Which of the following Acts passed under Warren Hastings was also called ‘half-loaf system’?

Correct — A. The half-loaf label belongs to Pitt's India Act of 1784, passed while Warren Hastings was Governor-General.

The Act did not take India away from the Company. It created a Board of Control of Crown ministers over political, military and revenue matters, and left trade and patronage with the Court of Directors.

Half the loaf to the Crown, half to the Company: a double government that lasted until 1858. That divided settlement is what the stem's phrase names, and it is option (a).

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  Government of India Act 1858 — The Government of India Act 1858 ended the arrangement instead of dividing it — power passed wholly to the Crown, with a Secretary of State for India in London. It came decades after Hastings had left office.
• (c)
  Regulating Act 1773 — The Regulating Act 1773 is the real trap, because it created the post Hastings held, first Governor-General of Bengal, and a Supreme Court at Calcutta. The half-loaf label, though, attaches to the 1784 Act and its Board of Control.
• (d)
  Charter Act 1813 — The Charter Act 1813 renewed the Company's charter and ended its trade monopoly except for tea and the China trade. It changed commerce, not the structure of government.

Between 1773 and 1858 Parliament governed India by editing the Company rather than replacing it, and the sequence is tested Act by Act.

Regulating Act, 1773 — the first parliamentary control: a Governor-General of Bengal with a council of four, and a Supreme Court at Calcutta.

Pitt's India Act, 1784 — a Board of Control of Crown ministers over civil, military and revenue affairs, alongside the Court of Directors for commerce. That dual arrangement earned the half-loaf name.

Government of India Act, 1858 — the Company goes, the Crown takes over, and a Secretary of State for India answers to Parliament.

Key facts

• Pitt's India Act, 1784 set up a Board of Control in England over the civil, military and revenue affairs of British India.
• The Court of Directors kept commerce and patronage, so Crown and Company governed jointly, which is the double government.
• Warren Hastings was Governor-General of Bengal from 1774 to 1785, so the 1784 Act was passed during his term.
• The joint arrangement ran until the Government of India Act, 1858 transferred power to the Crown.

Common traps

• Choosing the Regulating Act because it is the Act most associated with Warren Hastings
• Reading half-loaf as half of British India rather than as half the power

No directly related past PYQ was found.