Along with the repressive measures, the
British Government astutely employed the policy of divide and rule in
order to keep their hold firm over the populace. In the army as well
as in the civil services, this policy was very carefully implemented
which finally divided India vertically and horizontally.
The armies were organized in such a
manner that tribal, sectarian, religious and caste groups could
maintain their own peculiarities. They were stationed at such places
where they had no contacts of any kind with the local population and
therefore were considered alien.
The newly invented theory of martial
and non-martial races was applied and the people of U.P. and Bihar
were classed under the second category. Th ecommunities of North West
India were declared as martial. The people of Oudh and North Western
Provinces who had helped the British in the conquest of the Punjab and
the North-West Frontier suddenly became non-martial.
The Police force in the central
Provinces including Nagpur was placed under the supervision of the
police officers of the Regular police. The old local village police
which had strong affinities with the population were done away with.
The aim was to create an efficient administrative instrument isolated
form the public.
The loyal support afforded by Sayyad
Ahmad to the British soon bore fruit. After 1875 the Muslims became
the chosen people of the Government to put down the patriotic Hindu
activities. In the Central Provinces the Muslim population was
negligible. Yet more than fitfy per cent of the officers and nearly
the same percentage of posts in the police were given to them. The
policy of the British of setting the Muslims against the Hindus
continued unabated. The evidence of the 'Berar Mitra'of 8th
July 1879 is significant in this respect. In one of the editorials is
asked, ' why is it that only Musalmans are appointed Tahsildars these
days?
As a part of the divide and rule policy
in 1861 the entire Nagpur Irregular Force was incorporated in the
police. The police were trained to be overbearing and contemptuous in
their behaviour towards the people. The rank and file of the police
force was drawn from that section of the population which had no
character in the past. This naturally led to corruption and abuse of
power in the police force. Sir Richard Temple, the Chief Commissioner
of Central Provinces, 1864-65, referring to this state of affairs
says,' Service in the police has always been unpopular with natives of
superior stamp, and men of character avoided entering it. Men of
ability rarely entered it except with the intention of making an
unlawful fortune within a short time, risking the chance of such
detection as would lead to personal punishment but quite prepared for
dismissal.
The police purposely insulted men of
status and the Government connived at their rudeness. A British police
officer could easily whip a citzen of Nagpur on the street if he
failed to stand up when the Saheb passed by. The feeling of oneness
between the police and the people was completely disrupted.
Dalhousie's policy toward the native
states was topsyturvied in the aftermath of the revolt. Except for
their sovereignty the states were restored to their former honour and
rights. As a result the States came to be recognised as one of the
pillars of the British Empire in India till their disappearance. Nest
to the states, it were the Zamindars who merited the attention of the
British. In the Nagpur area a new class of Zamindars and Malguzars was
created with full proprietary rights in their villages. This was quite
against the Indian tradition which did not recognize private ownership
in land. The landlords were revenue farmers or managers in the
pre-British period. Endowed with proprietary rights in land, majority
of them became stooges of the alien Government and at the same time
took upon themselves the odium of revenue collection.