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THE Modirnisatron of a PRINCELY STATE COOCH BEHAR UNDER MAH/Yraja Nrtpendra NARAYAN (1863-1911 )

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THE Modirnisatron of a PRINCELY STATE COOCH BEHAR UNDER MAH/Yraja Nrtpendra NARAYAN (1863-1911 ) THE MODIRNISATrON OF A PRINCELY STATE COOCH BEHAR UNDER MAH/yRAJA NRtPENDRA NARAYAN (1863-1911 ) THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ARTS (HISTORY) OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH BENGAL 1989 By KAMALESH CHANDRA DAS Lucturer, Department of History COOCH BEHAR COLLEGE COOCH BEHAR WEST BENGAL ST-VERF 4 S^^^ m 19 DEC mn (jJCMi&HTS -Page i»6s, Preface i- V Abbreviations vi Introduction I- 10 « Chapter - I s Advent of the British Chapter - II t The iira of confrontation 11- 32 (1301-1339) Chapter - IXI :,Subjugation : Age of 33- 62 ', transition (1839-1363) 63- 84 Chapter - IV : Making of a modern ruler : Nripendra Narayan 35-105 •Chapter - V : Age of Catalysm : The role of the Bx^ahmo Sam a J 105-119 Chapter -VI :yAge of modernity 120-241 Section - I : Society 121-139 Section - II : iiconomy 140-159 Section - III : Land ilevenue 159-175 Section - IV : Administra- 175-191 ,tion Section - V : Education 191-22t-~ epilogue 242-253 Glossary 259-261 Appendices 262-268 Bibliography 269-287 Kcip PRSFACS Cooch Behar - a tiny Princely State in-,the North Hastorn region witnassed a tremendous process of chatnge during the rule of Maharaja i-^ripendra Narayan (1363-1911), who was con­ sidered as one of the modernized rulers among the Princely States of India. This maiden study on the significant period intends to examine the nature and extent of modernisation under his regime. >^ile Professor Barun De em^phasizes the need for the study of the Princely 3£ate, so far a very few attem>pt has been made in India by the scholars of the profession. The works to be mentioned for exarriple, v'.K.Sawa : ?-Iyderabad i_n_ Trans_i_t_i_qn under i'"ik'?:£ £;iIlS. i' 1B53-1333 : An Indian State unde_r Britis^h I}uS.)i}^i^J]J^ (1957); 2^2.da3_ P41.1.a^i, S. : Ra|ahs_ and Proj_as_ : an^ r.;-, Baran, "Bharatiya Itihaser ?arjayakrama-0-Astadash Satabdir Tatparjya" in Goutam Ghattopadhyaya i^idited Itiha_s^ Anus^dndhan-3,/ i'v * bagchi, Calcutta, 1983, p.21), . ' ii Lnflk^Jl Princeljv State, - Then, and i^^ (1975); Saklani Atul : ^i.?.t.:2£v ot a Hirnaj^axan Prln,ce_lx State of, ^ehr^i Va_r;iwai_ (19 37), All these studies concentrated mainly^ in the l^orth, >*est ind Soixth^" of In'ata.-- But as regards the history of the ^-iorth Eastern Princely Statfe - Cooch Behar, no work has hitherto b'-3-en •na-.r? by any Scholar. Hence this study is a humblo. attempt to vn:^v t.]^ Irrportant pei-iod. of the history of Cooch 3ehar under Mahara-ja Nripendra Nirayan (1863-1911) and it is expected to fill in a lonc-ctanding research-gap 'in this direction. The bo ok-3, meirioirs, monographs etc. available or: Co'och • •Behar are mostly written by the personalities supported by the then Cooch Behar State. ^"^atviraliy thay are partial in charac­ ter and conN/entJ. onai in rjature. To illustrate; Joynath Munshi; Aa'prakh'/an (Year not ^e^'it i Dnadj , translated by . rtobinson (13 74); Lewin; Aii hrz:^^iSi^ 9JL a^, x'a2x]l Sehar it_ats_ (1375); 3hagabati Cnaran Bandopadhyciya. : Cooch Beharer Itiha_s_ 1.13S2); Harendra .Caravan Choudhury : Cooch t£aj;^r and. Its_ ^ana Hevenue^ •:>c'-tle^.enx. (19C3)? •i^T:an.atul la ^^hri^ad : Cooch 3_ehare_r It ihas_ (19'^'5)> rranslaaed o^;- -J ..3-...:ho3al 11942); etc. maybe .taken into account. OI '•^ -:> >^ . i u J- ^ ^'. .1 I- . 1- o w u.y L-j,. the researcher mainly sought :puxuo, leaflets, official notes ana clrcalars, let cars, ga';;3ttaars, articles, news papers .ana ov-bllched books, I:'n'^ prim.ary source materials have 'oeen collected mainly from the National Archives, ^'ew ^^Ihi; Tr.<- West Bengal State Archives, Calcutta; .^'ational Library, Cal­ cutta, Asiatic Society, Calcutta; Cooch 3ehar CoHectorate Record Room? North Bengal State Library (Cooch Behar); Cooc- Behar Sahitya Sabha, and Sadharan Brahmo Samaj Library, Calcutta, Benares Hindu iJnivei.sity Library and ^^'orcr. -e;; .,, University Library. , • In order to complete the study the researcher had -o under-go strenuous process of collecting infonrnation: .-^ to work hard for soliciting personal observations, This study had been divided into seveh chapte-• Epilogue, Introduction of the study serves as z'c:.^ c..,,.. ,^ ...-,...•. ,„ on which the study has been _developed. The cDU^c:. -\.^-. , hypotheses and research questions of the study hav--' oion analysed in the Introduction. Chapter I depicts the historical process of the advent of the East India Company to the Cooch Behar State. It deals ;>^ith the nature and objectives of the Company's intervention in the affairs of the Cooch Sehar State. Chapter II delineates the ancestral reign of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan- It gives special emphasis on the period of Karendra Narayan keeping in perspective the persistence, of age old rigid traditional values and the dichotomy between the Company and the «aja Harendra Narayan. In short, this chapter is a conflict analysis-of t»,radition and modernity. Chapter III elaborates the history of subjugation of the rulers of Gooch Behar to the British administration. It Sp^cifioally,Attentions the coarse of events took place in the. said period, Chapter IV deals with the question of ma^^king of a modei-n ruler under the influence of the dominant institutions and personalities of the conte porary history .of Cooch Behar. In Chapter V, the role of the Brahmo Samaj, in bringing about the socio-cultural development has been examined in depth. In Chapter VI, the vehicles of modernization have been studied and examined in vari'ous sections. - The epilogue of the study has been an attempt to make an appraisal of the reign of Maharaja iSIripendra Narayan. It is an attempt in quest of the fundamental issue : how much modem the educated ilaja was ? . • The researcher is highly grateful to his supervisor Dr. Ananda Gopal Ghosh, leader. Department of History, t-Jorth Bengal University, for his active guidance and innumerable help in completing the study. In putting the study in the form of a thesis the researcher is grateful to many persons of which mention m.ust be made, Sekhar Sircer (Principal, Cooch Behar College), Sri Bishwanath Das, Pr. Nripendra Hath Paul, Dr. Diiip Sarkar and Smt. Ratna P.ayl In conceptualizing,, planning and programming the study the researcher is grateful and acknowledges his debt to Prof. 3c\bhya Sachi Bhattacharya (Jawaharlal'i^ehru University), Profes^'or AmaLendu De (Jadavpur University), Professor Tapas x^oyChoudhury, Prof. Pranab Kr. Bhattacharya, Dr. Joso Banta'Kar, Dr. Kihir M-akherjee, of the Department of History, North Bengal University, Dr. riablndra x^ath Bhattach-arya (Department -of Sconomics) and Dr. Pradip Sengupta (Department of Political Science), North Bengal University. • In addition, the researcher is thankful to Chanchal Pal for typing the v;hole rrienuscr.ipt. The University Grants Commi­ ssion deser\^es gratitude for sanctioning the researcher one year Teacher Fellov/ship under the Faculty Improvement Programme. In fine, the researcher heartilly thanks his wife,'Sampa, for helping in various capacities. Date : 2.2.1939 •• ^ Kamalesh Chandra Das') _ Cooc '^ .i, -•-'—*— •w' ^ G.G .1 _ Gov-'' ..ac-.ia V >' V INTRODUCTION Cooch Behar as a princely state had undergone treinendous changes in different fields of life to grapple with the rapid changes which affected the Cooch Behar State system both from within and without. As a matter of fact, the rigid and closed characteristics of a traditional society had to undergo changes because of innovative ideas in respect of-political and economic milieu. Evidently, the study confines itself to the reign of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan (1863-1911) which witnessed the most significant changes that ushered in modernity in the State. Now the basic questions are : (1) what was the nature of the whole society as well as the nature of administration under the rule of his great grand father. Raja Harendra Narayan ? (II) What were the factors and forces responsible to bring about change in the society, its economy and administration ? (Ill) What were the factors and forces contributed to the making of a modern ruler ? (IV) What elements of modernity influenced the socio-econoroic milieu and administrative system under the reign of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan ? (V) How much modern was the modern King ? Theoretically, an attempt may be made to understand 'tradition' and the process of 'Modernization'. The celebra­ ted writers of the sub-ccmtinent as well as European scholars, in their attempts in exploring the factors and forces influencing the society, have tried to analyse the process of historical development. For example, David E.Apter in his work The Politics of Modernization (1965); S .N .fiisenstadt in his treatises Modernization-Protest and Change (1967) and Tradition, Change and Modernity (1973); N.J.Smelser in his book Sociology - Aa Introduction (1973); M.B.Jansen in his edited work Qtanqinq Japanese Attitudes Towards Modernization (1965); Singer Milton in his work Social Qianqes in. Modern India (1972); Bipan Chandra, in his article on the theme of "Colonialism and Modernization" (1970); Amales Tripathy in his note Vidya Saqar - The Traditional Modernizer (1974); Yogendra Singh in his volumes Modernization of Indian Tradi­ tion (1973) and assays on Modernization in India (1978), have attempted to investigate the factors and forces in the process of societal development. All these scholars while defining modernization pointed out some basic ideas. As for modernization, M.N.Sriniwas stresses on rationalisation ; Smelser implies institutional 2 change ; Eisenstadt refers to the process of change in socio -economic and political systems ; Yogendra Singh favours it 4 as pan-humanistic, trans-ethnic and trans-ideological , Thus, the semantics of modernization bear on ideas of change, rationality and institutional development. But in the historical process it is a relative phenomenon and an open -ended process.
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