The Management under the East India Company
The chief aim of the British
administration in India was the maintenance of law and order and
perpetuation of its rule. The Governor General exercised his power and
responsibility in the army, police, civil service and the judiciary
By the Pitts India Act of 1784, Britan
set up a Board of Control in Britain, which could fully control the
company's civil, military and revenue affairs in India. However, the
company had the monopoly of trade and could appoint and dismiss its
officials. From this the Dual Government of the British in India began
and continued till 1858. The presidencies of Bombay and Madras were
brought under the Governor-General.
Britain was more than just an imperial power. It saw the greatest economic and technological advance in the history of the world: the Industrial Revolution. From 1600 to 1757, the East India Company was a trading corporation and encouraged Indian exports. However, the Industrial revolution of the eighteenth century changed the entire pattern of trade. India fitted perfectly into Britain's scheme of things. India's function was to primarily supply raw materials and buy back cheap industrially produced ready made goods which the British dumped in the Indian markets. They simultaneously closed their markets for endogenously produced Indian goods by imposing prohibitive duties; depriving millions of their livelihood.
The British followed a policy of non-interference in the religious, social and cultural fields till 1813, when a delicately balanced policy of partial modernization was adopted. This change was advocated by Christian missionaries in a hope that it would eventually lead to the country's conversion to Christianity.