stores, and effects, at home and abroad, distinguished in their account books as Commercial Assets.

39. The superintendence, direction, and control of the whole Civil and Military Government of all the said Territories and Revenues in India shall be, and is hereby, vested in a Governor-General and Counsellors, to be styled "The GovernorGeneral of India in Council."

40. There shall be Four ordinary Members of the Council, Three of whom shall from time to time be appointed by the Court of Directors from amongst such persons as shall have been Servants of the Company, and shall have been in the service of the Company for at least Ten years; and the fourth ordinary Member of Council shall be appointed from amongst persons who shall not be Servants of the Company by the Court of Directors, subject to the approbation of His Majesty : Provided that such last-mentioned Member of Council shall not be entitled to sit or vote in the Council except at meetings thereof for making laws and regulations.

43. The Governor-General in Council shall have power to make Laws and Regulations for repealing, amending, or altering any Laws or Regulations whatsoever in the said Territories or any part thereof, and to make Laws and Regulations for all persons, whether British or Native, Foreigners or others, and for all Courts of Justice, whether established by His Majesty's Charters or otherwise, and the jurisdictions thereof: save and except that the Governor-General in Council shall not have the power of making any Laws or Regulations which shall in any way repeal, vary, suspend, or affect any of the provisions of this Act, or any provisions of any Act hereafter to be passed, in any wise affecting the said Company or the said Territories or the Inhabitants thereof, or any Laws or Regulations which shall in any way affect any prerogative of the Crown, or the authority of Parliament, or the Constitution or Rights of the said Company, or any part of the unwritten Laws or Constitution of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

51. Nothing herein contained shall affect in any way the right of Parliament to make Laws for the said Territories and for all the Inhabitants thereof: And it is expressly declared, That a full, complete, and constantly existing right and power is intended to be reserved to Parliament, to control, supersede, or prevent all proceedings and acts whatsoever of the GovernorGeneral in Council, and to repeal and alter, at any time, any

Law or Regulation whatsoever made by the said GovernorGeneral in Council, and in all respects to legislate for the said Territories, and all the Inhabitants thereof, in as full and ample a manner as if this Act had not been passed.

53. And whereas it is expedient that, subject to such special arrangements as local circumstances may require, a general system of Judicial Establishment and Police, to which all persons whatsoever, as well Europeans as Natives, may be subject, should be established in the said Territories at an early period; and that such Laws as may be applicable in common to all classes of the Inhabitants of the said Territories, due regard being had to the rights, feelings, and peculiar usages of the People, should be enacted, and that all Laws and Customs having the force of law within the same Territories, should be ascertained and consolidated, and as occasion may require amended; be it therefore Enacted, that the Governor-General of India in Council shall, as soon as conveniently may be after the passing of this Act, issue a Commission, to be styled "The Indian Law Commissioners " and the Commissioners shall fully enquire into the Jurisdiction, Powers, and Rules of the existing Courts of Justice and Police Establishments in the said Territories, and all existing forms of Judicial procedure, and into the nature and operation of all Laws, whether civil or criminal, written or customary, prevailing in any part of the said Territories, and whereto any inhabitants of the said Territories, whether Europeans or others, are now subjects; And the Commissioners shall from time to time make reports, in which they shall fully set forth the result of their enquiries, and shall suggest such alterations as may in their opinion be beneficially made in the Courts of Justice and Police Establishments, form of Judicial procedure and Laws, due regard being had to the distinction of castes, difference of religion, and the manners and opinions prevailing among different races and in different parts of the said Territories.

81. It shall be lawful for any natural-born subject of His Majesty to proceed by sea to any port or place having a custom-house establishment within the said Territories, and to reside thereat, or to proceed to and reside in, or pass through any part of such of the said Territories as were under the Government of the said Company on 1 Jan. 1800, and in any part of the Countries ceded by the Nawab of the Carnatic, of the Province of Cuttack, and of the Settlements of Singapore and Malacca, without any License whatever.

85. And whereas the removal of restrictions on the intercourse of Europeans with the said Territories will render it necessary to provide against any mischiefs or dangers that may arise therefrom, be it therefore Enacted, That the GovernorGeneral in Council shall by Laws and Regulations provide with all convenient speed for the Protection of the Natives of the said Territories from insult and outrage in their persons, religions, or opinions.

87. No Native of the said Territories, nor any natural-born Subject of His Majesty resident therein, shall, by reason only of his religion, place of birth, descent, colour, or any of them be disabled from holding any Place, Office, or Employment under the said Company.

103. And whereas it is expedient to provide for the due qualification of persons to be employed in the civil service of the Company in the said Territories, be it therefore Enacted That the Governor-General of India in Council shall, as soon as may be after the First day of January in every year, make and transmit to the Court of Directors a prospective estimate of the number of persons who will be necessary to supply the expected Vacancies in the Civil Establishments of the respective Governments in India, And within One month after such estimate shall have been received the Board of Commissioners shall certify to the Court of Directors what number of persons shall be nominated as candidates for Admission, and what number of Students shall be admitted to the College of the Company at Haileybury, in the then current year . . . and it shall be lawful for the Court of Directors to nominate such a number of Candidates for admission to the College as shall be mentioned in the Certificate of the Board.

105. The Candidates for Admission to the College shall be subjected to an Examination in such branches of knowledge, and by such Examiners as the Board shall direct, and shall be classed in a List to be prepared by the Examiners, and the Candidates whose names shall stand highest in such List shall be admitted by the Court as Students in the College, until the number to be admitted for that year, according to the Certificate of the Board, be supplied.

112. THE NEW AIMS OF THE SUPREME GOVERNMENT

From the Report of the Committee of Parliament on the Affairs of the East India Company, 1833.

On a large view of the state of Indian Legislation, and of the improvements of which it is susceptible, it is recognised as an indisputable principle, that the interests of the Native Subjects are to be consulted in preference to those of Europeans, whenever the two come in competition; and that therefore the Laws ought to be adapted rather to the feelings and habits of the Natives than to those of Europeans. It is also asserted, that though the Native Law might beneficially be assimilated to British Law in certain points, yet that the principles of British Law could never be made the basis of an Indian Code ; and finally, that the rights of the Natives can never be effectually secured otherwise than by such amalgamation.

Intimately connected with every plan for the good government of India, and for the introduction of ameliorating changes into the present system, is all that relates to the habits, character, and capacity of the Native Population. It appears that at present they are only employed in subordinate situations in the Revenue, Judicial, and Military Departments. They are said to be sufficiently observant of the practical merits and defects of our system; and to be alive to the grievance of being excluded from a larger share in the Executive Government. It is amply borne out by the Evidence that such exclusion is not warranted on the score of incapacity for business, or the want of application, or trustworthiness: while it is contended that their admission, under European control, into the higher offices . . . would strengthen their attachment to British dominion; would conduce to a better Administration of Justice; and would be productive of a great saving in the Expenses of the Indian Government.

CHAPTER IX

THE NORTH-WEST FRONTIER

1835-1848

SINCE 1818 the north-western frontier of the Indian Empire had been the line of the Sutlej and the Indus. Beyond this line lay the valley of the Indus, including the fertile region of the Punjab to the north, and the desert area of Sind to the south. Beyond these again rose the great mountain-wall which is the obvious natural frontier of India in this direction, and through whose passes have come all the conquerors of India since the dawn of history, except the seafaring Europeans. The expansion of the Indian Empire could not be said to have attained its natural limits until it had reached this mountainwall. This last great step, which made political India for the first time correspond with geographical India, was made by the British power during the decade 1838-1848. But it was not undertaken deliberately for military and political reasons. The directors of British policy were as anxious as ever not to assume further territorial responsibilities; and it is probable that if the decision had rested with them alone, the Empire would not have attained its natural limits. Factors beyond their control drove them forward. These factors were the fear of Russian advance upon India through Central Asia, which haunted the minds of British statesmen in these years; and the political condition of the three chief regions that lay beyond the Sutlej-Indus line.

Of these regions the least important was Sind, a barren and