Province of Bihar and Orissa

The Province of Bihar and Orissa was one of the former provinces of British India that incorporated the modern day Indian states of Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar. The regions were seized and occupied by the British Empire in India during the 18th and 19th centuries. These territories were part of the Bengal Presidency, which was the largest province in British India. The Bengal Presidency comprised the East Bengal and West Bengal regions and was a colonial region of the British Empire in India. The Province of Bihar and Orissa was separated from the Bengal Presidency, also known as Bengal Province, in the year 1912. The Provincial Governor had authority and control over a number of princely states of India, such as Orissa Tributary States, which was a group of erstwhile Indian princely states under the indirect control of the British administration.

In the year 1936, the province of Bihar and Orissa was divided into Bihar Province and Orissa Province. The Bihar Province included the modern day Indian states of Jharkhand of Bihar. The princely states that were under the administration of the Province of Bihar and Orissa were later put under the authority of the Eastern States Agency, a political and administrative office of the British Government of India that was formed on 1st April 1933.

The office of Governor of the province Bihar and Orissa was established in the year 1920. The territory of Bihar was a part of Bengal from 1756 and Orissa became its part since 1803. The 2 regions were divided from Bengal province in order to create the province of Bihar and Orissa in the year 1912, which was primarily governed under the authority of a Lieutenant Governor. The offices were separated later in 1936.

The chronology of the Governors of the Province of Bihar and Orissa are mentioned below-

Lieutenant Governors of the Province of Bihar and Orissa
Sir Charles Stuart Bayley (1912- 1915)
Sir Edward Albert Gait (1915- 1918)
Sir Edward Vere Levinge (1918)
Sir Edward Albert Gait (1918- 1920)

Governors of the Province of Bihar and Orissa
Satyendra Prasanno Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha (1920- 1921)
Havilland Le Mesurier (1921- 1922)
Sir Henry Wheeler (1922- 1927)
Sir Hugh Lansdown Stephenson (1927- 1932)
Sir James David Sifton (1932- 1936)