Council of State (India)
The Council of State was the upper house of the legislature for British India created by the Government of India Act 1919 from the old Imperial Legislative Council, implementing the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. The Central Legislative Assembly was the lower house.
As a result of Indian independence, the Council of State was dissolved on 14 August 1947 and its place taken by the Constituent Assembly of India and the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.
The Council of State used to meet at the Metcalfe House. The Viceroy or Governor-General was its ex officio President.
Composition
1919 to 1937
The Council of States was created by the Government of India Act 1919. As per this Act, the Council was to have 60 members. The composition was as follows:- Members nominated by the Governor-General
- * Officials
- * Non-officials, one of whom was nominated as the result of an election held in Berar.
- Elected members
- * General : Madras, Bombay, Bengal, United Provinces, Punjab, Bihar & Orissa, Central Provinces, Burma, Assam
- * Muslim : Madras, Bombay, Bengal, United Provinces, Punjab, Bihar & Orissa
- * Chamber of Commerce : Bombay, Bengal, Burma
- * Sikh
- Madras : General, Muslim
- Bombay : General, Muslim , Bombay Chamber of Commerce
- Bengal : General , Muslim , Bengal Chamber of Commerce
- United Provinces : General , Muslim
- Punjab : General, Muslim , Sikh
- Bihar & Orissa : General, Muslim
- Central Provinces : General
- Burma : General, Burma Chamber of Commerce
- Assam : General in rotation with Muslim
The members had a tenure of 5 years. There were no women members.
The elected members were voted from an electorate consisting of persons who fulfilled either condition
- Paid an annual income tax of Rs. 10,000 or annual land revenue of Rs. 750
- Member of the Senate of any University
- Experience in any Legislative Council in India or
- Title-holder
1937 to 1947
The Government of India Act 1935 introduced further reforms. The size of the Council was increased to 260 members, 156 came from provinces while 104 came from the princely states. However, elections to the federal legislature did not take place until 1946.Members of First Council of State (1921)
Nominated
- Officials: General Lord Rawlinson
- Non-Officials: Sir Dinshaw Edulji Wacha, G. A. Natesan, Sir Leslie Creery Miller, Soshi Kanta Acharya of Mymensingh, Sir Mohamed Muzamilullah Khan of Bhikampur, Sir Amiruddeen Ahmed Khan of Loharu, Sardar Charanjit Singh, Harnam Singh, Sir Muhammad Rafique
- Berar Representative: G. S. Khaparde
Elected
- Assam: Chandradhar Barua
- Bengal: Sir Benode Chandra Mitter, Sir Deva Prasad Sarvadhikary, Raja Pramada Nath Ray of Dighapatia, Haji Chowdhuri Mohammad Ismail Khan, Maulvi Abdul Karim,
- Bihar & Orissa: Rameshwar Singh of Darbhanga, Keshav Prasad Singh of Dumraon, Babu Ramashray Prashad Choudhary of Dalsinghsarai, Saiyid Zahir-ud-din,
- Bombay: Lalubhai Samaldas, Vaman Govind Kale, Pheroze Sethna, Raghunath Pandurang Karandikar, Ebrahim Haroon Jaffer, Ali Baksh Muhammad Hussain, Ghulam Muhammad Bhurgri, Sir Arthur Froom
- Burma: Maung Bo Pye, Sir Edgar Holberton
- Central Provinces: Maneckji Byramji Dadabhoy
- Madras: K. V. Rangaswamy Iyengar, V. S. Srinivasa Sastri, S. Rm. M. Annamalai Chettiar, V. Ramabhadra Naidu, Ahmed Tamby Maricair
- Punjab: Lala Ram Saran Das, Sir Malik Umar Hayat Khan, Zulfikar Ali Khan, Jogendra Singh
- United Provinces: Raja Sir Rampal Singh Lala Sukhbir Sinha, Raja Moti Chand, Nawab Muhammad Abdul Majid, Saiyid Raza Ali
- Other: Manindra Chandra Nandy Maharaja of Cossimbazar, Ganganath Jha, E. M. Cook, Denys Bray, H. D. Craik, B. C. Mitter, J. A. Richey, B. N. Sarma, J. R. Wood, Sevasila Vedamurti
Members of Second Council of State (1926)
Nominated
- Officials: Field Marshal Sir William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, Sir Muhammad Habibullah, Satish Ranjan Das, Major General Sir Robert Charles MacWatt, David Thomas Chadwick, Arthur Cecil McWatters, James Crerar, Arthur Herbert Ley, John Perronet Thompson, James Alexander Bichey, Sir Clement Hindley, Thomas Emerson, Kiran Chandra De, John Austen Hubback, D. Weston, Evelyn Bobins Abbott, Sir Charles George Todhunter, H. A. B. Vernon, Dewan Tek Chand, A. Latifi, Pandit Shyam Bihari Misra, John Ernest Buttery Hotson, G. W. Hatch
- Non-Officials: Keshav Chandra Roy, Sir Bijoy Chand Mahtab, Prince Afsar-ul-Mulk Mirza Muhammad Akram Hussain, Sir Dinshaw Edulji Wacha, Raja Sir Harnam Singh, Sardar Charanjit Singh, Sir Malik Umar Hayat Khan, Raja Nawab Ali Khan, Raja Ramakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili, G. A. Natesan, Major Nawab Mahomed Akbar Khan, Maneckji Dadabhoy, G. S. Khaparde
Elected Members
- Assam: Khan Bahadur Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhury, Zaminder Bhatipara Estate, founding member of All India Muslim League, active participant of Islamic Khelafat Andolon, philanthropist, legislator of Assam Legislative Council
- Bengal: Lokenath Mukherjee, Rai Bahadur Nalini Nath Seth, Mahmood Suhrawardy, Maulvi Abdul Karim, John William Anderson Bell, G. C. Godfrey
- Bihar & Orissa: Rameshwar Singh, Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Mahendra Prasad, Shah Muhammad Zubair
- Bombay: Pheroze Sethna, Ratansi D. Morarji, Manmohandas Ramji Vora, Ebrahim Haroon Jaffer, Mian Ali Baksh Muhammad Hussain, Sir Arthur Froom
- Burma: Pundi Chetlur Desika Chari, Sir Edgar Holberton, W. A. Gray
- Central Provinces: Seth Govind Das
- Madras: Saiyed Mohamad Padshah Sahib Bahadur, Dr. U. Rama Rao , V. Ramadas Pantulu, Sir C. Sankaran Nair, S. Rm. M. Annamalai Chettiar
- Punjab: Lala Ram Saran Das, Nawab Sahibzada Sayad Mohammad Mehr Shah, Sardar Shivdev Singh Uberoi
- United Provinces: Munshi Narayan Prasad Asthana, Raja Moti Chand, Prakash Narain Sapru, Raja Sir Rampal Singh, Saiyid Alay Nabi, Maharaja Sir Muhammad Ali Muhamamd Khan, Nawab Sir Muhammad Muzammil-ullah Khan, Sukhbir Sinha
- Other: Madhav Shrihari Aney, Hussain Imam, Syed Muhammad Padshah, Raja Yuvaraj Dutta Singh, Srinarain Mehta
Members of Third Council of State (1930-1936)
Nominated
- Government of India:
- Officials from Provinces: A de C. Williams, Sir Guthrie Russell, T. M. Dow, E. F. Thomas
- Non-Officials: G. S. Khaparde, Khwaja Habibullah, Maharaja Jagadish Nath Ray, Pandit Gokaran Nath Agra, Shaikh Magbul Husain, Raja Charanjit Singh, Nawab Malik Mohammad Hayat Khan Noon, Major Nawab Sir Mahomed Akbar Khan, Maharaja Kameshwar Singh of Darbhanga, Khan Bahadur Shams-ud-din Haidar, Sir Nasarvanji Choksy, Sir Josna Ghosal
Elected Members
- Assam: Khan Bahadur Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhury, Zaminder Bhatipara Estate, founding member of All India Muslim League, active participant of Islamic Khelafat Andolon, philanthropist, legislator of Assam Legislative Council
- Bengal: Jagadish Chandra Banerjee, Nripendra Narayan Sinha, Satyendra Chandra Ghose Maulik, Mahmood Suhrawardy, Syed Abdul Hafeez, George Campbell
- Bihar & Orissa: Babu Ramashray Prashad Choudhary of Dalshinghsarai, Abdullah Syed Hussain Imam
- Bombay: Sardar Shri Jagannath Maharaj Pandit, Shantidas Askuran, Pheroze Sethna, Sir Suleman Cassum Haji Mitha, Ali Baksh Muhammad Hussain, R. H. Parker
- Burma: J. B. Glass
- Central Provinces: V. V. Kalikar
- Madras: S. Rm. M. Annamalai Chettiar, Yarlagadda Ranganayakulu Naidu, V. C. Vellingiri Gounder, G. N. Chetty, Syed Muhammad Padshah Saheb Bahadur,
- Punjab: Lala Ram Saran Das, Sardar Buta Singh, Chaudhri Muhammad Din
- United Provinces: Lala Mathura Prasad Mehrotra, Lala Jagdish Prasad, Prakash Narain Sapru, Hafiz Muhammad Halim, Shaikh Mushir Hosain Kidwai
Fourth Council of State
Nominated
- Officials: General Sir Claude Auchinleck, Sir Mohammad Usman, Jogendra Singh, Feroz Khan Noon, Sir Satyendranath Roy, C. E. Jones, E. Conran-Smith, G. S. Bozman, Shavax A. Lal, A de C. Williams, N. R. Pillai, Ernest Wood, B. R. Sen
- Non-Officials: Sir David Devadoss, K. Ramunni Menon, Sir Josna Ghosal, Maneckji Dadabhoy, Raja Charanjit Singh, Shamsuddin Haidar, Brijlal Nandlal Biyani, A. P. Patro, Rahimtoola Chinoy, Satyendra Kumar Das, Sir Satya Charan Mukherjee, Sir Mohammad Yakub, Sardar Nihal Singh, Khurshid Ali Khan, Lt. Col. Sir S. Hissam-ud-din Bahadur, Sobha Singh, Sri Narain Mehta, Mohendra Lal Das,
Elected Members
- Assam: Khan Bahadur Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhury, Zaminder Bhatipara Estate, founding member of All India Muslim League, active participant of Islamic Khelafat Andolon, philanthropist, legislator of Assam Legislative Council
- Bengal: Kumarsankar Ray Chaudhury, Kumar Nripendra Narayan Sinha, Susil Kumar Roy Chowdhury
- Bihar: Maharaja Kameshwar of Darbhanga , Hossain Imam
- Bombay: Shantidas Askuran, Govindalal Shivlal Motilal, Maneckji Nadirshaw Dalal, Sir Suleman Cassum Haji Mitha, R. H. Parker
- Central Provinces: V. V. Kalikar
- Madras: Rao Bahadur K. Govindachari, M. Ct. M. Chidambaram Chettyar, Narayandas Girdhardas, V. Ramadas Pantulu, Saiyad Mohamed Sahib Bahadur
- Orissa: Nikunja Kishore Das,
- Punjab: Lala Ram Saran Das, Chaudhri Ataullah Khan Tarar, Sardar Buta Singh
- Sind: Ali Buksh Mohammad Hussain
- United Provinces: H. N. Kunzru, Prakash Narain Sapru, Haji Syed Mohamed Husain, Chaudhri Niamatullah
Presidents
- Henry Moncrieff Smith
- Montagu Sherard Dawes Butler
- Sir Maneckji Byramji Dadabhoy