The charges on which he was impeached were the affairs of Chait Singh, Raja of Benares and the Begums of Oudh. [2], Born in 1732, Warren Hastings spent much of his adult life in India after first travelling out as a clerk of the East India Company in 1750. [23], A further blow for the prosecution came with the evidence of William Larkins the former Accountant General of Bengal. The situation quickly deteriorated for Hastings. Welcome to HistoryDiscussion.net! Whatever might have been the legal objection to the Company’s meddling in the criminal jurisdiction of the Nawab, his judicial reforms had laid the foundations of the Indian judicial system no doubt. From the point of view of the British interests, ‘the impeachment of Warren Hastings was nothing more or less than ingratitude on the part of the English nation towards Hastings’. Justice had become a byword. [11] Initially this proved to be the case as he enjoyed an audience with King George III and a unanimous vote of thanks by the directors of the East India Company. After he had finished giving his testimony, the members all stood up in an almost unprecedented act for anyone other than the royal family.[20]. The source code for the WIKI 2 extension is being checked by specialists of the Mozilla Foundation, Google, and Apple. Pitt's India Act served to move much of the supervisory role for India away from the East India Company directors and officials in Leadenhall Street to a new political Board of Control based in London. A precedent being discussed is that of the Warren Hastings case — the famous failed attempt by the British Parliament to impeach India’s first governor-general. [16] Further speeches were made over the coming weeks by other leading Whigs such as Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Charles James Fox. Truly speaking, Warren Hastings was the real founder of the British Empire in India. Burke, who had invested a large amount of time and energy into the prosecution, was frustrated by the ultimate failure of the impeachment. Hastings was particularly upset by this, as he was an admirer of Pitt. In fact, it was Warren Hastings’ success in laying solidly the foundations of the British empire in India that served as a model for future expansion of British rule in other non-European countries. September 25, 2019 True, Hastings had extorted money from Raja Chait Singh, Begums of Oudh, took bribes from Muni Begum, got Nanda Kumar hanged with the help of Sir Elijah Impey, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court which tainted his character as also of the British nation. Ireland (1775â1902). It had also brought about a change in the treatment of the Indians by the British Officers and made them recognise the need for dignity in dealing with the Indians. During the convention debates on impeachment, George Mason mentioned the impeachment of Warren Hastings, a former British official in India, which began during the summer of 1787. It was due to his patronage that the Calcutta Madrasa and the Royal Asiatic Society had been founded. Hastings spent much of his time in office marshalling his own supporters on the Council in an effort to avoid being outvoted. After working his way through the ranks of the Company he was appointed in 1773 as Governor General, a new position that had been created by the North government in order to improve the running of British India. Read this article to learn about the impeachment and estimate of Warren Hastings. [20] As the trial progressed, public attitudes about Hastings also began to shift. He also reformed the criminal justice which was strictly speaking not within the purview of the Company’s authority, criminal jurisdiction having been under the Nawab. [11], In early 1786 Burke began his first move by raising questions over Hastings' role in the Maratha War. The attacks on Hastings were largely made by opposition Whigs hoping to embarrass the government of William Pitt. [15], Encouraged by Pitt's failure to adequately support Hastings, his opponents pressed on with their campaign. Against this backdrop the criticisms circulated by Francis and others provoked a general consensus that the 1773 India Act hadn't been sufficient to rein in the alleged excesses. Hastings developed a reputation as an "Indian" who sought to use traditional Indian methods of governance to run British India rather than the policy of importing European-style law, government and culture favoured by many of his colleagues and representatives of other colonial powers in India. The son of a clergyman of the Church of England, Hastings was abandoned by his father at an early age. You could also do it yourself at any point in time. Not that all his work was successful or faultless but his failures in revenue matters were the failures of pioneers and partly due to inexperienced, corrupt officers of the Company. On 23 April 1795 the Lord Chancellor Lord Loughborough oversaw the delivery of the verdict. Meet Warren Hastings, governor of India during the reign of King George III, whose impeachment (in England) filled America’s newspapers in 1787 … It will enhance any encyclopedic page you visit with the magic of the WIKI 2 technology. Our mission is to provide an online platform to help students to discuss anything and everything about history. While the Framers were aware of the British The Court of Directors in the circumstances offered to grant him an allowance which could not be done due to the opposition of Pitt and Dundas. The war shook public confidence and raised questions about the supposed mismanagement by the Company's agents in India. Yet it will be unfair not to praise what he had done to bring discipline in the Company’s administration, to lay down the foundation of the Indian judicial system, to expand the trade and commerce, and to save the Company’s interests at a time when these were at the verge of ruin. It was halted by the Treaty of Mangalore in 1784 which largely restored the status quo ante bellum. The Impeachment of Warren Hastings. It was surely a stroke of statesmanship on the part of Hastings to stop payment of 26 lakhs annually to Emperor Shah Alam who was under the thumb of the Marathas, for the payment would mean so much money lost to the Company in strengthening the hands of the Company’s enemies, the Marathas. The FoxâNorth Coalition fell from power after it attempted to bring in a radical East India Bill in 1783. “It was the impeachment of Warren Hastings, the former governor-general of the British colony of Bengal, and a corrupt guy. Lastly, his interest in education and literature, history and culture deserve special mention. Although high-minded leaders of the British opinion such as Burke, Dundas, Pitt, etc. 23 Footnote Constitutional Grounds, supra note 2, at 7; Hoffer & Hull, supra note 3, at 113–15. He handed over to an Acting Governor General, John MacPherson until a permanent replacement was appointed. And many share the pathos of Hastings’ exclamation: I gave you all and you have rewarded me with confiscation, disgrace and a life of impeachment. [22] When asked if he had "found any just cause to impeach the character of Mr Hastings?" Hastings was financially ruined by the impeachment and was left with debts of £70,000. Soon after, Pitt Earl of Chatham became the Prime Minister who was rather puritan in his views and did not approve of the activities of Hastings in India. "III. In the wake of this an anti-Hastings motion was passed in the Commons 119â79. The great famine of 1770 had left the ryots who survived the scourge extremely impoverished. Increased support for Hastings may have been a result of declining perceptions of his accusers. The impeachment of Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of Bengal, was attempted between 1787 and 1795 in the Parliament of Great Britain. Would you like Wikipedia to always look as professional and up-to-date? Hastings was to be prosecuted in the House of Lords by an Impeachment Committee. [18] The proceedings began with a lengthy address by Edmund Burke, who took four days to cover all the charges against Hastings. Introduction. Demands for financial support coming from the Bombay and the Madras Presidencies added to the already desperate financial condition of the Company. Warren Hastings, the first and most famous of the British governors-general of India, who dominated Indian affairs from 1772 to 1785 and was impeached (though acquitted) on his return to England. [10] Hastings anticipated he would face attacks in Parliament and the press but expected them to be short-lived and to fall away once he was there in person to defend himself. [31] Henry Dundas was himself later impeached in 1806 and acquitted in the final ever impeachment in Britain. The old structure of rule had come under strain as the Company's holdings had expanded in recent decades from isolated trading posts to large swathes of territory and population.[3]. "Justice, War, and the Imperium: India and Britain in Edmund Burke's Prosecutorial Speeches in the Impeachment Trial of Warren Hastings. But, interest started to drop as figures once keyed up about Hastings retreated. There is a sacred veil to be drawn over the beginning of all governments. A third of the Lords who had attended the trial's opening had since died[20] and only twenty-nine of the others had sat through enough of the evidence to be permitted to pronounce judgement. Warren Hastings, who was the former British governor general of Bengal, was undergoing his impeachment even as the Framers met in Philadelphia. Previously, I wrote about Hastings in addressing the bribery theories being voiced by Democratic leaders and legal experts in the first Trump impeachment. Previously, I wrote about Hastings in addressing the bribery theories being voiced by Democratic leaders and legal experts in the first Trump impeachment. Hastings' trial began on 13 February 1788 and took place in Westminster Hall with members of the House of Commons seated to his right and the Lords to his left and a large audience of spectators, including royalty, in the boxes and public galleries. There has been particular focus on the role played by Pittâparticularly his sudden withdrawal of outright support for Hastings in 1786 which galvanised the opposition into pursuing the case. Francis and Hastings' personal rivalry continued for many years and led to a duel between them in 1780 in which Francis was wounded, but not killed. I impeach him in the name of the people of India, their right he has trodden under foot, and whose country he has turned into a desert. Hastings soon ran into opposition on the Council. The name Warren Hastings may not be one that many Indians, bar those with a special interest in the nation' history, may be familiar with but the second impeachment trial of former US President Donald Trump, found prosecutors rolling back the years to invoke the 18th century trial of the former Governor-general of Bengal. [2], In spite of the early excitement about the trial public interest in it began to wane as it dragged on over months and years. In defining the scope of impeachment, they had in mind the alleged crimes of Warren Hastings. He had warned the Lords that it would be "to the perpetual infamy" of the House if they voted to acquit and remained convinced of Hastings' guilt until his death in 1797.[28]. As the Kingdom of Oudh was too insecure against the Maratha attacks, the territories of the Company were also running the risk of being invaded by the Marathas. At the Constitutional Convention, George Mason positively referenced the impeachment of Hastings. Hastings was accused of misconduct during his time in Calcutta, particularly relating to mismanagement and personal corruption.
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