>The Dauphin at 21:20, 26 April 2021

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[[File:John Lawrence's Executive Council 1864.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The Supreme Indian Council, Simla, 1864]]
The '''Council of India''' was the name given at different times to two separate bodies associated with [[British Raj|British rule in India]].

The original Council of India was established by the [[Charter Act of 1833]] as a council of four formal advisors to the [[Governor-General of India|Governor-General]] at [[Fort William, India|Fort William]]. The ''Governor-General in Council'' was subordinate only to the [[East India Company]]'s Court of Directors and to the British Crown.

In 1858 the Company's involvement in India's government was transferred by the [[Government of India Act 1858]] to the [[British government]].<ref name="WDL">{{cite web |url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/393/ |title = Official, India |website = [[World Digital Library]] |date = 1890–1923 |access-date = 2013-05-30 }}</ref> The Act created a new governmental department in [[London]] (the [[India Office]]), headed by the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|cabinet-ranking]] [[Secretary of State for India]], who was in turn to be advised by a new '''Council of India''' (also based in London).

But this new council of [[India]], which assisted the Secretary of state for India contained 15 members while the erstwhile '''council of India''' contained 4 members only and was referred to as '''Council of four'''. After the establishment of the Council of 15, the Council of four was formally renamed by the Act (s. 7) as the '''Council of the Governor General of India'''.Sometimes it was also called Executive council of India.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820032456/http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/Docs/history/primarydocs/Political_History/ABKeithDoc028.htm|title=Government of India act 1858|access-date=2020-08-16}}</ref>

==Governor-General's council (1833-1858)==
The 1773 Act provided for the election of four counsellors by the [[East India Company]]'s Court of Directors. The Governor-General had a vote along with the counsellors, but he also had an additional [[casting vote]]. The decision of the Council was binding on the Governor-General. The ''[[Council of Four from India|Council of Four]]'', as it was known in its early days, did in fact attempt to [[impeachment|impeach]] the first Governor-General, [[Warren Hastings]], but in [[Impeachment of Warren Hastings|his subsequent trial]] by Parliament he was found to be not guilty.

In 1784, the Council was reduced to three members; the Governor-General continued to have both an ordinary vote and a casting vote. In 1786, the power of the Governor-General was increased even further, as Council decisions ceased to be binding.

The [[Saint Helena Act 1833|Charter Act 1833]] made further changes to the structure of the Council. The Act was the '''first law to distinguish between the executive and legislative responsibilities of the Governor-General'''. As provided under the Act, there were to be four members of the Council elected by the Court of Directors. The first three members were permitted to participate on all occasions, but the fourth member was only allowed to sit and vote when legislation was being debated.

In 1858, the Court of Directors ceased to have the power to elect members of the Council. Instead, the one member who had a vote only on legislative questions came to be appointed by the Sovereign, and the other three members by the Secretary of State for India.

==Secretary of State's Council==
The Council of the Secretary of State, also known as the India Council was based in [[Whitehall]]. In 1907, two Indians Sir [[Krishna Govinda Gupta]] and Nawab [[Syed Hussain Bilgrami]] were appointed by [[John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn|Lord Morley]] as members of the council. Bilgrami retired early in 1910 owing to ill-health and his place was taken by Mirza Abbas Ali Baig.<ref name=Chirol>{{cite book|last=Chirol|first=Valentine|title=Indian Unrest|url=http://www.freefictionbooks.org/books/i/19085-indian-unrest-by-sir-valentine-chirol?start=95|access-date=2013-08-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812230105/http://www.freefictionbooks.org/books/i/19085-indian-unrest-by-sir-valentine-chirol?start=95|archive-date=2014-08-12|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[[Wikisource:Page:The Indian Biographical Dictionary.djvu/41]]</ref> Other members included Raja Sir Daljit Singh (1915-1917), [[C.Rajagopalachari]] (1923-1925), [[Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana]] (1924-1934) and [[Abdul Qadir (Muslim leader)|Sir Abdul Qadir]]

The Secretary of State's Council of India was abolished by the [[Government of India Act 1935]].

===Members of the Council of India in London===
{{expand list|date=October 2017}}
{| width=100% class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! scope="col" | Term start
! scope="col" | Term end
! scope="col" | Names
! scope="col" | Birth
! scope="col" | Death
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
| 1888
| November 1902
| Right Hon. Sir [[Alfred Comyn Lyall]], GCIE, KCB, PC
| 1835
| 1911
|
|-
| 1888
| November 1902
| Sir [[James Braithwaite Peile]], KCSI
| 1833
| 1906
|
|-
| 1897
| 1907
| General Sir [[John James Hood Gordon]], GCB<ref>{{cite DNB |wstitle=Gordon, John James Hood|supplement=2|last=Vibart|first=Henry Meredith |volume=2}}</ref>
| 1832
| 1908
|
|-
| 1900
| March 1907
| General Sir [[Alexander Robert Badcock]], KCB, CSI
| 1844
| 1907
|
|-
| November 1902<ref name=TT21101902>{{Cite newspaper The Times |articlename=The Council of india|day_of_week=Tuesday |date=21 October 1902 |page_number=6 |issue=36904}}</ref>
|
| Sir [[Antony Patrick MacDonnell]], GCSI, PC
| 1844
| 1925
| Lieutenant Governor of Bengal 1893–1895<br>Lieutenant Governor of United Provinces 1895–1901
|-
| November 1902<ref name=TT21101902 />
| 1910
| Sir [[William Lee-Warner]], GCSI
| 1846
| 1914
|
|}

==See also==
{{col div|colwidth=40em}}
* [[India Office]]
* [[English Education Act 1835]]
* [[Central Legislative Assembly]]
* [[Viceroy's Executive Council]]
* [[Council of State (India)]]
* [[Imperial Legislative Council]]
* [[Interim Government of India]]
{{colend}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* ''A Constitutional History of India, 1600–1935'', by [[Arthur Berriedale Keith]], published by Methuen & Co., London, 1936
* ''The Imperial Legislative Council of India from 1861 to 1920: A Study of the Inter-action of Constitutional Reform and National Movement with Special Reference to the Growth of Indian Legislature up to 1920'', by Parmatma Sharan, published by S. Chand, 1961
* ''Imperialist Strategy and Moderate Politics: Indian Legislature at Work, 1909-1920'', by Sneh Mahajan, published by Chanakya Publications, 1983

[[Category:Government of British India]]
[[Category:Members of the Council of India| ]]

Council of India - Revision history

>The Dauphin at 21:20, 26 April 2021