Pt. II. Chap. I.] collieries — history. 157 



house, Messrs, Alexander and Co., who had been security for Mr. 

 Jones, were obliged to do so. The pottahs of the land on which the 

 mine was were, doubtless, placed in their hands, for they became the 

 owners of the colliery about 1820. 



The history of the Raniganj field from that period is the history of 



one continued succession of fightings and litio-a- 

 Frequent disputes. 



tions. The constant endeavors of Messrs. Alex- 

 ander and Co., and of their successors, was, not unnaturally, to obtain 

 a monopoly of the valuable coal district around them, and to prevent 

 any one else from establi s hing himself in it. For every mine it was 

 necessary to have, not merely a lease or pottah of the land on which 

 the coal was procured, but also of a ghat or shipping place from 

 which the coal could be sent by the river to Calcutta, and permission 

 to make a road to connect the two. Labor was also necessary, and, 

 for the purpose of obtaining command of it, it was, and still is, 

 customary to procure from the proprieters leases of villages. On 

 all these points, amongst a race of litigants, and with the peculiar 

 facilities afforded by the laws and customs of the country for the 

 promotion of legal disputes, it would be strange if questions as to 

 right of ownership, right of way, and rights of every sort and kind, 

 should not constantly be arising : and they did arise most abundantly. 

 When endless law suits were the price at which alone it was possible 

 for any one to commence mines in the Raniganj district, it is not 

 surprising that the greater number of speculators would be discouraged, 

 and that the longest purse would, in the end, have all the advantage. 

 But even if the real facts could be ascertained, no information of value 

 would be gained from a detail of the petty squabbles of the various 

 coal owners, although, on the whole, they have had a most important 

 effect in impeding the progress of the district. Divested of unimportant 

 circumstances, the following is a brief summary of the order in which 

 various mines were commenced. 



