WELFARE OF INDIANS UNDER LORD WILLIAM BENTINCK:

Lord William Bentinck (1828 –1835 A.D.) was appointed as Governor-General in 1828. He was a very capable, benevolent and intelligent administrator. He was the first enlightened Governor-General to act on the principle that the welfare of the Government lies in the welfare of the Governed. He made his marks in the field of administration by carrying out some beneficial reforms. His reforms may be classified under three

headings :

1. Financial Reforms, 2. Administrative Reforms and 3. Social Reforms

Let us analyse his social reforms here. Social evils like Sati, polygamy, child marriage, female infanticide, sale of women and the plight of the widows prevailed in India during the 19th century. These evil practices were deep rooted. They affected the culture and unity among the Indians. Bentinck tried to eradicate some of these evils.

Abolition of Sati : Sati was one of the most cruel practices among the Hindus. According to this system a widow was supposed to burn herself alive on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband. At first it was a voluntary act. But, as days went on, the widow was forced to die by her relatives. Bentinck could not tolerate this in human treatment towards women. So he passed a law in 1829. It declared the practice of Sati as a criminal and illegal offence. The law said that anyone who forced a woman to perform Sati would be given capital punishment. To achieve this task Bentinck got the support of Raja Rammohan Roy and Devandranath Tagore, the noted social reformers of Bengal.

Abolition of Human Sacrifice and Female Infanticide : To please the Gods and Goddesses human sacrifice was offered among certain communities in India. Female infanticide, that is, the practice of killing female children at the time of their birth, was in practice particularly in Rajastan and in some parts of Western and Central India. Among the Rajputs, it was either because of paucity of youngmen who died in large numbers in wars or because of the difficulties of earning a  livelihood in the desert regions. In other places it was primarily because of the custom of dowry. Both the practices were declared

illegal by Bentinck and severe punishments were given to the offenders.

Suppression of Thugs : The Thugs used to attack innocent travellers and caravans of traders. The Thug problem prevailed in Central India. They lived in jungles and less alerted regions. Travelling became dangerous since they looted the Caravan traders. Bentinck wanted to put a stop to such anti-social activities. So he started a new department under Major Sleeman. The Thugs were caught in large numbers. They were either put to death or punished severely. The children of the Thugs were put through reformation programmes. An Industrial school was started to teach them useful crafts. The Thug menace was completely removed.

Educational Reforms : During William Bentinck’s Governor-Generalship English became the medium of instruction in Schools and Colleges. Lord Macaulay, the Governor-General’s Law member, was responsible for it. He brought a resolution in 1835. According to it Bentinck made English, the official language of India. Bentinck also

encouraged the Christian missionaries to establish schools and colleges in India. From that time the Western system of education began to spread among the middle and upper class Indians.