1956 in India

Incumbents

• President of India – Rajendra Prasad
• Prime Minister of India – Jawaharlal Nehru
• Vice President of India – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
• Chief Justice of India – Bijan Kumar Mukherjea, Sudhi Ranjan Das

Governors

• Andhra Pradesh – Chandulal Madhavlal Trivedi
• Assam – Jairamdas Daulatram, Saiyid Fazal Ali
• Bihar – R. R. Diwakar, Zakir Hussain
• Karnataka – Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar
• Kerala – Burgula Ramakrishna Rao
• Madhya Pradesh – Pattabhi Sitaramayya
• Maharashtra – Harekrushna Mahatab, Sri Prakasa
• Odisha – P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja, Bhim Sen Sachar
• Punjab – Chandeshwar Prasad Narayan Singh
• Rajasthan – Maharaj Man Singh II, Gurumukh Nihal Singh
• Uttar Pradesh – Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi
• West Bengal –
• * until 8 August: Harendra Coomar Mookerjee
• * 8 August-3 November: Phani Bhusan Chakravartti
• * starting 3 November: Padmaja Naidu

Events

• National income - 133,139 million
• 20 February - Gentlemen's agreement of Andhra Pradesh (1956) signed.
• 8 March – M. Ananthasayanam Ayyangar handles the charge as Lok Sabha Speaker.
• 20 March – Sardar Hukam Singh handles the charge as Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker.
• 21 July – The 6.1 Anjar earthquake shook Gujarat with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX, killing 115 and injuring 254.
• 4 August - Asia's first Nuclear reactor, Apsara was built in Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.
• 1 September – LIC of India formed
• 14 October – Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Indian Untouchable leader, converts to Buddhism along with 385,000 followers. See Neo-Buddhism.
• 17 December - Jawaharlal Nehru meets Dwight D. Eisenhower as part of his visit to United States.

Law

• 1 November – The States Reorganisation Act of India reformed the boundaries and names of Indian states.

Arts and literature

• 15 October – Kerala Sahithya Academy, Academy for Malayalam literature, is inaugurated by Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, the former king of Travancore.
• List of Bollywood films of 1956

Births

January to June

• 1 February – Brahmanandam, comedian-actor.
• 6 April – Dilip Vengsarkar, cricketer.
• 4 May – Kunal Basu, novelist.
• 6 May – Sujata Bhatt, poet.
• 13 May – Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, spiritual and humanitarian leader.
• 31 May _ Manohara Rso Kodavoor.
• 2 June Mani Ratnam, film director.

July to December

• 19 July – Rajendra Prasad, actor.
• 29 July – Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author and poet.
• 17 August – Anil Aggrawal, professor of forensic medicine.
• 21 September - Prabuddha Dasgupta, photographer.
• 19 October – Sunny Deol, actor.
• 9 November – Pankaj Dheer, actor
• 25 November – Kristappa Nimmala, politician and member of parliament from Hindupur.
• 24 December – Anil Kapoor, actor and producer.
• 25 December Prabhu, actor.

Deaths

• 6 December – B. R. Ambedkar, nationalist, jurist, Dalit political leader and a Buddhist revivalist.