Speech On The East Indian Bill By Edmund Burke.
Burke has elaborated the nature of the English rule in India under the Company which exposes the brutality and hollowness of the English dominion in India. The East India Company brought a number of major changes in the administration of the Bengal provinces in order to extract more money and wealth. The long traditional systems of administration, trade and commerce and judicature of the Bengal provinces lost their natural course and people became subject to misery and sufferings. Bengal provinces became victim of the oppressions under the Company's administration.
Burke describes the conduct of the Company towards:
(i) the landed interests
(ii) the commercial interests
(ii) the native government
(iv) to their own government.
The landed interest :-
Bengal provinces were larger that the kingdom of Frances and contained a great landed interest. Most of Bengal was controlled by Zemindars. They collected revenues from the cultivators and passed on a portion of it to the Mogul and later to the British government.
When Mr. Hastings became President of Bengal, he brought a significant change in the systems of Zaminders. The British established the law of sunset for feudal tax. The feudal class of the subcontinent had to give tax for their own land. And if someone missed the timeline to give tax, then his land would be confiscated by the East India Company. And also if anyone from the feudal class had died and left any orphan of him who is not enough mature, then all his land would be confiscated. To save their own land, the feudal class wanted a high tax from the farmers.
The commercial interest :-
The Company had protected the commercial interests of their dominions in the East. The persons who were in the highest positions in Bengal had removed all the intermediate dealers between the Company and the manufacturer. As a result, native merchants had disappeared.
The farmers could not grow their own food, but they were bound to harvest blue. The Indian people forgot the minimum liberty of life. After the death of the last Mughal emperor, the Indians lost the complete political freedom of their own life. During the range of East India Company the law and order were totally collapsed. All the Indian wealth was taken to England. People had to buy their own food by paying an abnormal price.
The native government :-
The native government and the administration of justice remain in a shamble for some years. Criminal (faujdari) jurisdiction in Bengal was exercised by the principal Mussulmen, the Nawabs. Then in 1781, an unexpected and unusual event took place. British judges were given powers as magistrates in place of the Indian faujdars. Jurisdiction was divided between certain English servants of the Company and the Hindu zemindars of the country. Thus, the jurisdiction of the natives was ruined. The natives had consolation that the new jurisdiction did not become successful.
Own government:-
Warren Hastings planned to establish English government for civil justice and for collection of revenue. The plan was implemented in 1773. According to this plan, Bengal was divided into six great districts or provinces. In each of these provinces, a provincial council was established. The council administered the revenue.
Edmund Burke never visited India. Nevertheless he felt a strong emotion for the Indian. The British rule in the subcontinent created a deep negative impact on the thought of Edmund Burke. Being a British parliamentarian, he raised his political voice in favour of the Indian people.
He could very well understand that the brutal India Company destroyed the glamour and fame of the queen victoria. The people of the subcontinent used to hate the British from the core of their heart. He wanted to introduce an executive British power rather than a despotic mercantile empowerment. He totally rejected the activities of Warren Hastings.
His intention was also to make the queen understand the importance of the India as the biggest colony. Because, major part of the national income of the British comes from India. So, Edmund Burke requested the queen to change Warren Hastings and to employee a new vice-roy by her. So, the new vice-roy would rule over India according to the rule of the British royal family.
With the help of this, we can face the following question.
1. Was Edmund Burke opposed to colonial rule? Comment on his view about India as revealed in speech on East India.
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2. Write on Burke's prose style.
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3. Narrate briefly about the abuses and corruptions inflicted upon the Indians by the East India Company.
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4. How dees Burke criticise Warren Hastings and his associates in his speech on the East India Bill?
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5. Write a critical note on the British East India Company.
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