1866 in India

Events in the year 1866 in India.

Incumbents

 * Sir John Lawrence, Governor-General of India, 12 January 1864 – 12 January 1869
 * Colonel Edmund Haythorne, Adjutant-General of India, 22 June 1860–January 1866
 * Colonel Henry Errington Longden, Adjutant-General of India, January 1866–March 1869
 * Lord Napier, Governor of Madras, 1866-1872
 * Ram Singh II, Maharao of Kota State, 20 July 1828 – 27 March 1866
 * Chhatar Sal Singh II, Maharao of Kota State, 27 March 1866 – 11 June 1889
 * Sagramji II Devaji (Sagramji Bhanabhai), Thakur of Gondal State, 1851-14 December 1869
 * Bham Pratap Singh, Raja and Maharajah of Bijawar State, 23 November 1847 – 15 September 1899
 * Shri Singh, Raja of Chamba State, 1844-1870
 * Ranmalsinhji Amarsinhji, Raj Sahib of Dhrangadhra State, 9 April 1843 – 16 October 1869
 * Madan Pal, Maharaja of Karauli State, 4 March 1854 – 16 August 1869
 * Hiravajra Singh Deo, Maharajah of Patna, 1848-August 1866
 * Pratap Singh Deo, Maharajah of Patna, 1866-1878
 * Cecil Beadon, Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, 1862-1866
 * Afzal ad-Dawlah, Asaf Jah V, Nizam of Hyderabad, 16 May 1857 – 26 February 1869
 * Robert Milman, consecrated bishop of Trichy-Tanjore Diocese of the Church of South India
 * Charles Pelly, revenue member of the Madras Legislative Council, 1862-1866
 * William Reierson Arbuthnot, member of the Madras Legislative Council, 1866-1870

Events

 * East India Association, founded by Dadabhai Naoroji
 * 47 million people were affected by the Orissa famine of 1866
 * Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi established the Darul Uloom Deoband on 31 May 1866, founding the Deobandi movement
 * Nanotvi founded Mazahir Uloom Saharanpur in November
 * Khursheed Ali Khan established Jamia-e-Imania on 15 December in Varanasi
 * Brahmoism split into the new Sadharan Brahmo Samaj sect
 * Allahabad High Court was established as the High Court of Judicature for the North-Western Provinces at Agra on 17 March
 * Naga Hills was given district status
 * British Indian administration established a post at Samaguting to end intertribal warfare and tribal raids on property and personnel in Nagaland
 * Government Victoria College, Palakkad was established in Kerala
 * Gossner Theological College Seminary was established in Jharkhand
 * St. Mary's Convent Inter College was established in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
 * Harish Chandra Postgraduate College opened on 1 April in Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh
 * Christ Church College, Kanpur opened in Kanpur as part of the University of Calcutta
 * Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay published Kapalkundala, a Bengali novel
 * Nandshankar Tuljashankar Mehta published Karan Ghelo in Gujarati
 * Edward John Waring published Pharmacopoeia of India
 * Bajaur Scouts were created
 * Scinde Dawk stamps, the first adhesive stamps used in Asia, were discontinued in June
 * British Raj acquired Dalhousie Cantonment and Bakloh for 5,000 rupees as a convalescent depot for European troops
 * Douglas Hamilton published Report on the High Ranges of the Annamullay Mountains in Madras
 * Commercial Bank of India of Bombay, founded in 1845, failed in the Panic of 1866
 * United Bank of India was established
 * Grand Chord and the Howrah–Delhi main line were opened, connecting Delhi and Kolkata while the Kalka Mail entered into service
 * Sahibganj loop was opened, connecting Khana Junction and Kiul Junction
 * Mughalsarai–Kanpur section was opened, connecting Mughalsarai Junction and Kanpur Central
 * Nasik Road railway station was opened in Nashik
 * Manmad Junction railway station was opened in Nashik
 * Khandwa Junction railway station was opened
 * Mathura–Vadodara section was opened
 * Barharwa Junction railway station was opened
 * Kanpur–Delhi section was opened, connecting Kanpur Central and Delhi
 * Mokama–Barauni section, connecting Mokama Junction and Barauni in Bihar
 * Ghaziabad railway station opened
 * Laksar Junction opened in Laksar, Uttarakhand
 * A supplement, the Pioneer Mail, consisting of "48 quarto-size pages", mostly of advertisements, was added to The Pioneer
 * HMS Malabar, designed to carry troops between the United Kingdom and British India, is launched on 8 December
 * The meteorite Jamkheir fell in Maharashtra on 5 October
 * Madurai was constituted as a municipality.
 * Coimbatore was constituted as a municipality.
 * Machilipatnam Municipal Corporation was constituted as a municipality
 * Kumbakonam was constituted as a municipality
 * Indian soldiers were first allowed promotions beyond subedar

Law

 * Indian Post Office Act
 * The India Military Funds Act 1866 was passed in the Parliament of the United Kingdom
 * The Indian Prize Money Act 1866 was passed in the Parliament of the United Kingdom
 * Naval Discipline Act (British statute)
 * Straits Settlements Act (British statute)
 * The Third Pre-Independence Law Commission passed the Draft Contract Law
 * The Viceroy's Executive Council, Sir Henry Maine and Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, passed the Indian Companies Act
 * The Viceroy's Executive Council passed the Native Converts Marriage Dissolution Act
 * The Viceroy's Executive Council passed the Trustees Act
 * The Viceroy's Executive Council passed the Trustees and Mortgage Powers Act
 * Calcutta Police Act, 1866 and the Calcutta Suburban Police Act, 1866 create the Kolkata Police Force
 * Order of the Star of India was expanded to three classes

Births

 * Gopal Krishna Gokhale, social and political leader in the Indian independence movement, on 9 May in Kothluk, Ratnagiri District, Bombay Presidency
 * Mahbub Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VI, Nizam of Hyderabad, on 17 August 1866 in Purani Haveli, Hyderabad
 * Sham Singh, Raja of Chamba State from 1873 to 1904
 * Raja of Panagal, zamindar of Kalahasti, born on 9 July
 * Khengarji III, Maharajah of Cutch State, born on 23 August
 * Syamadas Mukhopadhyaya, Indian mathematician who introduced the four-vertex theorem and Mukhopadhyaya's theorem in plane geometry, born on 22 June
 * Hiralal Sen, photographer who is generally considered one of India's first filmmakers

Deaths

 * Ram Singh II, Maharao of Kota State, on 27 March 1866
 * Hiravajra Singh Deo, Maharajah of Patna, August 1866
 * George Cotton, English educator and clergyman, known for his connections with British India and the public school system, on 6 October in Kushtia