Civil Disobedience in Indian Tradition, with Some Early Nineteenth Century Documents c5.s1.3

c5.s1.3

The supreme head of British administration in the Bengal Presidency was the Governor-General-in-Council, who functioned through the several departments of Government, initially constituted in 1785 on instructions from the Board of Commissioners for the affairs of India. The Secret, the Political, the Military, the Public, the Revenue, and the Judicial were the major departments, all operating from Fort William (i.e. Calcutta). The Governor-General-in-Council (in the absence of the Governor-General, the Commander-in-Chief acting as president) met on specific days in the week to transact business in the particular department and the decisions and orders made were conveyed to the concerned subordinate bodies or individuals by the secretary of the concerned department who attended the council and maintained its records. Besides these departments, the instructions of 1785 had also established several Boards, subordinate to the Governor-General-in-Council, usually each of these presided over by a member of the Council, to direct and superintend some of the more extensive activities of Government. The Military Board and the Board of Revenue were the two most important amongst these subordinate Boards. (Corresponding arrangements had also been instituted in 1785 in the Madras and Bombay Presidencies.)