Punjab Police

The system of policing in Mughal India was organized on the basis of land tenure. Zamindars were responsible for apprehending disturbers of the public peace and performing other policing duties. At the level of the village, these functions were performed by the village headmen. In large towns, administration of the police was entrusted to functionaries called kotwals who discharged the combined duties of law enforcement, municipal administration and revenue collection. Patrol officers in form of village watchmen or patels in villages and peons, horse patrolmen and such other like men in the towns were present. Violent organized crime was usually dealt with by the military.

The British administration relieved the zamindars of their responsibility for police service and introduced magistrates with daroghas and other subordinate officers for police purposes. In Madras, the system of daroghas was abolished by Madras Regulation XI of 1816 and the establishment of the tehsildars was employed without distinction in revenue and police duties. A similar system was put in place in Bombay by Bombay Regulation XII of 1827. In Bengal, the system of daroghas was not abolished due to the absence of the subordinate revenue establishment but their powers were curtailed in 1811 by taking away some of their powers of cognizance.

In Bengal special control was introduced in 1808 by the appointment of a Superintendent or Inspector General for the divisions of Calcutta, Dacca and Murshidabad. In 1810, the system was extended to the divisions of Patna, Bareilly and Benares. However, with the appointment of Divisional Commissioners, the office of the Superintendent was abolished.

The next major change in the organization of police took place in Sindh where Sir Charles Napier, drawing inspiration from the Irish constabulary, developed a separate and self-contained police organization for the province. The Sindh Model was put into effect in Bombay and Madras in 1853 and 1859, respectively.