ABSTRACT
This chapter presents details of its creation and development up to, approximately, the reconstruction period after the First World War. The creation of the Civil Service Commission laid the foundations of the modern civil service. Patronage was the established method for making appointments to positions in government in the early nineteenth century. Appointments were made as an exercise of privilege: patronage was, in effect, part of the emoluments of political office. During the earliest years of the nineteenth century, a start had already been made towards making the civil service of India more professional. Haileybury College had been founded in 1806 to provide suitable education for young men nominated to join the civil service of the East India Company. When the Civil Service Commission was created it was on an experimental basis. There was no general support from all parties in Parliament. The Commissioners were appointed through patronage, though it cannot be doubted that they were successful.
