Sunday, April 02, 2017

The impeachment of warren hastings

 I was fully unaware of this  historical face

:The impeachment of Warren Hastings was a failed attempt between 1788 and 1795 to impeach the first Governor-General of India in the Parliament of Great Britain. Hastings was accused of misconduct during his time in Calcutta particularly relating to mismanagement and personal corruption. The prosecution was led by Edmund Burke and became a wider debate about the role of the East India Company and the expanding empire in India.
The trial did not sit continuously and the case dragged on for seven years. When the eventual verdict was given Hastings was overwhelmingly acquitted. It has been described as "probably the British Isles' most famous, certainly the longest, political trial"


 I impeach him in the name of the people of India, whose laws, rights,and liberties he has subverted; whose properties he has destroyed, whosecountry he has laid waste and desolate.I impeach him in the name and by virtue of those eternal laws of justice whichhe has violated.I impeach him in the name of human nature itself, which he has cruellyoutraged, injured, and oppressed, in both sexes, in every age, rank, situ-ation, and condition of life.

The powers of the Governor General were balanced out by the establishment of a Calcutta Council which had the authority to veto his decisions. Hastings spent much of his time in office marshalling his own supporters on the Council in an effort to avoid being outvoted.

In 1780 Hyder Ali, the ruler of Mysore, went to war with the company after British forces captured the French-controlled port of Mahé. Taking advantage of Britain's involvement in the American War of Independence and the support of French forces Hyder went on the offensive and enjoyed success during the opening stages of the war, inflicting a serious defeat at the Battle of Pollilur and at one point threatening Madras itself with capture. The Commander in Chief Eyre Coote went south with reinforcements and defeated Hyder's army in a series of battles which helped to steady the position in the Carnatic. Hyder was unable to secure victory and the war ended in a stalemate. It was halted by the Treaty of Mangalore in 1784 which largely restored the status quo ante bellum. Even so, the British position in India had been severely threatened

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