# 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