The history of British colonial rule in India is often remembered for its political control, economic exploitation, and social restructuring. However, another dark aspect of colonial governance was the widespread use of police brutality as a tool of administration. The British East India Company and later the British Crown relied heavily on coercive policing methods to maintain control, suppress dissent, and extract revenue. One of the most revealing accounts of such violence comes from the Madras Torture Commission Report of 1854, which exposed systemic torture used by police and revenue collectors against Indian peasants. This history highlights how the colonial state normalized violence as a method of governance and left behind a troubling legacy for modern policing in India.
Colonial Policing: An Instrument of Control
When the British established their authority in India, their primary goal was not the welfare of the population but the extraction of resources. To achieve this, they needed a policing system that could enforce laws, collect taxes, and suppress resistance. Unlike traditional community-based systems of justice, the colonial police were designed as an instrument of state power.
The police force was often corrupt, poorly paid, and unaccountable to the people. Instead, it answered directly to colonial administrators. Its function was not to protect ordinary citizens but to safeguard British interests—especially tax collection and suppression of political unrest. This system normalized violence, intimidation, and torture as everyday tools of investigation and enforcement.
The Madras Torture Commission Report (1854)
One of the most damning pieces of evidence about colonial police brutality came from the Madras Torture Commission, set up in 1854. The British administration itself could not ignore the growing complaints of inhuman practices by local officials.
The commission documented shocking details:
Tax collectors and police officers regularly used severe physical torture to force peasants to pay taxes.
The report revealed that torture was not the work of a few corrupt officers but was part of an organized, systemic practice sanctioned by the revenue administration.
Police Brutality as a Colonial Policy
The violence of the colonial police was not accidental—it was structural. Several factors made brutality a standard method in British India:
Revenue Pressure: The British imposed high land revenue demands, and peasants who failed to pay were routinely tortured until they complied.
Thus, torture and violence were embedded in the very functioning of the colonial state.
Suppression of Resistance and Dissent
Beyond tax collection, the police played a central role in suppressing political dissent and nationalist movements. From the early revolts to the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and later independence movements, colonial police forces were notorious for using excessive force:
Beatings and floggings of political prisoners were common.
Peaceful protests were often met with brutal lathi charges and shootings.Leaders of nationalist movements faced harassment, imprisonment, and custodial torture.
The infamous Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919, though carried out by the British Indian Army, reflected the same logic of colonial policing: instill fear through indiscriminate violence.
Long-term Consequences of Colonial Policing
The legacy of colonial police brutality continues to affect modern India. After independence in 1947, India inherited the same police structure created by the British. Many of the colonial laws and practices, designed for control rather than service, remained intact.
The police continued to be seen as a tool of the state rather than as protectors of citizens.
Instances of custodial torture, extrajudicial killings, and corruption have persisted in postcolonial India.Scholars argue that the authoritarian and violent culture of policing in India today is a direct inheritance from the colonial period.
Thus, the brutal methods used by colonial police were not just temporary but left a deep institutional mark.
Historical Lessons from the Madras Torture Commission
The Madras Torture Commission is particularly important because it demonstrates that even within the colonial system, there was acknowledgment of the widespread use of torture. However, instead of transforming the system, the British largely ignored the findings.
This shows how deeply entrenched brutality was in colonial governance. It also underlines an important historical lesson: when policing is designed primarily for control rather than for public welfare, it easily slips into abuse and violence.
The history of police brutality under British rule in India reveals the dark underbelly of colonial governance. Far from being a neutral force of law and order, the colonial police served as an extension of British power, enforcing taxes, suppressing dissent, and maintaining fear through violence. The Madras Torture Commission of 1854 provides undeniable evidence of how torture and coercion were normalized as standard investigative and revenue-collection methods.
This brutal legacy did not vanish with independence. Instead, it continued to shape modern policing in India, where issues of custodial violence and abuse of power remain pressing concerns. Understanding this history is essential not only for remembering the suffering of past generations but also for reforming policing practices today.
Only by addressing this legacy of colonial violence can India move toward building a system of justice that serves the people rather than controls them.
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