DACCA - Forgotten Books

EASTER N B EN GAL D ISTR ICT

GAZ ETTEER S

DACCA

INDIAN CIV IL SERV ICE .

ALLAHABADTHE PIONEER. PRESS

PLAN OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER.

I . —PH YSICAL ASPECTS

I I .—H ISTORY

I I I .— THE PEOPLE

IV .— PUBLIO HEALTH

V .—ECONOMIO CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE

V I .— AGRICULTURE

V II .— T_RADE AND I NDUSTRIES

VI I I .— NATURAL CALAMITIES

IX .—MEANS OF COMMUNICATION

X .— GENERAL ADMIN ISTRATION

XI . -LAND REVENUE ADMINISTRATION

XI I .— LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT

XI I I . —EDUOATION

XIV .— GAZETTEER

I NDEX

PAGE

1— 4 7

18 —54

55 —70

7 1 —8 1

82 —88

89 —103

104 - 126

132- 135

1 36 —14 6

14 7 - l 5 4

155 —158

159 —169

1 70- 192

193— 195

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I .

PHYSICAL ASPECTS .

PAGEGEN ERAL DESCRI PT IO N . Orig in of n ame - Boundari es— Natu ra l di v i sion s

-SCEN ERY . The Madh upu r j un g l e—H i l ls— RI VE R SYSTE M . The

P admfi— The Dhaleswar I—The B uri Gan ga—The I chhamat i . The

Lak shya— The Meghn a— I s lands— GEO LOG Y . FAU NA . B irds

Fi sheries- CLI MATE . Pre vai l ing W inds—Rain fa l l

EARLY H I STORY . Buddh i st traditi on—Overthrow of B uddh i sm—The Senk in gs

— Banal Sen— Fa l l of the Sen k ings-Ear]y Muhammadan

per iod—Bahad ur Khén- Fakhr-ud-d in—Dyn asty of H fij i I ly si s

Sikandar Sh fi h—Gh iyas-ud-d in—Réj fi. Kén s an d h i s descendan tsNfisir Shéh~Husain Shah— Admin i stration of Sher Shah—The.

t vve1ve B hu iyas— Isa Khan— F urther opposi t ion to Mugha ls—The

Portuguese - Ralph Fitch’s accoun t of Dacca—TH E NAWAB S OF DACCAl slfim Khan Kfi SIm Khan -1brSh Im Khan Mahébat KhanMuk arram Khan— M in a H idayatu l l ah K fi s im Khan— Azim t

’

tn

I s lam Khan Mashad i— Shah Shu ja— Mi r J um la—Shfi ista KhanM urshid Ku l i J afsi r Khz‘m— Dac ca under Deputies The l ast Nawzi bsExt i nction of fami l y of Nai b N az im— TH E ENGLI SH FACTO RY A'i DACCA.

Se izu re of factory i n 1688— M ih tary estab l ishmen t of th e factoryE stab l i shment at factory —Pri vate trade— Se i zu re of factory in

l 756—Captu re of factory I n 1763—Site of factory — l‘he Prov i nc ia lGounod— The Dutch—The Fren ch -The Portugu ese —Dacca u nderB ri tish ru le— Dacca d uring the Mutin y— De c ca af ter th e parti tion 18—54

CHAPTER. I I I .

TH E PEOPLE .

EARLY E STIMATES O F TH E POPULAT IO N . The cen suses of 1872 , 1881 , 1891—The census o f 1901— The cen su s O f 1911— Dens ity—Migrati onTow n s— V i l lages—Marr iage—Amu semen ts Sex and Age

— LanguageNew spaper s— RE L IGI ONS . Mu hammadan s— Muhammadan castes

Muhammadan shr ines— H i ndu festival s —H indu shrines— H i nducastes— H i nd u omen s and superstition s— CHR I ST IAN I TY . The Roman

Cathol i cs—Protestan t miss ions—The S i kh s

i i CONTENTS

CHAPTER IV .

PUB LIC H EALTH .

VI TAL STAT I ST I CS H eal th in ess o f d i stri c t— Fev er— Cho l era—Dy senteryan d di arrhoea- Smal l pox — Plag ue— Other d i seases -ME DI CAL I NST I

TUTI ON S -The M it ford H osp ital—Th e Vi ctoria Hospita l at Néréyangan j—Di spen sari es— Lu nat i c Asy l um— San i tary cond i tion of DaccaNarayangan j — San itation i u the interior 7 1

CHAPTER V.

ECONOMI C CONDITI O N OF TH E PEOPLE .

SOC IAL ORGAN I SAT ION OF TH E PEOPLE . Rents : di ff erent c lasses of l and—(

Ren ts Other cesses— Pri ces —Wages—Dwe l l ings—Dress— Jevvell ery—E con omi c condi tion of the peop le 82 —88

CHAPTER VI .

AGRI CULTURE .

GENERAL CON DI T IONS . Soi l s— Rainfa l l —Popu l ati on supported by agric u lture— lrr igat ion—Ri ce —Boro paddy— Au s—Aman l ong stemmedaman -

f Tran splanted aman or sai l—Wi ld paddy— Acmden t s of

cu lt ivat i on — Wheat and bar ley —Mi l let- Sugarcan e —Oi l seedsP ul ses— F i bres— Jute—Grass and fue l amps— Vegetab les and gardencrops—Dye crops—Exten sion of cu l ti vation— Improv ed methods of

cu ltivation-w Man ures— Catt le 89— 103

CHAPTER VI I .

TRADE AND INDUSTRIES .

EARLY TRADE OE DACCA . Dutch and Eng l i sh factor ies— The F ren ch

factory—Trade in c loth in the day s of the M ughal s— Dec l in e of tradein cotton goods— Indigo—Trade in 1839 4 '

1‘rade at the p re sent day

Trade routes and centres —The j ute trade —The h i de trade—WeavingEmbroidery—Gold and s i l ver smi th’s work—Shel l -carv ing— Otheri ndustri es —We igh ts and measu res 104—126

CHAPTER VI II .

NATURAL CALAMIITIES .

The fam i n e of 1769-70—The famine of 1784 — The fam in e of 1787-88 - The

scarc ity Of l 906— The tornado of 1888— 1‘he tornado of 1902— Earth

quak es 127—131

CHAPTER IX.

MEANS O E COMMUN ICAT ION .

RAI LWAYS . The waterways Roads - l’ostal serv ice—Ferries 132— 135

CONTENTS .

CHAPTER X.

GEN ERAL ADM IN I STRATION .

STAFF AN D ADM I N I STRAT I VE SU B DI V I S I ONS . Ear l y s ystem of admin istrat ion— Changes i n d i st r i ct boundar i es— R EV E NUE— Exc i se— StampsCesse s—In come-tax —Reg i stration- CI VI I j us tice— Crim i n a l j usti ceCrime— Pol ice— Ja i ls

CHAPTER XI .

LAND REVENUE .

LAN D RE VEN UE SYST EM I N DAYS OF NATI V E RULE Ab vvabs— Say er— Lan drev en ue un der the Company— Pos it i on o f tha zamindars — D ifi erentc las se s ot' e states—Pe rman en t lv sett led estate s—Temporar i ly sett ledestates— Estat -‘s he ld in d irect management Su bord in ate tenuresTenants

CHAPTER XI I .

LOCAL SELIT-GOVERNMENT .

0

DI STR ICT BOAR DS . LOCAL BOARDS . MUN I CI PALI T I E S . Dac ca— Narayan

CHAPTER XI I I .

EDUCATION .

EARLY H I STO RY O F E DUCAT ION . Edu cati on on E uropean methodsProgress of edu cati on — Di stri but i on of l iterates— CO LLEG IATE E DU CAT I ON . The Dac ca Col l ege — The Jagannath Col lege— H igh or Entran c eschoo l s —M idd le school s —Primary schoo l s— Instru ct ion i n tea ch i ng

— Spe c ia l i nstruct ion —The Dac ca M edi cal school— Muhammadanedu cation— Fema le edu cat ion— E uropea n an d spec ia l schoo l s— Adm i n

i s trat i ve staff

CHAPTER XIV.

GAZETTEER.

PAG E

136 14 6

14 7 15 4

159— 169

170—192.

GAZ ETTEER

OF THE

DACCA DISTRICT.

CHAPTER I .

P HYSICAL ASPECTS.

TH E d istr ict of Dacca i s s ituated between 23 14’and 2 4

°

20’

north and 89o4 5

’and 90

059

'

eas t abou t the cen tre of the Prov in ce of Eastern B engal . I t cover s an area of square m i le s *

and in 19 1 1 con tained a popu lati on of The pr incipal

town,Dacca , i s s ituated i n 2 3

°

4 3'

n orth and 90°24

’east on the

north bank of the Bu r i Gan ga r iver , and i s not on ly the headquar ters Of the d ivi s i on that bear s i t s n ame , bu t was for a time

the capital of the Province of Eastern Bengal and Assam .

Several explan at ion s have been Offered of the or igin of thename Dacca (Dhaka) . Some der ive i t from dhah

’r the name of a

tree (Bu tca fron dosa ) , other s connect i t wi th the godde s s Dhakeswar i (li t. the con cealed godde ss ) whose shr ine i s s ituated in the

weste rn part of Dacca c ity. The famou s B al l a l Sen i s sai d to

have been the son of one of the wive s of Adi su ra by th e r i verB rahmapu tra who vi si ted h i s mother in the gu i se of a B rahman .

The woman and her ch i ld were bani shed to the j ungle ly ing n orthO f the Bu r i Ganga r i ver

,and he re B al l al Sen di scovered an

image of Du rga for whom , on h is su cces s i on to hi s father’s throne ,

he bu i lt a temple , the godde s s taking the name of Dhakeswar i incon sequ ence of the seclu s ion of the s ited: A th i rd acc oun t der i vesthe name Dacca from dha lc the B engal i for a d rum . I t Is statedthat in 1608 A.D. when Al audd i n I sl am Khan thought i texped ien t to move h i s capital eastward s from Rajmahal , bean ch ored on the Bu ri at the spot where Dacca n ow

stands . Impres sed by the advan tage s of the site he de term inedto make the place the head-quarter s of the Provin ce and fi xed the

Th i s area is calcu lated from a su rvey made in 1859 -1866 . S i n ce th atdate there hav e been con side rab l e modi fication s in the boundar ies of the

distri ct due to fluv ia l action . An unu sual l y large proportion of the tota l areai s permanentl y under Water , and un t i l a n ew survey has been comp letedi t wou ld be d ifficu lt to give even an approx imate est imate of the numbero f square mi les of land .

f On e objection to th i s de ri vation i s the fact that dlzak trees are not at

the present day common in Dacca .

{Taylor’s Topography and Stat isti cs of Dacca, Cal cutta, 1839 , p . 66.

B

Q EN E RAL

DE SCRI PT ION

Ori g in of

name .

Boundaries .

DACCA DISTRICT .

boundarie s of the c ity by send ing men to the n orth , east and we st .They we re ordered to wa lk to the poin t where the drums beaten i nthe Gove rnor’s camp fi rst became in aud ible

, and all the land whe rethe sound of the dhak cou l d be heard became the c ity of Dacca .

”

The di stri ct has the shape of a tr iangle wi th i ts apex to thesou th and a con siderable protru s i on toward s the we stern end ofthe base . On the east and we st i t i s bounded by great ri vers .

To the eas t by the Meghn a wh ich separate s i t from the di strict ofTippera ; to the west by the Brahmapu tra or Jamun a wh ich

,after

i t s j unct ion w ith the Ganges , i s known as the Padma or K i rtinasaand separate s i t from the d i str ict s o f Pabna , Far idpur , and

Bakarganj . To the north l ies the d i str ict of Il'lymen singh .

Dacca fal l s in to two natu ra l d i vi s i on s very d i s simi lar fromone an othe r both in appearan ce and geological format ion . Fromthe centre of the base of the t r iangle a wedge of e levated land i sd ri ven in to the low a l lu vial flat s whi ch form the greater portionof the di strict . Thi s hi gh land i s known as the M adhupu r j ungleand i s rou gh ly bou nded on the west by the r i ve r Ban si

,on the

sou th by th e ri ver Bu r i Gan ga as far as Daeca c ity ,on the east by

a l ine drawn from Dacca c i ty to Rfi pganj , thence by the Lakshyar i ver to Kal iganj and thence by a l i ne d rawn from Kali ganj toB el abo on the Old B rahmapu tra. The remainder of th e d i str i ctcon si sts of low land inundated to a greater or les s depth d u rin gthe rainy season bu t y ie ld ing fine c rops of r ice and ju te . Thi slow land i s in tersected by numerou s creeks and minor streams

,and i s watered by fou r main r i vers , the Meghn a and the Padmawhi ch en close i t and the Dhaleswar i and the Lak shya whichinte rsec t i t . The Dhaleswari i s an off shoot from the Jamun a and

fl ows paral le l to i t ti l l i t jo in s the Meghn fi opposite Mun sh i ganjtown

,the i r u n i ted water s j oin ing the Padma n ear Raj abari poli ce

s tati on . The Dhaleswari and the Padma thu s form a great i s land ,the whole of wh i ch l ie s very low and which i s subject to heavyinu ndat ion s in the rain s . The Lakshya en ters the di stri ct fromMymen singh near Naonda Sager and flowing paral le l to the

Meghna,fal l s in to the Dhaleswari at Madanganj

I n the l owe r parts of the di stri ct the scen ery i s very tame

and du l l . The den s i ty of the popu lat i on and the h igh fl oods ali keforbid the growth of wood s or jungle and the dead leve l of the

plain i s on ly broken by the grove s o f fru i t t ree s whi ch su rroundthe hou se s of the v i l lage rs . I II the l owe s t par ts of all the eye

i s not a fforde rl e ven thi s smal l measu re of rel ief, as the deptho f the flood i s such that the hou ses have to be pe rched on

hil l ocks on wh i ch there i s barely room for a cowshed and n onefor anything so pleasan t as a garden . Thi s d i sma l coun try i sreal ly least u nattracti ve i n the

'

rain s . I t i s then covered withwater wh i ch i s green wi th j u te and ri ce and all the creeks and

channe l s are fu l l . The se minor stream s flow between banks wh ich

Note s on the Antiqu it i es o f Dacca , 1904 , by Khan Bahadur Saiy idAu lad H usai n , p . l .

PHYS ICAL ASPECTS .

are highe r than the ne ighbou r ing country and are general lyfringed wi th tree s , and thu s form mu ch more attractive wate rway s than the great r i ve rs from which l ittle can be seen but adrea ry waste of wate rs with here and there a few h uts r i sing

‘

precariou s ly above the flood wh ich threaten s to engu l f them .

The people who l i ve i n the se tracts have become almos t amph ibions i n the i r habi ts . I I I the heigh t of the inu ndati on no land i sto be seen and all trave l ling has to be done by boat , a s tate ofaffai rs whic h i s not u n favou rable

‘

to commerce,but, as wi l l be

afte rward s seen ,add s large ly to the di fi cu lty of the admin i s tra

t ion of the di str ict . To say that travel l ing has to be done byboat gives , however , but an inadequate idea of the real condi tionof affai rs . Ha lf a dozen hu t-s are clu stered toge the r on a l i tt lehi l lock a few yards squ are and the i nhabi tan t s can not proceedbeyond that h i l lock whether to vi s i t the i r ne ighbou rs or the i rfie lds , to go to market or to school withou t wading , swimming ortrave l l ing i n or on somethin g that can float. Th i s express ion i su sed advi sedly for the people by n o mean s confine them se lves toboats . For min or excu rs i on s rafts made of plantain tree s are

much in vogue or c i rcu lar earthenware pipken s , more d iffi cu ltof navigati on than a Corac le . A v i s itor to on e of t he se hamlet sin the rain s may see a grey-bearded patriarch swimming toward sh im from the fie ld s and may be asked for a lms by an

’

O ld woman

stand ing i n wate r breast h igh amongst the ju te plan ts .The Madhopu r j ungle i s a table land with an ave rage e leva

ti on of abou t 4 0 feet above the al luvial flat s . It i s in te rsec ted Midl

jopw

by long wind ing depressi on s cal led ba ids in wh ic h r ice i s grownu e '

and c on tain s wi thi n i ts area depre s s i on s and mar sh es of cons iderable s i ze . The higher land i s sown wi th j u te or w in te rcrops bu t mu ch of i t i s stil l cove red wi th forest

,the staple t ree

be ing the gaj ar i , an in fer ior k ind of sd l (shared r obu sta ) . Thereare few streams and a gene ral dearth of water in th i s tract andthi s has proved a ser iou s imped imen t to the exten s i on of cu l t ivat ion . The coun try i s con s idered to be u n heal thy and has beenleft almost en t i re ly to poor Mu hammadan s and abor igi gal tri besl i ke the Rajban

'

si s and the B un as , bu t for any love r of thepic tu re sque i t pos ses se s many charms . In place of the d eadleve l of the al luvial plain the re are rol l ing up land s cove red wi thshort grass or dark green fore st wh ich di p toward s the basin swhere the people grow the i r ri ce ; and e ven whe re the hi gh groundhas been cleared for cu lt i vat i on the view i s broken by fin e fores ttrees which have been left standing on the peasan t s

’holdings .

Carts have taken the place of boats as a mean s of commun i cati onand road s , which in the l owe r parts of th e d i str i ct are not mere lysuperfluou s bu t may be pos it ive ly harmfu l

,have here become

absolute ly necessary .

There are no moun ta in s or h i ll s i n the d i strict and the on lye levated tracts are the ridge s in the Madhopu r ju ngle , none of

DACCA DISTRICT .

wh ich exceed fi fty or s ix ty feet in he ight . These r idges have,

however , exerc i sed an influen ce u pon the formati on of the d i str i c tou t of all proport ion to the i r actu al s i ze

,as the hard tenaci ou s

Clay of whi ch they are formed has su cce s s fu l ly opposed the movemen t s of the great r i ver s and has compe l led them to seek a cou r sethrou gh the low land to the sou th-east . On the west of theB an s i the flou ri sh ing v i l lage o f Dhamra i i s s i tuated on a hi ll ockh igh en ou gh to ra i se i t above the leve l of the floods and t he re i slan d at Sonargao i n the sou th of the Narayanganj subdivi sion

,

and n ear Mpn shigan j town which i s rai sed a l itt le above the

su rroundin g swamps .

The d i str ict i s mu ch su bject to fluvial acti on both from the

two great r ivers wh ich bound i t on the east and wes t and fromthe

“variou s di str i bu tar ies which in ter sect i t . All the se r ivers are

heavi ly charged with si l t and san d and the fall i s su ffi c ien tlySl i ght to admi t o f the i r having a deposi ting rathe r than an ex

cavating tendency . As l on g as the cu rren t i s fai r ly swi ft th i s s i lti s carr ied on towards the sea

, bu t i t i s rapid ly deposited i n the

slack water on the bank s where i t i s cau ght by high gras s orother vegetable growth . When the banks have been rai sed aboveflood leve l the s i lt i s deposi ted i n the r i ver-bed which thu s gradually r i ses above the leve l of the su rround ing cou ntry and whenonce the ban k give s way the r iver fal l s into the l ower land lyingat the back and shi fts i t s cou rse . In addi t i on to the se pronoun cedchange s of cou r se, the standard in stance of wh ich i s the shi ftingof the B rahmapu tra

,the great r ive rs are con tinual ly eating away

one bank and making depos i t s of si lt upon the other,wh i le

i sland s , s ome of con s iderable s i ze,ri se from the i r beds

,sometimes

to d i sappear as qu i ck ly as they came . The su rface of the country in the ne ighbou rhood of the great r i ver s is thu s su bject toc on t inual change and in stan ces are kn own Of a spot of land be ingtwi ce washed away and twice reformed within twen ty year s .

The r i vers are subject to t idal act ion , and i t was found that afloat th rown in to the Bu ri Ganga Opposi te Dacca in the dryseason was carried nearly five mi le s up-stream . Th i s i s a factorwh ich has to be taken in to ser iou s con s iderati on when formu lat

ing any sewage sy stem of drainage for Dacca c i ty .

The larges t r i ver , any porti on of which fal l s wi thin the

boundary of the d i s trict , i s the Padma which i s formed by theconfluence of the B rahmapu tra, kn own he re as the Jamunfi , and

the Gange s . I n the l owe r part of i ts cou r se i t i s kn own as the

K i rti nasa or de s troyer of memorable works’from the ravage s i twrought amongst the monument s and bu i ldings of Raj a RajBallabh at Rajnagar in the Faridpu r di stri ct . The B rahmapu tra

i s gen eral ly su pposed to be iden tical W i th the Tsanpo and to r i se

in l et i n 3 1 3 0’north and 82

’ea st near the u pper water s of

the I ndu s and the Su tlej . In 1779 when Itennell pu bl i shedh i s map o f

"Th e Low Coun tries beyond the Gange s ,’the B rahma

pu tra flowed round the weste rn face of the Caro Hi l ls past

PHYSICAL ASPECTS .

Sh irpur, Toke , and Katiadi t i l l i t j oined the Meghn a near Bhai rabB azar . I t i s many years s ince the main volume of the mi ghtyB rahmapu tra flowed by thi s rou te , bu t even th i s i s not the olde stchannel that can be traced throu gh the d i strict . There can be

l i ttle doubt that the r i ve r ori g inal ly tu rned sou th at Agarasinda

and flowed past Simu lea,Panchdona ,

Nangalband , acros s thepresen t channe l of the Dhaleswar i past Mun sh iganj , final ly fal l ingin to the Ganges near Raj abari . The smal l creek on which thefamou s bath ing fe st i va l of Nangalband i s s t i l l he ld and the creekthat ru n s from Mun shiganj to Raj abari are s t i l l d ign ified by theh igh sou nding ti t le of B rahmapu tra . At the beginn in g of then ineteen th cen tu ry the great r ive r changed its cou rse to the

we stward and i t i s n ow but a smal l stream that flows al ong thenorth of the di str ict to Bhai rab Bazar .

The B rahmapu tra reache s the we stern fron tier of the d i str i ctat a place abou t s ix mi les n orth-we st of Nathpu r in the Man ikganjsubdivi s i on and abou t 1 4 mi le s lower down i s j oined by the

Gange s . The i r un i ted water s form the s ou th-western boundaryas far as Raj abari . The main channe l of th i s en ormou s r i ve rforms the boundary between Dacca and the adj oin ing di str icts , butth i s , though the on ly one that i s feasible , i s a somewhat un sati sfactory boundary as the main stream wi l l flow i n one year on one

side of the great strath over which it spreads its wate rs , and thenex t year on the other so that the i s lan ds i n i t s cou rse fal lsometimes in one d i str ict , sometime s in an other . Even in the

d ry season i t has a breadth of from three to fou r mi les , and i t i sperpetual ly throwing u p i s lands in i ts bed and wash ing themaway again . I t cu t s away and add s acc ret i on s to i t s bank s wi thequ al impartial i ty and these con tinu al changes are a sou rce ofmu ch l i tigat ion and no l it t le Violen ce . At the time of Rennell

’s

su rvey the lower cou rse of the Padma was more to the sou t h thani t -i s at the presen t day ,

and j oined the M eghn a near Dakh inShabazpu r i s land in s tead of at Raj abari . There are three maincreeks wh ich bran ch off from the Padma in thi s d i str i c t , theH i lsamar i , the Srinagar , and the Taltala Khal . The H i lsamdr i

was original ly a con siderable r i ve r , but i ts bed has beenQ

mu ch

si lted up and i ts lowe r reache s have been swal lowed up by the

encroachmen ts of the Padma . I t un i te s wi th the I chh amati atH u snabad whence the Tu lsikhal connects the Padma again wi ththe Dhaleswari .

A r i ver wh ich i s of great importan ce i n the econ omy of the Thed ist ri ct i s the Dhaleswari wh ich takes 0 3 by severa l channel s Dhaleswar i .from the Jamuna . The most sou ther ly head i s known as the-Gajahata whi ch i s now but an in si gn ifican t stream i n the dryseas on . Next comes the Sel imabad channe l which flows pastGh ior and for long was the prin cipal sou rce of the Dhaleswar i buti s now so s i lted up that on ly the smal lest boats can pass by i twhen the ri ve r i s low . The prin cipal channe l i s now abou t tenmi les to the north Of Se l imabad i n Mymen s ingh and i s kn own

The Turag .

DACCA DISTRICT .

as the Elash in channe l,bu t even th i s i s u n fortu nately si lting Up

and i s on ly open to lau n che s drawing fi ve feet of water du r ing therain s . I t flows 3 tortu ou s cou rse past E lashin ,

Kedarpu r , Ku stiaand Sabhar, and after rece i vin g the wate rs o f the Lakshya fal l sin to the Meghn a a l i ttle be l ow Mun sh iganj . The total length ofthe Dhaleswari i s abou t one hundred m i le s and i n i t s l owe rreaches i t i s a r i ver of great breadth even i n the dry sea son .

The deter ioration of the Dhaleswari i s especial ly u n fortun ateas the c i ty of Dacca i s dependent for i t s water commun i cati on son one of i t s off shoots

, the Bu ri Ganga. Thi s i s a ri ve r abou ttwenty-six mi le s i n length which take s off from the paren t streama l ittle be low Sabb ar and rej oin s i t at Baktatali a l i ttle aboveTaltala. Of recen t years th i s r i ver l ike the Dhaleswari has been

(s i l ting u p at the

_sou rce and con siderable d re dgin g operati on s

have been unde rtaken wit h the object of deepen ing the in take .

I t i s encou raging to learn from a lette r from Mr . John Taylor in1800 A.D. that i n 16 4 5 A.D. the B u r i Ganga was so mu chsmal ler than i t was in h i s day that i t was bridged opposi te Dacca .

In the rain s the Bu ri Ganga i s Open throughou t i ts length to boatsof con siderable si ze , but in the dry weather even smal l steamlaun che s cannot come up as far as Dacca .

B etween the Dhaleswar i and the Padma are the remain s ofthe lchha

’

imati which i s one of the Olde st r ive r s i n the di strict .

I t was probably original ly con nected with the Kosi r ive r and

en tered the di stri ct near Jafarganj . l t flows a tortuou s Cou r sepast Katrasin (when ce there i s a chann e l connectin g i t withGhior ) , Balla, Jhiktea , Harirampu r and Nawabganj . I t ori ginal lyfe l l in to the Brahmapu tra n ear Rampal , but l ike the eastern chan ne lof that r i ver i t has almost di sappeared

,and i t now make s i t s way

in to the Dhaleswar i by several win d ing route s . Near Shaikernagar another channe l tu rn s sou thward s past Srinagar and Hald iaand fa l l s in to the l

’admi . The an ti qu i ty of the I chhamat i

i s shown by the fac t that there are no le s s than five sacred bathingghats on i t s banks at Ti rthagata , Agla, Solpu r , Barun i ghat and

Jagin‘ighat , bu t at the pre sen t day i t has sunk to the leve l of achanne l that con tain s hard ly any water ti l l the r i ver s r i se in the

rain s . At that season of the year i t forms a valuable mean s o fcommun i cati on with the interi or of the great i s land formed bythe l

’adma and the Dhaleswari .

On the north bank the Dhaleswar i rece i ves the Ghazikhali , andthe Ban s i which en ters the d i strict from Mymen s ingh and afterflowing past Dbaim a fal l s in to the Dhaleswari n ear Sfibhar .

Ne i the r of the se stream s are avai lable for traffi c du r ing the dryseason except by boats of the smal le st class .

ln the u ppe r part of i t s cou rse the Ban si i s connected w i ththe

'

l‘u i

'

ag n e ar Kaliakoer , bu t u n fortunate ly a bar has formedwhi c h c an on l y be passml at the he ight of the flood . The Tu rz

'

i gl lowe pa s t Mi rzapu r and Kas impu r and fa l l s into the Bu r i (j angaa l i ttle bel ow Mi rpu r . Abo ve M i i zapu r the Tun recei ves th ree

PH YSICAL ASPEC‘TS .

minor streams whi ch r i se in the Madh upu r j ungle , i .r . ,th

Saldaha the Lavandaha, and the Goalear creek . Abou t sevenmi les above Mi rpu r the Tangi stream connects the Tu rag with the

ri ve r Balu which ri ses in the Madhu pu r jungle a l i ttle t o the eastof Sri pu r and fal l s in t o the Lakshya at Demra. None o f the sestreams are of mu ch u se for traffic du ring the dry season and the

n av igati on of the Tangi stream i s rendered d ifficu l t du r ing the

rain s by the rai lway bridge near Tangi stat i on .

The Lakshya,though not the largest

,i s by far the prett iest The

r iver In the di strict . In 1780,at the time of Renne ll’8 su rvey the

Laksh ya

Layshya was formed from three streams that took off from the oldB rahmapu tra. One was the Bau ar which left the parent streamabou t 4 5 mi le s north of Toke , the second took ofi

‘near Toke

,whi le

the thi rd,which was at that time the prin c ipa l channel , i s sued

from the B rahmapu tra at Aralea and un i ted wi th the secondstream at Ekdala n ear Lakpu r Chu r but soon left i t again to fl oweastward s in t o the M eghn a at Narsin gd i . At the pre sent day theBanar has been almost swal l owed u p by the changes i n the cou rseof the B rahmapu tra and the Aralea chann e l has si l ted up and no

l onge r commun i cate s with the Lakshya du ring the dry season,

so that the ri ve r depends for its s tream upon the wate r s that reachi t through the Toke channe l . Whi le most of the other r i vers inthe d i str ict flow through low coun try whi ch i s heavi ly flooded inthe rain s and i s therefore un su ited for anyth ing bu t marsh c rops ,the banks of the Lakshya are h igh and are fringed for the mostpart with vi l lages bu ried in grove s of the gracefu l areca palm.

The banks themse l ves are often of red earth in stead of the greyand u gly wastes of sand and mud which are u sual ly as sociatedwith the r iver s o f Dacca , and in a cou ntry such as thi s

,where

there i s so ve ry l ittle attracti ve in the ri ver scenery the Lakshyahas natu rally earned a h igh repu tati on for beau ty . Du ring i ts

cou rse of 6 1 mi les i t passes several marts of note , su ch as Barmi ,Kapasia, Lakpu r , Jamalpu r , Kaliganj , Rupganj , Marzi para, Demra,Sidhiganj , and Narayanganj and at Madanganj i t fal l s in to theDhaleswar i . Du ring the rain s steam laun ches can go up the

Lak shya in to Mymen s ingh but in the dry season a boat di awingfive feet of water cann ot proceed above Lakpur Chu r .

The Meghn a i s the name appl ied to the lowe r reaches of The Megha i

the ri ve r wh ich ri ses on the sou thern slope s of the moun tain rangewh i ch forms the northern boundary of Man ipu r and which carriesdown the dI a inage of the Su rma Valley to join the mi ghty Padma

near Rajaba i i . lt en te r s the d i stri ct at Bhai I ab i n 2 4°

2

n orth and 9 0°5 9 east and flows a tortuou s cou I se be tween the di s

tr i cts of Dacca and Tippe ra ti l l i t j oin s the Dhaleswar i a l i ttle be lowMun shiganj . I ts banks are low and ugly and the ri ver i s con tin ually cu ttin g n ew chann els for i tse l f and throwing u p and

wash ing away again e x ten si ve chum . The whole of t he cou rseof the r i ver within the Dacca di stric t i s open to steame r traffi chroughout the year . The prin cipa l places of importance on i ts

I s lands .

GEOLOGY .

FAUNA.

DACCA DISTRICT .

banks are Rai pu ra, Narsingd i , B a rod i and Baidya Bazar . The

on ly tr i bu tary of importance wh ich i t rece i ves on i ts left bankbe l ow Bhai rab Bazar i s the Ar ial Khan which leave s the oldB rahmapu tra at Bel abo and j oin s the Meghn a a l itt le aboveNars ingdi . Even th i s chann e l i s largely si lted up and i s on lynavigable by steam laun ches durin g times of high flood .

‘ There are no i slands of importance in the district, thoughthe Mu nsh i ganj su bdivi si on and the greater part of the Man ikganjsubdivi s ion techn i cal ly form an i s land as they are su rrounded bythe waters of the Padma and the Dhaleswari . The same may be

sai d of the trac t of land immed iate ly to the sou th of Dacca , knownas Paschimdi or Parjoa, wh ich i s enclosed by the Bur i Ganga and

the Dhaleswar i . Numerou s cha r s are th rown u p in the beds of thed ifferen t r i vers

,bu t they vary in s i ze from year to year and have

0 0

no permanen t ex i stence.

Geological ly the distr ict fal l s in to two di stinct tracts , the

high land of the Madhupu r jungle and the al luvial flats su rroun ding i t . The upper soi l of the Madhupur jungle i s a sti ff ferraginou s red clay , covered in many place s by a thin layer of vege

table mou ld . Beneath thi s i s a deposi t of coarse red sand . M r .

B lan ford has suggested three explanat i on s of the orig in of thi sformat ion : (a ) that the h igh land may have been rai sed (b) thatthe su rroun din g land may have been d epressed ; (c ) that the sedeposits may have been laid down by some r i ver other than the

B rahmapu tra . I t i s said that in the t ime ofMuhammadan ru le i ronwas extracted in the Bhowal pargana , and near Jaydebpu r heaps ofa black nodu lar su bstan ce are t o be fou nd wh i ch appear to be theremain s of the ore afte r the i ron had been sme l ted . The rest ofthe di stri ct con si st s of deposi t s of sand and clay m i xed i n varyingproporti on s . In the n orth-eastern port ion there i s more s i l i c i ou ssand in the clay than i n th e south and we st . The soi l of themarshe s and depre ss i on s i s general ly a deep black c lay . Taylorreports that the black vegetable mou ld occas ion al ly approache sto l ign i te in appearan ce and that in the beds of the deepmorasse s of the sou the rn su bdivi si on there are found smal lnodu li

‘ir mas se s of earth which appear to be composed of decayedvegetable matter : they are hard compact bodies of a jet blackcolou r and of so fine a su bstan ce that when pu l veri sed they are

occasi onal ly u sed by the nati ves to make ink .

” NO stone i sfou nd in the di stri ct and there are no m ine ral d eposits wh ichcou ld be profi tably worked .

A hundred years ago the Madhu pu r j u ngle was fu l l of game

of every kind , and was s o in fested with wi ld e lephant s that thevi llagers fou nd i t almos t imposs ible to cu l t i vate the land . In

1790 the Col lector wrote of B howa l , “ One ha l f of it i s an en t i rej ungle swarming with e lephan ts and every othe r wi ld beas t . ”

In the same year the zamindars Of Kas impu r decl ined to accept

Tay lor’s To liograpli y of Dacca , p . 8 .

-DACCA DISTRICT.

Dacca, and they in formed Mr . Clay , a late Magi strate of theDistrict , that they were employed by people in Calcu tta . The

bee-eater , l ike the k ingfi sh er,in habits c revi ce s in the banks of

ri ver s and may be met with th roughou t the whole d i str i ct . Twovariet ies o f the tai lor ’bi rd are fou nd , so-ca l led from the

ingen iou s con stru ction of thei r n est. Sunb irds,or honey-su ckers ,

are al s o common and are remarkable for the bri l l ian t me tal l i clu stre of the i r plumage . They flu tter abou t the flowers , fromwhich they extrac t the j u i ce wh i le on the wing . The weaverb i rd

,which der i ve s i ts n ame from th e han ging n e s t s whi ch i t

b u i ld s , and which are u sual ly found attached i n c lu ste r s to the

date tree,i s ve ry destru ctive to the r i ce c rops .

.

Of the severalk ind s o f woodpecker s , the Ind ian robin may be men t ioned ; i t i strain ed to fight by the n at i ve s . The shama bird i s mu ch pri zedor i ts power of son g , a good on e be in g worth from £ 1 to £2 .

Two varietie s of the green parakeet are common . The wade rbi rd s are large ly repre sen ted

,and inhabit the numerou s mars he s

th roughou t the di s tri ct . The spoon -bil l , saras and man ikjor , orbee fsteak bird

,make the i r appearan ce abou t the m i dd le of Oc to

ber and retu rn to the h i l l s at the commencemen t of the rain s .Five spec ies of he ron s are met with in the di str ic t . The pe l i cani b i s i s fou nd in the ne i ghbou ring di s tr i ct o f Fari dpu r and dou btles s al so in Dacca . I t frequen ts r i vers , tanks and marshe s ,general ly in par tie s , bu t occasional ly al one . The s he l l i bis i s

common , and i s ca l led by the nat ive s samuk , from the name of alarge k in d of snai l on which it feeds . The adju tan t bi rd i s not

uncommon ,thou gh se ldom seen in the vicin i ty of the town . The

bu lbu l , or I ndian n ight ingale , i s found in abundance , and i t i stau ght to fight by the n at ive s who are ve ry fond of the sport .The crested coot

,the spu r-winged p lover , sn i pe , jack-sn i pe and

plover are common . Among the gal l inaceou s bi rd s are the florican

,wh ich i s rare , except i n the Sabhar Fi scal Divi si on , and the

chakor , or kea partridge , which i s met wi th i n many par ts of thedi str i c t

,though not in great numbers ; j ungle-fowl and peacocks

are tolerably plen ti fu l,as al so several k inds of quai l . The com

mon bliie or ju ngle pigeon ,two or three var ietie s of the green

pigeon and doves are common . The raj -gbugbu,or impe ria l

dove , i s al so sometimes foun d . I t i s a very han dsome bi rd , the backand wings being dark eme rald-green , and the n eck , breast , andlower parts red-brown . W i ld geese and du cks are plent i fu l on ther i ve r char s to the sou th , with many var ie t ies of tea l . Seve rals pecie s of gu l ls are found on all the large r i vers , of which thescissor-bi l l, or Ind ian~s kimme ref —i s —the -mo st -remarkab le .

~ —Thisbi rd e special ly frequen ts the Meghn a and Gange s r i vers and

may be seen skimming over the wate r wi th i ts beak cl ose to thesu rface in search of food . The sma l l cormoran t , ca l led pan ikaur i by the nati ves

,i s common in all the marshe s and swamps

and the d iver-bi rd . i s frequen tly seen perched on trees overhangfi ng the water on the watch for i ts prey. These birds swimand

PHYSICAL ASPECTS

d ive with great rapidi ty and float so l ow in the water thatn othing bu t thei r long neck s rema in s v i s ible .

”

Since the se l ine s we re wri tten the di str i ct has sadly deter iorated from the sportsman

’s poin t of V iew . The flor ican i s neverseen and jungle fowl , i f they exi st at all

,are very rare . W i ld

gee se are se ldom sh ot and thou gh du ck are to be found on the

Padma and the M eghna and some in land j hfils they are extreme ly

wary . Sn ipe are to be had bu t the shooting can on ly be describedas poor and large bags are seldom made .

The fi sh-eating a l ligator or gham’

a l and the snu b-nosed crocodi le occasi on al ly carry off the unwary bather . Snakes a lso cau secon s ide rab le mortal i ty

, as in the su bmerged part s they are drivento the v i l lage si tes wh en the water s r i se . The average annual

number of deaths due to th i s cau se du r ing the fou r years endingi n 19 10 was 169 . The fol lowin g i s a l i st of the pr in c ipal snakes

.

known to the natives zpoi sonou s— Cobra,Machhanad , Panas , Goma,

Darach , Du braj harmles s— Ulubora, Ji nglabora, Landog, Ghann i ,Ma ti shap ,

Dhora Ai ralbeka , Shalikbora , Sankhini , Dhauma , and

Domukha The latte r snake , the Typhlos lumbfrfica li s , der i ves

i t s name from the fact that the tai l i s almost as th i ck as the

head , whi le the eye s are ve ry sma l l . I t i s accordingly supposedby the vi l lagers to posse s s two heads .

Batrachian s are of three var iet ies, the common frog and toad

and.

the tree frog .

Fish are caught in the r i ve rs and in creeks and j hi ls . The Fi sher ies .

most important j hi ls are the Be lai,the Sal daha , the Lavandala ,

the B horon tala , the B hinadai , the Si lmandi,the Ai ral, the Nara ,

the Raghu nathpu r , the Dal Samudra,the Doya , the l ow land

round Jai n sha, and the low land of Dhamrai .Porpoi se s are very common in the larger r i vers and shark s

,

ray fi sh and saw fi sh are occas i onal ly to be met with . The bes teating fish are the hi lsa ,

the mango fish , the r u t,the mu l let ,

the p afta r (Calli chr ou s p abda ) , the chi ta l,the mi rga , (Ci r r h

’in a

mr iga la. ) and the ou tlet Crabs , crayfi sh and prawn s are also plenti fu l . The fi shing caste s are the Kaibarttas , Teors , J halos ,Chara ls and Mal Badiyas , the fi rst fou r be ing Hindu s a‘ii d t he

las t Muhammadan s . The prin c ipal d i fference between the Kaibarttas and the Teors i s that t he forme r never al low the i r women

to '

ss ll fish at the market whi le the latter labou r unde r no su chd i sabi li ty . The Charals n ever u se the n et bu t catch fi sh in

bamboo traps , whi le the Badiyas , a float in g tri be who li ve i nthe i r boats , re str ic t themse l ve s to rod and l ine . The fi shin gcaste s are ,

all poor and the su pply of fi sh i s sai d to have decreasedd ur ing the la st quarter of a cen tu ry . Th i s i s tru e . for i t i s anas serti on that doe s not very readi ly adm i t of proof, i s probablyprinci pa l ly due to t he si ltin g up of j hi ls and r i ve rs and the con

sequen t con traction of the spawn ing groun ds . The fishermenshow no con s iderati on for the futu re and catch smal l fry andSpawn ing fi sh . In th i s way they con trib ute to thei r own growing

C LIMATE .

DACCAD ISTRICT .

poverty , bu t thi s no dou bt i s a proce ss whi ch has been going on

for long and wou ld hardly in i tse l f accou n t for a sudden shortageof the su pply . Some harm may pe rhaps have been done by thewide ly extended cu lt i vati on of ju te as the rottin g plan t produ ce sa n ox iou s e ffect upon the wate r and the fi shermen a l lege that ther i ve r steame rs cau se an u n derc u rren t whi ch dri ve s away the fi sh .

Du ring the rain s the fish are di spe rsed over so large an areathat they cannot eas i ly be cau ght and some of the fi sh ing c lasse sbetake themselves to other occu pat ion s . In the win te r fish i sexported to Mymen s in gh

,Ca l cu tta and Chittagong . Fi sh are

cau ght with ne ts , bamboo baske t s and spear s . The fol lowin gare the n ets most common ly employed — terj a.t or j agatber , a verylarge n et with me she s from t hree to six in che s w ide which

t requ i res a party of twen ty men to u se i t ; cos t abou t Rs. 300 ;chotober a smal le r varie ty of the oame n et

,meshes from one t o two

in c hes cost Rs. 50 to Rs . 70 ; a thar j a l, a large cast n e t j hakfi,

a sma l le r cast n et . The dharmaj al i s a specie s of bag attachedto a bamboo han dle and l owe red in to the

” wate r . The lea ch/ct

and lchor a j a ls are V-shaped n ets,the wide end of which i s lowered

i n to the water . The leach/Ml i s u sed from a boat,the 7ch0r a, i s

attached to bamboo posts erected i n the r i ve r-bed . The chat

and p ar cm are bamboo traps , the polo a basket whi ch i s th rustdown in to the mud in

‘

shal l ow water . The hook i s a bundle ofslender bu t stou t barn boos shod with i ron

,wh ich i s a form idable

weapon u sed not on ly aga in st the finny t ribe bu t al so in agrarianand othe r r iots . Fi sh in g boats are u sual ly bu i l t o f teak or sel l

(Shor ea r obu sta ) planks . Soi l i s the more du rable bu t i ts spe

c i fic gravi ty i s heavie r than that of wate r , s o to preven t the boatss i nking when overtu rned

, j a ru l (Lager str cemia flos r egime) i su sed W i th the soi l .

The c l imate of Dacca i s fai rly equable , the difi erence betweenthe mean temperatu re of the coldest and hottest mon th s in theyea r be ing on ly 176 degrees . The summer s are not as hot asi n Uppe r India

,bu t again st thi s mu s t be set the fact that the

win ters are not nearly as invigorat in g . The cold weathe r beginsin November and for fou r mon th s the cl imate i s fai r ly pleasan t .

I n March , howeve r , the days grow hot and the ave rage maximum

temperature of that mon t h i s Apri l i s even hotte rwi th an ave rage maximum of 9 32

, bu t the ra in s of May send thetempe rature down a cou ple of degree s . From June to Octoberthe ave rage max imum ranges from 88

° to 89° bu t the n i ghts arethen warme r than they are earl ier i n the year and the mean

temperatu re i s abou t 8 3° which i s hi ghe r than i t i s in Apri l .Octobe r and the latter hal f of Septembe r are i n fact the mosttry i ng season of the year . The sou th -easter ly breeze s wh ich doso mu ch to mi ti gate the d i scom f

’

orts of the ra in s begin to fai l , thewa te rs begin to recede in to the i r accu stomed chann e l s and thedamp fie lds lie reeking beneath the scorching sun . The n i gh tsare s ti l l too warm to gi ve much re l ief and it i s not t i l l November

PHvSIO'

Z'

IL'

ZSPEf-JTQ.

comes that there i s any pleasan t coolness . January i s the coldestmon t h in the year , but t he cold i s bu t comparat i ve for even at

Narayanganj , which i s coole r than Dacca c i ty ,the mean min i~

mum temperatu re for the mon th i s on ly 552 . In the n orth ofthe di strict i t i s ce rtain ly fre sher and to an offi ce r

,camping i n

the fie lds , away from the heat absorbing br icks of c i tie s,the

n i ght wi l l occas i onal ly seem qu i te frosty . Appended to' thi s

chapte r wil l be fou nd the average maximum,min imum and

mean temperatu re s recorded at Narayanganj which , as a ru le, are

a l i ttle lower than those exper ienced i n Dacca c i ty .

From November to March the prevai l ing winds are fromthe we s t , n orth and north west . In March sudden storms fromthe n orth we st '

are by no mean s un common and are a sou rce o fcon si derable danger to l ight c raft cru i s ing on the r i vers . From

.

Apri l to Octobe r the wind i s gen era l ly from the eas t and sou theast . I t i s heavi ly laden with moi stu re

‘

but i t doe s mu ch tom i ti gate the ri gou rs of the c l imate and often rende r s a pu nkahqu i te u nn ece ssary . The steady per s iste nce of th i s wind espec i

al ly in the afternoon s and eve nings du r ing the ra iny season si s. in fact , on e of the most attracti ve featu res of the Daccac limate .

The di strict i s occasi onal ly vi s i ted by violen t cy cl one s andi t su ffered severe ly from the great earthquake of 18 9 7 . A morede tai led accou nt of these vi s itati on s wi l l be found in ChapterVl I .

The mean rain fa l l at Dacca i s 72 03 inches , bu t the variati onfrom year to year i s not in frequ en tly con siderable

,the rain fa l l

of 1900-0 1, for in s tan ce , be in g 507 in c he s whi le in the nex tyear i t was 82-3 . November t o March i s the dry season

,the tota l

average fal l for those five mon ths being abou t 55 in ches . Apri land October which u sher in and witne s s the ces sat i on of the

mon soon have each abou t 4 % inche s , whi le May and Septemberhave from 9 to 10. Eac h of the th ree remain ing mon th s rece i vesas a ru le from 12 to 13 inche s of ra in ,

thou gh here,too , there

i s great var iati on from the mean . The statemen t in the! marginshows the average ra in fal l recorded at the five s tati on s whi ch

Mean ann ua l rainfal l , have been opened for some len g th ofDaqca. 72 03 time . Ra in-gauge s have been recen tly

3: e rected at Kapasia and at Nawabganj ,Jayd ebpur 70 94 bu t there are not su ffi c ien t data yetMan i kgan j aval lable to al l ow of the ca l cu lati onof a mean . I t wi l l be seen that the rain fal l for the year i sfai rly u n i form throughou t the distri ct bu t there are often markedd i ffe ren ce s in the amou nt precipi tated on any given day even at

stati on s lying so close to one anot he r as do Dacca and Narayanganj .

The se two place s are on ly separated by a d istan ce of n ine mi le s

yet the dai ly ra in fal l i s somet ime s fou r or five inche s greater i non e p lace than the other .

Prevai l ingW lndS .

Rain fa l l .

I 4 DACCA DISTRICT.

APPENDIX 1.

Average temperatu re recorded at Narayanganj

Average Av erage temperatureMon ths . max imum min imum corrected to

temperature . temperature true di urnalmean .

APPEND IX I I .

List of animals , bi rds , fishes , trees and plants wh ich according to Tay lor are found in the Dacca district

AN IMALS.

Ti gers . B lack rabb1t[(Lepu sLeopards . Bandicoot rat .

Enfl'

alo. Mongoose.

Corvu s hipp elaphu s . Mu skrat (Sorea: fi ndi cu s) .ar i stotsli s . Civet Viverr a bengale

fn si s) .ax i s Porcupine .

mu n tj ac. Otte r.Dysopes mu r inu s .

P ter op u s.

Megaderma .

Vesp er ti lio p i ctu s .

Elephan t and bear whi ch are men ti oned by Taylor are no

longer fou nd wi ld in the d istrict.Bu ms .

Vu ltu re . Creeper (Cer thfiadce) .Crow. Sunbi rdK i te . Weave r bi rd (P loceu s).Fi sh eagle. Woodpeckers .

Owl. P i ou s v i r idi s.

Str icc can didu s. tiga .

Str ix n octu a i n di ca . aman ti u s .

K ingfishers . macei .

Bee-eaters (Merop s v i r idi s) . benga lcn si s

Notched bi l l .

PHYSICAL fASPECTS. 16

B IRDs .

Motaci lla p i cala .

Sylv ia su tor ia .

Cu cu lu s or i en tla i s.

Cor a ci a beuga len si

Cor vu s cor aac.

Gr acu la rr eligiosa .

Green parrot .

Wader (various spec ies ) .Spoonbi l l (pla ta tcea ) .Si ris (Ar dea an tigone) .Man i ckjhor (Ci con ia leu coce

phelia ) .Man ickjhor (Ci co

'

n ia mycter iaau strali s ) .

He ron .

Ar alea or i en tali s.

modesta .

n egr iotostr i s .

flav ia colli s .

Adj utan t (Ci con ia arga la ) .P a r r a sin en si s .

Ray (Ra ia fiu viali li s) .Shark (Sgu a lu s car char i as) .Saw fish (Squ a lu s pr i sti s) .

Tetr odon polka”cu tou ti a .

tepa .

Mar oen a .

Macr ogn athu s .

Ophi su r u s.

Un i br au chap er tu r a .

Cu chia .

Gobi u s .

Ophi ocepha lu s.

Ophi ocepha lu s lata.

Coiu s icoboj i u s.

Tr ichopodu s coli sa .

Bola p ama .

Macro'nopteru s magu r .

Gi la/ms singio.

Con i rostral fami ly.

Cu cu lu s lathami .Gallen i lle (P orphyr io su ltana) .Cre s ted coot (Fu lica cr esta ta .)Spu rwinged plover (Car adr u s

ven tr a li s) .Sn i pe (Scolopax gallingo) .

Peacock .

Partr idge .

Quai l .Jungle pigeon .

Sci s sor bi l l (Ryn cop s n igfr a) .

P el i canDar ter (P lotu s valen ti )Du ck .

Au as in dz'

ca .

clypea ta .

cr ecca .

p ozci lorhyu cha .

gi r r a .

Si lu ru spabola .

garu a .

Boa lee.

P imeloolu s aor .

p angas .

te'ngra .

barassi a .

r i ta .

baghar ia .

j agor e.

si lon olia .

E sow can ci lla .

Mu l let (Mugi l cor su fa) .Mango fi sh (P olyn emu s r isua ) .Clupea pha sa .

Hilsa (Clupanadmz. i lisha ) .Mystu s c hi tala .

ramcarati .Cysr in u s rohi ta .

cu tla .

cu lbasia .

p u ti tor i a .

pun tius.

1 76 moon p remier .

FLORA.

Nymphcea lotu s . Ch i lr a (P lumbago zeylan i ca ) .P an es-Irela . B i chi ttec Tr aj i a i n volu cr a ta ) .S inghar a uTr apa bi scin osa and B asolca (J u sti ci a adhotoola ) .

qu adr i sp in osa ) . Mootha (Cyp er u s r otu ndu s) .

Ru /cta komol .Velumbium) . Shyama lu ta (E chi tes fr uP olcol

‘

(An n eslia sp in osa ) . tesceu s) .

Ghetch‘

oo (Ap onogcton mono Bhoi i koomr a (Tr i chosau thesstachion ) . tu ber osa ) .

Cu lmec-shag (Con volvu lu s r e Shan ci (Achyr an thes tr i an dr a) .

p en s) . B a la (P auon i a color ata ) .

K sher n i (Mimu sop s kan ki ) N ag lseshu r (Mesu a fer r ea) .

cLu tkha (P i era r d i a sapi da ) P oon u r n u va (Boerhav ia p ro

K ama r anga (Aver rhoa caram cumbcn s ) .

bola ) . N i si u da Vi tecc u igu n olo).J u lpa i (Eloeocarp u s scr r ala ) . Tar u ka (Alihoca a lhuga s) .Depau l (Ar tocarpu s la lcoocha ) . H arj or ah (Ci ssu s qu adr anguCha lta (Di llen ia spec iosa ) . lar is) .Imlee (Tamar in du s i ndi ca ) . B angra (Ver besin a p r ostr a ta ) .K a thbel (feron ia clephan tum) . J i rj u l (Celin a wooli er ) .Fi cu s glomer u ta . Tcolsi C og/mum v i llosu/m).

car i ca . Shimool (B ombaa: hep tap hylla ) .vagan s . Champ a (M i cheli a champuka ) .

Amoor a . Nagphu u ec (Cactu s i n di cu s) .Mango. Shephalika (Nyctan thes ar borJ u ngli khaj oor (P hoen ix far in c tr isti s ) .

fera ) . J u ba (H i bi scu s rosa-sin en si s) .Can e (Ca lamu s r otan q) . P a li ta manda fr (Er ythr inaJ a ngli hu ldec (Cu r cuma zeoloa i ndi ca ) .

fr i a ) . Alcu n nl (Asclep i as g igan tea ) .J amau . Secj (Euphor bia n er c ifoli a i .Su tumoollec (Asp aragu s r acc I sha rmoolmr istolochia in di ca ),mosu S ) . K aolumba Nau clea cadamba ) .

J u g/u ncles (E schynomen e Ma tu r a (Ca lli carpa i n can a ) .

sesban ). Bhi lsa pu r n i (‘

Hydr ocotyleSon a li (Cassi a fistu la ) . asi a ti ca ) .b’on a (B au hi n i a p u rpu r ea ) . Jyostec madhoor (Glyci r rhi zaK a t Ica lej a (Cossa lp in i a bon du glabr a ) .

calla ) . Bu lcool (Mimu sops elcngi i ) .

p raj i ta (Cli tor ia ter n ata) . Jamp tolcu r i' S iola a sia ti ca‘.

Rukhla chan dana (Adena/a the Suj n a(Hyp er an thera mor inga) ,

m pavon ia) , Koonoloor ec (B ryon ia gr andi s).Kha rl i r a (Acac i a catechu ) . P a tu/r c/i oor (P lectr an thu s ar oMashan cc (Glyci n e labi a li s) ma ti cu s ) .K a la Ira lka shanda (Cassia Ru lcta lcumbu la (Nymphcea

p u rpu r ea) . r u br a ) .Coolu u cha (Men i sp ermum J umu lgota (Crotch. tigliu fm) .glabrum).

DACCA DISTRICT .

CHAPTER I I .

H ISTORY.

*

There can be l i tt le doubt that a portion, at any rate , of the

d i str ic t of Dacca was in clu ded in the an c ient kingdom ofP ragjyoti sha or Kamrup— a pas sage in the Yogin i Tan tra distinctly stating that the sou thern bou ndary of that k ingdom was

the jun cti on of the B rahmapu tra and Lakshya ,whi ch i s s ituated

tnear the modern town of Narayan ganj . The early trad i ti on s thathave come down to u s indicate that Dacca and several of the

n ei ghbou ring di stri ct s were ori ginal ly unde r the sway of B uddhi stkings . According to the Tibetan legend s a Buddhi st king namedVimala was maste r of B angala and Kamrup , and there fore ofDacca. H iu en Tsiang who vi sited Kamru p i n the secondhal f of the seven th cen tu ry state s that Samtata

,whi ch

probably in c luded the pargana of B ikrampu r , was a Buddh i stk ingdom although the k ing was a B rahman by cas te . In the

Raipu ra thana bras s image s of B u ddhi st origin have been di scovered and two Copper-plate s with in scri pt ion s of Buddhi s t k in gsThese have been as si gned by experts to the end of the e ighth and

beginn ing of the n in th cen tu ry,and a coppe r-plate fou nd in the

Far idpu r d i stri ct , wh ich i s ascri bed to the same period,proves

that the B i krampu r pargan a was al s o u nde r B uddhi s t ru le .

The names of a few local Rajas have come down to us,bu t

we know l itt le more abou t them than th ei r names . One of thebest known i s Hari s Chan dra , the ru in s of whose capi tal close toSabhsr can be seen e ven at the pre sen t day. The capi tal of another local prin ce l ing cal led Josh Pal was at Dakurai , 18 mi le snorth of Sabhar where the re are several tanks and an old roadcal led the Rathkhola Sarak

,leading to a place cal led Jatrabari ,

names wh ich tend to suggest that Josh Pal was not a B uddhi st .

The remain s o f another town which i s said to have been the headqu arters of a ch ief cal led Si supal are to be found at Singher Digh i ,near Mahona

,in the n orth-we st of the di strict . Abou t e igh t m i le s

away , at P i rojali , are the ru in s of a fort ascribed to one I nd ra Raj a ;and the re are trace s o f old bu i ldings and a moat c lose to Raj abarifi ve mi le s we s t o f old Kapasia at a place which i s said to havebeen the capi tal o f the Chandal Raj as

nv fl n hmw In the n in th cen tu ry A. on e Adi su ra,a Ksha triya by caste ,

of B uddh ism. came from the Deccan and after ove rth rowing the B uddhi st kingof B ikrampu r e stabli shed h imse l f at Rampal near Mun sh i ganj .

Th i s c hapte r was or ig in a l l y wr1tten in a 10 11ge r form byRank in ,

bu t ow ing to em gen c i es 0 1' space i t has been condensed .

hi sr onv .

He sen t to Kanauj for B rahman s to teach the people the rel i gionwh ich-

even the prie stly c las s i n the di stri ct had forgotten and five

B rahman s , accompan ied by fi ve Kayasthas , i n due t ime arri ved .

Trad ition says that the i r reception by the kin g’s underl ings,when

they reached Rampal , was s o rude that th ey were abou t to takethe i r departu re again in anger and had e ven bestowed the blessingintended for the king on the stump of a Gajari or Sa l t ree towhich the cou rt e lephan ts u sed to be t ied . The o ld stump tookl i fe again and i s sti l l to be seen at Rampal , the on ly Gajar i treein B i krampu r , whe re i t i s an object of venerati on and worsh i p toall Hindu s . The king fortunate ly got word of the arri val of theB rahman s and was able to make h i s peace with them .

From Copper-plate s and other in scripti on s di scove red i n recen t The Senyear s we learn the names of several kings of the Sen dynasty ,

k ings‘

who appear next u pon the scene . Th i s sou rce of in format i on i s

more re l iable than the Ain -1-Akbar i and the name s gi ven i n thelatte r need not be d i scu s sed here . The kings referred to ru led i nEastern Bengal i n the fol lowi ng order : Vira Sen , Saman ta Sen ,H eman ta Sen

,V i j aya Sen , B al la l Sen and Lakhshman Sen . I t has

been conjectu red that Vi ra Sen i s i den tical with Adi su ra and thisi s not altogether improbable i f, as the in scr ipt ion s gi ve u s to unde rstand

,a con siderab le inte rva l elapsed between him and the n ext

king . Of the nex t two kin gs , Saman ta and H eman ta , noth ing ofnotea i s recorded . Vij aya Sen , howeve r , we are told

, was a greatwarr i or who con qu ered the king of Gau r , probably , the Pal Rajaof the t ime reign ing in North ern B engal , and i t i s more than l ike lythat th i s was the death blow to B uddh i sm i n thi s part of India.

The greatest o f the Sen kings was Ball al Sen , famou s al ikei n li teratu re and

“

in tradit ion , whose res iden ce i s sti l l poin ted ou t

a t Bal l al B ar i , at Rampal . I t i s a rai sed piece of ground rectan

gu lar in shape , su rrounded on all s ides by a moat two hu ndredfeet wide . Thi s i s all that i s now vi s ible , bu t in the surroundingcountry bri ck s are con stan t ly be ing tu rned up and treasu re i s notin frequ en tly found . Close by are the Tan tipara and the ShankhariP ars which bear w itnes s to colon ie s o f weavers and she l l-Jzutterswho at one time l i ved there in atten dan ce on the cou rt.

There are two bridge s in the n ei ghbou rhood which traditionascri bes to Ball a l Sen . One i s over the M i rkadim Khal and i s

cal led the Ballali B r idge ; it has three arches and the pie rs aresix feet th ick . The other i s a l i ttle fu rther to the west and span sthe Taltala Khal ; th i s al so has three arches but was blown up in

the early days of B ri ti sh ru le to enable large boat s with tr0 0ps topass to and from Dacca.

Bal lal’s was a long rei gn . The last trace of Bu ddhi sm had

beendestroyed by hi s father and he was free to devote h imsel fto the in ternal admin i stration of the kingdom . We know thathe reorgan i sed the caste system and fou nded Ku lin i sm, a k indof Hindu ari stocracy , and that he was the originator of severalsocial reforms . We know al so that he wrote two San skr it works,

Bal lal Sen .

f.

DACCA DISTR ICT .

the Dans Sagara and the Adbu t Sagara . He abdicated in favourof h i s son in 1 170 A.D. and d ied two year s late r . Hi s namei s sti l l a hou sehold word in every Hindu home in the d i stri ct andh i s fame i s su ch as on ly a great and wise king cou ld havein spired .

Bal la l was su cceeded by h i s son ,Lakh shman Sen

,who gave

h i s name to Lakhnau t i (Lakhshmana B ati ) and l ived latter ly inNadia . We are told that after the captu re of Nad ia by BakhtyarKh ilj i he fled to B ikrampu r where he and hi s son s exerci sed aprecari ou s sovere ign ty for the next hundred years . H e had threeson s -Madhab , Ke shab and Vi swa Rup

— the last of whom su cceeded h im in B i krampu r and evidently had some fightin g with theMuhammadan s . Even tu al ly the Sen s we re d riven out and we

find that thema of Mand i claims descent from them and al legesthat one of hi s an cestors , Rup Sen , fled to the Punjab where hefounded the presen t ci ty of Ruper . Beyon d the se legends alltrace of thi s once powerfu l dynas ty has complete ly d i sappeared .

Li ttle i s kn own of the movemen t s of the Mu hammadan s inDacca in the earl ier part of the th i rteenth cen tury . In 1223

A.D.

,the Governor of Bengal , Ghiyas-ud-din , marched toward s

Kamru p and Eastern Bengal,but was reca l led by an attack on

h i s capital . Another govern or in vaded Eastern Bengal i n 1 260

A.D.,and accord ing to Marco Polo the coun try was su bdued by

the Khan s of Tartary in 1272 A.D. H e gives the fol lowingaccoun t of these parts

“ The provin ce Bengala bordereth upon India toward the

south , which Great Can su bdu ed , when Marco Polo l ived in h iscou rt . The cou ntry hath a proper king and pecu l iar language .

The inhabitan t s thereof are all idolaters they have masters wh i chkeep school s and teach idolai ries and inchan tments a thing com

mon to all the great men of that coun try . They eat flesh , riceand mi l k : they have cotton in great plenty

,and by reason

thereof, mu ch and great trading i s exerc i sed there : they aboundal so wi th spike

,galangal

,ginger , sugar and divers other spi ces.

Huge oxen are al so there,comparable with e lephan ts in he i gh t

but not in t h i ckn es s . Many eunu ch s are made in thi s province ,wh ich are afterwards sold un to merchan ts .”

In 1279 A.D .,the d i strict was v i si ted by the Emperor him

se l f who advan ced beyond Sonargaon in pu rsu i t of Toghri l, thegovernor of Lakhnau ti

,who had thrown off h i s al legian ce and

proclaimed h imse l f an independen t soverei gn .

Subsequ en tly the Empe ror Ala ud di n,find ing that the v i ce

my o f Benga l had become too power fu l,e ffected a partit i on of

the provin ce and appoin ted Balladu r Khan to be governor ofEastern B engal wi th h is head quarter s at Sonargaon . A Bengal ih i storian of Son argaon tel l s u s that a l ter captu ring the mai n fortsand su bd u ing the s s of the local i ty , B ahadu r govei n ed in hi s

name and in troduced bu t few change s i n the form of the admin i s

tration . Certainly , so long as Ala-ud-di n l i ved , Bah adur ru led

fu si on?

ci rcumspectly , bu t on h i s death he declared himse l f independentwi th the t itle of Bahadu r Shah . Thi s so en raged the new

Emperor (Gh iyas-ud-din Tughlak Shah ) that he marched intoBengal (132 4 A.D.) and, defeating Bah adu r

,took him to De l h i

wi th a rope round hi s neck , appoin ting Tatar Khan ,hi s adopted

son ,to be governor of Sonargaon in h i s place .

Tatar Khan was su cceeded in 13 38 A.D. by hi s armou r Fakhrbeare r Fakhr-ud-di n who declared h imse l f to be independen t . H e

was , however , defeated by Qadi r Khan who occu pied Son argaonwhere he amassed great treasu re . Thi s treasure proved h i s destruction fo r hi s soldiers wen t over t o Fakh r-ud-d in who offeredthem thi s immen se reward as the price of the i r t reachery . loinsmin ted by thi s ch ief prove that he reign ed ten years, when he methi s death , probably at the hands of Ali Mu barak

,governor of

Lakhnau ti . The following accoun t of the country in the time of

Fakhr-ud-din i s g iven by Ibn Batuta. Writing of the B rahma

putra he says ,“ i t descends from the moun tain s of Kamrup and i s

cal led the B lue Ri ver , by which people trave l towards B enga l andLakhnau t i . Along th i s r i ver are hydrau l i c whee l s

,gardens , and

vi l lage s,on the right and on the left, ju st as they are to be seen

along the N i le in Egypt . The inhab itan ts of the se vi l lage s arenon-Mu hammadan s who pay a protecti on tax . From them is

exacted hal f of the produ ce of the i r lands beside s tribu te . We

remained on thi s r i ver for fi fteen day s sai l ing be tween v i l lagesand garden s j u st a s i f we had been p assing through a market .

On thi s r iver there are innumerab le shi ps i n eve ry on e of whichthe re i s a drum . Wheneve r two sh ips meet the c rew of both of

them stri ke thei r drums and salu te each othe r . Fakhr-ud-din , the

Su l tan , of whom we have spoken,has ordered that no du ty shou l d

be levied from fakirs on that ri ve r and that provi s i on s s hou ld be

given to su ch of them as had not got them so that whenever afaki r arr i ve s in a vi l lage he i s gi ven half a rli u a fr .

At Sonargaon the travel lers found a j onk which was boundfor the coun try of Java and embarked on i t.

In 1352 A.D . Haj i I lyas conqu ered Eastern B eng al andDynastyfounded a dynasty wh i ch con ti nued w1th a bri e f i nterval to rei gn Haj i I l y as.

over that provin ce for n ear ly a cen tu ry and a hal f. In 1354,he

was attacked by the Emperor Feroz Shah and fled to the fort ofEkdala . I t i s said that du r ing the siege of the fort the saintShai kh Raj a Biyaban i died , and I lya s , comin g ou t of the fort d i sgu i sed as a mend icant , j oin ed the Shaikh

’s fune ral proces s i on and

afterwards went to see the Emperor withou t h imsel f be ing recogn i sed .

I lyas d ied in 1359 A.D. and was su cceeded by h i s sonS ikandar

Si kandar Sh ah i n whose re i gn the emperor Fe roz again invaded Shah ;B engal . H earing of the Imper ial advan ce Sikan dar , l ike h i sfathe r

,fled “ into the i s lands of Ekdala .

”An othe r s iege en su ed

du ring which one of the chie f towers of the fort fe l l owing to the

pressu re of the people upon i t , but the fort being bu i lt of mud

Nasir Shah .

DACCA DISTRICT.

was speed i ly repai red . Negotiat i on s for peace we re opened and

pre sen ts were exchanged . I t i s re lated that the Su ltan sen t in tothe fort of Ekdala by the hands of Mal i k Kabu l a c rown worth

Tanka and 500 valuable Arab and Tu rki horse s w ith the

expressi on of h i s wi s h that henceforth they mi ght never againdraw the sword . Sikandar seems to have pai d great attenti onto in ternal admin i strati on and i t i s said that he made a

regu lar su rvey of the province,h i s n ame su rvi ving to the presen t

day i n the te rm Sikandar i gaj . His end was however an unhappyon e as he was defeated and ki l led by h i s son Gh iyas-ud-di n at

Garpar a in the Man i kganj subdivi s ion in 1368 A.D.

Ghiyas-ud-di n he ld hi s cou rt at Son argaon . H e was a man

o f Some l i terary atta inmen t s and in v ited the ce lebrated p oetH afiz to vis it him . At the same time he was an able and en li ghtened ru le r . W e learn from Chine se s ou rce s that he despatc hedembass ie s to Ch ina and rece i ved pre sen t s in retu rn . H e died in

13 7 3 A.D. and the rema in s of h i s tomb are st i ll to be seen inMahal la Baghalpu r at Son argaon . At the pre sen t day i t i s in a

ve ry d i lapidated condition bu t i t was de scr ibed by Dr . W i se in18 74 ~i n the fol lowing terms Thi s mau soleum formerly con

si s ted of a ponderou s ston e wh ic h occupied the cen tre , su rroundedby pi l lars abou t five feet h igh . The se stori e s are all beau tifu l lycarved and the corn ers of the s labs and the arabe sque tracery are

as pe rfect as the day they left the Workman’s hands . The sto‘r’i es

are formed of hard,almost black

,basal t . At the head i s a pros

trate sandstone p i l lar , hal f bur ied i n earth . I t was evident lyu sed when erect as a Chiraghdan

,or stan d for a l i ght .”

Gh iya s-ud-di n’s coin s were s tru ck at Mu azzamabad , where a

min t had been e s tabl i shed by h i s father . Th i s p lace appears tohave been close to Sonargaon

,and may have been the same as

Muazzampu r,a vi l lage ly in g a few m i le s to the north of Son ar

gaon , whi ch we kn ow as the seat of a sain t in the re ign of

Jalal-ud-di n a few year s later .

In 14 05 there was a brie f recrudescen ce of Hindu sovere i gn ty ,the thro

‘h e of Bengal being sei zed by Raj a Kan s who rei gn ed ti l l

14 14 A D . Hi s son and successor Jal a l-ud-din was , as hi s n ame

impl ies,a convert to the Muhammadan re l i g ion . H e was fol lowed

by h i s son Ahmad Shah to whose re i gn belongs the oldest i n scr ipti on yet found in the di str ict . I t i s to be seen i n the mosqu e ofthe sain t Shah Langar at Muazzampu r .

In 14 32 A.D. ,the dynasty of I lya s Shah was restored in the

per son of Sultan Nasir-ud-din Abu l M uzatfar Mahmud Shah whoreigned ti l l 14 60 A.O . H e restored to h is throne Men g Soaq n

,

the king of Arakan , who had been expel led by the B u rme se in1 4 06 , but on ly 0 11 cond iti on that he shou ld remain a vassal of

Bengal . The mosque of B i nat B i bi at Naraindia in the c i ty ofDacca was e rec ted during h i s rei gn ,

but otherwi se there i s l ittleknown abou t th i s pri nce .

H I STORY.

The record s of h i s immediate su cces sors are equal ly meagre Husain Shahbu t in 14 9 4 , Shah Ala-ud-di n Hu sain Sharif Maki , known as

Hu s ain Shah the Good , came to the th rone . H e made h i s capitalat Ekdala and captu red Kamatapur in 14 98 leaving hi s son Danyalas governor there . The young pr ince and h i s fol lowers were however k i l led and a su bsequ en t exped iti on sen t in to Assam was com

pletely rou ted by the Ahoms . Husain Shah al s o sent two exped iti on sinto Tippera . The fi rs t u nde r Gau r Mal i k was dri ven back

,the

Tipperas damming the r ive r Gumt i and then letting loose the

water s u pon the in vaders . The second , unde r Hyten Khan, was

at fi rst su cces sfu l bu t was subsequen tly routed by the same ex

pedient as had proved so su cce ss fu l again st the former expedit ion .

Some t ime after th i s (the date i s un certain and i t may have beenafter Hu sain Shah’s death ) B ijaya, the Rajs of Tippera, in retal iation , in vaded Bengal wit h an army of in fan try and

cavalry ,be s ide s arti l lery . H e travel led with boats al ong

the ri ver s B rahmapu tra and Lakshya to the Padma , spent some

days at Son argaon in debau chery and then cros sed to Sylhet .After Hu sain Shah there were t hree other independent kings

,

v ia , (i ) Nasrat Shah , hi s son , (i i ) Fi roz Shah , h i s grand son , and

(i i i ) Mahmu d Shah , h i s son . The las t named was defeated byShe r Shah and with him ended the l ine of independen t kings .

B efore proceeding to describe Dacca u nder the Mughals Admin i strai t wi l l be conven ien t to record here a few of the facts re lating 0

81-1)to the per iod in terven ing between the de feat of Mahmud Shaher a

and the final annexat i on of Bengal by Akbar in 1576 .

Sher Shah appointed one Khizr Khan Bai rak to be governorof B engal bu t he marr ied a daughter of Mahmud Shah and

declared h im self independen t . For thi s he was impri soned bySher Sh ah who_ took the opportu n ity of d ivid ing Bengal intoprovin ces , mak in g Kaz i Fazi lat the Ami r or Su perin tenden t .

Son argaon was probably one of those provin ces and the governorin the year 154 2 seems to have been Saiy id Ahmad Rumi . SherShah’s short but ab le admin i strati on extended as far as the Daccadi s trict . The trunk road made by him from Sonargaon to UpperInd ia i s famou s . Re st-hou se s were maintained at every stageand every few mi les there was a wel l .

I slam Shah , son of Sher Sh ah ,garr i soned the whole country

with tr0 0ps from the border s o f Son argaon,bu t be reve rsed hi s

father’s pol i cy and once more appoin ted one govern or for B enga l .

Muhammad Khan Su r was selected for the post , and he on I slamShah’s death declared h imse l f independen t , as d id h i s two s onsafter him . Ne ither these k in gs nor any of the ru lers who fol l owed ever apparen tly he ld the whole of B engal , nor was the i r righ trecogn i sed by contemporarie s , and consequ en tly , as Stewart says ,they cannot be con si dered absolu te s overeign s .

Afte r the fina l ex t inction of the Sur dynasty the Afghans inBengal were di spersed , some , i t i s said , became faqi rs and some

attached themselves to Su leiman Karani who had meanwhi le been

DACCA DISTRICT

amassing much influence and power . He brough t nearly thewhole of Bengal under h i s sway , inc luding the d i stri ct of Dacca,as appear s from the in scr iption on a mosque in Rihabi Baza r(abou t three m i le s from Munshiganj ) wh ich was bu i lt by one

Mal i k Abdu l la Miyan du ring the rei gn of Hazrat Ala (H i sMajesty ) M iyan Sulaiman , in the year 15 75 A.D.

Su laiman was su cceeded fi rst by h i s son B ayaz i d and thenby h i s secon d son

,Daud . The wars between these ru lers and

the gen eral s ofAkbar have no conce rn with the di stric t B u t

there was fighting in Ghoraghat , in which Kala Pahar and otherAfghan s were con cerned , and th i s may have had an effect i n andaround Dacca . Daud was final ly ki l led in 1576

,when Bengal

was annexed to the Mughal Empi re .

I t was some years , however , before the whole of B engal was(a ctu al ly redu ced to su bject ion . Several tracts continued to beunder the ru le of petty chiefs who refu sed to own al legiance to theEmperor and gave she lter and a hearty wel come to the numerou sAfghan s whom Daud’s death had th rown out of employment .Foremost among these ch iefs were the twel ve Bhu iyas of Bengal .In th i s place i t i s on ly necessary to refer to those who ru led overportion s of the Dacca d istrict . These were (i) Faz l Ghaz i of Bhawal ,(i i ) Chand Rai and Kedar Rai of B ik rampu r and ( i i i) I sa Khan ,Masnad-i-Ali , of Kh izrpu r. The first named traced h i s descen tfrom one Pahnun Shah who l i ved about s i x hundred years ago .

H i s son,Karfarma Sah ib

,went to Del hi , and there rece ived from

the Emperor the gran t of pargana Bhawal i n retu rn for un i ting the two roofs of a bu i ld ing , which all the cou rt architectshad hi therto fai led to accompli sh . Accord ing to tradi ti on the

area ru led over by th is fami ly compri sed the parganas of ChandGhazi (now Chand P ratap) , Tala Ghazi (now Talipabad) and

Bara Ghazi (now Bhawal) . They had not , however , the facu l ty ofkeeping what they had gained and some t ime in the e ighteen thcentu ry these e state s pas sed in to the hands of the i r Bengal iser van ts . The fami ly st i l l res ides at Chaura near Kali ganj in a

s tate of pit iable poverty . Chand Rai and Kedar Rai who bu i l tthe Rajabari math are the on ly two Bhu iyas of B i krampur whosename s have come down to u s . The i r capital at Sri pu r , not farfrom Raj abari , has l ong ago been washed away by the Padmari ver bu t i t was of su ffi c ien t importan ce to be mentioned by morethan one Eu ropean trave l ler .

m Khan .The greates t o f all the Bhu iyas was I sa Khan ,

son of a Bhi sltaj put of Oudh who had accepted the Muhammadan faith . Hi sprincipal s trongholds we re at Khizrpur , abou t a m i le north ofNarayanganj

,and at Diwan B agh

,and he formed a ral ly ing point

for the Afghan s o f Eastern Bengal who offered a stern re si s tanceto the Mughal arms . In 1584 the Viceroy Shah Baz en teredDacca in pu rsu i t of the rebel Masum and captu red Khi zrpu r andBaktarapu r , another of I sa Khan’s stronghold s . That chie fendeavoured to c reate a diversion by lay ing s iege to the fort of the

Q

TH E Nkwf ws

on Dacc a.

Is lam Khan .

DACCA DI STRICT .

referred to was evi den tly a leader of Portuguese who we re settledthere a lready . The chu rch doe s n ot seem to have been ever bu i lt .

The fol lowin g de scription of the d istri c t by Ralph Fi tch ,who

vi si ted it i n 1586 , i s in tere sting :“ From Baccla I wen t to Serrepore (Sri pu r ) which stande th

u pon the r i ver of Ganges the kin g i s called ChonderyChau dhu r i ) . They be a ll hereabou ts rebel s aga in s t the i r k ingZ ebaldim Echebar (t a ,

Jalaluddi n Akbar ) for here are so manyr ive rs and i sland s that they flee from on e to anothe r

,whereby

h i s horsemen cann ot prevai l again st them . Great store of cottoncloth i s made he re . Sinn ergan (

fi e , Son argaon ) i s a town s i xleague s from Serrepore , where there i s the be st and fines t c lothmade of cotton in all

’In d ia . The hou ses he re , as they be in the

most part of India , very l ittle and covered with s traw and have a

few mat s round abou t the wal l s and the door to keep ou t the

tiger s and the foxes . Many of the people are Ve ry r ich . He rethey wi l l eat no fle sh nor ki l l no beast : they l ive on r ice , m i lkand fru it s . They go with a l i t tle c loth before them and all the

re s t of the i r bod ie s i s naked . Great store of cotton c loth goe thfrom hence and mu ch r ice , wherewith they. serve all I ndia

,Ceylon

,

Pegu ,Ma lacca ,

Sumatra and many othe r place s .

”

At the beginn ing of the seven teen th cen tu ry the di str ict and citysprang in to prom inen ce as the head-quarte rs of the Nawabs of Dacca.

In 1607 I slam'

Khan was appoin ted V i ceroy of B engal and in

1608 he tran sferred the seat of governmen t from Rajmaha l toDacca wh ich was for several reason s a more con ven ien t capi tal .I t afforded a good cen tre for Operat i on s again st Usman

, the Afghanch ief

,who was st i l l u n su bdued , again st the Portu gu e se , who after

the i r al l iance with Arakan had become a ser i ou s menace to the

waterways of Eas tern Bengal , and again st the Ahom s in Assam .

B u t the ch ief reason , pe rhaps , for mak ing the removal permanentwas that a chan ge i n the cou rse of the r i ver at Rajmaha l hadre su lted i n a great decline in the trade of that place . It i s saidthat be fore fi xing the s ite of the new capi tal at Dacca, Isl amKhan had seriou s thou ghts of establ i sh ing it at Dhamra i where hehal ted some t ime and where a porti on of the vi l lage i s st i l l knownas l s lampu r . I t mu st not

,howeve r , be supposed that Dacca fi rst

came in to exi stence in the time of I slam Khan . Two mosque s indi fferen t quarte rs of the town had been bu i l t many years before th i sdate , Raja Man Singh had l ived for a time at Dacca and the townwas the seat of an imperial thanadar . Fu rther

,the Basaks of Dacca

have records to s h ow that the i r an cestors fi rst se tt led he re some

years before Isl am Khan’s t ime,and on ly a trading cen tre of some

impor tance wou ld have attracted su ch a commu n i ty as the i rs .

I sl am K han,the fir st Nawab of Dacca , was foster brother of the

Empe ror Jahangi r . H e was a s tri c t Mu sa lman,s imple i n h i s

pe rsonal habi ts and dre s s , bu t as Nawab he l i ved in regal style .

H e had horse and footmen i n hi s serv ice ; he had hi s

j hd r c/cu. and gla red/chan ce and he spen t i ts . a month on

H I STORY .

dancing gi rl s . Testimony of h i s piety i s to be fou nd in a mosoue

i n l sl ampu r in the town— a small unpreten ti ou s bu i lding said tohave been erected by h im— and the quarter s I slampu r and Nawab

pur of the c i ty owe thei r n ames to him . H e died i n 16 13 at Daccaand hi s body was taken to Fatehpu r S 1kri , hi s bi rthplace , and

bu ried there .

From the fi rst,probab ly

,Usman mu st have been a

’

source ofanxiety to I slam Khan B ut i n 16 12 A.D . when he was th reati ng Dacca i tse l f, b e sen t Shu j aat Khan with an army again sthim . A battle was fou gh t nea1 Usman

’s fortre ss and c oun try ”

on the banks of a stream, i n which Usman was ki l led and the

imper ial forces gai ned a victory whi ch shel tered once for all the

power of the Afghan s 1n Bengal .Abou t that t ime Lakshmi Narayan ,

king of Koch B i har , camei n person to Dacca and appealed to I sl am Khan for he l p again sth i s cou s in ,

the kin g of Koch Haj o,and simu l taneou s ly the Raj a

of Su sang begged asi stance again st the latter’s tyranny . I slam ,

glad of the opportu n i ty to humble a Raj a who had always pridedhimse l f on h i s independen ce

,and keen ,

n o doubt , to add freshte rritory to the empi re , sen t an expediti on . to Koch Haj o unde rMukar ram Khan . The Raj a was defeated

,taken pri soner to

Dacca and thence sent to Delh1,wh i le a garr i son was le ft i n

Ha'

o .JNext year I s l am Khan set h imse l f to su bdu e the coun try

east of the Meghn a which had submi tted to the king ofArakan . Gon sales of Sandip made an al l ian ce with the latterto repe l the i r common foe . The Arakanese (Mu gh ) army marchedas far as the Noakhal i d i str ict, bu t I s lam Khan su cceeded in

de feat ing i t and sen t to the Emperor , in charge of hi s son B ashangKhan , a numbe r of the Mughs who were captu red .

On I slam Khan’s death ,the Emperor appoin ted h i s brother Kasim Khan .

Kasim K han to be Vi ceroy i n hi s p lace . Du r ing hi s t ime the

kin g of Arakan took Sandi p and a port ion of the Bakarganjd i str ict and , accord ing to Arakan e se records , occupi ed Daccaal so, bu t th i s , i f tru e , mu st have been later

,when the Mu ghal

troops were el sewhere en gaged du ring Shah Jaban’s reb e l l ion .

For h is fai lu re to repe l the Mughs and for al lowing the As same seto make an in cu rs ion in to Koch Haj o Kasim was recal led in 16 18

and I brah im Khan appoin ted to B engal . The ou t-going and

in-coming viceroy s met and qu arrel led over the retu rn of I sl amKhan’s e lephants bu t Kasim

’s par ty was worsted and he le ft

Ibrah im in posses s ion of all h i s treasu res .Ibrahim Khan Fath Jang was the brothe r of the Empi ess I brah im

Nfi r Mahal . A strong and capable gG overnor

,he he ld the Afghan s Khan .

in check , repel led the Assamese andb

kept a strl c t watch 0 11 the

Arakanese by mean s of a fleet of war boat s . For five years agricu l tu re , manu factu res and commerce all flou ri shed

,and the

province enj oyed great prosper ity . B ut the se peacefu l time s weren ot to last . Prince Shah Jah an rebe l led and in vaded Benga l

DACCA DI STRICT.

and the Vi ceroy , recover ing from hi s fi rst pan i c,marched from

Dacca wi th what troops he cou ld col lec t . H e was hand icappedby part of h i s army be in g empl oyed i n Chi ttagong and port ion sof i t be in g scattered ove r the cou n try for the pu rpose of en forc ingthe reven ue col lection s , bu t he was loyal t o the Emperor, andattempts to ga in h im over were made i n vain . A battle wa s

fou gh t n ear Rajmahal , re su l ting in the death of Ibrah im and the

di spersal of hi s force s . Shah Jahan the reupon proceeded toDacca

,where Ahmad B eg, n ephew of Ibrahim ,

was compel led tomake ove r t o him all the e lephan ts , horse s and other p ropertyof h i s u n cle , together w ith forty lakh s of ru pees be l on ging toGovernmen t . He stayed in Dacca for a sh ort time giving audien ceto publ ic and pri vate gen tlemen and otherwi se condu cting h im

se l f as ru ler . On leavin g he appoin ted Darab Khan-to be governor

bu t on h i s retreat from Benga l anothe r V i ceroy was appoin ted.

From Arakanese sou rce s we learn that in 1622 the Raj a ofArakan en forced paymen t of tribu te from Dacca . Thi s he wou ldbe able to do i n the absen ce of Ibrah im and hi s army .

In the Rajmala we read that the Muhammadan s invadedTippera to capture hor se s and e lephan ts . H eaded by NawabFatteh Jan g they were v ictori ou s , the capital was taken and

the Raja sen t a pri sone r t o De lhi . The Muhammadan s remainedin that coun try two and a hal f years

,comm i tt ing great atroci ties

,

plun dering the temple s and robbing the in habi tan ts . They wereat last forced to leave owin g to the ou tbreak of a dread fu l p lagu e .

Again ,soon after 1625

,the Raj a of Tippera re fu sin g to pay

tribu te,the Nawab led or sen t an exped i ti on again s t h im whi c h

was defeated . On th i s occas ion we are told that hi s troops hadwith them a famou s cann on made of leather .

After Shah Jahan qu itted Bengal , the province was madeove r to Mahabat Khan and h i s son Khanah zad Khan . The forme rhad di stingu i shed himse l f i n the war in the Deccan and s o r i sento favou r . H e incu rred the Emperor’s d i spleasu re for fai l ing tosend him the elephan ts he captu red

, as we l l as for fai l ing tosu bmi t accoun ts . Leaving hi s son i n charge he set off to in te rview tne Emperor . Peace was made bu t the v i ceroyalty wascon ferred in 1626 on Mukar ram Khan .

The new Nawab was son-in-law of I slam Khan and he i t waswho led the exped i tion in to Koch Haj o . W hi le at Dacca he tookgreat pleasu re in boating and kept up a large e s tabl i shmen t o fboats of e ve ry de scri pti on for war as we l l as for pleasu re . Goingout one day i n state to mee t the Emperor

’s envoy hi s boat u pse tand he was d rowned .

M i rza l l idayatu llah known as Fidai Khan was appoin ted in162 7 . Nothing i s known of hi s viceroyal ty . (ln Jahangi r’s deathhe was replaced by the n ew Empe ror

’s own nom inee , Kas im Khan .

who had been Khazan chi or Treasu re r of B engal u nder I sl amK han . H e rose to favou r owi ng to hi s sk i l l in archery wh ichhe taugh t to the new Emperor and by marrying a s i s ter of N l

'

i r

HI STORY.

Jahan he secu red himself in the royal favou r . The ch ief even tof h i s ru le was the war agai n st the Portuguese at Hughli , in

whi ch the fleet from Dacca whi ch mobi l i sed at Sri pu r tookart.p

H e died in 163 1 A.D. and was su cceeded by Mi r Muham 14 21111 t 1 11 .

mad Baqi r, whose t i t le s were I radat Khan and afterward s AzimKhan . At a late r peri od he became Shah Shuja

’s father-i h -law.

Dming h i s t ime the Assamese de stroyed the garri son i n As sam,

carr ied off the govern or Abdu s Sal am and invaded B engal,

penetrating almost as far_as Dacca .

For th i s reason Az im Khan was supe rseded by I sl am Khan I slam KhanMashadi , wh ose real n ame was Mi r Abdu s Sal am . Soon after h i s Magma“

acce ssi on in 16 38 AD . he rece i ved a vi si t from Makat or Man ik Rai .the gove rnor of Chi ttagong u nder the Raj a of Arakan , who hadin cu rred that king’s d i spleasu re and now h astened to declare h imsel f .a vas sal of the Mu gha l Empi re . H e made over hi s province toIslam Khan who took posses si on and renamed the town of Ch i ttagong I slamabad The Nawab then despatched an exped ition intoAs sam-and terms were negotiated wi th the Assame se fixing a

boundary between Mu hammadan and Assame se territory , whi chwas maintained for the next twenty-five year s . I t i s possiblethat the resu l ts of thi s expedit i on might have been le ss favou rable to the As same se had not the V i ce roy been recal led by the

Emperor to the post of Vazi r at De lhi,thu s making room

for’Prince Muhammad Shu ja, common ly known as Sh ah

Shu°

a .JThe fort at Dacca , whi ch stood on the s i te now occupied by

the Lunati c Asylum and Cen tral Jai l , was bu i l t by I slam KhanMashad i . The cou rts of ju sti ce and the min t were with in i tswal l s . The bu i lding oppos ite the main gate of the jai l i s said tohave been the re siden ce of the kotwa t. I slam Khan also inc reasedthe n awar a (or fleet) and the art i l lery , and in h i s time the

arsenal mu s t have been in a state of con s iderable efli c i ency forthe re exi st s now i n Mu r sh idabad a gun made at Dacca du ringhi s viceroyal ty . It i s seven teen and a half feet long and i ts

mu zzle i s s ix inche s in diameter ; the we ight i s said to. be abou tseven and three-qu arte r ton s .

Shah Shu ja came t o B engal as V i ceroy i n 1639 . The Shah Shu ja.

Emperor sen t w i th h im as an advi se r h i s fathe r-in-law,Azim

Khan,who had himsel f fi l led the post , and , fu rther to cu rtai l h i s

power , pu t Sha ista Khan in charge of Behar . Afte r a short re s idence i n Dacca , Shah Shuj a for some reason tran s ferred hi scapital to Rajmahal

,leav ing hi s father-in-law as hi s depu ty i n

Dacca . The latter d i s l iked th i s subordinate pos it ion and soonre s igned . For nearly twen ty years , with a short break , ShahShuj a ru led ove r Ben ga l . In sp i te of the absen ce of the vice regalc ou rt , thi s was apparently a per iod of prosperity for the c i ty ofDac ca and severa l of it s important bu i ld ings date from th i st ime.

M i r Juml a.

DACCA DI STRICT .

Shah Shuj a proved an able admin i strator and one ofh i s ach ievemen t s was the preparati on of a n ew rent-rol l ofthe prov in ce . Bu t h i s ambi tion proved h i s ru in . Hearingof h i s father’s i l lnes s , he started at the head of an army wi ththe intent i on of se i z ing the Empi re . Detai l s of th i s exploitbe l on g more properly to a hi story of Ind ia or of Bengal . Su ffi cei t to say here that he was defeated by Aurangzeb

’s general

, Mi rJumla

,and fled to Dacca , wh ither he was pu rsued by Mi r Jumla .

H e sen t hi s son ,Z ainuddi n

,to arran ge for an asylum with the

king of Arakan . Z ainuddi n was wel l recei ved by the latte r and

came back to Dacca with a fleet of boats manned by Portu gueseand Arakanese

,on which poor Shu ja embarked with all h i s fami ly

and treasu re and escaped to Arakan where he d ied .

On the defeat and fl ight of Shah Shuj a , the Emperor appo in t<ed M i r Jumla to be V i ceroy . H e was above all th ings a sold i e rand a soldier wi th great ambiti on s . I t has been sugge sted thatAu rangzeb gave him thi s appointmen t not mere ly as a reward forhi s serv ices ( especially again st Shah Shuj a ) bu t al so as an

exped ien t for keepin g a dangerou s man at a d i stan ce, fu l lyoccupied with congen ia l employmen t . The re l i cs in Dacca attr i

bu ted to him are all the works of a mi l itary governor . At the

con fluence of the Lakshya, Dhaleswar i and Meghn a ri vers hebu i lt the Idrakpu r fort

,where the town of Mun s h i ganj now

stands. Mu ch of thi s fort st i l l remain s and within i ts wal l sthe Su bd ivi si onal Office r has hi s res iden ce and the jai l‘ i slocated . The forts at Khizrpu r and Sona Kanda are attr ibu ted toh im

, but both probably exi sted before hi s t ime and i n all l ikel i hoodhe on ly strengthened them . The re were at one t ime two fort s on

the Bu ri Ganga be low Dacca, one at Fatu l la and the other opposi te .

These we re probably bu i lt by h im . The bridge at Pagla , Tavern ier tel l s u s

,was hi s work

, and i t i s more than probable that h eal so con structed the road from Dacca to Khi z rpu r , v i d

'

. Fatu l la ,whi ch passe s over th i s br idge . Final ly , the road to Mymen s inghand the bridge on i t at Tongi were both made by him .

Before M i r Jum la took up the governmen t of Bengal theAs samese had been giving mu ch trou ble

,and as soon as he had

le i su re he tu rned h i s attenti on to them . H e sen t ou t two smal lexpedi ti on s , one under Rashi d Khan and an other under Raj aSujan Singh

,which had l i ttle or no resu l t . Then

,in 166 1, he

started himse l f,leaving lhti shan Khan at Khiz rpu r to guard

Dacca and i t s en virons . Whi le away he con tracted a seri ou si l lne s s wh ich ne i the r h i s Du tch nor h i s Fren ch doctor , nor h i s

Hakim from De l hi cou ld cu re and he died not far from Khi z rpu ri n 166 3 .

On the d eath o f Mi r Jumla,Shai sta Khan , brothe r of the

Empre s s Momtaz Mahal and nephew of the Empre s s Nu r Maha l ,was appoi n ted to the vacan t vice royal ty . l le ru led Bengal from16 6 4 to 16 77 and again from 16 79 to 16 89 , and du ring thi s pe ri odDacca attained to the zen i th of i t s prosperity and grandeur .

iri s'roa'

r . 31

One of the fi rst of Sha i sta Khan’s acts was to c lear ther i ve rs of the pi rates that in fe sted them and to sac k the s tronghold of the Mughs at Chittagong . H e won over many of thePortugu e se from the i r al legian ce t o the k ing of Arakan and

plan ted a colony of them at Feringh i B azar n ear Mun sh i ganj .

H e next tu rned hi s atten t i on to Tippera and captu red and sen t toDe lh i the hei r-apparen t of the kingdom who had been gu i lty ofgreat crue l ty ,

bu t l i ke many vi ce roys the remoteness of De lh ien cou raged him in an u ndue sen se of h i s own importance and he

gave grave offence by refu s ing to send the su rplu s t reasu re to thecapital . H e was recal led i n 1677 and du rin g hi s absen ce the

prov ince was admin i stered by Az im Khan and , on the death ofthat pr in ce , by Mu hammad Azam ,

who commenced the construot ion of the Lal Bagh which conta in s the beau ti fu l tomb of h i swi fe Per i B i bi .

In 1679 Shai sta Khan retu rned to Dacca . Three years late rW i l l iam Hedges came to h i s cou rt” to seek conces sion s for theCompany and has left the followin g accoun t of h i s fl a t

At 9 in ye morn in g I wen t to wai t on ye Nawab , whoafte r 1 hou r

’s attendan ce sen t offi cer s to bring me in to h i s presen ce , be ing sat u nder a large canopy of state made of cr imsonve lve t ri ch ly embroidered with gold and si l ve r , and deep gold and

s i lver fringe s , supported by 4 bamboos plated over wi th gold .

I was di rected by ye Emi r Tu suk, or Master of the Ceremon ie s ,t o s it ove r again st ye Nawab , n eare r ye can opy than h i s Duanor any other person . At my fi rst en tran ce ye Nawab was ve rybu sy in de spatch ing and vesting dive r s pr incipal offi ce rs sentwi th all possible di li gence wi th recru i ts for the i r army latelyove rthrown in Asham and Si lle t , two large plen t i fu l cou ntrie s8 days’jou rn ey from th i s c ity

,which are all l ost except on e

li ttle place he ld ou t and kept by 4 0 or 50 person s on ly : ye re stof ye sou ld ier s be in g all fled ou t ofye coun try . Amongst ye re s tI saw a Portu gu ese who was to be Commander of 5 or 600 of h i scou ntrymen .

”

Fu rthe r on ,we r .ead

November 13 th .— News be ing brought me last n i gh t that ye

Nabob ( i n ye 82nd year of h i s age ) had a son born thi s day ,and

’twas expected I shou ld make h im a vi s i t and give h im a pre~

sen t , I went th i s morn ing to ye Durbar and gave h im 13 oldmohu rs and 2 1 ru pee s , wh ich he accepted so kind ly that I took

ye opportun i ty to reque st h i s perwanna .

Later on he tel l s u s of a very severe flood that occu rred inDacca on the 4 th September 168 4

Sh ai sta Khan governed Benga l with signal succes s nu trl

1689 , when , ve rging on n ine ty years of ago, he obtained permi ss ion to res ign . When leaving the c i ty he ordered the we sterngate to be bu i l t up in commemorat ion of the pr ice of rice fal l ingin hi s t ime to the rate of 6 4 0 l bs . per ru pee , and an in sc rip

h

Dacca underDeputies .

DACCA ms'rmc'r .

tion was placed on i t forb idd in g any futu re gove rnor to ope n 1t

un ti l that rate was again attain ed " H e d ied shortly afterward sat Agra . The parganas o f Talipabad and Sha i stanagar s ti l l ex i s tto pe rpetuate h i s name i n the d i str i ct .

The adm in i strati on of Shaista Khan’s two immed iate su c

cesors Bahadu r Khan and I brah im Khan was u nevent fu l , and

the latte r i s be st kn own as the bu i lde r of the palace at J inj i raopposite the ci ty of Dacca which was connected with the BaraKatra by awooden bridge . The n ext vi ceroy Az im-u sh-shan was s oOppres s ive in hi s treatmen t of the trading c lasses that the son ofa poor B rahman , Mu rsh id Ku l i Jafar Khan

,was sen t to him as

finan ce min i s ter wi th plenary powers . As soon as th i s man arri vedin Dacca he reorgan i sed the col lection stafl

"

, as sessed accu rate ly theimperial and sa i ya r taxe s , and prepared a complete revenu e rol lof the provin ce . H e al so resumed many of the Bengalj aghi fr s givingles s valuable lands in Or i s sa i n exchan ge . The se re forms enabledh im to rem i t a crore of ru pees to the Emperor bu t did

—

not endearhim to the vi ce roy

,who endeavou red to procu re hi s assassination .

Jafar Khan withdrew to a town,that -he cal led after h im self

Mu rsh idabad , and the Emperor recal led Az im-u sh-shan to B ehar .From th i s date Dacca became the head-quarters of a Depu ty orNaib ‘Naz im on ly .

Bu t many even of the se officers re sided ou tside the d i stri c tand on ly sen t depu tie s to Dacca. Of these M i r Habib was anoppre s s i ve , and hi s su cces sor i n the diwd n ship Jaswant Ra ia good adm in i st rator . So prospe rou s indeed was Dacca in h i stime that the pri ce of r ice on ce more fe l l to 64 0 lbs . per rupeeand the gate c losed by Shaista Khan was thrown open . Afterhim the di s tr ict seems to have fal len u pon trou blou s t imes , one

depu ty su cceeding an othe r in qu i ck su cces s i on and the Marathasbe ing a con stan t sou rce of terror . I t was at thi s peri od that Raj aRaj Ballabh acqu i red weal th and power . Hi s father had beena c lerk in the fn awmw t (naval departmen t ) , but the son startingfrom equal ly humble beginn ings rose to be the r iche st and mos tpowerfu l man i n Eastern B engal . H e acqu i red great e states inc luding the pargana of Rajnagar and erected numerou s temple sall of whi ch have since been washed away by the r i ve r Padma .

Afte r the battle of Plas sey M i r Jafar became Nawab Naz im but

he fe ll in to d i sgrace for au thori sing or conn i ving at the mur

der of the widow mother and daughter of Sirajuddau la and the

widow and adopted son of Ali Vard i Khan who had been confinedat Dacca , and was for a t ime deposed . He was rein stated in1 76 3 and in that year Dac ca seems to have been the prey of threese parate armies

,being captu red by the fol lowers of Mi r Kasim,

re taken by Muhammad Feza Khan,and pi l laged by the Sannyasi s .

'.I r is d i ffi c u l t to u nders tand how i t can have paid to reap , thresh an d

h u sk mac aw ] hr 111g 1t to ma rke t i f the pr ice was on l y 2 au nas a maund . At t he“ r ! o f the c 1gh lccu th c entu ry when n o : was s0 “n for fou r an nas a maund at

Syl he t i t was reported th at 11118 pr ice ba re l y pa id the 0 0o 1111'

s to market .

Extinctiono f fami l y ofNa1b Naz im.

The Eng l ishFactory at

Dacca

DACCA DI STRICT.

“ Most,i f not all, of the above fu nct i on s mu st have been

n ominal and qu i te in appl i cab le to the state of th ings exi sting eveni n 1 78 5 bu t in the presen t day i t wou ld be farci ca l to talk of anofli ce having su ch du tie s annexed . The Nawab Shumsooddowleh

doe s n ot himse l f n ow apply for a Sunnu d as hi s brother d id in

1 78 5,bu t merely ask s general ly that the hon ou r and c on sequen ce

of h i s fam i ly may be main tain ed As th ere are no en gagemen tsin e xi sten ce wh i ch bind Governmen t to keep u p the cfli ce ofNaib Naz im at Dacca, as the corre sponding offi ce s in B ehar andon th i s si de of B engal have l ong s in ce been aboli shed

,and as

there i s n oth ing in the ci rcum stan ce s of Shumsooddowleh to gi vehim any pecu l iar c laim t o in du lgen ce , i t wi l l probably be thou ghtexped ien t to pas s over and om i t al toge ther the appoin tmen t ofNaib Naz im in ann ou ncin g the provi si on au thor i sed for the

.

fami ly .

In 1831 Shamsuddau la died and was su cceeded by h i s son

Jal alu dd i n Mu hammad Kami ruddau la who on hi s death in 1834‘

was i n hi s tu rn succeeded by hi s son Ghazi udd in Haidar , knownas the Pagla Nawab. H e incu rred debts and behaved in su ch a

mann er that Governmen t had to make ove r the man agemen to f hi s prope rty to an agen t . H e di ed he i r les s in 1 8 4 3 and the

t itle as we l l as the offi ce of Naib Nazim became extinct . Hi sproperty was sold by au c t ion and on e of the state howdahs passedin to the han d s of the B asaks of Nawabpu r by whom i t i s paradedon the occas i on of the Janmastami fes t i val . Troops were presen tat Nawab Ghaz iuddi n

’s fun eral

,whi ch was condu cted with

mi l itary hon ou rs as cu stomary .

”

We mu st now tu rn back to trace the or igin of the Engl i shfactory at Dacca . I t i s not kn own when or by whom th i s factorywas fi r s t e s tabl i shed . Thomas P latt

,or Pratt

,who was Mi r Jumla’s

shi p -bu i lder , wou ld seem to have repre sen ted the East India Com

pany at the Dur bar and he appears to have been the Company’sAgen t when Tavern ier v i s i ted Dacca , for he men ti on s Mr Pratt asbei ng the Eng l i sh chief or President . Before hi s time there was

another E ng l i shman i n Dacca,for we read that a few years later a

deed pu rporting to be signed by Jame s Hart and dated 1658 was produ ced in su pport of a claim for the land on which the Engli s hfactory stood and which was forme r ly owned by th i s Jame s Hart .The deed was t reated as a forgery

,bu t the fact that Hart was in

Dacca in 165 8 and owned the land was not d i spu ted . Nothingfu rthe r i s known abou t th i s man

,and he may have had nothing

to do wi th the Company .

In 16 72-73 the Company was repre sen ted by Mes srs . JohnSmi th a nd Samu e l Harvey , bu t the two s eem to have fal len ou t

,

for we fi nd that in 16 7 7 the former al leged “ that Mr . Harveysa id to me that there was n o su ch th ing as god or d i vel l thatre ligi on was broached to keep ye world in awe , that i t was done

msr oar .

35

by ye cunn ing of Moses and afterward Ch ri st , or word s to yesame effect.” The cou rt charged H arvey with “

athe i s ti cal no

ti on s ,”

and he was pu t on hi s trial but acqu i tted . In 16 76

Mr . Eyteh Nedham was the Agen t at Dacca, bu t i n that yearMr . Har vey was sent back them as chie f wi th Nedham as hi ssecond . One of the fi rst th ings he did was to procu re sanctionfor the erecti on of bri ck bu i ld ings for th e Company’s f actory . Ten

years be fore,Tavern ier te l l s u s

,the En gli sh hou se was “ fai rly

good bu t i t was probably not of bri ck .

Even at thi s early t ime the En gli s h appear to have had s ome

prestige and influence at the Du rbar , for on e Emin Cooly”

the

forme r faujdar of H ughli , got a letter of in trodu ction to theEngl i sh offi cers at Dacca to he l p him in some bu s iness he hadwith the Nawab .

M u ch of the chief’s t ime was occupied then as for manyyear s late r , in endeavou ri ng to procu re the Nawab s parwana on

advan tageou s terms for the Engli sh trade . For th i s pu rposevi s i ts were pa id to the ch ief Du 1 bar offi cia l s as we l l as to theNawab . Pre sen ts al so were an importan t factor in the case .

In May 1678 , we read of the gentlemen at Dacca pre sen tingthe Nawab with an Arabian horse i n Ju ly of the same year theylamen ted thei r inabi li ty to make a pre sen t to the n ew darogabecau se we had pre sen ted two great men twice thi s year

,fi r st

ye Nawab AZUm Cawn ,and now ye Prin ce .

”

In Ju ly 1678 Mr . Matth ias Vin cen t , the chief at H ughli ,vi s i ted Dacca to see i f he cou ld personal ly indu ce the Nawab togran t the nece s sary parwanas for the trade . I t i s in tere sting toobserve how he fi rst vi s i ted “ the Prin ce

’s Duan

,

” then “ the

King’s Duan ,

” then " the Prince’s Nazarr or Control ler of yehou se ,

and so on . A few days later he was gran ted an au dience of the Prin ce , to whom he presen ted 2 7 gold mohu rs and a

hundred ru pees i n s i lve r (the actua l presen t incl ud ing two horse swas sen t later ) . After two mon th s spen t in con stan t v i s its fi rstto one offi cia l and the n to another , Mr . Vin cen t obtained thePrince’s orde r for free trade and left Dacca.

In the same year a th i rd offi cer was sen t to Dacca, v ia ,

Mr . Pown ce tt , wh i le M r . Fytch Nedham was replaced by Mr .

Trenchfield . In 168 1 the Dacca d iary was s igned , du ring Mr .

Harvey’s i l lnes s , by Messrs . John P own cett and Charle s Eyre (thelatter was warehou se-keeper) .

The amoun t expended on pre sen ts at th i s t imemu s t have beencon siderable as the fol lowing extracts of the year 168 1 wi l l show

9 th J u n e— James Price acqu ain ted u s that the Duan’sPhu rwana wou l d speed ily be perfected upon ou r

grat ify ing the mu tsuddi es : we thou ght con ven ien t

(tho'

a greater matter was u rged by ye said James

36 DACCA DI STRI CT .

Pric e) t o sen d 15 rupees to the Mun shy, 3 yard s ofs car let to the peshdu st and 4 yard s of ord in aryto ye cu llumbu rdar .

1 1th J u n e — Hodge Sophe Chaan ,the king’s du an ,

seeingou r Vaqu eele th i s day at ye Nabob’s du rbar and

sign i fy ing to him h i s des i re of su ch wax figu res ,etc .

,we had forme rly given the Nabob Shasteh

Chaan , on notice hereo f we conclu ded i t mostnece ssary (c on sidering how mu ch and how con stantly we were obl iged to him ) to pre sen t him 2 wax

figu res , togethe r wi th those cu rios it ies in the fl in tware we rece i ved late ly from B agly .

“ 9 th J u ly .— Coda B ux Chaan ,

the king’s B uxia and

third offi cer in the k ingdom of B engal,th i s day

doing u s the h onou r of coming to ou r factory , wethou ght n ece ssary , ac ccording to all decen cy and

cu stom to presen t him withetc .

’

26th December u—H avin g u nderstood from Mi rza Mudu fl

‘er

”

that par t of the fl in t ware he lately bou ght was forB u zu rgh Omeed Cawn ye Nabob’s e ldest son

,and

being in stru cted by him also that i t wou ld be

con ven ien t for u s to give h im a vi si t with some

smal l nu z zar or presen t,

as i s ye cu stom of yecoun try (noe vi s i t of th i s natu re be ing made emptyhanded ) we c on c luded to see him th i s day and

presen t him , a large bu rn in g glas s , a penkn i fe,a

large prospect ive glas s , a Me rid ian su n d ial .

The Dutch T wou ld seem to have been equ al ly lavi sh and

were granted leave to export rice on promi s ing e lephan ts , horses,etc .

In 16 8 2 W i l l iam Hedges arr i ved in India to be Govern or andSuperin tenden t of the factor ie s i n the Bay of B engal , with thet i tle of tAgen t of the Bay. The severa l afi ron ts

,i nsolenc ies and

abu se s dayly pu t u pon u s by 150 0 1 Chundfi. ou r chie f cu stomer

(cau sing gen eral s top of ou r trade ) be in g growne in su ffe rable,

ye Agen t and Coun cell for ye H on ble E . Indian Comp’s affai resat H ughly re solved u pon and made u se of d i vers exped ien t sfor redress

,and conc luded i n con su l tat i on that the on ly expe

dien t now le ft was for the Agen t to go himsel f i n person to the

Son -in-law of Nawab Shai sta Khan’s e ldest son B u zu rg Umed Khan .

1 The Du tch w ere estab l ished in Dacca he fme the Eng l i sh .

I l i e w as 111 11 r og 1 o f l lngh l i ; 0 11 h i s appo intmen t 1 11 Mar ch 1682 he present0 11 the h aw irh w 1th Its 2 00 000 and rec r 1 ved f rom li im “ fou r large pear ls ,w i th two r u b les for h i s 11 golden s t 11nd 1s l1 , a go lden 111tted sword and

otl1e r u 1 t 1c le s and from th e 11 Pers ian horse .

H I STORY.

Nabob and Duan at Dacca, as wel l to make some settledadju stmen t con cern ing ye cu stoms as to en deavou r the preven ting In ter lopers trading i n these parts for ye fu tu re : in orderto wh ich preparat i on s were cau sed to be made . M r . Ri chardFren chfield and Mr . W i l liam John son were appoin ted to goalong with ye Agen t to Dacca . The Agen t arri ved in Dac caon 2 5th October 1682 and su cceeded in obtain ing parwanas

fixing the du ty on bu l l ion at the min ts,

al lowing trade free ofcu stom s du tie s (on secu ri ty ) for seven mon ths pending an orderfrom the Emperor and for seve ral othe r smal ler matters . LikeMr . Vin cen t , the Agen t on ly secu red the se conce s si on s by con

stan t v i s its to the var iou s Du rbar offi cial s .I n 1688 B ahadur Khan se ized the factory and impri soned Sei zure

the me rchan ts and the i r fol lowers . At fi rst they were not

treated , bu t on the arr i val of “ M r . Hen ry Han ley and Mr .

111 1

Jame s Raven h i l l wi th 1 4 per son s more in company , all in a

most m i se rable and tattered conditi on , laden with fetters ofabou t 8 lbs .

,they were th rown in to the pri son al l otted to the

new-comer s,fet tered and chained together at n i ght two and two .

Re l ie f, however , came with the arri val of I brah im Khan whore in stated them in the i r posse ss ion s and obtain ed for them fromthe Emperor i n 169 1 fu l l au thori ty to t rade free of all dues andcharges i n retu rn for an annu al paymen t of Rs.

Pre sen ts to the Nawab con t inu ed to be a heavy charge u ponthe Company . I ts l ocal repre sentati ve s we re not howeveru ngratefu l and protested at the meannes s of the gifts sen t for theacceptance of the generou s Ibrahim Khan . They were in formedby the i r superior offi cer s that the Rt H on

’ble Company , in the i r

advices , had blamed them for “the abom inable large pi shcashes

at Dacca and the great expen se year ly made at that du rbar,

”

and had ordered that frugal i ty be u sed for the fu tu re,bu t

,and

th i s was the importan t poin t , t he pre sen t was in creased . Evenafte r the removal of the Nawab Naz im from Dacca the benevolencesto hi s depu ty con st i tu ted a seriou s d rain and in 17 37 arri vedone Sc iadradgecau n .

“ Th is man act s he re i n the most tyrann i calmann e r not on ly i n hi s own offi ce bu t al so i n those appértain ingto the Nabob’s governmen t

,whi pping and ki l l ing whosoever re fu se

to give him any sums of money he demands .” H e seems to haveh ad no reasonable t itle to be placated with a gift of money , but

he refu sed with scorn the offer of Rs . 500, and su bsequ en tlywhen he became Naib Nazim’

s Depu ty he boycotted the factoryt il l h i s demands were sat i sfied . In those days the j udi c ialo ffi cers requ i red propi tiat i on no le s s than the execu t i ve , as wi llbe seen from the fol lowing nai ve accou n t of Kaz i

'

s j u sti ce —“ The

Faqu eer that had l i ved for many year s on ou r whar f and whichsome mon ths s ince we ge t tu rn ed away by ou r Nabob’s orde r

,

having been at Muxadavad to complain , had obtained a pu rwanadirected to the Cozzes here to enqu i re in to the affai r

,and i f he

found the Faqueer had a r ight to the ground and that a

Mi l i taryestab l ishment of thefac tory .

DACCA DI STRICT .

Mussu lman's bones were bu ried there that then he shou ld restabli sh

him in hi s right and permi t him to bu i ld a place of worsh ip on

the ground : and the Cozzee having offered , i n con s ideration of2 50 Rupees to gi ve a Su nn ud sett ing forth the Faqu eer

’s com

plain t to be groundless and fal se and l i berty for u s occu py thegrou nd and bu i ld on i t : and we con s ider ing the great inconven iency of having a Moore’s place of worship i n the midst ofou r ground

,especia l ly i f ou r Hon

’ble Master s shou ld think

proper to have a factory hou se bu i l t there . Agreed we do pay theCoz zee 2 50 Rupee s and rece ive from him a Sunnud accordingly .

”

It i s not c lear when a mi l i tary guard was fi rst en terta in edat the factory . In 1736 the m i l i tary stores i ncl uded 3 Bras sSwi ve l gun s , 2 Mortars , 3 lon g Swi ve l gu n s , 4 large B ras s Swive lB lunderbu s ses , 10 smal l (3 of whi ch are i ron) , 2 i ron Canon , 10spare Bayonet pieces , 4 Carb ine s , 5 Pistol s , 5 Swords , e tc . ,

etc .

The se wou ld hardly have been kept had there been no personsto use them

,bu t no fixed establ i shmen t seems to have been

en tertained . In the fol lowin g year the presen ce of some mi l i taryofficers from Calcu tta cau sed the Dacca Counc i l to con sider thei rrequ i remen ts .

“ Taking in to con s iderat i on what mi l i tary are

necessary to be kept at thi s Factory , i t appears that i t i s necessary to have sentinals at the doors o f the Treasu re Godown and

other Warehou ses of the Fac tory , as we l l as at the gate s , and thatat s ome of the adjacen t pet ty chowkeys stopping boats that arebringing the B ou’ble Company’s good s , a party of sold ie rsareoften nece ssary to be sen t to c lear su ch goods . Agreed the reforethat we keep one En sign

,one Sergean t , one Corporal , on e Drum

mer and 17 sen ti nals,and that we send the remai nder of the

M i l i tary to Calcu tta .

” Su ch was the beginn ing of the mi l i tarygu ard at Dacca , I n 174 5 i t had in creased to one Lieu tenan t ,fi ve Se rgean ts

,six Corporal s

,4 7 Eu ropean privates , and seve ra l

othe rs . In the fol lowin g year some fu rther addi ti on s were madeon accoun t of the Maratha scare , the force then stand ing at one

Lieu ten an t,one En sign , seven Sergean t s

,e ight Corporal s , 7 1

Eu ropean “ pri vate men , 4 2 Portuguese (who were shortly afterd i spen sed wi th ) and others . In th i s had been replaced bya guard of sepoys , on e battal i on being d i s tr i bu ted between Chi ttagong , Dacca and Lakhipu r . Later , i t con si s ted of a regime nt

of i n fantry and a detachmen t of ar ti l lery ,and i n 1836 (exactly

one hu nd red year s after the fi rs t en tertainmen t of a permanen tguard ) the 5oth Regimen t of Nat i ve In fan try were stat i onedhere , wi th e i ghteen comm i s si oned officers , be s ide s a Surgeon .

The origin al can tonmen ts at Dacca were near Tezgaon , i n a

vi llage cal led Baigu n Bar i . The place i s sti l l cal led Kalipaltan ,

and a porti on of i t sti l l re tain s the name of Chandmari (shootingrange ) . Some time abou t the be ginn ing of the n ineteent h cen

tu ry the can tonment s we re moved neare r the town to the Pu ranaPaltan , but the s i te was thought to be unhea l t hy and a few yearsbefore the Mu tiny the troops were transferred to the Lal Bagh .

HI STORY.

At fi rst the Company’s e stabl i shment con sisted of two Eu ro Estab l ishpean s

,bu t by the year 1736 there were fi ve posts at the factory , me“ 3

}v iz .

,the C hie f

,the Accoun tan t , the Export Warehou se

ac’m '

keeper , the Bu xi and the Import Warehou se-keeper . In 1758 the

Cou rt d i rected that the bu s ine ss sh ou ld be conducted by a Chie f,

a Second and two Wri te rs . The Chie f and h i s Ass i s tan ts had

smal l salarie s,bu t to compen sate for th i s they we re al lowed the

priv ilege of trading on the i r own accoun t provided th i s d id not

in terfe re with the Company’s in vestmen ts . A common tab le wasmain tained at the Factory , at the expen se of the Company , and

in 1 73 7 , the Company al lowed Rs . 700 yearly for Factory pro~vi s i on s . This sum was in creased con siderab ly i n later yearsand in 1758 Rs . we re al lowed for keeping a table

,wi th

in stru cti on s “ that the Jun i or se rvan t s shal l partakethereof : and , in case they shal l des ire to d iet apart , each ju n i orservan t above the rank of Wr i te r shal l get ou t of the Chief’sal lowan ce 30 cu rrent ru pees per mon th ,

and each Wri te r The

fi rst men ti on of a Factory Su rgeon i s an en try dated the l 6th

Decembe r 17 37 : M r . John Coleman,our late Su rgeon

,havin g

died in testate,etc . H e was su cceeded by M r . Holwe l l and then by

Mr . John Can ty . A Su rgeon seem s to have been attach ed to theFactory regu larly thereafte r . The salary of the post was fortyrupees per meh sem .

The exten t of the private trade of the Company’s servant s Pri v atecan hardly be real i sed in these latte r day s . Mr . Cooke

,who trade

was di smi s sed for embezz lemen t,forfe ited all hi s property

to the Company to make good the los s : thi s property in clu dedthe art ic le s in which he was trad ing and i t took many mon th sto gather i n from the var iou s trad ing cen tre s (au rungs) theart ic le s that had been secu red for him. As the Company recogn i sed th i s trade , certain of the factory charges (v ia ,

ChargesGeneral

,Se rvan ts’Wage s and Charge s Du rbar ) were d ivided pro

portionately between the Company and i ts servan ts accord ing tothe amou n t of trade . The fol lowing figu res gi ve the trade and

the proporti on of the charge s payable i n 17 4 4

Annual Amou n t ofsa l ary . trade .

Rs . a . p . Rs . a . p .

The B ou’b le 3 0 14 0

Thomas Joshua Moore, E sq , Chief £40 0 3 15 9Mr . John Smith , J un r . Mer c ht £30 13 0 277 13 0Mr . Samu e l B opper , Factor £ 15 7 3 4 48 3 3M r . James B lachford . Factor £ 15 8 0 0 9Mr . Thomas Man

,Wri ter 53. 5 12 3 361 1 9

11 9 0 6

f‘

40 DACOA DI STRICT:

One of th e bes t known in stances of private trade at theDacca Fac tory i s that of Mr . R i chard Barwel l , who , wh i le Chie fhe re , made a fortu ne i n s al t tran saction s in Bakarganj . Sixmon th s-afte r he arr i ved i n Dacca he appl ied for perm i s s i on torem i t a lakh of rupee s in bu l l ion to England . When th reaten edby Claver in g with legal proceedin gs , he wrote H e (Claverin g)th reaten s me with the terror s of the law— he brings forward a fa l secharge tou ch ing the ben efi ts I der i ved from sal t wh i le at Dacca .

I do not deny the profi ts I made . I avow them . I a lways avowedthem. They were ne ither secre t nor clandestine

,bu t I obj ect to

the conclu si on s drawn ,and refute them

, etc .

Robert Lind say , when at Dacca as a very junior servant ofthe Company

"

a few year s late r , al so specu lated large ly in salt i nhi s private capac i ty . His accou n t of hi s fi r s t ven tu re i s in tere sti ng. H e write s Among the n umerou s art i cles of commercecarr ied on in the in ter ior o f the Dacca d istr i ct sal t i s not the

least con s ide rable i t i s man u factu red by the Agen ts of Gove rnmen t on the sea coast and pre served as a mon opoly for the ben efitof the Company . At certain periods i t i s brou ght up in largeboats to Dacca and there exposed to pu bl i c sale . My commercia ledu cat i on at Cadiz was now beginn ing to show it sel f of u se to me .

In the mode of expos ing the l ots to sale I cou ld perce i ve no smal lin trigue was carrying on for I saw that th e nat i ves had n ot t hatfree acces s to the public sale to which they were enti t led

,and that

the lots fe l l, as they were pu t up ,to the dependen ts of the Mem

bers of Coun c il , who by th i s mean s gained to themsel ve s a con

siderable advan tage . A fai r Opportu n i ty I thought , now occu rredof be tterin g myse lf wi thou t inju ry to the pu bl ic I there fore con

versed with a weal thy n at i ve on th i s su bject,who fu l ly entered

in to my views and proposed to advan ce me a large sum of moneyupon a mu tual con cern , prov ided I wou ld appear as the osten s i bleper son . I in consequ en ce appeared at the n ext sa le and became

the pu rchaser of sal t to the exten t of and the specu

lation tu rned ou t so we l l as fu l ly to enable me to pay off all the

debt I had con tracted du r ing my long re s iden ce in Calcu tta, andto place» a few thou sand ru pees i n my pocket .

”

Su ch a c le veryoung man cou ld n ot have acqu i red any popu lar i ty among h i s

supe riors by th i s coup and he nai ve ly adds —“ This, I have reas on

to th ink,soon after fac i l i tated my remova l from Dacca.

I t i s not perhaps so we l l known that War ren Ha stings e ngagedin private trade wi th in the ju r i sd ic tion of the Dacca Factory . A

complain t was made in 1763 to Cal cu tta by the Dacca Counci l of

the i l legitimate u se s to wh ich sipahi s were put by Has tings’agen ts .

In reply Has tin gs recorded the fol lowing n ote -“ Some t ime ago a.

large body of Fakee r s in fe stin g the cou n try abou t Backe rgunge su r

rou nded M r . Ke l ly,my Agen t , and pu t h im i n great dange r of hi s

l i fe For th i s reason I reque sted the Governor to send a

few people to h i s re scue . The Fakee rs have s ince qu i tted the countax aud i tm am intentihnto.have r eoalled t he seapoys but by i ll

DACCA DI STRICT .

a body left the Fac tory w ithou t any order s and fled to the fewboat s that were al ready come i n the u tmost i rregu larity and

con fus ion ,rendering the i r own re treat u n de r su ch circum

stances very precar iou s and pu tt ing i t ou t of the power of thegen tlemen to c onduct the affai r i n the manner t hat had beenreal ly proposed . H e

begs leave furthe r to observe that the so sudden recove ry of theDacca Fac tory was en t i re ly the re su lt of the gen t lemen

’s ownre so lu tion on the fi rst accou n t they had eve r rece i ved of the

Meek ly detachmen t’s having left that country,Captain G rant

not havin g j oined ou r party t i l l we had left Lu ckypore ,and that su cn thei r re solu t ion and application afterwardshas been atten ded with the happy con sequence of procu ri ng to h i s H on

’ble Masters n ear ly as large

,and , he may

ven tu re to say ,as good an inve stmen t as hath been known

for some years to come from thi s Factory . Qu ite another ver si onof the story

,howeve r

,i s g iven by Clive in a minu te

,dated

2 9 th Janu ary 1766 That gen t leman’s Mr . Leycester)

behavi ou r at Dacca,when he abandoned the Factory which

commanded a ve ry con s ide rable proporti on of the Company’s

treasu re and me rchandi se wou ld in all probabi l i ty have l ost himthe ser vice i f Gen eral Carnac had not prevai led u pon Mr .

Van si tta1 t to let him soften the paragraph wr itten upon thatsu bject i n the general letter For fu rther particu lar s 1 refer theworld t o old M r . Delaport, who very qu ietly smoked hi s p ipe inthe Factory an hour and a hal f after M r . Leyce ste r had forsakeni t, and then found le i su re to carry off all h i s own effects , wi thou t

any molestat ion from the enemy , who proved to be no other thana rabble of Fakeer s . Nor was h i s zeal for the se rvice greater whenCaptain G rant wi th a very small de tachmen t re took the place ,withou t the loss o f a man for Mr . Leyceste r who had j u s t run

away from the,Factory

,a lthough he wou ld have been a very

proper person to have po i n ted ou t the road to the Captain,who

was a stranger to that par t of the coun try , chose rathe r t o remainon the othe r s ide of a navigable r iver un t i l he was i nformed thatthe Factory was aga in i n ou r possess ion

,when he re turned to

resume h i s former employmen t .The or i g i nal factory bu i ld ing seems to have been s ituated

i n Te zgaon . l n 168 2 Hedge s wr i te s : “ Thi s afternoon 1 wen tto vi s i t Haggai Sophee Chan

9“

took my leave and re tu rned to ye Eng li sh factory which i s atleast 3 1n i le s d i stan t from th i s

,or ye Nabob’s durbar , a most

1ncon ven ien t s 1tuation for do i ng of bu s ine ss , being far from yeCou rts o f Ju st i ce

,Cu stom House and ye waters ide .

”

Al so i n

17 75 we read 0 1 a factory hou se at Tezgaon i n addition to the

pr incipa l fac tory budd i ng . Th e o ld fac tory i s said t o have beena o u e s tori ed h ouse havrng a large cen tra l ha ll wi th s leepingapar tme n ts and o ffi ce s arou nd i t . Mr . H arvey had i t rc-bu i l t - bu tfor years i t seems to have c aused con side rab le anxiety i n t imes

H I STORY.

of storm and flood and repai rs were con stan tly requ i red . Betweenthe year s 1724 and 17 30 a n ew bu i lding was erected nearer ther i ve r on the si te occupied ti l l recen tly by the Dacca Col lege and

now by the Col legiate School . I t was con stru cted i n the formof a squ are and en closed a con siderable exten t of ground . Lowranges of warehou se s su r rou nded i t and in the centre was a hou sefor the factors , beside s offi ce s and accommodati on for servan t sand guard s and in later years a min t and magaz ine were added .

Tezgaon,howeve r , was not al together abandon ed . B e s ides a

garden hou se and several bu ngalows , and probably the ol d factory ,the quarter s of the washermen were the re . I n 177 1 on the abol iti on of the Baghmaras (sh ikari s ) we find the Col lector writingThe con sequ en ce of wh ich , I apprehend , wi l l be that the Com

pany wi l l lose many of the i r washermen and Tezgong wi l l berendered un inhabi tab le by these an imal s ti ge r s ) . The

fol lowing extract from a Governmen t letter dated the 23rd January 1775 , on the su bjec t of the Dacca hou ses , i s in teresting I t

has been thought proper to make a d i stribu ti on of the hou se sbe longing to the Company at Dacca between the covenan ted ser

van ts who are to re s ide on the par t of the Board of Trade and

those employed in the Revenue bran ch— and i t i s d i rected that theCommercial Residen t be pu t in posse s s i on of such as are al lottedfor the u se of hi s departmen t . That the Factory

,the warehou se ,

the Factory hou se at Tezgong and the hou ses occupied by Me ssrs .Day and Hatch and e i ther the hou ses occupied by Mr . Le i gh“

or that occupied by Mr . Ru sse l l , at the choice of the Reven u e Ch ie f ,be appropr iated to the u se of the Chief and As si stan ts of theCommercial Factory . That e i the r of the hou se s occupied byMr . Lei gh and M r . Ru sse l l , at the opt ion of the Revenu e Ch ie f,as above spec ified

,the hou se occupied by M r . Ke rr and the gar

den hou ses at Tezgong occupied by Mr . Law and Mr . Lei gh beappropr iated to the Revenu e departmen t . That the temporarybu i ldings rai sed by Mr . Shake spea r at h i s own expen se within thewal l s of the Factory be con t in ued to him

,and the temporary

bu i ld ing erected ) at pr ivate expen se in the same place forMessrs . Eve lyn and Cator. be con tinu ed to them .

”

In 1774 a Prov incial Counci l con s i s ting of a Chie f and The

fou r member s was appoin ted to superin tend the revenu e firm’in‘fmi

and comme rcial affai r s and some change s were made in theLoun c’

Mr Le i gh’s hou se lay to the sou th-eas t of the fac tory “on the

esplanade and was u sed for a t ime as the Col l ector’s Cutcherry . In the

accou n t s i t i s ca l l ed t he second hou se and was u sua l l y the re s i den ce of theB ux i . Mr. Kerr’s hou se was a short d i stan ce to t he w est of the Factory andw as pu l led down i n 1778 by Mr . B roughton , an Asswtan t i n the Rev en ue

Department . At Tezgaon there were i n 179 0 four llOUS r B bes ides the ( cm

pany’e facto ry - two of them (a hou se an d a bungalow r be longed to Mr . Law ,

on e to Messrs . Hatch and Day , and one ( ca l led Champa B agh ) to the Company .

Mr . Law’s hou se and bunga l ow w ere d i sposed of by lottery— the forme r 1 111

1800) b e ing i n possession of Mr . Rank i ng and the latter in that of Mr .

fa t tenson . The third hou se was transferred to a Mr . Sameeda and the fou rthell down .

The Du tCh .

DACCA DI STRICT .

condu ct of the factory bu s ine ss . B roker s we re aboli shed and

in thei r place agent s (gomastas) we re appoin ted to the di fferentd ummys ;

fn a ibs were al so appoin ted to dec ide cases in wh ich

weaver s were con cerned . These reforms,were not su cce ss fu l ;

abu se s grew up and in 178 7 a Commerc ial Re s iden t was

appoin ted to condu ct the affai r s of the factory . The deal ingswi th the weaver s we re th en condu cted i n a more regu lar andsympatheti c mann er . The Re siden t in 1800 write s At th i sFactory i t is an annual in struction to the Au r u ng Gomastas

that the Regu lati on wh i ch respects the weave rs and the com

merc ial residen ts be read to the weavers before any engagemen tsfor the new year are en tered in to Every indivi du al weaverexecute s a separate written engagemen t for the provi s ion of thecloth s which he volun tari ly con tract s t o de li ve r and theseengagemen t s are i n n o in stan ce departed from except by a

wri tten requ es t on the part of the weaver s or thei r repre sentati ves . The weaver s’ accoun t s are annu al ly adju sted and eac hweaver has throu ghou t the year a copy of hi s runn ing accoun t(cal led a hau t chatty) regu larly brought up con stan t ly i n h i sposses s ion . These arran gemen ts appear to have been con t inueddown to 18 17 when the factory was closed .

The Dutch sett led in Dacca for tradin g pu rpose s before the

Engl i sh . Nawab Nas rat Jang write s of them At fi rst Gomastas

made pu rchase s at the Factory ; afterward s , in the time ofHos se in -ud-di n Khan (ds .

,between 174 2 and 175 3) M r . Ilsam ,

be ing appoin ted Chie f of the Factory , came and res ided at

Dacca .

” Thi s,however , hardly represen ts the tru e facts . In 1666 ,

Tave rn ie r te l l s u s , the Du tch finding that the i r good s were not

su ffi c ien t ly safe i n the common hou se s of Dacca have bu i l t a veryfine hou se .

”H e atten ded a banqu et given in h i s hon ou r by the

Du tch and,on hi s departu re from Dacca, the Du tch gen t lemen

accompan ied him for two league s . In 1682 W i l l i am Hedge srece i ved a vi si t from ye th ree Du tch Factors , v i z Jno Bon stoe

,

Alexander Urwin and Jacob Smi th , who supped wi th me .

”As

in the case of the Engl i sh a new factory may have been bu i lt'

inthe e i gh teen th cen tu ry , and to thi s the reference above qu otedmay have been made . In 17 7 5 the Dutch Ch ie f, Mr . Dan ie l LankH ie t died and was bu r ied in the Engli sh cemetery . In 178 1 the

D utch factory su rren dered to the East Ind ia Company and the

s ol i tary Du tch subj ec t in Dacca (Mr . H eyn ing) was releasedon parole . The property sei zed inc luded a garden hou se at Tez

gaon Thi s appear s to have been the end of the Du tch regimeat Dacca. In 180 1 the Col lector rece i ved charge of the Dutc hfactory from the Magi strate and we read that poli ce offi cers tookaway bri cks and sew /cf from the ru in s for repai ring the s tree tsof Dacca . In 18 10 , i t was proposed to e rect a hospital on the

si te , bu t the idea was dropped as i t was not kn own what there la ti on s between England and Hol land were at the time . In 182 4

,

a treaty was signed between the Engl is h and Dutch Governments

H ISTORY.

by which the latte r ceded to the former all the i r e s tabl i shmen ts inIndia and in June of the year fol lowing the formal tran sfe r wasmade by Mr . Vanas , the Du tch Commi s s i oner

,to Mr . Dawes

,

the Magistrate . The Du tch factory stood on a porti on of theland now occupied by the Mi tford Hospi tal , the s i te i s known inthe old Col lectorate pape rs as K a ti Ollandaz .

Of the French settlemen t in Dacca, Nawab Nas rat Jang The French

write s Du ring the naibu t of the sai d Moorsh id Cooly Khan

(i s , from 1 726— 38) a gomasta, named GOpau l Sein ,came to Dacca

on the part of the French,and having pu rchased cl oths sen t

them to the Fren ch merch an t s at Chandernagore . In th i s waythe Fren ch bu s ines s was at that t ime carried on at Dacca . But

afte r Nawaz i sh Mahomed Khan ,t oward s the c lose of the re ign

of the Emperor Mahomed Shah (as , between 17 4 0 and 174 2)became Nai b Naz im of Dacca

,Me s s ieu rs Deveuz and Chamauz,

arr i ving at Dacca, bui l t wi th the perm i s s i on of the said Nai b a

Factory and commen ced bu s ine s s there .

” This account may be

mi sl ead in g as those gi ven in respec t of the Engli sh and Du tch,

bu t an other au thority has g iven 174 2 as the date of the bu i ld ingof the French factory and as we have no in formati on of thei rbe ing settled in Dacca be fore that t ime Nawab Nasrat Jang

’s

accou nt may poss i bly be correct . I t has been narrated abovehow , in 1 756 , di saste r to the Engli sh was averted by the cou rtesyand k indnes s of M. Cou rtin

,i n which he Was nobly seconded by

M . Fleu r in . In the fol lowin g year M . Cou rtin sen t a detachmen t to Kas imbazar to re in force M. Law in hi s e fforts to support Siraj -ud-dau la and he h imsel f fol lowed (having de layed on lyfor the arr i val of M . Cheval ier from Assam) , taki ng with him“abou t 35 boats

, Mm . Cheva l ier,B rayer , Gou rlade , the Su rgeon ,

and an Augu st ine Father,Chaplain of the Fac tory , 8 Eu ropean

soldie r s , of whom several were old and past service,17 topass

gu nne rs , 4 or 5 of the Company’s se r van t s and 25 or 30 peon s.”But the batt le of Plassey occu rred before he cou ld join M . Law.

The Fren ch property and pos session s t hat came into the hands ofthe Engl i sh we re made over again in 1785 to M . Champigny

‘

and in 1786 a convention was s igned aff i rm ing the French r ightsand pri vi lege s at the i r factor ies . The i r factory and lands seemhoweve r again to have been taken for i n 180 1 they passed fromthe charge of the Magi strate to the Col lector and in 1802 to the

Commercial Re s iden t wh i le in 182 4 the factory was convertedin to a depot for the recept ion of mi l i tary store s . In 18 19

M . B arrao arri ved i n Dacca to demand to be pu t in posses sionof the Fren ch factory wi th its dependenc ies in accordance withthe terms of the Treaty of Pari s Bu t i t i s not u n ti l182 7 that we read of th i s be ing complied wi th . Soon afterM . Darrac

’s arri va l i n Dacca the Magi strate had occas i on to com

pla in of hi s conduct and Gove rnmen t in reply wroteM . Darrac has exceeded hi s offi cial competen ce and you very pro

per ly remonstrated with him on hi s u nwarran table procedure in

The

Portugu ese .

Dacca underBriti sh Ru l e .

DACCA nrsrmc'r .

apprehending and confin ing Sooroop Chund , in infl i ct ing corporalpun i shmen t on the Cu s tom Hou se chaprassy and i n assumi ngthe r i ght of li cen s ing a sh0 p for the sale of spi ritu ou s l i qu orcon trary to the regu lati on s of the B ri t i sh Governmen t .

‘

M . Ravier has at the same time been requ i red peremptori ly to

in stru ct M . B ar rao to abstain in fu ture from u su rpati on of powerswhich do not bel ong to hi s stat ion and to confin e the exerci seof hi s au thori ty to the mere superintendence of the commercia laffa i r s of the Factory withou t in terfer ing i n any degree whateverin matter s beyond the l imits of hi s pu bl ic du ty as a CommercialAgen t , M . Darrac i s n ot to be

perm i tted to exerci se any au thori ty implying sovereign power or,

i n str i ctnes s , beyond what may be admi tted in cases of masterand servan t ,and i n the even t of M . Darrac

’s perseveran ce in su ch encroachment s measu re s wi l l be taken in h i s removal from Dacca .

”The

Fren ch factory was s ituated in l sl ampu r , on the banks of the r i verBu r i-Ganga, on a porti on of the si te now occupied by the palaceof the su ccessor s of the late Nau ab Khwaja Si r Ah sanu l lah (cal ledthe Ah san Man zi l ) . Rennell

’s map shows the French garden at

Tezgaon to be on the east side of the Dacca-Mymen singh roadbetween Ambar

’s mosqu e and the Tezgaon Chu rch . The Du tch

garden lay opposite , on the other side of the road .

The P 0 1 tugu ese al so had a factory in Dacca which was in the

quarte r of the town ca l led Sangat-tola, bu t n oth ing i s kn ownof thei r commercial tran sacti on s and history .

In 1765 the Eas t I ndia Company su cceeded to the Diwan i of

Bengal . At that t ime the admin i s trati on of the Prov ince wasd i vided in to two departmen t s

,v ia

,the H a za r d or Revenu e

and the N i zama t or Judi cial . The forme r was very soon takenover en ti re ly by the Engli sh bu t the latter was al l owed for a l ongtime to be c ondu cted in the old way subj ect on ly to a generalcon trol . Orme te l l s u s that “ the admin i st ration of the Prov incewas now sett led in the manner foll owing — Mahummud RezaKhan the Nai b Navob , condu cted affai r s at the Capi tal

and Jessau ru t Khan at Dacca , i nconjunction with a member o f Coun ci l at each c i ty

,as Chief on

the par t of the Engl i sh . Two days weekly the Nai b commun icated to h i s Engl i sh colleagu e hi s tran sacti on s , plan s , di sbu r semen t s and recei pt s in every departmen t

,for hi s sati sfacti on and

the in format ion and approval of the presidency . Two days ineac h week were al so se t apart in which the Nai b and Chie frece i ved appeal s from the cou rts of j u sti ce and confi rmed orreve rsed the i r deci si on s by the as s i stan ce of the Chie f Magi strate .

By th e se mean s Gove rnmen t was properly condu cted and the

Engl i sh became in formed of the laws,reve nu es and cu stoms of

the coun try .

’

The d i stri ct did not a l together e scape from the tr ial s of

1857 , though fortunate ly there was comparat i ve ly l ittle loss of

l ife . Two compan ie s of the 73 rd N . I . were s tat ion ed at Dacca ,the res t of the regimen t be ing at Jalpaiguri . From themonth ofMarch

,when the Barrackpore mu tiny broke out , i t was for

e ight long month s the aim of the au thori tie s at Dacca to preparefor s im i lar happen ings there and at the same t ime avoid hars hmeasu res with the sepoys , which , i t was fel t , wou ld resu l t ind isas ter to smal l Eu ropean commun i tie s in su rrou nding di strictswho were not so able to protect themse l ve s . In June a hundredmen of the Indian Navy ,

unde r Lieu tenan t Lewi s , arri ved : and inthe fol lowing mon th two compan ies of volun teers were rai sed whichdid exce l len t work du ring the Muharram and the Janmastami

process ion s . Many false rumou r s reached the town,but i n

November a larming news was rece i ved both from Chittagong and

from Barrackpore and i t was determ ined to de lay deci si ve actionno longer . The fol lowing extract s from Lord Cann ing’s final

'

minu te descri be what was doneAt a meeting of the officers , c ivi l and mi l itary , inc luding

Lieu t . Lewi s,i t was after some di scu s s ion unan imou s ly dec ided

that the sepoys mu st be di sarmed . Accordingly, the seamen

under Lieu t Lewis,and Volun tee rs assembled at day light next

morn ing ( vie ,22nd Novembe r ) and having d i sarmed the

diflerent guard s i n succe ssi on and withou t any attempt at

resi stance, they advanced on the l ine s which were s ituated in a

strong position at a place cal led the Lal B agh . Here theyfound the sepoys and a detail of nat i ve art i l lery

,with two gun s

,

drawn up ready to rece ive them : as the party advan ced fi re

was opened upon them and a sharp engagemen t,lasting for ha l f

an hou r,en su ed . I t i s suffi c ien t to say that the sepoys we re

dri ven ou t of the i r barracks and the gun s carr ied with greatgal lan try . The rebe l s left 4 1 dead on t he ground ; whi l st threewere drowned i n attempting to cros s the r i ve r and a largenumber we re more or le s s severe ly wounded ; nor was the

victory unattended by los s on ou r s ide : fi fteen we re severe lyand three s li ghtly woun ded . Of the former th ree died of the i rwound s . Dr . G reen

,Civi l Su rgeon

,who , i n the absence of

other medical aid,

attended the attacking party,Was shot

throu gh the th igh, and Lieu t . Lewi s al so rece i ved a s l ight

wou nd . Twen ty person s were subsequen tlytaken

,ten of whom were sen ten ced to be hu ng, the rema inde r

to transpmtation for l i fe . The main body , thoroughly pan i cstricken , made a hasty retreat from the d ivi s ion

,pas sed by the

stati on s of Jamalpu r and Mymen singh,withou t attempting any

attack,and reach1ng the B rahmapu tra crossed n ear B hagwa Ghats

and en tered the d i stri ct of Rangpu r . As

soon as a steamer and flat cou ld be prepared three compan ie s ofH . M .

’s 5 4 th were sen t off to Dacca to act as ci rcums tan ces

shou ld d ictate . Wi th them wen t a party of European seamenand a second party followed the next day The

detachmen t of ll M.

’s 5 i th having reached Dacca left the seamen

H

pace/1 warmer.

to proceed to the i r de st inat i on in the Rangpu r and Dinajpu rdi str ict s .

Mr . Carnac , Offi c iat ing Col lector and Magi strate of Dacca,has

acted with great vi gou r and prompti tude throughou t the wholecou rse of the di stu rban ces . On the occasion of the actu aloutbreak at Dacca he took a prominent part in the attac k on the

sepoys and he brought forward very favou rably the con du ctof h i s two ass i stan ts , Mes srs . B ainbr idge and Macpher son . Dr .G reen

,the Civi l Su rgeon , who accompan ied the body o f sai lors

on th i s occasi on and , as has al ready been recorded , was severe lywoun ded , i s en titled to very honou rab le n oti ce ; and I mu s tmake spec ial m en tion of the adm i rable behavi ou r of the Rev .

Mr . W inchester , Chaplain of the Stati on , who i n the serv ice ofthe wounded men fearle s sly exposed h im se l f in the mid st of thefight . M r . Carnac has made a special report of the ass i stan ce hehas rece ived du r i ng the pas t year from h i s Nazi r

,Jagabandhu

B ose , whose services have rece i ved acknowledgmen t and reward .

1 take th i s opportu n i ty of repeat in g my appreciati on of theloyal ty of the two Mohammedan gen tlemen

,Khwaja Abd u l Ghan i

and Abdu l Ahmad Khan .

”

Su ch i s the offic ial accou n t of what happened then i n Dac ca .

We have a narrat i ve from an other poin t of v1ew in the diary ofM r . B rennand , then the Principal of the Dacca Col lege . The

fol lowing extracts su pplemen t the above“ 1 0th Ju n a — The troops appear exc i ted on accoun t of the

rumou r that Eu ropean troops are to be sen t to Dacca.

12th Ju n e.

- A pan i c spread among the Eu ropean s incon sequence of a report to the effect that the twocompan ie s of the 73rd which had le ft the s tat ionabou t the beginn ing of the mon th had met with some

d i sbanded men from Barrackpore and had mu t in iedthat t hey had retu rned to Dacca and had been j oinedby the men at the Lal Bagh : that they were l ootingthe bazar and setting free the pri soner s at the jai l . A

numbe r of Eu ropean s assembled at the hou se of Mr .

Jen kinsf“ the Magi strate : other s resolved to de fend

themse lve s at the Bank . Some of the lad ie s wen t onboard boat s on the ri ver : arms were col lected the wholetown was in a state of exc itemen t the Ba nd was crowded with nat ive s in a s tate of wonder and cu ri osi ty .

Lieu ts. McMahon and Rhynd,the offi cers in command

of the troops,started for the Lal Bagh where the

sepoys we re located . On the i r re tu rn they reported

0 11 the ( lay o f first pan i c Mr . J en kms w as the Mag i strate and Mr .

Carnac t he Co l l e ctor ; su bsequ en t l y the latter was apporn ted to be bothMagi strate and Col l e ctor .

‘tTh i s was the Ban k o f Dac ca s ubsequentl y taken over by the B ank of

B engal . The presen t Ban k bui ld i ng w as t l1en,the Assemb ly Rooms , and i s

not t hat re ferred to.

50 DACCA DI STRICT .

the men at Ju lpigoree do mu tiny, the sepoys h e re

shal l be at on ce di sarmed .

22n d Augqé

u st -The fort ificat i on of the Mi l l s i s goi ng on .

i f The re are 14 00 men at work di ggin g a

d itch .

527th Augu st— The . fortifi cati on s are progre ssin g and i t i s

su pp osed that,shou ld the re be occas i on for i t

,we

shou ld be able to make a stand again s t 5 or 6 thou sandmen .

i f

'

30th Au gu st— Ye sterday

,Sunday , was the great day of

the Mohu rrum. The Caval ry Vol un teer s were ou t a ll

n ight patrol lin g .

“ 14 th Sep tember .—Some alarm here i n con sequ en ce o f a

report that the sepoys. in As sam are i n a s tate of greatexcitemen t and t hat they had become ve ry in sole nt .

The Gove rnmen t has sen t off'

a numbe r of'

sai l or s inthe H orungatta by way of the Su nde rbun s : they are

expected to arr i ve he re to-morrow and are in tendedfor Assam.

The 73rd at J ulpigoree s t i l l qu i e t . We have hope s i t wi l lprove staunch . Shou ld. i t not

,we shal l be in volved here

bu t we shal l be qu ite a match for the sepoy s .

4 th October .

-To-day has been fixed u pon by the B i shopas a day of humi l iat ion . W in che ste r away i n Sylhe t .

The service was read by Abercrombie and the s ermonby Pearson .

192th October .—The Caval ry Volu n teer s gave a bal l to the

In fan try . The gather ing was n ot so great as

was expected : abou t ten lad ie s pre sen t. O f the I n

fan try Volun teer s on ly abou t twen ty attended i n u n i

form . The party was on the whole a very pleasan t one .

“ l et November .— Some thing like a pan i c occu rred on Sunday

last , cau sed by the removal of the sai lors to the hou sen ear the chu rch , recen tly occupied by the Nu n s .

The sepoys got ammu n i tion ou t of the magaz ine and i twas thou ght that an ou tbreak was imminen t. It i sreported that they have wri tten to the i r brethren at

Ju lpi goree ask in g whe ther they shou ld re si st i f an

attempt were made t o d i sarm them. We be l ieve thatthe di sarmin g cou ld be e ffected wi th l i ttle danger toou rse l ves , bu t i t i s feared the effect on the troops atChi ttagong

,Sylhet and Ju lpigoree mi ght be d isastrou s .

I t i s supposed that i f we can preserve orde r in Daccathe othe r places wi l l remain qu ie t . The men are

very c i vi l , bu t wi th the example of the i r bhai bu n sbefore u s , v e cannot pu t mu ch tru st in them.

9 1h N ovember . The In fan try Volu ntee r s gave a d inn e r t otlu stat ion "l u pwards of fi fty sat

down to d inne r .

msr oar . 5 1

26th Novemben — The s torm that has been passing overI ndia has ju st passed over Dacca , happi ly wi thou t anyof the d i sa strous e ffects that have attended it in i t scou rse e l sewhe re . Up to Satu rday last we were goingon ju st as u su a l . The re was a party out at cr icket inthe afternoon and the Volun teers were at the i r u sua lexe rc i se with bal l cartridge . In the even ing we had

ou r u su al dri ve on the cou rse . The dawk , howeve r ,brou ght bad news from Chittagong , and an expresswas rece i ved wi th inte l l igen ce that the remnant ofthe 34 th , the regiment d isbanded at Barrackpore at

the beginn ing of the Mu t iny , had broken ou t ; thatthey had looted the Treasu ry

,taking with them abou t

th ree lakhs of ru pees and that they had al so ki l ledsevera l Eu ropeans. I t i s now be l ieved that the :

Eu ropean s e scaped . At abou t s ix o’c lock in the even

ing i t was determined that the sepoys he re— the detachmen t of the 73rd— shou l d be di sarmed the i r number ,in c ludin g the ar ti l lerymen u nder ' the command ofDowe l l

,was 260 . They had pos ses si on of two fie ld

piece s and in the i r l ines they he ld a stron g posi ti on .

I t i s reported that they threatened to re s i st any at

tempt at di sarming them and they affected to despi seou r sai l ors , who are genera lly of smal l statu re . The

sai l o r s were abou t n ine ty in numbe r , fit for du ty . I t

was there fore neces sary that they shou ld u se greatprecau t i on s i n deal ing with a body of armed menn ear ly three times the i r number .

The Volu n teers were warned to be ready at 5 o’clock the

fol lowin g morn ing,Sunday ,

2zud and they we re enjoined to assemble qu iet ly

,so as to excite no su spic ion .

At the time appoin ted , there were as sembled the t‘ommissi on er

,the Ju dge , and some othe r C iv i l ian s

,and from

20 to 30 Volun teers . I t was s ti l l dark and we wai ted a

short time for the si gna l . The plan was to begin bydi sarming the Treasu ry guard s , to place the

‘d i sarmedmen in charge of the Volun tee rs : the sai lors wou ld

I

then proceed wi th thei r whole force to the Lal Bagh :and i t was hoped that the men there wou ld have gi venup the i r arms wi thou t Opposi ti on . Everyth ing appearedto go on we l l the guard s at theT reasu ry we re d i sarmedbe fore the s i gnal was given for the Volu n teers toadvan ce . There were abou t fi fteen of the sepoy s s tanding or s itt ing ou t side the i r quarters

,and the rest of

them ,making altoge the r abou t 36 , were su pposed to be

in s ide the bu i ld ing . They appeared to be very mu chdejected and they reproached the i r offi cer s for su bj ecti ng them to su ch di sgrace , protest ing that they wou ldh ave given up the i r arms at on ce to the i r own offi cers

DACCA DI STRICT .

had they on ly been asked to do so . In the meant ime,

the sai lor s , on reach ing the Lal Bagh , found the sepoy sdrawn out , prepared to make a resi stance ; they hadeviden tly been appri sed of our in ten t ion to d i sarmthem. The sen try fi red h i s mu sket and ki l led one

of ou r men h i s example was fol lowed by the othe rsand a vol ley was fi red on the sai l ors as they advan cedthrough the broken wal l n ear the sou thern gateway .

The gu n s had been placed in posi t ion in fron t ofB eebee Per i’s tomb , so as to command the entrance ,and they open ed fire u pon ou r men wi th grape . As

soon as the sai lors had got we l l in to the place they fi reda vol ley . Lieu t . Lewi s then led them up the rampart sto the left , charging the sepoys and dri v ing thembefore them at th e poin t of the bayone t . The sepoy stook she lter in their qu arters bu t were dri ven on frombu i ldin g to bu i ld ing by the sai l ors . At th i s t ime

Mr . Mays,

amidshipman,at the head of e ight men

who were —under h i s comman d , made a gal lan t charge

from the ramparts down upon the sepoy gun s ; theywere soon taken and spiked , and the sepoys beganflying i n every d i rec tion . There was a seve re struggleat the end of the rampart : many of the sepoy s weredr iven over the parape t . M r . Bainbr idge had also a

fal l over the parapet as he stepped back to avoid(

the

thru s t of one of the sepoy s . The sa i lors obtain ed a

complete victory : the sepoy s fied and con cea led themselves in the jungle

,leavin g abou t forty of the i r n umber

k i l led . Many of those who e scaped were severe lywounded . Our los s was one k i l led on the fie ld

,fou r

severely wounded , sin ce dead , n ine more or le ss se verelywounded . Dr . G reen

,who accompan ied the sai lors ,

was wounded in the thigh . He was kneel ing downat the time attending to on e of the sai lor s who hadal so been wou nded . H e i s getting on we l l , but com

plain s of numbnes s i n the l owe r part of the leg.

“ 12th J u ly— Three compan ie s of the 19 th Eu ropean s have

arri ved : the greater number wi ll be located in the

College , the others wi l l occupy the Faujdari Cou rt .“ The publ ic garden sou th of the Col lege has been made over

to a Joi n t Stock Company for the pu rpose of bu i ldingassembly rooms , a l i brary , theatre , b i l l iard room ,

e tc .

5 th November .-The proclamati on of the tran sfe r of the

Gove rnmen t of India to the Queen was read in Engl ishand Bengal i on Monday las t. The mi l i tary we redrawn up in l ine and the European re s iden ts wereu pon a. platform e rected for the pu rpose . B etweentwo and three thou sand people pre sen t . Some of thehou se s were l ighted u p i n the even ing in honour of

H I STORY .

the occasi on and the re was a d in ne r gi Ve n by the

Ci vi l ian s and the M i l i tary to the stat i on .

“ The s t ude n ts had an i l luminat i on at the Col lege wi th fi re

work s the fol lowing even ing : they seemed qu i te enthu s iasti c inthe di splay of the i r loyal ty .

For n early hal f a cen tu ry after the Mu tiny the h i story of thed istri c t was one of peacefu l progre ss . The most noteworthy e ven tswere the torn adoe s of 1888 and 19 0 1 and the earthquake of189 7 Whic h are des cr i bed i n Chapter V I I I .

W i th the part i ti on of Bengal i n 1905 Dacca became on cemore the capi ta l of a provin ce . The sc heme had been warm lysupported by the Nawab of Dacca and was we lcomed by the

Mu hammadan commun i ty , bu t i t was re sen ted by a con si de rablesection of the Hind u popu lati on . A boycott of B ri t i sh good swas proclaimed as a s i gn of the i r d i spleasu re and confl i c ts arosebe tween Mu hammadan s who de s i red to u se Liverpool sa l t and

Hind u patr iots who endeavou red to en force the sale of theSwade sh i prod uct. On the whole , however , the d i s tric t was more

peaceable and orde rly than i t s n e ighbou r s Bakarganj and Mymen

s ingh . B u t all the whi le a soc iety was be ing con sol id ated i n i tsmid st wh ic h a imed at some thi ng more than me re brawling in themarket place . The au thor it ies . regarded thi s organ i sat i on wi thcon siderable mi sgi ving , bu t for more than a year i ts membe r ssedu lou sly abstained from act ion which wou ld expose them to a

p rosecu ti on in the cou rt s . In Septembe r 1 907 , on the occas ion ofthe Janmastami proce ss ion ,

two in c iden ts occu rred wh ic h revea ledi ts dangerou s characte r . One of i ts membe r s stabbed an o the rH indu in the back near the Victoria Park , whi le a gang of mi screan ts attacked two men who were s itt ing under a lamp pos tn ear the Shaheen Medica l Ha l l and stabbed them,

k i l l in g one

and se riou sly i nj u r in g the othe r . A Muhammadan by-standers ubsequ en tly reported that he recogn i sed the mu rdere r s as mem

be r s of the Anu si lan Sami ti , bu t n ot a sin gle H indu shop-keepe rin the vicin i ty wou ld admi t that he had wi tnessed anyth ing

,

though t he mu rder occu rred at 7 R M . when the streets and shopsal ike we re cr owded ; and when the pol i ce wen t to arre st

,the per

son s named by the Muhammad an they had fled. In the fol lowin gDecembe r Mr . Al len

,the Di stric t Magistrate , when proceeding on

leave to Englan d was s hot through the body at Goa lundo ra i lwaystat ion and narrowly e s caped with h is l i fe . I n 1908 , the d istrictwas star t led by a dacoi ty carr ied out by H indu bhadra loks in a

s ingu larly open and audaciou s manner . A gang of the se youngde spe radoe s su rrounded a hou se at Barrah in the Nawabganjthana , shot dead a chaukidar , who opposed them and made o ff

wi th abou t Rs . worth of booty . They were followed bythe vi l lage r s r 1ght throu gh the d i s tri c t, pa st Sabhar police s tat ionand Dhamrai , fi nal ly d i sappearing in to the Madhupu r j ungles . bu tthe people we re unable to arre s t them as they fi red withou t he s itat ion a t any one who approached

,ki ll ing one man who was brave r

Dac ca af t e r

the parti t i n .

b

5 4 DACCA DI STRICT .

than his fe l low s and wou nding othe rs . W i th in the next three yearsseven mu rder s and fi ve grave dacoit ie s , two accompan ied by mu r

de r , we re comm i tted unde r c i rcumstance s wh ich le ft l i tt le dou btthat the perpetrator s of the se ou trage s we re membe r s of the

anarchi s t or extremi s t party A Su b-I n spe c tor of Pol ice was

shot i n the st reets of Dacca,fortunate ly not ser iou s ly

,and a

membe r of the An usian Sam i t i was sen ten ced to ten years’tran s

portation fo r prepar in g bombs . Afte r mon ths of strenu ou s worka prosecu tion for con spi racy was lau n ched again st the mos t promin en t membe r s of th i s organ i sat ion and many of i ts memberswere sen ten ced to long terms of impri sonmen t by the Se ss ion sJudge . On appea l to the High Cou rt some of the con vict s werere leased but the con vic tion of the pr1n 0 1pal membe rs of the soc ie tywas uphe ld .

On Apr i l 1 st , 19 1 2 , the di stric t was tran sfe rred once more tothe Governmen t which has i ts head-quarter s at Calcu tta.

TH E PEOPLE

CHAPTER I I I .

THE PEOPLE .

The first synchronou s cen su s of the di stri c t was taken i n Ear l y1872 , bu t the fi r s t e s timate of the popu lation was framed i n 1 79 2

, grt

lfgt‘es

exactly e i ghty y ear s before . The Col lector of that day , Mr .

popu la t ion .

Dou gla s , ca lcu lated that Dacca and Faridpu r, which then formedone admin i strat ive u n i t , con tain ed i nhabitan ts . In 182 4

,

the popu lati on of the Dacca d i stri ct al one was e stimated to beand i n 185 1 i t was offi cially retu rn ed at At

the time of the Revenu e Su rvey (between 185 7 and 186 1) a furtherattempt at enumerati on was made and the popu lati on was reportedto be the cal cu lati on be ing based on the recorded n umberof hou ses and the assumpti on that from th ree to fi ve person s l i vedin each hou se . The last e stimate i s su ed by the Board of Revenu efor 186 8-6 9 s howed

,

hou ses and a t otal popu lati on of

The fi rst regu lar cen su s showed that the se e stimate s fel l far The c en s usesbel ow the tru th , for i n 18 72 the popu lation retu rned was 3

119

1873 1881.

or more than th ree times the e stimated popu lation of twen ty year sb 1‘

before . The den si ty even then was high and amoun ted to 65 7 to '

the square mi le . Du rin g the next n i ne years the n umber of thei nhabi tan ts in creased by 14 3 per cen t a nd the popu lati on in 188 1

was which showed a den s i ty of 75 1 to t he square m i le .

Su bstan tia l though thi s in crease was i t i s not su ffi cien tly large to,

sugge st that the cen su s of 1872 had fal len far be low the

and the Cen su s Super in tenden t ascr i bed i t to natu ral cau se s aidedby the deve l opmen t of the j u te trade . I t was i n fact less t han theincrease which occu rred in the in tercensal period 188 1— 189 1 ,wh ich amou n ted to 14 5 per cent , the popu lati on in the latte r ’

year be in g and the den si ty 8 6 1 to the s qu are mi le .

The in crease i n t he Narayanganj thana was enormou s , i t was no

les s than 3 3 per cen t ; in Rupgan j and Mun sh i ganj i t was ove r 20

per cen t and in three thanas which lie whol ly or part ly i n the

Madhupu r ju ngle,i .a.

,Kapasia ,

Raipu ra, and Sabhar,i t was 18

per cen t or more . The extraordin ary in crease in Narayanganjmu s t have been large ly du e to the expan si on of the j ute trade , andthe growth of pOpu latron i n the M adhupu r ju ngle i s easily expla ined by the exten s ion of cu l ti vation in t hat ju ngly tract whi c h i s

e ven now i n progre ss , but i t i s n ot qu i te clear why there shou l dhave been su ch a great advance i n Mu n sh iganj . l t i s true tha tth i s portion of the d i str ict su ffer s l it t le from malar ial feve r

,but the

popu lat ion was a l ready qu i te phenomena l ly den se and epidem i csof cholera are frequen t and se ve re . 111 Ma n i kganj cond iti on s were

The i n crease, in Mymen s i n gh 1 11 1881 w a s no l e ss than 30 per cent ,

DACCA DI STRICT .

qu i te di fferen t , the increase i n the su bdi vi s ion as a whole was on ly4 6 per cen t whi le in the Hari rampu r thana the re was a posi t ivelos s of popu lati on .

The cen su s of 190 1 d isclosed an in crease of 106 per cen t, thepopu lati on bein g and the den si ty 952 t o the squaremi le a den s i ty wh i ch was greater than that of any di str ic t i n the

prov i n ce of Bengal , with the excepti on of the two whi ch in cludea con si de rable portion of the su bu rbs of Calcu tta . The whole ofthe N ayanganj su bd ivi si on aga in showed a very large in c rease

( 15 per cen t) and th e in c rease of 2 2 per cen t in t he Kapasia thanaind icated the ex ten t to whi ch immi gran ts were pou ring i n to openu p the j un gle s of Bhowal . The Mun sh i ganj su bdi vi s i on showedan in c rease of 9 9 per cen t , a n oteworthy re su l t in View of the factthat i n the. Sr inagar thana the den sity reached the en ormou s(figu re of to the square mi le whi le in the Mun sh i ganj thanai t was The Sadr su bd ivi s i on ou tside Kapasia maintain eda stead y rate of progress , and even i n Nawabganj , which adj oin sthe u nheal thy Hari rampu r than a there was an in crease of 9 1 per

cen t . M an ikganj , however , con t inu ed to be u nheal thy and t he

rate of in crease i n t hat su bd ivi s i on was on ly 4 5 per cen t . The

H ar i re‘

rmpu r th ana which l ie s i n the sou th of M an ikganj has

snfi ered from di luvi on as we l l as from malarial feve r and c holeraand afford s a most s tr ikin g con trast to the em in en tly progre ssi vedi stri ct of which i t forms a part , for du ring the twen ty year sending 190 1 the popu lati on on ly in creased by per cen t .

(

The

h igh death -rate i n the Man ikganj su bdivi si on was on e of thereas on s why the cen su s of 190 1 showed a l owe r rate of i nc reasethan i t s predece ssor , but an othe r factor was the increas ing los sdu e to m i grati on . In 190 1 the n et los s from thi s cau se was abou t

greater than i t was i n 189 1,and , had the m i grati on figu re s

remained the same,the growth of the popu lati on i n 190 1 wou ld

have been 12 1 in stead of 106 per cen t .

I n spi te of the great den s i ty of the popu lati on the cen su s of1 9 1 1 d i scl osed an in crease of 1 1 7 per cen t

,the re tu rn s showi ng

that there were n o les s than pe r son s l i vin g i n the

d i stri ct . . There had been no check i n the deve l opmen t of theB howal jungle s , and large i n crease s we re reported from all the

th anas wh ic h con ta ined waste land Kapasia showing 2 6 per cen t ,Raipu ra 19 per cen t and Keran iganj 17 per cen t . Mu ch of th i sin crea se was probably du e to mi grati on from the th ree thanaslying along the south-we s t borde r of the d istr i ct , for Nawabganjon ly increased by l s} per cen t in the decade

,Harirampu r had a

dec rease of 7 per cen t , and Sealo a decrease of more thanone per cen t .

Y

arayanganj thana , though the den s i ty was

a l ready h igh,sh owed an in c rease of near ly 19 pe r cen t and

lti’

rpganj immed iately to the north had a gain of more than10 pe r cen t . The most n oteworthy re su l t s we re howeve robtai ned from Sri n agar. Even in 190 1 thi s thana had a

den si ty o f to the squ are mi le , a d en s i ty h igher than that

l OW IIS .

DACCA DI STRICT .

cool ie s employed on pu bl i c works,as peon s , du rwan s and con stable s ,

as boatme n and as servan ts . They do not bring thei r fami l ie sw i th them and amongs t the imm i grant s from B i har there we reon ly three female s to e ve ry 2 6 male s . The re i s al so a consi de rable influ x from Tippera

,Pabna, and Faridpu r , abou t two-thi rd s

of the imm igran ts be ing i n all probabil ity cu l t i vator s who hadmoved with the i r fam i l ies across the d istr ict bou ndarie s . The

numbe r of pe rson s who moved from Dacca in to Far idpu r or Tippera was , howeve r , mu ch greate r than the n umbe r rece i ved fromthose two d i s tric ts , and i n the i r case , too , abou t two-th i rd s hadle ft the i r native d i str i ct for good . There i s a n oticeable howof popu lat ion from Dacca in to B akarganj d urin g the co ldweather , but thi s mi grat ion i s on ly temporary and the men

retu rn to the i r fami l ie s in the ra in s . The number of nat i ve s of“ Dacca i n Cal cu tta was con s iderable bu t Cal cu tta hasnume rou s attract ion s for the m idd le c las se s of B i krampu r . Manyof them go the re for th e i r educat ion ,

and when they have pas sedthrough school and col lege they stay on i n some one of the var iou s

profe s si on s affected by the edu cated classe s or they embark i ntrade . Of emi gran ts to other province s there we re i n 190 1

Of these no le s s than we re found in the n e ighbou r ing provin ce of Assam. The Assam e se have not hitherto

paid mu ch atten ti on e i ther to trade or edu cation and the nati ve s

of Dacca have su cceeded in obtain ing a large share of the c lerica lappoin tmen ts i n Gove rnmen t offi ces , on tea gardens , and on the

rai lway . There are a ls o a large n umbe r of Dacca Mu hammadan sengaged in the sale of m i sce l laneou s goods wh i le other s go u p as

dea le rs i n grain and h ide s , boatmen and profe ssi onal fi s he rmen .

Many of the m idd le c las se s have sett led i n As sam,and i n 190 1

females who had been born in Dacca we re enumerated i nthat prov ince .

Of the two town s Dacca has su ffered from marked vici ss itude swh i le Narayanganj has enj oyed con tin uou s growth . The c i tymus t certain ly have been a large and popu lou s place when i t was

the capi ta l o f Bengal and Dr . Tay lor state s that in 1800 i t hada p

opu lati on of sou l s .

‘ I t i s not s tated how thi s figu rewas arri ved at and the decrease to the popu lation of foun dat the cen su s of 18 38 seems ve ry large . The lowe st ebb wasreached abou t 1867 when the popu lati on was estimated to be on ly5 1 6 36 , bu t th i s e s timate was probably too low as at the cen suso f 18 72 i t was found to be S ince t hen there has been a

steady in crease and the popu lati on in 1 90 1 was At the

t ime of the format ion of the new province of Easte rn Benga l and

Assam ,Dacca was con sti tu ted the capita l and in 19 1 1 the pOpu la

ti on had r i se n to Narayanganj was an important marta t the begin n ing of the n ine teen th cen tu ry , bu t at the cen su s of18 3 8 i t on ly had a popu lat ion o f person s .1

‘ I n 1872 the

'

l‘n png rnphy o f Dac ca , p . 366

T Topography of Dacca , p . 99 .

THE PEOPLE .

popu lati on was and in 188 1 i t was Du ring the nexttwen ty years i t nearly doubled and i n 190 1 was 24 4 72 , r i s ingto i n 19 1 1 . Thi s i s the cold-weather popu lati on and i n

the he i ght of the j u te season when the ri ve r i s packed with boatsand all the mi l l s are fu l l there are probably another s ix thou sandpersons i n the place .

The d i str ict con tain s on ly two towns and the cen su s retu rn s Vi l lages .

for 190 1 wou ld by them se lve s su gge st that the popu l ati on i s of amu ch more B oeotian character than it rea l ly i s . Not on ly we re9 6 per cen t of the people l i v ing in v i l lage s bu t on ly 10 pe r cen tof the ru ra l popu lati on were l i vi ng i n vi l lage s contain ing morethan inhabi tan ts as compared w i t h 4 6 per cen t i n Chi tta

gon g and 28 per cen t in Noakhal i . The vi l lage of Ben gal i s ,however , a very inde terminate en tity

,and though i t i s a fact that

t owns and even ve ry large vi l lages are rare , i t wou ld be a

great mi stake to assume , as i n other p lace s may gene ral ly be done ,that the great bu lk of the vi l lage rs are agricu l tu ri sts. I t wou ldbe bare ly poss ible for agricu ltu re a lon e to s upport so aston i sh inglyden se a popu lat i on as i s to be found in the Mun shiganj subdi vi

si on , and as a matter of fac t 53 per cen t of the popu lati on of theSri nagar thana were dependan t u pon non-agricu l tu ral mean s ofsubsi stence for the i r su pport and 3 9 per cen t in Mu nsh i ganj . I n

Kapasia which i s a fai r type of a real ly ru ra l area i n Benga l thec orre spond ing fi gu re i s 13 per cen t . Along the banks of ther i vers and kha ls there are a great number of bazars whi ch are

cen tre s of a thr iving trade,and though each ind i vidual bazar may

not be large they make u p by quan ti ty for thei r lack of s ize . The

hou se s and godown s in these place s are gen eral ly made of reed sand plaster in a wooden framework and roofed with corru gatedi ron and the re is an u tter absen ce of all the ame n i tie s o f u rbanl i fe . There i s no con servancy

,drainage or water-supply , other than

that provided by the r i ve r or kha l ; the paths leadi ng from one

shop to an other become ve ri table quagm i res in the ra in s and no

attempt i s made to c lear away the mud or rubbi sh . On the otherhand the su n and ai r have more opportun i ty of exerci s ing the i r

pu ri fying e ffect than they do i n the narrow streets of a,nati ve

town, and thi s i s a fac tor whi ch makes mu ch for health . There

are on e or two place s su ch as Sabhar and Dhamra i which con taina certain number of hou ses bu i l t of br ick or dried mud and whichhave a d i stin ctly u rban aspect , bu t thei r number i s not large and

most of the mofu s s i l trade rs l i ve i n the smal l bu t flou ri sh ingba zars descri bed above . The agricu l tu ral v i l lages are als o smallbu t the cen su s vi l lage i s a very e lu s i ve th ing . The Super in ten

dent of the B enga l Cen su s of 1901 state s that the charac ter of a

B en gal vi llage i s so indetermin ate that i t i s hard ly n ece ssary towaste mu ch t ime i n di scu ssin g the s tati stic s relatin g to them . and i tmay we l l be that the d i fferen ce i n s ize between the vil lage s o fDacca and Chittagong corre spond s not to an actual d i fference inthe facts but to a d ifference i n the poin t of view from which they

Marri age

DACCA DI STRICT

are regarded . I n the flooded tracts the vi l lage s ar e bu i l t i n an

a lmost con tinu ou s l ine a long the h i gh lan d fri ngi ng e i ther sideof the [cha ts and here the bou ndary be tween on e vi l lage and the

n ext mu st c learly be extreme ly arbi trary . In the l ower land at

the back the hou se s have to be bu i l t on arti fi cia l mou nd s and

h ere t he ham lets are sma l l and scattered . Any natu ral ly rai seds i te su ch as the h i l lock s at B iru lia or Dhamrai i s eage rly appro

pr iated and den sely packed wi th hou se s . In the Madh u pu rj u ngle where h igh lan d i s n ot s o scarce the vi llage s are morescattered . When eve r c i rcumstan ces admi t the people su rroundthe i r home steads wi th den se grove s of bamboos and of fru i t tree ssu ch as the man go

,j ack

,and are ca pa lm wh i ch afford

,i t i s tru e , a

pleasan t shade bu t exclude m ost necessary li ght and ai r .

Hin du s and Muhammadan s a l i ke marry early, the forme r

obeyin g the dictate s of the i r re l i gi on ,the latte r adoptin g a cu stom

wh ich to We stern ideas i s n e i ther n atu ral nor attract i ve . Earlymarriage s are qu i te as common amon gst Muhammadan s as

amon gst H indu s, and i n 19 01 the re were ove r Mu sl im

wive s who had n ot attained the age of 10. Ou tside the commu n i tyof Ku lin B rahman s

, polygamy i s rare amon gst Hindu s . W i thMuhammadan s i t i s more i n favou r , bu t the cu stom can n ever beon e of genera l obse rvance as the su pp ly of women fai l s . The

n atu ral growth of the Hindu s i s checked by the i r aversi on towid ow mar riage

,whereas attrac t i ve Muhammadan widows of

ten d e r age are rare . The most s tr iking featu re in a H indu

marriage i s the processi on ( cha lan ) i n whic h the bridegroomgoe s to fetch the bride . In Dacca su ch process ion s u sua l ly goout at n i gh t and weal thy per son s are fol lowed by lon g train s ofmu si cian s , torch-beare rs , moun ted men and pe rson s carrying thewedding bed and the ornamen ts and u te n s i l s given to the

bride .

Prostitu tes are to be found i n every bazar and in con siderable n umbers i h Dacca ci ty

,bu t they are n ot so common as i n

the n e i ghbou r ing d i stri c t of Mymen sin gh . In 190 1 the re we reon ly of the se women and a s there were malesbetwe er

‘i the age s of 15 and 4 0 i t i s clear that the proporti on of

men habi tu al ly resorting to them i s n ot large . A' bon se for the

rescu e of fal len women has been e stabl i shed at Dac ca by theB rahmo Somaj commu n i ty , bu t i t i s d ou btfu l whethe r prosti tu te sas a whole are really d i scon ten ted wi th the i r l ot . The l i fe o f

an orthod ox and respec tabl e I ndian woman i s hedged rou nd byi nn ume rable res tri cti ons which mu st be e xceedingly i rksome tothe more ad ven tu rou s spiri ts among them

,and there seem

grou nds for suppos ing that those who have on ce be en placedou ts ide the pal e enj oy the wide r i nte re sts and greate r varie ty ofthe i r l i ve s . They at any rate show li ttle in clinati on to abandon i t .Dri n k and d i sea se are

,howeve r, u n fortunate ly preva len t among

them .

THE PEOPLE .

Cri cket , footbal l and hockey are n ow common e ven i n the Amusements .

vi l lages . H addo-goodoo i s a kind o f pr i son ers’base

,the playe rs

be ing ranged i n two part ie s , the object of one party be ing totou ch a player on th e opposi te s ide an d e scape home withou tbe ing caught . In the sou th of the d i strict boat races are s omet ime s held and ki te-flying i s a common amu semen t e verywhere .

Cards , che s s and draughts are also popu lar and the people general lyar e very fond of mu si c and theatr i cals .

Un l ike most of the d i stri cts of E astern B en gal the numbe r Sex and age .

of fema le s enume rated i n Dacca was con siderably i n e xce ss of then umber o f male s . Th i s i s prin c ipal ly du e to the large numbe r ofperson s who leave the i r fami l ie s i n the d i s tri c t and go e l sewhereto earn the i r li ving , for i f the figu re s are taken for thos

e

born and en umerated in the di stri ct , women are found in a smal lm inori ty . The exce s s of female s i s e special ly pron oun cedamong the Kayasthas

,so man y of whom have taken se rvi ce i n

othe r d i stri cts ; bu t i t i s a l so to be found amongst a humblecu lti vatin g caste l i ke the Namasudras , and

,in th i s d i stri ct at

any rate , there i s n othing to show that cas te has anything to dowi th th e di stribu t ion of sex . The re are on ly two age pe riods ofl i fe i n which men are in a maj ori ty

,10— 15 and 4 0— 60

, and i ti s probable that the advan tage there has no real c onnecti on wi thfacts

, bu t i s du e to some objecti on ente rtain ed by females to thoseage s . Some of the deficien cy at the age of 10— 15 may be due tocasua l tie s i n ch i ld—bed, but thi s cau se wou ld be even more i noperati on at the 15— 20 peri od and at that age women large lyou tn umber men . The prOport ion of chi ld ren to the tota l

popu lati on was con s iderably above the ave rage for the old provin ce of Bengal . Thi s i s du e . not to a h i gher death-rate amongstthe m iddle aged bu t to the greater fecundi ty of the people .

Nin ty -eight per cen t . of the popu lat ion of the di s tri ct i n19 0 1 spoke B engal i and one and a be i f per cen t , H indi . Theon ly othe r lan guage u sed by any con siderable number of

person s

was Koch M andi , whi ch was retu rned by people l i vingi n the n orth of the Madh upu r j ungle . Koch Mand i close lyre semble s Care and the Koch are thought to be e i ther Garos wi tha s li ght ven eer of H indu i sm , or membe rs of th e great Kech tri bewhich was at on e t ime the ru l in g race i n North B enga l Thed ia lect of B engal i u sed i s kn own as Eastern B engal i and i s thu sde scr ibed by Dr. Gr iers on

“ I t exhibi ts we l l-marked pecu l iari t ie s o f pron un ciati on— a

c ockney-l ike hatred of pre-exi sting aspi rates and, in addition

,

the regu lar substi tu ti on of an aspi rate for a si bi lan t . W hi le standard B engal i i s u nable to pronoun ce s ibboleth

, except as Sh ibboleth ,Eastern Bengal i avoid s the sou nd of sh and has h ibboleth .

’On

the othe r hand , the Eastern dia lect can not pron oun ce the lette rsch , ebb

,and j , bu t su bsti tu te s ts for the fi rs t

,s for the second

,

and z for the th i rd .

“

Li ngu ist ic Su rv ey o f Ind ia ,Vol . V,

Part 1 , p . 20 1 .

Language .

Newspapers .

Re l i g ion s .

DACCA DI STRICT .

For a fu rth e r accou n t of the pec u l i ari tie s of Eastern B engal ,a re ference shou ld be made to Dr . G rie rson’s work . A li st ofword s sa id to be pecu l iar to Dacca was pu bl i shed in the Pr in c ipa lH eads of the Hi story and Stat i sti c s of the Dacca Divi s i on ,Cal cu tta , 1867 , bu t i t i s hard ly of su ffi c ien t gen eral in te re st towarran t i ts reprodu cti on here .

Dacca has n ot been'

a cen tre o f l iterary acti vi ty and the

on ly we ll kn own B engal i wri ter n ati ve to the di s tr ict was the

late Rai Bahadu r Kali Pra sann a Ghose,C. 1 E whose books enj oy

a great measu re of popu lari ty i n both B engal s . Hi s be st knownworks are Bhakti r Jay ,

the T r iumph of Piou s D evoti on N i shimChin trr, Nigh t Thou ghts ; Agn i P a r iksha ,

or the Ordea lof the Empre s s of Oudh ; and Br omode Lah i fr a fi

,Thoughts on

Marriage . The late Babu Dinesh Chandra B ose al so enj oyedsome repu tation as a poet and B abu Din e s h Chandra Sen has

written a volumin ou s h i story of Benga l i l i te ratu re . Babu Ume shChandra B ose i s the au thor of the Ex i le of Si ta and severa l othe rwork s

,and Mahamohopadhaya Prasann a Chand ra Vidyara tna has

compi led a very good Ben gal i grammar . Amongst Mu hamma

dan s M au lav i Agh la Ahmada li who d i ed in 18 76 was a Pe r siansch olar of h i gh repu te . H e was the Persian teache r of that greatOrien tal scholar He n ry B lechmann and was the au thor of severa lworks on Persian grammar and prosody . Saiyid Mahmu d Az adwho d ied i n 1907 was con s idered i n hi s day to be the mos tem in en t Pers ian scholar in B en gal and was the au thor of n umerou s poems .

The fo l l owin g i s a l i s t o f the paper s pu bli sh ed in the Daccad i s tri ct z— Dacea Gaz ette , publ i sh ed weekly , ci rcu lat ion abou t

Dacca P rakas . weekly , c i rcu lat i on 100 ; The Eas t , biweekly

,ci rcu lati on 600 ; Eastern Ben gal and Assam Era

,bi

wee kly,c i rcu lat ion smal l ; the San tikana , mon thly ,

c i rcuhrt ion

500 ; the Sebak . mon th ly , c ircu lat ion 5 00 ; the S i ksha Samachar ,weekly, ci rcu lati on and the Dacca Review ,

mon thly .

6 23 per cen t of the popu lat ion i n 190 1 were Muhammadan sand 3 7 3 per cen t Hindu s ; the Chri stian s , who numbe redsou l s made u p practical ly the whole of the remainde r . In 180 1 ,and agai n in 1857 — 60 i t was e st imated that the popu lati on of thed i stric t was eq ual ly d i vided between Hindu i sm and I sl am, bu t

i n the absence of a regu lar cen s u s such es t imate s are of no

practi cal value . In 18 72 i t was fou nd that the Muhammadan sformed 565 per cen t of the whole and each su cce ssi ve enumerat ion has shown a marked in c rease i n the Muhammadan e lement .The rate of growth amon gs t the M uhammadan s be tween 18 72 and

19 0 1 was in fact n early twice as great as that amongst Hindu s,

the former in creased by 5 7 per cen t i n the 29 years, the latte r

by 2 4 pe r cen t . O riginal ly no doubt conve rsi on p layed a large

pa r t i n swe l l ing the ranks of the Muhammadan commun i ty .

H ind u i sm had l i tt le to o ffe r to the cu l ti vating and labou r i ngclasse s and they were doubtles s ready enough to accept th

TH E PEOPLE .

re l i gion of the i r conquerors u nde r whic h they cou ld ri se to socia lhe i ght s u tte rly u natta inable i n the Hin d u system to a low casteH ind u . B ut Whatever may have been the case i n the t ime ofthe Mu gha l s i t i s doubtfu l whethe r con vers i on has mu ch to d owith the growth of th e Mu hammadan popu lati on at the presen tday . Change s of fa i th no doub t take place , bu t they are general lydu e to a Hindu having fal len i n love wi th a Muhammadan and t oh i s having been expe l led from Hindu i sm on that accoun t . Suchcase s u su al ly occu r in the humbler orders of society

,bu t some

years ago a h igh clas s Kayastha Z amindar i n the Ma ni kganjs ubd ivi si on , an noyed at the cr i tic i sm s to which he was su bjectedfor h i s n eglect to obse rve the minu tiae of hi s own re l igion ,

de l i~

berate ly adopted the fai th of I s lam and married hi s daughte r toa we l l-born Mu salman gen tleman . The princ ipa l reason for thegreat Mu hammadan inc rease i s no d ou bt to be found i n the i rsuperior fecundi ty , which agai n i s large ly du e to the more l ibera lu se they make o f the reprodu cti ve powe r of the i r widows byal lowin g them re-marriage . In 190 1 16 per cen t of the Hinduwomen in B en ga l between 15 and 4 0 we re widows

,whe reas

amongst the M uhammadan s the numbe r was on ly 12 per cen t .The Mu hammadan d ietary i s al so more n u t ri t iou s than that ofthe Hi ndu and i s l ike ly to in crease hi s ferti l i ty and the diff erencei n age between hu sband and wi fe i s le s s pronoun ced .

T.he Mu hammadan s are found in large numbe rs i n every Muhammad

part of the d i strict, bu t the i r propor tion s are highe st i n the north

, ans ,

in the Raipu ra and Kapasia tha nas , lowe st i n Dacca c i ty and the

Sri nagar than a, where the y are posi t i ve ly ou tnumb e red by the

Hindu s . The immen se mas s of the M u hammadan s in the di str ic tbe long to the Su n n i sec t and in 188 1 there were on lyShiahs , most of whom we re l i v in g i n the ci ty of Dacca . A certai nn umbe r of the Su nn i s be l ong ,

to the two reformed se cts wh ich are

col lect i ve ly known as H idayati , Gu ide to Sa l vation ,

’ or Ahl-i

Shara , ‘followers of the precepts of M uhammad, as d i stingu i shedfrom Sabi ki , ‘old

’; B erai ,

‘wi t hou t a gu ide ’; and Bedayati or

B e shara,the te rms appl ied to the u n re formed Mu hammadan s .

One of the se sects was fou nded by Haj i Shariat Ul lah , who i n 1820A.O . re tu rned from Mecca to Easte rn Ben ga l and preached theWah habi tenets in Dacca . H e was opposed to all as sociat i onwit h H ind u ri te s and ce remon ies , to the p reparati on of ta z ias

and to the adorati on of Pi rs . H e a l so he ld that India wa s Dar-u

l-harb, (the man sion of War) where the obse rvan ce of Friday

prayers i s u n lawfu l and the waging of war again st i n fide l s i s are l i giou s necessi ty .T Hi s work was carr ied on by h i s son Du dhuM iyan who made a determ ined stand again st the levy of i l lega lces ses by landlords and d ied i n 1860 after a somewhat tempestuou s career du ring which he was repeatedly charged with crim ina l

Report on the Census of B enga l , 1872 , p . 133 .

TThe fol lowers of the sect at the p resent day assert that they do not holdth i s v iew.

6 4 DACCA DI STRICT .

offen ce s . His fol lower s are often re fe rred to as the Faraz i andare to be known by the i r non-observan ce of the M u harrum and ofthe Friday and th e two Id praye r s i n congregat ion . For manyyears they decl ined to subm i t to vacc inat ion bu t the i r scr uple swere overcome in 1889 . The other re forme r was Karamat Aliwho was opposed to the Wahhabi . H e s trongly denoun ced the

rowth of Hin du superst i t ion s and prohib i ted the u se of taz ias bu the he ld that I ndia u n de r B ri t i s h ru le was n ot Daru-l-harb . Hi sfollower s are known as Tai zu n i s . The Rafizadai n are the fol lowersof M i zanu r Rahman of Sylhe t and rai se the i r hand to the i r earseach t ime that the word s Al lah-o-Akbar are pronoun ced i n praye rwhe reas th e othe r sects do so on ly at the beginn ing of the i n vo

cat ion . The pr incipal stron gho ld s of the reformed sec ts are

the B angsal , Naz ir i r Baz ar and Shamsabad qu arte rs of the c i ty ;and Dhamra i , Pan chgao, and M irpu r in the interior . M ost o fthe i r adhe ren t s are trader sfi“

M r Gai t i n h i s report on the cen su s of B enga l in 190 1

d ivide s Mu hammadan s in to th ree mai n c lasse s— the (rshfr af orbette r cla ss ; the aj taf , corru pted in t o a t'r af or lowe r c las s ; and

the a r e a l or degraded clas s . The ashraf i n c lude Saiy id s , Shai kh sof wea lth or of fore i gn de scen t , Mughal s and Pathan s . The

Sai y id s c laim to be de scendan t s of Fat ima,Mu hammad’s daugh

ter,and Ali

,the fou rth Khal i fa . Many of them are Sh iah s and i n

1 90 1 they n umbe red Of Pathan s there we reand of Mu ghal s 4 4 7 . The Pathan s are the de scendan ts of settler so f pre-Mnghal days . They were ove rthrown by the Mu ghalsin a grea t battle n ear Dhamr ai , and the Sabb ar

,Man i kganj

and Har i rampu r thanas are n ow the principal cen tre s of the Pathanpopu lation . The immen se mass of the Muhammadan s de sc ri bethemse lve s as Sha ikh s . The fu n cti onal caste of greate st nume r i ca limportan ce i s that of the Jolahas or weaver s The te rmi s a corrupti on of Johala (the i gn oran t) and i s the re fore not i n

favou r wi th those to whom i t i s appl ied . I t i s a str i ct caste,the

t radi ti on a l occu pat i on be in g weavin g or dye ing ,bu t i ts member s

have al so taken t o cu l t i vati on and c l e ri ca l servi ce when theycan get rt The Jolahas ran k hi ghe r than mos t of the othe rfu n ct i ona l caste s and the poore r cu l ti vatin g Sha i khs wi l l eat wi ththem . The Ku l u s or oi l-pre s sers are al so s tr i c tlye ndogarn ou s e ven when they have ceased to practi se the i rt radi ti ona l occu pati on . The B ediyas ( 182 9 ) are a gipsy cas tewho are de scr i bed at length i n Si r Herbert Ri s ley’s Tribe s andCaste s o f B e ngal . The Katti s (deriy . [m in e to hu sk ) are a

c ommun i ty who ori g i nal ly earned the i r l i vin g by h u sking

paddy . Many of them n ew t rade i n h ide s and are fa i r ly we l l -todo

,bu t they rank low in the soc ia l scale . Mos t of them l i ve i n

the B a ngsal,Shamsabad and Ilalrrrratganj q uarte rs of the ci ty .

Fo r l u r thc r in fo rmat i o n o n t he M u h arn nnu la n s e cts o f E as te r n B e nga lBm; l lr . Wls u

'

b pa pe r o n t he Mu harnnu rdans of Eastern B en gal con tr i buted byMr . li rs lcy to J . A. S . B . for 1894 .

66 DACCA DI STRICT .

N awabpu r d i splay i s the resu lt of cc-operat i on and i ts promotersare there fore les s unde r the con trol of the i r nominal leade rs ,than are the men of Tan t i B azar. The spectac le i s real ly mostremarkable . The narrow streets of the c ity are packed wi thso den se a c rowd that i t wou ld be impossible for the proces si onto advan ce at all with ou t the assi stan ce of a strong body of pol i ce .

The l ine i s headed by e lephants lent by the zam indars of thedi str ict cove red wi th r ichlv ornamented trappings then come

var i ou s si de-shows many of them of a rather scu rri lou s characte r ,bu rles qu ing the cu r ren t tOpics of the day and often makin gsomewhat scandalou s a l lu s ion s to the v ia i n time of the membersof the opposi te party . The most beau t i ful parts of the proces si onare th e gold and s i l ve r shr ines some of whi ch are worth fromRs . to Rs. wh ich are d ragged along on bu l lockcarts

,and at n i gh t are i l luminated with Benga l fi res . Thou sands

of people come from the in teri or to witness th i s di splay and eve ryhou se-top and window i s packed . On th i s au spi ciou s occasi on therestriction s o f the pu rrlah are to some exten t re laxed and ladi es ,who in ordinary l ife n ever appear from beh ind the ve i l , are to beseen at thei r windows rich ly c lad and decked wi th heavy ornamen ts of gold and s i l ve r .

A large proportion of the Hindu s i n the c i ty are Vai shnavasand the Jhu lan Jatra, or swinging of Kri shna , in Au gu st and theHu l i in February or M arch are observed with mu ch pu ncti l i o .

The B ath Jutra , when Krishna in the form of the idol Madhabi s dragged to v i s i t the hou se of h i s father-i h -law and i s brou gh tback again on the ei ghth day, i s observed i n Dacca and otherplace s , bu t n owhere with so mu ch ce remony as at Dhamrai . The

i d ol at this place i s be l ieved to posse s s pecu l iar san cti ty and

thou sand s of pilgrims'

attend to see i t dragged down the widestree t of the vi l lage on a car which i s of abs olu te ly colossa ld imen si on s and i s adorned wi th ru de carvings . The Du rga pu j ai s celebrated with mu ch pomp in e ve ry part of the di s tri c t .

Great idol s are con st ructed,represen ting Du rga supported by a l i on

wi th Lakshm i and Sarasati her dau ghte rs stand ing on e i the rhand .

( Karti k and Ganes h,her two son s

,sit be s ide her and

her hu sband S iva i s resting on her head . The puj a i s performedfor fou r days and on the fou rth n i gh t the idol s are thrown in t othe r i ve r . The hu ge gaudi ly pain ted image s are placed on boatsand accompan ied by mu s ic ian s assemble at cen tra l places su chas Dacca , Mi rkadim,

Bhagyakfrl and Bahar . He re the re i s a verypand emon i um of noi se and jollification kept up the whole n i ghtthrough . B oat afte r boat arr i ve s wi th i ts great star ing figu resli t up wi th blaz ing magne s ium wi re and the ai r i s fi l led with thed in of cymbal s and tom-t oms and shou ts and songs . I t i s not t i l lthe sky i s on ce more growing g rey and the magnes ium wi re i spa led by the ri s ing sun that the reve l le r s con sen t to immerse the i rimages in the rive r and to reti re for a l i ttle bad ly-needed rest .

THE PEOPLE .

The succes s of these pujas natu rally depend s to a greatexten t on the support accorded to them by the weal thy zami ndars

,

and from.

the point of view of the poorer member s of the Hinducommun i ty i t i s a matter for congratu lat ion that d i ffe ren t famil ie s have devoted spec ial atten ti on to d iffe ren t puj a s . The Jagadhatri puj a , in honou r of Du rga in her c haracter of holder oftne u n i ve rse , i s not observed ve ry general ly th roughou t the d i stri ctbu t i s ce lebrated with much pomp by the zamindars of Jaydebpu r ,on the s ixth day afte r the Kal i puja , whi le the zamindars ofKasimpu r and Sri nagar con cen trate all thei r efforts on the Durga

puj a . The Bal iati B abu s , the P 51 Babu s of Lohajang and the

Baghyakul fami ly spec ial i se on the Rash,D0 1

, and Janmastamipuj as , the Kartik puj a i s special ly affec ted by the weal thy moneylenders of Dacca and the Lakshmi puja

‘

r by the Nag Babus of

Ka lakopa .

Nangalband near Narayanganj i s hal lowed by memories of H induParasu Ram and a great bath ing fe sti val i s he ld at th i s spot in Shrmes‘

the mon th of Chait (v ide ar ticle on Nangalband ) . Other shrine swhi ch stand h igh in the e st imation of H indu s are the temple ofDhakeswar i n ear Dacca c ity and the temple of Ka l i at Chachartala.

The temp le of Chachartala stands on the bank of the Padma andhas s o long with stood the e ros i ve acti on of the r i ver that theHindu s think that i ts su rvi val mu st be due to supernatu ralagency . The Dhakeswari temple i s s i tu ated abou t two mi les t othe we st of the Magi strate

’s cu tcherry . Tradition s tate s that i t was

founded by Bal l al Sen and'

rebu i lt by Raj a Man Singh , but notraces of these bu i ldings are left and the presen t temple i ssaid to have been e rected abou t two hund red years ago by one ofthe Company’s servan ts . The fol lowing account of the templewas given i n 18 67

It was in olden t imes a most famou s place of resort . Everyst ranger coming to Dacca was expected to lose no time in pre

sen t ing h imsel f before the godde ss with an appropriate offering ofa goat , buffal o , or other an imal accord ing to hi s mean s The

number o f dai ly sacr ifice s i s said to have been from 25 to 50goats and from 5 to 10 buffaloes the temple i s sti l l an objectof reve ren ce to devout H indu s and re l igiou s ceremon ies are sti llperformed with in i ts precincts ; but i ts ancien t glorie s havedeparted ; it i s comparat i vely de serted , the bu i ld ings are bu ried inju ngle and be ing u tte rly neglected are gradual ly mou lder ing and

fal ling in to decay .

” t

Since th i s was written the pendu lum has swu ng back on cemore and the Hindu re l igion has profi ted by the growth ofnat iona l fee l ing and the tenden cy to reject the teach i ngs and

i nfluence s of the West . The Dhakeswar i temple i s no longer buriedin ju ngle and i ts clean whi te-washed bu i ldin gs rece i ve the i r decentmodicum of worsh ippe rs and the i r offe r ings of goats

,black and

Pri n cipal Heads of the H istory and Stat i stics of the DaCCa Di v zs ion ,

Ca l cu tta, 1868 .

DACCA DI STRICT .

occasional ly wh i te . Anothe r temple which has a l so profited bythe H indu revival i s the Kal ibari on the Ramna race-cou r se .

By far the most numerou s Hindu caste in the d istrict are theNamasudras , a humble cu lti vating caste who are be l ie ved to havebeen the au tochthon es of the Benga l de lta. Ti l l recen t yea rsthey have been regarded with g reat con tempt by the h igher Hinducas tes , and as a re su lt they re solu te ly declined to take any sharein the agi tat ion again s t the part iti on of Benga l. Ha vin g beentreated as pariah s and ou tcastes they re fu sed to l i sten to theinvitat ion of the h igher caste H indu s to j oin i n a movement d irected agai n st the establ i shed Gove rnmen t. Namasudras are n ume rou s throughou t the d istrict but e spec ia l ly so i n the Sri nagar ,Keran iganj , s abh ar and Nawabganj th anas . Afte r the Namasudras the caste most s trongly represen ted i s that o f the Kayasthas, though i t i s bu t a bad second as they are ou t-h umbered inthe proporti on of almost th ree to one . The Kayasthas are ve ryeven ly d istri bu ted throughou t the dis tr ict bu t they are scarce s t i nBhowal , and most numerou s i n the i s lan d ly ing south of theDhaleswar i . The Shabas numbered i n 19 0 1, the Sabharand Man ikganj th anas be ing the great centre s of the caste . Bytradi ti on l iquor-se l lers , they have become the trade rs an d banke r sof the d i stric t and some of the wealthie s t zam indars o f Dacca are

members of th i s caste . The Mun shiganj su bd ivi si on i s the greatstrongho ld of the Brahman popu lati on , bu t ou ts ide this area theyare d i stri buted very even ly over the d i s trict . The on ly dthe rcaste with more than members is the Kaibar ttas of whomthere were a large number in Sri nagar and the thana s borderin gon the Lakshya r i ver .‘

Some of the H indu superstition s of the d istr ict de se rve n otice .

Death or m i s fortun e i s portended by the screech of an owl , thecawing of crows , the bowling of jacka l s , the vi s ion of a bu ffa l oin a dream, the flower ing of bamboos and the s ight of a tortoi se oran ass when setting ou t on a jou rney . A person who when leavinga hou se i s summoned from beh ind mu s t immediate ly tu rn backun les s he wishes to enj oy bad luck , though th i s wou ld seem to be a

very natural proceeding on his part , qu i te apart from any san ctioncon ferred by su pers titi on . Deaths wh ich occu r on Satu rday orTuesday are though t to be parti cu larly u nfortunate for the su r vi

vor s, and i f one of these days i s the Amabasya day there i s ri sk

that the spir i t of the decea s e d may haun t the vi l lage and giveri se to epidemic d i seases . It i s thought that a person’s l i fe i ssh ortened if he i s tou ched by the fan when he i s be i ng fanned , andthe ev i l e ffects of such an acc iden t mu st be averted by stri king thefan th rice against the ground . I t i s u n lucky to hear weeping whena man i s taking food or ri s ing from the bed in the latte r case thetrouble can be be st ave rted by re tu rn ing to bed and remain ing the re

Fo r an a cc ount o f the ni ann crs and c ustom o f th ese castes refere n ces hou ld he made to the Tr i b es an d Castes o f Eastern Benga l by the lat e S i r

l le rhert lti sley , K il l 19

THE PEOPLE .

ti l l the weepin g StOpS . I f a man e n te rs a tank by one ghat andascend s by an othe r he wil l shorten h i s mother’s li fe

,a nd i t i s

said that a nrau who s i ts on t he th re shold o f the en tran ce door ofh i s bu t 1s l ike ly to fal l i n to de bt Thi s i s a su pe r s ti ti on tha t ca neas i ly be explained on nat i on a l i sti c l ines , as a man who con ten tsh imse l f wi th look ing on a t the work of the world i s l i ke ly tog row poor . A per son who has a bad dream wi ll not tel l i t toany on e bu t goe s to t he ban k of the r i ve r and takes the r i ve r i n tohi s confiden ce . Bad d reams are unpleasan t bu t a good d ream i s

almost a worse inflic t ion as the percipient mu s t r i se the in stan tthat he wake s and s i t up for the remainde r of the n ight .

In 190 1 the total n umber of Chri stian s in the d i stri ct was Cnn rsrmof whom were Roman Cathol ic s Two mi s s ion s N ITY

from thi s chu rch are n ow labou rin g in Dacca— the Portu gu ese,

Th

flR

fl

rlI

s

an

who are su bjec t to the B i shop of Madra s , and the m i ss ionar ie s of pl 10 1

the Congregati on of the Holy Cros s , an Ame rican Orde r , whosech ie f now fi l ls the Roman Catholic See of Dacca I t i s s tated insome old pape rs in the posses sion of the Portugue se prie st i ncharge of the Hosn abad chu rch that the fi rs t Chri stian mi s s ionary to Dacca reached Hosn abad abou t th ree h undred year s ago .

The loca l zamindar,en raged at hi s succe s s amongst h i s tenan ts ,

orde red the holy fathe r to be bou nd hand and foot and thrownin to a we l l or d i tch , declaring that he wou ld thu s pu t to the te s tthe real character of the new re l i gion . To hi s su rpr i se the prie stsu rv ived an i

,ove rcome vr i th repen tan ce , the zam indar made h im

a gran t of lan d . The olde st chu rch now ex i stin g in the di stric ti s however the Portugu ese chu rch at Tezgaon abou t fou r m i lesnorth of Dacca . which was origi nal ly e rec ted i n 16 79 and rebu i l tin it s presen t form in 1 7 79 . The chu rch was however re bu i l t onthe same s i te and the stone floor i s cove red wi th in scr ipt i on s tothe memory of the dead who lie be neath

,the olde s t on e that i s

s t i l l dec iphe rable recou n ting the virtu e s of one Choy Daviates,

who d ied i n 17 14 . I n add it ion to Tezgaon there are chu rchesmaintai ned by the Portuguese at Dacca , Hasnabad , Nagar i and

Panjorah . The m i s s i on i s a fai rly wealthy one as the landedproperty i t own s yie ld s an income of upwards of Rs . . 4 9

,000 a

year .In compari son with the Portuguese the conn ection of the

Orde r of the Holy Cros s wi th Easte rn B enga l i s a thing of recen tdate , as the fi rst m i ss i onar ies d id not arri ve t il l 1852 and the

di oce se of Dacca was not c reated ti l l 1886 . I n 1908 there weretwe l ve m i s s ionar ie s of thi s Orde r stat i oned i n the d i stri ct , two at

Bandu rah , two at Tumu leah ,one at Sol ipu r and the rema inde r at

Dacca . The m i ss ion main tain s a school for Eu ropean s and

Eu rasian s at Dacca , which i s affi l iated to the Un i ver sity of Cal

c u tta , and he r e and at the i r s chool s in the in te rior t hey havemore than chi ld ren unde r the i r in s tru ct ion . In add i ti on tothe cathedra l at Dacca (bu i l t 18 98 ) the re are chu rche s at Bandu rah(bu i lt 1852 and rebu i lt i n 1888 ) and Sol ipu r (bu i l t I t i s

The Sikhs .

A

DACCA DI STRICT .

reported that there are abou t adheren ts of th i s m i s si on and

membe rs of the Portugue se chu rch,bu t as the total numbe r

of Roman Cathol ic s in Dacca i n 190 1 was on ly a l ittle overi t i s c lear that a con s iderable number of these person s mu st beli vi ng ou ts ide the d istr ict or e lse that convers ion has been proceeding with u su al rapid ity i n recent years .

Bapti s t m i ss i onaries fi rst vi s i ted the distr ict in 1805 fromSe rampu r , bu t they were orde red by the Col lector to retu rn ,

partly becau se they had no pas sport s and partly becau se thepamphlets they d i s tr ibu ted had cau sed great u neasine s samong the people .

”

In 18 16 a mi ss ionary was,however

,

defin i te ly posted to Dacca , and 110 le s s than seven schoolswe re opened . In 1825 work was commen ced among women and

gi rl s and the m i s si on extended it s labou r s , n ot on ly to the n ei ghhou t ing d i strict s , bu t even to Assam . Other workers then cameforward to as s i st and As sam was handed ove r to

'

the Ame r icanBapti st Mi s s i on and the We l sh Ca l vin i sts , whi le the out-d ist ri ctswere su rren de red to the Au s tralasian Bapti st M i s s i on At the

presen t day the re are 7 Eu ropean and 3 5 Bengal i workers in thedi strict ; bu t thou gh the n umber of Bapti st s in other par t s of thed ivi sion i s con siderable there were in 1901 on ly 1 14 in Daccai tse l f. The other Christian miss i on i s the Oxford M i s s ion

,who

fi r st v i s ited Dacca in 1902 . The pr in c ipal objec t of thi s mi ssi oni s to bring a heathy moral in fluen ce to bear on students

,and for

thi s pu rpose they have erected a fine hoste l wi th 4 1 separateroom s i n which they are prepared to lodge boys who are read ingat the school s and col lege s in the c i ty , i rre specti ve of the re l igionthey profe ss . Nat i ve Christ ian s are reported to l i ve on terms ofpeace and amity w ith the i r H indu and Muhammadan ne i ghbou rs

,

bu t the chan ge of soc ial cu stoms that i t en ta i l s i s a ser i ousobstacle to the exten sion of the fai th . Between 18 72 and 190 !

the Chri stian popu lation inc reased by 4 1 pe r cen t . and as the totalpopu lation in crea sed by nearly 4 5 per cen t i t i s clear that thenumbe r of con ver si on s was not very large . The Anglican commu

n i on n umbered 15 7 in 190 1 . There i s a good Angli can chu rchin Dacca

,whi ch was c on secrated by B i shop Heber i n 182 4 . There

are al so Greek and Armen ian chu rche s in the c i ty . The Ch ri stiancemeterie s are de scr ibed in the arti cle on the ci ty of Dacca.

Gu ru Teg Bahadu r visi ted Dacca, and there i s a Sikh templeat Shujatpu r n ear the Ramna . The Sangat at

‘

Sangatolla closeto Su trapu r i s now the ch ief place of worship but piou s Si kh s s ti l lv i s i t the ru ins at Jafarabad where there i s a we l l whose watersare thought to have curat i ve powers .

PUBLIC H EALTH .

CHAFTER IV .

PUBLIC H EALTH .

The pre sen t sy stem of record ing v i tal stati st i cs was intro V1 'rAL

duced i n 1869 when the du ty of reporting death s was imposed on ST AT I ST I CSChaukidars . In 18 76 the system was extended to bi rth s

,but the

retu rn s re ce i ved were s o in accu rate that i t was s oon abandon edou ts ide the town s , for wh i ch spec ial provi si on had been made in

18 73 , and births were not recorded again ti l l 18 112 . Vi ta l occu rrences are reported by chaukidars when they attend at the pol ices tati on s for the i r parade s and a mon thly re tu rn i s su bmi tted fromeach station to the Ci vi l Surgeon . These re tu rns are te sted bytou ring offi cers and more part i cu lar ly by the offi cers of theVacc inati on Department and , judged by thi s standard , the i r inaccu racy i s n ot ve ry great . T he In spectin g Stafl i tse l f i s not

,

howeve r , en t i re ly above su spic ion and the re can be l i tt le doubtthat a large number of occu rren ces escape regi strat i on . A de tai ledexaminati on of the record s of near ly every pol ice-s tat i on showsthat at certain season s and in certa in u n i on s the re i s an

absence of vi tal occu rren ces that can hardly be in accordan ce wi ththe actu al facts , wh ile the recorded rate s fal l far short of thosecalcu lated by Mr . Hardy , the we l l kn own Actu ary

,afte r a most

care fu l exam ination of the cen su s figu re s for 188 1 and 189 1. M r .

Hardy cal cu lated that in 18 9 1 the bi rth-rate in B en gal was 5 1-8

and the death rate 4 4 8 per mi le . For the n in e year s endin g1900 the average recorded rate was— bi rths 358 , death s 3 18

,

whi le i n the Dacca di stric t the average recorded ann ua l bi rth ratefor the decade 18 93— 1902 was the death rate 2 9 03

Table V I of the Statist ical Table s whic h gi ves detai l s fort l-anas shows how far removed the reported figu re s are fromaccuracy . The re i s no ve ry mate ria l d iffe ren ce between

,the c on

ditions prevai lin g in the Sabhar thana and those to be found inNawabganj , yet 111 the forme r the average bi rth rate for the

decade ending 1902 was the death-rate 4 1-15 per m i l le ,and the corre spond ing figu res i n the latte r were 2 8 90 and

I t wou ld be id le t he re fore to lay c laim to accu racy i n the retu rn sand as the degree of inaccu racy may vary mate rial ly from yearto year and from place to place , i t i s c lear that the figu re s mu stbe u sed wi th cau tion . The general tende ncy i s

,howeve r , for the

recorded bi rth s to exceed the recorded deaths,and in areas and

years i n wh ich thi s i s not the case i t i s safe to conclude thatpu bl i c heal t h has been u ndu ly bad

Taken as a whole the di strict i s one of the health ie s t inH ealth iness

B engal . The enumerati on s of 188 1 and 189 1 bo th di sclosed an of d i stri c t .

DACCA D I STRICT .

i n crea s e of over 14 per cen t and in 190 1 the re was an i nc reaseo f 10 (3 pe r cen t

,wh ich was more than dou ble that recorded for

the prov in ce of B engal The re i s a l so a con t in u ou s and sati s fac

tory su rplu s of record ed bi r th s ove r recorde d death s . The sa lubr i ty of the di stri ct i s gene ral ly ascri bed by i t s in hab i tan ts t o theben e ficial acti on of the great ri ver s . The floods that sweep overthe cou n t ry du rin g the rain s clean se the low land s of all impu ri tie sand leave s them c lean and swee t and the cool breezes blow ing ove rthe se vast stretche s of wate r forti fy the con stitu ti on again s td i sease . In parts of the di strict

,however , condi t i on s are le s s

favou rable . The fore st s i n the n orth are thought to have a

prej udi cia l efiec t u pon the hea l th of pe rson s who have not become

thorou gh ly acc l imati sed to them,and publ i c heal th has for many

years been bad in the Man ikganj su bdi vi si on . In the decadecendin g wit h 1902 the recorded death s actua l ly exceeded the

birth s i n the Sealo Ari cha thana and in Har i rampu r the exce s sof birth s was very sma l l . The marked in feri ori ty of Man ikganji s c learly shown i n the cen su s re tu rn s , though cen su s figu res areof cou rse to some exten t affected by mi grati on . In the last threecen su s decade s the in crease in the di str i ct as a whole was 1 4 5

,

10 6 1 , and l l °7 per cen t ; i n the Man i kganj su bd ivi si on i t was

on ly 4 6,4 4 6 and 12 per cen t . The probable cau se s o f the

u nh eal th in e s s of Manikganj are di s cu s sed in the fol lowing

paragraphMore than hal f the recorded death s are as si gn ed to fe

've r,

bu t fe ver,i t n eed hardly be said , i s an expre ss ion that i s very

l oose ly u sed . Most mortal di seases are accompan ied by a ri se intempe ratu re ; th e d iagn os i s i s performed n ot by a medi cal man

but by an ign oran t ru sti c , and i f the patien t has n ot su ccumbedto chole ra ,

smal l-pox ; dysen tery , or one or two other we l l recogn i sed cau se s of mortal i ty , i t i s fai rly certain that be wil l beregi stered as a fever v i ctim . The Madhupu r ju ngle i s gene ra l lycon sidered to be a most malar iou s tract and th i s view i s borne ou t

by the recorded vital s tati sti c s . In the di stri c t as a whole feverdu ring the decade endin g with 190 accou n ted for 5 4 2 ou t ofe ve ry thousan d death s . In the Kapas ia thana wh ich l ies i n theM adhupu r j ungle 8 13 death s ou t of eve ry thou sand were pu t

down to feve r,whi le in the Raipu ra thana whi c h adjoin s i t on the

east the corre spond ing figu re ‘was 73 1 . The death rate from

fever in Man i kganj i s al so very high . The special u nheal thin e s sof Man ikgan j i s n o doubt du e to the h igh subsoi l leve l of the

wate r and the obstruction of the d rain age . There i s a gen eralte nde n cy towards de te ri orat ion of the r i ve rs ot the de l ta , and the

e ffe cts of thi s tendency i n Man i kganj are e special ly pronoun ced .

The pri n c i pa l r i vers i n the we st , the Dhale swar i and the lchl-amati ,have bee n si l ting u p , and i n th i s portion of the d i s tri ct the re i san impe rviou s laye r of b l ue clay abou t two fee t th i ck whi c h i son ly abou t thi rtee n fe e t be l ow t he su rface a t the r i ve r banks , and

i s probab ly on ly thre e or fou r fee t be low the su r face in the in te rior.

Fever.

q

7 4 DACCA D I STR ICT .

case s carri ed by fl ies . The exten t to whi ch the"

prevalen ce o f

cholera depend s upon the neglect not on ly of proper san i tary

precau ti on s bu t even of th e ordinary ru les of decen cy i s shownby the fact that even when ch olera i s raging i n the M un sh i ganjsu bd ivi si on bu t few case s occu r at the Karti k B aru n i fai r . At

th i s fai r there i s a large popu lati on l ivin g in boats and in temporrary she lter s and we re i t not for th e en forcem en t of prope r ru le sepidem i c di sease wou ld m ost certain ly be ri fe .

Prior to 187 7 when Dacca c i ty was fi rs t su pplied wi th :

fi ltered wate r cholera u sed to be very prevalen t i n the c i ty and

bad ou tbreaks con tinu ed to occu r from time to time as the wate rworks at fi rs t were on ly able to supp ly abou t on e b thi rd of the

popu lati on . In 1876 , 305 person s d ied from cholera in the

c i ty, and in 1882 , 52 7 , wh i ch was equ i valen t to a

~death-rate of6 5 7 per m i l le . A pecu l iar ity of thi s ou tbreak was that i t occu rredbetween Ju ly and September at a time of year when the whol edi stri ct i s u nder wate r and t ru e chole ra i s hard ly known . The

u nu su al character of thi s v is i tati on produ ced an absolu te pan i c .

“ All who were able to do so l eft Dacca or l i ved i n boats on ther i ver . The col lege s and school s we re de serted and the street sobstru c ted by proce ss i on s fe r ven tly propi ti ating the re spon s i bled e i tie s .

”The w i de spread character of the epidem i c was dou btle s s

du e to the fact that the mi lkmen’s quarter was i n fe cted at the

very commen cemen t . An exen worse ou tbreak occu rred in 189 3

when there were 581 death s,and 1904 and 1905 were al so year s

o f h i gh cholera mortal i ty , 4 9 3 death s occu rr in g in the forme r yearand 506 in the latter . In 1909 there we re 3 3 4 death s fromcholera i n the ci ty , bu t the exten si on of the water -works was com

pleted in March 19 10 and i n that year the re were on ly 1 4 1 death s .Narayanganj town has al so been ve ry su bject to the di sease and i n

n o le s s than e ight year s between 189 1 and 1906 there were morethan 100 cho lera casu al t ie s . The open ing of the water work s i n1908 has

,however , don e. mu ch to relieve the town of th i s dreadfu l

scou rge thou gh the re were 8 2 de ath s from thi s cau se in 1909 .

In the d i s tri c t as a whole the two wors t epidemi c s whichhave occu rred of recen t year s were those of 189 3 and 1895 . I n

the forme r year the death-rate from th i s c au se was n o le ss than7 2 7 pe r mi l le . The tract that su ffered most severe ly was the

i sland ly ing between the Dhaleswar i and the Padma , the deathrate per mi lle from cholera bei ng M u n sh iganj S r in agar

Nav abganj h/lz’

rn i kganj l lari rarnpu r and

Seulo Ari cha 8 86 . The total number of death s regi ste red was80 per c e n t o f wh ich occ u rred in the las t th ree mon th s of

the year . In 18 9 5,

death s were regi s te red wh ic h was equ ivale n t t o a death-ra te o f per mi l le , the h ighe st di stric t death1 zrte re c orded in lengal that year . The d i sease was again mostp reva le n t in that, portion of the d i s tri c t wh ich i t pu n i shed mostis -vc re ly in 189 3 .

i>UBLio HEALTH .

Dysentery and d iarrhoea are rathe r common , the average Dysenteryann ua l death-rate from the se cau se s d u ring the decade end ing gi

d

mm a

1906 be i ng per m i l le as compared with for the provin ceas a whole . The remain in g di stri cts of the

’

di vi sion snfier bu t l i ttlefromthe se di seases and the i r prevalen ce in Dacca’

mu st probablybe ascri bed to a large r proportion of u rban popu lati on . They are

partic u larly in evidence i n the town s of Dacca and Narayanganj ,the average annu al death-rate from th is cau se i n the forme r citybe ing no le ss than 4 30 in the decade end ing 1902

,and the

Mu n sh iganj subd ivi si on i s a l so mu ch affected . The whole ofth i s tract i s ve ry den se ly popu lated andmany people are l i ving incondition s that arepractica l ly u rban .

Sma l l-pox i s not a seriou s cau se of mortal i ty and i n the Sma l l-pox .

decade end in g 1902 the ave rage annua l death-rate from th i sd i sease was on ly '05 per m i l le . A staff of n ear ly 100 vacc inatorsi s employed almost all of whomare l i cen sed vaccinators , rl.e. , n ot

salaried servan ts o f Governmen t but per son s permi tted to chargetwo ann as for e very operation . Ti l l recen tly arm to arm vaccinati onwas common i n the d i str ict

,but the practice i s now dy ing ou t .

Like the res t of Eastern B engal the d i stri ct has been a lmost P lague .

en tire ly free from plagu e . In 1899 the re was an ou tbreak i n thethanas of Mun sh i ganj and Nawabganj

,8 1 person s be ing attacked ,

of whom on ly n in e recovered . On e death from plagu e a l so occu rred

j

i n 190 7 . The cau se s of the immun i ty o f the di str ic t fromth i s te rri ble d i sease are sti l l obscu re .

Elephan t iasi s and bronchoce le , en larged spleen’

and rheum Otheratism are fai r ly common as

‘

are al so sk in di sease s and worms,

d i seases»the pr in c i pal var ieties being the common rou nd worm, Ascar ide s ,Taen ia and Di stoma In testinate . Group and laryngi ti s are com

paratively rare , bu t catarrh ,bron ch i ti s

,and asthma are common .

Leprosy i s more prevalen t than in Faridpu r and Bakarganj , wherei t i s ex treme ly rare , bu t i t i s n ot of very common occu rren ce .

The proportion of male lepers to eve ry male s in 190 1 was

on ly 39 as compared with 72,the ratio retu rned for the whole of

B enga l .No provi sion seems to have been made for the med ica l atten d-

h

Med ica lan ce of the s i ck in the days of Mughal ru le , bu t a Lu ngu r Kh an a In smu t lon s '

or poor-hou se was main tained . In 1803 a nat i ve hospi ta l wasOpen ed ,

bu t Tay lor , wri tin g i n 1838 , described i t as be in g smal l,

i l l-ven ti lated,capable of con ta in in g on ly 4 0 pat ien ts and al to

gethe r i l l-adapted to the pu rpose for wh ic h i t was e rected . The

lu nat i c asylum was at that time in exi sten ce,bu t no prov i s i on.

had been made for lepe rs , and n one indeed has yet been made “

even at the presen t day .

The most importan t medical in st i tu ti on not on ly in Dacca The 'M i t l d

bu t i n the whole of Eastern Ben ga l and Assam i s the M i tford Hos H OSPM I '

pital. Thi s hospi ta l owe s i ts‘

exi sten ce to M r . Robert M i t ford ofthe Ci vi l ° Se rvi ce who se rved in Dacca for many years and died i nEu rope i n —H e l eft the b u lk of h is property to the

DACCA DI STRICT .

Government of Bengal to be employed i n works of chari ty and

public u ti l i ty in the ci ty of Dacca , bu t the wi l l was di spu ted and

the deci s ion of the final Cou rt was not pronou nced ti l l 1850 . The

h osp i tal was opened i n 1858 and in 186 7 had accommodat ion for9 2 in-patien ts . Since that date i t has been con s iderably en largedand in 190 7 there we re 139 bed s for men and 4 2 for women ,

wh i le the Lady Dufi‘erin Hospita l whi ch stan d s i n the same

compound has fou r beds more . In addit ion to the main ward ofthe hospital , there are lectu re and di ssecting rooms

, an ou tdoorpatient departmen t and accommodati on for Eu ropean i a

patients.

The M i tford Hospital i s a sou rce of immen se good . In a

large c ity l ike Dacca the re are many poor per son s who gladly avai lthemse lves of the opportu n i ty of rece i ving medi cal treatmen t in a

t h ospital and i n 19 07 there were n early indoor patien ts,

wh i le ou tdoor patien ts n umbered nearly We l l-to-doperson s come to the M i t ford Hospi tal e ven from othe r d i stri ctsfor su rgica l treatmen t and in 1907 the number of operati on s

pe r formed wasThe total in come in 1907 was Rs . Of th i s Rs .

r epresen ts the an nual gran t from the Mu n i c ipal ity , Rs . the

su bscripti on from the Distr i ct B oard , and Rs . the in tereston investmen ts . There i s a medi ca l school attached to the

hospi tal wh ich i s fu l ly descr i bed in the chapte r on Edu cati on .

The Vi ctor ia The Victoria Hospi ta l at Narayanganj was opened in 18 92

Eggfl .

“and con ta in s 20 beds for men and 10 for women . The re i s a

8 8 111. large forei gn e lemen t in the popu lat ion of that town employed i nj u te mi ll s and in other ways

,and in 1 907 the hospi tal recei ved

5 4 0 male and 1 1 1 female in-pat ien ts , wh i le the numbe r of ou t

patien ts was n early The total in come of the hospi ta l in1907 was Rs. of wh ich Rs . was rece i ved from the

Mun i c ipal i ty and Rs . 600 from the Di stri ct B oard .

lepensar ieS In add ition to the hospi tal s at Dacca and Narayan ganjthere are in the d i strict 22 d ispen sarie s , 13 of which are ass i s tedby the Di str ict Board wh i le n ine are en t i re ly main tained byprivate person s .

The Di strict Board d i spen sar ies are s ituated at Baldhara,

Bankhuri,Mulchar, Mah adebpu r , Tegharia , Chu rain , Raipu ra ,

Monohard i,Narsingd i , Til l i , Joi nsher , Man ikganj and M un sh i

ganj , and the Mi s s ion di spen sary at Nagar i .The fi rs t of these di spen sari es was e stabl i shed at Man ikganj

i n 186 4 . Then came Jaydebpu r and Join sher i n 1866 , B hagyaku li n 1868 , Kal ipare in 18 70 , and M a la ch i in 1872 . The lastn amed d i spen sary was e rected i n accordan ce with the in stru ction sla id down in the wi l l of Babu l shan Chand ra Roy who left certa in

property for i t s support. Thi s property now yie ld s an income

of abou t Rs . per ann um which i s con siderably moret han i s requ i red for the main te na n ce o f the in s t i tu ti on and i t i sp r oposed to devote the surplus funds to the endowmen t of a

BUBL IC H EALTH . 77

new di spensary at Hari rampu r. All the appointments and

e qu ipmen t of the Maluchi d i spen sary are of the very best,as

i s on ly natu ral in an e stabl i shmen t i n which no c on s ide rati on sof econ omy need in tervene .

On ly five of the se d i spen saries have any provi s i on for indooraccommodat ion and the total n umber of bed s avai lable i s on lyfi fty

-n i ne . Thi s i s not, howe ve r , a matte r for regre t . In digen ts tranger s are the on ly pe r son s who wou ld con sen t to become

i a-patien ts at a d i spen sa ry and the numbe r of the se people in the

in te rior i s not large . Eight bed s are main ta ined at the Malach iEye Di spen sary , but the average dai ly number of indoor pat ien ti s less than two.

Judged by the s tandard of popu lation the number o f d i spensaries in the d i strict i s not large , as even afte r inc lud ing pri vate nona ided in st i tu t ions there were in 1907 on ly e ight to e ve ry m i l l ioni nhabi tan ts as compared wi th thi rteen i n the provin ce as a wholeand 2 4 i n a large di stric t l i ke Sy lhe t. Distance s are not

,howeve r

,

great and commun ication s are fai r ly good,so that i n Dacca the

s ick have greate r fac i li t ie s for obta in ing ac ces s to med ic in e thani n many othe r place s . Publ i c d i spen saries are

,moreove r , n ot s o

u rgen tly requ ired in Dacca as i n othe r porti on s of the province ,as the n umber of pri vate medica l practi tioners i s unu sual ly large .

I n 190 1 t here were i n the d is tr ict no le s s than 16 4 doctors wi thdiplomas or certificates . A figu re l ike th i s requ i re s some standardof compari s on , and th i s s tandard may be fou nd i n the rema in ingthree d i strict s of the di vi s ion whi ch had on ly 3 4 between them !I t i s pe rhaps doubtfu l whe ther uncertifi cated doctors are not moreof a danger than of a he lp to the pat ien t s whom they treat

,bu t

of these person s Dacca had in 1901 no le s s than a figu rewhich was on ly exceeded by one d i strict in B engal . Most of thetra ined pr i vate doctors are , howeve r , l i ving i n the town s and thesou thern part of the di strict , and an increase of medical fac i l i t iesi s ca l led for i n the north .

The experimen t was recen tly tried of requ i ring doctors incharge of d ispen sarie s to attend the bazars in the vic in i ty on

market days wi th a stock of medicin es,but i t d id n ot p rove a

su cce ss and was soon abandoned . There i s , however , l i ttle dou btthat much st i l l remain s to be done to bring medica l re l ie f to thedoors of the people . The popu lati on of the town s o f Daccaand Narayanganj i s on ly 4 per cen t of the popu lat ionof the district as a whole

, yet i n 1907 the patien ts treatedi n the medical in sti tu ti on s of those two town s formed n early50 per cent of the total numbe r of pat ien ts treated i n the

15 in st i tu t ion s for which retu rn s are pu bl ished . There i s ofcou rse a large r proportion of indigent fore igners in the town sthan in the in terior and pe r son s some t ime s come from othe r di str i c ts to be treated i n the M it ford Hospital , bu t the se two factsare not i n themse l ve s su ffi c ient to account for such a very markedd i fference in the figures.

DACCA DI STRI CT :

The fol lowin g rough abstract taken ‘from the retu rn s for 1907give s a good idea of th e cla s s of di sease s most common ly treatedat the se medical in sti tu tion s —Total n umbe r of patien tsu l cers and othe r d i sease s of the skin dyspepsia , d iarrhoeaand othe r d i sease s of the dige sti ve system malaria l feve r

; di sease s of the eye and ear inj u ries rheuma

t i sm worm s dysen tery vene real d i sease sIn 1907 the total in come of the 15 in sti tu ti on s wh ich

accepted pu bli c aid was i n rou nd fi gu re s Rs . Abou t 4

per cen t of thi s was rece i ved from Governmen t , abou t 20 per cen tf rom the Di stri ct B oard , abou t 2 4 per cen t from the two Mun ic ipa

liti es , abou t 17 per cen t from endowmen ts and abou t 9 perc en t from subscription s .

The Dacca Lu nati c Asylum was fou nded in 18 15 an d has

accommodat ion for 2 17 male s and 4 5 female s i t rece i ve s patien tsfrom the Dacca and Chi ttagon g d iv i s ion s and from the d i stri cts ofSylhet and Cachar . The average number of in sane s admi ttedannual ly i s 52 and the average dai ly stren gth 2 3 2 ; n early hal fthe

' inmate s are crim in al s . The ann u a l cost i s abou t Rs .

The san i tary con di ti on of the di str ict leave s mu ch to bedesi red In 1867 the Collector wrote as fol lows of Daccac ity Dacca has l on g been famed for its fi l th , and i n th i sre spect u ndou btedly bore away the palm even from that townof odor iferou s ce lebri ty— the an cien t c i ty of Cologn e . In 17 13

i t i s de scribed by a Je su i t pr ie st i n the fol lowin g te rm scc qu i est dc la v i lle, fr i en cle plu s sa le at ole plu s ma l—pr op r e.

’

H e says th e streets are fu l l of di rt and ordu re wh ich s’y r assemblen t

afte r the s l ighte s t showe r . M ore than a cen tu ry and a hal fhas e lapsed sin ce the priest wrote and con side rable improvemen thas been made . Mu ch , however , remain s to be done . At pre sen tthe san i tary con di tion of the town var ie s i n d ifferen t l ocal i tie s .The main thorou ghfare s and place s of pu bl ic resort are

, as a

ru le,clean and we l l kept , as are al so the streets i n the n e i ghbou r

hood of the ri ve r ; i t i s in the back stree t s and u n frequ en tedby

-lan e s and al leys i n the cen tre of the town that n u i san ce sare still r i fe ; and he re many ve ry obj ectionable l ocal i tie s aresti l l t o be fou nd . I n many place s the proprie tor s of h ou se shave bu i lt mason ry drain s

,t ota l ly regard le s s of the fact that

t hey h ave no ou tle t . As a natu ral con sequ en ce these d rain sbecome stagnan t chann e l s fi l led wi th ru bbi sh . The hO lI Se s

of the wea l thy are n ot mu ch bette r t han th ose of the poore rc lasse s as regard s con se rvan cy arrangemen ts . I n most spou t smay be seen in the ou te r wa l l from wh ich the sewage and fi lthfrom the u ppe r storeys d ri bbles down to the ground be l ow ,

leavin gi n i ts pas sage dow n the wall a horri ble coagu lated mas s of abomin ati on ,

O l'

ten mo re than an in ch th ick .

”

Pr in c i pa l llcads o f~the lh'

s tory and' Stat i s tl cs of the Dacca Div i s ion ,

PUBLIC H EALTH . 79

Mu ch has been done to improve the san i tary condi t ion o fthe c i ty d i n i ng the 4 3 years that h ave e lapsed sin ce the se word swere wri tten , bu t 'u n fortunate ly e ven at the pre sen t day theysti l l hold good i n the main . Throu gh th e l i beral i ty of NawabAbdu l Gan i of Dacca the city .was endowed with a supply offi l te red wate r i n 18 77 and th i s has done mu ch to check the

ravage s o f cholera which formerly exacted a heavy toll from the

inhabitan ts . The Con servan cy Departmen t has been deve l oped andimproved ,

and con s ide rable sums of money have been expen dedi n open i ng up passage s th rou gh wh i c h the sweeper s can gainexce ss to the pr ivies . B u t th i s work i s very costly , and i t i scalcu lated that there are st i l l fi ve thou sand pri vate latrin e s whi chcannot be approached and which mu st the re fore of n ecessi ty bele ft u n cleared from year to year

,a mas s of fe ste ri ng ordu re i n

the mid s t of a conge sted popu lati on . The pr in cipal street s ar e

swept , bu t there 1 8 n o system of d rain age in the ci ty , and i n the

by lane s there 1s often an offen s i ve sten ch from the accumu lati onof sewage and decay ing garbage not on ly i n the lane i tsel f bu tin the adjacen t prem i se s .

The streets and lane s are ve ry narrow,and are 1n con sequ ence

both dark and stu ffy . One qu arte r,indeed

,the Sankhar i Bazar ,

i s qu i te phen omenal . The hou se s are extraordin ari ly n arrow,bu t

run back for an enormou s d i stan ce form i ng a cu ri ou s warren oftiny rooms and passage s i n to wh ich ne i ther l i ght n ot air can en te r.Even o the condition s of the baz ars i n wh i ch food i s exposed forSale are most in san i tary . Steps have recen t ly been taken to

e xtend the water-su ppl y and to improve the con servancy arrangemen ts and the qu e sti on of in trod u cing a d rainage system i s u n derc on siderati on . Dacca i s , howeve r , an old ci ty

,con s tru cted at

a time when the laws of san i tat i on we re u n kn own i n Ind ia and

noth ing short of demol it ion and re -bu i ldmg wou ld brin g i t i n toa ccordan ce with the requ i remen ts o f the twen tieth cen tu ry . The

fol lowing desc ription o f the con se rvancy arrangemen ts i n Daccac i ty i s taken from the San i tary Report for 1905 The pOpu la

ti on of Dacca i s over There are 13,000 pri vate and

12 pu bl ic latrine s on the regi sters,and i t i s estimated that abou t

peopl e are n ot provided wi th conven ien ce s o f any sort .

The soi l of pr i vie s i s more or le ss removed and th e remainde rfrom one cau se or an othe r i s inacce s s ible . The c u stom i n Daccai s to bu i ld hou se s i n blorks back to back wi th a cou rtyard in thec en tre . At th e back of the cou rtyard the pr i vies open on to a

c entral chann e l by mean s of whi ch they are served . I n s ome

c ase s 5 0 or 100 latrine s open on to a s i ngle pas sage,and i t i s

frequ en tly s o na rrow that i t i s hardly poss i ble for a man to crawlal on g by p lacing hi s fee t on the s l i ppery ledge s on e i ther s idebe tween the wal l and the drain ,

and the ends of the passage mayeven be closed up by hou se s s o that there 1s no possi ble en t rance.

I t i s n eedle s s to say that the sewage from these latrines has neve rbe en removed and has 1 11 the cou rse of years col lected u n ti l i t

Narayangan j .

San itation int he in ter 1or .

DACCA DI STRICT .

stands con s ide rably above the leve l of the cou rtyards . I haveseen some of the se u nopen ed passage s from the roofs o f the

adj oin in g h ou se s . The i r condi tion i s inde scri bably fi lthy even inthe cold season . The people compla ined to me that in the rainyseason the sewage flows back in to the i r hou ses .

”

I n Narayan ganj afiai rs are very d i fferen t . Stand i ng as i t d oeson a s ite

,the greater part of wh ich i s mu ch be low flood-leve l i t s

natu ral d i sadvan tage s are very great B u t i t i s a comparat i ve lyyoun g town and from the fi rst has enj oyed the ad van tage of a largecommun i ty of European bu sin e s smen connected wi th the ju tetrade . The se gen t lemen have taken a close in te re st i n mun i cipa laffai r s

,and i t i s d oub tfu l whether in East or West B en gal the re i s

anothe r town of its si z e i n which a San i tary I n spector cou ld find sofew subjects for cri t ici sm . The con stru ct ion of the n ew wate rwork s has removed the one de fect

,as prior to the i r erection the

morta li ty from cholera was high .

The san i tary cond iti on of the vil lages i s far from sati s factory,

and matter s c an hardly be put on a prope r bas i s u n t i l thevi l lager s them se l ves real i se how importan t i t i s to improve thesu r rou nd ings of thei r dwel l in gs and are will ing to devote the time

and labou r requ i red for the pu rpose . In the flooded trac ts the rei s one valuable asset on the side of heal th ; the annual floodwashe s the coun try every year and at the beginn in g of the coldweather leave s the su rface clean . B ut indi rectly i t i s a sou rce ofse riou s t rou ble . The hou se s have to be bu i lt on mounds rai sedabove the su rface of the wate r and to create these mound s h olesare

,dug in close prox im i ty to the hou se . When the floods fal l

the se hole s are le ft , me re stagnan t pool s fi l led wi th decayingvege tat i on and garbage , the breeding ground s of mosqu i toe s andd i sease . Con siderable sum s have been expended in Mani kganjt own i n making tan k s and u sing the earth so obtained in fi l l in gu p these hole s , bu t the cost of car ry ing ou t thi s very de si rablere form over the di str ict as a whole by pa id labou r wou ld be beyon dthe mean s of any Gove rnment and the on ly h0pe of improvemen t

l ie s i n the volun tary efi'

ort of the peopl e themsel ve s . The re a . e,

however,other sou rces of d i sease which admi t of eas ier remed y .

The sun and ai r ar e al ike pu ri fy ing agen ts and mu ch good wou ldbe done i f the v i llagers wou ld con ten t themse l ve s wi th provid in gthei r hou ses w i th a 1 easonable amoun t of shade in stead of

, as i so ften the case , bu ry ing them i n a den se jungle of bamboos and

aims .PMu ch di sease i s al so cau sed by the reck les s and in sani tary

d iaposal of excre ta . Rows of privie s are often to be seen standi ng in the shal lows al on g the edge s o f the Padma whe re the re i sn o whole some cu rren t to sweep away impu ri t ie s , and the re su l t ofth i s d i sgu sting practi ce i s to be fou nd in the high death-ratefrom cholera recorded in these vi l lages . The bank s of ri vers andstreams are free ly u sed as latri nes ; when the waters ri se theyabsorb thi s fi l th and the people who d rink th i s di luted sewage

DACCA DI STRICT .

CHAPTER V .

ECONOM IC CONDITI ON OF THE PEOPLE .

B roadly speak ing , the inhabitants of the di stri c t fal l i n tothe fol low ing main c lasses— the great land lord s

, the profe ss ionalc las ses , the traders , the agr i cu ltu r i sts , the arti zan s and weaversand the boat ing and labou ring clas ses . The great lan d lord s are

few in number and,as in England

,the i r ranks are from t ime to

t ime re in forced by men who have made money in t rade and the

learned profe s si ons . The proportion of the d i stri c t popu lati onin cluded in the category of professi onal c lasses i s u nu su al ly large ,for B i krampu r i s the s tronghold of the B engal i m idd le clas s andthere are a great number of people l i ving there who are large lydependant for thei r main tenan ce on the remi ttan ce s rece i ved fromfathers , hu sban ds , and brothers who are earn ing thei r l i ve l ihoodin other d i stri ct s of B engal and i n Assam . In the profe ss ionalc las se s are in clu ded an army of clerks

,many of whom draw bu t

slende r sa lar ie s and111/hose fami l ies accord ingly suffered con siderablyfrom the higher pr ices of 1906 . The Shahas and to a lesse r degreethe Te l is are the great trad ing caste s and severa l o f the i r member shave amassed very con siderable fortune s from money-lending and

commerce and have pu rchased importan t zamindari s . Mo re thanthree-fi fths of the popu lat ion of the di str ic t st i l l der i ve the i rsu stenan ce from the land , and the conditi on of the agri cu l tu ra lindu stry , the re lation s between the land lord s and the tenant s and

the rate s of ren t are therefore matter s of great importance .

The fol low in g are the clas se s in to wh ich land i s common lyd i vided for the pu rpose of asse ssmen t to ren t bhi ti or homestead

,

n a l or cu ltu rab le land whi ch i s d iv ided in to the fol lowing . threec lasses : fi rs t c las s awa l, second clas s doi am and thi i d clas schatam

,cu ltu rable waste (la t/r. pa ti t or p a ti t ), and j ola or doba

wh ich i s low-lying marshy grou nd . Wi th the in crease of populat i on these d i stin cti on s are tending to d isappear and vi l lage rsagree to pay the highest rates e ven for in fer ior land . Specia l rate sare general ly charged for pom and vegetable garden s and forland u nder thatch ing grass .

I n B howal the h ighe r land i s d ivided in to two main clas se s ,bald and clzrtlla , and each of the se classe s again in to th ree grade s ,p ar rlor , [came/0T ,

and chcdor . The most fe rti le land in th i s parto f the di str ic t are the ba i rls or s hal low depres sion s which in tersec t the higher lan d and whi ch c lose ly re semble a format ion i nthe. Golagha t su bd ivi s ion of the Sibsagar d i strict known as hoolas .

No special rate i s charged i n B howal for homestead land as muchof the n al land l ie s above flood-level

,but higher rents are somet imes

ECONOMIC CONDITION OF TH E PEOPLE .

paid for land c u lti vated wi th lea rolas (a spec ie s of cu cumber ) andj u te . When th i s pargana was s t i ll large ly u nde r j ungle specialleases wi th a ren t-free peri od were gran ted for the reclamat ion ofthe land . B rahmottar and other ren t-free tenu re s were al s ooffered to men of re spectable fami ly who we re prepared to settlethe re . The se con cess ion s have been now withdrawn .

Ren ts,as i s on ly natu ral

,are h ighe s t i n B i krampu r where Rents .

the ru ral popu lation i s ex tremely den se . The old-establi shed rate sper bi gha ranged from Re . 1-4 -0 to Rs . 2 for cu lt i vated land and

was Rs . 4 for home stead ; bu t as mu ch as Rs . 4 a bigha i s somet ime s paid for c u l ti vated land and Rs . 8-12-0 for homestead .

I n Man ikganj 12 annas a bigha i s a not un common ra te forcu lti vated land , and from Rs . 2-8-0 to Rs 3 for home s tead In

Narayanganj the ren t for cu l tu rable land i s from Re . 1 to Re . 1-4-0

per from, bu t in the kha s mahals i t range s from 6,annas to

9 annas . I t shou ld be explained that the learn t in Narayanganj i sa l i ttle le s s than a bigha.

In B howal the cu s tomary rate s are as fol lows

Pa rdor . Kamdor . Chedor .

2 to 2-4 1-2 to 1-4 8 to 10

Chal la 0-8 to 0-10 0-5 t o 0-6 3 to 4

Near the c ity the rate s o f cou rse are h ighe r,and land u sed

for market garden s i n the outski rts of Dacca fetches from Rs . 8

to Rs . 12 per bigha .

These ren ts i n themse l ves are probably not more than theland can we l l afford , bu t the landlord s add to the i r in comes i nother ways . I n case s of tran sfer

'

the lan d lord u sua l ly exactsone-quarter of the pu rchase money as hi s fee . The s ight tosett le on a p iece of land i s often pu t u p to au cti on and

se ldom fetche s les s than ten time s the annual ren t , whi leas much -as Rs. 75 a bigha is sometimes paid . I l legal ces se sare al so occas ional ly imposed . Road and Pu blic W orks cesse s aresometimes real i sed from the raiyat s at dou ble the au thori sed rateand the tat/tor i , a cess _

'

o f one ann a or more in the ru pee of ren t,

which i s d istribu ted amongst the col lecting s taff, i s almost u n iversal . Ma r ocha i s an abfwab occasi ona l ly pa id to the land lordwhen a marr iage takes place i n hi s ten an t’s fami ly and i n some

e s tate s a bwatbs are col lected to defray the cos t of d i spen sar ie s andschool s . These ce sse s are u su al ly pa id by the cu l ti vators w ithou tmu ch demu r and the re lat ion s betwee n lordlords and tenan ts are ,general ly speaking , good .

Other c esses .

Prices

P

DACCA DI STRICT .

It i s dou btfu l whethe r i t i s of much u se to carry an enqu i ryinto pr ices back too far , as few th ings are more l iable to m i s leadthe casu al reader than the marke t rate s of a hu ndred years ago .

They apply these rate s to the cond ition s of the presen t day and

in fer that the people were prosperou s becau se the pri ce s of then ecess it ie s of l i fe were low , forgettin g that money then was veryscarce and that the people had not mu ch to spend . Taylor state sthat between 18 10 and 18 36 the average pri ce per mau nd was forbes t r ice Re . 1— 0-15 -1

5and for° the cheape s t qual i ty Re 0-13

125. Th is su gge sts a land flowin g with mi lk and honey , b u t thatthe suggest ion i s fal laci ou s can be gathered from the fact that in1784

,when r i ce was what we shou ld n ow con side r very cheap ,

file ,

17 seers to the ru pee , “ the di stres s of the inhabi tan ts e xceededall de scr iption .

”The stati sti c s pu bli shed by the Governmen t o f

I ndia show the retai l price of ri ce at Dacca s in ce 186 1 . The

cheape s t year sin ce that date was 1 862 when see rs cou ld bepu rchased for a ru pee . I n 186 6 the Ori s sa fami ne se nt the priceup to 10 6 3 seers , bu t two years later i t was back again to 28 86

seers . The market var ied considerab ly from year to year and i n186 9 i t was up again to In 18 73

,i t was 2 3 22 and in the

fol lowin g year up to Be tween 1 878 and 1880 i t averaged12 06 s ee r s and i n the n ext trienn ium the average was as l ow as 23

seers . Th i s was the last of th e real ly cheap r ice and n ever s in cethen has the average pr ice for the year fal len to 20 seer s . In

1 889 , the pr ice rose to 1 4 seers and i n the qu inqu enn ium ending1895 i t averaged 1 3 °31 seers . The fam ine of 1897 sen t the pr iceu p to 9 6 seer s , bu t 1899 was a year of abundan t harve st and ri cesold at the rate of seers to the rupee . I n 1904 rice was

again cheap at seers,but i n 1906 and 1907 i t was extreme ly

clear at and 8 06 seer s to the rupee . Thi s was due to theexceedingly u nfavourable cond ition s prevai l ing i n those year s .I n 1906

,there was the highe st flood on record

,the rai lway to

Goalando was breached , and the price of r ice i n Dacca sudden lyrose from Rs . 55 to Rs . 8 per maund

,wh i le i n parts of the

in ter ior i t touched Rs . 9 per maun d . The restorat ion of com

mu n i cations and the importati on of cheap r i ce from Burma sen t

pri ce s down from thi s famine leve l bu t for some time t heycontinu ed to be. very high . Fai r ly n ormal cond iti ons had , however ,re-establi shed them se l ve s by 19 10 and i n Jan uary of that yearc ommon r ice was se l l ing at the rate of 133i seers to the rupee .

Apart from ind ivid ual bad seasons several cau se s havecon tri bu ted to send up the pri ce of grain . The increase i n pepu lat i on has brou gh t the le s s ferti le land u nder cu l t ivati on and

the ave rage y ie ld per acre has decreased . The great exten si ono f j u te c u lth ation has n ot on ly d i s placed a con si derablearea of r i ce bu t by l) u tti ng an enormou s amou nt of mon eyin to c i rc u lat ion

,has in creased the powe r of the con sume r

to pay , and the con sume r’s capac i ty for payment i s probably a

c ons idemble factor i n the l oca l price of ri ce . The diflerence

ECONOMIC CONDITION OF TH E PEOPLE .

between the n ormal price of the present day and the n ormalpri ce of a hundred years ago i s pr in cipal ly due to the increase inthe quan ti ty of money in ci rcu lation

,b ut thou gh the great ou t

pu t of gold from Sou th Africa du rin g the n ine tie s may havehe lped to send up the price of ri ce , other factors were , no doubt ,con tribu tory cau ses . There has been a con siderable in crease in

the amou n t o f ri ce exported from India and the ra iyat n ow tend sto se l l hi s crops and hoard money in stead of grain . B u t the

han dl ing of mon ey i s a th in g whi ch i s not learn t i n a day ,and

whi le grain can not very eas il y be fri ttered away , money c an .

Sal t has been for cen tu r ie s in India an artic le on whichtaxat ion has been regu larly levied and the pr ice of the commod i tylarge ly depends u pon the rate of the tax . In the decade end ing183 8 the average pri ce was Rs . 4 -15-8 per mau ndfi“ B etween186 1 and 1881 the pr ice was u sual ly between 8 -3 and seers tothe ru pee . In 1882 on the remi s s i on of taxat i on i t fel l t o 12 3 8seer s , bu t s ix year s later when i t was found nece s sary to rai sethe tax agai n i t rose to see rs . In 1 905 when the tax was

again lowered i t fe l l to seer s and fu rthe r rem i s s i on s broughtthe pr ice i n 1907 down to 162 seers per rupee or abou t hal f ofwhat i t was some e ighty years before .

The ri se i n pri ces has n atu ral ly been accompan ied by a ri se Wages .i n wage s . In 1803 , a farm labou rer rece i ved from Re . 1 toRe . 1 8 a mon th and a cooly from 8 annas to Re . 1 and h i s food .

By 1837 the rate of wage s had ri sen t o from Rs . 2 4 to Rs . 4 fora farm labou re r and from Re . 1 to Rs. 2 4 with food for a cooly .

I n 1867,the da i ly wage of a cooly was 3 annas . Wage s tend to

r i se with the r i se i n the pri ce of food but, i f the retu rn s can be

re l ied u pon,they reflect the variati on s of the market mu ch les s

rapid ly than the grain-dealers do . In 1873,the wage s of an

agr icu l tu ral labou re r were Rs . 6 per mensem and they remaineda t abou t that figure t i l l 188 6 though the pe r iod included severa lyears of scarcity when the pri ce of ri ce was up to le s s than 12 and

13 see rs to a rupee . I n 1886 and 1889 , they we re re tu rned at

from Rs . 6 to Rs . 10 per men sem,and i n 1 89 3 at from Rs . 8 to

Rs . 10 . Th is was,howeve r

,a year of scarc ity when rice rose to

10 °2 4 seer s to the ru pee and they are said to have subsequen tlyfal len to from Rs . 5 to Rs . 7 The hi gh pri ces a t the begin n in gof the cen tu ry sen t wage s u p again and they tou ched the i rh i ghe s t leve l i n 1905 at 11 0m Rs .

0

10 to Rs . 12 per men sem

Wage s,howeve r

,vary con siderably i n d i fferen t parts of the

d i stri ct and at differen t season s of the year , and for j u te weedingi t i s not u ncommon to pay from 8 to 10 anna s a day .

0

A large numbe r of the hou ses i n Dacca c ity are bu i l t of Dweuin gs .

brick and some of those al on g the r i ver bank are of con siderablesize . They hardly , h owever , comply wi th Eu ropean standard s ofcomfort

,as th e ro oms though numerou s are ve ry smal l and dark .

Topog raphy of Dacca , p . 291 .

P

86 DACCA DI STRICT .

There are al so a con side rable number of masonry hou ses i n theinterior

,e special ly in the sou th of the d istric t whe re s o many

fami lie s o f the m idd le clas se s have the i r an cestral home s . Poore rh ou se s in Dacca gene ral ly have mud wal ls wi th a ro of made ofkerosene oi l t in s beaten flat and s tretched over bamboo rafters

,

bu t there are s ome i n whi ch the wal l s are made o f Spl i t bambooand the roof of thatch . The peasan ts

’cottages i n the in ter iorhave wal l s of spl i t bamboo or reed s plaste red with mud , roofs ofthatch or corru gated i ron . The cen tre of the ridge pole in

thatched hou se s i s ve ry mu ch h ighe r than e i ther end , as i t i sfou nd that cu rved roofs are les s li ke ly to be inju red by s torms .I n the flooded tracts the hou se s have to be rai sed on h igh mou nds

,

and the cost of preparing the s i te leads to the c on s t ru cti on ofsmall and u n comfortable dwe l l ings . In the n orth

,where the

deman d for land i s les s acu te and a l owe r pl in t h su ffice s,the

cu l tivator plan s h i s home stead on a more l ibe ra l s cale and eachstead ing con si st s of three or fou r cottages su rroundin g a sma l l .

c ou rtyard wh i ch i s regu lar ly plastered with mud and cowdungand kept sc rupu l ou sly clean . In certain vi l lage s

,where su i table

earth i s fou nd , the wal l s of the h ou se s are made of mud , and the

bu i ld ing , e special ly i f in habited by a weal thy Sheb a , pre sen t squ i te an impos ing appearan ce . Good examples of thi s mud

a rch ite ctu re are t o be fou nd at M u rapara , Sabhar , B i ru lea,

Dhamrai , Bhabla and Gotasia i n Man oha rd i . The cost of prepari ng a cu lt i vator’s hu t i n the fl ooded tracts

,including the cost of

rai si ng the pl in th wou ld be abou t Rs . 4 00, of a good steadi ng

wi th th ree or fou r d i fferen t hou ses in the n orth of the di stri ctabou t Rs

’

. 100 and of a mud hou se su ch as i s to be fou nd at

Mu rapara Rs .

_300

Fu rn i ture i s a commodi ty which has comparati ve ly smal lattrac ti on s e i the r to ri ch or poor . Even the weal thie s t zamindar shave l i ttle fu rn i tu re in the rooms appropr iated for the i r own u se

and what there i s , i s of the simples t character . There i s a wooden

platform (ta lc/a p osh) wi th a carpe t (satr cmgi ) and a few big

pi l lar s on wh i ch vi s itor s of good positi on s i t , with low ben che sand mats 'for humble r folk . B u t wea lthy men al so have roomsfu rn i shed i n Eu ropean sty le for the recepti on of Eu ropean vi s itor s .

Cu l t i vator s even when wel l to do have st i ll less . A box ortwo to hold the i r c lothes , a wooden stool , some mat s on wh i chth ey sleep on the mud floor and that i s all.

The beddin g of the ord inary vi l l age r con s i st s of a patch-workqu i l t made o f clothe s too o ld to be any l on ger worn , bu t the we l lt o -do u se sheets and a cotton qu i l t i n the cold weather . All

classes of the commun i ty u se mosqu i to cu rta in s whi ch are gener~

ally made of cl oth woven i n Tippe ra and N oakhal i . Til l recen t lythe we l l-to-do u sed ord inary Eu ropean mosqu ito cu rta in s , bu tu nde r the i nfluen ce o f the Swade sh i movemen t

,many Hi ndu

gentlemen sacri ficed the i r comfort to the i r en thu siasm and reve rtedto the th i cke r and s tu fiic r nati ve cloth . For cookin g and eati ng

ECONOMIC CONDITION O F TH E PEOPLE .

they u se bras s and bel l-meta l pots and pan s , plate s and bowl s o fename l led i ron and cheap bu t ugly imported potte ry . Ename l ledware i s cheaper and eas ie r to clean than bras s bu t i s de nouncedby ad vocate s of Swadesh i . For lamps the cu lt i vators u se l i tt let in pots fi l led with ke rosene or earthenware sau cers w i th the wickfloating i n the oi l

,bu t in the win te r they go early to bed and are

gene ral ly sati sfied with the l ight afforded by the fi re at whichthey cook the i r food .

The most advan ced secti on of the commun i ty appear i n p ress ,

pu bli c e i the r i n fu l l Eu ropean dres s or i n trous ers and the n eat andd ecorou s chap kan ,

whi ch re sembles a cassock reach ing to the

knee more than anyth in g e l se known i n we stern lan ds . Bu t i n

pri vate ri ch and poor a l ike amongs t Hi ndu s wear dhu ti , shawl ,and puggrt

’r ee

,though ready-made jackets ar e com ing i n to favou r

even amongst the poore r c las se s . Mu hammadan s i n place of thedhu t i wear a lu ngm

’

or petticoat of colou red cloth reaching t o theankles and a fez or cap . We l l-to-do Mu hammadan s often spenda good deal upon the i r ward robe

,bu t fortun ate ly the vi llagers

have not ye t become imbu ed with any de s i re to squ ande r moneyon dre s s and an old man whose c lothe s wou ld di sgrace a scarec rowwil l s ometimes adm i t that he has sold h i s j u te for as mu ch as

Rs . 500 . The ord inary dress of a woman , whethe r {Hindu orMuhammadan , i s the sar i , a l on g piece of c loth fasten ed roun d thewa i st s o as to form a pett icoat and al so a cove rin g for the u pperpart

’of the body . I t has the great advan tage of be ing cool bu t

at t ime s leave s l i ttle to the imaginati on,and i t i s no matte r for

su rpri se that men shou ld not l i ke the i r women fol k to appear toofree ly in pu bl ic in qu ite su ch exiguou s atti re . The sa r i s worn

by ladie s of the u pper c lasse s are often ve ry beau ti fu l garmen tsand they al so wear bodi ces and j acket s .

The jewe l le ry worn fa l l s in to the fol lowing classesHead ornamen ts .— Jhapta. we ight 3 tolahs ; flowe r for the hai r

knot we i gh t 2 tolahs . Forehead,shi tr i we i ght l —g tolahs . Nose ,

ta lc/c wei ght 1 ann a ear-rings weight 1 to 5 tolahs , neck lace swei ght 3 to 6 tolahs armlets we ight 3 to 5 tolahs , brace lets ,ankle ts and wai s t chain s .

0

It i s d iffi cu l t to speak with mu ch preci s ion wi th rega rd to Economi cthe econ om i c condit ion of the people . The permanen t se ttle Ct

men t al l ows a large margin of profi t to the zamindars , bu t thee p ” 6 “

number of big estate s i s not great and some old fami l ies havebeen impoveri shed by the su bd ivi s ion of the i r propert ie s and byexpend itu re in exce ss even of a very con siderable income . The

upper m iddle classe s are comfortably off,but the great body of

pe r son s who hold m in i sterial appoin t-men ts have suffe red severelyof recen t years from the high pri ce s of food . They fee l themse l ve scompe l led to keep u p the ou tward appearance s of gen t i l i ty , bu tin many case s th i s can on ly be don e at the pr i ce of abstinen cefrom rea l nece ssarie s . The tradin g and money-lendl ng clas se sare weal thy and the d i s tr i ct as a whole i s u ndoubted ly a ve ry rich

b

Jewe l lery .

88 DACCA DI STRI CT .

one . Thi s i s shown by the fac t that i n 1906 when ri ce wassel ling at between four and fi ve see r s for t he rupee t he re was

never anyth ing in the shape of famin e . The cu l t i vat i ng clas se sare , as a whole , we l l off and wou ld be st i l l more prospe rou s hadthey fu l ly learn t the art of managing money . At pre sen t a con

siderable portion of the golden harve st reaped from j u te i sfri ttered away i n u nneces sary and un prod uct ive ex pe ndi tu re .

Ar ti zan s . su ch as potte rs and weaver s and fi s he rmen and boatmen ,

are , as a ru le,poorer than the clas s d irect ly supported by the land .

The great maj ori ty of the cu l ti vators are said to be in debt,

the ordinary rate of in te re st be i ng in the ne i ghbou rhood of Rs . 3-2-0

pe r cen t per mon th . Where the deman d i s grea t and the secu ri typoore r than u sual . the rate s r i se to and even 12s per cen t

per men sem . Sma l l sum s are often len t on the pe rsona l c red i t‘of the borrowe r

,some time s withou t any documen tary eviden ce

,

but the se loan s are se ldom repud iated . When more money i srequ i red the hold in g i s hypothecated , though j otes are not u sual lyhe ld to be tran s ferable withou t the con sen t of the zamindar .Cu ltivator s se ld om mortgage or sel l the i r crops ,

be fore harve stt ime

,except in the case of ju te when they occas ional ly take an

advance on the u nderstand ing that the whole of the amp wi l l besold to the c red itor e i the r at cu rren t hazar rates or at a pri ceagreed u pon beforehand .

In te l l igen t observe rs whose acqu ain tan ce w ith the di stri ctextend s over more than a quarter of a cen tu ry affi rm withou the s itat ion that the standard of comfort amon gst the peasan ts hasri sen in a ve ry n oti ceable manne r and they are mu ch moreprosperou s than they u sed to be . No smal l par t too o f the sen seof poverty amongs t the cler ical clas ses i s due to the i r in creaseddes i re fo r l uxu r ies . Gramophone s and bi cycle s command a largesale and the youn g bhadr a lok of the pre sen t day ask mu ch moreof l i fe than d id thei r grand fathe rs . The re was mu ch that was

reprehen s ible i n the swadeshi movemen t , bu t as far as i t represented a des i re t o revert toward s a simple r form of l i fe

,to eschew

fore ign luxu r ie s wh i ch were real ly beyond the pu rses of the

people and to Open u p mean s of l i ve l ihood to young men who hadoutgrown the profe ss ion of the i r fathers

,i t was whol ly good .

Ra I n fa lI.

DACCA DI'

STRICT .

of a vegetable mou ld . The b i l clay i s a sti ff clay depos i te don the bottom s and edge s of bi ts . It i s most common i n the

sou the rn and we s te rn parts of the d i stri c t where the mainchan ne l of the Gange s u sed to flow and has in many place sbeen m ixed wi th the decayed remain s of aquati c plan t s . Thi sc lay i s s ti ff and d iffi cu lt to prepare as i t cake s in t o large c lodswh ich re s i s t the plou gh and have to be broken wi th the hamme r .

The n ew al luv ium con si st s of san d and loam m ixed i n vary i ng

prepOrti on s . The’

a l lu v ium of th e Meghn a where the cu rren t i sless i api d has a fin e r textu re , i s ri cher in vegetable matter and i smore re ten t i ve of moi stu re than the a l luvium' of the Gange s .

These three clas se s of soi l are styled by the cu lti vator s la t ma ti,

mai tfta l mu tt and dor osha ma ts Au s paddy and the jack fru i ttr ee a lon e do rea l ly we l l on lul mu tt and th ough the v i l lage rs sowmu stard . pu l se , and tobacco the ou ttu rn i s poor . The bi t s oi l i showever very ri ch and yie ld s fine c rop s of j ute and r ice . A fou rthterm u sed by the peasan ts i s chha fi ya ma ti , a name which i sapplied to any poor c las s o f soil .

The mean ra infa l l at Dacca i s inches,bu t the variat i on

from year to year i s not in frequen tly considerable,and thou gh

the tota l rain fal l of the year i s se ldom i n su ffi c ien t i t i s occa s ion al lyi l l d i stri buted . The characte r of the spr ing rain has a great effectu pon the harvest . I f i t i s too heavy the seed i s l iable to be

washed away,i f i t i s too late the‘seed cann ot be s own in time to

al low the young plants t o grow h igh enou gh to overtop the flood swhen they come . When on ce‘ the ri ve r s have Spread over the

land i t i s they who dominate the situat i on mu ch more than the

l oca l rain fal l . I f the“ water i s too deep th e ri ce i s l iable to be

d rowned ou tri gh t Or to be swept away or the vital force of theplan t i s exhau s ted in

'

growing"

a stem long en ough to keep i ts

head above the water and there i s not su ffi cien t vi tali ty left to

form good grain i n the ear . I f, on the othe r hand ,the flood s

d rain off too rapidly , the stalk col lapse s from wan t of proper support and the ear s are inju red by fal l ing in the wate r . I n the

n orth of the di stri c t there i s , however , a con s ide rable area ofun flooded land and

'

thi s requ i res seasonable rain th roughou t thesumme r and e spec ial ly in September and October . So great ,however

,i s the di fferen ce i n the leve l s of the cu l tivated land that

i t i s hard ly possible for every part of the di st ri ct to prod uce a

bumpe r crop . In season s when the highe s t r i ce fi e ld s 1 ece i ve

su fficien t moi stu re , the lowe st lan ds almost of n eces si ty rece i vetoo mu ch , and when the flood i s not t oo high i n the sou th of thed i s tri ct the tran splan ted r ice fie ld s i n the north have general lyto go a l i ttle s hort .

In 190 1 per cen t o f the popu lati on we re declared to besupported by ag ri cu l tu re which was 6 per cen t les s than the

proporti on re tu rn ed for the whole of old B engal . Thi s i spartly due to the fact that the famou s B ikrampu r pargana i n

Ahmahi ganj is the great home of the Bengal i middle c las s and in

AGRICULTURE .

the den se ly popu lated Sri nagar thana no le ss t han 53 per cen t ofthe popu lat ion we re non-agri cu l tu ri sts . I n fact the proport ion of

the popu lation su pported by ind u strie s , comme rce and the profes

si on s i s not approached by that r ecorded i n any other d i atr i c t ofthe two B e nga l s . The proportion o f ag ri cu l tu ri st s to the totalpopu lat ion i s highe st i n Bhowa l and l owe st in Mun shiganj

The on ly form o f i rrigati on which i s req u i red i n the lowe r I r rigation.

parts o f the d i strict are the water-li fts u sed i n the cu l ti vation of

bor o or spring ri ce . The se l i fts , cal led du n i s , a re o f a ve ryS imple charac ter and are u sed to «rai se the wate r from the cen treof the (fi ll to the fie ld s roundt he edge on wh i ch the from ha s beensown . Wel l s mi ght , perhaps , be u se fu l ly e mployed i n the northo f the di stri ct

,bu t the supply of subsoi l wate r i s not large and i t

i s doubtfu l whe the r the cost of s ink ing a .we ll wou ld be recouped .

‘We l l i rr igat ion i s,at any rate , on ly practi sed by the u p

-coun trymen who have sett led down as marke t g ardener s near the c ityof Dacca .

The staple f ood crop of the d istric t i s r i ce . which fal l s i nto Rice .

t hree main spec ies— bor o or Spring ri ce r au s or summe r r ice and

amrm or winte r r i ce which i s again su bd ivided in to two d i stinctk i ndsL-the l ong stemmed ama

’

n sown broadcast on the lowe r landsand °the tran splan ted ama n f fr oa ) which i s grown on the higherland in the north of the di str ict . Unde r «each of the mainspeci es the re are

,moreover , numerou s varietie s r ipen in g at

d i ffe ren t season s of the year, and the re i s hard ly a month inwh ich some form of r i ce i s‘ not com ing u nde r the s ick le .

B or o paddy i s grown on the side s of bi le and s treams and on Boro paddy .the chu rs and al on g the ban ks of the Meghna and to a le ss extentof the Padma. and the Dha leswari . At Mi rpu r , a li tt le to the

we st of Dacca , t here i s a great expa n se of bor o land nea r thec on fluen ce of t he Turag and Bu r i Ganga and mu ch bor o i s growna long the banks of the Tu rz

‘

rg all the way from Mi rpu r to Kaliakoer .

As soon as the ra in s are ove r the seed' i s sown on a piece of softland whi ch has been worked in to pudd le by treading i t up , or , . inex ceptiona l cases

,by from three to five p loughin gs Be fore i t

i s sown the seed i s moi stened and hun g u p i n a damp baske t inthe cu l ti vator’s hou se ti l l i t begin s to germ i nate . W hen the p lantsare abou t 9 in che s h igh they are moved from the nu rse ry to t he

fie ld , though on the banks of the Meghnaa nd i n othe r place s whe rethey are exposed to a s trong tide they are often al lowed to growto double that he i ght . The fi e ld s are as a ru le not plou ghed andthe seed lings are s imply plan ted i n the soft mud le ft behi nd whenthe floods recede ; bu t un le ss the plan t s are exposed to the acti onof the r iver t ide s the fie ld s have to be i rrigated by wate r-l i fts .

"The seed i s general ly sown i n November tran splan ted i n December or Janu ary and harve sted i n Apri l or May . T he grain i scoarse bu t the ou ttu rn i s large r than that of the othe r variet i es ,and the cos t-of cu lt ivati on i s le ss as there i s as a ru le no ploughing

° to do. There ’

i s another system of bor o as

f

DACCA DI STRICT .

lep t'

,which real ly en tai ls the min imum of time and trouble.

The seed i s simply sown broadcast on soft mud flats near thebig r i ver s and the mud i s then smoothed ove r i t , to protect i tfrom the action of the t ide s . The re i s no ploughing , harrowing,tran splan t ing , or weed ing ,

s imply the s owing of the seed and the

reapi ng of the harve st . It mu st , however , be admi tted that thesowing i s a l i ttle trou ble some as the mud i s so soft that the cu l

tivator has to seek a precariou s footing on the trunk of a plantaintree or a couple of bamboos to preven t h imsel f from sin king in .

Au s paddy i s grown on high lan d and i s u su al ly found i n

the more e levated parts of the Madhupu r jungle and on highland near the r i vers. I t can

,however

,on ly be grown on land

on which the depth of water does not exceed two fe et at thebeginn ing of the rain s , as the crop i s on ly from th ree to threeand a hal f feet high and the stalk doe s not grow fa st en ough t okeep pace with the r i s ing of t he flood . The fie lds on whi ch i t i sgrown are general ly sown with pu l se and mu stard , and as soon as

the winter c rop has been carr ied they are ploughed and harrowedwith all speed to prepare them for the nu s . The date of sowingdepend s u pon the t ime when the flood s may be expected to r isei n the l oca l i ty . On the chu r s of theMeghnathe seed i s some times

sown in the middle of February wh i le in the north of Mu n shi ganji t i s often le ft t i l l two mon th s late r . As s oon as the t iny shootsappear the fie ld i s harrowed w i th a ladde r and when the plantsare abou t s ix inche s hi gh the operat i on i s repeated with a rake.

Weed ing i s a very trou blesome proce ss and hi red labou r i s occasionally employed . Harvest ing take s place between Ju ly and

September , bu t i n the d i ar as i f the r i ver s ri se too soon the cu l t ivators have to cu t the crop whi le i t i s sti l l green and only fit forfodder. The prin cipa l var ietie s of a rt s are the p u ki , gorfa ,

su rj omu fchi and shatter , the las t,as i t s name sugge sts , be i ng

su pposed to r ipen i n s i xty days .Long stemmed aman i s grown in those par ts of the di stri c t

wh ere from five to fi fteen feet of wate r accumu late du ring therainy season . I t possesses the power of grow ing to keep paceWi th the r i sing of the flood to a remarkable degree and has beenknown to shoot u p as mu c h as 12 inche s in a day and n i ght andto attain a total length of twen ty feet

,though the average le ngth

i s from ten to twe l ve feet . Thi s i s,however

, prej udicia l to the

prope r deve lopmen t of the plan t , and i f i t has had too severe a

stru ggle to su rmoun t the ri s ing flood , the re i s n ot en ough strengthleft for the proper formation of the ear . At harve st t ime on lyabou t a foot and a hal f of the stalk i s cut off with the ear and

the remainde r i s gathe red into heaps and bu rn t u pon the fie ld.

The land i s then ploughed two or th ree t imes and left t i l l themidd le of March when the clod s are broken wi th the mal let and

the re are one or two more ploughings and harrowings . Sowingtake s place in Apri l and a fte r the seeds have germinated a ladde ri s d ragged over the fi e ld . When the plan ts are fou r or five inches

Mi l let .

Sugarcane .

DACCA DI STRICT .

of March and d iffi cu lty i s some time s experienced i n th re sh ingou t the grain ow ing to the dampne s s o f the atmosphe re . Wheatwas ori gina lly in trodu ced from B ehar and u n le s s fre sh seed i sper i odica l ly obta ined i t rapid ly de ter i orate s i n the se a n congen ial su rrou nd ings . B arley l S grown on the high land s fri ngin gthe Padma. , Meghna

,and Dhaleswar i . Fou r or fi ve ploughin gs

are requ i red but weed in g i s not nece s sary . The begin n ing ofNovember i s the prope r seed time .

Ch in a. i s a fai r ly common crop i n the Nawabganj thana bu ti s n ot exten si ve ly cu lti vated e l sewhe re . The soi l mos t favou redi s a r i ch clay loam whic h i s prepared with abou t ten plough ings ,c are being taken to retain as mu ch moi stu re as pos sib le . The

seed i s sown i n the m idd le of February and i s harve sted abou t thebegin n in g of June . The cr0 p i s said to be a heat in g one and

afte r i t has been carr ied the soi l i s al l owed to fa l l ow . K aon i sal so grown on ri ch sandy loams on h igh , we l l-d rain ed r i ve r banks .The crop i s very sen s i t i ve to standing wate r , and i f ra i n wate rrema in s on the fi e ld for but twen ty hou rs i t wi l l be l ost . Sowingtime extend s from the begin n ing of February t i l l the midd le ofMarch and the c r0p take s abou t fou r mon th s to matu re .

Severa l var iet ie s of su garcan e are ra i sed in the d ist r i ct butthey fa l l in to two broad c lasses— K hagr i , a cane that , l i ke j u te , wi l lgrow i n s tandin g wate r , and the othe r k inds which su ccumb at

on ce to water-l ogging. K hagr i i s a th in hard cane and thoughthe ju i ce i s of good qu al ity the y ie ld i s poor. The deshi i sthi cker than khagr i and has a s oft r ind ; the y ie ld of j u i ce i s

poor,le ss than that of the gen da r i , wh ich has long j oin ts , a soft

r ind,and a large supply of sweet ju ice , qu al itie s which render i t

mu ch i n favou r as an eating cane . The ska/rang has mu ch the

same qual i tie s bu t i s a large r cane than the gen da r z’

. The

ka li or kaj li i s a hard red cane with sweet ju ice . Sugarcane i s

ge n e ral ly grown in small p lot s as , thou gh the c rop i s a ve ry

pay ing one , i t en tai l s mu ch labour on the cu lti vator. .I t i s mu chin favou r w i th up

-coun trymen who plan t i t i n the env iron s ofDacca and on the ban ks of the Dola i Khal , and i t i s al so free lygrown on the banks of the Lakshya r i ver. The khagr i variety i scu lti vated near Rampal and on al luvial lands whi ch are not too

deeply flooded bu t mu ch of the d i str ict l ies too low for thepu rpose . The method of cu lt ivati on var ies w i th the soi l . On the

red c lay near Dacca c ity the plough i s se ld om u sed and the

soi l i s me rely hoed up. Along the Dola i Khal seven or e ightplou gh in gs are gen eral ly allowed , bu t on the al lu vial flats and

on the h igh land n ear the Meghn a the cane i s gene ral ly plan tedon fi e ld s from which a crop of mu stard has been taken and a

smal ler number of ploughings wi l l then su ffice .The plan ts are

rai sed from s hoot s pu t ou t from the j oin ts of the matu re canea fte r i t has been cu t in to su i table lengths . Near Dacca almostthe whol e of an o ld can e i s u sed for the purpose wi th the excepti on o f abou t .

‘two fee t at the lower '

end bu t e l sewhere on ly : the

AGR ICULTURE

tops of the cane s are general ly u sed . The shoots are plan ted inhole s or tren che s wh i ch are from one to three fee t apart and havebeen we l l manu red wi th cow-du ng or , les s o ften , oi l-cake . Du rin gthe rain s the fie ld i s we l l h oed and weeded and the plants are we l learthed up. Whi le the crop i s growin g the wi thered leave s aree i the r stripped off or are t ied u p rou nd each cane and care mu stbe. taken to protec t the patch from the ravage s o f j ackals a nd othe ran imals . Decembe r and Jan uary are the mon ths i n which can e sin tended for the su gar-m i l l are c ut

,bu t cane s so ld in the market

to be eaten r aw are harve sted mu ch earl ie r . T he can e s a re

exposed to the attacks of othe r pe st s be s ide s wi ld an ima l s . The

mauj u ra i s an i nsec t which eats up the cen tra l shoot and i streated with powde red tu rme r ic and bore rs al s o damage the

plan t . Cracks some time s appear and s hou ld be t reated wi thkerosene oi l

,though care mu st be tak en that no o i l reache s

the root In former days wooden mi l l s we re employed toc ru sh the cane s bu t they have been supe rseded by the i ron B ihiami l l . The j u ice i s col lected i n earthen pots and i s now genera l lyboi led i n large i ron pan s . for , thou gh they have some drawbacks

,

they are free from the ri sk of breakin g ove r the fire and spoi l ingthei r conten ts . When the gu r has been su ff i cien tly boi led i t i stran s fe rred to a large vesse l and chu rned to clari fy it , afte r wh ichi t i s stored in pots of con ven ien t s ize .

OThree varietie s ofmu s tard are rai sed i n Dacca d i stri ct— maghi O i l seeds .

or early mustard t hat i s harve sted in the mon th of Magh,wh ite

mu stard,and black mu s tard . Magh

fi i s on ly sown on (ti ar a /a.

lands . Whi te mu stard i s somet ime s sown broadca st on s oft lan dbu t i s gen eral ly sown as a mixed crop wi th peas . B lack mu stardi s the commoner var iety and i s grown on the h igh land in the

north and east,gene ral ly on fi e lds from which a c rop of ju te or

au s paddy has been taken . The land rece i ve s from si x to ten

ploughings,the seed i s sown abou t the midd le of November and

the plan t s pu l led i n February and M arch . The on ly varie ty ofti l rai sed in the di stri ct i s the [ca t or wh ite ti l . I t i s genera l lygrown in conj unction with au s or ama fn paddy on h igh and wel ldra ined land , for stagnan t wate r i s most inju riou s to i tn Lin seedi s al so a crop of some importan ce .

Khe sar i i s grown on the low land s of the d i strict and forms p luses .

the prin c ipa l pu l se of Mu n sh i ganj . lt gene ral ly fol lows wa s oramau paddy . In the former case two or three ploughings are

requ i red bu t i n the latter the seed i s sown broadcast on the softs oi l be fore the r ice i s cu t . Khesar i straw afford s some of the be stfodde r avai lable i n the di stri ct . Two varietie s of ma ska la i are

known— common ka la i and a ka la i with wh i te seed s knownas thikr a . It i s grown on the a l lu v ia l flats , after the waterrecede s

,when no plou gh in g i s requ i red and al so on the highe r

grou nd . Of mu ng there are three var ietie s - son a mu ngwhich has golden seed s of medium si ze , ghasi mu ng whi chhas seed s of gras s colou r and ghom, mu ng wh ich has large

F 1bres .

J ute .

n

DACCA DI STRICT .

golden'

seeds. Mu ng i s not exten si ve ly cu l ti vated and i s seldomseen e x cept in the Man ikganj subdi vi si on and near the oldB rahmapu tra. A ri ch sandy loam i s requ i red and i t i s never grownon un plou ghed land .

Two varie t ie s of pea are rai sed in the di stri ct,the ch ick o r

small‘ash colou red pea and the large whi te pea known as the

Kabu l i or Patna pea . The tract of land that stretche s from Sunghar on the Dhaleswar i to the north of Tangai l in the Mymen singhd i stri ct grows part icu larly good peas . The soi l i s a black clayand all that i s requ i red i s to broadcast the seed on the soft mudwhen the water recedes . The plan ts are pu l led i n March and the

seeds thre shed ou t by bu l locks .

Exce l len t cotton u sed at one t ime to be produ ced in theDacca d i strict . M r . John Tay lor wri tin g in 1800 stated that atract of land abou t 4 0 mi le s l ong by 3 mi les w ide i n the parganasof B i krampu r , Karti kpu r

,Kedi rpu r , and Raj anagar , produ ced

some of the fin est cotton then kn own . Cotton was al s o grown inthe north of the di strict as the name of the Kapasia thana clearlyind icates . Mr . Jame s Taylor has given a fu l l accou n t of thesy stem o f cotton cu lt i vation i n h i s Topography of Dacca ( 184 0 )which has been reproduced in Sir W i l liam Hun te r’s Stati sti calAccoun t of the Dacca Di str ict (pp . 8 4 and but at the pre sen tday the cotton c rop i s not of su ffi cien t importan ce to warran tmore than the most summary of n otice s . It i s , in fac t , ‘on lyrai sed in smal l plot s by aborigina l tri bes in the forests i n the n orthof the district , and the t otal area unde r th i s fibre probably doesnot exceed a few acre s . Cotton i s sti l l fou nd by the h i l lmen ofAs sam to be a very pay ing crop, s o i ts di sappearan ce from the

d i str ict must be due to the fact that the cu l ti vators find that theycan u se thei r t ime and land to be tte r accoun t .

Bu t , i f cotton has d i sappeared , i t s place in the agricu l tu ralecon omy of the d i s tr ict has been more than fi l led by anotherfibre— ju te . Estimate s of the money worth of a crop to the ac tualcu lti vator s are dange rou s things , bu t i n 1906 when the pri ce ofju te wase xce1) tion ally high the amoun t paid for the Dac ca cropby the big ju te dealer s was probab ly over 4 50 lakhs ofJu te i s sa id to have been cu l ti vated for many years in Dacca bu t

fi rst came into importanc e as a commerc ial c rop i n 1865,when

indigo was fal l in g ou t of favou r . Accord ing to M r . Sen a maund

of fibre cou l d original ly be bou ght for 8 annas ,‘r in 1855 i t was

Re . 1-8 a maund and in 1868 abou t Rs . 2-4 . Thi rty years late r i twas on ly Rs . 3-8 per maund bu t then en su ed a per iod of ri s ingmarkets , whi ch reached the i r he igh t in 19 0 6 when the average

Est imated area under ju te ac res , est imated y ie ld 18 maunds offi bre an acre , average pr ice Its . 8-l2 pe r maund .

TAgri cu l tural Report of the Dac ca Distr i ct by A. C . Sen , Calcutta,1885

, p . 50 .

DACCA DI STRI CT .

bundles . Apart from the inju ry cau sed by insu ffic ient or

excess i ve rain mu ch harm "i s occasi on al ly done by the cr icke t( u rchenga) which bites th rough the plan t s near the grou nd andthe chenga , the caterpi l lar of a kind of ai t worm . The comme rc ial aspec ts of the ju te trade i s d i scu s sed further in Chapte r IX.

Hemp (sanpa t) was formerly rai sed i n con s iderable quan t i tiesand i n 1806 the di str i ct produ ced maund s of hemp fi bre .

At the presen t day l i t tle i s grown for export and most of the fibrei s con sumed local ly i n the manu factu re of ne ts . The seed i ssown i n au tumn , general ly on the banks of r ivers , and the plan tsare gathe red in February . They are then soaked and maceratedfor ten days t i l l the fibre has been su ffi c ien tly softened to adm itof i ts be ing gathered in bund les a t the cen tre of the stalks . In

that state i t i s exposed to the sun , and, when dry , i s str i pped off

and twisted i n to banks . The t0ps of the plan t make_ good

fodder and are some times pressed in to a k ind of hay. RheaUr tfi ca n ivea) al so thr i ves in the d istrict bu t the di ffi cu l ty

experi enced in decort icating the fibre h as been a bar to any wideexten$0 0 . of cu lti vation.

Ulu grass (Saccharum cyli ndr icum) and kaola are grownfor thatch . Ulu grass is p lanted on high land whi ch has beenploughed up into a good c layey su rface . The fi rst year’s c ropwi l l not be more

‘

than 18 inc hes l ong and afte r i t has been cu t

the fi e ld i s burn t and c overed wi th r ice straw. Kaela. i s growni n the Madhu pu r jungle . Latagh

'

as i s grown on ri ver chu rs andallu via l flats and i s u sed for the wal l s of hu ts . A number of

p lan ts are cu t in to smal l p ieces and stuck -i n the soft mud, and

after' thi s n othing further i s requ i red . The gras s yie ld s a crop

for th ree su cce ss i ve years be fore the fie ld needs to be broken upagain . Khaliya. grass i s al so grown on chu rs and submergedland and makes exce l len t fodde r for cattle. Dha i nche i s a

Ieguminou s plan t large ly grown on chu rs and n ewly formedal luvial land . I t grows wi th extraordinary rapid i ty and i s thusu sefu l for fue l and i t se rves as a hedge to preven t catt le trespassand to chec k the flow of wate r on to the fie lds .

Tobac c o i s genera l ly grown on land from which a c rop of ju tehas been taken bu t i t i s not often ra ised on a comme rc ial sca leand the requ i remen ts of the d i stri cts are to a great exten t met

from ou t side . Se veral varie ties of the plan t are recogn i sed su chas the bi la ti , dcshi , kattabogi , si bcrj a ta ,

bi la i kan i , ,banga la ,

and

hingl’i . When the plan ts have been ou t they are left for three

or fou r days on the ground and are then col lected in a heap and

al l owed to fe rment for 4 8 hou rs . Afte r th is they a re spread for

three day s on the roof of a hou se and then hung u p ins ide for a

fortn ight more . Three days’pre ssu re in a wei ghted heap com

ple te s the proce ss . Swee t potatoe s are grown i n the sandy soi la long the banks of the Meghn a and the old B rahmapu tra and

ord inary potatoe s do we l l though they are on ly grown to a ve rysmal l exten t . Ch i l l ies are raised in considerable quanti ties

AGRICULTURE.

e special ly in the easte rn part of the d i stri ct, but the l ocal supplyhas to be supplemen ted by imports from Chittagong and

Rangoon The Dacca brinja l i s of a rathe r unu sua l varie ty,

the fru i t be ing i n the shape of a c re scent ahout ' oue and a half

in ches th ick and from s ix to twe l ve inche s l ong .p

B oth brinjal andch i l l ie s requ 1re tran splan tat ion and carefu l cu lt i vati on . G ingerand tu rme ri c are rai sed near Rampa l and in the Madhu pu r j ungle ,bu t the supply of the latte r spi ce does not meet the local demandand has to be su pplemen ted by imports from Patna

,Je ssore and

othe r plac e s . On i on s are grown'

i n t he Nawabganj and Hari rampu rthanas a long both side s of the. I chhamat i from Chhatea to Jhi tka.

The be s t on ion fie l d s are e n ti re ly re se rved for that c rop and are

manu red wi th ri ce s traw. The plan t requ i res care fu l cu l ti vati on,

with plen ty of ploughin g,harrowin g and weeding. Garl ic i s

a lso a we l l known garden plan t e spec ial ly near the Ichhamatir i ve r. Three or fou r varie ties of kachu are in cu l ti vation of wh ichthe n ar i/celi i s the be st known varie ty. The Gimi lcumr a i s

grown as a garden c rap i n Mu nshi ganj in betel gardens whi chhave a good clayey soi l . The seeds mu st be taken from the plant

not more than a day or two be fore u se and sown at d istan ces ofs ix fee t apart on land whi ch has been we l l ploughed and harrowed .

Near Te ota the Gim i Icumr a. i s grown as a fi e ld c rop . The wate rme lon ( ta rmuj ) i s grown on the same kind of soi l i n much the

same way bu t the seed s are s teeped i n water for two days anda l lo‘wed to germinate be fore they are sown .

The lca r ola (Cleomep en tophylla ) i s grown in the Madhu purj ungle e special ly n ear M i rpu r and Pu ba i l , I t i s a rain s crOp andi s sown i n Apri l and gathe red from Ju ly to September . The

seeds are washed be fore they are pu t in the grou nd and the plan tsare trained ove r bamboo platforms . Plan tains (Mu sa. sap i cn tum

’

)are grown a ll ove r the d i strict , bu t near Mun shi ganj they are

treated as a fie ld crop and are planted in rows si x or seven fee tapart wi th ginge r and tu rme ri c in between . The plantains ofM u nsh iganj have a great repu tati on in B engal but are rather tooh ighly scen ted for European taste . The pr inc ipal varieties recogni sed are the ka bzzr i

, sabar i , ch in i champa ,k f

rn a i ban si , amr ita

bhog , mar ta ban ,agn i swafr ,

and bichikalu . The pan v ine (P ip erbetel ) i s grown by Barn is and pan garden s are a conSpicuous

featu re i n the landscape seen from the B u ri Ganga , and the

I chamati . Jack fru i t trees are common in the Madhupu r j ungleand the datepalm in the west of the di str i ct in the Man i kganjsubdivi s ion . Cocoanu t palms and the a reca pa lm are me t withall ove r the d i stri ct bu t the cocoanut 1 s not ve ry common . Pineapp le s , lycnees , pepayas andman goe s form the bes t tab le fru i t .

I ndigo was at one t ime exten s i ve ly cu lti va ted . and m 184 0 DYG'CI

'

OPS

there we re th i rty-three factor ie s i n the di stri c t . The ru in s ofthese bu i ld ings are s ti l l to be seen i n var iou s places

,me lancholy

record s of a van i shed indu s try , for indigo has n ow en t i re ly d i sappeared . Safflower was also once an important c rop and m 1824

DACCA DI STRICT .

the saffl owe r exported from the ne i ghbou rhood of Dacca was

valu ed at abou t two lakh s of ru pee s . The indu st ry has , howeve r ,been almost ki l led by an i l in e dye s , and the plan t i s se ldom seenou tside the Nawabganj , Mani kgan j and Sabhar th anas .

E xten sion Of ' No figu res are avai lable to sh ow the actu a l exten si on ofcu lt ivat i cn .

Improvedmethod s o f

r

cu l tivat ion , bu t i t i s c lear that the cu l ti vated area mu st have grownwi th the growth of the popu lat ion and ou ts ide the Madhu pu rj un gle there i s n o longe r any cu ltu rable land avai lab le . The chu rsthat are thrown up i n t he great ri vers are a fru i tfu l sou rce o f

bloody qu arrel s an d raiyats wi l l glad ly take sett lemen t of land thathas n ot yet eme rged above the wate r even i n the dry season . A

su bdi vi s i on l ike Mun sh i ganj that has a ru ral popu lati on approachi n g to the squ are mi le mu st c lear ly be cu l ti vated u p to thehi ghe s t l imi t, and t here can be l i ttle dou bt that for many years therehas been no cu l tu rable waste land i n the di stri c t ou tside Bhowal ,

Th is great exten si on of cu l t i vati on i s apparen t ly a deve l opment of Br i ti sh time s . In 17 86 the Col lector , M r . Day , statedthat in h i s opin i on there was no distri ct i n the three provin cesof Bengal , B ihar and Orissa which had more waste land and

ju ngle in i t than Dacca. In 1802 the Col lector e stimated thatone-fou rth of the sou the rn

,one-e i ghth of the eas tern

,three

igh ths of the we ste rn , and five-ei ghths of the n orthern d i vi siono f the di stri ct was u n cu lti vated . Dr . Taylor i n 18 39 e stimatedt hat on e-th i rd of the area of the di stri ct was sti l l un cu l ti vatedand u nder ju ngle . Estimates are dangerou s th in gs

,bu t there

can be l i ttle dou bt that at the time when the B ou’ble Companytook ove r the diwdn i the re were st i l l con siderable areas of wasteland ly ing id le in e very qu arte r of the di stri ct, whe reas at thepre sen t day there i s hard ly a squ are foot of land ou ts ide B howalwhi ch has n ot been pre s sed in to the se rvi ce of man . In B howal ,howeve r

,the condition of ada i rs i s rathe r d i fferen t . The pOpu la

t ion of the di s tri c t as a who le in creased by 25 per cen t i n the

twen ty years ending 19 0 1, but the popu lati on of the K apasiathana, the whole of which lies w i thin the M adhupu r ju ngle ,i ncreased by 4 6 per cen t . The con stru ction of the Dacca Mymen

singh railway has he lped to cpen up th i s tract and e very year raiyatsare moving in to i t from the more congested areas that su rroun di t on all side s . The wan t of water i s the mos t seri ou s obstac le toan even more rapid en largemen t of the cu l ti vated area, for mu chof the land l ie s h i gh and i s on ly fit for ri ce cu lt i vat ion i n yearso f abu ndan t ra in fal l . More , howeve r , cou ld probably be done forthe cu l ti vati on of dry crops , for the great bu lk of the inhabi tan tsof th i s tract are very simple people wi th l i tt le i n i tiati ve or

e nterpri se . Commun icati on s sti l l‘leave mu ch to be des i red , the re

are few school s or shops and the in te rior of th i s tract forms a

pronoun ced con tras t to the more progre ssi ve and advan ced lowlands whi ch su rround i t .

The nati ve s of the di stric t are not as expert or di l igentcu l ti vators as the nati ve s of B ihar

,but so l i ttle attempt has

Cattle .

6

DACCA DI STRICT .

manu res are a good inve stmen t for thei r mon ey . Much of the landof the d is tri ct , t oo , has i ts fer ti l i ty renewed by rich deposi tsof s i lt and on thi s accoun t i s les s dependen t on art ificia lappl iance s .

The in digenou s catt le are unde rsi zed and poor mi lkers bu tthey are fa i rly hardy and do n ot requ i re mu ch fodde r . Effortshave from t ime to time been made to improve the breed by theimportati on of Hi s sa r bu l l s

,bu t the lack of good graz ing groun d

or su i table fodder crops scon produ ces a dete riorati on in the i rde scen dan ts . The Teota zamindars have been more su cce s sfu lwi th Nagara bu l ls wh ich are smal l and hardy bu t get offspr ingcapable of yie lding from fou r to seven see rs of m i lk a day. In

Dacca i tse l f the bi g whi te Hissar bu l locks are some t imes used fortraction , bu t though the re are a large numbe r of carts in the

north of the d i stri c t , i t i s ve ry se ldom that anything more thanthe smal l coun try bu l lock i s employed in them. In the l owerparts of the d istr ict there i s no graz ing ground above water in therains and the cattle are tethe red on mound s , often up to the i rknees in water , and s tal l fed . In the Madhupu r j ungle therei s general ly graz ing lan d avai lable b ut the grass i s poor .In add i ti on to what they can pick up on the graz ing grou ndsor the stu bble of the rice fie ld s , mi lch cows are fed on da l

grass , kha li a gras s , oi l-cake , bran and occas ional ly boi ledri ce . An ord inary cou ntry cow se ldom gi ves more than two

quarts o f mi lk pe r d iem . An up-coun try cow wi l l y ie ld as

much as ten quarts bu t the mi l k i s o f in fe ri or qual i ty . The

fol lowing d iffe ren t preparati on s are obtained by the Goa las fromthe i r mi l k . Dadhi i s m i lk wh i ch has been boi led ti l l i t has lostone-fou rth of i ts volume and has then been fe rmen ted by theadmixtu re of a sma l l p iece of dad/mle ft ove r from the precedingbrew . Bu tter i s of two kind s — n an i , which i s made from freshmi lk , and m u lchan which i s made from dadhi . Khi r i s mi lkwhich i s boi led and st i rred ti l l i t has th ickened . Chha na ,

ordinaryc u rd s

,and gh i , clarified bu tte r , n eed no explanati on . A see r of

mi l k wi l l y ie l d it of a see r of dad/i i , 4 chi ttacks of chhan a,

3 ch i ttacks ofM i r and on e chi ttack of bu tter. Dacca chee se i s prepared fro°m bnfl

'

alo mi lk treated wi th rennet and salt,bu t most

o f i t i s man u factu red ou ts ide the d istr ict i n Sylhe t and Mymen

s ingh . Bu ffa loe s as a ru le are fine r an imal s than cattle , bu t theyare not kept in large numbers . Sheep and goats al ike ar e

u nder si zed , so a l so are the pon ie s bred i n the d i stric t, and we l lto-d o people general ly u se Au stral ian an i rr als . Pack pon ie s arefa i rly common i n the we stern part of the di stri c t , where the peoplehave been ve ry s low in taking to the u se of bu l lock carts

, bu t theyare very sorry l i tt le beas t s as are al so the pon ie s d ri ven in the

tikka. gha r i s of Dacca . Pigs are reared by the abori gina l tr i be s inthe Madhu pu r j ungle and are mu ch i n evidence round the

sweepe r s’l ines in Dac ca . Elephan ts are kept by the weal thier

z amindars and i n parts of the Madhupu r j ungle they afford

AGRICULTURE . 10 3“

practical ly the only mean s of locomot ion by’

l aud as the bed s ofthe streams are so soft as to be un fordable .

The re i s a vete r inary dispen sary in the ci ty of Dacca and

a trave l l ing vete rin ary su rgeon i s al so empl oyed by the Distri c tB oard . The diseases most preva lent are foot and mou th d i sease ,r inde rpe s t , tympan i tes , dysen tery , d iarrhoea and feve r . The

prin cipal cen t re s for the pu rchase and sale of indigenou s catt leare the marke ts he ld at the fol lowing places z

—Madhobdi i n

R i‘

i pganj thana, Barad i i n Narayanganj , Cha lakchur in Manohard ithana

,Pu t ia i n Raipu ra th ana

,Ali Pan chdona in Keran iganj

thana, and Jhi tka in Har i rampu r thana.

p

DACCA' DISTRICT .

CHAPTER V II .

TRADE AND INDUSTRIES.

The mu s l ins of B en ga l are men t i oned as an art i c le of comme rce as early as the second or th i rd cen tu r ies of the Chris tianera, with pearls , which are sti l l found in mu sse ls i n the ri vers ,malabathrum and sp ikenard and there can be li tt le doubt thatDacca con tr ibu ted i ts share to the sh ipmen ts of me rchand i se tothe We st . B u s iness no dou bt was bri sk i n the capi ta l of Raj aB ik ramadi tya but the fi rst au then ti c referen ce to the trade of theDacca d istr i ct as di stingu i shed from the trade of B enga l i n gene raloccu rs in the s ixteen th cen tu ry . Ralph Fitch de scri be s Ser ipu r ,a town abodt 18 m i le s from Son argaon , wh i ch was ent i re ly washedaway by the r i ve r at the beginn ing of the seven teen th ce ntu ry , as

be in g a great mart for cotton goods , wh i le Son argaon was a centreof the r ice trade . Many of the res iden ts of the latte r place we rereported to be very ri ch, bu t i f they had wealth they we re afraidto avai l themse l ves of the advan tages it con fers as they sti l l l ivedi n hu ts and wore n othing but a c loth abou t the i r loin s .

When Dacca became the capital of Bengal i n 1608 i t soonbecame the pr in cipa l cen tre of trade in that l ocal i ty . Tave rn ie rwho vi s i ted the place i n 1666 de scri bes i t as a c ity of great

The great t rade does not, however , seem to have

brough t to those engaged i n i t great weal th, or , i f i t dld, theywere not di sposed to in vest the ir profits in the ir hou ses for Tave rn ie r has bu t a mean opin ion of the c i ty .

The se hou ses (those of the carpen ters a l ong the rive r bank )are properly n o more than pal try hu ts bu i l t u p wi th bamboosand dau bed ove r wi th fat earth . Those of Dacca are not muchbe tte r bu i l t . The gove rn or’s palace i s a place enclosed with h ighwal l s in the mid st whe reof i s a pi ti fu l hou se bu i lt on ly of wood .

H e ge neral ly lodges i n ten ts which he cau ses to be set up in the

great cou rt of that en c losu re . The Hollande r s finding that the i rgoods we re not safe i n the ord inary hou ses of Dacca have bu il tthem a very fai r hou se , and the Engl i sh have anothe r which i sreasonably hands ome .

”At that t ime Dacca was a mart for

cotton cloth s,r ice

,sugar , salt , bete l-n ut , tobacco, she l l brace lets ,

and orn aments of coral,amber , and tortoi se she l l . Wheat , pu l se ,

raw cotton and wool len c loths were imported from Upper India and

s i lk and lac from Assam.

’r

Tavern ie t'

s Trave l s i n Ind ia , Part l l , Book I , p . 55.

1 A Descriptive and H istorical Account of the Cotton Manufacture of

Dacca- London , 1851. p . 123 .

DACCA DI STRICT .

expert weavers i n the provin ce were selected to work here ; the i rname s were regi stered and they we re compe l led to atten d dai lyat the appoin ted hou r s , u n t i l the di fferen t tasks as signed tothem g ere fin i shed .

“ The in cessan t in spection of the darogah s

and thei r people,

” says the Res iden t , and the fear of in cu rr in gpu ni shmen t for any deviat i on of the d u ty expected of them mu s thave effectual ly dete rred the weave rs

,whi le manu factu r ing the

cloth s,f1om attempting any imprope r pract ice s .

” Gu ard s we replaced over any weave r who showed an unwil lin gness to work and

c orporal pu n i shmen t was infl i cted on them i f they attempted toabscond . B es ides be in g thu s oppre s sed they were de frau ded of acon siderable portion of the wage s al l owed them by Gove rnmen t .Speak ing of the condi tion of the Dacca weavers at th i s time the

Abbé Raynal remark s (Rayn al’s Hi story of the Sett lemen t s and

Trade of the Eu ropean s i n the East and We st Indie s , Vol . I I ,p . I t was a m i s fortun e to them to appear too dexte rou s ,becau se they were then forced to work on ly for the Gove rnmen twh ic h paid them i l l and kept them in a sort of capt i vity .

”

In the mi ddle of the ei ghteen th cen tu ry the e stabl i shmen t o fthe Dacca factory con s i sted of two or more European fac tors , a considerable number of dome st ic and factory servan t s engaged on

sortin g,marking and packin g the c loth s and a company of sepoy s .

The goods we re procu red th rou gh brokers who drew money fromthe factory and trave l led throu gh the c ou n try making advances t othe weaver s . When the cloth s were de l i vered at the factory theywere class ified and valued by an arbi trator and a comm i s si on on

th e total value vary in g from 8 to 4 -5 per cen t paid to the brokers ,i n addi t ion to i nc idten tal expen se s in cu rred by them whichamou n ted to about 7 1 per cen t of the value of the cloth s .

In 174 7 the e stimated va lue of the cotton goods exportedfrom Dacca was 2821 lakh s of rupeesl

‘. During the last ten year s

'

of the ei ghteen th cen tu ry the average annual value of the exportswas abou t 17 lakhs

,nearly two-thi rd s of wh ich repre sen ted the pro

perty of pri vate merchan ts . By 18 13 the amou n t of the Company’s

export had fal len t o the small sun of 3 1 lakhs and i n 18 17 the

factory was closed . M u ch has been written of the departedgl orie s of the trade of Dacca

, bu t i t seems doubtfu l whether the

weavers of those world-famed fabric s per sonal ly der i ved muchbenefi t from the practi ce of thei r art . The Abbe Raynal drawsbut a d reary pictu re of the l i fe. of a ski l led worker i n the days ofthe Mughal s , and even i n 17 54 , many years before the manu fac

tu re of mu s l in s was commenced i n B ri tain , the profits of weavinghad fal len very low . Mr . Hyndman wri ting i n that year to the

Chie f at Dacca d esc ribe s the mi serable cond ition of the weavers atChandpu r . They we re d eeply i ndebted to du la ls and pd i lcar s ,many had left the i r home s

,those who remained had l i ttle desire

A De s cr ip t i ve and II IS tO l‘ICn I Accoun t of the Cotton Manu facture ofDacca i n Be nga l p . 83

T lteport o f M r . Job b Tay lor i n 1800

TRADE AND INDUSTRIES .

to work see ing that the fru i t of the i r labou rs passed in to the handso f others and t hey al leged that at the ru l ing prices weaving didnot e ven afford them a l ivin g wage . In 1 800

,M r . Taylor , the

Re s iden t , reported that i n 1760 a weave r earned from 1 to 1Arcot rupees per mensem . Sa l t at that time was a ru pee a maund

,

ri ce 25maunds the rupee , and oi l 2 21 ru pees a mau nd s o that the

weavers ’wages c learly on ly su fficed to provide him with the

bare st n ecessi ties of li fe .

B r i ti sh yarn was fi rst imported in to the d i stri ct i n 182 1 and

soon d i splaced the han d-made produ ct . One of i ts chie f attrac

t ion s was the fact that i t was u n i form in s ize and that no d iffi cu l tywas exper ien ced in obtain in g any quan ti ty of a part icu lar qual i ty .

Th i s en ta i led an en ormou s saving of time and labou r as i t wase stimated that two-th i rd s of the time occu pied in preparin g thefine mu s lin s was spen t in vi s i ting the d i fferen t mart s to searc hfor th read su i ted for thei r manu factu re . The re was al s o a verymarked d ifferen ce i n the pri ce . Nat i ve yarn of the same qual i tyas the be st imported yarn (No . 200) cost 13 annas per g of a bankas again st 3 annas

,wh i le the pri ce of the lowe st grade was

2 annas as compared with 1 anna 10 gandasff '

Kasi das or embroidered cotton cloth s were anothe r arti c le of trade wh ich fe l l in tod i sfavou r . They were u sed as a head-dres s by sold ie rs i n the

Tu rki sh army , bu t on the un i form be ing changed the sale s inCalcu tta fe l l from Rs . in 18 35 to Rs . in

When the bu sines s of weavin g became no longer profitable I ndigo.

more atten t ion'

was paid to the produ ct ion of raw staples , an

indu stry to whi ch the abu ndan ce of cu ltu rable land al l owed fu l lscope . Safflower became an importan t produ ct , and indigo , forwh i ch there were'

on ly two smal l factories in 1800 , was manu

factu red i n 3 3 factor ies in 18 3 3,which produ ced maund s of

dye and di str ibu ted amongs t the cu ltivators : At the

he ight of the trade the re were no le s s than 3 7 indigo factor ies i nthe di stri ct s i tuated in the fol lowing places . All of them haven ow disappeared and crumbl in g ru in s overgrown with tree s a loneremain to te l l the tale of a on ce flou r i sh ing indu st ry .

Li st of Indigo Factor ie sKeran iganj Thana .

Sabhar Thana .

Fu l baria— Du ligram .

Nawabganj Thana .

Joypara- Gal impu r .

Kapas ia Thana.

Shaorati— Ekdala— B u rm i .

Tay lor's Topography of Dacca , p . 171 .

‘l' Tay lor’s Topography of Dacca , p . 308 .

i A Descri pti ve and H i stori cal Account of the Cotton Manufacture ofDacca , p . 135.

Trade routesand centres .

DACCAni s‘

m ic'r.

Man ikganj Thana.

B ur rarea— Ti l l i— K inj inkhara— Mani kganj —Sanacel.Gh i or Thana .

M i rzapu r Nathpur—Paikara Goalkhali m -Mawacel B ogla

or Khetapara .

Harirampu r Thana .

Azimnagar— Machain — Mal oc ch i —Ku beerpoor .

Mun sh i ganj Thana .

Serajabaj— Balasia — Bhaberchar .

Sri nagar Thana .

Char Ramanud— Degu li Lohaj an g .

Rupganj Thana .

Ramchandrad i— Ladoorchar— P etu lganj— H oshu nkata

Raipu ra Thane .

Gu zareea— Mamdabad— Bu rhi bar i— Kamalpu r .

In 18 39,Taylor gi ve s the fol lowing l i st of exports— c loth s ,

ind igo , bete l-nut , safflower , pat , s oap , sk in s , shell brace le ts , jewe llery

,copper u ten s i l s

,chee se and pre served fru i ts . The import s

we re mu stard and ti l seed,su gar

,l ime

,timber

,tobacco , cotton ,

ru bber,i vory

,pepper , ar sen i c , wax ,

gold and s i l ver,s i lk

,wheat ,

shoe s and blankets , chank she l l s , En gl i sh yarn and p iece-good s ,earthen and glas sware , needles , coun try d ru gs

,spi ce s and

cu tlery .

At the presen t day the pr inc ipal import s are cotton pi ecegood s and yarn

,sal t

,ke rosene oi l

,wine s

,shoe s and umbrel las

from Ca lcu tta,l ime and coal from As sam and t imbe r from As sam

and Chittagong . Ri ce i s al so imported in large qu an ti t ies,wi th

spices , molasses , and bete l-nu ts . The prin c ipal art ic le of exporti s j u te , Narayanganj be in g the great cen tre of the ju te trade i n

B engal , collecting the fibre that come s i n from the ne ighbou rin gdi stri cts o f Mymens ingh

,Tippera , and Far idpu r and pre s sin g i t

in to bales . There i s a lso a bri sk trade i n h ide s and some expor tof pu l ses , bete l-leaf, oi l seed s and pottery .

A con siderab le volume of trade i s carr ied by the DaccaMymen s ingh ra i lway , which brings ju te down from Mymen s in ghand carr’1es goods imported through Narayanganj to Dacca and

stat i on s further up the l in e , bu t the bu lk of the commerce of thed i stri ct i s water born e . Commu n i cati on wi th Calcu tta i s keptup by large steamer s ply ing be tween Narayanganj and Goe landoor d i rect to Calcu tta throu gh the Sundarban s . O ther s teame r sserve the Meghn a and i n the rain s sma l le r ve s sel s wi th l ightd rau ght ply u p the B u ri Ganga and the Dhaleswar i . B ut wi th inthe di s tri c t the bu lk of the commerce i s carr ied by coun try boat .When the ri ver s and cree ks fi ll these great l umbering hu l ks can

penetrate in to a lmost e ve ry corn er col lec ting j u te and otherprod u ce and d i stri bu ting sal t

,o i l and somet imes r i ce . The d i s

tr ibu tion of the pu re ly i n te rna l trade of the loca l products s old at

the l ocal marke t i s carr ied on through the. agen cy of smal le r boatsand i n Bhowa l carts are employed to carry t imber and other artic les

DACCA DI STRICT.

Taking the se e st imate s then for wh at they are worth,i t appears

that the j u te crop of Dacca i n 1906,a ys ar when the area u nde r

cu l ti vati on was large and the pr ice phen omenal ly h i gh , mu s thave been worth abou t 4 6 5 lakh s of rupees "

Ow ing to the absen ce of regu lar agricu l tu ral stat i st i c s i ti s d i ffi cu l t t o measu re th e growth of the indu stry by the areau nder cu lti vation . Figu res for early year s are not avai lable

,

bu t i n 189 1 i t was cal cu lated that the area u nde r ju te wasacres . From that date onwards there was a gen eral tendencyu pward s, bu t the figu res

,as they are on ly e st imate s

,wou ld

hard ly repay detai led examinati on . The highest on record wasreached i n 1 907 with acre s u nder cu l t i vati on , bu t thi sin crease in produ cti on was natu rally accompan ied by a fal l inpr i ce and i n the fol lowing year the area fe l l to acres .Tu rn in g to pri ce s we reach fi rmer ground . From the Report onthe cu lt ivati on of and trade in ju te i n B engal publ i shed i n 187 4 ,i t appears that between 1856 and 1 8 72 the pri ce per maund i nSeptember ranged between Rs . 2 and Rs . 4

,the average bein g

Rs . 2-12 . In 1872 the pri ce was Rs. 2-4 per mau nd , in 189 7i t was Rs . 3-8

,by 1903 i t had r i sen to Rs . 5 per maund , and

th ree year s later i t was Rs. 8-12 .T Prices cou ld hardly be

expected to remain at th i s high leve l and in 1908 they droppedto Rs . 7-4 per maund , bu t by June 1 9 1 1 i t was up again to Rs . 8 .

The system of cu l ti vati on has al ready been de scr i bed i n

Chapter IV . The cu lti vator general ly se l l s to a petty trader or

far r i ah who goes t o the vi l lage s and markets with a boat The

far r i ah again sells t o a bep ar t, who e i the r deal s d i rect with theju te merchan ts at Narayanganj or th rou gh an (wa tdd '

r or brokerwho has advan ced h im money . The hepar i s are u sual lyM u hammadan s , the a

fr atdai fr's Hindu s . The ju te growers do not

as a ru le take advan ces on the i r crop an d they gene ra l ly rece i veon ly abou t e igh t annas le s s than the amoun t actual ly paid bythe Narayanganj merchan ts . The i r opportun i tie s for gaugingthe market are natu ral ly not great

, bu t they t1y to do the bestfor themsel ves they can and hold up the i r fibre i f they thinkpri ce s are too low and that there are chan ces of a r ise . Jutei s not as a ru le assorted before i t i s offered for sale in Narayanganj , bu t a bundle or two i s opened and i f

, after the pri ce has

been dete rmined , the qual i ty i s found on weighmen t to be be lowsample the pu rchase r in s i st s on a reduct ion . The re i s no regu larmarke t bu t bcpd r i s come wi th thei r boatl oad s of jute to the

godown s of the d iffe ren t fi rms and try to deal . The jute i staken ou t of the boat and a bu ndle Opened he re and there , but

Est imated area u n der j u te , acres . Estimated outtu rn per acre ,18 ma unds . Av e rage

-pr i ce Rs . 8-12 per maund . Messrs Ral l i Brothers , the

g reat e xporters , g i ve the average pn ce as Rs . 10-2 per maund in 1906-07 ,bu t to be on the sa fe s ide th e o fl ic ial figure wh i ch i s lower has been taken .

1 Tln s 1s the ofllc 1a l ave rage pr i ce . Messrs . Ral l i Brothers , who are largeexporters , g i ve the pri ce at N i

'

trz‘

i yangunj i n 1006-07 at Rs . 10-2-9 per maund .

TRADE AND INDUSTRIES.

i f the pri ce offered does not tempt him the bapd r i has no hesitat ion i n load ing u p h i s boat again and wi l l sometime s vi s i t hal f a

dozen d ifferen t firms be fore final ly partin g with h i s goods . I n

additi on to pu rchasing at Narayanganj merchan ts have buyersat all the importan t mofu ss i l cen tres and from Ju ly onwardsthe i r tugs are to be seen pu ffi ng u p and down the ri vers towingafter them s ix or seven hu ge native boats , somet imes rid inglight i n bal last , sometimes laden with the i r cargoes o f the fibre .

The boats of the traders are to be found on every r i ve r and streamand at every ma1ke t and bazar

,and the whole cou n try side i s fu l l

of l i fe and bu stle . After Narayanganj and Dacca , Lohajang , Arichaand Bai ra -are probably the most importan t cen tre s of the trade inDacca di stri ct , bu t the re are many markets where jute i s boughtand sold in large qu an ti ties which wi l l be found in the l i stappended to thi s chapter.

When the j ute i s pu rchased i t i s as sorted in the me rchan ts’

godown s in to di fferen t qual it ie s and pre ssed in hydrau l i c pre sse sin to bales , wh ich are as hard as blocks of stone . Cu tcha baleswh ich are less t ightly pre s sed and we i gh from 35— 4 maunds aresen t d irect to Calcu tta pu cka bale s which we igh 5 mau nd s a re

sent to Chi ttagong mitt Chandpu r and then ce to E u rope . B eforethe con stru ction of the rai lway

,pucka bale s u sed to go d ire ct to

Chittagong by sea and sea-going bri gs are sti l l to be seen i n theLakshya r i ve r . In 19 10 there were 4 7 hal in g hou se s i n the d i stric twhich employed dai ly on the average n ear ly adu l t labou re rs .

For m i l l s in Calcu tta there are gen eral ly five grades or ‘mark s’

of j u te , bu t Me s s rs . David Cc . ; who do a large export trade t oE urope

,make u p the i r pu cka bale s in to ten d i fferen t qual i tie s .

The poin t s of fine qu al i ty j u te are strength,good col ou r , good

glos s and reasonable length . Ju te from the poin t of View of thebale r i s d i vided in to two main c lasse s

,hi ghland and l owland ,

high land be ing con siderably the be tte r of the two . The bes t knownc las ses of j u te l n the Narayanganj market are hi ghlan d Mymen

s ingh , Serai l , Fanduk and Cachar,which doe s not come from

Cachar bu t from the n ei ghbou rh ood of B rahmanbar ia, and Lamjoar ,or lowland ju te

,i n wh ich i s inc luded the produ ce of Mb n sh iganj

and all l ow—lying country .

The maund with which ju te i s pu rchased i s cal cu lated at the

rate of 8 4 1-3 tolas to the see r . Anothe r cu riou s cu s tom i s t hatwhen the ama tdd/r and . the merchan t’s c lerk are bargain ing theycommun i cate to one an othe r the price s offered and demanded bywri t ing them wit h the finge r on the palm of the othe r man

’s handundern eath a cloth .

Dacca i s al so an importan t centre of the bids trade and a

h ide merchan t calcu lated that i n 1908 hide s to the value of morethan 4 2 lakhs of r upees we re exported from the di strict . Theyare despatched to Calcutta and then sh ipped abroad , cow-h idesgoing as a ru le to the cont inent, buff i lo-h ides to Turkey and goat

The h ide

trade .

Weav ing.

DACCA DI STRICT

sk in s to America. A tannery has recently been Opened at Daccaand i s reported to be doing we l l .

I n 190 1 , per son s i n th e Dacca di stri ct were retu rnedas actu a l weave rs . The bu lk of the se people we re Muhammadanweave r s or Jolahas , who manu factu re colou red sa r i s , the lu ng/i t

'

s

or cotton petti coats wh i ch are worn by men, gamchas or n apkin s

and chadda’r s or shawls . The se artic les are cheap and du rableand s t i l l command a ready sale

,the pri ce of a sa r i rangin g from

Re . 1-8 to an nas 12 and of a lu nght from Re . 1 to annas 8 . The

ord inary nati ve l oom and the meth od of weaving have often beendescri bed , and fu l l accou n t s wi l l be fou nd in the Mon ograph s on

the Cotton Fabri c s of As sam,by Mr . Samman , and i n the corres

pond ing work , by M r . N . N . Banarj i , on the Fabri c s of B e ngal .Desc ripti on s of mechan i cal processes o f th i s n atu re when con

densed are gen eral ly u n in tel li gib le and du l l , and those who are

real ly i n te rested i n the su bject shou ld refer to the work of M r .

Samman ,where i t i s d i scu ssed wi th a perfect wea l th of de tai l , and

where the obscu r ity of me re verbal de scripti on i s to some exten td i spe l led by photographs . Trad ition has i t that the most expens i ve Dacca mu sl in s were so fine that they had to be woven u nderwater . Thi s i s

,i n all probabi l i ty , in correct , bu t it i s a fact that

ve ssel s of wate r are sometimes placed underneath the l oom toprodu ce the requ i s i te humidi ty in the atmosphere . Dr . Taylorstates that he saw spec imen s of thread spun in Dacca whichowason the scale of 160 m i le s to a pou nd of the staple .

*

Even at that date,however , thread had been spun in England

of the fin enes s of 16 7 mi les to the poun d though i t was not u sedfor man u facture . Cloth of very fi ne textu re u sed formerly to bewoven for th e u se of the Imperia l Cou rt . One variety , kn own as

j hama , i s men tioned in an old Tibetan work,whe re i t i s sa id that

a lic i entiou s prie ste s s who appeared i n pu bl ic clad in i t , appearedto all in ten ts and pu rpose s to be naked i

Abr awcm,or runn ing water

,i s of an equal ly de l i cate textu re .

I t i s s tated th at,on one occas ion

,the Empe ror Au rangzeb rebuked

h i s dau ghter for exposin g the charm s of her pe rson too free ly ,whereupo n she u rged i n he r defence that she was wearing n o lessthan seven su i ts of a br aw cm i Shu ldum ,

or e ven ing dew,take s

i t s name from the fact that i t i s su pposed to be invi si ble whenspread on the damp grass . Othe r we l l known kind s of mu s l inwere mu lmu l leka s , ci r ca r a lt

,n yan su lc and bu ddu n khas . The

fin est mu s l in s made o f rec en t years we re cal led sogawctdt'

, i s ,

fit for pre se nt s on ly . They we re ten yard s l on g by one wide ,th ey gen e ral ly we i ghed from 6 to 7 tolas and cost from Rs . 125

to Rs . 200 . Mu s l in s su ch as these are now on ly made to orde r .

Topography of Dacca , p . 169 .

1 A De scr ip t 1v e and l l 1stor i cal Account of the Cotton Manu facture ofDac ca London ,

1851, p . 4 3 .

1 I bid , p. 4 4 .

Golds 1l r er smith’sWork .

DACCA D I STRICT .

embroidered and when the exact place i s reached he takes h i s

needle (a bamboo spl in ter ) and as each woof thread passes throu gh

the pattern ,he sews down th e in ter sected port ion of i t and so

con tin ues un ti l i t i s completed . When the embroidered pattern

i s cont in uou s and regu lar as i n the u sua l sar i border , th e weaver , i f

a skil fu l workman ,u su al ly d i spen ses wi th the aid of a paper

pattern . Two pe rson s general ly work together at a piece of

j amdan i , by whi ch a great sav ing i s effected .

”

The se cloth s wh i ch are embroidered in the l oom are kn own as

j amdan i . A piece of ord in ary workman sh i p cost s from Rs . 5 toRs . 15

,but as mu ch as Rs . 4 00 may be ask ed for one i n wh ich the

pattern and material s are of exceptional exce l len ce . K astdas are

c l oth s embroidered by hand with s i lk or col ou red cotton thread . The

embroidery i s very rou ghly done , general ly by poor Muhammadanfemales , and the cloths are exported to B assora , J iddah , Con stan t in ople and Aden where they command a fa i r s ale . There i s al so acon s iderable produ ction of chi /ca n work or mu s l in embroideredwith cotton

,for which there i s some demand in Eu rope The

same te rm i s appl ied to a kin d of n etwork formed by breakingdown the textu re of the cloth w i th a need le and convert ing it i ntoopen meshe s . Tailor s are common i n Dacca , and in -l 90 1

person s retu rned them se lves as workin g at thi s trade . A spec ialbranch of the ar t i s r afu gar t or darn in g . An exper t r afu ga r i sable to extrac t a s ingle thread from a piece of mu s l in twen ty yard slong and replace i t wi th another . Th i s ope rat i on ,

wh i c h i s kn ownas chrm ot i , i s nece ssary when a c oarse thread i s di scove red afte rbleach ing .

Some idea of the weal th of the di stri ct can b e gath ered fromthe fact that at the cen su s o f 190 1 , person s repor ted thatth ey earned the i r l i ving by workin g as gold and si l ver sm i ths .

The me thod s and produ ct s of the se sm1ths are,h oweve r , s ome

what pr im1tive . A hole i n the mud floor to do d u ty as a

fu rn ace , an ear then ware bowl , a couple of d i rty fan s wh ich serveas be l lows , and a smal l box of hammer s , pincer s , chi se l s and othertool s i s the i r stock in trade .

* Rings , brace le ts , ear-rings,and

othe r arti c le s of j ewe l lery , are the i r c h ie f produ ct i on , but the se as

a ru le bre on ly made to order and a Dacca jewe l ler keeps practical ly n oth ing i n stock . Stone-setting and r ing-carving are

mode rate ly we l l done and the fi l i gree work i s fai r thou gh n ot

comparable with that of Cu ttack . Some of the cos tl ies t specimen s of the jewe l ler s’art are to be seen on the occas ion of theJanmastmt proces s i on ,

when real ly fin e sh r ine s of gold and

s i l ve r are dragged through the ci ty on bu l lock carts .

She l l carv in g i s the in du stry whi ch wou ld he most l i ke ly tocatc h the eye of any v i s i tor to Dacca

,not so mu ch becau se of

i ts i ntri n sic impmtance as becau se the San khar i s who fol low th i s

Tho cur i o u s W l ll find a deta i led l i st of tool s on p . 7 of Mr . Muk har j i’s

Monograph on Gold and S i l ver Work in the Bengal 1’1 e5 1dcncy .

-Ca l cu tta, 1905.

'

1‘lt \ l lE AND INDUSTRIES .

profes si on all l i ve 1n one baz5 r , which de se rves a vi s it owing tothe pecu liar characte r of i ts arch itectu re . The Sankhari s are a

hardworking commu n i ty , and whe ther from l i ving so mu ch i n thes hade or w hethe r i t i s due to the i r associati on wi th the i r wh i teshe l l s the i r complexion s are mu ch fai re r than those of the ordinary Bengal i . The she l l s are brought from Ceylon ,

Bombay, and

the Madras coast . The Bombay s he l l s , Clo-an n a pa te . a lla-bi lla ,

and s u r ti are the most expen s i ve of all bu t they a re rare,the

ti tkdw r t shun /aha,“and p u tt wh i ch come from Ceylon are mu ch

e steemed,wh i le the Madras she l l s are cheaper . The tops of the

shel l s are kn ocked off with a hammer and the s he l l s sawn in towidth s su i table for bangle s wh ich are then poli shed and carved .

The Sankhar i s l i ve i n we l l bu i l t br ick hou se s and are an indu stri on s and flou ri sh in g commu n i ty .

Other indu str ie s fol lowed i n the d i str ict are— the manu fac tm e Other 0

of bras s,be l l-me tal

,and ear then u ten si l s , of bu tton s , socks and

mdusmes °

ban ian s,bi scu i t s . combs and cha r ts , i nk, penholder s , shoe s and

caps , and mu si cal in strumen ts . B oat -bu i ld in g i s an importan tindu stry

,budgeroes or green boats , i n wh ich we l l-to~do pe r son s

pu rsue the i r le i su re ly bu t comfortable j ou rneys , be in g con structedat Dacca . There i s a steam oi l m i l l a l i t tle ou tside the town on

the road to Narayanganj and a soap factory , a tannery , and an i ronfou ndry in the ci ty

,i n addi t ion to the rai lway workshops wh ich

employ over 4 00 men dai ly .

be loca l measu re s of time ar e as fol lows - 60 a n up a l l

p a l 601 ml 1 dan da 2—5dan das 1 ghan ta (hou r ) 3 ghan ta1 p r aham; 8 p r cthdr

= 1 dtbas (day and n ight) ; 7 days 1

sap taka 15 days =p a lcsha ; 2 9- 32 days = 1 mas (mon th ) 365

days 1 bats /1017a or year . Gold , s i l ve r , spi ces , med icines , threadand fine c loth are weighed by the fol lowin g stan dard —4 dha a

l r a ti , lcuj or lat ; é r a ti 1 p i or pOCt an n a ; 6 r a ft

anna ; 8 r a ti = 1 ma sha ; 16 anna = 1 to la or bha r t 180 grain sTroy . The we igh ts for heavier subs tan ce s are I i told. l kachcha5 fold = 1 chha ta /c 4 cit/to ta ls 1 p owa ; 16 cl1/1a ta /c 1 ser 5

ser = l p a su r i ; 8 pasu r t= 1 maund equa l to 82 lbs avoirdupois.

Land measu re s a re as fol lows —1 baggat= 9 in che s ; 1 71511571 18

in che s ; 1 aass i 120 feet . A n ot i s a measu re of length varyingfrom as to feet. A [cum in the Mun shi ganj su bd iv i s ioni s 2 4 o wls by 20 n ode, the n a l being u su al ly 1 15 feet in lengthand the area abou t 1 acre 1 rood and 2 3 pole s . Elsewhe re a

[can t or p d lcht'

i s on ly 12 ow ls by 10 n ods. A dr on 16 ka n t ; a

khada. 16 palcht.

We i ghts andmeasure s .

1 16

2 New s b

gan j .

3 . S fi h hfi l‘.OA

DACCA DI STRICT .

Li st of d d r s i n the Dacca. Di str i ct.The more imp 1 r t an t perman ent c en tres of trade ar e mark ed w ith an

There i s trade everywh ere in grai n ,sa lt , oi l and p iece-good s ; the princ ipa l

cen tres for timber , h ides and j ute are a lso i nd i cated .

l—l owmq

mmmw

wr

y—o

H

H

l—J

owe-os

CD

CD

N

O‘JUH-P

OO

N

H

23 .

24 .

1 .

2 .

3 .

4 0

5 .

6 .

7 .

8 .

Li st of Bezars .

At i .Barai d ”

(H ides an dtimberB en j ara .

Dargar Bazar .

Demra .

Golamraja. BazarHazaribag.

*

K a lat i a .*

Kande r Baon ia .

Kao ran .

Khagai lKondaM i rpur .

‘

Roh i tpu r" (timber )Zen zi ra* (H i d es

timber ) .

Amta Barrah .

B agmara .

B anduraB ar ua Khal i .Bhat i gov indapu r .

Chark i g hat .

Ch u r i an .

Daudpur .Deb i n agar .Govindapur .

JoyparaKalirkopa

‘( t im

be r ) .

Ka1n argan j .*

Karimgan j .

Magb la.

Mak sudpur . Kep fi s ia

Mamu dpur .

Nan d i rbdzdr .

Nar i sha

Nawabgan j . “Nay fi b ri nPa lan gan j .Paragaon .

S ikaripara .

Ashu lla .

B agdhan i a .

B ali bhudra .

Bathu l i .B enopu r N ai hati .B l rall a .

t i mrai’t (B e l l,

mora l, u ten s i l s ,

c loth . )l l han ta ra .

Earpu r .

Fulbéri a .

Goalbar i .

Kaiakhola .

Ka l ampu rKfisimpur .

Konda .

Knshur i a .

Nan nar.Row i lo

Sébh fir" (T imber) .Sadu l lapur .

Sh imalia .

Suap ur .

Ara l .Aral ia .

B aghi a.

Bamun agar .

Baraber .Barabo.

Bara i d .

B ar is habo.

Barami " (J u t ecloth and timber .

Bhola i gan j .Chandpu r .

Dard ar ia .

Durgapur .Ghorshalo .

Ghors inga .

Ik ari a .

Kaora i d .

Kfipe’

ts ie .

Kar ihata.

Loha i d .

Mamrad i .

Maona .

Na inda. Sangan .

Nalgown .

Non ia .

Nayan Bazar .Pabur .Raied .

Rai jfibzi r i .Ri j endrapur .

Rdn i gan j .Shamman ia .

S h i ngna .

Singri .Sripu r .Taragan j .Tnms h imi .Ulushara .

1 18 DACCA DI STRICT .

Li st o f d d 1 's in the Da cca Di str i ct

MN)

N

»

2. Rajabari

co

oo

xi

men

in

g

ea

l—a00

d

o:

Un

m'

po

wi-a

Ho

o

mfl

a

p

p

wwu

Li st of Bazars .

Mu n sh i gan j .M un sh i rb at"Rek abi Bazfir fi‘

Sek lierhat

Sera jabad .

. S i d d h i s a d h a b

Bazar.Sonarang .

Tang ibari .Bahan

B a las ia

Bara B a g h a d i

Bazar .

‘

B i dgaou .

D i g h i r p a r "

(t im ber ) .Hash a i l .

H fit Kar i m g a n ]a lias Hashai l hat .

RfiJabar i .

Bagra.B arai k hali .B aram.

Bash a i l .

Bejerhat i .. B li a g y a. k u l *

(J ute) .Dam l a .

Hash ara .

I chhapura .

8 . Srinagar } Kath iapara .

Ku k u li a .

Mai zpara .

Kamargaon

Rajanagar .t r lkhal.S erdjd igha

"(J ute ) .

S li inJha ra .

Sholaghar .Sr inagar .Ta lta l a" (Jute ) .Tan tra .

Be jgow .

B li ogad ia .

“

B i rukha .

it

B a lch in Char igow .

Dlmn kun ia .

*

(‘

i anpu ru

Gaod i a .

“

H a l ide

Kallku l.

Kam ii rpur .

l l . Kunak sar .

1 . N ar a- J

2 Raipura

L i st ot Bazars .

Khari a .

Loh a jang* (Jute ) .Ma id hyapara .

S ager hat .

Naopara .

"

Shamhat i .Sh imal i a .

Teot i a .

Gopa ldi Bazar .

Nars ingd : Be. z a r”

(Jute) .

B a i dyer Bazar.*B fi rad i .

Chai tpu r .Fatu l la .

Gabta l i .K i tchp ur .

Ka lagach ia.

Madan gan J.*

Man ohard i .Mu nsh irai l B azar.N{trayangan j .’t

Ru ps i .

S idd i rgan j .Uddabgan j

TRADE AN ! ) IN I’US'

l‘l i l blS 1 19

Li st of d ar s i n the Dacca. Di str i ct

Li st of Bazars .

Rampur

chan i .

Rampur

pac han i .

Ruper ban cl l

Sar ippur .

Barapa

Chota

Denga"(Jute ) .

Name OE L i st of Bazars .

4 . M a n o

h a rd i

( contd ) . lk

11 Ghoshgown .

12 Gotas i a .

13 . H ar i san gan .

14 . Hasima Syampur .

15 . H at iard i Nama 5 . Rupganfl4 . M a n 0

16 . H at i ardi Tan Bazar

(contd . ) 17 . Lak hpur* ( Jute) .

18 . Lohapu r .

19 . Manohardi .20. Nara ind i .

21 . P achbabandi .

22 . Pai hou .

23. Falu ly .

24 . Farad ia .

25 . Paratola.

6 . Kal iganj1

Li st of fa i r s an d m elas held i n Dacca D istr i ct.

Name of Me laor Fai r.

KERAN I GANJ

TH i N A .

Raj arbagMe l a

Char Raghunathpur

J iu j i ra Me la.

Demra Me la

Malibag Mela

S i tuation .

4 m i l e s f r o mRai lw ay Sta

t i on .

a m i l e fromSteamer S t ation .

a mi l e fromDac ca SteamerS tati on .

5 a m i 1 e fromS h o r u t i 3Steamer Sta

ti on .

1m i l e from Rai lway Stati on .

Du ration of Fa ir .

2 day s in Feb ruary an d Apri l .

On the last dayof th e mon thof Fau sh .

1 d a y d u r i n gDo lpurn ima In

March .

2 days i n Ju ne

Every Satu rdaya n d Tu e sdaybetween Jan u

ary 15th a n d

February 15th .

120 DACCA DI STRICT .

10

11

12

13

1 4

15

10

17

18

11)

Li st of fa i r s and melas held i n Dacca Di str i ct.

Si t uation . Durat ion of Fa ir .

K E R A N I G A N J

TH ENA— (contd fl

Shunna Mela [ mi l e from Sho On the day ofrutia Steamer Chaitra SankStation . Tanti .

Dh itpur Mela 2 m i l e S f r o mShor u t ia Steamer Station .

S ai npara 3 m i l e S .

f r om DittoD a c c a Rai lw ay Station .

Rohitpur 8 m i l e S f r o 111 Do. and durin gDacca Steamer Rat h jatra. in8133 t “ . June and i n

Magh ipfirn imai n February .

Dharma Sar Ditto On the l ast day0 f S r a b a 11

(Ju l y ) .Subhadya 1 m i l e f r o m In the mon th of

Dac ca Steamer Pau sh and Ba i

Station . sakh and du r

i ng Rath jat ra .

Kal iganj Me la 5 a m i l e f r o In On t he Dasahra,Steame r Sta day .

t ion .

Snai l G l i ata Me la 3 m i l e s f r 0 m Duri ng Baru n iTangi R3 11W fl y Snan in Chaitra .

Stat i on .

li e l a111Mtt ltl 13 m i l es f r o In On the l et day of

Dacca . B a i sakh .

Komla Me la 2 m i l e S f r o m DittoJaj i ra SteamerStation .

Sakta Me l a 6 m i l e s f r o m I n Bai sakh and

Dac ca . Magh .

Baeta Me la 6 m i l e S f r o in On t he ChaitraDacca . Sank ran t i day .

M i rpur Mala 7 m i l e 8 1 r o m In the month of

Dacca . Baisakh .

BuS I la Me la 5 m i l e s f r o m O n the Magh i

Dacca . purn ima day .

DACCA DI STRICT .

Li st of fa i r s and melas held i n Dacca D istr i ct

Name of Me laor Fair .

lx ERAN I GAN J

TH SS A concld . )

H a r d a b o B aj

Bhadam Me la

Gu tia Fai r

Ki r i sm .

Gli alag h at Snan

Fai r .

Ara l ia A s t am iSnan Mela .

Torgao Fai r

Rajabar i Fa i r

Paltamara

Aral Dak sh iu gao

Barmi Fai r

Chandpu r Fa i r

Augabo Fa i r

3mi les S E . fromJaydebp u r Rai lW ay Station .

10 mi les f r o m

J a y d e b p om

Ra i lway S t at ion .

10 mi l es f r o mRai lw ay S t at ion .

Close to Lak hpurSt eamer S t at ion .

20 mi les f r omKaora id Rai lway Station .

9 m i l e s fromRajend r a p u r

Rai lway S ta

t ion .

3 m i l e s i romHajen ii r a p u r

Rai lway Sta

t i on .

6 m i l e S f r o mJ a y d e b p u rRai l way Sta

tion .

3 m i l e s f r omL a k h p u rSteamer Ghat

2 mi les from Sat

Khama i r Ra i lw ay Stat ion .

5 m i l e s f r omL a k h p u r or

B a n i g a m iS t e am e r S ta

t ion

Di t to

2 day s i n Cha i traSank ran t i .

2 days i n ChaitraSank r an t i and

l et (1 a y of

1 day on th e las tday of Jai stha

(May)

1 day 0 n l y i nApri l .

Ditto

days in Apr i l

Ditto

(1m on 1s t ll zi i

sakh Apri l

Ditto

D i tto

2 COO

1 day o n l y on

th ree occas ion Si n Barun i S uanan d A s t a m i

Snan and in

K a t t i k P u r

n ima Snan i n

A p r i 1 a n d

Novemb er.1 day on l y i n

i n Apri l .

4 6

4 7

53

54

55

Name of Me laor Fai r.

K71 PRS IA— (contd )

Bora i d Fai r

Kapes ia

D hamrai Rathjatra Mela .

SKBHKR .

Roai l Siv RatriFai r .

Nangalband FairA s t am i or

B r a hmapu tra

Snan )

NZRAYANGam .

P a 11 c h ami gh atMe la .

Bal iapara

Baradi Fai r

R3 1P URA.

Marjal Me la

Saike r Char Mela

Situati on .

3 mi les ' f r o-mL a k h p u r or

R a n i g a n jSteamer S ta

tion .

3 m i l e S f r o mBejand r ap u tRa i lway S ta

t ion .

About 6 m i li e s

n orth of 8 :1tThana.

About 4 m 11 1 asw es t of sabbarThana.

4 mi les N .-E . ol

Narayang a n jtown .

8 m i l e s f r omN ar ayangan j .

16 mi les f r omNaray u n gan j .

15 mi les BaradiSteamer Sta

tion .

C l o s e to the

Steamer Sta

tion .

1 mi le west of

t h e SteamerStation .

3 mi l es South of

t h e SteamerS tation .

TRADE AND INDUSTRIES .

Duration of fai r .

1 d a y on l et

Bai sak h (April ) .

1 d a y on I st

Jai stha (middle of May ) .

101 days in Juneand Ju ly .

3 days. in« March

4 days in Aprilor May .

1 day on ly i n

March and in

J un e .

Ditto .

7 d a y s f r omChaitra Sank a

ran t i .

3 days from the

Chaitra Sank

Tanti .

Di tto

7 days from the

Chaitra Sank

ranti .

123

L ist of fa i r s and melas held in Dacca Di str ict

Abou t

About 200

Between 400to 500.

300 per day.

000mmday .

12 4 DACCA DI STRICT .

Li st of fa i r s an d melas held i n DaccaDi str i ct—fl oon td . )

Name of Melaor Fai r .

RZ I P URA— ( cont

Du lal Kanda Me la

RUPGANJ .

Kanchan Me la

Golakandai l Me l a

KALIGAN J .

Kaligan 3"

Fai r

Ch in M e l a at

Kanadi .

Ch in M e l aB aragOW .

at

Ch i n M e l a

Ghorasal .

Ch in M e 1 a

Paltamara .

C h in M e l a at

Shekandard i .

MANOHAR D I .

Hat i rd i a Fair

MU NSH IGANJ .

Kartik Bar unl

S i tuation .

5 mi les north of

the S t e a m er

S tation .

5 mi les f r o mRupgan j P . S .

Steamer Sta

t ion .

3 mi les f r o mM u r ap a r aSteamer Sta.

tion .

Close is o t h e

Steamer Ghat .

Di tto

4 mi les from theSteamer Ghat .

C lose t 0 t h e

Steamer Ghat .

12 mi l es f r o mt h e SteamerGhat .

6 mi les from the

Steamer Ghat .

6 mi l es S .-W . ot

Lakhpu r Steamer Stati on .

On banks of Dha

leswar i n e a rKama lag li a t

Steamer S ta

t i on a bout on ein 1 l e i r 0 mM i i

'

ns li i g a n jtown .

Duration of Fai r .

3 day s from 1st

Bai sakh .

3 day s . Th e Melasi ts from t he

Lak shmip a rn ima day i 11

October.

3 day s . P a u s hSenk t en t i dayin Jan uary .

1 day on Pau sh

Sankran t i .

l st Baisakh

2 days . l st Bai

sakh and let

Jai stha.

Di tto

Di tto

Ditto

From Februaryto m idd le of

Apr i l .

6 week s from thebeginn ing of

January .

300 e very day .

500 every day .

per day .

1 26 .

9 2

Name ( i f Me l a or

Fa i r .

S i i l NAGA i i— (contd .

B ara ikha l iaya .

Gal

S li ek li ar i i a g a rGa l aya

S li olagh ar Ga l

a) a Fa i r .

Ka i i yamara Gal

aya Fa i r.

Mai jpara Ga layaFa i r .

Serajd i gha Gal

aya Fa i r .

Kola Galaya Fa ir

I chhap i i ra Gal-aya Fa i r .

LOHAJANG

Jhulan Me la at

Lohajang .

Gaodia Me l a

Nager liat

Kan ak shar Me l a ,

K i i m a r b li o p;Go i l a .

MAN I KGAN J .

.B e thi la Me la

DACCA DI STRICT .

S itua t ion .

5 mi l es f r o in

T a r p a s a

Steamer S ta

t i on .

Ditto

Cl ose to Serajd ig i la SteamerStat i ons

1} a mi le northlrom Tar '

pasa

Steame r S ta

t i on .

S mi l es n o r t hof T a r p a s a

Steamer S t at ion .

7 m i l e s n orth o f

T a r p it s a

Steamer S ta

t i on .

5 m i l es do .

2 m i l es N -E . of

Mowa SteamerStation .

i a mi le fromPa l ora Steame r Stat ion .

Du ration of Fai r .

4 days from 2nd

B a i sz'

i kh

1 day on Chai traSankran t i .

1 day on Cha i traSank ran t i .

1 da y on 1 s t

Bai sakh .

Ditto

I day 0 n 2 n d

B a i sak h .

2 days on l st and

5 days in. t h e

m o n t h o f

8 day s i n Ap ri lfrom t he be

g i nn in g of the

B enga l i n e W

y ear .

7 day s

3 day s do.

Di tto

7 days i n November d u r i n gRd st jat rfl o

Li st of fa i r s a n d melas held i n Dacca Di str i ct— (coa chi )

e acli day .

800 each defy

NATURAL cALAM ir ras

CHAPTER V I I I .

NATURAL CALAMITIES.

The most ser iOu s n atu ral calami t ie s to which the di stri ct i sexposed arise not from a defi ciency bu t from an exces s of water .

The r ice crop su ffe rs no doubt from time to time from the wan t ofrain at du e season s , but i t i s flood and not drought that i s real lydreaded by the inhabitan ts of Dacca .

The fir st scarci ty on record subsequ en t to the as sumption of The fam’1‘e

the Diwan i by the B ri t i sh Occu rred i n 1769-70 . The greaterO f

part of the rice crop was destroyed by a prolonged in undation ini n 1769 , and thi s was fol lowed by a pe riod of i n ten se d rou gh t i nthe spr in g of 1770 . Tan ks and we l l s dried up and fi re s

,ari sing

from the fricti on of bran che s and bamboos , we re of c onstan t occu rrence i n the jungle s and the ne i ghbou rhood of vi l lage s . The

poorer c las se s were. compe l led to subsi s t large ly on aquati c plantsdu r ing the en su ing rainy season and many of them pe ri shed .

In 178 4 , there was again a famine which was due to a The fami ne

succes s ion of bad crops coupled‘

with a certain lack of cau t ion “ 1784“

amongst the cu lti vator s . The water su bsided early in 1783 and

no grain formed in the ear s of ri ce growing on hi ghe r land .

High price s we re at that t ime ru l in g i n other parts of Ind ia and

the inhabitants of the lowe r tracts s omewhat reckle ss ly sold the i rc rop s

,re ly ing on the harve st of the fol lowin g year . B u t th is

harve st neve r came , for spring, Summer , and au tumn r i ce werealike destroyed by the ever r i s ing floods . The price of food-grain smoun ted with great rapid ity and in Ju ne rice was se l l in g i n theB alda Khal pargana at 17 seers to the rupee . This according tomodern s tandard s i s far from dear , bu t i t mu st be borne in mindthat even twen ty year s later the wage s of a boatman var ied fromei ght annas to on e rupee fou r annas a month So that

'

at those

pri ce s he wou ld on ly be earnin g from fou r and a hal f to cle f/ en

chhataks of r i ce a day .

’r The ri ch attempted to lay i n a stock

regardle s s of the price and the dea le r s he ld up the i r suppl ies ,Open ing the i r shops on ly in the middle of the n i ght and decl in ingto sel l more than One see r at a t ime to any pe rson . The di stre s s

Tay lor’s Topog raphy , p 299J

rTaylor’s Topog raphy o t Dac ca , p . 306 . These w ages s eem ex traord i

nar ily low ,b u t as Tay lor i n h i s tab l e o f wage s express ly state s that c oo l i es

an d Bhandar ies rece i v e d i et in add i ti on to the i r wages , i t seems c l ear that theMan jh i es and boatmen about w hom he makes n o s u ch statement d id not .

Th e same a u thori ty states ( Pepography . p 3 13 ; that in l e08 beare rs a t thecommerc ia l factory w ere pai d Rs . 2-4 per men se rn and that th ese w ere con

s i de red h igh w ages , and t he av erage earn i ngs o f a we av e r i n 1839 w ere pu t atRs . 2-8 pe r me h sem .

Th e famin eo f 1787-88 .

DACCA DI STRICT .

lasted on in to the followin g year and in March 1785,the Col lector

reported that thou gh the pri ce had fal len to 25 seers to the rupeethou sand s of u nhappy wre tche s are now ly ing on the banks of theB rahmapu tra some i n the agon ies o f death and other s emaciatedby famine wi th hardly strength to crawl along implor ing assi stan ce from passenge rs .

”The Col lector arranged for the supply

of boi led ri ce at su i table cen tres and took what steps he cou ldto save the dying ,

bu t how grave was the di stres s can be judgedfrom t he fac t t hat a bri sk trade arose in ch i ld ren , who were soldby thei r starving parent s t o low cas te Portu gu e se and sh i pped bythem to Ca lcu tta .

Three year s later a mu ch”

more se r iou s calami ty overtookthe di st ri c t . The rain s set i n ear ly in the mon th of Marchand

‘

in the m idd le of Ju ly the r i vers rose to an u n preceden tedhe igh t . Boats cou ld sai l along the streets of Dacca and in the

in te rior the vi llage rs were compe l led to leave t he i r hu ts and

l i ve on raft s or bamboo platform s . The local r ice c rop was

des troyed and the imports from ou ts ide we re in su ffi cien t to feedthe starvin g people . I n many parts of the d i st rict the pr i ce o fr i ce rose to fou r seer s to the ru pee and crowds of starving wre tc hescame flocking in to t he c i ty . Be tween n in e and ten thou san d

pe rson s were fed da i l y by pu blic chari ty , bu t i t was impossi b l e todea l W i th all de se rving case s an d n umber s per i sh ed . Some par

gana s are said to have lost three-fou rt hs of the i r popu lation bydeath or em igrati on and the total death rol l was pu t down at

a large proporti on of a popu lation whi ch was e stimated at

that time to be con s ide rably under a m i l l i on sou l s . From the

en qu i ries inst itu ted by thi s gen tleman ( the Col lector M r . Day)to ascertain the los s of l i fe by th i s di re fu l calam i ty , he

calcu lated that person s peri s hed du ring the inu ndat i onand the su bsequ en t fam in e . No pergun nah s su ffered i n sod read fu l a degree ,

’he observe s

,as Rajanaghu r and Cartickpore .

’

The d i stre ss and m i sery to wh i ch the inhabitan t s were r edu ced i spain fu l to the fee l ing m ind to de s cr i be . The famin e raged wi thsu ch v iolen ce that some th ou sands m i serably peri sh ed ,

wh i le wholefami l ie s ‘forsook the i r habitat ion s to avoid the most c ru e l of

death s , b u t s o redu ced and emaciated were many th rough sickne ssand hu nge r , that they en ded the i r days i n search of su stenanceothe rs repa i red to the town of Dacca. in the hope s of finding some

all eviati on of the i r d i stres se s and to such mi se ry and wretchedne sswere mothers redu ced by the gri ping hand of hun ger , that forgett in g a ll paren ta l affecti on ,

they O ff ered the i r c h i ld ren for a hand~fu l o f ri ce . Al though eve ry assi stan ce was ofiered

, yet the

numbers that flocked in to the c i ty,prec luded the po s sibi l i ty of

afford ing re l ie f to all. Many thou sand u nhappy wretche s cou sequently mi serably peri shed i n the c ity and en vi ron s .

” The lo s s ofprope rty occa si oned by th i s famin e appears to have been ve ry

Co l lec tor’s l etter da ted March zud,1785

'

The tornadooi 1902.

Earthquakes .

DACCA DI STRICT .

Commi ssioner’s laun ch , the Linn et, and tearing

i

the pol ice lau nc h‘Ma'ri on from i ts moor ings and d riving i t up st ream to foun de r indeep water . On reach in g the sou thern bank of the B ur i Gangathe storm ground to pieces a mason ry hou se that had beenrecen t ly con stru cted by one Abdu l B epari k i l l ing its owne r andseverely woundin g th ree other person s . At th is momen t i t seemedthat the c i ty was safe and that the vi l lage of Subadiya toward swh ich the tornado was advan c in g was doomed . B u t sudden ly i tc hanged i ts cou rse , swu ng back at ri ght angle s acros s the ri verand bu rst u pon the Nawab’s palace , the Ahsa n Man z i t. Fromthe re i t made i t s way to the Sankari B azar where i t appear s tohave mou n ted in to the ai r to de scend again near Raj abar i i n the

sou th of the Mun sh i ganj subd ivi si on . He re i t crashed through‘

s ix or seven v i l lage s and ki l led from 60 to 80 person s .In the c i ty i t comple te ly de s troyed 9 mas on ry bu i ld ings and

inju red 14 8 more and i t wrecked nat i ve hu ts and 12 1 beat s :1 18 person s we re kn own to have been ki l led and severe lywounded nearly 20 of them fatal ly . The damage done in the

c i ty was estimated at 6 % lakhs of rupee s . In no part of i ts cou rsedid the breadth of i ts path exceed 200 pace s , and the very violenceof the wind in some cases served to save i ts vi ctims . The hou sein whi ch a member o f the Nawab’s fami l y was stand ing wasdemoli shed and he was pinned be low a heavy beam wh ich fe l lu pon hi s shou lder . B ut so great was the force of the wind thatthe beam in s tead of cru sh ing him descended slowly and gen tlypressed him to the groun d . The back wal l of the Offi ce in which-Mr . Ke l sal l was work ing was blown ou t but the beams remain edsupported by the wind long en ough to admi t of h i s escape . Manyof the eye

-wi tnesse s d ec lared that the c loud accompanyin g thewhi rlwind glowed with a du l l glare

,but n one of the ki l led or

inju red we re scorched i n any way .

In April 1902 Dacca was again V i s ited by a tornado . I t

appear s to have formed on the sou th ban k of the B u r i Gangar i ver and to have travelled n orthward s demol i sh ing some ju tegodown s a nd damagin g the Dolaiganj rai lway station . North and

east of Dolaiganj there i s a con si derable expan se of open countryand the tornado was nex t reported at M ijmij i abou t fi ve mi lesn orth of Narayanganj . H e re i t crossed the Lakshya

,razed the

vi l lage of Sonachora to the ground , and trave l led eastwardsstriking Ran ighi , Barpara and Nan galband where i t fi nal ly spen ti t se l f i n the open coun try east of the old B rahmapu tra r i ver .The path of the storm var ied from 100 to 4 00 yard s i n breadth ,88 person s were ki l led and 238 inj u red . Abou t hu t s weredemol i shed .

The s l i gh t trembl ings of the earth wh ich are s o common i nport ion s o f As sam are se ld om fel t , but from t ime to time the

d i strict has su ffered from ear thquake s some of wh i ch have beenof con s iderable severi ty . The fol lowing account of ear ly v i s i ta

NATURAL CALAMITIES .

ti on s i s taken from Taylor’s Topography of Dacca" In general,

the shocks are s l ight bu t at time s they have been produ cti ve ofgreat los s of l i fe and prope rty . The earthqu ake i n Apri l 1762proved very violen t at thi s place and along the eastern bank ofthe Meghn a as far as Chittagong . At Dacca the r i vers and j hi lswere agi tated , and rose high above the i r u su al leve l s , leaving ,when they receded

,thei r banks strewed wi th dead fish . The

shocks were accompan ied by subterranean hol low n oises and wereso severe that a number of hou se s were thrown down by which500 person s

,i t i s said

,lost the i r l i ves . In 1775 and 18 12 there

we re severe earthqu akes . In the latte r year v i olen t s hocks wereexperienced on the l oth of Apri l and 1 1th of May which i nj u red a

numbe r of hou ses and several bu i ld ings in the c i ty and at

Tezgong.

”

The great earthqu ake of 1 897 d id mu ch damage i n the c i tybu t lu cki ly cau sed comparative ly l i tt le los s of l i fe . The ShaheenMedical Ha l l

,a temple known as the N az i r s Ma th, the Shahbagh ,

and the hou se occupied by Mrs . Stan sbu ry all col lapsed and five

pe rson s were ki l led beneath the ru in s , whi le n ine other hou se sincluding the res iden ce s of the Comm i s s ione r , the Col lector

,the

Ju dge,and the Ci vi l Su rgeon were rendered un inhab itable . I t was

e st imated rough ly that the cost of repai r in g Gove rnmen t bu i ld ingsthroughou t the d i stri c t wou ld amoun t to abou t Rs. l

,50 ,000.

P . 18 .

RAI LWAYS.

DACCA DI STRICT

CHAPTER IX .

MEANS OF COMMUN ICATION .

The Dacca-Mymen s ingh rai lway run s throu gh the di stri ctfrom Narayan gan j, the s ou thern terminu s on the Lakshya, toKaoraid . There are stati on s at— Chasara on the lst m i le ,Dolaiganj (8th) , Dacca ( l 0th ) , Ku rm itola (18th) , Tangi (2 3rd) ,Jaydebpu r (3oth) , Raj endrapu r (3 7th ) , Sripu r (4 4 th) and Kaoraid

(52nd ) .The l in e i s a single one on the metre gauge and was con

stru cted i n 1884 .

A spe cial p ecu l iar i ty of the l ine i s the u nu su al ly loud n oi seprodu ced by a train when travel l in g over the me tal s . There i ssome u n certain ty as to the cau se of the se ‘roar ing rai l s ,

’as they

are cal led bu t i t i s su ggested that i t may be du e to the actionof the sa l t carr ied by the mon soon wind s .

The most importan t mean s of commun i cation‘

in Dacca are ,

howeve r,the waterways . The Padma and the Meghna which

bou nd i t on the s ou th , east and west are open to steamer traffi cat all season s of the year . Expre ss and sl ow pas senger steamersply dai ly betvifeen Narayan ganj and Goalando, which i s connectedby the Eastern B engal State Rai lway with Calcu tta. H eavycargo boat s with the i r attendan t flat s go e i ther to Goe lan do or

throu gh the Snndarban s to Ca lcu tta. The j ou rney to Goe lan dotakes abou t six h ou r s by despatch steame r and abou t fi fteen hou rsby the s lowe r boats wh ich stop at the foll owin g stati on s afte rleaving Narayanganj —( l ) Kamala Ghat , (2 ) Shatnol, (3 ) B ahar ,(4 ) Snreshu r , (5) Tarpasa (Lohajan g) , (6 ) Mowah , (7 ) Kadi rpu r

(B hagyakul ) , (8 ) Nar i sa , (9 ) M oynot, ( 10) Jelaldi , (1 1) Kanebanpu r , (12 ) Goalando.

The .steamers alon g the Meghn a cal l at the fol lowingstation s z— ( l ) Baidya B azar. (2 ) Barad i , (3 ) Sr imadi , (4 ) B i shnu ndi , (5 ) Bhangarchu r , (6 ) Nars inghd i , (7) Man ipu ra

, (8 )Man i cknagar , (9 ) Raipu ra, (10 ) Lalpu r , and take abou t seven hou rsto reach Bhai rab B azar

,a great trade cen tre si tuated ju st on the

fu rther side of the n orthern boundary of the Dacca di str ict.Du rin g the rai ny season cargo boats come up to Dacca ci ty , anda se rv i ce of light steamer s pl ies up the Bu r i Ganga and Dhaleswar istopping at ( 1) Rajphu lbari , (2 ) Sabhar , (3 ) Singai r hat, (4 )Aldongganj Mattaghat, (6 ) Lalitganj , (7) Darogram.

All the se ves se l s are own ed and managed by the India Gen eralSteam Navigati on and the Ri ver Steam Navigat i on Company ,bu t there i s al so a l i ne of cargo boats plying to Narayanganjwhich belong to the East Benga l Ri ver S team Servi ce, Limi ted ,

134 bACCA bl srarc'i '.

shou ld be repai red as commun i cati on between Dacca and Mymen

s ingh was a lmost impracticable du ring the dry season . Thi swork was su bsequ en tly u ndertaken bu t i t seem s to have beencon s idered a waste of publi c fun d s by the Eu ropean s re sid ingin the d i str i ct . Mr . Forbes , the Secretary to the Loca l Plan ter sAs sociati on

,write s of it as follows The road i s u tte rly u se le s s

as scarce ly a human be in g re side s in the di stri ct through whi chi ts whole len gth

,4 0 mi le s

,s tretches . I t i s no sooner made

daring the cold weathe r than the jungle wh ich cove r s i t du r ingthe rai n s commen ce s to grow . W hen the working season againcome s rou nd , thi s jungle , 10 and 12 fee t in he i ght and ve ry thick ,has t o be cut down . The on ly time I ever wen t along i t was ona ti ge r hun t , and we started two tigers from the very cen tre of theroad abou t fou r m i le s from Dacca The re-open ing of th i s roadno dou bt d id mu ch to a ss i st i n the deve l opmen t of the jungles ofBhowal , bu t the con s tru ction of the rai lway i n 188 4 divertedmost of the traffi c from i t and i t i s now comparati vely l i ttle u sed .

The re are the ru in s of a fi ne mason ry br idge ove r the Tan gi r i verwh ich i s assi gned to the per iod o f Mu hammadan ru le . The

cen tre arch i s said to have been blown u p by the Di str ic tMagistrate at the t ime of the M u t iny and ,

‘

thou gh an otherbridge was subsequen t ly con structed by the zamindar of Jaydeb

pu r , that too was carried away by a high flood and the r i ver i sn ow c rossed by a fer ry . The total length of the road from Daccato Toke i s 52 m i le s .

The next land rou tes to be undertaken were the road toAr icha oppos ite Goalando and the embanked brid le-path fromMu n shi ganj to Srinagar . The latter had been c on stru cted by18 73

,but in that year the former had on ly reached a poin t seven

mi le s west of Dacca . The Aricha or Goalando road i s 3 6 mi les i nlength , and cost Rs. to c on stru ct

,exc lu s ive of the bridge

wh ich was th rown acros s the Tu rag at Mi rpu r at a cost of

Rs . We st of the Dhaleswar i a con side rable length of theroad i s s ti l l be low flood level and i s on ly open to traffic in the dryseason . The Mu n sh iganj -Sri nagar br id le-path run s through lowcou n t ry a nd the repai r s have proved a heavy charge upon the

finances of the Di stri ct Board . I n the B ikrampu r pargana everyon e trave l s by boat in the rainy seas on and on foot i n the dryweathe r , and i t seems doubtfu l whether embanked road s are worththe heavy sums they cost . They are u se le s s in the rain s , u nnecessary in the dry weather , and i t i s on ly i n the in termed iate peri odwhen the water i s r i s ing or fa l l ing , when i t i s too shal low to boatand too wet to trave l on foot acros s the plain

,that they serve any

u sefu l pu rpose .

B etween l 88 7 —1892 when Si r Lan celot Hare was Col lectorof Dacca

,he real i sed the importance of con stru ct ing feeder roads

to the rai lway through the h igh land of Bhowal , and nearly

India Ofilce Records , Vol. 572.

MEANS OF COMMUN ICATION .

6 4 mi les of road were bu i lt for the modest sum of Rs .

Starting at the n orth of the d istric t a road run s from Mathaju rieas tward s to Sri pu r rai lway station (14 5mi les) . Cros sing the l inei t reaches Gosinga on the Lakshya r i ver mi les ) , tu rn s sou thalong the Lakshya to K apasia (6 mi les ) , then west again to M i rza

pu r on the Tu rag ( 14 5 m i le s ) , cros s ing the rai lway at Rajendrapu r stati on . Another road fou rteen mi les long ru n s we s tward s from Jaydebpu r th rough Kasimpu r to Simu lea on the

Turag ; whi le l ower down a road from Tangi crosses the Lakshya"

at Kal iganj ( l l —2 mi le s ) by a fe rry and reache s Narsin gd i on theMeghn a (2 34 m i le s ) . Fu rther sou th a road run s from Haj iganjOpposite Narayanganj to Bai d B azar on the Meghn a (73 m i le s ) .Unembanked roads ru n from a poin t o ppos ite the ci ty of Daccato Moynot on the Padma. and from Chu r S indu r throu gh Man ohardi to Chalak Chu r , and an embanked path conn ects Mu n sh i ganjand Raj abari . Altogether there are ou tside mu n ic ipal areas 8

3

mi le s of me tal led road , 3 13 m i le s of u nmetal led road and 4 19

mi les of vi l lage road s .

Si r W i l l iam Hun ter in hi s Stat i st i ca l Accou nt of the Dacca“Distr ict states that i t was be l ieved that there was not a s ingle cartin the ru ral parts of the di s tri ct . Thi s is true of the Mun shi ganjsubdivi s i on and almost tru e of Narayangan j where on ly 4 7 cartswere found when a cen su s was taken in 1906 . In the Sadr sub

d i visi on the re were carts,no le ss than be ing found in

the Kapasia th ana a lone . Even in the Man i kganj su bdivi s i onthere were 267 . posta l

The d istri ct enj oys a fai rly complete pos ta l servi ce and in serv i ce .

1 9 11 the re were 256 pos t offi ce s of vari ou s grades .No les s than 73 ferries are main tain ed by the Di stri ct Board

on the r i ver s and khals with which the di s tri c t i s in te rsected .

‘The _ right to work these fer rie s i s sold at publ ic au ction and

y ie ld s from Rs . to Rs . annual ly to the B oard .

The main tenan ce charges of the steam ferry whi ch pl ie s betweenNarayanganj and Mu n sh iganj are con siderable , bu t e l sewhere therecei pt s are almost en ti re ly profit s . The ferry boats are

.as a rule

Open coun try boats wh i ch are we l l adapted for the con veyan ce offoot passengers but are not con ven ien t mean s of tran sport forhorse s and carr iage s . Steps have been taken to provide rafts o fthe Assam pattern on ferries whe re there i s much wheeled traffi c .

Ferries .

DACCA DI STRICT .

CHAPTER X .

GENERAL ADM IN ISTRATION .

The di stri ct i s i n charge of a Magi strate-Col lec tor under theComm i s si oner of the Dacca Div i s ion . I t i s d i vided in to fou r su bd i vi s ion s , the sadr s ubdivi s ion and those of Mun shi ganj , Man i kganj

,and Narayanganj . At Dacca the Collector i s assi sted by

a staff of Depu ty Magi strates and Sub-Depu ty Collectors . The

san ctioned staff of Depu ty Magi strates i s fou r fi rst class Magi s~trates and two Magi strates of the second or thi rd c las s . Sub

Depu ty Col lectors are al lotted to the d iv i s i on as a whole and are

posted by the Comm i s si on e r in accordan ce wi th the requ i remen tsof the d iffe ren t d i str ic ts . I n addition to’ thi s the re i s a Depu tyMagi strate in charge of Exci se and In come-tax, and another whoseSpec ial du ty it i s to in spect the work of the Pre s iden ts of Panchayat .Dacca i s al so the head-qu arter s of the Commi s s ione r, of a Su peri ntend in g Engineer , and an Execu ti ve Enginee r , of the Depu tyIn spector-Gen eral of Police , of the Easte rn B engal Range , and

of the In spector o f School s of the Dacca Divi s ion .

The Mun sh i ganj and M an ikganj su bd ivi s ion s were open ed m18 4 5 and the Narayanganj sub d ivi sion m 1882 . In addi tion tothe subd ivi s ional offi cer , who , in Narayanganj i s almost in variablya Eu ropean covenanted Civ i l ian ,

a second Magi strate i s posted toeach subd ivi si on . Crimina l work i s particu larly heavy at Mun

sh iganj , and a thi rd Magi strate i s often needed there . A pecu

liar i ty of the d i s tr ict i s the close proximi ty i n which the c ity ofDacca and the su bdi vi sional town s of Narayanganj andM un shi ganjare si tu ated to one another . Dacca be in g on ly ten mi le s fromNarayanganj and Munshi ganj bu t s i x m i les far ther on . Thi smi leage g i ve s , howeve r , a very m i slead ing idea of the real d i stan ce between the two latter places , for the waters of the Dhaleswar i and the Lakshya in terpose thei r barrie r be tween t hem and

thou gh a steam ferry pl ies acros s the se r i vers,the accommodation

of necessi ty i s l imi ted and the B i krampu r pargana cou ld not con

ven iently be admin i s tered from Narayanganj . The latter p lacei s u ndou btedly ve ry close to Dacca bu t i t wou ld not be easy toadmin i s ter the two su bd ivi si on s as a s ingle u n i t , for they ha1 e a

popu lat ion of over one and three-quarter mi l l ion s ou l s , and gi vena Narayanganj sub d ivi s ion

,the head-quarter s cou ld hard ly be

fixed at any place other than the large and thri ving town fromwhich i t takes i t s name . Prior to 1882 the Narayanganj thanawas i nc luded in the Mun shi ganj subdivi s ion and Raipu ra and

Rfipgauj in the sadr . H ad thi s arrangemen t been le ft u nmod ifiedthe popu lation of the Mun sh iganj su bdivi s ion in 19 11 wou ld have

DACCA

Calcu tta . A large ban d of Sannyasi s al so col lected i n the

ne i ghbou rhood of Madhu pu r , p lundered the coun try and compe l ledthe inhabi tan ts to leave the i r vil lage s and take re fuge in the

ju ngle . In 1775, the germ of the su bdi vi si onal sy stem may be

found in the appoin tmen t of nai bs to dec ide case s at the vari ou sAu r angs in whi ch weaver s were con ce rn ed . In 178 1

,the Counc i l

was aboli shed . Mr . Day was appoin ted Magi strate and Col lector‘and Mr . Du ncan son

,Ju dge , though he seems t o have combined

execu t i ve with jud i cial fun cti on s as he was e spec ial ly entru stedwith the du ty of apprehend ing the dac oi ts . The funct ion s o fMagi strate and Col lector were subsequen tly he ld by d i fferen t

person s , bu t in 1859 were re-u n i ted and th i s arrangemen t hascon t inu ed to the pre sen t day .

Con s iderable chan ge s have taken place i n the bou ndar ies o fthe d i stri ct since fi r st i t came under B r it i sh ru le . At the time

of the Perman en t Sett lemen t o f 1793 the d istric t of Bakarganjand the greate r part of the presen t d i stri ct of Far idpu r werein cluded in the Dacca Col lectorate . Independen t revenu e cou rtswere erected at Faridpu r i n 18 1 1 and from that year mu st bedated the Separate exi sten ce of that d i stri ct bu t i t was l ong be forethe distr i ct of Dacca took i ts presen t form . Part of the cou n trylying between the Padma and the Dhaleswar i was for many yea rsinc lu ded in the Col lectorate of Far idpu r and i t was n ot ti l l abou t1856 that the Man i kganj su bdivi s ion and a portion of the Nawabganj thana we re re stored to Dacca . Bakarganj was formed in toa separate revenue u n i t i n 18 17 and even before that date enjoyeda Judge and M agi strate of i t s own , bu t the cr iminal ju ri sd i ctionove r thana Mu lfat

'

ganj sou th of the Padma ri ve r was not tran sfer red from Dacca t i l l 1866 . The last great change t o take placewas the removal of Far idpu r from the c i vi l ju r i sdi ct i on of theJudge at Dacca in 1875 .

Apart from changes su ch as the se which are carried ou t byexecu t i ve order , the area of the d i str ict i s su bject to con tinualmodificati on . The huge r i vers wh ich flow along its bordersare great al ike as destroyers and as bu ilder s u p and from t ime

to t ime u large s l ices o f land are cu t off from one section ofthei r banks and large deposits of sand and fert i le s i l t le ftas accreti on s to anothe r . These are changes which take p lacewi thou t any adm in i s trati ve action

, but in an other way a l so thegreat Padma , or K i rtinasa ,

mod ifies the di str icts throu gh wh i chi t flows . The main chann e l of that great flood i s taken as the

d istri ct bou ndary for wan t of any better , and thi s main channe li s s i tu ated some time s on on e side of the huge s trath , sometime s on the othe r . When th i s takes place the i sland s and char s

s i tu ated i n the cen tre of the r i ver,in the debatable water which

i s i n some years to the le ft,i n some years to the right of the main

cu rren t,su ff e r a change of ju ri sdi cti on

,and are tran sferred to

the d i st ri ct from wh ich they are separated by the les s formidablewaste of waters . The arrangemen t seems a cumbrous one but i t

GENERAL ADMIN ISTRATION .

i s di ffi cu l t to devise anothe r. It can hard ly be laid down that achar that has on ce formed in one d i stri ct shal l remain permanently i n that di s tri ct . For the char s are su bjec t to al lu vion anddi luvion ,

and i t might wel l be that a char which had ori ginal lyformed in Dacca mi ght be j oined by accreti on to a cha r whichhad formed subsequen t to a change i n the ma in channe l of theri ver and therefore in Faridpu r and the same char wou ld then bes i tuated i n two di fferent di str ict s and great con fu si on s of

j ur i sdiction wou ld en su e . Ne i the r wou ld i t be conven ien t totake the main bank as the boundary and to al lot the wholeof the ri ver to one d i str ict . I slands wou ld be l iable to be

j oined by accretion to the main bank and thu s to change the i rd i strict and in the rain s i t wou ld not be easy to admin i steri s lands separated by the whole flood of the Padma from the irparen t di str ict . The present arrangemen t i s thu s l i ke ly to cont inne though it mean s that an i s lan d may be tran s ferred two or

three t imes from one d i str i ct to an other before i t su ffe rs whati s u sually i t s last fate and i s final ly washed away .

Stat i sti c s for the prin c ipal heads of revenu e wi l l be found Revenue .

in the Stat i st ical Append i x . The total reu enu e in 190 1-02 was

Rs. as compared with Rs. ten years be fore .

In rou nd figu re s the i ncrease amoun ted to Rs . of whi chRs . occu rred u nder the head of exc i se and opium, and

Rs . under the head of other s ou rces of revenu e . As the

greater part of the di stri ct i s permanen t ly settled there i s l i ttlefl uctuat i on in the land revenue , and the in crease u n der this headwas le ss than Rs . In 1901-02 i t was abou t 2 2 per cen t ofthe total revenue

,whi le the receipt s from stamps we re 4 0 per

cen t . Stamps and exci se are the most progre ss i ve heads ofreven ue and the land tax tend s to form a con stan t ly d imin i sh ingproporti on of the tota l d i stri c t rece i pts .

Few things cou ld be sold wi thou t payin g a tax in the days Em in .

of Mughal ru le bu t , strange ly en ough , in toxicating dru gs and

l i qu or seem to have been exempt . The vendor of such harmle ssthings as m i lk , fish , vegetable s or fi rewood had to pay h i s quotato the State

,but i f he wi shed to dea l in ganja or coun tfi‘y spir i t

he escaped scot-free. Liqu or i s , of cou rse , forb idden to the

foll ower s. of the Prophet and possibly the Mu hammadan gove r

nors we re in fluen ced by scruple s s imi lar t o those which affectthat sect ion of the Engli s h people which i s opposed to anythingi n the form of State regu lati on of vi ce . B ut the Engli sh we renot oppre ssed by any quas i-re l igiou s de lu sion s i n the matte r , andas early as 1789 the ri gh t to d ist i l l i qu or i n the c i ty was let

out for Rs . Taxation was on ly the pre l iminary to regulat ion and in 1790 the Col lector, M r . Doug las , su bm i tted hi sproposal s for the better managemen t of the l iqu or trade B rieflythe se were ( 1 ) to compe l all st i l l s to be of a u n i form s i ze, (2 ) torequ i re d i st i l ler s and vendors to take ou t l icen se s , the fee for thesame be ing Rs . 10

, (3 ) to compe l the d i sti l ler to register the

DACCA 15! STRICT ;

number of st i l ls employed and to report any variat ion in th i snumber , (4 ) that a tax Of s ix poms per meh sem shou ld be leviedon each st ill , (5 ) that a d i sti l le r who wi shed to d ispose of l i qu orby retai l vend shou ld on ly be al l owed to do so in a shop di st inctand separate from hi s d i sti l lery

, (6 ) that the d ist i l le r shou ldsu bmit accoun t s sh owin g the amoun t O f l iqu or di st i l led and the

vendor s to whom sold, (7 ) that the retai le r shou ld pay to Govern

men t a du ty equ i valent to 5 per cen t of the sum paid by himto the d i st i l le r , (8 ) that th e l i qu or shops shou ld be closed at

140 p.m . ,that no gambl ing shou ld be permitted and that , i f

Governmen t wou ld go so far , con sumption on the prem i se s shou ldbe proh ib ited .

* I t i s d ifficu l t to be l ieve that the vice Of dr inkingvvas n ot to some exten t checked and re str icted by these regulations . In 1 793

, a du ty of Rs . 2-4 per maund was imposed on

ai l ganja imported in to the city and a du ty vary ing from two annasto one rupee per month was levied on the retail vendors . In

1795 , the products o f opium were taxed and in 1 7 9 6 Opium i tse lf.The exc i se revenu e , which in 1789 was on ly Rs . had ri seni n 1837 to Rs.

The expan s ion in the exci se revenue has been steady , bu tthe nat i ve of Easte rn Bengal does not readi ly waste h i s moneyon the se somewhat de leteri ou s art i c le s and the revenue rai sedin the d i stri ct from exc i se du r ing the year 1909-10 was less than2 J annas 8 pi e per head of the popu lat ion . I n 1865-66 the exci serevenu e was Rs . in 1892-9 3 i t was Rs . and in

1909-10 i t was Rs. In that year hemp dru gs yie ldedover 4 8 per cen t , coun try spi rit over 4 0 per cen t , and Opium over10 per cen t of the total .

Coun t ry spirit u sed former ly to be manu factu red on the out

sti l l system , the right Of manu factu re and ven d at a part icu larspot

,

being pu t up to au ct ion . I n 1890 , the cen tral d i st i lle ry ,

system was in trodu ced and approved pe rsons are now al lowedto e rect st i ll s and man u factu re l i qu or i n the cen tral d i sti l leryat Dacca . The d i sti l lers e rect the i r own sti l l s

,provide the i r

own ' raw mater ial s and condu ct the whole proce s s Of di sti l lat ion,

bu t the d i stil lery i s under the charge of a Su per in tenden t whoi s a member of the Exci se Departmen t . Du ty which i s leviedat the rate of Rs . 4 per London proof gal lon i s pa id when theliqu or

' i s removed from bond, and t here are bonded warehou ses

not on ly at the di sti l lery it se l f bu t at M un shiganj and Man ikganj .Retai l sale i s carried on at du ly li cen sed shops Of which in

1909-10 there were 59 . The righ t O f vend at these shops i s putup eve ry year to au cti on . Liqu or i s general ly sold 25 per centu nde r proof at from Re . 1-4 to Re . 1-12 a qu art and i s said to beO f good quali ty . Pe rson s unde r the in flu ence of l iqu or are not

Often to be seen in st reets or pu bl i c places , but brawl s and drunkenquarre l s some times occu r i n the brothe l s Of the ci ty .

Col lector's Letter dated May 22nd , 1790.

Income-tax .

Reg i stration .

Civ i l ju stice.

Crime .

DACCA DI STRICTc

di s tri ct was Rs .

"

as compared w ith Rs . in1872 when i t was fi rst valued for ces s pu rpose s .

The Exci se Depu ty Col lector i s in charge of in come-tax

and has an Asses sor working unde r h im. As sessmen ts overRs. are mad e by the Col lector , and appeal s li e d i rect fr omthe Exci se Depu ty Collector to the Commi s s i oner . The con

ver si on Of Dacca in to the capi tal O f a prov ince led to a greatin crease i n the rece i pts under th i s head .

In 19 10 there were 18 Regis trat ion O ffices i n the di stri ct .Regi strati on i s apparen tly growing in popu lari ty and the volume

Of bu s in ess has large ly increased of recen t years . The greatbu lk Of the documen ts regi stered are mortgages and sale Of

movable property . Stati st ical detai l s wi l l be found i n the Stati st i cal Appendix . I t was original ly the practice to pay the ru ralsub-regi strars by comm i ss ion and to leave them to make arrangemen ts for the i r Oflfices . The sub-regi strars have now becomesalaried offi cial s

, and as man y of the exi sting ofli ces are ramshackleun tidy bu i ldings , arran gemen ts ar e be ing made to replace themby su i table s tru ctu res e rected by Governmen t .

Liti gat ion in Dacca i s very heavy and the s taff employed i sproportionate ly large . In 1909 i n addi tion to the Di strict Judgethere we re t hree su bordinate judge s , on e smal l cau se Court j udge

,

wit h powers of a subordinate j udge , and 17 mun si fs. An addi tionalj udge who has been posted to Dacca , Sylhe t and Tippera a ls o s i tsin Dacca for abou t fou r mon th s in the year. Dacca i s , of cou rse ,the cen tre O f the c ivi l admin i strat ion bu t t he re are mu nsi fs

s tat i oned at each of the su bd ivi s i onal head-quarters . Some ideaOf the volume Of work can be gathered from th e fact that i n 1906

orig inal c i vi l cases and appeal s were dec ided,but for

further stati stical in format i on reference shou ld be made to theStat i sti cal Append ix . The great maj ori ty of the c i vi l su i ts are forarrear s of ren t or mortgage su i t s and the valu e as a ru le i s smal l .

The Di strict Judge al so acts as Sessi on s Judge and therewere i n the d i stri ct i n 19 10 18 s tipendiary and 3 3 honorarymagi strate s . The re are u sual ly three sti pendiary magi strate s atMun shi ganj and two both at Narayanganj and Man i kganj . The

remainder were stationed at Dacca i tsel f but many of them are

jun ior Offi cer s unde r tra in ing or,thou gh members O f the provin cial

s er vice,employed for the most part on execu ti ve and not judicial

work . The re are s ingle s i tting hon orary magi strate s at Daccaand each O f the subdi vi s i onal head-qu arters

,at Bal la and at Teota

i n Man ikganj,and at Srinagar i n Mu n sh iganj There are benche s

O f Magi strate s at Dacca,Man ikganj , Mun s h iganj

,Teota and

Sri naga r . Honorary Magi strate s d i spose of a con s iderable numberO f petty cases bu t t hey are very apt to be di latory i n the i r proc edure and i t i s d ou btfu l whethe r they are popu lar wit h the

people .

As in the res t Of Easte rn Bengal ser iou s crime i s by n o means

uncommon . Thi s i s the resu l t partly Of the character of the

GENERAL ADMIN ISTRATION .

people themselves , partly of the condit ion s unde r wh ich theyl i ve more perhaps of the latte r , as character i s largely dependan tOn environmen t . For cen tu rie s the han d Of governmen t has beenweake r in Eastern B enga l than i t has been in othe r part s o fIndia . In the days of M uhammadan ru le i t was a fron t ier provin ce and exposed to the raid s of Maghs , Arakan ese and Ahoms .I t was si tuated far from the seat O f cen tral gove rnmen t and the

ru ler s of Eastern Benga l not in frequ en t ly repudiated thei r al le

giance and set u p as in dependen t ch ieftain s . These two facts i nthemse lve s tended to creat a feeling of in stabi li ty in the minds ofthe inhabitants and an indifferen ce

,bred of loug u sage

,to tu rmoi l

and confu s i on . Bu t even when the governmen t i s fi rmly e stabli shed admin i s trat i on in these water d i stri c ts mu st of neces s i tybe less effi cien t than i n drier coun try . Elsewhere i t i s not soeasy for a person who i s wan ted by the au thori t ie s t o abscond .

A man who trave l s by land i s l ike ly to be seen by vi l lage rs whol ive al ong the rou te he take s , and i f he wi she s t o carry prope rtywith h im he i s t ied to a few hi gh roads and to a s low ly movingcart . B u t i n the flooded t racts a pe rson who i s wan ted by thepol ice can at a momen t’s n oti ce d i sappear . H e has on ly to stepin to a boat wi th h i s be longings and i n five m inu te s he i s swallowed up in to that waste of wate rs , leavin g n o tracks beh ind h im ,

no trace s Of hi s movemen ts for there wi l l be nothing in h i s l itt lecraft to attract the atten ti on Of those who pass him on h i s way .

Or i f the cr iminal i s we l l-to-do and the pol i ce Officer i s venal hehas mere ly to offe r him a br ibe to say that the man i s mi s s ing

,

and the pol iceman can retu rn as su red that i t w i ll be qu i te imposs ible to tes t the accu racy of hi s statemen t . On land i t i s not soeasy to e scape from ju stice , the crim ina l can be followed and

tracked down , bu t am id st the se gigan t i c r i ve rs , with the i r networkO f m inor channel s and huge swamps , he van i shes from mortal kenand n one

,even i f they wi shed to do so , can say where he i s

gone . Added to thi s the d istri ct and local u n i ts of admin i s trat i onhave always been too large for effi c ien t managemen t and con trol .The popu lation was n o doubt ori ginal ly tu rbu len t and for

cen tu ries i t has l i ved under condit ion s i n wh ich Gove rnmen t wasnot su ffi cien t ly stron g to compe l genera l Obed ien ce to the law

and t hu s create a more pac ifi c and law-abid ing d i spos i ti on .

The re i s another fac tor wh ich has a prejudic ia l effect uponthe character of the people . Any dispu te with regard toland i s a lways i n agricu ltu ral commu n it ie s attended withexceptional bi ttern e s s and v iolence . Dispu te s as to land titlesare the bittere st O f all and there are two cau se s which tend tomake su ch d ispu te s exceed ingly common i n Eas t B enga l . The

minu te su bd ivi si on of e state s u nder the Hindu j oin t fami lysystem and the absence o f a re l iable su rvey promote s the growthof boundary d i spu te s even where the land i s a fixed factor in the

case . Bu t i n the ne i gh bou rhood of the great r i vers the matter i smuch aggravated . I s lands are formed and there i s Often reasonable

Pol i ce .

DACCA DI STRICT

dou bt as to the part icu lar e state within whose boundaries they havear isen . The d i spu ting part ie s general ly endeavou r to take forc ible posse s s i on and bloody fights from t ime t o time occu r. The

re lation s between on e co-sharer and anothe r and between landlordand tenan t have for many years been vague and indeterminate . A

power fu l and ambitiou s cO -sharer wou ld Often attempt to seize and

take u nder h i s immediate con trol a larger share Of the j oin t property than was hi s by right

, and landlords wou ld attempt toextort from the i r tenan ts more . than the law al lowed . At t imes

,

too,tenan ts wou l d combine to resi st demand s wh ich were not

u n reason ab le or to set u p claim s Opposed to equ i ty and right .

Somet ime s these di spu te s wou ld be fou ght out i n the law cou rtsbu t not in frequen t ly th ey wou ld be settled with the bludgeon of

the lathi al or the sharp fi shing spear of the raiyat . The se are the

bigge r cases where landlord fights di rect with landlord or withtenan t bu t smal le r frays occu r between con tending tenant s . At

the presen t day when there i s a que stion of t i tle i n d i spu te the

r i va l landlords both gran t lease s for the same pl ot of land tod ifferen t men . B oth then attempt to plou gh i t

,each re l y ing on

a p r imé faci e t i tle , and not u n frequen t ly , the soi l i s ferti l i sedwith the l i fe-blood of the weaker. In condi tion s su ch as thesehuman l i fe has lost mu ch Of i ts san cti ty and valu e .

For the pu rpose s of pol ice protection the di str i ct i s d i videdin to the fol lowin g thanas and independen t ou tpost s — S

’acfr su b

d ivi s i on— Dacca c i ty (Kotwal i ) , Keran iganj . Kapasia, Sabhar ,Kaliakoer and Nawabganj ; Narayanganj su bd ivi s ion -Narayanganj , Rii pganj , Raipu ra and M anohard i Mu n shi ganj subd iv i

s ion— Mun shiganj , S ri nagar , Rajabar i and Lohajan g ; Man ikganjsu bd ivi sion— Man ikganj , Sealo Aricha, (t hior , and Hari rampu r .In 19 10 the san ctioned force con si sted of two Superin tenden ts ,(one temporary ) one As s i stan t Su pe r intenden t , two Depu tySu perin tenden ts , 7 In spectors , 6 9 Sub-In spectors , 67 Head Constables , and 724 Con stables . There was one pol ice con stable toevery 3 1 square mi les of area and to every person s in the

di strict . The force has been large ly strengthened s in ce the

c reat i on Of the new prov in ce bu t work con tinu e s to be heavy .

In 19 10 the re were 102 cogn i zable case s under in ve s tigat ion fore ve ry Sub-I n spector employed on the pre ven ti on and detec

ti on of cr ime . The pol ice are fu rthe r su pported by the v i l lagechaukidars of whom in 19 10 there we re B u t these men

are poor and s tu pid and in many case s Old , and they can not beregarded as in any way an e ffi cien t force . In 1905 the exper iment »was tried of requ i r ing the chau ki dar to report crime not to thethana bu t to the Pres iden t of hi s Un ion

,but in practice i t was

fou nd to be s o un sat i s factory that i t had to be abandonedDacca i s the head-qu arter s O f a mi l i tary poli ce battali on wi th

a total strength O f 78 4 Offi cer s and men . Strong detachmen ts fromthi s battal ion are however station ed at Bakarganj , S i lchar and inthe Garo H i l l s.

14 6 DACCA DI STRICT.

The wards are two or three storie s h igh and are lofty,cool

, andwe ll ven t i lated , they prov ide accommodat ion for male and 17female pri soners .

More than hal f the total n umber of pri soner s are employedon manu factu res whi ch in clude prin t ing , weavi ng , tai lor ing,carpen try , canework , wheat-grindin g and Oi l-pre s s ing , and the

manu factu re of carpets . The total cost Of the jai l at present

stands i n the books Of the P . W . D . at Rs. It i s incharge Of a whole t ime ofl

'

i cer of the Indian Medical Service.

At Narayan ganj and M an i kganj the re are subsid iary jai ls,bu i lt of bri ck , which can accommodate 35 and 22 pri soners respect ively . The jai l at Narayanganj was bu i l t in 1900 at a cost ofRs . and the jai l atMan i kganj i n 189 1 at a cost of Rs .

The Mu n shi ganj jai l i s si tuated in a corner Of the Old Muhammadan fort and i s bu i l t of bamboo and thatch i t can accommodate16 pr i soners and as Mu n shi ganj i s a c rim inal subdivis ion i n

which there are Often a large numbe r O f under-tr ial pri soner s i nconfinement the jail i s not in frequen tly overcrowded . Onlypri son ers with sentences of 14 days or less are kept at these jai lsconvicts wi th longer terms being despatched to Dacca.

LAND REVENUE ADMINISTRAT ION .

CHAPTER XI .

LAND REVENUE ADMIN ISTRATION .

Little i s known of the system of land revenue admin i strat i on Landthat prevai led under the Hindus prior to the conquest Of Bengal revenueby the Muhammadan s i n the th i rteen th cen tu ry . I t i s said System in

headmen and that the zamindar , who was mere ly an Official taxgatherer removable at wi ll, was a Mu hammadan creati on

,but i t

wou ld be dangerou s to attach too great importance to theselegends Of a golden age . Tradition has i t that Sikandar Shah(1359— 68) made a su rvey of at least a part of Dacca distr i ctwith a large standard of measu rement sti l l known as the Sikandarigaj , bu t the fi rst settlemen t of which any record remains i s thatmade by Raj a Todar Mal

,Akbar

’s great finan ce min ister , in 1558.

The province of Dacca , which in c luded the Dacca division withTippera and Noakhal i , was d ivided in to two sa'r ka '

r s, B ajuha

wh ich included Dacca c ity , and Son argaon . Baju ha was assessedat Rs . and Son argaon at Rs . The revenueadmin istrat ion was revi sed by Jafir Khan i n 1722 and again byhis su ccessor Suja Khan

,but the detai l s of the i r arrangemen ts

are of l ittle practical interest as the un i t with wh ich they we reconcerned was so mu ch larger than the Dacca d i s tri c t .

Under the Mughals i t was the practice to al lot almost a thi rdof the total area as grants for themain tenance of the great servi cesof State . The princi pal gran ts were the fnwwcm t for the supportOf a fleet (wh ich i n Akbar

’s time i s said to have con si sted of

boats ) to defend the coun try aga in st the Maghs and Assamese,

the ahsham for the maintenan ce of arti l lery, the sew/car ali for theexpen ses of the Nawab , the fauj der a fn i for the expenses of theNaib (a grant wh ich was valued at over a lakh of r iipees perannum) and the j aghir of the Commander-in-Ch ief Of the Empirefrom wh ich he cou ld main ta in horse.

that the revenue was col lected and rem itted by the v i llagegays Of

at i ve ru le .

I n addit ion to the lan d revenue or mahal other taxes cal led Abwabeabwdbs were col lected by the Mu hammadan ru lers . The princ ipal abwdbs were (1 ) Khasnamsc, a fee exacted from the zamindat e at the renewal Of thei r leases , (2 ) Naz i r dn a Moku r ra tocover the cos t of the presen ts sen t to the Imperial Cou rt

, (3 )

Zoo" mathou t, a cess of 151 per cen t on the origina l land re venue ,(4 ) Fantj old r i abwdb, a tax imposed by the Nai b and retained byhim

, (5 ) Chau th Mar hd t’ta levied to defray the cost Of theMarhatta tri bu te . Thi s does i not howeve r exhau st the l i st of

Topography of Dacca , p 192.

Sayer .

DACCA DI STRICT .

abwd bs and con s iderable sums were rea l i sed u nder the headsK efiyat and Tanfi

’r wh ich seem t o have been i n theory colleet ion s to make good sums improperly omitted from the revenuedemand .

An other large sou rce of in come was the sayer or du ty leviedon profe ssi on s and trades and most arti c le s in ord inary u se .

These taxe s were col lected at gauges , ghats , and .bazars and weregene ral ly let ou t to farmer s who extorted as mu ch as they cou ldreal i se . T he fol lowing were the prin cipal sayer du ties

Mhi fr ta r t — A tax on the bu i ld ing of boats varying from 8

annas to Re . 1-4 per ve s sel. Thi s in i t sel f was not a ser iou s matter

,bu t every boat arri v in g at or leaving the city was taxed accord

ing to the length Of the in tended voyage , e.g .

,boat s leaving for

Calcu tta paid 10 annas an oar and boat s arr iving from that placea lump sum of Rs . 2 . Thi s tax gradu al ly. spread to the mofu s si land su rv ive s in the shape Of ghat due s at the pre sen t day .

Char/ Jr: fa cilitates — A tax on all articles sold i n the market place .

Vendors Of copper u ten sil s , cu t lery , hookah s , etc .

, paid at the rateof one anna in the rupee . In addition to th i s there were spec ifictaxes on the se l ler s Of grass , wood , vegetables , vermi l i on ,

paper ,sal t and dr ied fish . There was a general tax on all trade rs , a nd

spec ifi c taxe s for goldsmi t h s , she l l-cu tters , fi rework makers , mu sie iau s , snake charmer s and others . Th e mon opoly O f

'

the sale o fobetel leaf in the c i ty was let out and in 1 773 real i sed o verRs. Evi l cu stoms die hard and in spi te of the abol ition O f

the sayer du t ies in 1790 su ch monopol ies of vend in thei r marketsa re st i l l sold by zamindars at the presen t day .

Th i s however does not exhau s t the l i st of taxes . The Ofli cers

charged with the supe rvi s i on Of the we ight s and measures u sedi n the market we re al l owed to levy a du ty of g per cent on all

merchandi se exposed for sale,whi le money was real i sed from

‘dealer s at the differen t marts in B ikrampur . There was a t axtOO Of one anna in the rupee on all money taken ou t Of the

di strict,whi le nat i ve s of the di str i ct who had earn ed money i n

serv ice in other part s Of the country had to su rrender a qu otaOf i t on the i r retu rn home . Accord ing to the accoun ts su bmittedat the time of the t ran sfer of the diwdn i to the Companydu tie s were levied at 556 markets in the Dacca provin ce

,which

yie lded an annual revenu e of nearly Rs .

After the as sumption of the dtwdm’

by the Company i n

1 765 sett lemen ts were fi rst made for short peri ods . The member sOf Counci l at Dacca remarked with much ju sti ce that “ the

col lect ing O f the revenue s O f so large a d i stri ct i s an importan tbus ines s whi ch we are not mu ch acquain ted with

,

“and they very

) r udently confi rmed the exi s ting offi cer s i n the i r appoin tments .

The cOrresponden ce of the fi rs t Col lectors of Dacca i s ch iefly con

cerned wi th the se settlemen ts and with the di ffi culties exper iencedIndia Office Records.

DACCA DI STRICT .

and the system of paymen t at sad/r introduced . This system i s

st i l l in force and the whole of the land revenue i s paid directat Dacca, wi th the exception of the amounts real i sed from the

khas mahals where Gove rnment stands itse l f in the posit ion of

the zamindar and col lec ts di rect from the cu lt i vators throu ghtah s i ldars .

The fol lowing d ifferen t c lasses of e states and tenu res are

found with in the d i stri ctI . E states in ch ief

(1) Estates the unal ienated property of Government .( (a ) Resumed lakhi raj .

(b) Pu rchased estate s .Khas Mahals (c) Al lu vial accret i on s .

(d ) I sland s .

Us) Other khas mahals.

(2) Settled estates paying revenu e to Government.(a ) Permanen tly settled— zaminda ri , khar ija , hazari

taluq .

(b) T emporar i ly settled— khas ij ara.

(3) Revenu e-free estates .

(a) Redeemed .

(5) Rel igious foundat ion (Debottar) .(c) Char itable foundat i on (B rahmot tar).(d) Service estates (Lakhi raj ) .

I I . Subord inate tenu res(1) He ld di rec t from the zamindar .

(a ) Hereditary and transferable .

At a fixed rent— sa/mi lat, patn i , s ikfimi , mim sh,mu lchasi .

At a ren t l iable to enhancement— haola .

(b) Hereditary bu t not tran sferable .

At a fixed renta —bandobasti , hayemi .

(a) Temporary but tran sferable— ij a ra .

(2) Held from a tenu re-holder u nder the zamindar.

(a ) Hereditary and tran s ferable at a fixed ren t -da r

p atn i , da r mir ash.

At a rent l iable to enhancement—a im haola .

(b) Temporary— damij am .

I II . Ren t-free tenu res.

(1) Rel i giou s foundat ion .

Hindu— Debottar,B rahmottar .

Muhammadan— Chi ragan .

(2 ) Char itable .

Hindu —Bhagattar .

(3 ) Service .

(a ) He ld by zamindars’se rvants— packets».

(b) He ld by pers ona l servan ts— n aj aran ,chakran ,

mahatra n .

LAND REVENUE ADMIN ISTRATION .

The fol lowing abstract shows the number and natu re of the Thedifl

’

erent classes of e state s in 19 10 11 Permanent l y

PERMAN ENTLY SETTLE D TEMPO RARI LY ESTATES H ELD IN eStates °

ESTATES . SETTLE D ESTATES . D IRECT MANAGEMENT .

236

The greater numbe r of the permanen t ly settled estates are

very smal l . The hi ghe st revenue paid by any estate i s RsThere are on ly 3 estates which pay above Rs . 6 e stateswhich pay between Rs . and Rs . and 52 wh ich paybetween Rs. and Rs. 5 Tu rn ing to the othe r end of

the scale there are 9 4 7 e states which pay less than a rupee and

4 ,554 whi ch pay from one to ten rupee s . The average revenu epaid by an estate i s Rs . 4 1 .

The temporar i ly settled e states are e states wh ich were settled Tempomr i ly

after the permanen t sett lement The settlement holde r has a$1332?permanent, heritab le and transferab le t it le su bjec t to the paymentof the revenue as sessed

The khas mahals of Dacca are ne ither numerou s nor import Estates heldant . They fall into the fol lowing main c las ses— i sland cha r s fiaii

r

gggen,‘thrown up in the bed s of r ivers out side the boundaries of anypermanently settled e s tate— lands resumed as in val id lakhi raj ,serv ice lands and land s bough t in at revenue sales . The estate sare smal l and scatte red and e ffi c ient managemen t i s far fromeasy . The re venu e as ses sed by Government i s general ly l ightand ranges from Rs . 2 to Rs . 3 per acre of cu ltu rable land . Elevenof these e state s are situated i n Dacca city .

Reference has ah eady been made to the smal l s i ze Of the Subordinateaverage e state s and th i s pe1 haps I s the reason why there has been tenuresno very e laborate deve lopmen t of under-tenu res in Dacca . A

large number of raiyats hold d irect from the zamindar and

tenu res be l ow the second degree are very rare .

The fol lowing are the princ ipal form s Of tenu res in exi stencein the d istr ict — A kha '

rfij a or hu zu r i talu q i s a talu q or e state

excluded from a zamindari and paying revenue d i rect to the

treasu ry . There i s practical ly no d ifferen ce between su ch a ta lu qand a zaminddr i . In a sami la t ta lu q the revenue i s pe rmanen tlysett led , but i s paid to the Zamindar and by him to Governmen t .

The fol lowing paragraphs are extracted from a lette r wri ttenby the Col lector Of Dacca in 1790 to the Board of Revenue at

152 DACCA, DISTRICT .

Fort W i l l iam and are in tere sting as showing the re lat i ve posi tion sof zamindars and taluqdars at that t ime

“ The fi r st qu esti on that occu rs i s what i s a Talookdar andwhat the e ssen t ial s that con st i tu te h im an actual proprietor of thesoi l . As I was n ot sati sfator i ly in formed on th i s su bject I referredto the most au then tic evidence wri tten or verbal within my reachand I find that they are in thi s d i s trict of fou r k ind s be sides as imi lar de script ion of ren te r cal led a Kawaladar

,as fol lows .

l st. J u ngleboor y .— Previ ou s to the d ivi s i on of the country

in to pergannahs and Tuppahs and fixing what i s cal led the

Tu xeembundy many per son s undertook to cu l ti vate j ungle and

waste land s and when the Tuxeembu ndy was made these n ew

cu lti vated land s were con stitu ted Talooks and included i n the

Jumrnabundy of the n eare s t zamindar by th e Governmen t ofthat t ime and i f any in crease or remi ss ion was gran ted thezamindar a proporti onal part fe l l. to the Talookdars. I f the

zami n dar wi thheld. from the Talookdar any part of thi s he wasat ~l i berty to. complain to the Governmen t who compelled thezamindar 130 ' al low the Talookdar hi s proporti on of the remi ss i on . I f the Talookdar d ied leaving he i r s they got posses s ionof the lands i n the same manne r as the i r predecessor and the

zamindar had nothing to do with them but rece i ve hi s Mulgujariagreeably to Ki stbu ndy ,

bu t i f there happened to . be no he i rs thezamindar. was the manager for the behal f Of Governmen t .

2nd. Zu r Kher eed.—The Talookdar s unde r thi s denomin ation

were at l iberty to se l l t he i r Talooks by bid of sale with o rwithou t the permi s si on of the zamindar , and on fai lu re Of he i rsthe zamindar cou ld take possess ion and se l l the lands or keepthem

,as he mi ght be in cl ined . These Talookdars were su bj ect to

increase Or en titled to remi s s i on s proportionate ly with the i rzam indars agreeably

'

to thei r re spect i ve jummas .

3 rd . Pottah Ta lookdar — The zamindars and Chaudri es cou ldgran t hereditary Talookdary P attahs to any person for landsbel onging to themse l ves cal led the i r neej , whether cu lt ivated orun cu l tivated , i n which pattah i t was st ipu lated that the Talookdarsshou ld have posses s ion Of the whole lands agreed u pon , and thatthe managemen t shou ld descen d to h i s he i r s for ever : bu t thi sTalookdar cou ld nei ther se l l nor make over by deed of gi ft the land s

ne i ther cou ld the zamindar d i spose O f it bu t on fai lu reof issue i t reve rted to the zam indar . Fattah Talookdars weresu bject to in crease s and remi s s ion s al ong with the zamindars .

4 th.M’ct ssu t Ta lookda r or Talookdar within Talookdar i s thesame i n re spect to a Talookdar that a Z u r Kher ccol Talookdar i s

to a zamindar .

5th. 11owllarlcmn— In the pargunnah Of B ikrampu r a,cu stom

prevai l s that i f any Talookdar se l l any par t of hi s Talook toan othe r person u pon rece i vi ng the pu rchase pr ice , he cal ls him a

Howlladar of s o much land who pays hi s ren ts to the Talookdar ,bu t i f any d i spu te ar ises. between the Talookdar and H owlladar

Tenants .

DACCA DI STRI CT .

From the above comparative view Of the property of theTalookdars and Z emindars i t appears that the latter pos sess butl i tt le real property of the i r own and that a separation of theTalookdar s wou ld redu ce many Of them from affiuent ci rcumstan cest o a state Of in digence

, and the ti tles O f Raja and Z emindar swh ich they are al l owed to enj oy w i l l become a mere empty name .

”

A si ki fmi tenu re dates from the pe rman en t sett lemen t,i s

hereditary and tran s ferable , and the ren t i s as a ru le fixed in

pe rpe tu i ty by the deed gran tin g the tenu re . There are , howe ver

,a few case s in wh ich there i s n oth in g in the terms of the

deed to proh ib i t en hancemen t,bu t the cu stom of the di stri ct i s

again st i t . A mi r ash doe s not date back to the permanen t

settlement but othe rwi se doe s n ot di ffer material ly from a si kimi .

A haola i s a talu g created for the reclamat i on of j un gle land , i t i sheri table and tran sfe rable bu t the ren t may be enhanced .

M a sh/cast i s a tenu re he ld immed iate ly unde r the zam indar at a

fixed ren t : i t i s hered itary bu t n ot tran s ferable by sale or gi ft .Ban dobastt i s a tenu re wh i ch i s general ly created when a personwan ts to bu i ld a house or d ig a tank or to rec laim jungle land .

I t can he inher ited bu t not tran sferred by sale or gi ft .

The great maj or ity Of ten an t s are occu pan cy raiyat s, bu t

there are many ways of e lud ing the provi s i ons Of the Ben galTenan cy Act and the occupan cy rai yat does not in var iably enj oyall the privi lege s to whi ch he i s en t i tled . The cu stom withregard to the tran s fer of land by sale or gi ft or the ri ght to ‘

cu t

down fru i t or timber tree s i s not c learly se ttled , but the ri gh tof tran s fer i s gen eral ly recogn i sed on paymen t of sa lami .The u tba fn dfi raiyat s or tenan t s-at-wi l l are general ly to befound i n newly formed chu r s and i slands and in the junglesnorth of Dacca . In Mu n sh i ganj there are a few tenants at fixedrate s bu t they are a smal l proportion Of the whole . On the whole ,however , the re lat i on s between landlords and tenants are not

un sat i s factory . Ren ts are general ly moderate and the benevo

lences levied in addition to the ren t are se ldom excess i ve .

LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT .

CHAPTER XI I .

LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT .

Outs ide the mu n i c ipal i t ie s o f Dacca and Narayanganj l oca l DI STR ICTaffai rs are managed by a Distri c t B oard , wh ich was con sti tu ted BOAR DSin 1885 u nder the Bengal Local Se l f-Gove rnment Ac t

,su pe r

seding the Di stri ct Road Commi ttee wh ich had been con st i tu tedunder the Ce s s Ac t of 1880 .

The prin cipal function s en trusted to the Distri c t B oard are

the con stru ction and main tenan ce of roads and bridge s , the prov i sion and managemen t Of ferrie s and res t-hou ses , the man agemen t of pounds

,the in spect ion and fi nanc ial aid of edu cational

in st itu ti on s and d ispen sarie s , the provi s ion of veter inary as s istance and of wholesome drinking water

,the improvemen t o f the

le sser wate rways and of the san i tary su rroun dings Of vi l lages andtown s

,and the deve lopmen t O f in du strie s . I n each subdiv i s ion

there i s als o a liocal Board to which certain Of the function s ofthe Di strict Board are de legated .

The Di stri c t B oard i s composed Of 29 membe rs , of whom 8

hold Ofli ce ex-olfi c io,7 are n ominated and the remain ing 14 are

e lected by the Local Board s . About fi ve-s ixth s of the membersare n ati ves Of I ndia . The Col lec tor i s the Chai rman , but the

Vice-Chai rman i s a non-Offi c ial Indian gent leman . The tota lincome of the B oard in 1 909-10 , excluding the Open ing balan ce

,

was in round numbe rs Rs . the three princ ipa lheads be ing Provincial Rate s (Rs . Fe rry Rece i pt s

(Rs . and Provin cial Gran t (Rs . The inc idence oftaxation i s very low and on ly amoun ted to 8 pie s per head of thepopu lat i on . The total expend itu re chargeable to current income

was Rs . the prin cipa l heads be ing Educat ion ,Rs.

and Publ ic Work s Rs . For further financ idl detai l srefe rence shou ld be made to the Stati st i cal Appendix .

In 1907-08 the Distri ct B oard main tained as mi le s O f

metal led , 3 12 miles Of u nmetal led, and 4 18 m i le s of vi l lageroad , the cost of maintenance per mi le be ing Rs . Rs . 80

and Rs . 50 respect ive ly. I t a l s o kept in repai r five maj orbridges , and con trol led 73 fe rrie s . On ly five re st-hou ses are

main tained, but comparat i ve ly few people trave l by lan d and

s tag ing bu nga lows are not as n ecessary as i n othe 1 parts O f I nd ia .

Th prov i s ion of wholesome drinking water 1 8 a matter that I scon stant ly engaging the Board’3 attent i on and no le ss than 19 8

mason ry we l l s have been con structed and 4 9 tanks have beenexcavated and are kept i n prope r repai r .

” ‘I he1e are , howeve r , fewObjects on which money can be better spen t and the num ber of

DACCA DI STRI CT

we l ls in creases every year . Someth ing has a l so be en done for th eimprovemen t of the san i tary su rrou nd ings of certain vi l lage s —bu t

thi s i s a matte r whic h mu st large ly be le ft to the action of thevi l lager s themsel ve s .

The Board main tain s ten d i spen sar ie s and give s gran t s i naid to s i x more . In 19 09-10 i t gave gran ts i n aid amou nt i ng toRs . to sch ools . Attempts have bee n made t oin trodu ce the cu lt ivat ion of er i s i lk

,and improved methods o f

weaving ,bu t up to date they have me t with l i ttle su c ce s s . The

open in g of a mode l weav i ng school at Dacca i s,howeve r

,i n

con templation . An i t in erating veter inary as s i stant i s engagedby the B oard to tou r i n the in terior and treat the cat tle of thevi l lagers and a con tri bu ti on i s made to the support of a second man

stationed at Dacca . The execu t i ve staff of the Board con s i sts of aEu ropean engineer on a pay of Rs . 600— 25— 800

, th ree overseer son pay ran ging from Rs. 60— Rs . 100

, and s i x sub-ove rseers . In

the edu cation departmen t the Board employ s three d epu ty inspectors and 1 1 su b-in spectors of s chool s .

Local B oard s are con sti tu ted in each subdivi s ion and ad

min i ster al lotmen ts ran gin g from Rs. to Rs. wh ichare made over to them by the Distr ict B oard . They have no

independen t sou rces of income and they are on ly°e n tr usted wit h

the du ty of repai ring vi l lage roads and provid ing to some exten tfor vi l lage water-su pply . The B oards con s i s t of from 9 to

bl 6

member s,the maj or ity of whom are e lected . They are on ly

requ i red to deal with petty local matter s and d ischarge thei rfu nction s as we l l as cou ld reasonably be expected of t hem .

There i s , however , hardly room for a subd iv i s i onal Local Boardu nder the Di s tric t B oard , and the s tandard of effi c ien cy i s cou sequ ent ly low . The fol lowing abstract shows the n umber of we l l sand bridges and the mi leage of vi l lage roads kept u p by theseBoard s

Sadr 1 35

Mu n sh iganj 04

Narayanganj 1 23

Man i kganj 6 5

The germ of mu ni c ipa l admin i strat i on in the di stri c t i s tobe fou nd i n the a rrangemen t made i n 1776 when the nu zzu rs

rece i ved by the Provin cial Cou nci l at the P u neah or day of annu alsettlemen t wi th the zamindars were made ove r to defray the

e xpen se o f repai ri ng the road s i n Bacca i Pri soner s we re al soempl oyed for the same pu rpose and for many year s the care of the

'

l'

n pog rnpl| y 0 1'

DuCc a , 1b.

DACCA DI STRICT .

has been descr i bed as be ing more of a we stern than an easterntown , and as the mode l mun ic ipal i ty of Bengal . The roadsare always c lean and i n exce llen t repai r , the town i s we l l d rained ,rubbi sh i s n owhere to be seen ,

the mun i c ipal market i s admi r

ably arranged and all i s n eatne s s and order . The mun ic ipal i tyhave recen t ly erected water-works at a cost of two lakhs of rupees

,

the wate r bein g drawn from th e r i ve r Lakshya, pas sed th rough

a‘jewe l ’fi lter , and d i stri bu ted ove r the town in pipe s . The prin

c i pal sou rce s of income are a tax on hold ings , con se r van cy and

wate r rate s,and tol ls on roads and ferr ie s .

EDUCATION .

CHAPTER X II I .

EDUCATION .

Publ i c educat i on was n ot en ti re ly neglected in the Dacca EARLYd i s tr ict even in the day s Of nat ive ru le , though then as now i t H I STORY OF

wou ld appear to have been of too l i terary a character and t o havefai led to pay adequate atten t i on to the pr ope r t rain ing Of the

recipien t for the acti ve work of l i fe . The Mugha l Governmen tpaid a salary of Rs . 60 per men sem to a profe s sor who lectu redon the Arabic lan guage , l ogic, metaphysi cs , and law, bu t on h i sdeath i n 1 7 5 1 h i s place was not refi lledfi“ For Hindu s there werenumerou s San sk ri t school s and i n 1838 th ere we re no le s s than125 of these in st i tu ti on s . The cou rse of in stru ction was , however ,far from pract ical ; the study of San skri t grammar occu pied ten

years,the Vedas e ight

,and the art Of reason ing no les s than

twe lve year s . I t i s not , therefore , matter for su rpri se that on ly828 schola rs were attracted to the se in st itu t ion s . Astron omy and

medi cine were al so stu d ied in B ikrampu r . The bias toward smedi c ine st i l l pers i s t s for

,e ven at the pre sen t day ,

the number ofmedi ca l practi t i on ers i n that portion of the di stric t i s u nu sual lylarge . The old paternal relat ion was main ta ined between the

maste r and hi s pupi l s,who were not on ly taught , bu t fed , clothed ,

and lodged by him,the maste r lookin g for h i s support to the

donat ion s of the chari table . In Dacca ci ty there were in 18 38,

1 1 Hindu schools wi th 302 scholar s and 9 school s for Muham

madan s with 1 15 sc ho lar s . In the Hindu school s chi ld ren paidfees amoun t in g to two annas a mon th edu cat i on in the M uham

madan school s was The cou rse of in stru ct ion was s implebu t pract i ca l and con s i sted Of reading , writ ing , c iphering , and thekeeping of commerc ial and agricu ltu ral accoun ts . Mu hammadan sal so stud ied grammar, l i te ratu re and re l ig ion .

The fi rst school s to be Opened u nder Eu ropean supervi s ionwere those started by the Rev . 0 . Leonard

,a B aptis t M i s s ionary ,

in 18 17 . They we re seven i n number , five impart ing in stru ctionin Bengal i , one i n Pe rs ian , and one in Engl i sh . Five years laterthe number Of school s had ri sen to 2 3 and Of scholars to and

in 1825 separate schools were opened for women and girls . Funds ,however , were not forthcom ing in suffic ien t quan ti tie s and in

183 7 the n umber Of mi s s ion school s had sunk to l l with 529male and 99 female pupi l s . An En gl i sh s chool had, however ,been opened by Governmen t in 1 835 and met at once w i th

.warm

s u pport , M r . Taylor wri ting of i t as fol lows

Tay lor’s Topography of Dacca, p . 274 .

‘l' Tay lor’s Topography of Dacca, p . 271.

E DUCATI ON

Educationon Europeanmethods .

DACCA DI STRICT .

The nat i ve s of th is par t of the coun try have evin ced greateagernes s to acqu i re a knowledge O f the Engli sh language , and

accord ingly the school wh i ch has late ly been e stabl i shed in thec ity by G overnmen t i s we l l atten ded

,and al together i s i n a most

flou ri shing and promi s ing cond it ion . The in st itu tion i s admi rably condu cted , and under the able tu i ti on Of the presen t mastersthe pu pi l s have made great profic ien cy not on ly i n reading

,writ

i ng , and ar i thmet i c but i n the h igher bran ches of edu cati on as

geography , hi story , and geometry .

”

Education con t inu ed to make steady progre s s and i n 1867

there were 16 9 boys’schools in the di stri ct wi th pu pi l s onthe rol l s , wh i le there were 4 52 gi rl s at school i n 26 in sti tu tion s .

The princ iple of making gran ts in aid had been introd uced and 1 4 7

Of the boys’s chool s fe l l in to the category Of aided school s . Therewere al s o the Dacca Col lege wh ich was open ed in 18 4 1 and the

Col legiate school attached to i t,wh i le two no rmal s chool s provided

for the in stru ct ion of teachers . The se were in addition to the

madr asas and tols in wh ich in stru ct i on was imparted on the

Old trad itional l ines . The atti tude of the people i s thu s descr ibedby Mr . Clay

,the Co llector , in 186 7

The nat i ves,e special ly the Hindu s, as a ru le evince a most

laudable de s i re to obtain an Engli sh edu cati on , and wi l l Oftenpin ch and screw and almos t starve themse l ves in orde r to be ableto pay thei r school or col lege fees . They are actuated hy‘thestronge st of all motives— se l f-in terest , knowing as they do that aknowledge of Engl ish i s now made a lmost a si n e qu ot 710 71 i n thedi str i bu ti on Of the best appoin tmen t s un der Governmen t wh ichevery nati ve covet s . As regard s vernacu lar edu cati on the vernacu lar scholarsh i p s offe red a s trong st imu lu s . The re i s st i l l a

strong feel ing of Oppos i t i on to the spread of female educat ion . T

That there has been a great advance i n edu cation , especial lyi n Engl i sh educati on

,du ring the past fi fty years i s a matter Of

common kn owledge,bu t the me re ci tati on O f figures taken from

O ffi cia l paper s mi ght induce impre s s i on s regard ing the actualspread O f know ledge wh i ch wou ld be mi s lead ing . The absen ce or

pre s ence O f a state-ai ded v i l lage pundit doe s not make all the

differen ce between l i gh t and darknes s that wri ters such as Si rW i l l iam Hun te r wou ld s ometimes have u s th ink and though the

introd uction o f reforms , su ch as those in itiated by Si r GeorgeCampbel l

,produce an enormou s increase i n the n umbe r Of pupi l s

of whom cogn i san ce i s taken i n blu e-books,the immed iate change

i s very mu ch le ss th an the figu re s wou ld suggest . An a idedschool gene ral ly deve lops i n to somethin g more effi cien t than one

which doe s not rece i ve as si s tance from the State,but the fac t that

a numbe r of school s and scholar s appear for the fi rst t ime i n the

To pography of Dacca , p . 274 .

Tl'rm c

ggml I lead s o f the H i story and Stat isti cs Of the Dacca Divis ion

,

Calori t ta , 8

DACCA DI STRICT .

body . I t a lso main tain s law c lasses i n which studen ts can readfor the degree of B .L .

The Jagann ath College was founded as a proprie tary col legei n 1883 bu t i n 1908 was tran sferred to a Board of Tru stee s on

which the teaching staff i s repre sen ted . Pr ior to that date i t wasl oc ated i n poor bu i ld ings in a conge sted portion Of the ci ty , bu t i thas recen t ly been moved to more su i table qu arte rs . The stock ofapparatu s i s sufii cien t for the Fi rst Arts s tandard u nde r the exi s ting regu lati on s , and there i s a smal l l ibrary con taini ng 800

volumes . The staff con si st s of ten Master s Of Art s and fouras s i stants . The advantages Offered by th i s in st i tu ti on are mu chinfe ri or to those of the Governmen t Col lege , but the feescharged are con siderably lower and th i s i s a cons ideration withneedy studen ts . Gove rnmen t has recen tly made a capital gran tOf Rs . and a recu rring annu al gran t of Rs . for thepurpose Of improving the admini s trat ion of th i s colle ge .

A special featu re O f educat ion i n the Dacca distr ict i s thelarge number Of school s which aspi re to send up studen ts to matricu late at the Calcu tta Un i vers ity and wh ich are known as Highor En trance school s . In 1872-7 3 there were s ix of the se school s ,twen ty year s later the re were 1 9

, and i n 1908-09 there were 4 5 .

Of these 2 were supported and managed by the Educat ion Departmen t , 9 were aided

,and were en ti re ly u naided . The state

men t appended to th i s chapter,which gives particu lars as to.

the

locat ion of these school s , shows what a very large proporti on ofthem are s i tuated i n the Muns hi ganj subdivision . Out of the tota lof 4 5 no les s than 23 are to be found i n Mun sh iganj . The Government school s are we l l staffed and we l l equ i pped , but the same cannot be said of many Of the a ided and most Of the unaided school s.The bu i ldings and applian ces are Often qu ite inadequate, thestaff i s mi serably pa id

,the in stru ct ion given poor , and the whole

tone of the in s ti tu t i on far from sat is factory . Some of the school sare opened by generou s ind iv id ual s who have a laudable desi reto advance educat ion i n t he i r nat i ve vi l lages , bu t who do notreal i se that the cau se they have at hear t wou ld be better se rvedi f they were to combine wi th some other pe rson to found a real lye ffic ien t central school instead Of start ing an in sti tut i on which can

never th r i ve on the amount they are able to al locate for i ts support .Other school s owe the i r orig in to those feuds wh ich are so commoni n ru ral B engal , and whi ch are thu s de scr ibed by a Bengali gentleman who is an Inspector o f the Ed ucati on Depar tment

The high school as a ru le has a commi ttee and the commi ttee i s often a hotbed of quarre l . And the quarre l ar i ses some

t ime s on tri vial grounds s uch as the promoti on or transfer of a

boy. The r i val school i s s tarted i n mos t cases wi th in suffi cientor no funds . The teache rs engaged , there fore , cannot be men

Of h igh qual ificat ions for wan t of pro per remunerati on .

”

Inc l ud ing 8 schoo ls not re cogn i sed by t he Un i vers ity .

EDUCAT ION .

I t i s hard ly to be expected that an in sti tu ti on that comesin to exi stence amongst s uch ci rcumstance s and su rround ings can

do good work and there can be l i tt le doubt that the c au se ofedu cation wou ld be advanced by a proce s s of consol idation . Thi spr inciple has at last been accepted by the Calcu tta Un iver s i ty

,

and in 1907-08 a su rvey of high sc hool s was carried ou t underi ts in struc tion . The resu l t O f the su rvey was that recogn i ti on ,i .e.

,the ri ght Of sending up pu pi l s to the Matri cu lati on Examina

t i on of the Un i ve rs i ty,was withd rawn from fou r sc hool s and

warn ings were i ssu ed to several othe r s .Midd le school s are classed as middle Eng l i sh and midd le

Vernacu lar , but i n practi ce there i s l i tt le diffe ren ce as Engl i shi s free ly taught e ven in the vernacu lar schools . Midd le school sare as a ru le poorly hou sed and poorly equ ipped and the stafi

'

i s

poorly paid , with the inevitable re su l t that the ed ucati on gi veni s al so poor. Parent s pre fer to send the i r s on s wheneve r possi bleto read the midd le cou rse at a high school and the numbe r ofmidd le schools doe s not increase . They are supported partly byfees , partly by subscri pti on s , pa rtly by gran ts made t o them bythe Di str ict B oard whi ch vary from Rs . IO to Rs 20 a month . In

1908-09 there were 58 midd le Engli sh school s O f wh ich 3 3 we reaided by the Di stri ct B oard , 3 by the Educati on Department , and2 2 were u na ided . Of the 7 5 midd le ve rnacu lar schools , 6 7 inc ludln 53 departmen tal c i rcle school s we re aided and 8 unaided .

The numbe r of pu pi ls i n midd le Engl ish school s was and

that attending midd le vernacu lar school s was A statements how ing the di s tri bu ti on Of the midd le Engl i sh schools i sappended to th i s chapter .

Primary school s are di vided in to upper and l ower . I n 1908-09there were 25 4 of the former with pupi l s and of thelatter wi th pupi l s . The cou r se of i n stru c ti on i n a l owe rprimary school con si st s O f Science P rimers , s tandard s I and I I ,wr iting and reading ; Ari thme ti c inc luding mental ar i thme~tic ; Drawing ; (4 ) Obj ect lesson s ; (5 ) dri l l. Uppe r primaryschool s add to this cou rse a h i story reade r and a l i teratu re book ,geography , and e lementary geometry and men su ration 0

Mos t O f the se schools are hou sed i n ve ry humble quar tersand the i r equ ipment and apparatu s are s impl ic i ty itse l f. Manyschools sit in a verandah or outbu i ld ing bel onging to the r ichestman i n the vi l lage and those that ri se to the dign i ty of a separatehou se can seldom boas t O f anyth ing more preten tiou s t han a bu t

with earthen fioor,bamboo wa l l s and roof of thatch . The appara

tu s u sual ly cons i sts of n othin g more than the boys’own books

and slate s , and even the latte r are occas i on a l ly d i spen sed withand the chi ld ren learn to wr i te on palm leaves . Bu t simplethough thei r qu arte rs are , they sat i s fy the de s ire s of those thatu se them . The Bengal i has in hi s heart a certain contempt formaterial luxu ry ; he pre fers to si t i n spac iou s le i su re to expend ingt ime and sweat On the improvement Of hi s dwe ll ing and he is not

Middleschool s

Primaryschools .

Spec ialin struct ion .

DACCA DI STRI CT .

too exacting i n h i s requi rement s when hi s ch i ldren’s school-h ou sei s i n qu e s tion . In 1906 Governmen t made a gran t of Rs .

for the erect ion of primary school bu i ld i ngs subject to the provi sothat where possi b le one-fou r th of the sum shou ld be rai sed fromthe vi l lages in which the schoolhou se s were bu i l t . B u t th i s ‘

l iberal i ty e voked l i ttle en thu siasm, and thou gh 50 hou se s we reu l t imate ly e rected the people eviden t ly t hou gh t the whole mattersomething of a bore . I n the flooded trac ts the ch i ldren have t ocome by water in the rain s

,and the col lect ion of craft ou ts ide the

door i s quain t to a degree . M an y paddle themse l ve s to school inbig earthen pipkin s , others come on rafts of plantain trunks , andi t i s se ldom that anyone r i se s to anything so elaborate as even thehumblest skiff .

There i s a fine school i n Dacca c i ty for the train in g ofteacher s and head pand it s of midd le school s , and l ower pand i ts ofhigh school s . The school pos sesse s a good l ibrary of overvolumes and i s wel l equ i pped i n every way. There are si x teachers on the stafl ,

three of whom are Master s of Ar ts , and i n 1907

there were 84 pu pil s on the rol ls,exclu si ve of pand its u nder train

i ng. For the.tra1n1ng of lowe r pr imary teacher s there are school sat Mun s higanj , Man ikganj

,Rai pu ra, and Agla.

“ The characteri stic gu ru train ing school of Eastern Bengalhas n oth ing attract ive or i nsi rping abou t i t . A s omewhat di sbeve l led mat or mud hut d ivided in to two hal ves

,an i l l-qualified

in stru ctor in place of an in te l l igent di splay of the methods ofin stru ction

,a str ing of lugu briou s complain t s from the gu ru s ,

how the i r st ipen ds and thei r pay are inadequate , how they have toy ie ld up the fees and salary of the i r schoo l for two year s toa su bsti tu te, and how the chan ces are that when they retu rn homethey wi l l find themse lves perman en tly d i splaced by that verysu bst i tu te , and left , as a resu l t of the i r train ing , withou t eventhe i r forme r scan ty mean s of l i vel i hood . The arrangemen t fortrain ing of teacher s 1s adm i t ted on all hand s to be un su cces s fu l .

lamen table s tate of affai rs can on ly be remedied by theerect ion of hoste l s , by the redu ction of the length of the cou rse ,by the improvemen t of the condit ion of the gu ru s du ring the

period u nder train ing , and, above all, by the increase of thegran t to those of them who undergo the prescribed cou r se ofin struct i on .

”

These remarks wh ich are taken from the Report on the

Progres s of Edu cat ion i n Easte rn Benga l and As sam duringth e year s 190 1-02— 1906-07 appl ied i n all the i r en t i rety tothe Dacca d istric t . Hoste l s for the accommodation of the gu ru shave

,howeve r

,now been e rected and decen t hou se s provided for

mos t of the school s .The Ahsanu lla School of Engineer ing attached to the Dacca

Col lege was original ly fou nded m 1876 as a s urvey school . In 1902

i t was decided to con vert the in s ti tu tion in to a school of Enginee ri ng,

the requ i s i te funds being obta ined from a gran t o f Rs.

DACCA DI STRICT .

Muhsin,a res iden t of Hugl i di s tri ct , who d ied in 1806 , and left

an e state whi ch y i elded an in come of abou t Rs. per annumto be devoted to chari table pu rposes . The mad rasa i s di vided in totwo departmen ts

,the Anglo-Pe rsian depar tmen t which i s simply

a h i gh school teach ing up to the matri cu lati on exam inati on, and

the Arabi c departmen t in which English can be taken as an

optional subject . The stafl‘con si st s of 21 mau l vi s and masters in

add iti on to the Supe r intenden t and the insti tu t i on rece i ves an

annu al gran t of Rs. from prov in cial funds . The re i s a finehostel attached whi ch was e rec ted in 1905 at a cost of Rs.

two-thi rd s of whi ch were con tri bu ted by pri vate person s and the

re s t by Government . Othe r sen ior in sti tu ti on s are. the Ahsan iah

and H ammadiah madrasas in Dacca ci ty .

Ou ts ide the ci ty there are 19 smaller mad rasas whi ch can

hardly be regarded as ve ry sati sfac tory in st i tu ti on s . They havel i ttle or no organ i sati on , and are in su ffi cient ly staffed and poor lyequ i pped . They do not in all case s fol low the fu ll cou rse o f

studies prescribed for the corresponding classes in the largermadrasas and the educat ion they impart i s never su ch as wi llhelp a pupi l i n prac tical li fe . I t i s said that many of the

student s after rece i ving a ve ry imper fect educat i on retu rn to the i rhomes and endeavou r to obtain a l i ving as re l i gious i n stru ctors

,

bu t as the supply i s con side rably i n exce s s of the demand,there

i s often un seemly compet i t i on be tween r i val mau l vi s . There are

fou r recogn i sed midd le madrasas which are vi rtual ly middleEngl i sh school s w i th the addi tion of Urdu i n standards I to IVand Pe rsian in standard VI . They a lso have Arabi c de partmentsin whi ch in stru c ti on i s supposed to be gi ven up to a su ffi cient lyh i gh standard. M aktabs are Koran schools wh ic h have developedin to lower primary schools

,and which rece ive aid from l ocal

funds i f they reach the requ i s i te standard of efii oiency. In 1908

09 the number of these in st itu ti on s was 16 7 . Koran schools , asthe i r name impl ie s

,impart pu re ly re l i gi ou s instructi on ; the i r

n umbe r in 1908-09 was 9 4 5 wi th pupi ls .

The figu res of l i teracy quoted in the preced ing pages haveal ready ind i cated the extraordinary di ffe ren ce be tween the

educat ional attainments of H indus and Muhammadans . Thi sdi fference i s part ly due to the con servat ive tendencie s of I slam,

bu t to a mu ch greater degree to d ifferences i n soc ial pos i t i on .

The great majori ty o f the manu al worke rs are Muhammadan s andi t i s rathe r qua manual worke r than qua Muhammadan that theyare i l l i te rate . Bu t even in the vi l lage s the Muhammadan i s ceasingto be conten t wi th hi s posi ti on of edu cati onal in fe rior ity and ofrecen t years there has been a great in crease of Mu hammadanstuden ts . In 190 4-05 t he pupi l s in pu bl i c in st i tu t i on s numbe red

but i n 1908-0 9 they were no le ss than as

compa red with Hindu pu pi l s .Female edu cati on has made some progres s of recent years

bu t the progress continu e s to be sl ow .There is one high school

EDUCAT ION.

for girls , the Eden female s chool,which was opened as a middle

vernacu lar school in 18 78 , one midd le and 5 4 8 primary sch oo ls .

In add it ion to thi s,a rrangemen ts have been made for zenana

c lasses i n the c i ty and a certain numbe r of gi rl s read in boy s’

school s. The total n umbe r of female s u nde r in stru cti on in

publ i c inst i tu t ion s in 1908 09 was of whom the immen semaj ori ty we1 e in the p1 imary stages . The percen tage of gi r l s ofschool going age who were actual ly at school was les s than 7 .

In additi on to the ch i ldren who come within the pu rview of theEducat i on Departmen t, there are a ce rtai n numbe r of gi rl sbe longing to prosperous Hindu fami l i e s who rece i ve some measu reof instru ction in the i r own homes , bu t the figu re s of the cen su s of190 1 showed conc lus i ve ly howmu ch leeway has sti l l to be made up .

St . Gregory’s School at Dacca, a h igh school managed bythe Roman Cathol ic M i ss i on ,

was founded i n 1889 and offers school sinstruction to Eu ras ian s cholars . There are al so fou r comme rcia lschools unde r pr i vate managemen t in the c i ty at which typewri ting and shor thand are taught .

For the pu rpose s of departmen tal control the di strict fal l s in Admin i strathe charge of the In spec tor of School s for the Dacca d iv i s i on .

“ V9 “ a“

The stafl employed in 1909 con s i s ted of 5 de pu ty in spectors , 1 1 subin spectors , 2 assi s tant sub-in spectors and 15 inspec ting pandi ts .

LIST or H IGH SCH OOLS .

Name of School . Name of Thana.

Sadar Subdivi s ion .

DaccaEden FemaleArman i tola

K. L. Jubi lee

c ose

Imperial SeminaryUki ls In st itu ti onTeghoriaJaydebpu rKal iganjNawabganjGovindapu rRoai l

Narevanganj

Dacca Ci tv .

Do.

Do .

Do.

Do.

Do .

Do .

Ke ran iganj .

Do .

Kapasia .

Nawabganj .Do .

Sabhan

Subdi vi s ion

DACCA nl s'rmc'r .

Mun sh i ganj Subd ivi s i on .

Name of School . Name of Thane .

Mun sh i gan j Mun shi gan j .Baj rajugin iAbdu llapu rPa ikparaSonarangAu tshai

Kalma

Svarnagram Radhanath

Kathadia Simu l iaRon thbhogMalkh anagarIchapu ra

HasaraB e ltal iB hagyaku lSolaghar

B rahmangaonLohajangKu ku tiaKaz i rpaglaSidhesvar i

B anariTeli rbag

Man ikganj Subd i vi sion .

Man i kganj Man ikganj .

Teota Academy Sealo Ar i cha .

LIST OF M IDDLE ENGL ISH SCH OOLS .

Name of School . Postal addre s s .

Sadar Subd ivi s ion .

Amligola

KondaBal iaKhash HaolaSal im’sTe tu lj horaNannarS uapu rDeb i nagarK u sumhat i

Nai ay ah ganj Subd iv i sion

170 DACCA DI STRICT .

CHAPTER X IV .

GAZETTEER.

Baidya Bazar .— Large bazar si tuated in 233 9 N . and 903 7

E . on the ri ght bank of the Meghn a r iver . Ba idya B azar i sconn ected by road with Narayanganj an d has an un favou rablerepu tati on as be ing n ot unfrequ ent ly the scene O f r i ver dacoit ies .

Baj raj ogini .—Large v i l lage in the Mu n shi ganj s ubd ivi s ion

s i tu ated i n 2 3 32 N . and 902 9 E . which i s bes t.k nown as be ing

the home of a very large n umb er of Governmen t servan ts .

Baliati .— Vil lage s i tu ated in 24 0 N . and 902 E . i n the

n orth of the Man ikganj subdivi s ion . A con s iderable trade i n

j u te i s done i n the bazar , bu t the vi llage i s best kn own as the

home of the B al iat i Babu s . From a di s tan ce th e i r hou se standsup above the leve l p lain ,

an impos ing mas s of mason ry whichrecal l s a Georgian cou n try hou se i n England . A c l oser in spectionshows that i t i s not on e fine hou se

,bu t a terrace of fi ve very

ord inary one s .

The fou nder of the fami ly was on e Gobinda Ram Shahawhowas a big sal t merchan t in the m idd le of the 18 th cen tu ry . H e

left fou r son s : Dadh i Ram,Ananda Ram,

Pan dit Ram and GolapRam. Dadh i Ram le ft two son s whose descendan ts now form the

east and we st ” hou ses as they are cal led . Pan di t Ram’sfami ly forms the “ midd le hou se ”

and Golap Ram’s the north

hou se ,

” wh i le Ananda Ram’s descendan t s are kn own as the

Golaba r i . The Jagan n a th Col lege i n Dacca was founded and

endowed by a membe r of the B a liat i fami ly,Babu Kishori Lal

Ray Chaudhr i , i n'

memory of hi s father .

Barmi .— 1 arge bazar s i tuated in 23 4 2 N . and E .

popu lat i on , 19 11 , 2 76 . The place i s a collecting cen tre in the

north of the d i strict for j u te , whic h i s then despatched down theLakshya to Narayanganj . The ru in s o f an Old ind igo factoryare si tuated c lose by .

Baradi .— V i l lage s ituated i n 23-4 2 N . and 903 8 E i n the

Narayanganj su bdi vi s i on,the re siden ce of the Nags of B aradi .

Popu lation , 19 11 , The Nag fam i ly original ly came fromBakarganj and the i r fortunes were founded by on e Nayananda Nag,an eminen t and learned man at the cou rt of Nawab of Murshida

bad , who was rewarded with a large j ag i r o f land for h i s sk i l l indeciphering a lette r whi ch came from Con stan ti nople . The fami lye state s are s i tuated a t Nagaba 'l in the Tippera d i str ict immediate ly opposi te to Harad i , and are di vided in to three shares orhi sycw,

the eastern,the we s te rn

,and the midd le or p unch hi sya

c ezsrrs sa . 17 1

Si tu ated as they are on the banks o f the Meghna,whose chang

i ng cu rren t gives r i se to many land di spu te s , the Nag fami ly hasalways been n o ted for the capable and cou rageou s manner inwh i ch they have defended the i r own intere st s and for the sk i l lthey have di splayed in fi shin g in trou bled waters . Vari ou smember s of the fami ly have been e ffic ient Governmen t servan ts

,

othe rs have len t thei r u ndou bted abi li t ie s to le ss worthy leaders .

In the word s of the member of the fami ly who supplied the

account of i ts h i story .

“ In the dark days of the sepoy mutinythey stood by the side of Governmen t withou t seeking to attractn ot i ce by ostentat i ou s operati on s .

Bhagyakhul.— Vi l lage s i tuated on the banks of the Padma

r i ver in the sou th-west corne r of the Mu n sh i ganj su bd i vi si on .

I t i s the fami ly home of the wealthy Bhagyaku l Babu s , butas i t i s exposed to the eros i ve act i on of the ri ver

,they have

abandoned the attempt to e rect mason ry bu i ldings and the i rpre sent quarter s are of the most p r im i ti ve de scri pti on . Therei s a prosperou s market at Bhagyaku l and a chari table di spen sarymain tained by the fami ly . The B hagyakhu l Babu s have madethe i r fortu ne s i n trade and the prin c ipal membe rs of the fami lyl i ve i n Cal cu tta

,

Dacca— The c i ty of Dacca i s s ituated in N . and 902 4

E . , on the n orth bank of the Bu r i Ganga r i ver , e ight mi le s above i tsjunction with the Dhaleswari and 254 mi le s d i s tan t from Calcu ttaby rai l and r i ver

,mid. Narayanganj , and Goalando . The Dacca-My

men singh bran ch of the Eas tern Bengal State Ra i lway run sthrough the town , and i n addi tion to i ts commun i cati on by rai li t i s connected by road wi th Mymen s ingh and with the port ofNarayanganj . The latter road is n ine mi le s long and i s metal led .

The Bu ri Ganga i s open for steame r traffi c in the rain s butwi l l on ly carry nati ve boat s of l ight drau ght i n the dry season .

I t has been suggested by Taylor that Dacca may be iden tical with B engala , a large and weal thy c ity to which reference i soften made by Eu ropean trave l lers in the sixteen th and seventeenth cen tu r ie s . Thi s V iew rece i ve s some confirmati on fromthe fact that Dacca and Ben gala are never both men tioned bythe same au thor . Methold des cri be s Rajmahal and Bengala as

be ing fa1re c it ie s wh i le H erber t and Mandelso who trave l ledabou t the same t ime refer to Dacca and Rajmahal bu t make n o

men tion of B engala . Rennel l state s that B engala was near theeastern mou th of the Gauges and that i ts s ite had probably beendi lu viated by that r i ve r , bu t Taylor point s ou t that though thenati ves have trad iti on s regai di ng the de s tru ct ion of Ser ipu r andKolesar

,they have neve r even heard of B e ngala .

” Whether Daccaand Bengala were iden ti cal i t wou ld be hard to say , but there can

be l i ttle doubt that the town was a place of some importance evenbefore it became the scene of the Provin cial Governmen t in 1608 .

Topography of Dacca , p . 92.

172 DACCA DI STRICT .

Raja Man Singh,Akbar

’s famou s gen eral

,admini stered the

coun try from th i s spot for some year s, and in 1608 I slam Khan

moved hi s capi tal here from Rajmaha l . Three explanat i on s aregiven of the origin of the c ity’s name one that i t i s der i ved fromthe dhak (bu tea frondosa) , a tree which i s said to have beencommon there in ancien t time s ; an other that i t took its name fromDhakeswar i

,the concealed godde ss

,

’ whose temp le i s said tohave been fi r st erected by Balla l Sen wh i le a thi rd story has i tthat I sl am Khan fixed the boundar ie s of the c i ty at those poin tsnorth , east and west wh ere the s ound of the drums (di m/c) beaten on

the r i ver banks ceased to'

be audible . From 1608 to 1639 Daccacon t inu ed to be th e capital of B engal , bu t in the latter year theGovernmen t was retran sferred to Rajmah51 where i t remained forone and twen ty years . In 1660 Mi r Jumla again made Dacca thecapital and i t con tinu ed to enjoy th i s prou d pos i tion ti l l 170 4when the cou rt was moved to Mu rsh idabad . I t i s said that whenthe c i ty was at the hei gh t of it s glory i t extended from Jafara

bad on the west to P ostgola on the east,a d i stance of ten mi les ,

and on the n orth nearly fi fteen mi les to the Tangi r i ver , and

that the popu lati on was close upon person s i’“ A large

proportion of the se people were no dou bt hangersc-on of the cou rtand the mi l i tary forces and mu ch of the c i ty dou btles s was of thenatu re of a camp.

Tavern ier v i s ited Dacca in 1666 and descr ibed it in‘terms

wh ich are su ffi c ient ly modest bu t are in fai r accord with the

Dacca of the presen t day .

Dacca i s a great town that extends itse l f on ly in length ;every one coveting to have a hou se by the Ganges s ide . The

length of thi s town i s above two leagu es . And indeed from the

last br1ck bridge , which I men tioned , to Dacca there i s but on econt i nu ed row Of hou ses separated one from the other . inhabitedfor the most part by carpen te r s that bu i ld gal leys and other smal lves se ls . The se hou se s are properly no more than pal try hu t sbu i l t up with bamboo and dau bed over wi th fat earth . Those O f

Dacca are n ot mu ch better bu i l t . The Governor’s palace i s a

plaee en closed with hi gh wal l s , in the midst whereof i s a pit i fu lhou se bu i l t on ly of wood . H e gen eral ly lodges i n ten ts whichhe cau ses to be set u p in the great cou rt of that encl osu re . The

Hollander s finding that the i r good s were not safe in the ordinaryhouse s of Dacca have bu i l t them a very fa i r hou se and the Engl i s hhave another which i s reasonab ly handsome . The chu rch Of the

Au stin Friars i s all of brick and i s a very comely pi le .

”

TI t i s s trange that Tavern ie r make s no referen ce to the two

ka lr as which had been bu i lt before the date of h is vi s i t , as thebu r n t ka lr a at any rate i s an imposing bu i ld ing .

ave rn ic r s de scri ption agree s w ith that given by an I taliancal led Manu cc i who vi si ted i t a few year s earl ier . Accord i ng to

Jtahman Al i 's Tar i kh-i -Dhaka ,MSS . , p . 35 .

TTavern Ier , Trave l s i n Ind i a , Part_l I , Book I , p . 55 .

174 DACCA Drs'rnrc

'r .

From the Northbrook Hal l a fine embankmen t , known as the

B u ckland Bund,stretche s al ong the r i ver to the end of the Nawab’s

Palace . I t i s th i s r iver frontage which has earned for Daccathe t itle of th e Ven i ce of the Eas t

,and which undoubtedly

,when

the stream i s descending i n fu l l flood affords a view that con tain ssome elemen t-s both of the stately and the pi ctu re sque . At the

eastern end of the embankmen t i s the magn ificen t dwe l l ing of twobanker s

,Babu s Rup LalDas and Raghu Lal Das , and at the western

end the Ah su n Munzi l or palace of the Nawab . Between them are

the residen ce s of the Commi s si oner . the Col lector , the Ci vi l Surgeon

,and on e or two Eu ropean and Indian gen tlemen . The Buck

land B und i s abou t three-quarter s of a mi le i n length but i tsappearan ce as a promenade i s to some exten t marred by the factthat i t i s l iable to be overtopped by h igh floods and by the di ffi

cu l ty expe r ien ced i n en ti re l y proh ibi ting it s u se as a place ofd i sembarkment for pas sen ge r s and goods . When the embankmen tfin i she s the r i ve r i s fr inged by hou se s

,some of which are both

di gn ified and pi ctu re sque , con spi cu ou s amongst which stand ou t

the two fine old Mu hammadan ru in s,the Bara and Chota Katra.

Back from the r iver the effect , u n fortunate ly,i s very mu ch

les s pleas ing . Leaving the Bu ckland Bund the rpad turn s in landand ru n s paral le l wi th the r i ver , bu t three or fou r hundred yardsaway from i t , th rough Patu atu l i

,I s l ampu r , B abu B azar , and

Mogu ltu li to the Chau k or Market Place , and thence to the «LalB agh

,whe re the c i ty prope r may be sai d to end

,thou gh the

mun i c ipal boundary i s some di stan ce farther on . The road i s verynarrow , and for a d i stan ce of yard s it s w idth from hou se tohouse varie s from 20 to 2 5 fee t and i n places i s on ly 18 feet . Thistotal ly inadequ ate channe l for the comme rce of the city i s packedWi th foot pas senger s , through whom lumbering bu l lock carts andrams hackle ticka gbar i s wi th d i fficu lty make the i r way and on

e i ther s ide i s bordered by mean and d irty look ing shops . The

chauk i s a large square wh ich i s crowded wi th stal l s and su rrounded by u nas sum in g shops and othe r bu i ld ings . The jai l and

lunat i c asylum lie at the back of the chauk,whi le the M itford

H ospi tal 13 s i tu ated on the ri ver fron t a l i ttle farthe r o n .

B eyond the hospi tal popu lati on and trafii c become les s congestedand at the La l Bagh we reach the su bu rban quarter s of the town .

The othe r main thoroughfare i s kn own as the Nawabpu r

road and ru n s from the B uck land B und northward s to the rai lway .

Thi s road i s i n places of a reasonable bread th and i s not so mean

and squal id as the on e which ru n s we stward to the chau k.

B etween the Bu ckland Bund and the place where i t cros se s theDolai Kha l i t passe s the old Eu ropean Cl ub , the Bank ,

the cu t

che rrie s of the Col lector and the Judge , the chu rch and the officeof the Distric t B oard . At the Dola i c reek bridge i t becomesinconven ien tly con tracted and from he re to the rai lway l ine thereare a number of smal l s hops intersper sed with dwe l l ing hou se s o fvery moderate appearance .

GAZETTEER . 175

These two roads are the mai n arteries of the c i ty bu t theyare connec ted with a great number o f les se r roads and lan es .The ch ief markets for the supply of food are s i tuated at Su trapurand the Rai Saheb’s B aza r and thei r su rrou ndings from the sani tarypoint of view are far from sati sfactory . The great cen tre for thej u te trade i s Postgola, for the grain trade Su trapu r , and for

l ime Fara shganj . M ost of the timbe r trade i s done i n the v i l lageof Keran iganj immediate ly Oppos ite Dacca

,bu t t here i s a large

bu sine s s in bamboos and canework in Bangshal B aza r. The

res iden tial quarters most favou red by Ind ian gen tlemen are War i,

Nawabpu r , Tan ti B az ar , Ban gla B azar , Su trapu r , Laksh i Baz ar ,and Armen i tola . Some of the hou se s are of c on s i de rable s i ze

,

e special ly i n the Bangla B azar, whe re many wea lthy Shabas l i ve ;bu t after the s i tes al on g the r i ve r’s ban k

,the most attractive

re s iden tial quarter of the town i s the su bu rb of War i . Thi si s a Khas Mahal whi ch in 1888 was laid ou t for bu i ld ing by theCol lector who su bsequ en t ly as Si r Lan ce l ot Hare became Li eu te

nan t-Governor of the prov ince . I t i s in tersected by wide road s,

each hou se i s su rrounded by a pleasan t garden and add itionalbu i ld ings cannot be erected withou t the Col lector’s sanction .

Nothing , in fact,cou ld we l l be greate r than the contrast

between the ame n i tie s of Wari , and the squal i d d i scomfort of theremainder of the town . For Dacca su ffe rs from all the man i fo ldd rawbacks of an old E astern c i ty . The streets and lane s areextraordinari ly narrow ; there are ne i the r s idewalk s n or room for

them, and as the foot pas senger s wander at wil l all over the

roadway,con tin ual shou tin g or the ringing of a hell are re qu i red

to c lear a pa ssage for a whee led veh ic le . In the absen ce of stone theroads have been metal led w ith bu rn t brick which i s unable to standthe heavy traffic

,so that the su rface i s worn in to h oles and i n all

bu t the wette st weather i s in tolerably du s ty . There i s no sy stemof drainage e i ther for the removal of sewage or of su r face water andfi lth and garbage accumu late in all the lane s . The c i ty i s in tersected by the Dolai K hal and i t s dependan t c reeks , and thoughthese channe l s are we l l en ough when fu l l of water i n the rains

,

i n the dry weather many of them contract into smal l pool s fi l ledwith mud and every form of abominati on . Many of the houseshave been s o bu i l t that it i s impossi ble to obtain acce s s to the i rback premi ses

,and i t i s ca lcu lated that there are no les s

than latrines in the c ity which are neve r c leaned . Manyimprovemen ts have however been e ffected or taken in to con s ide rat ion s ince Dacca became the capi ta l of the Provin ce . The

Nawabpu r road has been me tal led with stone , the water-workshave been en larged

, the con se rvan cy arran gemen ts have beenremode l led and a drainage scheme i s u nde r considerat ion .

One of the most c rowded parts of the city i s the San khariBazar, the quarte r of the workers i n she l l s . The hou se s he rehave a very narrow frontage wi th a qu i te d i sproportion ate depth .

The most extreme in stan ce of a characte r i sti c which i s common in a

DACCA DI STRI CT .

greater or a les s degree to all the hou se s i n th i s bazar i s to be foundin a we l l bu i l t mason ry dwe l l ing wh ic h i n 19 09 was inhabited bya fam i ly of e i ght person s . Thi s extraordinary stru ctu re had a deptho f 55 21 feet and a u n i form breadth of 3 feet 4 i n ches on ly . An

other cu ri ou s hou se i s 60 feet deep , 27 feet h igh and on ly 6 feetwide . The se hou ses are we l l bu i lt and kept i n exce l len t repai rbu t very l it t le l ight or ai r can pen etrate in to the cu riou s l i ttlecave-l ike chamber s of wh ich they are composed .

The principal pu bl ic bu i ld ings in Dacca are the Secretar iatand Governmen t Hou se

,the jai l , the l u nat ic asy lum,

the M i tfordHosp ital , the college

,and the mad rasa

,the fou r Chri stian

chu rches,G reek ,

Armen ian,Protestan t and Roman Cathol i c ;

the cu tcherr ies o f‘ the Judge and the Collector-Magi strate, the

ofi ces of the Mu n i c ipal i ty and the Di stri ct Board and the Northbrook Hal l . The cu tcherrie s of the Magi strate-Col lector and

Distr i ct Judge were comp leted i n 1865 . Prior t o th i s the

Col lector he ld hi s offi ce i n the bu i lding whic h t i l l 1905 was

the Col legiate High School . In a lette r wr itten i n 1857 he

complain s b i tte r ly of h i s c ramped quarter s and descri be s h ow theTau zinav i s had to work i n the kitchen and the Naz i r to t ran sac th i s bu s ine ss i n the open ai r . The Magi st rate he ld h i s cou rti n what was afterward s the Eu ropean Clu b , ande the Ci vi l Judgesat in the hou se which i n 1907 was as signed as an offi ce and

res idence to the Execu tive Engineer .The fol lowing accou n t of the o ld bu i ld ings in Dacca has been

for the mos t part conden sed from Note s on the An ti qu i t ie s o fDacca by Khan Bahadu r Sa iy i d Au lad Hu sain , (Dacca ,Of the Eu ropean factor ie s i n Dacca no trace s n ow remain . The

Engli sh fac tory stood on the s i te of what t i l l recen t ly was theDacca Col lege . Even i n 1837 the on ly part of the bu i ld ing sti l lexi stin g was the ou ter wa l l . The s i te of the French fac tory i snow covered by the women

’s apartments i n the Palace of theNawab

,the Ah sun M unz i l

,and the Du tc h factory s tood at the

s outh-west corn er of the compound of the M i t ford Hospital .The Lal Bagh fort was commen ced in 1678 by Prin ce Muham

mad Azan1,bu t i t was never completed by h i s su cces s or , Shai s ta

Khan . The enclosu re i s feet l ong by feet broad , butthere are wal l s on ly al ong two s ides and the gateways thoughvery lofty and impres s i ve are fal l ing in to ru in s . From the

arch itec tu ral poin t of v iew the most i n teresti ng bu i lding i n the

fort i s the tomb of B i bi Pe ri , dau ghte r of Shai sta Khan , a greatn iece of Nar Jahan ,

'

who d ied i n 168 4 A.D. The tomb i s thu sdesc ri bed by Colone l Cunnin gham

“ The tomb i s bu i l t en ti re lyof s tone

,of black basa l t from Grays , grey sandstone from Chunar

and white marble from Jaypu r . I t con si sts of n in e rooms , thecen tral on e be ing 19 fee t 3 in che s squ are . wal l s of thecen tra l room are of whi te marble , pane l led with black l ines , andthe floor i s laid ou t i n a sma l l patte rn of the same material .The wal l s of the fou r centra l s ide rooms are also whi te marble ,

178 DACCA DISTRICT .

mosqu e at Narand ia whi ch was bu i l t i n A.D. 14 56 , but i t hasn oth in g bu t i ts age to re commend i t . Other old mosques arethe on e in Ashik Jamadar’s lane whi ch i s ascri bed to I sl amKhan ,

who made Dacca h i s cap i tal i n l 608 and the one i n

Na'

swala Gu l l i wh ich was bu i l t 1 11 14 5 8 . The Chu r ihatt a mosqu ei s s i tuated abou t a qu arter of a mi le wes t of the Chau k and

the in terior measu re s 30 fee t by 15 . Trad it ion has i t that aH in du offi cia l was orde red to bu i ld a mosqu e at th e spot bu tbu i l t a temple in stead , bu t that thi s was con verted in to a mosqu ein 1 6 4 9 A.O . The mosqu e and mau soleum near the sou thwe s tcorn er of t he Ramn a race-cou rse mu st have been or iginal lyhandsome bu i ldings bu t they ar e n ow i n a v e ry d i lapidatedstate . They we re -bu i lt by Haj i Khwaj a Shahbaz i n 16 79 A.D .

The mosque measu re s 6 8 by 26 feet and i s su rmoun ted by threedomes . Th e mau soleum 1s 26 feet square and has one dome

on lyfln the Mymen sin gh road ju s t n orth of the rai lway cros s ing ,

beyond the n ew c ivi l s tati on,i s the mosqu e o f K hwaja Ambar wh i ch

was bu i l t i n 1680 A D . The bu i ld ing i s su rmou n ted by threehandsome dome s

,bu t i s now in a very d i lapidated state . A deep

we l l dug by the piou s fou nd e r in the compou nd s ti l l y ield sparticu lar ly good wate r and the brick bridge bu i lt 'by h im acros sthe Iskatan Khal whe re i t cros se s the Mymen singh road i s st i l li n u se . Khwaja Amb er i s sa i d to have been the head eu nu ch ofSha i sta Khan . We st of the ci ty , abou t two m i le s beyond themun i c ipal bou ndary , i s the Satgarn baz Mosq ue , whi ch measu re s58 by 2 7 feet The ma in bu i ld ing i s su rmoun ted by three domesand the re are dome s on the tower s that flan k each of the fourcorne rs . Thi s mosqu e origi nal ly s t ood on the ban ks of the Bu r iGan ga bu t the r i ver has now reced ed fu l ly a mi le toward s the

sou th . Tradi ti on has i t that i t was bu i l t by Shai sta Khan and

that the mau s oleum c lose by cover s the tombs of two of thedau ghter s of that great Nawab The mosqu e i n Babu Bazar wasal s o bu i l t by Shai sta Khan ,

and in hi s re siden ce c lose by on the

s i te of what i s n ow the Mi t ford Hosp ital , he i s said to have me t

Tavern ie r: Not far away , abou t a mi le to the north-we s t of the

pi lkhana , i s the mau soleum of Dara Begam. The in ne r apartmen ti s 2 75 fe et squ are

,the wal l s are 7 feet th i ck and the dome

which crown s the whole i s the large s t i n the ci ty, having a

d iame te r of 2 5 feet . At Az impu ra the re i s a mosque owned bythe de scendant s of a famou s sain t The head of the fami ly forthe t ime be i ng , fol lowi ng the e xample o f hi s piou s an ce stor ,neve r leave s the prec i ncts of h i s mosque and compou nd . The

Pagla bridge i s an i nte rest ing old re li c 0 11 t he Narayanganjroad . I t i s sa id to have bee n bu i l t by Mi r Jumla abou t 1660 ,thou gh B i shop l leber s tate s that the n at i ve s told him that thea rchi tec t was a T h e bridge i s n ow i n r u in s bu t twotowers a re st i l l s tan di ng and the ge n eral e ffec t i s ra the r pictu resqu e .

GAZETTEER .

The most celebrated temple i n Dacca i s the Dhakeswari H i nd uwh ic h i s si tuated in the north -west corner of the town . The templ es .

temple i s said to have been original ly founded by Bal l a l Senin grati tude for as si stance rendered to h i s mother when she was

ban i shed here wi th her in fan t after her intrigu e wi th the r i ve rB rahmapu tra had been di scovered . Raj a Man Singh

,Akbar

’s

famou s gene ral , i s said to have rebu i l t the shrin e , bu t all t race sof the se ancien t temple s have d i sappeared and the pre sen t bu i ldi ng i s ascri bed to the piety of an empl oyé of the Company whol ived abou t two hu ndred year s ago . In the Nawabpu r road i s theshrine of Lak.sh i Narayan who i s an object of spec ial reveren ceto the Basaks i nhabiting th i s quarte r . One of the exterior stone sof the temple abu tting on the road i s worn smooth by the forehead s of devou t H indu s salu ting the de i ty wi th in . The Shi vbari

and the Kal i bari n ear the Ramna race -cou r se have al so recen tlyattracted many worsh ipper s .

race andThe hi story of Dacca as a trade cen tre i s vi rtual ly the hi story Commerce

of the d i stri ct,and wil l be found d iscu s sed i n detai l i n Chapter

VI I . At the presen t day i t i s to some exten t hampe red as a t radecentre by the deter iorat i on of the Bu r i Ganga . Du ring the rain sthat ri ver i s cpen to steamer traffic al ong i ts whole length

, bu t i n

the dry weather on ly the smal les t coun try boats can en te r i t swestern mou th and even steam laun ches cann ot get up to the c ityfrom the east . Dacca c ol lects ju te and oi l-seeds for export , buti s not so large an emporium as Narayanganj , and i t has a fai rexport bu s ine s s in h ides . The prin cipal imports are grain ,

sal t , oi l , piece-goods , l ime , stat i on e ry ,umbre l las , drugs , ready

made c lothing,and the mi sce l lan eou s art icle s wh i ch an Ameri can

wou ld descri be as‘noti on s .’ There are few weavers of fine

mu s lin left , bu t a few l ooms sti l l are worked i n Wari . There i s,

however , a con siderable manu factu re of j happ d n s and [ca stda s

which are exported to Tu rkey and Arabia . Othe r indu str ie s are

she l l cu tting , which has i t s cen tre i n the Sankhari B a zar,bras s

and metal work i n the Tatari B azar , gold and si lve r work in the

Tan ti B azar and Nawabpu r , soap-making and boat-bu i ld ing . The

Bank of B engal at Dacca i s the finan c ia l cen tre n ot on ly of thed i stric t bu t of mu ch of Eastern B enga l and there are a certainnumber of wealthy mon ey-lender s in the B azar .

The water-works of Dacca took the i r ori gin i n gi ft of WaterRs . made by Nawab Sir Abdu l Gan i

,m 18 7 1 to works .

commemora te t he recovery of King Edward V I I , then Prince ofWale s

,from a se riou s i l lne s s . Thi s gift was su bsequ en tly dou bled

by the generou s donor and an othe r hal f lakh was given by h i sson Nawab Sir Ah san u l lah

,to form the nu cleu s of a

main tenan ce fu nd . The works we re completed in Jan u ary 1878

at a cost of Rs . l ,9 5 ,000 ,the amou n t i n excess of the gift of one

lakh be ing paid by Governmen t . The water was drawn from the

Bu ri Gan ga,passed throu gh sett ling tanks and fi lte ring beds , and

d i stri bu ted throu gh 4,

—1 mi le s of pipes fi tted with 2 5 stree t stand

Cemeter ies .

DACCA DISTRICT .

posts . The dai ly su pply of fi ltered water ava i lable was

gal l on s . Thi s su pply was far from mee ting the requ i rement s ofthe c ity and the sy stem was ex tended from time to time

,

Rs . be ing prov ided for the pu rpose by the Nawab and

Rs . by the Mun icipal ity . Ultimate ly there were nearly16 mi le s of piping with 14 2 street hydran ts . In 1893 , the greatd i stu rbe r s of Easte rn B en gal began to make the i r influen ce fel t .The ma in stream of the Bu r i Ganga receded and a chu r began toform in fron t of the in take pipe . The len gth of the pipe was

extended and a chann e l was dug th rough th e cha r i n the dryseason . Bu t these exped ien t s proved of n o avai l in face of thecon stan t ly in creasin g s i ze of the cha r , and u l timate ly a n ew

pumping stat i on had to be e rected on the fu rthe r edge to d ri vethe water acros s i t throu gh an open condu it in to a pool fromwh ich i t cou ld be drawn by the main su ction pipe . I t was thenfel t that the t ime had come to remode l the whole system. The

popu lat ion had ou tgrown the avai lable supply of wate r , the

en gine s we re old and expen s i ve i n the i r work ing and the supplyof the unfi ltered wate r precar iou s and un sati sfactory . I t was at

fi rst su gge sted that fou r we l l s each 26 fee t in diameter shou ldbe su nk i n the cheer and the water pumped d i rect from theminto the main s bu t th i s sc heme was rej ected , as , apar t from otherobj ect ion s . it was con sidered dou btfu l whether th e we l ls wou ldy ie ld the requ isi te supply of water . Ult imate ly admin i strat i vesan ction was accorded to a scheme e st imated to cost Rs .

of wh ich Rs. were given as a gran t by Governmen t

and the remainder as a loan t o the Mun i c ipal i ty repa'

yable intwen ty year s . Under thi s scheme two n ew engin e s have beenprov ided each capable of pumping gal l on s per hou rand the two old Worth ington pumps wh ich can de l i vergal lon s an hou r are retained as a reserve . The water i s d rawn d i rectfrom the r iver throu gh a su ction pipe fee t long , i s fi l tered i nsix jewe l fi lte rs

,and i s fi nal ly d i str ibu ted thou ghou t the c ity .

Mu ch cred i t i s due to the Chai rman of the Mu n i cipal i ty NawabKhwaj a Muhammad Yu suf Khan Bahadu r

,fordahe tac t and abi l ity

sh own by him in br inging to a con c lu si on a scheme that was be se twi tlzi

'

many d iffi cu l tie s . A n ote recorded by h im i n 1908 on the waterworks remode l l ing scheme con tain s mu ch u sefu l in forma ti on .

The Angli can cemete ry i s s itu ated i n the north-east corn e r ofthe c i ty and was con secrated by B i shop Hebe r in 182 4 . I t i s descr ibed by that pre late as be ing abou t a m i le d i stan t from the inhabi

ted portion of the city and as su rrounded by a wi ldern e ss of j ungle .

“ Some fine elephan ts with the i r mahou t s wa s brows ing on

the trees and bu sh e s rou nd the wal l s and amid the nei ghbou ringru in s . I nd ian catt le occu pied the l i ttle gras sy glade s whi chi ntersected what wou ld e lse have been a trac kle s s fore st and thewhole bad so wi ld and characteri s tic an appearan ce that I regre ttedthat I had no time to make a drawing .

”

DACCA DISTRICT .

Abdu l Gani grand father,and Nawab S i r Ah sanu llah , father of Si r

Salimu llah , the presen t Nawab Bah adu r of Dacca.

Mau l v i H afiz u llah and Khwaja Alimu llah accumu lated a

magn ifi cent e state , and thou gh i ts d ign i ty and importan ce hasbeen dimin i shed by the Mu hammadan law of in heri tan ce whichal locates it to numerou s shareholders i t i s sti l l a splendidprope rty . The Nawabs of Dacca have now for several generation smain tained the tradi tion s and posi tion of great nobles , and the i rin fl uen ce over the Muhammadan commu n i ty was and i s immen se .

The Ahsu n Munz i l, wh ich was bu i lt i n 1872 ,i s a stately residence

whose pu bl i c apartmen ts are fu rn i shed in the be st Eu ropeanstyle and the i r garden hou ses at Dilku sha, Shah Bag, and

Baganbari give eviden ce of equal ly go od taste . The Nawabsoffered a splendid h ospi tal i ty alike to Eu ropean s and to Indian sand to the poor of the c i ty they were an ever pre sen t he lp introub le . Even at the presen t day when the re sou rces of thee s tate have been to some exten t di s s ipated by the i r d i str ibu t ionin to so many channe l s no les s than Rs. are an nual ly spen ton re li gi ou s and charitable pu rposes and the l iberal i ty of theNawabs i n the pas t has been phenomenal . They gave lakhsof rupees to provide Dacca W i th e lectri c l ight

,25 lakhs for wate r

works,a lakh for the Dacca rel ief fund and anothe r lakh for the

Dacca plague fund,bu t the se are on ly the more con spi cuou s of

the i r many benevolen ce s . The presen t Nawab Si r Salimu llah ivascreated a K .C i n 1908 and a G C. I .E . in 19 11 and has se rvedon the legi s lative coun c i l of the V i ceroy . H e take s a keen in tere s tin e ve ryth ing affect ing the Mu hammadan commun i ty and was a

stau n ch supporte r of the Gove rnmen t d u r i ng the ag i tat ion thatfol lowed the partiti on of B engal . H e i s not , howeve r , the on lyd i s t ingu i shed membe r of h i s fam i ly for h i s u nc le

,Nawab

Mu hammad Yu su f, has for many y ears done exceptional lymeri tori ou s work as Cha i rman of the Mun ici pal i ty and V i ceChai rman of the Di str ict B oard .

B asora.. —Head-quarter s v i llage of the Man i kganj Subdi vision si tuated in 23 0 53

'

N . and 96°2’E . The vi l lage and bazar

stand on a fine grass M ai dan on the banks of a kha l wh ich inthe rain s i s connected with the Dhaleswari ri ver . The publ icoffi ce s in c lude the cu tcher rie s of the Subd ivi sional Offi cer andof the th ree Munsi fs stati on ed here , a br ick bu i l t sub-j ai l wi thaccommodat i on for 22 pr i son er s

,a char itable di spen sary with

e igh t beds , an en t ran ce school,a bon ded l i qu or warehou se and

the offi ce of the Sub-Regi strar . The poli ce statron i s s ituatedon the banks of the Dhaleswari ri ver abou t two mi les away.

Dasora like the rest of the Man ikganj su bdi vi s i on is a feveri shlocal ity and the Distri ct B oard have recen tly spent a large sum ofmoney in di gging tanks and u s ing the earth obtained from themto fill up the, in san i tary di tches and hol lows whi ch su rroundedmos t of the habi tati on s in the cen tre of the town .

GAZETTEER . 183

Dhamrai — A large vi l lage s i tuated on the Ban si r i ver in23

°

55'

N . and 90°13

’E . ; popu lation , 19 11 , 635 . Dhamra i i s bu i lt

u pon a low hi l l of late ri te,which i s an outlyer from the high

land of Bhowal , standing up amid st the swamps that lie to thenorth of the Dhaleswari . Dhamrai i s mu ch more of a town thanmost of the vi llage s of Dacca. Many of the hou se s are bu i lt ofmason ry and the late rite soi l di scou rage s that luxu rian t grow th of

vegetable l i fe wh ich i s so characte ri stic of a Bengal i vi l lage . A

broad road run s through the place,i n which stand s a colossa l car

adorned with rough carvings,some of which depi ct the workings

of the reproducti ve in stinct i n i ts most abandoned forms . Thiscar i s u sed in the Rathjatra fes t i val i n June-Ju ly when Dhamra ii s c rowded with pi lgrims . The re i s a large mosque i n the

vi l lage to wh ich i s attached a Muhammadan school .Dhankora .

— Vi llage s i tuated in the Man i kganj thana,whi ch i s the seat of the Dhankora zamindars . The fou nder of

the fami ly was Ram Naras ingha Ray ,the great-great-grand father

of the presen t z amindars who was a legal practi tione r and

shop-own er at Mymen singh The e s tate pays a re venue ofRs The pre sen t owner s of the property are two cou s in sBabu s H em Chandra Ray Chaudhu r i and Babu Dine sh ChandraRay Chaudhu ri

Durdur ia -Ru in s of a fort on the banks of the Lakshyari ver i n 2 4

°7

'

N and 90°

E . , nearly opposite the v i l lage ofKapasia . The fort i s in the form of a cre scen t resting on the

ri ve r,the ou ter wal l , which i s su rrounded by a moat , being abou t

two m i les i n c i rcumference . W i th in thi s there i s a second earthwork and i n the cen tre o f all the re are the ru in s of the c i tade l , wh ichseems to have been bu i lt o f brick . On the Opposi te bank of theLakshya there ar e mou nds and scattered br icks wh i ch sugge st thatthe place was on ce the s ite of a city of con s ide rable si ze . Ac cordi ng to Tay lor , who de sc r ibe s the places a t length (Topographyof Dacca

, p. the fort i s sai d to have been e rected byRan i Baban i who was probably the las t of the B uuea Rages

at the time of the Muhammadan i nvas ion i n 120 4 A.D. The

fort was twi ce bes ieged by the Emperor of De l h i in ‘the latterha l f of the fourteen th cen tu ry but on both occas i on s u nsu cces s ful ly .

The fort at Du rdu ria i s sometimes spoken of as the Ekdala fort ,the name having been tran s ferred from the fort at Ekdala

,

e ight mi les lowe r down the r i ver .

Jaydebpur-Vi llage s i tu ated i n 2 4

°0

'

N . and 9 0° E .

Jaydebpu r i s the fami ly seat of the zamindar s of B howal whoare general ly con s idered to be the lead ing fami ly of H induland lord s i n the di str ict . They have been i n possessi on of

the ir e state s for u pwards of ten gen erati on s ; the i r property ,

has not been di s s ipated amongs t a mu l ti tude of cc share rs , and

nruch of i t l ie s i n a compacttD

block , su rrounded by a rin g fence .

I t has a lways been the trad i ti on of the fami ly to do things 111 the

grand sty le . They gave,for in stance

,the land requ ired

o

for the

184 DACCA DISTRICT.

ra i lway and for roads through Bhowa l free of charge and for several

gen erat ion s th ey have main tain ed a fine e stabl ishmen t at Jaydebpur .

The firs t chie f of Bhowal was Faz l Ghaz i,on e of the fol lowe r s of

185 Khan , whose de scendan t Bahadu r rece i ved a j agi r of 22

parganas in Eastern B enga l from the great Emperor Akbar . The

e state remain ed i n the fami ly of the Ghaz i s , who se tt led at

Kaliganj,ti l l the t ime of on e Dau lat Ghaz i

,who rece i ved a fresh

sett lemen t in 16 4 5 A.D . Dau lat Ghaz i fai led to exe rci se prope rsuperv i s ion over h i s affai r s or h i s employés , h i s revenue was notpaid up with pu n c tu al ity and i t i s al leged that the Mughalau thori tie s depri ved him of the zamindari and sett led i t wi ththree of h i s H indu servan ts , Ba la Ram , Kri shna Ram Chau dhariof Gacha and Balsanna Ghosh . B ala Ram was su cceeded by hi sson S r ikri shna and the san ad dated 1683 A.D. confi rming him in

the zamindar i i s st i l l preserved amongst the fami ly arch i ves .

The new zam indars at fi r st made some arrangemen t for the

su pport of the i r former maste rs bu t the se a l lowances werewithd rawn

,and though the Ghaz i s contested the i r t itle

,both by

force of arm s and in the law cou rts , they met with no su cce s s ine ither fie ld and the i r c laims were final ly rejected in a j udgmen tde l i vered in 1 70 4 A.D. The presen t Jaydebpu r fami ly traces i t sde scen t to Keshab , a learned pand it of Baj raj ogin i

‘i n Mun sh i ganj .

Fou rth i n de scen t from him was Bala Ram, who was the diwdn ofDau lat Ghaz i and s ucceeded i n ou sting h i s master and obtainingsettlemen t i n h i s place i n the latter hal f of the seven teen thcen tu ry . Sixth i n de scen t from Ba la Ram was Lakshi N arayan ,

who he ld the zam indar i in 1763 when the Company fi rst assumedthe diwdn i of Bengal . Lakshi Narayan was a strong man bu t

died when hi s son Golack Narayan was but three year s old and

the widow and orphan were driven from the i r home by the wi feof a member of a collateral bran ch . The widow subsequent lysucceeded i n regain in g her e sta te s bu t Golack prefe rred a li fe ofre l i giou s medi tat ion to on e of action and dec l ined to take anyintere st in the affai r s o f thi s l i fe . His son , Kali Narayan BayChaudhari was of a ve ry differen t temper . The Gacha zaminda rshad sold a port ion of the i r e state s in Bhowal to Mr . W i se , thefamou s indigo plan ter of Dacca ,

who thu s became a co sharer i nBhowal . Quarre l s soon sprang u p between the partners and afte rseveral mu rderou s r i ots Mr . W i se dec ided that there was not

room for two ru lers i n Bhowal and in 185 1 he sold hi s share ofthe zamindari to Kal i N arayan for Rs Kal i Narayana lso pu rchased the zamind ar i of P lru lbar ia and played a lead ing

part in the social l i fe of the d istri ct both amongs t Eu r opean s a nd

Ind ian s . He was a keen sportsman and a chari table and en l igh tened landlord and was the firs t gen t leman in Eastern Bengal torece i ve from G overnmen t the ti tle of Raj a Bahadu r . Kal i Nara

yau d ied i n M 78 , and was su cceeded by h i s son Raj a Raj end raNarayan Deb Bahad ur . During h is in cumbency the in come of

the property was mu ch en larged and the son we l l su stained the

186 DACCA DI STRICT .

bazar i s s ituated on ei ther side of a klual flowing into the Padma.,and i s a grea t cen tre-f or the trade in ju te , t imbe r , oi l , and sal t.M e ssrs .

Tu rn er Morr i son and Co. have a sal t godown hereand there i s a large depot for oil the re are also a sub-regi strar’soffi ce and an independen t pol ice ou tpost At the pre sen t dayLohaj ang i s a very bu sy l i t tle place bu t i ts ex i stence i s threatenedby the Padma r ive r , and i t is poss i ble that before l ong mu ch of i tw i l l. have been washed away .

M irkadim.—La rge bazar s itua ted on the sou th bank of the

Dhaleswari r iver in 2 3°3 4

'

N . and 9 0°30

'

E abou t one and a

ha l f m i le s n orth-east of Mu n shi ganj . Popu lati on in 19 1 1 , 2 92 .

Mi rpur .

-l .arge trading v i l lage s i tuated 8 15mi les wes t of

Dacca , on the banks of the Tu rag , i n 2 3°67

' N . and 90°

20'

E ;

popu lati on in 19 1 1 , 818 . The v i l lage i s rather pi ctu re sque as i t i ss i tuated on seve ral l ow hi l l s in te rsected by the var iou s channe l sof the Tu rag. Two large madrasas are maintained here and in

the ne ighbou rhood i s the shr ine of Haz rat Shah Ali , which i sv i s ited every year by thou sands of pi lgr ims . The mosque in

which he i s bur ied was erected i n 14 80 A.D.

,bu t the sa in t d id

not di e t i l l 1577 . I t i s stated that he shu t h imse l f up i n the

mosque afte r requ e st ing that he migh t not be d i s tu rbed in any wayfor forty days . On the th i rty-n in th day the d i sc iples heard a n oi seas of boi l ing l iqu id in side the mosqu e and i n the ir a larm dec idedthat the door mu st be bu rs t open . On en tering the mosque all

that they fou nd was a pool of boi l in g blood u pon the floor , .whi lea voice from heaven ,

whi ch they recogn ised as being that of thesaint

,ordered them to bu ry the b lood where i t lay.

Manohardi . -Bazar s i tuated i n the n orth of the Nar

ayanganj su bdivi s ion in 2 3°4 7

' N . and 90°3 7

'

E . The re i s a

charitable di spen sary and independen t pol ice ou tpost here .

Munshiganj .— The head-quar te rs of the Mu nsh i ganj su b

d ivi s i on , s i tuated i h 2 3°33

' N . and 90032

’E .

, popu lat ion i n 19 11 ,

88 3 The bazar i s bu i l t on the banks of a bran ch of the Talta laKha l

,whi ch i n the rain s afford s a safe and di rec t route from the

Dhaleswar i to the Padma. In the cold weathe r i t i s too sha l lowfor navigation and the que st ion of deepen ing i t i s u nder theconside rat ion of the Di str ict Board . B oth c riminal and c ivi lwork are very heavy here and the ord inary staff con s i s ts of threemagi strates and fi ve mu nsi fs . The pu bl i c bu i ld ings inc lude a

a sub-jai l with accommodati on for 17 pri sone rs, a di spen sary , the

offi ce of a sub-regi strar , an en tran ce school , a bonded li qu orwarehouse and a publ ic l i brary pre sented by Babu H arendra Lal

Ray of Baghyaku l. A j ewe l fi l te r for the supply of fi l teredwater with a pipe in stal lation was pre sen ted to the stati on byBabu Sita Nath Ray of the same fam i ly in 1909 . The Subdivi

s ional‘O f’ficer

’s re siden ce i s s i tuated i n the Idrakpu r fort which was

e re cted by Mi r Jumla abou t 16 60 A.D. The e nclosu re wal l s andfi ve bas t i ons , all bu i l t of red sands tone

,are sti l l in very fai r

cond ition . From December to February a large fai r,the Kart ie

GAZETTEER .

B arun i mela , i s he ld on the banks of the Dhaleswar i at a

di stan ce of abou t hal f a mi le from Mu n shiganj . Thi s fai r u sedformerly to be a great centre of trade

,and though with the

deve lopmen t of steamer commun icati on i t has dec l ined con siderab ly i n importance , a large bu s iness i s sti l l done i n t imber

,

potte ry , and b rass ware .

Nangalband .— Vi llage situated in 2 3

°39

’N . and 90

°3 3

'

E . on the banks of the old B rahmapu t ra in the Narayanganj subdivi s ion . The vi l lage i s on ly of importan ce on the

occa s ion of the great bathing fe s ti val wh ich take s place on

the e ighth day of the moon i n Chai t . Trad i t ion has i t thatParasu ram afte r k i l l ing hi s mothe r was unable to free. hi s handfrom the axe wi th wh ich he did the horrid deed t i l l hebathed in the waters of the B rahmakund amongst the Mi shmiH i l l s . Anxiou s to con vey the se healin g waters to mankind be

con verted the accu rsed axe in to a plough and en t a passage throughthe hi l l s down whi ch the lake po ured in to the As sam Va lley . H e

c on tinued to carve a channe l for the r i ver t i l l h i s plough stu ck.fast at Nanga lband . Sati sfied that hi s labou rs had at last come

to an end he wen t on pi lgrimage bu t was en raged on hi s retu rnto fi nd that th e B rahmapu tra had broken through the barr ie rthat stayed i t and mingled its waters wi th the Lakshya ri ve r .In hi s wrath he cu r sed i t and declar ed that the r i ver shou ld on lyenj oy i t s pecu l iarly pu ri fy ing power s for one day in the yea r .

On th i s occasion the vi l lage i s v i s i ted by thou sands ofpi lgrims anx iou s to pu rge the i r sou l s o f sin . Cholera u sed at one

t ime to be a ser iou s menace for Nangalband i s no longe r si tuatedon the ma in stream of the B rahmapu tra but on a dy ing channet

which con tain s l i ttle wate r save i n the rain s . The Di stri ct B oardhas accordingly taken ove r the man agemen t of the mela ; tu bewe l l s have been su nk and temporary hospi tal s e stabl i shed .

Narayanganj .—Narayanganj stands on the banks of the

Lakshya i n 9 3° 3 7 N . and 90°30

’E ., in a posi tion that I S admi rably

su i ted for all pu rposes of trade . Un l ike mos t of th e r ivers of

East Bengal the Lakshya flows between h igh banks s o thatNarayanganj has escaped the fate that befal l s most of

” the de l tatown s and has ne i the r been was hed away nor left h ig h and dr y a

mi le or more from a navigable r i ve r . The Lakshya at th ispoin t fal l s in to the Dhaleswari and the Dhaleswar i , after u n itin gi ts wate rs w i th the Meghn a

,join s the Padma a few mi les lowe r

down . Narayanganj i s thu s in tou ch wi th all the trade of’l‘ippera

and the Su rma val ley , with Ca lcu tta , v i ii Goalando and e venwith the sea. I t i s in fact the port of Dacca from which it i sseparated by n ine mi les of road or rai lway and by abou t twen tymi le s of water . In the hei ght of the rain s , when the KumariaB han ga Kha l i s fu l l

,the d i stance by r iver i s redu ced by two or

three m i le sNarayanganj i s men tion ed i n some of the ear l ie st records

in the Col lectorate . There i s a peti tion dated 1790 i n which the

188 DACCA DI STRICT .

peti t ioner , an old servan t of the Company ,al lege s that he has

bu i lt the ganj for u pwards of th irty years , for the pu rpose ofdefraying the expen se s of the thaku r

,for feeding the poor

, and

for my own su pport .

” In 18 14,the Col lector stated that the

p lace was wel l known to Governmen t as a great sal t emporiumand the residen ce of on e of th ei r sal t agen cie s . I t was said tobe abou t a th i rd of the s i ze bu t more popu lou s and opu len t . in

proport ion than the c i ty of Dacca . Th i s e stimate of size wasc lear ly in correct and H am i lton wr it ing in 1820 pu t s the pOpu la

t i on at sou ls . The in habitan ts carr ied on a great trade insal t , grain , tobacco , and l ime and the t own exhi bi ted a scene ofcommercial bu stle and activity se ldom seen i n a commu n i ty en t i re lycomposed of Hindu s . Most of the prin cipa l merchan ts were ,however , I n 1838 , when Mr . Taylor wrote

,the

popu lati on on ly amou n ted to bu t he state s that the placehad been dec lin in g for abou t 30 years , having su ffe red from the

compet i t i on of Siraj ganj . Abou t maun d s of sal t wereimported from Chi ttagong and Bu lwah and no les s than 160

s l oops were en gaged i n the trade . Mugh s and people from th e

eastern coast be low Arracan,in c ludin g a few Chin ese , al so v i s i ted

Narayanganj i n the n orth-eas t mon soon , exchan ging catechu ,

cotton ,arsen i c

,pepper

,and bu l l i on , for bete l-n utf sugar , tobacco

and manu factu red good s .1‘In 1867

,the trade in ju te which has

made Narayan ganj what i t now i s was beginn ing to as sumeimportan ce . The e s timated annu al exports amoun ted to fou rlakh s of mau n d s of j u te and the trade i n oi l seeds was in c reas ing.

The popu lation i n 18 72 was The n ext n ine yearstnessed l i tt le growth and i n 188 1 i t was on ly i n 18 9 1

i t was in 1 90 1 and i n 19 11,

The cen su si s taken at the beginn ing of the year

,before the commen cemen t of

the j u te season , and i n Augu st , when the r i ve r i s packed wi thsh ipp ing and the mi l l s wi th cool ie s

,there are probably

people i n the place .

On the ri ght ban k of the Lakshya the town i s d i vided in to thefol lowi ng quarter s

,star ting u p

‘

stream— H aj lganj , Bhagwanganj ,Tan Bazar, N i taiganj and Si talakshya . On the left ban k the

n ame s of the quar ters are Nabiganj , Bandar , Son akanda, and

Madanganj The total area with in mu ni c ipa l l imi t s i s fou rsqu are mi les . Mu ch of the land l ie s wel l be low flood leve land has to be arti ficial ly rai sed before i t can be u sed for bu i ldingbu t the mun i cipal i ty , on wh ich the Eu ropean j u te merchan ts arestrongly represen ted , i s probably the most effi cien t i n Bengal andthe town has been we l l la id ou t and i s adm i rably managed . The

ri ver fron tage i s for the most part occupied wi th j u te factories .

The fibre i s pre s sed in to bales , cu tcha i f on ly in tended for Calcu tta,

A G eograph i c a l , t et ical , and H is torica l Description of H i ndustanand the Ad j a cent Countr i es by Wa lter Ilamllton , London , 1820.

TTopograp hy of Da c ca ,

190 DACCA DI STRICT .

Raipura .—Bazar s i tuated in 2 3

°59

’N . and 9 ) 53

'

E on

the ban ks of the Meghn a . The bazar con tain s a pol ice station ,

sub—regi strar’s offi ce , entran ce school and Gu ru tra in ing school .Raj abar i .

—V i l lage si tu ated in 23°2 9

’ N . and 90°30

'

E .,

con tain in g an indepen den t pol i ce ou tpost and the offi ce of asub-regi strar. Abou t two mi le s to the sou th-we s t i s the Rajabarim at, wh ich forms a c on spi cu ou s landmark for a ll voyagers uponthe P adma . The mat i s a tower 80 fee t h i gh and 30 feet squ are at

the base wh ich i s sa id to have been bu i lt by Chand Ray and KedarRay abou t the midd le of the fi fteen th cen tu ry .

Rampal.— Vi l lage i n the Mu n sh i ganj su bdivi si on s i tu ated in

2 3°3 3

'

N . and 9 0°

30’E . ; popu lation i n 19 11 , 78 7 . The s i te of

the old cap i ta l of B i krampu r i s poin ted ou t near the large tankcal led Rampal dighi , which i s th ree-quaf

’ters of a m i le l ong by a

qu arter of a m i le broad . To the n or th of th i s tan k i s the B al la}brim: or pa lace of Bal l al Sen , the remain s of wh i ch con s i st of a

quadran gu lar mound of earth squ are feet in area su rrou n dedby a moat 200 feet wide . Fou ndat i on s and remain s of otherbu i ldin gs are foun d for m i les around and

,ea r ly in the n inetee n th

cen tu ry ,a cu l ti vator ploughed u p in the n e i ghbou rhood a di amond

worth Rs . I n s ide the B al la l brim: i s a deep excavati on ca l ledAgn ikunda , whe re tradi tion says that the last pr ince of B ikram

pur and h i s fam i ly bu rned them se l ves at the approach of the

Mu salman s . Close to B alla l ba'

n'i stand s a much vene rated tomb

o f on e Baba Adam or Adam Shahid . The masj id of B aba Adami s 4 3 fee t long by 36 feet broad , the walls are 65 feet th i ck and

the roof i s adorned wi th s ix dome s ; i t was e rected in 14 8 3

A.D. The re are variou s legend s with regard to B aba Adam,bu t

they agree in descr ib ing him as a sain t who came from Mecca toavenge a gross piece of inj u sti ce in flic ted on a Mu hammadan by a

a Hindu Raja. H e was ki lled by the Raj a bu t h i s death wasalmost immediate ly foll owed by the Raja

’s down fal l .Rekab i Bazar .

—Large bazar si tu ated on the s ou th ban k of theDhale swar i r i ver abou t three mi le s from Mun shi ganj town i n 2 3°

34’N . and 9 8

°2 9

’E . The bazar i s ch iefly inhabi ted by Mu ham

madan trader s and con tain s a mosque 36 fee t by 3 4 in out si demeasu remen t , whi ch was bu i lt in 156 9 A.D.

Ru pganj .

—Village s ituated in 2 3°4 7

’ N . and 90°3 1

'

E .,

on the we st bank of the Lakshya r iver . There i s a poli cestat i on at ll fipganj and on the opposi te ban k i s the hazar ofMu rapara and the fin e bri ck-bu i l t re siden ce of the Mu raparazami ndars . The founder of th i s fami ly was one Ram RatanB an arj i , who toward s the end of the e i ghteen th cen tu ry

,was

appoin ted treasu re r of Nator , then the head-quarter s of thel laj shahi di stri ct , by Mr . Douglas , former ly Col lector of Dacca . In

the t a-fl y days of the permanen t settlemen t e states were soldmore frequ en tly than at the presen t day and Ram Ratan acqu i redcon s ide rab le wea l th by paying in the revenue for zam indars who

we re late i n the i r remi ttan ce s , a service for whi ch he was hand