The origins of the Constitution of the Indian Republic, to a great extent, are rooted in the history of India under the British rule. That history began with the incorporation in England of the East India Company in 1600, although the British had not become a ruling power of India until the second half of the 18th century.
The essentially commercial character of the Company in the beginning gradually underwent a complete change in the course of a century and half.
The downfall of the Mughal Empire which was the main unifying force in the country by the end of the 18th century, the consequent disintegration of a centralised administration, and the rise of innumerable local rulers who rivaled among themselves, provided the Company with an opportunity to enter the field of Indian politics.
The victory of the Company’s forces in the battle of Plessey in 1757 against Suraj-ud-Doula, the Nawab of Bengal, had laid the foundation of the British Empire in India.
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As the Company began to transform itself from a commercial concern into a territorial power, there was a corresponding change in the attitude of the British Parliament toward it.
Through a series of enactments the Parliament increased its control over the affairs of the Company in India. The Regulating Act, 1773, Pitt’s India Act, 1784, and series of Charter Acts that followed them are important in this connection.
The net result of these enactments was the emergence of a highly centralised British administration in India.