Within 12 years of the constitution of the Grand Lodge of England, a petition was sent by a few Brethren in India to constitute a Provincial Grand Lodge
in Calcutta. The Petition was granted and a Provincial Grand Master was appointed to supervise Masonic activity in India and the Far East in 1728 A.D.
Full details regarding how the First Lodge was constituted in India, are preserved in the Minutes of the Grand Lodge in London. First a
petition was presented on December 28, 1728 and at the end of the minutes of that meeting, the text of the "Deputation" from the Grand Master reads: "to Empower and Authorize our well beloved Brother Pomfret....(George Pomfret) that he
do, in our place and stead, constitute a regular Lodge, in due form at Fort William in Bengal in the East Indies...." This was signed and sealed "the 6th day of February 1728/9 and in the year of Masonry 5732. Apparantly Grand Lodge used
Usher's Chronology in dating the Masonic era - as the Grand Lodge of Scotland still does- which is some 4 years more than the conventional addition of 4000 years made to the Anno Domini to obtain the Anno Lucis.
The Lodge at Fort William -- that is, Calcutta -- appears in the Engraved List of 1730, as No. 72. It was to meet at Fort William in Calcutta.
The Coat of Arms was adopted from the East India Company - a golden lion, rampant guardant, supporting between the forepaws a regal crown. In 1729, Captain Ralph Farwinter was appointed "Provisional Grand Master for East India in Bengal"
and also James Dawson as "Provincial Grand Master" for East Indies. A second Lodge was warranted in 1740 in East Calcutta.
The Provincial Grand Lodge of Madras was formed in 1752 and The Provincial Grand Lodge of Bombay was created in 1758. Although they appeared
in the Roll of Grand Lodge, there is no record of how they came into being. As far as the Province of Madras is concerned, the only information available is about the issue of a warrant for a Lodge at Madras in East Indies in 1752, No. 222, and the
appointment of Captain Edmund Pascal as the Provincial Grand Master in 1767. Did this Lodge constitute the Provincial Grand Lodge until 1767 by which time 5 lodges were already working ?
The first Indian to see the Masonic Light was Omdat-ul-Omrah, Carnatic Nawab, the eldest son of the Nawab of Arcot, He was initiated in 1776 at
Trichinopoly. But Hindus were not considered for admission because it was believed that they did not believe in one Supreme Being, rather worship many deities. More over, in Bengal, the bye-law No. 55 of the Provincial Grand Lodge (EC)
prevented Indians from being admitted into Freemasonry. The doors to Hindu Masonry was flung wide-open by the unstoppable determination of one Mr. P.C. Dutt of Calcutta to become a member of the craft, after much opposition from the Provincial Grand
Master (Hugh Sanderman) and black balling by members, nine years after he was proposed for initiation. In the 1830's the Duke of Sussex proclaimed that the Hindu gods were the personification of a single Supreme Being and this allowed the native
Indians to join the Craft. Moreover he said that the religion of the Single Mason was his own concern. Inspite of that Mr. Dutt became Bro. Dutt in Anchor and Hope, No. 234, only in in 1872. Twenty-three years later, he was Deputy District Grand
Master.
One Lodge (No. 234 E.C. whose name is not known) was established in Bombay in 1758 and one 'Lodge of Philanthropists' No. 569 E.C. in Surat in 1798. Lodge Orion in the
West No. 598 E.C. (later No. 415 E.C.) was established in Poona. Lodge Perseverance No. 546 E.C., which functions today in Bombay as No. 338 S.C., was founded in 1828 at Bombay, with Bro. J. Lawless as its first Rt. Wor. Master. All these Lodges were
under the English Constitution, and the membership was chiefly confined to the European Community.
In Western India, no Indian was admitted to Freemasonry till 1843. Mr. Manockjee Cursetjee, a Parsee gentleman and a merchant, was refused
admission by Lodge Perseverance and not taking defeat easily, he went to Europe, and was initiated in France. After his return, with the support he received from Bro. Dr. James Burnes, the Provincial Grand Master of Western India (S.C.), he
established the Lodge Rising Star of Western India No. 342 S.C. on 15th December 1843 for the introduction of "native gentlemen" in the Craft. This meeting was held in the Town Hall, under the Warrant granted by Bro. Dr. James Burnes, the
Provincial Grand Master. Bro. Manockjee Cursetjee became the first Secretary of the Lodge and subsequently became its Rt. Wor. Master on two occasions. He remained an ardent Scottish Mason during his life time.
However, not surprisingly, the anomalies did continue. Some time in 1855, Lodge Rising Star had written a letter enquiring if they could initiate a French gentleman and it
was decided by a majority that the interests of the Craft would be best served if "Lodge Perseverance" restricted itself to the reception of Europeans and Lodge "Rising Star" to that of native candidates.
The concept of one masonic jurisdiction for India was not new. On January 31, 1875 "The Grand Lodge of All Scottish Masonry in India" was inaugurated and Bro.
Sir Henry Morland installed as the Grand Master Mason {The Grand Master of the Scottish Order is called the Grand Master Mason}. The territory of the Grand Lodge extended to Aden, Burma (Myanmar), Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and even to Iran and Iraq, besides
covering the entire pre-partition India. In 1887 Bro. K.R. Cama was appointed the Depute Grand Master of this Grand Lodge, the first Indian to be appointed to such a high post. Earlier, in 1886, Bro. Cama was given the rank of Treasurer in the Grand
Lodge of England. (It is not known whether it was an active rank or a past rank of honour). In 1932 Bro. Dr. Sir Temulji Nariman, was installed as the Grand Master. He was the first Indian to be the Grand Master, and that too at the age of 85
years. In spite of his age, he not only completed more than his term, he continued in full vigour until 1938, when he was called to the Grand Lodge Above. He said that Freemasonry was very much like the oath which Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine
required from the initiates of the Medical profession.
In 1962, after the formation of the Grand Lodge of India, the Grand Lodge of All Scottish Masonry in India was split into two District Grand Lodges, for western India and
eastern India, the longitude 76�E being the boundary line between the two districts. Between the two districts there were 35 lodges. By 1975 the number in the Eastern district fell to 5 due to the cessation of 4 lodges in Calcutta, and 2 lodges in
the west also ceased to function. In 1992 the two districts were merged to form the District Grand Lodge of India with 29 Lodges.
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