The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947.
Its members ruled over more than 300 million people[1] in the presidencies and provinces of British India and were ultimately responsible for overseeing all government activity in the 250 districts that comprised British India. They were appointed under Section XXXII(32) of the Government of India Act 1858,[2][3] enacted by the British Parliament.[4] The ICS was headed by the Secretary of State for India, a member of the British cabinet.
At first almost all the top thousand members of the ICS, known as "Civilians", were British, and had been educated in the best British schools.[5]
At the time of the partition of India in 1947, the outgoing Government of India's ICS was divided between India and Pakistan.[a] Although these are now organised differently, the contemporary Civil Services of India, the Central Superior Services of Pakistan, Bangladesh Civil Service and Myanmar Civil Service are all descended from the old Indian Civil Service. Historians often rate the ICS, together with the railway system, the legal system, and the Indian Army, as among the most important legacies of British rule in India.[6]
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