The British ruled India for almost two centuries, firstly by the British East India Company (1757-1858), followed by direct rule (1858-1947).
It is inevitable that they would have left a huge influence on India, especially in government, law, language, architecture and sports.
The British colonial rule in India will always be controversial for good or bad, but its legacy is clearly seen. For the first time in centuries, India is a single united country and the largest democracy in the world It has now the most dynamic economy after China and is about to overtake Japan as the third largest economy in terms of PPP. Its present parliamentary system, with an a fully elected lower house, and an appointed upper house is based on the British parliamentary system, with the president of India taking the role of the British monarch. The present judicial system of India is largely derived largely from the British system and has little correlation to the institutions of the pre-British era. It is largely based on English common law because of the long period of British colonial influence during the period of the British Raj.
Language
English is an official language of India, with approximately 90 millions speakers in 1991. However, it is mainly used as a second language. Given the huge number of languages in India, English serves as a useful common language for communication, especially in government, civil service and the judiciary. Indian English or South Asian English or Pigeon English or Hinglish is an informal term referring to several ‘incorrect’ varieties of English spoken primarily in the Indian Subcontinent. Generally indicating low levels of education, these dialects evolved during and after the colonial rule of Britain in India. Several idiomatic forms, derived from Indian literary and vernacular language, also have made their way into Indian English. Despite this diversity, there is general homogeneity in syntax and vocabulary among the varieties of Indian English.
The Essay on English Language Learner
The United States still represents to the rest of world a land of opportunities. Immigration occurs when people from all part of the world make their way here to start new lives, find their new jobs or build new homes. Some leave their country to flee from oppression and injustice. Some want a life to escape poverty. Now the English Language Learners in America school constantly growing percent of ...
Any of the native varieties of English produce unique stresses on the language. English is a stress-timed language, and both syllable stress and word stress, where only certain words in a sentence or phrase are stressed, are important features of Received Pronunciation. Indian native languages are actually syllable-timed languages, like Latin and French. Indian-English speakers usually speak with a syllabic rhythm. Further, in some Indian languages, stress is associated with a low pitch, whereas in most English dialects, stressed syllables are generally pronounced with a higher pitch. Thus, when Indian speakers speak, they appear to put the stress accents at the wrong syllables, or accentuate all the syllables of a long English word. The Indian accent is a “sing-song” accent, a feature seen in a few English dialects in Britain, such as Scouse and Welsh English.
Indian Law
When India became part of the British Empire, Hindu and Islamic law were supplanted by the common law. As a result, the present judicial system of the country derives largely from the British system and has little correlation to the institutions of the pre-British era. It is largely based on English common law because of the long period of British colonial influence during the period of the British Raj. Much of contemporary Indian law shows substantial European and American influence. Various legislations first introduced by the British are still in effect in their modified forms today.
During the drafting of the Indian Constitution, laws from Ireland, the United States, Britain, and France were all synthesized to get a refined set of Indian laws, as it currently stands. Indian laws also adhere to the United Nations guidelines on human rights law and the environmental law. Certain international trade laws, such as those on intellectual property, are also enforced in India. Indian Penal Code formulated by the British during the British Raj in 1860, forms the backbone of criminal law in India. Jury trials were abolished by the government in 1960 on the grounds they would be susceptible to media and public influence. This decision was based on an 8-1 acquittal of Kawas Nanavati in K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra, which was overturned by higher courts.
Indian Marxist Critique Of Law And Justice Essays and Term Papers
Indian Marxist Critique Of Law And Justice Essays and Term Papers “The Marxist Notion of Law as the Handmaid of Exploitation Is Everywhere in Evidence” (Keith Dickson). Discuss This View of Der Kaukadische Kreidekreis. ‘The Marxist notion of law as the handmaid of exploitation is everywhere in evidence’ (Keith Dickson). Discuss this view of Der kaukasische Kreidekreis. Der ...
Civil Service
The Indian Civil Service (commonly known as the Imperial Civil Service or ICS) was the civil service of the Indian Government under the British colonial rule in India. This service still continues in the contemporary Civil Services of India, though these are now organised differently post-independence
The constitution provides for more Civil Services branches to be set up by giving the power to the Rajya Sabha to resolve by a two-thirds majority to establish new all-India services or central services. The Indian Forest Service and the Indian Foreign Service are the two services set up under this constitutional provision.
The running the administration of a vast and diverse country like India requires efficient management of its natural, economic and human resources. That, precisely, is the responsibility of the civil services. The country is managed through a number of Central Government agencies in accordance with the policy directions given by the ministries.
In spite of relatively contemporary careers like management and IT holding sway over the country’s youth, the Civil Services of India have still not lost the vast popularity enjoyed by the old Indian Civil Service through the years since the time of the British Raj.
Indian Railways During Colonial Era
A rail system in India was first proposed in 1832 in Madras but it never materialised. In the 1840s, other proposals were forwarded to the British East India Company who governed India. The Governor-General of India at that time, Lord Hardinge deliberated on the proposal from the commercial, military and political viewpoints. He came to the conclusion that the East India Company should assist private capitalists who sought to setup a rail system in India, regardless of the commercial viability of their project.
The Essay on Independance Of India British Company Indian
INDEPENDENCE OF INDIA Introduction Because of Muslim control of the trade arteries between the Mediterranean and India, various European monarchs had begun to dream of a new route to the Far East. The Portuguese devoted remarkable zeal and initiative to the search for such a route, and in 1497 and 1498 Vasco Da Gama, one of the royal navigators, led an expedition around the Cape of Good Hope and ...
In 1832 a proposal was made to build a railroad between Madras and Bangalore, and in 1836 a survey was conducted for this line. On September 22, 1842, British civil engineer Charles Blacker Vignoles, submitted a Report on a Proposed Railway in India to the East India Company. By 1845, two companies, the East Indian Railway Company operating from Calcutta, and the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) operating from Bombay, were formed. The first train in India was operational on December 22, 1851, used for the hauling of construction material in Roorkee. A few months later, on April 16, ???? , the first passenger train between Bori Bunder, Bombay and Thana covering a distance of 34 km (21 miles) was inaugurated, formally heralding the birth of railways in India.
The British government encouraged the setting up of railways by private investors under a scheme that would guarantee an annual return of 5% during the initial years of operation. Once completed, the company would be passed under government ownership, but would be operated by the company that built them.
The East Indian Railway Company’s Chief Engineer George Turnbull built the first railway from Calcutta (the then commercial capital of India).
It opened for passenger traffic from Howrah station to Hooghly on 15 August 1854. The 541 miles (871 kilometres) to Benares opened to passenger traffic in December 1862. [2][3]
Robert Maitland Brereton, a British engineer was responsible for the expansion of the railways from 1857 onwards. In March 1870, he was responsible for the linking of both the rail systems, which by then had a network of 6,400 km (4,000 miles).
By 1875, about £95 million were invested by British companies in Indian guaranteed railways.[4]
By 1880 the network had a route mileage of about 14,500 km (9,000 miles), mostly radiating inward from the three major port cities of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. By 1895, India had started building its own locomotives, and in 1896 sent engineers and locomotives to help build the Uganda Railways.
The Term Paper on The British East India Company
The British East India Company was an English and later (from 1707) British joint-stock company formed for pursuing trade with the East Indies but which ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent. The East India Company traded mainly in cotton, silk, indigo dye, salt, saltpetre, tea and opium. Shares of the company were owned by wealthy merchants and aristocrats. The government owned no ...
In 1900, the GIPR became a government owned company. The network spread to the modern day states of Assam, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh and soon various independent kingdoms began to have their own rail systems. In 1901, an early Railway Board was constituted, but the powers were formally invested under Lord Curzon. It served under the Department of Commerce and Industry and had a government railway official serving as chairman, and a railway manager from England and an agent of one of the company railways as the other two members. For the first time in its history, the Railways began to make a profit.
In 1907 almost all the rail companies were taken over by the government. The following year, the first electric locomotive made its appearance. With the arrival of World War I, the railways were used to meet the needs of the British outside India. With the end of the war, the railways were in a state of disrepair and collapse.
In 1920, with the network having expanded to 61,220 km, a need for central management was mooted by Sir William Acworth. Based on the East India Railway Committee chaired by Acworth, the government took over the management of the Railways and detached the finances of the Railways from other governmental revenues.
The period between 1920 to 1929 was a period of economic boom. Following the Great Depression, the company suffered economically for the next eight years. The Second World War severely crippled the railways. Trains were diverted to the Middle East and the railways workshops were converted to ammunitions workshops. By 1946 all rail systems had been taken over by the government.
