within the Company’s provinces had actually been under the hammer. This
was an evil which spoke for itself, and which no gloss, no colors, could
conceal. That, under such a government, property, to the amount of
millions upon millions, should become thus exposed to transfer, was a
reflection that could not fail to rankle in the mind of him, who had
expected to see content, prosperity, and loyalty, teeming in every
quarter! Never was the vanity of man more conspicuously displayed, or
the mortification of disappointed zeal more grievously felt.
The abrogation of that incertitude, which not only subjected the
land-holder to imposition, but the revenue to much defalcation, was
assuredly a most serious consideration; but, in adopting those measures
which might seem to have the most desirable tendency, it was necessary
to have a full idea of the views and dispositions of the persons on whom
the most essential benefits were to be conferred. A deficiency of
experience, or of insight into their true character, could alone have
led the Marquis into an error, from which the mode of extrication is, I
believe, among the most pressing desiderata of the British government.
Much pains have been taken to prove, that the _zemindars_, &c., were the
legitimate proprietors of the soil; but a very slight inspection of the
forms of ancient grants, made by the Emperors of Hindostan, must satisfy
the most scrupulous, that no person whatever occupied the soil, except
by tolerance of that power under which it was protected. Until our
acquisition of the _Dewany_, (_i.e._ of the government of the provinces
of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa,) no fixed tenure, beyond the will of the
ruling despot, was known, or even claimed; to have asserted such a
right, would have been to provoke immediate castigation, and removal
from the lands.
Even in the times of our own governors, no hesitation was made
respecting the banishment (for it virtually was one) of those who either
assumed a decided claim to the property, or who, from whatever cause,
whether rebellion, mis-management, or unwillingness to pay their rents,
fell in arrears. Such men were always displaced, and others were
appointed in their stead, as a mere matter of course. ‘_Saheb ke
koossy_,’ (its master’s pleasure,) was the patient response of the
offender; who, whatever might be his feelings, or his opinions, felt the
expediency of being perfectly passive on such an occasion.
I believe the records will prove, that Mr. Hastings, during the ten
years he was in the chair, made a very free use of this well-understood
authority; yet, so far were the natives from thinking him unjust, or
over severe, that, when the intelligence of his being acquitted by
parliament, was received in India, such was the pleasure felt by all
classes, that addresses of congratulation were poured in from every part
of the country! This was a compliment that never had been paid by the
natives to any of our governors, even when about to return to Europe; a
period, at which it might be expected some adulatory addresses might, by
great influence, be obtained: no, it was the spontaneous flow of
gratitude, pity, and admiration; such as never would have been
forth-coming, if the ejectment of a _zemindar_ from his soil had been
considered as the expulsion from an hereditary or established right,
rather than as the removal of tenants-at-will.
It certainly must appear curious, that we receive eleven-sixteenths of
the produce of the soil _from its proprietors_! Such is, indeed, the
case, taking all upon an average. The peasantry, in a number of
instances, pay more; especially where middle-men (a class of people by
no means scarce in India) are concerned. These are the same harpies all
over the world; never failing to reduce the industrious to distress, and
to seize upon the all of those most unfortunate beings, whom want of
experience, or of interest, may place at their mercy!
The old system of farming out the country to particular persons, many of
whom rented of the Company to the amount of fifty lacs, (upwards of
£600,000.,) was productive of the greatest evils with which an
industrious, but indigent, population could have to contend! Under that
mode, it was impossible for Government to make certain of its rents,
which were generally remitted in part to the great farmers, lest they
should, in bad seasons, oppress the Ryots, and drive them either to
despair, or out of the country. This was intended as an act of
generosity on the part of Government, which had not the means of
enforcing arrears, otherwise than by the sale of a farmer-general’s
property, whence but a small portion could be expected to result; but,
unhappily, no alleviation of consequence was extended to the real
agriculturist; who, being subject to a very summary process, was often
compelled to embrace ruin, rather than to suffer all the penalties
inflicted by an avaricious and obdurate creditor.
That such should have been the case under the immediate eye of
Government, may excite much surprize; but it must be considered, that,
under the farming system, the least interference would have instantly
been the signal for universal clamor, and that it would have proved
beyond the power of all the civil servants, throughout the Company’s
territories, to have even registered, much less to have heard, and
settled, all the references which would have been made.
This difficulty could not fail to be greatly augmented, by the extreme
deficiency then existing of Company’s servants in every part of India;
for, in each of the _zillahs_, or districts, only a collector, with an
assistant, perhaps, was stationed. In one instance, I recollect passing
by a civil station, when marching from one province to another, when the
resident-surgeon was under the necessity of requesting an officer of our
corps to aid him in examining the accounts of the factory, which he had
been obliged to make out; the president and his assistant being both
absent on public business. This occurrence afforded not only much
amusement, but a wide scope for observation regarding the paucity of
Europeans employed at the out-stations.
In those days, the collector had abundance of duty to perform; for he
was not simply to settle all accounts respecting the revenue, and, in
some instances, of manufactures provided for the Company’s homeward
cargoes, but the whole of the criminal, as well as of the civil, code of
justice, were under his control: whatever petty offences were committed,
or whatever disputes arose among the inhabitants, became equally his
province to enquire into. Fortunately, the _banian_, or _dewan_,
employed, used to take a very considerable portion of such toil off
master’s hands, and to prevent, by a kind of petty _adaulut_, or
tribunal, held in some corner of the office, or perhaps at his own
house, thousands of references to his principal. The chief renter of the
_zillah_ being often employed as _banian_ to the collector, it is easy
to imagine to which side justice, as it was called, used to incline.
Within the last twenty years, the number of servants employed by the
Company has been greatly augmented; not only on account of their
extension of territory, but, in consequence of the separation, very
judiciously made, of two offices, incompatible to be held by the same
individual. The collector is now, except in a very few _zillahs_ of less
note, confined to the collection of the revenues, having under him one
or more assistants, according to the extent of his district.
The whole of the judicial proceedings are under cognizance of a judge,
who, aided by his register, decides civil causes between parties
residing within his jurisdiction; while the criminal catalogue is handed
over to a court composed of natives versed in the Mahomedan and Hindu
laws, though the former are, generally, the guide. These native judges
are superintended in their proceedings by three of the Company’s
servants of long standing, having likewise under them a secretary, or
register.
Such tribunals are established in various parts of the country,
particularly at Calcutta, Moorshadabad, Dacca, Patna, Benares, and in
the Ceded Provinces, under the designation of Provincial Courts of
Appeal and Circuit. There are, besides, judges, each having a register
and an assistant, stationed at Benares, Moorshadabad, Patna, and Dacca,
for the especial purpose of administering justice, and for the
correction of abuses within those cities respectively.
The stations of the _zillah_ courts, and of the collectors, are as
follow:—
Agra, │Dacca, │Nuddeah,
Allahabad, │Dinapore, │Purneah,
Ally-Ghur, │Etayah, │Rajeshaye,
Backergunge, │Furruckabad, │Ramghur,
Bareilly, │Gorackpore, │Rungpore,
Bahar, │Hoogly, │Sahacunpore,
Benares, │Jessore, │Sarun,
Beerboom, │Juanpore, │Shahabad,
Boglepore, │Meerat, │Sylhet,
Burdwan, │Mirzapore, │Tipperah,
Cawnpore, │Momensing, │Tirhoot,
Chittagong, │Moorshadabad, │Twenty-four
│ │ Pergunnahs.
Cuttack, │Moradabad, │
The stations of the commercial residents, whose duty is entirely
confined to the providing of investments for the Company’s shipping,
are,
Bareilly, │Goruckpore, │Mauldah,
Bauleah, │Hurial, │Midnapore,
Commercolly, │Hurripaul, │Patna,
Cossimbazar, │Jungipore, │Radnagore,
Dacca, │Keerpoy, │Rungpore,
Etayah, │Luckypore and │Santipore,
│ Chittagong, │
Golagore, │ │Soonamooky.
Collectors of government customs, most of whom are also collectors of
town duties, are stationed at
Benares, │Dacca, │Moorshadabad,
Calcutta, │Furruckabad, │ and Patna.
Cawnpore, │Hoogly, │
The diplomatic residents are as follow:—at
_Delhi._ The Court of the Emperor.
_Hyderabad._ The Court of the Nizam.
_Lucknow._ The Court of the Nabob Vizier of Oude.
_Mysore._ The Court of the Rajah, (late Tippoo’s
country.)
_Nagpore._ The Court of the Berar Maharrattahs.
_Poonah._ The Court of the Peishwa, and with
Dowlut Row Scindeah, one of the Chiefs
of the Maharrattah League.
The difference that has been made by the conduct of the British
government, in the suppression of an immense number of farmers on the
large scale, and of middle-men that again stood between those farmers
and the peasants, has been immense. In many places, the lands are now in
the possession of an industrious population, holding them from the
renters, or, if I may use the term, from the proprietors of villages and
small _talooks_, consisting of, perhaps, three or four thousand
_bigahs_: the revenues are thus rendered far more easy of collection,
and, consequently, more certain; because it is now the interest of every
honest renter to be forth-coming with his rents at the office of the
collector, at the several periods when they should be paid.
Those periods are not equi-distant, as in England; but are generally
settled in such manner as may be convenient to the tenants, according as
their several crops may be reasonably expected to become marketable. The
division is by a certain number of annas, or sixteenths, in each rupee,
being payable at particular seasons; allowance being made for the
different species of grain, &c., cultivated. There being no harvest of
grain from the beginning of November to the beginning of March, the
collections generally fall light in the intermediate months, but, about
April and May, a large portion usually becomes payable, and again, in
Bengal, after the rice is harvested: but, on the whole, the rent may be
commonly taken at four instalments, two of which are considerable, and
two of smaller portions of the rupee.
The heavy _kists_, or collections, of Bengal, are from August to
January, in the proportion of two-thirds of the whole rent; the great
crops in that quarter being cut after the rains. The gruff _kists_,
which include the _rubbee_, or small harvest of white-corn, sugar, &c.,
come in between January and the beginning of May. The fruits, fish, &c.,
from April to July. In Bengal, the year begins in April; in Bahar, it
begins in September. All the collections are made in money. Mr. Grant,
formerly collector of Bhauglepore, has published a small tract on the
subject of the revenues, which I strongly recommend to my readers: the
work is, I believe, rarely to be obtained; therefore, a new edition
seems to be loudly demanded.
It is to be feared, that, however beneficial the existing system may be,
and, however equitable the arrangements made under the _Mocurrery_
settlement have proved themselves, still the Company are not likely to
be benefitted in proportion to the assiduity they have displayed, or to
the tenderness with which the rights of their subjects have been
regarded.
This, however, is to be said; that, according as the enterprize of
individuals may, by degrees, give additional value to the soil, by an
immense encrease of exportation, from various parts of the country, of a
million of commodities, which, until latterly, were either unknown, or
unheeded, so will the duties collected at the several _chokies_,
(custom-house stations,) and at the several ports, together with the
demand for British manufactures, be proportionally augmented.
It should be very generally made known, that the Company receive into
their treasury all the realized property of persons demising in India,
under letters of administration, or under the acts of executors, duly
acknowledged and certified by the supreme courts of justice at the
several presidencies. This effectually secures the interest persons in
Europe may have in the estates of friends, &c., dying in India: so
rigidly is this observed, that the relatives of any private soldier may
fully ascertain how his property, if any, has been disposed of, and
receive whatever sums may be forth-coming from the sale of his effects,
&c.
Such a measure fully guards the principal of any sum left in the
Company’s treasury; while, at the same time, the most pleasing facility
is given to individuals, to enable them, or their attornies, to receive
the interest, either at the presidency, or in the _moofussul_, (that is,
from the collectors,) according as may be convenient: but such can only
be done under a specific power of attorney.
The generality of traders, who resort to distant inland markets, near
which to reside, or who, in favorable situations, become conspicuous as
manufacturers, whether of indigo, cloth, sugar, &c., have invariably
some connection with one or more agency-houses at the presidency; on
these they draw their bills, generally for hypothecated cargoes, sent
from the manufactory, either to be sold by them, or to be shipped for
Europe. This, under a pure agency, is unexceptionable, provided the firm
rests on the broad basis of absolute property, and does not play with
the cash belonging to its less speculative constituents: such may be
said to be merely the bankers of those whose consignments they receive,
and pass on to this country without participating in the adventure; and
confining themselves to a stipulated per centage on the amounts of
invoices, according to the scale in common use.
Agency-houses are not confined to British subjects; the Portugueze, the
Armenians, the Greeks, and others, form a portion of several firms of
great respectability; or, at least, of those companies which, under
different designations, insure the greater part of those vessels, which
either sail from India to Europe direct, or that traverse the Indian
seas, according to the state of the monsoons; carrying on a lucrative
trade among the several Asiatic ports.
It must not be supposed, that persons devoting their whole attention to
the concern of others, in such a climate, where the expences are very
great, and from which it is an object with most adventurers, and
speculators, to retire with such a competency as should afford some
enjoyments during the decline of life, are to be remunerated in the same
manner as though they had merely to attend their counting-houses in
London for a very few hours daily. The Indian agent must keep a large
establishment of _sircars_, _podars_, &c., and must maintain extensive
connections in various parts of the country: nay, he is often expected
to have an apartment, or two, in his dwelling, devoted to the
accommodation of such of his country correspondents as may occasionally
visit the presidency.
Combining all these circumstances, it will be evident, that his charges
for commission must be such as, among us, would appear extravagantly
high. The same causes operate towards raising the expences of a suit in
the supreme court of judicature equally above those of the British
courts; though the latter are certainly full high enough!
The terms of receiving, or paying, money, in exchange with Europe,
China, or other parts, are completely arbitrary; being governed solely
by the value of money to any particular firm at the time of negociating:
I have known instances of some firms declining to offer more than two
shillings and sixpence for a sicca rupee, bills being given payable at
six months after sight in Europe, while others, whose stability appeared
equally solid, offered two shillings and nine-pence for the same
accommodation.
In point of commerce, Calcutta may, perhaps, be properly classed with
Bristol; making this allowance, that what the former wants in the number
of vessels employed, is made up by their average tonnage being
considerable, and the value of their cargoes far superior. The length of
the voyage must likewise be taken into consideration: a vessel may,
during times of profound peace, make three voyages within twelve months,
from Bristol to America, or the West Indies, and back again, and the
same either to the Baltic, or to the Levant; whereas, few Indiamen make
more than one return to their moorings in the Thames under fifteen
months; the majority are out from fifteen to twenty months.
Hence, all our British ports appear more crowded, taking the year round,
than Calcutta, which, from July to November, or even to January, often
presents a forest of masts; while, on the other hand, during the rest of
the year, only such vessels as may be under repair, or that have lost
their season, or that beat up the bay against the _monsoon_, are to be
seen in the river.
I have already explained, that, during half the year, that is, from
about the middle of March to the middle of September, the wind is
southerly, but then gradually changes to the northward, from which
quarter it blows regularly for about five months, when it again
gradually veers about to the southward. This gives name to the
‘northerly and southerly _monsoons_;’ which all navigators study to take
advantage of: the difference in going with, or against the _monsoon_,
from Calcutta to Madras, or _vice versâ_, often makes the difference of
full five or six weeks, sometimes more: the trip being very commonly
made in a week with the _monsoon_; but, against it, sometimes occupying
no less than three months!
Few ships make more than one trip between Malabar and China, within the
year, on account of the _monsoon_; but, between the intermediate ports
from Bombay to Calcutta, two trips may be considered the average. During
the wars with Hyder, and his son Tippoo, vessels have made four trips
within the year, from Bengal to Madras; but such must not be considered
a fair standard, three being considered a great exertion.
The town of Calcutta, which is estimated at a population of a hundred
thousand souls, whereof not more than one thousand are British, is
situated very advantageously for commerce. The Hoogly, which is
navigable for ships of a thousand tons, at least thirty-five miles above
Calcutta, communicates with the Ganges, by means of the Cossimbazar
river, and has communications with the whole of the Sunderbund Passages,
either through Tolley’s Canal, the creek called Chingrah Nullah, or the
southern passage, through Channel Creek, which is adopted by the greater
part of the vessels conveying rice and salt from the Soonderbunds: these
are of a very stout construction, suited to those wide expanses of water
they have to cross in that very hazardous line of navigation.
The average depth of water, within a stone’s throw of the eastern bank,
on which Calcutta ranges for several miles, (including the suburbs up to
the Maharrattah Ditch,) may be from six to eight fathoms when the tide
is out. At particular places, the water deepens very suddenly, but, in
most parts, a shelf, abounding with mud, runs out for sixty or seventy
yards, down to low water mark, where the bank falls off, so that ships
of any burthen may moor within a very few yards. The great front thus
given to the town, affords innumerable facilities to those concerned in
the shipping; especially as the custom-house, which is on the quay
belonging to the old fort, stands nearly centrical, in respect to the
European population.
The _donies_, which are small craft intended for the coasting trade
carried on principally by native merchants, commonly lie higher up,
opposite the Chitpore _m’hut_, or temple; there, in tiers, much the same
as the shipping in the Thames, these _pariah_ vessels present a contrast
with the superb edifices under British management, and at once
characterize not only the ignorance, but the narrow minds of their
owners.
Few _donies_ measure more than a hundred and fifty tons, or have more
than two masts; sloops are by far most common, and the generality are
equipped with _coir_ cordage, as well as with country-made canvas.
The greater portion of these vessels return either in ballast, after
delivering their cargoes of rice, at various ports in the Northern
Sircars, or perhaps in the Carnatic; or they import with light cargoes,
composed chiefly of _coir_ and _cowries_, from the Sechelles and
Maldivies; to which they likewise, now and then, make a bold voyage, at
favorable seasons, with small invoices of coarse cottons, fit for the
use of those islanders.
Here, and there, we see a _doney_ with some European on board to
navigate her; but, in general, only natives are employed; and the
Europe-ships, which arrive with crews from their respective country, are
often compelled to take a portion of lascars on board, for the purpose
of aiding those who survive the pestilential miasma, to which they are
so inconsiderately, or, more properly, inhumanly, subjected, while lying
at Diamond-Harbour, &c. Those who escape with their lives, are usually
much weakened by severe attacks of the ague, of which they rarely get
quit, until relieved by an alterative course of mercury, in conjunction
with the change of air experienced by getting out to sea.
I shall, for the present, take leave of my readers; observing, that I am
now preparing for the press a work intended to give a full, but compact,
‘DESCRIPTION OF INDIA IN GENERAL.’ In that work, it will be my study so
to combine and arrange the several important matters coming under
consideration, as to render the whole of whatever may relate to that
interesting quarter, fully intelligible, and equally familiar.
FINIS.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1810.
A LIST OF BOOKS ON
=Oriental Literature,=
_&c._
That will be found useful to
_Writers, Cadets, and Gentlemen going to the East Indies_,
SOLD BY
BLACK, PARRY, AND KINGSBURY,
_Booksellers to the Honorable East India Company_,
Stationers, Map, and Chart Sellers,
7, LEADENHALL-STREET.
----------
_Oriental Language, &c._
_The following valuable Works are by J. BORTHWICK GILCHRIST, Esq.
LL. D. late Professor of Hindoostanee, at the College,
Fort-William, Calcutta._
£. _s._ _d._
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British Indian Monitor, or the Anti-jargonist
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Dialogues, English and Hindoostanee, on Domestic,
Military, and Medical Subjects, &c. 0 10 0
Gooli Buchawalee, a celebrated Eastern Romance 0 16 0
Hidayet ool Islam, in Hindoostanee and Arabic, or
the Moosulman’s Common Prayer Book, vol. 1. 0 15 0
Hindee Arabic Mirror, or Improved Tabular View of
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Hindee Roman Alphabetical Prospectus 0 2 6
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New Theory of Persian Verbs, with their
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Nuzri Benuseer, an Enchanting Fairy Tale, in
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