Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Lord Islington
Succeeded byThe Earl of Lytton
President of the Indian National Congress
In office
1915–1916[2]
Preceded byB.N. Bose
Succeeded byAmbica Charan Mazumdar
Personal details
Born24 March 1863 (1863-03-24)
Berhampore, Bengal Presidency, British India (present-day Murshidabad district, West Bengal, India
)
Spouse
Gobinda Mohini Mitter
​
​
(m. 1880)​
Children7
OccupationPolitician, lawyer

Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha,

PC, KC, (24 March 1863 – 4 March 1928) was a prominent British Indian lawyer and statesman. 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 Executive Council and the first Indian to become a member of the British ministry.[6] He is sometimes also referred as Satyendra Prasanno Sinha or Satyendra Prasad Sinha.[7]

Early life and education

Sinha was born on 24 March 1863 in a

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, a scholarship of £50 a year for four years enabled him to train at 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.[7] In 1886 he returned to Calcutta as a barrister.[9]

Career

With family, c. 1909

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 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.[10] 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 1916, Sinha was named to the select committee instituted to superintend the general revision of the

Sir C. V. Kumaraswami Sastri and Piggott and Central Provinces Commissioner Sir James Walker; Sir George Lowndes
was chairman, while Vesey Dawson was deputed as Secretary. The committee met at Simla from September, concluding its initial work in December. The first World War slowed promulgation of the amended code as drafted by the committee; it was ultimately enacted in 1921.

In 1917, Sinha returned to England to work as an Assistant for Secretary of State,

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 last 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.[7][11]

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.[11]

Shantiniketan

Birbhum.[12] Satyendra Prasad Sinha donated for the construction of Sinha Sadan with a clock tower and bell. It was in this building that Oxford University conferred its honorary doctorate on the poet, Rabindranath Tagore.[13]

Sinha Sadan - 1926 CE - Santiniketan 2014-06-29 5505
Doorway - Sinha Sadan - 1926 CE - Santiniketan 2014-06-29 5525

Personal life

He was married to Gobinda Mohini Mitra on 15 May 1880 at Mahata,

Burdwan, Bengal. They had four sons and three daughters.[9]
He built a Banglow at Mahata which is still present there.

Death

Sinha died on 4 March 1928 at

Berhampore
.

Styles

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Governor of Bihar". governor.bih.nic.in. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Indian National Congress: From 1885 till 2017, a brief history of past presidents". The Indian Express. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b Sengupta, Subodh Chandra; Bose, Anjali (1976). Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Biographical dictionary) (in Bengali). Calcutta: Sahitya Samsad. p. 543.
  4. ^ "The London Gazette".
  5. ^ "The language of difference". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 June 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Dadabhai Naoroji to Nehru; Indira to Sonia: Profiles of Congress presidents". Hindustan Times. 20 November 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  7. ^ a b c "S. P. Sinha | Making Britain". www.open.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  8. ISBN 978-1-86151-490-5
    . Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  9. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36112. Retrieved 18 August 2013. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  10. ISBN 978-0-19-577389-7
    .
  11. ^ a b "Indian National Congress". Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  12. ^ Basak, Tapan Kumar, Rabindranath-Santiniketan-Sriniketan (An Introduction), p. 2, B.B.Publication
  13. ^ "Santiniketan". UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
President of the Indian National Congress

1915–1916 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
The Lord Islington
 Under-Secretary of State for India
1919–1920 		Succeeded by
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
New creation Baron Sinha
1919–1928 		Succeeded by
Aroon Kumar Sinha
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