Lord William Bentinck will always be remembered for the work done by him to improve the social order of the Indian society. He tried to bring various reforms which were the social evils.
The work done by him is as under:
Abolition of sati: He promulgated his Regulation XVII on 4 December 1829 prohibiting the practice of sati. Those who practiced sati were made liable for punishment by law courts as accessories to the crime. The Regulation was extended to the Madras and Bombay Presidencies in 1830.
Suppression of Thugs: A campaign was systematically organised by Colonel Sleeman from 1830 against the thugs. During the course of five years nearly 2000 of them were captured.
Bentinck took effective steps to prevent the ritual of child sacrifice at Saugar Island in Bengal. He not only prohibited female infanticide but declared them as punishable crime.
Bentinck’s Government defined the aim of education in India and the medium of instruction to be employed. The Macaulayian system of education has profoundly affected the moral and intellectual character of the people of India.
He was of the opinion that education can only bring the systematic changes in the social order and he brought serious reforms and one of the few governor who really wanted to bring some changes in the social order.