History of Freemasonry in India?

Craft Masonry in India was introduced under the English Constitution following a deputation granted to George Pomfret in 1728 2. The earliest lodge, East India Arms (No. 72), was constituted at Calcutta in 1730 2 by officers of the East India Company at Fort William, as an article on the Regional Grand Lodge of Southern India's website notes. Early lodges were established primarily by British merchants, soldiers, and sailors, including military bodies like Gibraltar Lodge attached to the 39th Foot 12.

Expansion across the subcontinent proceeded through provincial structures. In Madras, the first lodge was constituted in 1752 1, and Captain Edmond Pascal became Provincial Grand Master in 1766 1. In 1785, the Atholl Lodge in Madras surrendered its powers to form the Lodge of Perfect Unanimity, uniting the Atholl and Moderns factions decades before the Union in England, as an article on the Regional Grand Lodge of Southern India's website records. In Bombay, Lodge No. 234 was chartered in 1758 1, with James Todd named Provincial Grand Master in 1763 1. Under Scottish jurisdiction, Dr. James Burnes was appointed Provincial Grand Master of Western India in 1836 and for all India in 1846 1.

Indian membership developed gradually from this European foundation 1. Early initiates included Indian rulers such as Omdat-ul-Omrah, Nawab of Carnatic 1, and dedicated lodges were formed for native candidates, such as Rising Star Lodge at Bombay in 1844 1. Bro. Ranganath Sastry became the first Hindu initiated into the Craft in 1857 at Madras, as an article on the Regional Grand Lodge of Southern India's website details.

Following meetings between the Grand Masters of England, Ireland, and Scotland in 1959, over half of the eligible lodges voted to establish a sovereign national body, as the Grand Lodge of India's website states. The Grand Lodge of India was officially constituted on November 24, 1961, at New Delhi, with Major General Dr. Sir Syed Raza Ali Khan, Nawab of Rampur, installed as the first Grand Master, as the Regional Grand Lodge of Northern India's website notes.