- Warren Hastings was appointed Governor of Bengal in 1772, and under the Regulating Act of 1773, this office was upgraded to Governor-General of Bengal, with the Bombay and Madras presidencies brought under its supervision. Hastings held this post till 1785, and it was during this period that Bengal saw its first proper attempt at administrative and judicial reorganisation under Company rule.
Administrative Reforms
- End of dyarchy (1772) — Hastings ended the dyarchy rule in Bengal and took all power in his own hands, instead of governing through the Nawab's officials.
- Five-Year Contract System (1772) — revenue collection was given on contract for five years, and new zamindars who bid the highest amount were awarded the contract. The system proved unsuccessful.
- One-Year Contract System (1776) — following the failure of the five-year system, Hastings started annual contracts, this time giving them to the old, established zamindars.
Judicial Reforms
- District courts — a District Civil Court and a District Criminal Court were formed at the district level. In the civil court, the Collector delivered justice, and in the criminal court, Indian judges did so.
- Appellate courts — for appeals to a higher court, the Sadar Diwani and Sadar Nizamat courts were formed. Matters involving more than Rs 500 were dealt with in the Sadar Diwani court.
- Supreme Court (1774) — as per the Regulating Act of 1773, a Supreme Court was established at Calcutta. English rules prevailed here, and its jurisdiction was confined to Calcutta, though matters from other areas could also be heard if both parties agreed. Its judges were Sir Elijah Impey, Robert Chambers, John Hyde and Stephen Caesar Le Maistre.
- Codifying Indian law — Hastings got a compilation of Hindu laws prepared in a book called the 'Code of Gentoo Laws', and also got an English translation of the 'Fatwah-e-Alamgir' done. A more detailed 'Digest of Hindu Laws' was later written by William Jones and Colebrooke, and in 1784 Jones founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal, which translated Sanskrit and Persian literature into European languages.
Critical Analysis
- A genuine foundation — Hastings gave Company rule its first real administrative backbone, direct revenue control, district-level courts, and an appellate structure. Cornwallis, who followed him, mainly refined this framework rather than building one from scratch.
- Trial and error, not a settled plan — the switch from the five-year to the one-year contract system shows the revenue arrangement was still unsettled, and the reforms were adjusted only after failure rather than being planned out in advance.
- No real reform of Indian law — despite the Code of Gentoo Laws and the Fatwah-e-Alamgir translation, Hastings himself made no genuine attempt to reform Indian laws, these were compilations rather than reforms in substance.
- Yet these achievements sit alongside a record of personal conduct that undercuts them, Hastings removed Chait Singh in favour of Maheep Narayan, robbed the treasury of the Begum of Awadh, and had Nandkumar hanged on a forgery charge soon after Nandkumar accused him of bribery. These very actions led Edmund Burke to start impeachment proceedings against him.