The Crown takes over
After 1857, Britain stopped pretending a company could rule India. What followed was eighty years of reforms — each one giving Indians a little more, and each one designed to give no real power at all.
The acts passed after 1858 belong to the era of Crown rule. Where the Charter Acts had been about controlling the Company, these acts were about how much say Indians would get in their own government. The answer moved slowly: from none in 1858, to elections in 1909, to half-power in the provinces in 1919, to almost-full provincial power in 1935 — the act that became the skeleton of the Indian Constitution.
Government of India Act, 1858
- Passed after the Revolt of 1857, it ended Company rule and transferred India to the British Crown
- The Governor-General received the additional title of Viceroy — Lord Canning was the first
- A Secretary of State for India, a member of the British cabinet, took charge of Indian affairs, advised by a fifteen-member Council of India
- The Board of Control and the Court of Directors were abolished — Dual Control ended
- The Queen's Proclamation of 1858 promised non-interference in religion and respect for the princes
Indian Councils Acts, 1861 and 1892
| Act | What it did |
|---|---|
| 1861 | Began including Indians as non-official members in the legislative council — Canning nominated three, including the Raja of Benaras and Sir Dinkar Rao. Restored legislative powers to Madras and Bombay. Introduced the portfolio system and allowed the Viceroy to issue ordinances |
| 1892 | Increased the number of non-official members and gave councils the right to discuss the budget and ask questions. Introduced a limited, indirect element of election, though the word election was avoided |
Indian Councils Act, 1909 — Morley-Minto Reforms
Named after John Morley, Secretary of State, and Lord Minto, the Viceroy. Two changes matter above all.
- The elective principle was formally introduced — members of legislative councils could now be elected, and the central council grew to sixty additional members
- Separate electorates for Muslims were created: Muslim members elected only by Muslim voters. This began communal representation in Indian politics, and for it Minto is sometimes called the Father of Communal Electorate
- Satyendra Prasad Sinha became the first Indian on the Viceroy's Executive Council, as Law Member
- Members could ask supplementary questions and move resolutions on the budget — but not vote on the budget as a whole
Government of India Act, 1919 — Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms
Based on the report of Edwin Montagu, Secretary of State, and Lord Chelmsford, the Viceroy. Its defining invention was dyarchy.
Dyarchy means double government. Provincial subjects were split into two lists. Reserved subjects — police, finance, land revenue — stayed with the Governor and his executive councillors. Transferred subjects — education, health, local government — went to Indian ministers responsible to the legislature. Indians got the departments that touched daily life, but none of the money or force needed to run them.
- Introduced bicameralism at the centre — a Legislative Assembly and a Council of State — and direct elections for the first time
- Provided for a Public Service Commission, which was set up in 1926
- Extended separate electorates to Sikhs, Anglo-Indians and Europeans
- Promised a review after ten years — which produced the Simon Commission
The Indian ministers held responsibility without power. They ran education and health but could not touch the budget, and the Governor could overrule them at will. The system satisfied nobody — too little for nationalists, too clumsy to work — and its failure drove the demand for real self-government.
Government of India Act, 1935
The longest act the British Parliament had ever passed, and the single largest source of the Indian Constitution.
- Provincial autonomy replaced dyarchy in the provinces — elected Indian ministries would run whole provinces. Elections under the act were held in 1937
- Dyarchy was moved to the centre — abolished in the provinces, introduced at the federal level, though this part never operated
- Proposed an All-India Federation of British provinces and princely states — it never came into being because the princes refused to join
- Created a Federal Court, set up in Delhi in 1937
- Established the Reserve Bank of India
- Separated Burma from India (effective 1937)
- Abolished the Council of India that had advised the Secretary of State since 1858
Exams love matching acts to features. Keep the ladder straight: 1909 = separate electorates and the elective principle. 1919 = dyarchy in the provinces, bicameralism and direct election. 1935 = provincial autonomy, dyarchy shifted to the centre, federation proposed, Federal Court and RBI. If a question pairs dyarchy-in-provinces with 1909 or separate electorates with 1919, it is wrong.
Which act introduced separate electorates, and which act introduced dyarchy in the provinces?
Separate electorates for Muslims came from the Indian Councils Act of 1909, the Morley-Minto Reforms. Dyarchy in the provinces came from the Government of India Act of 1919, the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms.
1858 Crown, 1909 vote, 1919 half-power, 1935 skeleton. Four words to keep four acts apart.
Everything on one look
Each act with its one identifying feature.
- The 1858 Act ended Company rule and created the Viceroy
- Lord Canning was the first Viceroy of India
- A Secretary of State for India replaced the Board of Control
- The 1861 Act began nominating Indians to the councils
- The 1892 Act allowed budget discussion and questions
- The 1909 Act introduced separate electorates and elections
- The 1919 Act introduced dyarchy in the provinces
- Reserved subjects stayed with the Governor, transferred went to ministers
- Bicameralism and direct elections began in 1919
- The 1935 Act brought provincial autonomy, elections in 1937
- The 1935 Act created the Federal Court and the RBI
- Burma was separated from India under the 1935 Act
- Separate electorates came in 1909, not 1919 — the most common mix-up
- Dyarchy in the provinces came in 1919, and was moved to the centre in 1935
- The 1858 Act transferred rule to the Crown — the Company had already lost trade in 1833
- Lord Canning was Governor-General and first Viceroy both — he bridged the change
- Satyendra Prasad Sinha was the first Indian on the Viceroy's Executive Council, in 1909
- The Public Service Commission was provided by the 1919 Act but set up in 1926
- The All-India Federation of the 1935 Act never came into existence
- Provincial elections under the 1935 Act were held in 1937
- The 1935 Act, not 1919, is the main source of the Constitution
- Morley was Secretary of State and Minto was Viceroy — do not swap the roles
- The Government of India Act 1858 ended East India Company rule
- The 1858 Act transferred India to the British Crown
- The Governor-General received the new title of Viceroy in 1858
- Lord Canning was the first Viceroy of India
- A Secretary of State for India was created by the 1858 Act
- The Council of India had fifteen members advising the Secretary of State
- The Indian Councils Act 1861 began Indian nomination to legislative councils
- Sir Dinkar Rao and the Raja of Benaras were among the first nominated Indians
- The 1861 Act introduced the portfolio system and ordinance power
- The Indian Councils Act 1892 permitted budget discussion and questions
- The Indian Councils Act 1909 is called the Morley-Minto Reforms
- Morley was Secretary of State and Minto was the Viceroy in 1909
- The 1909 Act formally introduced the elective principle
- Separate electorates for Muslims were created by the 1909 Act
- Satyendra Prasad Sinha became the first Indian on the Viceroy's Executive Council
- The Government of India Act 1919 is called the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms
- The 1919 Act introduced dyarchy in the provinces
- Reserved subjects stayed with the Governor under dyarchy
- Transferred subjects went to Indian ministers under dyarchy
- Bicameralism and direct elections began with the 1919 Act
- The 1919 Act provided for a Public Service Commission, set up in 1926
- The Government of India Act 1935 introduced provincial autonomy
- Dyarchy was abolished in the provinces and moved to the centre in 1935
- The All-India Federation proposed in 1935 never came into being
- The Federal Court was established in Delhi in 1937
- The Reserve Bank of India was established under the 1935 Act
- Burma was separated from India under the 1935 Act
- The 1935 Act is the largest single source of the Indian Constitution