Satyendra Prasanno Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha

The Right Honourable The Lord Sinha KCSI, PC, KC
A whole-plate glass negative portrait of Satyendra Prasanno Sinha taken by Bassano Ltd, 20 May 1920, and now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Personal details
Born	24 March 1863 Raipur, Birbhum, Bengal
Died	4 March 1928 (1928-03-05) (aged 64) Berhampore, Bengal
Spouse(s)	Gobinda Mohini Sinha (nee Mitter)
Occupation	Politician, lawyer

Satyendra Prasanno Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha, KCSI, PC, KC, (24 March 1863 – 4 March 1928) was a prominent lawyer and statesman in British India.

Satyendra Prasanno Sinha was born on 24 March 1863 in Raipur, Birbhum in Bengal, British India. His father was the zamindar of Raipur and belonged to the Kayastha caste. He was educated first in Bibhum Zilla School at Suri and then obtained a scholarship to Presidency College, Calcutta, then affiliated to the University of Calcutta, in 1878. He married Gobinda Mohini Mitter on 15 May 1880 at Mahata, Burdwan, Bengal, and in 1881 he abandoned his studies in India to study law in England. Scholarships and prizes enabled him to attend Lincoln's Inn and in 1886 he returned to Calcutta as a barrister.

After returning to India in 1886, Sinha established a successful legal practice in Calcutta. He was a member of the Indian National Congress from 1896 to 1919, when, along with other moderates, he left the organisation. He was elected to preside over the Bombay session of the Congress in 1915.

Sinha became Standing Counsel to the Government of India in 1903. He was the first Indian to be appointed as Advocate-General of Bengal in 1908, and the first Indian member of the Viceroy's Executive Council in 1909. When Morley's reforms were introduced two Indian members were to be appointed to the secretary of state's Whitehall Council for India and one has to hold the post of law member of the government of India, Sinha was the first Indian to hold the position. His legal practice in 1908 was so lucrative that accepting government's invitation meant a cut in his annual income of £10,000. Sinha's first inclination was to turn down the viceroy's invitation, but Jinnah and Gokhale convinced him to accept the job. He went to England in 1914 as a member of the War Conference following the outbreak of the First World War, and represented India in Europe's Peace Conference in 1919.