Central Administration refers to the institutions through which the British exercised:
Overall political, executive, legislative and administrative control over British India.
Its evolution moved from:
Company administration → Parliamentary supervision → Centralised colonial administration → Crown administration.
The central administrative structure revolved around:
The British required a centralised administrative structure because of:
The:
Regulating Act of 1773
created the office of:
Governor-General of Bengal.
The first Governor-General was:
Warren Hastings.
The Governor-General was assisted by:
A four-member Executive Council.
Initially:
Decisions were taken by majority.
This could restrict:
The Governor-General's independent authority.
The Governor-General gradually became:
The central authority of British administration in India.
His responsibilities included:
Initially:
Bombay and Madras had considerable autonomy.
The British gradually strengthened Bengal's authority over them.
The Governor-General obtained increasing control over:
War and diplomatic relations.
The:
Charter Act of 1833
changed the designation:
Governor-General of Bengal → Governor-General of India.
The first person to hold the position was:
Lord William Bentinck.
The change represented:
A major step towards centralised administration of British India.
The Governor-General's authority increasingly extended over:
All British territories in India.
The Governor-General was assisted by:
An Executive Council.
The Council dealt with:
The Governor-General generally worked:
With the Executive Council.
This created:
A system of collective executive decision-making.
However, over time:
The Governor-General acquired significant discretionary and overriding powers.
The Charter Act of 1853 introduced:
Greater separation between executive and legislative functions.
The legislative component of the Governor-General's Council was expanded.
The Governor-General's Council acquired:
A separate legislative dimension.
Additional members participated in:
Legislative deliberations.
The Act marked:
An early step towards a separate legislative body.
It also provided:
Greater scope for discussion of legislation.
The:
Charter Act of 1833
gave the Governor-General in Council:
Exclusive legislative authority for British India.
The legislative powers of Bombay and Madras were significantly restricted.
The central government therefore became responsible for:
The Charter Act of 1833 added:
A Law Member
to the Governor-General's Council.
The first Law Member was:
Thomas Babington Macaulay.
The first Law Commission was established in:
Its purpose was:
Codification and systematisation of laws.
The:
Government of India Act, 1858
created the office of:
Secretary of State for India.
He became the:
Principal authority controlling Indian affairs in Britain.
The Secretary of State was assisted by:
Council of India.
It functioned:
In London.
This replaced the earlier:
Court of Directors and Board of Control arrangement.
The Secretary of State exercised extensive authority over:
After 1858:
The Governor-General continued as the head of the Government of India.
He also became:
Viceroy of India.
The Viceroy represented:
The British Crown in India.
He therefore had both:
Administrative authority
and:
Imperial representative functions.
The first Viceroy was:
Lord Canning.
The Viceroy continued to be assisted by:
An Executive Council.
Members gradually became associated with specific:
Administrative departments.
The:
Portfolio System
became an important feature of central administration.
Under this arrangement:
Members of the Executive Council were assigned specific departments.
The portfolio system was formally recognised through:
Indian Councils Act, 1861.
It helped:
Organise central executive administration by departments.
Central administration gradually developed departments dealing with:
The central government developed:
A permanent administrative Secretariat.
Its role included:
The Secretariat became:
The administrative machinery supporting the Governor-General/Viceroy.
It connected:
Central decision-making with provincial and district administration.
Central government exercised control over:
The expansion of central financial control strengthened:
Administrative centralisation.
The central government controlled:
Military power was essential for:
Maintaining colonial authority.
Foreign relations with:
were increasingly controlled by:
The central government.
The central administration developed mechanisms for:
Managing relations with princely states and frontier territories.
British Residents and Political Agents operated under:
Central political authority.
The British central government exercised:
Paramountcy
over princely states.
This included influence over:
Central administration increasingly supervised:
Provincial governments.
The provinces included:
The central government exercised authority over provinces in:
Initially:
Provincial governments had limited financial autonomy.
Central government controlled:
Major revenue sources and expenditure.
This produced:
Strong fiscal centralisation.
The excessive burden of centralisation eventually encouraged:
Limited decentralisation.
Lord Mayo's:
Resolution of 1870
was an important step towards:
Financial decentralisation.
The policy encouraged:
Transfer of certain expenditure and administrative responsibilities to provinces.
The objective was:
Administrative efficiency and greater provincial responsibility.
The:
Indian Councils Act of 1861
reorganised the legislative machinery.
It expanded:
The Viceroy's Legislative Council.
The Viceroy could nominate:
Additional members
including:
Indians.
This introduced:
Limited Indian participation in central legislation.
Indian participation was initially:
Limited and largely advisory.
The British retained:
Effective control over central administration.
The Act expanded:
Legislative councils.
It also increased:
Opportunities for discussion of budgets and public matters.
However:
Executive authority remained dominant.
The Morley-Minto reforms introduced:
Greater Indian representation.
A major feature was:
Separate electorates for Muslims.
The Act introduced:
Dyarchy in the provinces.
At the centre:
The central government remained strongly controlled by the British.
The legislative structure was expanded.
The Act proposed:
An All-India Federation.
It also introduced:
Provincial autonomy.
However:
The proposed federation did not come into operation.
The central government relied heavily on:
European-dominated higher bureaucracy.
Important services included:
The:
Indian Civil Service
became the backbone of:
Higher colonial administration.
Its major functions included:
Centralisation enabled Britain to:
Central administration was strengthened by:
These allowed:
Faster communication between the centre and provinces.
They helped the government:
Central administration remained:
Predominantly controlled by Europeans.
Indians were gradually admitted into:
Lower and subordinate positions.
Higher positions remained:
Difficult for Indians to access.
Centralisation unintentionally contributed to:
Development of an all-India political consciousness.
Common institutions created:
Indian nationalists criticised central administration for:
The British created institutions such as:
Many institutional structures influenced:
Post-independence Indian administration.
Governor-General of Bengal.
↓
Board of Control and Dual Control.
↓
Governor-General of India + Central legislative authority.
↓
Legislative expansion + Civil Service competition.
↓
Viceroy + Secretary of State.
↓
Departmental administration + Legislative expansion.
↓
Constitutional reforms + Provincial dyarchy.
↓
Provincial autonomy + proposed federation.
Governor-General of Bengal and Governor-General of India were created by the same Act.
❌ Incorrect.
Governor-General of Bengal:
Governor-General of India:
Viceroy was a completely separate office from Governor-General.
❌ Incorrect.
After 1858:
Governor-General also functioned as Viceroy.
Secretary of State for India was created in 1833.
❌ Incorrect.
It was created by:
Government of India Act, 1858.
Indians gained equal participation in central administration after 1833.
❌ Incorrect.
Although the Act stated a principle of non-discrimination:
Higher administration remained largely European-dominated.
Portfolio System was created by the Regulating Act.
❌ Incorrect.
It was formally recognised under:
Indian Councils Act, 1861.
The central administration evolved from a relatively limited Company structure into:
A highly centralised bureaucratic colonial state.
Its centralisation served three major purposes:
Revenue extraction + Political control + Imperial security.
However, the creation of common institutions, laws, communication systems and administrative structures also unintentionally contributed to:
The emergence of an all-India political consciousness.
British central administration evolved gradually from the Governor-General's limited authority under the Regulating Act of 1773 into a highly centralised bureaucratic structure headed by the Viceroy after 1858.
British central administration was fundamentally designed to strengthen colonial control, but the centralised institutions, common laws, bureaucracy and communication networks it created later provided important institutional foundations for the governance of independent India.
