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 on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

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

. Its territory corresponds with the modern-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 and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

. 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 Biha ...

and Orissa Province. Parts of the Ganjam District and the

Vizagapatam district Vizagapatam District was a district in the Madras Presidency of British India. Covering an area of and sub-divided into 22 taluks. History During the British rule in India, Vizagapatam emerged as a district. It is one of the largest distric ...

of Madras Presidency were transferred to Orissa Province along with portions of the

Vizagapatam Hill Tracts Agency The Vizagapatam Hill Tracts Agency was an Agencies of British India, agency in the Madras Presidency of British India. The agency was autonomous and supervised by an Agent (law), agent subordinate to the District Collector of Vizagapatnam Distric ...

and Ganjam Hill Tracts Agency.

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 founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

during the

Second Anglo-Maratha War } The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805) was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. Background The British had supported the "fugitive" Peshwa Raghunathrao in the First Anglo-Maratha War ...

, coming in 1858 under direct administration by the British government along with the Company's other territories. Under the Raj, it was a division of the

with its capital in

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literally ...

. It had an area of 35,664 km² and 5,003,121 inhabitants in 1901. The province included the

Orissa Tributary States The Orissa Tributary States, also known as the Garhjats and as the Orissa Feudatory States, were a group of princely states of British India now part of the present-day Indian state of Odisha. The Orissa Tributary States were located in the G ...

. 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. 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 but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

took a majority of the seats but declined to form the government. A minority provisional government was formed under

Krushna Chandra Gajapati Krushna Chandra Gajapati KCIE (26 April 1892 – 25 May 1974), also known as Captain Maharaja Sri Sri Sri Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayana Deba KCIE, was a key personality and regarded as the architect , founding father of an Independent O ...

, 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 In India, President's rule is the suspension of state government and imposition of direct Union government rule in a state. Under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, if a state government is unable to function according to Constitutional ...

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 Harekrushna Mahatab (21 November 1899 – 2 January 1987) was the leader of the Indian National Congress, a notable figure in the Indian independence movement and the Chief Minister of Odisha from 1946 to 1950 and again from 1956 to 1961. He wa ...

Governors

* 1 April 1936 – 11 August 1938 Sir

John Austen Hubback Sir John Austen Hubback, KCSI (27 February 1878 – 8 May 1968) was a British administrator in India who was the first Governor of Odisha. Educated at Winchester College and King's College, Cambridge, Hubback entered the Indian Civil Service in 1 ...

(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

(b. 1899 – d. 1987) INC

References

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

History

Governors

Prime Ministers of Orissa

See also

References