The Annexation of Awadh and Its Consequences
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THE ANNEXATION OF AWADH AND ITS CONSEQUENCES THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN HISTORY By ARSHAD ALI AZM! Under the Supervision of PROFESSOR DR. S. NURUL HASAN CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITYALIGARH 1973 "^Ou THESIS SECTION ss^r^^^'^'^'^^^^p,^^ Cr^l ^-IC ^ 7 T3028 CONTENTS Preface i I. The Natrabi Administration 1 II. The Annexation 75 III. Establishiaent of the Coiapany's Rule 1856-57 124 IV. Revenue Administration 222 V. Establishment of British Rule 1858-61 286 VI. The Consequences of the Establlshaent of the British Rule 35 o Some Conclusions 400 Api^endix 405 Bibliography 418 £ £ t. X a. s. s. Thtxn is an assumption that before the establishment of British rule, the overwhelming majority of the Indian people depended for their livelihood exclusively on agriculture. This a8sumptl(m has been based mainly on the fact that no direct taxes were Imposed by the Ckyvemment on any branch of Industry or trade and the source of Income of the state was derived almost exclusively from the tax on land. On the other hand the rulers have been accused of not evincing much Interest In protecting the local Industries and markets fjrom foreign competition* The question of landed rights has been engaging the attention of the students of history and a great deal of material has already been published^ but few attempts have been made to scrutlnlss the local records to arrive at a definite conclusion. Similarly, few attempts have been made to study the Impact of the fiscal and Judicial system of the British Oovemmen on the Indian Society. To understand all these problemsi It Is essential to undertake a region vise study of these problems. In the present work an attempt has been made to study all these problems on the basis of the local records and the records available In the Secretariat Becord Office, Lucknov vhlch throw abundant light on them. Moreover, the correspondence of the district officials and the representations of the people on different subjects give an idea about the working of the British administration. The Musool records of the Lucloiov Municipal Corporation give much information about the city of I«oknaw. The Deputy Commissioner's Record Office at Lucknov throws much light on the Taluqdars. On the basis of these records the earlier assumptions no longer hold good. Similarly, other regional studies may help us change our old notions about Indian History. I cannot fully express in words what I owe to late Mrs Khursheed Hurul Hasan who encouraged and helped me at erery stage till her premature and untimely death in 1967. Hbr could this work have been c(»ipleted without the inspiration and scholarly guidance of my teacher and supervisor Professor S Nurul Hasan, Minister of Bducaticm and Social Welfare, Oovenwent of India. I also owe a debt of gratitude to my teacher Professor lUA Nisami who took personal interest in my work and constantly encouraged and spurred me on to ccmiplete the work as early as possible. I am also grateful to Professor Irfan Habib who was kind enough to give me valuable suggestions. My thanks are also due to the Director, Rational Archives, Ctovemment of India, the authorities and staff of the UP Seoret«dLa Baeord Office, the UP State irchives, Allahabad, the l^ulana Axad Ubrary, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, the National Library, Calcutta, the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta, The imlr-ud Daulah Public Ubrary, Lucknow and the Bssearch Library, Department of History, Aligarh Muslim I&iiversity, Aligarh. Department of History Arshad Ali And. AMU Aligarh Chapter I The kingdom of Awadh was sltuatad in the heart of the British Kmpire during the first half of the Nineteenth century till its annex ation in 1866. Its extent at the time of annexation was practically the same as that of the two Coauaissioners* Divisions of Lucknow and Faizabad in modern times. It was surrounded by the districts of Gorakhpur, Azamgarh and Jaunpur on the eastern side, by Banaras on the south-east; by Allahabad on the south, by Kanpur oo the south west, on the western side was the Rohilkhand Division while on the northern side its boundary was separated from Nepal by the mountaneous region of the Tarai, Its total area was estimated at 23923 square railes. The principal means of transportation were the nain rivers, the Ganges, the Ghaghara, the Sal and the Gomti which were navigable throughout the year, A metalled road from Kanpur to Lucknow was built during the reign of Amjad Ali Shah in 1846 for easy transportation of the British Military force and of the goods from the British terri tories to Lucknow by bullock trains and this route was controlled by o the British Government," The principal cities of the kingdom were Lucknow, which was the capital, and Faizabad which had been the capital during the early Nawabi Wazirs. 1. Kingdom of Oudh, Calcutta Review, Vol. Ill, 1845, 0,379. 2. A. Bell, Post Master, Lucknow to Lt, Col. W.H, Sleeman, Resident Lucknow Wo.227 dated 21 August 1850, Foreign Consultations No.218 dated 27 Dec. 1350, National Archives, New Delhi. -2 n The population of Awadh was estiQated at five million in 1^49 and seven million in 1369^, but when the first census operation, whictj was highly defective, was completer^ In 1869, it Jumoed to 11,200,000. These figures of 1^49, 1359 and 1869 seem to be quite unrealistic. The census operation of 1881 and 1891 were better organized and the rate of growth between the decade was of llS which is quite reasonable Thus taking i;he figures of 1881 as a base, the population of the kingdom might have been the following during the second half of the nineteenth century: 1849 8,135,436 1856 3,762,871 1359 9,039,591 1869 10,043,889 1831 11,337,741 1891 12,650,831. Thus the population of the kingdom at the time of her annexation in 1856 was approximately 8,762,871. The capital city of Lucknow con tained a population of one million or nearly 1?^ of the total popula tion of the kingdom. This high concentration of he population was mainly due to the Court and the trading and aanufacturing activities of the people. 1. My India Mutiny Diary by W.H. Russel, p. 59; Journey through the Kingdon of Oude by ^,H, Sleeman, Vol.1, p. 137. 2, Jourhey through the Kingdom of Oude by *'. H. Sleeaan, Vol.11, p.200; Private Letters of Lord Dalhousle edited by J.G, A. Baird, p.369, -3 The administration of Awadh under the Nawabs was based essentially on the old Mughal pattern, although with significant changes. During the Mughal period the Suba of Awadh was divided into five SarkarsJ Awadh (Ajodhya), Gora^hpur, Bahraich, Khairabad and Lucknow,-'- But when Burhanul Mulk's dynasty secured the hereditary governorship of Awadh they chsmged the terminology and the Sarkars were converted into .iizamats governed by a iUzanu After the cession of half the territory of Awadn to the Sast India Company by the treati of 1801, the country was reorganized and was divided into four iUzaraats of Gonda-Bahraich, SUltanpur-Faizabad, Khairabad and Baiswar^ and an independent chakla of ^hah-i Bah.^ But it seems that this fiscal arrangenent was found to be too cumbersome and was re-arjusted later on, Sleeman has mentiooed that the kingdom was divided into five Nizamats and twenty chakJas. These five Nizamats were Khairabad, Gonda-Bahraich, Faizabad-Sultanpur, Salone and Baiswara which were divided into twenty chaklas. ^ch chakla was further sub-divided into Tahsils yielding a land revenue of between two and three la«s of rupees, and the Tahsils were formed out of many Parganas which consis ted of a number of villages grouped together. When no man of suffi cient wealth and influence wa? available for the post of Nazim, the chakledars of the Nlzaaats concerned were given the Independent charge of their chaklas, but normally the lower divisions were not touched upon. 1. The Chronicles of Oonao by C.A. liaiiot, p. 104, 3. I]2i4*) p. 132. —» The administration of the country may be studied toder three headingsJ Revenue, Judicial, and Military and Police. The Central Government Public Offices of Revenue and Accounts were divided into eight Departments which were controlled by their respective heads under the over-all supervision of the Wazir. These departments were J Daftar-i wfizarat, Sarlshta-i Dlwani, Sarishta-l Khazana-i Masarif, Sarishta-l Baitul Insha or Munshl Khana, Sarishta-l Baitul IJara, Kachehrl Mutaliq Har Dayal, Bakhshl-i Deorhlat, and Sarishta-l Balchshigiri-i FauJ.-*- It Is very difficult to know about the real functions of each and every department. The general administration of the country was headed by the Wazlr but he was particularly responsible for the revenue and law and order problem of the country. He was generally 3 a man of talent ana his perquisites were normally seven lacs of rupees per annum but during the reign of Wajld All Shah it was "at least twelve". The Wazlr was appointed by the King and he remaineti in his office so long as he enjoyed the confidence of the King, Usually the king ascertained the wishes of che Resident at the time 1, Financial Co amissloner to Chief Gomralssioner No#83 dated 5 April, 1856; Proceedings of the Chief Comnissloner's office in the Revenue Department No,8 dated 8 April 1856; Secretariat Record Office, Lucknow, 2, Sleeman to Dalhousie, Private Correspondence dated Lucknow September 1852, Journey through the Kingdom of Oude, Vol,II, p,369.