the british sovereign was, and still is, sovereign of the order. the next-most senior member was the grand master; the position was held, "ex officio", by the viceroy of india. when the order was established in 1861, there was only one class of knights companions, who bore the postnominals ksi. in 1866, however, it was expanded to three classes. members of the first class were known as "knights grand commanders", rather than "knights grand cross", so as not to offend the non-christian indians appointed to the order. all those surviving members who had already been made knights companions of the order were made knights grand commanders.