01The Proclamation of 1858
In November 1858 the Indian territories came under the direct rule of the government in London. A Proclamation in the Queen's name accompanied the change and set out a series of undertakings.
The undertakings were these. The treaties with native princes were to be kept. Present territorial possessions were not to be extended. Indians were to have the privileges of other British subjects. Office was to be open to anyone, whatever their race or creed. Every religious observance was to have the law's equal and impartial protection, and religious practice was to be left alone. Rights connected with inherited land were to be protected, and future laws were to pay due regard to "the ancient rights, usages and customs of India".
The list responds to the revolt of 1857. The Proclamation was meant to answer the revolt's perceived causes: it sought the loyalty of princes and zamindars, and it spoke to fears that religion and social matters would be interfered with.
With reference to the Proclamation of 1858, consider the following statements:
- It gave the native princes an assurance on their treaties, and undertook that present territorial possessions would not be extended.
- It declared that office would be open to Indians without regard to race or creed.
- It undertook that law-making would pay due regard to "the ancient rights, usages and customs of India".
How many of the statements given above are correct?
C, all three. Each statement matches an undertaking in the Proclamation's list: treaties and territory for the princes; office open regardless of race or creed; due regard to ancient rights and usages in law-making.
Marking "Only one" tempts if you remember the Proclamation as a message to the princes alone. The Proclamation's list covers subjects, offices, religion and land as well.
Marking "Only two" tempts if statement 3 reads like a later idea. It sits in the 1858 list next to the undertaking on inherited land.
Marking "None" tempts if you take 1858 to have been a transfer of authority and nothing more. It is mostly about the undertakings.
02The Proclamation in petitions
The Proclamation "took on a life of its own": Indians of many kinds frequently referred to it as a "magna carta". Its two examples are some fifty years apart, and each turns on cow slaughter.
The first comes from a report by the Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab in 1884. A Muslim petitioner had put constitutional principles to him and demanded that he overturn a magistrate's local prohibition on the slaughter of cows; the Proclamation, on the petitioner's reading, secured the slaughter of cattle for religious ends. In the second, Muslim groups in Mysore asked the Viceroy to step in against a cow-slaughter law passed by the Mysore Assembly, which they said broke "the Magna Carta of Queen Victoria".
These arguments worked differently in the two places. A petition to the executive could create political pressure. In court, the same argument usually had little force.
03The courts and the Proclamation
The petitions in the last section went to executive officials. A court had to answer a different question: did the Proclamation give a litigant a legal right that could stop an ordinary law? Queen Empress v Tegha Singh, decided in 1882, put that question before a High Court.
Weapons had been stored inside a temple; its custodians were arrested under the Arms Act. Before the High Court they relied on the Proclamation's guarantee against molestation on grounds of religion, and they pointed out that the Court itself had accepted that these particular firearms were worshipped. On that footing, they said, the Act should not reach them.
The High Court turned the argument down. The decision implies that an Indian legislature could pass a law at odds with the Proclamation.
The Proclamation also changed how imperial rule justified itself, not only how it was governed in practice. It let the British state present itself as a fair mediator among India's different communities, and it held out self-government as a promise for some distant future. Both ideas were grounded in the monarch's own word, not in older ideas such as natural law or an "ancient constitution."
In Queen Empress v Tegha Singh (1882), the High Court:
B is right. The Court had accepted that the weapons were worshipped, and it still rejected the plea. This implies that Indian legislatures could legislate at odds with the Proclamation.
C tempts because the Court did accept that the firearms were worshipped. That finding did not decide the case.
A tempts if the Proclamation is imagined as a higher law that ordinary statutes must obey. In fact, the ordinary statute prevailed.
D tempts if you assume the plea failed on the facts. The one fact at issue, that the firearms were worshipped, had been accepted by the Court.
04The Indian Councils Act, 1861
Representation is where the emphasis of the following fifty years' reforms lay. Under the Indian Councils Act of 1861 the Governor-General's Council was reconstructed: a legislative council took over the legislative function, and non-officials had to make up at least half of it. One member's specific charge was to be public works.
Prior sanction "softened" this separation. Before the council could take up anything to do with the public revenue or debt, with religion, or with the army and navy, the Governor-General had to sanction it. Assent was a further requirement: no legislation became law without his.
The Act also returned some law-making power to the provinces. In 1833, Bombay and Madras had lost their independent legislative powers. The 1861 Act restored them. It made a beginning of dividing subjects between the centre and provinces, but the Governor-General still controlled important parts of the process. On some subjects, a province needed his permission before it could act. A local Act needed two assents: first the Governor's, then the Governor-General's.
These reforms "provided the promise of freedom but deferred it", the deferral being done by strict controls for everyday situations and for extraordinary ones. On the extraordinary side, six months was the longest an emergency proclaimed by the Governor-General could run under the 1861 Act. The irony lies in what the first national emergencies were for: an extra half per cent on income tax under Lord Mayo, and the removal of some border districts from the ordinary courts.
With reference to the Indian Councils Act of 1861, consider the following statements:
- At least half the members of the legislative council were required to be non-officials.
- It did away with the Governor-General's assent as a condition for legislation passed by the council.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
A, 1 only. The non-official half is in the Act; so is the requirement of the Governor-General's assent for all legislation, which statement 2 denies.
Marking "Both" tempts if "separation of powers" is taken at face value. Prior sanction "softened" the separation, and assent was required as well.
Marking "Neither" tempts if a non-official half sounds too early for 1861. It was a requirement of the Act.
Marking "2 only" tempts if you read the Act as loosening the Governor-General's hold on legislation. The Act imposed sanction and assent requirements, with no loosening.
Assertion (A): Under the Indian Councils Act of 1861, an emergency proclaimed by the Governor-General could last no more than six months.
Reason (R): The first national emergencies were declared for administrative ends.
B is right. Both statements are accurate. The six-month limit was the Act's control on emergencies; what the first emergencies were used for came afterwards, and ironically it was an extra half per cent on income tax and the removal of some border districts from the ordinary courts. R does not explain A.
A tempts if you read the limit as a response to misuse. The limit came first, and the administrative emergencies followed.
C tempts if you expect the first emergencies to have been declared for public order. The examples are a tax and a jurisdiction change.
D tempts if you think 1861 left emergency powers open-ended. The Act set a six-month limit.
05Courts and the service, 1861
Two further Acts of 1861 dealt with the courts and the service. The Indian High Courts Act did away with the presidency Supreme Courts, considered "troublesome", and set up High Courts instead. The stated intention was one legal system for the whole country, and the reform was to be followed by the Penal Code and the two procedure codes, civil and criminal.
The Indian Civil Service Act of 1861 did two things to the bureaucracy: past appointments made irregularly were regularised, and from then on members of the covenanted services were to be formally appointed. Before 1857 the service had not been a professional body. Company officials had used posts as patronage, and the posts had been lucrative because rent-seeking came with them. In name the services were open to any British subject in India; the selection process left very few Indians eligible.
| Act | Sphere | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Indian Councils Act | Legislature and executive | Legislative council with a non-official half; prior sanction and assent required; presidencies' legislative powers restored; emergencies limited to six months. |
| Indian High Courts Act | Judiciary | Presidency Supreme Courts abolished; High Courts in their place; a uniform legal system as the aim, with the codes. |
| Indian Civil Service Act | Bureaucracy | Past irregular appointments regularised; formal appointment for the covenanted services; open in name to any British subject in India. |
06Representation in stages, 1892 and 1909
Once the executive, the legislature and the bureaucracy had been carved out from one another, the reforms of 1892 and 1909 tried to raise the representation of Indians in the councils. In 1892 the Governor's Councils received more nominated members, together with a promise that election would be introduced later.
The Indian Councils Act of 1909, the Morley-Minto reforms, brought in limited systems of election for some seats on the councils, central and provincial. The majorities were set differently at the two levels: official members, mostly bureaucrats, at the centre; non-officials in the provinces.
These electorates were not ordinary geographic constituencies. Each seat represented a specific group or interest, not a simple headcount of voters in an area. Local bodies, the municipalities and local boards, accounted for most of the seats. The rest went to chambers of merchants and commercial federations, universities, planters' associations, landlords and Muslims. The demand for a separate Muslim electorate had first been made in a memorial presented to the Viceroy in 1906.
Arrange the following in chronological order:
- Some seats on the central and provincial legislative councils filled by a limited election.
- The Indian territories taken into the direct charge of the government in London.
- The presidency Supreme Courts replaced by High Courts.
- The Governor's Councils enlarged with nominated members, and election promised for later.
D is right. Direct charge by the government in London, 1858; High Courts, 1861; more nominated members with a promise of election, 1892; limited election, 1909.
A tempts if you date the High Courts to the later councils reforms. The High Courts Act belongs to 1861, the year of the Councils Act.
C tempts if you place election before the promise of it. The promise came in 1892 and limited election in 1909.
B tempts if you assign the High Courts to the Company's period. The Act is dated to 1861, after the transfer to the government in London.
With reference to the Indian Councils Act of 1909, which one of the following statements is correct?
A is right. Officials held the majority at the centre and non-officials held it in the provinces, with election reaching both levels and electorates for a range of interests.
B tempts if you carry the provincial arrangement up to the centre. The two levels were kept separate.
C tempts because local bodies were the bulk of the electorates. The electorates also included chambers of merchants, commercial federations, universities, planters, landlords and Muslims.
D tempts if you think 1909 opened only the provincial councils to election. Both provincial and central councils were opened to election.
07Agitation and reform, 1892 to 1919
These reforms differ from the eighteenth-century ones in one important way: behind all of them was a demand for more representation that came from below, through public campaigns, not from Parliament deciding on its own to grant more.
Every reform also fell short of what had been expected of it, and the shortfall split political opinion. One result was the extremist group that emerged within the Indian National Congress out of disappointment with the 1892 reform.
The pattern to remember: each reform was designed to answer a specific demand, and answering it provoked the next round of demands. This cycle of agitation and reform ran the nationalist movement until 1919.
08What to carry into Lesson 4
- 1858: the territories pass into the direct charge of the government in London; the Proclamation undertakes that treaties will be kept and territory not extended, that office will be open regardless of race or creed, that religion will be left alone, that inherited land rights will be protected, and that law-making will regard ancient usages.
- Indians called the Proclamation a "magna carta" and petitioned on it: traction with the executive, little effect in court (Tegha Singh, 1882).
- 1861 Councils Act: a legislative council with a non-official half; prior sanction for revenue and debt, religion, and military and naval matters; assent for all legislation; presidencies' legislative powers restored; emergencies limited to six months.
- 1861 also: High Courts in place of the presidency Supreme Courts; the ICS Act regularises past appointments and requires formal appointment from then on.
- 1892: more nominated members, election promised. 1909: limited election; official majority at the centre, non-official in the provinces; separate electorates for a range of interests, Muslims among them.
- The closing point: these reforms answered demand from below, each fell short, and the resulting cycle of agitation and reform ran until 1919.
Recall · Close the page and answer
- Name four undertakings in the Proclamation of 1858.
Check
Any four of: treaties kept; no extension of territory; the privileges of British subjects; office regardless of race or creed; equal protection for religious observance and no interference in religious practice; protection of inherited land rights; regard for "the ancient rights, usages and customs of India" in law-making.
- What did Tegha Singh decide, and what does it imply?
Check
The plea that the Arms Act offended the Proclamation was rejected; this implies that an Indian legislature could pass a law at odds with the Proclamation.
- Which matters needed the Governor-General's prior sanction under the 1861 Act?
Check
Public revenue and debt, religion, and the army and navy. Every Bill also needed his assent.
- What did the 1861 Act do about emergencies, and what were the first emergencies used for?
Check
Set six months as the longest an emergency could run; the first emergencies were administrative, an extra half per cent on income tax and the removal of some border districts from the ordinary courts.
- Who was to have the majority where under the 1909 Act?
Check
Officials at the centre; non-officials in the provinces.
Mains practice · GS Paper II
Three questions, with answer frames
Write the answer first. Then open the frame and check what you left out.
15 marks · 250 wordsThe Proclamation of 1858 was issued to reassure. Discuss how Indians used it, and with what result.
What it was issued to do: answer the perceived causes of 1857; keep princes and zamindars loyal; meet fears of interference in religion and social matters.
What it undertook: treaties; territory; the privileges of British subjects; office regardless of race or creed; religious protection and non-interference; inherited land; ancient usages in law-making. The religious undertaking is the one the Punjab petitioner and the temple custodians relied on.
How Indians used it: "magna carta"; the Punjab petitioner of 1884; the Mysore petition some fifty years later; both on cow slaughter, both put as constitutional claims.
With what result: a good deal of political weight with the executive; little in court; Tegha Singh and its implication for the legislatures.
The larger reading: two strands, "justice as equity" and "justice as liberty", both located in the monarch.
Resolve: the Proclamation carried much political weight and little legal weight. Cover both the use and the result; the question asks for both.
10 marks · 150 wordsExamine the controls that qualified the separation of legislative from executive functions under the Indian Councils Act of 1861.
The separation: a legislative council created out of the Governor-General's Council; a non-official half; a member for public works.
The control that softened it: prior sanction for anything touching revenue and debt, religion, or the army and navy.
The assent requirement: a separate rule; nothing became law without the Governor-General's assent.
Outside the separation: the other controls, on provincial legislation and on emergencies, belong to the wider reform and can be mentioned in a line.
Resolve: the 1861 reforms "provided the promise of freedom but deferred it", the deferral done by strict controls. Apply that to the separation: real in form, qualified by sanction and assent.
10 marks · 150 words"The reforms of 1892 and 1909 each answered an agitation and produced the next." Comment.
About these reforms: driven by a demand for representation rising from below; unlike the previous century's, each came about through a vigorous public campaign.
1892: more nominated members and a promise of election; dissatisfaction with it and the emergence of the extremist group in Congress.
1909: limited election; an official majority at the centre; separate electorates by group and interest rather than geography, Muslims among them.
The pattern named: agitation forcing reform, and each reform then triggering the next round of agitation, a cycle that ran the nationalist movement until 1919.
Resolve: agree with the quotation. Both 1892 and 1909 fit the same pattern: pressure from below produced a reform, and that reform's limits produced the next round of pressure.
PYQ corner
What UPSC has actually asked
One question on this lesson's period, in the statement format UPSC used in 2014. The key is the one carried in published compilations.
What was/were the object/objects of Queen Victoria's Proclamation (1858)?
- To disclaim any intention to annex Indian States
- To place the Indian administration under the British Crown
- To regulate East India Company's trade with India
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
A, per the published key. Statement 2 is supported directly, the territories coming under the direct rule of the government in London, and statement 1 through the undertaking that present territorial possessions would not be extended. Nothing in the Proclamation's list of undertakings concerns the Company's trade.
D tempts if you expect a document of 1858 to have dealt with the Company's trade. The Proclamation's list of undertakings has no such item.
B tempts if you forget the princes. The assurance on treaties and territory comes first in the list.
C tempts if you read the Proclamation as a settlement with the princes and the Company alone. The list of undertakings is addressed mostly to the Queen's Indian subjects.