List of governors of Tamil Nadu

Governor of Tamil Nadu
Tamiḻnāṭu Āḷunar
Emblem of Tamil Nadu
Incumbent R. N. Ravi since 18 September 2021
Style	His Excellency
Status	Head of State
Reports to	President of India Government of India
Residence	Raj Bhavan, Chennai (primary) Raj Bhavan, Udhagamandalam (summer)
Appointer	President of India
Term length	At the pleasure of the President Renewable
Inaugural holder	Andrew Cogan
Formation	3 March 1633 (1633-03-03)
Salary	₹350,000 (US$4,000) (per month)
Website	www.tnrajbhavan.gov.in

The state of Tamil Nadu in India has had 26 Governors since 1946

The governor of Tamil Nadu is the head of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Governors in India have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the president of India at the central level. They exist in the state appointed by the president of India and they are not local to the state that they are appointed to govern. The factors based on which the president evaluates the candidates is not mentioned in the constitution. The governor acts as the nominal head whereas the real power lies with the chief minister of the state and their council of ministers.

The current incumbent is R. N. Ravi, who has served since 18 September 2021.

Powers and functions

See also: Governors of India § Powers and functions

The governor enjoys many different types of powers:

• 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.

Governors

This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947.

English Agents

In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized between the factors of the Masulipatnam (now Machilipatnam) factory (trading post), represented by Francis Day, and the Raja of Chandragiri. In 1640, Andrew Cogan, the chief of the Masulipatnam factory, made his way to Madras in the company of Francis Day and the English and Indian employees of the Masulipatnam factory. The Agency of Madras was established on 1 March 1640 and Cogan was made the first Agent. The official title was 'Governor of Fort St George' and the Governor was usually referred to as Agent. Cogan served in the post for three years and was succeeded by Francis Day. After four agents had served their terms, Madras was upgraded to a Presidency during the time of Aaron Baker. However financial considerations forced the company to revert to an agency soon after Aaron Baker had served his term. The Agency survived until 1684 when Madras was made a Presidency once and for all. Streynsham Master is the best remembered and most renowned of the Agents of Madras.

#	Name (birth–death)	Took office	Left office	Notes
Agents
1	Andrew Cogan	1 March 1640	1643	Construction of Fort St. George begins
2	Francis Day (1605–1673)	1643	1644
3	Thomas Ivie (1605–1673)	1644	1648	Establishment of Government General Hospital
4	Thomas Greenhill (1611–1658)	1648	1652
5	Aaron Baker (1610–1683)	1652	1655
6	Thomas Greenhill (1611–1658)	1655	1658
7	Sir Thomas Chambers (d. 1692)	1658	1661
8	Sir Edward Winter (1622–1686)	1661	Aug 1665
9	George Foxcroft (1634–1715)	Aug 1665	16 Sep 1665
10	Sir Edward Winter (1622–1686)	16 Sep 1665	22 Aug 1668
11	George Foxcroft (1634–1715)	22 Aug 1668	Jan 1670	Triplicane annexed by Madras
12	Sir William Langhorne, 1st Baronet (1631–1715)	Jan 1670	27 Jan 1678
13	Streynsham Master (1640–1724)	27 Jan 1678	3 Jul 1681	Construction of St. Mary's Church and Kalikambal Temple
14	William Gyfford	3 Jul 1681	8 Aug 1684

Presidents

Madras was elevated to a presidency in 1684 and remained so until 12 February 1785 when new rules and regulations brought by the Pitt's India Act reformed the administration of the East India Company with the exception of a three-year period of French rule from 1746 to 1749 when Madras was a governorship.

Subsequently, Elihu Yale who took charge on 8 August 1684 was the First President of Madras. Elihu Yale, Thomas Pitt and George Macartney are some of the well-known Presidents of Madras.

Name	Took office	Left office
Elihu Yale (First term) (acting)	8 August 1684	26 January 1685
William Gyfford	26 January 1685	25 July 1687
Elihu Yale (Second term)	25 July 1687	3 October 1692
Nathaniel Higginson	3 October 1692	7 July 1698
Thomas Pitt	7 July 1698	18 September 1709
Gulston Addison	18 September 1709	17 October 1709
Edmund Montague (acting)	17 October 1709	14 November 1709
William Fraser	14 November 1709 (acting)	11 July 1711
Edward Harrison	11 July 1711	8 January 1717
Joseph Collett	8 January 1717	18 January 1720
Francis Hastings (acting)	18 January 1720	15 October 1721
Nathaniel Elwick	15 October 1721	15 January 1725
James Macrae	15 January 1725	14 May 1730
George Morton Pitt	14 May 1730	23 January 1735
Richard Benyon (governor)	23 January 1735	14 January 1744
Nicholas Morse	14 January 1744	10 September 1746

Governors of the French East India Company

In 1746, Dupleix's deputy, La Bordannais laid siege to Madras and captured the city. For the next three years, Madras remained under French Governors, until 1749, when Madras was handed to the British as per the Treaty of Aix-la-Chappele. The illustrious Mahe de la Bordannais served as acting Governor for a few months until the appointment of Governor Jean-Jacques Duval d'Eprémesnil, who served until 1749 when Madras reverted to British rule.

Name	Took office	Left office
Mahé de La Bourdonnais (acting)	10 September 1746	2 October 1746
Jean-Jacques Duval d'Eprémesnil	2 October 1746	August 1749

Presidents of the British East India Company

During the period between 1746 and 1749, when Madras was under French rule, the British ran a provisional government from Fort St. David, near modern-day Porto Novo. In 1752, when Madras had been returned to the British, the then President of Madras, John Saunders, shifted the seat of government from Fort David to Madras. The British gained a lot of territory during the mid-18th century, so that by the time the French military power was crushed at the Battle of Wandiwash in 1761, the territory under the Presidency of Madras had increased manyfold. In 1785, the Province of Madras was created and the President became the Governor of Madras.

Name	Took office	Left office
John Hinde (in Fort David)	10 September 1746	14 April 1747
Charles Floyer (in Fort David)	14 April 1747	19 September 1750
Thomas Saunders (in Fort David up to 5 April 1752)	19 September 1750	14 January 1755
George Pigot (1st time)	14 January 1755	14 November 1763
Robert Palk	14 November 1763	25 January 1767
Charles Bourchier	25 January 1767	31 January 1770
Josias Du Pré	31 January 1770	2 February 1773
Alexander Wynch	2 February 1773	11 December 1775
George Pigot (2nd time)	11 December 1775	23 August 1776
George Stratton	23 August 1776	31 August 1777
John Whitehill (first time) (acting)	31 August 1777	8 February 1778
Sir Thomas Rumbold	8 February 1778	6 April 1780
John Whitehill (second time) (acting)	6 April 1780	8 November 1780
Charles Smith (acting)	8 November 1780	22 June 1781
George MaCartney	22 June 1781	12 February 1785

Governors (of British India)

Name	Took office	Left office
George MaCartney	12 February 1785	14 June 1785
Alexander Davidson (acting)	14 June 1785	6 April 1786
Sir Archibald Campbell	6 April 1786	7 February 1789
John Holland (acting)	7 February 1789	13 February 1790
Edward J.Holland (acting)	13 February 1790	20 February 1790
William Medows	20 February 1790	1 August 1792
Sir Charles Oakeley	1 August 1792	7 September 1794
Baron Hobart	7 September 1794	21 February 1798
George Harris (acting)	21 February 1798	21 August 1798
The 2nd Baron Clive	21 August 1798	30 August 1803
Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck	30 August 1803	11 September 1807
William Petrie (acting)	11 September 1807	24 February 1808
Sir George Barlow, 1st Baronet	24 February 1808	21 May 1813
John Abercromby (acting)	21 May 1813	16 September 1814
Hugh Elliot	16 September 1814	10 June 1820
Sir Thomas Munro	10 June 1820	10 July 1827
Henry Sullivan Graeme (acting)	10 July 1827	18 October 1827
Stephen Rumbold Lushington	18 October 1827	25 October 1832
Sir Frederick Adam	25 October 1832	4 March 1837
George Edward Russell (acting)	4 March 1837	6 March 1837
The 13th Lord Elphinstone	6 March 1837	24 September 1842
The 8th Marquess of Tweeddale	24 September 1842	23 February 1848
Henry Dickinson (acting)	23 February 1848	7 April 1848
Sir Henry Eldred Pottinger	7 April 1848	24 April 1854
Daniel Eliott (acting)	24 April 1854	28 April 1854
The 3rd Baron Harris	28 April 1854	28 March 1859
Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan	28 March 1859	8 June 1860
William Ambrose Morehead (1st time) (acting)	8 June 1860	5 July 1860
Sir Henry George Ward	5 July 1860	2 August 1860
William Ambrose Morehead (2nd time) (acting)	4 August 1860	18 February 1861
Sir William Thomas Denison (1st time)	18 February 1861	26 November 1863

Madras Presidency and Madras State

Headquartered in Fort St. George, Madras Presidency was a province of British India. It comprised present-day Tamil Nadu, the Malabar region of North Kerala, the coastal and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh, and the Bellary, Dakshina Kannada, and Udupi districts of Karnataka. It was established in 1653 to be the headquarters of the English settlements on the Coromandel Coast. After India's independence in 1947, Madras State, the precursor to the present day state of Tamil Nadu, was carved out of Madras Presidency. It comprised present-day Tamil Nadu and parts of present-day Karnataka and Kerala.

Governors

#	Name	Portrait	Took office	Left office	Term
1	William Thomas Denison		18 February 1861	26 November 1863
2	Edward Maltby (acting)		26 November 1863	18 January 1864
3	William Thomas Denison		18 January 1864	27 March 1866
4	Lord Napier		27 March 1866	19 February 1872
5	Alexander John Arbuthnot (acting)		19 February 1872	15 May 1872
6	Lord Hobart		15 May 1872	29 April 1875
7	William Rose Robinson (acting)		29 April 1875	23 November 1875
8	Duke of Buckingham and Chandos		23 November 1875	20 December 1880
9	William Huddleston (acting)		24 May 1881	5 November 1881
10	Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff		5 November 1881	8 December 1886
11	Robert Bourke, Baron Connemara		8 December 1886	1 December 1890
12	John Henry Garstin		1 December 1890	23 January 1891
13	Bentley Lawley, Baron Wenlock		23 January 1891	18 March 1896
14	Arthur Elibank Havelock		18 March 1896	28 December 1900
15	Arthur Oliver Villiers-Russell, Baron Ampthill		28 December 1900	30 April 1904
16	James Thompson (acting)		30 April 1904	13 December 1904
17	Arthur Oliver Villiers-Russell, Baron Ampthill		13 December 1904	15 February 1906
18	Gabriel Stoles (acting)		15 February 1906	28 March 1906
19	Arthur Lawley, Baron Wenlock		28 March 1906	3 November 1911
20	Thomas David Gibson-Carmichael, Baron Carmichael		3 November 1911	30 March 1912
21	Sir Murray Hammick (acting)		30 March 1912	30 October 1912
22	John Sinclair, Baron Pentland		30 October 1912	29 March 1919
23	Sir Alexander Gordon Cardew		29 March 1919	10 April 1919
24	George Freeman Freeman-Thomas, Baron Willingdon		10 April 1919	12 April 1924
25	Sir P. Rajagopalachari		1920	1923
26	Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Edward Nye		6 May 1946	7 September 1948	1

#	Name	Portrait	Took office	Left office	Term
27	Maharaja Sir Krishna Kumarasinhji Bhavsinhji		7 September 1948	12 March 1952	1
28	Sri Prakasa		12 March 1952	10 December 1956	1
29	A. J. John		10 December 1956	30 September 1957	1
-	Pakala Venkata Rajamannar (acting)		1 October 1957	24 January 1958	1
30	Bhishnuram Medhi		24 January 1958	4 May 1964	1
31	Maharaja Sir Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur		4 May 1964	24 November 1964	1
-	P. Chandra Reddy (acting)		24 November 1964	7 December 1965	1
(31)	Maharaja Sir Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur		7 December 1965	28 June 1966	1
32	Sardar Ujjal Singh (acting)		28 June 1966	14 January 1969	1

Graphical

Tamil Nadu

Madras State was renamed as Tamil Nadu (Tamil for Tamil country) on 14 January 1969. Governors have similar powers and functions at the state level as that of the President of India at the Central government level. The Governor acts as the nominal head of the state while the Chief Ministers of the states and the Chief Minister's Council of Ministers are invested with most executive powers.

No.	Name (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Home state	Term of office			Previous post	Appointed by
				Assumed office	Left office	Time in office
1	Ujjal Singh (1895–1983)		Punjab	14 January 1969	25 May 1971	2 years, 131 days	Governor of Punjab	Zakir Hussain
2	K. K. Shah (1908–1986)		Gujarat	26 May 1971	15 June 1976	5 years, 20 days	–	Varahagiri Venkata Giri
3	Mohan Lal Sukhadia (1916–1982)		Rajasthan	16 June 1976	8 April 1977	296 days	Governor of Andhra Pradesh	Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
-	P. Govindan Nair (Unknown–Unknown)(Acting)		Kerala	9 April 1977	26 April 1977	17 days	–	B. D. Jatti (Acting President)
4	Prabhudas B. Patwari (1909–1985)		Gujarat	27 April 1977	26 October 1980	3 years, 182 days	Indian Lawyer
-	M. M. Ismail (1921–2005) (Acting)		Tamil Nadu	27 October 1980	3 November 1980	37 days	Chief Justice of Madras High Court	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
5	Sadiq Ali (1910–2001)		Rajasthan	4 November 1980	2 September 1982	1 year, 302 days	Governor of Maharashtra
6	S. L. Khurana (1918–2007)		National Capital Territory of Delhi	3 September 1982	16 February 1988	5 years, 166 days	Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry	Giani Zail Singh
7	P. C. Alexander (1921–2011)		Kerala	17 February 1988	23 May 1990	2 years, 95 days	I.A.S. Officer	R. Venkataraman
8	Surjit Singh Barnala (1925–2017)		Haryana	24 May 1990	14 February 1991	266 days	Chief Minister of Punjab
9	Bhishma Narain Singh (1933–2018)		Rajasthan	15 February 1991	30 May 1993	2 years, 104 days	Governor of Assam
10	M. Channa Reddy (1919–1996)		Andhra Pradesh	31 May 1993	2 December 1996[†]	3 years, 185 days	Governor of Rajasthan	Shanker Dayal Sharma
–	Krishan Kant (1927–2002) (Acting)		Punjab	2 December 1996	24 January 1997	53 days	Governor of Andhra Pradesh
11	M. Fathima Beevi (1927–2023)		Kerala	25 January 1997	2 July 2001	4 years, 158 days	Judge of the Supreme Court of India
-	C. Rangarajan (1932-) (Acting)		Tamil Nadu	3 July 2001	17 January 2002	198 days	Governor of the Reserve Bank of India	K. R. Narayanan
12	P. S. Ramamohan Rao (1934-)		Andhra Pradesh	18 January 2002	2 November 2004	2 years, 289 days	Director General of Andhra Pradesh Police	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
(8)	Surjit Singh Barnala (1925–2017)		Haryana	3 November 2004	30 August 2011	6 years, 300 days	Governor of Andhra Pradesh
13	Konijeti Rosaiah (1933–2021)		Andhra Pradesh	31 August 2011	1 September 2016	5 years, 1 day	Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh	Pratibha Devisingh Patil
–	C. Vidyasagar Rao (1942–)		Andhra Pradesh	2 September 2016	5 October 2017	1 year, 33 days	Governor of Maharashtra	Pranab Mukherjee
14	Banwarilal Purohit (1939–)		Rajasthan	6 October 2017	17 September 2021	3 years, 346 days	Governor of Assam	Ram Nath Kovind
15	R. N. Ravi (1952–)		Bihar	18 September 2021	Incumbent	3 years, 182 days	Governor of Nagaland

Graphical

Records

• Surjit Singh Barnala is the only appointed Governor to have served two terms in office (24 May 1990–15 February 1991 and 3 November 2004–31 August 2011).
• The longest term in office was that of Surjit Singh Barnala who served as the Governor for a period of almost six and a half years (3 November 2004–31 August 2011).
• The shortest term in office was that of M. M. Ismail who served as the acting Governor for a period of nine days (27 October 1980–4 November 1980).
• The longest term in office as additional in-charge was that of C. Vidyasagar Rao for a period of 1 year 1 month and 4 days (2 September 2016– 6 October 2017).

See also

• Governors of India
• History of Tamil Nadu
• List of chief ministers of Tamil Nadu
• List of colonial governors and presidents of Madras Presidency

External links

• Official website of the Governor of Tamil Nadu