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administration in India. In the dual system of control, the company was represented by the Court of
Directors and the British Government by the Board of Control. The act mandated that all civil and military officers disclose their property in India and Britain within two months of their joining. The Governor-General’s council’s strength was reduced to three members. One of the three would be the Commander-in-Chief of the British Crown’s army in India. The Governor-General was given casting vote. The Presidencies of Madras and Bombay became subordinate to the Bengal Presidency. In effect, Calcutta became the capital of the British possessions in India.
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became the youngest Prime
Minister only at the age of 24. He was liked by many and was an amazing administrator who worked for efficiency and reform, to bring together a new generation of amazing administrators. Pitt’s India Act brought important changes in the constitution of the Company.It constituted a department of state in England, also known as the Board of Control, whose purpose served to control the policy of the Court of Directors, introducing the Dual System of Government. It also placed the civil and military government of the Company in due subordination to the Government in England.
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Governor-General would have the final say. The Act also settled the main lines of the
Company’s Home and Indian Government. For example, the head of the Board was first the Secretaries of State without a special salary, but after 1773 a special President of the Board was appointed and this officer was ultimately responsible for the government of British India until he was seceded in 1858 by the Secretary of State for India. The Act also was a very skillful measure bearing all the marks of a political compromise.
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However, the Pitt’s India Act had many shortcomings. The first being that it became obvious that the margins between government control and the company’s powers were hazy and personal. The
Governor-General had to serve both the East India Company and the British Crown, which was set up for failure.
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In 1781, both a selected and secret committee were set to go into the affairs of the
Company. This selected committee searched into the relations between the Supreme Court and the Council in Bengal, while the secret committee caused the Maratha War. The reports they presented were openly used as an
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The Pitt’s India Act in 1784, also known as the East India
Company Act, was passed in British Parliament to correct the defects of the previously signed Regulating Act in 1773. The Regulating Act in 1773 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that’s purpose was to overhaul the management of
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Once the Pitt’s India Act was signed in 1784, there was more government control under Prime
Minister William Pitt. This new Act created a committee of six government appointees, known as the Board of Control, who were appointed to monitor and direct the Company’s policies. Minister William Pitt
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Pitt’s India Act established the system of dual control of India and these changes continued through 1858. The company’s territories In India were called the “British possession in India” for the first time. The
British Government was given complete control over the Company’s affairs and its
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The Act had many perks such as removing many of the faults that the
Regulating Act in 1773 had. An example would be that it ended an injustice division of authority in India. By reducing the Governor-General council’s members to three, it removed any chance of there being a tie and the
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with the government holding the ultimate authority. A six-member board of control was set up for political activities and Court of directors for financial/commercial activities. As the
Regulating Act had many defects, it was necessary to pass another Act to remove these defects.
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An Act for the better Regulation and Management of the Affairs of the East India Company and of the British Possessions in India, and for establishing a Court of Judicature for the more speedy and effectual Trial of Persons accused of Offences committed in the East
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was appointed as the 2nd governor-general of Bengal, and he then became the effective ruler of British India under the authority of the Board of Control and the Court of Directors. The constitution set up by Pitt's India Act did not undergo any major changes until
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The Act stated that the Board would henceforth "superintend, direct and control" the government of the Company's possessions, in effect controlling the acts and operations relating to the civil, military and revenues of the Company.
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The boundaries between the obligations of the Board of Control and the Court of Directors were unclear. The Governor-General had to make many sporadic decisions that deemed unfair to whoever it wasn’t in favor towards.
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the East India Company’s rule in India. The Act proved to not be a long-term solution. The Regulating Act set up a system where it supervised the work of the Company but did not take power for itself.
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to pursue schemes of conquest and extension of dominion in India are measures repugnant to the wish, the honour and the policy of this nation
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Philips, C. H. "The East India Company 'Interest' and the English Government, 1783-4."
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327:"ON THIS DAY- 13, AUGUST Pitt's India Act 1784 was passed in the British Parliament"
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The governing council of the Company was reduced to three members. The governors of
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under the control of the British Government. Named for British prime minister
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arsenal for weapons against the Company by party orators in Parliament.
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The Honourable Company. A History of the English East India Company
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was given greater powers in matters of war, revenue and diplomacy.
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Furber, Holden. "The East India Directors in 1784,"
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162:Privy Council of Great Britain Privy Counsellors
360:Nilakanta Sastri, K.A.; Srinivasachari (2000).
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214:the end of the company's rule in India in 1858
193:were also deprived of their independence. The
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207:By a supplementary act passed in 1786
404:Great Britain Acts of Parliament 1784
390:(Fourth Series) 20 (1937) pp: 83-101.
379:(Dec., 1933) 5#4, pp. 479–495
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167:The Board was presided over by the
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178:The Board was supported by a
409:Legislation in British India
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125:Parliament of Great Britain
113:East India Company Act 1784
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414:British East India Company
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156:Provisions of the 1784 Act
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362:Advanced History of India
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137:William Pitt the Younger
261:East India Company Act
129:Regulating Act of 1773
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255:Saint Helena Act 1833
304:Darwin, John. 2012.
220:General Information
147:by the Company and
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351:. 31 January 2015.
349:Self Study History
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306:Unfinished Empire
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