On Transmutation Of The Civil Service System Of British India

India civil service system, which grew up in the colonial period , is an influential political system in the history of India. This thesis, based on plenty of historical facts, aims to study and analyze the transmutation of this system, in an attempt to reveal its characteristics at different stages and the process of its modernization. The thesis consists of four parts.The first part begins with a traditional Indian bureaucratic system------Mansabdari.Mansabdari, in the period of Indian Mughal Empire, is a system that integrates military characteristics with politics. It is formed in accordance with the social environment of India, and played an important role in enhancing the combat effectiveness of the military forces and consolidating the rule of the centralized power of India. However, as a pre-modern bureaucratic system, Mansabdari inevitably involves many limitations. Some traditional aspects in Mansabdari that had once been effective did not vanish with the fall of Mughal Empire, and afterwards exerted certain influence on the formation of the modern civil service system of the colonial India.The second, third and fourth parts are divided according to different features in the developing process of the civil service system of British India.In the early period under the rule of East India Company, the colonial authorities executed reconstruction and reformation on the Indian bureaucratic system for their ruling purpose. While absorbing and rejecting aspects of the traditional Indian bureaucratic system, the colonial authorities introduced largely aspects of the British political system to India, causing administration of the officials to be separated with business in East India Company. As a result, the functions of tax revenue, administration and justice were independently achieved, and the bureaucratic system began to develop with a modern smell. However, the changes were still not substantial as compared with the past system.In the late period under the rule of East India Company, the economy, culture and forces of the social classes of British India were subject to great changes, which was favorable to the formation of the modern civil service system. In addition, thebureaucratic system of British India was again confronted with new adjustments as the British industrial bourgeois came into power. The authority of East India Company was greatly impaired, and officials were appointed by competition and examination instead of .personal benediction in the past. Since then, the concepts and principles of the bureaucratic system have been fundamentally changed, and this is a milestone of the formation of the modern civil service system.After 1858, the British queen started her direct rule of India. The civil service system of British India began to develop toward legalization and localization, manifesting its rationalization and democratization. The system thus made a preliminary improvement, which not only met the need for maintaining the rule of British colonist, but also was a result of the persevering struggle of the Indian people.In the ending part, the thesis reveals the colonial auxiliary nature of the civil service system in British India while recognizing its progressive side.