Bombay and Madras

The Bombay Presidency was divided into four Commissariats (or divisions) and 24 districts, with Bombay as the capital. The divisions were as follows:

DivisionDivisional HeadquartersDistrictsPrincely States
SindKarachiHyderabad, Karachi,Larkana, Sukkur, Thar&Parkar, Upper Sind FrontKhairpur
Northern DivisionAhmedabadAhmedabad, Bharuch, The Dangs, Kaira, Panch Mahals, SuratPrincely States of Baroda and Gujarat States Agency and the Western India States Agency
Central DivisionPoonaAhmednagar, Bombay City, Khandesh, Nasik, Poona, Satara, Sholapur, ThanaDeccan States Agency
Southern DivisionDharwadBelgaum, Bijapur, Dharwand, North Kanara

Bombay and Madras were governed by a Governor-in-Council, which consisted of a Governor at the head and two regular members. The Governor was appointed by the Crown, and the council were recruited from the Indian Civil Service. Laws were made by the legislative council. The members of this council consisted of the Governor and his executive council, of which half were non-officials. For each member of the council, there were usually one or two departments which fell directly under him, and each department had its own secretary, under-secretary and assistant secretary and any number of clerks. The High Court at the erstwhile presidency capital oversaw the administration of justice throughout the Presidency, which in its turn consisted of a chief justice and seven puisne judges, along with district and assistant judges who were scattered throughout the districts of the Presidency.
“The Executive Government of each of the several Presidencies of Fort William in Bengal, Fort St. George, Bombay, and Agra shall be administered by a Governor and three Councilors, to be styled the Governor-in-Council of the said Presidencies of Fort William in Bengal, Fort St. George, Bombay, and Agra respectively, and that the Governor General of India for the time being shall be Governor of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal. From this time, the Governors-General of India held also the separate office of Governor of Bengal until the year 1854. Under the Charter Act 1853, the Governor General of India was relieved of his concurrent duties as Governor of Bengal and empowered to appoint a lieutenant-governor from 1854.”
In 1853, Queen Victoria empowered the Court of Directors of EICo to declare that the Governor-General of India shall not be Governor of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal, but that a separate Governor shall be appointed for the Presidency. Until then, the Governor-General of India in Council was directed to appoint a Lieutenant Governor of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal. In 1854, F. J. Halliday was appointed as the first Lieutenant Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Except for the title, the rest, however, concurred with Bombay and Madras – a hierarchy of officials, commissioners and their deputies.

Districts of Madras

District NameDistrict Headquarters
AnantapurAnantapur
BellaryBellary
ChingleputSaidapet
CoimbatoreCoimbatore
CuddapahCuddapah
GanjamBerhampur
GodaveriCocanada
KistnaMasulipatam
KurnoolKurnool
MadrasMadras
MaduraMadura
MalabarCalicut
NelloreNellore
Nilgiri HillsOotacamund
North ArcotChittoor
SalemSalem
South ArcotCuddalore
South KanaraMangalore
TanjoreTanjore
TinnevellyTinnevelly
TrichinopolyTrichinopoly
VizagapatamVizagapatam
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