The foundations of British administration in India developed gradually as the East India Company changed from:
A trading company → Territorial power → Centralised colonial government.
The period from:
1773 to 1858
is especially important because Parliament progressively increased control over Company administration and finally transferred power to the British Crown.
The British Parliament intervened in Company affairs because of:
The growing territorial responsibilities of the Company made:
A more centralised administrative system necessary.
The Regulating Act was:
The first major Parliamentary intervention in the Company's Indian administration.
The office of:
Governor-General of Bengal
was created.
The first holder was:
Warren Hastings.
A:
Four-member Executive Council
was created to assist the Governor-General.
The governments of:
Bombay and Madras
were subordinated to Bengal in important matters, particularly:
War and diplomacy.
The Act provided for establishment of:
Supreme Court at Calcutta.
It was established in:
The Act marked:
The beginning of direct Parliamentary regulation of Company affairs.
The Supreme Court was established at:
Fort William, Calcutta, in 1774.
It represented:
The beginning of a formal British judicial institution in India.
It introduced:
The Court's jurisdiction sometimes conflicted with:
Company officials and existing Indian judicial institutions.
The Pitt's India Act was passed to:
Strengthen British Government control over the Company's political affairs.
The Act created a system of:
Dual Control.
The Company continued to manage:
Commercial affairs.
The British Government gained greater control over:
Political and administrative affairs.
A:
Board of Control
was created in Britain.
It supervised:
The:
Court of Directors
continued to manage:
Commercial affairs of the Company.
Thus:
Board of Control → Political affairs.
Court of Directors → Commercial affairs.
It:
The Charter Act of 1793:
Renewed the Company's charter for another 20 years.
It represented:
Continuity rather than a major structural transformation.
The Charter Act of 1813 introduced important changes in:
Trade and education.
The Company's:
Monopoly over Indian trade
was ended.
However, the Company retained monopoly over:
Tea trade and trade with China.
The Act permitted:
Christian missionaries
to operate in India.
The Act recognised:
Government responsibility towards education.
An annual amount of:
₹1 lakh
was allocated for:
Promotion of education and learning.
The Act:
The Charter Act of 1833 was one of the most important constitutional developments of British India.
The Act changed:
Governor-General of Bengal
into:
Governor-General of India.
Lord William Bentinck became:
The first Governor-General of India.
The Act strengthened:
Central legislative authority.
The Governor-General in Council received:
Exclusive legislative authority for British India.
The independent legislative powers of:
Bombay and Madras
were significantly reduced.
This strengthened:
Administrative centralisation.
The Act ended:
The Company's remaining commercial functions.
The Company became essentially:
An administrative organisation.
The Charter Act of 1833 created:
A Law Member in the Governor-General's Council.
The first Law Member was:
Thomas Babington Macaulay.
The Act led to the creation of:
Law Commission.
The first Law Commission was established in:
Macaulay became its:
First chairman.
The Law Commission aimed to:
The Charter Act of 1833 declared that Indians should not be disqualified from government employment on grounds of:
However:
In practice, higher administrative positions continued to be dominated by Europeans.
The Charter Act of 1853 was:
The last Charter Act.
It separated:
Legislative functions
from:
Executive functions
within the Governor-General's Council.
The legislative branch was expanded by adding:
Additional members.
The Act introduced:
Open competition for recruitment to the Civil Services.
This marked an important step towards:
Merit-based recruitment.
It contributed to the development of:
A professional colonial bureaucracy.
The evolution of British administration also involved the development of:
A professional and centralised bureaucracy.
Lord Cornwallis:
He is often associated with:
The foundation of the British civil service in India.
The Charter Act of 1853 introduced:
Open competitive recruitment.
This gradually transformed Company administration into:
A more professional bureaucratic system.
A major trend between 1773 and 1853 was:
Increasing centralisation.
1773
Governor-General of Bengal.
↓
1833
Governor-General of India.
↓
1853
Greater central legislative organisation.
This reduced:
The independent authority of the Presidencies.
British Parliamentary control developed gradually.
First major Parliamentary intervention.
Board of Control created.
Company's trade monopoly reduced.
Company's commercial role ended.
Further administrative and legislative reforms.
Company rule ended.
The Revolt of 1857 produced a fundamental constitutional change.
The:
Government of India Act, 1858
ended:
East India Company rule.
Power was transferred from:
East India Company
to:
British Crown.
A new office of:
Secretary of State for India
was created.
The Secretary of State became:
The most powerful authority over Indian administration in Britain.
The Secretary of State was assisted by:
Council of India.
It was established in:
London.
The Governor-General also became:
Viceroy.
The Viceroy represented:
The British Crown in India.
Lord Canning became:
The first Viceroy of India.
Company + Court of Directors + Board of Control.
Crown + Secretary of State + India Council + Viceroy.
The Act:
After the Revolt of 1857, the British became more cautious about:
Annexation of princely states.
They increasingly preferred:
Preserving Indian princes as loyal allies.
The aggressive annexation approach associated with:
Doctrine of Lapse
was abandoned.
Indian rulers were increasingly allowed to:
Adopt heirs.
The complete evolution can be remembered as:
Company trade
↓
Territorial expansion
↓
Parliamentary regulation
↓
Administrative centralisation
↓
Professional bureaucracy
↓
Crown rule.
Power increasingly concentrated in:
Governor-General and central institutions.
Administration increasingly relied on:
Professional officials.
British rule developed:
Courts, regulations and codified laws.
Revenue collection became:
More systematic and centralised.
The British maintained:
A large military establishment to protect and expand colonial rule.
British administrative institutions primarily aimed at:
Although British administration introduced:
its fundamental purpose remained:
Maintaining British imperial interests.
Centralisation created:
These developments later contributed to:
Political integration and the growth of Indian nationalism.
Regulating Act.
Pitt's India Act.
Charter Act.
Charter Act.
Charter Act.
Charter Act.
Government of India Act.
First Governor-General of Bengal.
Civil service and administrative reforms.
First Governor-General of India.
First Law Member + Law Commission.
First Viceroy of India.
Warren Hastings was the first Governor-General of India.
❌ Incorrect.
He was:
First Governor-General of Bengal.
William Bentinck was the first Governor-General of Bengal.
❌ Incorrect.
He was:
First Governor-General of India.
Pitt's India Act ended Company rule.
❌ Incorrect.
It:
Increased British Government control over the Company.
Charter Act of 1833 ended Company rule.
❌ Incorrect.
It ended:
Company's commercial functions.
Company political rule continued until:
Charter Act of 1853 ended Company rule.
❌ Incorrect.
It was the:
Last Charter Act.
Company rule ended in:
Government of India Act 1858 created the Governor-General.
❌ Incorrect.
It:
Transformed the Governor-General into the Viceroy.
Open competition for Civil Services was introduced in 1833.
❌ Incorrect.
It was introduced through:
Charter Act of 1853.
The constitutional development of British administration was not a sudden transformation.
It was a gradual process:
Company autonomy
↓
Parliamentary supervision
↓
Centralisation
↓
Professional bureaucracy
↓
Crown control.
The British administrative structure was therefore built incrementally as territorial expansion increased the need for:
Centralised governance, revenue extraction, military control and political supervision.
The foundations of British administration in India developed gradually between 1773 and 1858 as Parliament increasingly regulated the East India Company and eventually transferred Indian administration to the British Crown.
The period from 1773 to 1858 transformed British rule from Company-controlled commercial administration into a centralised imperial state. The resulting bureaucracy, legal institutions and administrative structures became the foundation of the British colonial state in India.
