SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This work is a study of the early British revenue administration of Chittagong. It analyses the local revenue methods and usages of Chittagong, examines the operational aspects of the general revenue policies of the Bengal Government in this District and shows how they were modified by local circumstances and. demands. Chapter I deals with the direct administration of the land revenue of Chittagong by the British servants of the East India Company before their assumption of the Diwani of Bengal in 1772. It considers their policies for assessment, management and collection of the revenues and the extent of their success. Chapter II discusses the division of Chittagong into nine revenue units or chaklas and the introduction of a farming settlement therein. It also surveys the opposition of the zamindars to the new system and the other connected circumstances which finally led to its abandonment and the resto-ration of the lands to the zamindars, as revenue farmers. Chapter III narrates the process of the revenue collection under the management of the Chittagong zamindars. Chapter IV deals with the implementation of Warren Hasings' "Permanent Plan for the Administration of the Revenues of Bengal" of 1781, in Chittagong, its failure and the inauguration and working of mofussil settlements of land revenue under the supervision of the District Collectors. Chapter V is devoted to the waste land reclamation policy of the Government in Chittagong. It further shows how a zamindar established exclusive rights to all the waste lands on the basis of a forged sanad, examines the progress of reclamation under that sanad, and the final unmasking of the forgery. Chapter VI analyses the sair revenues of Chittagong, describes the methods of their management and collection and the reasons for their abolition. Chapter VII describes the zamindars of Chittagong and delineates the characteristics of the Chittagong zamindaries. The institution of the Qanungo during the period is also reviewed. The Conclusion sums up the results of the investigation and suggests scope for further research.