The Indian Civil Service ( ICS ), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service , was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947 .
138-586: Its members ruled over more than 300 million people in the presidencies and provinces of British India and were ultimately responsible for overseeing all government activity in the 250 districts that comprised British India. They were appointed under Section XXXII(32) of the Government of India Act 1858 , enacted by the British Parliament . The ICS was headed by the Secretary of State for India ,
276-544: A Husband ! ... to be called by names of tenderness, I have never yet heard used to me before—was bliss beyond belief! Oh! This was the happiest day of my life! Albert became an important political adviser as well as the Queen's companion, replacing Melbourne as the dominant influential figure in the first half of her life. Victoria's mother was evicted from the palace, to Ingestre House in Belgrave Square . After
414-401: A civil list allowance of £385,000 per year. Financially prudent, she paid off her father's debts. At the start of her reign Victoria was popular, but her reputation suffered in an 1839 court intrigue when one of her mother's ladies-in-waiting, Lady Flora Hastings , developed an abdominal growth that was widely rumoured to be an out-of-wedlock pregnancy by Sir John Conroy. Victoria believed
552-541: A constitutional monarch , attempted privately to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality . Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet " grandmother of Europe ". After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As
690-567: A Life in the Highlands , a sequel to her earlier book, which she dedicated to her "devoted personal attendant and faithful friend John Brown". On the day after the first anniversary of Brown's death, Victoria was informed by telegram that her youngest son, Leopold, had died in Cannes . He was "the dearest of my dear sons", she lamented. The following month, Victoria's youngest child, Beatrice, met and fell in love with Prince Henry of Battenberg at
828-681: A Public Service Commission and a resolution of the House of Commons (1893) allowing for simultaneous examination for the Indian Civil Service in London and India. By 1920, there were five methods of entry into the higher civil service: firstly, the open competitive examinations in London; secondly, separate competitive examinations in India; thirdly, nomination in India to satisfy provincial and communal representation; fourthly, promotion from
966-542: A bedroom with her mother every night, studied with private tutors to a regular timetable, and spent her play-hours with her dolls and her King Charles Spaniel , Dash . Her lessons included French, German, Italian, and Latin, but she spoke only English at home. In 1830, the Duchess and Conroy took Victoria across the centre of England to visit the Malvern Hills , stopping at towns and great country houses along
1104-480: A bill granting Ireland home rule , but to Victoria's glee it was defeated. In the ensuing election , Gladstone's party lost to Salisbury's and the government switched hands again. In 1887, the British Empire celebrated Victoria's Golden Jubilee . She marked the fiftieth anniversary of her accession on 20 June with a banquet to which 50 kings and princes were invited. The following day, she participated in
1242-549: A bomb made in England. The ensuing diplomatic crisis destabilised the government, and Palmerston resigned. Derby was reinstated as prime minister. Victoria and Albert attended the opening of a new basin at the French military port of Cherbourg on 5 August 1858, in an attempt by Napoleon III to reassure Britain that his military preparations were directed elsewhere. On her return Victoria wrote to Derby reprimanding him for
1380-717: A brief ministry led by Russell, Derby returned to power. In 1866, Victoria attended the State Opening of Parliament for the first time since Albert's death. The following year she supported the passing of the Reform Act 1867 which doubled the electorate by extending the franchise to many urban working men, though she was not in favour of votes for women. Derby resigned in 1868, to be replaced by Benjamin Disraeli , who charmed Victoria. "Everyone likes flattery," he said, "and when you come to royalty you should lay it on with
1518-459: A candidate studied the law and institutions of India, including criminal law and the law of evidence , which together gave knowledge of the revenue system, as well as reading Indian history and learning the language of the province to which they had been assigned. The Early Nationalists, also known as the Moderates, worked for implementation of various social reforms such as the appointment of
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#17327801459441656-730: A chief commissioner: At the time of independence in 1947, British India had 17 provinces: Upon the Partition of India into the Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan , eleven provinces (Ajmer-Merwara-Kekri, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Bombay, Central Provinces and Berar, Coorg, Delhi, Madras, Panth-Piploda, Orissa, and the United Provinces) joined India, three (Baluchistan, North-West Frontier and Sindh) joined Pakistan, and three ( Punjab , Bengal and Assam ) were partitioned between India and Pakistan. In 1950, after
1794-457: A crisis involving the repeal of the Corn Laws . Many Tories—by then known also as Conservatives —were opposed to the repeal, but Peel, some Tories (the free-trade oriented liberal conservative " Peelites "), most Whigs and Victoria supported it. Peel resigned in 1846, after the repeal narrowly passed, and was replaced by Lord John Russell . Internationally, Victoria took a keen interest in
1932-419: A dress uniform by regulations were those who had distinct duties of a political kind to perform, and who are thereby brought into frequent and direct personal contact with native princes. This uniform included a blue coat with gold embroidery, a black velvet lining, collar and cuffs, blue cloth trousers with gold and lace two inches wide, a beaver cocked hat with black silk cockade and ostrich feathers , and
2070-486: A family, he eventually renounced his British citizenship in 1958 and became an Indian citizen with the personal intervention of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru , himself a former barrister who regarded Broome as a distinguished jurist and as "much as Indian as anybody can be who is not born in India". Upon his retirement on 18 March 1972 from the Allahabad High Court as its most senior puisne judge , Broome
2208-708: A formal engagement, but assumed that the match would take place in due time. Victoria turned 18 on 24 May 1837, and a regency was avoided. Less than a month later, on 20 June 1837, William IV died at the age of 71, and Victoria became Queen of the United Kingdom. In her diary she wrote, "I was awoke at 6 o'clock by Mamma, who told me the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham were here and wished to see me. I got out of bed and went into my sitting-room (only in my dressing gown) and alone , and saw them. Lord Conyngham then acquainted me that my poor Uncle,
2346-481: A grand service of thanksgiving in St Paul's Cathedral on 27 February 1872, and republican feeling subsided. On the last day of February 1872, two days after the thanksgiving service, 17-year-old Arthur O'Connor, a great-nephew of Irish MP Feargus O'Connor , waved an unloaded pistol at Victoria's open carriage just after she had arrived at Buckingham Palace. Brown, who was attending the Queen, grabbed him and O'Connor
2484-432: A legislative power existed in such places. The same two kinds of management applied for districts. Thus Ganjam and Vizagapatam were non-regulation districts. Non-regulation provinces included: At the turn of the 20th century, British India consisted of eight provinces that were administered either by a governor or a lieutenant-governor. The following table lists their areas and populations (but does not include those of
2622-506: A member of the British cabinet. At first almost all the top thousand members of the ICS, known as "Civilians", were British, and had been educated in the best British schools. At the time of the partition of India in 1947, the outgoing Government of India's ICS was divided between India and Pakistan . Although these are now organised differently, the contemporary Civil Services of India ,
2760-402: A memorial tablet "placed by his grateful Sovereign and Friend, Victoria R.I." On 2 March 1882, Roderick Maclean , a disgruntled poet apparently offended by Victoria's refusal to accept one of his poems, shot at the Queen as her carriage left Windsor railway station . Gordon Chesney Wilson and another schoolboy from Eton College struck him with their umbrellas, until he was hustled away by
2898-475: A month after Leopold's birth Albert complained in a letter to Victoria about her "continuance of hysterics" over a "miserable trifle". In early 1855, the government of Lord Aberdeen , who had replaced Derby, fell amidst recriminations over the poor management of British troops in the Crimean War . Victoria approached both Derby and Russell to form a ministry, but neither had sufficient support, and Victoria
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#17327801459443036-432: A pistol at the Queen, but it was loaded only with paper and tobacco and had too little charge. Edward Oxford felt that the attempts were encouraged by his acquittal in 1840. Bean was sentenced to 18 months in jail. In a similar attack in 1849, unemployed Irishman William Hamilton fired a powder-filled pistol at Victoria's carriage as it passed along Constitution Hill, London . In 1850, the Queen did sustain injury when she
3174-450: A policeman. Victoria was outraged when he was found not guilty by reason of insanity, but was so pleased by the many expressions of loyalty after the attack that she said it was "worth being shot at—to see how much one is loved". On 17 March 1883, Victoria fell down some stairs at Windsor, which left her lame until July; she never fully recovered and was plagued with rheumatism thereafter. John Brown died 10 days after her accident, and to
3312-473: A private estate on the Isle of Wight that they had purchased in 1845 and redeveloped. Demonstrations by Chartists and Irish nationalists failed to attract widespread support, and the scare died down without any major disturbances. Victoria's first visit to Ireland in 1849 was a public relations success, but it had no lasting impact or effect on the growth of Irish nationalism. Russell's ministry, though Whig,
3450-577: A procession and attended a thanksgiving service in Westminster Abbey . By this time, Victoria was once again extremely popular. Two days later on 23 June, she engaged two Indian Muslims as waiters, one of whom was Abdul Karim . He was soon promoted to " Munshi ": teaching her Urdu and acting as a clerk. Her family and retainers were appalled, and accused Abdul Karim of spying for the Muslim Patriotic League, and biasing
3588-642: A quarter of the population of the British Raj and two fifths of its land area, with the provinces comprising the remainders. In 1608, the Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar issued a royal farman to the East India Company to establish a small trading settlement at Surat (now in the state of Gujarat ), and this became the company's first headquarters town. It was followed in 1611 by a permanent factory at Machilipatnam on
3726-420: A relatively balanced view of the conflict, and condemned atrocities on both sides. She wrote of "her feelings of horror and regret at the result of this bloody civil war", and insisted, urged on by Albert, that an official proclamation announcing the transfer of power from the company to the state "should breathe feelings of generosity, benevolence and religious toleration". At her behest, a reference threatening
3864-429: A responsible government is to be established in India, there will be a far greater need than is even dreamt of at present for persons to take part in public affairs in the legislative assemblies and elsewhere and for this reason the more Indians we can employ in the public service the better. Moreover, it would lessen the burden of Imperial responsibilities if a body of capable Indian administrators could be produced.. With
4002-496: A result of her seclusion, British republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond jubilees were times of public celebration. Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight , at the age of 81. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover , she was succeeded by her son Edward VII of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . Victoria's father
4140-505: A service". As Prime Minister, Nehru retained the organisation and its top people, albeit with a change of title to the "Indian Administrative Service". It continued its main roles. Nehru appointed long-time ICS officials Chintaman Deshmukh as his Finance Minister, and K. P. S. Menon as his Foreign Secretary. Sardar Patel appreciated their role in keeping India united after partition, and noted in Parliament that without them,
4278-484: A small part of Burma, and by 1886, almost two thirds of Burma had been made part of British India. This arrangement lasted until 1937, when Burma was reorganized as a separate British colony. British India did not apply to other countries in the region, such as Sri Lanka (then Ceylon ), which was a British Crown colony , or the Maldive Islands , which were a British protectorate . At its greatest extent, in
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4416-539: A sword. The civil services were divided into two categories – covenanted and uncovenanted. The covenanted civil service consisted of British civil servants occupying the higher posts in the government. The uncovenanted civil service was introduced to facilitate the entry of Indians at the lower rung of the administration. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , pay scales were drawn up. Assistant Commissioners started out in their early twenties on around £300
4554-597: A teenager, Victoria resisted persistent attempts by her mother and Conroy to appoint him to her staff. Once queen, she banned him from her presence, but he remained in her mother's household. By 1836, Victoria's maternal uncle Leopold, who had been King of the Belgians since 1831, hoped to marry her to Prince Albert , the son of his brother Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . Leopold arranged for Victoria's mother to invite her Coburg relatives to visit her in May 1836, with
4692-499: A trowel." With the phrase "we authors, Ma'am", he complimented her. Disraeli's ministry only lasted a matter of months, and at the end of the year his Liberal rival, William Ewart Gladstone , was appointed prime minister. Victoria found Gladstone's demeanour far less appealing; he spoke to her, she is thought to have complained, as though she were "a public meeting rather than a woman". In 1870 republican sentiment in Britain, fed by
4830-679: A year later, the Princess gave birth to the Queen's first grandchild, Wilhelm , who would become the last German emperor. In March 1861, Victoria's mother died, with Victoria at her side. Through reading her mother's papers, Victoria discovered that her mother had loved her deeply; she was heart-broken, and blamed Conroy and Lehzen for "wickedly" estranging her from her mother. To relieve his wife during her intense and deep grief, Albert took on most of her duties, despite being ill himself with chronic stomach trouble. In August, Victoria and Albert visited their son, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales , who
4968-399: A year. The governorship of a British province was the highest post an ICS officer could aspire to. The governors at the top of the pyramid got £6,000 a year plus allowances. All ICS officers retired on the same pension of £1,000. This sum was paid as an annuity each year after retirement. Widows of deceased officers were entitled to £300 a year, leading to a popular saying that an ICS marriage
5106-713: Is the institution which built up the British Raj – the British Civil Service of India. Dewey has commented that "in their heyday they [Indian Civil Service officers] were mostly run by Englishmen with a few notable sons of Hindus and even a fewer Muslims were the most powerful officials in the Empire, if not the world. A tiny cadre, a little over a thousand strong, ruled more than 300 million Indians. Each Civilian had an average 300,000 subjects, and each Civilian penetrated every corner of his subjects' lives, because
5244-671: The Battle of Buxar , the Company obtained the Diwani of Bengal, which included the right to administer and collect land-revenue (land tax) in Bengal , the region of present-day Bangladesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar beginning from 1772 as per the treaty signed in 1765. By 1773, the Company obtained the Nizāmat of Bengal (the "exercise of criminal jurisdiction") and thereby full sovereignty of
5382-599: The Bengal Presidency established in 1765—and the abolition of local rule (Nizamat) in Bengal in 1793, the company gradually began to formally expand its territories across India . By the mid-19th century, and after the three Anglo-Maratha Wars and the four Anglo-Mysore Wars , the East India Company had become the paramount political and military power in south Asia, its territory held in trust for
5520-690: The British Crown . Company rule in Bengal (after 1793) was terminated by the Government of India Act 1858 , following the events of the Bengal Rebellion of 1857 . Henceforth known as British India, it was thereafter directly ruled as a colonial possession of the United Kingdom , and India was officially known after 1876 as the Indian Empire . India was divided into British India, regions that were directly administered by
5658-658: The British Relief Association , more than any other individual famine relief donor, and supported the Maynooth Grant to a Roman Catholic seminary in Ireland, despite Protestant opposition. The story that she donated only £5 in aid to the Irish, and on the same day gave the same amount to Battersea Dogs Home , was a myth generated towards the end of the 19th century. By 1846, Peel's ministry faced
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5796-649: The Central Superior Services of Pakistan , Bangladesh Civil Service and Myanmar Civil Service are all descended from the old Indian Civil Service. Historians often rate the ICS, together with the railway system, the legal system, and the Indian Army , as among the most important legacies of British rule in India. From 1858, after the demise of the East India Company 's rule in India, the British civil service took on its administrative responsibilities. The change in governance came about due to
5934-597: The Coromandel Coast , and in 1612 the company joined other already established European trading companies in Bengal in trade. However, the power of the Mughal Empire declined from 1707, first at the hands of the Marathas and later due to invasion from Persia (1739) and Afghanistan (1761); after the East India Company's victories at the Battle of Plassey (1757), and Battle of Buxar (1764)—both within
6072-555: The Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520. When Louis Philippe made a reciprocal trip in 1844, he became the first French king to visit a British sovereign. Louis Philippe was deposed in the revolutions of 1848 , and fled to exile in England. At the height of a revolutionary scare in the United Kingdom in April 1848, Victoria and her family left London for the greater safety of Osborne House ,
6210-543: The Great Exhibition ) and Napoleon I 's tomb at Les Invalides (to which his remains had only been returned in 1840), and were guests of honour at a 1,200-guest ball at the Palace of Versailles . This marked the first time that a reigning British monarch had been to Paris in over 400 years. On 14 January 1858, an Italian refugee from Britain called Felice Orsini attempted to assassinate Napoleon III with
6348-506: The Indian Rebellion of 1857 , which came close to toppling British rule in the country. Up to 1853, the Directors of the East India Company made appointments of covenanted civil servants by nominations. This nomination system was abolished by the British Parliament in 1853 and it was decided that appointments would be through competitive examinations of all British subjects , without distinction of race. The examination for admission to
6486-479: The Pakistan Board of Investment in 1994. The last living British ex-ICS officer, Ian Dixon Scott (ICS 1932), died in 2002. V. K. Rao (ICS 1937), the last living ICS officer to have joined the service in a regular pre-war intake, died in 2018. He was a retired Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh and was the oldest former ICS officer on record at the time of his death. V.M.M. Nair (ICS 1942) transferred to
6624-465: The abolition of slavery . The Queen commissioned a Tory, Robert Peel , to form a new ministry. At the time, it was customary for the prime minister to appoint members of the Royal Household , who were usually his political allies and their spouses. Many of the Queen's ladies of the bedchamber were wives of Whigs, and Peel expected to replace them with wives of Tories. In what became known as
6762-661: The presbyterian Church of Scotland than the episcopal Church of England . Disraeli also pushed the Royal Titles Act 1876 through Parliament, so that Victoria took the title "Empress of India" from 1 May 1876. The new title was proclaimed at the Delhi Durbar of 1 January 1877. On 14 December 1878, the anniversary of Albert's death, Victoria's second daughter Alice, who had married Louis of Hesse , died of diphtheria in Darmstadt . Victoria noted
6900-543: The " bedchamber crisis ", Victoria, advised by Melbourne, objected to their removal. Peel refused to govern under the restrictions imposed by the Queen, and consequently resigned his commission, allowing Melbourne to return to office. Though Victoria was now queen, as an unmarried young woman she was required by social convention to live with her mother, despite their differences over the Kensington System and her mother's continued reliance on Conroy. The Duchess
7038-568: The "judicial side" of the ICS. The last British former ICS officer from the "judicial side" still serving in the subcontinent, Justice Donald Falshaw (ICS 1928), retired as Chief Justice of the Punjab High Court (now the Punjab and Haryana High Court ) in May 1966, receiving a knighthood in the British 1967 New Year Honours upon his return to Britain. J. P. L. Gwynn (ICS 1939), the last former ICS officer holding British nationality and
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#17327801459447176-552: The "undermining of native religions and customs" was replaced by a passage guaranteeing religious freedom. In the 1874 general election , Disraeli was returned to power. He passed the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 , which removed Catholic rituals from the Anglican liturgy and which Victoria strongly supported. She preferred short, simple services, and personally considered herself more aligned with
7314-485: The British Empire as civilising and benign, protecting native peoples from more aggressive powers or cruel rulers: "It is not in our custom to annexe countries", she said, "unless we are obliged & forced to do so." To Victoria's dismay, Disraeli lost the 1880 general election , and Gladstone returned as prime minister. When Disraeli died the following year, she was blinded by "fast falling tears", and erected
7452-406: The British, with acts established and passed in the British parliament, and the princely states , ruled by local rulers of different ethnic backgrounds. These rulers were allowed a measure of internal autonomy in exchange for recognition of British suzerainty . British India constituted a significant portion of India both in area and population; in 1910, for example, it covered approximately 54% of
7590-780: The Company should have received the best, the most finished education that the native country affords (the Report insisted that the civil servants of the Company should have taken the first degree in arts at Oxford or Cambridge Universities). The competitive examination for entry to the civil service was combined for the Diplomatic, the Home , the Indian, and the Colonial Services . Candidates had to be aged between 18 and 23 to take
7728-459: The Duchess and her ambitious and domineering comptroller , Sir John Conroy , who was rumoured to be the Duchess's lover. The system prevented the princess from meeting people whom her mother and Conroy deemed undesirable (including most of her father's family), and was designed to render her weak and dependent upon them. The Duchess avoided the court because she was scandalised by the presence of King William's illegitimate children. Victoria shared
7866-514: The Duke of Kent married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld , a widowed German princess with two children— Carl (1804–1856) and Feodora (1807–1872)—by her first marriage to Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen . Her brother Leopold was Princess Charlotte's widower and later the first king of Belgium . The Duke and Duchess of Kent's only child, Victoria was born at 4:15 a.m. on Monday 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria
8004-598: The Hanoverian succession. While Victoria inherited the British throne, her father's unpopular younger brother, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland , became King of Hanover . He was Victoria's heir presumptive until she had a child. At the time of Victoria's accession, the government was led by the Whig prime minister Lord Melbourne . He at once became a powerful influence on the politically inexperienced monarch, who relied on him for advice. Charles Greville supposed that
8142-464: The ICS. The examinations in London were suspended after that year's batch (12 British and eight Indian examinees) had qualified. In 1940 and 1941, 12 and four British candidates, respectively, were nominated to the ICS; the following year, the final London-nominated ICS candidates, both of whom were Indian, entered the service. Examinations continued to be held in Delhi for Indian candidates until 1943, when
8280-603: The Indian Civil Service directed all the activities of the Anglo-Indian state." The ICS had responsibility for maintaining law and order, and often were at loggerheads with the independence activists during the Indian independence movement . Jawaharlal Nehru often ridiculed the ICS for its support of British policies. He noted that someone had once defined the Indian Civil Service, "with which we are unfortunately still afflicted in this country, as neither Indian, nor civil, nor
8418-582: The Indian Political Service in 1946 and then to the Indian Foreign Service after independence, retiring in 1977 as Ambassador to Spain. At his death in 2021, he was the last surviving former Indian Civil Service officer. If you take that steel frame out of the fabric, it would collapse. There is one institution we will not cripple, there is one institution we will not deprive of its functions or of its privileges; and that
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#17327801459448556-405: The King, was no more, and had expired at 12 minutes past 2 this morning, and consequently that I am Queen ." Official documents prepared on the first day of her reign described her as Alexandrina Victoria, but the first name was withdrawn at her own wish and not used again. Since 1714, Britain had shared a monarch with Hanover in Germany, but under Salic law , women were excluded from
8694-439: The Lee Commission, chaired by Arthur Lee, 1st Viscount Lee of Fareham (which eventually led to the foundation of the Federal Public Service Commission and Provincial Public Service Commission under the Government of India Act 1935 ) made several recommendations: ICS officers should receive increased and more comprehensive levels of compensation, future batches of ICS officers should be composed of 40% Europeans and 40% Indians with
8832-440: The Madras Presidency (or the Presidency of Fort St. George), the Bombay Presidency, and the Bengal Presidency (or the Presidency of Fort William)—each administered by a governor. After Robert Clive 's victory in the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the puppet government of a new Nawab of Bengal , was maintained by the East India Company. However, after the invasion of Bengal by the Nawab of Oudh in 1764 and his subsequent defeat in
8970-444: The Provincial Civil Service and lastly, appointments from the bar (one-fourth of the posts in the ICS were to be filled from the bar). Queen Victoria had suggested that the civil servants in India should have an official dress uniform , as did their counterparts in the Colonial Service . However, the Council of India decided that prescribing a dress uniform would be an undue expense for their officials. The only civilians allowed
9108-502: The Queen against the Hindus. Equerry Frederick Ponsonby (the son of Sir Henry) discovered that the Munshi had lied about his parentage, and reported to Lord Elgin , Viceroy of India , "the Munshi occupies very much the same position as John Brown used to do." Victoria dismissed their complaints as racial prejudice. Abdul Karim remained in her service until he returned to India with a pension, on her death. Victoria's eldest daughter became empress consort of Germany in 1888, but she
9246-420: The Queen as "Mrs. Brown". The story of their relationship was the subject of the 1997 movie Mrs. Brown . A painting by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer depicting the Queen with Brown was exhibited at the Royal Academy , and Victoria published a book, Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands , which featured Brown prominently and in which the Queen praised him highly. Palmerston died in 1865, and after
9384-508: The Queen in the spreading of false rumours about Lady Flora. When Lady Flora died in July, the post-mortem revealed a large tumour on her liver that had distended her abdomen. At public appearances, Victoria was hissed and jeered as "Mrs. Melbourne". In 1839, Melbourne resigned after Radicals and Tories (both of whom Victoria detested) voted against a bill to suspend the constitution of Jamaica . The bill removed political power from plantation owners who were resisting measures associated with
9522-707: The Queen proposed to him on 15 October 1839, just five days after he had arrived at Windsor . They were married on 10 February 1840, in the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace , London. Victoria was love-struck. She spent the evening after their wedding lying down with a headache, but wrote ecstatically in her diary: I NEVER, NEVER spent such an evening!!! MY DEAREST DEAREST DEAR Albert ... his excessive love & affection gave me feelings of heavenly love & happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before! He clasped me in his arms, & we kissed each other again & again! His beauty, his sweetness & gentleness—really how can I ever be thankful enough to have such
9660-407: The Queen's seclusion, was boosted after the establishment of the Third French Republic . A republican rally in Trafalgar Square demanded Victoria's removal, and Radical MPs spoke against her. In August and September 1871, she was seriously ill with an abscess in her arm, which Joseph Lister successfully lanced and treated with his new antiseptic carbolic acid spray. In late November 1871, at
9798-435: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days—which was longer than those of any of her predecessors —constituted the Victorian era . It was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom , and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire . In 1876, the British Parliament voted to grant her
9936-482: The additional title of Empress of India . Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III ), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld . After the deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller , John Conroy . She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue. Victoria,
10074-539: The aid of the new anaesthetic, chloroform . She was so impressed by the relief it gave from the pain of childbirth that she used it again in 1857 at the birth of her ninth and final child, Beatrice, despite opposition from members of the clergy, who considered it against biblical teaching, and members of the medical profession, who thought it dangerous. Victoria may have had postnatal depression after many of her pregnancies. Letters from Albert to Victoria intermittently complain of her loss of self-control. For example, about
10212-466: The area and included over 77% of the population. In addition, there were Portuguese and French exclaves in India. Independence from British rule was achieved in 1947 with the formation of two nations, the Dominions of India and Pakistan , the latter including East Bengal , present-day Bangladesh . The term British India also applied to Burma for a shorter time period: beginning in 1824,
10350-523: The coincidence of the dates as "almost incredible and most mysterious". In May 1879, she became a great-grandmother (on the birth of Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen ) and passed her "poor old 60th birthday". She felt "aged" by "the loss of my beloved child". Between April 1877 and February 1878, she threatened five times to abdicate while pressuring Disraeli to act against Russia during the Russo-Turkish War , but her threats had no impact on
10488-422: The company established its first factory at Hoogly in 1640. Almost a half-century later, after Mughal Emperor Aurengzeb forced the company out of Hooghly for its tax evasion, Job Charnock was tenant of three small villages, later renamed Calcutta , in 1686, making it the company's new headquarters. By the mid-18th century, the three principal trading settlements including factories and forts, were then called
10626-408: The consternation of her private secretary, Sir Henry Ponsonby , Victoria began work on a eulogistic biography of Brown. Ponsonby and Randall Davidson , Dean of Windsor , who had both seen early drafts, advised Victoria against publication, on the grounds that it would stoke the rumours of a love affair. The manuscript was destroyed. In early 1884, Victoria did publish More Leaves from a Journal of
10764-411: The control of Secretary of State for India, and three central departments under joint Provincial and Imperial Control. The finances of India under British rule depended largely on land taxes, and these became problematic in the 1930s. Epstein argues that after 1919 it became harder and harder to collect the land revenue. The suppression of civil disobedience by the British after 1934 temporarily increased
10902-484: The country would have collapsed. Presidencies and provinces of British India The provinces of India , earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns , were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent . Collectively, they have been called British India . In one form or another, they existed between 1612 and 1947, conventionally divided into three historical periods: "British India" did not include
11040-512: The death of Victoria's aunt Princess Augusta in 1840, the Duchess was given both Clarence House and Frogmore House . Through Albert's mediation, relations between mother and daughter slowly improved. During Victoria's first pregnancy in 1840, in the first few months of the marriage, 18-year-old Edward Oxford attempted to assassinate her while she was riding in a carriage with Prince Albert on her way to visit her mother. Oxford fired twice, but either both bullets missed or, as he later claimed,
11178-419: The decreased levels of compensation compared to other careers, and confronted with numerous vacancies, the government resorted to direct appointments; between 1915 and 1924, 80% of new British ICS appointees entered the service in this way. During the same period, 44% of new appointments to the ICS were filled by Indians. In 1922, Indian candidates were permitted to sit for the ICS examinations in Delhi; in 1924,
11316-560: The defeat of Tipu Sultan in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War more of his territory was annexed to the Madras Presidency. In 1801, Carnatic , which had been under the suzerainty of the company, began to be directly administered by it as a part of the Madras Presidency. By 1851, the East India Company's vast and growing holdings across the sub-continent were still grouped into just four main territories: By
11454-438: The dependent native states): During the partition of Bengal (1905–1912), a new lieutenant-governor's province of Eastern Bengal and Assam existed. In 1912, the partition was partially reversed, with the eastern and western halves of Bengal re-united and the province of Assam re-established; a new lieutenant-governor's province of Bihar and Orissa was also created. In addition, there were a few provinces that were administered by
11592-639: The early 20th century, the territory of British India extended as far as the frontiers of Persia in the west; Afghanistan in the northwest; Nepal in the north, Tibet in the northeast; and China, French Indochina and Siam in the east. It also included the Aden Province in the Arabian Peninsula . The East India Company , which was incorporated on 31 December 1600, established trade relations with Indian rulers in Masulipatam on
11730-698: The east coast in 1611 and Surat on the west coast in 1612. The company rented a small trading outpost in Madras in 1639. Bombay, which was ceded to the British Crown by Portugal as part of the wedding dowry of Catherine of Braganza in 1661, was in turn granted to the East India Company to be held in trust for the Crown. Meanwhile, in eastern India , after obtaining permission from the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to trade with Bengal,
11868-605: The events or their conclusion with the Congress of Berlin . Disraeli's expansionist foreign policy, which Victoria endorsed, led to conflicts such as the Anglo-Zulu War and the Second Anglo-Afghan War . "If we are to maintain our position as a first-rate Power", she wrote, "we must ... be Prepared for attacks and wars , somewhere or other , CONTINUALLY." Victoria saw the expansion of
12006-557: The exam. The total marks possible in the examination were 1,900 and one could get up to three opportunities to enter. Successful candidates underwent one or two years of probation in the United Kingdom , according to whether they had taken the London or the Indian examination. This period was spent at the University of Oxford ( Indian Institute ), the University of Cambridge , colleges in the University of London (including School of Oriental Studies ) or Trinity College Dublin , where
12144-817: The expanded Bengal Presidency . During the period, 1773 to 1785, very little changed; the only exceptions were the addition of the dominions of the Raja of Banares to the western boundary of the Bengal Presidency, and the addition of Salsette Island to the Bombay Presidency . Portions of the Kingdom of Mysore were annexed to the Madras Presidency after the Third Anglo-Mysore War ended in 1792. Next, in 1799, after
12282-522: The expansion of the Indian independence movement from the late 1920s resulted in a hardening of Indian attitudes against European officers, and furthered distrust of Indian ICS appointments amongst Indians. This resulted in a declining recruitment base in terms of quality and quantity. The All India and class 1 Central Services were designated as Central Superior Services as early as 1924. From 1924 to 1934, Administration in India consisted of "ten" All India Services and five central departments, all under
12420-424: The following day, Victoria drove the same route, though faster and with a greater escort, in a deliberate attempt to bait Francis into taking a second aim and catch him in the act. As expected, Francis shot at her, but he was seized by plainclothes policemen, and convicted of high treason. On 3 July, two days after Francis's death sentence was commuted to transportation for life , John William Bean also tried to fire
12558-418: The following seventeen years, she and Albert had a further eight children: Albert Edward , Alice , Alfred , Helena , Louise , Arthur , Leopold and Beatrice . The household was largely run by Victoria's childhood governess, Baroness Louise Lehzen from Hanover . Lehzen had been a formative influence on Victoria and had supported her against the Kensington System. Albert, however, thought that Lehzen
12696-646: The guns had no shot. He was tried for high treason , found not guilty by reason of insanity , committed to an insane asylum indefinitely, and later sent to live in Australia. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Victoria's popularity soared, mitigating residual discontent over the Hastings affair and the bedchamber crisis . Her daughter, also named Victoria , was born on 21 November 1840. The Queen hated being pregnant, viewed breast-feeding with disgust, and thought newborn babies were ugly. Nevertheless, over
12834-467: The height of the republican movement, the Prince of Wales contracted typhoid fever, the disease that was believed to have killed his father, and Victoria was fearful her son would die. As the tenth anniversary of her husband's death approached, her son's condition grew no better, and Victoria's distress continued. To general rejoicing, he recovered. Mother and son attended a public parade through London and
12972-559: The improvement of relations between France and Britain. She made and hosted several visits between the British royal family and the House of Orleans , who were related by marriage through the Coburgs. In 1843 and 1845, she and Albert stayed with King Louis Philippe I at Château d'Eu in Normandy; she was the first British or English monarch to visit a French monarch since the meeting of Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France on
13110-540: The ladies of the bedchamber most associated with the Whigs were replaced. In 1845, Ireland was hit by a potato blight . In the next four years, over a million Irish people died and another million emigrated in what became known as the Great Famine . In Ireland, Victoria was labelled "The Famine Queen". In January 1847 she personally donated £2,000 (equivalent to between £230,000 and £8.5 million in 2022) to
13248-473: The last seven ICS officers (seven examinees, two nominated) joined. By this time, the British government felt it could no longer rely unambiguously on the complete loyalty of its Indian officers. During the period of the Interim Government of India (1946–1947), a few British candidates were given emergency appointments in the ICS, though ultimately none of them ever served in India. At the time of
13386-604: The last to serve in an executive capacity under the Indian government, ended his Indian service in 1968 as Second Member of the Board of Revenue, but continued to serve in the British Home Civil Service until his final retirement in 1976. Justice William Broome (ICS 1932), a district and sessions judge at the time of independence in 1947, remained in Indian government service as a judge. Having married an Indian, Swarup Kumari Gaur, in 1937, with whom he raised
13524-521: The late occupant's declining business". Her uncle Leopold wrote to her advising her to appear in public. She agreed to visit the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society at Kensington and take a drive through London in an open carriage. Through the 1860s, Victoria relied increasingly on a manservant from Scotland, John Brown . Rumours of a romantic connection and even a secret marriage appeared in print, and some referred to
13662-417: The many princely states which continued to be ruled by Indian princes, though by the 19th century under British suzerainty —their defence, foreign relations, and communications relinquished to British authority and their internal rule closely monitored. At the time of Indian Independence, in 1947 , there were officially 565 princely states, a few being very large although most were very small. They comprised
13800-570: The nascent states. Despite offers from the new Indian and Pakistani governments, virtually all of the European former ICS officers left following partition, with the majority of those who did not opt for retirement continuing their careers either in the British Home Civil Service or in another British colonial civil service. A few British ex-ICS officers stayed on over the ensuing quarter-century, notably those who had selected
13938-400: The new Indian constitution was adopted, the provinces in India were replaced by redrawn states and union territories. Pakistan, however, retained its five provinces, one of which, East Bengal , was renamed East Pakistan in 1956 and became the independent nation of Bangladesh in 1971. Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of
14076-783: The partition of India and departure of the British, in 1947, the Indian Civil Service was divided between the new Dominions of India and Pakistan . The part which went to India was named the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), while the part that went to Pakistan was named the " Civil Service of Pakistan " (CSP). In 1947, there were 980 ICS officers. 468 were Europeans, 352 Hindus, 101 Muslims, two depressed classes/Scheduled Castes, five domiciled Europeans and Anglo-Indians, 25 Indian Christians, 13 Parsis, 10 Sikhs and four other communities. Many Hindus and Muslims went to India and Pakistan respectively. This sudden loss of officer cadre caused major challenges in administering
14214-564: The passing of the Government of India Act 1919 , the Imperial Services headed by the Secretary of State for India , were split into two – All India Services and Central Services . Before the First World War, 95% of ICS officers were Europeans; after the war, the British government faced growing difficulties in recruiting British candidates to the service. With fewer young British men interested in joining, mainly due to
14352-632: The poor state of the Royal Navy in comparison to the French Navy . Derby's ministry did not last long, and in June 1859 Victoria recalled Palmerston to office. Eleven days after Orsini's assassination attempt in France, Victoria's eldest daughter married Prince Frederick William of Prussia in London. They had been betrothed since September 1855, when Princess Victoria was 14 years old; the marriage
14490-603: The power of the revenue agents, but after 1937 they were forced by the new Congress-controlled provincial governments to hand back confiscated land. The outbreak of the Second World War strengthened them again, but in the face of the Quit India movement the revenue collectors had to rely on military force, and by 1946–47 direct British control was rapidly disappearing in much of the countryside. The outbreak of war in 1939 had immediate consequences for recruitment to
14628-505: The prospect of great happiness you have contributed to give me, in the person of dear Albert ... He possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy. He is so sensible, so kind, and so good, and so amiable too. He has besides the most pleasing and delightful exterior and appearance you can possibly see." However at 17, Victoria, though interested in Albert, was not yet ready to marry. The parties did not undertake
14766-555: The public diminished the popularity of the monarchy, and encouraged the growth of the republican movement. She did undertake her official government duties, yet chose to remain secluded in her royal residences— Windsor Castle , Osborne House, and the private estate in Scotland that she and Albert had acquired in 1847, Balmoral Castle . In March 1864, a protester stuck a notice on the railings of Buckingham Palace that announced "these commanding premises to be let or sold in consequence of
14904-469: The purpose of introducing Victoria to Albert. William IV, however, disapproved of any match with the Coburgs, and instead favoured the suit of Prince Alexander of the Netherlands , second son of the Prince of Orange . Victoria was aware of the various matrimonial plans and critically appraised a parade of eligible princes. According to her diary, she enjoyed Albert's company from the beginning. After
15042-602: The remaining 20% of appointments to be filled by direct promotion of Indians from the Provincial Civil Services (PCS), and the examinations in Delhi and London were to produce an equal number of ICS probationers. In addition, under-representation of candidates from Indian minority groups (Muslims, Burmese and so on) would be corrected by direct appointments of qualified candidates from those groups, while British candidates would continue to have priority over Indians for ICS appointments. While initially successful,
15180-459: The rumours. She hated Conroy, and despised "that odious Lady Flora", because she had conspired with Conroy and the Duchess in the Kensington System. At first, Lady Flora refused to submit to an intimate medical examination, until in mid-February she eventually acquiesced, and was found to be a virgin. Conroy, the Hastings family, and the opposition Tories organised a press campaign implicating
15318-451: The service was first held only in London in the month of August of each year. All candidate were required to pass a compulsory horse-riding test. An appointment to the civil service of the Company will not be a matter of favour but a matter of right. He who obtains such an appointment will owe it solely to his own abilities and industry. It is undoubtedly desirable that the civil servants of
15456-434: The time of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , and the end of Company rule, the developments could be summarised as follows: The British Raj began with the idea of the presidencies as the centres of government. Until 1834, when a General Legislative Council was formed, each presidency under its governor and council was empowered to enact a code of so-called 'regulations' for its government. Therefore, any territory or province that
15594-501: The two eldest brothers were unlikely to have any further legitimate children. William married in 1818, in a joint ceremony with his brother Edward, but both of William's legitimate daughters died as infants. The first of these was Princess Charlotte, who was born and died on 27 March 1819, two months before Victoria was born. Victoria's father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old. A week later her grandfather died and
15732-440: The visit she wrote, "[Albert] is extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful." Alexander, on the other hand, she described as "very plain". Victoria wrote to King Leopold, whom she considered her "best and kindest adviser", to thank him "for
15870-492: The way. Similar journeys to other parts of England and Wales were taken in 1832, 1833, 1834 and 1835. To the King's annoyance, Victoria was enthusiastically welcomed in each of the stops. William compared the journeys to royal progresses and was concerned that they portrayed Victoria as his rival rather than his heir presumptive. Victoria disliked the trips; the constant round of public appearances made her tired and ill, and there
16008-446: The wedding of Victoria's granddaughter Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine to Henry's brother Prince Louis of Battenberg . Beatrice and Henry planned to marry, but Victoria opposed the match at first, wishing to keep Beatrice at home to act as her companion. After a year, she was won around to the marriage by their promise to remain living with and attending her. Victoria was pleased when Gladstone resigned in 1885 after his budget
16146-464: The widowed and childless Melbourne was "passionately fond of her as he might be of his daughter if he had one", and Victoria probably saw him as a father figure. Her coronation took place on 28 June 1838 at Westminster Abbey . Over 400,000 visitors came to London for the celebrations. She became the first sovereign to take up residence at Buckingham Palace and inherited the revenues of the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall as well as being granted
16284-459: Was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn , the fourth son of King George III and Queen Charlotte . Until 1817, King George's only legitimate grandchild was Edward's niece Princess Charlotte of Wales , the daughter of George, Prince Regent (who would become George IV). Princess Charlotte's death in 1817 precipitated a succession crisis that brought pressure on Prince Edward and his unmarried brothers to marry and have children. In 1818,
16422-498: Was a maximum service period of thirty-five years. ICS officers served as political officers in the Indian Political Department and also were given fifty percent of the judgeships in the state high court (the rest were generally elevated from the high court bar). The tenure of ICS officers serving as judges of the high court and Supreme Court was determined by the retirement age fixed for judges. Source: If
16560-482: Was added by conquest or treaty to a presidency came under the existing regulations of the corresponding presidency. However, in the case of provinces that were acquired but were not annexed to any of the three presidencies, their official staff could be provided as the governor-general pleased, and was not governed by the existing regulations of the Bengal, Madras, or Bombay presidencies. Such provinces became known as 'non-regulation provinces' and up to 1833 no provision for
16698-497: Was assaulted by a possibly insane ex-army officer, Robert Pate . As Victoria was riding in a carriage, Pate struck her with his cane, crushing her bonnet and bruising her forehead. Both Hamilton and Pate were sentenced to seven years' transportation. Melbourne's support in the House of Commons weakened through the early years of Victoria's reign, and in the 1841 general election the Whigs were defeated. Peel became prime minister, and
16836-481: Was attending army manoeuvres near Dublin, and spent a few days holidaying in Killarney . In November, Albert was made aware of gossip that his son had slept with an actress in Ireland. Appalled, he travelled to Cambridge, where his son was studying, to confront him. By the beginning of December, Albert was very unwell. He was diagnosed with typhoid fever by William Jenner , and died on 14 December 1861. Victoria
16974-556: Was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury , Charles Manners-Sutton , on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace. She was baptised Alexandrina after one of her godparents, Tsar Alexander I of Russia , and Victoria , after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina (or Georgiana), Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Prince Regent. At birth, Victoria
17112-729: Was consigned to a remote apartment in Buckingham Palace, and Victoria often refused to see her. When Victoria complained to Melbourne that her mother's proximity promised "torment for many years", Melbourne sympathised but said it could be avoided by marriage, which Victoria called a "schocking [ sic ] alternative". Victoria showed interest in Albert's education for the future role he would have to play as her husband, but she resisted attempts to rush her into wedlock. Victoria continued to praise Albert following his second visit in October 1839. They felt mutual affection and
17250-468: Was defeated. She thought his government was "the worst I have ever had", and blamed him for the death of General Gordon during the Siege of Khartoum . Gladstone was replaced by Lord Salisbury . Salisbury's government only lasted a few months, however, and Victoria was forced to recall Gladstone, whom she referred to as a "half crazy & really in many ways ridiculous old man". Gladstone attempted to pass
17388-506: Was delayed by the Queen and her husband Albert until the bride was 17. The Queen and Albert hoped that their daughter and son-in-law would be a liberalising influence in the enlarging Prussian state. The Queen felt "sick at heart" to see her daughter leave England for Germany; "It really makes me shudder", she wrote to Princess Victoria in one of her frequent letters, "when I look round to all your sweet, happy, unconscious sisters, and think I must give them up too – one by one." Almost exactly
17526-523: Was devastated. She blamed her husband's death on worry over the Prince of Wales's philandering . He had been "killed by that dreadful business", she said. She entered a state of mourning and wore black for the remainder of her life. She avoided public appearances and rarely set foot in London in the following years. Her seclusion earned her the nickname "widow of Windsor". Her weight increased through comfort eating, which reinforced her aversion to public appearances. Victoria's self-imposed isolation from
17664-421: Was fifth in the line of succession after the four eldest sons of George III: George, Prince Regent (later George IV); Frederick, Duke of York ; William, Duke of Clarence (later William IV); and Victoria's father, Edward, Duke of Kent. Prince George had no surviving children, and Prince Frederick had no children; further, both were estranged from their wives, who were both past child-bearing age, so
17802-532: Was forced to appoint Palmerston as prime minister. Napoleon III, Britain's closest ally as a result of the Crimean War, visited London in April 1855, and from 17 to 28 August the same year Victoria and Albert returned the visit. Napoleon III met the couple at Boulogne and accompanied them to Paris. They visited the Exposition Universelle (a successor to Albert's 1851 brainchild
17940-402: Was incompetent and that her mismanagement threatened his daughter Victoria's health. After a furious row between Victoria and Albert over the issue, Lehzen was pensioned off in 1842, and Victoria's close relationship with her ended. On 29 May 1842, Victoria was riding in a carriage along The Mall, London , when John Francis aimed a pistol at her, but the gun did not fire. The assailant escaped;
18078-478: Was later sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, and a birching . As a result of the incident, Victoria's popularity recovered further. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , the British East India Company , which had ruled much of India, was dissolved, and Britain's possessions and protectorates on the Indian subcontinent were formally incorporated into the British Empire . The Queen had
18216-441: Was little time for her to rest. She objected on the grounds of the King's disapproval, but her mother dismissed his complaints as motivated by jealousy and forced Victoria to continue the tours. At Ramsgate in October 1835, Victoria contracted a severe fever, which Conroy initially dismissed as a childish pretence. While Victoria was ill, Conroy and the Duchess unsuccessfully badgered her to make Conroy her private secretary . As
18354-612: Was not favoured by the Queen. She found particularly offensive the Foreign Secretary , Lord Palmerston , who often acted without consulting the Cabinet, the Prime Minister, or the Queen. Victoria complained to Russell that Palmerston sent official dispatches to foreign leaders without her knowledge, but Palmerston was retained in office and continued to act on his own initiative, despite her repeated remonstrances. It
18492-458: Was only in 1851 that Palmerston was removed after he announced the British government's approval of President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte 's coup in France without consulting the Prime Minister. The following year, President Bonaparte was declared Emperor Napoleon III, by which time Russell's administration had been replaced by a short-lived minority government led by Lord Derby . In 1853, Victoria gave birth to her eighth child, Leopold, with
18630-472: Was still a minor. King William distrusted the Duchess's capacity to be regent, and in 1836 he declared in her presence that he wanted to live until Victoria's 18th birthday, so that a regency could be avoided. Victoria later described her childhood as "rather melancholy". Her mother was extremely protective, and Victoria was raised largely isolated from other children under the so-called " Kensington System ", an elaborate set of rules and protocols devised by
18768-558: Was succeeded by his eldest son as George IV. Victoria was then third in line to the throne after Frederick and William. She was fourth in line while William's second daughter, Princess Elizabeth , lived, from 10 December 1820 to 4 March 1821. Prince Frederick died in 1827, followed by George IV in 1830; their next surviving brother succeeded to the throne as William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive . The Regency Act 1830 made special provision for Victoria's mother to act as regent in case William died while Victoria
18906-418: Was the last former ICS officer of European origin serving in India. Nirmal Kumar Mukarji (ICS 1943), a member of the final batch recruited to the ICS, who retired as Cabinet Secretary in April 1980, was the last Indian administrative officer who had originally joined as an ICS. The last former ICS officer to retire, Aftab Ghulam Nabi Kazi (also a member of the final ICS batch of 1943), retired as Chairman of
19044-437: Was worth "three hundred a year alive or dead". In the first decades of the twentieth century, the imbalance in salaries and emoluments was so great that 8,000 British officers together earned a total of £13,930,554, while 130,000 Indians in government service (not just those in the Indian Civil Service proper) were collectively paid a total of £3,284,163. ICS officers normally served for a minimum of twenty-five years, and there
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