# List of governors of Bihar

The governor of Bihar is the nominal head of the Indian state of Bihar. The governor is appointed by the president of India. Arif Mohammad Khan is the current governor of Bihar. Former President Zakir Husain and Ram Nath Kovind were two such governors of Bihar who succeeded on to become the president 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, and
* Discretionary powers to be carried out according to the discretion of the Governor.
In his ex-officio capacity, the governor of Bihar is chancellor of the universities of Bihar (at present 12) as per the Acts of the Universities.

## List of governors
### Agents, Chiefs and Governors (1650-1699)

In 1644 Gabriel Boughton, procured privileges for the East India Company which permitted them to build a factory at Hughli, without fortifications. In 1650, the factories of Balasor and Hughli were united. On 14 December 1650, James Bridgman was appointed as the chief of the factories. However, in 1653, Bridgman left suddenly and Powle Waldegrave assumed his charge.
On 27 February 1657, the company resolved its holdings into four agencies:- Fort St. George, Bantam, Persia, and Hughli. George Gawton was appointed as the Agent of Hughly. Additional three factories in Ballasore, Cassambazar and Pattana were put under the Hughly agency. In 1658, Johnathan Trevisa was appointed as the second to Gawton and was meant to succeed him after the latter's death. On 6 February 1661, the company reduced the Hughly agency under the Fort St. George, and then agent Trevisa was made the "Chief of Factories in the Bay of Bengal". On 24 November 1681, William Hedges was appointed as the "Agent and Governor for the affairs of the East India Company in the Bay of Bengal". On 21 December 1684, William Gyfford who was the President and Governor of Fort St. George was given the additional charge of Bengal due to increasing mismanagement. John Beard was appointed as the "Agent and Chief in the Bay of Bengal" and become the subordinate to Gifford.
Chief of the factories of Balasore and Hughli :
| Name | Took Office | Left Office | Remarks |
| James Bridgman | 14 December 1650 | 1653 | |
| Powle Waldegrave | 1653 | 1657 | |
| Agent of Hughly Agency |||||
| George Gawton | 27 February 1657 | 11 September 1658 | |
| John Trevisa | 11 September 1658 | 6 February 1661 | |
| Chief of Factories in the Bay of Bengal |||||
| John Trevisa | 6 February 1661 | 31 January 1662 | |
| William Blake | 31 January 1662 | 24 January 1668 | |
| Shem Bridges | 24 January 1668 | 7 December 1669 | |
| Henry Powell | 7 December 1669 | ? | |
| Walter Clavell | ~June 1672 | 7 August 1677 | Died in office |
| Mathias Vincent | 7 September 1677 | ~July 1682 (position superseded) | Deposed in July 1682 |
| Agent and Governor for the affairs of the East India Company in the Bay of Bengal |||||
| Sir William Hedges | 24 November 1681 | ~ August 1684 | Deposed in August 1864 |
| Agent and Chief in the Bay of Bengal |||||
| John Beard | 21 December 1863 | 28 August 1865 | Died in office |
| Job Charnock | ~ April 1686 | 10 January 1693 | Died in office |
| Francis Ellis | 10 January 1693 | January 1694 | |
| Charles Eyre | 25 January 1694 | 1 February 1699 | Left for England in 1699 |
| John Beard | 1 February 1699 | 20 December 1699 (position superseded) | Second to Eyre |

### President and Governor of Fort William, in Bengal (1699-1705)

On 20 December 1699, the Court of Directors (London East India Company) declared Bengal a Presidency, and then Agent Charles Eyre was made the " President and Governor of Fort William, in Bengal". The President or Chief in the Bay of Bengal for the English East India Company was Sir Edward Littleton in whose commission and instructions, dated 12 January 1698, it was also stated that power had been obtained from his Majesty to constitute him the "Minister or Consul for the English Nation" with all powers requisite thereunto.” Littleton was later deposed by the Court of Directors in 1703.
The union of the two East India Companies took place on 23 July 1702. For united trade in Bengal, a Council was appointed, of which Nathaniel Halsey and Robert Hedges were to take chair each in their week alternatively as per the dispatch from United Company on 26 February 1702. In a dispatch of 12 February 1704, it was ordered that if Beard shall die, no one will be appointed as President to succeed him. After the departure of John Beard to Madras, Ralph Sheldon assumed the position of Chief of Council, and his appointment was confirmed in a dispatch of 7 February 1706.
President and Governor of Fort William, in Bengal :
| Name | Portrait | Took Office | Left Office | Remarks |
| Sir Charles Eyre | | 20 December 1699 | 7 January 1701 | Left on account of health issues |
| John Beard | | 7 January 1701 | 7 July 1705 | Died in Office |

### President in the Bay, and Governor and Commander-in-Chief for Fort William, in Bengal (1705-1774)

On 30 December 1709, Anthony Weldon was appointed as the "President in the Bay, and Governor and Commander-in-Chief for Fort William, in Bengal" for the United East India Company. His appointment was later revoked and was supposed to be succeeded by Sheldon. Since Sheldon had died by the time dispatch arrived in Bengal, John Russell was ordered to succeed as the Governor. By a letter of 8 May 1771, the Court appointed Warren Hastings to be Governor of Bengal. By Act of Parliament 13 Geo. III., cap. 63, the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal will headed by a Governor-General, and Hastings was appointed as the first Governor-General. He assumed the office on 20 October 1774.
President in the Bay, and Governor and Commander-in-Chief for Fort William, in Bengal :
| # | Name | Took Office | Left Office | Remarks | Appointee |
| 1 | Anthony Weldon | 30 December 1709 | 4 March 1711 | Appointment revoked by the Court of Directors Resigned on March 1711 | East India Company |
| 2 | John Rusell | 4 March 1711 | 3 December 1713 | Dismissed by the Court | East India Company |
| 3 | Robert Hedges | 3 December 1713 | 28 December 1717 | died in office | East India Company |
| 4 | Samuel Feake | 12 January 1718 | 17 January 1723 | Left for England due to illness | East India Company |
| 5 | John Deane | 17 January 1723 | 30 January 1726 | Returned to England | East India Company |
| 6 | Henry Frankland | 30 January 1726 | 25 February 1732 | Returned to Europe | East India Company |
| 7 | John Stackhouse | 25 February 1732 | 29 January 1739 | Resigned | East India Company |
| 8 | Thomas Broddyll | 29 January 1739 | 4 Feb 1746 | Left for England | East India Company |
| 9 | John Forster | 4 Feb 1746 | March 1748 | Died in office | East India Company |
| 10 | William Barewell | 18 April 1748 | 1749 | Dismissed by the Court | East India Company |
| 11 | Adam Dawson | 17 July 1749 | 1752 | Dismissed by the Court | East India Company |
| 12 | William Fycthe | 5 July 1752 | 8 August 1752 | Died in Office | East India Company |
| 13 | Roger Drake | 8 August 1752 | 20 June 1758 | Deposed by the Court | East India Company |
| 14 | Col. Robert Clive | 27 June 1758 | 23 January 1760 | Resigned | East India Company |
| 15 | John Zephaniah Holwell | 28 January 1760 | 27 July 1760 | Handed over to Vansittart who was appointed on 23 November 1759 to the office | East India Company |
| 16 | Henry Vansittart | 27 July 1760 | 26 November 1764 | Returned to England | East India Company |
| 17 | John Spencer | 3 December 1764 | 3 May 1765 | | East India Company |
| 18 | The Lord Clive | 3 May 1765 | 20 January 1767 | Returned to England | East India Company |
| 19 | Harry Verelst | 29 January 1767 | 24 December 1769 | Retired from the service | East India Company |
| 20 | John Cartier | 26 December 1769 | 13 April 1772 | | East India Company |
| 21 | Warren Hastings | 13 April 1772 | 20 October 1773 (office superseded) | Appointed as the Governor-General of Fort William in Bengal in 1773 | East India Company |
| Portrait | Name | Term | Term | Appointer |
| Before 1773 the Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William was named as Governor of Bengal (1757–1772). |||||
| Governors General of the Presidency of Fort William (1773–1833) |||||
| | Warren Hastings | 20 October 1773 | 8 February 1785 | East India Company (1773–1858) |
| | John Macpherson (acting) | 8 February 1785 | 12 September 1786 | East India Company (1773–1858) |
| | The Marquess Cornwallis | 12 September 1786 | 28 October 1793 | East India Company (1773–1858) |
| | John Shore | 28 October 1793 | 18 March 1798 | East India Company (1773–1858) |
| | Alured Clarke (acting) | 18 March 1798 | 18 May 1798 | East India Company (1773–1858) |
| | The Earl of Mornington | 18 May 1798 | 30 July 1805 | East India Company (1773–1858) |
| | The Marquess Cornwallis | 30 July 1805 | 5 October 1805 | East India Company (1773–1858) |
| | Sir George Barlow, Bt (acting) | 10 October 1805 | 31 July 1807 | East India Company (1773–1858) |
| | The Lord Minto | 31 July 1807 | 4 October 1813 | East India Company (1773–1858) |
| | The Marquess of Hastings | 4 October 1813 | 9 January 1823 | East India Company (1773–1858) |
| | John Adam (acting) | 9 January 1823 | 1 August 1823 | East India Company (1773–1858) |
| | The Lord Amherst | 1 August 1823 | 13 March 1828 | East India Company (1773–1858) |
| | William Butterworth Bayley (acting) | 13 March 1828 | 4 July 1828 | East India Company (1773–1858) |
| Governors-General of India (1834–1858) |||||
| | Lord William Bentinck | 4 July 1828 | 20 March 1835 | East India Company (1773–1858) |
| | Charles Metcalfe, Bt (acting) | 20 March 1835 | 4 March 1836 | East India Company (1773–1858) |
| | The Lord Auckland | 4 March 1836 | 15 November 1834 | East India Company (1773–1858) |

### Governors of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal (1834-1854)

By an Act of 1833 (3 & 4 William IV. , cap. lxxxv., Section lvi . ), it was enacted " that 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.
Governors of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal
(ex-officio Governor-General of India, 1833-1857) :
| # | Name (birth–death) | Took office | Left office | Appointee |
| 1 | The Lord William Bentick (1774–1839) | 15 November 1834 (1833) | 20 March 1835 | East India Company |
| - | Sir Charles Metcalfe, Bt, ICS (acting) (1785–1846) | 20 March 1835 | 4 March 1836 | East India Company |
| 2 | The Lord Auckland (1784–1849) | 4 March 1836 | 28 February 1842 | East India Company |
| 3 | The Lord Ellenborough (1790–1871) | 28 February 1842 | June 1844 | East India Company |
| - | William Wilberforce Bird, ICS (acting) (1784–1857) | June 1844 | 23 July 1844 | East India Company |
| 4 | Sir Henry Hardinge (1785–1856) | 23 July 1844 | 12 January 1848 | East India Company |
| 5 | The Earl of Dalhousie (1812–1860) | 12 January 1848 | 1 May 1854 (28 February 1856) | East India Company |

### Lieutenant Governors of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal (1854-1912)

Under the Charter Act 1853 the Governor General of India was relieved of his concurrent duties as Governor of Bengal and a separate Governor of Bengal shall be appointed. Until then a Lieutenant Governor will be appointed. F. J. Halliday became the first lieutenant governor of the Bengal presidency. William Duke served as the last lieutenant governor after which the office was superseded by the Governor of Bengal province in 1912.
Lieutenant Governors of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal :
| # | Name | Took office | Left office | Appointee |
| 1 | Frederick James Halliday | 1854 | 1859 | The Marquess of Dalhousie |
| 2 | John Peter Grant | 1859 | 1862 | The Earl Canning |
| 3 | Cecil Beadon | 1862 | 1866 | The Earl Canning |
| 4 | William Grey | 1867 | 1870 | Sir John Lawrence, Bt |
| 5 | George Campbell | 1870 | 1874 | The Earl of Mayo |
| 6 | Sir Richard Temple Hart | 1874 | 1877 | The Lord Northbrook |
| 7 | Sir Ashley Eden | 1877 | 1882 | The Lord Northbrook |
| 8 | Sir Augustus Rivers Thompson | 1882 | 1887 | The Marquess of Ripon |
| 9 | Sir Steuart Colvin Bayley | 1887 | 1890 | The Earl of Dufferin |
| 10 | Sir Charles Alfred Elliott | 1890 | 1893 | The Marquess of Lansdowne |
| 11 | Sir Anthony Patrick MacDonnell | 1893 | 1895 | The Marquess of Lansdowne |
| 12 | Sir Alexander Mackenzie | 1895 | 1897 | The Earl of Elgin |
| 13 | Sir Charles Cecil Stevens | 1897 | 1898 | The Earl of Elgin |
| 14 | Sir John Woodburn | 1898 | 1902 | The Earl of Elgin |
| 15 | James Dewar Bourdillon | 1902 | 1903 | The Lord Curzon of Kedleston |
| 16 | Sir Andrew Henderson Leith Fraser | 1903 | 1906 | The Lord Curzon of Kedleston |
| 17 | Francis Slacke | 1906 | 1908 | The Earl of Minto |
| 18 | Sir Edward Norman Baker | 1908 | 1911 | The Earl of Minto |
| 19 | Frederick William Duke | 1911 | 1912 | The Lord Hardinge of Penshurst |

### Lieutenant governors of Bihar and Orissa Province

| # | Name | Entered office | Left office |
| 1 | Sir Charles Stuart Bayley | 1912 | 1915 |
| 2 | Sir Edward Albert Gait | 1915 | 1918 |
| 3 | Sir Edward Vere Levinge | 1918 | 1918 |
| 4 | Sir Edward Albert Gait | 1918 | 1919 |
| 4 | Sir Edward Albert Gait | 1919 | 1920 |

### Governors of Bihar and Orissa Province

| # | Name | Entered office | Left office |
| 5 | Satyendra Prasanna Sinha | 1920 | 1921 |
| 6 | Havilland Le Mesurier | 1921 | 1922 |
| 7 | Sir Henry Wheeler | 1922 | 1927 |
| 8 | Hugh Lansdown Stephenson | 1927 | 1932 |
| 9 | Sir James David Sifton | 1932 | 1936 |

## Governors of Bihar

Key :
| • | indicates that this was an additional charge or acting |
| # | Name | Entered office | Left office | Duration | Home State | Appointed by |
| Before Independence ||||||||
| 1. | Sir James David Sifton | 1 April 1936 | 10 March 1937 | 343 days | United Kingdom | Freeman Thomas |
| 2. | Sir Maurice Garnier Hallett | 11 March 1937 | 15 May 1938 | 1 year, 65 days | United Kingdom | Victor Hope |
| – | Sir Thomas Alexander Stewart | 15 May 1938 | 16 September 1938 | 124 days | United Kingdom | Victor Hope |
| (2). | Sir Maurice Garnier Hallett | 17 September 1938 | 5 August 1939 | 322 days | United Kingdom | Victor Hope |
| 3. | Sir Thomas Alexander Stewart | 6 August 1939 | 2 February 1943 | 3 years, 180 days | United Kingdom | Victor Hope |
| 4. | Sir Thomas George Rutherford | 3 February 1943 | 6 September 1943 | 215 days | United Kingdom | Victor Hope |
| – | Sir Francis Mudie | 7 September 1943 | 23 April 1944 | 229 days | United Kingdom | Victor Hope |
| (4). | Sir Thomas George Rutherford | 24 April 1944 | 12 May 1946 | 2 years, 18 days | United Kingdom | Viscount Wavell |
| 5. | Sir Hugh Dow | 13 May 1946 | 14 August 1947 | 1 year, 93 days | United Kingdom | Viscount Wavell |
| After Independence ||||||||
| 1. | Jairamdas Daulatram | 15 August 1947 | 11 January 1948 | 149 days | British India | Lord Mountbatten |
| 2. | Madhav Shrihari Aney | 12 January 1948 | 14 June 1952 | 4 years, 154 days | Maharashtra | Lord Mountbatten |
| 3. | R. R. Diwakar | 15 June 1952 | 5 July 1957 | 5 years, 20 days | Karnataka | Rajendra Prasad |
| 4. | Zakir Husain | 6 July 1957 | 11 May 1962 | 4 years, 309 days | Andhra Pradesh | Rajendra Prasad |
| 5. | M. A. Ayyangar | 12 May 1962 | 6 December 1967 | 5 years, 208 days | Andhra Pradesh | Rajendra Prasad |
| 6. | Nityanand Kanungo | 7 December 1967 | 20 January 1971 | 3 years, 44 days | Odisha | Zakir Husain |
| – | Justice U.N. Sinha | 21 January 1971 | 31 January 1971 | 10 days | Not Known | V. V. Giri |
| 7. | Dev Kant Baruah | 1 February 1971 | 4 February 1973 | 2 years, 3 days | Assam | V. V. Giri |
| 8. | Ramchandra Dhondiba Bhandare | 4 February 1973 | 15 June 1976 | 3 years, 132 days | Maharashtra | V. V. Giri |
| 9. | Jagannath Kaushal | 16 June 1976 | 31 January 1979 | 2 years, 232 days | Punjab | Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed |
| – | Justice K.B.N. Singh | 31 January 1979 | 19 September 1979 | 231 days | Not Known | Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy |
| 10. | Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai | 20 September 1979 | 15 March 1985 | 5 years, 176 days | Uttar Pradesh | Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy |
| 11. | P. Venkatasubbaiah | 15 March 1985 | 25 February 1988 | 2 years, 347 days | Andhra Pradesh | Zail Singh |
| 12. | Govind Narain Singh | 26 February 1988 | 24 January 1989 | 334 days | Madhya Pradesh | R. Venkataraman |
| – | Justice Dipak Kumar Sen | 24 January 1989 | 28 January 1989 | 4 days | Not Known | R. Venkataraman |
| 13. | R.D. Pradhan | 29 January 1989 | 2 February 1989 | 4 days | Maharashtra | R. Venkataraman |
| 14. | Jagannath Pahadia | 3 March 1989 | 2 February 1990 | 336 days | Rajasthan | R. Venkataraman |
| – | Justice G.G. Sohoni | 2 February 1990 | 16 February 1990 | 14 days | Not Known | R. Venkataraman |
| 15. | Mohammad Saleem | 16 February 1990 | 13 February 1991 | 362 days | Uttar Pradesh | R. Venkataraman |
| – | B. Satya Narayan Reddy | 14 February 1991 | 18 March 1991 | 32 days | Andhra Pradesh | R. Venkataraman |
| 16. | Mohammad Shafi Qureshi | 19 March 1991 | 13 August 1993 | 2 years, 147 days | Jammu and Kashmir | R. Venkataraman |
| (10). | Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai | 14 August 1993 | 26 April 1998 | 4 years, 255 days | Uttar Pradesh | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| 17. | Sunder Singh Bhandari | 27 April 1998 | 15 March 1999 | 322 days | Rajasthan | K. R. Narayan |
| – | Justice B.M. Lall | 15 March 1999 | 5 October 1999 | 204 days | Not Known | K. R. Narayan |
| — | Suraj Bhan | 6 October 1999 | 22 November 1999 | 47 days | Haryana | K. R. Narayan |
| 18. | V. C. Pande | 23 November 1999 | 12 June 2003 | 3 years, 201 days | Jammu and Kashmir | K. R. Narayan |
| 19. | M. R. Jois | 12 June 2003 | 31 October 2004 | 1 year, 141 days | Not Known | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| – | Ved Prakash Marwah | 1 November 2004 | 4 November 2004 | 3 days | Not Known | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| 20. | Buta Singh | 5 November 2004 | 29 January 2006 | 1 year, 85 days | Rajasthan | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| - | Gopalkrishna Gandhi m | 31 January 2006 | 21 June 2006 | 141 days | Delhi | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| 21. | R. S. Gavai | 22 June 2006 | 9 July 2008 | 2 years, 17 days | Maharashtra | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| 22. | R. L. Bhatia | 10 July 2008 | 28 June 2009 | 353 days | Punjab | Pratibha Patil |
| 23. | Devanand Konwar | 29 June 2009 | 21 March 2013 | 3 years, 265 days | Assam | Pratibha Patil |
| 24. | D. Y. Patil | 22 March 2013 | 26 November 2014 | 1 year, 188 days | Maharashtra | Pranab Mukherjee |
| — | Keshari Nath Tripathi | 27 November 2014 | 15 August 2015 | 261 days | Uttar Pradesh | Pranab Mukherjee |
| 25. | Ram Nath Kovind | 16 August 2015 | 20 June 2017 | 1 year, 308 days | Uttar Pradesh | Pranab Mukherjee |
| — | Keshari Nath Tripathi | 20 June 2017 | 29 September 2017 | 101 days | Uttar Pradesh | Pranab Mukherjee |
| 26. | Satya Pal Malik | 30 September 2017 | 23 August 2018 | 327 days | Uttar Pradesh | Ramnath Kovind |
| 27. | Lalji Tandon | 23 August 2018 | 28 July 2019 | 339 days | Uttar Pradesh | Ramnath Kovind |
| 28. | Phagu Chauhan | 29 July 2019 | 13 February 2023 | 3 years, 199 days | Uttar Pradesh | Ramnath Kovind |
| 29. | Rajendra Viswanath Arlekar | 14 February 2023 | 1 January 2025 | 1 year, 322 days | Goa | Draupadi Murmu |
| 30. | Arif Mohammad Khan | 2 January 2025 | Incumbent | 75 days | Uttar Pradesh | Draupadi Murmu |