List of governors of Assam

This is a list of governors of Assam, and other offices of similar scope, from the start of British occupation of the area in 1824 during the First Anglo-Burmese War.

Governor of Assam
Emblem of Assam
Incumbent Lakshman Prasad Acharya since 30 July 2024
Style	His Excellency
Residence	Raj Bhawan, Guwahati
Appointer	President of India
Term length	5 Years
Inaugural holder	Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari (Independent India) Nicholas Beatson-Bell (Pre-Independent India)
Formation	3 January 1921; 103 years ago (1921-01-03)
Website	https://rajbhavan.assam.gov.in

The governor of Assam is a nominal head and representative of the president of India in the state of Assam. The governor is appointed by the president for a term of five years. The current governor is Lakshman Acharya.

Powers and functions

See also: Governors of India § Powers and functions

The governor has:

• Executive powers related to administration, appointments and removals
• Legislative powers related to lawmaking and the state legislature, that is Vidhan Sabha or Vidhan Parishad
• Discretionary powers to be carried out according to the discretion of the governor

British military commanders in occupied Assam (1824–26)

In 1824, British forces occupied Assam, which was politically never part of either India or Burma

• George McMorine, 1824
• Arthur Richards, 1824–26

British political agents in Assam (1826–28)

On 24 February 1826, the Treaty of Yandaboo ceded portions of Assam from Burma to Britain.

• David Scott, 1826–28

Commissioners of Assam (1828–74)

In 1828, Western Assam was incorporated into the province of Bengal, followed by the rest of Assam in 1833. A commissioner of Assam was appointed, subordinate to the governor of Bengal.

• David Scott, 1828–20 August 1831, continued
• Thomas Campbell Robertson, 1831–34
• Francis Jenkins, 1834–61
• Henry Hopkinson, 1861–74

Chief commissioners of Assam (1874–1905)

In 1874, Assam was separated from the Bengal Presidency, and its status was upgraded to a chief commissioner's province.

• Richard Harte Keatinge, 1874–78
• Steuart Colvin Bayley, 1878–81
• Sir Charles Alfred Elliott, 1881–85
• William Erskine Ward, 1885–87, first time
• Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick, 1887–89
• James Westland, 1889
• James Wallace Quinton, 1889–91
• William Erskine Ward, 1891–96, second time
• Sir Henry John Stedman Cotton, 1896–1902
• Sir Joseph Bampfylde Fuller, 1902–05

Lieutenant governors of East Bengal and Assam (1905–12)

In 1905, Bengal was partitioned and East Bengal and Assam was formed, governed by a lieutenant governor.

• Sir Joseph Bampfylde Fuller, 1905–06
• Lancelot Hare, 1906–11
• Charles Stuart Bayley, 1911–12

Chief commissioners of Assam (1912–21)

In 1912, East Bengal was re-incorporated into the Bengal presidency, and Assam Province was again governed by a chief commissioner.

• Sir Archdale Earle, 1912–18
• Sir Nicholas Dodd Beatson-Bell, 1918–3 January 1921

Governors of Assam (1921–47)

In 1921, the chief commissionership was upgraded to governor.

1. Sir Nicholas Dodd Beatson-Bell, 3 January 1921 – 2 April 1921
2. Sir William Sinclair Marris, 3 April 1921 – 10 October 1922
3. Sir John Henry Kerr, 10 October 1922 – 28 June 1927
4. Sir Egbert Laurie Lucas Hammond, 28 June 1927 – 11 May 1932
5. Sir Michael Keane, 11 May 1932 – 4 March 1937
6. Sir Robert Niel Reid, 4 March 1937 – 4 May 1942
   1. Henry Joseph Twynam, 24 February 1938 – 4 October 1939, (acting for Reid)
7. Sir Andrew Gourlay Clow, 4 May 1942 – 4 May 1947
   1. Frederick Chalmers Bourne, 4 April 1946–?, (acting for Clow)
   2. Henry Foley Knight, 4 September 1946 – 23 December 1946, (acting for Clow)
8. Sir Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari, 4 May 1947 – 15 August 1947

Governors of Assam since 1947

No.	Name	Portrait	Took office	Left office	Duration	Home State	Appointed by
1.	Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari		15 Aug 1947	29 Dec 1948	1 year, 136 days	Andhra Pradesh	Lord Mountbatten
-	Ronald Francis Lodge (acting)		30 December 1948	15 February 1949	47 days	Not Known	C. Rajagopalachari
2.	Sri Prakasa		16 Feb 1949	26 May 1950	1 year, 99 days	Uttar Pradesh
3.	Jairamdas Daulatram		27 May 1950	14 May 1956	5 years, 353 days	British India	Rajendra Prasad
4.	Saiyid Fazal Ali		15 May 1956	22 August 1959	3 years, 99 days	Bihar
5.	Chandreswar Prasad Sinha		23 August 1959	13 October 1959	51 days	Not Known
6.	Satyavant Mallannah Shrinagesh		14 October 1959	12 November 1960	1 year, 29 days	Maharashtra
7.	Vishnu Sahay		13 November 1960	12 February 1961	91 days	Uttar Pradesh
(6).	Satyavant Mallannah Shrinagesh		13 February 1961	7 September 1962	1 year, 206 days	Maharashtra
(7).	Vishnu Sahay		8 September 1962	16 April 1968	5 years, 221 days	Uttar Pradesh	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
8.	Braj Kumar Nehru		17 April 1968	7 December 1970	2 years, 234 days		Zakir Husain
-	Parbati Kumar Goswami (acting for Nehru)		8 December 1970	4 January 1971	27 days	Assam	V. V. Giri
(8).	Braj Kumar Nehru		5 January 1971	18 September 1973	2 years, 256 days	Uttar Pradesh
9.	Lallan Prasad Singh		19 September 1973	11 August 1981	7 years, 326 days	Bihar
10.	Prakash Mehrotra		12 August 1981	28 March 1984	2 years, 229 days	Uttar Pradesh	Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy
11.	Tribeni Sahai Misra		29 March 1984	15 April 1984	17 days	Not Known	Zail Singh
12.	Bhishma Narain Singh		16 April 1984	11 May 1989	5 years, 25 days	Jharkhand
13.	Harideo Joshi		12 May 1989	26 July 1989	75 days	Rajasthan	R. Venkataraman
14.	Anisetti Raghuvir		27 July 1989	1 May 1990	278 days	Not Known
15.	Devi Das Thakur		2 May 1990	16 March 1991	318 days	Jammu and Kashmir
16.	Loknath Mishra		17 March 1991	31 August 1997	6 years, 167 days	Odisha
17.	Srinivas Kumar Sinha		1 September 1997	20 April 2003	5 years, 231 days	Bihar	K. R. Narayan
18.	Arvind Dave		21 April 2003	4 June 2003	44 days	Rajasthan	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
19.	Ajai Singh		5 June 2003	3 July 2008	5 years, 28 days
20.	Shiv Charan Mathur		4 July 2008	25 June 2009	356 days		Pratibha Patil
21.	K Sankaranarayanan		26 June 2009	26 July 2009	30 days	Kerala
22.	Syed Sibtey Razi		27 July 2009	10 December 2009	136 days	Uttar Pradesh
23.	Janaki Ballabh Patnaik		11 November 2009	11 December 2014	5 years, 30 days	Odisha
24.	Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya		12 December 2014 [1]	21 August 2016	1 year, 253 days	Karnataka	Pranab Mukherjee
25.	Banwarilal Purohit		22 August 2016 [2]	9 October 2017	1 year, 48 days	Maharashtra
26.	Jagdish Mukhi		10 October 2017[3]	14 February 2023	5 years, 127 days	Delhi	Ramnath Kovind
27.	Gulab Chand Kataria		22 February 2023	29 July 2024	1 year, 158 days	Rajasthan	Draupadi Murmu
28.	Lakshman Prasad Acharya		30 July 2024	Incumbent	84 days	Uttar Pradesh

See also

• History of Assam
• Chief Minister of Assam
• Governors of India

References

1. "P B Acharya to assume additional charge as Assam Governor". The Indian Express. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
2. "Najma Heptulla, Mukhi appointed Governors". Business Standard India. 17 August 2016.
3. The Times of India (30 September 2017). "New governors appointed: All you need to know". Archived from the original on 13 December 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.

• List of Governors from assamassembly.nic.in
• http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_states.html#Assam
• http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_BrProvinces.htm#Assam
• "Colonial administrators and post-independence leaders in India (1616–2000)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)