Charter Act 1793
Topic: Europeans in India and the Rise of Company Rule · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Charter Act of 1793 was passed by the British Parliament. It renewed the East India Company's charter (its official permission to work) for twenty more years. The Company kept its monopoly, meaning it was still the only British company allowed to trade with India. The Act gave the Governor-General more power over his own council and over the Madras and Bombay presidencies.
Example
Under the 1793 Act, the Governor-General in Calcutta (then Lord Cornwallis) could override his council's decision in important matters. The Act also ruled that the salaries of the Board of Control (the London body that supervised the Company) and its staff would be paid from Indian revenue. Indians paid for their own rulers' supervisors.
Don't confuse with
- Charter Act 1813: it ended the Company's trade monopoly with India, except for trade in tea and with China. The 1793 Act kept the monopoly in full.
Related concepts
- Charles Metcalfe
- Warren Hastings
- Regulating Act 1773
- Supreme Court at Calcutta 1774
- Pitt's India Act 1784
- Impeachment of Warren Hastings
- Cornwallis Code 1793
- Covenanted civil service
- Fort William College
- Haileybury College