Orissa Province 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 ...

created in April 1936 by the partitioning of the

Bihar and Orissa Province Bihar and Orissa was a province of British India, which included the present-day Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and parts of Odisha. The territories were conquered by the British in the 18th and 19th centuries, and were governed by the then ...

and adding parts of

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

and

Central Provinces The Central Provinces was a province of British India. It comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered parts of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Nagpur was the primary ...

. Its territory corresponds with the present-day state of Odisha. On 22 March 1912, both Bihar and Orissa divisions were separated from 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 ...

. On 1 April 1936, Bihar and Orissa Province was split to form

Bihar Province Bihar Province was a province of British India, created in 1936 by the partition of the Bihar and Orissa Province. History In 1756, Bihar was part of Bengal. On 14 October 1803, Orissa was occupied by the British Raj. On 22 March 1912, both Bih ...

and Orissa Province. Parts of the

Ganjam district Ganjam is a district in the Indian state of Odisha. Ganjam's total area is 8,206 km² (3,168 mi²). The district headquarters is Chhatrapur. Ganjam is divided into three sub-divisions: Chhatrapur, Berhampur, and Bhanjanagar. As of ...

and the Vizagapatam district of

were transferred to Orissa Province along with portions of the Vizagapatam Hill Tracts Agency and Ganjam Hill Tracts Agency and Khariar region of

Central Provinces and Berar The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India and later the Dominion of India which existed from 1903 to 1950. It was formed by the merger of the Central Provinces with the province of Berar, which was territory leased by the ...

History

In 1803 Orissa was occupied by forces of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

during the

Second Anglo-Maratha War Second Anglo-Maratha War (from 1803 –1805) was a large conflict within the Maratha Confederacy, Maratha Empire involving the British East India Company. It resulted in major loss of territory for the Marathas, including regions around Delhi a ...

, coming in 1858 under direct administration by the British government along with the company's other territories. Under the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, it was a division of the

with its capital in

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

. It had an area of 35,664 km² and 5,003,121 inhabitants in 1901. The province included the Orissa Tributary States. On 1 April 1912, the province of Bihar and Orissa was detached from Bengal, and the Orissa Tributary States were placed under the authority of the governor of Bihar and Orissa. In 1936, Orissa became a separate province with five districts, comprising an area of 83,392 km².

Governors

* 1 April 1936 – 11 August 1938 Sir John Austen Hubback (1st time) (b. 1878 – d. 1968) *11 Aug 1938 – 8 December 1938 G. T. Boag (acting) (b. 1884 – d. 1969) * 8 December 1938 – 1 April 1941 Sir John Austen Hubback (2nd time) (s.a.) * 1 April 1941 – 1 April 1946 Sir William Hawthorne Lewis (b. 1888 – d. 1970) * 1 April 1946 – 15 August 1947 Sir Chandulal Madhavlal Trivedi (b. 1893 – d. 1981)

Prime Ministers of Orissa

* 1 April 1937 – 19 July 1937 Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayan Deo (b. 1892 – d. 1974) Non-party (1st time) *19 Jul 1937 – 4 November 1939 Bishwanath Das (b. 1889 – d. 1984) INC * 4 November 1939 – 24 November 1941 Governor's Rule *24 Nov 1941 – 29 June 1944 Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayan Deo (s.a.) Non-party (2nd time) *29 Jun 1944 – 23 April 1946 Governor's Rule *23 Apr 1946 – 15 August 1947 Harekrushna Mahatab (b. 1899 – d. 1987) INC

Ministries

The Government of India Act provided for the election of a provincial legislative assembly and a responsible government. Elections were held in 1937, and the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

took a majority of the seats but declined to form the government. A minority provisional government was formed under Krushna Chandra Gajapati, the Maharaja of Paralakhemundi. The Congress reversed its decision and resolved to accept office in July 1937. Therefore, the Governor invited Bishwanath Das to form the government. In November 1939, along with Congress ministries in other provinces, Das resigned in protest of the Governor-General's declaration of war on Germany without consulting with Indian leaders, and Orissa came under Governor's Rule till 1941 when Krushna Chandra Gajapati was again made the Premier. This government lasted till 1944. Another round of elections were held in 1946, yielding another Congress majority, and a government was formed under Harekrushna Mahatab.

References

{{Presidencies and provinces of British India Provinces of British India History of Odisha Bengal Presidency

History

Governors

Prime Ministers of Orissa

Ministries

See also

References