Indias Administration And Defence 57-90

Question 1

What was India like in 1857?

Answer 1

• ran by the east India company
• vast expansion of expenditure due to subject increase
• in 1871, 236 million Indians under British rule
• cost of government in India similar to the cost of the British one, with their army a lot larger.

Question 2

What did the government of India of 1858 do?

Answer 2

• puts India under control of the crown
• Secretary of State for India created
• Indian council created to help SOS w/ Indian affairs
• viceroy replaces governor-general
• Indian civil service under control of SoS

Question 3

How was India administrated differently from 1858?

Answer 3

• viceroy has legislative council of five, who all held cabinet like roles
• provincial governors with their own legislative councils, looking over provinces
• raj needed a lot of staff so a thousand British officials were hired
• raj relied on princely states to govern effectively, their loyalty was ensured by the removal of the ‘doctrine of lapse’
• bilingual Indians became intermediaries between British elite and Indian population
• English laws prevailed
• greater respect shown for Indian customs after the mutiny, but government promoted education and developed public works schemes and transport
• raj change didn’t affect Indians that much
• Indian national congress set up in 1885 as political awareness grew, arguing for more Indians in government

Question 4

What changes were made to India’s defence in 1858?

Answer 4

• by late 1880s 70,000 British troops in Indian army compared to 40,000 30 years before
• Indian troops set up in their own districts to prevent them joining up
• greater recruitment of Gurkhas and Sikhs, loyal during mutiny, and 84% of Bengali regiments disbanded
• artillery in British hands, Indians denies officer ranks, more respect shown to sepoy customs
• trains allowed quicker deployment of troops, armoured train introduced, canning introduces police force