British Rule: Governance and Other Aspects

● Constitutional, Administrative and Judicial Developments

● Survey of British Policies in India

● Economic Impact of British Rule in India

● Development of Indian Press

● Development of Education

● Peasant Movements 1857-1947

● The Movement of the Working Class

Chapter 26

Constitutional, Administrative and Judicial Developments

The establishment of the East India Company in 1600 and its transformation into a ruling body from a trading one in 1765 had little immediate impact on Indian polity and governance. But the period between 1773 and 1858 under the Company rule, and then under the British Crown till 1947,

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witnessed a plethora of constitutional and administrative changes. The nature and objective of these changes were to serve the British imperial ideology but unintentionally they introduced elements of the modern State into India’s political and administrative system.

Constitutional Development between 1773 and 1858

After the Battle of Buxar (1764), the East India Company got the Diwani (right to collect revenue) of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. An annual subsidy was to be paid to the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II, and an annual pension to the Nawab of Awadh, Shuja-ud-Daula. The Company appointed two Indians as the deputy diwans—Mohammad Reza Khan for Bengal and Raja Shitab Rai for Bihar.

1767 The first intervention in Indian affairs by the British government came in 1767. It demanded 10 per cent share in the plunder amounting to 4 million pounds annually. 1765-72 The dual system of government where the Company had the authority but no responsibility and its Indian representatives had all the responsibility but no authority continued for seven years. This period was characterised by—

● rampant corruption among servants of the Company who made full use of private trading to enrich themselves;

● excessive revenue collection and oppression of peasantry;

● the Company’s bankruptcy, while the servants were flourishing.

By now the British government decided to regulate the Company to bring some order into its business. From now, there would be a gradual increase in controlling laws.