The Revolt of 1857 had given a very strong jolt to the British rule in India the courage sacrifice and patriotism that Indians demonstrated in this fight remains unparalleled in the history of our country for several months the position of British rule in India had become completely untenable although a failure in the immediate
Sense nevertheless Revolt of 1857 marks of watershed in the history of British rule in India these Rebels will inspire subsequent generations with the tradition of resistance even in their failure they will pave the way for a more modern response to British colonialism the British too will be compelled to
Have a tectonic shift in their approach to the Crown Jewel India consequently several new types of policies will be assured in by the britishers in the wake of this report hello dear students and welcome back to our discussion on Modern Indian history in this episode we will discuss the
Impact of Revolt of 1857 understanding its significance the debates that surround it and also the long-term consequences that it led to so let’s dive in and get started with today’s discussion the Revolt of 1857 had caused a lot of discomfort in London already there were a lot of voices
Against the East India Company since the end of the 18th century the Charter Act of 1853 had not even given a specific time period for the eic’s rule in India unlike earlier Charter Acts consequently it was very well known that the days of EIC were now numbered
Given the kind of jolt that reward of 1857 gave the Queen the crown itself felt compelled to assuage India and Indian public opinion it gave out a series of promises to Indians so that the major grudges that they had could at least be modified now what were the assurances that the
Queen gave in 1858 in this Proclamation we will see that one by one number one in that is the promise of no territorial extension the British rule in India had used many different tools such as policy of effective control subsidiary Alliance and direct annexations very often ideas like doctrine of labs
And the concept of misrule were used for territorially aggrandizing British India this had made Indian princes very nervous despite their best loyalties the Indian Prince would never be sure of the perpetuity of his family’s rule during the Revolt of 1857 the British realized the salience of Indian princes
Being on their side and consequently their major concern was here by at rest and This Promise was upheld this is the reason why we will see more than 560 odd princely states to be integrated into India at the time of Independence it’s on account of This Promise the princely
States remained intact till then apart from they are you know continuity of their rule they were also promised that their rights dignity and honor will never be compromised this was to assure the princely states that they will continue to live with the same kind of Lifestyle honor respect dignity Etc
Which they were enjoying earlier the treaties and engagements with these princes will be honored was a solemn promise that the British crown gave we have seen in the past that East India Company had time and again breached its promises we saw how the nizam was promised help
Against the marathas but he was not given the help during Battle of karda the armies of Sindh had been promised Perpetual friendship only to be annexed subsequently many other such examples can be cited of hypocrisy of the East India companies ruled but here they are promised that the treaties and all the
Commitments will be honored clemency was announced for all the offenders who had participated in the Revolt of 1857 except those who were direct participants as in those who were leading the Rewards or who had caused murders or shielded murderers apart from these people clemency was offered to all Indians
Indians irrespective of race or Creed were to be admitted to office the start of this ending of racial discrimination was seen in Charter Act of 1833 itself but the court of directors had prevailed and the Discrimination continued then in Charter Act of 1853 we saw that system of open competitive examination was to
Be introduced and once again the crown promised that Indians will not be discriminated on the basis of race or Creed while admitting them to office This Promise You Know although on paper it existed but in practice we will see subsequently that there were many hurdles for Indians to actually join
Service under the government nevertheless a commitment was given Justice and religious toleration was to be ensured in India there would not be any Injustice method out to Indian subjects by the state they are religious practices were not to be interfered with a big section of the rebels was offended
Because of the constant reforms that the britishers were bringing about they had abolished Sati Widow remanaged had been permitted practices like slavery had been abolished female infanticide had been stopped now these measures were definitely Progressive measures but back then the society found this to be intrusive and consequently
The britishers realized that it is best that they stay away from these internal matters the army of East India Company a huge Army that had been built up was to be incorporated now into the army of British India so those troops who had not rebelled their services were to be continued
Those who had rebelled had already been you know short punished and many of them had simply melted away the regiments had been disbanded so a very significant document in this manner was issued by the crown itself to assuage Indian public opinion so that there will be normal see back again and
The britishers can gather themselves and run the state this is the Queen’s Proclamation guys now let us see as the dust settles down on Revolt of 1857 what are the significant points that we must remember while answering questions in means what is the role of Revolt of it of 1857
In the course of our freedom struggle the Revolt of 1857 was an unsuccessful but a heroic effort to bring back the old regime as their leader in different storm centers the rebels were being led by you know dispossessed rajas nawabs and big zamindars they all had United together but for the sake of
Bringing back the old way of life the feudal socio-political economic system nevertheless it was successful in giving a very strong jolt to a modern power it could not defeat or end it but definitely it was strong enough to give it a big shock it ended the rule of EIC East India
Company in India the crown transferred power from the East India Company directly to the British government this is a very significant measure the rule of AIC which had you know started in around mid 18th century now finally a curtain is drawn onto it and a new era of direct British rule will start
Although this was already in the making we have seen how increasingly the British Parliament was exercising its control on the government here in India but nevertheless this final shock ensured that eic’s rule met a quick demise and there was a takeover by the British Crum the Crown’s rule was inaugurated
The shocked that the britishers got in this reward the successes although ephemeral that the rebels achieved that helped to break the idea of British invincibility britishers had built up a repetition of being invincible over the course of last century or more they had won several battles and wars and consequently the company bahadur
Enjoyed a repetition of being invincible that obviously was rubbed onto the white Anglo-Saxon trees that these people are indefeatable but during the Revolt of 1857 the kind of Courage that Indian troops Indian Rebels they showed in many places the britishers had to retreat and consequently this image of invincibility
Of the britishers suffered a very big shock now that fear of the British army will subside to a very great extent it created the space for emergence of modern National struggle the limitations of this type of traditional response traditional response that is based on violence that lacks understanding of
Colonialism that does not have modern political tools all of that dawned on Indians very clearly although they were reverent and respectful towards the rebels they also distant themselves slowly from their methods from their goals and consequently we’ll see a much more qualitative response evolving in the form of modern National struggle that
Indians will which we will see that this Revolt will establish a tradition of resistance courage and sacrifice which will keep on inspiring Indians over the next few generations to fight against the British rule so in this sense the Revolt of 1857 is an extremely crucial one in the history of India
Now let us see some debates and opinions that historians have over this report one major debate that is there about the Revolt of 1857 is its nature what was the nature of this reward like some historians have the opinion that it was merely a sepoi mutiny merely as a
Point mutiny the term sepoy comes from the Persian term sipahi Soldier anglicized as a lone word into sipoi the idea that revolten of 1857 was nothing more than a sepoi mutiny is subscribed to by British historians like Sir John Seeley and Sir John Lawrence they focus only on the sipoi related
Aspects of this reward without taking into consideration the huge significant participation of other civilians the zamidars the rajas the peasantry The Artisans who joined the revolt this is also concurred with by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan who was a judge or a lower judge in the British judicial
System and also munshi jivan Lal they too concur that this was just a sepoi mutiny now this is basically coherent with British ideology in India the britishers wanted to distance the civilian population from the rebelling sepois and therefore we see that they will focus more on this aspect of sepoi mutiny that
This was just limited to sepois and others hardly at all participated that was far from the truth no doubt it was the sepois who started it but without a shade of Doubt a huge number of people from all sections participated in this Revolt so in that sense calling it just
A sepoy mutiny is actually a service to basically British vested interest alone later historians when research of History you know matures and becomes more serious it is freed from the colonial objectives later historians will you know disregard this opinion and say that no it wasn’t just a sepoy
Mutiny it was much more than that including British historians like Judith Brown who accept that calling it a sipoi mutiny was basically a bias of early British historians history evolves guys history is studied from the prism of the historian and historian develops a perspective of looking at something that perspective
In those times was not necessarily objective it was colored with the vested interest of the British colonial rule consequently we see this sort of opinion that it was just a sepoint mutiny on the other hand there is a polar opposite sort of an opinion which calls it a national reward a complete National
Reward as such the famous revolutionary from Maharashtra he had written a book the Indian War of Independence this book was written in his early years as a revolutionary and in this book he has opined that this was a national revolt this should be also seen in a specific
Context just as the British opinions have to be seen in their context of colonial rule this also must be seen in the context of the rising nationalist movement in India towards the close of 19th century early 20th century Indians will start to gather you know themselves start to develop modern political tools and
Agitate against the britishers at that point naturally they will look for some inspiration and that inspiration was this relatively recent episode of Revolt of 1857. so the chain circumstances lead to a changed uh you know perspective also of looking at this issue SB Chaudhary is another scholar who you
Know concurred with this ubiu the criticism that is levied on this view we saw the criticism of the earlier view also and this view that it was a national revolt we can say that modern nationalism as such was not visible in the sepois these sepois before the reward were serving East India Company
These sepois were helping the East India Company to suppress many Regional Powers so one revolt and everything changes that is also you know historically difficult to accept no common Vision amongst the rebels is also clear unlike the later day Freedom struggle where there will be a large consensus at
Least on what we should do on exit of britishers what sort of a country State we want to establish that will not be visible during the Revolt of 1857. each one was fighting his own battle or War so in that sense calling it a national Revolt is also criticized
By you know some historians apart from this we also come across opinions of some other Scholars that we must know TR homes for example calls it a conflict between civilization and barbarians civilization and barbarianism civilization of course represents the white civilization the British and barbarianism is actually hinting towards Indians the kind of
Uh you know barbarity that britishers have committed during the course of expansion of the rule is conveniently overlooked yes the reward was violent but then the consequences sorry the context of it was the brutal rise of British power nevertheless a British historian looks at it from this perspective
James outram calls it a muhammadan or that is Muslim conspiracy against capital of Hindu grievances Muhammad and conspiracy making capital of Hindu grievances this is in tune with the divide and Rule policy which will be very sharply implemented after Revolt of 1857. the britishers realized the importance of
Hindu Muslim Unity they knew that this Unity will make modern Indian Nationalism stronger they would rather prefer to have as many Fishers in the society as possible and the chief amongst them was based on religion and consequently this sort of opinion is natural in that context foreign they differ or with the view
That it was a national revolt and they say it was not an organized National reward okay historian during those British times itself neither first nor National war of independence okay on serious academic research he comes to the opinion that neither is this first because there were other earlier rewards
Also and then he differs with calling it as National war of independence okay so these are the major opinions that we must know and lastly comes that of Pandit jawaharlal nehru ever the you know modern thinker a person who was fascinated by history he has written world history why being imprisoned a
Book on world history while being imprisoned he says essentially this reward was a feudal outburst because he the kind of leaders that were there in the Revolt the rajas nawab zamidas talukdars so he’s saying that it was a feudal Outburst headed by feudal Chiefs and their followers so he opines
That the nature of Revolt of 1857 must be seen in terms of these feudal elements and characteristics aided by widespread anti-forign sentiment yes this was their anti-foreign sentiment was there but essentially it was a feudal Outburst led by feudal Chiefs and their followers so these are opinions of British and Indian
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Notes including of this lecture today as well as previous ones you’ll also get a lot of updates about my videos and other things that I keep on sharing all right now after the Revolt of 1857 we are going to see a very different type of British rule in India the attitude or
Approach that britishers had towards Indians is going to undergo a sea change because of this report what will now change in their attitude let us try to understand that quickly number one divide and Rule policy divide and Rule policy now this policy or strategym is as old
As the Roman times right but then britishers although they had used it you know in the uh politics of Indian princes now divide in rule policy will be used at a social level every single Fisher that exists within the Indian Society will be exploited by the britishers to divide and Rule they
Will constantly like to portray that CU Indians are so divided that we cannot even try to give you Independence because whom should we hand over the Independent India to you are all not on one same page on any single issue that will be their strategy divide and Rule keep Hindus fighting against Muslims
Savannas or upper caste so-called fighting with the lower caste regions fighting one against one another linguistic differences will be expected in this manner they will constantly try to use the policy of divide and Rule they will use native rulers and zamidars now as you know breakwaters against popular revolts
Revolt of 1857 had made them understand the value of native princes and big Elites like zamidars and taluddars it was the zamidars and talukdas of avat who had really you know made things difficult and challenging for them in that area they realize that without co-opting these Elites into the colonial
State it would not be possible for them to perpetuate their so the approach of britishers now towards these elements is going to change they will try to have these elements on their side policy of annexations as declared by the queen was now given up no more territories will be taken over
Pretend to be made Paramount power until this point there were subsidiary allies who at least in terms of theory had sovereignty but after Revolt of 1857 although the princely states will be allowed to rule and govern it will be made very clear that the Paramount power is the British
Crown and all of these only exist as agents of the British state and this was emphasized in the grand Darbar that was held in 1877 where the Queen of England was given the title of Empress of India or casare Hindi okay basically means Empress of India so
This was done to emphasize on the Paramount see of British power socio-religious initiatives which the britishers had earlier dabbled into will now also will now be stopped the britishers had taken several measures we know about Satya pollution allowing of Widow remarriage allowing inheritance in terms of people who have
Converted to other religion stopping off slavery many such initiatives were taken by britishers although back then also they were very circumspect while doing these things but after Revolt of 1857 they are you know going to be twice as much circumstance if not more while taking any such initiative barring age of consent in
Some other measures we don’t see any radical reform being brought about by the britishers racial discrimination will now become more pronounced yes they were all always racist Lord convalis is known to have had a very poor opinion about India and Indians most of these Governor generals viceroys and British officials were racist yes
Exceptions will be there but exceptions prove the norm as they say this racism will become even more sharper after Revolt of 1857. britishers will constantly want to have a hegemony over Indian Minds to have that sense of superiority they will completely dissociate with the Indians and try to
Make them feel inferior you know whenever an opportunity presented itself so there will be separate clubs for the britishers areas will be reserved coaches in trains benches and Parks many such things will be done to basically segregate and show Indians down this will be the change attitude of britishers after Revolt of 1857.
Now apart from this there will be a very significant difference that will be brought about in the matters of British Army the sepoi Mutiny of meerut in our last class we have discussed previous mutinies and we understood how during the course of Revolt of 1857 it was meerut earlier barakpur and then
Mirit which actually ignited this this Mutiny of troops of EIC in context of that mutiny the britishers will do a lot of introspection regarding the army ultimately it was the army that was their tool most important tool to perpetuate its rule over India if this most important tool starts to
Malfunction then the British state would collapse in no time this they understood very well during Revolt of 1857 and hence in this context they will reform the Army you know to a very great extent so that this does not recur later the Brotherhood and homogeneity that the
Bengal Army possessed will be seen as a problematic Factor the Bengal Army being recruited from you know a similar catchment area Eastern uttar Pradesh avadh Bihar that area having similar type of composition had led to Brotherhood and homogeneity amongst the troops and this had made them have a feeling of fraternity
Leading to revolts in different parts simultaneously so britishers will act upon this Brotherhood and homogeneity so that troops will not have that feeling of fraternity amongst themselves how will they do that we’ll see that shortly second aspect will be changing the counter Poise of Europeans and Native races Lord Dalhousie had himself
Understood the importance of having a favorable balance between European and Indian troops he had already started the steps and measures for that but it could not be done in time after Revolt of 1857 we will see that this will be taken up with great earnestness
By the time we are into second half of 19th century the British are the biggest Imperial power in the world and to maintain that status of the greatest Imperial power they required a very strong Army the British Indian army in that context was very important British Indian Army will not only serve
As defense of India but it will also be used in other battlefronts in distant areas other continents also so all of this made Army reforms after Revolt of 1857 very crucial let us now see how the reorganization of the army will take place after the reward the forces of the
Company were now merged over that of the crown British Indian army who will take over the soldiers of East India Company the EIC before Revolt of 1857 had 2 lakh 30 000 plus soldiers out of that about 45 to 50 000 were Europeans the rest were Indians now from amongst the Indians
Almost half of them had rebelled so there’s no question of those half the remaining troops they had been you know inducted into the British Indian army the strength of European troops was increased so that there is a equipoise as we discussed earlier number of Indian troops was reduced and
British troops was increased the proportion of troops in the Army was made one is to two for Bengal one Institute for Bengal earlier it was one is to six now according to some sources it is one is to five but largely you can remember one is to six was the ratio of European
To Indian troops in Bengal this was changed to one is to two whereas in case of Bombay and Madras it was one is to three now why this special treatment for Bengal the reason is the history the Revolt of 1857 made it necessary that Bengal had a stronger presence of European troops
Distinction was made between martial and non-martial races those races or communities which had remained loyal to the britishers during the Revolt of 1857 were declared as martial and those that had rebelled were declared as non-martial so troops from Punjab Nepal North and North West right so Punjabi seeks pathans gurkhas all of
These people Baloch also they were considered as martial races whereas troops from our Bihar Central India they were declared as non-martial okay so this was a arbitrary distinction they wanted troops who will remain loyal to them the test was Revolt of 1857 those who remained Royal uh
Loyal they were rewarded in this manner we’ll see that a substantial proportion or a bulk rather of Indian army will come from Punjab and those adjoining areas among soldiers soldiers should not have a pan India kind of a feeling instead they must be you know connected to some Regional sort
Of an identity and this is how regiments will be structured Sir Charles wood famous for the woods dispatch earlier 1854 later will become the second Secretary of State after a Bolton of 1857 the position of secretary of state will be created the first will be Lord Stanley followed by Sir Charles wood
He you know encapsulates this feeling very well if one regiment mutinies I should like to have the next regiment so alien that it would be ready to fire into it that is the kind of regimentation they want to create in the Indian army so you will have regiments that are based on a
Regional identities or on ethnic religious identities and they are then segregated those troops are kept together commanded by officers of officers trained by the British this was a type of structure that the British had created fine so we have understood the change of attitude we have seen the reforms in the
Army now let us see the act that was passed at the end of Revolt of 1857. the government of India Act of 1858. let us see what will be the measures brought in in this act this is going to be a significant act guys upsc has asked
Questions on this earlier so we need to remember the points Crown takes over formally now the rule of East India Company is brought to an end and with this the British crown formally takes over rule in India all the equipment territories Revenue whatever the company had in the past will now be
Held by the British crown the structure that was created by pits India Act dual control structure Board of control with its six Commissioners and Court of directors representing the company shareholders this type of structure was not required anymore because company is not there and then already British government has taken over support of
Control was not required so all of this is now abolished Indians were to get opportunity to serve under the British but as we saw earlier this was more a lip service in practice there were many limitations or hurdles that Indians had to surmount to actually even get close to this service
A new office was created of Secretary of State this office will be in London secretary of state would be a cabinet rank officer and he will be ultimate in charge of Indian Administration and will be responsible to the British Parliament he will be answerable to the British Parliament directly
So he is a British Minister for Indian Affairs will work as constitutional advisor for the crown in all matters related to British India Lord Stanley remember the name for prelims became the first Secretary of State second one was Charles wood to support or Aid this office of
Secretary of State there would be a council of India to help him out this Council will have 15 members 15 members to help out the security of state with issues of India this will be done through an office which is called as India office so secretary of state is heading this
Establishment called as India office and together they are called as state in Council secretary of state and his 15-member Council also called as the India office in London all the expenses of this office were paid out of Indian Revenue all the expenses why because he is discharging the role of
Having a oversight over the British government over here and hence his expenses have to be borne by Indian level Indians will you know raise this issue protest that this expense has to be borne by the British government they want to have an oversight over here right so why should Indians bear the
Cost of their oversight the British government should bear that cost this will be a issue that Indians will raise and ultimately get that result also apart from this a new office of Viceroy is created wise you know as we have the terms like Vice Captain so similarly wise Roy means
Deputy of the Royals Deputy next to the Royal right so like wise Captain we have wise Roy this office is created so that the relationship between the British crown and the princely state would have a representative here in India in the form of Viceroy the title of Governor General
Is now replaced by Viceroy but this person is going to perform both the responsibilities as Viceroy he is the connect with the princely state and also he carries forward the responsibility of governor general as the main administrator of British India that’s why you will see that after Independence Lord mountbatten
Will be referred to as governor general ticket not as Viceroy because the relationship with the princely states comes to an end with the independence of India act and consequently there is no need for this title after Independence but then he still continues as governor general for some time no major changes
In administrative administrative setup in India whatever is happening in government of India act it is largely taking place where it is taking place in London so secretary of state is created there vicerai the title is given and some other measures are made governor general of India will now be
Referred to as Viceroy and Lord canning who was already in the office as governor general he became the first Viceroy of India earlier executive Council of governor general which consisted of four members now after a few years a fifth member will be added in 1861. whenever we say four members and then
Five members we have to remember that this does not include governor general and the commander of the army these two positions are X official positions so this fourth and fifth member are in addition please remember that we don’t count Governor General in it 1874 sixth member will get added so this
Is how the Council of governor general will keep on expecting these were the measures of government of India Act of 1858. now after these measures within a few years time a new act will be passed for changing some structures here in India and that will be called as Indian Council Act of 1861.
Indian Council Act of 1861. what is the context of this act Revolt of 1857 and the shock that it created necessitated some changes being made here in India also and therefore we see that Council Act of India’s Focus will be to make changes here in India Bombay and Madras which earlier had been
Deprived of their legislative powers will demand for restoration of these Powers since 1833 they have resented this loss and they are demanding for restoration Central legislature that was created earlier was not able to satisfy the needs of the provinces now back then systems of communication
Were not as good as we have in our times consequently the local demands local needs were not appreciated by the central legislature and therefore the laws that were required in provinces were not being passed and therefore there will be demand for more and more legislative Devolution towards the provinces
Government of India act 1858 which we just saw was focused on changes in London and not on changes in India some changes were required in Indian context also that the earlier act had not done apart from this exclusion of Indians from legislative process Indians had not been given any say or
Opportunity in law making for their own country the britishers realized that this leads to grievances Indian opinion must be heard even if it is not it is not given any significant power so Indians had to be involved in the process of law making lastly Indian opinion for reforms the
Intellectual Indians had been demanding reforms for quite some time this intellectual Indian opinion also had to be satisfied in the context of all of these developments we will see the council Act of 1861 will be brought out the Indian Council Act of 1861. now let us see how
The Indian Council Act of 1861 will change things a fifth member was now added to the governor General’s Council you remember it starts first with regulating Act four members were there as per regulating act right then in the next ACT pits India act it was reduced to three then Charter Act again
Increased it to 4 in 1833. now a fifth member was added by the council Act of 1861. additional 6 to 12 members will be there in the legislative uh you know in the council for legislative purpose their role minimum six maximum 12 members their role will
Be only for law making purpose they are not therefore executive role executive role is Governor General plus these five members and the commander-in-chief they are in the executive rest all are part of legislature half of non-officials to be nominated by Viceroy half out of these so if six are
Appointed then three have to be non-officials if 12 are appointed then six have to be non-officials what do we mean by non-officials then non-officials means those people who are not in the service of the British government such people are termed as non-officials usually it was a practice to appoint
Three Indians over here in this this was not mandated by the law as such but the general practice was that six Indians three Indians will be there in these non-official members additional Powers were given to Viceroy so that he could have control over this legislative Council the executive has to
Be dominant it’s a colonial state ultimately so the Viceroy had special powers Bombay and Madras were now given back their powers taken away in chartered Act of 1833 now they are given back their powers they were required to take prior permission of Governor General on sensitive issues you know when it came
To defense communication such kind of issues they had to take permission this was done to ensure that these councils should not pass laws that are at Cross Purpose with the British rule in India then legislative councils for several provinces were now created Bengal nwp Northwest Northwest Province Burma
And Punjab these will get their councils in 1862-1886 and 1897 respectively the provision was in the council Act of 1861 that legislative councils could be created for these provinces governor general could now create a new Province for legislative purpose and also appoint Lieutenant Governors over there as required since many of the
Provinces were large and unwieldy for administrative purposes it was sometimes imperative to actually restructure them governor general has the power and he can you know also appoint the lieutenant Governors over there create provinces for legislative purposes this is Indian Council archives now let us see briefly the significance of Indian Council Act
In my last lecture on constitutional development in British rule I had told you that from the Inception of regulating Act till Revolt of 1857. the trend of British laws was towards centralization of power but after Revolt of 1857 this trend will become exactly opposite reverse of it instead of centralization we will see
More of devolution of powers back then British government wanted to have a control on eic’s rule here and hence centralization in Calcutta made it easier for them to control East India company’s rule but now since after Revolt of 1857 it is directly British rule that centralization was not
Required not necessary and hence we see the trend of devolution of powers especially legislative powers all of this will continue and culminate with government of India Act of 1935 where there will be a all India Federation planned between British India and princely States an all India Federation
Substantial Powers will be given to the province britishers wanted to make provinces strong so that they will have centrifugal Tendencies from the freedom struggle and hence this idea was floated in government of India Act of 1935. Association of Indians now began in earnestness for the first time Indians now will be nominated as
Non-officials in the legislative Council but here it wasn’t as if you know reform minded modern Indian liberal thinkers were appointed they are selection was always based on loyalty to the britishers those princes who had remained loyal to the britishers or those intellectuals who were pro-british only such people were
Appointed as you know members of the council Indian members of the council the council also had very limited powers they could not you know talk about budget there were many limitations they could not ask the executive questions it was just more like a advisory body so
Although it’s a step in evolution but if we look at it stand alone that it does not have sufficient powers to discharge is responsibility often favorites of the britishers were appointed over here and not nationalists the governor general continued to have ordinance making Powers continue to have
Those Powers so he did not require the council’s approval as such he could you know right away make ordinances wherever he felt necessary for British rule the governor general could also legislate for the whole of India it wasn’t as if when provinces were given Powers there was a separation of
Subjects no that has not happened governor general is Almighty all powerful and his Council can create law for any subject for any part of the country we haven’t yet reached the stage where there will be segregation of subjects on which Center can make laws and provinces can make loss that is
Still some distant away at this stage the provinces have been given very limited powers for law making largely the power is concentrated with the governor general and his Council but please remember this is an evolution but okay we have just started to devolve power down to provinces so we have to
Take you know incremental steps it failed to satisfy opinion of the Indians this will be a common Point whenever we discuss any constitutional reform that the britishers will bring in whether it is Council Act of 1861 1892 Monumental reforms of 1909 Montfort reforms of 1919 or government of India
Act of 1935. we will always conclude with this point that it failed to satisfy Indian opinion Indians were expecting much more reforms a lot more Association of Indians and powers in the council but that did not happen this dear students is the council Act of 1861 passed in the aftermath of reward
Of 1857. this concludes our discussion for today in our next class we are going to see significant Trends in modern response that Indians will give we will be discussing social religious reform movements and creation of modern political organizations leading to formation of Indian National Congress so
We I have now you know sort of crossed that threshold of our modern Indian history where we are entering a very exciting phase where there will be a lot of action by Indians against the British rule in a modern form I’ll see you in my next class guys if you love this lecture
Then do smash that like button leave some love in the comment box and share this video with your friends thank you all I’ll see you in the next class thank you
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