2.4 British administration notes

1. 2.4.1Civil services under the Company and the Crown

   The Indian Civil Service grew from the Company's trading clerks into the "steel frame" of British rule, and its history is the history of the slow, grudging opening of senior posts to Indians.

   Standard · 8 min · Full course
2. 2.4.2Army and police under British rule

   The British built an army of Indian soldiers under British control and a district police under the Collector, both designed to keep Indian officers and Indian political influence out of the instruments of force.

   Standard · 6 min · Full course
3. 2.4.3Judicial system: Company adalats to the High Courts and Federal Court

   Britain replaced Mughal-era courts with a hierarchy of regular courts and codified laws, introducing the rule of law and equality before law in form, while keeping Europeans in a privileged position in practice.

   Standard · 7 min · Full course
4. 2.4.4Local self-government: Mayo's resolution to Ripon's reforms

   Local self-government began as a financial convenience under Mayo in 1870 and became a lesson in self-rule under Ripon in 1882, though real power stayed with officials.

   Standard · 6 min · Full course
5. 2.4.5British policy towards princely states: paramountcy to the Butler Committee

   British policy towards the princely states moved from a ring fence, to isolation, to union under the Crown, and finally to claimed paramountcy, which ended with independence in 1947.

   Standard · 6 min · Full course
6. 2.4.6Social legislation under British rule: sati, widow remarriage and age of consent

   Reformers pressed and the colonial state legislated, cautiously, on sati, widowhood, infanticide and child marriage, but after 1857 the government held back from social laws it feared would rouse opposition.

   Standard · 6 min · Full course

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