ft testbook.com
Important Reforms During East India Company Rule - Complete
List Of Important Acts!
2019/08/16
Indian history constitutes a very important part of most government and Banking exams. Ifyou are preparing for
UPSC, SSC CHSL, SSC MTS,
memorizing the entire timeline of events and acts during East India Company rule is extremely important. Read
C CGL, IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk or any exam of similar level, understanding and
carefully to know more about the Charters and Acts during East India Company Rule.
List of Acts during East India Company Rule
1 Regulating Act of 1773: Towards a Central Administration
Through this act, the Parliament of British government established many economic and administrative
reforms.
This act brought India formally under the rule of Crown through the East India Company.
It laid the foundation for the central administration in India.
It designated the Governor of Bengal as the Governor-General of Bengal and governors of other
presidencies ~ Madras and Bombay ~ were made subordinates to him. (First GGB: Lord William Hastings)
Itprovided for the establishment of a Supreme Court at Caleutta.
Itestablished an Executive Council to assist the Governor-General and Court of Directors as the governing
body of the Company.
2. The Settlement Act of 1781: Separation of Executive and Judiciary
Also known as the Amending Act or the Declaratory Act of 1781, it intended to rectify the shortcomings of the
Regulating Act of 173.
Earlier, the Company employees were under both the GGB and the Supreme Court, SC. Through this aet,
the powers of the SC was limited,
The geographical jurisdiction of the SC got limited to Calcutta, and thus also, limiting its appellate
jurisdiction and required appeals to be taken to the GG in council.
Religion based laws were established and separate Hindu and Muslim law systems came into existence.
Though the GG could issue rules, ordinances and regulations, they were to be registered in the SC. (But this
doesn’t mean Judicial Review in Indian Constitution was adopted from the British, it was adopted from
the United States)
3.Pitt’s India Act of 1784The Company’s territories were called the British possessions in India for the first time.
A dual system of control: It created a Board of Control to manage political affairs of India and limited the
responsibilities of the Court of Directors to commercial affairs.
Named after the British Prime Minister William Pitt, the Act provided for a joint government of British
India by the Company and the Crown with the government holding the ultimate authori
The Act differentiated Company's political activities from commercial ones,
4.Charter Act of 1786
‘This Act drew a clear line of distinction between the Crown and the Compan
y. The Company became more
accountable to Crown.
In special cases, the GG could now override the majority of his Council and act on his own special
responsibility
5.Charter Act of 1793
As compared to the rest of the acts during East India Company Rule, the 1793 Act was not particularly
controversial measure. The company’s charter was renewed for a further 20 years by this Act.
The only major change was that this Act empowered the East India Company to grant licenses to both
individuals and Company employees to trade in India, which paved the way for shipments of opium to
China.
Also, the Senior officials could not leave the country without permission.
6.Charter Act of 1813
This Act opened India to missionaries.
Renewed the charter of the company for a further 20 years, but deprived the company of its Indian trade
monopoly except for trade in tea and the trade with China.
7.Prohibition of Sati & Female infanticide,1829
Sati was a historical funeral practice where a woman sacrificed herself by sitting atop the funeral pyre of
their deceased husbands. This practice though immensely inhumane was practised for centuries,
Christian evangelist William Carey and Social reformer Ram Mohan Roy strongly opposed this heinous
yet socially acceptable practice
In 1829. Governor General Lord William passed the Bengal Sati Regulation Act which stated that the
practice of burning or burying alive of Hindu widows to be punishable by the criminal courts.Incidents of
sati were still being recorded in India in the late 20th century, which led the Indian government to
announce the Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987, criminalising the aiding or glorifying of Sati
8.Charter Act of 1833
It made the Governor-General of Bengal the Governor-General of India (First GGI: Lord William Bentinck
who prohibited sati system)It deprived the governors of Bombay and Madras of their legislative powers.
It proposed to conduct an open competition for the selection of civil servants to include Indians as well,
but because of the strong opposition from the Court of Directors, it got canceled.
9.English Education Act of 1835
Ofall the Acts during East India Company rule, this one had just one important point about it. This Act by
the Council of India reallocated funds from the Company for spending on education & literature in India.
10.Charter Act of 1853: Separation of Legislative and Executive
Itestablished the Indian (Central) Legislative Couneil which functioned as mini-parliament.
It introduced a local representation in the LC and appointed four members selected by the governments of
Madras, Bengal, Agra and Bombay. (Do not confuse this with Indian representation)
It introduced the open examination for the selection of civil servants.
11.Government of India Act of 1858
After the sepoy mutiny of 1857, the Crown took over from the East India Company. India was now to be
governed by the Queen.
A couneil of 15 members was set up to be headed by the Secretary of State.
‘The Crown was empowered to appoint a Governor-General and the Governors of the Presidencies.
After the GOI Act of 1858, the Crown assumed supremacy over India. At this point, the Company rule
ended in India and British Raj started.
12.Indian Council Act,1892
‘The establishment of Indian National Congress(INC) in 1885 led to rise in Nationalism which resulted in
Congress putting forth some demands in front of British authorities, Reformation of the council was one of
the demands.To replace nomination, Principal of election was proposed.
Passing the act meant a significant rise in the number of Non-official members in the legislative council.
Out of 24 members, only 5 were Indians
‘The members were given authority to question the budget as well as matters of public interests but were
obligated to provide notice of 6 days for the same. Although, they were refrained from asking
supplementary questions
13.Indian Council Act, 1909
The Indian Council Act 1909, also known as the Morley-Minto Reforms were established to appease
Congress by introdueing separate electorates on the basis of religion.
‘This act allowed an inerease in the number for the membership of the central and provincial legislative
councils.‘The elected members, however, were not elected by the common people, but by landlords, industrialists
and organisations.
Communal electorates were also introduced as a part of the reforms. The purpose of this was to create
conflict between Hindus and Muslims
14.Communal Award,1932
Drafted by the British Prime Minister Ramsay Medonald, the communal award granted separate
electorates in India for the Forward Caste, Scheduled Caste, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Indian Christians,
Anglo-Indians,
Mahatma Gandhi Strongly opposed this award as it was creating a social divide amongst Hindus and
Muslims
Though it was supported by many other important figures, most notably by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar
15.Wavell Plan,1945
In the year 1945, Lord Wavell replaced Lord Linlithgow as the Viceroy of India
‘The purpose of Wavell’s appointment was the political deadlock between the Indian National Congress
and the Muslim league.The INC wanted a united India but TML wanted a separate state
Wavell’s long stint as the Indian Army Chief gave him an in-depth understanding of this situation
Wavell’s priority was to come up with a solution which would be willfully accepted by the Congress and
the Muslim League.
‘The plan was a failure because the INC and TML could not settle their differences. Jinnah wanted the
members of TML to represent Muslims in India, the Congress disagreed,
Jinnah refused to give the names unless the government agreed to let TML be the only representative of
Indian Muslims
Ifyou know more about this topic that you think the article hasn’t included, then comment below. You can find
details about other GK topics here:
Mughal Empire Early & Later Vedic Period
Buddhism and Jainism Facts Indian freedom struggle timeline
Know Major Facts about the Indian States Indian Art and Culture
If you find this article as an interesting piece of read, you can also download it as PDF.Important Acts/Reforms during East India Company Rule -
Finally, if you want to suggest some another topic that we should write on, tell us on Testbook Diseuss.
[ hideonapp type="start”]
Practice more questions for free through the link mentioned below:
Pes
Our ‘
constantly deliverec
Total 3000+ selections
PO ad Be oreo, estan aS
Ditestbook
The Complete Exam Preparation
Eli)
eC Peer,