The Eastern Bengal and Assam 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 ...

Eastern Bengal and Assam Eastern Bengal and Assam was a Presidencies and provinces of British India, province of British India between 1905 and 1912. Headquartered in the city of Dacca, it covered territories in what are now Bangladesh, Northeast India and North Bengal, ...

, a province of the

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 ...

covering

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

and

Northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...

. It would meet in the Government House of

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

, the provincial capital. Its ex-officio head was the Lieutenant Governor of Eastern Bengal and Assam.

Constitution

The first Legislative Council was formed under the Indian Councils Act 1892. The Lt. Governor recommended members from the recommendations of District Boards, municipalities, landlords and chambers of commerce. The Lt. Governor required the assent of the

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

to appoint the nominees. The council was entitled to discuss budgets and make suggestions to the government, but lacked voting powers. Most members of the council were Europeans, with a minority being native Indian subjects.

Morley–Minto Reforms

The Indian Councils Act 1909, crafted by John Morley and Lord Minto, ushered partially elected legislative councils. The reforms increased the representation of native subjects. Land owners received the

right to vote Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in ...

. Muslims were granted the right to a separate electorate, as part of

affirmative action Affirmative action (also sometimes called reservations, alternative access, positive discrimination or positive action in various countries' laws and policies) refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking ...

. The Legislative Council assembled for the purpose of making Laws and Regulations under the Provisions of the Indian Council Acts, 1861, 1892 and 1909. It advised the Executive Council of the Lt. Governor.Ilbert, Sir Courtenay Peregrine (1907). "Appendix II: Constitution of the Legislative Councils under the Regulations of November 1909", in The Government of India. Clarendon Press. pp. 432-5.

Membership

The council included 41 members after the Morley-Minto Reforms. Its composition is illustrated in the following. *Ex-officio Member **Lieutenant Governor *Nominated Members **A maximum of 17 from Officials **1 from Indian commerce **2 from Experts **A minimum of 2 from Others *Elected members ** Chittagong Port Commission **

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 and local boards ** Landholders ** Muhammadans **

Tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

interest **

Jute Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...

interest

Geographic coverage

East Bengal had the most seats on the council due to its large population. Colonial Assam, which covers the Indian states of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

Meghalaya Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the Assam: the United Khasi Hills an ...

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

and

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

; had 5 seats on the 41-member council due to its smaller population.

References

{{reflist 1906 establishments in British India 1912 disestablishments in British India Northeast India Historical legislatures in Bangladesh Defunct upper houses in India Bengal Presidency History of Assam Legislatures of British India Historical legislatures in India

Constitution

Morley–Minto Reforms

Membership

Geographic coverage

See also

References