Warren Hastings

In 1787, Warren Hastings was impeached in the Parliament by Edmund Burke and the Whigs for his administrative excess. Burke brought forward 22 charges against him. The most important of them were related to the Rohilla War, the Case of Nanda Kumar, the treatment of Raja Chait Singh of Benares and the pressures on the Begums of Oudh. After a long trail which lasted till 1795, Warren Hastings was completely acquitted. He received pension from the Company and lived till 1818.

[Nanda Kumar was an influential official in Bengal. He was hanged to death by the verdict of the Supreme Court at Calcutta for a petty offence of forgery. The English law was applied in this judgement. It was contended that Warren Hastings and Sir Elija Impey, the judge of the Supreme Court conspired against Nanda Kumar. Warren Hastings imposed heavy penalty on the Raja Chait Singh of Benares for his delay in payment of tribute and deposed him in an unjust manner.

The Begums of Oudh were mother and grand mother of the Nawab of Oudh. Warren Hastings helped the Nawab by sending his troops to the help of Nawab who squeeze money from the Begums. This was a highhanded policy.]

Estimate of Warren Hastings

He was a gifted personality endowed with ‘strong will, great energy and resourcefulness’. His long stay in Bengal ‘in the shadow of the Mughal cultural tradition’ gave him, enough opportunity to learn oriental languages such as Bengali (the local language) and Persian (the diplomatic language) and to develop ‘oriental tastes’. Since he considered Indian culture as a basis for sound Indian administration, he patronised the learning of Indian languages and arts. His task was a challenging one since he was surrounded by hostile forces. “He faced his external enemies with unflinching courage and unfailing resource, and his internal opponents with extraordinary patience and firmness.” It was on the foundation which Warren Hastings laid down, that others erected a ‘stately edifice’.

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