# List of governors of Meghalaya

The governor of Meghalaya serves as the ceremonial head of the Indian state of Meghalaya. Appointed by the president of India, the governor holds office as long as the president desires. The governor's official residence is the Raj Bhavan.
The position of the governor of Meghalaya came into existence following the creation of the state in January 1972 as a result of the bifurcation of Assam. The first governor was Braj Kumar Nehru, then governor of Assam who held the additional charge of the governor of the newly created state of Meghalaya from 21 January 1972 until his transfer on 19 September 1973. From 1972 until 1989, the Governor of Assam held the additional charge of the Governor of Meghalaya. The first full-time governor of the state was A. A. Rahim who served from 27 July 1989 until 8 May 1990.
The current governor is Phagu Chauhan who has been in office since 18 February 2023 and had previously served as the Governor of Bihar. The longest-serving governor of the state is M. M. Jacob who served for 11 years, 296 days from 19 June 1995 until retiring on 11 April 2007.

## History

The position of the Governor of Meghalaya came into existence after the creation of Meghalaya as in independent state on 21 January 1972. The inaugural holder of the office was Braj Kumar Nehru, the Governor of Assam who held the charge of the Governor of Meghalaya until his transfer in September 1973. His successors in Assam, namely Lallan Prasad Singh, Prakash Mehrotra, Justice Tribeni Sahai Misra (Acting), Bhishma Narain Singh and Harideo Joshi concurrently held the additional charge of the Governor of Meghalaya. The first full-time governor was appointed in July 1989 with A. A. Rahim who served until May 1990. Since then, Meghalaya has had all full-time governors, except for few occasions.
Following the retirement of M. M. Jacob, the state's longest serving governor in 2007, then Manipur Governor Shivinder Singh Sidhu held the additional charge as the state's governor from 29 October 2007 until the appointment of Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary on 30 June 2008. West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi held the additional charge of the governorship from 6 January 2015 until 19 May 2015 after then governor Krishan Kant Paul was appointed as Governor of Uttarakhand. Assam Governor Banwarilal Purohit held the additional charge of the state's governor from 27 January 2017 till 5 October 2017 after the resignation of V. Shanmuganathan, while Arunachal Governor B. D. Mishra held the charge of the state's governorship from 4 October 2022 till 13 February 2023 following the retirement of Satyapal Malik.

## Powers and functions

The governor enjoys many different types of powers:
* Executive powers related to administration, appointments and removals,
* Legislative powers related to lawmaking and the state legislature, that is Vidhan Sabha or Vidhan Parishad, and
* Discretionary powers to be carried out according to the discretion of the governor.
Apart from enjoying various constitutional powers, the governor of Meghalaya also the Chief Rector of the North Eastern Hill University, the sole central university in the state.

## List of governors

| No. | Name | Portrait | Took office | Left office |
| 1 | George McMorine | | 1824 | 1824 |
| 2 | Arthur Richards | | 1824 | 1826 |

### governors

| No. | Name | Took office | Left office |
| 3 | David Scott | 1826 | 1831 |
| 4 | Thomas Campbell Robertson | 1831 | 1834 |
| 5 | Francis Jenkins | 1834 | 1861 |
| 6 | Henry Hopkinson | 1861 | 1874 |
| 7 | Richard Harte Keatinge | 1874 | 1878 |
| 8 | Steuart Colvin Bayley | 1878 | 1881 |
| 9 | Charles Alfred Elliott | 1881 | 1885 |
| 10 | William Erskine Ward | 1885 | 1887 |
| 11 | Dennis Fitzpatrick (colonial administrator) | 1887 | 1889 |
| 12 | James Westland | 1889 | 1889 |
| 13 | James Wallace Quinton | 1889 | 1891 |
| 14 | William Erskine Ward | 1891 | 1896 |
| 15 | Henry John Stedman Cotton | 1896 | 1902 |
| 16 | Joseph Bampfylde Fuller | 1902 | 1905 |

### Lieutenant governors

In 1905, Bengal was partitioned and East Bengal and Assam was formed, governed by a lieutenant governor.
| No. | Name | Took office | Left office | Appointer |
| 17 | Sir Bampfylde Fuller | 16 October 1905 | 20 August 1906 | The Lord Curzon of Kedleston |
| 18 | Lancelot Hare | 20 August 1906 | 1911 | The Earl of Minto |
| 19 | Sir Charles Stuart Bayley | 1911 | 21 March 1912 | The Lord Hardinge of Penshurst |

### Governors

| No. | Name | Took office | Left office |
| 20 | Archdale Earle | 1912 | 3 January 1918 |
| 21 | Sir Nicholas Dodd Beatson-Bell | 3 January 1918 | 3 April 1921 |
| 22 | Sir William Sinclair Marris | 3 April 1921 | 10 October 1922 |
| 23 | John Henry Kerr | 10 October 1922 | 28 June 1927 |
| 24 | Egbert Laurie Lucas Hammond | 28 June 1927 | 11 May 1932 |
| 25 | Michael Keane | 11 May 1932 | 4 March 1937 |
| 26 | Robert Niel Reid | 4 March 1937 | 24 February 1938 |
| 27 | Henry Joseph Twynam | 24 February 1938 | 4 October 1939 |
| 28 | Robert Niel Reid | 4 October 1939 | 4 May 1942 |
| 29 | Andrew Gourlay Clow | 4 May 1942 | 4 April 1946 |
| 30 | Frederick Chalmers Bourne | 4 April 1946 | 4 September 1946 |
| 31 | Henry Foley Knight | 4 September 1946 | 23 December 1946 |
| 32 | Andrew Gourlay Clow | 23 December 1946 | 4 May 1947 |
| 33 | Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari | 4 May 1947 | 15 Aug 1947 |
| (33) | Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari | 15 Aug 1947 | 29 Dec 1948 |
| 34 | Ronald Francis Lodge | 30 December 1948 | 15 February 1949 |
| 35 | Sri Prakasa | 16 Feb 1949 | 26 May 1950 |
| 36 | Jairamdas Daulatram | 27 May 1950 | 14 May 1956 |
| 37 | Saiyid Fazal Ali | 15 May 1956 | 22 August 1959 |
| 38 | Chandreswar Prasad Sinha | 23 August 1959 | 13 October 1959 |
| 39 | Satyavant Mallannah Shrinagesh | 14 October 1959 | 12 November 1960 |
| 40 | Vishnu Sahay | 13 November 1960 | 12 February 1961 |
| 41 | Satyavant Mallannah Shrinagesh | 13 February 1961 | 7 September 1962 |
| 42 | Vishnu Sahay | 8 September 1962 | 1968 |

### Governors

This is a list of the governors of Meghalaya state in northeastern India. Meghalaya became an autonomous state within Assam on 1 April 1970 and a separate state on 21 January 1972.
| No. | Name (born – died) | Portrait | Tenure in office | Tenure in office | Immediate prior position held |
| No. | Name (born – died) | Portrait | From | To | Immediate prior position held |
| 43 | Braj Kumar Nehru ICS (Retd.) Governor of Assam (1909–2001) | | 1968 | 18 September 1973 | Governor of Assam (continued) |
| 44 | Lallan Prasad Singh ICS (Retd.) Governor of Assam (1912–1998) | | 19 September 1973 | 10 August 1981 | Governor of Assam (continued) |
| 45 | Prakash Mehrotra Governor of Assam (1925–1988) | | 11 August 1981 | 28 March 1984 | Governor of Assam (continued) |
| 46 | Justice Tribeni Sahai Misra Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court & Acting Governor of Assam (1922–2005) (Acting) | | 29 March 1984 | 15 April 1984 | Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court and Acting Governor of Assam (continued) |
| 47 | Bhishma Narain Singh Governor of Assam (1933–2018) | | 16 April 1984 | 10 May 1989 | Governor of Assam (continued) |
| 48 | Harideo Joshi Governor of Assam (1920–1995) | | 11 May 1989 | 21 July 1989 | Governor of Assam (continued) |
| 49 | A. A. Rahim (1920–1995) | | 27 July 1989 | 8 May 1990 | Union Minister of State for External Affairs (until 1984) |
| 50 | Madhukar Dighe (1920–2014) | | 9 May 1990 | 18 June 1995 | Cabinet Minister of Finance, Uttar Pradesh (until 1979) |
| 51 | M. M. Jacob (1926–2018) | | 19 June 1995 | 11 April 2007 | Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha |
| 52 | Banwari Lal Joshi IPS (Retd.) (1936–2017) | | 12 April 2007 | 28 October 2007 | Lieutenant Governor of Delhi |
| 53 | Shivinder Singh Sidhu IAS (Retd.) Governor of Manipur (1929–2018) (Additional Charge) | | 29 October 2007 | 30 June 2008 | Governor of Manipur (continued) |
| 54 | Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary IPS (Retd.) (born 1947) | | 1 July 2008 | 30 June 2013 | Chief Information Commissioner, Assam |
| 55 | Krishan Kant Paul IPS (Retd.) (born 1948) | | 1 July 2013 | 6 January 2015 | Member, Union Public Service Commission |
| 56 | Keshari Nath Tripathi Governor of West Bengal (1934–2023) (Additional Charge) | | 6 January 2015 | 19 May 2015 | Governor of West Bengal (continued) |
| 57 | V. Shanmuganathan (born 1949) | | 20 May 2015 | 27 January 2017 | |
| 58 | Banwarilal Purohit Governor of Assam (born 1940) (Additional Charge) | | 27 January 2017 | 5 October 2017 | Governor of Assam (continued) |
| 59 | Ganga Prasad (born 1939) | | 5 October 2017 | 25 August 2018 | Member, Bihar Legislative Council |
| 60 | Tathagata Roy (born 1945) | | 25 August 2018 | 18 December 2019 | Governor of Tripura |
| 61 | R. N. Ravi IPS (Retd.) Governor of Nagaland (born 1952) (Acting) | | 18 December 2019 | 26 January 2020 | Governor of Nagaland (continued) |
| 62 | Tathagata Roy (born 1945) | | 27 January 2020 | 18 August 2020 | Governor of Meghalaya |
| 63 | Satya Pal Malik (born 1946) | | 18 August 2020 | 3 October 2022 | Governor of Goa |
| 64 | Brigadier (Retd.) B. D. Mishra Governor of Arunachal Pradesh (born 1939) (Additional Charge) | | 4 October 2022 | 13 February 2023 | Governor of Arunachal Pradesh (continued) |
| 65 | Phagu Chauhan (born 1948) | | 18 February 2023 | 29 July 2024 | Governor of Bihar |
| 66 | C H Vijayashankar (born 1956) | | 30 July 2024 | Incumbent | Environment and Forest Minister of Karnataka |