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UNDER THE See also:CROWN] See also:INDIA
up to that See also:time from the introduction of See also:British See also:rule. Despite effects on See also:Indian See also:finance. The See also:total strength of the See also:army was unparalleled importations of See also:grain by See also:sea and See also:rail, despite the
most strenuous exertions of the See also:government, which incurred a total See also:expenditure on this See also:account of 11 millions See also:sterling, the loss of See also:life from actual See also:starvation and its attendant See also:train of diseases was lamentable. In the autumn of 1878 the affairs of See also:Afghanistan again forced themselves into See also:notice. Shere See also:Ali, the See also:amir, who had been hospitably entertained by See also:Lord See also:Mayo, was found to be favouring See also:Russian intrigues. A British See also:envoy was refused admittance to the See also:country, while a Russian See also:mission was received with See also:honour. This led to a See also:declaration of See also:war. British armies advanced by three routes—the Khyber, the See also:Kurram and the Bolan—and without much opposition occupied the inner entrances of the passes. Shere Ali fled to Afghan See also:Turkestan, and there died. A treaty was entered into with his son, Yakub See also:Khan, at See also:Gandamak, by which the British frontier was advanced to the crests or farther sides of the passes and a British officer was admitted to reside at See also:Kabul. Within a few months the British See also:resident, See also:Sir See also: At this crisis of affairs a See also:general See also:election in See also:England resulted in a See also:change of government. Lord See also:Lytton resigned with the
See also:cord Conservative See also:ministry, and the See also:marquis of See also:Ripon was
Ripon. nominated as his successor in 1880. Shortly after-
wards a British See also:brigade was defeated at See also:Maiwand by the Herati army of Ayub Khan, a defeat promptly and completely retrieved by the brilliant See also: In See also:February 1884 Russia annexed See also:Merv. This See also:action led to an arrangement in See also:August of the same See also:year for a See also:joint Anglo-Russian See also:commission to delimit the Afghan frontier. In March 1885, while the commission was at See also:work, Lord Dufferin was entertaining the amir Abdur Rahman at a See also:durbar at See also:Rawalpindi. The durbar was interrupted by the See also:news that a Russian general had attacked and routed the Afghan force holding the See also:bridge across the See also:river See also:Kushk, and the incident might possibly have resulted in war between Britain and Russia but for the slight importance that Abdur Rahman attributed to what he termed a border scuffle.
The incident, however, led to military See also:measures being taken by the government of Lord Dufferin, which had far-reaching
raised by 10,000 British and 2o,000 native troops, at an annual cost of about two millions sterling; and the frontier See also:post of Quetta, in the neighbourhood of 'Kandahar, /ncmease
~nth
was connected with the Indian railway system by Army. a See also:line that involved very expensive tunnelling.
The Panjdeh incident was likewise the cause of the See also:establishment of Imperial Service troops in India. At the moment when war seemed imminent, the leading native princes made offers of pecuniary aid. These offers were ~mpeda1 declined, but it was intimated to them at a later date troo servips:
ce
that, if they would See also:place a small military force in each
See also:state at the disposal of the British government, to be commanded by state See also:officers, but drilled, disciplined and armed under the supervision of British officers and on British lines, the government would undertake to find the necessary supervising officer, arms and organization. The proposal was widely accepted, and the Imperial Service troops, as they are called, amount at See also:present to some 20,000 See also:cavalry, See also:infantry and transport, whose efficiency is very highly thought of. They have rendered good service in the See also:wars on the See also:north-See also:west frontier, and also in See also:China and See also:Somaliland. Later in the same year (1885) occurred the third Burmese war. For the causes of the dispute with See also: Frgm 1885 onwards the See also:attention of the Indian government was increasingly devoted to the north-west frontier. Between the years 1885 and 1895 there were delimited at various times by joint commissions the Russo-Afghan frontier between the See also:Oxus and Sarakhs on the See also:Persian frontier, the Russo-Afghan frontier from See also:Lake See also:Victoria to the frontier of China and the Afghan-Indian frontier from the See also:Kunar river to a point in the See also:neighbour-See also:hood of the Nawa Kotal. To the westward, after various disagreements and. two military expeditions, the territories comprising the See also:Zhob, Barhan and Bori valleys, occupied by See also:Pathan tribes, were in 1890 finally incorporated in the general system of the Trans-See also:Indus See also:protectorate. About the same time in the extreme north the post of British resident in See also:Gilgit was re-established, and the supremacy of See also:Kashmir over the adjoining See also:petty chiefships of See also:Hunza-See also:Nagar was enforced (1891-1892). In 1893 the frontiers of Afghanistan and British India were defined by a joint agreement between the two governments, known as the See also:Durand agreement. There followed on the See also:part of the British authorities, interference in See also:Chitral, ending in an expedition in' 1895 and'''the ejection of the See also:local chiefs in' favour of candidates amenable to British See also:influence. A more formidable hostile See also:combination, however, awaited the government, of India. By the agreement of 1893 with the amir most of the Waziri See also:clan and also the Afridis had been left outside the limits of the amir's influence and transferred to the British See also:zone. Soon after that date the establishment by the British military authorities of posts within the Waziri country led to See also:apprehension on the part of the local tribesmen. In 1895 the occupation of points within the See also:Swat territory for the safety of the road from India to Chitral similarly roused the suspicion of the Swatis. The Waziris and Swatis successively See also:rose in arms, in See also:June and See also:July 1897, and their example was followed by the Mohmands. Finally, in August the powerful See also:Afridi tribe joined the combination and closed,the Khyber Pass, which runs through their territory, and which was held by them, on conditions, in See also:trust for the government of India. This led to the military operations known as the See also:Tirah See also:campaign, which proved very costly both in men and See also:money. Meanwhile considerable difficulties had been experienced with the Indian currency, which was on a purely See also:silver basis. Before 1873 the fluctuations in the value of silver as The compared with See also:gold had been comparatively small, ~17en~ and the See also:exchange value. of the See also:rupee was rarely less than two shillings. But after 1873, in consequence of changes in the monetary systems of See also:France and See also:Germany, and the increased See also:production of silver, this stability of exchange no longer continued, and the rupee sank steadily in value, till it was See also:worth little more than See also:half its See also:face value. This See also:great shrinkage in See also:area magisterial inquiry in private (similar to the Scotch exchange caused considerable loss to the Indian government See also:procedure) and a trial before three See also:judges of the High See also:Court in remitting to See also:Europe, and entailed hardship upon Anglo-See also:Indians without a See also:jury. who received See also:pensions or other payments in rupees, while on the other See also:hand it supplied an artificial stimulus to the export See also:trade by increasing the purchasing power of gold. This See also:advantage, however, was outweighed by the uncertainty as to what the exchange value of the rupee might be at any particular date, which imported a gambling See also:element into See also:commerce. Accordingly in June 1893 an See also:act was passed closing the Indian mints to the See also:free coinage of silver. Six years later, in 1899, the change was completed by an act making gold legal See also:tender at the See also:rate of £1 for Rs.' 5, or at the rate of is. 4d. per rupee, and both the government and the individual now know exactly what their obligations will be. When Lord Curzon became viceroy in 1898, he reversed the policy on the north-west frontier which had given rise to the Tirah campaign, withdrew outlying garrisons in Lord tribal country, substituted for them tribal See also:militia, See also:Carson's „storms. and created the new North-West Frontier See also:province, for the purpose of introducing consistency of policy and firmness of control upon that disturbed border. In addition, after making careful inquiry through various commissions, he reformed the systems of See also:education and See also:police, laid down a comprehensive See also:scheme of See also:irrigation, improved the leave rules and the excessive See also:report-See also:writing of the See also:civil service, encouraged the native princes by the formation of the Imperial See also:Cadet See also:Corps and introduced many other reforms. His term of office was also notable for the See also:coronation durbar at See also:Delhi in See also:January 1903, the expedition to See also:Lhasa in 1904, which first unveiled that forbidden See also:city to European gaze, and the See also:partition of See also:Bengal in 1905. In See also:December 1904 Lord Curzon entered upon a second term of office, which was unfortunately marred by a controversy with Lord See also:Kitchener, the See also:commander-in-See also:chief, as to the position of the military member of See also:council. Lord Curzon, finding himself at variance with the secretary of state, resigned before the end of the first year, and was succeeded by Lord See also:Minto. The new viceroy, who might have expected a tranquil time after the energetic reforms of his predecessor, soon found himself Lord face to face with the most serious troubles, euphemistic- Minto. ally called the "unrest," that British rule has had The to encounter in India since the See also:Mutiny. For many unrest. years the educated class among the natives had been claiming for themselves a larger See also:share in the administration, and had organized a See also:political party under the name of the See also:National See also:Congress, which held annual meetings at See also:Christmas in one or See also:ether of the large cities of the See also:peninsula. This class also exercised a wide influence through the See also:press, printed both in the See also:vernacular See also:languages and in See also:English, especially among See also:young students. There is no doubt too that the See also:adoption of Western See also:civilization by the See also:Japanese and their victorious war with Russia set in See also:motion a current through all the peoples of the East. The occasion though not the cause of trouble arose from the partition of Bengal, which was represented by See also:Bengali See also:agitators as an insult to their See also:mother country. While the first riots occurred in the See also:Punjab and See also:Madras, it is only in Bengal and eastern Bengal that the unrest has been See also:bitter and continuous. This is the centre of the swadeshi See also:movement for the See also:boycott of English goods, of the most seditious speeches and writings and of conspiracies for the assassination of officials. At first the government attempted to quell the disaffection by means of the See also:ordinary See also:law, with See also:fair success outside Bengal; but there, owing to the See also:secret ramifications of the See also:conspiracy, it has been found necessary to adopt See also:special measures. Recourse has been had to a regulation of the year 1818, by which persons may be imprisoned or " deported " without See also:reason assigned; and three acts of the legislature have been passed for dealing more directly with the prevalent classes of See also:crime: (I) an See also:Explosives Act, containing provisions similar to those in force in England; (2) a Prevention of Seditious Meetings Act, which can only be applied specially by See also:proclamation; and (3) a Criminal Law See also:Amendment Act, of which the two chief provisions xiv I.1 While the law was thus sternly enforced, important acts of conciliation and measures of reform were carried out simultaneously. In 1907 two natives, a See also:Hindu and a See also:Mahommedan, were appointed to the secretary of state's Reforms. council; and in 1909 another native, a Hindu See also:barrister, was for the first time appointed, as legal member, to the council of the viceroy. Occasion was taken of the fiftieth anniversary of the See also:assumption by the crown of the government of India to address a See also:message (on See also:November 2, 1908) by the king-See also:emperor to the princes and peoples, reviewing in stately See also:language the later development, and containing these memorable words: ” From the first, the principle of representative institutions began to be gradually introduced, and the time has come when, in the See also:judgment of my viceroy and governor-general and others of my counsellors, that principle may be prudently extended. Important classes among you, representing ideas that have been fostered and encouraged by British rule, claim equality of citizenship, and a greater share in legislation and government. The politic See also:satisfaction of such a claim will strengthen, not impair, existing authority and power. Administration will be all the more efficient if the officers who conduct it have greater opportunities of See also:regular contact with those whom it affects and with those who influence and reflect See also:common See also:opinion about it." The policy here adumbrated was (at least partly) carried into effect by See also:parliament in the Indian See also:Councils Act 1909, which reconstituted all the legislative councils by the addition of members directly elected, and conferred upon these councils wider See also:powers of discussion. It further authorized the addition of two members to the executive councils at Madras and Bombay, and the creation of an executive council in Bengal and also (subject to conditions) in other provinces under a See also:lieutenant-governor. Regulations for bringing the act into operation were issued by the governor-general in council, with the approval of the secretary of state, in November 1909. They provided (inter alia) for a non-See also:official See also:majority in all of the provincial councils, but not in that of the governor-general; for an elaborate system of election of members by organized constituencies; for nomination where See also:direct election is not appropriate; and for the See also:separate See also:representation of Mahommedans and other special interests. They also contain provisions authorizing the asking of supplementary questions, the moving and discussion of resolutions on any See also:matter of public See also:interest and the annual See also:consideration of the contents of the See also:budget. In brief, the legislative councils were not only enlarged, but transformed into debating bodies, with the power of criticizing the executive. The first elections took place during December 1909, with results that showed wide-spread interest and were generally accepted as satisfactory. The new council of the governor-general met in the following See also:month. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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