1946 in India

Incumbents

• Emperor of India – George VI
• Viceroy of India – The Viscount Wavell

  Events

• January – Royal Air Force Mutiny of 1946 of British and Indian air force units
• 11 February – I.N.A. trial demonstrations in Calcutta, several killed
• 12 February – Hartal in Calcutta over the killing of demonstrators the previous day
• 18 February – Start of the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny
• 22 February – Start of hartal in Bombay in support of the mutiny, which saw the British kill over 200 citizens
• 10 May – Nehru elected leader of the Congress Party.
• 19 August – Violence between Muslims and Hindus in Calcutta leaves 3000 dead.
• 2 September – interim government formed
• 4 September – Street violence between Muslims and Hindus in Bombay.
• 27 November – Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appeals to the United States and the Soviet Union to end nuclear testing and to start nuclear disarmament, stating that such an action would "save humanity from the ultimate disaster."
• 9 December – Constituent Assembly for India meets for the first time.

  Full date unknown

• 1946 Cabinet Mission to India
• Tata Airlines renamed to Air India.
• Provincial Elections in India

  Births

January to June

• 16 January – Kabir Bedi, actor.
• 1 February – Giri Babu, actor.
• 18 March – Navin Nischol, actor of Bollywood films

  July to September

• 5 July – Mamukkoya, comedian actor.
• 5 July – Ram Vilas Paswan, politician.
• 17 July – Lalitha Lenin, poet and academic.
• 28 July – Saint Alphonsa, Sister Alphonsa Muttathupadathu, in 2008 became first woman of Indian origin to be canonized as a saint.
• 20 August – N. R. Narayana Murthy, industrialist and software engineer.

  October to December

• 11 October – Vijay P. Bhatkar, computer scientist.
• 12 October – Ashok Mankad, Test cricketer.
• 15 October – Victor Banerjee, actor.
• 9 December – Sonia Gandhi, politician.
• 14 December – Sanjay Gandhi, politician.
• 26 December – Narendra Prasad, actor, playwright, teacher and literary critic.
• 27 December – Vijay Arora, actor.

  Full date unknown

• Mani Damodara Chakyar, Kutiyattam and Chakyar Koothu artist.

  Deaths

• 6 February – Upendranath Brahmachari, scientist and medical practitioner.