HISTORICAL BACKGROUND- 2 (Company Rule, 1773-1858)

Question 1

REGULATING ACT OF 1773- Why is it important?

Answer 1

• first step taken by the British Government to control and regulate the affairs of the East India Company India
• it recognised, for the first time, the political and administrative functions of the Company
• it laid the foundations of central administration in India

Question 2

REGULATING ACT OF 1773- Features

Answer 2

1. It designated the Governor of Bengal as the ‘Governor-General of Bengal’ and created an Executive Council of four members to assist him. The first such Governor-General was Lord Warren Hastings.
2. It made the governors of Bombay and Madras presidencies subordinate to the governor-general of Bengal, unlike earlier, when the three presidencies were independent of one another.
3. It provided for the establishment of a Supreme Court at Calcutta (1774) comprising one chief justice and three other judges.
4. It prohibited the servants of the Company from engaging in any private trade or accepting presents or bribes from the ‘natives’.
5. It strengthened the control of the British Government over the Company by requiring the Court of Directors (governing body of the Company) to report on its revenue, civil, and military affairs in India.

Question 3

Who was the first Governor General of Bengal?

Answer 3

Lord Warren Hastings

Question 4

PITT’S INDIA ACT OF 1784 - Features

Answer 4

1. It distinguished between the commercial and political functions of the Company.
2. It allowed the Court of Directors to manage the commercial affairs but created a new body called Board of Control to manage the political affairs. Thus, it established a system of double government.
3. It empowered the Board of Control to supervise and direct all operations of the civil and military government or revenues of the British
   possessions in India.

Question 5

PITT’S INDIA ACT OF 1784- Significance

Answer 5

• the Company’s territories in India were for the first time called the ‘British possessions in India’
• the British Government was given the supreme control over Company’s affairs and its administration in India

Question 6

CHARTAR ACT OF 1833- Significance

Answer 6

This Act was the final step towards centralisation in British India.

Question 7

CHARTER ACT OF 1833- Features

Answer 7

1. It made the Governor-General of Bengal as the Governor-General of India and vested in him all civil and military powers. Thus, the act created, for the first time, a Government of India having authority over the entire territorial area possessed by the British in India. Lord William Bentick was the first governor-general of India.
2. It deprived the governor of Bombay and Madras of their legislative powers. The Governor-General of India was given exclusive legislative powers for the entire British India. The laws made under the previous acts were called as Regulations while laws made under this act were called as Acts.
3. It ended the activities of the East India Company as a commercial body, which became a purely administrative body. It provided that the company’s territories in India were held by it ‘in trust for His Majesty, His heirs and successors’.
4. The Charter Act of 1833 attempted to introduce a system of open competition for selection of civil servants, and stated that the Indians should not be debarred from holding any place, office and employment under the Company. However, this provision was negated after
   opposition from the Court of Directors.

Question 8

Who was the first Governor General of India?

Answer 8

Sir William Bentick

Question 9

CHARTER ACT OF 1853- Features

Answer 9

1. It separated, for the first time, the legislative and executive functions of the Governor-General’s council. It provided for addition of six new members called legislative councillors to the council. In other words, it established a separate Governor-General’s legislative council which came to be known as the Indian (Central) Legislative Council. This legislative wing of the council functioned as a mini-Parliament, adopting the same procedures as the British Parliament. Thus, legislation, for the first time, was treated as a special function of the government, requiring special machinery and special process.
2. It introduced an open competition system of selection and recruitment of civil servants. The covenanted civil service3 was thus thrown open to the Indians also. Accordingly, the Macaulay Committee (the Committee on the Indian Civil Service) was appointed in 1854.
3. It extended the Company’s rule and allowed it to retain the possession of Indian territories on trust for the British Crown. But, it did not specify any particular period, unlike the previous Charters. This was a clear indication that the Company’s rule could be terminated at any time the Parliament liked.
4. It introduced, for the first time, local representation in the Indian (Central) Legislative Council. Of the six new legislative members of the governorgeneral’s council, four members were appointed by the local (provincial) governments of Madras, Bombay, Bengal and Agra.