ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY
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Bhimrao R. Ambedkar
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts
May 15,1915
Contents
Part I
Part IIZemindary Settlement of Cornwallis
Village Land Revenue System
The Ryotwar System
The Salt Tax
CustomsThe Stamp Duties
The Mint Revenue
Village Land Revenue System
The Ryotwar System
The Salt Tax
CustomsThe Stamp Duties
The Mint Revenue
Part III
The Land TaxThe Opium Revenue
The Salt TaxThe Customs Revenue
Miscellaneous RevenuePublic Works
The Pressure of the Revenue
Part IV
Part V
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Editorial Note in source publication
The copy of this dissertation was secured from the Columbia University by Dr. Frank F.Conlon of the Department of History, University of Washington, U.S.A. and was presented to Mr. Vasant Moon of Dr. Ambedkar Research Institute, Nagpur, in 1979.
The editors are grateful to the University of Columbia, U.S.A. for their kind permission to publish this unpublished dissertation which is in their ownership and possession. They also appreciate Dr. Conlon's gesture of generosity and the assistance of Dr. Ambedkar Research Institute, Nagpur, for making this paper available for printing to the Government ofMaharashtra.
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Without going into the historical development of it, the administration of the East India Company may be conveniently described as follows:
It was " composed of the shareholders of the East India stock to a certain amount, who elect from their own body by ballot a certain number of representatives (twenty-four) to whom the proprietary confide the planning and carrying into effect whatever measures may be deemed most conducive to the interests of India and England, reserving to themselves a surveillance and limited control over the proceedings of the delegated authority."
The requirements of a seat and a vote in this Court were as follows:
A proprietor of £ 500 stock was entitled to a seat in this Court.
A proprietor of £ 1,000 stock was entitled to one vote.
A proprietor of £ 3,000 stock was entitled to two votes.
A proprietor of £ 6,000 stock was entitled to three votes.
A proprietor from £ 10,000 to £ 1,00,000 and upward stock was entitled to four votes.
Besides this, the stock must have been held for at least one year before voting. There was no voting by proxy and minors were ruled as incapable of voting.
The voters counted Lords, Commoners, women, clergy, and officers civil and military, both of the king and the company.
The sessions of the Court were quarterly—March, June, September, and December. Nine qualified proprietors were quite sufficient to ask for a special session of the Court. The speaker was ex-officio the chairman who presided at the session, brought forward all motions requiring the sanction of the Court, and laid before the members the accounts of the Company's transactions.
The Court was authorised—
(1) To elect qualified persons to constitute what is known as the Court of Directors.
(2) To declare the dividends on the capital stock of the company within certain parliamentary restrictions.
(3) To frame, alter, or repeal such of the by-laws as hinder the good government of the East India Company, provided they do not conflict with the Acts of Parliament.
(4) To control in general any increase in a salary or pension above £ 200 a year, or over any gratuity beyond £600.
(5) To confer pecuniary reward for good service.
