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India House, London

Diplomatic mission of India to the United Kingdom

Field	Value
name	High Commission of India in London
image	London - India House High Commission of India (40412413273).jpg
address	India House, Aldwych, London, United Kingdom
high_commissioner	Vikram Doraiswami
jurisdiction
website
embed	yes
designation1	Grade II Listed Building
designation1_offname	India House
designation1_date	16 January 1981
designation1_number

The High Commission of India in London, England, is the diplomatic mission of India in the United Kingdom. It is located in India House on Aldwych, between Bush House, what was Marconi House (now Citibank) and Australia House. It faces both the London School of Economics and King's College London. Since 1981, India House is a Grade II listed building.

History

In 1919, a committee chaired by the Marquess of Crewe determined there existed the need to separate the agency work of the India Office from its other political and administrative roles, and recommended the transfer of all such work to "a High Commissioner for India or some similar Indian Governmental Representative in London." It was also felt popular opinion in India would view this as a step towards full Dominion status for India. The Government of India Act 1919 upheld the recommendations of the committee, making provision for "the appointment of a High Commissioner by His Majesty by Order in Council, which might delegate to the official any of the contractual powers of the Secretary of State [for India] in Council, and prescribe the conditions, under which he should act on behalf of the Government of India or any Provincial Government."

On 13 August 1920, King-Emperor George V issued the required Order in Council. Until India became independent in 1947, the post was styled "High Commissioner for India". The first High Commissioner for India was Indian Civil Service officer Sir William Stevenson Meyer; the first of Indian origin was Sir Dadiba Merwanji Dalal. The High Commissioner enjoyed the same status as his counterparts from the British Dominions. Upon Indian independence the post was given the present designation.

Proposed in 1925 by the Indian High Commissioner Sir Atul Chatterjee, the building was designed by Sir Herbert Baker and completed in 1930. It was formally inaugurated on 8 July 1930 by the King-Emperor George V.

A bust of Jawaharlal Nehru was unveiled by Prime Minister John Major in 1991.

Emblems

There are twelve emblems on the outside of the building representing the various provinces of India (during the British Raj), described as follows:

Emblem	Province	Image
Bengal tiger and an East India Company ship	Bengal	[[File:Indian Embassy in London wall plaque.jpg	100px]]
Two ships and Fort George	Bombay	[[File:Indian Embassy in London wall plaque (5).jpg	100px]]
Fort St. George	Madras	[[File:Indian Embassy in London wall plaque (4).jpg	100px]]
Bow and arrow, two rivers (Ganges and Yamuna), and two fishes	United Provinces	[[File:Indian Embassy in London wall plaque (7).jpg	100px]]
Sun and five rivers (Beas, Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, and Sutlej)	Punjab	[[File:Indian Embassy in London wall plaque (6).jpg	100px]]
Bodhi tree and two swastikas	Bihar and Orissa	[[File:Indian Embassy in London wall plaque (3).jpg	100px]]
Hills, Indian cobra, and orange and grape plantations	Central Provinces and Berar	[[File:Indian Embassy in London wall plaque (1).jpg	100px]]
Indian elephant and nine lotuses	Delhi	[[File:India House, London 20130414 121 - Copy.jpg	100px]]
Indian rhinoceros	Assam	[[File:India House, London 20130414 118 - Copy.jpg	100px]]
Indian peacock	Burma	[[File:Indian Embassy in London wall plaque (2).jpg	100px]]
Two Dromedary camels and hills	Baluchistan	[[File:India House, London 20130414 119 - Copy.jpg	100px]]
Crescent moon, hills, and Jamrud Fort	North West Frontier	[[File:India House, London 20130414 120 - Copy.jpg	100px]]

Gallery

File:High_Commission_of_India_in_London_2.jpg|The High Commission from India Place File:High_Commission_of_India_in_London_3.jpg|Close-up of some designs File:High_Commission_of_India_in_London_4.jpg|Bust of Jawaharlal Nehru on India Place

References

(14 December 2013). "The London Diplomatic List".
(14 December 2013). "The London Diplomatic List".
{{NHLE
[http://www.houseofdavid.ca/seton15.pdf "Chapter XV- The High Commissioner for India"]
(2 November 2013). "India House".
Mee, Arthur. "The King's England London: The Classic Guide". Amberley.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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