Cornwallis Code

The Cornwallis Code was a body of legislation enacted in 1793 by the East India Company to reorganize the governance of its territories in Bengal and northern India, developed under Charles Cornwallis during his tenure as Governor of Bengal. Its most significant element was the Permanent Settlement, which fixed land revenue assessments and vested hereditary tax collection in zamindars, a system that lasted into the 20th century. The code also separated Company personnel into revenue, judicial and commercial branches, reorganized the judiciary into district judges and provincial courts, and restricted senior administrative posts to British officials.