The Council of Four was set up to limit the influence of the Governor-General of India, Warren Hastings. It consisted of Phillip Francis, Colonel Moson, General George Clavering and a designated East India Company servant, Richard Barwell. Phillip Francis was a close friend of the previous Governor, Clive of India. Francis attempted to persuade the other council members that Hastings was a corrupt despot. The Governor-General of India (or Governor-General and Viceroy of India) was the head of the British administration in India. ... Warren Hastings (December 6, 1732 - August 22, 1818) was the first governor-general of British India, from 1773 to 1786. ... Jump to: navigation, search The British East India Company, sometimes referred to as John Company, was a joint-stock company of investors, which was granted a Royal Charter by Elizabeth I on December 31, 1600, with the intent to favour trade privileges in India. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Before they arrived in Bengal, Francis, Clavering and Monson met Joseph Fowke, who had been severely affected by the policies of Warren Hastings. He explained to the council the 'detrimental effects' of the Governor-General's policies. The meeting was probably engineered by Francis. Francis owed an allegiance to Clive, and moulded the opinions of Clavering and Monson, who grew to oppose the policies of Hastings. This was to create great turmoil in the following years. Monson, Clavering and Francis strove to undermine Hastings' policies and attempted to depose the Governor-General. Jump to: navigation, search Bengal, known as Bôngo (Bengali: বঙ্গ), Bangla (বাংলা), Bôngodesh (বঙ্গদেশ), or Bangladesh (বাংলাদেশ) in Bangla (Bengali), is a region in the northeast of South Asia. ...

The situation climaxed with the Maharaja Nandakumar affair, in which Francis through Nandakumar (a.k.a. Nuncomar), the last important member of the Moghul bureaucracy, accused Hastings of fraud and high corruption. This attempt to impeach Hastings was unsuccessful and Nandakumar was hanged in 1775 after being found guilty of forgery by Sir Elijah Impey, the Chief Justice of the newly established Supreme Court of India in Calcutta. Hastings was accused of committing a judicial murder with Sir Elijah's connivance during his impeachment by Edmund Burke. 1775 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search Edmund Burke The Right Honourable Edmund Burke (January 12, 1729 – July 9, 1797) was an Anglo-Irish statesman, author, orator and political philosopher, who served for many years in the British House of Commons as a member of the Whig party. ...

The 'majority', (Francis, Clavering and Monson), within the council was ended with the death of Monson, and Clavering died a year later. Francis was left powerless, but he remained in India and consistently strove to undermine the work of the Governor-General. Eventually the bitter rivalry between the two men culminated in a duel, where Francis was shot in the arm by Warren Hastings, he left India in the hope of impeaching Hastings.