The
police in India are as old as the nation herself. Ancient
India saw police as an instrument under the kings. They
were ministers or important individuals who were vested
with police functions. The Moghul period some kind of organized
patterns set into the police system. However there were
glaring differences between systems of policing from one
state to another which was noticed by the British. Realizing
the need for a unified policing system in India, the British
by a process of experimentation evolved the existing pattern
of Police that was embodied in the Indian Police Act, Act-V
of 1861. Modelled on the pattern of the army, the police
personnel are to be utilized mainly for quelling disturbances
by the civil population. This system has been the basis
for the formation and functioning of all police systems
in India that are constantly waging a war against internal
enemies.
The
Birth of A.P.Police
The
AP Police force was born out of the integration of two separate
police forces-the police force of the ex-Andhra state and
that of the Telangana area in the erstwhile Hyderabad state.
The condition of the state during the mid 19th century was
one of great anarchy and confusion.
Telangana:
The
territory of Telangana was ruled by the dynasty of the
Nizam founded by Asaf Jah, a general in the army of the
Mughal emperor Aurangazeb. He and his successors ruled
the entire Deccan region with assistance and guidance
from the French. In the districts the policing work was
performed by irregular troops—the Sibandi peons,
the Nizamats and the village servants. In the Marattawari
districts the task was assigned to the Ramosis and Jaglias;
in the Kanara districts the task of policing was assigned
to the Setsindhis and Talayaris while most of the Telangana
region was monitored by the Mannevars and Mazkuris. Armed
with the authority to investigate arrest, liberate or
punish the guilty these village servants in return for
the police duties performed by them held lands and received
a share of the yield from the villagers.
Andhra:
Most
of the Andhra region was for a long time under the Vijayanagar
dynasty that was founded by Sri Krishnadevaraya in 1509.
The organization of the police during this period was called
the Kaveli System or the Hindoo Police. In each village,
town, city and district were stationed officers of police
with gradations of rank and numbers of retainers commensurate
with their ranges, from that of the humblest Kavilgar to
the most powerful Poligar. The Kavilgars were entrusted
the internal security and tranquility of the state. They
were armed and paid by means of contributions from every
inhabitant in addition to an assessment amount. The Poligars
were expected to join the king’s army in times of
external danger. They were entrusted with the safety of
public property and were armed with the means and paid for
the purpose of protecting it. They were held responsible
and questioned for all thefts, robberies, depredation, detection
and apprehension of public offenders. When the British came
in the 19th century they introduced a system of policing
that initiated a process of transition from military diplomacy
to a modernized system.
It was the Madras Act XXIV of 1859 which marked the beginning
of the Madras Police and shortly later, the Police Act of
1861 instituted the system of police which forms the foundation
of modern day police in India. The "Ceded Areas"
of Andhra, as they were popularly known, continued as a
part of the Madras Police and it was only in October 1953,
after the birth of a separate Andhra State, that the Andhra
State Police gained individual existence. Finally with the
formation of the Andhra Pradesh on the 1st November 1956
integrating the Telugu areas of the erstwhile Hyderabad
state with the Andhra State, the modern day Andhra Pradesh
Police came into existence.
The Police Act 1861 instituted the system of policing which
is in force in India today. It is Act V that regulates the
organization, recruitment and discipline of the India Police.
With the induction of the Police Code in 1865 and the creation
of the post of Inspector General of Police, there was a
marked improvement in the law and order scenario in the
country.
With the advent of Independence of India in 1947, the Nizam
of Hyderabad envisaged an independent suzerainty of his
dynasty and Muslim rule. However the police action in September,
1948 dispelled the Nizams notions and after strenuous efforts
by the police and army to restore law and order, Hyderabad
became a part of the Indian Union on the 26th January 1950.
Thus
was born a new Andhra Pradesh, a land of multifarious
hues and people that boasts of a strong and uncompromising
yet empathetic and responsive Police Force. Soft temperaments
laced with firm action, the Andhra Pradesh Police, created
on 1st November1956 with
a rich, colorful and varied history was born of the amalgamation
of two separate police forces—the police force of
the erstwhile Andhra state and that of the Telangana area
in the erstwhile Hyderabad state.
The
police in India are as old as the nation herself. Ancient
India saw police as an instrument under the kings. They
were ministers or important individuals who were vested
with police functions. The Moghul period some kind of organized
patterns set into the police system. However there were
glaring differences between systems of policing from one
state to another which was noticed by the British. Realizing
the need for a unified policing system in India, the British
by a process of experimentation evolved the existing pattern
of Police that was embodied in the Indian Police Act, Act-V
of 1861. Modelled on the pattern of the army, the police
personnel are to be utilized mainly for quelling disturbances
by the civil population. This system has been the basis
for the formation and functioning of all police systems
in India that are constantly waging a war against internal
enemies.