34 India under British Crown

D. Subramanyam Reddy

1. Introduction:

The British Crown’s rule over India began in 1858 and ended in 1947. The transfer of authority from the British East India Company to the British Crown was done under the Government of India Act of 1858. Some changes were made under the same act. In England, the President of the Board of Control was replaced by a Secretary of State for India under the British Cabinet who was to have final authority over Indian affairs. A Council of India was created to assist him on matters relating to India. It was to consist of fifteen members. Of these, eight were to be nominated by the Crown. The other seven were to be elected by the Court of Directory. In India, the Governors-General was to be the personal representative of the British Crown. He was given the title of Viceroy. Lord Canning (1856-1862) was the last Governors-General of India under the Crown. The change was formally announced by the Queen’s Proclamation of November1, 1858, which set forth a new policy for India.

The Queen’s Proclamation committed the Government of India to a policy of greater respect for Indian usages and customs and of non-interference with religious beliefs and worship. The native princes were assured that all the treaties and engagements made with them by the East India Company would be respected and that no further encroachment on their territories would be made. The policy of ‘lapse’ or Doctrine of Lapse introduced during Dalhousie’s tenure was discontinued.

Since the Government was burdened with a heavy debt due to the Revolt of 1857-58, it cut-down the expenditure, introduced an income tax, a paper currency and annual budgets. These measures helped the Government to have a surplus by 1864. The Government of India Act of 1858 did not radically alter the structure of government. But, small changes began to take place from the beginning. The Indian Councils Act of 1861 added a fifth member to the Executive Council of the Governor-General. During the tenure of Canning, members of this council were given responsibility for specific departments. For the first time provision was made for the nomination of non-official members to the Imperial Legislative Council. The power of Legislation was restored to the Presidencies of Madras and Bombay. The judicial system was significantly altered. For this was enacted, the Indian Penal Code (1860) the Code of Criminal Procedure (1861) and the High Courts Act (1861).

India was governed by nine Viceroys between Canning (1856-1862) and Curzon (1899-1905). It was a period of completion and consolidation of British imperial rule in India which reached its high point under Curzon. The frontiers were rounded off. The relations with the Indian states were straightened out and placed on a permanent footing. A highly bureaucratized imperial administrative machinery came into being. The economic development and modernized communications unified the country as never before. The establishment of direct telegraphic line between England and India enabled the Secretary of State to exercise direct effective control over Indian affairs from London and thereby to subordinate the ‘policy’ of the Governor-General in Council in India to that of the British Cabinet. The Government of India lost its virtual autonomy. The policy for India came to be dictated by the larger considerations of the empire.

2.  The Frontier:

2.1.  Afghanistan:

By 1858, the British could establish their authority over the entire Indian sub-continent. But, a settled frontier was yet to be established. In the north-west the stability of the frontier depended on understanding between British India and Afghanistan. This in turn depended on Persia and Russia. In 1855, Dalhousie concluded a treaty of friendship with Dost Muhammad, the Amir of Afghanistan and helped him to foil a Persian attack on Herat (1856-57). His death in 1863 led to struggle for succession in Afghanistan. The Government of India maintained neutrality in this matter. Finally, in 1868, Sher Ali was successful in the struggle. The British recognized him as the new Amir. But, Russia, instead of recognizing him, advanced into Central Asia. Bukhara was occupied in 1866. The province of Russ ian Turkistan was created in 1867. Samarkhand was occupied in 1868. Khiva was taken in 1873. Naturally, the British could not keep quite. Gladston’s England asked Russia to recognize Sher Ali’s rights in Central Asia. His successor Disraeli’s ministry took Russia’s activities in Europe and the near East more seriously and decided stronger action in Afghanistan. When, in 1876, the Russians intervened in the Balkans, the British occupied Quetta (1877). The Viceroy Lytton proposed to send an envoy to Kabul. But, the Amir refused to accept the envoy. As a result the British invaded Afghanistan in 1878. Finally, the Treaty of Gandamak (1879) converted Afghanistan into an almost protected state of British India. But, it could not be implemented due to people’s movement in Afghanistan. In 1880, Viceroy Ripon recognized Abdur Rahman, the nephew of Sher Ali, as the Amir of Kabul on condition that he should have no political relations with any foreign country except the British. The British could get confirmation of Kurram, Pishin and Sibi given to them in 1879. Abdur could wipe out all his rivals with British help in 1881. Russia which was not happy with the situation occupied Merv in 1884, Panjdeh in 1885 and threatened Zulfikar Pass. Finally, the agreement concluded among Britan, Russia and Afghanistan in 1887 fixed the boundary between Russia and Afghanistan. A line of demarcation between Afghanistan and India known as the Durand Line was drawn in 1893-1895. It divided the sphere of influence between Afghanistan and British India. But, the problem of dealing with the tribals on the eastern side of the new line became a major frontier problem for British India. This was finally solved by Curzon by creating North-West Frontier Province in 1901 and making its administration an imperial responsibility.

2. 2. Burma:

The two Anglo-Burmese Wars had given the British an opportunity to occupy Burma’s coastal provinces of Arakan, Pegu and Tenasseim, thereby denying upper Burma access to the sea. But, the English traders were allowed to trade in upper Burma. They got rights by the treaties of 1862 and 1867. They were even permitted by king Mindon and his successor Thibaw to open overland trade with China through Burma. But, the emergence of French empire in Indo-China in 1884, her treaty with Burma in 1885, sending of a Consul to Mandalay, negotiations with Thibaw for commercial and railway concessions and promise to supply arms through Tonkin threatened British interests in Burma. It seemed certain that Thibaw would drive out the British with French help. Heavy fine was also imposed on the Bombay-Burma Trading Corporation by the Burmese Government. All this forced the Viceroy Duffrin to annex upper Burma in 1886. The kingdom of Siam was recognized in 1893 as a buffer state between the British and the French spheres of influence.

3. Princely States:

Since Dalhousie’s policy of annexation was considered partly responsible for the uprising of 1857-58 the Queen’s Proclamation abandoned the policy of annexation. The princes were assured continued enjoyment of their treaty rights. The Doctrine of Lapse was repudiated. The right of adoption was allowed on the condition of loyalty to the Crown. The Crown became ‘the Unquestioned Ruler and Paramount Power in all India’. The theory of ‘one charge’ enunciated by Canning meant that India constituted one political unit comprising both the British possessions and the native Indian states/kingdoms. The native states , in fact, became protected states of the British.

After the revolt of 1857 there was increased interference of the British Government in the internal affairs of the native states. There was pressure on these states to modernize. There was direct political intervention in case of misgovernment. The British Resident stationed in the native states exercised great influence over the internal administration of the states. Lord Mayo founded the Chief’s Colleges at Ajmer, Lahore, Rajkot and other places to encourage education of the princes on modern lines. Railroads were laid, Posts and Telegraph services were introduced, modern army was created. The Imperial Services Corps formed by Dufferin built up a close association of the states with the Indian armed forces. Through the Indian Diwans the administration of the states was improved and popular representative institutions were introduced.

But, the British interference in the internal affairs of native states continued as usual. It interfered in the disputed succession in Alwar (1870), Gwalior (1875) and Kashmir (1885). It deposed the Gaikwar of Baroda for misgovernment in 1876. All this produced a sense of uncertainty in the minds of the princes. Partly to conciliate the princes a durbar was held in Delhi in 1877, when Queen Victoria assumed the title of ‘Empress of India’. Mysore was restored to its legitimate sovereign in 1881. In 1891, they suppressed an armed rebellion and then deposed and executed the Raja of Manipur. During Curzon’s period, the princes were reduced to tools of the Crown in the administration of the empire in India.

4. Administrative Structure:

Although a kind of unified administrative system for British India had emerged before the Uprising of 1857-58 new features began to appear after 1858. The Secretary of State for India was given enormous powers by the Government of India Act of 1858. The Viceroy was to work under the direction of the Home Government. The Company’s administration in India was subjected to periodic scrutiny through enquiries instituted by the British Parliament. The new Secretary of State, though responsible to the Parliament enjoyed freedom to pursue his own policy without much interference.

During Canning’s period Indian element was introduced in the central administration. The Maharaja of Patilala, the Raja of Varanasi and Sir Dinakar Rao were nominated to the Imperial Legislative Council. Some more changes were introduced by the Act of 1861. The Indian Councils Act of 1870 empowered the Governor -General to override the decisions of the majority of his Council and to pass regulations without referring to the Legislative Council. His Council was further enlarged in 1874 by adding a sixth member for public works. The Indian Councils Act of 1892 added ten more members to the Legislative Council. Out of them four were to be elected by the Provincial legislatures. The latter were enlarged by adding fifteen to twenty members representing municipalities, district boards, chambers of commerce and universities. The Act, therefore, recognized the principle of representation through election. The Legislative Council was given the right to discuss the annual budget.

An important feature of the Indian administration of this period was the growth of an all-powerful imperialist bureaucracy. The civil servants were to be responsible only to the Secretary of State. The bureaucracy became the chief agency through which the authority of the Home Government was exercised in India. The British administration after the Revolt of 1857-58 began assuming an alien character.

Some of the responsible and high ranking posts of the administration were thrown open to Indians under the Charter Act of 1833. Open competitive examinations were started in England in 1853. But, it was only in 1864 that the first Indian entered the civil service. The successive lowering-down of the qualifying age for the examination showed the resistance of vested interests to admit Indians to the civil service. The demand of Indians for holding simultaneous examinations in England and India was not accepted. In 1886, the services were reorganized into imperial, provincial and subordinate services. This system continued till the end of British rule.

Steps were, however, taken to allow Indian participation in administration. In 1871, acts were passed in the different provinces to set up district committees to administer funds for education, sanitation and other local needs such as the maintenance of roads. These committees were nominated by the government. Lord Ripon extended the system further in 1882 by setting up local committees for the sub-divisions of districts and for municipalities. These local boards were to have non-official chairmen and half to two-thirds of their members were to be elected.

But, the Indian participation in the administration had a limit. It could not be taken beyond the limit. This is evident by the agitation over the Ilbert Bill. Under an Act of 1873 British subjects in the districts could be tried only by European magistrates. In 1883, the Ilbet Bill sought to empower Indian session’s judges to try Europeans. Vigorous agitation by the Europeans forced the Government to amend the bill, giving the Europeans the right to claim a jury half of which were to be Europeans.

5. Finance and Economic Policy:

Though the Government could overcome the financial difficulties caused by the Revolt of 1857, it was very much in need of funds for public works like irrigation and communications and for prevention of famine and protection against its horrors. But, the revenue from trade was inadequate. The Government, therefore, raised loans in 1867 to finance irrigation projects and the construction of railways. In 1870, the provinces were given fixed yearly grants in addition to permitting them to raise funds through local cesses. There was expansion of trade in this period due to introduction of railways and the opening of roads and canals. The important duties levied on coarse cotton cloth were abolished in 1879. But, important duty of 5 percent was re-imposed due to currency crisis in 1894. Due to protest from Lancashire a countervailing exercise duty of 5 percent on cotton goods manufactured in Indian mills was imposed.

The most outstanding economic achievement of the period was the expansion of the railways by 1900; about 40,234 km. of railroad had been built mostly by private companies but wholly sponsored by the Indian Government. The railways helped making of modern India. It also helped industrialization of India from the middle of the 19th century. The railways also helped a great deal in fighting famines by facilitating quick transport of food from the surplus areas.

But, periodic recurrence of famines was one of the toughest rural problems of the time. Severe famines occurred in Orissa in 1866-67, in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Rajputana in 1868-69, and in Bihar in 1873. The Government evolved a policy in the form of Famine code of 1883. It recommended the creation of a special fund for providing relief and employment in the famine affected areas and also urged utilization of railway facilities for the transportation of grain from unaffected areas.

6. Educational policy:

The Charter Act of 1833 allowed Indians to take part in the administration. The Macaulay Minute of 1835 recommended introduction of western education in India to strengthen the above policy and to meet personnel needs of the law courts, revenue and other departments. In 1857, three universities were established at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, several colleges and schools were also established thereafter. On recommendation of the Hunter Commission educational services were reorganized. All this brought to India western political ideas, western science and created intellectual ferment and national awaking in the 19th century. The English education and language helped people sharing their feelings and western liberal ideas which in course of time crystallized into forms of national feelings and ideas.

7. National Awakening:

In 1876, Surendranath Benerjea founded the Indian Association in Calcutta, mainly to plead for the admission of Indians to the civil services. But, it also carried on campaign against the Army Act and the Vernacular Press Act (1878) of Lord Lytton. In 1883, the Ilbert Bill agitation led to the formation of the Indian National Conference at Calcutta. In 1885, the Indian National Congress was established in Bombay; the Indian National Conference merged into it. The Congress began with seventy two members representing different parts and sections of the people. The Muslims, however, stayed away from the nationalist agitations of the 19th century. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was mainly responsible for this. The Congress, at first, confined itself to the passing of resolutions criticizing various government policies and urging reforms. It also opened a branch in England whose campaign there, in fact, led to the passing of the Indian Councils Act of 1892. And, with the coming of Curzon in 1899 the Indian National movement took a new turn.

8.  Curzon’s administration:

Curzon was the Viceroy of India during 1899 and 1905. He came to India with strong pre-conceived ideas. He was totally blind to the influence of the educated middle class and to the existence of a strong national movement in the garb of a moderate movement or a petitioning movement.

As there was a tribal revolt in the north-west in 1897, against British occupation upto Durand Line, he ordered vacation from Chitral, Khyber and Kurram valleys, raised tribals to police the tribes, moved army bases a little away from the Durand Line of Control, improved communications between the bases for quick movement of troops, created the North-West Frontier Province to keep a permanent watch on the frontier and, in 1901, renewed the existing treaty with Afghanistan and established amicable relations with that country.

As he was unable to enforce the Anglo-Chinese agreements of 1890 and 1893 (the former made Sikkim a British protectorate and defined Sikkim-Tibet boundary) and Russia was making plans to establish its hold in Tibet, he sent a mission to Lhasa under Sir Francis Younghusband and concluded a treaty in 1904 which confirmed the earlier agreements of 1890 and 1893 and gave the British certain trading and residential rights in Tibet. This was the first treaty signed directly between British India and Tibet. The treaty highlights the strategic importance of Tibet as a buffer region between India on the one hand and China and Russia on the other.

In the domestic front, Curzon reformed and reorganized the Indian police. By the Land Resolution of 1902 he lightened the burden of taxes on the peasants. By the Punjab Land Alienation Act he tried to protect the peasants against eviction by the moneylenders. He showed concern for agricultural development. For this, he encouraged credit societies and agricultural banks and opened the Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Institute. He had also speeded up the irrigation works. The Department of Commerce and Industry was created. A new railroad of 9651 km. was built during his period. To preserve the ancient monuments of India, a Director-General of Archaeology was appointed; a lot of work was done under Sir John Marshall. The Imperial Library was founded in Calcutta.

In 1902, Curzon appointed an Education Commission to bring reforms in University Education. It recommended introduction of Post-Graduate studies and residential system, increase of official element in the university senates, appointment of Vice-Chancellors by the Government, greater government control over the affiliated colleges etc. These were incorporated in the Universities Act of 1904. But, there were protests against this Act as it was considered to be interference in the autonomous institutions. These protests ultimately turned into forerunner to the Swadeshi movement.

Another major decision of long-run consequences and exit of the British from India taken by Curzon was the partition of Bengal in 1905 with a view to divide the people of Bengal on Hindu and Muslim communal lines and weaken the national movement. Naturally, there were protests, against the partition, throughout the country. It was led by Surendranath Banerjea in Bengal and by others in other regions. It ultimately led to the Swadeshi Movement and boycott of foreign goods which was followed by several movements such as the Home Rule Movement, the Khilafat Movement, and the Non-Cooperation Movement, the Civil Disobedience Movement and, finally, India’s Partition and exists of the British on 15th August 1947.

9. Summary :

The transfer of power from the Company to the Crown, the frontier problems, the native princely states and the Crown’s administration awakened the people of India and hastened the struggle for independence from the British rule.

Web links

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_British_Raj
• http://www.royalmunsterfusiliers.org/g2qvicpr.htm
• http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/British_Raj
• http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/empire/g2/cs4/background.htm
• https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Queen_Victoria%27s_Proclamation
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Canning,_1st_Earl_Canning
• http://www.indianetzone.com/3/lord_canning.htm