Regulating Act of 1773 made Governor of Bengal
as the Governor General of Bengal and brought the Governors of Bombay and
Madras presidencies under the control of Governor General of Bengal and his
4 members Executive Council.
The Court of Directors of the East India Company
had to report all the civil and military matters of Bengal and the revenue of
the company in India to the British Parliament.
Here we will discuss about features and provisions
of the Regulating Act of 1773, Why did British Government decided to
bring affairs of East India Company under its control? What is
the Constitutional Importance of Regulating Act of 1773? What are the problems
and defects in the Regulating Act of 1773?
Why did British Government decided to bring affairs of East India
Company under its control?
The British Government was taken by surprise when in August 1772,
the East India Company begged it to provide a loan of £1,00,000 as
the servants of the company possessed enormous wealth yet the Company was
under the financial crisis.
The challenges before the British Government were:
1) Define the relationship between the British Parliament and East India Company and its possessions in India.
2) Determine the way how East India Company's authority in Britain was to control people working for the company in India including soldiers and officials.
3) Determine how to centrally control the possessions of the Company in India which were spread out across the three presidencies of Bengal, Bombay and Madras.
The British Government wanted to bring the affairs of East India Company
under its control because:
1) The rich resources of Bengal were put in the hand of East India Company which enjoyed monopoly in the trade. The servants and officials of the company brought enormous wealth back to Britain which caused a sense of jealousy among the people and merchants. The merchants were commercially greedy and wanted a share in the profits earned from Indian trade. Thus, merchants wanted that monopoly of East India Company should be ended.
2) The statesmen of British Government and many political thinkers were afraid that Company with its rich officials will bring corruption into the British politics.
3) The Company used to buy seats of House of Commons for its agents. It was feared that with the enormous wealth brought from India, the Company can achieve supremacy over the British Government.
Thus, British Government decided to control the administration and affairs of East India Company in India in the interest of merchants of Britain and elite influential class.
The Company was allowed to continue with its monopoly in the eastern trade and Indian administration came under the control of Directors of the Company.
What are the features and provisions of Regulating Act of 1773?
The features and provisions of Regulating Act of 1773 are as follows:
1) The Governor of Bengal was made Governor-General
of Bengal by the Regulating Act of 1773.
- Who was the last Governor of
Bengal? Warren
Hasting
- Who was the first
Governor-General of Bengal? Warren Hasting (1773)
2) The Governor General of Bengal was to be assisted by 4-member Executive Council.
3) The Governor General and its Executive Council was given Legislative
powers to make rules, regulations and ordinances for the civil
government of Fort William and its subordinate factories.
4) The Governor-General of Bengal was made superior to
Governor's of Bombay and Madras presidency. Earlier the three
presidencies were independent of one another.
- The Governors of Bombay and
Madras had to send the information related to the government, revenues and
interests of the Company to the Governor General of Bengal on a regular
basis.
- The Governor General of
Bengal would then report all the matters to the Court of Directors who
will report to the British Government.
5) The control of British Government over the company was strengthened
as Company's Court of Director were to report to the British
Government all the Civil and Military affairs of the Bengal along
with Company's revenue in India
6) The servants of East India Company were prohibited from accepting
presents, private trade or bribe from the natives.
7) When was first Supreme Court established in India?
The first Supreme Court of British India was established at Calcutta with one Chief Justice and three other judges to give justice to Europeans, employees of the Company and citizens of Calcutta.
- Who was the first Chief
Justice of Supreme Court? Sir Elijah Impey
What is the Constitutional Importance of Regulating Act of 1773?
The Constitutional Importance of Regulating Act of 1773 is that:
a) The Regulating Act of 1773 was the first step taken by the British Government to control and regulate the affairs of East India Company in India.
b) It was for the first time that the foundation of central administration was laid in India
c) The Regulating Act of 1773 for the first time gave recognition to the administrative and political functions of the company.
What were the problems and defects in the Regulating Act of 1773?
The problems and defects in the Regulating Act of 1773 were:
1) The supervision of British Government was ineffective.
2) The Executive Council would unite together and oppose the Governor General of Bengal.
3) Governor General of Bengal had no power to override the decision of Executive Council, though he had a casting vote in case of a tie.
4) The disunity among the members of Executive Council prevented it from solving the serious problems of internal and external matters. Often the deadlocks would occur on the matters impeding the smooth working of the administration.
5) The Governors of Bombay and Madras presidencies were placed under the Governor General of Bengal and his Executive Council but it proved inefficient in the actual working.
Continue to read about:
Note:
********
If the article was helpful, don't forget to like,
share or comment on it. It will help us improve the quality of material.
No comments:
Post a Comment