what do you know about the police and army set up under the British East India company?
Answers
The following points highlight the three pillars on which the British administration of India was based. The three pillars are: 1. Civil Services 2. Army 3. Police.
1. Civil Services:
The Civil Service was brought into existence by Lord Cornwallis. We know that the East India Company had from the beginning carried on its trade in the East through servants who were paid low wages but who were permitted to trade privately. Later, when the Company became a territorial power, the same servants assumed administrative functions.
In the words of John Shore, who succeeded Cornwallis:
The fundamental principle of the English had been to make the whole Indian nation subservient, in every possible way, to the interests and benefits of ourselves. The Indians have been excluded from every honour, dignity, or office, which the lowest Englishmen could be prevailed to accept.
Army:
The second important pillar of the British regime in India was the army. It fulfilled four important functions. It was the instrument through which the Indian powers were conquered; it defended the British empire in India from foreign rivals; it safeguarded British supremacy from the ever-present threat of internal revolt; and it was the chief instrument for extending and defending the British empire in Asia and Africa.
The bulk of the Company’s army consisted of Indian soldiers, recruited chiefly from the area at present included in U.P and Bihar.
For instance, in 1857, the strength of the army in India was 311,400 of whom 265,900 were Indians. Its officers were, however, exclusively British, at least since the days of Cornwallis. In 1856, only three Indians in the army received a salary of Rs 300 per month and the highest Indian officer was a subedar.
A large number of Indian troops had to be employed as British troops were far too expensive. Moreover, the population of Britain was perhaps too small to provide the large soldiery needed for the conquest of India. As a counterweight, the army was officered entirely by British officials and a certain number of British troops were maintained to keep the Indian soldiers under control.
Even so, it appears surprising today that a handful of foreigners could conquer and control India with a predominantly Indian army. This was possible because of two factors. On the one hand, there was absence of modern nationalism in the country at the time. A soldier from Bihar or Awadh did not think, and could not have thought, that in helping the Company defeat the Marathas or the Punjabis he was being anti-Indian.
On the other, the Indian soldier had a long tradition of loyalty to the salt. In other words, the Indian soldier was a good mercenary, and the Company on its part was a good paymaster. It paid its soldiers regularly and well, something that the Indian rulers and chieftains were no longer doing.
3. Police:
The third pillar of British rule was the police whose creator was once again Cornwallis. He relieved the zamindars of their police functions and established a regular police force to maintain law and order. In this respect, he went back to, and modernized, the old Indian system of thanas.
This put India ahead of Britain where a system of police had not developed yet. Cornwallis established a system of circles or thanas headed by a daroga, who was an Indian.
Later, the post of the District Superintendent of Police was created to head the police organisation in a district. Once again, Indians were excluded from all superior posts. In the villages, the duties of the police continued to be performed by village-watchmen who were maintained by the villagers.
The police gradually succeeded in reducing major crimes such as dacoity. The police also prevented the organisation of a large- scale conspiracy against foreign control, and when the national movement arose, the police was used to suppress it.
In its dealings with the people, the Indian police adopted an unsympathetic attitude. A Committee of Parliament reported in 1813 that the police committed “depredations on the peaceable inhabitants, of the same nature as those practiced by the dacoits whom they were employed to suppress”.
Status of Sepoys in East India company:
1. The Indian sepoys in the employ of the Company had reasons for discontent. They were unhappy about their pay, allowances and conditions of service.
2. New rules laid by the British violated the religious beliefs of the Indian sepoys which made the Company to punish them severely. For instance, in those days, it was Hindu belief that if Indian people, especially Hindus,
crossed the sea they would lose their religion and caste.
When the British forced the sepoys to move to Burma through sea they refused the orders and were severely punished by the British.
Status of Sepoys in the army of Indian rulers:
1. The sepoys felt that they belong to one region, one state and there was feeling of oneness and unity
2. They fought for the region they were living in or for the kingdom they belong to.
3. In times of peace, they took care of their farming activities.
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