[This was a part of my course-work. The book is a very widely read and reviewed one. However, this review received good remarks, from a class of people generally known to criticize. So, I guess, it makes the cut for appearing here.]
Comparison
with similar works
Introduction
“The Men who ruled India – the
Founders” is a book about the foundation of the British rule in India, and the
evolution of the Civil Service in India. It covers the history of India, from
the point of view of the British, from the early 17th Century till
the days of the Revolt of 1857.
The credit for this work is
accorded to ‘Philip Woodruff’. A quick Google search shows that this is the
pseudonym of Philip Mason, an ex-English Civil Servant. Perhaps no other person
would be so well qualified to write a book on the Civil Services of the Company
Raj – since he is both a British subject and a Civil Servant. The work shows
his grasp over both these worlds.
The reviewer happens to have read
another book covering the topics of similar nature – ‘Sahibs who loved India’
by Khushwant Singh. There are some similarities between the two works – in the
general tone of the chapters, which include rosy eyed reminiscences of the
lives of the officers in various civil capacities across India. However, while
Singh’s book is a collection of articles by various officers of the I.C.S.,
Woodruff (Mason)’s book is one complete narrative in itself, and quotations are
never too long, and form a part of the narrative. Secondly, Mason’s work does
not deal with the I.C.S. technically, but with the H.E.I.C.S. (Honourable East
India Company’s Service)
Run through
The book is divided into three
parts – Under the Mughals (1600-1751), The Revolution (1751-1798) and the
Golden Age (1798-1858).
The first part comprises roughly
of the part when the English were just traders, petitioning for minor favours
to the Mughal emperor and his officials. It describes the travails of these
pioneers, who undertook risky travel to meet and negotiate with the largely
inconsistent Mughal officialdom. In addition to their relations with the
Mughals, this part describes their skirmishes with the other European powers –
mainly the Portuguese, against whom, with the aid of their superior naval
power, they forged some sort of proto military alliance with the Mughal
Administration, thus giving them a de facto recognition as a military entity,
as against a purely mercantile one. The war with the French is also described,
which led to the first significant ‘puppet ruler’ being installed in the shape
of the Nawab of Arcot. The development of the three presidency towns is also
described. This chapter also describes Company officials like Pitt (who sired a
line of British PM’s) and Elihu Yale (the founder of the Yale University)
The second part deals with the
rise of the company to the status of “Revenue Minister” under the nominal
suzerainty of the Mughals. The books skips over the details of the ‘Blackhole
incident ‘ of Calcutta, the Battles of Plassey and Buxar. However, it is
described how, at the end of the latter, the company came to be the Diwan of
Bengal – and how they proceeded to carry out this task. Initially they began
with an Indian Naib Diwan, who had his own subordinate apparatus to deliver the
revenue. However, later, the British took the Revenue Administration in their
own hands, and thus the institution of the Collector was born. Two chapters are
dedicated to Sir John Shore, under whose Governor-General-ship the revenue
administration system developed. This part also contains biographies of noted
Civil Servants of the era – such as Harry Verelst, who was the first Collector
– of Burdwan. His assumption of his charge can be thought as the start of the Indian
Civil Service. His instructions to his subordinates are very similar to what is
still taught to revenue officers in India.
One chapter is dedicated to the portrayal of life at a typical British
Station.
The third part can be read, more
or less, as an extension of the second part. It describes the development of
the revenue system, with forms of settlement better than the Zamindari system
evolving under Thomas Munro and Boy Malcolm. Also described is the gradual
absorption of Central Indian territories and the development of Bombay
Presidency under Mountstuart Elphinstone. Other luminaries covered in this part
are Charles Metcalfe, John Nicholson, and John Thomason (the founder of IIT
Roorkee). The title of the part may be derived from the fact that this part
deals with the end of various evils, like Sati, human sacrifice and thugee. A
very interesting chapter is devoted to the training of the early Civil Servants
– at Fort William College and Haileybury. The penultimate chapter is devoted to
the conquest of Punjab and Sindh, in addition to the disastrous attack on
Afghanistan. Finally, the book ends with a poignant coverage of the Mutiny,
with a surprisingly sympathetic (to the Indians) tone.
Interesting
anecdotes and Revelations.
The book is filled with various
interesting anecdotes and revelations – here is a list of some of them. The
reader comes to know that Mir Qasim, the ‘puppet’ installed by the British
after Buxar, was actually quite an enlightened administrator, and tried hard
for the well-being of his subjects, by ending preferential trading rights to
the Company. One also learns that the local ruler near Madras agreed to sell to
the Company, for some amount, a strip of land equal in width to the range of a
random cannon shot! The British brought in the largest cannon in their Presidency
to encash this blank cheque. It is interesting to learn that the first large
territory that fell into British hands was not won in a conquest, but given as
a security by the Nawab of Arkot, for the various loans he needed for his
profligate ways. There is also a revelation that for the period of a decade in
the late 18th Century, the position of District Magistrate was
separated from the Collector, and given to the District Judge – thus creating
the nightmare of any modern day administrator. One cannot help but smile when
the author says that while a Rajput widow committing Sati was somehow
justified, because his husband was supposed not to return as a loser from a
battlefield, a Bengali widow doing it was not appropriate, since his husband
was never expected to make a sacrifice! The smile turns to laughter when one
reads the way revenue was collected in Oudh – the villagers built mud forts and
attacked the revenue collector’s party with cannons – and the negotiations were
conducted according to the fortune of both parties in this cannonade! To top it
all, it is pleasantly surprising to know that the famous economist Malthus was
a Professor of Economics at Haileybury.
The chapter about Haileybury is of special interest to any trainee of
the civil Services. It is surprising to note that even at the height of the
Victorian Age – which is held synonymous with hypocritical morality, the
trainees at Haileybury had a very relaxed and enriching program, while its
successor can, at best, be judged as a travesty of it – a cross between a
borstal, a boarding school and a scene from ‘Catch-22’.
So
different and yet so same
As far as the trials and
tribulation of an administrative officer are concerned, there are many instances
which show that the issues of those times find a surprisingly strong echo in
today’s. It is learnt that, much to his indignation, even Robert Clive had to
pay for his initiation arrangements when he joined the Service – much the same
way a trainee today has to pay for various ‘compulsory’ and officially needed
accoutrements – like laptops, riding gear etc. from his own pocket. Even in
those days, there was a debate over the salaries, perks and pelf of the
officials. The line – “Independence of outlook does not usually occur without
some material security” – sums up the argument most succinctly. There is a clear
imprint of modern day pseudo-activists in the episode of Nuncomar, who, when
his request for favours were spurned by Warren Hastings, accused him (Hastings)
of corrupt practices, based on some real (but bona-fide) mistakes. Many modern
officers can recognize this form of blackmail today. Then there is the instance
of a confrontation with the Judiciary – as when a writ-happy High Court of
Bombay issued a writ of Habeas Corpus to separate a child from his guardian,
who had been chosen by the child’s father before his death, and with whom the
child was very happy, based on a frivolous complaint. The Collector, in the
instance, did not give up, and went on to appeal to the level of the Directors
in London, and won! Then, there are frequent instances of distinction between
the ‘active’ field officers and the ‘sedentary’ secretariat officers – as is
done today. Finally, there is the lament of a man no less than Sir John Shore,
that how his life is like that “of a galley slave”, and how he was saddened by
the “ingratitude, censure and calumny” heaped on him and his Service brethren,
by the populace at large. This is clearly a feeling of a majority of the Civil
Servants of modern era, when the public opinion is generally critical of
anything done by them.
Writing
Style
The book is one complete
narrative, from the days of the founding of the Company to the days of the
Mutiny. Essentially, the book reads as if it were written in two different
ages. That is understandable, since the narrative includes various first person
quotations from the protagonist of that moment (in the narrative), which are
written in an English some 200 years old, and hence jarring to a modern day
reader. The author’s own writing is lucid and simple, and shows elements of
wit, which is no surprise, considering his background in the Civil
Service.
Recommendation
The book tells us the story of
the colonial period from ‘the other side’. While most people in India might
have read the ‘national’ version of the British Raj story, this book gives an
interesting counterpoint which must be added to the mix to get a complete
picture. The book gives an insider’s view on the way our land revenue system
was formed – which, with minor changes, remains the same even today. Thus, it
is a very necessary reading for any Revenue Officer. While going through the
book, one comes to know about the effort and application of mind put in forming
the whole administrative and legal framework of the country, and then one
understands why, despite 60 plus years of Independence, we are still unable to
find viable ‘swadesi’ alternatives to the same. Most importantly, it shows how
a few good men can transform anarchy into stability, peace, and progress, if
their hearts are in the right place. For this reason alone, this book is a must
read.
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