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own race alone, had to be withdrawn in the faceof strong opposition from the racist Europeans.In this context, in 1877, Surendra Nath Banerji’sstirring “lectures in English, in upper Indiaassumed the character of a triumphant progress”and they “excited as much enthusiasm amongthe rising generation in Multan as in Delhi.” 4 Thetop level of the Government did not have muchclue about the depth of resentment amongst theeducated section of the society.When one Wahabi convict assassinated ViceroyMayo in the Andaman jail in 1872, ViceroyNorthbrook (1872-1876) felt the need for “adetective police for political purposes” and askedthe Thugee and Dakaity Department to take upthe job.Viceroy Lytton (1876-1880), aware of theinadequacies of Indian intelligence, felt that hehad, “no Special Officer whose duty requireshim to receive and to submit to the head of theGovernment, confidential and secret informationof political and military importance. 5 ”Northbrook’s experiment evidently had failed.Lytton’s advice to the Local Governments, toadopt the experiment of 'Special Branch', set upin 1876 in Punjab 6 , was not followed. ViceroyRipon (1880-1884) had a consensual approach tothe problems of administration. “We cannot nowrely on military force alone; policy as well as justiceought to prompt our endeavour to govern moreand more by means of, and in accordance with,the growing public opinion, which is beginningto show itself throughout the country.” 7 EvidentlyRipon implied that the Government should keeptrack of the public opinion in India through analternative method.2. AN INSTITUTION FORINTELLIGENCE COLLECTIONEventually, after the formation of the IndianNational Congress in December 1885, theSecretary of State addressed his secret despatch4 Henry Cotton wrote this in his book” New India” referred tothis tour. See S.N.Banerji’s “A Nation in Maling,” Pp59-605 Amiya K. Samanta: History of Intelligence in Modern India,(Restricted circulation) P.356 This was mentioned in an enclosure to Dufferin’s letter toLord Cross dated 15th November,1887.7 Judith M. Brown: Modern India: The Origins of an AsianDemocracy, P. 100.No.11, dated 25th March, 1887, on the subjectof ‘collection of secret and political intelligencein India’. After consulting the Governors and topofficials of the Presidencies, Viceroy Dufferin(1884-1888) wrote to the Secretary of State:“I desire to utilise in British India, the services ofthe Police force, and in Native States, the existingmeans at the disposal of Political Officers, forcollection of intelligence on political, social andreligious movements.” Dufferin then gave out thedetails of his scheme. “Being of opinion that theformation of a large detective staff would be opento very serious objections, I propose to work asfar as possible, through the Local Governments,imposing on them the responsibility of collectingsuch intelligence as may be necessary for theirown purposes and of reporting to Governmentof India, whatever may be desirable for the latterto know. At the headquarters of the Governmentof India and the Local Governments, I desire toemploy special agencies of the lowest possiblestrength, consistent with the work of collectingand recording intelligence received, and ofinitiating and conducting at the instance ofthe Government of India, such enquiries asmay be necessary in special cases.” Dufferin’ssecret despatch had, thus, broadly divided theresponsibilities of the proposed Central andthe Provincial Special Branches, and also laiddown the roles of the Central and the LocalGovernments, with regard to the Central and theLocal outfits. The provincial Special Brancheswould remain under the control of the LocalGovernment but it would be obligatory on theirpart to share all relevant intelligence with theCentral Special Branch.To curtail the cost, Dufferin suggested the useof the office and the manpower of the Thugeeand Dakaiti Department as a launching pad.“The privileges and facilities that the Departmenthad acquired over the years should be shared.”The General Superintendent of the Departmentwas entrusted with “the supervision of the newlyconstituted “Special Branch.” 8The financial commitment of the Governmentwould be Rs 46,800 per annum. Dufferinselected D McCracken, an officer of the PunjabCadre, to head the Central Special Branch,8 The name was apparently taken from the Special Branch ofMetropolitan Police, London.The Indian Police Journal, October - December, 2012, Special Issue 11