द इण्डियन स्ट्रगल / भारतीय स्वाधीनता संग्राम (नेताजी सुभाष चन्द्र बोस - ऐतिहासिक विश्लेषण)

20 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE
the Company should be nominated by the Crown. So far as
India was concerned, further administrative changes were
made. Bengal was made a separate province under a Lieu-
tenant-Governor and the Government of India was thereby
separated from the provincial governments. The Act also
provided for a Legislative Council for India consisting of
twelve members, all of whom were, however, to be officials.
During the discussions in the House of Commons in con-
nection with the renewal of the Charter in 1853, John Bright
spoke strongly against the Company's administration, which
he said had 'introduced an incredible amount of disorder and
corruption into the state and poverty and wretchedness
among the people.' He demanded that the Crown should
assume direct responsibility for the administration in India.
The advice was not heeded and a few years later the revolu-
tion (called by English historians the 'Sepoy Mutiny' and by
Indian Nationalists the 'First War of Independence') broke
out. After the suppression of the revolt, a new Act was
passed called the Government of India Act, 1858. By this
Act the Crown took over from the East India Company the
entire administration of India. With the introduction of this
Act, Queen Victoria issued a Royal Proclamation, which
was read out by the Governor-General, Lord Canning, on
November 1st, 1858, at Allahabad. In view of the respon-
sibility of the British Cabinet to the British Parliament, the
latter became the virtual arbiter of India's political destiny.
The next important step was taken in 1861 when the
Indian Councils Act was passed. The Act provided for the
Governor-General's Legislative Council which was to have
not more than twelve and not less than six members, half of
whom were to be non-officials. Besides the Central Legis-
lative Council, Provincial Councils, consisting partly of non-
official members appointed by the government were also
introduced. Thus Bengal got a Provincial Legislative Council
in 1862 and the North-West Provinces and Oudh (now
called the United Provinces) in 1886.
The failure of the revolution of 1857 was followed by a
period of reaction and during this period all anti-British
movements in India were ruthlessly suppressed, while the