1851 in India

Events in the year 1851 in India.

Incumbents

 * James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie, Governor-General of India, 1848 to 1856
 * Vyankatrao I Raje Ghorpade, Raja of Mudhol State, 20 February 1818-December 1854
 * Muhammad Said Khan, Nawab of Rampur from 1840 to 1855, died on 1 April
 * Ghulam Muhammad Ghouse Khan, Nawab of the Carnatic, 1825-1855
 * Chintaman Rao I "Appa Sahib", founder and Rao of Sangli State, 1782–15 July 1851
 * Dhundi Rao Chintaman Rao "Tatya Sahib", Rao of Sangli State, 15 July 1851-12 December 1901
 * Gumansinhji, Maharawal of Chhota Udaipur State, 1822-1851
 * Jitsinhji, Maharawal of Chhota Udaipur State, 1851-1881
 * Ram Baksh, Prime Minister of Hyderabad, September 1849–April 1851
 * Ganesh Rao, April 1851–June 1851
 * Ratan Singh, Maharajah of Bikaner State, 25 March 1828-7 August 1851
 * Sardar Singh, Maharajah of Bikaner State, 7 August 1851–16 May 1872

Events

 * The first experimental electric telegraph line, between Calcutta and Diamond Harbour, was opened for the British East India Company
 * Oriental Bank Corporation was chartered to allow competition with the East India Company's opium billing monopoly
 * Naga raided the East India Company from 1851 to 1865
 * The first train in India had become operational on 22 December for localised hauling of canal construction material in Roorkee
 * British Indian Association, a pan-nationalist political group, was established on 31 October
 * Dadabhai Naoroji founded the Rahnumae Mazdayasne Sabha (Guides on the Mazdayasne Path) on 1 August
 * Mongnawng State gained independence from Hsenwi State
 * Murree was established in the Punjab
 * Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hyderabad was established as Apostolic Vicariate of Hyderabad from the Apostolic Vicariate of Madras
 * Holy Trinity Church, Bangalore was built
 * Government Museum, Chennai was established

Law

 * The British Parliament passed the Lunatics Removal (India) Act 1851 and the Marriages, India Act 1851
 * Indian Tolls Act
 * Court of Chancery Act 1851 (British statute)

Births

 * Mahmud al-Hasan, a Deobandi scholar who actively campaigned against Britain's rule in India, born in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
 * Jaswant Singh of Bharatpur, ruled Bharatpur State, born in Deeg on 1 March
 * Henry George Impey Siddons, an Indian educationist, born in Indore
 * Harry Charles Purvis Bell, British civil servant and a commissioner in the Ceylon Civil Service
 * Henry Stephens Salt, British writer and social reformer, born on 20 September

Deaths

 * Ayya Vaikundar, also known as Historical Vaikundar, who effectively founded the Ayyavazhi religion, died on 3 June
 * Chintaman Rao I "Appa Sahib", founder of Sangli State, died on 15 July 1851
 * Ratan Singh, Maharajah of Bikaner State, died on 7 August 1851
 * John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune, Anglo-Indian lawyer and a pioneer in promoting women's education, died on 12 August in Kolkata