The British in India - Topic 6.1 Flashcards
The role of the East India Company, the Governor-General and the army
What was the position of the East India Company?
1757-1786
After the Seven Years’ War and the near bankrupcy of the company in the 1770s, a series of Parliament Acts were passed with the intention of ensuring financial solvency and extending the government’s control over the company. Initial attempts were only to bring political and administrative functions of the Company under parliamentary control while leaving commercial interests to the Company. As this was proved impossible to divide, from 1786, the Company acted as a regularised subsidary of the Crown; it was not overseen by the Crown and no longer autonomous.
How did the Charter Acts alter the East India Company’s administration?
1813 & 1833
Charter Act of 1813:
- The British government renewed the Company’s charter for another twenty years but removed its monopoly on Indian trade, and was left with a monopoly over trade with China and tea
Charter Act of 1833:
- All monopolies of the Company were stripped
Seeking new sources of income, the Company shifted from trade to civil administration and tax collection; the East India Company filled the void left by the Mughals and became a self-funding agent of imperialism for Britain
What was the role of governor of the East India Company?
And how did the role’s powers change
1773-1833
The governor and president of Fort William, Kolkata, was nominated by the Company’s Court of Directors to serve a five-year term, but from 1773 onwards, this appointment had to be approved by the council of four who were appointed by the Crown.
The executive power of the governor was strengthed in 1784 and enabled the governors to override their council if deemed necessary. Lord Cornwallis was the first governor to be appointed under these increased powers after his defeat at Yorktown. He was appointed commander-in-chief of the military forces in India. Only the Bengal presidency could make war or peace and with further centralisation, the Bengal presidency was given pre-eminence over the other two.
By 1833, power was given to the governor general of the ‘superintendence, direction and control of the whole civil and military Government’ of British India. Each presidency still retained there own army however.
Describe the importance of the Bengal presidency
After the Battle of Plassey, Bengali expansion continued and so most efforts were put into the presidency, explaining why the presidency became the most important out of the three.
The land was divided into districts by Cornwallis under a collector, and landholder were settled with rights to land in return for fixed tax liabilities. Collectors were supervised by the Board of Revenue in Kolkata. Legal administration was placed in the hands of local judges and magistrates, who were supervised by regional courts of appeal.
Kolkata was the capital of British India until 1911, when the capital moved to Delhi when George V ascended to the imperial throne of India.
Why was the Bengali army different compared to Bombay and Madras?
The size of the Bengali army was double that of the other two presidency armies; traditionally, the army would recruit largely among those of higher caste. The caste groups within the Bengal army held particular priviliges of which they were aware to keep. According to Company policy, the sepoys of the Bengali army were not recruited locally by from other provinces, such as Awadh.¹
¹ Awadh (pronounced a-vad) is a region in modern-day Uttar Pradesh in the Indo-Gangetic Plain of Northern India
Describe the hierarchy of the presidency armies
There were two types of regiments
- White regiments
- Local/sepoy regiments
All regiments were under the command of European officers, and sepoys could not achieve a rank higher than NCO (non-commanding offcer).
Native regiments were recruited en masse in particular areas and villages and the Europeans had clear ideas about which religious and castes were most warlike. From the mid 1800s, there were a small number of British army regiments stationed in India to serve as backups.
By 1857, there were:
- 45,522 European soldiers of all ranks in India
- 232,224 sepoy soldiers, all below officer rank
Why were the presidency armies important in the conquest of India?
The Company armies were the force than ensured that local rulers signed treaties. Their size and increasing professionalism meant that Company control increased to 243,000km² by 1800 as successive governors sought to increase Company control and eradicate any pockets of remaining French influence in the subcontinent.
It had successfully annexed Assam, Manipur and Cacher between 1823 and 1826, and in the late 1830s, its attention turned to the far more difficult proposition of subduing the north-west frontier. Between 1829 and 1853, the Company fought a series of wars in Afghanistan, Sind and Punjab. These wars were fuelled by fears of the Great Game against Russia. Sind was annexed in 1843 and Punjab was subjuagated in 1849.
The warlike Sikhs of the newly conquered territories fascinated the British and favoured them. The Sikhs didn’t rebel against the British during the Indian Rebellion.
