The role of the Zamindars in Bengal (1707-1772).

This work is a study of the different roles of the zamindars in Bengal during the period 1707-1772., It reviews the operational aspects of the revenue, military, police and judicial administration of the Mughals in the province of Bengal and examines how the zamindars fitted into that structure and discharged their duties. The key issues and approaches have been studied against the background of (i) the Mughal political system at the zenith of its power, (ii) the declining days of the imperial authority when virtually an autonomous Nawabi was established in the province, and (iii) the emergence of the East India Company as a political force. The opening chapter deals with the peripheral aspects of the zamindari system which have some bearings on the role of the zamindars. It also attempts at a classification for better understanding of the institution as well as judging one category of zamindars against others of the same genre. Chapter II analyses the genesis of the zamindaris and the mobility within the traditional pattern of the zamindar class as a result of some historical forces at work. Chapter III dwells on the revenue management, which also embraces some allied responsibilities, such as the development of agriculture, reclamation of the waste lands and the maintenance of the roads, bridges and embankments. In Chapter IV, the military obligations of the zamindars with their attendant implications are discussed and the roles of the zamindars are evaluated in this context. Chapter V is devoted to the question of enforcing law and order in the territories of the zamindars and the role of the zamindars as the custodian of peace. The issue involved in enforcing law and order in turn prompts inquiries into the right to administer justice granted to the zamindars. Chapter VI is addressed to this problem and examines further the impact of the role of the zamindars as judge-magistrate on their subjects

The Permanent Settlement and the emergence of a British state in late-eighteenth-century India

The Permanent Settlement (1793) was the first major institutional reform introduced by the East India Company state in late-eighteenth century India. Most studies exploring its origin suggest that the idea was a transplant from England or Europe. That hypothesis begs a question. The case for reform had been made in the 1770s. Why did the policy take so long to materialize if it was no more than a passive copy? It did, the paper claims, because an alternative model of state-making exercised appeal, which prioritized information gathering to serve the fiscal state

A Study of Murshidabad District 1765-1793.

This thesis is a study of Murshidabad District, in Western Bengal, during the years 1765 to 1793. Its purpose is to examine how Murshidabad was affected by the rise of the English East India Company to power in Bengal at the expense of the Nawabs who had made Murshidabad city their capital and centre of administration. The introductory chapter establishes the extent of the District during the eighteenth century and narrates the history of the city's growth as a great trading centre and administrative headquarters. Chapter II deals with the markets and trade of Murshidabad city and of the principal river ports around it, and examines the pattern of exports and imports of the District. Chapter III is devoted to the manufactures of Murshidabad, especially the silk industry, and discusses the causes of their decline. Chapter IV describes the pattern of inland customs, the growth in this period of zamindari chaukis and lakhiraj ganjes and the attempt to abolish them, and analyses the new customs regulations promulgated by the Company and the extent of their success. Chapter V discusses the nature of the banking and currency systems in Bengal, with special emphasis on the changing part played by the local business houses. Chapter VI studies the size, importance and organisation of the Nawab's household. The decline in the political and financial fortunes of the Nawabs is examined, and the consequences for the District of that decline. Chapter VII attempts a general survey of the economic life of Murshidabad. Attention is particularly directed to the effect of the famine of 1769-70, of the transfer of the provincial capital to Calcutta with its consequent loss of employment opportunities in Murshidabad, and to changes in the levels of incomes and prices. The Conclusion reviews the decline of Murshidabad as a centre of administration and industry and ends with a picture of its position at the turn of the century

A Suitable Boy: the abolition of feudalism in India

This article focuses on law and literature as a challenging tool in teaching courses in comparative law. Certain representative novels may provide important analytical instruments, especially in approaching legal systems that do not belong to the Western legal tradition but that involve a set of values profoundly rooted in a specific conception of society. In these instances, literature is used as a key in understanding the social impact of particular legal institutions, the nature of which seems difficult for European scholars to comprehend. This is particularly true in cases such as those in India, where the legal system is composed of different layers: the traditional, the religious and that of the colonial period. The article examines a concrete literary example offered by Vikram Seth in his novel A Suitable Boy, in which the author deals with the debate about peasants’ property in the form of land and about the abolition of the zamindari system, which had been introduced in India by the Mughals to collect land taxes from the peasants. It was continued by British rulers during the colonial period, but after independence in 1947 the system was abolished and the land was turned over to the peasants. To Westerners, the abolition of the zamindari system would seem to have been a sign of real independence and of the will to abolish feudalism. Nevertheless, the abrogation did not prevent the emergence of farm suicides in India, which have occurred since the middle of the 1990s. Seth’s novel allows us to witness firsthand the events that took place during the period when the law that put an end to the zamindari system was passed and to see with new eyes the genuine impact of such a reform

Bangladesh: Partitions, Nationalisms and Legacies for State-Building

This is an evolving draft of a book on Bangladesh that is based on the application of the Political Settlements Framework to develop an analytical narrative on the evolution of the state in Banglades

The impact of British Rule on the Indian Muslim Community in the nineteenth Century

Upon taking the reins of power in the South Asian Sub-continent, the East India Company officials, being aware of how sensitive Indians were of their socio-cultural traditions, adopted a policy of "non-interference" and kept aloof from all matters related to the socio-cultural and religious affairs of the local inhabitants. Instead, they busied themselves with the economic exploitation of the country, the objective for which they had come to the region.Nevertheless, following a vociferous clamour and pressure from the Christian missionaries who regarded the Indian people as "primitive" and "benighted", and who felt duty bound to "civilize" them, the British Government in London forced the East India Company in 1813 to forsake its, hitherto privileged, "no-interference policy" and give the evangelical movement unrestricted access to the country as an essential precondition for the renewal of the charter.Thus, upon setting foot in the Sub-continent, the missionaries, and even some British reform-minded officials, embarked on the process of reforming, as well as westernizing, the Indian society. Although some of the reforms being introduced were, when looked at objectively, positive, they were always despised by the native Indians. Indeed, this brought about a widespread malaise among the natives who interpreted the Company's actions as part of a scheme to forcefully convert them to Christianity. Thus, the task of this paper is to set out this socio-cultural malaise

Murshid Quli Khan and His Times.

Chapter I defines the scope and importance of the work, evaluates the existing works on the subject, and describes the sources utilised. Chapter II deals with the career of Murshid Quli Khan, setting it in perspective of Mughal imperial politics. The chronological mistakes of former writers have been corrected. Murshid Quli Khan's position under the Emperors Bahadur Shah and Farrukh Siyar, confused by previous writers, has been discussed and clarified. Chapter III deals with the provincial administration under Murshid Quli Khan. His influence over the provincial administration and provincial officers has been brought to light. This aspect had been neglected by previous scholars. Murshid Quli Khan's revenue reforms have been discussed in the light of non-Persian sources, which earlier writers had neglected. An attempt has been made to explain some obscure points like the basis of settlement and the rates of revenues. Chapter IV deals with Murshid Quli Khan's relations with the European companies, and corrects misunderstandings and misinterpretations by previous scholars, such as Charles Stewart, C.R. Wilson and Miss Anjali Sen. In particular the thesis that Murshid Quli Khan harassed the English traders for his own gain, has been refuted. In Section V, Murshid Quli Khan's relations with other European traders have been discussed, though only in outline. Chapter V in its two sections, deals with the effect of Murshid Quli Khan's rule on the trade, commerce and economic conditions of Bengal and on the social life of the province. The economy of Bengal has been studied by S. Bhattacharya in his East India Company and the Economy of Bengal 1704-1740, to whom the present writer is greatly indebted, but in the present study an attempt has been made both to identify the role of Murshid Quli Khan and to examine more closely the part played by the local people in the expanding trade and commerce of the country, and to show what benefits they derived from the expansion. The second section deals with other aspects of the society during Murshid Quli Khan's time. Such points as the composition of the society, education and Hindu-Muslim relations have been discussed. The Conclusion provides a brief review of the main themes of the thesis

The political economy of the Ganga River : highway of state formation in Mughal India, c.1600-1800

This dissertation examines the political economy of the Ganga River during the early modern period. Thematically, the seven chapters of the dissertation may be categorized in three broad divisions. Taking a longue dur_e perspective, the first two chapters situate the Ganga and its plain in the wider cultural and geographical framework of the Indian subcontinent. While Chapter 1 is concerned with the central role of the Ganga in Indian culture and civilization since the first millennium BC, Chapter 2 discusses early migration and the settlement pattern along the Ganga by paying close attention to the environmental predispositions of the region. The second broad division relates to the Ganga as connecting and feeding the political economy of northern India during the early modern period. The Ganga linked the region with the maritime economy, facilitated navigation, transportation of merchandise and also facilitated political control. Thus, Chapters 3 to 6 examine the political economic processes along the Ganga in eastern India, the integration of the regional commercial economy with the maritime global economy, bullion flows and production processes of such merchandise as saltpeter, opium and textiles. As Bihar offered these commodities, its economy pulled the maritime traders who approached the region through the Ganga highway. The inflows of specie boosted the economy and the agricultural and craft-productions kept pace with the increasing demands in overseas markets. Benefitting from the expanding economy of Bihar, the zamindars (warlords-cum-gentry) asserted their control over the Ganga and chocked the flow of resources to the Mughal imperial coffers and thus paving the way for Mughal decline in the eighteenth century. The third and last thematic division in Chapter 7 focuses on the decline of the Mughal Empire, zamindar-led regional centralization, and the political transition to EIC rule.UBL - phd migration 201

The evolution of British imperial perceptions in Ireland and India c. 1650 - 1800

This dissertation explores the correlation between British colonial experiences in Ireland and India c. 1650 – 1800. While the traditional characterisation of Ireland as a settlement colony and India as primarily a mercantile colony would suggest diverse imperial encounters, a comparative analysis of the two shows significant similarities. Temporal and/or geographical distances notwithstanding, the study’s thematic approach reveals recurring patterns regarding the relationships between colonisers and the colonised. The six chapters of this dissertation explore different elements of empire, concluding that comparable socio-political and agrarian principles were consistently implemented in both colonies. The first chapter explores history writing as a tool of historical appropriation and indigenous reconfiguration. The second looks at escalating legal responses to colonial violence and colonial jurisdiction’s role in defining social norms; the third considers the evolving forms of punishment dealt to ‘deviant’ colonial subjects. The fourth chapter looks at similar processes of agrarian reconfiguration that revealed broader imperial attitudes towards landownership and the fifth one elaborates on the use of visual representations of empire as propaganda tools to shape public opinion. In the final chapter, selected experiences of the Irish in India illustrate examples of colonial subjects’ collaboration in imperial expansion. By adopting a more heuristic and thematic approach to colonial experiences, this study adds to the growing literature that necessarily complicates the distinctions between metropole and periphery. It challenges the use of single points of reference which have routinely privileged the accounts and experiences of Britons in the scholarly analysis of cross-cultural and imperial interactions. Blending early modern and nineteenth-century experiences with regional and global history, the chapters address the history of emotions, law, material culture, economy, and politics to argue that processes of influence and transformation were indicative of a more layered and evolutionary development in response to colonial challenges. Such experimental approaches provide a more sustained understanding of the processes of continuity and change in Britain’s imperial evolution.Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowshi