The Policies of Lord Curzon

1. Partition of Bengal:

The partition of Bengal was one of the major drawbacks of the Curzon policy. Its aim was to divide Bengal into a communal division: West Bengal had a Hindu majority, and East Bengal had a Muslim majority. In 1905, Curzon announced that it would be difficult to administer such a large province of Bengal, and for better administration, he decided to partition Bengal, but the real motive was different.

2. Educational Reforms:

Curzon played a vital role in university reform, and in 1904 he founded the University Committee. The commission has initiated a process to improve the quality of higher education. However, the real motive was that he wanted to control the voices coming from this university, and to suppress them he drafted the University Act of 1904. Gokhale called this a retrograde measure.

3. Calcutta Corporation Law and Ancient Monuments Act:

• Curzon introduced the Calcutta Corporation Act in 1899, which reduced the number of elected Indian members to the company, and Indians were called incompetent and tried to subdue the British government completely.
• The Ancient Monuments Act of 1904 was introduced by Curzon to protect the important monuments of the empire. The law requires the protection of monuments.

4. Agricultural Reforms: 

• In 1904, the Co-operative Credit Union Act was passed, which encouraged people to set up deposits and loans, mainly to protect farmers from the clutches of moneylenders, who usually demanded exorbitant interest.
• In 1900, the Punjab Land Seizure Act was passed, which prohibited the transfer of land to usurers in case farmers did not pay their loans.

5. Railways: 

• He appointed a railway committee headed by Robertson in 1901, and two years later the committee submitted its report, and Curzon accepted the recommendation by expanding the railway lines. He also abolished the railway department and transferred the railway administration from the Public Works Department to a three-member Railway Council.
• He organized the Railway administration on a commercial line with the objective of earning profit.

6. Foreign policies of Lord Curzon:

•  With Afghan: Lord Curzon’s Afghan politics were motivated by political and economic interests and fears of Russian expansion into Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. From the very beginning, there was a separation between the Afghans and the British. With an agreement between Abdur Rahman and the British, the latter has promised to provide financial aid to Afghanistan, thereby easing its tensions in Afghanistan.
• With Tibet: Lord Curzon’s Tibetan policy was also influenced by the fear of Russian rule in the region. In 1890 the Tibetans entered into a trade agreement with the British, but when Lord Curzon became the Viceroy, trade relations between Tibet and British India broke down completely and it was the effort of Lord Curzon’s which improved the trade relations between the two countries and Tibet agreed to pay large compensation to the British.
• With Northwest Frontier: Curzon, unlike his forefathers, pursued a policy of consolidating and protecting British-occupied territories in the North-West. He put Chitral under British control and built a road between Peshawar and Chitral, ensuring the security of Chitral. Khyber Pass, Khur Valley, and Waziristan were the places where their ancestors stationed small British soldiers.
• With Persia: In order to improve its relations with Persia, Lord Curzon personally visited the gulf in 1903 to protect the British interest by getting the support of the Persians.

Lord Curzon, the youngest Viceroy, at the age of 39, came to India as the successor of Lord Elgin in the Year 1899. During his time from 1899 to 1905, India was seen as an important period in the history of the freedom struggle. Before his arrival, India witnessed severe economic and political crisis and looking at the situation, there was a dire need for a robust ideological person to control the situation, and Britishers found Lord Curzon to be the appropriate person. Lord Curzon followed a profoundly racist attitude and believed in white man supremacy, and thought Indians to be inferior to the British. He was intolerant towards India’s political purpose. Innumerable policies were implemented during his tenure.