Ch. 1 Historical Background — Prelims Edition

1600EIC Charter — Queen Elizabeth I

1608British arrive in India as traders

1765EIC obtains Diwani — Bengal, Bihar, Orissa

1858Crown assumes direct rule after Sepoy Mutiny

1947Independence — August 15

1950Constitution in force — January 26

Company Rule (1773–1858)

1773 Regulating Act of 1773

🧠 Memory Aid

FRSC — First step, Recognised political functions, Supreme Court (Calcutta 1774), Central administration foundation

Warren Hastings = First GGoB. Hastings was in haste to govern Bengal first.

1781 Amending Act of 1781 Act of Settlement

🧠 Memory Aid

REAP — Revenue excluded, Exempted GG, Appeals to GG-in-Council, Personal law applied

The Act that clipped the Supreme Court's wings.

1784 Pitt's India Act of 1784 East India Act 1784

🧠 Memory Aid

Double Pitt — Pitt's Act = Double Government (Board of Control + Court of Directors)

BoC = Political. CoD = Commercial. CoD and BoC both abolished by GoI Act 1858.

1786 Act of 1786

🧠 Memory Aid

Cornwallis wanted 2 things — Override Council + Commander-in-Chief. Corn needs two cobs.

1793 Charter Act of 1793

🧠 Memory Aid

1793 = Extended everything — Extended overriding powers, extended trade monopoly (20 years), extended GG's control over presidencies.

1813 Charter Act of 1813

🧠 Memory Aid

1813 = Opened India — Opened trade, missionaries, western education. Called "Foundation Stone of English Education in India."

Exception: Tea and China trade monopoly continued. Tea is too precious to share yet.

1833 Charter Act of 1833 Saint Helena Act

🧠 Memory Aid

1833 = Bengal to India — GGoB became GGoI. Bentick was first. Bentick bent the title from Bengal to India.

Regulations → Acts — Before 1833 = Regulations. After 1833 = Acts.

Bonus: Abolished slavery 40 years before the US. Seed for Article 15 (no discrimination).

1853 Charter Act of 1853 Final Charter Act

🧠 Memory Aid

1853 = Three Firsts — First separation of legislative/executive, First open competition for civil services, First local representation in Central Legislature.

Macaulay 1854 — Committee came one year after the Act. Mac came after the Act.

Cornwallis = Father of Indian Civil Service (not Macaulay). Macaulay introduced reforms.

Crown Rule (1858–1947)

1858 Government of India Act of 1858 Act for Good Governance of India

🧠 Memory Aid

1858 = Crown takes over — Company abolished, GGoI becomes Viceroy, Double Govt ended, Secretary of State created.

Canning = First Viceroy. Canning canned the Company.

15-member Council of India — abolished by GoI Act 1935.

1861 Indian Councils Act of 1861

🧠 Memory Aid

3 Indians in 1862 — BPD: Benaras, Patiala, Dinkar Rao. BPD = British-Period Delegates.

Ordinance = 6 months — Still 6 months today under Article 123.

1863: Satyendranath Tagore — First Indian ICS officer.

1892 Indian Councils Act of 1892

🧠 Memory Aid

1892 = Almost elections — Introduced indirect elections but never used the word 'election'. Called it "nomination on recommendation."

1892 was too shy to say election.

1909 Indian Councils Act of 1909 Morley-Minto Reforms

🧠 Memory Aid

Morley-Minto = More + Communal — More members (16→60), More Indians (Sinha first), More division (communal electorates).

Sinha = First Indian in Viceroy's Executive Council. Sinha shone first.

Minto = Father of Communal Electorate. Minto minced the electorate into communities.

1919 Government of India Act of 1919 Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms

🧠 Memory Aid

Montagu-Chelmsford = DEBT — Dyarchy, Elections (direct, first time), Bicameralism (first time), Transferred/Reserved subjects

Dyarchy — Transferred = Ministers responsible to legislature. Reserved = Governor NOT responsible. Reserved = Restricted democracy.

Council of State = Upper House. State is above Assembly.

Simon Commission 1927 — All 7 British → All parties boycotted → "Simon Go Back"

1927 Simon Commission Indian Statutory Commission

🧠 Memory Aid

Simon = All British, All Boycotted — 7 members, all British, chaired by Sir John Simon. No Indian members → nationwide boycott → "Simon Go Back."

Formed 2 years early (1927 instead of 1929). Report submitted 1930. Led to 3 Round Table Conferences → White Paper → Joint Committee → GoI Act 1935.

1932 Communal Award Ramsay MacDonald Award

🧠 Memory Aid

Communal Award → Poona Pact — MacDonald extended separate electorates to Depressed Classes → Gandhi fasted unto death at Yeravada Jail → Poona Pact between Gandhi and Ambedkar → No separate electorate but reserved seats in Hindu joint electorate.

MacDonald divided, Gandhi united through Poona Pact.

1935 Government of India Act of 1935

🧠 Memory Aid

321 Sections, 10 Schedules — 3-2-1 countdown to Independence.

Three lists — Federal 59, Provincial 54, Concurrent 36. F-P-C = 59-54-36. Descending order.

6 bicameral provinces — BB MABU: Bengal, Bombay, Madras, Assam, Bihar, United Provinces

RBI + Federal Court both established by 1935 Act. Both set up in 1937.

Note: Mindmap says 10% population franchise — Laxmikanth says 14%. Use 14% for exam.

1947 Indian Independence Act of 1947

🧠 Memory Aid

Key dates — Feb 20 (Attlee announces) → June 3 (Mountbatten Plan) → Aug 15 (Independence)

Mountbatten = Last Viceroy + First Governor-General of India. He stayed to see it through.

Pakistan included — West Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, East Bengal, NWFP, Sylhet (Assam)

GoI Act 1935 governed India till Jan 26, 1950 when Constitution came into force.

1946 Interim Government of India (1946)

🧠 Memory Aid

Nehru = Vice-President of Council — Viceroy remained head. Members were part of Viceroy's Executive Council.

Members who chose Pakistan — I.I. Chundrigar, Liaquat Ali Khan, Asaf Ali, Abdur Rab Nishtar, Ghaznafar Ali Khan.

Remember: Ambedkar was NOT in Interim Government — he joined only after Independence in the first cabinet.

1947 First Cabinet of Independent India (1947)

First Cabinet of Independent India 1947 Mind Map

🧠 Memory Aid

Nehru = PM. Patel = States + Retained portfolios. Ambedkar joined here as Law Minister — not in Interim Government.

Shanmugham Chetty = First Finance Minister of independent India.

Rajkumari Amrit Kaur = First woman cabinet minister (Health).

⭐ High-Value Firsts & Onlys — Most Likely MCQ Targets

First GG of BengalLord Warren Hastings (1773)

First GG of IndiaLord William Bentick (1833)

First Viceroy of IndiaLord Canning (1858)

First Indian in Viceroy's CouncilSatyendra Prasad Sinha (1909)

First GG of independent IndiaLord Mountbatten (1947)

First PM of IndiaJawaharlal Nehru (1947)

First Indian ICS officerSatyendranath Tagore (1863)

First Supreme CourtCalcutta, 1774 (Regulating Act 1773)

First separation of legislative/executiveCharter Act 1853

First direct electionsGoI Act 1919

First bicameralism (Centre)GoI Act 1919

First open competition for civil servicesCharter Act 1853

First communal electorateIndian Councils Act 1909

First declaration of responsible govtAugust 20, 1917

Father of Communal ElectorateLord Minto

Father of Indian Civil ServiceLord Cornwallis

Double Govt introducedPitt's India Act 1784

Double Govt abolishedGoI Act 1858

Dyarchy introducedGoI Act 1919

Dyarchy abolished (provinces)GoI Act 1935

RBI established byGoI Act 1935 (set up 1935)

Federal Court established byGoI Act 1935 (set up 1937)