Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (third tenure)

Gascoyne-Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, was born on 3 February 1830. His first term as Secretary of State for India began under the premiership of the 14th Earl of Derby. He widely criticized handling in India of the Orissa famine and resigned over Disraeli's Reform Bill that granted wider male suffrage in Britain. After he mended his relationship with Disraeli, Gascoyne-Cecil served under him as Secretary of State for India for a second term. He would spend four terms as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, three terms as Leader of the Opposition and one term as Lord Privy Seal, as well as his own terms as Prime Minister.

Salisbury’s first term as Prime Minister began in 1885. He only held a minority rule. British Indian troops were fighting in the Mahdi Uprising at this time. In 1886, he returned to power with a Conservative majority. During this term the Maldives became a British protectorate. He opposed the candidacy of Dadabhai Naoroji, an Indian who successfully stood for a seat in Parliament in 1892. It was during Salisbury's third and final term that Queen Victoria passed away. It also witnessed the Second Boer War. In India, there was famine across the north of the country and an earthquake in Assam. Salisbury's health deteriorated and he resigned in 1902. He died on 22 August 1903.