List of heads of state of India

This is a list of the heads of state of India, from the independence of India in 1947 to the present day.

From 1947 to 1950 the head of state under the Indian Independence Act 1947 was George VI, who was also the monarch of the United Kingdom and of the other Dominions of the British Commonwealth. The monarch was represented in India by a Governor-General. India became a republic under the Constitution of 1950 and the monarch and Governor-General were replaced by a ceremonial President.

Monarch (1947–1950)

The succession to the throne was the same as the succession in the United Kingdom, governed by the Act of Settlement 1701.

Monarch			Reign			Royal House	Prime Minister
#	Portrait	Name	Reign start	Reign end	Duration
1		King George VI (1895–1952)	15 August 1947	26 January 1950	2 years, 164 days	House of Windsor	Nehru

Governors-General

The Governor-General was the representative of the monarch in India and exercised most of the powers of the monarch. The Governor-General was appointed for an indefinite term, serving at the pleasure of the monarch. After the passage of the Statute of Westminster 1931, the Governor-General was appointed solely on the advice of the Cabinet of India without the involvement of the British government. In the event of a vacancy the Chief Justice served as Officer Administering the Government.

Status

  Denotes Chief Justice acting as Officer Administering the Government

Governor-General			Term of Office			Monarch	Prime Minister
#	Portrait	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Duration
1		The Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900–1979)	15 August 1947	21 June 1948	311 days	George VI	Nehru
2		Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1878–1972)	21 June 1948	26 January 1950	1 year, 219 days	George VI	Nehru

President of India

Under the Constitution, of the Republic of India, the President replaced the monarch as ceremonial head of state. The President was elected by the Electoral College for a five-year term. In the event of a vacancy the Vice President served as Acting President.

Status

  Denotes Vice President acting as President

President			Term of office			Political party (at time of election)	Prime Minister(s)
#	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Duration
1		Rajendra Prasad (1884–1963)	26 January 1950	13 May 1962	12 years, 107 days	Independent	Nehru
2		Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975)	13 May 1962	13 May 1967	5 years	Independent	Nehru Nanda Shastri Nanda Gandhi
3		Zakir Hussain (1897–1969)	13 May 1967	3 May 1969 (Died in office)	1 year, 355 days	Independent	Gandhi
		V. V. Giri (1894–1980)	3 May 1969	20 July 1969	78 days	Independent	Gandhi
		Mohammad Hidayatullah (1905–1992)	20 July 1969	24 August 1969	35 days		Gandhi
4		V. V. Giri (1894–1980)	24 August 1969	24 August 1974	5 years	Independent	Gandhi
5		Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905–1977)	24 August 1974	11 February 1977 (Died in office)	2 years, 171 days	Independent	Gandhi
		Basappa Danappa Jatti (1912–2002)	11 February 1977	25 July 1977	164 days	Independent	Gandhi Desai
6		Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1913–1996)	25 July 1977	25 July 1982	5 years	Independent	Desai Singh Gandhi
7		Giani Zail Singh (1916–1994)	25 July 1982	25 July 1987	5 years	Independent	Gandhi Gandhi
8		R. Venkataraman (1910–2009)	25 July 1987	25 July 1992	5 years	Independent	Gandhi Singh Shekhar Rao
9		Shankar Dayal Sharma (1918–1999)	25 July 1992	25 July 1997	5 years	Independent	Rao Vajpayee Deve Gowda Gujral
10		K. R. Narayanan (1920–2005)	25 July 1997	25 July 2002	5 years	Independent	Gujral Vajpayee
11		A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015)	25 July 2002	25 July 2007	5 years	Independent	Vajpayee Singh
12		Pratibha Patil (1934–)	25 July 2007	25 July 2012	5 years	Independent	Singh
13		Pranab Mukherjee (1935–)	25 July 2012	Incumbent	(as of 23 April 2024)	Independent	Singh Modi

Living former heads of state

Name	Term/Reign	Office	Date of birth
Pratibha Patil	2007–2012	President of India	19 December 1934

External links

• World Statesmen – India
• Rulers.org – India