The Bengal Legislative Council ( was the

legislative council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

. It was the legislature of the Bengal Presidency during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After reforms were adopted in 1937, it served as the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

of the Bengali legislature until the

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

History

The council was established under the Indian Councils Act 1861. It was dominated by Europeans and Anglo-Indians, with natives as a minority, until reforms in 1909. Under the Indian Councils Act 1892 and Indian Councils Act 1909, representatives of municipalities, district boards, city corporations, universities, ports, plantations, zamindars, Muslim electorates and chambers of commerce were inducted. Native Bengali representation gradually increased. Its voting power was limited, particularly on budgets. It was delegated "transferred subjects" of education, public health, local government, agriculture and public works; while the "reserved subjects" of finance, police, land revenue, law, justice and labour remained with the Executive Council headed by the

Governor of Bengal In 1644, Gabriel Boughton procured privileges for the East India Company which permitted them to build a factory at Hooghly district, Hughli, without fortifications. Various chief agents, Governors and presidents were appointed to look after co ...

. Between 1905 and 1912, the council's geographical coverage was divided and partly delegated to the Eastern Bengal and Assam Legislative Council. During the period of dyarchy, the council was boycotted by the Congress Party and

Swaraj Party The Swaraj Party, established as the Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party, was a political party formed in India on 1 January 1923 after the Gaya annual conference in December 1922. Chauri Chaura The Swaraj Party was formed on 1 January 1923 by Indi ...

; but constitutionalists in the Bengal Provincial Muslim League continued to be active members. Under the

Government of India Act 1935 The Government of India Act 1935 (25 & 26 Geo. 5. c. 42) was an Act of Parliament (UK), act passed by the British Parliament that originally received royal assent in August 1935. It was the longest act that the British Parliament ever enact ...

, the council became the upper chamber of the legislature of Bengal.

Membership

The council grew from 12 members in 1862, to 20 in 1892, 53 in 1909, 140 in 1919 and 63–65 in 1935.

Act of 1861

Under the Act of 1861, the council included 12 members nominated by the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. The members included four government officials, four non-government

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...

s and four Bengali gentlemen. From 1862 to 1893, 123 persons were nominated to the council, of whom only 49 were native Indian members, 35 were members of the British Indian Association and 26 were aristocrats.

Act of 1892

Under the Act of 1892, the Lieutenant Governor could nominate 7 members on the recommendation of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce,

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

, district councils, the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

and the Corporation of Calcutta. Continue the Indian council act-1861 presidency changes Total members 20 0% elected membersand 0% official

Act of 1909

Under the Act of 1909, the council had the following composition. *Ex-officio members **Lieutenant Governor **Executive Councillors- 2 *Nominated members **Officials- 17 maximum **Indian commerce- 1 **Planters- 1 **Experts- 2 **Others- 3 minimum *Elected members **Corporation of Calcutta- 1 **University of Calcutta- 1 **Municipalities- 6 **District boards- 6 **Landholders- 5 **Muhammadans- 4 **Bengal Chamber of Commerce- 2 **Calcutta Traders Association- 1

Act of 1919

Under the Act of 1919, the council had 140 members. There were 92 seats assigned to general constituencies, divided into Muslim, non-Muslim, European, and Anglo-Indian sections. Another 22 seats were assigned to special electorates, namely landholders, the two universities, and commercial interests. The remaining 26 seats were filled by government nomination.

Act of 1935

As the upper chamber under the Government of India Act 1935, the council had the following composition. * General elected seats - 10 * Muslim electorate seats - 17 * European electorate seats - 3 * Nominees of the

Bengal Legislative Assembly The Bengal Legislative Assembly () was the largest legislatures of British India, legislature in British India, serving as the lower chamber of the legislature of Bengal Presidency, Bengal (now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). It ...

- 27 * Nominees of the Governor of Bengal- 'not less than 6 and not more than 8'.

Tenure

The legislative council was initially given a three-year tenure. It became a permanent body under the Government of India Act 1935, which required one third of its members to retire.

Head of the council

The Lieutenant Governor was the ex-officio president of the council until 1909, when the council was given the right to elect its president and deputy president.

References

External links

* {{Cite book , url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49306 , title=Bengal Legislative Council Proceedings.1921(v4) , date=1921 1862 establishments in British India 1947 disestablishments in British India Bengal Presidency Historical legislatures in Bangladesh Defunct upper houses in India Legislatures of British India