Provincial Administration
Bengal, the First Phase (1765-1793)
Although the Company was granted the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1765, the actual collection of revenue was left till 1772 in the hands of two Naib-Diwans, Muhammad Reza Khan in Bengal and Shitab Ray in Bihar. Out of the revenues collected, the Company had to pay twenty-six lacs to the Emperor, as stipulated in the Treaty of Allahabad, and thirty-two lacs (originally fifty-three lacs) to the Nawab of Bengal for the expenses of the administration, retaining the surplus for their own use. This is the famous system of Dual Government associated with the name of Clive.
The result of this system was disastrous both to the Company as well as to the people of Bengal, while the servants of the Company and the Naib-Diwans amassed great wealth. The Company’s authorities at home were fully alive to the abuses of the system and in 1772 appointed Hastings Governor of Bengal with full powers to reform the administration.
Hastings abolished the Dual Government and carried into effect the declared policy of the Company to “stand forth as the Diwan “. In reality, however, he did much more than simply exercise the powers of the Diwan, i.e. collection of revenue by his own agents. He made the Company responsible for almost the entire civil administration of the province.
He abolished the posts of the Naib-Diwans and removed the treasury to Calcutta. The minority of the Nawab made the transition easy. He appointed, as the guardian of the Nawab, Muny Begam, originally a dancing girl, on whom he could fully rely. The annual allowance of the Nawab was at the same time reduced to sixteen lacs. These and similar other measures transferred the real power and authority in the administration from the hands of the Nawab to those of the Company, and Calcutta became henceforth the real seat of government instead of Murshidabad.
After thus having assumed the powers of government, Hastings set himself to evolve a system of administration. The task, however, proved a most formidable one. The administrative machinery of the Company, so long intended solely for commercial pursuits, had to be adjusted to an altogether different purpose, and the hopeless fabric of the Nawab’s Government could scarcely supply any solid foundation for a new structure. Besides, the morale of the Company’s Indian servants was very low, and a tradition of public service had yet to be built up.
The ignorance of the language of the people and of their laws, manners and customs added to the difficulty of the task. No wonder, therefore, that the British authorities in Bengal had to pass through long and weary processes and to engage in tedious and bitter experiments in order to find a solution to the stupendous problems that confronted them. The twenty years (1772-1793) that covered the administration of Hastings and Cornwallis may be regarded as the first eventful chapter in the history of Indo-British administration in Bengal. After numerous experiments, some definite principles were formulated towards the close of this period, and they formed the foundation of the mighty structure of the British-Indian administration which we see around us to-day. It would be convenient, therefore, to begin with this period and study the gradual evolution of this administrative system, mainly under the two heads, the administration of revenue and the administration of justice.
The Administration of Revenue
The main sources of revenue at this period were:
(a) Land-revenue
(b) Monopoly of salt and opium trade
and (c) Customs, tolls, excise, etc., called Sair.
Of these the first was undoubtedly the most important and demands our chief attention. As already noted above, the land revenue was collected up to 1772 by the two Naib-Diwans. This was almost inevitable at the beginning, as the British entirely lacked the knowledge of revenue matters. In order to remove this deficiency “supervisors” were appointed to study the method of collecting the revenue and obtain a knowledge of the local customs and usages in this respect. The requisite knowledge was, however, confined to the zamindars, who collected the revenues from the ryots, and the Qanungoes or officers in charge of records. None of these were willing to communicate the information to the British officials and so the appointment of supervisors bore but little fruit.
In 1772 the posts of the Naib-Diwans were abolished and the revenue administration was placed under the direct control of the Governor and Council, who thus formed a Board of Revenue. The lands were farmed out by public auction and the assessment was made for a period of five years. A Collector and an Indian Diwan were appointed in each district to supervise the revenue administration. The result of the system was disastrous from every point of view. Unprincipled speculators made rash bids and succeeded in ousting the zamindars in most cases, but they soon found themselves unable to collect the stipulated revenue. Having no permanent interest in the land, they oppressed the ryots in order to exact as much as possible during the period of their tenure. In spite of this, they were heavily in arrears and were imprisoned by the Collectors for failure to make the stipulated payment. Thus the zamindars, farmers and ryots all suffered, while the Company also incurred serious losses.
In 1773 a new experiment was tried. A Committee of Revenue, consisting of two members of the Board and three senior servants of the Company, was established in Calcutta. The post of the European Collector was abolished, and the revenue administration of each district was placed under an Indian Diwan. Six Provincial Councils were established, and arrangements were made for occasional inspection by special Commissioners.
