Pre Independence banking history of India: Bank is the Backbone of our Indian Economy. In general everybody should have the knowledge about our banking History. If you are a Banker or you are preparing for Bank exams, you have to know about the historical Banking History. It is very important for all the aspirants who are preparing for exam from online exam or interview point of view. So here we are providing only Pre Independence Banking History. We will also provide Post Independence Banking History very Soon.
Pre Independence Banking History:
- 1773 – Very first effort to set up a Govt. financial Body (Bank) by the Governor of West Bengal(East India Company)
- 1779 – Bank of Hindustan was the first bank at Calcutta under European management by Europeans (Alexander & Company) ,It was not successful.
- 1786 – General Bank of India was set up.
- 2 June 1806 – Bank of Calcutta established in Calcutta, It was the first presidency bank during British Raj. Bank of Calcutta was established mainly to fund General Wellesley’s wars against Tipu Sultan and The Marathas.
- 2 Jan 1809 – Bank of Calcutta renamed to Bank of Bengal.
- 1839 – India Merchants Failed to established Union Bank.
- 15 Apr 1840 – 2nd presidency bank during British Raj established in Bombay named as Bank of Bombay.
- 1 July 1843 – Bank of Madras was established in Madras, Now Chennai. Bank of Madras is 3rd presidency bank during British Raj.
Pre Independence banking history of India
- 1863 – Bank of upper India established, In 1913 it defunct & It was the oldest joint stock Bank in India.
- Comtoire d’Fscompte de Paris opened a branch in Calcutta in 1860.
- 1865 – Allahabad bank established (Oldest public sector “Government Bank” bank in India about 145 years), it was also oldest joint stock bank (In Still working).
- 1869– HSBC established itself in Bengal.
- At this time the Calcutta was most famous banking centre in India.
- 1881 – Oudh commercial bank established at Faizabad. It was the First Bank of India with limited liability to be managed by Indian Board. After Independence in 1958 it failed.
- 12 Apr 1895 – Punjab National Bank (PNB) (4th largest Bank in India, 2nd Largest in Public Sector) established in Lahore, Punjab. It was the first bank purely managed by Indian. First CMD of PNB was Sardar Dayal Singh .
- 1911 – First Indian commercial bank which was wholly owned and managed by Indians was Central Bank of India (India’s first Truly Swadeshi Bank).
- 27 Jan 1921 – Three presidency bank amalgamated to Imperial Bank of India established.
- 1 July 1955 – Imperial Bank of India was nationalized and it was named as State Bank of India.
- In 2006 SBI celebrated 200 year established.
- 1926 – Hilton –young commission (Royal Commission of Indian Currency) submitted its report to set up the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as a central bank.
- 1931 – All recommendations of Commission report make effected by Central Banking Enquiry Committee
- 5 March 1934 – Reserve Bank of India Act was passed and Enacted.
- 1 Apr 1935 – On recommendation of Hilton – young commission RBI established, with initial share capital worth 5 Crore, with 5 lacs Rs 100 shares divided.
- Reserve Bank of India Head Office- Calcutta
- First Governor of the Bank- Sir Osborne Smith
- 1937 – RBI Head office permanently shifted in Mumbai, India.
- Jan 1938 – 1st Reserve Bank of India notes issued.
- Mar 1940 – Financial Year / Accounting year of RBI changed from Jan-Dec to July-June.
- 11 Aug 1943 – D. Deshmukh Appointed as Second Governor (First Indian Governor) of RBI.
- 1944 – Security Features in currency notes is introduced first time in India.
This was the point wise Pre Independence banking history of India. In the Next article I will publish the Post Independence history of India.
