Indian Imperial Police

It comprised two branches, the Superior Police Services, from which the Indian (Imperial) Police would later be formed, and the Subordinate Police Service. Until 1893, appointments to the senior grades (i.e., Assistant District Superintendent and above) were mainly from European officers of the Indian Army.[http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/india/indiaofficerecordsfamilyhistory/occupations/indianpoliceservices/police.html "Indian Police Services"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705065836/http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/india/indiaofficerecordsfamilyhistory/occupations/indianpoliceservices/police.html |date=2018-07-05 }} British Library. Retrieved 13 August 2013.

The highest rank in the service was the Inspector General{{cite book| title=Comparative Criminal Justice Systems|last=Shahidullah |first=Shahid M. |date=2012 | publisher=Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2012| isbn = 9781449604257}} for each province. The rank of Inspector General{{cite web|title=A worrisome slide in Army's status|date=19 July 2015 |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/chandigarh/a-worrisome-slide-in-army-s-status/story-iiODBwoOubZOigw6il4XDP.html|publisher=Hindustan Times|access-date=22 April 2017}} was equated and ranked with Brigadier and similar ranks in the Indian Armed Forces, as per Central Warrant of Precedence in 1937.{{efn|The rank of IGP is ranked and equated with the rank of Brigadier / equivalent rank of the Indian Armed Forced as per Warrant of Precedence – 1937, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs' directions contained in Letter No 12/11/99-Pub II dated 26 Dec 1966. This Warrant of Precedence is compiled from a joint consideration of the existing Central Warrant of Precedence (which is till the rank of Major General) and Warrant of Precedence – 1937, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs' directions contained in Letter No 12/11/99-Pub II dated 26 Dec 1966, the validity of which has been confirmed by Letter No 12/1/2007-Public dated 14 Aug 2007. The MHA has confirmed in 2007 that the Old Warrant of Precedence shall be taken as a guide to determine ranks below the ones mentioned in the current WoP.}} Subordinate to the Inspector General, the ranks were composed of District Superintendents and Assistant District Superintendents, most of whom were appointed, from 1893, by examination for the Indian Civil Service tests in the UK. The Subordinate Police Service consisted of Inspectors, Sub-Inspectors, Head Constables (or Sergeant in the City forces and cantonments) and Constables, consisting mainly of Indians except for the higher ranks.

By the 1930s, the Indian Police exercised "unprecedented degree of authority within the colonial administration".Arnold, David (1992) [https://books.google.com/books?id=rni7AAAAIAAJ&q=burma "Police Power and the Demise of British Rule in India, 1930 – 47" in David Anderson, David Killingray, Policing and Decolonisation: Politics, Nationalism, and the Police, 1917-65, pp. 42–61. Manchester University Press, 1992] Retrieved 13 August 2013. The Indian Imperial Police was also the primary law enforcement in Burma, governed as a province of India,Crick, Bernard (2004) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/31915 "Blair, Eric Arthur [George Orwell] (1903–1950)" in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press.] Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 13 August 2013. until 1937.

Before WWII, the Indian Police routinely served as a source of cadre for MI5.{{cite book |last1=Silvestri |first1=Michael |title=Policing 'Bengali Terrorism' in India and the World: Imperial Intelligence and Revolutionary Nationalism, 1905-1939 |year=2019 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-18042-3 |page=283 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zm2hDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA283}}

• Superior Services:
• Inspector General of Police (Head of the state police)
• Deputy Inspector General of Police (Head of Range Police) or Commissioner of Four cities (Madras, Bombay, Calcutta and Rangoon)
• Superintendent of Police (Head of District Police)
• Assistant Superintendent of Police (Head of sub divisional Police, specially main sub division of a district)
• Subordinate services:
• Deputy Superintendent of Police (Head of sub divisional Police).
• Inspector of Police (Head of circle Police)
• Sub Inspector of Police (Head of Police station)
• Sergeant (One for each police station and should be European or Anglo-Indian)
• Head constable
• Naik
• Constable

George Orwell, with his real name Eric Blair, served in the Indian Imperial Police, in Burma, from 27 November 1922 to 12 July 1927,Orwell, George (1998) Complete Works of George Orwell - Volume 10, p. 87, edited by Peter Davison. Secker & Warburg, London. formally resigning while on leave in England (effective 1 January 1928) having attained the rank of Assistant District Superintendent at District Headquarters, first in Insein, and later at Moulmein. He wrote of how having been in contact with, in his own words, "the dirty work of Empire at close quarters" had affected his personal, political and social opinions. Some of his works referring to his experiences include "A Hanging" (1931), set in the notorious Insein Prison, and his novel Burmese Days (1934). Likewise, although he wrote that, "I loved Burma and the Burman and have no regrets that I spent the best years of my life in the Burma police.",Stansky, Peter (1994) [https://books.google.com/books?id=dh_aqAZk-UQC&pg=PA178 The Unknown Orwell: Orwell, the Transformation, pp. 192–201. Stanford University Press]. Retrieved 13 August 2013. in "Shooting an Elephant" (1936),Villiers, Peter (2011) [https://books.google.com/books?id=NF82Fkqvss4C&pg=PA97 Leading from Example: A Short Guide to the Lessons of Literature, p. 98. Triarchy Press Limited] Retrieved 13 August 2013. his character stated that "In Moulmein in Lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people–- the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me."

• T. Ramachandra Rao
• Panchanan Ghoshal
• Qazi Azizul Haque

{{Reflist}}

Notes

{{notelist}}

• Ireland in an Imperial World: Citizenship, Opportunism, and Subversion (Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK; {{ISBN|9781137596376}})
• Khaki in Dust Storm (Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing; {{ISBN|9789388630894}})
• Orwell - The Life (Publisher: Random House; {{ISBN|9781409028505}})

• Chandavarkar, Rajnarayan (1998) [https://books.google.com/books?id=bTOBfqjoyyoC Imperial Power and Popular Politics: Class, Resistance and the State in India, 1850-1950. Cambridge University Press.]

Category:History of law enforcement in India

Category:Government of British India