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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

While introducing the Indian Councils Bill of 1861, the British thought that the only Government suitable for India ‘is a despotism controlled from home’. Comment.

  • UPSC 2023
  • Constitutional Developments in Colonial India, 1858-1935

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The Indian Councils Act, 1861 is often read as the first step toward representative government in India, yet its architects designed it explicitly to preserve an executive despotism, merely rendering that despotism more efficient and, through the Secretary of State, more answerable to Parliament in London than to any institution in India itself.

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What the full answer covers

  • The Context: Why "Despotism" Was Retained
  • The Act's Provisions: Despotism Made Efficient
  • "Controlled from Home": The Real Locus of Accountability
  • Significance and Long-Run Consequences
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