In transcribing the following paragraphs from the Internet Archive online version of The Imperial Gazetteer’s entry on British India — modern South Asia — I have expanded the divided the long entry into separate documents, expanded abbreviations for easier reading, and added paragraphing and links to material in the Victorian Web. The charts are in the original. This discussion of British India has particular importance because it immediately precedes the 1857 Mutiny and the subsequent major shift in its status as it came under the direct control of the British government rather than that of the East India Company, a private company.— George P. Landow]
The Ecclesiastical Establishment in India is under the super intendence of the Bishops of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, j who are appointed by the sovereign; the first named having j a revenue of 4000, and the others 3000 per annum each, ! which sums are paid by the east India Company. There is also mi archdeacon in each diocese. Chaplains at the iliU .ivnt stations are appointed by the court of directors, subject to the approval of the Archbishop of Canterbury, or the Bishop of I ..union. An allowance is made by the company to a certain number of the K. Catholic clergymen, and clergymen of the Scotch Established church. Other Christian sects support their own ministers in India. The church establishments of the Syrian Christians inhabiting the Malabar coast, and the native It. Catholic Christians, are unconnected with the para mount state. Land Tenures. The land-tax is the principal source of the Indian revenue. Throughout the greater portion of the presi dencies of Bengal, namely, in the provinces of Bengal, Ba- liar, Benares, and Orissa (excepting Cuttack), and in some parts of the Madras presidency as the north Circars, and parts of Salem and other central districts the land is assessed under the zemindary or perpetual settlement; in most parts of the Madras presidency, in portions of that of Bombay, and in Cuttack, it is under the ryotwary settlement; and in the Bombay and Agra presidencies, with few exceptions, the rent is raised upon the village system a political arrangement. westhen the east India Company succeeded to the territories in Bengal, &c. previously held by the Mogul sovereigns, they found the revenue collected by officers named Zemindars, Talookdars, &c., whom, after a great deal of controversy, the Indian Government of Lord Cornwallis constituted the pro prietors of the soil. westith them a perpetual settlement was made the tax of the Government being fixed for ever at an amount calculated upon half the annual produce of the soil, for a certain term of years previously. This was the nominal amount of the tax, but in practice the sums levied were much below that amount, being frequently but one-fourth, and, in some localities, one-sixth of the produce; and the Zemindars appropriated the surplus of the half, in addition to being en titled to retain one-tenth of the amount levied as a remunera tion for collecting the tax. The ryotwary system, introduced by Sir Thomas Munro into the territories of Madras, involves a levy on each cultivated field separately, and the contract exists between the government and the cultivator, without the intervention of the Zemindar or middleman. The village system, under which most part of the presidency of Bombay, and all of that of Agra, are assessed, has prevailed from time immemorial throughout India, and is an institution peculiarly consonant with the habits and usages of the people. The vil lages are so many petty republics, each having its own sepa rate organization and functionaries, who may thus be enume rated: the Potail or head of the village and local judge, the recorder, tax-gatherer, land-measurer, conductor of water, washerman, smith, coach-maker, potter, barber, watchman, astrologer, poet, and schoolmaster. These officers are chosen annually by the inhabitants of the village, and each has a share in the produce of the soil. The arrangement for the payment of the land- tax is here made by the Government with (lie potail or head-man of the village. The lands, aggregately, are assessed at a certain amount, and if any members of the village community are unable to pay their share of the assess ment, the responsibility rests with the community the other members of which make up the deficiency by mutual arrange ment. weste learn, from a valuable report on revenue statistics by Lieutenant-Colonel Sykes, that the land-tax in the Agra presidency, where the village system is in force, is collected with facility; the amount annually raised there exceeds 4,000,000 sterling the cost of collection being about OJ per cent. The maximum rate in that presidency is about 5s. tid. per acre, the minimum 1*. : !.. and the average 3s. 7 A-/., on lands producing crops worth 200 rupees (20) per acre. In four collectorates of the Deccan, also, where the land-tax is levied on the villages, the rate is no more than from 1. 6d. to 3s. Id. per acre. It was stated in 1847 that the increase of revenue in the north west. provinces in 40 years had amounted to 1 ,500,000 sterling or 75 per cent., and Colonel Sykes expresses his as sent to the statement that this increase of revenue has been ;ii tended with improvement in the condition of the rural popu lation. (Jour, of the Statist. Soc., vol. x. p. 247.) In the Agra presidency the amount of assessment has been settled with the villages for a period of 30 years, and in the Deccan and south Maharatta country for 20 years. In Bengal the per manency of the rent has so much fostered agriculture and VOL. L extended cultivation, that the Zemindars in all parts are said to enjoy a revenue at least equal to, and in many places a great deal more than, the Government tax at the expense, however, of the ryots or cultivators. Staple Productions and Commerce. The vegetable products of this wide empire have been already enumerated under the article HINOOOSTAnorth Amongst the cereals cultivated during the wet season are millets, jowaree (Holcus sort/hum), bajree Holcus spicatus), and other kinds of holcus; maize, which is not popularly used as a bread-corn, but cooked and eaten as a green vegetable; and rice, in localities favourable for its cul ture. The grains cultivated during the dry season, from October to June, are bearded wheats, barley of several kinds, and various pulses. Contrary to generally-received notions in this country, neither rice nor wheat form the chief nutri ment of the natives of India; the former is raised only on alluvial soils, and is often twice as dear as wheat, which suc ceeds it, as a grain for exportation, in the upper part of the valley of the Ganges, and on the table-lands; the bulk of the food of from 70 to 80 millions of the population, consists of grains the names of which are scarcely known in Europe, liice is principally produced in the vast plains of Bengal, on those of Tanjore, south Arcot, &c., in the Madras presidency, in the Concan and lower parts of the territories of Bombay, and commonly around the banks of rivers, near their mouths, where the climate is hottest, and the annual inundation most extensive. In the delta of the Ganges, rice yields two crops annually, in August and December. In the year 1841-42, the total export of rice and other grain was valued at 648,804, of which the export to the United Kingdom amounted in value to 129,688. In 1849, the imports into Great Britain of rice from India amounted to 875,510 cwts. By far the greater proportion of the indigo consumed in Europe is produced in India. It is raised extensively from Dacca to Delhi; there are reported to be upwards of 470 indigo factories in the Ben gal and Agra presidencies, which are conducted by English capitalists, and the value of the annual produce is calculated at from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 sterling. Its culture ex tends over upwards of 1,000,000 ac. in the Gangetic region; and, it is stated, that where it prevails the rural population are uniformly in the best circumstances. It is also raised extensively in Candeish, in the Bombay presidency, and in other parts of British India. In 1842, indigo to the value of 2,397,162 was exported from Bengal, the total export from India being valued at 2,730,560; and, in 1849, 75,982 cwts. were imported into Great Britain and Ireland. The trade in opium is a Government monopoly; the article is raised, in the British territories, only in Bahar and Benares, and under very strict limitations; but, in the Indore territories, and other parts of the province of Malwa, in Central India, it is also grown, and is purchased or sold on commission by the British Government, for exportation to China, the Indian Archipelago, and other parts of southeast Asia. In 1833, the ex port consisted of 9534 chests of Patna and Benares opium from Calcutta, and 11,715 chests of Malwa opium from the Bombay presidency; the whole valued at 3,151,486. In 1839-10, the revenue derived from the sale of opium had decreased to 784,267; but, in 1843-44, it had again risen to 2,551,017; and, in 1849, the sale of opium raised in the British territory realized to the Bengal Government the sum of 3,015,000, exclusive of the receipts from the sale of Malwa opium, and opium passes in Bombay, amounting to 898,093. Cotton is a most important staple of Indian produce. All the plants yielding it thrive more or less in different portions of the territory, especially the Oossi/pium herbaceum, which is supposed to be indigenous in India. It is raised chiefly in peninsular India, especially in the uplands of the south and west., in which latter quarter are the principal ports of shipment. Baroach, Kattywar, and other districts in Gujerat, and Dar- war in the Bombay presidency, Coimbatoor in the Madras presidency, and the table-land of Mysore, are the portions of India most famous for their cotton crops. The indigenous cotton succeeds only on what is called the black cotton soil, which is estimated to extend over about 200,000 sq. miles of country; but, in addition, there is a red cotton soil, formed of the debris of silicious rocks, extending over from 200,000 to 300,000 sq. miles, on which alone the cotton of America suc ceeds, and for the culture of which it is well adapted. The detritus at the river mouths in Bengal has been found, on 160 INDIA (BRITISH) 1274 INDIA (BRITISH) analysis, apparently well suited for the growth of the sea- island cotton of the United States; but little cotton is raised in the Bengal presidency, its production being chiefly limited to the regions not producing the other great staples indigo, sugar, silk, and opiumiles The consumption of cotton in India has been very vaguely and variously estimated at from 375,000,000 to 3,000,000,000 Ibs. per annumiles It is cer tainly used to an enormous extent, nearly every article of clothing, or woven or padded furniture, for which wool, linen, &c., are employed in other countries, being in India made of that material. The Indian cotton is naturally of good quality; it takes dyes well and readily, and its fibre swells in bleach ing; but, being raised generally by cultivators with little capital, and being badly cleaned, and liable to dirt and injury from defective modes of conveyance, it can seldom compete in price with other cottons brought to the British markets. In 184041, however, some experimental farms, under the superintendence of American planters, were established in the chief cotton districts; the cleaning of cotton by American machinery was also introduced, and some cotton, equal to any from America, has been imported at Liverpool. In 1841, 280,000 bales of cotton were exported from India. In 1845- 46, of the total exports, amounting to 143,252,960 Ibs., valued at 1,531,734, and chiefly sent to China and the United King dom, 128,820,270 Ibs. were shipped from Bombay. In 1849, the import of cotton-wool from British India into Great Britain amounted to 70,838,515 Ibs., being considerably more than double the quantity received from Brazil, and somewhat more than one-tenth of the entire quantity imported and retained for consumption in the United Kingdomiles In 1850, the total import amounted to 118,665,380 Ibs.; of which 112,408,140 Ibs. were from the Bombay, 5,571,450 Ibs. from the Madras, and 85,790 Ibs. from the Bengal presidency. (Parl. Report, May, 1851, &c.) For a long period, the east India sugar was greatly inferior to the sugar of the west. Indies, and a heavy obstacle to its in troduction into the British markets existed in the shape of discriminating duties, unfavourable to the east Indian produce. But, since these have been removed, the export of sugar from India has rapidly extended, and the manufacture of the article has of late years improved so much, as to make it bear a very favourable contrast for purity, as well as sac charine quality, with the sugar from other quarters. In 1 833, the whole import of sugar from India into the United King dom amounted to only 111,731 cwts., but it thenceforward steadily increased, and, in 1848, amounted to 1,360,417 cwts., or somewhat more than half as much as that received from the west. Indies. In the same year, the imports into Great Britain and Ireland from India comprised 19,853 cwts. of molasses, and 908,876 gallons of rumiles In 1849, the import into the United Kingdom of sugar, from British India and the contiguous islands, amounted to 1,538,000 cwts. In 1850, of 1,375,315 Ibs. similarly imported, 1,146,460 Ibs. were from the Bengal presidency. The coffee imported in the same year from British India amounted to 3,845,357 Ibs., of which 3,333,000 Ibs. were from the presidency of Bombay. Pepper is an im portant product of the Malabar coast, and the import into the United Kingdom from British India, in 1849, amounted to 3,913,611 Ibs. Silk is produced chiefly in Bengal and in Assam; the silk of which latter province is of the first quality, and is yielded by several different worms. The mulberry thrives so freely in India that its culture might be extended greatly beyond its present amount; the import of its raw silk from India into Great Britain, in 1849, is set down at 1,804,327 Ibs., or nearly as much as that sent by China; in addition to which, upwards of 500,000 pieces of India silk manufactures were in the same year received in the United Kingdom.
Left: Seated male spice/salt vendor holding a balance. Right: . Both 1789-1858. Watercolor gouache on mica, 121 x 88 mm. from New York Public Library Digital Collections. Click on images to enlarge them. [Click on images to enlarge them.]
Salt is a Government monopoly, and the source of a considerable revenue; it is made in large quantities in Cuttack. The quantity disposed of at the Government sales, in 1844-45, was 4,644,046 bazaar maunds, or 3,405,288 cwts.; and, in the year 1848-49, the Indian Government realized 2,488,567 from the sale of this article, considerably more than half of which revenue was derived from the Bengal presidency. Nitre and nitrate of soda effloresce on the soil, over large tracts in Bahar, and in other parts of the country; and, in 1849, 286,746 cwts. of saltpetre were imported from British India into Great Britain, being rather more than half the total supply to the United Kingdomiles In Assam, a considerable extent of the yellow soil which characterizes some of the tea districts in China, has been found to exist, and the tea-plant flourishes there spontaneously, as also in the province Ku- maon, in the Himalayas. Tobacco of superior quality, teak- timber, from the Malabar coast and Tenasserim provinces; cardamoms, cocoa-nuts, chank and .pearl shells, chiefly from the south; drugs, dyes, gum-lac, linseed, sesamum, safflower, turmeric, ginger, skins and hides, borax, ivory, cassia, and other spices, are amongst the great variety of articles of the Indian export trade. Diamonds are found in Bundelcund and in the Deccan. Copper is plentiful in the Himalaya, but at present the ore is all but useless, from deficient means of transport. Gold, silver, lead, mercury, antimony, and other metals, are found in different districts; they do not appear, however, as essential sources of commercial wealth. India is not a country eminently adapted for sheep-farming, and the wool of the native breeds is coarse and dark- coloured. The better sheep are met with on the uplands of Mysore, Coimbatoor, and the Deccan, also at Jeypoor, in Kajpootana; and, of late years, attention has been paid to their improve ment, by crossing the breeds, and with so much success, that the export of wool to Great Britain had increased from 37] Ibs. in 1833, to 3,975,866 Ibs. in 1845; and, in 1849, it amounted to 4,182,853 Ibs. Subjoined is A TABLE of the AGGREGATE VALUE of the MERCHANDISE EXPORTED and IMPORTED from the three PRESIDENCIES of BENGAL, MADRAS, and BOMBAY, 1812-3 : Presidencies. Exports in the Year 1842-3. Imports in the Year 1842-3. Bengal (Calcutta) Madras 6,820,954 2,126,590 , 4,123,213 858 672 Bombay 5,124,275 3,803,018 Total value 14,071,819 8,781,903 A TAIILK of the VALUE of the EXPORTS and IMPORTS of BRITISH INI to and from DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, in the YBAK 1842-3: Countries. Exports to. from Ikitishlmiia. Imports from, into British India. Great Britain France U. States Arabian and Persian Gulfs... Cbina & 5,398.305 569,884 141,120 811,805 4,102,878 5,016,679 213,722 72,074 410.604 536,590 Pegu 79,977 2910 128,083 1 790 New southwestales Penang and Eastward Java Maldive Islands 9,277 761,214 16,951 6390 7,334 307,187 44 Ifi 142 Manilla Cape of Good Hope 9 ,295"" 1 081 16,353 1,801 19 763 Mauritius Coast of Africa Madeira and Genoa 168,322 29,001 2517"" 54,975 49,391 8,646 15,993 2 709 Bremen Other countries, and be! ween different parts of India.... 5,068 } 1,920,771 1,752 1,939,264 Totals 14,071,819 8,784,903 Date. Exports. Imports. 184t-o 1845-G 1846-7 1847-8 16,590,211 17,028,672 15,355,430 13,565,949 10,754,145 9,087,478 8,811,250 8,408,100 In April, 1834, the exclusive right of the east India Company to trade with China, &c., ceased; and Europeans may now proceed by sea to any part of British India without a license, though some restrictions still exist to their liberty to enter the territories of the Company by land. Foreign ships may enter at any of the ports, but they are not privileged to con vey freight from one port to another. In 1849, the total exports from the United Kingdom to British India, including Ceylon, &c., amounted to 6,803,274. The annual gross amount of the imports to and exports from India, in the years 1844-5, and 1847-8, is given below : INDIA (BRITISH) 1275 INDIA (BRITISH) The principal weights, measures, &c., in use in India are the seer (1 Ib. 13 oz. 14 dwt.}, the maund (74 Ib. 10 oz. nearly, Imperial measure); the old bazaar maund is equivalent to 82 Ibs. 2 oz. The beia or bizali is a land measure of 1600 sq. yards. The Company s rupee of 16 annas is valued at 2*. sterling; 16 Company s rupees make a gold mohur. A lac is a hundred thousand, and a crore 10 millions. Manufactures. The silk fabrics of India are inferior to those of China; but, in 1842-43, there were exported from Bengal to Great Britain to the amount of 24,02,894 rupees (240,290), constituting about two-thirds of their entire ex port. By far the most important manufactures, as regards the extent to which they are produced by the natives of India, are cotton piece-goods, the best of which are made along the Coromandel coast. They are sent chiefly to Arabia, Persia, Pegu, Penang, and the Indian Archipelago; but their manu facture has sustained a progressive diminution within the last 35 years. In 1816-17, nearly all India was supplied with home-manufactured cotton goods, and the same were exported to the United Kingdom to the value of 1,659,438. In 1842 43, the export from India to Great Britain reached only the value of 40,267; the native cotton goods, both as to home and foreign supply, having by that period become, in a great measure, supplanted by British cotton manufactures. In 1847, the British plain, printed, and coloured cotton fabrics cleared to Calcutta alone, from the ports of London, Liverpool, and the Clyde, amounted in the aggregate to 112,615,737 yards, valued at 1,329,476; besides cotton twist 11,198,369 Ibs., worth 526,303. In 1849, the cotton goods exported from Great Britain to India amounted in value to 3,501,891. Diapers and other cotton fabrics are, however, still produced at Dacca, once noted for its muslins; chintzes, and a variety of other woven goods, at Calcutta and Burdwan. The silks of Amritsir, Lahore, Mooltan, and other towns in the Punjab, and of Moorshedabad, in Bengal, are of old celebrity. The shawls made from the wool of the Tibet goat by the Hindoo population of Cashmere; the leather, arms, paper, and lac quered wares of the same region; the arms made at Lahore; similar goods, pottery, turbans, Tatta silks, &c., fabricated in Scinde; the muslins of Cicacole, woollen carpets of Ellore, cottons of Tinnevelly, and gold chains and jewellery of Tri- chinopoly, in the Madras territories, deserve especial mention. Ship-building has declined at Calcutta, but it has lately risen to high importance at Moulmein. At Bombay are docks for die construction of vessels of the first class, and the Indian mercantile navy contains numerous ships of acknowledged excellence. (For further notices of manufactures, see Hi.v- DOOSTAnorth) Roads and Communications. The inland trade of India is greatly impeded by the want of internal communication. The grand trunk road from Calcutta to Benares and Delhi, on the latter portion of which the bridges over the rivers have only been recently made; a good road from Pauwelly, opposite Bombay, to Poonah; others from Bombay to AhmedmifrKiir, into Candeish, through the Concan district, on the Malabar coast, and for a part of the way, and to Jubbalpoor in Central India; one from Mirzapoor, on the Ganges, to Jubbalpoor and Nagpoor; and one from Masulipatam to Hyderabad, con stituted the only lines of route, worthy of especial notice, as having been constructed before 1850, when several good and extensive roads were made in the Punjab, between Lahore, I utankote, and Mooltan, &c.; and one was begun between Lahore and Peshawur. Excepting the foregoing, all of which liave been formed chiefly within the last century, few public ways exist that are better than mere tracks, along which rude cars can be drawn, or oxen driven. Pack-bullocks of small size, carrying a load of about 240 Ibs., are used for the con veyance of many kinds of goods; camels, for the same pur pose, toward the west. frontiers; and, in the Himalaya, goats and sheep. Elsewhere, most of the merchandize is conveyed on the backs of brinjarrits, a caste of Hindoos whose business is that of carriers. The impediment to prosperity on account of the absence of roads, will be made strikingly apparent by the fact that, in 1823, while grain in Candeish was plentiful enough to be sold at from 6s. to 8s. a quarter, in Aurungabad, not 100 miles distant, it was 34s.; and at Poonah, perhaps 150 miles farther, from 64s. to 70s. a quarter; and yet, for the want of routes on which to convey it, no attempt could be made to equalize the price of corn in these localities. It is stated that, i during the ten years from 1 836 to 1846, the sum of 1,446,400 was spent by the east India Company in the formation of roads, buildings, bridges, tanks, and canals in India, exclusive of repairs. The railways projected or in progress in all the three presidencies, when completed, will remove many of the diffi culties as to roads complained of, and tend greatly to the development of the great natural riches of India. One of the most magnificent and the most useful of tho works ever undertaken by the British Government in India, is the Ganges canal, now in progress of execution in the Doab, between the Ganges and Jumna. It commences at Hurdwar, and is to extend for a distance of 180 miles, to near Alighur, where it will diverge into two channels, one, 170 miles in length, running to the Ganges, at Cawnpoor; and the other, 165 miles in length, to the Jumna, near Humeerpoor, 40 miles west. by north Futtehpoor. Branches, with an aggregate extent of 250 miles, will proceed to Futtehghur, and Coel; the total length being 765 miles This canal, which will be navigable through out, is intended also to irrigate a tract of 8400 sq. miles; and it is estimated that the increase of land revenue in the country through which it is carried will be 350,000 per annum; and, in addition, that about 160,000 will be annu ally derived from it by the sale of water. Very extensive masonry works are requisite for the Ganges canal. A con siderable portion of the undertaking is already completed; and, of somewhat more than 1 ,500,000, which it is estimated will be the total cost, 634,000 had been spent on its construction at the close of 1850. A large canal, estimated to cost half a million sterling, has been commenced in the Punjab. Both the Ganges and the Indus are now navigated by steam-vessels, the former river by strong and very buoyant iron boats. Armed Force. The following Table exhibits the strength of the military forces in British India in 1845: Company s Troops. European officers European non- commis sioned and rank aud tile Natite Troops Cavalry Body-guard Artillery Engineers, 8&c Native Infantry Khelat-i Ghilzie rf giment Irregular Cavalry Local Infantry..,. Bundelcund Legion Military Police Total of Co. s Troops.. 1,578 5,208 6,786 _______ 4,782 433 4,843 1,368 83,411 999 6,954 15.981 2.9S9 11,144 1,022 8,685 4.717 , L IJ - 3,889 1,818 703 55,378 Irregular Infantry Sciude Camel Corps 61,788 551 2,223 2,773 =TT~r T-- 1,430 "899 376 28,991 2,473 4,958 1,935 41,062 The total forces of the east India Company amounted therefore to 13,715 European, and 235,684 native troops, in all 249,399, officers, and rank and file. In addition, there were in 1845, 963 officers, and 27,149 rank and file belonging to her Majesty s service. In the Punjab, there were maintained, in 1850, four local regiments of infantry, and one corps of cavalry, raised in that territory, besides a large police force. The Punjab military force consists, besides border corps, of five corps of infantry, five of cavalry, and three batteries of artillery. In the Punjab cavalry, Sikhs predominate; in the infantry, Mahometans. In the rest of the territory of British India, more than half of the native army consists of Hindoos; in Bengal they compose 83 per cent, of the Sepoy troops, and are mostly of the higher castes. In the Bombay army, six- eighths are Hindoos, but chiefly Sudras, or of the lower castes. In the Madras territories, the Mahometans are more numerous amongst the armed force than elsewhere; in the cavalry there are from six to seven in proportion to one Hindoo, and in the infantry about two to three or four Hindoos. The Indian navy consisted, in 1848, of 39 steam-vessels, of an aggregate of 5044 horse-power, and burden of 18,360 tons; of which 11, aggregate 1000 horse-power, 4405 tons burden, belonged to Bengal; one, of 160 horse-power, and 411 tons burden, belonged to Madras; and 27, of 2884 horse-power, and a total of 13,544 tons burden, were attached to the pre sidency of Bombay; which was also the station of 14 sailing vessels, aggregate burden, 2826 tons. INDIA (BRITISH) 1276 INDIA (BRITISH) ftevenue. The land revenue is collected, in the first in stance, by the village collectors, teksildars or accountants; from them it is sent to the provincial native treasurers, who are bound in heavy securities to the Government, and act directly under the European collector of the district or col- lectorate. In addition to the land tax, the receipts are de rived from the sales of opium, salt, and tobacco; and, in the Bombay territories, opium passes, and dock dues; mint, stamp, and excise duties; post-office collection, sayer and abkarry, or spirit and other licenses, marine and pilotage receipts, sub sidies and tribute from the protected states, &c. The Indian revenue has for some years presented a deficiency as compared with the expenditure, in consequence of expensive wars. The following is A. TARLK of tlte REVENUES nnd CHARGES of the fertrnl PREsirmNcn-s of BRITISH INDIA, in the Year 1848-9, the CHARGKS including those DISBURSED in ENGLAND : Presidencies. Total Revenue, 184N-9. Total Charges, 1848 9- Bengal M adr as . .;""! .! Bombay Co. a Rupees. 7,89,15,235 4,99,83,128 3,91,17,1(59 2,64,09,534 Co. s Eupees. 10,22,45,359 1,01,44,4-20 3,43,62,612 3,12,48,216 19,44,05,066 or 18,227,350 Charges disbursed in England 17,80,00,687 or 16.687,577 3,012,908 Total 18,227,350 19,700.465 The total public debt of the east India Company amounted, in 1849, to 44.204,080, and the annual interest to 2,101,322. History. Following in the wake of the Portuguese and the Dutch, who had already established commercial settlements in India, the English, at the end of the sixteenth century, de termined to adventure in the east seas; and, accordingly, in 1 600, during the reign of Elizabeth in England, and of Akbar on the royal throne of Hindoostan, a company was formed for this purpose in London, which, in the next year, was enlarged so as to consist of 215 shareholders, headed by George Earl of Cumberland. This association, the nucleus of the present east India Company, had, at its origin, a capital of 70,000 : its affairs were under the direction of a committee of 17 di rectors, the number of whom was afterwards increased to 24. In the face of numerous obstacles thrown in their way by the Portuguese, the ships of the Company traded at Surat and other places on the west. coast of India, and with such success that, after eight merchant squadrons having been sent to India in the space of twelve years, the company had derived an average profit of not less than 171 per cent, on their capital! In 1612, a joint-stock capital of 429,000 was subscribed by the Company, who, early in the succeeding year, obtained leave from the Mogul emperor to erect factories at Surat, Ahmeda- bad, Cambay, and Gogo. Violent hostilities with the Portu guese and the Dutch subsequently took place, but without much retarding the commercial prospects of the English, who, about 1626, established factories at Masulipatam and Armegon, near Nellore; and in 1634 were allowed by the emperor Shah- Jehan to trade at Pipley in Bengal, which fixes that date as the period when their ships were first permitted to enter the Ganges. In 1639, our countrymen procured from a local rajah the cession of a stripe of land, about 5 miles in length, on the Coromandel coast, where Madras now stands, and where Fort St. George was forthwith erected; this, accordingly, being the first territorial acquisition of the British on the Indian mainland. In 1645, through the influence of Mr. Broughton, a surgeon who had successfully exerted his professional skill on some members of the imperial family at Agra, permission was ac quired to erect factories at Balasore and Hooghly in Bengal; to which, as well as to the English establishments at Surat, valuable privileges were, at his instigation, granted. In 1664, the island of Bombay was ceded by Portugal to Charles II. of England, as a part of the dowry of his queen; in 1668 this island was made over in perpetuity to the Company, which was now considerably augmented by the addition to it of other associations; and in 1687 Bombay became the capital of the British settlements in the east Factories had by this time been established in various parts of Bengal, Bahar, and south I India: and an expedition was even sent out ostensibly for the purpose of redressing certain injuries, but destined in reality for a service of no less magnitude than that of levying war against the powerful emperor Aureugzebe and the subadar of Bengal. In 1689, as Mr. Mill observes, it was laid down as a determinate object of policy (by the Company) that inde pendence was to be established in India, and dominion ac quired. At that date they wrote to their agents: the increase of our revenue is the subject of our care as much as our trade. In 1700 the Company had obtained, from the subadar of Bengal, the grant of a small zemindary on the Hooghly, comprising the towns of Calcutta, Govindpore, and Chuttan- uttee; but it was not until 1713 that Mr. Hamilton, an Eng lish surgeon, who had successfully operated on the emperor Ferokhehere treading in the steps of Mr. Broughton pro cured from the emperor the confirmation of the grant, and thus established in the possession of his countrymen the locality whence extended the dominion forming the third and principal of the three great presidencies into which, until our day, British India has remained divided. The French had already become possessed of settlements on the Coromandel coast, and territory in the Carnatic, and on the breaking out of the war between them and the English in 1745, India was made a theatre for their hostilities. In these, several native powers soon became involved; but, after various success on the part of the belligerents, the French, by 1763, were completely worsted by the superior resources and strength of their antagonists. From the period of the war declared against the French in 1756, the ascendency of the English in India proceeded with rapid strides. The battle of Plassey in 1757, in which a few forces under Clive routed a Mogul army of 18,000 cavalry and 50,000 infantry, opened Bengal to the British; the district of the twenty-four pergunnahs was acquired in the same year, and Burdwan, Midnapoor, and Chittagong in 1760. In 1765 the collection of the revenues of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa was yielded by the emperor to the company; the north Circars were acquired in ! the following year, and the zemindary of Benares in 1775. In the last-named year a war broke out between the British and Hyder Ali, who had seated himself on the throne of My sore; and it was continued by his successor Tippoo, with short intervals, down to the death of the latter, and the capture of Seringapatam in 1799; since that period nearly all the terri tory comprising the sovereignty of Tippoo, except the table land of Mysore, has passed under the direct rule of the east India Company, and been annexed to the presidency of Madras. The events which determined the progress of British ascen dency in India were now transferred from the east and south to the central and west. parts of the same region. The war with the Mahratta powers Sattara, Berar, Scindia, Holkar, &c. occupied the early years of the present century, and was chiefly conducted under the administration of the Marquis westellesley, as governor-general. Amongst the remarkable occurrences during this period were the battles of Assayeand Argaum, which distinguished the early military career of the Duke of westellington, and evinced the genius of that great commander; the victories of Delhi, Lasswarree, Deeg, and Futtehghur, gained by Lord Lake; and the transference of the Mogul emperor, from the thraldom in which he had been held by the Mahrattas, to the protection of the British. Amongst the acquisitions made by the latter during this inter val were Goruckpoor, c., from Oude, and the lower Doab, between the Ganges and Jumna, in 1801; other districts in Bundelcund in 1802; Cuttack district and the upper Doab, with other portions of the Delhi territory, in 1803; and in 1805, districts of Gujerat, previously belonging to the Gui- cowar. A war soon afterwards ensued against the Pindarees, a host of roving and predatory warriors, who, during the disquiet which they caused, formed alliances with several of the Mah ratta powers; also a war against the Goorkhas of Nepaul, who had made irruptions into the north British provinces. The forces of Holkar received a severe defeat from the troops under Sir T. Hislop, at Mahidpoor, in 1817; but the Pindaree war could not be said to have ended until the fall of Aseer- ghur before the British arms in 1819. Bhurtpoor, which had on former occasions resisted fi^ve successive attacks by our troops, was finally taken by assault in January, 1826; since which epoch few military operations of much magnitude have INDIA (BnmsH) 1277 INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO taken place in India east of the plains of the Sutlej and Indus. During the period thus indicated, the accessions to the British territory comprised Kumaon, taken from Ncpaul in 1815; the Saugur districts, Darwar, Ahmedabad, &c., acquired in 1817; Candeish, Ajmere, Poonah, the Conean, the south Mah- ratta country, and some districts on the Nerbudda in 1818; and several others incorporated into the Bombay presidency in 1820 and 1822. The extension of the British sway next took place chiefly in the peninsula of India-beyond-the-Ganges. In 1824, in consequence of aggressions on our east frontier, war was de clared against the Burmese, who, after several defeats in the centre of their territories, in 1826 ceded to the British, Assam, Aracan, and the Tenasserim provinces then added to the Bengal presidency. Singapore and Malacca became by pur chase British possessions in 18245; Coorg in south India, and Loodianah, with adjacent districts on the Sutlej, were acquired in 1834; Kurnool in 1840, and Jaloun in 1841. Political intrigues in central Asia, having a tendency to produce dangerous hostilities within our Indian dominions, caused the interference of the British in the affairs of Afghan istan; and to that country a formidable army was sent from India in 1839, by means of which the deposed sovereign was replaced on the throne of Cabool. In 1841, those treacherous slaughters of British officers and troops took place at Cabool and elsewhere, which interposed the most alarming check that the British power had ever experienced in the east; but in 1842 another army was sent beyond the Indus, which speedily restored there the prestige belonging to the British name. In consequence of events which we cannot afford space to detail, a British force entered Scinde in 1843, and, after Sir C. Napier s victory over the Ameers at Meanee, that country submitted, and it has since formed an integral part of British India. In the same year disagreements between the president and some of the reigning family at Gwalior, in the centre of Hindoostan, precipitated hostilities in that quarter, which speedily termi nated in the triumph of the British arms at the battles of Maharajpoor and Punnair; and although these events were not followed by any direct territorial acquisition on our part, a number of districts were afterwards sequestrated for the maintenance of a British force in Scindia s dominions. Finally, the British had to combat the most formidable enemy they liad ever yet encountered on Indian soil. Towards the end of 1845, an unprovoked invasion of the Sikhs across the Sutlej into the territories protected by the Company, com pelled all disposable forces in India to move to the X.west.; and at the end of that year, and beginning of the next, the Sikhs were successively defeated in the actions of Moodkee, Ferozeshah, Aliwal, and Sobraon. In 1848, war was resumed by the Sikhs and Afghans united, and the scene of hostility removed to the neighbourhood of Mooltan; but, after the battles of Chillianwalla and Goojerat the last a most decisive action, fought February 21, 1849 this combination was wholly broken up, and the Punjab was annexed to the British dominions. Sattara, formerly the territory of the Mahratta Peishwa, was added to the Bombay presidency in 1849; and Sumbhulpoor, a Gundwana rajahship of 9000 sq. miles, has more recently lapsed to the British, from want of heirs to the last rajah. The chief events of a political nature which have still more lately occurred in India, are disturbances in the territory of the Nizam, which, probably at no very distant period, will be absorbed into the wide-spread sovereignty immediately under British authority; and the war commenced with Burmah in the early part of the present year (1852). Subjoined are the dates of the accession to office of the various governors-general of India since the battle of Plassey in 1757 : 1798 Earl of Mornington (Marquis westellesley). Ig05 Marquis Cornv, allis. 1805-SirG. Barlow. 1807-Karlol Mmto. 181:( Karl Moira (Mnrq Hastin-O- 18:23 Karl Amlierst. 1S2H Lord west. Bentinck. 18:>5 l/,rd Auckland. 18 Lord Ellenbonmgh. 1811 Sir II. (Lord) Harding 147 Karl (Marquis) of Ddlliousie. (Mill s Hist, of British India; Prinsep s Bengal and Agra Gazetteer, 1841, &c.; M Gregor s Report on British India, 1759 Colonel Clive. 1760 Mr. Holwell. 1761 Mr. Vansittart. 1765 Mr. Spencer. 1765 Lord Clive. 1767 Mr. Verelst. 1769-Mr. Cartier. 1772-Mr. westarren Hnstiiigs. IT*. . Sir J. M Tlierson 1786 Karl (Marqui-) Cornwallis. 1793-Sir J. Sl.ore (lx)rci Teigi mouth). 1848; Stocqueler s Handbook for India; Board of Trade Report, 1849; Papers on Imports and Exports, 1846; Reports on Sugar and Coffe.e Planting, and on tlie, Growtfi of Cotton m India; Rt iwrt of the Indian Law Commissioners, 1847; Re port on Idolatry in India, 1849; K. India Revenue Report, 1848-49; Acts of the Government of India; Calcutta Review, 1850-51.)
Bibliography
Blackie, Walker Graham. The Imperial Gazetteer: A General Dictionary of Geography, Physical, Political, Statistical and Descriptive. 4 vols. London: Blackie & Son, 1856. Internet Archive. Inline version of a copy in the University of California Library. Web. 7 November 2018.
Last modified 5 December 2018