COLONIAL INDIAJ>REDATORY STATE AND SOCIAL STRUCTURIZATION PROCESS 'JALPAIGURI DISTRICT': A CASE STUDY (1865-1947) n^fiesis suhmittecC to tfie University ofO\(prtfi 'Ben^aCfor the SiiuarcC oftfu Decree of doctor of^fdtoso-pfiy (Sirts) in "History Supennsor Prof. Tapas K. Roi; Chaudhuri; Retd. Professor of History University of North Bengal Tfizsis SuBmitted by Shfsadri Prasad Bose Department of History Mekliganj College Cooch Behar DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY NORTH BENGAL UNIVERSITY Raja Rammoniinpur Dist:- Darjeeling - 734 430 West Bengal, India 2005 Jtmf. lUAmz 0 9 OCT 20QB To whom it may concern Shri Shesadri Prosad Bose has completed his research within the stipulated period and according to the North Bengal University norms for the preparation of his dissertation entitled Colonial India, Predatory State and Social Structurisation Process: Jalpaiguri District; A Case Study (1865-1947) for the purpose of the award of Ph.D. in history. The scholar has worked honestly and sincerely to consult all primary and secondary sources. So, I have no hesitation to recommend submission of the thesis for evaluation. Tapas K Roy ChaudJ^ry 01.01.2005 Preface The history of the Jalpaiguri District is a relatively neglected field of research investigation. Whatever writings have been done so far have been either reiteration of the position held by the official chronicler employed by the local chieftains or the positions held by the British officials. Both of them do not qualify for any guidance for contemporary policy decisions after serious academic scrutiny. Besides, they do not appear to be tenable in many areas in whatever micro-study we have already done. In addition to it what is being felt now is that no scholar has so far explored and far less used the privates papers of the local chieftains, zamindars and jotedars to closely examine the system of land control, nature of intermediary tenure holdings, varieties of tenancy rights, production relations, impact of prices, market mechanism and the social structuration process. The proposed scheme is addressed to the issues mentioned above to develop a full- fledged study of the Jalpaiguri district and to fill in the gaps in our knowledge for some practical purposes. The Census Handbooks and District Gazetteers too require updating of information for administrative purposes. While the basic objective is academic the work, however, is needed for some very important practical purpose. The region being very close to Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, a large number of immigrants from across the border have settled in this district and presumably threatening to marginalise economically and demographically the original inhabitants of this region. The original inhabitants are Koch, Rajbansi, Mech, Dhimal, Totos, etc., and in the wake of large scale migrations of the people from different ethnic and socio­ economic background, a good part of land being transferred from the locals to the immigrants. Besides, in the service sectors too, marginalisation of the locals is being felt. The land reforms which the Government of West Bengal has already done certainly reduced the unbridled authority of the landholders and they granted some tenancy rights to the occupancy ryots and bonded labourers. But the evil still persists. What we have felt in the course of our investigation that the crisis may be attributed to the genesis that remained embedded in the colonial policy decisions and perhaps it has not been properly addressed. Consequently, articulation of local resentment in the form of separation movements are taking place and violence is being restored to in the absence of constitutional redress. An effective intervention is immediately needed and the study purports to explain with primary data the total dislocation caused by the Colonial administration and has been perpetuated and aggravated over the years in the post-independence era for either lack of knowledge or due to pressure group politics, stifling the process of economic and social development in this sensitive region. The proposed work purports to contribute to the understanding of the history of Jalpaiguri region which still remains a grossly neglected area of study. Acknowledgement The present dissertation couCdnot have the proper shape without the active guidance and inspiration from my research guide (Prof Tapas %umar (Roy Cfiaudhury. iCe was not only instrumental in sorting out andresofving confusions in my research methodoCogy But afso in offering many vaCuaBCe suggestions and access to severaC usefuCprimary and secondary source materiaCs uithout which the present thesis coufdnot have materiaCised JAt JaCpaiguri, I have received heCp from the LiSrarian of Jlzad JTind (pathagar and the LiSranan of JaCpaiguri Zitta granthagar. The extensive heCp and hospitaCity offered By Mr. (pronoto %umar(Bose, son of9drs. PratiBha (Bose and Mr. (Base at JaCpaigmi Rai({at Dfouse couCd not Be forgotten. I had aCso had discussions with him and Mr. Vmesh Sftarma aBout the Cand tenure-system of the (Bai^nthapur estate. I owe a deep deBt of gratitude for aCCowing me to consuCt the (Rai^t famiCy papers and to ta^ photographs of some rare maps of JaCpaiguri. I am particuCarCy gratefuC to the management and staff of severaC institutions for providing access to source materiaCs: The Indian Tea (pCantation ^Association (JaCpaiguri), HVationaCj^ re hives of (Bhutan, 9iationaCj[rc hives of India, (DeChi; West (BengaC State Jlrchives; !XationaC LiBrary, T^pC^ta; West (BengaC Secretariat LiBrary; Cooch (Behar (District LiBrary; (Directorate of Land (Record and Survey Office, %pC^ta, XpCfiata High Couri and JaCpaiguri MunicipaCity. I wouCd Ci^ to expend my speciaCgratitude to the LiBrarian of Jlzad Hind Pathagar, JaCpaigur Mr Manas (Bhattacharyya and (Bidisha CCia^aBoriy, (Research Officer of West (BengaC State Jlrchives; Surya %anta %arma^r, LiBrarian at (Directorate of Land (Record and Survey Office, %pCllata and Supaino PatCial^^ Senior editor of JAnanda (Bazar Patril{a; (Dr. JAmaC (Das, Jdead of the (Depariment of History, %aCyani "University and (Dr jAsofie ganguCy furnished me -with usefuC primary and secondary source materiaCs and have offered vaCuaBCe suggestions for which I am BehoCder of them. In m this context I tender my sincere than({s to my teachers in the (Department of "History, 9iorth <Bengaf "University to sense my curiosity in history whiCe I was a (Post- Cjraduate and M. (phih Student. I owe my indeStedness to (prof J. %ar, (prof Mandira (Bhattachaiya, (prof. Chhanda Chaf^raSorty, <Dr. J4.g. ghosh, <Dr. <^tna (Roy SanyaC, (Dr. I. Sarliar etc. I am afso gratefuf to the staff of the C^ntraCLihrary of the !N'orth (Bengaf Vniversity and of the Seminar Library of the (Department of 3{istoiy for their active cooperation. ] woutdhike to thanh^SajatDey and %%. Cyher Zone for typing the entire manusciipt. <FinafCy, the constant encouragement and support which I received from my famiCy particuCarCy my parents heCped me to compCete the wor^ My wife and my sister sustained me through the hardship of the worh^uith their unfaiCing cooperation at every stage of this worh^ Shesadri Prosad Bose IV Contents Page No. Preface i Acknowledgement ii-iii Contents iv Map of Pre-Partition Jalpaiguri District v Chapter I: Introduction: Situating the Problem in the Context of the Colonial Predatory State System 1-38 Chapter II: The Land-Revenue Policy of the British and the Social Structure of North Bengal Originating from it 39-163 Chapter III: The British Colonial Authority and its Penetration in the Capital Market in the Northern Part of Bengal 163-229 Chapter IV: Social Tension in the Rural North Bengal and the Origin of Protest Movements in North Bengal 230-271 Chapter V: Conclusion 272-291 Bibliography 292-300 Glossary 301 Maps: Map of Jalpaiguri Town 302 Map of Jotes in the Baikunthapur Estate 303 Thana ' Kalm^pong c'^Miti^U BHUTAN Bagrakote Chalsa / "- s-cr"^ Odbba'n\ . •• ( •(N^ie^^^t^. r Damdin \ y Baradigharadighii ^ j{ Banarhat ; J • Neora (/? Muznai 0) s r • • •D Thana ) SADAR •Mada*nh Siliguri i^ c *. Gairkata- [Domohani Dhubguri ^ i ^ / V^ SUBDIVISION/ ^ ^ \:\^ • -. JateswarJ-^^ T3 Maynaguri^^:::ij^^^^ ". •^ Tetuha Barnes Y JalMaku R o Falakata 3 ^EyA \ \x fs^"^ PURNEA A^ &> (5' J ( c • Pachagarh \ V^^Patgram^. C O O g \ Thana ^. Thakurgaorr"|^B^^3 Thana ] a Id ha w• ^ / Thana Dimla DINAJPUR / Debiganj Thana'*^. -' RANGPUR Birganj CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: SITUATING THE PROBLEM IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COLONIAL PREDATORY STATE SYSTEM Till now the major thrust of the academic/intellectual circle, while dealing with the Modern Indian history, is colonialism. But the major error wiiich we often make is in equating Colonial India with a totally non-modern, traditional and a pre-capitalist society. But the characteristic backward features in true sense were not only the hallmark of the Raj only it was also the feature of the pre-colonial society, economy and polity; in fact backward aspects of British India's economy and society were rather well structured parts of modern Colonial economy. The failure of indigenous capitalism to industrialise the country did not mean that it was traditional or that it was overwhelmed by tradition, but that this incapacity itself was the product of the same process of Colonialism which gave birth to this capitalism in India. While for European capitalism the preconditions were provided by feudalism and pre-capitalism, for present day India, the basic precondition was provided by the Colonial economy and society which were parts of world capitalism.