Who's Who in India Supplement 1 (1912)/The Royal Announcements

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THE ROYAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

"We are pleased to announce to Our people that on the advice of Our Ministers tendered after consultation with Our Governor-General in Council. We have decided upon the transfer of the seat of the Government of India from Calcutta to the ancient capital of Delhi, and simultaneously and as a consequence of that transfer, the creation at as early a date as possible of a Governorship for the Presidency of Bengal, of a new Lieutenant-Governorship in Council administering the areas of Behar, Chota Nagpur and Orissa and of a Chief Commissionership of Assam, with such administrative changes and redistribution of boundaries as Our Governor-General in Council with the approval of Our Secretary of State tor India in Council may in due course determine. It is Our earnest desire that these changes may conduce to the better administration of India and the greater prosperity and happiness of Our beloved people."

This announcement was received with redoubled enthusiasm. The Master of Ceremonies. Sir Henry McMahon. then obtained His Majesty's permission to close the Durbar. Again the massed bands played the National Anthem, which all present seemed to join in singing. The escort and Royal carriage then entered the arena, and Their Majesties departed, leaving all present amazed and intensely impressed bY the greatness of the ceremonv they had witnessed and the gorgeous setting in which such an epoch-making event had taken place.