| The Govt. of India Act | Gave assurance that there would be no more territorial possessions. Titles were |
| 1858 | bestowed on many princes & the right of adoption was accepted. No |
| interference in religious matters. | |
| The Indian Council | Provided that there was no difference between the central & provincial |
| Act 1861 | subjects. The number of additional members in the council was fixed between |
| four to eight. The Act also provided the Madras & Bombay governments the | |
| right to make laws. | |
| Morley Minto | The number of members in the Imperial Legislative Council was raised to 69 |
| Reforms 1909 | out of which 37 were to be govt nominees & 32 non-govt. The non-govt |
| nominees comprised 5 members nominated by the governor general & 27 | |
| elected members (13 represented Maharajas, 6 land lords, 6 muslims & 2 | |
| Chambers of Commerce in Bengal & Bombay). | |
| Montagu-Chelmsford | Setup a bifurcated legislature consisting of two houses ie the Council of States |
| Reforms 1919. | & the Central Legislative Assembly, in place of former Imperial Coucil |
| consisting of only one house. Some of the functions of the Secretary of State | |
| were taken from him & given to the high commissioner for Inida who was to | |
| be appointed & paid by the government of India. For the first time the King’s | |
| Council was established. The ambit of communal electorates was exapned to | |
| give representation to the Sikhs, Anglo Indians, Europeans & Christians | |
| alongwith the Muslims. The representation of Indians was increased in both | |
| the central as well as provincial legislatures. | |
| Govt of India Act | Contained 451 articles. It was to have two chambers, the council of state & the |
| 1935 | federal assembly. The Indian council was abolished. Expanded communal |
| representation. Decided to establish a federation of India consisting of | |
| Governor’s provinces & princely states. It was compulsory for the governor’s | |
| provinces to accede to the proposed federation, whereas in the case of princely | |
| states, it was voluntary. All constituent parts of the federation were to have full | |
| interinal autonomy. To implement the act it was proposed to establish a federal | |
| executive & a federal legislature. Under the act, dyarchy in the provinces | |
| earlier established by the act of 1919 was replaced by Provincial Autonomy. | |
| The distinction between reserved subjects & transferred subjects was | |
| abolished. Burma was separated from India. The governor was not bound to | |
| accept the advice of council of ministers. |