Satyendra Prasanno Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha

Satyendra Prasanno Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha of Raipur (24 March 1863 – 5 March 1928) was a prominent lawyer and statesman in British India. He was of Indian ancestry, and set many "first"s:

Career

After returning to India in 1886, Sinha established has a successful legal practice in Calcutta. He was a member of the Indian National Congress from 1896 to 1919, when, along with other moderates, he left the organisation. He was elected to preside over the Bombay session of the Congress in 1915.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sinha became Standing Counsel of the Government of India in 1903. He was the first Indian to be appointed as Advocate-General of Bengal in 1908, and the first Indian member of the Governor-General's Executive Council in 1909. He went to England in 1914 as a member of the War Conference following the outbreak of the First World War, and represented India in the Peace Conference in Europe in 1919.

Related Topics:
Government of India - Advocate-General - Governor-General - Executive Council - First World War

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He was knighted in the New Year's Honours List on 1 January 1915. He was the first Indian to be appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for India in 1919. In the same year, was elevated to the Peerage, created Baron Sinha of Raipur in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, becoming the first Indian member of the British House of Lords, taking his seat in February 1919. After his ennoblement, he navigated a bill regulating the Government of India through the House of Lords, which became the Government of India Act 1919, which transferred legislative power from the Governor-General of India to an Indian Legslature as a step towards self-government. Sinha also became a member of the Privy Council.

Related Topics:
Knight - New Year's Honours List - 1 January - 1915 - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for India - Peerage - Baron Sinha - Raipur - Peerage of the United Kingdom - House of Lords - Bill - Government of India Act 1919 - Indian Legslature - Privy Council

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He became Governor of the Province of Bihar and Orissa in 1920, the first Indian to be appointed governor of an Indian province, but retired on grounds of health in 1921. He became a member of the judicial committee of the Privy Council in 1926.

Related Topics:
Bihar - Orissa - Judicial committee of the Privy Council

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~