Political History of Merger of the Princely States : a Study of Cooch Behar
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POLITICAL HISTORY OF MERGER OF THE PRINCELY STATES : A STUDY OF COOCH BEHAR A Thesis Submitted For The Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Arts) of The University of North Bengal BY Senior Lecturer, Balurgh^VWOTiftefn's College m ?opt ^ iibrttijr Dr, LHlip Kumar Sarkar Controller of Examinations University of North Bengal .^J^. «fS J48356 C0^4TE^ITS Page No. Acknowledgement i-ii Preface lii-L'ii cipapter — I 1-32. PROLOGUE cipapter — II 33-54 FORMATION OF INDIAN STATE: AN OVERVIEW ci^afjter — III 55-74 THE COOCH BEHAR STATE IN THE NORTH EASTERN PERSPECTIVE ci^apter — IV 75-89 BRITISH POLICY TOWARDS THE INDIAN STATES WITH REFERENCE TO COOCH BEHAR (1757-1813) doapter — V 90-102 BRITISH POLICY TOWARDS THE INDIAN STATES WITH REFERENCE TO COOCH BEHAR (1813-1857) cl^apter — VI 103-119 BRITISH POLICY TOWARDS THE INDIAN STATES WITH REFERENCE TO COOCH BEHAR (1858-1919) cljapler — VII 120-160 BRITISH POLICY TOWARDS THE INDIAN STATES WITH REFERENCE TO COOCH BEHAR (1191-1950: THE PROCESS OF BARGAINING; C&^pter ~ VIII 161-207 A DETAILED STUDY OF MERGER OF A TINY PRINCELY STATE: COOCH BEHAR EXPERIENCE cf^apter — IX 208-232 EPILOGUE SefecL Bihlwgraplp^ 233-267 Page No. Appendix ~ I ^68-2.70 ARTICLES OF TREATY BETWEEN THE HON'BLE ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMPANY AND DURINDIR NARAYAN RAJAH OF COOCH BEHAR (1773) Appendix ~ II iyi-2.y^ THE FIRST TREATY WITH BHOOTAN (1774) Appendix —III 274-277 ASSURANCES OF THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA TO THE MAHARAJA OF COOCH BEHAR ON MERGER ISSUE Appendix — IV 278-282 MERGER AGREEMENT SIGNED ON 28TH AUGUST, 1949, BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA AND THE MAHARAJA OF COOCH BEHAR Appendix - V 283-290 ADDRESS OF DR. B.C. ROY, PREMIER OF WEST BENGAL Appendix - VI 291 His HIGHNESS MAHARAJA JAGWDDIPENDRA NARAYAN ON THE OCCASSION OF MERGER OF THE STATE OF COOCH BEHAR WITH WEST BENGAL ON JANUARY l, 1950 Appecdix — VII 292-296 LIST OF RULING PRINCES AND CHIEFS Appendix ~ VIII 297-298 GENAEOLOGICAL TABLE OF COOCH BEHAR ROYAL FAMILY Appendix - IX 299 LETTER OF SARAT BOSE TO M. GUHA ROY, SECRETARY, HALDIBARI CONGRESS COMMITTEE Appendix - X 300-301 PROCEEDINGS OF A PUBLIC MEETING OF THE COOCH BEHAR PEOPLES' ASSOCIATION Maps ^/> Uo Seqin wiin, fei me suSzni/ Ine fad ihai mo interest in /£e siuatJ of ine nisioru of merger cfevefopeJ aoou/ a aecatfe aqo tvnen 9 was aoin^ my JK. iPnif. aisseriaiion on ihe suofeci. Saier, 9 was encouraqea io ioAe up aocioraf researcn oy various scholars fi£e iProf ^ayania 93. CBhaiiacharya, 9rof i/lmafencfu 9uaa, [Prof Suranfan Das, iProf 9.9C. 9ioy Gnouffhury, CProf 9^.9C. 93£aiiacAarya, Dr. C^. S ^£os£ and Dr. DCamafes^i Das. 93ui for differeni reasons the inieresi never ^oi iranslaiedinio aciion. 9 nad afmosi given up ihe idea wAen Dr. Difip 9Cr. Sarhar, formerfu senior facufiy memher of ^Presidency Goflege., Gafcuiia, suggesied inai 9 applg for ine ^u.Sy.C). minor research prof eci-- granis. LHoriunaieJy, 9 was awarded ihe grani By Q/. S G. and here is ihe worh 9 did for fasi ihree years. 9 am mosi graiefuf io Dr. Sarhar for inis and io ihe QA. S G. for providing aie necessary financial suppori. Ohis docioraf disseriaiion would noi have 6een possi6fe wiihoui ihe hefp of a foi of friends. 9Imong ihem 9 have ihe pleasure of especially meniioning iAe iiefp of Dr. uH. S^. ^hosh, [Reader in Jlisiory, jCorih JOengaf Qdnioersiiy. 9 am afso indeoied io some elderly persons fioing in Gooch 95ehar and in some oiher places wjao made my academic oeniure memora6fe and educaiive. 9 shoufd express my lyraiiiude io ihe foffowing in pariicufar: jBaie Jiemania jtiarman, ioaie 9^romedendra yCarayan, ciri jlConoranfan S^uha, c )/•/ Jarapada Gha£ra6orig, Dr. y^.ripendra D€a/h 'Pauf for rnar>y in.siances of guidance and /lo.sp iia liig. 5f must now express my ^rah'/ucfe /o /Ae staff of ihe ^awa/iarfafOCe£ru JKuseum and/Bi6raru^ OCew ^el£i^ OCah'onaf Olrc£jues^ OCew 'X)ef£i\ Siaie C/irc£jfoes, DCoL^aia^ lBi6r€iru of /£e S/nsh'/u/e of U^dvanced S/udies, Si'ai/a, OCa/ionaf ^i£raru, !yCof£a(a, Cjoocn O^enar Cjolfecioraie iRecord Uioozn, Gooc£ 58e£ar, OCori£ OSenaaf S/a/e SiSraru^ Gooc£ !jSe£ar^ Oissam Sa£t/ya Sao£a^ Olssam^ Aamrup Oinusand£an Sami/i\ O^ssam, 'Depar/men/ of Jfisioricaf and [Anh'vuarian Studies, O^ssam, 9uwa£a/i HlniversiiiJ £)iorary and JCOH£ CBenqal Qjinioersiiu ^iorary. S/ also express my qraiiiude to aff i£e aui£ors w£ose oafuaofe wor£s SI£aoe utilised in aiuina snape to tnis dissertation. i/ ta£e t£is opportunity to express £eartfeft qratitude to t£e facuftu memoers of t£e profiticaf Science 'Department, OCHSQd and to mu researc£ supervisor, Dr. Difip DCr. Sar£ar, a former /deader of J^residency Cjoffeae, LKolAata and is at present tne yjontrolfer of &xamination^f, '•lAnioersitu of jCortn Ooenqaf, for prooidinq me intellectual support and oaiuaofe suqaestions to understand tAe area of research oot/i conceptuafftJ and operationafly. U also express my qratitude to jKousumi jSoudi (wife of my supervisor J for ner nospitafity and aenerosity. S7 now t£an£ my wife Cjfa and our son J'Cus£a[ for unqrudqinqfy facinq tne nard times, with or wit£out me and ma£inq t£is effort a reality. Ujiman Cjna^raoorla lU PREFACE This research venture traces the history of specifics and inherent under-currents of poMtics of the merger of Cooch Bchar State with the Indian union spanning the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial experiences. An attempt has been made to outline the process of multifaceted factors and forces that Cooch Behar had to experience during the period of merger with India. A sincere exercise has been attempted to reconstruct the event of merger of Cooch Behar State with the Indian Union on the basis of historical documents as well as socio-economic, ethnographic data and to explain their need to reconstruct at the present time scale. This incisive study of a region and its people, both marginally placed and lulled in the lap of Himalayas largely silenced through a lack of visitility in academic research, is an outcome of the efforts by the researcher for the last three years. To be precisive, the objective of the present study claims to be a part of academic exercise of regional history hitherto unattampted by the scholars of the field. Studies on Princely India, relationship between Princely States and British India have been many of which mention be made of Lee Warner', Ian Copland'^, and such others. The most celebrated studies so far undertaken on the integration of the Indian States IV have been contributed none o^^ than by Mr. V.P. Menon^ and during recently by Urmila Phaniiis*. Writings so far made on these two important areas such as relationship of Princely India with British India and integration of the Indian States have been thoroughly highlighted and referred in different parts of this dissertation work. Most of these writings are of general in nature seeking to establish general conclusions on the history of aggregates rather than history of specifics. The study under reference has been a maiden attempt to identify the factors and forces, events and issues involved in the process of merger of Cooch Behar State into the Indian Union. While doing so the researcher had to gather information and documents from different sources. Such relevant documents in the form of reports, leaflets, official notes and circulatioris, newspapers, articles, published books, gazetteers and letters etc. had been gathered from the National Archives, New Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru Museum and Library, New Delhi, West Bengal State Archives, Kolkata, National Library, Kolkata, Cooch Behar CoUectorate Records Room, Cooch Behar, North Bengal State Library, Cooch Behar, Assam Sahitya Sabha, Assam, |<amrup Anusandhan Samiti, Assam, Department of Hislorical and Antiquarian Studies, Assam aid North Bengal University uibrary. The present study is comprised of eight chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are intrinsically linked with &m&h other and also are in consonance with the broad design of the study. The first Chapter is the introduction to the study which initiates necessary issues and information relating to the research problem, objective, research questions and hypothesis, background of the issue of merger and integration of the Indian States. The second Chapter examines the historical events and incidents and culturo-ethnographic considerations behind the process of State formation in India since time immemorial. The third Chapter deals with the socio-cultural and historical perspectives of Cooch Behar state in north-east frame. The heartland periphery model has been attempted to understand the history of people and history of region of Cooch Behar in the north eastern backdrop. Chapter four details out the issues and events involved in the relationship between East India Company and Princely States in India during 1757-1813 with special reference to Cooch Behar. Chapter five has been extension of chapter four in the sense that it deals with such relationvship established during 1813-1857. Chapter six presents a detail picture depicting the culmination of relationship during 1858-1919 between British India and l^rmcely India With special reference to Cooch Behar. Chapter seven d«i^ «iSli the issues and counter-issiKNS to the Chamber of Princes aali ¥m bsBE^iinings with the British bt#SB Government ended with the enactment of Instrument of Accession. The eighth Chapter has been significant in the sense that it has traced in detail the factor an4 forces, events and issues, involved in to accept or to contest the merger of the Princely State Cooch Behar with the Indian Union.