SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This thesis analyses the emergence of representative government in India both in the central and in provincial governments between 1884 and 1909. The first chapter examines the non-official demand for representation, and the attitude of various sections of public opinion to it in India as also in England. The second chapter deals with the reaction to these demands of the various governmental authorities leading to the drafting of the first reforms bill which became law in 1892. The career of this bill in the British parliament forms the subject of the third chapter. The fourth chapter covers the rules and regulations giving effect to the 1892 Act and the non-official views on the measure. The fifth chapter' concerns the two provinces --- the Punjab and the Central Provinces --- excluded in 1892 from the scope of the reforms. L The sixth chapter tells of demands for fresh reforms, and their repercussions on Indian and British non-official opinion. The seventh chapter studies Government reaction and the formulation of the Morley-Minto reforms. The passage of the Indian Councils bill 1909 through Parliament is the subject of the eighth chapter. The ninth chapter having considered the rules and regulations made under the 1909 Act analyses the state of feeling of different non-official schools of opinion on the new reforms: the conflicting view-points are summed up and commented upon at the end of the chapter. The materials consulted include private papers, original government correspondence and records, parliamentary papers, parliamentary proceedings, annual reports, newspapers, periodicals, pamphlets and published books.