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Dhillon2012.Pdf This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Colonial Legal Institutions and their Impact Upon Indigenous Practices in Bengal, 1860-1914 by Rajwinder Kaur Dhillon Doctor of Philosophy University of Edinburgh 2012 Declaration I confirm that this thesis is entirely of my own composition and represents my own original research. The work has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Signed: Date: Rajwinder Kaur Dhillon ii Abstract This thesis examines the impact of colonial legal institutions planted by the British administration upon the working of local indigenous practices in Bengal from 1860 to 1914. The aim of the thesis is two-fold. Firstly, the aim is to highlight the constraints and limitations faced by institutions that were reorganised following the assumption of Crown control in 1858. Secondly, the purpose is to illustrate the ways in which these limitations allowed the native population to mould, and manipulate, state institutions according to local needs and expectations. By examining these issues the aim is to highlight the tenuous relationship between western methods and indigenous practices, at times complementing each other and at other times proving to be incompatible. Through an examination of the system of criminal administration, the thesis seeks to highlight the complexities of the interaction between the local populace and colonial law. Rather than representing rigid categories which highlighted the difference between coloniser and colonised, the system of criminal administration was often the site where boundaries would often become blurred. As the thesis will aim to demonstrate through specific scenarios and cases described both in private memoirs and official records, it was a site which would be shaped by a number of influences- from clashing interests and changing alliances amongst local groups to the conflicting objectives of the colonial rulers themselves. In the process individual agencies were asserted that confound simplistic characterisations of the impact of colonialism in this important region within the British Indian empire. iii Abbreviations CPC............................Criminal Code of Procedure IOR.............................India Office Records IPC..............................Indian Penal Code L/PJ/5.........................Public and Judicial Records (Acts Passed) L/PJ/6.........................Public and Judicial Records (1880-1914) Mss Eur......................Private Papers iv Glossary of Terms amlah head Indian officers of a judicial or revenue court bhadralok educated, middle class Bengali society chotolok lower orders chowkidar village watchman darogah sub inspector elaka area lathials groups of armed men employed by zamindars ma-bap mother-father mofussil interior districts panchayat village council panha ransom patwari village accountant pugree turban tehsildar revenue administrative officer thana police jurisdiction zamindar landlord v Contents Declaration ii Abstract iii Abbreviations iv Glossary of Terms v Chapter One: Introduction- Subalterns, Sovereigns and Networks of Control 1.0 Aims and Objectives 1 1.1 Law, Policing and the Metropole 8 1.2 Indigenous Practices and British Sovereignty 9 Chapter Two: Crime, Locality and Empire 2.0 Introduction 23 2.1 Law, Morality and the Criminal 28 2.2 The Civilising Mission: Rhetoric versus Reality 46 2.3 Conclusion 65 Chapter Three: ‘Unofficial’ Local Agencies versus the ‘Official’ Policing Network: The Chowkidar, the Panchayat and the State, 1870-1914 3.0 Introduction 71 3.1 The Impact of Act (VI) of 1870 76 3.2 Self Governance versus Imperial Objectives 84 3.3 Panchayats, Presidents and the State: A Conflict of Interests 98 3.4 Conclusion 118 Chapter Four: The Police and the State- Imperial Objectives versus Native Expectations, 1860-1914 4.0 Introduction 125 4.1 The Policeman: A ‘Byword for Oppression’ 129 4.2 Corruption, the Policeman and the Colonial State 133 4.3 The Police, the Locality and State Objectives 139 4.4 Swadeshi, Revolution and the Ordinary Methods of Law 158 4.5 Conclusion 169 Chapter Five: Justice in the British Court 5.0 Introduction 175 5.1 Justice, the Rural Community and the Colonial State 180 5.2 Justice in the Mofussil 194 5.3 Imperial Agendas, Local Magistrates and the Law 202 5.4 The Court, Law and Acceptable Distance 213 vi 5.5 Conclusion 223 Chapter Six: Conclusion 228 Bibliography 241 vii viii Chapter One: Introduction- Subalterns, Sovereigns and Networks of Control The Government are very keen on amassing statistics- they collect them, add them, raise them to the nth power, take the cube root and prepare wonderful diagrams. But what you must never forget is that every one of those figures comes in the first instance from the chowkidar, who just puts in what he damn pleases.1 What the judge was keen to emphasise in his conversation with politician Harold Cox was that the rhetoric of empire was far removed from the reality of running a colonial administration in British India. Although the judge did not specifically refer to the system of criminal administration in India, the above assertion can equally be applied to any examination of the colonial framework of policing and control. Within this framework, the chowkidar would form an integral part, commonly referred to as the first link in the chain of criminal administration. The colonial police and the criminal courts of law would form the second and third links in the chain and would be equally responsible in the distortion of the information-gathering process that is alluded to in the above statement. Together, these three key agencies would maintain a colonial structure of control which would have to be continuously moulded to meet the demands of the state and at the same time address the more local concerns held by the Indian subjects over whom the British ruled. It would be a chain that would prove to be fragile throughout the colonial period, most visibly so during periods when British rule in India was being challenged. A closer examination of the influences upon the chowkidar, the pressures which he faced at both state and local level, as well as the demands which other links in the chain of criminal administration endured alongside him, are points of enquiry 1 Sir Josiah Stamp, Some Economic Factors in Modern Life (London: P.S. King, 1929), pp. 258-9 1 that can highlight the ways in which the network of control, designed to provide the necessary facts and figures, could instead reflect a number of conflicting dilemmas and concerns. The main purpose of this study is to explore the ambiguous relationship between the colonial administration and Indian society through an examination of archival material relating to law and policing in the province of Bengal. To be clear, the aim of the study is to examine the impact of colonial legal institutions planted by the British administration upon indigenous practices of control and punishment in Bengal from the mid-nineteenth century to the onset of the First World War in 1914. The purpose of the study is twofold: firstly, to highlight the constraints and limitations faced by colonial institutions that were reorganised following the assumption of Crown control in 1858; secondly, to illustrate the ways in which the limitations of the system allowed the local native population to mould and manipulate these institutions according to local needs and expectations. By examining these issues the aim is to examine the tenuous relationship between western methods and indigenous practices, at times complementing each other and at other times proving to be incompatible. An analysis of the ways in which the chain of criminal administration was distorted will also highlight the complexities of the interaction between the state and local groups, complexities which undermine simplistic notions of the impact of colonialism. In the report of the Indian Police Commission of 1902-03, which considered the various defects within the Indian police force, the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal commented upon the peculiar circumstances of the province under his control. What separated Bengal from other Indian provinces, he argued, was the problem of village 2 government, which differed ‘materially from other parts of India.’2 It was at the village level where the chain of criminal administration began, the point where information of a criminal nature was gathered and passed onto the official institutions of the state. Collaboration between the colonial authorities and leading indigenous agencies was a key aspect of this system. In provinces such as Punjab and the United Provinces there were a number of agencies, such as the patwaris and tehsildars, whose work was constantly inspected by
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