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Part - II

McCaulay & India

Thomas Babington McCaulay (1800-1859) was posted in India in the first half of the 19th Century (1835 -1837) under Governor General William Bentick when India was just brought fully under the control of the British Empire. The British throne exercised control on India through its agency the British "East India Company". The East India Company was a joint stock company, with proper shareholding in Britain. The Company waged bloody battles for most part of the 18th Century in India to control political power and every possible resource in India, because India was a good offshoring destination to feed the then growing British economy at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. The East India Company was truly the "Mother" of all Offshoring companies and Global Corporations. The Company and the British Monarchy had well-structured relationship while the company enjoyed the trading rights and profits; the Monarchy slowly built political control over India. From 1784 onwards there was a "Board of Control" with members from the House of Commons, which defined the relations between the Crown and the Directors of the East India Company.

Coming back to McCaulay; Thomas Babington McCaulay, a master of English prose and literature, was elected twice as the member of the House of Commons, and served as one of the commissioners of the Board of Control for 18 months (1831-1832) whereon he got involved in Indian affairs. This was around the time when the new India Bill was passed and the political power of India was shifting from East India Company to the Monarchy. The British crown wanted to appoint a person who was not in the offices of the East India Company as a member of the Supreme Council in India. In 1833 McCaulay was appointed to the Supreme Council of India and traveled to India. By the time he sailed backed in 1837, he laid the foundation for two of the most important systems which would change India as a country - the judicial system (Indian Penal Code) and the education system, I will touch upon the education system.

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* Contributed by -
Vijay V Bhat, an MBA from SCMHRD, Pune, having worked in Managerial positions in the Manufacturing sector, is currently working as a Consultant with a Hyderabad based IT company. The views expressed here are personal and do not represent his organization.