DOCSLIB.ORG

Download The

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Download The Theorising the Informant: The Epistemic Space of Bengal and the Codification of Hindu Law 1772-1800 by Michael S. Dodson B.A., Simon Fraser University, 1992 a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in The Faculty of Graduate Studies Department of Asian Studies We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard: The University of British Columbia August, 1998 © Michael S. Dodson, 1998 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada DE-6 (2/88) Abstract This thesis attempts to interpret the events surrounding the codification and implementation of Hindu law in late eighteenth century Bengal, under the government of the East India Company. The first chapter provides the necessary framework of historical facts for this interpretation; it consists primarily of a narrative of events such as the implementation of structural changes to the judicature, and the collection and translation of "laws" from the Hindu normative treatises, the dharmasastra, in Company sponsored legal digests. The second chapter provides the basic theoretical framework through which these events are interpreted, by first discussing the utilisation of discourse theory by Edward Said in Orientalism, and then by considering subsequent refinements to his approach. I argue for a conception of epistemic space as constituted by objects of knowledge, variously inscribed by divergent discourses. Further, each discourse is seen to be connected with non-discursive factors through the enunciation of individual members of various knowledge communities. Two separate and competing discourses are then described, the first wielded by orientalists and East India Company officials, in a justification of Company rule in India, and the second deployed by Hindu pandits in the compilation of dharmasastra nibandhas. Each discourse is seen to be derived in large part from pre-existing philosophical frameworks peculiar to the members of these two different knowledge communities. The legal, colonial discourse of the orientalists is informed largely by notions of "civil society" and "civil justice," while the "traditional" discourse of the pandits is influenced principally by the philosophical methodologies of mvmdmsa and nyaya, and the concept of dharma. Utilising the concept of "hybridity" as developed by Homi Bhabha, I argue that the pandits of late eighteenth century Bengal refused the demands of colonial discourse, and thereby colonialism itself, by not accepting the "civilise-ational" requirements it imposed upon the legal project. in Table of Contents Abstract ii Table of Contents iii Acknowledgements iv Note on Orthography v Introduction 1 Chapter One Context: Judicial Plans and Hindu Legal Digests 9 Chapter Two Mapping the Epistemic Space 43 Chapter Three The Figure of the Informant 80 PostFace 113 Bibliography 117 IV Acknowledgements I want to acknowledge here the kind financial support of the Goel Family Charitable Foundation and the Faculty of Graduate Studies. Without the financial support generously provided by the Goel family, I would not have been financially able to complete this degree. Thanks in this regard are also due to the Department of Asian Studies and the Faculty of Arts, who provided me with both monetary prizes and a teaching assistantship in my second year. The ideas in this thesis have been helped along enormously by the contributions of my professors, all of whom are either affiliated with the Department of Asian Studies or the Department of Religious Studies. I would like to thank specifically Larry Preston, my thesis supervisor, for taking a chance on someone who had misspelled "devandgaft" on his application for graduate school. As well, Mandakranta Bose, Harjot Oberoi, Ken Bryant, Ashok Aklujkar, Joshua Mostow and Sharalyn Orbaugh deserve recognition and thanks for their individual criticisms, suggestions and unfailing encouragement. I feel very fortunate to have been able to learn from all of them. Thanks are also due to Tanya Boughtflower for her friendship and proof reading skills, and to Chris Bayly for his helpfulness and encouragement. Finally, I must thank my family for their support and their patience, especially my parents Jo-Anne and Robin. None of this would have been possible, however, without the seemingly inexhaustible support and understanding of my wife Tanja. V Note on Orthography All words from Sanskrit or Hindi, including Persian loan words, appear in the text at their first occurrence in italics with proper diacritical marks, as well as in riagarT. Sanskrit words will also appear with appropriate nominative case endings in the nagarT. Thereafter, such words appear in the text in italics only, without diacritical marks. For example, in the first instance: dharmasdstra (SIWIW), and thereafter: dharmasastra. Further, the names of Sanskrit texts will appear in a similar fashion, although these names will not be capitalised. The Sanskrit names of individuals, however, will always appear capitalised, with appropriate diacritical marks, and not italicised. For example, Jagannatha Tarkapaficanana will always appear in the text in this way. c 1 Introduction I am now at the ancient university of Nadeya, where I hope to learn the rudiments of that venerable and interesting language which was once vernacular in all India. Sir William Jones, 8th Sept. 1785 letter to Patrick Russell1 The settler makes history and is conscious of making it. 2 Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth The late eighteenth century in Bengal is a period of transition and change. The role of the East India Company in Bengal developed from one dominated by mercantile interests and activities to being the effective government; politico-administrative structures were altered in the transition from rule by the navdb ('m) to rule by the Company; "traditional" educational institutions and methods of knowledge transmission were institutionalised or abandoned; and the cultural meaningfulness of textual traditions/Was forever altered. This period has been described by Bernard Cohn as a "formative period" in British India, during which time the British constructed a system of rule through the appropriation of Indian forms of knowledge. The production of language grammars, legal codes, and the translation of religious texts under the auspices of the British East India Company is thought by Cohn to have served to establish the discourse of Orientalism, and thereby converted Indian forms of knowledge into European objects: 1 W. Jones to P. Russell, letter #416 in The Letters of Sir William Jones, in 2 Volumes, G. Cannon (ed.), (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1970), Vol. II, p. 680. 2 F. Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, C. Farrington (trans.), (New York: Grove Press, 1963), p. 51. 2 -3 objects which proved instrumental in the rule and domination of India. Cohn is certainly warranted in identifying the late eighteenth century in Bengal as a period of "formation," though it might equally be characterised of as an era of "trans-formation" and "de• formation," as the implements of rule were often fashioned from a modification of existing indigenous forms of knowledge and institutional practices. Conn's use of the terms "formation," "construction" and "appropriation," however, points to a conception of a unilateral epistemic process, one in which the British possess the means, the access and the power to wholly construct resultant knowledges and discourses. Betraying a Saidian bent, for Cohn knowledge is thought to derive from (and hence contribute to) a singular discourse, constructed monologically. Though publication of Edward Said's Orientalism* in 1978 has acted as a catalyst to two decades of academic debate over the formative processes of "Western" knowledge about the "Orient," and the uses to which that knowledge was/is put in the domination and subordination of societies-thus-known through Western imperialism and colonialism, Said's work has been criticised for his formulation of Orientalism as a singular, monolithic discourse, as well as for his ahistorical approach to the paradigmatic texts of Orientalism!5 The shortcomings of Said's approach in Orientalism have highlighted the need for more subtle and responsive theoretical approaches to the study of Orientalist or 3 B.S. Cohn, "The Command of Language and the Language of Command" reprinted in Colonialism and its Forms of Knowledge, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996), pp. 20-21. See also "Law and the Colonial State in India" reprinted in the same volume. Further references to the latter article, however, will be from its original printing in History and Power in the Study of Law: New Directions in Legal Anthropology, J. Starr & J.F. Collier, (eds.), (Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press, 1989). 4 E.W. Said, Orientalism, (New York: Vintage Books, 1979). 5 See, for example, J. Clifford, "On Orientalism" reprinted in The Predicament of Culture, (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1988); A. Ahmad, "Orientalism and After:
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Banians in the Bengal Economy (18Th and 19Th Centuries): Historical Perspective
    Banians in the Bengal Economy (18th and 19th Centuries): Historical Perspective Murshida Bintey Rahman Registration No: 45 Session: 2008-09 Academic Supervisor Dr. Sharif uddin Ahmed Supernumerary Professor Department of History University of Dhaka This Thesis Submitted to the Department of History University of Dhaka for the Degree of Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) December, 2013 Declaration This is to certify that Murshida Bintey Rahman has written the thesis titled ‘Banians in the Bengal Economy (18th & 19th Centuries): Historical Perspective’ under my supervision. She has written the thesis for the M.Phil degree in History. I further affirm that the work reported in this thesis is original and no part or the whole of the dissertation has been submitted to, any form in any other University or institution for any degree. Dr. Sharif uddin Ahmed Supernumerary Professor Department of History Dated: University of Dhaka 2 Declaration I do declare that, I have written the thesis titled ‘Banians in the Bengal Economy (18th & 19th Centuries): Historical Perspective’ for the M.Phil degree in History. I affirm that the work reported in this thesis is original and no part or the whole of the dissertation has been submitted to, any form in any other University or institution for any degree. Murshida Bintey Rahman Registration No: 45 Dated: Session: 2008-09 Department of History University of Dhaka 3 Banians in the Bengal Economy (18th and 19th Centuries): Historical Perspective Abstract Banians or merchants’ bankers were the first Bengali collaborators or cross cultural brokers for the foreign merchants from the seventeenth century until well into the mid-nineteenth century Bengal.
    [Show full text]
  • España, Una Historia Global
    Entre finales del siglo XV y principios del XIX, la Luis Francisco Martínez Montes Monarquía Hispánica fue una de las mayores y más complejas construcciones políticas jamás LUIS FRANCISCO MARTÍNEZ conocidas en la historia. Desde la meseta castella- MONTES (Madrid, 1968) es diplomáti- na hasta las cimas andinas; desde ciudades cosmo- co, escritor y viajero constante por las politas como Sevilla, Nápoles, México o Manila ESPAÑA, rutas del conocimiento. Director y hasta los pueblos y misiones del sudoeste nortea- co-fundador de la revista The Global mericano o la remota base de Nutka, en la cana- Square Magazine. Es autor de dos ensayos diense isla de Vancouver; desde Bruselas a Buenos UNA HISTORIA GLOBAL Aires y desde Milán a Los Ángeles, España ha (Los Estados Unidos y el ascenso de China y Luis Francisco Martínez Montes Luis Francisco dejado su impronta a través de continentes y España, Eurasia y el nuevo teatro del océanos, contribuyendo, en no menor medida, a mundo), coautor del libro Apuntes sobre el la emergencia de la globalización. Una aportación ártico y ha publicado más de cuarenta que ha sido tanto material - el peso de plata hispa- artículos sobre geopolítica y diversos noamericano transportado a través del Atlántico y temas históricos y culturales en medios de del Pacífico fue la primera moneda global , lo que España, América Latina y Estados facilitó la creación de un sistema económico mundial-, como intelectual y artística. Los más Unidos. extraordinarios intercambios culturales tuvieron lugar en casi todos los rincones del Mundo Hispá- nico, no importa a qué distancia estuvieran de la metrópolis.
    [Show full text]
  • The Road to Partition M V Pylee an Outline of Indian Constitutional History by V P Menem; Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
    BOOK REVIEW The Road to Partition M V Pylee An Outline of Indian Constitutional History by V P Menem; Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. 1965; pp 84, Rs 3.50 "A N Outline of Indian Constitutional the League. "We may at this distance thought many times before voluntarily History" is the book-form of the of time", he says, "feel that it was abandoning such an advantage." One Birla Endowment Lectures for 1963 irrational, but it is an indubitable of the more serious consequences of delivered by V P Menon under the fact that this period of Provincial au­ this monumental error was the later auspices of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. tonomy which in most provinces lasted partition of the country. It is a kaleidoscopic account of con­ barely two years, was an important From that time, a conviction grew stitutional developments in India un­ turning-point in communal relations." among the British that the Hindus der the British culminating in the (P.42) Among the other factors he were their irreconcilable enemies, and transfer of power in August 1917. The lists the Nehru (Motilal) Report this feeling was only intensified by first part of the book deals with the (1928) which adopted "the straight all that happened later the Indivi­ British conquest of India, its consoli­ secular attitude"; it virtually ignored dual Civil Disobedience in 1940-41, dation and the events leading up to the Muslims' fears and proceeded as the rejection of the Cripps Offer in the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms; the if the communal question did not March 1942, the Quit India campaign second part with the constitutional de­ exist.
    [Show full text]
  • British Impeachments (1376 - 1787) and the Preservation of the American Constitutional Order Frank O
    Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly Volume 46 Article 2 Number 4 Summer 2019 Summer 2019 British Impeachments (1376 - 1787) and the Preservation of the American Constitutional Order Frank O. Bowman III Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/ hastings_constitutional_law_quaterly Part of the Constitutional Law Commons Recommended Citation Frank O. Bowman III, British Impeachments (1376 - 1787) and the Preservation of the American Constitutional Order, 46 Hastings Const. L.Q. 745 (2019). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_constitutional_law_quaterly/vol46/iss4/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BOWMAN_5.6.19 UPDATED FINAL FOR ONLINE (DO NOT DELETE) 5/7/2019 3:58 PM British Impeachments (1376- 1787) and the Preservation of the American Constitutional Order by FRANK O. BOWMAN, III* Introduction: Why British Impeachments Matter Impeachment is a British invention, employed by Parliament beginning in 1376 to resist the general tendency of the monarchy to absolutism and to counter particularly obnoxious royal policies by removing the ministers who implemented them. The invention crossed the Atlantic with the British colonists who would one day rebel against their mother country and create an independent United States of America. During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the delegates decided that presidents and other federal officers could be impeached, but they recoiled from the severe and occasionally fatal punishments imposed by Parliament, and they wrestled over what conduct should be impeachable.
    [Show full text]
  • Institutional Development in the Bengal Presidency
    Wesleyan Economic Working Papers http://repec.wesleyan.edu/ No: 2019-001 Fishing Rights and Colonial Government: Institutional Development in the Bengal Presidency Shourya Sen & Richard Adelstein January 2019 Department of Economics Public Affairs Center 238 Church Street Middletown, CT 06459-007 Tel: (860) 685-2340 Fax: (860) 685-2301 http://www.wesleyan.edu/econ Fishing Rights and Colonial Government: Institutional Development in the Bengal Presidency Shourya Sen and Richard Adelstein Department of Economics Wesleyan University Middletown, CT 06459 USA Address correspondence to: [email protected] January 2019 ABSTRACT We examine the evolution of fishing rights in colonial Bengal through a series of cases heard at the Calcutta High Court in the 1880s and culminating in the passage of legislation in 1889. We posit an implicit relational contract between the colonizing British and the landowning class in colonial Bengal as a way to understand the concurrent evolution of fishing rights and institutions of governance in the region. The system of incentives created by this contract determined the development of fishing rights at a crucial moment in the history of colonial Bengal and, more broadly, became a primary mechanism of institutional change in the region. The analysis also shows the Calcutta High Court to have acted, albeit in vain, as a truly independent judiciary. KEYWORDS: Fishing rights, state formation, relational contracts, colonialism, credible commitments JEL CATEGORIES: N55, O13, P48. 2 Fishing Rights and Colonial Government: Institutional Development in The Bengal Presidency Introduction This paper analyzes the development of fishing rights in colonial Bengal through the nineteenth century. It posits an implicit and relational contract between the colonizing British and the landowning class, called zamindars, in the Bengal Presidency as a way to understand the historical development of fishing rights.
    [Show full text]
  • Expansion and Consolidation of Colonial Power Subject : History
    Expansion and consolidation of colonial power Subject : History Lesson : Expansion and consolidation of colonial power Course Developers Expansion and consolidation of colonial power Prof. Lakshmi Subramaniam Professor, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata Dynamics of colonial expansion--1 and Dynamics of colonial expansion--2: expansion and consolidation of colonial rule in Bengal, Mysore, Western India, Sindh, Awadh and the Punjab Dr. Anirudh Deshpande Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Delhi Language Editor: Swapna Liddle Formating Editor: Ashutosh Kumar 1 Institute of lifelong learning, University of Delhi Expansion and consolidation of colonial power Table of contents Chapter 2: Expansion and consolidation of colonial power 2.1: Expansion and consolidation of colonial power 2.2.1: Dynamics of colonial expansion - I 2.2.2: Dynamics of colonial expansion – II: expansion and consolidation of colonial rule in Bengal, Mysore, Western India, Awadh and the Punjab Summary Exercises Glossary Further readings 2 Institute of lifelong learning, University of Delhi Expansion and consolidation of colonial power 2.1: Expansion and consolidation of colonial power Introduction The second half of the 18th century saw the formal induction of the English East India Company as a power in the Indian political system. The battle of Plassey (1757) followed by that of Buxar (1764) gave the Company access to the revenues of the subas of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and a subsequent edge in the contest for paramountcy in Hindustan. Control over revenues resulted in a gradual shift in the orientation of the Company‟s agenda – from commerce to land revenue – with important consequences. This chapter will trace the development of the Company‟s rise to power in Bengal, the articulation of commercial policies in the context of Mercantilism that developed as an informing ideology in Europe and that found limited application in India by some of the Company‟s officials.
    [Show full text]
  • Rathin Datta
    The Legacy Continues... Rathin Datta A history of Price Waterhouse, Lovelock & Lewes and PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd. in India Rathin Datta This is an internal document of Price Waterhouse, Lovelock & Lewes and PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd. meant only for the private reading of the Partners and Executive Directors of these entities and intended to be archived by these entities as an internal record. Published by Nandini Chatterjee of PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd., Y14, Block EP, Sector V, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 091, as an internal document of Price Waterhouse, Lovelock & Lewes and PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd. Design: [email protected] Printed by: Paramount Printographics Contents Introduction 5 Chapter I –The Early Days Calcutta in 1880 7 The founding of PW 9 The founding of L&L 15 The shifting of the Capital 22 International linkage of PW 23 The Managing Agency Houses 31 The Indian Industrialists 33 Post World War I 34 Early years of the profession 37 Offices in those days 39 Run up to World War II 43 Birth of a Nation 46 Chapter II – Post Independence Era The dawn 49 Cawnpore & Madras 50 East Pakistan 50 Socialistic Pattern of Society 52 Leadership changes 53 Eclipse of the Agency Houses 55 Other Offices 57 Nationalisation 59 1970s-1980s 61 Regulations 69 Chapter III –The Era of Reforms 1990s 71 Reforms 74 Merger 75 The rise of MCS 78 Not IT alone 85 Epilogue 90 Appendix 91 Madras (Chennai) Office 92 Bombay (Mumbai) Office 94 New Delhi Office 96 Bangalore Office 98 Pune Office 100 Hyderabad Office 102 Bhubaneswar Office 104 The Legacy Continues..
    [Show full text]
  • Objective Type Questions (1 Mark Each)
    Grade VIII Lesson 2.From Trade to Territory The Company Establishes Power Objective Type Questions (1 Mark each) I. Multiple choice questions 1. _______________ was the last powerful Mughal ruler. a. Akbar b. Jahangir c. Shahjahan d. Aurangzeb 2. Vasco-da-Gama explored India in _______________. a. 1498 b. 1500 c. 1499 d. 1501 3. _______________ is a royal edict or a royal order. a. Qazi b. Mehman c. Farman d. Kaman 4. _______________ was the successor of Bengal after Alivardi Khan. a. Mir Qasim b. Sirajuddaulah c. Mir Jafar d. Murshid Quli Khan 5. The Battle of _________________ was held in 1757. a. Plassey b. Panipat c. Buxar d. Mysore 6. ________________ died in 1765. a. Mir Qasim b. Sirajuddaulah c. Mir Jafar d. Alivardi Khan 7. The process of annexation of Indian states by East India Company was from ____________. a. 1757 to 1857 b. 1755 to 1855 c. 1756 to 1856 d. 1754 to 1854 8. _________________ was forced to cede territories on subsidiary forces. a. Chandigarh b. Delhi c. Hyderabad d. Mumbai 1. d 2. a 3. c 4. b 5. a 6. c 7. a 8. c II. Multiple choice questions 1. Which one was not a trading company? a. The Portuguese b. The Dutch c. The French d. The Japanese 2. What was farman? a. It was a royal dress b. It was royal order c. It was a royal food d. It was a royal procession 1 Created by Pinkz 3. The Nawab of Bengal after Alivardi Khan was a. Murshid Quli Khan b.
    [Show full text]
  • Edmund Burke's Controversial Prosecution of Warren Hastings
    Law, Crime and History (2011) 2 IN DEFENCE OF INTRINSIC HUMAN RIGHTS: EDMUND BURKE’S CONTROVERSIAL PROSECUTION OF WARREN HASTINGS, GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF BENGAL Chris Monaghan1 Abstract For the first time, this article examines the impeachment trial of Warren Hastings from a human rights perspective. Even now, the seven year impeachment trial retains a degree of controversy, particularly as to its merits, and to the motivation of Edmund Burke, the man responsible for holding Hastings to account. The trial resulted in the clash between the reality of Britain‟s colonial expansion for many contemporaries and a defence of the intrinsic human rights of the Company‟s Indian subjects. If for many, it is debatable as to how successful Burke was in raising awareness of „human rights‟ and whether the impeachment trial brought about any tangible results; this article argues not only that Burke‟s awareness of „human rights‟ as a concept which could be defended by a court of law was for the late eighteenth century revolutionary but also that its legacy has a current resonance. In order to address these issues an exploration is provided of the events which gave rise to the impeachment, namely the role of Edmund Burke, and the political and moral concerns surrounding the East India Company‟s administration of a substantial part of modern India and Bangladesh. The political attempts to hold the Company to account will also be discussed, with particular reference as to why Burke felt the need to impeach Hastings. Finally, consideration will be given to the use of impeachment as a method of accountability and parallels that can be drawn with the modern inquiry and the human rights dimensions thereto.
    [Show full text]
  • Neil Benjamin Edmonstone and the First Indian Imperialists, 1780-1820 Marla Karen Chancey
    Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2003 In the Company's Secret Service: Neil Benjamin Edmonstone and the First Indian Imperialists, 1780-1820 Marla Karen Chancey Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY HISTORY DEPARTMENT IN THE COMPANY'S SECRET SERVICE: NEIL BENJAMIN EDMONSTONE AND THE FIRST INDIAN IMPERIALISTS, 1780-1820 by MARLA KAREN CHANCEY A Dissertation submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2003 The members of the Committee approve the dissertation of Marla Karen Chancey, defended on August 26, 2003. Bawa Satinder Singh Professor Directing Dissertation Patrick M. O'Sullivan Outside Committee Member Peter P. Garretson Committee Member Winston Lo Committee Member Richard L. Greaves Committee Member Approved: Neil Jumonville, Chair, Department of History Donald Foss, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iv INTRODUCTION 1 1. ORIGINS, 1765-1783 4 2. SOCIETY AND IMPERIALISM IN OLD CALCUTTA: 1783-1788 17 3. "THE SPLENDOR AND MAJESTY": A SEASON IN HYDERABAD, 1788-1790 36 4. ASAF-UD-DAULA AND THE BRITISH, 1790-1794 56 5. POWER POLITICS IN AWADH, 1794-1797 73 6. THE DENOUEMENT, 1797-1799 89 7. WILD AMBITION: THE MASSACRES OF 1799 105 8. WAR IN MASQUERADE, 1799-1801 126 9. THE POMP AND THE POWER, 1802-1803 145 10.
    [Show full text]
  • Surveyed During the Tenure of This Project
    Endangered Archives Programme British Library, UK A Report on the Pilot Project Entitled “Private Records of Some Leading Business Families of Early Colonial Bengal” (EAP 906) By EAP: 906 Research Team Dr. Tridibsantapa Kundu, Principal Investigator Dr. Sudip Chakraborty, Joint Investigator Ayan Kundu, Research Assistant Krishnapriya Chakravarti, Research Assistant Report of EAP 906 Acknowledgement For implementation of this Pilot Project we received support and encouragement from many people and institutions. We would like to thank Professor Anuradha Ray of Jadavpur University for her deep concern about this project. Similarly Professor Sudeshna Banerjee also provided useful suggestions for implementation of the project. Professor Chittabrata Palit shared his vast knowledge on the business families of colonial Bengal which benefited us tremendously. We would like to thank all the members of the families we surveyed during the tenure of this project. Special thanks to the members of Endangered Archives Programme (EAP) for supporting this project which provided us with an excellent opportunity to carry out this challenging survey. We would like to convey our heartfelt thanks to the authorities of Centre for Studies in Social Sciences (Kolkata), the archival partner of this project for their invaluable guidance and cooperation. Special thanks to Mr. Abhijit Bhattacharya and his team members of Centre’s Urban History Documentation Archive. This Pilot Project could not be implemented without the hard work of two young and energetic Research Assistants, Ayan Kundu and Krishnapriya Chakravarti. We wish to acknowledge their contribution to this project. Finally, I am thankful to my college authority for providing all sorts of support for successful completion of the project.
    [Show full text]
  • Calcutta City, Part III, Vol-VI, West Bengal
    PCC.I03 -f66- CENSUS OF INDIA 1951 VOLUME VI-PART III CALCUTTA CITY A. MITRA of the Indian Civil Service, Superintendent of Census Operations and Joint Development Commissioner, West Bengal PuBLl:SBEB BY Tl'IE MANAGER OF PuBLICATIONS, DELHl:. PlUNTED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA PRESS. CALCUTTA. INDIA ~954. price; Rs. 17-1~ or ~7sh. 6<l. THE CENSUS PUBLICATIONS THE CENSUS PUBLICATIONS for West Bengal, Sikkim and Chandernagore will ~onsist of the foltowing volumes. An volumes will be of uniform size, demy quarto 8f" x Iii Part IA-General'Report by A. Mitra, containing the first five chapters of tlie .Report ilL addition· to'(l, Preface, an Introduction, and a Bibliography. 587 pages. Part IB-Vital Statistics, West Bengal, 1941-50 by A. Mitra and P. G_ \.,.,nOUUQury, comamlUg a J:''f-elace. 60 tables, and several appendices. 75 pages. • Part IC-General Report by A. Mitra containing the Subsidiary tables of 1951 a1id~ the ·sixth 'chapt~r of the Report and a note on a Fertility Inquiry conducted in 1950. Some reprints and 'Special notes. A report on the natural resources, trades and industries of the State with two bibliographies by Chanchal Kumar Chatterjee and Kamal Majumdar. 517 pages. Part II-Union and State Census Tables of West Bengal, Sikkim and Chandernagore by A. Mitra. 535 pages. PaTt III-Report on Calcutta City by A. Mitra. (The present volume.) Part IV-Tables of the Calcutta Industrial Region by A. Mitra. 438 pages. Part V-Administrative Report of the Census Operations of West Bengal, Sikkim, Chandernagore and Calcutta City: Enumeration: by A.
    [Show full text]