Page 20 - Demo

The Court of Wards originated from the Tudor era of England and was subsequently modified by the East India Company for use in India. Its purpose, in a governance structure filled with the countless jagirs, samasthanams, zamindaris, petty kingdoms and so on has been described as follows:Difficulties arose when the landholder died and no heir existed to take his place, or when the heir was in some way unsuited to assume control. Many times the heir was a child, and further questions arose as to who was best suited to look after him (or her) and also properly administer the estate. The Court resolved this problem by taking young heirs into its care while at the same time managing their estates. Ideally, upon the heir's reaching majority the Court returned his estate to him, a young man (or woman) whom it had, hopefully, educated and instilled with the skills needed to manage his lands.It can be argued that this court did some good when the profligate ways of some native Indian princes are considered. Beyond this, the goal was to make a %u2018model zamindar%u2019, one who would be loyal to the crown, be able to efficiently manage his estates, be British in outlook, and yet act as a buffer between the colonial masters and the masses of the peasantry down below. The child-heir could be %u2018a tabula rasa%u2019 upon which the imperial government could write a code for the Maharaja Alak Narayan10