1009 



BENGAL. 



BENGAL. 



1010 



North-Western provinces, for the year 1846-7, and the population 

 amounted to no more than 19,733,742. From information collected 

 during the recent revenue settlement of that portion of India, it is 

 found that the population of the North-Western provinces is 23,199,668, 

 of whom about five-sixths are Hindoos. No means exist in this 

 country for ascertaining the present population of the lower provinces 

 of Bengal. It is not unreasonable to conclude that of late years a large 

 increase has taken place. Nothing but mere estimates however have 

 been hitherto made, and it is probable that they have been generally 

 too high. The cities and principal towns of the province are 

 CALCUTTA, the capital, BURDWAN, CHANDERNAGORE, DACCA, DIXAGE- 



POBE, MOORSHEDABAD, NARRAINGUNGE, PlTUXEAH, and RAJMAHAL. 



There are numerous villages which are principally built near the banks 

 of navigable rivers, so that a stranger passing along the stream would 

 form a very exaggerated notion of the populousness of the country. 



The houses in Bengalese towns are not regularly arranged in the 

 form of streets, but the residences of different divisions of the 

 inhabit <!! U are in different quarters : Hindoos occupy one quarter, 

 Mohammedans another, Europeans and their descendants another. The 

 houses of persons in easy circumstances are usually brick buildings, 

 with flat roofs, and mostly two stories high. The dwellings of the 

 poorer classes are mere huts. Except in the large towns, there are 

 no inns, but travellers can always find an empty hut of which they 

 may take possession. 



Bengal is inhabited by various races. The Hindoos, who are the 

 aborigines of the country, may be estimated at four-fifths of the 

 population. Early in the 13th century, the conquest of India by the 

 followers of Mohammed brought a considerable number of that sect 

 into the province. The hilly country which forms the northern and 

 eastern boundary of Bengal is inhabited by a race whose features 

 prove them to be of Tartar origin. Towards the west there is a 

 mixed population, made up of various races, among whom Moham- 

 medans and Afghans are the most numerous. 



The Bengalese are in general men of handsome features and lively 

 dispositions, but wanting in bodily strength, and of weak constitutions. 

 Their manners towards superiors are mild, and their general character 

 is that of pusillanimity. They are, notwithstanding, insolent and 

 nvirbvaring to inferiors, and all authorities concur in assigning to 

 a low rank in the moral scale. "The practices of cheating, 

 pilfering, tricking, and imposing are," according to Mr. Charles Grant, 

 " so common, that the Hindoos seem to consider them as they do 



natural evils Selfishness, in a word, unrestrained by principle, 



operates universally; and money, the grand instrument of selfish 

 gratifications, may bo called the supreme idol of the Hindoos." 

 Speaking of the lowest class, Mr. Grant says, " Discord, hatred, abuse, 

 slanders, complaints, and litigations prevail to a surprising degree. 

 .... Seldom U there a household without its internal divisions and 



lasting enmities, most commonly, too, on the score of interest 



Though the Bengalese have not sufficient resolution to vent their 

 resentments against each other in open combat, yet robberies, thefts, 

 ried, river piracies, and all sorts of depredations where darkness, 

 secrecy, or surprise can give advantage, are exceedingly common, 

 and have been so iu every past period of which any account 

 is extant. Benevolence has been represented as a leading principle in 

 the mimls of the Hindoos, but those who make this assertion know 

 little of their character. .... Filial and parental affection appear 

 equally deficient among them, and in the conjugal relation the charac- 

 teristic indifference of the people is also discernible among those who 

 come most within the sphere of European observation, namely, the 

 lower orders." 



As the picture here given was drawn by one who passed a great 

 part of his life among the people he has described, and attained a 

 high rank among those intrusted with the management of the 

 company's affairs, and as in eorne respects it has been abundantly 

 confirmed by other writers of unquestionable authority, there is 

 unhappily no reason for believing that it is very greatly overcharged. 



A great part of the criminal jurisprudence of Bengal was for a 

 long series of years occupied with the suppression of ' dakoity,' or 

 a system of robbing in gangs, and it is only recently that any 

 material check has been given to this practice. Instances have 

 occurred where whole families have practised dakoity from generation 

 to generation. The name has been considered to give the possessor a 

 r rank than that of a mere ryot, or cultivator. The dakoits of 

 Bengal have often settled homes, possess land, and associate freely 

 with men of influence in their villages. They are found among 

 M .liHinmedans as well as Hindoos. When at length their guilt is 

 established, they meet death with an indifference which, but for the 

 little value attached to life in India by the lower classes, would pass 

 for fortit-.de. The measures adopted of late years to suppress the 

 system of dakoity have been to a great extent successful. 



rnmcnl, Ac. The seat of the supreme government of India is 

 at Calcutta, the Governor-General of India being also Governor of 

 the Presidency of Bengal, who is assisted by a council of three ordi- 

 nary members, and one or two members extraordinary : one of these two 

 is frequently, but not necessarily, the commander-in-chief. There is 

 also (under the Act 16 and 17 Vic. cap. 95) a legislative council, of which 

 tli- ]i: 'mcil are members, with the addition of tho Governor- 



r-Gcneral may declare war or conclude peace, 



OKOO. DIV. VOL. I. 



pardon criminals, and, within certain limits, enact laws. Under him 

 there are, for the general government, a secretary and under-secretary 

 for the respective departments denominated the home, the finance, the 

 foreign, and the military : for Bengal there is a deputy -governor, a secre- 

 tary, and two uuder-secretaries ; and for the North- Western provinces 

 there is a lieutenant-governor, a secretary, and an assistant-secretary. 

 The secretaries communicate with the Governor-General and with the 

 Board of Directors in London. The territorial under-secretary fills 

 in some respects a similar office to that of the English chancellor 

 of the exchequer ; the judicial under-secretary has the general direction 

 of the police, and is the channel of communication between the 

 government and the chief criminal and civil courts (the Sudder 

 Dewanny and the Nizamut Adawlut). The collectors in the provinces, 

 besides recovering the land revenues, have the management of the 

 estates of minors, and are empowered to decide summarily in suits 

 between landlord and tenant, that is, iu disputes involving the 

 revenue. When collected, the revenue is lodged with a native 

 treasurer, who gives heavy security, for transmission to Calcutta. 



There is a supreme court at Calcutta for the Presidency of Bengal, 

 consisting of a chief judge and two puisne judges, with a master in 

 equity, a registrar, and other officers, and there is also a Hindoo and 

 a Mohammedan law-officer attached to the court. This court has 

 cognizance of civil, criminal, and police matters. It is a court of 

 appeal, and also for the remission or mitigation of sentences ; it has 

 the power to suspend provincial judges, and it may hear original 

 civil suits where the amount involved exceeds 50001. Under this 

 court are the provincial courts of appeal, consisting of a chief and a 

 puisne judge, which have no criminal jurisdiction; they may enter- 

 tain civil causes for sums exceeding 5000 rupees if the plaintiff desire 

 it ; the appeals lie from the Zillah courts, and their decision is 

 final, except in cases of special appeal. There are also commissioners 

 of circuit, who hold sessions of jail-delivery twice in each year 

 throughout the country, and fulfil likewise some duties connected 

 with the collection of the revenue. The Zillah courts have cognizance 

 of affrays, thefts, burglaries, &c. ; the power to try civil causes for 

 amounts not exceeding 20,000 rupees (where, as is mentioned above, 

 the plaintiff does not remove the suit into a higher court) ; to decide 

 on appeals from registrar's on suits not exceeding 500 rupees, from 

 the native judges (Sudder Aumeems), and Moonsiffs ; and three Zillah 

 judges may be invested by the Governor-General with power to hold 

 sessions and jail delivery. Many of these Zillah courts have been 

 furnished with native judges, and by a recent regulation native 

 assessors may sit on the bench with European judges. These courts 

 have authority over the police, and the judges have the duty 

 imposed on them of examining the state of the jails weekly. The 

 Moonsiffs and Sudder Aumeems are always native judges ; of the first 

 several are stationed in the interior of every district, and the second 

 are fixed at the same station with the European judge. They are 

 empowered to try causes for sums below 1000 rupees, and in some 

 cases as high as 5000 rupees, but appeals lie to the courts above them. 

 The civil law is administered according to the religious code of the 

 party, whether Hindoo or Mohammedan, but the criminal code if 

 the Mohammedan, softened in some of its sentences of mutilation of 

 limbs, whipping to death, &c., to imprisonment for various terms. 

 The police extends all over the country. It is divided into stations 

 each with a native officer, native registrar, and from 20 to 30 police- 

 men well armed : a portion of the police are mounted, and there is 

 also a river police. In the whole presidency there are about 900 

 stations. Every village has also its own watchman, armed and paid 

 by the inhabitants, and it is stated that the presidency contains 

 160,000 villages so provided. The head officer receives criminal 

 charges, holds inquests, forwards criminals, prosecutors, and witnesses 

 to the Zillah court, and reports proceedings to the European magis- 

 trate under whom he is placed. 



The Church of England establishment in Bengal consists of tho 

 Lord Bishop of Calcutta, who is Metropolitan of India, an archdeacon, 

 and 62 chaplains and assistant-chaplains, who are dispersed in various 

 parts of the province. The bishop is also visitor of the Bishop's 

 College at Calcutta. 



The Church of Scotland and tho Free Church of Scotland have 

 ministers in Calcutta and other parts of the Presidency, and both 

 superintend large educational establishments. There are Roman 

 Catholic clergymen also, chiefly for persons of that faith who are 

 serving in the army, and ministers of various religious denominations. 

 The amount paid. by government to English, Scotch, and Roman 

 Catholic chaplains ia about 61,198/. a year. 



Education. There are few countries in which the bulk of the popu- 

 lation is at once poor and well instructed, and Bengal does not furnish 

 an exception to this remark. The great schools or colleges in the 

 cities and towns are mostly of recent establishment, and owe their 

 existence to Europeans. Village schools are numerous, but they are 

 rarely commensurate with the wants of the people. The instructors 

 arc frequently incompetent, and few among the villagers can spare 

 from their scanty earnings the trifling sum requisite to pay for tho 

 instruction of their children. The education of Hindoo children 

 generally begins when they are five years old, and the cases are rare 

 in which pupils are continued in the schools after they are ton years 

 of age. One reason for this in, that an the pupils make progress the 



3 T 



