ADVENT OF BRITISH (1600-1765)

INTRODUCTION TO ADVENT OF BRITISHERS:

INTRODUCTION:

·       The advent of British in India begins with Queen Elizabeth’s Charter of 1600 to some merchants of London.

·       These merchants formed the EIC to trade with the East Indies.

·       As a consequence of this charter, the British EIC set up trading establishments on the Eastern and Western coasts of India and in Bengal, called factories.

·       And all above done with the series of following charters.

CHARTER OF 1600 (ADMINISTRATION):

FEATURES:

·       It was mainly designed for trade, in order to meet competition with the Portuguese and the Dutch.

·       The charter gave the company, permission for traffic along with Merchandise Trade and Permission to assemble at any convenient place, to make reasonable laws and ordinances for the good government of the EIC.

·       It gave exclusive trading rights to the company.

·       Under this charter, the company was governed by a Governor along with Twenty-Four Directors or Committees who were primarily from the Court of Directors.

CHARTER OF 1661 (JUDICIAL):

FEATURES:

·       This charter gave EIC the power to coin money, to administer justice and to punish the interlopers.

·       It also empowered the company to constitute the Governor’s council and appoint other officers for their government.

·       The governor and the council were authored to administer justice all cases, that is civil as well as criminal cases.

·       The charter of 1661 gave EIC the power to make peace or war with the non-Christians.

CHARTER OF 1669 (TERRITORIAL SOVEREIGNTY):

FEATURES:

·       For the first time, the charter of 1669 gave territorial sovereignty to EIC by granting it the port of Bombay.

·       It also extended the administrative, judicial and other governmental powers to the EIC.

·       The EIC was also invested with Civil and Military government.        

CHARTER OF 1726:

FEATURES:

·       King George I, issued the charter of 1726 on 24^th September 1726.

·       This charter became an important landmark in the legal history of India due to its various vital provisions having far reaching consequences.

·       By this charter the court of Madras has been abolished and the power of mayor of Madras, Kolkata and Bombay were enlarged.        

IMPORTANT PROVISIONS:

·       Constitution of a corporation (local legislature): the charter of 1726 provided for establishment of a corporation in each presidency town of Kolkata, Bombay and Madras.

·       Each consist of mayor and 9 Alder men, 7 of whom including the mayor were required to be natural born British subjects and the remaining 2 were chosen after from the subjects of any princely state or having great relation with Britain.

·       The jurisdiction of corporation was extended over all Presidency and on subordinate factories.

·       The tenure of mayor was fixed for 1 year and Alder men were appointed for lifetime.

PROVISIONS CONCERNING TO JUDICIARY:

·       Justice of Peace: It provides that in each presidency town. The governor and five senior members of the colonial government will have criminal jurisdiction.

·       Quarter Session: The year was divided into 4 sessions to be held in a year.

·       Juries:

§  Grand Jury: Its main function was to arrest the accused and sent to quarter sessions for trial.

§  Pity Jury: Its main function was to examine the witness and finding of facts.

·       Mayor Court: The mayor court was presided over by Major and 9 Alder men.

THE COMPANY RULE (1773-1858)

REGULATTING ACT OF 1773:

INTRODUCTION:

·       It was the first step taken by the British government to control and regulate the affairs of East India Company.

·       It recognised the political & administrative functions of the company and forms the foundation of central administration in India.

FEATURES OF THIS ACT:

·       It designed the Governor of Bengal as the “Governor-General of Bengal”. First such Governor-General of Bengal was Lord Warren Hasting.

·       It made Governor of Bombay & Madras presidencies to sub-ordinate to the Governor-General of Bengal and prohibited the servants of the company from engaging in any private trade.

·       It helps in establishment of Supreme court at Culcutta (1774), comprising of one chief Justice and three other judges.

·       It strengthened the control of British govt over the company by requiring the court of Directors (governing body of the company) to report on the its revenue, civil and military affairs in India.

AMENDING ACT OF 1781:

INTRODUCTION:

·       This act was enacted to rectify the defects of the Regulating act of 1773.

·       This act also known as the Act of Settlement

FEATURES OF THIS ACT:

·       It exempted the Governor-General, council & company servants from the jurisdiction of supreme court for the acts done by them in their official capacity and excluded the revenue matters from the jurisdiction of supreme court.

·       It provided that supreme court have jurisdiction over all the inhabitants of Culcutta.

§  Hindus were defended according to Hindu law &

§  Muslims were defended according to Mohammedan law.

·       It stated that appeals from the provincial courts could be taken to Governor-General-In-Council and not to the Supreme court.

·       It empowered the Governor-General-In-Council to frame regulations for the provincial courts and councils. 

PITTS INDIA ACT OF 1784:

INTRODUCTION:

This act was significant for two reasons:

·       The company territories in India were called “British possessions in India for first time”.

·       The British govt was given the supreme control over company’s affairs & its administration in India.

FEATURES OF THIS ACT:

·       The company territories in India were called “British possessions in India for first time”.

·       The British govt was given the supreme control over company’s affairs & its administration in India.

·       It distinguished b/w the commercial and political functions of the company.

·       It established a system of double government by allowing Court of Directors to manage the commercial affairs & also by creating a new body called Board of Control to manage the political affairs.

CHARTER ACT OF 1793:

INTRODUCTION:

In 1786, Lord Cornwallis was appointed as the Governor-General of Bengal. He placed two demands to accept this post as follows:

·       He should be given power to override the decisions of his council in special cases.

·       He would also be the commander-In-Chief. Accordingly Act of 1786 was enacted to make both the provisions.

FEATURES OF THIS ACT:

·       It strengthened the overriding powers given to Lord Cornwallis over his council, to all future Governor-Generals and Governors of Presidencies.

·       It gave more power to the Governor-General of Bengal over the sub-ordinate presidencies of Bombay & Madras.

·       It extended the trade monopoly of the company in India for another 20 years of period.

·       It provided that the Commander-in-Chief was not to be a member of the Governor-General’s council, unless he was so appointed.

CHARTER ACT OF 1813:

FEATURES OF THIS ACT:

·       It abolished the trade monopoly of the company in India i.e., the Indian trade was thrown open to all British merchants.

·       It allowed the Christian missionaries to come to India for the purpose of enlightening the people.

·       It provided for the spread of western education among the inhabitants of the British territories in India.

·       It authorised local governments in India to impose taxes on persons. They could also punish the persons for not paying taxes.

CHARTER ACT OF 1833:

FEATURES OF THIS ACT:

·       It made the Governor-General of Bengal as the Governor-general of India and gave him all civil & military powers. Lord Bentick was the first Governor-General of India.

·       It deprived the Governors of Bombay & Madras of their legislative powers. The Governor-general of India was given exclusive legislative powers for the entire British India.

·       It ended the activities of East India Company as commercial body, which became a purely administrative body.

·       This Act attempted to introduce a system of open competition for selection of Civil Servants and stated that Indians should not be debarred from holding any place, office under the company.

CHARTER ACT OF 1853:

FEATURES OF THIS ACT:

·       It separated the legislative & executive functions of the Governor General’s council for the first time.

·       It established a separate Governor-General’s legislative council which came to be known as the Indian (central) council.

·       It introduced an open competition system of selection and recruitment of Civil Servants.

·       For the first time, it introduced local representation in the Indian Legislative Council. Out of 6 members, 4 members were appointed by the local governments of Bengal, Bombay, Madras and Agra.

FROM COMPANY TO CROWN RULE (1858-1918)

GOVERNEMNT OF INDIA ACT OF 1858: (ACT FOR THE GOOD GOVT OF INDIA)

INTRODUCTION:

·       This Act was enacted with the end of the Revolt of 1857 also known as the “First War of Independence” or “Sepoy Mutiny” And abolished the East India Company and transferred the powers of Government, Territories and Revenues to the British Crown.

FEATURES OF THIS ACT:

·       It changed the destination of Governor-General of India to Viceroy of India. Lord Canning became the first Viceroy of India And was largely confined to the improvement of the administrative machinery by which Indian Government was to be Controlled in England & governed by in the name of her majesty.

·       It ended the system of double Government by abolishing the Court of Directors and Board of Control.

·       It created new House, Secretary of state for India having complete authority and control over Indian Administration.

·       It established a 15-member council of India to assist the Secretary of state for India (Chairperson of Council).

Acts Towards Involvement of Indians in Administration

INDIAN COUNCILS ACT OF 1861:

INTRODUCTION:

·       After the great revolt of 1857, British Government felt the necessity of co-operation of Indians in the administration of their country and In this direction three Acts were enacted by the British parliament in 1861, 1892 and 1909.

FEATURES OF THIS ACT:

·       It made a beginning of the representative institutions by associating Indians with the law-making process.

·       In 1962, Lord Canning the then Viceroy of India, nominated three Indians to his legislative council: The Raja of Banaras, The Maharaja of Patiala and Sir Dinkar Rao.

·       It initiated the process of decentralization by restoring the legislative powers to the Bombay & Madras Presidencies and also provided for the establishment of new legislative councils for: Bengal, North-Western Provinces & Punjab.

·       It empowered the Viceroy of India to make rules & orders for more convenient business transactions in the council and Portfolio system was Introduced by Lord Canning in1859:

§  Under this, a member of Viceroy’s council was made in-charge of one or more department of the Government.

INDIAN COUNCILS ACT OF 1892:   

FEATURES OF THIS ACT:

·       It increased the number of members (non-official) in the central & Provincial legislative Councils but maintained the official majority in them.

·       It increased the functions of legislative councils & gave them the powers of discussing the budget.

·       It provided for the nomination of some non-official members of the central legislative council by Viceroy.

·       This Act indirectly help in filling up some of the non-official seats both in central & provincial legislative councils.

INDIAN COUNCILS ACT OF 1909: (MORLEY-MINTO REFORMS)

INTRODUCTION:

·       This Act is also known as Morley-Minto Reforms (Lord Morley was the then Secretary of state for India and Lord Minto was the then Viceroy of India)

FEATURES OF THIS ACT:

·       It considerably increased the size of the legislative councils, both Central & Provincial:

§  Members in Central Legislative Council raised from 16 to 60

§  Members in Provincial Legislative Council was not uniform.

·       It provided (for the first time) for the association of Indians with the Executive council of the Viceroy.

·       It introduced a system of communal representation for Muslims. Under this, Muslim members were elected by Muslim voters only. Lord Minto came to be known as the Father of Communal Electorate.

·       It retained official majority in Central legislative council, but allowed to maintained majority in Provincial legislative Council.

Acts Towards the Responsible Government in India

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT 1919: (MONTAGU CHELMSFORD REFORM)

INTRODUCTION:

·       On 20^th August 1917, British govt declared, for the first time, that its objective was to the Introduction of Responsible Government in India.

FEATURES OF THIS ACT:

·       It relaxed the Central control over the provinces by separating the central & Provincial subjects and further divided the Provincial subjects into 2 parts: Transferred subjects and Reserved Subjects.

·       It introduced, for the first time, Bi-cameralism & Direct election in the Country.

§  Bi-Cameral legislature: Upper House (council of state) and Lower House (legislative assembly)

·       It required that, out of 6 members of the Viceroys Executive council (other than commander in chief), 3 were to be Indian.

·       It extended communalism by proving separate electorate for Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans and granted franchise to a limited number of people on the basis of property tax or Education.

SIMMON COMMISSION:

FEATURES OF THIS ACT:

·       In November 1927, British Government announced the appointment of a 7-member statutory commission under sir John Simon.

·       This commission have to report on the condition of India under its new constitution.

·       In 1930, the commission submitted its report in 1930 & recommended the abolition of dyarchy.

·       To consider the proposals of the commission. The British government organised 3 round table conference of the British Government, British India & Indian Princely States.

COMMUNAL AWARD:

FEATURES OF THIS ACT:

·       In August 1932, Ramsay MacDonald, the British Prime, announced a scheme of representation of minorities which came to be known as Communal Award.

·       It helps in establishment of separate electorates for Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo Indians and Europeans And also extended it to SCs.

·       At last, there was an agreement b/w leaders of congress and depressed classes known as Poona Pact.

·       It retained the Hindu joint electorate & gave reserve seats to the depressed classes.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT OF 1935:

FEATURES OF THIS ACT:

·       It provides for the establishment of All India Federation consisting of provinces & princely states as Units.

·       It abolished dyarchy in the provinces and introduced “provincial autonomy” in its place.

·       It introduced bi-cameralism in 6 out of 11 provinces And extended franchise, about 10% of the total population got the voting right.

·       It abolished the council of India, established by the Govt of India act of 1858.

·       It provides for the establishment of RBI to control the currency & credits of the country And establishment of a federal court, which was set up in 1937.

INDIAN INDEPENDENCE ACT OF 1947:

INTRODUCTION:

·       On 20^th February 1947, the British Prime-Minister Clement Atlee declared the end of British rule in India by June 20, 1947.

·       On June 3 1947, Lord Mountbatten, Viceroy of India, put forth the partition plan known as the Mountbatten Plan. After the demand of Muslim league for the partition of the country.

FEATURES OF THIS ACT:

·       It ended the British rule in India and declared India as an Independent & Sovereign state from August from 15^th August,1947.

·       It provided for the partition of India and creation of two independent dominions of India and Pakistan.

·       It empowered constituent Assemblies of individual country to adopt any constitution for their respective nation.

·       It abolished office of Viceroy, Govt in Britain would now have no control with respect to the Govt of India of Pakistan.

·       It granted freedom to Indian Princely states either to join the Dominion of India or Pakistan or to remain independent.

·       It provided for the governance of each of the dominion by the Govt of India Act of 1935, till new constitution were framed.

·       It dropped the title of emperor of India from the royal titles of the king of England.

·       It discontinued the appointment to civil services and reservation of posts by the secretary of state for India.