Bihar and Orissa was a province of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, which included the present-day Indian states of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

, and parts of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

. The territories were conquered by the British in the 18th and 19th centuries, and were governed by the then

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

of the

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 ...

, the largest administrative subdivision in British India. On 22 March 1912, both Bihar and Orissa divisions were separated from the Bengal Presidency as Bihar and Orissa Province. On 1 April 1936, the province was partitioned into

and the Orissa Province.

History

In 1756, Bihar was part of the

Bengal Subah The Bengal Subah (Bengali language, Bengali: সুবাহ বাংলা, ), also referred to as Mughal Bengal and Bengal State (after 1717), was one of the puppet states and the largest subah, subdivision of The Mughal India, Mughal Emp ...

and while Orissa was part of the Nagpur kingdom within the Maratha Confederacy. The Treaty of Allahabad was signed on 16 August 1765, between the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II, son of the late Emperor Alamgir II, and Robert, Lord Clive, of the East India Company, as a result of the

Battle of Buxar The Battle of Buxar was fought between 22 and 23 October 1764, between the forces of the British East India Company, under the command of Major Hector Munro, against the combined armies of Balwant Singh, Maharaja of the Benaras State; Mir Qa ...

of 22 October 1764. The Treaty marks the political and constitutional involvement and the beginning of British rule in India. Based on the terms of the agreement, Alam granted the East India Company Diwani rights, or the right to collect taxes on behalf of the Emperor from the eastern province of Bengal-Bihar-Orissa. Bihar was acquired through annexation of

, while Orissa was annexed by the British following the defeat of the Marathas in the Anglo-Maratha Wars. Bihar and Orissa was separated from

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

on 1 April 1912, with

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

as capital. A number of princely states, including the Orissa Tributary States, were under the authority of the provincial governor.

Dyarchy (1921–1937)

The

Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms or more concisely the Mont–Ford Reforms, were introduced by the colonial government to introduce self-governing institutions gradually in British India. The reforms take their name from Edwin Montagu, the Sec ...

enacted through the

Government of India Act 1919 The Government of India Act 1919 ( 9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 101) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was passed to expand participation of Indians in the government of India. The act embodied the reforms recommended in the report ...

expanded the Bihar & Orissa Legislative Council from 43 to 103 members. The Legislative Council now consisted of 2 ex-officio Executive Councillors, 25 nominated members (12 official, 13 non-official) and 76 elected members (48 Non-Muslim, 18 Muslim, 1 European, 3 Commerce & Industry, 5 Landholders and 1 University constituencies). The reforms also introduced the principle of dyarchy, whereby certain responsibilities such as agriculture, health, education, and local government, were transferred to elected ministers.

Division

On 1 April 1936, the province was divided into Bihar Province (which included present-day

and

states) and Orissa Province, and the Odia speaking princely states placed under the authority of the Eastern States Agency.

Governors of Bihar and Orissa

From 1912 to 1920, the province had a lieutenant governor heading the provincial government. This post was upgraded to governor in 1920, when Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha was appointed to fill it.

Lieutenant governors

* 1 April 1912 – 19 November 1915 Sir Charles Stuart Bayley (b. 1854 – d. 1935) *19 Nov 1915 – 5 April 1918 Sir Edward Albert Gait (1st term) (b. 1863 – d. 1950) * 5 April 1918 – 12 July 1918 Sir Edward Vere Levinge (acting) (b. 1867 – d. 1954) *12 Jul 1918 – 29 December 1920 Sir Edward Albert Gait (2nd term) (s.a.)

Governors

*29 Dec 1920 – 29 November 1921 Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha (b. 1864 – d. 1928) *29 Nov 1921 – 12 April 1922 Havilland Le Mesurier (acting) (b. 1866 – d. 1931) *12 Apr 1922 – 7 April 1927 Sir Henry Wheeler (b. 1870 – d. 1950) * 7 April 1927 – 7 April 1932 Sir Hugh Lansdowne Stephenson (b. 1871 – d. 1950) * 7 April 1932 – 1 April 1936 Sir James David Sifton (b. 1878 – d. 1952)

References

External links

* {{coord, 21.00, N, 86.30, E, region:IN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki, display=title History of Bihar Provinces of British India History of Odisha History of Jharkhand Bengal Presidency 1912 establishments in India 1936 disestablishments in India