Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha

The Right Honourable
The Lord Sinha
KCSI, PC, KC
A whole-plate glass negative portrait of Satyendra Prasanna Sinha taken by Bassano Ltd, 20 May 1920, and now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Governor of Bihar and Orissa[1]
In office
29 December 1920[1] – 30 November 1921[1]
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Havilland Le Mesurier (acting)
Under-Secretary of State for India
In office
1919–1920
Preceded by The Lord Islington
Succeeded by The Earl of Lytton
President of the Indian National Congress
In office
1915 – 1916[2]
Preceded by B.N. Bose
Succeeded by Ambica Charan Mazumdar
Personal details
Born 24 March 1863 (1863-03-24)
Raipur, Birbhum, Bengal
Died 4 March 1928 (1928-03-05) (aged 64)
Berhampore, Bengal
Spouse(s)
Gobinda Mohini Sinha (née Mitter)
(m. 1909)
Children 7
Occupation Politician, lawyer

Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha,[1][3][4] KCSI, PC, KC, (24 March 1863 – 4 March 1928) was a prominent lawyer and statesman in British India. He was the first Governor of Bihar and Orissa, first Indian Advocate-General of Bengal, first Indian to become a member of the Viceroy’s Council and the first Indian to become a member of the British ministry.[5] He is sometimes also referred as Satyendra Prasanno Sinha or Satyendra Prasad Sinha.[6]

Early life and education

Sinha was born on 24 March 1863 in Raipur, Birbhum in Bengal Presidency, British India. His father was the zamindar of Raipur and belonged to the Kayastha caste. He completed his early education from Birbhum Zilla School at Suri and then obtained a scholarship to Presidency College, Calcutta, then affiliated to the University of Calcutta, in 1878. In 1881, he left his studies in India to study law in England. In England, scholarship of £50 a year for four years enabled him to attend Lincoln's Inn where he studied Roman Law, Jurisprudence, Constitutional Law and International Law. Later, he also won the Lincoln's Inn scholarship of £100 for three years.[6] In 1886 he returned to Calcutta as a barrister.[7]

Career

After returning to India in 1886, Sinha established a successful legal practice in Calcutta. In 1903, Sinha became Standing Counsel to the Government of India in 1903 overriding the claims of an English Barrister. He was the first Indian to be appointed as Advocate-General of Bengal in 1905, a post that was confirmed in 1908. His legal practice in 1908 was so lucrative that accepting government's invitation meant a cut in his annual income of £10,000. Sinha's first inclination was to turn down the viceroy's invitation, but Jinnah and Gokhale convinced him to accept the job.[8] He also became the first Indian to enter the Viceroy's Executive Council in 1909. He was knighted in the New Year Honours on 1 January 1915. Sinha was elected President of the Indian National Congress in 1915 at the Bombay session of Congress.

In 1917, Sinha returned to England to work as an Assistant for Secretary of State, Edwin Samuel Montagu. Later, he also worked as a member of the Imperial War Cabinet and Conference along with the Maharaja of Bikaner, Ganga Singh following the outbreak of the First World War, and represented India in Europe's Peace Conference in 1919. In the same year, he was made Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for India and also raised to the peerage as Baron Sinha of Raipur in the Presidency of Bengal. He became the first Indian member of the British House of Lords, taking his seat in February 1919. He was instrumental in passing of Government of India Act, 1919 through the House of Lords.

He returned to India in 1920 and was appointed as the first governor of the Province of Bihar and Orissa. His term as Governor did not lasted long and he served on this position for 11 months on grounds of bad health. In 1926, Sinha went back to England and joined the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London but bad health forced him to return to India.[6][9]

Indian National Congress

Sinha was a member of the Indian National Congress from 1896 to 1919 - rising to become its president in 1915 at the Bombay session. He left Congress in 1919 along with other moderate members. At the Calcutta session of the Congress in 1896 - he brought a proposal that no ruler of any Indian State should be deposed without an open judicial trial.[9]

Death

Sinha died on 4 March 1928 at Berhampore.

Personal Life

He was married to Gobinda Mohini Mitter on 15 May 1880 at Mahata, Burdwan, Bengal. They had four sons and three daughters.[7]

Styles

  • 1863–1886: Satyendra Prasad Sinha
  • 1886–1915: Satyendra Prasad Sinha, KC
  • 1915-10 February 1919: Sir Satyendra Prasad Sinha, KC
  • 10–19 February 1919: The Right Honourable Sir Satyendra Prasad Sinha, PC, KC
  • 19 February 1919 – 1920: The Right Honourable The Lord Sinha, PC, KC
  • 1920-1921: His Excellency The Right Honourable The Lord Sinha, PC, KC
  • 1921–1928: The Right Honourable The Lord Sinha, KCSI, PC, KC

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Governor of Bihar". governor.bih.nic.in. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
  2. ↑ "Indian National Congress: From 1885 till 2017, a brief history of past presidents". The Indian Express. 2017-12-04. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
  3. ↑ "The London Gazette". The London Gazette.
  4. ↑ "The language of difference". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
  5. ↑ "Dadabhai Naoroji to Nehru; Indira to Sonia: Profiles of Congress presidents". Hindustan Times. 2017-11-20. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
  6. 1 2 3 "S. P. Sinha | Making Britain". www.open.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
  7. 1 2 FitzGerald, S. V. (2004). "Sinha, Satyendra Prasanna, first Baron Sinha (1863–1928)". revised Raychaudhuri, Tapan. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press. Retrieved 18 August 2013. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  8. ↑ Wolpert, Stanley (2013). Jinnah of Pakistan. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-19-577389-7.
  9. 1 2 "Indian National Congress". Indian National Congress. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
  • Biographies:
    • Ali, Muhammad Ansar (2012). "Sinha, Lord Satyendra Prasanna". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  • Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery
Political offices
Preceded by
B.N. Bose		 President of the Indian National Congress
1915–1916		 Succeeded by
Ambica Charan Mazumdar
Political offices
Preceded by
The Lord Islington		 Under-Secretary of State for India
1919–1920		 Succeeded by
The Earl of Lytton
Political offices
Preceded by
New office
(Sir Edward Gait
as Lieutenant Governor)		 Governor of Bihar and Orissa
1920–1921		 Succeeded by
Havilland Le Mesurier
(acting)
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
New creation		 Baron Sinha
1919–1928		 Succeeded by
Aroon Kumar Sinha
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