Events in the year 1856 in India.

• Queen Victoria, Monarch of United Kingdom.
• James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie, Governor-General of India (since 12 January 1848)
• Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning, Governor-General of India (till 21 March 1862)

• 11 February– Nawab Wajid Ali Shah deposed. He was last King of Oudh State, reigned 13 February 1847 – 11 February 1856. Annexation of the Kingdom of Oudh
• 28 February – End the tenure of Governor-General of India James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie.
• 28 February – Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning became Governor-General of India (till 21 March 1862)
• 25 July – Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856

• Indian Bills of Lading Act
• Foreign Tribunals Evidence Act (British statute)

• 4 March – Toru Dutt, poet (died 1877).
• 1 April – Acacio Gabriel Viegas, Goan physician (died 1933)
• 14 June – Ahmed Rida Khan, Sunni Muslim scholar and founder of Barelwi school of thought (died 1921).
• 23 July – Bal Gangadhar Tilak, nationalist, social reformer and independence fighter (died 1920).
• 20 August – Narayana Guru (died 1928)