Society & Culture Under British

Answer : William Cavendish Bentinck took charge of Indian administration in July, 1828.He followed the policy of non-interference into the affairs of Indian states very much against the wishes of the Court of Directors. In 1828, public expenditure far exceeded the revenue. Bentinck appointed two committees, one military and other civil, to make recommendations for effecting economy in expenditure. He adopted better measures for the collection of land revenue in Bengal. He had also stimulated the economy by encouraging iron and coal production, tea and coffee plantations and irrigation schemes.

William Bentinck abolished the Provincial Courts of Appeal and Circuit,transferring their duties to magistrates their duties to magistrates and collectors under the supervision of Commissioner of Revenue and Circuit. For the convenience of the public of Upper Provinces (present-day U .P.) and DeIhi, a separate Sadr Nizamat AdaIat and a Sadr Diwani Adalat were set up at Allahabad and the residents of these areas were no longer under the necessity of travelling a thousand miles to file their appeals at Calcutta. Bentinck gave the suitors the option to use the Persian or vernaculars in filing their suits. In higher courts Persian was replaced by English as the court language. Qualified Indians were appointed in junior judicial capacities of Munsiffs and could restore the position of Sadr Amins. Bentincktried to reform Hindu society by abolition of the cruel rite of sati and suppression of infanticide.

Regulation No. XVII of December, 1829 declared the practice of sati or of burning or burying alive of widows illegal and punishable by the criminal courts as culpable homicide. The Regulation of 1829 was applicable in the first place to Bengal’ Presidency alone, but in 1830 was extended in different forms to Madras and Bombay Presidencies. William Bentick's attention was also drawn to the ritual of offering child sacrifices at special occasions in Saugar Island in Bengal. Bentick issued prompt orders to stop this evil practice. Another great reform to the credit of Willaim Bentick is the suppression, of thugs. Section 87 of the Charter Act of 1833 provided that no Indian subject of the company were to be debarred from holding any office under the company by reason of his religion, place of birth, descent and colour'. It is believed that this charter clause was inserted at the instance of Bentick. Bentick believed the press to be a safety-value for discontent. Perhaps the most significant and of far-reaching consequences were Bentinck's decisions about education in India.

Macaulay had planned to produce a class of persons who would be “Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals and intellect” that Macaulay’s views were accepted and embodied in a Resolution of March 7, 1835, which decreed that English would be the official language of India in the higher branches of administration. Since then English language, literature, and natural science have formed the basis of higher education in India.

Answer : The Character Act of 1813 was the first constitutional measure for propagation of Christianity in India. Officials were appointed for this purpose. The policy of modernising Indian society and culture was also encouraged by the Christian missionaries and religious minded persons such as William Wilberforce and Charles Grant, the Chairman of the Court of Directors of the East India company, who wanted to spread Christianity in India. They, too adopted a critical attitude towards Indian society but on religious grounds. They passionately believed that Christianty alone was the true religion and that all other religions were false. They supported a programme of westernisation in the hope that it would eventually lead to the country's conversion to christianity. They thought that the light of western knowledge would destroy people's faith in their own religions and lead them to welcome and embrace christianity.

They, therefore, opened modern schools, colleges and hospitals in the country. The missionaries were, however, often most unwilling allies of the rationalist Radicals whose scientific approach undermined not only Hindu or Muslim mythology but Christian mythology as well. As Professor H.H. Dodwell has painted out. 'Taught to question the validity of their own gods, they (the westernised Indians) questioned also the validity of the Bible and the truth of its narrative.' The missionaries also supported the paternalistic imperialistic policies since they looked upon law and order and British supremacy as essential for their work of religious propaganda. They also sought the support of British merchants and manufacturers by holding out the hope that Christian converts would be better customers for their goods.

Answer : As a result of the spread of modern western education and thought during the 19th century, a large number of Indians imbibed a modern rational, secular, democratic and nationalist political outlook. They also began to study, admire and emulate the contemporary nationalsit movements of European nations. Rousseau, Paine, John Stuart Mill and other western thinkers become their political guides, while Mazzini, Garibaldi and Irish nationalsit leaders became their political heroes. These educated Indians were the first to feel the humiliation of foreign subjection. By becoming modern in their thinking, they also acquired the ability to study the evil effects of foreign rule. They were inspired by the dream of a modern, strong prosperous, and united India. In course of time, the best among them became the leaders and organisers of the national movement.

The English language played an important role in this respect. It became the medium for the spread of modern ideas. It also became the medium of communication and exhcnage of ideas between educated Indians from different linguistic regions of the country. But soon English also became a barrier to the spread of modern knowledge among the common people. It also acted as a wall separating the educated urban people from the common people, especially in the rural areas. This fact was fully recognised by the Indian political leaders. From Dadabhai Naroroji, Sayyid Ahmed Khan and Justice Ranade to Tilak and Gandhiji, they agitated for a bigger role for the Indian languages in the educational system. In fact, so far as the common people were concerned the spread of modern ideas occurred through the developing Indian languages, the growing literature in them, and most of all the popular Indian language press.

Answer : The revolt of 1857 gave a several golt to the British administration in India and made its reorganisation inevitable. The Government of India's structure and policies underwent significant changes in the decades following the Revolt. But more important for changes in Indian economy and Government was the inauguration of a new stage of Colonialism in India. An act of Parliament in 1858 transferred the power to govern from the East Indian Company to the British Crown. The British had divided India for administrative convenience into provinces, three of which — Bengal, Madras and Bombay – were known as Presidencies.

The first step in the direction of separating central and provincial finances was taken in 1870 by Lord Mayo. The provincial governments were granted fixed sums out of central revenues for the administration of certain services like Police, Jail, Education, Medical services and Roads and were asked to administer them as they wished. Lord Mayo's scheme was enlarged in 1877 by Lord Lytton who transferred to the provinces certain other heads of expenditure like Land Revenue, Excise, General Administration and Law and Justice. To meet the additional expenditure a provincial government was to get a fixed share of the income realised from that province from certain sources like stamps, Excise Taxes, and Income Tax. Further changes in these arrangements were made in 1882. The system of giving fixed grants to the provinces was to get the entire income from certain sources or revenue within it and a fixed share of the income from other sources. Thus, all sources of revenue were now divided into three-general, provincial and those to be divided between the centre and the provinces.

Local bodies were first formed between 1864 and 1868. The First Indian Factory Act was passed in 1881. The Act Dealt primarily with the problem of child labour. It laid down that children between 7 and 12 would not work for more than 9hours a day. Children would also get four holiday in a month. the Act also provided for the proper fencing off of dangerous machinery. The second Indian Factories Act was passed in 1891. It provided for a weekly holiday for all workers. Working hours for women were fixed at 11 per day, whereas daily hours of work for chilren were reduced to 7. Hours of work for men were still left unregulated. The British in India had always held aloof from the Indians believing that social distance to presserve their authority over them. They also felt themselves to be racially superior. The Revolt of 1857 and the atrocities committed by both sides had further widened the gulf between the Indians and the British who now began to openly assert the doctrine of racial supremacy and practise racial arrogance. Railway compartments, waiting rooms at railway stations, parks, hotels, swimming pools, clubs, etc. reserved for 'Europeans only' were visible manifestations of this racialism.