Government of Bengal

“ Gentlemen, the first step in the region of ideal is perfect provincial autonomy. Let us take Bengal. Any form of self-government that we can demand from this point of view must be a government which will secure the autonomy of the Bengalee nation. Then you must not forget that apart from the individuality of Bengal, India as a whole has got a special individuality of its own. ”

“ It is a matter of vital importance to the nation that the cultivators of Bengal should prosper and live better lives (hear, hear) . It is a matter of supreme importance to those who want self-government or swaraj in this country (hear, hear) . We must look forward to the whole Bengalee nation. We must work persistently, we must look forward to the day when the Bengalees as a nation, Hindus and Mahomedans, all together, will stand before the world in all the glory of nationality (cheers) . I say therefore the question is of vital importance from the point of view of the nation. ”

“ Now, gentlemen, provincial government must be so formed that it will not lose the particular interest which that individuality requires. The people of Bengal must realise that the whole of their political enfranchisement must be based upon their ancient ideals and traditions, enlarged no doubt, developed no doubt, modernised no doubt, but still based on those ancient ideals. ”

“ The commerce of Bengal more especially became the object of their attention: the subordinate factories of Cossimbuzar, Dacca, and Ballasore, which had been abandoned, were now resettled: the exports and imports were doubled in value and in quantity; and the garrison of Calcutta was augmented to 300 men: all which the government of Bengal, contrary to its usual maxims, beheld without repugnance, and even without demanding money as the price of its forbearance and favour. ”

“ The first formulated effort in Bengal dates from 1769, four years after the civil administration of the Province came into its hands; the latest orders of the Court of Directors on the subject were issued in 1855, three years before the government of India passed from the Company to the Crown. During the long interval, many able and earnest men had laboured at the work, manuscript materials of great value had been amassed, and several important volumes had been published. But such efforts were isolated, directed by no central organization, and unsustained by any continuous plan of execution. ”

“ The hand that so deftly guided the political destiny of Bengal is, alas, now no-more to guide her; to lead her to the fondly wished-for goal—Self-Government. His death is a national calamity; for, quite irrespective of caste and creed—all feel that a shattering blow has been dealt at India’s aspirations—a hopeless void created—beautiful Hind suddenly bereft of her crowning glory! And if this is the case in the sphere of politics—no less keen and acute is the sense of loss in the social sphere. All feel his death as a personal loss—an irreparable loss. ”

“ The history of Bengal during the next few months will furnish the answer to the question whether we have utilised the century and a half of British peace, British administrative example, English education, and the preaching and sacrifice of a succession of national leaders, and acquired the one indispensable basis of popular government, or whether we still retain the spirit of the Kartabhaja and Maharaja sects. Have we learnt that the nation is greater than the individual? ”

“ For tho’, in our description of the Company’s government in India, we confined our account to that of Bengal alone, as being the most important and best known part of her dominion; yet doth the Company possess, besides Bengal, certain other territorial governments, of no small value and importance, in respect of either revenue or commerce. All which governments being formed upon the same system as that of Bengal, do not less demand reform, supervision, and controul. ”

“ They have been the recipients of the highest honors from the Government. Bengal is virtually the only province permanently settled where the Government cannot add to the Land tax fixed in 1793. The Bengalis are the people who spread over India, with every territorial extension of the British Raj. They have been the pampered and favored children of the Government and for very good reasons, too. They are the best educated and the most intelligent of all the Indian peoples. They know how to adapt themselves to all conditions and circumstances, they know how to enjoy and also how to suffer. ”

“ If we mean to avoid giving umbrage to the European powers, and to keep up the appearance of the present form of government, we ought not to exact one farthing of revenue more from the province. For my own part, I think, after we have made this year's experiment, and, by the regular payment of the rents, find we have not over-rated the countries, that if Bengal was let out for five, six, or seven years, it would be for the advantage of the Company, of individuals, and add stability to our possessions by inspiring the inhabitants with just ideas of our justice and moderation. ”

“ So far, they were determined not to use force even against force. With every display of force on the side of the Government, the nationalist movement gained ground in popularity and in strength, until the masses, the women and children, all were satu¬ rated with it.
This was the birth of a new life in Bengal, which found its reflection in every phase of public activity, religious, social, economic, educational, or political. What was done in Bengal found its echo in the rest of the country. So far the Nationalist party was united. ”

“ The situation in India demands prescience and statecraft. Though world-forces cannot be withstood, they are susceptible of control by enlightened will-power. Will peace be restored by the gift of constitutional government at a crisis when the august Mother of Parliaments is herself a prey to faction? It is worthy of note that the self-same spirit has always been rife in Bengal, where every village has its Dals—local Montagues and Capulets, whose bickerings are a fertile source of litigation. ”

“ Of the Punjab, however, we will speak later on. For the present we are concerned with Bengal only. The amazing phenomenon mentioned by the committee on p. 20 and referred to by us before is easily explained by the facts hinted in the Directors’ report quoted above. And this notwithstanding the fact that in the matter of Government patronage Bengal has been the most favored province in India, throughout the period of British rule. To the Bengalis have gone all the first appointments to offices that were thrown open to the natives of the soil. ”

“ I can assure the Government that I can prove it to demonstration, to whatever political party an individual in this country may belong, there is not one man in Bengal, who really desires that the English people should lose all connection with India and that some other foreign power should be brought here (loud cheers and hear, hear.) You do not believe that. We want to justify ourselves and want to become ourselves. We want to feel that this country really belongs to us—we want to feel that we are a nation—that we have got our specialities. ”

“ His task was a difficult one, for the population numbered six millions, many of the independent chiefs were fierce and powerful, and the part of the island which had been conquered by the Dutch was much less than half. The government was none the easier for being made subordinate to the governor-general in council in Bengal, and for the fact that it was upon Bengal the governor had to draw for money, drafts which eventually exhausted the patience of the superior administration. He set to work with an energy surprising in a man of already impaired health. ”

“ We feel that this Government of East Bengal have not shown any indication of having such an enlightened democratic outlook as to look upon us from proper perspective. We do very keenly feel that we have entered a critical juncture of our life. ”

“ Rajas, of whom there is a great number in the dependencies
of Bengal, united to each other by the same religion, mutually
support each other as much as they can. They detest the
Muhammadan Government, and if it had not been for the
Seths, the famous bankers, with whom they have close
connections, it is probable that after the Revolution in which
Siraj-ud-daula was the victim, they would all have risen
together to establish a Hindu Government, from which the
English would not have obtained all the advantages they
did from the Muhammadan. ”

“ In few words, the power of the English government, and the freedom of native juries, are two things that cannot possibly exist together in Bengal; the life of the one must unavoidably cause the death of the other: and, however harsh this doctrine may sound in a freeborn English ear, the force and truth of it will immediately strike the politician.
48Equally unavailing is that proposal for securing the liberty and property of the subject, from the oppression and extortion of government, by granting to the native a perpetual property in land ”

“ But he is ambitious to obtain an appointment to Bengal, where his father has served so long, and may, possibly, have friends and recollections that might be useful to him in the early part of his career. It falls to the lot of few to have the opportunities that I have had to carry out the benevolent views of Government in measures of great and general benefit to the people, and to secure their gratitude and affection to their rulers. ”

“ THE scope of our narrative now calls us from the coast of Coromandel to relate the calamities which at this time befel the English settlements in Bengal; previous to which it is requisite to investigate the rise and progress of the English commerce in the province, and to give some portion of the history of the Mahomedan government.
Bengal is the easternmost of the provinces which compose the empire of the Great Mogul. It lies between the degrees 26. 30. and 21. 30. of north latitude, and extends from the 86th to the 97th degree of longitude, computing from the meridian of London. ”

“ Coming from the pen of an accomplished professional man, it sets forth, in a manner no civilian could hope to rival, the early exploits of that army of which the author was a member. It may be well to note, in concluding this chapter, what appears to have been at this time the legal relation of the British settlers in Bengal towards the Government of the Empire. In 1678 the Company's Agents had obtained a patent conferring upon them the power of trading in Bengal. In 1696 they purchased from the Nawab the land surrounding their factory, and proceeded to protect it by rude fortifications. ”

“ The first English conquerors had been more rapacious and merciless even than the Mahrattas—but that generation had passed away. Defective as was the police, heavy as were the public burdens, it is probable that the oldest man in Bengal could not recollect a season of equal security and prosperity. For the first time within living memory, the province was placed under a government strong enough to prevent others from robbing, and not inclined to play the robber itself. These things inspired goodwill. ”

“ The District Accounts which I have myself prepared, as provincial editor for Bengal and Assam, derive their materials from four distinct sources. My inquiries, circulated to the District officers, form the basis of the whole; but they have been supplemented by special reports from the provincial Heads of Departments; by papers on individual subjects, obtained for me by the Government; and by my personal researches in the Bengal Districts, and among the manuscript records of the Government at Calcutta, and in the India Office, London.
No effort has been spared to ensure accuracy. ”

“ In Southern India the English and French had been constantly at war whenever there was war in Europe, but in Bengal the strength of the Government, the terror of the Marathas, and the general weakness of the Europeans had contrived to enforce a neutrality. ”

“ He pointed out that, from a Fund founded by a Muhammadan primarily for Muhammadons, his co-religionists were not deriving the advantages which were their due in comparison with the Hindus who were benefiting from it to a far greater extent. Government, recognizing the justice of the claim, introduced changes into the administration of the Fund for the benefit of Muhammadans, setting aside a large sum to assist poor Muhammadan students throughout Bengal by paying two-thirds of their school fees, thus conferring an immense boon upon a poor community. ”

“ This College had been established in 1817 as the outcome of the exertions of David Hare, Baidyanath Mukherjee, Ram Mohan Roy and others, supported by the Chief Justice of Bengal, Sir Hyde East. It had originated in the desire to give the rising generation a thorough education on western lines. Government had at first intentionally avoided introducing anything of the kind in its sincere desire to avoid the appearance of forcing a new system of education against their will upon the Indian people. ”

“ It is impossible to name any one day, or any one year, as the day or the year when the Company became a great potentate. It has been the fashion indeed to fix on the year 1765, the year in which the Mogul issued a commission authorising the Company to administer the revenues of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa, as the precise date of the accession of this singular body to sovereignty. ”