Indian Imperial Police

The Indian Imperial Police, referred to variously as the Indian Police or, by 1905,[1] the Imperial Police,
was part of the Indian Police Services, the uniform system of police administration in British India, as
established by Government of India Act 1858 and Police Act of 1861. It was motivated by the danger
experienced by the British during the 1857 rebellion.[2]

In 1920 the Imperial Indian police had 310,000 police in their contingent. Its members policed more than
300 million people in the British Raj (now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Burma).

In 1948, a year after India's independence, the Imperial Police Service was replaced by the Indian Police
Service, which had been constituted as part of the All-India Services by the Constitution.[1]

History
It comprised two branches, the Superior Police Services, from which the Indian (Imperial) Police would
later be formed, and the Subordinate Police Service. Until 1893, appointments to the senior grades (i.e.,
Assistant District Superintendent and above) were made locally in India, mainly from European officers of
the Indian Army.[3]

The highest rank in the service was the Inspector General[4] for each province. The rank of Inspector
General[5] was equated and ranked with Brigadier[5] and similar ranks in the Indian Armed Forces, as per
Central Warrant of Precedence in 1937.[a][5] Subordinate to the Inspector General, the ranks were
composed of District Superintendents and Assistant District Superintendents, most of whom were
appointed, from 1893, by examination for the Indian Civil Service tests in the UK. The Subordinate Police
Service consisted of Inspectors, Sub-Inspectors, Head Constables (or Sergeant in the City forces and
cantonments) and Constables, consisting mainly of Indians except for the higher ranks.[3]

By the 1930s, the Indian Police exercised "unprecedented degree of authority within the colonial
administration".[6] The Indian Imperial Police was also the primary law enforcement in Burma, governed as
a province of India,[7] until 1937.

Before WWII, the Indian Police routinely served as a source of cadre for the MI5.

Ranks of the Imperial (India) Police

Superior Services:
Inspector General of Police (Head of the state police)
Deputy Inspector General of Police (Head of Range Police) or Commissioner of Four
cities (Madras, Bombay, Calcutta and Rangoon)
Superintendent of Police (Head of District Police)
Assistant Superintendent of Police (Head of sub divisional Police, specially main sub
division of a district)
Sub-ordinate services:
Deputy Superintendent of Police (Head of sub divisional Police).
 Inspector of Police (Head of circle Police)
Sub Inspector of Police (Head of Police station)
Sergeant (One for each police station and should be European or Anglo-Indian)
Head constable
Naik
Constable

Orwell
George Orwell, with his real name Eric Blair, served in the Indian Imperial Police, in Burma, from 27
November 1922 to 12 July 1927,[8] formally resigning while on leave in England (effective 1 January
1928) having attained the rank of Assistant District Superintendent at District Headquarters, first in Insein,
and later at Moulmein. He wrote of how having been in contact with, in his own words, "the dirty work of
Empire at close quarters" had affected his personal, political and social opinions. Some of his works
referring to his experiences include "A Hanging" (1931), set in the notorious Insein Prison, and his novel
Burmese Days (1934). Likewise, although he wrote that, "I loved Burma and the Burman and have no
regrets that I spent the best years of my life in the Burma police.",[9] in "Shooting an Elephant" (1936),[10]
his character stated that "In Moulmein in Lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people–- the only
time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me."[7]

See also
T. Ramachandra Rao
Panchanan Ghoshal
Qazi Azizul Haque

References
1. Maheshwari, S. R. (2001) Indian Administration (Sixth Edition), p. 306. Orient Blackswan. (htt
ps://books.google.com/books?id=E_Qu6ePC40kC&pg=PA302) At Google Books. Retrieved
13 August 2013.
2. "Police Reforms in India - History of Police Administration in India by Prakash Singh Ex DGP
- YouTube" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0kg1dQ8LVQ). www.youtube.com.
Retrieved 2020-12-02.
3. "Indian Police Services" (http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/india/indiaofficerecord
sfamilyhistory/occupations/indianpoliceservices/police.html) British Library. Retrieved 13
August 2013.
4. Shahidullah, Shahid M. (2012). Comparative Criminal Justice Systems. Jones & Bartlett
Publishers, 2012. ISBN 9781449604257.
5. "A worrisome slide in Army's status" (http://www.hindustantimes.com/chandigarh/a-worrisom
e-slide-in-army-s-status/story-iiODBwoOubZOigw6il4XDP.html). Hindustan Times. 19 July
2015. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
6. Arnold, David (1992) "Police Power and the Demise of British Rule in India, 1930 – 47" in
David Anderson, David Killingray, Policing and Decolonisation: Politics, Nationalism, and
the Police, 1917-65, pp. 42–61. Manchester University Press, 1992 (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=rni7AAAAIAAJ&q=burma) At Google Books. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
7. Crick, Bernard (2004) "Blair, Eric Arthur [George Orwell] (1903–1950)" in Oxford Dictionary of
National Biography, Oxford University Press. (http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/31915)
 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
8. Orwell, George (1998) Complete Works of George Orwell - Volume 10, p. 87, edited by Peter
Davison. Secker & Warburg, London.
9. Stansky, Peter (1994) The Unknown Orwell: Orwell, the Transformation, pp. 192–201.
Stanford University Press (https://books.google.com/books?id=dh_aqAZk-UQC&pg=PA178).
At Google Books. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
10. Villiers, Peter (2011) Leading from Example: A Short Guide to the Lessons of Literature, p.
98. Triarchy Press Limited (https://books.google.com/books?id=NF82Fkqvss4C&pg=PA97)
At Google Books. Retrieved 13 August 2013.

Notes

a. The rank of IGP is ranked and equated with the rank of Brigadier / equivalent rank of the
Indian Armed Forced as per Warrant of Precedence – 1937, according to the Ministry of
Home Affairs' directions contained in Letter No 12/11/99-Pub II dated 26 Dec 1966. This
Warrant of Precedence is compiled from a joint consideration of the existing Central Warrant
of Precedence (which is till the rank of Major General) and Warrant of Precedence – 1937,
according to the Ministry of Home Affairs' directions contained in Letter No 12/11/99-Pub II
dated 26 Dec 1966, the validity of which has been confirmed by Letter No 12/1/2007-Public
dated 14 Aug 2007. The MHA has confirmed in 2007 that the Old Warrant of Precedence
shall be taken as a guide to determine ranks below the ones mentioned in the current WoP.

Bibliography
Chandavarkar, Rajnarayan (1998) Imperial Power and Popular Politics: Class, Resistance
and the State in India, 1850-1950. Cambridge University Press. (https://books.google.com/bo
oks?id=bTOBfqjoyyoC) At Google Books.

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