Administrative, Judicial & Cultural Machinery
Overview
| British Administrative Pillars | Sustained by Civil Services, Judiciary, Police, and Army. Simultaneously, Education and Press evolved from tools of imperial control into vehicles for national awakening and democratic mobilization. |
1. Steel Frame: Civil Services & Police
| Lord Cornwallis & Civil Services | "Father of Civil Service". Excluded Indians from high posts (Europeanization). Training: Fort William College (1800, Calcutta) & Haileybury College. |
| Recruitment & Commissions | Charter Act 1853: Introduced Open Competition. Aitchison Commission (1886): Imperial, Provincial, Subordinate. Lee Commission (1923): Recommended 50:50 Indian-British ratio in 15 years. |
| Police System Setup | Cornwallis created Superintendent of Police (SP) for each district and Thanas under a Daroga. Police Act 1861 formalized hierarchy (IG → DIG → SP). |
2. Judicial System & Local Self-Government
| Judiciary (High Courts Act 1861) | Replaced Sadar Adalats with High Courts in Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras. |
| Lord Mayo & Lord Ripon | Lord Mayo (1870): Financial decentralization. Lord Ripon (1882): "Father of Local Self-Government" (Resolution for local bodies' political education). |
3. Education Policy Milestones
| Orientalist Phase & Macaulay's Minute | Calcutta Madrasah (Hastings 1781), Sanskrit College (Duncan 1791). Macaulay’s Minute (1835): Western learning in English; "Downward Filtration Theory". |
| Wood's Despatch (1854) | "Magna Carta of Indian Education". Rejected filtration; called for mass education and universities (Calcutta, Bombay, Madras 1857). |
| Hunter, Sadler & Wardha Scheme | Hunter Commission (1882): Primary/secondary focus. Sadler Commission (1917): 12-yr school + 3-yr degree. Wardha Scheme (1937): Gandhi’s Nai Talim (Basic Education through manual craft). |
4. Development of the Press
| Press Milestones & Acts | 1st Newspaper: Bengal Gazette (1780, Hickey). Liberator of Press: Charles Metcalfe (1835). Vernacular Press Act 1878 (Lytton "Gagging Act", repealed by Ripon 1882). |
| Tactical Shift: Amrita Bazar Patrika | Converted from Bengali to English overnight in 1878 to escape Vernacular Press Act. |
| Iconic Newspapers & Founders | Sambad Kaumudi (Ram Mohan Roy); Rast Goftar (Dadabhai Naoroji); Hindu Patriot (Harish Chandra Mukherjee); Kesari & Mahratta (Tilak); Sudharak (Gokhale); Young India & Harijan (Gandhi). |
UPSC High-Yield Recall & Exam Traps
| Open Competition Introduction | Introduced by Charter Act 1853. |
| Father of Local Self-Government | Lord Ripon (1882 Resolution). |
| Macaulay's Aim | Create class of "Indians in blood and color, but English in taste." |
| Wood's Despatch Scope | First comprehensive scheme of education from primary to university level (1854). |
Supplemental Asset Directory
- East India House, Leadenhall Street:
- Warren Hastings (1772):
- The Impeachment of Warren Hastings (1788):
- Government House, Calcutta:
