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{{Short description|Indian civil servant and administrator}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Sir Albion Rajkumar Banerji
| honorific_suffix = [[Order of the Star of India|CSI]] [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]]
| image = Albion_Rajkumar 1912.jpg
| caption = c. 1911
| order1 = [[List of Prime and Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir|Prime Minister]] of [[Kashmir and Jammu (princely state)|Kashmir]]
| term_start1 = 1927
| term_end1 = 1929
| lieutenant =
| monarch1 = [[Hari Singh]]
| predecessor1 = [[Padam Deo Singh]]
| successor1 = [[G. E. C. Wakefield]]
| order2 = 21st [[Diwan of Mysore|Diwan of the Mysore kingdom]]
| term_start2 = 1922
| term_end2 = 1926
| monarch2 = [[Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV]]
| predecessor2 = [[M. Kantaraj Urs]]
| successor2 = [[Sir Mirza Ismail]]
| order3 = Diwan of [[Cochin kingdom]]
| term_start3 = 1907
| term_end3 = 1914
| predecessor3 = [[Nemali Pattabhirama Rao]]
| successor3 = [[J. W. Bhore]]
| birth_date = 10 October 1871
| birth_place = [[Bristol]], United Kingdom
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1950|02|25|1871|10|10}}
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], India
| spouse =
| relations =
| children =
| alma_mater = [[University of Calcutta]]<br>[[Balliol College, Oxford]]
| occupation = Civil Servant
| profession =
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}

'''Sir''' '''Albion Rajkumar Banerji Esq. M.A.I.C.S.''' (10 October 1871 – 25 February 1950) was an Indian civil servant and administrator who served as the Diwan of Cochin from 1907 to 1914, 21st [[Diwan of Mysore]] from 1922 to 1926, and as Prime Minister of Kashmir from 1927 to 1929.

==Early life and education==
Banerji was born in [[Bristol]] in the [[Bengali people|Bengali]] [[Brahmo]] family of [[Sasipada Banerji]]. His father was a noted social reformer and labour activist from [[Baranagar]] near [[Calcutta]]. His mother [[Rajkumari Banerji]] was one of the first upper class Indian women to visit England. The family returned to India in 1872 and he was educated at the [[Scottish Church College|General Assembly's Institution]] and graduated from the [[University of Calcutta]]. Subsequently, he earned his master's degree at the [[Balliol College, Oxford]] and joined the Indian Civil Services in 1895.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/indianbiographic00raoc/page/n62/mode/1up|title=The Indian Biographical Dictionary| author=Rao, C. Hayavadana|year=1915|page=23|publisher=Pillar & Co.|place=Madras}}</ref>

He married Nalini Gupta, daughter of [[Krishna Govinda Gupta|Sir Krishna Govinda Gupta]], the 6th Indian to join the [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|ICS]], who, towards the end of his distinguished career in the civil service, went to the Secretary of State's Council in London.

==Career==

===Magistrate===
He cleared the [[Imperial Civil Service]] examinations in 1894 and was appointed Assistant Collector and Magistrate in the [[Madras Presidency]].
[[File:Albion_Rajkumar.jpg|thumb|Diwan A. R. Banerji]]'''Foundational Contributions'''

Sir Albion Rajkumar Banerji Esq. M.A.I.C.S. presented the Diwan's Cup for the inter-school sports held in February 1908.

==== Premierships ====

==== Kingdom of Cochin ====
Banerji was appointed Diwan of [[Kingdom of Cochin|Cochin]] in May 1907 and served till 1914.<ref name="Southern India">{{cite book |author1=Somerset Playne |author2=J. W. Bond |author3=Arnold Wright |title= Southern India: its history, people, commerce, and industrial resources|publisher= Asian Educational Services|orig-date= 1914|year= 2004|page= 372 }}</ref> He introduced ''The Cochin State Manual''.<ref name="Cochin State Manual">{{cite book |last= Achyutha Menon|first= C|title= Cochin State Manual|publisher= Cochin State|year= 1911 }}</ref>

==== Kingdom of Mysore ====
Banerji became a minister (councillor as they were known) in Diwan [[Visvesvaraya|Sir M. Visvesvaraya]]'s cabinet in 1914. After the resignation of Visvesvaraya as Diwan, Banerji became the First Councillor in Diwan [[M. Kantaraj Urs|Sir M. Kantaraj Urs]]'s cabinet. Banerji would have left [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysore]] service much earlier but ended up as the Diwan of Mysore since Urs resigned owing to ill health. He served as Diwan from 1922 to 1926. In 1923, he sought the help of [[Brajendra Nath Seal|Brajendranath Seal]] to create a constitution for the Kingdom of Mysore.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Parasher |first=Tejas |date=2022 |title=Federalism, Representation, and Direct Democracy in 1920s India |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1479244320000578/type/journal_article |journal=Modern Intellectual History |language=en |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=444–472 |doi=10.1017/S1479244320000578 |issn=1479-2443|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He signed the 1924 Cauvery accord with the [[Madras Presidency]].

==== Kingdom of Kashmir ====
Banerji was appointed the first and only prime minister of [[Kashmir]] in 1927 to [[Hari Singh|Maharaja Hari Singh]]. He resigned in 1929 over differences with maharaja on the grounds of his lavish lifestyle sustained by a poor population. His wrote:

{{blockquote|Jammu and Kashmir state is labouring under many disadvantages, with a large Mohammedan population absolutely illiterate, labouring under poverty and very low economic conditions of living in the villages, and practically governed like dumb driven cattle. There is no touch between the government and the people, no suitable opportunity for representing grievances... The administration has at present no or little sympathy with people's wants and grievances...<ref>
Geelani, Syed Bismillah. ''Kashmir, Kashmiris and Kashmiriyat'' in ''Manufacturing terrorism: Kashmiri encounters with media and the law''. Promilla and Co., Publishers, page 33.</ref>}}

==Publications==
*Indian Affairs (a quarterly journal published from London).
*[[iarchive:in.ernet.dli.2015.146325|Indian Tangle]] (Hutchinson—London)
*Indian Path-Finder (Kemp Hall Press—Oxford)
*Rhythm Of Living (Ryder & Co -London)
*Looking Ahead in Wartime (Harmony Press-London)
*[[iarchive:in.ernet.dli.2015.539422|What is Wrong with India]] (Kitabistan—Allahabad)
*[[iarchive:in.ernet.dli.2015.222269|Through an Indian Camera]] (Bangalore Press)

== Honours ==
*[[Order of the Indian Empire|Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire]] (1912)
*[[Order of the Star of India|Companion of the Order of the Star of India]] (1921)
*Knighthood (1925)

== Notes ==
{{reflist|2}}

== References ==

* {{cite book|title=Who's who – India|pages=14|publisher=Tyson & Co|year=1927}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banerjee, A. R.}}
[[Category:1871 births]]
[[Category:1950 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Civil Service (British India) officers]]
[[Category:19th-century Bengali people]]
[[Category:20th-century Bengali people]]
[[Category:Brahmos]]
[[Category:Politicians from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Diwans of Cochin]]
[[Category:Dewans of Mysore]]
[[Category:Indian Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Civil servants from Bristol]]
[[Category:Scottish Church College alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Indian civil servants]]

Albion Rajkumar Banerji - Revision history

Suresh330 at 05:02, 2 April 2026