Founders of the British Empire in the India.Warren Hastings
#]Politician and British colonial administrator, born 6 December 1732 at Churchill (Oxford County) and died August 22, 1818 in Daylesfors (Worcester County). He was the first Governor general of India Eastern, so it has been considered one of the founders of the British Empire in the India.
His mother, Hester Warren, died shortly after his birth, and his father, Pynaston Hastings, a priest of the Anglican Church, abandoned him when he was only eight years old to settle in the West Indies, place where he died without seeing his son again. Hastings was picked up by his paternal uncle, Howard Hastings, who treated him as if he were his own son, providing an exquisite education. He began his studies at the prestigious private school Newinston Butts, institution that spent two years to move later to the Westminster School in London. He soon showed his brilliant qualities, and focused its main efforts in the study of the culture and civilization of the India. The death of his uncle was a strong blow to the life of Hastings, who was forced to abandon his studies and the idea of entering the University.
First stay in the India
In 1750, when still had not fulfilled the eighteen years, thanks to the efforts of a relative he managed to be hired as an officer in the East India Company. It landed in Calcutta in October 1750 and soon he was sent to a factory in the interior. Their large capacities of management earned him the favour of his superiors and in 1753 he moved to Cossimbazar. The change in the policy of the East India Company in 1756 caused a series of clashes between the British and Indian leaders, during one of which Cossimbazar was occupied by the men of Siraj-Udadak and Hastings was taken prisoner. The efforts undertaken by the Dutch residents of the city achieved his release, after which he joined as a volunteer Army Colonel Robert Clive, who participated in 1757 in the decisive battle of Plassey, in which British forces defeated the Indian Governor (nawab) of the Bengal region.
A year following Hastings was established in the city of Marshidabad, where exerted the position of representative of the company in the Court of the nawab of Bengal. He married the daughter of a British officer, who died while giving birth to the second son of the couple. In 1761, he was put in charge of the Council of the city of Calcutta. From his post he tried to put an end to corrupt practices that had become common among officials of the East India Company. His plans made him earn the enmity of the rest of the members of the Council. The continuous disputes led him to resign and leave the company, after which he returned to England a year later.
Second stay in the India
A series of failures in business ruined to Hastings, so requested reinstatement to the company. He was awarded a seat on the Council of the city of Madras, place toward which was heading by boat when she met the Baroness Von Imhoff, who became his second wife in 1767. In 1771 he was appointed Governor of Bengal with full powers over the Affairs of the company, which turned him into the most powerful man in the India. Corruption and mismanagement had been seized in recent years in the province, so the company sought to Hastings implemented a new administrative system. Although the British had power over the region, main administration posts were occupied by Indian citizens, with little presence of European individuals. The first measure taken by the new Governor was the reverse this situation by giving command to British officials.
He moved the seat of Government from the Indian Governor's Palace to the British settlement of Calcutta, which was completed with a series of economic, judicial and administrative reforms, which included the creation of new civil courts and the unification of the tax system. All these actions resulted in the increase of the company's revenues and the consolidation of the British power in the India. Major Indian administrators of cities in Bengal and Bihar, Mohamed Reza Khan and Shitab Rai, were accused of corruption, and although they were declared innocent, Hastings moved them from their jobs.
Governor General of the India
In 1773 the British Parliament approved, on the initiative of Lord Frederick, the North Act regulation which limited the power of the East India Company and established a Council consisting of five members to govern the British India, in front of which registered to Hastings for a period of five years with the title of Governor General. Most of his colleagues were contrary to its policy, so that almost all of their decisions were blocked by the sector controlled by Sir John Clavering and Philip Francis. They began a smear campaign toward his rival, inciting the Indian elite to accuse the Governor of mismanagement. The most serious complaints came from the Maharaja Nandakuma, who was convicted of perjury and hanged for it. Before the cessation of administration, Hastings resigned in 1777, but withdrew it after the death of Clavering, which meant that his supporters were now majority in the Council. However, Francis continued with its policy of opposition. Tensions between two rivals escalated into a duel spray in which Francis was seriously injured, so it had to return to England. To reinforce its position, Hastings has signed a partnership with the nawab of Oudh, which helped expel the Rohillas of Rohilkhand.
In 1778 he began a war which lasted until 1782 against a coalition of peoples of Central and Western India known as the Marathas. When France entered the war of independence of the United States, Hastings clashed with French troops in the Indian Ocean. Given the serious situation that existed, the British Government gave the direction of all military affairs of the area. With a series of measures that combined military and diplomatic actions he managed to expel the French from the India. He managed the total pacification of the region when it defeated in 1784 to the usurper who had taken power in Mysore, Hadar Ali. However, the situation of war in which the British India became embroiled seven years considerably damaged the finances of the company of the West Indies, since commercial activity was almost paralyzed. To be able to count money, Hastings was forced to confiscate the goods of the raja of Benares and the Governors of Oudh, who had refused previously to finance the expenses of the war.
Return to England
When in 1784 the British Parliament passed the Act of William Pitt, which criticized the abuse exercised on the Indian population by the company of the Indies, Hastings resigned, since he considered it an attack on their person. On his return to England it was Center of the campaign led by the parliamentarian Edmund Burke, who had as purpose the protection of the inhabitants of the British colonies in the India. The pressures of Burke got that you started an investigation against Hastings in the House of Commons, from which came out accusations of cruelty, repression and corruption. The trial against the former Governor of the West Indies began February 13, 1788, and after a long process, that lasted until April 23, 1795, was acquitted. Huge expenses which had been his defense ruined again to Hastings, which resulted in the company of the East Indies to grant him a pension of 4,000 pounds per year. He retired to his possessions in Daylesford, where it remained away from public life until, in May 1814, he was appointed member of the Royal Council by the Prince Regent.
The reigning British monarchs during the period of the British Raj, 1858–1947, in silver one rupee coins.
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