British Regulating Act

Impact

The impact of the British Regulating Act would be felt by millions. The act represented a turning point in the establishment of formal British colonialism in India. The act also opened an unprecedented door for governmental regulation in the affairs of a specific company. This regulation would lead to further regulation of the company’s activities, the end of the company’s monopoly in India, and ultimately the British government’s assumption of control over its Indian colony.

Warren Hastings, India's first governor-general, spent virtually his entire professional life as a member of the East India Company. Among the first four councilors was Richard Barwell, who had long worked for the company. The other three, though— John Clavering, George Monson, and Philip Francis—were company outsiders sent from England. This group seemed determine to undermine Hastings, frustrating his plans and accusing him of corruption and maladministration. One particularly notorious charge was that after an Indian opponent accused Hastings of trading favors for his own advantage, Hastings accused the Indian of forgery and used his influence to have him tried and hanged. In 1785 Hastings returned to England and was impeached for corruption, but after a seven-year trial, he was found not guilty. Similarly, the judges of the supreme court were unable to work amicably, and they interpreted their power in the widest sense. Many local accusations were made that judges and administrators were abusing their privileges, and the seeds of dissatisfaction were planted among local populations.

Many of the act’s provisions were vaguely laid out and difficult to enforce. As a result, several subsequent acts were passed over the next decades in efforts to clarify the administration and processes stipulated in the Regulating Act. In addition, corruption and profiteering remained endemic in the East India Company. In 1784 Pitt’s India Act attempted to revise the Regulating Act in a way that would more forcefully deal with the still widespread corruption taking place. This act attempted to resolve the problem of infighting between the governor-general and the council by significantly increasing the authority of the governor-general.

Overall, the British Regulating Act set the tone for British colonialism on the Indian Subcontinent. It established that the East India Company was still a sovereign company but that it was wholly accountable to the British government. The basic premises laid out in the British Regulating Act would remain in place until the era of East India Company rule ended following the uprisings of 1857.