List of heads of state of India

For historical heads of state in the Indian Subcontinent, see List of Indian monarchs.

This is a list of the heads of state of India, from the independence of India in 1947 to the present day. The current head of state of India is Droupadi Murmu, elected in 2022 after being nominated by the National Democratic Alliance and its leading party the Bharatiya Janata Party, the largest party in the parliament and the party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

From 1947 to 1950, the head of state under the Indian Independence Act 1947 was King of India, 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)

Monarch

The succession to the throne was the same as the succession to the British throne.

King of India
Emblem of the Dominion of India
Details
Style	His Majesty
First monarch	George VI as successor of the Emperor of India
Last monarch	George VI
Formation	15 August 1947
Abolition	26 January 1950
Appointer	Hereditary

№	Monarch (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Reign		Royal House	Prime Minister	Governor General
			Reign start	Reign end
1	George VI (1895–1952)		15 August 1947	26 January 1950	Windsor	Nehru	Mountbatten (1947–1948)
							Rajagopalachari (1948–1950)

Governor-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.

№	Governor-General (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Tenure		Monarch	Prime Minister
			Took office	Left office
1	The Rt. Hon. The Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900–1979)		15 August 1947	21 June 1948	George VI	Nehru
2	Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1878–1972)		21 June 1948	26 January 1950

President of India

Under the Constitution, of the Republic of India, the president replaced the monarch as ceremonial head of state. The president is elected by the Electoral College for a five-year term. In the event of a vacancy, the vice president serves as acting president.

Status

  Denotes Vice-President acting as President

№	President (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Tenure		Elected	Political affiliation (at time of appointment)		Prime Minister
			Took office	Left office
1	Rajendra Prasad (1884–1963)		26 January 1950	13 May 1962	1952 1957		Indian National Congress	Nehru
2	Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975)		13 May 1962	13 May 1967	1962		Independent	Nehru Nanda Shastri Nanda Gandhi
3	Zakir Husain (1897–1969)		13 May 1967	3 May 1969 (died in office.)	1967		Independent	Gandhi
-	V. V. Giri (1894–1980)		3 May 1969	20 July 1969	-		Independent	Gandhi
-	Mohammad Hidayatullah (1905–1992)		20 July 1969	24 August 1969	-			Gandhi
4	V. V. Giri (1894–1980)		24 August 1969	24 August 1974	1969		Independent	Gandhi
5	Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905–1977)		24 August 1974	11 February 1977 (died in office.)	1974		Indian National Congress	Gandhi
-	B. D. Jatti (1912–2002)		11 February 1977	25 July 1977	-		Indian National Congress	Gandhi Desai
6	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1913–1996)		25 July 1977	25 July 1982	1977		Janata Party	Desai Singh Gandhi
7	Giani Zail Singh (1916–1994)		25 July 1982	25 July 1987	1982		Indian National Congress	Gandhi
8	R. Venkataraman (1910–2009)		25 July 1987	25 July 1992	1987		Indian National Congress	Gandhi Singh Shekhar Rao
9	Shankar Dayal Sharma (1918–1999)		25 July 1992	25 July 1997	1992		Indian National Congress	Rao Vajpayee Deve Gowda Gujral
10	K. R. Narayanan (1920–2005)		25 July 1997	25 July 2002	1997		Indian National Congress	Gujral Vajpayee
11	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015)		25 July 2002	25 July 2007	2002		Independent	Vajpayee Singh
12	Pratibha Patil (born 1934)		25 July 2007	25 July 2012	2007		Indian National Congress	Singh
13	Pranab Mukherjee (1935–2020)		25 July 2012	25 July 2017	2012		Indian National Congress	Singh Modi
14	Ram Nath Kovind (born 1945)		25 July 2017	25 July 2022	2017		Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi
15	Droupadi Murmu (born 1958)		25 July 2022	Incumbent	2022		Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi

Standards

• 
  Governor-General's Standard (1947–1950)
• 
  Presidential Standard (1950–1971)

Living former heads of state

Image	Name	Term/reign	Office	Date of birth
	Pratibha Patil	2007–2012	President of India	(1934-12-19) 19 December 1934
	Ram Nath Kovind	2017–2022	President of India	(1945-10-01) 1 October 1945

External links

• World Statesmen – India
• Rulers.org – India