that he introduced as a means of bringing Indian states under British control, and the cost of his military exploits caused discontent at home, and he was recalled to Britain in 1805.