Constitutional Development of India (Part 1)

        
The origins of the constitution of Indian Republic can be traced to the history of India under the British rule. That history began in 1600 when the East India Company was granted a Charter by the British Crown giving it the prerogative to trade with India (although the British did not become a ruling power until the second half of the eighteenth century). The Company started as a commercial enterprise, however, soon found itself enmeshed in a series of political adventures which ultimately transformed the very character of the company: from a commercial enterprise, the Company turned into a territorial power, exercising political authority over the very natives it had initially ventured to trade with. This transformation in the Company's character was to have a profound impact on the political and economic functioning of India.

India had been under the Mughal rule when the East India Company first found a commercial foothold at Surat in the year 1600. The powerful stronghold of the Mughal Empire hardly gave an opportunity to the Company to transcend its essentially commercial role: its activities were centred around trade.

It was only in 1707, with the death of Aurangzeb, the last powerful Mughal ruler, that an opportunity emerged for the Company to flirt with the political situation in India. Growing on the ruins of a broken empire, the Company found its political voice and standing. Opportunity brought adventure and adventure brought wars.

And there it was- the legendary 1757 Battle of Plassey, fought on the banks of the Hooghly river, when the British, defeating the forces of Siraj-ud-Daula, established their foothold in India.

The political rule of the East India Company began in 1765 when having had defeated the triangulate Mir Qasim, Nawab of Oudh and Shah Alam II, the British earned the Diwani rights to Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The period 1765-72 saw the setting up a system of 'dual government' whereby the British, having had earned the Diwani and Nizamat rights (right to collect revenue and decide civil cases), became the administrators of the fiscal situation in Bengal, and the Nawab was endowed with the responsibilty of carrying out mundane administrative duties. This first introduced the idea of a clear demarcation of 'governance' and 'responsibility' in the administrative history of India. This system continued till 1772 when, with the arrival of Warren Hastings, the new Governor of Bengal, the Company shed its mask and took over the direct responsibilty for the administration of the territories of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The year 1772 was thus a watershed since it lay the seeds of the territorial and political influence that the British were going to exercise in India. It became evident that the Company's interests were no longer centred around the commercial- economics had been politicised!

The establishment of the Company as a territorial power had come with a price. The eighteenth century had seen the Company get involved in wars which had rendered it almost bankrupt. Given such situation of financial crisis, the Company felt compelled to ask for loans from the British government. Now here was the catch. A golden opportunity for the British government to have a legitimate share in the exploits of the Company's adventures in India.

The result was the Regulating Act of 1773, the first statutory imposition of the British on India.

And then there was no end to it. The Regulating Act of 1773 was followed by the Act of Judicature of 1781, the Pitt's India Act of 1784 and the various Charter Acts from 1793 to 1853.

The net result of the enactments was the emergence of a highly centralised British administration in India.

Here is a list of the various enactments from the year 1773- 1947 that were going to transform and shape the political, administrative, economic and social history of the Indian subcontinent.

1) Regulating Act of 1773

2) Amending Act of 1781

3) Pitt's India Act of 1784

4) Act of 1786

5) Charter Act of 1793

6) Charter Act of 1813

7) Government of India Act, 1858

8) Indian Councils Act, 1861

9) Indian Councils Act, 1892

10) Indian Councils Act, 1909 (Morley Minto Reforms)

11) Montague- Chelmsford Reforms Act

12) Government of India Act, 1935

The explanation will follow..