Historical Background of the Indian Constitution Notes for UPSC

The Constitution of India did not appear overnight. It is the result of nearly two centuries of administrative experiments by the British, a long struggle by Indians for self-rule, and almost three years of debate in the Constituent Assembly. For UPSC, this chapter is the foundation of Indian Polity: examiners regularly ask which Act introduced which feature (dyarchy, federal court, separate electorates, bicameralism), who headed which committee of the Constituent Assembly, and from where the Constitution borrowed its ideas. These notes cover the full journey, from the Regulating Act of 1773 to the day the Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950, in simple language with tables for quick revision.

Why the Historical Background Matters

Most of the structure of our government, such as the Governor-General, the Federal Court, provincial autonomy, the Public Service Commissions, the Union, State and Concurrent Lists, and the emergency powers, did not come from nowhere. They were first tried in the British period and were then adopted, in an improved form, by the Constituent Assembly. The Government of India Act 1935 alone contributed so much that it is called the "blueprint" of the Constitution. A student who understands this history can answer both factual questions ("Which Act created the post of Governor-General of India?") and analytical questions ("How did colonial laws shape the Indian Constitution?").

Phase 1: The Company Rule (1773 to 1858)

The East India Company began as a trading company, but after the Battle of Plassey (1757) and the Battle of Buxar (1764) it became a ruling power. The British Parliament slowly started to control the Company through a series of laws.

Regulating Act, 1773

• First step taken by the British Parliament to regulate the Company's affairs.
• The Governor of Bengal became the Governor-General of Bengal, with an Executive Council of four members. Warren Hastings was the first.
• Bombay and Madras Presidencies were made subordinate to Bengal.
• A Supreme Court was set up at Calcutta in 1774, with a Chief Justice and three judges.
• Servants of the Company were banned from private trade and from accepting gifts or bribes.

Pitt's India Act, 1784

• Distinguished between the commercial and political functions of the Company.
• The Court of Directors managed commercial matters, while a new Board of Control managed political affairs. This created a system of double government.
• It gave the British Government a clear control over the Company's civil, military and revenue matters.

Charter Act, 1793

Extended the Company's trade monopoly for another 20 years and provided that the salaries of the members of the Board of Control would be paid from Indian revenues.

Charter Act, 1813

• Ended the Company's monopoly of trade in India, except for trade in tea and with China.
• Allowed Christian missionaries to come to India.
• Provided that a sum of not less than one lakh rupees should be spent every year on education of Indians.

Charter Act, 1833

• Made the Governor-General of Bengal the Governor-General of India. Lord William Bentinck was the first. All civil and military powers were centralised.
• Ended the commercial functions of the Company; it became a purely administrative body.
• Added a fourth member, a Law Member, to the Governor-General's Council (Macaulay was the first).
• Tried to introduce an open competition for the civil services, but this was dropped.
• Stated that no Indian should be barred from any office merely because of religion, place of birth, descent or colour.

Charter Act, 1853

• The last of the Charter Acts. It separated the legislative and executive functions of the Governor-General's Council by adding six legislative members, which was a step towards a small "parliament".
• Introduced an open competition for the Civil Services, so that the Company's patronage ended. The Macaulay Committee (1854) followed.
• Extended the Company's rule for an unspecified period.

Phase 2: The Crown Rule (1858 to 1947)

After the Revolt of 1857, the British Crown took over the government of India directly.

Government of India Act, 1858

• Abolished the East India Company and transferred the powers to the British Crown.
• The Governor-General of India was designated the Viceroy (the Crown's direct representative). Lord Canning was the first Viceroy.
• Created the office of the Secretary of State for India, a member of the British Cabinet, assisted by a 15-member Council of India.
• The Board of Control and the Court of Directors were abolished, ending the double government.

Indian Councils Act, 1861

• Introduced the portfolio system in the Viceroy's Council under Lord Canning, which is the beginning of the cabinet system in India.
• Gave the Viceroy powers to nominate some non-official members, including Indians, to the Legislative Council.
• Restored the legislative powers of the Bombay and Madras Presidencies, which began the process of decentralisation.
• Empowered the Viceroy to issue ordinances in an emergency without the Council, valid for six months.

Indian Councils Act, 1892

• Increased the number of additional (non-official) members in the Legislative Councils.
• Gave the councils the power to discuss the budget and to ask questions to the executive, with limits.
• Introduced a limited, indirect election principle, though the word "election" was avoided; some members were "nominated" on the recommendation of local bodies and chambers of commerce.

Indian Councils Act, 1909 (Morley-Minto Reforms)

• Named after the Secretary of State John Morley and the Viceroy Lord Minto.
• Increased the size of the legislative councils and allowed the members to ask supplementary questions and move resolutions on the budget.
• Introduced separate electorates for Muslims, because of which Lord Minto is called the "Father of Communal Electorate".
• Allowed an Indian, Satyendra Prasad Sinha, to be appointed as the Law Member in the Viceroy's Executive Council.

Government of India Act, 1919 (Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms)

• Named after the Secretary of State Edwin Montagu and the Viceroy Lord Chelmsford. It followed the August 1917 declaration that the goal was the "gradual introduction of responsible government".
• Introduced dyarchy in the provinces. Provincial subjects were divided into transferred (education, health, local government, agriculture; run by Indian ministers responsible to the legislature) and reserved (law and order, finance, land revenue, justice; run by the Governor and his executive council).
• Made the Central legislature bicameral for the first time: the Council of State (upper house) and the Legislative Assembly (lower house), with a majority of members directly elected.
• Separated the provincial budgets from the central budget (1921).
• Extended communal representation to Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans.
• Created the post of the High Commissioner for India in London (1920) and provided for the setting up of a Public Service Commission (it came into being in 1926).
• Provided for a statutory commission to review the working of the Act after ten years, which led to the Simon Commission.

Simon Commission and the Other Developments (1927 to 1935)

• Simon Commission (1927): A seven-member, all-white commission headed by Sir John Simon, appointed to review the constitution. Indians boycotted it with the cry "Simon Go Back". Lala Lajpat Rai was injured in the lathi charge in Lahore (1928).
• Nehru Report (1928): The first attempt by Indians to draft a constitution, prepared by a committee headed by Motilal Nehru.
• Jinnah's Fourteen Points (1929): The Muslim League's reply to the Nehru Report.
• Lahore Session (December 1929): The Congress, under Jawaharlal Nehru, declared Purna Swaraj as the goal.
• Round Table Conferences (1930 to 1932): Three conferences in London. Gandhi attended the second (1931) after the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.
• Communal Award (August 1932): Ramsay MacDonald's award gave separate electorates to the depressed classes. It led to the Poona Pact (September 1932) between Gandhi and Ambedkar. For their lives, see our biographies section on the leaders of the freedom movement.

Government of India Act, 1935

This was the longest and most detailed constitutional document before 1950, and it is the single biggest source of the Indian Constitution.

• Proposed an All-India Federation of the British provinces and the princely states. It never came into being because the princes did not join.
• Divided the powers between the Centre and the provinces into three lists: the Federal List (59 items), the Provincial List (54 items) and the Concurrent List (36 items). Residuary powers were given to the Governor-General.
• Abolished dyarchy in the provinces and introduced provincial autonomy. Provinces now had their own sphere of action, with ministers responsible to the provincial legislature.
• Introduced dyarchy at the Centre (never implemented).
• Introduced bicameralism in six provinces (Bengal, Bombay, Madras, Bihar, Assam and the United Provinces).
• Extended the principle of separate electorates to the depressed classes (Scheduled Castes), women and labour.
• Increased the franchise: about 10 percent of the population got the right to vote.
• Established the Federal Court (1937), the Reserve Bank of India (1935) and the Federal and Provincial Public Service Commissions.
• Abolished the Council of India (the Secretary of State's council).
• Separated Burma from India (1937) and created Sind and Orissa as new provinces.

Indian Independence Act, 1947

• Based on the Mountbatten Plan of 3 June 1947.
• Ended British rule in India on 15 August 1947 and created two independent dominions, India and Pakistan.
• Gave the Constituent Assemblies of the two dominions the power to frame their constitutions and to act as the legislatures until the new constitutions were framed.
• Abolished the office of the Secretary of State for India and the paramountcy of the Crown over the princely states.

Quick Revision Table: Acts and Their Key Features

The Making of the Constitution: The Constituent Assembly

Demand for a Constituent Assembly

• The idea of a Constituent Assembly for India was first put forward by M. N. Roy in 1934.
• In 1935, the Indian National Congress demanded it officially. The British accepted the principle in the August Offer of 1940.
• The Cripps Mission (1942) proposed a Constituent Assembly after the war, which was rejected.
• The Cabinet Mission Plan (1946) finally gave the scheme under which the Constituent Assembly was formed.

Composition

• The Cabinet Mission plan provided for 389 members: 296 from British India (292 from the provinces and 4 from the chief commissioners' provinces) and 93 from the princely states.
• The members were elected indirectly by the members of the provincial legislative assemblies, not by universal adult franchise. Seats were distributed in proportion to the population, roughly one seat for every million people.
• In the elections of July to August 1946, the Congress won 208 seats and the Muslim League 73 seats.
• After the Partition, the strength fell to about 299 members, of which 284 were present on 24 January 1950 and signed the Constitution.

Working of the Assembly

• The first meeting was held on 9 December 1946, with Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha as the provisional President (oldest member). The Muslim League boycotted it.
• Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected the permanent President on 11 December 1946, with H. C. Mukherjee and V. T. Krishnamachari as vice-presidents. B. N. Rau was the Constitutional Adviser.
• On 13 December 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution, which laid down the philosophy of the Constitution. It was adopted on 22 January 1947 and became the basis of the Preamble.
• The national flag was adopted on 22 July 1947.
• The Drafting Committee was set up on 29 August 1947 with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar as the Chairman.
• The draft was published in February 1948, and the Assembly took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days in all. It held 11 sessions and spent 165 days in sitting, of which 114 days were on the consideration of the draft.
• The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 (celebrated as Constitution Day or Samvidhan Divas), signed on 24 January 1950, and came into force on 26 January 1950. The date was chosen because the Congress had declared Purna Swaraj on 26 January 1930.
• The national anthem and national song were also accepted on 24 January 1950.

Provisions That Came Into Force on 26 November 1949

Articles dealing with citizenship, elections, the provisional Parliament, and temporary and transitional provisions, namely Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 60, 324, 366, 367, 379, 380, 388, 391, 392 and 393, came into force on 26 November 1949 itself. The remaining provisions came into force on 26 January 1950, which is called the "date of its commencement".

Important Committees of the Constituent Assembly

The Drafting Committee

The seven members were Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (Chairman), N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, K. M. Munshi, Syed Mohammad Saadulla, N. Madhava Rao (who replaced B. L. Mitter) and T. T. Krishnamachari (who replaced D. P. Khaitan after he died in 1948). The Committee studied the constitutions of many countries and the Government of India Act 1935, and produced a draft that was debated clause by clause.

Sources of the Constitution

• Government of India Act, 1935: Federal scheme, Governor, judiciary, public service commissions, emergency provisions and administrative details.
• British Constitution: Parliamentary government, rule of law, single citizenship, the Speaker, the law-making procedure.
• US Constitution: Fundamental Rights, independence of the judiciary, judicial review, impeachment of the President, removal of Supreme Court and High Court judges, the post of the Vice-President.
• Irish Constitution: Directive Principles of State Policy, nomination of members to the Rajya Sabha, the method of election of the President.
• Canadian Constitution: A federation with a strong Centre, residuary powers with the Centre, appointment of state Governors by the Centre.
• Australian Constitution: Concurrent List, freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse, the joint sitting of the two houses of Parliament.
• Weimar Constitution of Germany: Suspension of Fundamental Rights during an emergency.
• Soviet Constitution: Fundamental Duties and the ideal of justice (social, economic and political) in the Preamble.
• French Constitution: The ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity in the Preamble, and the republic.
• South African Constitution: The procedure for amending the Constitution and the election of the Rajya Sabha members.
• Japanese Constitution: The concept of "procedure established by law".

Our Constitution is often called a "bag of borrowings", but it would be wrong to call it a mere copy. The framers adapted the features to Indian needs. Dr. Ambedkar said that the charge of "slavish imitation" had no force, since the framers had made changes to suit the Indian conditions.

Interesting Facts About the Original Constitution

• The original Constitution had 395 articles, 22 parts and 8 schedules. Today it has about 448 articles, 25 parts and 12 schedules, as various amendments have added and removed provisions.
• It is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world.
• The original was handwritten in italic style by Prem Behari Narain Raizada, and each page was decorated by artists of Shantiniketan under the guidance of Nandalal Bose, with the Preamble page designed by Beohar Rammanohar Sinha. The original copies, in Hindi and English, are kept in helium-filled cases in the Parliament Library.
• The whole exercise cost the Assembly about Rs 64 lakh.
• There were 15 women members, including Sarojini Naidu, Durgabai Deshmukh, Hansa Mehta, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur and Sucheta Kripalani.

Criticisms of the Constituent Assembly

• It was not a fully representative body, since the members were not elected by universal adult franchise, and the Muslim League did not take part for the most part.
• It was not a sovereign body at the start, as it was created by the proposals of the British Cabinet Mission.
• It was dominated by the Congress and by lawyers and politicians.
• It took a long time, and the Constitution is too large and complex, with many borrowed features.

Supporters point out that the Assembly included members from all communities, and that it reached its decisions through free discussion and consensus. The quality of the Assembly's debates is still praised.

Important Points for UPSC Prelims and Mains

• Which Act introduced the Federal Court? GoI Act 1935. Which Act gave the Viceroy's Council the portfolio system? Indian Councils Act 1861.
• Who was the Father of the Communal Electorate? Lord Minto.
• When was the Objectives Resolution moved and who moved it? 13 December 1946, by Jawaharlal Nehru.
• Number of days the Constituent Assembly took: 2 years, 11 months and 18 days.
• Mains angle: "The Government of India Act 1935 was a carbon copy of the Constitution of India." Discuss the continuity and change.

Related Reading

After this chapter, read our notes on the Preamble and Salient Features of the Indian Constitution and Fundamental Rights. For the freedom movement background, see our subject hub for Modern Indian History, and the complete Indian Polity and Governance notes. You can also read more guides on the UPSC blog.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is the historical background of the Indian Constitution?

It covers the British laws from the Regulating Act 1773 to the Indian Independence Act 1947, the freedom struggle, and the work of the Constituent Assembly from 1946 to 1949.

Which Act introduced the post of Governor-General of India?

The Charter Act of 1833 made the Governor-General of Bengal the Governor-General of India. Lord William Bentinck was the first.

Which Act introduced dyarchy in the provinces?

The Government of India Act 1919 (Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms) introduced dyarchy, dividing provincial subjects into transferred and reserved.

Why is the Government of India Act 1935 important?

It is the biggest source of the Constitution: it gave the federal scheme, three lists, provincial autonomy, the Federal Court, public service commissions and emergency powers.

Who is called the Father of the Communal Electorate?

Lord Minto, because the Indian Councils Act 1909 gave separate electorates to Muslims.

When did the Constituent Assembly first meet?

On 9 December 1946, with Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha as the temporary President.

Who was the permanent President of the Constituent Assembly?

Dr. Rajendra Prasad, elected on 11 December 1946.

Who was the Chairman of the Drafting Committee?

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, appointed on 29 August 1947.

What was the Objectives Resolution?

A resolution moved by Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 December 1946 that set out the aims of the Constitution. It was adopted on 22 January 1947 and became the basis of the Preamble.

How long did the Constituent Assembly take to frame the Constitution?

2 years, 11 months and 18 days, over 11 sessions.

When was the Constitution adopted and when did it come into force?

It was adopted on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950.

Why was 26 January chosen as the date of commencement?

Because on 26 January 1930 the Indian National Congress had celebrated the Purna Swaraj Day.

How many articles, parts and schedules did the original Constitution have?

395 articles, 22 parts and 8 schedules.

Which countries have contributed to the Indian Constitution?

The UK, USA, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Germany, the Soviet Union, France, South Africa and Japan, in addition to the Government of India Act 1935.

Who first proposed a Constituent Assembly for India?

M. N. Roy in 1934. The Congress demanded it officially in 1935.

Who was the Constitutional Adviser to the Constituent Assembly?

B. N. Rau.