-> In the beginning, the company left the administration of its possessions in India in Indians hands, confining its activities to supervision. This old method of Administration was not adequately fulfilled British Aims.

-> Under Warren Hastings and Cornwallis, the Administration at the top was overhauled and the foundation of a new system based on the English pattern laid.

-> The British Administration in India was based on 3 main pillars and Judiciary –

     1) the Civil Service

     2) the Army   

     3) the Police

-> The Duke of Wellington, who had served in India under his brother, Lord Wellesley remarked after his return to the Europe - “The system of Government in India, the foundation of authority, and the modes of supporting it and of carrying on the operations of government are entirely different from the systems and modes adopted in Europe for the same purpose … The foundation and the instrument of all power there is the sword.”

●》 THE CIVIL SERVICES

-> The Civil Service was brought into existence by Lord Cornwallis who came to India as Governor-General in 1786. He was determined to purify the administration, but he realized that the Company’s servants would not give honest and efficient service so long as they were not paid adequate salaries.

-> He raised the salaries of the Company’s servants for example, the collector of a district was to be paid Rs 1,500 a month and 1% commission on the revenue collection of his district. In fact, Company’s Civil Service became the highest paid service in the World.

-> In 1800, Lord Wellesley established the College of Fort William at Calcutta for education of young recruits to the Civil Service which later disapproved by company’s directors and then in 1806 replaced it by East Indian College at Haileybury in England.

-> Till 1853, all appointments to the Civil Services were made by the directors of the East India Company and after 1853 onwards all recruits were to be selected through a competitive examination.

-> It was laid down officially in 1793 that all higher posts in administration worth more than £500 a year in salary were to be held by Englishmen. This policy was also applied to other branches of Government, such as Army, Police, Judiciary, Engineering.

-> In words of John Shore, who succeeded Cornwallis – “The Fundamental principle of the English had been to make the whole Indian nation subservient, in every possible way, to the interests and benefits of ourselves. The Indians have been excluded from every honour, dignity, or office, which the lowest Englishmen could be prevailed to accept.”

-> British adopted such policy because they were convinced that an administration based on British idea, institution, and practices could be firmly established only by English personnel. And, then, they did not trust the ability and integrity of the Indians. For ex. – Cornwallis believed that “Every native of Hindustan is corrupt.”

-> Cornwallis has proposed to give high salaries to British Servants in order to help them resist temptations and to become honest and obedient but he never thought of applying the same remedy of adequate salaries to eradicate corruption among Indian officials.

-> These services were required at the time to establish and consolidate British rule in India and this task couldn’t be left to Indians as they didn’t possess same instinctive sympathy for, and understanding of, British interest as Englishmen.

-> The Indian Civil Services gradually developed into one of the most efficient and powerful civil services in the World. Its members exercised vast power and often participated in the making of policy. They developed certain traditions of independence, integrity and hard work, though these qualities obviously served British, not Indian interests. They came to believe that they had an almost divine right to rule India. The Indian civil services have often been called the ‘steel frame.’

-> The 1st Indian Civil Servant was Satyendranath Tagore, brother of Rabindranath Tagore.

 

●》 THE ARMY

-> The second important pillar of the British regime in India.

-> It fulfilled four important functions –

1) It was the instrument through which the Indian powers were conquered.

2) It defended the British empire in India from foreign rivals.

3) It safeguarded British supremacy from the ever-present threat of internal revolt.

4) It was the chief instrument for extending and defending British empire in Asia and Africa.

-> The bulk of the company’s army consisted of Indian Soldiers. In 1857, Total Strength – 311,400 out of which 265,900 were Indians. Officers however were Englishmen.

-> In 1856, only 3 Indians in the army received salary of Rs 300 per month and the highest Indian officer was a Subedar.

-> It appears surprising that a handful of foreigners could conquer and control India with a predominantly Indian Army. This was because of 2 reasons –

1) An absence of modern Nationalism.

2) a tradition of loyalty to the salt (as British paid them for their Service)

 

●》 THE POLICE

-> The 3rd Pillar of British Empire was Police.

-> Its creator was again Cornwallis.

-> Cornwallis modernized the old Indian system of ‘thanas’.

-> Police relieved the zamindars from their Police functions and also ensure the maintenance of Law and Order.

-> Concept of Police was developed in India before Britain.

-> Head of Thana (system of circle) was ‘Daroga’.

-> Later the post of DSP (District Superintendent of Police) was created to head the Police organization in a district.

-> The duties of the Police in the villages were continued to be performed by village-watchman, who were maintained by the villagers.

-> The concept of police was a success as it reduced major crimes such as ‘dacoity’.

-> The police also prevented the organisation of a large scale conspiracy against foreign control, and when the national movement arose, the police was used to suppress it.

-> In its dealings with the people, the Indian Police adopted an unsympathetic attitude.

-> Committee of Parliament reported in 1813 that the police committed “depredations on the peaceable inhabitants, of the same nature as those practiced by the dacoits whom they were employed to suppress”.

-> In 1832, Governor General William Bentinck wrote -   "As for the police, so far from being a protection to the people, i can’t better illustrate the public feeling regarding it, than by the following fact, that nothing can exceed the popularity of a recent regulation by which, if a robbery has been committed, the police are prevented from making any enquiry into it, except upon the requisition of the persons robbed: that is to say, the shepherd is a more ravenous beast of prey than the wolf".


●》 THE 4TH PILLAR WAS JUDICIARY 


▪︎ click on the photos to get clear view.

▪︎ Source - History of Modern India - Bipan Chandra, Wikipedia etc