Events in the year 1851 in India.
- James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie, Governor-General of India, 1848 to 1856
- Vyankatrao I Raje Ghorpade, Raja of Mudhol State, 20 February 1818-December 1854
- Muhammad Said Khan, Nawab of Rampur from 1840 to 1855, died on 1 April
- Ghulam Muhammad Ghouse Khan, Nawab of the Carnatic, 1825-1855
- Chintaman Rao I "Appa Sahib", founder and Rao of Sangli State, 1782–15 July 1851
- Dhundi Rao Chintaman Rao "Tatya Sahib", Rao of Sangli State, 15 July 1851-12 December 1901
- Gumansinhji, Maharawal of Chhota Udaipur State, 1822-1851
- Jitsinhji, Maharawal of Chhota Udaipur State, 1851-1881
- Ram Baksh, Prime Minister of Hyderabad, September 1849–April 1851
- Ganesh Rao, April 1851–June 1851
- Ratan Singh, Maharajah of Bikaner State, 25 March 1828-7 August 1851
- Sardar Singh, Maharajah of Bikaner State, 7 August 1851–16 May 1872
- Mahmud al-Hasan, a Deobandi scholar who actively campaigned against Britain's rule in India, born in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
- Jaswant Singh of Bharatpur, ruled Bharatpur State, born in Deeg on 1 March
- Henry George Impey Siddons, an Indian educationist, born in Indore
- Harry Charles Purvis Bell, British civil servant and a commissioner in the Ceylon Civil Service
- Henry Stephens Salt, British writer and social reformer, born on 20 September