Consolidation of British- 1 | History for UPSC 2024 (Pre & Mains) PDF Download

 Page 1


 
Consolidation 
of British 
(History) 
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Page 2


 
Consolidation 
of British 
(History) 
Visit our website www.sleepyclasses.com or  
our YouTube channel for entire GS Course  FREE  of cost 
Also Available: Prelims Crash Course || Prelims T est Series 
1.Consolidation of the British 1 ........................................................................................
Scenario 1 1 .............................................................................................................................................
Scenario 2 1 .............................................................................................................................................
Scenario 3 1 .............................................................................................................................................
Colonial Administrative Apparatus 2 ..................................................................
1.Regulating Act 2 ..................................................................................................................
2.Pitt’s India Act of 1784 2 .................................................................................................
3.Charter Acts 3 ......................................................................................................................
4.Bureaucracy 3 ......................................................................................................................
5.Judicial System 4 .................................................................................................................
6.Phases Of British Colonialism 5 ....................................................................................
7.The First Phase of British Colonialism 5 ...................................................................
Land Revenue Policies 6 ......................................................................................................................
Ryotwari System 7 ................................................................................................................................
Mahalwari System 7 .............................................................................................................................
8.Effects of the Policies 7 ....................................................................................................
9.The Second Phase Of British Colonialism (Free Trade) 8 ...................................
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T able of Contents
Page 3


 
Consolidation 
of British 
(History) 
Visit our website www.sleepyclasses.com or  
our YouTube channel for entire GS Course  FREE  of cost 
Also Available: Prelims Crash Course || Prelims T est Series 
1.Consolidation of the British 1 ........................................................................................
Scenario 1 1 .............................................................................................................................................
Scenario 2 1 .............................................................................................................................................
Scenario 3 1 .............................................................................................................................................
Colonial Administrative Apparatus 2 ..................................................................
1.Regulating Act 2 ..................................................................................................................
2.Pitt’s India Act of 1784 2 .................................................................................................
3.Charter Acts 3 ......................................................................................................................
4.Bureaucracy 3 ......................................................................................................................
5.Judicial System 4 .................................................................................................................
6.Phases Of British Colonialism 5 ....................................................................................
7.The First Phase of British Colonialism 5 ...................................................................
Land Revenue Policies 6 ......................................................................................................................
Ryotwari System 7 ................................................................................................................................
Mahalwari System 7 .............................................................................................................................
8.Effects of the Policies 7 ....................................................................................................
9.The Second Phase Of British Colonialism (Free Trade) 8 ...................................
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T able of Contents 1.Consolidation of the British 
Scenario 1 
• Europeans were able to secure the control over the trade routes during sixteenth-seventeenth 
centuries But, Indian goods were in far greater demand in Europe than were European goods in India. 
• Merchants pro?ted handsomely through the sale of Indian goods, but the result was both a drain of 
bullion from Europe to India, as well as stiff competition for European producers who were unable to 
match either the price or quality of Indian goods. 
• In the ?rst 50 years of its existence, the British East India Company had no interest in the 
development of colonies, preferring to engage in trade only, following the pattern set by the 
Portuguese. 
•
This pattern was changed by 1650 when the power of the old guard British royalist merchants was 
broken, and a new class of merchants wrested control of the Company. 
• They followed the pattern set by the colonial merchants in American colonies and the West Indies, 
and sought to establish a network of colonies linking England, Africa and India in a complicated 
network of exchange relationships. 
Scenario 2 
•
The Mughal Empire declined in the ?rst half of the eighteenth century. 
• The political vacuum was ?lled by the rise of regional states like Bengal, Hyderabad, Awadh, Punjab 
and Maratha Kingdoms. 
•
But these regional powers could not provide lasting political stability resulting into a lustful chance 
for the British East India Company to establish a territorial empire in India. 
•
They, now, needed a set of institutions and regulations were required to rule India through colonial 
mechanism. They adopted three methods to expand the British Empire. 
• Wars and conquests, 
•
Subsidiary Alliance System, 
• Annexation of territories through the adaptation of doctrine of lapse. Initial method was outright 
military conquest or direct annexation of territories; it was these areas that were properly called 
British India. 
• Later on to consolidate its position diplomatic efforts through treaties and agreements with 
indigenous rulers were also made. 
Scenario 3 
• By the beginning of the eighteenth century only two European trading companies of the British and 
the French were left in India competing for the Indian resources. 
• The Anglo-French rivalry, taking the form of three Carnatic Wars constituted landmarks in the history 
of British conquest of south India in the eighteenth century. 
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 1
Page 4


 
Consolidation 
of British 
(History) 
Visit our website www.sleepyclasses.com or  
our YouTube channel for entire GS Course  FREE  of cost 
Also Available: Prelims Crash Course || Prelims T est Series 
1.Consolidation of the British 1 ........................................................................................
Scenario 1 1 .............................................................................................................................................
Scenario 2 1 .............................................................................................................................................
Scenario 3 1 .............................................................................................................................................
Colonial Administrative Apparatus 2 ..................................................................
1.Regulating Act 2 ..................................................................................................................
2.Pitt’s India Act of 1784 2 .................................................................................................
3.Charter Acts 3 ......................................................................................................................
4.Bureaucracy 3 ......................................................................................................................
5.Judicial System 4 .................................................................................................................
6.Phases Of British Colonialism 5 ....................................................................................
7.The First Phase of British Colonialism 5 ...................................................................
Land Revenue Policies 6 ......................................................................................................................
Ryotwari System 7 ................................................................................................................................
Mahalwari System 7 .............................................................................................................................
8.Effects of the Policies 7 ....................................................................................................
9.The Second Phase Of British Colonialism (Free Trade) 8 ...................................
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T able of Contents 1.Consolidation of the British 
Scenario 1 
• Europeans were able to secure the control over the trade routes during sixteenth-seventeenth 
centuries But, Indian goods were in far greater demand in Europe than were European goods in India. 
• Merchants pro?ted handsomely through the sale of Indian goods, but the result was both a drain of 
bullion from Europe to India, as well as stiff competition for European producers who were unable to 
match either the price or quality of Indian goods. 
• In the ?rst 50 years of its existence, the British East India Company had no interest in the 
development of colonies, preferring to engage in trade only, following the pattern set by the 
Portuguese. 
•
This pattern was changed by 1650 when the power of the old guard British royalist merchants was 
broken, and a new class of merchants wrested control of the Company. 
• They followed the pattern set by the colonial merchants in American colonies and the West Indies, 
and sought to establish a network of colonies linking England, Africa and India in a complicated 
network of exchange relationships. 
Scenario 2 
•
The Mughal Empire declined in the ?rst half of the eighteenth century. 
• The political vacuum was ?lled by the rise of regional states like Bengal, Hyderabad, Awadh, Punjab 
and Maratha Kingdoms. 
•
But these regional powers could not provide lasting political stability resulting into a lustful chance 
for the British East India Company to establish a territorial empire in India. 
•
They, now, needed a set of institutions and regulations were required to rule India through colonial 
mechanism. They adopted three methods to expand the British Empire. 
• Wars and conquests, 
•
Subsidiary Alliance System, 
• Annexation of territories through the adaptation of doctrine of lapse. Initial method was outright 
military conquest or direct annexation of territories; it was these areas that were properly called 
British India. 
• Later on to consolidate its position diplomatic efforts through treaties and agreements with 
indigenous rulers were also made. 
Scenario 3 
• By the beginning of the eighteenth century only two European trading companies of the British and 
the French were left in India competing for the Indian resources. 
• The Anglo-French rivalry, taking the form of three Carnatic Wars constituted landmarks in the history 
of British conquest of south India in the eighteenth century. 
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 1
• In order to establish their supremacy, it was necessary for the English East India Company to 
eliminate the French from this region. 
• As a result of Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) in Europe, the French and English settlements in India 
also became involved in open hostilities. 
• In the third Carnatic war, the British East India Company defeated the French forces at the battle of 
Wandiwash ending almost a century of con?ict over supremacy in India. 
Colonial Administrative Apparatus 
1.Regulating Act 
• The need for constitutional change arose after the East India Company became the political power in 
1757. 
• The British Government was no longer willing to allow the Company’s affairs to continue 
unsupervised. 
• Pressure from merchants and manufacturers to end the monopoly of the Company mounted. 
• Public opinion was critical of corruption in the Government in Bengal. 
• Free enterprise was a major demand. 
• The British Parliament enacted a series of laws among which the Regulating Act of 1773 stood ?rst, to 
curb the Company traders’ unrestrained commercial activities and to bring about some order in 
territories under the Company control. 
?Limiting the Company charter to periods of twenty years, subject to review upon renewal, this act 
gave the British government supervisory rights over the Bengal, Bombay, and Madras presidencies. 
?The Regulating Act also created a uni?ed administration for India, uniting the three presidencies 
under the authority of the Bengal’s governor, who was elevated to the new position of governor-
general. 
?Warren Hastings was the ?rst incumbent governor-general (1773–1785). 
2.Pitt’s India Act of 1784 
• Sometimes described as the “half-loaf system” , as it sought to mediate between Parliament and the 
company directors 
•
It enhanced Parliament’s control by establishing the Board of Control, whose members were selected 
from the British cabinet. 
• As governor-general from 1786 to 1793, Lord Cornwallis, professionalized, bureaucratized, and 
Europeanized the company’s administration. 
• He also outlawed private trade by company employees, separated the commercial and administrative 
functions, and enhanced the salaries of company’s servants. 
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 2
Page 5


 
Consolidation 
of British 
(History) 
Visit our website www.sleepyclasses.com or  
our YouTube channel for entire GS Course  FREE  of cost 
Also Available: Prelims Crash Course || Prelims T est Series 
1.Consolidation of the British 1 ........................................................................................
Scenario 1 1 .............................................................................................................................................
Scenario 2 1 .............................................................................................................................................
Scenario 3 1 .............................................................................................................................................
Colonial Administrative Apparatus 2 ..................................................................
1.Regulating Act 2 ..................................................................................................................
2.Pitt’s India Act of 1784 2 .................................................................................................
3.Charter Acts 3 ......................................................................................................................
4.Bureaucracy 3 ......................................................................................................................
5.Judicial System 4 .................................................................................................................
6.Phases Of British Colonialism 5 ....................................................................................
7.The First Phase of British Colonialism 5 ...................................................................
Land Revenue Policies 6 ......................................................................................................................
Ryotwari System 7 ................................................................................................................................
Mahalwari System 7 .............................................................................................................................
8.Effects of the Policies 7 ....................................................................................................
9.The Second Phase Of British Colonialism (Free Trade) 8 ...................................
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www.SleepyClasses.com 
T able of Contents 1.Consolidation of the British 
Scenario 1 
• Europeans were able to secure the control over the trade routes during sixteenth-seventeenth 
centuries But, Indian goods were in far greater demand in Europe than were European goods in India. 
• Merchants pro?ted handsomely through the sale of Indian goods, but the result was both a drain of 
bullion from Europe to India, as well as stiff competition for European producers who were unable to 
match either the price or quality of Indian goods. 
• In the ?rst 50 years of its existence, the British East India Company had no interest in the 
development of colonies, preferring to engage in trade only, following the pattern set by the 
Portuguese. 
•
This pattern was changed by 1650 when the power of the old guard British royalist merchants was 
broken, and a new class of merchants wrested control of the Company. 
• They followed the pattern set by the colonial merchants in American colonies and the West Indies, 
and sought to establish a network of colonies linking England, Africa and India in a complicated 
network of exchange relationships. 
Scenario 2 
•
The Mughal Empire declined in the ?rst half of the eighteenth century. 
• The political vacuum was ?lled by the rise of regional states like Bengal, Hyderabad, Awadh, Punjab 
and Maratha Kingdoms. 
•
But these regional powers could not provide lasting political stability resulting into a lustful chance 
for the British East India Company to establish a territorial empire in India. 
•
They, now, needed a set of institutions and regulations were required to rule India through colonial 
mechanism. They adopted three methods to expand the British Empire. 
• Wars and conquests, 
•
Subsidiary Alliance System, 
• Annexation of territories through the adaptation of doctrine of lapse. Initial method was outright 
military conquest or direct annexation of territories; it was these areas that were properly called 
British India. 
• Later on to consolidate its position diplomatic efforts through treaties and agreements with 
indigenous rulers were also made. 
Scenario 3 
• By the beginning of the eighteenth century only two European trading companies of the British and 
the French were left in India competing for the Indian resources. 
• The Anglo-French rivalry, taking the form of three Carnatic Wars constituted landmarks in the history 
of British conquest of south India in the eighteenth century. 
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 1
• In order to establish their supremacy, it was necessary for the English East India Company to 
eliminate the French from this region. 
• As a result of Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) in Europe, the French and English settlements in India 
also became involved in open hostilities. 
• In the third Carnatic war, the British East India Company defeated the French forces at the battle of 
Wandiwash ending almost a century of con?ict over supremacy in India. 
Colonial Administrative Apparatus 
1.Regulating Act 
• The need for constitutional change arose after the East India Company became the political power in 
1757. 
• The British Government was no longer willing to allow the Company’s affairs to continue 
unsupervised. 
• Pressure from merchants and manufacturers to end the monopoly of the Company mounted. 
• Public opinion was critical of corruption in the Government in Bengal. 
• Free enterprise was a major demand. 
• The British Parliament enacted a series of laws among which the Regulating Act of 1773 stood ?rst, to 
curb the Company traders’ unrestrained commercial activities and to bring about some order in 
territories under the Company control. 
?Limiting the Company charter to periods of twenty years, subject to review upon renewal, this act 
gave the British government supervisory rights over the Bengal, Bombay, and Madras presidencies. 
?The Regulating Act also created a uni?ed administration for India, uniting the three presidencies 
under the authority of the Bengal’s governor, who was elevated to the new position of governor-
general. 
?Warren Hastings was the ?rst incumbent governor-general (1773–1785). 
2.Pitt’s India Act of 1784 
• Sometimes described as the “half-loaf system” , as it sought to mediate between Parliament and the 
company directors 
•
It enhanced Parliament’s control by establishing the Board of Control, whose members were selected 
from the British cabinet. 
• As governor-general from 1786 to 1793, Lord Cornwallis, professionalized, bureaucratized, and 
Europeanized the company’s administration. 
• He also outlawed private trade by company employees, separated the commercial and administrative 
functions, and enhanced the salaries of company’s servants. 
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 2
• As revenue collection became the company’s most essential administrative function, Lord Cornwallis 
granted legal ownership of land to the zamindars in Bengal. In return, zamindars had to pay the 
government ?xed revenue by a certain particular date. This arrangement was to last forever; hence 
the title “permanent settlement” was given. This system was also known as the zamindari system. 
• The immediate consequence was that as now zamindar became the owner of the land, the peasant 
was reduced to the status of the tenant on his own land. 
•
Moreover now land became a negotiable property and the state was excluded from agricultural 
expansion and development, which came under the purview of the zamindars. 
3.Charter Acts 
•
The Charter Act of 1813 ended the monopoly of the Company over trade with India. 
• The Company’s control over revenue, administration and appointments remained untouched. 
• The Charter Act of 1833 abolished the Company’s monopoly of the China trade. 
•
The Act also deprived the presidencies of the power to make laws, concentrating legislative power 
with the Governor-General and his council. 
4.Bureaucracy 
•
With such expansion of the British territories and the increasing administrative responsibilities, a 
bureaucracy was also required to control British possessions. 
• In 1785, Lord Cornwallis created a professional cadre of Company servants who had generous 
salaries, had no private trading or production interests in India, enjoyed the prospect of regular 
promotion and were entitled to pensions. 
•
All high-level posts were reserved for the British, and Indians were excluded. Cornwallis appointed 
British judges, and established British of?cials as revenue collectors and magistrates in each district 
of Bengal. 
•
From 1806 the Company trained its young recruits in Haileybury College near London. 
• Appointments were still organized on a system of patronage. 
•
In 1829 the system was strengthened by establishing districts throughout British India small enough 
to be effectively controlled by an individual British of?cial who henceforth exercised a completely 
autocratic power, acting as revenue collector, judge and chief of police. 
•
After 1833 the Company selected amongst its nominated candidates by competitive examination. 
• After 1853, selection was entirely on merit and the examination was thrown open to any British 
candidate. 
• The Indian civil service  
1. was very highly paid;  
2. it enjoyed political power which no bureaucrat could have had in England. 
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 3