Warren Hastings

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Warren Hastings (1773-1785)

Became Governor in 1772 and Governor-General in 1773 through Regulating Act of 1773

1. His four councillors were Clavering, Francis, Monson and Barwell

2. Abolished Dual system (1767-1772) of administration (1772)

3. Auctioned the right to collect land revenue to the highest bidder (1772)

4. Divided Bengal into districts and appointed Collectors (1772)

5. Rohilla war (1774) and annexation of Rohilkhand by the Nawab of Awadh with the help of Britishers.

6. Treaty of Surat (1775) between Raghunath Rao and Warren Hastings, but Council of Calcutta rejected it

7.  Nanad Kumar incident (1775)

8. Treaty of Purandar (1776) between English and Peshwa

9. Refined Hindu and Muslim laws. A translation of the code in Sanskrit appeared in 1776 under the title of “Code of Gentoo Laws”

10. Chait Singh (Banaras Raja) affair (1778)

11. James Augustus Hickey started a weekly paper called Bengal Gazette or Calcutta General Advertiser (1780)

12. First (1st) Anglo-Maratha War (1776-82) and Treaty of Salbai(1782)

13. Begums of Oudh / Awadh affair (1782)

14. Founded Asiatic Society of Bengal with William Jones in 1784

15. Pitts India Act of 1784

16. Second (2nd) Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84) and Treaty of Mangalore (1785) with Tipu Sultan

17. Started Diwani and Faujdari adalat at the district level and Sadar diwani and Nizamat adalats (appellate courts) at Calcutta.

18. Wrote introduction to the first English translation of the Gita by Charles Wilkins

 

Abolition of the Dual System

  • Hastings abolished the Dual System that had been established by Robert Clive. In the Dual System, the company had Diwani rights (rights to collect revenue) and the Nizam or Indian chiefs had the administrative authority.
  • The Nawab’s annual allowance of Rs.32 lakh was reduced to Rs.16 lakh.
  • The annual tribute paid to the Mughal Emperor was also stopped.

 

Revenue Reforms

  • For revenue collection, a Board of Revenue was set up at Calcutta.
  • Treasury was moved from Murshidabad to Calcutta. Calcutta became Bengal’s capital in 1772.
  • British collectors were appointed for each district and an Accountant General was also appointed.
  • Unreasonable fines were done away with and restrictions were placed on the raising of rent.

 

 Judicial Reforms

  • The judicial powers of the Zamindars were abolished.
  • Civil and criminal courts were established. Two appellate courts were established at Calcutta, one for civil (Sadar Diwani Adalat) and one for criminal (Sadar Nizamat Adalat) cases.
  • The criminal court was to have an Indian judge.
  • Muslims were to be tried according to their law in the Koran and Hindus, according to Hindu laws. A code of Hindu Law, prepared by Hindu Pandits was translated into English.
  • He also came down heavily on the dacoits in Bengal.

 

Trade Regulations

  • Hastings abolished the system of dastaks which were misused by company officials and traders earlier.
  • He enforced a uniform tarrif of 2.5% for Indian and foreign goods.
  • Private trade by company officials was restricted.

 


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