Colonial Systems of Control
Post-1857 desire to be less interventionist but more firmly in control
Administration: the Indian Civil Service
• Victoria’s Proclamation “to the Princes, Chiefs, and the People of India” (1 Nov 1858):
We hold ourselves bound to the natives of our Indian territories by the same obligations of duty which bind us to all our other subjects . . . And it is our further will that, so far as maybe, our subjects, of whatever race or creed, be freely and impartially admitted to office in our service . . . it is our earnest desire to stimulate the peaceful industry of India, to promote works of public utility and improvement, and to administer the government for the benefit of all our subjects resident therein. [1]
• ICS entry requirements tightened after 1857 (minimum age, time in Britain)
• 1880: only 16 of 900 ICS members were Indians
• Councils Act of 1861: Indians on Viceroy’s Council
• 1882-3 controversy over Ilbert Bill (under liberal Viceroy Ripon)
◦ British uproar at idea of Indians judging Europeans made passage impossible
• 1882 Local Self-Government Acts
◦ Indian-controlled district and municipal boards
◦ municipal elections based on communal electorates
• 1892 Council Act
◦ made local municipal boards electoral colleges for provincial legislative councils, further expanding representative opportunities for Eng-educated elite
• None of these concessions challenged British control
Internal Transportation: Railways
• Provided better control of countryside (beginning around 1850)
• Guaranteed 5% rate of return for British investors
• Enabled rapid troop deployment
• Impacted indigenous economy: India now exported raw cotton, imported British textiles
• Resentment at British economic impact (e.g. “Home Charges” or “The Drain”)
Communications: Telegraph Cable
• Gave British in Calcutta better control of South Asia
• After 1870, gave British in London better control of British in Calcutta
• Limited the autonomy of “men on the spot”
External Transportation: Opening of the Suez Canal (1869)
• Facilitated travel of women and families to India through the Middle East
• Resulted in greater segregation between Britons and Indians
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[1] A. Berriedale Keith, ed, Speeches and Documents on Indian Policy, 1750-1921, vol. I. (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford UP, 1922) 382-386.