Ceded and Conquered Provinces - Administration

Administration

The Ceded and Conquered Provinces were a part of the Bengal Presidency of British India under the administration of the Governor-General-in-Council. The great distance of the newly acquired territory from the capital of the presidency in Calcutta created administrative hitches. In response, a number of temporary arrangements were attempted, but proved to be less than optimal; finally, in 1831, an independent Board of Revenue and a separate Sadr Diwani and Nizamat Adalat (Chief Civil and Criminal Courts) were created for these provinces. In 1833, an Act of the British Parliament (statute 3 and 4, William IV, cap. 85) concurrently promulgated the division of the Bengal Presidency, the elevation the Ceded and Conquered Provinces to the new Presidency of Agra, and the appointment of a new Governor for the latter. However, the plan was never carried out, and in 1835 another Act of Parliament (statute 5 and 6, William IV, cap. 52) renamed the region the North Western Provinces, this time to be administered by a Lieutenant-Governor, the first of whom, Sir Charles Metcalfe, would be appointed in 1836.