When the Company's Charter Act was about to expire in 1813, there was much debate about whether to extend the Company's trading rights. There were several reasons for this debate.
One is that the Indian territory of the Company had become very wide and it was not possible for the Company to act as a commercial and political officer over such a wide area.
Secondly, the Company's commercial monopoly was being strongly opposed in England at that time due to Adam Smith's individualistic theory. One of the main reasons for the opposition was that in 1808, the British trade was greatly damaged by the continental system of Napoleon, the ruler of France, so the merchant class of England was demanding that all the people should be given freedom to trade with India. , in order to compensate for the damage caused by Napoleon's continental system.
Christian missionaries were campaigning inside and outside Parliament to provide them with special facilities for preaching in India. In addition, due to Lord Wellesley's expansionist strategy, the company's financial condition had become miserable and it was getting burdened with debt.
Thus ending the Company's monopoly, the demand for religious facilities in India by Christian missionaries, Wellesley's aggressive policy in India and the Company's economic condition led to the Parliament on 11 March 1808 appointed a committee to look into the affairs of the company. Based on the reports of this committee, the British Parliament intervened in the company's affairs and passed the Gazette (Charter Act) of 1813.
1813 Major provisions of the Charter Act of (Major Provisions of Charter Act of 1813)
By the Charter Act of 1813 the British Parliament allowed the company to trade with the eastern countries (India and China etc.) for the next twenty years.
According to this act, the company's monopoly on Indian trade was abolished and all British merchants got freedom to trade with India, but for this they had to obtain a license and permit. was.
The monopoly of the tea trade and trade with China was allowed to remain safe in the company's hands. The company's partners started getting 10.5 percent dividend from Indian revenue.
Propagation of Christianity in India was allowed and arrangements were made for the appointment of officials. It was said in the Act that all people living and going there in India shall have the right to spread useful knowledge, religion and moral upliftment among Indians. To meet the spiritual needs of the Europeans living in India, arrangements were made to appoint a bishop and three clergy in Calcutta. Thus it became imperative for the East India Company to establish a government church in India.
The most important provision of this act was that for the first time the company made arrangement to spend one lakh rupees per annum for the progress of education, literature and science among Indians.
P>The local governments of the Company's territories in India were given the power to impose taxes on the people there under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the system of punishment for the non-payers done. Special arrangements were made to decide the cases in which the British were on one side and the Indians on the other. Rules were made to provide special punishment for theft, counterfeiting and makers of counterfeit coins. Steps were also taken in this act to reduce the debt of the company.
The company was ordered to keep its business and governance accounts separate. The number of the British army to be paid from Indian revenues was fixed at 29,000. Apart from this, the company got the right to make laws and rules for Indian soldiers.
The governor general, chief general and provincial governors were appointed by the company's operators, but final approval for those appointments was required from the British monarch. Apart from this, the signature of the Chairman of the Board of Control was also required on them.
This act provided for training for the civil and military employees of the company. It was decided to place Halbury's College, Attiscomby's Military School under the supervision of the Board of Control. Arrangements were also made to run the colleges of Calcutta and Madras according to the rules of the Board of Control.
Evaluation of the Charter Act of 1813 (Evaluation of Charter Act of 1813)
This Charter Act cannot be said to be wholly insignificant. By this, the entire British subjects got the right to trade with India by ending the Company's monopoly on Indian trade. Due to the trade of British merchants with India, the trade of England increased seven times in the next fifty years. With this growth of trade, the English merchants compensated for the economic loss caused by Napoleon's continental system.
The independent arrival of British capital and enterprise marked the beginning of a new phase of exploitation in India. The good and cheap goods of the British merchants annihilated Indian trade and industries, as a result of which India became an industrial country, an agricultural country. In the words of Sir Alfred Lyle, 'The fabric of Indian looms could not compete with the goods produced in the factories of Lancashire, gradually India fell far behind in the field of industry and agriculture became the main occupation of the people.'
This act is also important because the real power over the Company's territories was considered to be that of the Emperor of England. This declaration was very important from the constitutional point of view. In England, Lokmat had been opposing the Company's commercial monopoly for a long time and was demanding that everyone should be given the right of free trade from India. The Parliament, respecting public opinion, struck a deep blow on the monopoly of the Company.
The importance of this act is also in the fact that it also provided for spending one lakh rupees per year for the education of Indians. Although no concrete steps were taken in this direction for the next twenty years and one lakh rupees kept on accumulating every year, but it is no less important that through this act the British Government took the responsibility of intellectual upliftment of Indians for the first time. took.
By this act the Christian missionaries in India got freedom to propagate Christianity. Churches, schools and colleges were established in India and Christianity was propagated through them. It was stated in the Act that the company's policy was to give freedom to Indians to practice their religion in full.
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