British Policies and Administration in India

BRTISH POLICIES AND ADMINISTRATION IN INDIA

1. DEVELOPMENTS IN BRITAIN & INDIA:-

• Lord Clive himself recommended a system of ‘double govt.’ as a matter of expediency, under which the criminal justice system would be left in hands of Nawab’s officials, while civil & fiscal matters would be controlled by the Company

• CULTURAL & EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS:-
• Urge for knowledge & understanding led to founding of institutions like Calcutta Madrassa (1781), the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1784) & Sanskrit College of Banaras (1798), all of which promoted the study of Indian languages & scriptures
• The scholars of these institutions highlighted the classical glory of India crafted by the Aryans, the distant kin of Europeans
• Fort William College at Calcutta was established in 1800 – to train civil servants in Indian languages & tradition

• ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS:-
• Industrial Revolution in Britain around 1800 necessitated an integration of markets for British manufactured goods throughout India & as a source of agricultural raw material

• INTELLECTUAL TRENDS & DEVELOPMENTS:-
• There were several new intellectual trends in Britain which pushed forward the issue of social reforms
• Free trade merchants wanted that company should shift its attention from its functions as a trader to those of ruler & India be opened for trade to all
• Adam Smith & his book ‘An Inquiry into the Nature & Causes of the Wealth of Nations’, brought in a new school of economic thinking that condemned companies enjoying exclusive monopolies
• The Utilitarian advocated the ‘rule of law’ for India, with the coming of Utilitarian James Mill to East India company’s London office in 1833, India policies came to be guided by such doctrines
• It was largely due to his efforts that a Law Commission was appointed in 1833 under Lord Macaulay & it drew up an Indian Penal Code in 1835

• POLITICAL & LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS:-
• The traumatic experience of revolt of 1857 convinced many in England & in India that reform was ‘pointless as well as dangerous’

{BRITISH PARLIAMENT & THE EMPIRE:-

• As the company’s empire in India expanded the British govt. realized that it could no longer be allowed to remain outside the ambit of the state
1. REGULATING ACT OF 1773:-
• Recognized the parliament’s right to control Indian Affairs
• Court of Directors obliged to submit all communications received from Bengal to British govt.
• Status of Governor of Bengal was raised to Governor General, to be assisted by Council of 4 members
• Supreme court was set up in Calcutta
• An amending act of 1781 more precisely defined jurisdiction of the supreme court
2. PITT’S INDIA ACT,1784:-
• Company’s pubic affairs & its administration in India were brought under direct control of British Govt.
• A Board of Control of six members was constituted & would include on of secretaries of state, Chancellor of Exchequer & four privy councilors
• The orders of Board became binding on CoD, which was required to send all its letters & dispatches to Board
• GoI was placed under Governor General & a council of 3, thus giving greater power to former
• Presidencies of Madras & Bombay were subordinated to Governor General
• More direct parliamentary control over Indian Administration was established 
3. THE ACT OF 1786:-
• This act authorized CoD to combine two officers of Governor General & Commander in chief, resulting in Warren Hastings for the first time occupying two positions simultaneously
4. THE CHARTER ACT OF 1793:-
• All laws were to be printed with translations in Indian languages
• This act thus introduced in India the concept of civil laws, enacted by a human agency & applied universally
5. THE CHARTER ACT OF 1813:-
• The act asserted the ‘undoubted sovereignty of Crown of UK’ over the Indian territories
• Company was also deprived of its monopoly in trade with India although its monopoly to trade with China was left untouched
• Christian missionaries were allowed to enter India
• The real beginning of western education in India thus starts from this act, which not only allowed missionaries to travel India, but provided for allocation of 100,000 rupees per year for two specific purposes: first, the encouragement of learned natives of India & the revival of improvement of literature; secondly, the promotion of knowledge of sciences amongst the inhabitants of the country
6. THE CHARTER ACT OF 1833:-
• The act become a landmark in constitutional history of India
• Company’s monopoly of tea trade with china was now abolished, the Indian possessions of company were to be held in trust for British Crown
• The President of BoC now became Minister for Indian Affairs
• G.G. of Bengal – G.G. of India
• Abolished slavery
7. THE CHARTER ACT OF 1853:-
• Company was allowed to retain the Indian possessions ‘in trust for her Majesty, her heirs & successors until Parliament shall otherwise provide’
• Separated executive & legislative powers
• Company’s control over appointments was curtailed by introduction of competition for recruitment of Indian Civil Service
8. THE GoI ACT, 1858:-
• Replaced President of BoC with Secretary of State for India, who became in subordination to cabinet
• He was to be advised by Council of India, consisting of 15 members, 7 of whom were to be selected from now superseded CoD
• G.G. of India who would hence forth be known as Viceroy, would retain his powers, but instead of dual control he would be answerable to Secretary of State
9. THE INDIAN COUNCIL ACT 1861:-
• Strengthen Viceroy’s authority over his Executive Council }

2. JUDICIAL SYSTEM:-

• Clive appointed Muhammad Reza Khan to represent the company civil jurisdiction between 1765 & 1772; as Naib Nazim he also administered the criminal jurisdiction of the Nawab

• JUDICIAL SYSTEM FROM 1772-80:-
• Warren Hastings in 1772 dismissed Reza Khan & introduced a new system
• Each district was to have two courts a civil court (diwani) & criminal court (faujdari adalat)
• Civil courts were to be presided over European district collectors, assisted by Maulavis & pandits
• There would be an appeal court in Calcutta, which too would be presided over by the president & two members of council
• Criminal courts were to be under Qazi & Mufti supervised by European collectors
• The appeal court the Sadar Nazamat Adalat was removed from Murshidabad to Calcutta
• All their orders were sent to the Nawab for the final sanctions
• In civil justice system further changes took place between 1773 & 1781 partly in response to demands of revenue collection & partly in difference to Whig principle of separating executive functions from administration of Justice
• According to plans worked out by Hastings & Sir Elijah Impey, the chief justice of Calcutta High Court, district collectors were created which were later replaced by 18 mofussil courts, presided by European Judge
• For some time the new Supreme Court created by Regulating Act of 1773 at Calcutta, acted as an appeal court; but its conflict with SC over Jurisdiction led to confinement of its authority to the city of Calcutta & to matters related to factories dependent on Fort William
• In its place, the Sadar Diwani Adalat was now reconstituted to serve as an appeal court, with Sir Elijah himself taking over its superintendence in 1780

• THE CODE OF 1781:-
• Prescribed specific rules & regulations to be followed in all the civil courts
• To reduce the element of uncertainty a committee of 11 pundits compiled at the behest of Hastings, a digest of Hindu laws in 1775 & it was translated in to English by N.B. Halhed in 1776 for purpose of lessening the dependence of European judges on indigenous interpreters of laws
• Code of Muslim laws was also compiled by 1778

• THE CODE OF 1793:-
• Lord Cornwallis & his code of 1793 separated revenue collection from administration of civil justice as a safeguard of property rights against abuse of power by revenue officials & their agents
• Faujdari adalats were abolished & replaced by courts of circuit, headed by European judges

• THE CHARTER ACT OF 1833:-
• The act, first of all threw open judicial positions to Indians & provided for appointment of Law Commission
• The Code of Civil Procedure was introduced in 1857, Indian Penal Code 1860 & Criminal Procedure Code 1862

3. LAW & ORDER:-

• REFORMS OF 1793 & 1795:-
• Cornwallis in 1793 divested the zamindars of their policing duties & instead divided the districts in to thanas or units of police jurisdiction, each placed under new officer called daroga appointed & supervised by magistrates
• In 1795, Jonathan Duncan, the resident at Banaras, modified the system of making tahsildars, who were to be in charge of the policing units, & subservient to the magistrates

• THE COLLECTOR AS THE POWER CENTER:-
• Tahsildars were divested of their police duties in 1807, daroga system was abolished in 1812 & supervision of village police was vested in collector, who was now responsible for revenue, police & magisterial functions at the same time

• THE NEW MODEL: ‘RULE OF LAW’:-
• Based on Model of Royal Irish Constabulary, which was found to be ideally suited to colonial conditions was first experimented in Sindh when Sir Charles Napier conquered it in 1843
• Under this model the whole territory was to be under supervision of Inspector General while districts would have their own SP answerable to both IG  & District Collector
• Introduced in Punjab in 1849, Bombay (1853) & Madras (1859) 

• AFTERMATH OF REVOLT: THE POLICE ACT,1861:-
• The Police Commission appointed in 1860 provided for basic structure of Police establishment that was enacted in Police Act of 1861
• Somewhat modified version of Sind Model, the civilian police was organized on provincial basis with IG answerable to provincial govt. & SP to collector
• The Police Commission of 1902 provided for educated Indians to positions of officers in police force free; but they ‘stopped in rank where the Europeans officers began’

4. ARMY:-

• The East India Company started recruiting its own army, which came to be known as the Sepoy army

• The French had first initiated this tradition of recruiting an Indian army in 1721-29

• TRAINING & RECRUITMENT:-
• Trained & disciplined according to European standards & commanded by European officers

• ROLE & FUNCTIONS:-
• Not only conquered territories, but also protected to empire against real or imagined internal threats. It was crucial to effective collection of revenue

• COMPOSITION:-
• Initially consisted of mainly of upper caste landed peasants from Awadh & Bihar
• From 1815, Gurkha soldiers from among Nepalis were recruited
• On the whole Bengal army remained more high caste in character, the Bombay & Madras armies became more heterogeneous
• After mutiny of 1857 the Peel commission was appointed to look into the military affairs of India
• It recommended that the native army should be composed of different nationalities & castes, and as a general rule mixed promiscuously through each regiment

• THE BRITISH RAJ – A GARRISON STATE:-
• Loyalty of army was important for stability of colonial rule
• Except for a brief Russian threat through Afghanistan in 1880s the British empire in India did not face any external danger to its security
• Except on two occasions, one in 1907 during Canal colony agitations in Punjab & then in 1920 during the Sikh Gurudwara movement the Sepoys were never touched by the political agitations
• Visible signs of cracking of loyalty of Indian army were one of main reasons why the Raj had to end its rule in 1947

5. INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE:-

• ROLE & IMPORTANCE:-
• They were the most powerful officials in Empire

• TRAINING & RECRUITMENT:-
• Wellesley started Fort William College at Calcutta
• In 1802, Fort William College was closed for this purpose but continued as a language school
• In its place, in 1805 the East India College was established at Hertford near London & moved to Hailey bury in 1809
• The Charter Act of 1833 introduced competition for recruitment but it was a limited competition among candidates nominated by the directors & therefore could not improve the situation
• Finally, the Charter Act of 1853 introduced the principle of open competition; examination was open to all ‘naturally born subject of her Majesty’
• The Hailey bury College was abolished in 1858 & Civil Service Commission henceforth recruited civil servants through an examination held annually in England 

• COVENATED & UNCOVENATED CIVIL SERVICE:-
• Uncovenated civil service – Indians were accommodated
• After 1813, gradual process of Indianization of subordinate services had begun mainly in judiciary
• In 1870 introduced ‘statutory civil service’ – meant that Indians of ability & merit could be nominated to few positions. Those with respectable family background or belonging to indigenous princely families could be accommodated  

• STRUCTURAL REFORMS:-
• Reformed in 1892 on basis of Public service commission recommendations
• Covenanted civil service – Indian Civil Service
• Uncovenated civil service – Provincial Civil Service

6. THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF BRITISH RULE: I:-

• THE LAND REVENUE SYSTEM:-
• Agriculture was basis of economy & main source of income & hence, several land revenue experiments were introduced in haste to maximize extraction
• The devastating famine of 1769-70, in which about 1/3rd of Bengal population was wiped off, was one tragic outcome of these experiments

• REFORMS BY HASTINGS – THE FARMING SYSTEM:-
• European district collectors were to be in charge of revenue collection, while the revenue collecting right was farmed out to highest bidders

• PERMANENT SETTLEMENT:-
• Cornwallis fixed the revenue rate permanently
• The company could get its taxes regularly & when necessary, as Cornwallis thought, it could raise its income by taxing trade & commerce
• The land revenue since it was going to be fixed in permanently was also to fixed at a high level – the absolute maximum completely ignoring customary rates
• Every bit of land in Bengal, Bihar & Orissa became a part of zamindari & zamindar had to pay the tax fixed upon it. He could sell, mortgage & transfer the land
• But failure to pay the revenue would lead to confiscation of zamindari by government & its sale by auction
• Peasants were left at the mercy of zamindars
• Their customary occupancy right was ignored & they were reduced to the status of tenants
• The subsequent regulations of 1799 & 1812 gave zamindars the right to seize property of the tenants

• RYOTWARI SETTLEMENT:-
• Scottish officials of the company like Thomas Munro & Mount Stuart Elphinstone took the initiative to introduce Ryotwari
• David Ricardo’s theory of rent – rent was surplus from land i.e. its income minus cost of production & labor at the expense of unproductive intermediaries like zamindars
• Ryotwari experiment was started by Alexander Reed in district Baramahal in 1792
• It created individual property rights in land, which was vested in peasants rather than in zamindars
• With the ryotwari settlements Munro went on to consolidated the company’s state in south by expanding its revenue base, where land taxes would be collected directly from peasants by a large no. of British officers, an idea he had borrowed from the ‘military fiscalism’ of Tipu Sultan’s Mysore
• Munro had argued that this system would reduce the revenue burden for farmers, while it would yield larger amount of land revenue for the state
• Gori details of peasants’ condition in Madras Torture Commission Report in 1855 indicated the need for effective reform
• It was decided that the revenue rate would be half of the net value of produce of land & settlement would be made for thirty years 

• MAHALWARI SETTLEMENT:-
• R.M. Bird provided a detailed survey to assess the revenue of an entire fiscal unit, either a mahal (groups of villages subordinate to old established landlords usually taluqdars) or units based on common ownership (bhaichara) in accordance with net value of potential produce of field
• The total revenue thus fixed was then to be shared by the members of co-sharing body
• The state was to appropriate 2/3rd of net income of land & settlement was to be made for 30 years
• Mahalwari settlement with the village community was extended to Punjab & central India when those regions were conquered subsequently while the Ryotwari system was introduced in Sind Assam & Coorg
• In 1928-29 about 19% of cultivable land in India was under zamindari settlement, 29% under Mahalwari settlement & 52% under Ryotwari system

7. FOREST LAWS & TRADE & INDUSTRY:-

• British interest in forests begun because of imperial demand for timber needed for ship building for Royal navy & also because of rapid construction of railways in mid-19th century

• British invited a German expert Dietrich Brandis for advice & made him the first Inspector General of Forests in India who set up the Indian Forest Service in 1864 & forest department

• He helped to formulated Indian Forest Act of 1878 – this act established complete government monopoly over Indian forests

• The act divided the forest in to three categories – reserved, protected & unclassified

• The Imperial Forest Research Institute was set up at Dehradun in 1906

• Jhum (slash & burn cultivation) also locally called as Dhya, penda, bewar, nevad, podu, khandad & kumri

• Commercial forestry & game laws prohibiting subsistence hunting, threatened the Chenchus of Hyderabad with virtual extinction & they took to banditry

• On the other hand, the Baigas of central India, the Hill Reddy’s of Hyderabad & Bison Marias of Baster continued with their hunting rituals in defiance of laws

• The Sarora tribes of Ganjam Agency often got involved in frontal confrontation with the state by clearing reserved forests for jhum & courting arrests for violation of laws

• TRADE & INDUSTRY:-

Indian cotton & silk goods had flourishing market in west

8. THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF BRITISH RULE: II

• IMPOVERISHMENT OF PEASANTRY:-
• High revenue demands & rigid manner of its collection force the peasants into the clutches of money lenders & when he was unable to pay his land was sold off
• Expanding population put greater pressure on lnad as there was no corresponding development of industry to provide a means of livelihood
• Indian agriculture also began to deteriorate resulting in extremely low yields per acre
• The peasant was too poor & had no incentive to improve agriculture
• Land lords would rather squeeze in more rent than invest in improvement of responsibility
• Rural population was continuously plagued by famines as majority of cultivators lived at starvation level

• RUINS OF ARTISANS & CRAFTSAMEN:-
• Britain’s policy of one way free trade for India resulted in ruining of handicraftsmen as well as rural artisans

• DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSPORT & TRADE:-
• Roads were improved & steamships were introduced on the rivers
• Work on Grand Trunk Road & efforts were also made to link by road the major cities, ports & markets of country
• But real improvement in transport came with railways
• By 1869, more than 4000 miles of railway had been built by the private companies who were guaranteed a minimum of 5% return on their capital by GoI
• But this system proved very costly & slow so in 1869 the government decide to expand the railways as state enterprises
• By 1905, nearly 28000 miles of railways had been built
• India’s foreign trade in second half of 19th century was benefited by a few factors
• These were opening of Suez canal, introduction of steel made steamships & construction of railways inside the country
• It was only in 20th century that India established trade relations with other countries like US, Japan & Germany
• In her trade with other countries, India usually maintained a favorable balance. But this balance was used for paying of various kings of ‘dues’ charged on India by Britain
• The dues such as profits made by British capital invested in India, cost of shipping & other commercial services rendered to traders in India most of whom were British, Payment for maintaining the establishment of secretary of state for India in Britain & these were collectively called home charges draining a huge amount of money every year from India to Britain

• DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN INDUSTRIES UPTO 1947:-
• It is convenient to demarcate three district phases in growth & development of modern industries
• First was period up to 1914, second inter war period (1914-39) & third the decade after WW II 1939-47
• FIRST PHASE:- it was characterized mainly by production of export goods for domestic market in those areas where competition of natural advantage (jute, tea, etc.) together with growing tendency to produce goods for domestic market in those areas where competition with their imported counterparts was not serious. There was an almost complete absence of heavy or capital goods industries. This meager development took place in spite of active discouragement from Britain. The living & working conditions of labor were bad; as bad if not worse as in other parts of world in similar phases of industrial capitalism. Factory acts imposed some restriction 1881 (Lord Ripon) & 1891 (Lord Lansdowne)
• SECOND PHASE: - characterized mainly by production of consumer goods for mass market within India. It was helped by diminished imports (due to war tariff & depression) & relatively simple technology, paper, glass, sugar, cement, matches & even steel, magnesium chloride, sulphuric acid industries got firmly established during the 1930s. investment under capital grew considerably faster than European investment
•   THIRD PHASE: - the last decade of British rule saw the beginning of another phase – the production of capital goods for a domestic market i.e. the process of import substitution extending itself from consumer goods to capital goods.

9. MODERN EDUCATION:-

• FIRST INSTITUTIONS: -    First educational institutions supported by the company were the Calcutta Madrassa & Banaras Sanskrit College established in 1781 & 1791 respectively. Fort William College was started in Calcutta in 1801
• EDUCATIONAL POLICY: -     in 1813, through the Charter Acts, the British Govt. sanctioned to the company a lakh of rupees for educational developments. However company did not have a positive educational policy till 1835. The govt. then decided to promote European literature & sciences of English language alone. The Educational Dispatch of 1854 asked the govt. to assume responsibility for the education of the masses. Affiliating Universities were set up in 1857 at Calcutta, Bombay & Madras. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was first graduate of Calcutta University