Foundation and History of the Indian Constitution 1600- 1793

“The Origin of the Indian Constitution may be traced to the early British Period of Indian History(1600-1793). The Regulating Act of 1773 is usually regarded as the first Constitution in the History of Modern India. On the one hand the principles of the Constitution were upheld and enforced though imperfectly for the purposes of British administration in India on the other hand it was not till the passing of the Charter Act of 1793 that the Foundation of a Constitutional Government was firmly laid. The Constitution or the rules of government postulate the authority to govern. This authority comes as a consequence of the acquisition of the territorial sovereignty either by conquest or by grant. But the early history of the East India Company a private body of merchants started in 1600 on the authority of a Charter by Queen Elizabeth I is an exception to the rule in the sense that they received the authority of government before they had a territory to govern. Sufficiently armed with semi-sovereign powers bestowed on them by the Royal Charters of England these merchants found that their governmental powers could be easily augmented in India either owing to the weakness of the Indian rulers or to the inherent defects of the legal and political systems of the country. Thus with this small beginning the Company succeeded in establishing the largest empire in the history of the world.” – Prof. William Coelho