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EASTERN BENGAL DISTRICT 
GAZETTEERS 



DACCA 



•BY 

B. C. ^LLEN, 

INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE. 




ALLAHABAD 
THii PIONEER t'RFSJ 

1912 



PLAN OF OONTENTS. 



Chapter. 


Page 


I — Physical Aspects 


1—17 


II. — History 


18—54 


III.— The People ... ... 


55—70 


IV. — Public Health 


71—81 


V. — Economic Condition of the People 


82—88 


VI. — Agriculture 


89—103 


VII. — Trade and Industries ... 


. 104—126 


VIII. — Natural Calamities 


. 127—131 


IX. — Means of Communication 


. 132 — 135 


X.— General Administration 


. 136—146 


XI.— Land Revenue Administration 


.. 147—154 


XII.— Local Self-government 


. 155—158 


XIII.— Education ... 


. 159-169 


XIV. — Gazetteer ... 


.. 170-192 


Index 


.. 193—195 



TABLE or CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
PHYSICAL ASPECTS. 



Page 



Geneual Desckiption. Origin of name —Boundaries — Natural divisions 
—Scenery. The Madhupur jungle— Hills — River System. Tlie 
Padma — The Dhaleswari — The Burl Ganga^The Ichhamati. The 
Lakshj-a— The Meghn a— Islands — GEOLoor. Fauna. Birds- 
Fisheries — Cltmate. Prevailing winds — Rainfall ... ... 1 — 17 

CHAPTER II. 

HISTORY. 

Early HiSTOUY. Buddhist tradition— Overthrow of Buddhism— The Sen 
kings — Ballal Sen — Fall of the Sen kings— Early Muhammadan 
period — Bahadur Khan — Fakhr-ud-din — Dynasty of Haji Ilyas — 
Sikandar Shah — Ghiyas-ud-diu— Raja Kaus and his descendants— 
Nasir Shah— Husain Shah — Administration of Sher Shah— The 
twelve Bhuiyas— Isa Khan — Further opposition to Mughals — The 
Portuguese— Ralph Fitch's account of Dacca— The Nawabs of Dacca. 
Islam Khan Kasim Khan -Ihrahim Khan Mahabat Khan— 
Mukarram Khan— Mirza Hidayatullah— Kasim Khan— Azim Khan — 
Islam Khan Mashadi — Shah Shuja— Mir Jumla— Shaista Khan — 
Murshid Kuli Jafar Khan — Dacca nnder Deputies - The last Nawabs — 
Extinction of family of Naib Nazim— The English factory at Dacca. 
Seizure of factory in 1G88— Military establishment of the factory — 
Establishment at factory - Private trade — Seizure of factory in 
1756— Capture of factory in 1763— Site of factory— The Provincial 
Council — The Dutch— The French — The Portuguese— Dacca under 
British rule — Dacca during the Mutiny— Dacca after the partition ... 18 — 54 

CHAPTER III. 
THE PEOPLE. 

Early estimates op the population. The censuses of 1872, 1881, 1891 
— The census of 1901— The census of 1911— Density— Migration — 
Towns— Villages — Marriage — Amusements -Sex and Age — Language 
—Newspapers — Religions. Muhammadans— Muhammadan castes — 
Muhammadan shrines — Hindu festivals — Hindu shrines — Hindu 
castes — Hindu omens and superstitions— Christianity. Tlie Roman 
Catholics— Protestant missions—The Sikhs ... ... ... 5n— <0 



ii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 
PUBLIC HEALTH. 



1'aoe 



Vital statistics. Healthiness of district — Fever— Cholera— Dysentery 
and diarrhoea— Small pox— Plague — Other diseases- -Medical insti- 
tutions- -The Mit ford Hospital — The Victoria Hospital at Narayan- 
ganj — Dispenbaries — Lunatic Asylum — Sauitary condition of Dacca — 
Nariiyangauj— Sanitation in the interior ... ... ... 71—81 

CHAPTER V. 

ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. 

Social organisation of the people. Rents: different classes ot laiid 
— ^^Rents Other cesses— Prices —Wages— Dwellings— Dresa — Jewel- 
lery— Economic condition of the people .. ... ... 82-88 

CHAPTER VI. 

AGRICULTURE. 

General conditions. Soils— Rainfall —Population supported by agri- 
culture— Irrigation— Rice — Boro paddy — Aus— Aman ; long stemmed 
aman-Transplan^ed aman or sail— Wild paddy — Accidents of 
cultivation — Wheat and barley —Millet— Sugarcaue- Oilseeds — 
Pulses — Fibres — Jute— Grass and fuel crops— Vegetables and garden 
crops — Dye crops— Extension of cultivation — Improved methods of 
cultivation— Manures — Cattle ... ... ... ... 89-103 

CHAPTER VII. 
TRADE AND INDUSTRIES. 

Early trade of Dacca. Dutch and English factories — The French 
factory— Trade in cloth in the days of the Mughals — Decline of trade 
in cotton goods — Indigo — Trade in 1839— Trade at the present day — 
Trade routes and centres —The jute trade— The hide trade— Weaving — 
Embroidery- Gold and silver smith's work — Shell-carving— Other 
industries -Weights and measures ... ... ... ... 104 — 126 

CHAPTER VIII. 
NATURAL CALAMITIES. 
The famine of 1769-70-The famine of 1784-The famine of 1787-83 -The 
scarcity of 190G— The tornado of 1838— The tornado of 1902-Earth- 
quake.H ... ... ... ... .,, ... 127 — 131 

CHAPTER IX. 

MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. 

Railways. Thj waterways -Roads -Postal service— Ferries ... 132 — 135 



CONTENTS. iii 

CHAPTER X. 

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION. 

Pagk 

SiAFf AND ADMiNisTKATiVE SUKDivisiONS. Early sybteiu of administra- 
tion— Chauges iu district bouudaries—liBVENUE— Excise— Stamps — 
Cesses — lucome- tax — Uegist ration — Civil justice — Criminal justice — 
Crime — Police— Jails ... ... ... ... ... 1:30-146 

CHAPTER XI. 

LAND REVENUE. 

t 
Land rhvexue system in days of native iutle. Abwabs— Sayer — Land 

revenue under the Company — I'ositioii of \Av> zainimiars —Different 
classes of estates— Permanently settled estates — Temporarily settled 
estates— Estat-s held in direct management- Subordinate tenures- 
Tenants ... ... .- ... ... ... 147—1.54 

CHAPTER XII. 

LOCAL SELP-eOVERNMENT. 

District Boards. Local Boards. Municipalities. Dacca— Narayan- 

ganj ..• ••■ .-■ .. ... ... 15-5-Ji>8 

CHAPTER XIII. 
EDUCATION. 

Early history of education. Education on European methods- 
Progress of education — Distribution of literates — Collegiate educa- 
tion. The Dacca College— The Jagannath College— High or Entrance 
schools— Middle schools -Primary schools — Instruction iu teaching 
— Special instruction— The Dacca Medical school — Muhamraadan 
education — Female education — European and special schools — Admin- 
istrative staff ... ... ... ... ... ... 159— 1G9 

CHAPTER XIV. 

GAZETTEER. 170-192 



GAZETTEER 

OF THE 

DACCA DISTRICT. 



CHAPTEU I. 



PHYSICAL ASPECTS. 

The district of Dacca is situated between 23 ' 14' and 24^ 20' ^JfL^'i^'r..^ 
north and 89" 45 and 90' 59 east about the centre of the Pro- 
vince of Eastern Bengal. It covers an area of 3,250 square miles* 
and in 1911 contained a population of 2,960,402. The principal 
town, Dacca, is situated in 23' 43' north and 90" 24' east on the 
north bank of the Buri Ganga river, and is not only the head- 
quarters of the division that bears its name, but was for a time 
the capital of the Province of Eastern Bengal and Assam. 

Several explanations have been offered of the origin of the origin of 
name Dacca (Dhaka). Home derive it from clhak-\ the name of a name. 
tree (Butea frondosa), others connect it with the goddess Dhakes- 
vvari [lit. the concealed goddess) whose shrine is situated in the 
western part of Dacca city. The famous Ballal Sen is said to 
liave been the son of one of the wives of Adisura by the river 
Brahmaputra who visited his mother in the guise of a Brahman. 
The woman and her child were banished to the jungle lying north 
of the Buri Ganga river, and here Ballal Sen discovered an 
image of Durga for whom, on liis succession to his father's throne, 
he built a temple, the goddess taking the name of Dhakeswari in 
consequence of the seclusion of the site4 A third account derives 
the name Dacca from dhak the Bengali for a drum. It is stated 
that in 1008 A.D. when Alauddin Islam Khan thought it 
expedient to move his capital eastwards from Rajmahal, he 
anchored on the Burl Ganga at the spot where Dacca now 
stands. Impressed by the advantages of the site he determined 
to make the place the head-quarters of the Province and fixed the 

* This area is calculated from a survey made in 18591866. Since that 
date there have been considerable modifications in tlie boundaries of the 
district due to fluvial action. An unusually large proportion of the total area 
is permanently under water, and until a new survey has been completed 
it would be difficult to give even an approximate estimate of the number 
of square miles of land. 

f One objection to this derivation is the fact that dhak trees are not at ' 
the present day common in Dacca. 

I Taylor's Topography and Statistics of Dacca, Calcutta, 1839, p. 66. 



DACCA DISTRICT. 



Boundaries. 



Natural 
divisions. 



boundaries of the city by sending men to the north, east and west. 
They were ordered to walk to the point where the drums beaten in 
the (iovernor'soamp first became inaudible, and all the land where 
the sound of the dhak could be heard became the city of Dacca." 

The district has the shape of a triangle with its apex to the 
south and a considerable protrusion towards the western end of 
the base. On the east and west it is bounded by great rivers. 
To the east by the Meghna which separates it from the district of 
Tippera; to the west by the Brahmaputra or Jamuna which, after 
its junction with the Ganges, is known as the Padraa or Kirtinasa 
and separates it from the districts of Pabna, Faridpur, and 
Bakarganj. To the north lies the district of Mymensingh. 

Dacca falls into two natural divisions very dissimilar from 
oue another both in appearance and geological formation. From 
the centre of the base of the triangle a wedge of elevated land is 
driven into the low alluvial flats which form the greater portion 
of the district. This high land is known as the Madhupur jungle 
and is roughly bounded on the west by the river Han si, on the 
south by the river Ruri Ganga as far as Dacca city, on the east by 
a line drawn from Dacca city to Rupganj, thence by the Lakshya 
river to Kaliganj and thence by a line drawn from Kaligauj to 
Belabo on the old Brahmaputra. The remainder of the district 
consists of low land inundated to a greater or less depth during 
the rainy season but yielding fine crops of rice and jute. This 
low land is intersected by numerous creeks and minor streams 
.and is watered by four main rivers, the Meghna and the Padma 
which enclose it and the Dhaleswari and the Lakshya which 
intersect it. The Dhaleswari is an oflFshoot from the Jamuna and 
flows parallel to it till it joins the Meghna opposite Munshiganj 
town, their united waters joining the Padma near Rajabari police 
station. The Dhaleswari and the Padma thus form a great island, 
the whole of wdiich lies very low and which is subject to heavy 
inundations in the rains. The Lakshya enters the district from 
Mymensingh near Naonda »Sagar and flowing parallel to the 
Meghna, falls into the Dhaleswari at Madanganj 

In tlie lower parts of the district the scener}'^ is very tame 
and dull. The density of the population and the high floods alike 
forbid the growth of woods or jungle and the dead level of the 
l)lain is only broken bv the groves of fruit trees which surround 

In the lowest parts of all the eye 
small measure of relief, as the depth 
tlu^ houses have to be perched on 
barely room for a cowshed and none 
a garden. This dismal country is 
tlie rains. It is then covered with 
water which is green with jute and rice and all the creeks and 
channels are full. These minor streams flow between banks which 

* Notes on the Antiquities of Dacca, 1904, by Khan Bahadur Saiyid 
Aulftd Hueuiu, p. 1. 



the houses of tlip villagers, 
is not afTorderl even this 
of tlie flood is sn(!li that 
hillock.s on which there is 
for anything so pleas.'mt, as 
reallv least unattractive in 



niYSICAL ASPECTS. 3 

are higher than the neighbouring country and are generally 
fringed with trees, and thus form niucli more attractive water- 
ways than the great rivers from which little can be seen but a 
dreary waste of waters with here and there a few huts rising 
jtrecariout^ly above the flood which threatens to engulf them. 
The people who live in these tracts have become almost amphi- 
bious in their habits. In the height of the inundation no land is 
to be seen and all travelling has to be done by boat, a state of 
affairs which is not unfavourable to commerce, but, as will be 
afterwards seen, adds largely to the difficulty of the administra- 
tion of the district. To say that travelling has to be done by 
boat gives, however, but an inadequate idea of the real condition 
of affairs. Half a dozen huts are clustered together on a little 
hillock a few yards square and the inhabitants cannot proceed 
beyond that hillock whether to visit their neighbours or their 
lields, to go to market or to school without wading, swimming or 
travelling in or on soiuething that can float. This expression is 
used advisedly for the people by no means confine themselves to 
boats. For minor excursions rafts made of plantain trees are 
much in vogue or circular earthenware pipkens, more difficult 
of navigation than a coracle. A visitor to one of these hamlets 
in the rains may see a grey-bearded patriarch swimming towards 
him from the fields and may be asked for alms by an old woman 
standing in water breast high amongst the jute plants. 

The Madhopur jungle is a tableland with an average eleva- The 
tion of about 40 feet above the alluvial flats. It is intersected JJ.ugJgP**'^ 
by long winding depressions called haids in which rice is grown 
and contains within its area depressions and marshes of con- 
siderable size. The higher land is sown with jute or winter 
crops but much of it is still covered with forest, the staple tree 
being the <j'jjari, an inferior kind oi sal {.shoi'ea ?'c»6?(.sYc<). There 
are few streams and a general dearth of water in this tract and 
this has proved a serious impediment to the extension of cultiva- 
tion. The country is considered to be unhealthy and has been 
left almost entirely to poor Muhammadans and aborigigal tribes 
like the Rajbansis and the Bunas, but for any lover of the 
picturesque it possesses many charms- In place of tlie dead 
level of the alluvial plain there are rolling uplands covered with 
short grass or dark green forest which dip towards the basins 
where the people grow their rice ; and even where the high ground 
has been cleared for cultivation the view is broken by fine forest 
trees which have been left standing on the peasants' holdings. 
Carts have taken the place of boats as a means of communication 
and roads, which in the lower parts of the district are not merely 
superfluous but may be positively harmful, have liere become 
absolutely necessary. 

There are no mountains or hills in the district and the only lliHs, 
elevated tracts are the ridges in the Madhopur jungle, none of 



4 DACCA DISTRICT. 

which exceed fifty or sixty feet in height. These ridges have, 
however, exercised an influence upon the formation of the district 
out of all proportion to their actual size, as the hard tenacious 
clay of which they are formed has successfully opposed the move- 
ments of the great rivers and has compelled them to seek a course 
through the low land to the south-east. On the west of the 
Bansi the flourishing village of Dliamrai is situated on a hillock 
high enough to raise it above the level of the floods and there is 
land at Sonargao in the south of the Narayanganj subdivision, 
and near Munshiganj town which is raised a little above the 
surrounding swamps. 

The district is much subject to fluvial action both from the 
two great rivers which bound it on the east and west and from 
the various distributaries which intersect it. All these rivers are 
heavily charged with silt and sand and the fall is sufficiently 
slight to admit of their having a depositing rather than an ex- 
cavating tendency. As long as the current is fairly swift this silt 
is carried on towards the sea, but it is rapidly deposited in the 
slack water on the banks where it is caught by high grass or 
other vegetable growth. When the banks have been raised above 
flood level the silt is deposited in the river-bed which thus gra- 
dually rises above the level of the surrounding country and when 
once the bank gives way the river falls into the lower land lying 
at the back and shifts its course. In addition to these pronounced 
changes of course, the standard instance of which is the shifting 
of the Brahmaputra, the great rivers are continually eating away 
one bank and making deposits of silt upon the other, while 
islands, some of considerable size, rise from their beds, sometimes 
to disappear as quickly as they came. The surface of the coun- 
try in the neighbourhood of the great rivers is thus subject to 
continual change and instances are known of a spot of land being 
twice washed away and twice reformed within twenty years. 
The rivers are subject to tidal action, and it was found that a 
float thrown into the Buri Ganga opposite Dacca in the dry 
season was carried nearly five miles up-stream. This is a factor 
which has to be taken into serious consideration when formulat- 
ing any sewage system of drainage for Dacca city. 

The largest river, any portion of which falls within the 
))oundary of the district, is the Padma which is formed by the 
confluence of the Brahmaputra, known here as the Janmna, and 
the Granges. In the lower part of its course it is known as the 
Kirtinasa or ' destroyer of memorable works' from tlie ravages it 
wrought aniongst the monuments and buildings of Kaja Raj 
Ballabii at Kajnagar in the l^\iridpur district. The Brahmaputra 
is generally supposed to be identical with the Tsanpo and to rise 
in 'libet i" -^l -^^^ north and S2 east near the upper waters of 
the Indus and the Sutlej. In 1771) A.])., when Uennell i)ublished 
his mai) of *Tli(! Low Countries beyond the (Junges,' the Brahma- 
jtutra flowed round the western lace of the (Jaro Hills past 



PHYSICAL ASPECTS. 5 

Shirpur, Toke, and Katiadi till it joined the Megliua near Bhairab 
Bazar. It is many years since the main volume of the mighty 
Brahmaputra flowed by this route, but even this is not tlie oldest 
channel that can be traced through the district. There can be 
little doubt that the river originally turned south at Agarasinda 
and flowed past Simulea, Panchdona, Nangalband, across the 
present channel of the Dhaleswari past Munshiganj, finally falling 
into the Ganges near Kajabari. The small creek on which the 
famous bathing festival of Nangalband is still held and the creek 
that runs from Munshiganj to Kajabari are still dignified by the 
high sounding title of Brahmaputra. At the beginning of the 
nineteenth century the great river changed its course to the 
westward and it is now but a small stream that flows along the 
north of the district to Bhairab Bazar. ^ 

The Brahmaputra reaches the western frontier of the district 
at a place about six miles north-west of Nathpur in the Manikganj 
subdivision and about 14 miles lower down is joined by the 
Granges. Their united waters form the south-western boundary 
as far as Kajabari. The main channel of this enormous river 
forms the boundary between Dacca and the adjoining districts, but 
this, though the only one that is feasible, is a somewhat unsatis- 
factory boundary as the main stream will flow in one year on one 
side of the great strath over which it spreads its waters, and the 
next year on the other so that the islands in its course fall 
sometimes in one district, sometimes in another. Even in the 
dry season it has a breadth of from three to four miles, and it is 
perpetually throwing up islands in its bed and washing them 
away again. It cuts away and adds accretions to its banks with 
equal impartiality and these continual changes are a source of 
much litigation and no little violence. At the time of Rennell's 
survey the lower course of the Padma was more to the south than 
it is at the present day, and joined the Meghna near Dakhin 
i^habazpur island instead of at Kajabari. There are three main 
creeks which branch otf from the Padma in this district, the 
Hilsamari, the Srinagar, and the Taltala Khal. The Hilsamari 
was originally a considerable river, but its bed has been *much 
silted up and its lower reaches have been swallowed up by the 
encroachments of the Padma. It unites with the Ichhamati at 
Husnabad whence the Tulsikhal connects the Padma again with 
the Dhaleswari. 

A river which is of great importance in the economy of the xhe 
district is the Dhaleswari which takes off by several channels Dhaleswari. 
from the Jamuna. The most southerly head is known as the 
Gajahata which is now but an insignificant stream in the dry 
season. Next comes the Selimabad channel which flows past 
Ghior and for long was the principal source of the Dhaleswari but 
is now so silted up that only the smallest boats can pass by it • 

when the river is low. The principal channel is now about ten 
miles to the north of Selimabad in ]\Iymensingh and is known 



6 DACCA DISTRICT. 

as the Elasliiii cbauuel, but eveu this is unfortunately silting up 
and is only open to launches drawing five feet of water during the 
rains. It flows a tortuous course past Elashin, Kedarpur, Kustia 
and Sabhar, and after receiving the waters of the Tiakshya falls 
into the Meghna a little below Munshiganj. The total length of 
the Dhaleswari is about one hundred miles and in its lower 
reaches it is a river of great breadth even in the dry season. 
The Buri The deterioration of the Dhaleswari is especially unfortunate 

Ganga. ^s the city of Dacca is dependent for its water communications 

on one of its offshoots, the Buri Ganga. This is a river about 
twenty-six miles in length which takes ofif from the parent stream 
a little below Sabbar and rejoins it at Baktatali a little above 
Taltala. Of recent years this river like the Dhaleswari has been 
, silting up at the source and considerable dredging operations 
have been undertaken with the object of deepening the intake. 
It is encouraging to learn from a letter from Mr. John Taylor in 
1800 A.D. that in 1645 A.D. the Buri Ganga was so much 
smaller than it was in his day that it was bridged opposite Dacca. 
In tlie rains the Buri Ganga is open throughout its length to boats 
of considerable size, but in the dry weather even small steam 
launches cannot come up as far as Dacca. 
The Between the Dhaleswari and the Padma are the remains of 

Ichhamati. l\^^ Ichhamati which is one of the oldest rivers in the district. 
It was probably originally connected with the Kosi river and 
entered the district near Jafarganj. It flows a tortuous course 
past Katrasin (whence there is a channel connecting it with 
Ghior), Balla, Jhiktea, Harirampur and Nawabganj. It originally 
fell into the Brahmaputra near l\ampal, but like the eastern channel 
of that river it has almost disappeared, and it now makes its way 
into the Dhaleswari by several winding routes. Near Shaiker- 
uagar another channel turns southwards past Srinagar and Haldia 
and falls into the J'adma. The antiquity of the Ichhamati 
is shown by the fact tliat there are no less than five sacred bathing 
ghats on its banks at Tirthagata, Agla, Solpur, Barunighat ftnd 
Jaginighat, l»ut at the present day it lias sunk to the level of a 
channel that contains hardly any water till the rivers rise in the 
rains. At that season of the year it forms a valuable means of 
communication with the interior of the great island formed by 
the Padma and the Dhaleswari, 
The On the north bank the Dhaleswari receives the Ghazikhali, and 

^^fV{'*'?'' *''*^ Bansi which enters the district from Mymensingh and after 
Mowing past Dhamra falls into the Dhaleswari near Sabhar. 
Neither of these streams are available for traffic during the dry 
season except by boats of the smallest class. 
Tlif Tiiijij,'. In the n[)])er part of its course the liansi is connected with 

tli(! Tiiiag iie;ir Kaliakoer, but unfortunately a bar has formed 
< vlijfli <-;in only be pas.-ed at tlu; height of the flood. The Turag 

flow.-' i'!i>l, Mii/ripin- anil Kasimpnr and falls into the Buri Ganga 
a little below .Mirpur. .Above M irza[)in' the Turag receives three 



PHYSICAL ASPEC'TR. 7 

minor streams which rise in the Madh iijiiir jungle, //., th 
Saldaha. the Lavandaha, and the Goalear creek. About seven 
miles above .Mirpur the Tangi stream connects tlie Turag vvitli the 
river Ralu which rises in the Aladhupur jungle a little to the east 
of Sripur and falls into the Lakshya at Demra. None of these 
streams are of nmch use for traffic during the dry season and the 
navigation of the Tangi stream is rendered difficult during the 
rains by the railway bridge near Tangi station. 

The Lakshya, though not the largest, is by far the prettiest The 
river in the district. In 1780, at the time of Rennell's survey the Lakshiya, 
Layshya was formed from three streams that took ofif from the old 
Brahmaputra. One was the Banar which left the parent stream 
about 45 miles north of Toke, the second took oflF near Toke, while 
the third, which was at that time the principal channel, issued 
from the Brahmaputra at Aralea and united with the second * 
stream at Ekdalanear Lakpur Chur but soon left it again to flow 
eastwards into the Meghna at Narsingdi. At the present day the 
Banar has been almost swallowed up by the changes in the course 
of the Brahmaputra and the Aralea channel has silted up and no 
longer communicates with the Lakshya during the dry season, 
so that the river depends for its stream upon the waters that reach 
it through the Toke channel. While most of the other rivers in 
the district flow througli low country which is heavily flooded in 
the rains and is therefore unsuited for anything but marsh crops, 
the banks of the Lakshya are high and are fringed for the most 
part with villages buried in groves of the graceful areca palm. 
The banks themselves are often of red earth instead of the grey 
and ugly wastes of sand and mud which are usually associated 
with the rivers of Dacca, and in a country such as this, where 
there is so very little attractive in the river scenery the Lakshya 
has naturally earned a high reputation for beauty. During its 
course of 61 miles it passes several marts of note, such as Barmi, 
Kapasia, Lakpur, Jamalpur, Kaliganj, Rupganj, Murapara, Demra, 
Sidhiganj, and Narayanganj and at Madanganj it falls into the 
Dhaleswari, During the rains steam launches can go up the 
Lakshya into Mymensingh but in the dry season a boat dTawing 
five feet of water cannot proceed above Lakpur Chur. 

The Meghna is the name applied to the lower reaches of The Meghna 
the river wliich rises on the southern slopes of the mountain range 
whicli forms the northern boundary of I\Ianipur and which carries 
down the drainage of the Surma Valley to join the mighty Padma 
near Rajabai i. It. enters the district at Bhairab Bazar in 24" 2" 
north and 9() 59' east and flows a tortuous course between the dis- 
tricts of Dacca and Tippera till it joins the Dhaleswari a little below 
JNIunshigauj. Its banks are low and ugly and the river is conti- 
nually cutting new channels for itself and throwing up and 
washing away again extensive cJmrs. The whole of the course , 

of the river within the Dacca district is open to steamer traffic 
hroughout the year. The principal places of importance on its 



8 DACCA DISTRICT. 

banks are Raipura, Narsiiigdi, Barodi and Baidya Bazar. The 
only tributary of importance which it receives on its left bank 
below Bhairab Bazar is the Arial Khan which leaves the old 
Brahmaputra at Belabo and joins the Meghna a little above 
Narsingdi. Even this channel is largely silted up and is only 
navigable by steam launches daring times of high flood. 
Is ands. There are no islands of importance in the district, though 

the Munsbiganj subdivision and the greater part of the Manikganj 
subdivision technically form an island as they are surrounded by 
the waters of the Padma and the Dhaleswari. The same may be 
said of the tract of land immediately to the south of Dacca, known 
as Paschimdi or Parjoa, which is enclosed by the Bm-i Granga and 
the Dhaleswari. Numerous chur;^ are thrown up in the beds of the 
different rivers, but they vary in size from year to year and have 
no permanent existence. 
Geology. Geologically the district falls into two distinct tracts, the 

high land of the Madhupur jungle and the alluvial flats surround- 
ing it. The upper soil of the Madhupur jungle is a stiff ferru- 
ginous red clay, covered in many places by a thin layer of vege- 
table mould. Beneath this is a deposit of coarse red sand. Mr. 
Blanford has suggested three explanations of the origin of this 
formation : (a) that the high land may have been raised ; (6) that 
the surrounding land may have been depressed ; {o,) that these 
deposits may have been laid down by some river other than the 
Brahmaputra. It is said that in the time of Aluhammadan rule iron 
was extracted in the Rhowal pargana, and near Jaydebpur heaps of 
a black nodnlar substance are to be found which appear to be the 
remains of the ore after the iron had been smelted. The re.st of 
tlie district consists of deposits of sand and clay luixed in var3'ing 
proportions. In the north-eastern portion there is more silicious 
sand in the clay than in the south and west. The soil of the 
marsiies and depressions is generally a deep black clay. Taylor 
reports tliat the black vegetable mould occasionally approaches 
to lignite in appearance and that "in the beds of the deep 
morasses of the southern subdivision there are found small 
nodvdSr masses of earth which appear to be composed of decayed 
vegetaiile matter : they are hard compact bodies of a jet black 
colour and of so fine a substance that when pulverised they are 
occasionally used by the natives to make ink." * No stone is 
found in the district and there are no mineral deposits which 
could be profitably worked. 
" ''^*- A hundred years ago the Madhupur jungle was full of game 

of every kind, and was so infested with wild elephants that the 
villagers found it almost impossible to cultivate the land. In 
1790 the Collector wrote of Bhowal, " One half of it is an entire 
jungle swarming with elephants and every other wild beast." 
In the same year the zamindars of Kiisimpur declined to accept 

* Taylor's Topograpliy of Dacca, p. 8. 



PHYSICAL ASPECTS. » 

settlement at the rates of the preceding year alleging that their 
lands were ruined by the depredations of the wild elephanta 
wliich resorted there in large droves and efiectualiy destroyed 
the crops of the raiyats.* 'Jigers also were numerous and in 1804 
270 tiger skins were brought to the city for the Government 
reward, t Elephants have now completely disappeared, though as 
late as 1 868 a herd was said to have taken up its quarters in the 
jungles near Kapasia4 and deer and pig are the only animals 
found in any considerable numbers. Tiiere are a few wild butfalo 
in the country to the north-west of Sripur, a few tiger and perhaps 
a larger number of leopards, but how small is the number can be 
judged from the fact that during the four years ending with 1910 
rewards were only paid for the destruction of 13 tigers and 26 
leopards. Deer are of four species, the gaus deer {Cervus hip- 
pelaphus), the sambar [Aristotilis riisa) which is rare, the hog 
deer {Cervus porcimis) and the barking deer {Cervus muntjak). 
The smaller animals include monkeys which in some places are 
very mischievous, porcupines, jackals, foxes, otters and hares. In 
1868 Mr. Clay, the Magistrate-Collector, reported that the so-called 
black rabbit was found in the jungles to the north of the town. 
It was said to be a connecting link between the hare and the 
rabbit and to breed in burrows like the latter animal. It was 
only found in the jungle and did not enter cultivated land. Four 
kinds of bats are recognised — the flying fox, the small striped or 
orange bat, the long-eared bat and the common house bat. 
Smaller animals include squirrels, rats, both of the ordinary and 
bandicoot variety, mice and moles. A list of the animals, birds 
and fishes, whicli according to Taylor are found in the district, is 
appended to this chapter. 

The following account of the birds of the district is taken Birds. 
from the statistical account by Sir William Hunter, pp. 29 and 
30 : — " Vultures, crows, several varieties of eagles, fish eagles, 
kites, and falcons are common. Several species of owls are found, 
and are regarded by the natives with superstitious dread. § Swal- 
lows and kingfishers are numerous. The blue and red kingfisher 
with a white breast is the most handsome variety and is caught 
during the cold season and killed for the sake of its feathers which 
are exported to China where they are in great request. In former 
days the Maghs and Burmese travelled all over India in search 
of these birds, which they caught with birdlime. Akyab was 
said to be the port of exportation, whence they were taken to 
China. in junks. Professional bird-catchers are still met with in 

* Vide corie8[ oudeuce of 1790 iu the Dacca CoUectorate. 
t Taylor's Topography of Dacca, p. 21. 

X Principal heac'a of the History and Statistics of the Dacca Division, 
p. 68. 

§ The variety known as kalpecha alojie ie feared, but of. this the peopl* 
hare a_y6ry lively horror. 



iO ' DACCA DISTRICT. 

Dacca, and they informed Mr. Clay, a late Magistrate of the 
District, that they were employed by people in Calcutta. The 
bee-eater, like the kingfisher, inhabits crevices in the banks of 
rivers and may be met with throughout the whole district. Two 
varieties of the ' tailor ' bird are found, so-called from the 
ingenious construction of their nest. Sunbirds, or honey-suckers, 
are also common and are remarkable for the brilliant metallic 
lustre of their plumage. They flutter about the flowers, from 
which they extract the juice while on the wing. The weaver- 
bird, which derives its name from tne hanging nests which it 
builds, and which are usually found attached in clusters to the 
date tree, is very destructive to the rice crops. Of the several 
kinds of woodpeckers, the Indian robin may be mentioned ; it is 
trained to fight by the natives. The shama bird is much prized 
for its power of song, a good one being worth from £ I to £2. 
Two varieties of the green parakeet are common. The wader 
birds are largely represented, and inhabit the numerous marshes 
throughout the district. The spoon-bill, saras and manikjor, or 
beefsteak bird, make their appearance about the middle of Octo- 
ber and return to the hills at the commencement of the rains. 
Five species of herons are met with in the district. The pelican 
ibis is found in the neighbouring district of Faridpur and doubt- 
less also in Dacca. It frequents rivers, tanks and marshes, 
generally in parties, but occasionally alone. The shell ibis is 
common, and is called by the natives samuk, from the name of a 
large kind of snail on which it feeds. The adjutant bird is not 
uncommon, though seldom seen in the vicinity of the town. The 
bulbul, or Indian nightingale, is found in abundance, and it is 
taught to fight by the natives who are very fond of the sport. 
The crested coot, the spur-winged plover, snipe, jack-snipe and 
plover are common. Among the gallinaceous birds are the flori- 
can, which is rare, except in the iSabhar Fiscal Division, and the 
chakor, or kea partridge, which is met with in maoy parts of the 
district, though not in great numbers ; jungle-fowl and peacocks 
are tolerably plentiful, as also several kinds of quail. The com- 
mon blue or jungle pigeon, two or three varieties of the green 
pigeon and doves are common. The raj-ghughu, or imperial 
dove, is also sometimes found. It is a very handsome bird, the back 
and wings being dark emerald-green, and the neck, breast, and 
lower parts red-brown. Wild geese and ducks are plentiful on the 
river clu.u^s to the south, witii many varieties of teal Several 
species of gulls are found on all the large rivers, of which the 
Bcissor-bili, or Indian skimmei-j - i&-the most remarkahle.- -Tbis- 
bird especifilly frequents the Meghna and Ganges rivers and 
may be seen skimming over the water with its beak close to the 
surface in .search of food. The small cormorant, called pani- 
kauri by the natives, is common in all the marshes and swamps 
and the diver-bird is frequently seen perched on trees overhang- 
ing the water on the watoh for its prey. These birds swim and' 



PHYSICAL ASPECTS. 11 

dive witli great rapidity and float so low in the water that 
nothing but their long necks remains visible." 

Since these lines were written the district has sadly deteri- 
orated from the sportsman's point of view. The florican is never 
seen and jungle fowl, if they exist at all, are very rare. Wild 
geese are seldom shot and though duck are to be found on the 
Padma and the JVleghna and some inland jAi^s they are extremely 
wary. Snipe are to be had but the shooting can only be described 
as poor and large bags are seldom made. 

The fish-eating alligator or gharial and the snub-nosed cro- 
codile occasionally carry oflfthe unwary bather. Snakes also cause 
considerable mortality, as in the submerged parts they are driven 
to the village sites when the waters rise. The average annual 
number of deaths due to this cause during the four years ending 
in 1910 was 169. The following is a list of the principal snakes* 
known to the natives : poisonous — Cobra, Machhanad, Panas, Goma, 
Darach, Dubraj ; harmless — Ulubora, Jinglabora, Landog, Ghauni, 
Matishap, Dhora Airalbeka, Shalikbora, Sankhini, Dhauma, and 
Domukha The latter snake, the Typhlos lumhricalis, derives 
its name from the fact that the tail is almost as thick as the 
head, while the eyes are very small. It is accordingly supposed 
by the villagers to possess two heads. 

Batrachians are of three varieties, the common frog and toad 
and the tree frog. 

'Fish are caught in the rivers and in creeks and jhils. The Fisheries 
most important jhils are the Belai, the Saldaha, the Lavandala, 
the Bhorontala, the Bhinadai, the Silmandi, the Airal, the Nara, 
the Kaghunathpur, the Dal Samudra, the Doya, the low land 
round Jainsha, and the low land of Dhamrai. 

Porpoises are very common in the larger rivers and sharks, 
ray fish and saw fish are occasionally to be met with. The best 
eating fish are the hilsa, the mango fish, the rui, the mullet, 
the pa/tar {Callichrous pabda), the cliital, the rtiirga, {Cirrhina 
mrigala) andthecri^^a , Crabs, crayfish and prawns are also plen- 
tiful. The fishing castes are the Kaibarttas, Teors, Jhalos, 
(Jharals and Mai Badiyas, the first four being Hindus alid the 
last Muhammadans. The principal difference between the Kai- 
barttas and the Teors is that the former never allow their women 
to sell fish at the market while the latter labour under no such 
disability. The Charals never use the net but catch fish in 
bamboo traps, while the Badiyas, a floating tribe who live in 
their boats, restrict themselves to rod and line. The fishing 
castes are all poor and the supply of fish is said to have decreased 
during the last quarter of a century. This is true, for it is an 
assertion that does not very readily admit of proof, is probably 
principally due to the silting up oi jhils and rivers and tlie con- 
sequent contraction of the spawning grounds. The fishermen , 
show no consideration for the future and catch small fry and 
spawning fish. In this way they contribute to their own growing 



12 DACCA DISTRICT. 

poverty, but this no doubt is a process which has been going on 
for long and would hardly in itself account for a sudfien shortage 
of the supply Some harm may pprhaps have been done by the 
widely extended cultivation of jute as the rotting plant produces 
a noxious effect upon the water and the fishermen allege that the 
river steamers cause an undercurrent which drives away the fish. 

During the rains the fish are dispersed over so large an area 
that they cannot easily be caught and some of the fishing classes 
betake themselves to other occupations. In the winter fish is 
exported to Mymensingh, Calcutta and Chittagong. Fish are 
caught with nets, bamboo baskets and spears. The following 
are the nets most commonly employed : — lerjal or jagather, a very 
large net with meshes from three to six inches wide which 
jequires a party of twenty men to use it ; cost about Rs. 300 ; 
chotuher a smaller variety of the f^ame net, meshes from one to two 
inches ; cost Rs. 50 to Rs. 70; athar jctl, a large cast net ; jhaki, 
a smaller cast net. The dhavmajal is a species of bag attached 
to a bamboo handle and lowered into the water. The kachki 
and I'hora jals are V-shaped nets, the wide end of which is lowered 
into the water. The kachki is used from a boat, the khora is 
attached to bamboo posts erected in the river-bed. The chai 
and ijaran are bamboo traps, the j)olo a basket which is thrust 
down into the mud in shallow water. The kock is a bundle of 
slender but stout bamboos shod with iron, which is a formidable 
weapon used not only against the finny tribe but also in agrarian 
and other riots. Fishing boats are usually built of teak or sal 
{Sliorea robusta) planks. Sell is the more durable but its spe- 
cific gravity is heavier than that of water, so to prevent the boats 
sinking when overturned, jand {Lagerstrcjemia flos reginw) is 
Climate. used with the sdl. 

The climate of Dacca is fairly equable, the difference between 
the mean temperature of the coldest and hottest months in the 
year being only 17*6 degrees. The summers are not as hot as 
in Upper India, but against this must be set the fact that the 
winters are not nearly as invigorating. The cold weather begins 
in November and for four months the climate is fairly pleasant. 
In March, however, the days grow hot and the average maximum 
temperature of that month is 90''. April is even hotter 
with an average maximum of ^^^■2, but the rains of May send the 
temperature down a couple of degrees. From June to October 
the average maximum ranges from 88^ to 89' but the nights are 
then warmer than they are earlier in the year and the mean 
temperature is about 83^ which is higher than it is in April. 
October and the latter half of September are in fact the most 
trying season of tlie year. The south-easterly breezes which do 
so much to mitigate the discomforts of the rains begin to fail, the 
water.'- bet^in to recede into their accustomed channels and the 
damjj fields lie reeking beneath the scorching sun. The nights 
are still too warm to give much relief and it is not till November 



PHYSICAL ASPECTS. 13 

oomes that there is any pleasant coolness. January is the coldest 
month in the year, but the cold is but comparative for even at 
^'aiayanganj, which is cooler than Dacca city, the mean mini- 
mum temperature for the month is only 55 2. In the north of 
the district it is certainly fresher and to an officer, camping in 
the fields, away from the heat absorbing bricks of cities, the 
night will occasionally seem quite frost3^ Appended to this 
chapter will be found the average maximum, minimum and 
mean temperatures recorded at Narayanganj which, as a rule, are 
a little lower than those experienced in Dacca city. 

F'rom November to March the prevailing winds are from Prevaiiinc 
the west, north and north-west. In March sudden storms from winds, 
the north-west are by no means uncommon and are a source of 
considerable danger to light craft cruising on the rivers. From^ 
April to October the wind is generally from the east and south- 
east. It is heavily laden with moisture but it does much to 
mitigate the rigours of the climate and often renders a punkah 
quite unnecessary. The steady persistence of this wind especi- 
ally in the afternoons and evenings during the rainy seasons 
is. in fact, one of the most attractive features of the Dacca 
climate. 

The district is occasionally visited by violent cyclones and 
it suffered severely from the great earthquake of 1897. A more 
detailed account of these visitations will be found in Chapter 

vn. 

Tlie mean rainfall at Dacca is 72*03 inches, but the variation Rainfall, 
from year to year is not infrequently considerable, the rainfall 
of 1900-01, for instance, beincf 50'7 inches while in the next 
year it was 82-.3 November to March is the dry season, the total 
average fall for those five months being about 5| inches. April 
and October which usher in and witness the cessation of the 
monsoon have each about 4i inches, while May and September 
have from 9 to 10. Each of the three remaining months receives 
as a rule from 12 to 13 inches of rain, though here, too, there 
is great variation from the mean. Tlie statement in th? margin 
shows the average rainfall recorded at the five stations which 
Mean annual rainfall, have been opened for some length of 
Dacca ... ... 72 03 time. Hain-gauges have been recently 

SlnJhS' ;•.•. TslJ) erected at Kapasia and at NawSbganj, 

Jaydebpur ... 7094 but there are not sufficient data yet 

Manikgauj ... 6267 available to allow of the calculation 

of a mean. It will be seen that the rainfall for the year is 
fairly uniform throughout the district but there are often marked 
differences in the amount precipitated on any given day even at 
stations lying so close to one anotuer as do Dacca and Narayanganj. 
These two places are only separated by a distance of nine miles 
yet the daily rainfall is sometimes four or five inches greater in 
one place than the other. 



14 



DACCA DISTRICT. 



APPENDIX I. 

Average temperature recorded at N5ray5nganj : — 









Average mean 




Average 


Average 


temperature 


Mouths. 


maximum 


minimum 


corrected to 




temperature. 


temperature 


true diurnal 
mean. 


January 


77-9 


55-2 


65-8 


February 


82-2 


58-6 


69-9 


March ... 


900 


68-2 


78-2 


April 


93-2 


743 


826 


May 


91-3 


75-8 


83-3 


June 


89-0 


78-3 


832 


July 


88-3 


792 


83-4 


August ... 


87-5 


790 


82-9 


ibeptember 


88-5 


78-9 


832 


October ... 


87'9 


75-3 


81-0 


November 


83-5 


G6-0 


74-6 


December 


78-0 


57-3 


67-6 



APPENDIX II. 

List of animals, birds, fishes, trees and plants which accord- 
ing to Taylor are found in the Dacca district : — 

Animals. 

Tigers. 

Leopards. 

BufiFalo. 

Cervus hippelaphus, 
„ aristotilis. 
„ axis. 
,, tnuntjac. 



Pig. 
.Jackal. 
Fox. 
Hare. 



Elephant and bear which are 
longer found wild in the district. 

Birds 



Black rabbit[^i62^ws hispidui). 
Bandicoot rat. 
Mongoose. 

Muskrat {Sorex indicus). 
Civet {Viverra bengalensis). 
Porcupine. 
Otter. 

Dysopes imirinus. 
Pteropus. 
Megaderma. 
Vespertilio pictiLs. 
mentioned by Taylor are no 



Vulture. 
Crow. 

Kite. 

Fish eagle. 

Owl. 

Strix candidus. 

Strix noctua indica. 

Kingfishers, 

Bee-eaters (Merops viridis). 

Notched bill. 



Creeper (Certhiadce). 
Sunbird {Cinnyridcti). 
Weaver bird (Ploceus). 
Woodpeckers. 
Picus viridis. 

„ tiga. 

„ amantius. 

,, inaeei. 

,, bengalensis 

„ rufus. 



PHYSICAL ASPECTS. 



15 



Birds 
Motacilla picata. 
Sylvia sutoria. 
Cuculus orientlais. 
Coracia hengalensis, 
Corvus cor ax. 
Gracula reiigiosa. 
Green parrot. 
Wader (various species). 
Spoonbill (platatcea). 
Siris (Ardea antigone). 
Manickjhor [Ciconia leucoce- 

phelia). 
Manickjhor {Ciconia mycteria 

australis). 
Heron. 
Ardea orientalis. 

,, modesta. 

„ negriotostris. 

., flavia collis. 
Adjutant {Ciconia argala). 
Parra sinensis. 



. — {contd.) 
Conirostral family. 
Cuculus lathami. 
Gallenille (Porphyrio sultana). 
Crested coot {Fulica crestata.) 
Spurwinged plover (Caradrus 

vent rails). 
Snipe (Scolopax gallingo). 
Peacock. 
Partridge. 
Quail. 

Jungle pigeon. 

Scissor bill (Ryncops nigra). 
Pelican. i 

Darter (Plotus valenti) 

Duck. 

Anas indica. 

,, clypeata. 

„ crecca. 

„ poRcilorhynclia. 
girra. 
Goose. 



Fish. 



Ray {Raia fiuviatilis). 
Shark {Squalus carcharias). 
Saw fish {Squalus pristis). 
Tetrodon potka. 

„ cutcutia. 

„ tepa. 
Marcena. 
Macrognathus. 
Ophisurus. 
Unihranchapertura. 
Cuchia. 
Gobius. 
Ophiocephalus. 
Cotus. 

Trichopodus. 
X^brus bold-' 
Chanda. 

Ophiocephalns lata. 
Coins cobojius, 
Trichopodus colisa. 
Bola pama. 
Macronopterus niagur, 
SiVu^rus aingio. 



Silurus pabda. 
,, garua. 
Boalee. 

Pimelodus aor. 
„ pangas. 

,, te7igra. 

„ batassia. 

„ rita. 

„ bagharia. 

jagore.^ 
,, silondia. 

Esox cancilla. 
Mullet {Mugil corsula). 
Mango fish {Polynemus risua). 
Clupea phasa. 
Hilsa {Clupanadoniliaha), 
Mystus ckitala. 

„ ramcarati. 
Cysrinus rohita. 
,, cutla. 
„ culbasia. 
,f putitoria. 
„ puntiit^. 



16 



DACCA DISTRICT. 



Flora. 



Nymphcea lotus. 

Panee-keta. 

Sinyhara ^ Trapahiscinosa and 

quadrispinosa ). 
RiikUt komol { NeluinhiuiYi). 
Pokol {Anneslia spinosa). 
Ghetchoo {Aponogeton mono- 

stachion). 
Cuhnee-shag {Convolvulus re- 

2)ens). 
Ksherni {Mimusops kanki). 
^Lutkha {Pierardia sapida). 
Kamaraiiga {Averrlioa carcum- 

hola). 
Julpai { EloeocarpiLS serrata). 
Depliul (Artocarpus lakoocha). 
Chalta (Dillenia speciosa). 
Iinlee (Tamar Indus indica). 
Kiithhel (feronia elephantum). 
Ficus glomeruta. 

„ carica. 

„ vagans. 
A moora. 
Mango, 
Jungli khajoor [Phcenix fct.rine- 

fera). 
Cane {Calamus rotanq). 
Jungli Jiuldee {Curcuma zedoa- 

ria). 
Jama7i. 
Sutumoollee {Asparagus race- 

mosus). 
Juyuntee {jEschynomene 

seshan). 
Sonali {Cassia fistula). 
Sana {Bauhinia purpurea). 
Kat kaleja, {CaiSalpinia hondu- 

cclla). 
Apurajit<i {Clitoria ternata.). 
Rwkhia rjiandana {Aderianthe- 

ro. pavonia). 
Khadira {Acacia catechu). 
MashaMee {Glycine lahialis). 
KaUi kaUcashanda {Cassia 

purpiirca). 
Goobiudui {Menispermum 

glabrum). 



Clvtra {Plumbago zeylanica). 
Bichittee ( Trajia involucrata). 
Basoka {Justicia adhotoda). 
Mootlia {Gyperus rotundus). 
Sliyamaluta {Echites frtu- 

tescens) . 
Bhoii koomrdb {Trichosanthes 

tuherosa). 
Skanci {Achyranthes triandra). 
Bidob (Pavonia odorata). 
Nag keshur {Mesua ferrea). 
Poonurnuva {Boerhavia pro- 

cumbens). 
Nisinda { Vitex nigundo). 
Taruka { Althaea alhugas). 
Harjorah {Cissus quadrangu- 
lar is). 
Bangra ( Verbesina prostrata). 
Jirjul {Odina wodier). 
Toolsi Ocymum villosum). 
Shimool {Bombax heptaphylla). 
Cltampa (Michelia chwinpujca). 
Nagphunee {Cactus indicus). 
Shephalika {Nyctanthes arbor- 

tristis). 
Juba {Hibiscus rosa-sinensis). 
Palita mandar {Erythrina 

indica). 
Akund {Asclepias gigantea). 
Seej {Euphorbia nercifolia). 
I sharmool{Aristolochia indica), 
Kaduinba (Nauclea cadumba). 
Matura {Gallicarpa incana). 
Bhikd purni {^Hydrocotyle 

asiatica). 
Jyosfee ^nadhoor {Glycirrhisa 

glabra). 
Bukool {Mimu^ops elengii). 
J amp tokuri ■ Sida asiatica'. 
8ujna{H.yperanthera mioringa')^ 
Koondooree {Bryonia grandis), 
Patur choor {Plectranthus aro' 

maticus). 
Rukta kumbula {Nymphoea 

rubra). 
Jumulgota {Groton tiqlium). 



PHYSICAL ASPECTS. 17 

Flora— (contd). 

Koochila {Strychnos nux vo- Kagura (Saccharum sponta- 

mica. neum). 

Neem {Melia azadiracta). Null {Arundo karkha). 

Dhatura (D. metel). Baksha {RotboeUia glabra). 

Bhorenda (Ricinus com'niunis). Koosha {Poa cynosuroides). 

Bena {A7idropogon muricatus). Doohia (Panicum dadylon). 

Oolloa (SaccJtarum cylindri- Uooghi {TypJta elej)hantiiia). 

cum). Jow {Tamarix indica). 



18 DACCA DISTHICT 



CHAPTER II. 



HISTORY.* 

Karly There can be little doubt that a portion, at any rate, of the 

Buddltst district of Dacca was included in the ancient kingdom of 
traditions. Pragjyotisha or Kamrup — a passage in the Yogini Tantra dis- 
tinctly stating that the southern boundary of that kingdom vvas 
the junction of the Brahmaputra and Lakshya, which is situated 
,near the modern town of ISaraj'anganj. The early traditions that 
have come down to us indicate that Dacca and several of the 
neighbouring districts were originally under the sway of Buddhist 
kings. According to the Tibetan legends a Buddhist king named 
Vimala was master of Bangala and Kamrup, and therefore of 
Dacca. Hiuen Tsiang who visited Kamrup in the second 
half of the seventh century states that Samtata, which 
probably included the pargana of Bikrampur, was a Buddhist 
kingdom although the king was a Brahman by caste. In the 
Raipura thaua brass images of Buddhist origin have been dis- 
covered and two copper-plates with inscriptions of Buddhist kings. 
These have been assigned by experts to the end of the eighth and 
beginning of the ninth century, and a copper-plate found in the 
Faridpur district, which is ascribed to the same period, proves 
that the Bikrampur pargana was also under Buddhist rule. 

The names of a few local Rajas have come down to us, but 
we know little more about them than their names. One of the 
best known is Haris Chandra, the ruins of whose capital close to 
Sabhar can be seen even at the present day. The capital of an- 
other local princeling called Josh Pal was at Dakurai, 18 miles 
north of Sabhar where there are several tanks and an old road 
called the Rathkhola Sarak, leading to a place called Jatrabari, 
names which tend to suggest that Josh Pal was not a Buddhist. 
The remains of another town which is said to have been the head- 
quarters of a chief called Sisupal are to be found at Singher Dighi, 
near Mahona, in tlie north-west of the district. About eight miles 
away, at Pirojali, are the ruins of a fort ascribed to one Indra Raj5 ; 
and there are traces of old buildings and a moat close to Rajabari 
five miles west of old Kapasia at a place which is said to have 
been the capital of the Chandal Rajas. 
OvPT*hT()w In the ninth century A.D., one Adisura, a Kshatriya by caste, 

of ]3u(MhiHin. came from tlie Deccan and after overthrowing the Buddhist king 
of 15ikram])ur established himself at RimpSl near Munshiganj. 

* This cliJipter was nriginully writtfni iu a longer foim by Mr. J. T. 
Rankin, I.C.S., l)ut owing to exigencies ol' Hiiace it li.is boon condensed. 



pfiSTonv. 19 

He sent to Kanauj for Brahmans to teach the people the religion 
which even the priestly class in the district luul forgotten and five 
Brahmans, accompanied by five Kayasthas, in due time arrived. 
Tradition says that their reception by the king's underlings, when 
they reached Rampal, was so rude that they were about to take 
their departure again in anger and had even bestowed the blessing 
intended for the king on the stump of a Gajari or Sal tree to 
which the court elephants used to be tied. 1'he old stump took 
life again and is still to be seen at Kampal, the only Gajari tree 
in Bikrampur, where it is an object of veneration and worship to 
all Hindus. The king fortunately got word of the arrival of the 
Brahmans and was able to make his peace with them. 

From copper-plates and other inscriptions discovered in recent The Sen 
years we learn the names of several kings of the Sen dynasty, ^^^S^- 
who appear next upon the scene. This source of information is 
more reliable than the Ain-i-Akbari and the names given in the 
latter need not be discussed here. The kings referred to ruled in 
Eastern Bengal in the following order : Vira Sen, Samanta Sen, 
Hemanta Sen, Vijaya Sen, Ballal Sen and Lakhshman Sen. It has 
been conjectured that Vira Sen is identical with Adisura and this 
is not altogether improl)able if, as the inscriptions give us to under- 
stand, a considerable interval elapsed between him and the next 
king. Of the next two kings, Safiaanta and Hemanta, nothing of 
note»is recorded. Vijaya Sen, however, we are told, was a great 
warrior who conquered the king of Gaur, probably, the Pal Raja 
of the time reigning in Northern Bengal, and it is more than likely 
that this was the death blow to Buddhism in this part of India. „ ,.., □ 

The greatest of the Sen kings was Ballal Sen, famous alike 
in literature and in tradition, whose residence is still pointed out 
at Ballal Bari, at Rampal. It is a raised piece of ground rectan- 
gular in shape, surrounded on all sides by a moat two hundred 
feet wide. This is all that is now visible, but in the surrounding 
country bricks are constantly being turned up and treasure is not 
infrequently found. Close by are the Tantipara and the Shankhari 
Para which bear witness to colonies of weavers and shell^utters 
who at one time lived there in attendance on the court. 

There are two bridges in the neighbourhood which tradition 
ascribes to Ballal Sen. One is over the Mirkadim Khal and is 
called the Ballali Bridge ; it has three arches and the piers are 
six feet thick. The other is a little further to the west and spans 
the Taltala Khal ; this also has three arches but was blown up in 
the early days of British rule to enable large boats with troops to 
pass to and from Dacca. 

Ballal's was a long reign. The last trace of Buddhism had 
been destroyed by his father and he was free to devote himself 
to the internal administration of the kingdom. We know that 
he reorganised the caste system and founded Kulinism, a kind • 

of Hindu aristocracy, and that he was the originator of several 
social reforms. We know also that he wrote two Sanskrit works, 



20 DACCA DISTRICT. 

the Dana Sagara and the Adbut Sagara. He abdicated in favour 
of his son in 1170 A.D. and died two years later. His name 
is still a household word in every Hindu home in the district and 
his fame is such as only a great and wise king could have 
inspired. 
Fall of the Ballal was succeeded by his son, Lakhshman Sen, who gave 

Sen Riugs his name to Lakhnauti (Lakhshmana Bati) and lived latterly in 
^adia. We are told that after the capture of Nadia by Bakhtyar 
Khilji he fled to Bikrampur where he and his sons exercised a 
precarious sovereignty for the next hundred years. He had three 
sons— Madhab, Keshab and Viswa Rup — the last of whom succeed- 
ed him in Bikrampur and evidently had some fighting with the 
Muhammadans. Eventually the Sens were driven out and we 
. find that the Raja of Mandi claims descent from them and alleges 
that one of his ancestors, Rup Sen, fled to the Punjab where he 
founded the present city of Ruper. Beyond these legends all 
trace of this once powerful dynasty has completely disappeared. 
Early Little is known of the movements of the Muhammadans in 

Muhamma- Dacca in the earlier part of the thirteenth century. In 1223 
dan period. ^ -p ^ ^^^ Governor of Bengal, Gliiyas-ud-din, marched towards 
Kamrup and Eastern Bengal, but was recalled by an attack on 
his capital. Another governor invaded Eastern Bengal in 1260 
A.D., and according to Marco Polo the country was subdued by 
the Khans of Tartary in 1272 A.D. He gives the follo^Aring 
account of these parts : — 

" The province Bengala bordereth upon India toward the 
south, which Great Can subdued, when Marco Polo lived in his 
court. The country hath a proper king and peculiar language. 
The inhabitants thereof are all idolaters : they have masters which 
keep schools and teach idolatries and inchantments : a thing com- 
mon to all the great men of that country. They eat flesh, rice 
and milk : they have cotton in great plenty, and by reason 
thereof, much and great trading is exercised there : they abound 
also with spike, galangal, ginger, sugar and divers other spices. 
Huge Qxeu are also there, comparable with elephants in height 
but not in thickness. Many eunuchs are made in this province, 
which are afterwards sold unto merchants." 

In 1279 A.D., the district was visited by the Emperor him- 
self who advanced beyond Sonargaon in pursuit of Toghril, the 
governor of I.aklmauti, who liad thrown otf bis allegiance and 
proclaimed himself an independent sovereign, 
p, y^j^^jiij, Subsequently the Emperor Ala-ud-din, finding that the vice- 

Khi.-J. roy of Bengal luid become too powerful, effected a partition of 

tlie province and aiipointed lialiadur Khan to he governor of 
Easlern liengal with his liead quarters at Sonargaon. A Bengali 
historian of Sonargaon tells us tliat after capturing the main forts 
and subduing the Raja of the locality', Bahadur governed in his 
name and introduced but few changes in the form of the adminis- 
tration. Certainly, so long as Ala-ud-din lived, Bahadur ruled 



klSTORt. 'i\ 

circumspectly, but on his death he declared himself independent 
with the title of Bahadur Shah. This so enraged the new 
Emperor (Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlak Shah) that he marched into 
Bengal (1324 A.D.) and, defeating Bahadur, took him to Delhi 
with a rope round his neck, appointing Tatar Khan, his adopted 
son, to be governor of Sonargaon in his place. 

Tatar Khan was succeeded in 1338 A.D. by his armour- Fakhr- 
bearer Fakhr-ud-din who declared himself to be independent. He"*^''^^"** 
was, however, defeated by Qadir Khan who occupied SonargSon 
where he amassed great treasure. This treasure proved his des- 
truction for his soldiers went over to Fakhr-ud-din who ofiFered 
them this immense reward as the price of their treachery, ('oins 
minted by this chief prove that he reigned ten years, when Le met 
his death, probably at the hands of Ali Mubarak, governor o5 
Lakhnauti. The following account of the country in the time of 
Fakhr-ud-din is given by Ibn BatOta. Writing of the Brahma- 
putra he says, " it descends from the mountains of Kamrup and is 
called the Blue River, by which people travel towards Bengal and 
Lakhnauti. Along this river are hydraulic wheels, gardens, and 
villages, on the right and on the left, just as they are to be seen 
along the Nile in Egypt. The inhabitants of these villages are 
non-Muhammadaus who pay a protection tax. From them is 
exacted half of the produce of their lands besides tribute. We 
renaained on this river for fifteen days sailing between villages 
and gardens just as if we had been passing through a market. 
On this river there are innumerable ships in every one of which 
there is a drum. Whenever two ships meet the crew of both of 
them strike their drums and salute each other, Fakhr-ud-din, the 
Sultan, of whom we have spoken, has ordered that no duty should 
be levied from fakirs on that river and that provisions should be 
given to such of them as had not got them so that whenever a 
fakir arrives in a village he is given half a dinars 

At Sonargaon the travellers found a jonk which was bound 
for the country of Java and embarked on it. 

In 1352 A.D. Haji Ilyas conquered Eastern Bengal and Dynasty 
founded a dynasty which continued with a brief interval to reign naji iiyas. 
over that province for nearly a century and a half. In 1354, he 
was attacked by the Emperor Feroz Shah and fled to the fort of 
Ekdala. It is said that during the siege of the fort the saint 
Shaikh Raja Biyabani died, and Ilyas, coming out of the fort dis- 
guised as a mendicant, joined the Shaikh's funeral procession and 
afterwards went to see the Emperor without himself being recog- 
nised. 

IlyJs died in 1359 A.D. and was succeeded by his Ponci„.j 
CM 1 en 1 • 1 • ii T-i ... oiKaufiar 

oikaudar Shah m whose reign the emperor heroz again invaded Shah.; 

Bengal. Hearing of the Imperial advance Sikaudar, like his 

father, fled " into the islands of Ekdala." Another siege ensued • 

during which one of the chief towers of the fort fell owing to the 

pressure of the people upon it, but the fort being built of mud 



22 DACCA DISTRICT. 

was speedily repaired. Negotiations for peace were opened and 
presents were exchanged. It is related that the Sultan sent into 
the fort of Kkdala by the hands of Malik Kabul a crown worth 
80,000 Tanka and 500 valuable Arab and Turki horses with the 
expression of his wish that henceforth they might never again 
draw the sword. Sikandar seems to have paid great attention 
to internal administration and it is said that he made a 
regular survey of the province, his name surviving to the present 
day in the term Sikandari gaj. His end was however an unhappy 
one as he was defeated and killed by his son Ghiyas-ud-diu at 
Garpara in the Manikganj subdivision in 1368 A.D. 

Ghiyas- Ghiyas-ud-din held his court at Sonargaou. He was a man 

nd-din. q£ some literary attainments and invited the celebrated poet 

Hafiz to visit him. At the same time he was an able and enlight- 
ened ruler. We learn from Chinese sources tliat he despatched 
embassies to China and received presents in return. He died in 
1373 A.D. and the remains of his tomb are still to be seen in 
INIahalla Baghalpur at Sonargjlon. At the present day it is in a 
very dilapidated condition but it was described by Dr. Wise in 
1874 in the following terms: — ''This mausoleum formerly con- 
sisted of a ponderous stone which occupied the centre, surrounded 
by pillars about five feet high. These stones are all beautifully 
carved and the corners of the slabs and the arabesque tracery are 
as perfect as the day they left the workman's hands. The stones 
are formed of hard, almost black, basalt. At the head is a pros- 
trate sandstone pillar, half buried in earth. It was evidently 
used when erect as a Chiraghdan, or stand for a light." 

Ghiyas-ud-din's coins were struck at Muazzamabad, where a 
mint had been established by his father. This place appears to 
have been close to Sonargaon, and may have been the same aa 
Muazzampur, a village lying a few miles to the north of Sonar- 
gaon, which we know as the seat of a saint in the reign of 
Jalal-ud-din a few years later. 
Raja Kans In 1405 there was a brief recrudescence of Hindu sovereignty, 

anil his tlie throTie of Hengal being seized by Kaja Kans v\?ho reigned till 

dehceudants. j^j^ ^ j) uj^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ successor Jalal-ud-din was, as his name 
implies, a convert to the Muhammadan religion. He was followed 
by his son Ahmad Shah to whose reign belongs the oldest inscrip- 
tion yet found in tlie district. It is to be seen in the mosque of 
the saint Shah Langar at Muazzampur. 
MasirSliiih. In 1432 A.D., the dynasty of Ilyas Shah was restored in the 

person of Sultan Nasir-ud-din Abul Muzaffiir Mahmud Shah who 
reigned kill 1400 A.D. He restored to his throne Meng Soamwun, 
the king of Arakan, who had been expelled by the Burmese in 
1400, but only on condition that h(^ should remain a vassal of 
Hcngal. The mosque of Ihnal^ I'ibi at N;ir;iin(lia in the city of 
]>ii(u';i was f'i('<'l,Hd during his reign, but otherwise there is little 
known about this prince. 



HISTORY. 23 

) 

The records of his immediate successors are equally meagre Hugain Sbau 
but in 1494, Shah Ala-ud-din Hasain Sharif Maki, known as 
Huf'ftin Shah the Good, came to the tlirone. He made his capital 
at Kkdala and captured Kamatapur in 1498 leaving his son Danyal 
as governor there. The young prince and his followers were how- 
ever killed and a subsequent expedition sent into Assam was com- 
pletely routed by the Ahoms. Husain Shah also sent two expeditions 
into Tippera. The first under Gaur Malik was driven back, the 
Tipperas damming the river Gumti and then letting loose the 
waters upon the invaders. The second, under Hyten Khan, was 
at first successful but was subsequently routed by the same ex- 
pedient as had proved so successful against the former expedition. 
Some time after this (the date is uncertain and it may have been 
after Husain Shah's death) Bijaj^a, the Kaja of Tippera, in retalia- 
tion, invaded Bengal with an army of 26,000 infantry and 5,000' 
cavalry, besides artillery. He travelled with 5,000 boats along 
the rivers Brahmaputra and Lakshya to the Padma, spent some 
days at Sonargaon in debauchery and then crossed to Sylhet. 

After Husain Shah there were three other independent kings, 
viz-, (i) Nasrat Shah, his son, (ii) Firoz Shah, his grandson, and 
(iii; Mahmud Shah, his son. Tlie last named was defeated by 
Sher Shah and with him ended the line of independent kings. 

Before proceeding to describe Dacca under the Mughals Adminiatra- 
it will be convenient to record here a few of the facts relating ^'^'^ ^^. 
to the period intervening between the defeat of Mahmud Shah * ' 

and the final annexation of Bengal by Akbar in 1576. 

Sher Shah appointed one Khizr Khan Bairak to be governor 
of Bengal but he married a daughter of Mahmud Shah and 
declared himself independent. For this he was imprisoned by 
Sher Shah who took the opportunity of dividing Bengal into 
provinces, making Kazi Fazilat the Amir or Superintendent. 
Sonargaon was probably one of those provinces and the governor 
in the year 1542 seems to have been Saiyid Ahmad Rumi. Sher 
Shah's short but able administration extended as far as the Dacca 
district. The trunk road made by him from Sonargaon to Upper 
India is famous. Rest-houses were maintained at every stage 
and every few miles there was a well. 

Islam Shah, son of Sher Shah, garrisoned the whole country 
with troops from the borders of Sonargaon, but he reversed his 
father's policy and once more appointed one governor for Bengal. 
Muhammad Khan Sur was selected for the post, and he on Islam 
Shah's death declared himself independent, as did his two sons 
after him. Neither these kings nor any of the rulers who follow- 
ed ever apparently held the whole of Bengal, nor was their right 
recognised by contemporaries, and consequently, as Stewart says, 
they cannot be considered absolute sovereigns. 

After the final extinction of the Sur dynasty the Afghans in , 
Bengal were dispersed, some, it is said, became faqirs and some 
attached themselves to Sulaiman Karani who had meanwhile been 



24 DACCA DISTRICT 

amassing muoh influence and power. He brought nearly the 
whole of Bengal under his sway, including the district of Dacca, 
as appears from the inscription on a mosque in Rikabi BSzSr 
(about three miles from Munshiganj) which was built by one 
Malik Abdulla Miyan during the reign of Hazrat Ala (His 
Majesty) Miyan Sulaiman, in the year 1575 A.D. 

Sulaiman was succeeded first by his son Bayazld and then 
by his second son, Daud. The wars between these rulers and 
the generals of Akbar have no concern with the district But 
there was fighting in Ghoraghat, in which Kala Pahar and other 
Afghans were concerned, and this may have had an efifect in and 
around Dacca. Daud was finally killed in 1576, when Bengal 
was annexed to the Mughal Empire. 

The twelTe j|- ^,^g gome years, however, before the whole of Bengal was 

f actually reduced to subjection. Several tracts continued to be 
under the rule of petty chiefs who refused to own allegiance to the 
Emperor and gave shelter and a hearty welcome to the numerous 
Afghans whom Daud's death had thrown out of employment. 
Foremost among those chiefs were the twelve Bhuiyas of Bengal. 
In this place it is only necessary to refer to those who ruled over 
portions of the Dacca district. These were (i) Fazl Ghazi of Bhaw5l, 
(ii) Chand Rai and Kedar Rai of Bikrampur and (iii) Isa KhSn, 
Masnad-i-Ali, of Khizrpur. The first named traced his descent 
from one Pahnun Shah who lived about six hundred years ago. 
His son, Karfarma Sahib, went to Delhi, and there received from 
the Emperor the grant of pargana Bhawal in return for unit- 
ing the two roofs of a building, which all the court architects 
had hitherto failed to accomplish. According to tradition the 
area ruled over by this family comprised the parganas of Chand 
Gh5zi (now Chand Pratap), Tala Ghazi (now Talipabad) and 
Bara Ghazi (now Bhawal). They had not, however, the faculty of 
keeping what they had gained and some time in the eighteenth 
century these estates passed into the hands of their Bengali 
servants. The family still resides at Chaura near Kaliganj in a 
state of pitiable poverty. Chand Rai and Kedar Rai who built 
the RajSbari matli. are the only two Bhuiyas of Bikrampur whose 
names have come down to us. Their capital at Sripur, not far 
from RajabSri, has long ago been washed away by the Padma 
river but it was of sufficient importance to be mentioned by more 
than one European traveller. 

lB& Kliftu, The greatest of all the Bhuiyas was Isa Khan, son of a Bhis 

Raj [Hit of Oudh who had accepted the Muhammadan faith. His 
principal strongholds were at Khizrpur, about a mile north of 
Narayanganj, and atDiwan Bagli, and he formed a rallying point 
for the Afghans of Eastern Bengal who offered a stern resistance 
to the .Miiglial arms. In 1584 the Viceroy Shah Baz entered 
Dacca in pursuit of the rebel Masura and captured Khizrpur and 
Buktarapur, another of Isa Khan's strongholds. That chief 
endeavoured to create a diversion by laying siege to the fort of the 



HISTORY. 25 

Kooh Raja at Jaiijralbari (MymensinglO and then attacked the 
imperial forces on the Hrahmapatra. But lie was defeated and 
in the followiuy year (1585) submitted to the Emi)eror. He was, 
however, but a turbulent vassal and in 1594 Raja Man Singh, the 
viceroy of that time, made Dacca his head-quarters in a cam- 
paign against him, the troops encamping at Urdu near the site 
of the present central jail. Isa was driven from Khizrpur to 
Egara Sindu where he challenged Man Singh to single combat. 
His conduct was so chivalrous that the two warriors became 6rm 
friends and went together to the court at Delhi where Isa Khan 
received a grant of twenty-two parganas. Even at the present 
day several of the parganas in the district are described as being 
situated in tappa Isa Khan. Munawar Khan's bazar close to the 
Nawabpur road in Dacca takes its name from the great-grandson 
of this sturdy soldier. 

Resistance to the imperial arms did not, however, terminate Further 
with the submission of Isa Khan. The Afghans under Osmau ?^^r!j*'V°?, 
Lohani held out obstinately at Dhamrai and defeated the 
' thanadar ' while the king of Arakan laid siege to a fort near 
Sonargaon. The zamindar of Bikrampur assisted him by making 
a diversion in the south of the district and attacking Srinagar 
but Man Singh put both of them to flight with heavy loss. 

The earliest records of the Portuguese? in the district date The 
from, this period. In 1586 Kalph Fitch sailed from Sripur for l'o^'^"8"«se. 
Pegu in a ship belonging to one Albert Caravallos. In 1599 we 
know that Francis Fernandez, the first Missionary to Bengal, was 
at Sripur and again, in 1602, we find that one Carvalho (Carval- 
los ?) was in the service of Kedar Rai of Sripur. Dr. Wise tells us 
of a tradition to the effect that in 1599 Fre Luis des Chagos was 
stopped on his way to Sylhet by Christians who besought him to 
relieve them from their landlord's tyranny. On his return he 
bought the villages of Nagari and Bhagari in Bhawal and a piece 
of land was also purchased at Narayandia. It is doubtful if the 
church at Nagari was founded at this time but we know that an 
Augustine church did exist at Narayandia early in the seventeenth 
century. The parochial church of Dacca was at Tezgaon ^bout a 
mile north of the new civil station. This was founded soon after 
the one at Bandel (Hughli), but the exact date is not known. The 
following extract relating to the visit of Fernandez to Sripur is 
taken from Purchas : — 

" At Sripur in December, they arrived and were received a^ 
angels from heaven, by reason of the Bishop of Cocin had excom- 
municated the new Captayue with his followers from which 
sentence they hoped the Jesuites would exempt them and 
although we were loth to intermeddle, yet we could not but give 
answer to them. At Sripur the Governor gave us leave to preach 
and assigned six hundred pieces of gold for revenue, and roome » 
to build a church, with promise of all necessaries. " The Captain 



26 DACCA DISTRICT. 

referred to was evidently a leader of Portuguese who were settled 
there already. The church does not seem to have been ever built. 
The following description of the district by Kal[jh Kitch, who 
Fftch^s visited it in 1586, is interesting :— 

account of '* From Bacola I went to berrepore (^isripur) which staudeth 

Dacca. upon the river of Ganges : the king is called Chondery (i.e., 

Chaudhuri). They be all hereabouts rebels against their king 
Zebaldim Echebar (i.e., Jalaluddiu Akbar) : for here are so many 
rivers and islands that they tlee from one to another, whereby 
his horsemen cannot prevail against them. Ureat store of cotton 
cloth is made here. Sinnergan {i.e., Sonargaon) is a town six 
leagues from Serrepore, where there is the best and finest cloth 
made of cotton in all' India. The houses here, as they be in the 
most part of India, very little and covered with straw and have a 
* few mats round about the walls and the door to keep out the 
tigers and the foxes. Many of the people are very rich. Here 
they will eat no tlesh nor kill no beast : they live on rice, milk 
and fruits. They go with a little cloth before them and all the 
rest of their bodies is naked. Great store of cotton cloth goeth 
from hence and much rice, wherewith they serve all India, Ceylon, 
Pegu, Malacca, Sumatra and many other places." 
The Nawabs At the beginning of the seventeenth century the district and city 

OF Dacca. sprang into prominence as the head-quarters of the Nawabs of Dacca. 
Islam Khau. ^^ 1607 Islam Khan was appointed viceroy of Bengal apd in 

1008 he transferred the seat of government from Kajmahal to 
Dacca which was for several reasons a more convenient capital- 
It afforded a good centre for operations against Usman, the Afghan 
chief, who was still unsubdued, against the Portuguese, who after 
their alliance with Arakan had become a serious menace to the 
waterways of Eastern Bengal, and against the Ahoms in Assam. 
But the chiet reason, perhaps, for making the removal permanent 
was that a change in the course of the river at Kajmahal had 
resulted in a great decline in the trade of that place. It is said 
that before fixing the site of the new capital at Dacca, Islam 
Khan had serious thoughts of establishing it at Dhamrai where he 
halted i^ome time and where a portion of tlie village is still known 
as Islampur. It must not, however, be supposed tliat Dacca first 
came into existence in the time of Islam Khan. Two mosyues in 
different quarters of the town had been built many years before this 
date, Kaja Man Singh had lived for a time at Dacca and the town 
was the seat of an imperial thanadar. Further, the Basaks of Dacca 
have records to show that tlicir ancestors first settled here some 
years before Islam Khan's time, and only a trading centre of some 
importuucc^ would have attracted such a community as theirs. 

Islam Klian, the first Nawabof Dacca, was foster brother of the 
Emjieror Jahangir. He was a strict Musalman, simple in his 
per.-oiial habits and dress, but as Nawab he lived in regal style. 
He had 20,000 hor.se and footmen in his service ; he had his 
jharoka and jhaslkhdua and he spent lis. 80^000 a mouth ou 



HISTORY. 27 

dancing-girls. Testimony of his piety is to be found in a mosaue 
in Tslampiir in tlie town — a small unpretentious building said to 
have been erected by him — and the quarters Islampur and Nawab- 
pur of the city owe their names to him. He died in 1613 at Dacca 
and his body was taken to Fatehpur iSlkri, his birthplace, and 
buried there. 

From the first, probably, Usman must have been a source of 
anxiety to Islam Klian. But in 1612 A.D., when he was threat- • 

ing Dacca itself, he sent Shujaat Khan with an army against 
him. A battle was fought "near Usman's fortress and country" 
on the banks of a stream, in which Usman was killed and the 
imperial forces gained a victory whicli sheltered once for all the 
power of the Afghans in Bengal. 

About that time Lakshmi Narayan, king of Koch Bihar, came 
in person to Dacca and appealed to Islam Khan for help against' 
his cousin, the king of Koch Hajo, and simultaneously the Raja 
of Susang begged asistance against the latter's tyranny. Islam, 
glad of the opportunity to humble a Raja who had always prided 
himself on his independence, and keen, no doubt, to add fresh 
territory to the empire, sent an expedition to Koch Hajo under 
Mukarram Khan. The Raja was defeated, taken prisoner to 
Dacca and thence sent to Delhi, while a garrison was left in 
Hajo. 

Next year Islam Khan set himself to subdue the country 
east of the Meghna which had submitted to the king of 
Arakan. Gonsales of Sandip made an alliance with the latter 
to repel their common foe. The Arakanese (Mugh) army marched 
as far as the Noakhali district, but Islam Khan succeeded in 
defeating it and sent to the Emperor, in charge of his son Hashang 
Khan, a number of the Mughs who were captured. 

On Islam Khan's death, the Emperor appointed his brother Kfisim Khan. 
Kasim Khan to be viceroy in his place. During his time the 
king of Arakan took Sandip and a portion of the Bakarganj 
district and, according to Arakanese records, occupied Dacca 
also, but this, if true, must have been later, when the Mughal 
troops were elsewhere engaged during Shah .Tahan's ret)ellion. 
For his failure to repel the Mughs and for allowing the Assamese 
to make an incursion into Koch Hajo Kasim was recalled in 1618 
and Ibrahim Khan appointed to Bengal. The out-going and 
in-coming viceroys met and quarrelled over the return of Islam 
Khan's elephants but Kasim's party was worsted and he left 
Ibrahim in possession of all his treasures. 

Ibrahim Khan Fath Jang was the brother of the Empress ., - 
Nur Mahal. A strong and capable governor, he held the Afghans Khila. 
in check, repelled the Assamese and kept a strict watch on the 
Arakanese by means of a fleet of war boats. For five years agri- 
culture, manufactures and commerce all flourished, and the , 
province enjoyed great prosperity. But these peaceful times were 
not to last. Prince Shah Jahan rebelled and invaded Bengal 



28 '^ DACCA BTSTRTCT. 

and tlie viceroy, recoverino- froin his first panic, marclied from 
Dacca with what troops he could collect. He was handicapped 
by part of his army being employed in Chittagong and portions 
of it being scattered over the country for the purpose of enforcing 
the revenue collections, but he was loyal to the Emperor, and 
attempts to gain him over were made in vain. A battle was 
fought near Rajmahal, resulting in the death of Ibrahim and the 
dispersal of his forces. Shah Jahan thereupon proceeded to 
Dacca, where Ahmad Beg, nephew of Ibrahim, was compelled to 
make over to him all the elephants, horses and other property 
of his uncle, together with forty lakhs of rupees belonging to 
Government. He stayed in Dacca for a short time giving audience 
to public and private gentlemen and otherwise conducting him- 
self as ruler. On leaving he appointed Darab Khanto be governor 
but on his retreat from Bengal another viceroy was appointed. 

From Arakanese sources we learn that in 1622 the Kaja of 
Arakan enforced payment of tribute from Dacca. This he would 
be able to do in the absence of Ibrahim and his army. 

In the Kajmala we read that the Muhammadans invaded 
Tippera to capture horses and elephants. Headed by Nawab 
Fatteh Jang they were victorious, the capital was taken and 
the Kaja sent a prisoner to Delhi. The Muhammadans remained 
in that country two and a half years, committing great atrocities, 
plundering the temples and robbing the inhabitants. They were 
at last forced to leave owing to the outbreak of a dreadful plague 
Again, soon after 1625, the Raja of Tippera refusing to pa}' 
tribute, the Nawab led or sent an expedition against him which 
was defeated. On this occasion we are told that his troops had 
with them a famous cannon made of leather. 
Mahabat After Shah Jahan quitted Bengal, the province was made 

Khan. ^ygj. ^q Mahabat Khan and his son Khanahzad Khan. The former 

had distinguished himself in the war in the Deccan and so risen 
to favour. He incurred the Emperor's displeasure foi' failing to 
send him the elephants he captured, as well as for failing to 
submit accounts. Leaving his son in charge he set ofif to inter- 
view tne Emperor. Peace was made but the viceroyalty was 
conferred in 1626 on Mukarram Khan. 
Mukarrani "^'^^^ "^^^ Nawab was son-in-law of Islam Khan and he it was 

khun. who led the expedition into Koch Hajo. While at Dacca he took 

great pleasure in boating and kept up a large establishment of 
boats of every description for war as well as for pleasure. Going 
out one day in state to meet the Emperor's envoy his boat upset 
and he was drowned. 
Mirza Mirza Hidayatullah known as Fidai Kh5n was appointed in 

HidKyat- 1027. Nothing is known of his viceroyalty. On Jahangir's death 
Kn'siiji Khtn. ^'® ^^^ replaced by the new Emperor's own nominee, Kasini Khan, 
who had been Khazanchi or Treasurer of Bengal under Islam 
Ktian. He rose to favour owing to his skill in archery which 
he taught to the new Emperor and by marrying a sister of Nur 



HISTORY. 29 

Jahan he secured liimpelf in the roynl favour. The chief event 
of his rule was the war against the Portuguese at Hughli, in 
which the fleet from Dacca which mobilised at Sripur took 
part. 

He died in 1G31 A.D. and was succeeded by Mir Muham- Azim Khan, 
mad Baqir, whose titles were Iradat Khan and afterwards Azim 
Khan. At a later period he became Shah Shuja's father-in-law. 
During his time the Assamese destroyed the garrison in Assam, 
carried off the governor Abdus Salam and invaded Bengal, 
penetrating almost as far as Dacca. 

For this reason Azim Khan was superseded by Islam Khan Islam Khiin 
Mashadi, whose real name was Mir Abdus Salam. Soon after his Mashadi. 
accession in 1638 A.D. hereceived a visit from Makator Manik Kai, 
the governor of Chittagong under the Kaja of Arakan, who had 
incurred that king's displeasure and now hastened to declare himself » 
a vassal of the Mughal Kmpire. He made overliis province to 
Islam Khan who took possession and renamed the town of C!]utta- 
gong Islamabad The Nawab then despatched an expedition into 
Assam and terms were negotiated witli the Assamese hxing a 
boundary between Muluinimadan and Assamese territory, whicli 
was maintained for tlie next twenty-five years. It is possible 
that the results of this expedition might have been less favour- 
able to the Assamese had not the viceroy been recalled by the 
Emperor to the post of Vazir at Delhi, thus making room 
for ' Prince Muhammad Shuja, commonly known as Sh5h 
Shuja. 

The fort at Dacca, which stood on the site now occupied by 
the Lunatic Asylum and Central Jail, was built by Islam Khan 
Mashadi. The courts of justice and the mint were within its 
walls. The building opposite the main gate of the jail is said to 
have been the residence of the kotivaL Islam Khan also increased 
the vatvara for fleet) and the artillery, and in his time the 
arsenal must have been in a state of considerable eflficienc^^ for 
there exists now in Murshidabad a gun made at Dacca during 
his viceroyalty. It is seventeen and a half feet long and its 
muzzle is six inches in diameter ; the weight is said to.be about 
seven and three-quarter tons. 

Shah Shuja came to Bengal as viceroy in 1639. The Shah Shuja. 
Emperor sent with him as an adviser his father-in-law, Azim 
Khan, who had himself filled the post, and, further to curtail his 
power, put Shaista Khan in charge of Behar. After a short resi- 
dence in Dacca, Shah ShujS. for some reason transferred his 
capital to Kajmahal, leaving his father-in-law as his deputy in 
Dacca. The latter disliked this subordinate position and soon 
resigned. For nearly twenty years, with a short break, Shah 
Shuja ruled over Bengal. In spite of the absence of the viceregal 
court, this was apparently a period of prosperity for the city of 
Dacca and several oi its important buildings date from this * 
time. 



Mir Jumla. 



^^ DACCA DISTRICT. * 

Shah Shiija proved an a1)le administrator and one of 
his achievements was the preparation of a new rent-roll of 
the province. But his ambition proved his ruin. Hearing 
of his father's illness, he started at the head of an army with 
the intention of seizing the Empire. Details of this exploit 
belong more properly to a history of India or of Bengal. Suffice 
it to say here that he was defeated by Aurangzeb's general, Mir 
Jumla, and fled to Dacca, whither he was pursued by IVJir Jumla. 
He sent his son, Zainuddin, to arrange for an asylum with the 
king of Arakan. Zainuddin was well received by the latter and 
came back to Dacca with a fleet of boats manned by Portuguese 
and Arakanese, on which poor Shuja embarked with all his family 
and treasure and escaped to Arakan where he died. 

On the defeat and flight of Shah Shuja, the Emperor appoint- 
'8d Mir Jumla to be viceroy. He was above all things a soldier 
and a soldier with great ambitions. It has been suggested that 
Aurangzeb gave him this appointment not merely as a reward for 
his services ( especially against Shah Shuja) but also as an 
expedient for keeping a dangerous man at a distance, fully 
occupied with congenial employment. The relics in Dacca attri- 
buted to him are all the works of a military governor. At the 
confluence of the Lakshya, Dhaleswari and Meghna rivers he 
built the Idrakpur fort, where the town of Muushiganj now 
stands. Much of this fort still remains and within its walls 
the Subdivisional Officer has his residence and the jail is 
located. The forts at Khizrpur and Sona Kanda are attributed to 
him, but both probably existed before his time and in all likelihood 
he only strengthened them. There were at one time two forts on 
the Ruri Ganga below Dacca, one at Fatulla and the other opposite. 
These were probably built by him. The bridge at Pagla, Taver- 
nier tells us, was his work, and it is more than probable that he 
also constructed the road from Dacca to Khizrpur, via Fatulla, 
which passes over this bridge. Finally, the road to Mymensingh 
and the bridge on it at Tongi were both made by him. 
# Before Mir Jumla took up the government of Bengal the 

Assamese had been giving much trouble, and as soon as he had 
leisure he turned his attention to them. He sent out two small 
expeditions, one under Rashid Khan and another under Raja 
Sujan Singh, which had little or no result. Then, in 1661, he 
started himself, leaving Ihtishan Khan at Khizrpur to guard 
Dacco. and its environs. While away he contracted a serious 
illness which neither his Dutch nor his French doctor, nor his 
Hakim from Delhi could cure and he died not far from Khizr))ur 
in 1663. 
.ShairttR On the death of Aiir .lumla, Shaista Khan, brother of the 

Khfin. Empre.'-K Mointaz Mahal and nephew of the Empress Nur Mahal, 

was apf)ointed to the vacant viceroyaliy. He ruled Bengal from 
1664 to 1677 and again from 1670 lo 1689, and during this period 
Dacca attained to the zenith of its prosperity and grandeur. 



HISTORY. 31 

One of the tirst of tSliaista Khan's acts was lo clear the 
rivers of the pirates that infested them and to sack the strong- 
hold of the Mughs at Chittagong. He won over many of the 
Portuguese from their allegiance to the king of Arakan and 
])lanted a colony of them at Feringhi Bazar near Muushiganj. 
He next turned his attention to Tippera and captured and sent to 
Delhi the heir-apparent of the kingdom who had been guilty of 
great cruelty, but like many viceroys the remoteness of Delhi 
encouraged him in an undue sense of his own importance and he 
gave grave offence by refusing to send the surplus treasure to the 
capital. He was recalled in 1677 and during his absence the 
province was administered by Azim Khan and, on the death of 
that prince, by Muhammad Azam, who commenced the construc- 
tion of the Lai Bagh which contains the beautiful tomb of his 
wife Peri Bibi. 

In 1079 Shaista Khan returned to Dacca. Three years later 
William Hedges came to his court" to seek concessions for the 
Company and has left the following account of his visit : — 

" At 9 in ye morning 1 went to wait on ye Nawab, who 
after J hour's attendance sent officers to bring me into his pre- 
sence, being sat under a large canopy of state made of crimson 
velvet richly embroidered with gold and silver, and deep gold and 
silver fringes, supported by 4 bamboos plated over with gold. 
I was directed by ye Emir Tusuk, or Master of the Ceremonies, 
to sit over against ye Nawab, nearer ye canopy than his Duan 
or any other person. At my first entrance ye Nawab was very- 
busy in despatching and vesting divers principal officers sent 
with all possible diligence witli recruits for their army lately 
overthrown in Asham and Sillet, two large plentiful countries 
8 days' journey from this city, which are all lost except one 
little place held out and kept by 40 or 50 persons only : ye rest 
of ye souldiers being all fled out of ye country. Amongst ye rest 
I saw a Portuguese who was to be Commander of 5 or 600 of his 
countrymen." 

Further on, we read : — 

''November IStJt.— 'News being brought me last night that ye 
Nabob ( in ye 82nd year of his age ) had a son born this day, 
and 'twas expected I should uuike him a visit and give him a pre- 
sent, I went this morning to ye Durbar and gave him 13 gold 
mohurs and 21 rupees, which he accepted so kindly that I took 
ye opportunity to request his perwanna." 

Later on he tells us of a very severe Hood that occurred in 
Dacca on the 4th September 1684. 

Shaista Khan governed Bengal with signal success until 
1689, when, verging on ninety years of ago, he obtained permis- 
sion to resign. Wlien leaving the city he ordered the western 
gate to be built up in commemoration of the price of rice falling 
in his time to the rate of 640 lbs. per rupee, and an inscrip- 



32 DACCA DISTEICT. 

tion was placed on it forbidding any future governor to open it 
until that rate was again attained.* He died shortly afterwards 
at Agra. The parganas of Talipabad and Shaistanagar still exist 
to perpetuate his name in the district. 
K^r^j^r '^^^^ administration of Shaista Khan's two immediate suc- 

Khau. cesors Bahadur Khan and Ibrahim Khan was uneventful, and 

the latter is best known as the builder of the palace at Jinjira 
opposite the city of Dacca which was connected with the Bara 
Katra by a wooden bridge. The next viceroy Azim-ush-shan was so 
oppressive in his treatment of the trading classes that the son of 
a poor Brahman, Murshid Kuli Jafar Khan, was sent to him as 
finance minister with plenary powers. As soon as this man arrived 
in Dacca he reorganised the collection staff, assessed accurately the 
imperial and &(H_v('^" taxes, and prepared a complete revenue roll 
' of the province. He also resumed man}^ of the Heugaljaghirs giving 
less valuable lauds in Orissa in exchange. These reforms enabled 
him to remit a crore of rupees to the Emperor but did not endear 
him to the viceroy, who endeavoured to procure his assassination. 
Jafar Khan withdrew to a town, that he called after himself 
Murshidabad, and the Emperor recalled Azim-ush-shan to Behar. 
From this date Dacca became the head-quarters of a Deputy or 
Naib'Nazim only. 
Dacca under But many even of these officers resided outside the district 

Deputies. and only sent deputies to Dacca. Of these Mir Habib was an 
oppressive, and his successor in the diivdnship Jaswant Kai 
a good administrator. So prosperous ind^d was Dacca in his 
time that the price of rice once more fell to 640 lbs. per rupee 
and the gate closed by Shaista Khan was thrown open. After 
him the district seems to have fallen upon troublous times, one 
deputy succeeding another in quick succession and the Marathas 
being a constant source of terror. It was at this period that Haja 
Kaj Ballabh acquired wealth and power. His father had been 
a clerk in the naivarra (naval department), but the son starting 
from equally humble beginnings rose to be the richest and most 
powerful man in Eastern Bengal. He acquired great estates in- 
cluding the pargana of Kajnagar and erected numerous temples 
all of which have since been waslied away by the river Padma. 
After the battle of Plassey Mir .Tafar became Nawab Nazim but 
he fell into disgrace for authorising or conniving at the mur- 
der of the widow mother and daughter of Sirajuddaula and the 
widow and adopted son of Ali Vardi Khan who had been confined 
at Dacca, and was for a time deposed, lie was reinstated in 
1 70:5 and in that year Dacca seems to have been the prey of three 
separate armien, i^-ing captured by the followers of Mir Kasim, 
ret;iken by Muhammad Feza Khan, and pillaged by the Sannyasis. 

•It is difficult to understand how it can have ])aid to roaj), thresh and 
' husk rico and hriii^' il, to market if tlic ])rice was only L'aniias amaund. At tlie 

t:! ot tin; oit^litci'nlli (ieiiliirv whun lic j was selliii}^ for four annas a inaiiud at 
Syllift it waH reported th U thi.'^ [iricf I'aicly paid the cnoiy hire to market. 



BISTORT. 33 

Jasarat Khan was then appointed Naib Nazim and it was from 
him tliat Lieutenant Swinton took over charge after the Company 
had decided to assume the Diwani of Bengal. 

On Jasarat Khan's death in 1799 he was succeeded by his The last 
eldest grandson, Hashmat Jang. He in his turn gave place ""-'^waba, 
six years later to the elder of his two brothers, Nasrat Jang, who 
held office for thirty-seven years and on that account is the best 
known of the last Nawabs of Dacca. When he died in 1822 it was 
decided that it was unnecessary to retain any longer the office of 
Naib Nazim, and Shamsuddaula, the youngest of three grand- 
sons of Jasarat Khan, was recognised only as the head of his 
family. This man had been arrested in 1799 on a charge of high 
treason and was not released till 1805. Even then the Court of 
Directors were doubtful as to the expendiency of showing him, 
clemency as will be seen from the following extract from their 
proceedings : — 

" But when we consider the serious magnitude of the crimes 
of which Shumsooddowleh was convicted and the number and 
variety of the projects in which he was engaged for the subversion 
of our empire, extendiug from Behar to the court of Zemam Shah 
and eveu to Persia, including also a plan concerted with persons 
at Muscat for the introduction of body of Arabs into our provinces, 
in consequence of which Arab ships actually arrived in 1796 and 
1797 fi't the fort of Calcutta, having on board armed men and 
military stores, the commanders of which ships had orders to 
obey such di^ctions as they might receive from Shumsoodowleh, 
we cannot but feel some doubt concerning the wisdom and pru- 
dence of setting free a person of su dangerous a character." Their 
reasons for abolishiug the office of Naib Nazim are set forth by 
the Honourable Court in the following passage : — 

" It is quite obvious that the office of Naib Nazim in the 
Dacca division of Bengal was purely ministerial like the correspon- 
ding situations in the Murshidabad division and Behar, and can 
in no way be considered hereditary, or as having any of the attri- 
butes of property or sovereignty attaching to it (like the^diguity 
of Nazim). Its duties are defined in the JSunnud granted to Nawab 
Nusrut Jung (conformably to old forms) to be as follows : — 

" To conduct generally the administration of the affairs of the 
districts placed under his jurisdiction, to chastise the turbulent 
and rebellious, to protect the weak and the malgoozars, to admin- 
ister justice to complainants according to the Mahommedan law, 
to prevent iron-smiths from making match-locks, to be cautious 
that no one should sell to ill-disposed persons lead, powder or any 
implements of war, to exert himself in collecting the revenues of 
the mehals under his charge and to pay regularly the public 
revenue into the Treasury according to the instalments, to dis- 
burse no part of the public money without a sufficient warrant, • 
to maintain the establishments of war and state boats, etc. 
(iiowareh) on an efficient footing etc., etc. ' 

F 



34. DACCA DISTRICT. 

" Most, if not all, of the above functions must have been 
nominal and quite inapplicable to the s^tate of things existing even 
in 1785 : but in the present day it would be farcical to talk of an 
office having such duties annexed. The Nawab t^humsooddovvleh 
does not himself now apply for a Sunnud as his brother did in 
1785, but merely asks generally that the honour and consequence 
of his family may be maintained. As there are no engagements 
in existence which bind Government to keep up the office of 
Naib Nazim at Dacca, as the corresponding offices in Behar and 
on this side of Bengal have long since been abolished, and as 
there is nothing in tlie circumstances of Shurasooddowleh to give 
him any peculiar claim to indulgence, it will probably be thought 
expedient to pass over and omit altogether the appointment of 
Naib Nazim in announcing the provision authorised for the 
family." 

Extinction ^^^ 1831 Shamsuddaula died and was succeeded by his son 

of family of Jalaluddin Muhammad Kamiruddaula who on his death in 1834 
Naib Nazim. ^^^g j^ j^jg ^^.^ succeeded by his son Grhaziuddin Haidar, known 
as the Fagla Nawab. He incurred debts and behaved in such a 
manner that Government had to make over the management 
of his property to an agent. He died heirless in 1843 and the 
title as well as the office of Naib Nazim became extinct. His 
property was sold by auction and one of the state howdahs passed 
Into the hands of the Basaks of Nawabpur by whom it is par&ded 
on the occasion of the Janmastami festival. Troops were present 
at Nawab Ghaziuddin's funeral, which was conducted with 
military honours "as customary." 

The English ^^^ must now turn back to trace the origin of the English 

Factory at factory at Dacca. It is not known when or by whom tliis factory 
Dacca. ^y^^ gi-gt established. Thomas Piatt, or Pratt, who was Mir Jumla's 

ship- builder, would seem to have represented the East India Com- 
pany at the Durbar and he appears to have been the Company's 
Agent when Tavernier visited Dacca, for he mentions Mr- Pratt as 
being the English chief or President. Before his time there was 
another ^Englishman in Dacca, for we read that a few years later a 
deed purporting to be signed by James Hart and dated 1658 was pro- 
duced in support of a claim for the land on which the English 
factory stood and which was formerly owned b}' this James Hart. 
The deed was treated as a forgery, but the fact that Hart was in 
Dacca in IG.08 and owned the land was not disputed. Nothing 
further is known about this man, and he may have had nothing 
to do with the Company. 

In 1672-73 the Company was represented by Messrs. John 
^mith and .Samuel Harvey, but the two seem to have fallen out, 
for we find that in 1677 the former alleged "that Mr. Harvey 
Bald to me tliat there was no such thing as god or divell that 
religion wafl broached to keep ye world in awe, that it was done 



HISTORY. 35 

by ye cunning of Moses and afterward Christ, or words to ye 
same efifect," The court charged Harvey with "atheistical no- 
tions," and he was put on his trial but acquitted. In 1676 
Mr. Fytch Nedham was the Agent at Dacca, but in that year 
Mr. Harvey was sent back there as chief with Nedham as his 
second. One of the first things lie did was to procure sanction 
for the erection of brick buildings for the Company's factory. Ten 
years before, Tavernier tells us, the English house was " fairly 
good " but it was probably not of brick. 

Even at this early time the English appear to have had some 
prestige and influence at the Durbar, for one " Emin Cooly" the 
former " faujdar ' of Hughli, got a letter of introduction to the 
English officers at Dacca to help him in some business he had 
with the Nawab, . 

Much of the chief's time was occupied then, as for many 
years later, in endeavouring to procure the Nawab's parwana on 
advantageous terms for the English trade. P'or this purpose 
visits were paid to the chief Durbar officials as well as to the 
NawSb. Presents also were an important factor in the case. 

In May 1678, we read of the gentlemen at Dacca presenting 
the Nawab with an Arabian horse ; in July of the same year they 
lamented their inability to make a present to tie new daroga 
" because we had presented two great men twice this year, first 
ye Nawab Azum Cawn, and now ye Prince." 

In July 1678 Mr. Matthias Vincent, the chief at Hughli, 
visited Dacca to see if he could personally induce the Nawab to 
grant the necessary parwanas for the trade. It is interesting to 
observe how he first visited " the Prince's Duan, " then " the 
King's Duan," then 'the Prince's Nazarr or Controller of ye 
house, " and so on. A few days later he was granted an audi- 
ence of the Prince, to whom he presented 27 gold mohurs and a 
hundred rupees in silver (the actual present including two horses 
was sent later). After two months spent in constant visits first 
to one official and then to another, Mr. Vincent obtained the 
Prince's order for free trade and left Dacca. 

In the same year a third officer was sent to Dacca, viz., 
Mr. Powncett, while Mr. Fytch Nedham was replaced by Mr. 
Trenchfield. In 1681 the Dacca diary was signed, during Mr. 
Harvey's illness, by Messrs. John Powncett and Charles Eyre (the 
latter was warehouse-keeper). 

The amount expended on presents at this time must have been 
considerable as the following extracts of the year 1681 will show : — 

" 9th June. — James Price acquainted us that the Duan's 
Phurwana would speedily be perfected upon our 
gratifying the mutsuddies : we thought convenient 
(tho' a greater matter was urged by ye said James 



36 DACCA DISTRICT. 

Price) to send 15 rupees to the Munshy, 3 yards of 
scarlet to the peshdust and 4 yards of ordinary 
to ye cullumburdar. " 

" lltli June. — Hodge Sophe Chaan, the king's duan, seeing 
our Vaqueele this day at ye Nabob's durbar and 
signifying to him his desire of such wax figures, 
etc., we had formerly given the Nabob Shasteh 
Chaan, on notice hereof we concluded it most 
necessary (considering how much and how constant- 
ly we were obliged to him) to present him 2 wax 
figures, together with those curiosities in the flint 
ware we received lately from Hugly- " 

" 9th July. — Coda Bux Chaan, the king's Buxie and 
' third officer in the kingdom of Bengal, this day 

doing us the honour of coming to our factory, we 
thought necessary, acccording to all decency and 
custom * * * * to present him with 
etc." 

"S6th December. — Having understood from Mirza MuduiJer* 
that part of the flint ware he lately bought was for 
Buzurgh Omeed Cawn ye Nabob's eldest son, and 
being instructed by him also that it would be 
convenient for us to give him a visit with fome 
small nuzzar or present, as is ye custom of ye 
country (noe visit of this nature being made empty 
handed) we concluded to see him this day and 
present him, a large burning glass, a penknife, a 
large prospective glass, a Meridian sun dial. " 

The Datch f would seem to have been equally lavish and 
were granted leave to export rice on promising elephants, horses, 
etc. 

In 1682 William Hedges arrived in India to be Governor and 
Superintendent of the factories in the Bay of Bengal, with the 
title of*Agent of the Bay. "The several affronts, insolencies and 
abuses dayly put upon us by Bool Chund.J our chief customer 
(causing general stop of our trade), being growne insuflf'erable, 
ye Agent and Councell for ye Hon'ble E. Indian Comp's affaires 
at Hughly resolved upon and made use of divers expedients 
for redre?s, and concluded in consultation that the only expe- 
dient now left was for the Agent to go himself in person to the 

• Pon-in-law of Nawab Shaista Klinn's eldest Bon Buzurg Umed Khan. 

t Tlio Dutch woro cstiibliBhod in Dacca before tlie Euglisli. 

I lie was Diiroga of Iluglili ; On his a])])oiiitment inMarcli 1682 lie preeent- 
od IbH Nawab with Its. 2,00,000 and recfuved from him "four large pearls, 
witii two riil)ieH for his larH, a golden stMndisb, a goldeu luttod sword " aud 
otlior articles and from llie DiwAn a I'ersian horse. 



HISTORY. 87 

Nabob and Duan at Dacca, na well to make some settled 
adjustment concerning ye customs as to endeavour the prevent- 
ing Interlopers trading in these part? for ye future : in order 
to which preparations were caused to be made. Mr. Kichard 
Frenchfield and Mr. William Johnson were appointed to go 
along with ye Agent to Dacca." The Agent arrived in Dacca 
on 25th October 1682 and succeeded in obtaining parwanas 
fixing the duty on bullion at the mints, allowing trade free of 
customs duties (on security) for seven months pending an order 
from the Emperor and for several other smaller matters. Like 
Mr. Vincent, the Agent only secured these concessions by con- 
stant visits to the various Durbar officials. 

In 1688 Bahadur Khan seized the factory and imprisoned Seizure of 
the merchants and their followers. At first they were not harshly factory 
treated, but on the arrival of " Mr. Henry Hanley and Mr.*'° 

James Kavenhill with 14 persons n ore in company, all in a 

most miserable and tattered condition, laden with fetters of 
about 8 lbs.," they were thrown into the prison allotted to the 
new-comers, fettered and chained together at night two and two. 
Relief, however, came with tht arrival of Ibrahim Khan who 
reinstated them in their possessions and obtained for them from 
the Emperor in 1691 full authority to trade free of all dues and 
charges in return for an annual payment of Ks. 3,000. 

^ Presents to the Nawab continued to be a heavy charge upon 
the Company. Its local representatives were not however 
ungrateful and protested at the meanness of the gifts sent for the 
acceptance of the generous Ibrahim Khan. They were informed 
by their superior officers that the Rt. Hon'ble Company, in their 
advices, had blamed them for " the abominable large pishcashes 
at Dacca and the great expense yearly made at that durbar," 
and had ordered that frugality be used for the future, but, and 
this was the important point, the present was increased. Even 
after the removal of the Nawab Nazim from Dacca tlie benevolences 
to his deputy constituted a serious drain and in 1737 arrived 
one Sciadradgecaun. "This man acts here in the most tyrannical 
manner not only in Iiis own office but also in those appertaining 
to the Nabob's government, whipping and killing whosoever refuse 
to give him any sums of money he demands." He speins to have 
had no reasonable title to be placated with a gift of money, but 
he refused with scorn the offer of Rs. 500, and subsequently 
when he became Naib Nazim's Deputy he boycotted the factory 
till his demands were satisfied. In those days the judicial 
officers required propitiation no less than the executive, as will 
be seen from the following naive account of Kazi's justice : — "The 
Faqueer that had lived for many years on our wharf and which 
some months since we got turned away by our Nabob's order, 
having been at Muxadavad to complain, had obtained a purwaua • 
directed to the Cozzee here to enquire into the affair, and if he 
found the Faqueer had a right to the ground and that a 



38 DACCA DISTRICT. 

Mussulman's bones were buried there that then he should restablish 
him in his right and permit him to build a place of worship on 
the ground : and the Cozzee having offered, in consideration of 
250 Rupees to give a Sunnud setting forth the Faqueer's com- 
plaint to be groundless and false and liberty for us occupy the 
ground and build on it: and we considering the great incon- 
venienoy of having a Moore's place of worship in the midst of 
our ground, especially if our Hon'ble Masters should think 
proper to have a factory house built there. Agreed we do pay the 
Cozzee 250 Rupees and receive from him a Sunnud accordingly." 
It is not clear when a military guard was first entertained 
GiitabHsh- ^^ ^^^® factory. In 1736 the military stores included " 3 Brass 
ment of the Swivel guns, 2 xMortars, 3 long Swivel guns, 4 large Brass Swivel 
factory. Blunderbusses, 10 small (3 of which are iron), 2 iron Canon, 10 

' spare Bayonet pieces, 4 Carbines, 5 Pistols, 5 Swords, " etc., etc. 
These would hardly have been kept had there been no persons 
to use them, but no fixed establishment seems to have been 
entertained. In the following year the presence of some military 
officers from Calcutta caused the Dacca Council to consider their 
requirements. " Taking into consideration what military are 
necessary to be kept at this Factory, it appears that it is neces- 
sary to have sentinals at the doors of the Treasure Godown and 
other Warehouses of the Factory, as well as at the gates, and that 
at some of the adjacent petty chovvkeys stopping boats that are 
bringing the Hon'ble Company's goods, a party of soldiers are 
often necessary to be sent to clear such goods. Agreed therefore 
that we keep one Ensign, one Sergeant, one Corporal, one Drum- 
mer and 17 sentinals, and that we send the remainder of the 
Military to Calcutta." Such was the beginning of the military 
guard at Dacca. In 1745 it had increased to one Lieutenant, 
five Sergeants, six ^'orpoals, 47 European privates, and several 
others. In the following year some further additions were made 
on account of the Maratha scare, the force then standing at one 
Lieutenant, one Ensign, seven Sergeants, eight Corporals, 71 
European *' private men, " 42 Portuguese (who were shortly after 
dispensed witli) and others. In 1761, tliis had been replaced by 
a guard of sepoys, one battalion being distributed between Chit- 
tagong, Dacca and Lakhipur. Later, it consisted of a regiment 
of infantry and a detachment of artillery, and in 1836 (exactly 
one hundred years after the first entertainment of a permanent 
guard) the 50th Regiment of Native Infantry were stationed 
here, with eighteen commissioned officers, besides a Surgeon. 

The original cantonments at Dacca were near TezgSon, in a 
village called Baigun Bari. The place is still called Kalipaltan, 
and a portion of it still retains the name of Chandmari (shooting 
range). Some time about the beginning of the nineteenth cen- 
, tury the cantonments were moved nearer the town to the PurSuS 
Paltaii, but the site was thought to ba unhealthy and a few years 
before the Mutiny the troops were transferred to the Lai Bagb. 



HISTORY. 



SO 



At first the Company's esfablishment consisted of two Euro- Eatablish- 
peans, but by the year 1736 there were five posts at the factory, ment at 
viz., the Chief, the Accountant, the Export Warehouse- '^^ ^^^' 
keeper, the Ruxi and the Import Warehouse-keeper. In 1758 the 
Court directed that the business should be conducted by a Chief, 
a Second and two Writers. The f/hief and his Assistants liad 
small salaries, but to compensate for this they were allowed the 
privilege of trading on their own account provided this did not 
interfere with the Company's investments. A common table was 
maintained at the Factory, at the expense of the Company, and 
in 1737, the Company allowed Rs. 700 yearly for Factory pro- 
visions. This sum was increased considerably in later years 
and in 1758 Ks. 3,000 were allowed for keeping a table, with 
instructions '* that the Junior servants * * * shall partake 
thereof: and, in case they shall desire to diet apart, each junior * 
servant above the rank of Writer shall get out of the Chief's 
allowance 30 current rupees per month, and each Writer 20." The 
first mention of a Factory Surgeon is an entry dated the 16th 
December 17 37: " Mr. John Coleman, our late Surgeon, having 
died intestate, etc." He was succeeded by Mr. Holwell and then by 
Mr. John Canty. A Surgeon seems to have been attached to the 
Factory regularly thereafter. The salary of the post was forty- 
rupees per mensem. 

The extent of the private trade of the Company's servants Private 
can nardly be realised in these latter days. Mr. Cooke, who ti'^^s- 
was dismissed for embezzlement, forfeited all his property 
to the Company to make good the loss : this property included 
the articles in which he was trading and it took many months 
to gather in from the various trading centres (aurungs) the 
articles that had been secured for him. As the Company recog- 
nised this trade, certain of the factory charges (viz., Charges 
General, Servants' Wages and Charges Durbar) were divided pro- 
portionately between the Company and its servants according to 
the amount of trade. The following figures give the trade and 
the proportion of the charges payable in 1744 : — 





Annual 
salary. 


Amount of 
trade. 


Proportionate 
share of 
charges. 


The Hon'ble Company... 
Thomas Joshua Moore, Esq., Chief 
Mr. John Smith, .lunr. Mercht 
Mr. Samuel Ropper, Factor 
Mr. Jamps Blachfonl. Factor 
Mr. Thomas Man, Writer 


£40 
£30 
£15 
£15 
£ 5 


Rs. a. p. 

6,67,791 3 
1,01,515 3 
10,015 13 
16.157 7 3 
60,116 8 
13,t)17 12 3 


Rs. a. p. 

15,749 14 

2,815 15 9 

277 13 

448 3 3 

1,823 9 

361 1 9 


Total 


7,74,613 11 9 


21,476 6 



40 DACCA DISTBXCTr 

One of tl3e best known instances of private trade at the 
Dacca Factory is that of Mr. Richard Barwell, who, while Chief 
here, made a fortune in salt transactions in Bakarganj. Six 
months after he arrived in Dacca he applied for permission to 
remit a lakh of rupees in bullion to England. When threatened 
by Clavering with legal proceedings, he wrote: — " He (Clavering) 
threatens me with the terrors of the law — he brings forward a false 
charge touching the benefits I derived from salt while at Dacca. 
I do not deny the profits I made. I avow them. I always avowed 
them. They were neither secret nor clandestine, but I object to 
the conclusions drawn, and refute them, etc. " 

Robert Lindsay, when at Dacca as a very junior servant of 
the Company a few years later, also speculated largely in salt in 
his private capacity. His account of his first venture is interest- 
ing. He writes : " Among the numerous articles of commerce 
carried on in the interior of the Dacca district salt is not the 
least considerable : it is manufactured by the Agents of Govern- 
ment on the sea coast and preserved as a monopoly for the benefit 
of the Company. At certain periods it is brought up in large 
boats to Dacca and there exposed to public sale. My commercial 
education at Cadiz was now beginning to show itself of use to me. 
In the mode of exposing the lots to sale I could perceive no small 
intrigue was carrying on : for I saw that the natives had not that 
free access to the public sale to which they were entitled, and that 
the lots fell, as they were put up, to the dependents of the Mem- 
bers of Council, who by this means gained to themselves a con- 
siderable advantage. A fair opportunity I thought, now occurred 
of bettering myself without injury to the public : I therefore con- 
versed with a wealthy native on this subject, who fully entered 
into my views and proposed to advance me a large sum of money 
upon a mutual concern, provided I w^ould appear as the ostensible 
person. I in consequence appeared at the next sale and became 
the purchaser of salt to the extent of £20,OOX) ; and the specu- 
lation turned out so well as fully to enable me to pay off all the 
debt I had contracted during my long residence in Calcutta, and 
to place' a few thousand rupees in my pocket. " Such a clever 
young man could not have acquired any popularity among his 
superiors by this coup and he naively adds : — "This, I have reason 
to think, soon after facilitated my removal from Dacca. " 

It is not perhaps so well known that Warren Hastings engaged 
in private trade within the jurisdiction of the Dacca Factory. A 
complaint was made in 1763 to Calcutta by the Dacca Council of 
the illegitimate uses to which sipahis were put by Hastings' agents. 
In reply Hastings recorded tlie following note: — "Some time ago a 
large body of T'akoers infestiiig tlie country about Backergunge sur- 
rounded Mr. Kelly, my Agent, and put him in great danger of his 
life * * * For this reason I requested the (Governor to send a 
few \)eoplet(j his rescue. 'J'Ik; T'akeers have since quitted the coun- 
tii^.ttUdJLt jiLiifljaoLJB-tPJOitifiJiiy.iuiye recalled the seapoys but by ill 



BlSTOET. 41 

health and attention to the other affairs I forgot it ; so far only [I 
am willing to take upon me the blame of the seapoys continuing 
yet with Mr. Kelly, who were onlered to be employed only in the 
protection of his own life and effects, and if he has made any ill 
use of them let the gentlemen of Dacca prove it, and I desire he 
may be brought down and publicly jjunished for it. My reason for 
procuring a guard of 4 seapoys for Captain Kose is that he is em- 
ployed in collecting a great number of timbers belonging to me and 
other gentlemen which are now scattered in many different places 
in the river lying between Dacca and Backergunge and where you, 
gentlemen, will easily conceive the necessity of having some 
defence against the robbers which continually infect these parts. 
If you tldnk them improper they shall be immediately recalled. " 

Two other incidents in the history of the Dacca Factory gQiz^re of 
remain to be recorded. The first occurred in 1756. 8iraj-ud- factory in 
daula, when he marched on Calcutta, sent orders to the Naib at l^-^^'- 
Dacca, Jasarat Khan, to seize the English factory and imprison 
the Company's servants. The factory was unfortified and the 
garrison but small, so, when Mr. Becher, the Chief, ascertained 
from the French that Calcutta had been captured, it was decided 
not to make any resistance but to secure the best terms possible 
through the French. It was then arranged with Nawab Jasarat 
Khan that all the ladies and gentlemen should go to the French 
factory and remain there pending 8iraj-ud-daula's orders. 
The jJoldiers were to lay down their arms and be the Nawab's 
prisoners. After two months' stay at the French Factory, the Eng- 
lish obtained their release owing to the exertions of M. Law at 
Kasimbazar and sailed to Calcutta in a sloop provided by M. 
Courtiu. The English factory was not restored to the Company 
until the following year. 

The other incident is the capture of the factory in 1763 by p . 

a body of Sannyasis or Fakirs. Mr. Leycester, the then Chief, factory 
justified its abandonment as follows : — in 1763. 

'* Regarding the retreat and loss of treasure, he knows not 
how it could have been avoided nor what precautions 
could have been taken, that were not, to prevent the fnisfor- 
tune. The gentlemen of that Factory were fully sensible 
of the importance of saving their treasure and tried every 
possible method as they did for retreating in a regular manner. 
In an entire want of cooleys it was resolved to disarm some of 
our seapoys and employ them in that capacity — first to convey 
the sick and wounded, then our treasure, and at last retreat 
with the remainder of our garrison. The sick had mostly been 
sent to the waterside, in pursuance of this resolution, to be put 
on board the few boats we had been able io collect at the Gaut, 
when many of our seapoys left the Factory, and Mr. Leycester 
assures the Board that while he was in the Factory expecting . 

to hear that boats were corae to the Gaut sufficient to secure 
the treasure and remainder of the garrison, all the seapoys in 



42 DACCA DISTBIOT. 

a body left the Factory without any orders and fled to the few 
boats that were already come in the utmost irregularity and 
contusion, rendering their own retreat under such circum- 
stances very precarious and putting it out of the power of the 
gentlemen to conduct the affair in the manner that bad been 
really proposed. ***** ]-[q 

begs leave further to observe that the so sudden recovery of the 
Dacca Factory was entirely the result of the gentlemen's own 
resolution on the first account they had ever received of the 
Meekly detaclimeut's having left that country, Captain Grant 
not having joined our party till we had left Luckypore, 
and that such their resolution and application afterwards 
has been attended with the happy consequence of procur- 
ing to his Hon'ble Masters nearly as large, and, he may 
venture to say, as good an investment as hath been known 
for some years to come from this Factory." Quite another version 
of the story, however, is given by Olive in a minute, dated 
29th January 1766 : — " That gentleman's (i.e., Mr. Leycester) 
behaviour at Dacca, when he abandoned the Factory which 
commanded a very considerable proportion of the Company's 
treasure and merchandise would in all probability have lost him 
the service if General Carnac had not prevailed upon Mr. 
Vansittart to let him soften the paragraph written upon that 
subject in the general letter. For further particulars i refer the 
world to old Mr. Delaport, who very quietly smoked his pipe in 
the Factory an hour and a half after Mr. Leycester had forsaken 
it, and then found leisure to carry off all his own effects, without 
any molestation from the enemy, who proved to be no other than 
a rabble of Fakeers. Nor was his zeal for the service greater when 
Captain Grant with a very small detachment retook the place, 
without the loss of a man ; for Mr. Leycester who had just ruu 
away from the Factory, although he would liave been a very 
proper person to have pointed out the road to the Captain, who 
was a stranger to that part of the country, chose rather to remaiu 
on the other side of a navigable river until he was iuformed that 
the Factory was again in our possession, when he returned to 
resume his former employment." 
Site of J-'he original factory building seems to have been situated 

factory. in Tezgaou. In 1682 Hedges writes: "This afternoon 1 went 

to visit Haggai 8ophee Chan ***** 

took my leave and returned to ye English factory which is at 
least h miles distant from this, or ye Nabob's durbar, a most 
inconvenient situation fur doing of business, being far from ye 
Courts ol Justice, Custom House and ye waterside." Also in 
1776 we read of a factory house at Tezgaon in addition to the 
principal faclory building. Tlie old factory is said to have been 
a one .sioried house having a large central hall with sleeping 
apartiJicnlM and othues around it. Mr. llaivey had it re-built — but 
tor years it seems to have caused considerable anxiety in times 



HISTORY. 43 

of storm and flood— and repairs were constantly required. Between 
the years 1724 and 1730 a new building was erected nearer the 
river on the site occupied till recently by the Dacca College and 
now by the Collegiate School. It was constructed in the form 
of a square and enclosed a considerable extent of ground. Low 
ranges of warehouses surrounded it and in the centre was a house 
for the factors, besides offices and accommodation for servants 
and guards and in later years a mint and magazine were added. 
Tezgaon, however, was not altogether abandoned. Besides a 
garden house and several bungalows, and probably the old factory, 
the quarters of the washermen were there. In 1771 on the aboli- 
tion of the Baghmaras (shikaris) we find the Collector writing: 
" The consequence of which, I apprehend, will be that the Com- 
pany will lose many of their washermen and Tezgong will be 
rendered uninhabitable by these animals {i.e., tigers)." The 
following extract from a Government letter dated the 23rd Janu- 
ary 1775, on the subject of the Dacca houses, is interesting : — " It 
has been thought proper to make a distribution of the houses 
belonging to the Company at Dacca between the covenanted ser- 
vants who are to reside on the part of the Board of Trade and 
those employed in the Revenue branch — and it is directed that the 
Commercial Resident be put in possession of such as are allotted 
for the use of his department. That the Factory, the v/arehouse, 
the Factory house at Tezgong and the houses occupied by Messrs. 
Day and Hatch and either the houses occupied by Mr. Leigh* 
or that occupied by Mr. Kussell,atthe choice of the Revenue Chief, 
be appropriated to the use of the Chief and Assistants of the 
Commercial Factory. That either of the houses occupied by 
Mr. Leigh and Mr. Russell, at the option of the Revenue Chief, 
as above specified, the house occupied by Mr. Kerr and the gar- 
den houses at Tezgong occupied by Mr. Law and Mr. Leigh be 
appropriated to the Revenue department. I'hat the temporary 
buildings raised by Mr. Shakespear at his own expense within the 
walls of the Factory be continued to him, and the temporary 
building ( ? erected) at private expense in the same place for 
Messrs. Evelyn and Cator, be continued to them." • 

In 1774 a Provincial Council consisting of a Chief and The 
four members was appointed to superintend the revenue Provincic; 
and commercial affairs and some changes were made in the 

* Mr Leigh's house lay to the south-east cf the factory "on the 
esplanade" and was used for a time as the Collector's Cutcherry. In the 
accounts it is called the second house and was usually the residence of the 
Buxi. Mr. Kerr's house was a short distance to the west of the Factory and 
was pulled down in 1778 by Mr. Brougliton, an Assistant in the Kt'venue 
Department. At Tezgaon there were in 17U0 four hous<-8 besides the i oiu- 
pany's fact"ry— two of them (a house and a bungalow) belonged to Mr. Law, 
one to Messrs. Hatch and L)ay, and one i called Champa Bagh to the Company. 
Mr. Law's house and bungalow were disposed of by lottery — the former iu 
1800) being in possession of Mr. Kankmg and the latter in that of Mr. • 

Pattenson. The third house was transferred to a Mr. Sameeda and the fourth 
fell down. 



The Dutch. 



44 ' DACCA DISTRICT. 

conduct of the factory business. Brokers were abolished and 
in their place agents (gomastas) were appointed to the different 
aurungs ; naihs were also appointed to decide cases in which 
w^eavers were concerned. These reforms were not successful ; 
abuses grew up and in 1787 a Commercial Resident was 
appointed to conduct the alTairs of the factory. The dealings 
with the w^eavers were then conducted in a more regular and 
sympathetic manner. The Resident in 1800 writes: — "At this 
Factory it is an annual instruction to the Aurung Gomastas 
that the Regulation which respects tlie weavers and the com- 
mercial residents be read to the weavers before any engagements 
for the new year are entered into. Every individual weaver 
executes a separate written engagement for the provision of the 
cloths which he voluntarily contracts to deliver and these 
engagements are in no instance departed from except by a 
written request on the part of the weavers or their representa- 
tives. The weavers' accounts are annually adjusted and each 
weaver has throughout the year a copy of his running account 
(called a haut chitty) regularly brought up constantly in his 
possession." These arrangements appear to have been continued 
down to 1817 when the factory was closed. 

The Dutch settled in Dacca for trading purposes before the 
English. Nawab Nasrat Jang writes of them : — " At first Gomastas 
made purchases at the Factory ; afterwards, in the tim-e of 
Hossein-ud-din Khan {i.e., betvireen 1742 and 1753) Mr. Ilsam, 
being appointed Chief of the Factory, came and resided at 
Dacca." This, however, hardly represents the true facts. In 1666, 
Tavernier tells us, the Dutch " finding that their goods were not 
sufficiently safe in the common houses of Dacca have built a very 
fine house." He attended a banquet given in his honour by the 
Dutch and, on his departure from Dacca, the Dutch gentlemen 
accompanied him for two leagues. In 1682 William Hedges 
received a visit from " ye three Dutch Factors, viz., Jno JSonstoe, 
Alexander Urwin and Jacob Smith, who supped with me." As 
in the case of the English a new factory may have been built in 
the eighceenth century, and to this the reference above quoted 
may have been made. In 1775 the Dutch Chief, Mr. Daniel Lank 
Hiet died and was buried in the English cemetery. In 1781 the 
Dutch factory surrendered to the East India Company and the 
solitary Dutch subject in Dacca (Mr. Heyning) was released 
on parole. The })roperty seized included a garden house at Tez- 
gaon This appears to liave been the end of the Dutch regime 
at Dacca. In 1801 the (Collector received charge of the Dutch 
factory from the Magistrate and we read that police officers took 
away bricks and surJci from the ruins for repairing the streets 
of Dacca. In 1810, it was profiosed to erect a hospital on the 
site, but the idea was dropped as it was not known what the 
relations between Kngland atid Holland were at the time, in 1824, 
a treaty was sigued between the English and Dutch Grovernments 



HISTORY. 45 

by which the latter ceded to the former all their establishments in 
India and in June of the year following the formal transfer was 
made by Mr. Vanas, the Dutch Commissioner, to Mr. Dawes, 
t!io Magistrate. The Dutch factory stood on a portion of the 
land now occupied by the Mitford Hospital, the site is known in 
the old Collectorate papers as Kuti Ollandaz- 

Of the French settlement in Dacca, Nawab Nasrat Jang The French 
writes: — " During; the naibut of the said Moorsliid Cooly Khan 
(i.e., from 172G — 38) a gomasta, named Gopaul Sein, came to Dacca 
on the part of the French, and having purchased cloths sent 
them to the French merchants at Chandernagore. In this way 
the French business was at that time carried on at Dacca. But 
after Nawazish Mahomed Khan, towards the close of the reign 
of the Emperor Mahomed Sliah (i.e., between 1740 and 1742) 
became Naib Nazim of Dacca, Messieurs Deveuz and Chamauz, * 
arriving at Dacca, . built with the permission of the said Naib a 
Factory and commenced business there." This account may be 
misleading as those given in respect of the English and Dutch, 
but another authority has given 1742 as the date of the building 
of the French factory and as we have no information of their 
being settled in Dacca before that time Nawab Nasrat Jang's 
account may possibly be correct. It has been narrated above 
how, in 1756, disaster to the English was averted by the courtesy 
and J<indness of M. Courtin, in which he was nobly seconded by 
M. Fleurin. In the following year M. Courtin sent a detach- 
ment to Kasimbazar to reinforce M. Law in his efforts to sup- 
port Siraj-ud-daula and he himself followed (having delayed only 
for the arrival of \E Chevalier from Assam), taking with him 
"about 35 boats, Mm. Chevalier, Brayer, Gourlade, the Surgeon, 
and an Augustine Father, Chaplain of the Factory, 8 European 
soldiers, of whom several were old and past service, 17 topass 
gunners, 4 or 5 of the Company's servants and 25 or 30 peons." 
But the battle of Plassey occurred before he could join M. Law. 
The P'rench property and possessions that came into the hands of 
the English were made over again in 1785 to M. Champigny 
and in 1786 a convention was signed affirming the Fren(fh rights 
and privileges at their factories. Their factory and lands seem 
however again to have been taken for in 1801 they passed from 
the charge of the Magistrate to the Collector and in 1802 to the 
Commercial Kesident while in 1824 the factory was converted 
into a depot for the reception of military stores. In 1819 
M. Darrac arrived in Dacca to demand to be put in possession 
of the French factory with its dependencies in accordance with 
the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1814). Hut it is not until 
1827 that we read of this being complied with. 8oon after 
M. Darrac's arrival in Dacca the Magistrate had occasion to com- 
plain of Ids conduct and Government in reply wrote :—" * * , 
M. Darrac has exceeded his official competence and you very pro- 
perly remonstrated with him on his unwarrantable procedure iu 



46 DACCA DISTRICT. 

apprehending and confining Sooroop Chund, in inflicting corporal 
punishnient on the Custom House chaprapsy and in assuming 
the right of licensing a shop for the sale of spirituous liquor 
contrary to tlie regulations of the British Government. * * * 
M- Havier has at the same time been required peremptorily to 
instruct M. Uarrac to abstain in future from usurpation of powers 
which do not belong to his station and to confine the exercise 
of his authority to the mere superintendence of the commercial 
affairs of the Factory without interfering in any degree whatever 
in matters bej^ond the limits of his public duty as a Commercial 
Agent, * * * jyj Darrac is not to be 

permitted to exercise any authority implying sovereign power or, 
in strictness, beyond what may be admitted in cases of master 
and servant, * * * « # # # 

' and in the event of M. Darrac's perseverance in such encroach- 
ments measures will he taken in his removal from Dacca." The 
French factory was situated in Islampur, on the banks of the river 
Buri-Ganga, on a portion of the site now occupied by the palace 
of the successors of the late Nav\ab Khwaja Sir Ahsanullah (called 
the Ahsan Manzil). EennelTs map shows the French garden at 
Tezgaon to be on the east side of the Dacca-Mymensingh road 
between Ambar's mosque and the Tezg5on Church. The Dutch 
garden lay opposite, on the other side of the road. 
•Tljg The Portuguese also had a factory in Dacca which was in the 

Portuguese, quarter of the towi) called Sangat-tola, but nothing is known 

of their commercial transactions and histor}'. 
Dacca under Tn 1765 the East India Company succeeded to the Diwani of 

British Rule. -Bengal. At that time the administration of the Province was 
divided into two departments, viz., the Huzuri or Revenue 
and the Nizdmat or Judicial. The former was very soon taken 
over entirely by the English but the latter was allowed for a long 
time to be conducted in tlie old way subject only to a general 
control. Orme tells us that '• the administration of the Province 
was now settled in the manner following : — Mahummud Reza 
Khan, the Naib Navob, conducted affairs at the Capital * 

* >- * * * and Jessaurut Khan at Dacca, in 

conjunction with a member of Council at each city, as Chief on 
the part of the English. Two days weekly the Naib communi- 
cated to his English colleague his transactions, plans, disburse- 
ments and receipts in every department, for his satisfaction and 
the information and aj;)proval of the presidency. Two days in 
each week were also set apart in wliich the Naib and Chief 
received appeals from tho courts of justice and confirmed or 
reversed their decisions by tlie assistance of the Chief Magistrate. 
By tliHse means Government was properly conducted and the 
English became informed of the laws, revenues and customs of 
the country " 
dar^inu the '^''"■' district (lid not altogether escape from the trials of 

Mutiug. 1857, though foitunately there was comparatively little loss of 



HISTORY. 



4V 



life. Two companies of the 73rd N. I. were stationed at Dacca, 
the rest of the regiment being at Jalpaigm'i. From the month of 
March, when the Barrackpore mutiny broke out, it was for 
eight long months the aim of the authorities at l)ac(;a to prepare 
for similar happenings there and at the same time avoid harsh 
measures with the sepoys, which, it was felt, would result in 
disaster to small European communities in surrounding districts 
who were not so able to protect themselves. In June a hundred 
men of the Indian Navy, under Lieutenant Lewis, arrived : and in 
the following month two companies of volunteers were raised which 
did excellent work during the Muharram and the Janmastami 
processions. Many false rumours reached the town, but in 
November alarming news was received both from Chittagong and 
from Barrackpore and it was determined to delay decisive action 
no longer. The following extracts from Lord Canning's final* 
minute describe what was done : — 

*' At a meeting of the officers, civil and military, including 
Lieut. Lewis, it was after some discussion unanimously decided 
that the sepoys must be disarmed. Accordingly, the seamen 
under Lieut Lewis, and Volunteers assembled at daylight next 
morning (i.e., 22nd November) and having disarmed the 
dififereut guards in succession and without any attempt at 
resistance, they advanced on the lines which were situated in a 
stro;ig position at a place called the Lai Bagh, Here they 
found the sepoys and a detail of native artillery, with two guns, 
drawn up ready to receive them : as the party advanced fire 
was opened upon them and a sharp engagement, lasting for half 
an hour, ensued. It is sufficient to say that tlie sepoys were 
driven out of their barracks and the guns carried with great 
gallantry. The rebels left 41 dead on the ground ; whilst three 
were drowned in attempting to cross the river and a large 
number were more or less severely wounded ; nor was the 
victory unattended by loss on our side : fifteen were severely 
and three slightly wounded. Of the former three died of their 
wounds, JJr. Green, Civil fc^urgeon, who, in the absence of 
other medical aid, attended the attacking party, Vas shot 
through the thigh, and Lieut. Lewis also received a slight 
wound. * * * Twenty persons were subsequently 

taken, ten of whom were sentenced to be hung, the remainder 
to transportation for life. The main body, thoroughly panic- 
stricken, made a hasty retreat from the division, passed by the 
stations of Jamalpur and Mymensingh, without attempting any 
attack, and reaching the Brahmaputra crossed near Bhagwa Ghat 
and entered the district of Kangpur. * * * As 

soon as a steamer and flat could be prepared three companies of 
H. M.'s 04th were sent off to Dacca to act as circumstances 
should dictate. With them went a party of European seamen 
and a second party followed the next day * * * jj^g 
detachment of H M.'s o4th having reached Dacca left the seamen 



4g DACCA mSTRTCT. 

to proceed to their destiuaiion in the Rangpur arnl Dinajpur 
districts. • * • 

Mr. Carnac, Officiating Collector and Magistrate of Dacca, has 
acted with great vigour and promptitude throughout the whole 
course of the disturbances. On the occasion of the actual 
outbreak at Dacca he took a prominent part in the attack on the 
sepoys and he brought forward very favourably the conduct 
of his two assistants, Messrs. Bainbridge and iMacpherson. Dr. 
Green, the Oivil JSurgeon, who accompanied the body of sailors 
on this occasion and, as has already been recorded, was severely 
wounded, is entitled to very honourable notice ; and I must 
make special mention of the admirable behaviour of the Rev. 
Mr. Winchester, Chaplain of the Station, who in the service of 
the wounded men fearlessly exposed himself in the midst of the 
• fight. Mr. Carnac has made a special report of the assistance he 
has received during the past year from his Nazir, Jagabandhu 
Bose, whose services have received acknowledgment and reward. 
1 take this opportunity of repeating my appreciation of the 
loyalty of the two Mohammedan gentlemen, Khwaja Abdul Ghani 
and Abdul Ahmad Khan." 

Such is the official account of what happened then in Dacca. 
We have a narrative from another point of view in the diary of 
Mr. Brennand, then the Principal of the Dacca College. The 
following extracts supplement the above : — 

^^ 10th June. — The troops appear excited on account of the 
rumour that European troops are to be sent to Dacca. 
" 13th June. — A panic spread among the Europeans in 
consequence of a report to the effect that the two 
companies of the 73rd which had left the station 
about the beginning of the month had met with some 
disbanded men from Barrackpore and had mutinied : 
that they had returned to Dacca and had been joined 
by the men at the Lai Bagh : that they were looting 
the bazar and setting free the prisoners at the jail. A 
number of Europeans assembled at the house of Mr. 
t Jenkins,* the Magistrate : others resolved to defend 
themselves at the Bank. Some of the ladies went on 
board boats on the river : arms were collected : the whole 
town was in a state of excitement : the Bund was crowd- 
ed with natives in a state of wonder and curiosity. 

" Lieuts. McMahon aud Rhyud, the officers in command 
of the troops, started for the Lai Bagh where the 
sepoys were located. On their return they reported 

• Oil the day of first panic Mr. .Ii'iikina was the Muh'istr.iCo and Mr. 
Carnac tho Collector; 8ul)sc<|U''ni ly the latter was apjjoiiited to b-^ both 
MagiBtrate and Collector. 

tTliiH was the U.mk of l);icca .■iiibsequently taken over by the Bank ot 
Bengal. 'J'li'; prf^Hi'iit I'.aiik iMiildiiig \vn» then, the Aseetubly Rooms, aud is 
not that referred to. 



HISTORY. 49 

that their inen were all quiet and in their quarters : 
that the alarm was groundless. 

" On the evening drive the natives who were collected in knots 
along the road seemed surprised to see us after the 
report that we had all fled and left them to their fate. 

"loth. — Between the 19th and 23rd June the Government 
sent up 100 men of the Indian Navy under Lieut. 
Lewis for the protection of the town. They were 
located in the house on the opposite side of the road 
to the Baptist cliapel. 

*'5th Juiy. — The Metcalfes came in from Comillah in a fright: 
they had heard that the sepoys at Chittagong had 
mutinied and that they were on their way to Dacca. 
The report was, however, without foundation. 

"Dacca has bepu comparatively quiet since the arrival of the 
sailors. Lieut. I^ewis has his tars out frequently in 
the morning to practice with the guns in the space 
near the Kacquet Court* and in front of the College. 
# « # 

" To-day there was something of a panic among the sepoys, 
Dowell, who is in command of the station, sent up to 
the Lai Bagh for the screws used in elevating the guns 
and the men there supposed that there was soma 
intention of disarming them. 

^^ 30th July. — A meeting of European and East Indian in- 
habitants capable of bearing arms was held at the 
College: nearly 60 people present. It was resolved to 
form two corps of Volunteers — one of Infantry and 
the other of Cavalry. Major Smith to command the 
Infantry and Lieut. Hitchins the Cavalry. 

^^ 1st, 2nd and 3rd August. — The three days of the Buck- 
ereed. The Volunteers all on the alert : patrols out 
all night on each of the three days. * * * 

The 2nd being Sunday a party of the Volunteers sta- 
tioned at the College to protect the people who were 
at church. 

^^ lltk August. — Many of the Armenians are leaving for 
Calcutta. The Europeans are thinking of fortifying 
the Mills. t The Volunteers are on parade for several 
hours daily and are making good progress in drill. 

"14-th and 16th Atigiist — The festival of Junmostomee. 
There was as usual a large crowd of people. The 
Cavalry Volunteers were mounted on elephants anri 
well armed * * «» but all passed off 

quietly. * ** * It has been decided that if 

* Tlie old Kacqnet Court was situated on the space now called Victoria 
Square. 

tEastof the Dholai Khal : afterwards the Military Police Barracks 
and then the Police Training School: still . called the " Kalh Uhar". = rhe 
Factory (or Mill) house, 

H 



60 DACCA DISTRICT. 

the men at Julpigoree do mutiny, the sepoys here 
shall be at once disarmed. 

^' 2^nd A^igud. — The foi-tifi cation of the Mills is going on. 
* * * There are L-.('0 men at work digging a 

ditch. 

'* ^7^/i August. — The fortifications are progressing and it is 
supposed that, should there be occasion for it, we 
should be able to make a stand against 5 or G thousand 
men. * * * 

*' 30th August. — Yesterday, Sunday, was the great day of 
the Mohurrum. The Cavalry Volunteers were out all 
night patrolling. * « » 

" lJi.th Sej^tember. — Some alarm here in consequence of a 
report that the sepoys in Assam are in a stnte of great 
excitement and that they had become very insolent. 
The Government has sent off a number of sailors in 
the Horungatta by way of the Sunderbuns : they are 
expected to arrive here to-morrow and are intended 
for Assam. 

" Tlie 73rd at Julpigoree still quiet. We have hoprs it will 
prove staunch. Should it not, we shall be involved here : 
but we shall be quite a match for the sepoys. * * * 

" 4.th October. — To-day has been Bxed upon by the Bishop 
as a day of humiliation. Winchester away in Sylhet. 
The service was read by Abercrombie and the sermon 
by Pearson. * » * 

^' 12th October.— The Cavalry Volunteers gave a ball to the 
Infantry. The gathering was not so great as 
was expected : about ten ladies present. Of the In- 
fantry Volunteers only about twenty attended in uni- 
form. The party was on the whole a very pleasant one. 

"isi November Something like a panic occurred on Sunday- 
last, caused by the removal of the sailors to the house 
near the church, recently occupied by the Nuns. 
The sepoys got ammunition out of tlie magazine and it 
was thought that an outbreak was imminent. It is 
reported that they have written to their brethren at 
Julpigoree asking whether they should resist if an 
attempt were made to disarm them. We believe that 
the disarminrr could be effected with little danger to 
ourselves, Imt it is feared the effect on the troops at 
Chittagong, Sylhet and Julpigoree might be, disastrous. 
It is supjiosed that if we can preserve order in Dacca 
the other places will remain quiet. The men are 
very civil, but with the example of their " bhai buns " 
before UHjV'o cannot put much trust in them. 

^' Dili, N<)rri)ihn\ — 'V\i(' Infantry Volunteers gav(^ adinncrto 
the station # ♦ » u})vvar(ls of fifty sat 

down fo (jinnf'i-. 



HISTORY. 



61 



^26 th Novembtr. — The storm that has been passing over 
India has just passed over Dacca, happily without any 
of the disastrous effects that have attended it in its 
course elsewhere. Up to Saturday last we were going 
on just as usual. There was a party out at cricket in 
the afternoon and the Volunteers were at their usual 
exercise with ball cartridge. In the evening we had 
our usual drive on the course. The dawk, however, 
brought bad news from Chittagong, and an express 
was received with intelligence that the remnant of 
the o4th, the regiment disbanded at Barrackpore at 
the beginning of the Mutiny, had broken out ; that 
they had looted the Treasury, taking with them about 
three lakhs of rupees and that they had also killed 
several Europeans. It is now believed that the* 
Europeans escaped. At about six o'clock in the even- 
ing it was determined that the sepoys here — the detach- 
ment of the 73rd — should be disarmed : their number, 
including the artillerymen under the command of 
Dowell, was 260. They had possession of two fieiu 
pieces and in their lines they held a strong position. 
It is reported that they threatened to resist any at- 
tempt at disarming them and they affected to despise 
our sailors, who are generally of small stature. The 
sailors were about ninety in number, fit for duty. It 
was therefore necessary that they should use great 
precautions in dealing with a body of armed men 
nearly three times their number. 

** The Volunteers were warned to be ready at 5 o'clock the 
following morning, Sunday , 22nd andthey were enjoin- 
ed to assemble quietly, so as to excite no suspicion. 

" At the time appointed, there were assembled the Commis- 
sioner, the Judge, and some other Civilians, and from 
20 to 30 Volunteers. It was still dark and we waited a 
short time for the signal. The plan was to begin by 
disarming the Treasury guards, to place the disarmed 
men in charge of the Volunteers : the sailors would 
then proceed with their whole force to the Lai Bagh: 
and it was hoped that the men there would have given 
up their arms without opposition. Everything appeared 
to go on well : the guards at the Treasury were disarmed 
before the signal was given for the Volunteers to 
advance. There were about fifteen of the sepoys stand- 
ing or sitting outside their quf^rters, and the rest of 
them, making altogether about 36, were supposed to be 
inside the building. They appeared to be very much 
dejected and they reproached their officers for subject- 
ing them to such disgrace, protesting that they would 
have given up their arms at once to their own officers 



62 DACCA DISTRICT. 

had they only been asked to do so. In the meautime, 
the sailors, on reaching the Lai Bagh, found the sepoys 
drawn out, prepared to make a resistance ; they liad 
evidently been apprised of our intention to disarm 
them. The sentry fired his musket and killed one 
of our men : his example was followed by the others 
and a volley was fired on the sailors as they advanced 
through the broken wall near the southern gateway. 
The guns had been placed in position in front of 
Beebee Peri's tomb, so as to command the entrance, 
and they opened tire upon our men with grape. As 
soon as the sailors had got well into the place they fired 
a volley. Lieut. Lewis then led them up the ramparts 
to the left, charging the sepoys and driving them 
» before them at the point of the bayonet. The sepoys 

took shelter in their quarters but v.ere driven on from 
building to building by the sniiors. At this time 
Mr. Mays, a midshipman, at the head of eight men 
A'ho were under his command, made a gallant charge 
from the ramparts down upon the sepoy guns; they 
were soon taken and spiked, and the sepoys began 
flying in every direction. There was a severe struggle 
at the end of the rampart : many of the sepoys were 
driven over the parapet. Mr. Bainbridge had also a 
fall over the parapet as he stepped back to avoid ' the 
thrust of one of the sepoys. The sailors obtained a 
complete victory : the sepoys fled and concealed them- 
selves in the jungle, leaving about forty of their number 
killed. Many of those who escaped were severely 
wounded. Our loss was one killed on the field, four 
severely wounded, since dead, nine more or less severely 
wounded. Dr. Green, who accompanied the sailors, 
was wounded in tlie thigh. He was kneeling down 
at the time attending to one of the sailors who had 
also been wounded. He is getting on well, but com- 
plains of numbness in the lower part of the leg. 

" 13th July. — Three companies of the i9th Europeans have 
arrived ; the greater number will be located in the 
College, the others will occupy the Faujdari Court. 

" The public garden south of tlie College has been made over 
to a Joint Stock Company for the purpose of building 
assembly rooms, a library, theatre, billiard room, etc. 

" 5th November. — Tlie prochunation of the transfer of the 
(Government of India to the Queen was read in English 
and Bengali on Monday lust. The military were 
drawn up in line and the l^uropean residents were 
upon a platform erected for the purpose. Between 
two and three thousand peoples present. Some of the 
houses were lighted up in the evening in honour of 



HlSTORi'. 53 

t the occasion and tlieie was a diiuieT given by the 

Civilians and tlie Military to the station. 

" The students had an illumination at the College with fire- 
works the following evening : they seemed quite enthusiastic in 
the display of tlieir loyalty." 

For ueai'ly half a century nfter the Mutiny the history of the 
district was one of peaceful progress. The most noteworthy events 
were the tornadoes of 1888 and lUOl and the earthquake of 
1897 which are described in Chapter VIII. 

With the partition of Bengal in 1905 Dacca became once Dacca after 
more the capital of a province. The scheme had been warmly *^^"^l''"'"^''°' 
supported by the Nawab of Dacca and was welcomed by the 
Muhammadan community, but it was resented by a considerable 
section of the Hindu population. A boycott of British goods 
was proclaimed as a sign of their displeasure and conflicts arose » 
between Muhammadans who desired to use Liverpool salt and 
Hindu patriots who endeavoured to enforce the sale of the 
Swadeshi product. Ou the whole, however, the district was more 
peaceable and orderly than its neighbours Bakarganj and Mymen- 
singh. But all the while a society was being consolidated in its 
midst which aimed at something more than mere brawling in the 
market place. The authorities regarded this organisation with 
considerable misgiving, but lor more than a year its members 
sedulously abstained from action which would expose them to a 
prosecution in the courts. In September 1907, on the occasion of 
the Janmastami procession, two incidents occurred which revealed 
its dangerous character. One of its members stabbed another 
Hindu in the back near the Victoria Park, while a gang of mis- 
creants attacked two men who were sitting under a lamp post 
near the Shaheen Medical Hall and stabbed them, killing one 
and seriously injuring the other. A Muhammadan by-stander 
subsequently reported that he recognised the murderers as mem- 
bers of the Anusilan Samiti, but not a single Hindu shop-keeper 
in the vicinity would admit that he had witnessed anything, 
though the murder occurred at 7 P.M. when the streets and shops 
alike were crowded ; and when the police went to arrest Jthe per- 
sons named by the Muhammadan they had fled. In the following 
December Mr. Allen, the District Magistrate, when proceeding on 
leave to England was shot through the body at Goalundo railway 
station and narrowly escaped with his life. In 1908, the district 
was startled by a dacoity carried out by Hindu hhddraloks in a 
singularly open and audacious manner. A gang of these young 
desperadoes surrounded a house at Barrah in the Nawabganj 
thana, shot dead a chankidar, who opposed them and made otf 
with about Ks. 25,0C() uorth of booty. They were followed by 
the villagers right tlirough the district, past Sabhar police station 
and Dhamrai, Anally disappearing into the Madhupur jungles, but 
the people were unable to arrest them as they fired without hesita- ' 

tion at any one who approached, killing one man who was braver 



54 DACCA DISTRICT. 

ttian liis ff Hows and woundiug others. Within the next three years 
seven murders and live grave dacoities, two accompanied by mur- 
der, were committed under circumstances which left little doubt 
tluit the perpetrators of these outrages were members of the 
anarchist or extremist party A iSub-Inspector of Police was 
shot in the streets of Dacca, fortunately not seriously, and a 
member of the Anusian Samiti was sentenced to ten years' trans- 
portation for preparing bombs. After months of strenuous work 
a prosecution for corispiracy was launched against the most pro- 
minent membt-rs of this organisation and many of its members 
were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment l^y the Sessions 
Judge. On appeal to the High Court some of the convicts were 
released but the conviction of the principal members of the society 
was upheld. 

On April 1st, 1912, the district was transferred once more to 
the Government which has its head-quarters at Calcutta. 



THE PEOPLE- ' 55 



CHAl^TEH III. 



TEIE PEOPLE. 



The first synclironous census of t\\c district was iaken in Knrly 
1872, but tlie first estimate of the population was fraitied in 1792 ''■■^"^■'^■•'S 
exactly eighty years before. The Collector of that day, Mr. j,„pi,i;,fion 
Douglas, calculated that Dacca and PVaidpur, which then formed 
one administrative unit, contained 938,712 inhabitants. In 1824, 
the population of tie Dacca district alone was estimated to be 
512,385, and in 1851 it was officially returned at (;0(),000. At 
the time of the Revenue Survey (between 1857 and 18t)l) a further ' 
attempt at enumeration was made and the population w.is reported 
to be 'J04:,615, the calculation being based on the recorded number 
of houses and the assumption that from three to five persons lived 
in each house. The last estimate issued by the Hoard of Revenue 
for 18G8-Gi) showed 215,915 houses and .a total population of 
1,019,928. 

The first regular census showed that these estimates fell far Th.^ censuses 
below the truth, for in 1872 the population returned was 1,8L'7,931 "* ^^'''■^- ^881, 
or mpre than three times the estimated population of twenty years '^ 
before. The density' even then was In'gh and amounted to 657 to 
the square mile. During the next nine years the number of the 
inhabitE^nts increased by 14 3 per cent and the population in 1881 
was 2,090,877, which showed a density of 751 to the square mile. 
•Substantial though this increase was it is not sufficiently large to 
suggest that the census of 1872 had fallen far below the truth,* 
and the Census Superintendent ascribed it to natural causes aided 
by the development of the jute trade. It was in fact less than the 
increase which occurred in the intercensal period 1881 — 1891, 
which amounted to 14-5 per cent., the population in the latter 
year being 2,395,430 and the density 861 to the square mile. 
The increase in the Narayanganj thana was enormous, i'e was no 
less than 33 per cent ; in Kupganj and Munshiganj it was over 20 
per cent and in three thanas which lie wholly or partly in the 
Madhupur jungle, i.e., Kapasia, Raipura, and Sabhar, it was 18 
per cent or more. The extraordinary increase in Narayanganj 
must have been largely due to the exjmnsion of the jute trade, and 
the growth of population in the Madhupur jungle is easily explain- 
ed by the extension of cultivation in that jungly tract which is 
even now in progress, but it is not quite clear why there should 
have been such a great advance in Munshiganj. It is true that 
this portion of the district suffers little from malarial fever, but the 
population was already quite phenomenally dense and epidemics 
of cholera are frequent and severe. In Manikganj conditions were 

* The increase in Mj inensijigli in 1881 was no less thnn .30 per cent. 



56 DACCA DISTRICT. 

quite different, the increase in the subdivision as a whole was only 
4*6 per cent while in the Harirampur thana there was a positive 
loss of population. 

The census of 1001 disclosed an increase of 10*6 per cent, the 
The census population being 2,649,522, and the density 952 to the square 
mile, a density which was greater tlian that of any district in the 
province of Bengal, with the exception of the two which include 
a considerable portion of the suburbs of Calcutta. The whole of 
the Narayanganj subdivision again showed a very large increase 
(15 per cent) and the increase of 22 per cent in the Kapasia thana 
indicated the extent to which immigrants were pouring in to open 
up the jungles of Bhowal. The Munsluganj subdivision sliowed 
an increase of 9-9 per cent, a noteworthy result in view of the fact 
that in the Srinagar thana the density reached the enormous 
>figure of 1,787 to the square mile while in the Munsbiganj thana 
it was 1,526. The Sadr subdivision outside Kapasia maintained 
a stead V rate of progress, and even in Nawabganj, which adjoins 
the unhealtliy Harirampur thana there was an increase of 9-1 per 
cent. Manikganj, however, continued to be unhealthy and the 
rate of increase in that subdivision was only 4-5 per cent. The 
Harirampur thana which lies in the south of Manikganj 1ms 
suffered from diluvion as well as from malarial fever and cliolera 
and affords a most striking contrast to the eminently progressive 
district of which it forms a part, for during the twenty years 
ending 1901 the population only increased by 1-25 per cent. The 
high death-rate in the Manikganj subdivision was one of the 
reasons why the census of 1901 showed a lower rate of increase 
than its predecessor, but another factor was the increasing loss 
due to migration. In 1901 the net loss from this cause was about 
36,500 greater than it was in 1891, and, had the migration figures 
remained the same, the growth of the population in 19(>1 would 
have been 12-1 instead of )0-6 percent. 

In sr)ite of the great density of the population the census of 

TllM CTRU3 i-r 

of 1!)11 "^^^l disclosed an increase of 11-7 per cent, the returns showing 

that there were no less than 2,9G0,402 persons living in the 
district. , There had been no check in the development of the 
Bhowal jungles, and large increases were reported from all the 
thanas which contained waste land ; Kapasia showing 26 per cent, 
Kaipura 19 per cent and Keraniganj 17 per cent. Much of this 
increase was probably due to migration from the three tliauas 
lying along the south-west border of the district, for Nawabganj 
only increased by If per cent in the decade, Harirampur iiad a 
decrease of 7 per cent, and Sealo a decrease of more than 
on(; i)er cent. Niirayanganj tliana, though the density v/as 
already high, showed an increase of nearly 19 per cent and 
Jirqjganj immediately to the north had a gain of more than 
16 per cent. The most noteworthy results were however 
obtninod from Srinagar. Even in 1901 this thana had a 
density of 1,787 to the square mile, a density higher than that 



THE PEOPLE, 57 

reluni^d in any other rural area in India, liut in spite of this, 
(luring the ten years ending lUll, the population increased by 
more tlian lU per cent, and the density was only four less than 
2,000 to the square mile. 

The district as a whole is very thickly peopled and in llUl Uonslty. 
it had a density ot" no less than 1.064 persons to the square mile. 
Population is most congested in the south-east corner where the 
thanas of Narayanganj, Munshiganj and Srina<^ar had densities of 
1,6 1«, 1,600 and 1,91)6 to the square mile. Teclmically the whole 
of the population of the Munshiganj subdivision for census 
purposes is rural, but in this portion of the district there are a 
large number of flourishing bazars along the banks of the rivers 
and khals, and the inhabitants are to a great extent supported 
by trade and by the remittances of members of the middle classes 
whose homes are situated in Bikrampur but who earn their living' 
elsewhere. Population is fairly evenly distributed over the 
remainder of the island lying between the Dhaleswari and the 
Pudma and ranges from 875 to the square mile in Harirampur 
to 1,086 in Nawabganj. The Madhupur jungle still contains 
considerable areas of waste laud and in the Kapasia thana there 
were only 524 persons to the square mile. The same conditions 
prevail in the north of the Keraniganj thana and to a lesser 
extent in the east of the Kaipura thana and in parts of Jiiabhar ; 
but„in the southern portions of these thanas and in Kupganj the 
density probably did not fall short of a thousand to the square 
mile. Outside the Madhupur jungle there is in fact practically 
no spare land remaining, and it is hardly likely that the high 
rates of increase that have hitherto prevailed can be maintained. 

As is only natural in so densely peopled an area the balance Migmtiou. 
of migration is against the district. In 1901, 85,299 persons 
were enumerated in Dacca who had been born outside its 
boundaries, but on the other hand 128,487 persons who had 
been born in Dacca were living elsewhere at the time of the 
census and the net loss of population was thus 43,188. The 
greatest interchange of population takes place with the contiguous 
districts and is largely due to the transfer of permanent? settlers 
crossing the district boundaries, and to intermarriages. Consi- 
derably more than a fourth of the total number of immigrants 
came from the single district of Mymensingh, and as the females 
exceeded tlie males in immbers, we may safely assume that the 
majority of these peo[)le were cultivators who had moved across 
into the still undeveloped forests of Madhupur. The emigration 
from Dacca to Mymensingh is also large, but as females formed 
loss than one-third of the whole, it is clear that many of these 
migrants were only tem[)orary visitors. After Mymensingh the 
largest contributions to the district population were received 
from the Patna and Hhagulpur divisions (14,547), and the United , 

Provinces (10,648). The great majority of these persons do not 
settle in the district but come to work in the jute presses, as 

I 



68 DACCA DISTRICT, 

coolies employed on public works, as peons, durwans and constables, 
as boatm*^n and as servants. Tliey do not bring their families 
with thera and amongst the immigrants from Bihar there were 
only three females to every 26 males. There is also a consider- 
able influx from Tippera, Pabna, and P^aridpur, about two-thirds 
of the immigrants being in all probability cultivators who had 
moved with their families across the district boundaries. The 
number of persons who moved from Dacca into Faridpur or Tip- 
pera was, however, much greater than the number received from 
those two districts, and in their case, too, about two-tliirds had 
left their native district for good. There is a noticeable flow 
of population from Dacca into Bakarganj during the cold 
weather, but this migration is only tenxporary and the men 
return to their families in the rains. The number of natives of 
'* Dacca in Calcutta was considerable (15,141), but Calcutta has 
numerous attractions for the middle classes of Bikrampur. Many 
of them go there for their education, and when they have passed 
through school and college they stay on in some one of the various 
professions affected by the educated classes or they embark in 
trade. Of emigrants to other provinces there were iu 1901 
13,401. Of these no less than 12,755 were found iu the neigh- 
bouring province of Assam. The Assamese have not hitherto 
paid much attention either to trade or education and the natives 
of Dacca have succeeded iu obtaining a large share of the clerical 
appointments in Oovernment offices, on tea gardens, and on the 
railway. There are also a large number of Dacca Muhammadans 
engaged in the sale of miscellaneous goods while others go up as 
dealers in grain and hides, boatmen and professional fishermen. 
Many of the middle classes have settled in Assam, and in 1901 
2,535 females who had been born in Dacca were enumerated iu 
that province, 
iowns. Of the two towns Dacca has suffered from marked vicissitudes 

while Narayanganj has enjoyed continuous growth. The city 
must certainly have been a large and populous place when it was 
the capital of Bengal and Dr. Taylor states that in 1800 it had 
a [Kjpul.ition of 200,000 souls.* It is not stated how this figure 
was arrived at and the decrease to the population of G8/)o8 found 
at the census of 1838 seems very large. The lowest ebb was 
reached about 1807 when the population was estimated to be only 
51.036, but this estimate was probably too low as at the census 
of l'S72 it was found to be 69,212. Since then there has been a 
steady increase and the population in 1901 was 90,542. At the 
time ot tlie formation of the new province of Eastern Bengal and 
Assam, Dacca was constituted the capital and in 1911 the popula- 
ti(Mi had risen to 108,551. Narayanganj was an important mart 
at the beginning of the nineteenth century, but at the census of 
1H3H it only had a population of 6,252 persons. f In 1872 the 

* To(i(i^5r.ipliy of Ducca, p. 'JGO 

t Taylor's TiJiiography ot Daccii, p. UU. 



THE PEOPLE. 59 

population was 11,377 and in 1881 it was 13,508. During the next 
twenty years it nearly doubled and in 1901 was 24,472, rising 
to 27,876 in 1911. Tliis is the cold-weather population and in 
the height of the jute season when the river is packed with boats 
and all the mills are full there are probably another six thousand 
persons in the place. 

The district contains only two towns and the census returns villat^es. 
for 1901 would by themselves suggest that the population is of a 
much more Boeotian character than it really is. Not only were 
9G per cent of the j)eople living in villages but only 10 per cent 
of the rural population were living in villages containing more 
than 2,000 inhabitants as compared with 46 per cent in Chitta- 
gong and 28 per cent in Noakhali. The village of Bengal is, 
however, a very indeterminate entity, and though it is a fact that 
towns and even very large villages are rare, it would be a » 
great mistake to assume, as in other places may generally be done, 
that the great bulk of the villagers are agriculturists. It would 
be barely possible for agriculture alone to support so astonishingly 
dense a population as is to be found in the Munshlganj subdivi- 
sion, and as a matter of fact 53 per cent of the population of the 
Srinagar thana were dependant upon non-agricultural means of 
subsistence for their support and 39 per cent in Munshlganj. In 
Kapasia which is a fair type of a really rural area in Bengal the 
corresponding figure is 13 per cent. Along the banks of the 
rivers and khals there are a great number of bazars which are 
centres of a thriving trade, and though each individual bazar may 
not be large they make up by quantity for their lack of size. The 
houses and godowns in these places are generally made of reeds 
and plaster in a wooden framework and roofed with corrugated 
iron and there is an utter absence of all the amenities of urban 
life. There is no conservancy, drainage or water-supply, other than 
that provided by the river or A'Aa^; the paths leading from one 
shop to another become veritable quagmires in the rains and no 
attempt is made to clear away the mud or rubbish. On the other 
hand the sun and air have more opportunity of exercising their 
purifying effect than they do in the narrow streets of ^ native 
town, and this is a factor which makes much for health. There 
are one or two places such as Sabhar and Dhamrai which contain 
a certain number of houses built of brick or dried mud and which 
have a distinctly urban aspect, but their number is not large and 
most of the mofussil traders live in the small but flourishing 
bazars described above. The agricultural villages are also small 
but the census village is a very elusive thing. The Superinten- 
dent of the Bengal Census of 1901 states that the character of a 
Bengal village is so indeterminate that it is hardly necessary to 
waste much time in discussing the statistics relating to them, and it 
may well be that the difference in size between the villages of 
Dacca and Chittagong corresponds not to an actual difference in 
the facts but to a difference iu the point of view from which they 



GO DACCA DISTRICT. 

are regardod. In the flooded tracts tlifl villacjps are bnilt in an 
almost continuous line alonf]^ the high land fringing either .side 
of the kkals and here the boundary between one village and the 
next must clearly be extremely arbitrary. In the lower land at 
the back the houses have to be built on artificial mounds and 
here the hamlets are small and scattered. Any naturally raised 
site such as the hillocks at I5irnlia or Dhainrai is eagerly appro- 
priated and densely packed with houses. In the Madhupur 
jungle where high land is not so scarce the villages are more 
scattered. Wh.enever cii'cumstances admit the people surround 
their homesteads with dense groves of bamboos and of fruit trees 
such as the mango, jack, and areca palm which afford, it is true, a 
pleasant shade but exclude most necessary light and air. 

Marringe. Hindus and Muhammadans alike marry early, the former 

' obeying the dictates of their religion, the latter adopting a custom 
which to Western ideas is neither natural nor attractive. Early 
marriages are quite as common amongst Muhammadans as 
amongst Hindus, and in 1901 there were over 7,000 Muslim 
wives who had not attained tlie age of 10. Outside the community 
of Knlin Brahmans, polygamy is rare amongst Hindus. With 
Muhammadans it is more in favour, but the custom can never be 
one of general observance as the sup])ly of women fails. The 
natural growtii of the Hindus is checked by their aversion to 
widow marriage, whereas attractive Muhammadan widows of 
tender age are rare. The most striking feature in a Hindu 
marriage is the procession (chalan) in which the bridegroom 
goes to fetch the bride. In Dacca such processions usually go 
out at night and wealthy persons are followed by long trains of 
musicians, torch-bearers, mounted men and persons carrying the 
wedding bed and the ornaments and utensils given to the 
bride. 

Prostitutes are to be found in every bazar and in consider- 
able numbers in Dacca city, but they are not so common as in 
the neighbouring district of Mymensingh. In 1901 there were 
only 2,IG4 of these women and as there were 487,000 males 
between the ages of 15 and 40 it is clear that the proportion of 
men habitually resorting to them is not large. A house for the 
rescue of fallen women has been estalilished at Dacca by the 
Rrahmo Somaj community, but it is doubtful whether prostitutes 
as a whole are really discontented with their lot. The life of 
an orthoflox and respectable Indian woman is hedged round by 
innumerable restrictions which must be exceedingly irksome to 
the more adventurous spirits among them, and there seem 
grounds for supposing that tliose wlio have once lieen placed 
outside the pale enjoy the wider interests and greater variety of 
Ihcir lives. They at any rate show little inclination to abandon it. 
Drink and disease are, however, unfortunately prevalent among 
thejjj. 



THE PEOPLE. . 61 

Cricket, football and liockoy are now common even in the Amnsomonts. 
villages. Jfaddo-f/oodoo is a kind of prisoners' base, the players 
beinp; ranged in two parties, the object of one party beino- to 
touch a player on the opposite side and escape * home ' without 
being caught. In the south of the district boat races are some- 
times held and kite-flying is a common amusement everywhere. 
Cards, chess and draughts are also popular and the people generally 
are very fond of music and theatricals. 

Unlike most of the districts of Eastern Bengal the number Sexandao-e. 
of females enumerated in Dacca was considerably in excess of the 
number of males. Tliis is principally due to the large number of 
persons who leave their families in the district and go elsewhere 
to earn their living, for if the figures are taken for those 
born and etiumerated in the district, women are found in a small 
minority. The excess of females is especially pronounced 
among the Kayasthas, so many of whom have taken service in * 
other districts ; but it is also to be found amongst a humble 
cultivating caste like the Namasudras, and, in this district at 
any rate, tliere is nothing to show that caste has anythino- to do 
with the distribution of sex. There are only two age periods of 
life in which men are in a majority, 10 — 15 and 40 — GO and it 
is probable that the advantage there has no real connection with 
facts, but is due to some objection entertained by females to those 
ages. Some of the deficiency at the age of 10 — 15 may be due to 
casuialties in child-bed, but this cause would be even more in 
operation at the 15 — 20 period and at that age women laro-ely 
outnumber men. The proportion of children to the total 
population was considerably above the average for the old pro- 
vince of Bengal. This is due, not to a higher death-rate amongst 
the middle aged but to the greater fecundity of the people. 

Ninty -eight per cent, of the population of the district in Language. 
1901 spoke Bengali and one and a half per cent, Hindi. The 
only other language used by any considerable number of persons 
was Koch Mandi, which was returned by 10,131 people living 
in the north of the Madhupur jungle. Koch Mandi closely 
resembles Garo and the Koch are thought to be either Garos with 
a slight veneer of Hinduism, or members of th^ great Kach tribe 
which was at one time the ruling race in Nortli Beno-al The 
dialect of Bengali used is known as Eastern Bengali and is thus 
described by Dr. Grierson : — 

"It exhibits well-marked peculiarities of pronunciation a 

cockney-like hatred of pre-existing aspirates and, in addition 
the regular substitution of an aspirate for a sibilant. Wliile stand- 
ard Bengali is unable to pronounce sibboleth, except as shibboleth 
Eastern Bengali avoids the sound of sh and has ' hibboleth.' On 
the other hand, the Eastern dialect cannot pronounce the letters 
ch, chh, and j, but substitutes ts for the first, s for the second 
and z for the third."* 



Linguistic Survey of India, Vol. V, IV.rt I, p. 201. 



G2 . DACCA DISTRICT. 

For a fnrtlipr account of tho peculiorities of Eastern Bengal, 
a reference should be made to Dr. Grierson's work. A lif«t of 
words said to be peculiar to Dacca was published in the Principal 
Heads of the History and Statistics of the Dacca Division, 
Calcutta, 1867, but it is hardly of suthcient general interest to 
warrant its reproduction here. 

Dacca has not been 'a centre of literary activity and the 
only well known Bengali writer native to the district was the 
late Rai Bahadur Kali Frasanna Ghose, CLE , whose books enjoy 
a great measure of popularity in both Bengals. His best known 
w^orks are Bhaktir Joy, the Triumph of Pious Devotion ; Nisliifd 
Chinta, Night Thoughts ; Jankir Agni Pariksha, or the Ordeal 
of the Empress of Oudh ; and Bromode Lahirai, Thoughts on 
Marriage. Tlie late Babu Dinesh Chandra ]?ose also enjoyed 
some reputation as a poet and Babu Dinesh Chandra Sen has 
* written a voluminous history of Bengali literature. Babu Uniesh 
Chandra Bose is the author of the Exile of Sita and several other 
works, and Mahamohopadhaya Prasanna Chandra Vidyaratna has 
compiled a very good Bengali grammar. Amongst Muhamma- 
dans Maulavi Aghhi Ahmadali who died in 187 6 was a Persian 
scliolar of high repute. He was the Persian teacher of that great 
Ori-ental scholar Henry Blochmann and was the author of several 
works on Persian grammar and prosody. Saiyid Mahmud Azad 
who died in 1907 was considered in his day to be the most 
eminent Persian scholar in Bengal and was the author of nu.mer- 
ous poems. 
Newsp:ii)eri=. '^'[^^ following is a list of the papers published in the Dacca 

district : — Dacca (lazette, published weekly, circulation about 
5.(100 ; Dacca Prakas. weekly, circulation 100; The East, bi- 
weekly, circulation 600; Eastern Bengal and Assam Era, bi- 
weekly, circulation small; the Santikana, monthly, circulation 
600 ; the Sebak. monthly, circulation 5(iO ; the Siksha Samachar, 
weekly, circulation 1,000; and the Dacca Review, monthly, 
religious. 62-3 per cent of the population in 1901 were Muhannnadans 

and 37-3 per cent Hindus; the Christians, who numbered 11,556 
souls made up practically the whole of the remainder. In 1801, 
and agaiE in 1857 -60 it was estimated that the population of the 
district was etiually divided between Hinduism and Islam, but 
in the absence of a regular census such estimates are of no 
jtractical value. In 1872 it was found that the Muhammadans 
formed 56*5 per cent of the whole and each successive enumera- 
tion has shown a marked increase in the Muhammadan element. 
The rate of growth amongst the Muhammadans between 1872 and 
19()1 was in facit nearly twice as great as that amongst Hindus, 
the former increased by 57 per c(;nt in the 29 years, the latter 
by 24 per cent. Originally no doubt conversion played a large 
part in swelling the ranks of the Muhammadan community. 
Jlindnism had little to oiler to the cultivating and labouring 
classes and they were doubtless ready enough to accept th 



THE PEOPLE. G3 

religion of tlieir conquerors nmler wliich they could rise to social 
heights utterly unatttiiiuible in tlie Hindu system to a low caste 
Hindu. But whatever may liave been tlie case in the time of 
the Mushals it is doubtful whether conversion has much to do 
with the growth of the iMuharamadan population at tlie present 
day. Changes of faith no doubt take jilace, but they are generally 
due to a Hindu having fallen in love with a Muhammadan and to 
his having been expelled from Hinduism on that account. Such 
cases usually occur in the humbler orders of society, but some 
years ago a high class Kayastha Zamindar in the Manikganj 
subdivision, annoyed at the criticisms to wliich he was subjected 
for his neglect to observe the minutiae of his own religion, deli- 
berately adopted the faith of Islam and married his daughter to 
a well-born Musalman gentleman. The principal reason for the ^ 
great Muhammadan increase is no doubt to be found in their 
superior fecundity, which again is largely due to the more liberal 
use they make of the reproductive power of their widows by 
allowing them re-marriage. In 1901 16 per cent of the Hindu 
women in Bengal between 15 and 40 were widows, whereas 
among,-t the Muhammadans the number was only 12 per cent. 
The Muhammadan dietary is also more nutritious than that of 
the Hindu and is likely to increase his fertility and tlie difference 
in age between husband and wife is less pronounced. 

The Muhammadans are found in large numbers in every Muhammad- 
part of the district, but their proportions are highest in the north, aus. 
in the Eaipura and Kapasia thanas, lowest in Dacca city and the 
Srinagar thana, where tliey are positively outnumbered by the 
Hindus. The immense mass of the Muhammadans in the district 
belong to the Sunni sect and in 1881 there were only 4/231 
Shiahs, most of whom were living in the city of Dacca. A certain 
number of the Suanis belong, to the two reformed sects which are 
collectively known as Hidayati, ' Guide to Salvation,' or Ahl-i- 
Shara, 'followers of the precepts of Muhammad, as distinguished 
from Sabiki, ' old '; Berai, 'without a guide'; and Bedayati or 
Beshara, the terms applied to the unreformed Muhammadans. 
One of these sects was founded by Haji Shariat Ullah, who in 1820 
A.O. returned from Mecca to Eastern Bengal and preached tiie 
Wahhabi tenets in Dacca. He was opposed to all association 
with Hindu rites and ceremonies, to the preparation of tazias 
and to the adoration of Firs. He also held that India wa.s Daru- 
1-harb, (the mansion of War) where the observance of Friday 
prayers is unlawful and the waging of war against inhdels is a 
religious necessity.f His work was carried on by his son Dudhu 
Miyan who made a determined stand against the levy of illegal 
cesses by landlords and died in 1860 after a somewhat tempestu- . 
ous career during which he was repeatedly charged with criminal 

■ ~~ ' ■ ^ ~" • 

* Report on the Census of Bengal, 1872, p. 133. 

t The followers of the sect at the ptcaeut day assert that thoy do not hold 
this view, 



64 DACCA DISTRICT. 

offences. His followers are often referred to as the Farazi and 
are to be known by their non-observance of the Muharruni and of 
the Friday and the two Id prayers in congregation. For many 
years they declined to submit to vaccination but their scruples 
were overcome in 1889, The other reformer was Karamat Ali 
who was opposed to the Wahhabi. He strongly denounced the 
growth of Hindu superstitions and prohibited the use of tazias but 
he held that India under British rule was not Daru-1-harb. His 
followers are known as Taizunis. The KaBzadain are the followers 
of Mizanur Rahman of Sylhet and raise their hand to their ears 
each time that the words Allah-o-Akbar are pronounced in prayer 
wliereas the other sects do so only at the beginning of the invo- 
cation. The principal strongholds of the reformed sects are 
the Bangsal, Nazirir Bazar and Shamsabad quarters of the city ; 
and Dhamrai, Panchgao, and Mirpur in the interior. Most of 
their adherents ate traders.* 

Mr Gait in his report on the census of Bengal in 1901 
divides Muhammadans into three main classes — the asJtraf or 
better class ; the <7j/c//, corrupted into a^ra/ or lower class; and 
the a7'z<d or degraded class. The as/^ra/ include Saiyids, Shaikhs 
of wealth or of foreign descent, Mughals and Pathans The 
{^aivids claim to be descendants of Fatima, Muban\mad's daugh- 
ter, and Ali, the fourth Khalifa. Many of them are Shiahs and in 
1901 they numbered 3,472. Of Pathans there were 10,797 
and of Mughals 447. The Pathans are the descendants of settlers 
of pre-Mughal days. They were overthrown by the Mughals 
in a great battle near Dhamrai, and the Sabliar, Manikganj 
and Harirampur tbanas are now the principal centres of the Pathan 
population. The immense mass of the Muhammadans describe 
tliemselves as Shaikhs. 'J'he functional caste of greatest numerical 
importance is that of the Jolahas or weavers (59,380). The term 
is a corruption of Jobala (the ignorant) and is therefore cot in 
favour with those to whom it is applied. It is a strict caste, the 
traditional occupation being weaving or dyeing, but its members 
have also taken to cultivation and clerical service when they 
can get it The Jolahas rank higher than most of the other 
functional castes and the poorer cultivating Shaiklis will eat with 
them. The Kulus or oil-pressers (7,511) are also strictly 
endogamous even when they have ceased to practise their 
traditional occupation. The Bediyas (1829) are a gipsy caste 
who are desciibed at length in Sir iler])ert Kisley's Tribes and 
Castes of Bengal. The Kuttis (deriy. kulmi to husk) are a 
community who originally earned their living by husking 
paddy. Many of them now trade in hides and are fairly well-to- 
do, but tliey rank low in the social scale. Most of them live in 
the Bangsal, fchaLnsabad and Kahmatganj (piarters of the city. 

* For fiirtlicr iiifoni):iti<m <>n the. MiiliummiidiiM .sects of J'l.-islcrn Hoiif^al 
Kco Dr. Wisr's |i;i|it'r on t lir M iiliiiiiiuuulaii.s ol Kaslcni Uon^iil couLnbulcd by 
Mr. Ki.slc.v lo J. A. tt, li. lur Ifc'JJ. 



THE PEOPLE. 65 

Restrictions on intermarriage and social intercourse are found 
amongst Muhnmmadans as amongst Europeans and the main 
difference between their caste system and ttiat of tlie Hindus lies 
in two facts, firstly, that it is much less rigorous, and secondly, 
that the immense mass of the population belong to one caste and 
therefore approach the condition where there is no such thing as 
caste at all. 

The principal sacred places of Musalmans in the district Muhamma- 
{ire • dan shrinea, 

1. The Shrine of Qadam Rasul in NSrSyanganj erected over 
a stone slab containing a footprint said to be that of the Prophet. 
It was built by Diwan Manuar KhSn, grandson of the famous 
Isa KhSn, the last real independent Pathan ruler of this part of 
Bengal during the reign of Shah JaliSn. 

y. The tomb of Shah Langar at Muazzampur in ThSna • 
Rupganj. The date of his death is not known but the adjoining 
mosque was built during the reign of Ahmad Shah who ruled in 
Bengal fiom 1409 to 1426 A.D. 

3. The tomb of Shah iMalik west of the Dilkosha gardens in 
Dacca. The year of this saint's death is not known. 

4. Tlie tomb of Shah Ali Haghdadi at Mirpur. This saint 
died in the year 1577 A.D. and was interred in the mosque at 
that place which was built in 1480. 

Although the Hindus are numerically inferior to the Muham- Hindus, 
mada'ns, they form the bulk of the upper and middle classes and 
wealth, learning and influence are largely centred in their hands. 
The number of Muhammadan zamindars is very small and, though 
Muhammadans deal in hides and to some extent in jute, the wealthy 
trading families are nearly all Hindus. A large number of the 
petty shopkeepers are Muhammadans but they have not the capital 
to enable them to compete with the Hindus in wholesale and quasi- 
wholesale trade and the cream of commerce passes into Hindu 
hands. Of Hindu influence and predooiinance at the bar it is 
hardly necessary to speak. The proportiou of Hindus is, as is only 
natural, highest in the Munshiganj subdivision and lowest in the 
subdivision of NarSyanganj. No statistics have ever been c£)llected 
to show ihe distribution of the Hindus under the different sects 
into which the followers of that religion are divided but Saktism 
is the variety that is most in evidence. 

Saktas and Vaishnavas alike have their special festivals, inudu 
but the one which creates most stir in the city itself is the Jan- festivals, 
mastami, in honour of Krishna's birth, which is celebrated in 
August. There are two special objects of worship, one a Salag- 
ram, from the Gunduck river called LakshI Narayan, which was 
brought to Dacca about 250 years ago and the other an idol called 
Morli Mohan. In honour of these idols two processions are 
organised by the weavers — one party taking their name from 
Nawabpur, the other from the Tanti Bazar. The cost of the 
latter procession is largely met from an endowment, but the 

K 



66 DACCA DISTRICT. 

Nawabpur display is the result of co-operation and its promoters 
are therefore less under the control of their nominal leaders, 
than are the men of Tanti Bazar. The spectacle is really most 
remarkable. The narrow streets of the city are packed with 
so dense a crowd that it would be impossible for the procession 
to advance at all without the assistance of a strong body of police. 
The line is headed by elephants lent by the zamindars of the 
district covered with richly ornamented trappings : then come 
various side-shows many of them of a rather scurrilous character, 
burlesquing the current topics of the day and often making 
somewhat scandalous allusions to the vie intime of the members 
of the opposite party. The most beautiful parts of the procession 
are the gold and silver shrines some of which are worth from 
Es. 15,000 to Ks. 20,000, which are dragged along on bullock 
carts, and at night are illuminated with Beugal fires. Thousands 
of people come from the interior to witness this display and every 
house-top and window is packed. On this auspicious occasion the 
restrictions of the pur lah are to some extent relaxed and ladies, 
who in ordinary life never appear from behind the veil, are to be 
seen at their windows richly clad and decked with heavy orna- 
ments of gold and silver. 

A large proportion of the Hindus in the city are Vaishnavas 
and the Jhulan Jatra, or swinging of Krishna, in August and the 
Huli in February or March are observed with much punctilio. 
The Rath Jatra, when Krishna in the form of the idol Madhab 
is dragged to visit the house of his father-in-law and is brought 
back again on the eighth day, is observed in Dacca and other 
places, but nowhere with so much ceremony as at Dhamrai. The 
idol at this place is believed to possess peculiar sanctity and 
thousands of pilgrims attend to see it dragged down the wide 
street of the village on a car which is of absolutely colossal 
dimensions and is adorned with rude carvings. The Durga puja 
is celebrated with much pomp in every part of the district. 
Great idols are constructed, representing Durga supported by a lion 
with Lakshmi and Sarasati her daughters standing on either 
hand. • Kartik and Ganesh, her two sons, sit beside her and 
her husband Siva is resting on her head. The pujS is performed 
for four days and on the fourth night the idols are thrown into 
the liver. The huge gaudily painted images are placed on boats 
and accompanied by musicians assemble at central places such 
as Dacca, .\lirkadim, Bhagyakul and Bahar. Here there is a very 
pandemonium of noise and joUincation kept up the whole night 
through. Boat after boat arrives with its great staring figures 
lit up with blazing magnesium wire and tlie air is filled with the 
din of cymbals and tom-toms and shouts and songs. It is not till 
the sky is once more growing giey and the magnesium wire is 
paled by the rising sun that the revellers consent to immerse their 
images in the river and to retire for a little badly-needed rest. 



THE PEOPLE. 67 

The success of these pujas naturally depends to a great 
extent on the support accorded to them by the wealthy zamindars, 
and from the point of view of the poorer members of the Hindu 
community it is a matter for congratulation that different fami- 
lies have devoted special attention to different piijas. The Jn.g~ 
adhatri pnja, in honour of Durga in her character of holder of 
tiie universe, is not observed very generally throughout the district 
but is celebrated with much pomp by the zamindars of Jaydebpur, 
on the sixth day after the Kali puja, while the zamindars of 
Kasimpur and ISrinagar concentrate all their efforts on the DurgS 
puja. The Baliati Babus, the Pal Babus of Lohajang and the 
i^aghyakul family specialise on the Kash, Dol, and Janmastami 
pujas, the Kartik puja is specially affected by the wealthy money- 
lenders of Dacca and the Lakshmi puja by the Nag Babus of 
Kalakopa. 

Nangalband near Narayanganj is hallowed by memories of Hindu 
Parasu Kam and a great bathing festival is held at this spot in s'""*"^^- 
the month of Chait {vide article on Nangalband). Other shrines 
which stand high in the estimation of Hindus are the temple of 
Dhakeswari near Dacca city and the temple of K5li at Chachartala. 
The temple of Chachartala stands on the bank of the Padma and 
has so long withstood the erosive action of the river that the 
Hindus think that its survival must be due to supernatural 
agency. The Dhakeswari temple is situated about two miles to 
the west of the Magistrate's cutcherry. Tradition states that it was 
founded by Ballal Sen and rebuilt by Kaja Man Singh, but no 
traces of these buildings are left and the present temple is 
said to have been erected about two hundred years ago by one of 
the Company's servants. The following account of the temple 
was given in 1867 : — 

" It was in olden times a most famous place of resort. Every 
stranger coming to Dacca was expected to lose no time in pre- 
senting himself before the goddess with an appropriate offering of 
a goat, buffalo, or other animal according to his means The 
number of daily sacrifices is said to have been from 25 to 50 

goats and from 5 to 10 buffaloes the temple is still iJu object 

of reverence to devout Hindus and religious ceremonies are still 
performed within its precincts ; but its ancient glories have 
departed ; it is comparatively deserted, the buildings are buried in 
jungle and being utterly neglected are gradually mouldering and 
falling into decay."* 

Since this was written the pendulum has swung back once 
more and the Hindu religion has profited by the growth of 
national feeling and the tendency to reject the teachings and , 

influences of the West. The Dhakeswari temple is no longer buried 
in jungle and its clean white-washed buildings receive their decent 
modicum of worshippers and their offerings ot goats, black and , 

• Priucipiil Heads of the History and Statistics of the Dacca Division, 
Calcutta, 1868. 



68 



DACCA DISTRICT. 



occasionally white. Another temple which has also profited by 
the Hindu revival is the Kalibari on the Ramna race-coin se. 

By far the most numerous Hindu caste in the district are the 
NSmasudras, a humble cultivating caste who are believed to have 
been the autochthones of the Bengal delta. 'J'ill recent years 
they have been regarded with great contempt by the higher Hindu 
castes, and as a result they resolutely declined to take any siiare 
in the agitation against the partition of Bengal. Having been 
treated as pariahs and outcastes they refused to listen to the 
invitation of the higher caste Hindus to join in a movement direc- 
ted against the established Government. Namasudras are numer- 
ous throughout the district but especially so iu the .Sriuagar, 
Keraniganj, Sabliar and Nawabganj thanas. After the Nama- 
sudras the caste most strongly represented is that of the Kayas- 
thas, though it is but a bad second as they are out-numbered in 
the proportion of almost three to one. Tlie Kayasthas are very 
evenly distributed throughout the district but they are scarcest in 
Bhowal, and most numerous iu the island lying south of the 
Dhaleswari. The Shahas numbered 7l,0U0 iu 19U1, tlie Sabhar 
and Mjnikganj thaoas being the great centres of tiie caste. Hy 
tradition liquor-sellers, they have become the traders and bankers 
of the district and some of the wealthiest zamindars of Dacca are 
members of this caste. The Munshiganj subdivision is the great 
stronghold of the Hrahman population, but outside this area they 
are distributed very evenly over the district. The only otlier 
caste with more than 50,00U members is the Kaibarttas of whom 
there were a large number in iSrinagar and the thanas bordering 
on the Lakshyu river.* 

Some of the Hindu superstitions of the district deserve notice. 
Death or misfortune is portended by the screech of an owl, the 
cawing of crows, the howling of jackals, the vision of a butfalo 
in a dream, the flowering of bamboos and tlie sight of a tortoise or 
an ass wlien setting out on a journey. A person who when leaving 
a house is summoned from behind must inmiediately turn back 
unless he wishes to enjoy bad luck, thougli this would seem to be a 
very natural proceeding on his part, quite apart from any sanction 
conferred by superstition. Deaths which occur on Saturday or 
Tuesday are thought to be particularly unfortunate for the survi- 
vors, and if oue of these days is the Amahasya day there is risk 
that the spirit of the deceasc-d may haunt the village and give 
rise to epidemic diseases. It is thought that a person's life is 
shortened if he is touched by the fan when he is being fanned, and 
the evil effects of such an accident must be averted by striking the 
fan thrice against the ground. It is unlucky to hear wee[)ing when 
a man is taking food or rising from the bed ; in the latter case the 
trouble can be best averted by returning to bed and remaining there 

* iTor an accoiiut of the nianiiors and custom of these castes refer^^nce 
shoulil 1)0 male t) iho Tnl'f.'S iin<l (Jastcs of Jiasteru B0iif;al by the late Sir 
Herbert Kislf.v, K.'.'.I K. 



THE PEOPLE. 6^ 

till the weeping stops. If a man enters a tank by one ohjit and 
ascends l)y another he will shorten his mother's lite, and it is 
said that a man who sits on the threshold of the entrance floor of 
his hut is likely to fall into debt This is a superstition that can 
easily be explained on rationalistic lines, as a man who contents 
himself with looking on at the work of the world is likely to 
grow poor. A person who has a had Hream will not tell it to 
any one but goes to the bank of the river and takes the river into 
his contideuce. Bad dreams are unpleasant but a good dream is 
almost a worse infliction as the percipient must rise the instant 
that he wakes and sit up for the remainder of the night. 

In 1901 the total number of Christians in the district was Chuistia- 
11,556, of whom 11,131 were Roman Catholics Two missions nity. 
from this church are now labourinff in Dacca — the Portuguese, '?^'''^, ^^°."^'^" 
who are subject to the Bishop of Madras, and the missionaries of '"^ 
the Congregation of the Holy Cross, an American Order, whose 
chief now fills the Koman Catholic See of Dacca It is slated in 
some old papers in the possession of the Portuguese priest in 
charge of the Hosnabad church that the first Christian mission- 
ary to Dacca reached Hosnabad about three hundred years ago. 
The local zamindar, enraged at his success amongst his tenants, 
ordered the holy father to be bound hand and foot and thrown 
into a well or ditch, declaring that he would thus put to the Lest 
the real character of the new religion. To his surprise the priest 
survived an 1, overcome with repentance, the zamindar made hitn 
a grant of land. The oldest cliurch now existing in the district 
is however the Portuguese church at Tezgaon about four miles 
north of Dacca, which was originally erected in 1679 and rebuilt 
in its present form in 1779. The ciiurch was however rebuilt on 
the same site and the stone floor is covered with inscriptions to 
the memory of the dead who lie beneath, the oldest one that is 
still decipherable recounting the virtues of one Choy Daviates, 
who died in 1714. In addition to Tezgaon there are churches 
maintained by the Portuguese at Dacca, Hasnabad, Nagari and 
Panjorah. The mission is a fairly wealthy one as the landed 
property it owns yields an income of upwards of Rs.» 49,000 a 
year. 

In comparison with the Portuguese the connection of the 
Order of the Holy Cross with Eastern Bengal is a thing of recent 
date, as the first missionaries did not arrive till 1852 and the 
diocese of Dacca was not created till 1886, In 1908 there were 
twelve missionaries of tliis Order stationed in the district, two at 
Bandurah, two at Tumuleah, one at Solipur and the remainder at 
Dacca. The mission maintains a school for Europeans and 
Eurasians at Dacca, which is affiliated to the University of Cal- 
cutta, and here and at their .chools in the interior they have 
more than 1,2C0 children under their instruction. In addition to 
the catliedral at Dacca (^ built 1S98) tliere are churches at Bandurah 
(built 1852 and rebuilt in 1888; and Solipnr (built 186U;. It is 



70 DACCA DISTRICT. 

reported that there are about 8,100 adherents of this mission and 
6,150 members of the Portuguese church, but as the total number 
of Roman Catholics in Dacca in 1901 was only a little over 11,000, 
it is clear that a considerable number of these persons must be 
living outside the district or else that conversion has been pro- 
ceeding with usual rapidity in recent years. 

Baptist missionaries first visited the district in 1805 from 
Serampur, but they were ordered by the Collector to return, 
partly because they had no passports and partly because the 
pamphlets tliey distributed " had caused great uneasiness 
among the people." In 1816 a missionary was, however, 
definitely posted to Dacca, and no less than seven schools 
were opened. In 1825 work was commenced among women and 
girls and the mission extended its labours, not only to the neigh- 
bouring districts, but even to Assam. Other workers then came 
forward to assist and Assam was handed over to the American 
Baptist Mission and the Welsh Calvinists, while the out-districts 
were surrendered to the Australasian Baptist Mission At the 
present day there are 7 European and 35 Bengali workers in the 
district; but though the number of Baptists in other parts of the 
division is considerable there were in 1901 only 114 in Dacca 
itself. The other Christian mission is the Oxford Mission, who 
first visited Dacca in 1902. The principal object of this mission 
is to bring a heathy moral influence to bear on students, and for 
this purpose they have erected a fine hostel with 41 separate 
rooms in which they are prepared to lodge boys who are reading 
at the schools and colleges in the city, irrespective of the religion 
they profess. Native Christians are reported to live on terms of 
peace and amity with their Hindu and Muhammadan neighbours, 
but the change of social customs that it entails is a serious 
obstacle to the extension of the faith. Between 1872 and 1901 
the Christian population increased by 41 per cent, and as the total 
population increased by nearly 45 per cent it is clear that the 
number of conversions was not very large. The Anglican commu- 
nion numbered 157 in 1901. Tliere is a good Anglican church 
in Dacca .whicii was consecrated by Bishop Heber in 1824. There 
are also Greek and Armenian churches in the city. The Christian 
cemeteries are described in the article on the city of Dacca. 

Guru Teg Baliadur visited Dacca, and there is a ISikh temple 
at Shujatpur near the Hamna. The Sangat at SangatoUa close 
to Sutrapur is now the chief place of worship but pious Sikhs still 
visit tiie ruins at Jafarabad where there is a well whose waters 
are thought to have curative powers. 



PUHLIO HEALTH. 71 



CHAPTER IV. 



PUBLIC HEALTH. 

The present system of recording vital statistics was intro- Vitat, 
duced in 1869 when the duty of reporting deaths was imposed on Statistics. 
Chankidars, In 1876 the system was extended to births, bat the 
returns received were so inaccurate that it was soon abandoned 
outside the towns, for which special provision had been made in 
1873, and births were not recorded again till 18'>y. Vital occur- 
rences are rei)orted by chaukidars when they attend at the police-, 
stations for their parades and a monthly return is submitted from 
each station to the Civil Surgeon. These returns are tested by 
touring officers and more particularly by the officers of the 
Vaccination Department and, judged by this standard, their inac- 
curacy is not vfry great. Tlie Ins})ecting Staff itself is not, 
however, entirely above suspicion and there can be little doubt 
that a large number of occurrences escape registration. A detailed 
examination of the records of nearly every police-station shows 
tliat at certain seasons and in certain unions there is an 
absence of vital occurrences that can hardly be in accordance with 
the actual facts, while the recorded rates fall fur short of those 
calculated by Mr. Hardy, the well known Actuary, after a most 
careful examination of the census figures for 1881 and 1891. Mr. 
Hardy calculated that in 1891 the birth-rate in Bengal was .t1-8 
and the death rate 448 per mile. For the nine years ending 
1900 the average recorded rate was — births 35-8, deaths I^ r8, 
while in the Dacca district the average recorded annual birth rate 
for the decade 18'J.S— 1902 was 3:V32, the death rate 29-03 

Table VI of the Statistical Tables which t^ives details for 
tl anas shows how far removed the reported figures are from 
accuracy. There is no very material diQ"erence between, the con- 
ditions prevailing in the Sabhar tliana and those to be found in 
Nawabganj, yet in the former the average birth rate for the 
decade ending 1902 was 51-98, the death-rate 41-15 per mille, 
and the corresponding figures in the latter were 28-90 and 22'()2. 
It would be idle therefore to lay claim to accuracy in the returns 
and as the degree of inaccuracy may vary materially from year 
to year and from I'lace to place, it is clear that the figures must 
be used with caution. The general tendency is, however, for the 
recorded births to exceed the recorded deaths, and in areas and » 
years in which tliis is not the case it is safe to conclude that 
public health has been unduly bad 

Taken as a whole the district is one of the healthie.>t in ji^.^ftiiinegg 
Bengal. The enumerations of 1881 and 1891 both disclosed an of district. 



72 DACCA DISTRICT. 

increase of over 14 |ier cent and in 1901 tliere was an increase 
of 10 () per cent, which wnp more tiian douliie that recorded for 
the province of Bengal Tliere is also a continuous and satisfac- 
tory surplus of recorded births over recorded deaths. The salu- 
brity of the district is generally ascribed by its inhabitants to the 
beneficial Hctiun of the great rivers. Tlie floods that sweep over 
the country during the rains cleanse the lowlands of all impurities 
and haves them clean and sweet and the cool breezes blowing over 
these vast stretches of water fortify the constitution against 
disease. In parts of the district, however, conditions are less 
favourable. The forests in the north are thought to have a 
prejudicial etTecfc upon the health of persons who have not become 
thoroughly acclimatised to them, and public health has for man}' 
years been bad in the IMSnikganj subdivision. In the decade 
cending with 1902 the recorded deaths actually exceeded the 
births in the 8ealo Aricha thana and in Harirampur the excess 
of births was very small. The marked inferiority of Alanikganj 
is clearly shown in the census returns, though census figures are 
of course to some extent affected by migration. In the last three 
census decades the increase in the district as a whole was 14-.5, 
1G'61, and 11-7 percent; in the MSnikganj subdivision it was 
only 4'6, 4-46 and 1*2 ])er cent. The probable causes of the 
unhealthiness of Manikganj are discussed in the following 
paragraph : — 
p More than half the recorded deaths are assigned to fever, 

but fever, it need hardly be said, is an expression that is very 
loosely used. Most mortal diseases are accompanied by a rise in 
temperature ; the diagnosis is performed not by a medical man 
but bv an ignorant rustic, and if the patient has not succumbed 
to cholera, small-pox, dysentery, or one or two other well recog- 
nised causes of mortality, it is fairly certain tliat he will be 
registered as a fever victim. Ttie Madhupur jungle is generally 
considered to be a most malarious tract and this view is borne out 
by the recorded vital statistic^. In the district as a whole fever 
during the decade ending with 1902 accounted for 542 out of 
every thousand deaths. In the Kapasia tliana which lies in the 
Madhupur jangle S\'^ deaths out of every thousand were put 
down to fever, while in the l^aipura thSna which adjoins it on the 
east the corres])onding figure was 731. The death rate from 
fever in iMauikganj is also very high. The special unhealthiness 
of .Manikganj is no doubt due to the high subsoil level of the 
water and tlie obstruction of the drainage. There is a general 
tendency towards deterioration of the rivers of the delta, and the 
effects of this tendency iit Manikganj are especially pronounced. 
The principal rivers in the west, the l>hales*\'ari and the Ichhamati, 
have been silting up, and in this portion of the district there is 
an iin])ervious layer of blue clay about two feet thick which is 
only about t.hirteen feet, hnlovv tlie surface at Ihi' river banks, and 
is j)roltal)ly only three or four feet below the surface in tlie interior.- 



PUBLIC HEALTH. 73 

This was the explanation offered by the Civil Surgeon in 1882 and 
it has received the endorsement of successive Sanitary Commis- 
sioners. 

The rest of the district is comparatively free from malarial 
fever, and in 1907 less tlian 11 percent of the patients in the 
Dacca dispensaries were treated for this complaint. The corre- 
sponding figure for the province as a whole in that year was over 
1.5 per cent and in the neighbouring district of P'aridpur it was 
over 19 per cent. 

The connection between fever and drainage being undoubtedly 
extremely intimate it is only natural that the disease should 
be most prevalent in the autumn when the floods are beginning to 
subside. 

Dacca is rather liable to cholera, the average annual recorded Cholera, 
death-rate from this cause during the decade ending 1906 being • 
3-12 per mille, a figure which was only exceeded by one other dis- 
trict in Eastern Bengal. The tract of countr}' lying between the 
Dhaleswari and the Padma is the part that suffers most. 

Population in the Munshiganj subdivision is extraordinarily 
dense, the rivers and channels in the interior are drying up and 
considerable difficulty is experienced in obtaining good drinking 
water. The main channel of the Padma now flows along its 
western bank and in the dry season there is very little current in 
that portion of the river which washes the shores of the Manik- 
ganj subdivision. The people if left to themselves are completely 
indifferent to the most elementary sanitary precautions. In 1886 
the Civil Surgeon wrote as follows :—*' In my experience it is 
hopeless to expect villagers to adopt any prophylactic measures 
whatever. They will persist, in spite of all our efforts, in drink- 
ing foul water, even if they are in a position to obtain river water, 
and to expect them to boil or filter water, to clean a drain, to leave 
an infected spot temporarily, even to drink prophylactic doses of 
acid sulphuric dilute if given them is Utopian." 

Latrines are erected in close proximity to or even actually in 
tanks from which drinking water is drawn, and the banks of the 
rivers are habitually used for the purposes of nature. At. Aricha 
there were till recently rows of latrines erected in the slack water 
of the Padma whicli acted both as the receptacle of the night-soil 
and as the source of the water-supply of that large and prosperous 
bazar. The people do not understand that if a well is sunk 
in close proximity to accumulated filth and ordure it is 
liable to contamination, for which perhaps there is some 
little excuse, but they do not even realise, that the same place 
cannot with impunity be used as a receptacle for sewage and 
a source of water-supply. The villages are packed in close " 

proximity to one another along the banks of water-courses and 
rivers, and when cholera once breaks out it quickly spreads from 
one centre to another. No precautions are taken with the soiled 
clothing and evacuations of the patient and infection is in many 

L 



74-. DACCA DIRTRICT. 

ca?es carried by flies. The extent to which tlie prevalence of 
cholera depends upon the neglect not only of proper sanitary 
precautious but even of the ordinary rules of decency is shown 
by the fact that even when cholera is raging in the Munshlganj 
subdivision but few cases occur at the Kaitik Baruni fair. At 
this fair there is a large population living in boats and in terapor- 
rary shelters and were it not for the enforcement of proper rules 
epidemic disease would most certainly be rife. 

Prior to 1877 when Dacca city was first supplied with. 
filtered water cholera used to be very prevalent in the city and 
bad outbreaks continued to occur from time to time as the water- 
works at first were only able to supply about one-third of the 
popidation. In 1876, 305 persons died from cholera in the 
city, and in 1882, 527, which was equivalent to a death-rate of 
r 6 57 per mille. A peculiarity of this outbreak was that it occurred 
between July and September at a time of year when the whole 
district is under water and true cholera is hardly known. The 
unusual character of this visitation produced an absolute panic. 
"All who were able to do so left Dacca or lived in boats on the 
river. The colleges and schools were deserted and the streets 
obstructed by processions fervently propitiating the responsible 
deities." The widespread character of the epidemic was doubtless 
due to the fact that the milkmen's quarter was infected at the 
very commencement. An even worse outbreak occurred in 1893 
when there were 581 deaths, and 1904 and 1905 were also year.s 
of high cholera mortality, 49.*^ deaths occurring in the former year 
and 506 in the latter. In 1909 there were 334 deaths from 
cholera in the city, but the extension of the water-works was com- 
pleted in March 1910 and in that year there were only 141 deaths. 
Kaiayanganj town has also been very subject to the disease and in 
no less tlian eight years between 1891 and 1906 there were more 
than 100 cholera casualties. The opening of the water-works in 
1908 lias, however, done much to relieve the town of this dreadful 
scourge though there were 82 deaths fiom this cause in 1909. 

In the district as a whole the two worst epidemics which 
have occurred of recent years were those of 1893 and 1895. In 
tlie former year the death-rate from this cause was no less than 
727 ])('r mille. Tiie tract that suffered most severely was the 
island lying between the Dhaleswaii and the Paduia, the death- 
rate per mille from cholera being Munshlganj 9*83, Siinagar 
ll-?6, NavSbganj 8*16, Miinikganj 958, llarirampur 3*12, and 
•Sealo Aricha 8'86. The total iiumber of deaths registered was 
17,610, 80 per (•■ent of which occurred in the last three months of 
the year. In 1895, 1(5,97') deaths wen; registered wliicli was equi- 
valent to a death-rate of 7*08 per mille, the highest district death- 
i;it(! lecorded in I'engal that year. The disease was again most 
pievalent in (hat [(ortion of the district wdiich it [)unished most 
fverely in 1893. 



PUBLIC HEALTH. 



r5 



Dysentery and diarrhoea are rather cominon, the average Dysentery 
annual death-rate from these causes during tlie decade ending ^^|j_^j^^_^ 
1906 being ] 27 per niille as compared with 0'75 for the province 
as a whole. The rerpaining districts of the 'division suffer but little 
from these diseases and their prevalence in Dacca must probably 
be ascribed to a larger proportion of urban population. They are 
particularly in evidence in the towns of Dacca and Narayanganj, 
the average aiinual death-rate from this cause in the former city 
being no less than 480 in the decade ending 1902, and the 
Muushiganj subdivision is also much affected. The whole of 
this tract is very densely populated and many people are living in 
conditions that are practically urban. 

Small-pox is not a serious cause of mortality and in the Small-pox. 
decade ending 1902 the average annual death-rate from this 
disease was only '05 per mille. A staff of nearly 100 vaccinators • 
is employed almost all of whom are licensed vaccinators, i.e., not 
salaried servants of Government but persons permitted to charge 
two annas for every operation. Till recently arm to arm vaccination 
was common in the district, but the practice is now dying out. 

Like the rest of Eastern Bengal the district has been almost Flague. 
entirely free fi'om plague. In 1899 there was an outbreak in the 
thanas of Muushiganj and Nawabganj, 81 persons being attacked, 
of whom only nine recovered. One death from plague also occur- 
red in 1907. The causes of the immunity of the district from 
this terrible disease are still obscure. 

Elephantiasis and bronchocele, enlarged spleen and rheum- other 
atism are fairly common as are also skin diseases and worms, tliseased. 
the principal varieties being the common round worm, Ascarides, 
Taenia and Distoma Intestinate. Croup and laryngitis are com- 
paratively rare, but catarrh, bronchitis, and asthma are common. 
Leprosy is more prevalent than in Faridpur and Bakarganj, where 
it is extremely rare, but it is not of very common occurrence. 
The proportion of male lepers to every 100,000 males in 1901 was 
only 39 as compared with 72, the ratio returned for the whole of 
Bengal. 

No provision seems to have been made for the medioal attend- Medical 
ance of the sick in the days of Mughal rule, but a Lungur Khana Institutions. 
or poor-house was maintained. In 1803 a native hospital was 
opened, but Taylor, writing in 1838, described it as being small, 
ill-ventilated, capable of containing only 40 patients and alto- 
gether ill-adapted to the purpose for which it was erected. The 
lunatic asylum was at that time in existence, but no provisiou. 
had been made for lepers, and none indeed has yet been made 
even at the present day. 

The most important medical institution not only in Dacca The*iMitford 
but in the whole of Eastern Bengal and Assam is the Mitford Hos-^^'^'^1'^*'^^' 
pital. This hospital owes its existence to Mr. Kobert Mitford of 
the ('ivil Service who served in Dacca for many years and died in 
Europe in 1)S3G, -He -left the bulk of his property to Ihe 



76 DACCA DISTRICT. 

Government of Bengal to be employed in works of charity and 
public utility in the city of Dacca, but the will was disputed and 
the decision of the final Court was not pronounced till 1850. The 
hospital was opened in 1858 and in 1867 had accommodation for 
92 in-patients. Since that date it has been considerably enlarged 
and in 1907 there were 139 beds for men and 42 for women, 
while the Lady Dufferin Hospital which stands in the same 
compound has four beds more. In addition to the main ward of 
the hospital, there are lecture and dissecting rooms, an outdoor 
patient department and accommodation for European in- 
patients. 

The Mitford Hospital is a source of immense good. In a 
large city like Dacca there are many poor persons who gladly avail 
themselves of the opportunity of receiving medical treatment in a 
« hospital and in 1907 there were nearly 4,00C indoor patients, 
while outdoor patients numbered nearly 31,000. Well-to-do 
persons come to the Mitford Hospital even from other districts 
for surgical treatment and in 1907 the number of operations 
performed was 3,515. 

The total income in 1907 was Rs. 33,727. Of this Rs. 10,000 
represents the annual grant from the Municipality, Rs. 3,604 the 
subscription from the District Board, and Rs. 7,164 the interest 
on investments. There is a medical school attached to the 
hospital which is fully described in the chapter on Education. 
The Victoria The Victoria Hospital at Narayanganj was opened in 1892 

^,°,:.^'.^'^^ '^^ and contains 20 beds for men and 10 for women. There is a 
l^auj. large foreign element in the population of that town employed in 

jute mills and in other ways, and in 1907 the hospital received 
540 male and 111 female in-patients, while the number of out- 
patients was nearly 1 7,000. The total income of the hospital in 
1907 was Rs. 5,600, of whifdi Rs. 3,300 was received from the 
Municipality and Rs. t>00 from the District Board. 
iBpensaries. In addition to the hospitals at Dacca and Narayanganj 

there are in the district 22 dispensaries, 13 of wiiich are assisted 
by the District Board while nine are entirely maintained by 
private p(,»rsons. 

The District Board dispensaries are situated at Baldhara, 
Bankhuri, Mulchar, Mahadebpur, Tegharia, Churain, Raipura, 
Monohardi, Narsingdi, Tilli, Joinsher, Manikganj and Muushi- 
gauj, and the Mission dispensary at Nagari. 

The first of these dispensaries was established at Manikganj 
in 1864. Then came Jaydebpur and Joinsher in 1866, Bhagyakul 
in 1868, Kalipara in 1870, and Maluchi in 1872. The last 
named disijensary was erected in accordance with the instructions 
laid down in the will of Babu Ishan Chandra Roy who left certain 
property for its sa])[)ort. This projjerty now yields an income 
of about Rs. 3,000 per annum which is considerably more 
than is lecjuired I'or the luiiintenance of the institution and it is 
proposed to devote the surplus fundd to Lho endowment of a 



PUBLIC HEALTH. 77 

new dispensary at Harirampur. All tlie appointments and 
e(juipment of the Maluchi dispensary are of the very best, as 
is only natural in an establishment in which no considerations 
of economy need intervene. 

Only five of these dispensaries have any provision for indoor 
accommodation and the total number of beds available is only 
fifty-nine. This is not, however, a matter for regret. Indigent 
strangers are the only persons who would consent to become 
in-patients at a dispensary and the number of these people in the 
interior is not large. Eight beds are maintained at the Maluchi 
Eye Dispensary, but the average daily number of indoor patients 
is less than two. 

Judged by the standard of population the number of dispen- 
saries in the district is not large, as even after including private non- 
aided institutions there were in 1907 only eight to every million 
inhabitants as compared with thirteen in the province as a whole 
and 24 in a large district like Sylhet. Distances are not, however, 
great and communications are fairly good, so that in Dacca the 
sick have greater facilities for obtaining access to medicine than 
in many other places. Public dispensaries are, moreover, not so 
urgently required in Dacca as in other portions of tlie province, 
as the number of private medical practitioners is unusually large. 
In 1901 there were in the district no less than 164 doctors with 
diplomas or certificates. A figure like this requires some standard 
of comparison, and this standard may be found in the remaining 
three districts of the division which had only 34 between them I 
It is perhaps doubtful whether uncertificated doctors are not more 
of a danger than of a help to the patients whom they treat, but 
of these persons Dacca had in 1901 no less than 2,627, a figure 
which was only exceeded by one district in Bengal. Most of the 
trained private doctors are, however, living in the towns and the 
southern part of the district, and an increase of medical facilities 
is called for in the north. 

The experiment was recently tried of requiring doctors in 
charge of dispensaries to attend the bazars in the vicinity on 
market days with a stock of medicines, but it did not j^rove a 
success and was soon abandoned. There is, however, little doubt 
that much still remains to be done to bring medical relief to the 
doors of the people. The population of the towns of Dacca 
and Narayanganj is only 4 per cent of the population 
of the district as a whole, yet in 1907 the patients treated 
in the medical institutions of those two towns formed nearly 
50 per cent of the total number of patients treated in the 
If) institutions for which returns are published. There is of 
course a larger proportion of indigent foreigners in the towns 
than in the interior and persons sometimes come from other dis- 
tricts to be treated in the Mitford Hospital, but these two facts 
are not in themselves sufficient to account for such a very marked 
diflference in the figures. 



78 DACCA DISTRICT. 

The following rougli abstract taken from the returns for 1907 
gives a good idea of the class of diseases most commonly treated 
at tiiese medical institutions : — Total number of })atients 1 12,000 ; 
ulcers and other diseases of the skin 30,()00 ; dyspepsia, diarrhcea 
and other diseases of the digestive system 16,000; malarial fever 
12,200 ; diseases of the eye and ear 8,200 ; injuries 6,000 ; rheuma- 
tism 4,200 ; worms 4,000 ; dysentery 2,8u0 ; venereal diseases 
2,700. In 1907 the total income of the lo institutions which 
accepted public aid was in round figures Ks. 55,800. About 4 
per cent of this was received from Government, about 20 per cent 
■from the District Board, about 24 per cent from the two Municipa- 
lities, about 17 per cent from endowments and about 9 per 
cent from subscriptions. 
Lunatic The Dacca Lunatic Asylum was founded in 1815 and has 

Asylum. , accommodation for 217 males and 45 females ; it receives patients 
from the Dacca and Chittagong divisions and from the districts of 
ISylhet and Cachar. The average number of insanes admitted 
annually is 52 and the average daily strength 232; nearly half 
the inmates are criminals. The annual cost is about Ks. 26,000, 
Sanitary The sanitary condition of the district leaves much to be 

condition of desired. In 1867 the Collector wrote as follows of Dacca 
Dacca. ^j^ . — u Dacca has long been famed for its tilth, and in this 

respect undoubtedly bore away the palm even from that town 
of odoriferous celebrity — the ancient city of Cologne. In 1713 
it is described by a Jesuit priest in the following terms: — ''Pour 
ce qui est de la ville, rien de plus sale et de yliis onal-propre.' 
He says the streets are full of dirt and ordure which s'y rassemhlcnt 
after the slightest shower. More than a century and a half 
has elapsed since the priest wrote and considerable improvement 
has been made. Much, however, remains to be done. At present 
the sanitary condition of the town varies in different localities. 
The main thoroughfares and places of public resort are, as a 
rule, clean and well kept, as are also the streets in the neighbour- 
hood of the river ; it is in the back streets and unfrequented 
by-lanes and alleys in the centre of the town that nuisances 
are stiU rife; and here many very objectionable localities are 
still to be found. In many ])laces the proprietors of houses 
have built masonry drains, totally regardless of the fact that 
they have no outlet. As a natural consequence these drains 
become stagnant channels tilled with rubbish. . . . The houses 
of the wealthy are not nuich better than those of the poorer 
(^lasses as regards cons(>rvancy arrangejnents. In most spouts 
may be seen in the outer wall from which the sewage and filtli 
from the u])])er storeys dribbles down to the ground below, leaving 
in its passage down the wall a hoirible coagulated mass of abomi- 
nation, often more than an inch thick." * 



• • rriucipal lleada oftho liistory auJ Sutistica of tiio Dacca Diviaiou, 
80. 



PUBLIC HEALTir. 79 

Mncli has been done to improve Uie sanitary condition of 
i\\e city during the 43 years iliat liave elapsed sinc^e these words 
were written, but unfortunately even at the present day they 
still hold good in the main. Through tbe liberality of Nawab 
Abdul Gani of Dacca the city was endowed with a supply of 
filtered water in 1877 and this has done much to check the 
ravages of cholera which formerly exacted a heavy toll from the 
inhabitants. The Conservancy Department has been developed and 
improved, and considerable sums of money have been expended 
in opening up passages through which the sweepers can gain 
excess to the privies. But this work is very costly, and it is 
calculated that there are still five thousand private latrines wliich 
cannot be apjjroached and which must therefore of necessity be 
left uncleared from year to year, a mass of festering ordure in 
the midst of a congested population. The principal street'^ are 
swept, but there is no system of drainage in the city, and in the 
by-lanes there is often an offensive stench from the accumulation 
of sewage aud decaying garbage not only in the lane itself but 
in the adjacent premises. 

The streets and lanes are very narrow, and are in consequence 
both dark and stuffy. One quarter, indeed; the Sankhari Bazar, 
is quite phenomenal. The houses are extraordinarily narrow, but 
run back for an enormous distance forming a curious warren of 
tiny rooms and passages into which neither light not air can enter. 
Even 'the conditions of the bazars in which food is exposed for 
Sale are most insanitary. Steps have recently been taken to 
extend the water-supply and to improve the conservancy arrange- 
ments and the question of introducing a drainage system is under 
consideration. Dacca is, however, an old city, constructed at 
a time when the laws of sanitation were unknown in India and 
nothing short of demolition and re-building would bring it into 
accordance with the requirements of the twentieth century. The 
following description of the conservancy arrangements in Dacca 
city is taken from the Sanitary Report for 1905 : — " The popula- 
tion of Dacca is over 90,000. There are 1.3,000 private and 
12 public latrines on the registers, and it is estimated that about 
22,000 people are not provided with conveniences of any sort. 
The soil of 8,000 privies is more or less removed and the remainder 
from one cause or another is inaccessible. The custom in Dacca 
is to build houses in blocks back to back with a courtyard in the 
oentre. At the back of the courtyard the privies open on to a 
■central channel by means of which they are served. In some 
cases 50 or 100 latrines open on to a single passage, and it is 
frequently so n^.rrow that it is hardly possible for a man to crawl 
along by placing his feet on the slippery ledges on either side 
between the wall and the drain, and the ends of the passage may 
even be closed up by houses so that there is no possible entrance. 
It is needless to say Lhat the sewage from these latrines has never 
been removed aud has in the course of years collected until it 



80 DACCA DISTRICT. 

stanr's considerably above tbe level of the courtyards. I have 
Been some of these unopened passages from the roofs of the 
adjoining houses. Their condition is indescribably filthy even in 
the cold season. The people complained to me that in the rainy ' 
season the sewage flows back into their houses." 
Narayangani. I" Narayanganj affairs are very different. Standing as it does 

on a site, the greater part of which is much below flood-level its 
natural disadvantages are very great But it is a comparatively 
young town and from the first has enjoyed the advantage of a large 
community of European businessmen connected with the jute 
trade. These gentlemen have taken a close interest in municipal 
affairs, and it is doubtful whether in East or West Bengal there is 
another town of its size in which a Sanitary Inspector could find so 
few subjects for criticism. The construction of the new water- 
i works has removed the one defect, as pi-ior to their erection the 
mortality from cholera was high. 
Sanitation in '^^^^ sanitary condition of the villages is far from satisfactory, 

the interior, and matters can hardly be put on a proper basis until the 
villao-ers themselves realise how important it is to improve the 
surroundings of their dwellings and are willing to devote the time 
and labour required for the purpose. In the flooded tracts there 
is one valuable asset on the side of health ; the annual flood 
washes the country every year and at the beginning of the cold 
weather leaves the surface clean. But indirectly it is a source of 
serious trouble. The houses have to be built on mounds raised 
above the surface of the water and to create these mounds holes 
are dug in close ])roximity to the house. When the floods fall 
these holes are left, mere stagnant pools filled with decaying 
vegetation and garbage, the breeding grounds of mosquitoes and 
disease. Considerable sums have been expended in Manikganj 
town in making tanks and using the earth so obtained in filling 
up these holes, but the cost of carrying out this very desirable 
reform over the district as a whole by paid labour would be beyond 
the means of any Government and the only hope of improvement 
lies in the voluntary effort of the people tiiemselves. There a.e, 
howeveu, other sources of disease which admit of easier remedy. 
The sun and air are alike ymrifying agents and much good would 
be done if the villagers would content themselves with providing 
their houses with a reasonable amount of shade instead of, as is 
often the case, burying them in a dense jungle of bamboos and 
palms. 

Much disease is also caused by the reckless and insanitary 
disposal of excreta. Rows of privies are often to be seen stand- 
ing in the shallows along the edges of tlic Padma where there is 
no wholesome current to sweep away impurities, and the result of 
this disgusting practice is to be found in the high death-rate 
from cholera recorded in these villages. The banks of rivers and 
streams are freely used as latrines ; when the waters rise they 
absorb this filth and the people who drink this diluted sewage 



PUBLIC HEALTH. 81 

not infrequently suffer from bowel complaint?. The District 
Board is taking steps to improve the water-supply in the interior ■ 
and by the end of 1908, 274 wells had been sunk. Money will 
also be granted for the repair of tanks, provided that the owners 
will give reasonable guarantees that they will be strictly reserved 
for the provision of drinking water, but in Bengal landowners are 
very jealous of their rights and, up to date, they have declined to 
allow the Board that modicum of control which alone would justify 
them in expending public money on the property of a private 
individual. This is the more to be regretted in that there are 
grounds for supposing that in the alluvial tracts tanks are a 
better source of water-supply than wells, as in the opinion of 
some authorities, the water is exposed to such contamination 
from decaying vegetable matter during its percolation through 
the soil that it requires to be thoroughly oxidised by exposure to ' 
sun and air in a tank. Wells are, however, satisfactory in the 
higher parts of the district. It has sometimes been asserted that 
the retting of jute has a prejudical effect upon the health of 
people living in the neighbourhood. Water in which jute has 
been steeped is rendered unfit for drinking and the rotting jute 
diffuses a most noisome stench, but it is difificult to trace any 
connection between jute and fever, and in 1897 the Civil Surgeon 
pointed out that in some of the healthiest thanas in the district 
the cultivation of jute was very widely practised. 



M 



92 



Dacca district. 



CHAPTER V. 



Social 
organisa- 
TION 
OF THE 
PEOPLE. 



Rents : 
different, 
cla3st's 
of laud. 



ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. 

Broadly speaking, the inhabitants of the district fall into 
the following main classes — the great landlords, the professional 
classes, the traders, the agriculturists, the artizaas and weavers 
and the boating and labouring classes. The great landlords are 
few in number and, as in England, their ranks are from time to 
time reinforced by men who have made money in trade and the 
learned professions. The proportion of the district population 
included in the category of professional classes is unusually large, 
for Bikrampur is the stronghold of the Bengali middle class and 
there are a great number of people living there who are largely 
dependant for their maintenance on the remittances received from 
fathers, husbands, and brothers who are earning their livelihood 
in other districts of Bengal and in Assam. In the professional 
classes are included an army of clerks, many of whom draw but 
slender salaries and whose families accordingly suffered considerably 
from ihb higher prices of 1906. The Shahas and to a lesser degree 
the Telis are the great trading castes and several of their members 
have amassed very considerable fortunes from money-lending and 
commerce and have purchased important zaraindaris. More than 
three-fifths of the population of the district still derive their 
sustenance from the land, and the condition of the agricultural 
industry, the relations between the landlords and the tenants and 
the rates of rent are therefore matters of great importance. 

The following are the classes into which land is commonly 
divided for the purpose of assessment to reDt — hhiti or homestead, 
nol or culturable land which is divided into the following three 
classes : first class aiual, second class do lam and third class 
chaiam, culturable waste (laik patit ox patit), and jola or doha 
which is low-lying marshy ground. With the increase of popu- 
lation these distinctions are tending to disappear and villagers 
agree to pay the highest rates even for inferior land. Special rates 
are generally charged for ixtn and vegetable gardens and for 
land under thatching grass. 

In lihowal th(^ higher land is divided into two main classes, 
haid and challn, and eacli of th(^se classes again into three grades, 
'pardoT, kaiitdor, and clfdov. The most fertile land in this part 
of the district are the 6r/ir/.s' or shallow depressions which inter- 
sect the higher land and which closely resemble a formation in 
the Oolaghat subdivision of the Sibsagar district known as Jioolas. 
No special rate is charged in l^howal for homestead land as much 
of the nal land lies above flood-level, but higher rents are sometimes 



ECOXOMIC CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. 



83 



paid for land cultivated with karolas (a f-pocies of cucumber) and 
jute. Wlien this pargana uas still largely under jungle special 
leases with a rent-free perioil were granted for the reolarnation of 
the land. Brahmottar and other rent-free tenures were also 
offered to men of resi)ectable family who were prepared to settle 
there. These concessions have been now withdrawn. 

Kents, as is only natural, are highest in Hikrampur where Kenis. 
the rural population is extremely dense. The old-.^stablished rates 
per bigha ranged from Ke. 1-4-0 to Es. 2 fur cultivated land and 
was Rs. 4 for homestead; but as much as Rs. 4 a bigha is some- 
times paid for cultivated land and Ks. 8-12-0 for homestead. 
In Manikganj 12 annas a bigha is a not uncommon rate for 
cultivated land, and from Ks. 2-8-0 to Ks 3 for homestead In 
Narayanganj the rent for culturable land is from Re. 1 to Ke. 1-4-0 
per hani, but in the khas mahals it ranges from 6, annas to • 
9 annas. It should be explained that the kani in NSrayanganj is 
a little less than a bigha. 

In Rhowal the customary rates are as follows : — 



Bioe ... 
Challa... 



Pardor. 



R.S. 

2 to 2-4 
0-8 to 0-10 



Kamdor. 



Rs. 

1-2 to 1-4 
0-5 to 0-6 



Chedor. 

As. 
8 to 10 
8 to 4 



Near the city the rates of course are higher, and land used 
for market gardens in the outskirts of Dacca fetches from Ks. 8 
to Rs. 12 per bigha. 

These rents in themselves are probably not more than the Other cesses, 
land can well afford, but the landlords add to their incomes in 
other ways. In cases of transfer the landlord usually exacts 
one- quarter of the purchase money as his fee. The iight to 
settle on a piece of land is often put up to auction and 
seldom fetches less than ten times the annual rent, while 
as much as Ks. 75 a bigha is sometimes paid. Illegal cesses 
are also occasionally imposed. Road and Public Works cesses are 
sometimes realised from tlie raiyats at double the authorised rate — 
and the tafiorl, a cess of one anna or more in the rupee of rent, 
which is distributed amongst the collecting staff, is almost univer- 
sal. Marocha is an ahwab occasionally paid to the landlord 
when a marriage takes place in his tenant's family and in some ' 
estates abivdbs are collected to defray the cost of dispensaries and 
schools. These cesses are usually paid by the cultivators without 
much demur and the relations between lordlords and tenants are, 
generally speaking, good. 



84 DACCA DISTRICT. 

Prices. It is doubtful whether it is of much use to carry an euquiry 

into prices back too far, as few things are more liable to mislead 
the casual reader than the market rates of a hundred years ago. 
They apply these rates to the conditions of the present day and 
infer that the people were prosperous because the prices of the 
necessities of life were low, forgetting that money then was very 
scarce and that the people had not much to spend. Taylof states 
that between 1810 and 1836 the average price per maund was for 
best rice He. I — 0-l5| and for the cheapest quality Ke 0-13 — 
12^. This suggests a land flowing with milk and honey, but that 
the suggestion is fallacious can be gathered from the fact that in 
1784, when rice was what we should now consider very cheap, i.e., 
17 seers to the rupee, " the distress of the inhabitants exceeded 
all description." Tlie statistics published by the Government of 
" India show the retail price of rice at Dacca since 1861. The 
cheapest year since that date was 1862 when 3158 seers could be 
purchased for a rupee. In 1866 the Orissa famine sent the price 
up to 10-63 seers, but two years later it was back again to '28"86 
seers. The market varied considerably from year to year and in 
1869 it was up again to 17"55. In 1873, it was .23-2 and in the 
following year up to 12*31. Between 1878 and 1880 it averaged 
1206 seers and in the next triennium the average was as low as 23 
seers. This was the last of the really cheap rice and never since 
then has the average price for the year fallen to 20 seers. In 
1889, the price rose to 14 seers and in the quinquennium encling 
1895 it averaged 13-31 seers. The famine of 1897 sent the price 
up to 9 6 seers, but 1899 was a year of abundant harvest and rice 
sold at the rate of 17*91 seers to the rupee. In 1904 rice was 
again cheap at 15-26 seers, but in 1906 and 1907 it was extremely 
dear at 8- 11 and 8-06 seers to the rupee. This was due to the 
exceedingly unfavourable conditions prevailing in those years. 
In 1906, there was the highest flood on record, the railway to 
Goaiando was breached, and the price of rice in Dacca suddenly 
rose from Ks. 5| to Ks. 8 per maund, while in parts of tlie 
interior it toucho^d Ks. 9 per maund. The restoration of com- 
munications and the importation of cheap rice from Burma sent 
prices down from this famine level but for some time they 
continued to be very high. Fairly normal conditions had, however, 
re-established themselves by 1910 and in Jaimary of that year 
common rice was sellifig at tlie rate of 13;^ seers to the rupee. 

Apart from individual bad seasons several causes have 
contributed to send up the price of grain. The increase in popula- 
tion has brought the less fertile land under cultivation and 
the average yield per acre has decreased. The great extension 
of jute cultivation lias not only displaced a considerable 
area of rice, but by patting an enormous amount of money 
into circulation, has increased the power of the consumer 
to pay, and th(; consumer's capacity for payment is probably a 
consideiable factor in the local [aice of rice. The dillereuce 



ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. 85 

between the normal price of the present day and the normal 
price of a hundred years ago is principally due to the increase in 
the quantity of money in circulation, ])iit though the great out- 
put of gold from South Africa during the nineties may have 
helped to send up the price of rice, other factors were, no doubt, 
contributory causes. There has been a considerable increase in 
the amount of rice exported from India and the raiyat now tends 
to sell his crops and hoard money instead of grain. JtJut the 
handling of money is a thing which is not learnt in a day, and 
while grain cannot very easily be frittered away, money can. 

Salt has been for centuries in India an article on which 
taxation has been regularly levied and the price of the commodity 
largely depends upon the rate of the tax. In the decade ending 
1838 the average price was Rs. 4-15-8 per maund.* Between 
1861 and 1881 the price was usually between 8i and 9^ seers to ' 
the rupee. In 1882 on the remission of taxation it fell to 12 38 
seers, but six years later when it was found necessary to raise 
the tax again it rose to 9-24 seers. In 1905 when the tax was 
again lowered it fell to 12'75 seers and further remissions brouo-ht 
the price in 1907 down to 16*2 seers per rupee or about half of 
what it was some eighty years before. 

The rise in prices has naturally been accompanied by a rise Wages, 
in wages. In 1803, a farm labourer received from Ke. 1 to 
Re. 1-8 a month and a cooly from 8 annas to Ke. 1 and his food. 
By 1837 the rate of wages had risen to from Es. 2-4 to Rs. 4 for 
a farm labourer and from Re. 1 to Rs. 2-4 with food for a cooly. 
In 1867, the daily wage of a cooly was 3 annas. Wages tend to 
rise with the rise in the price of food bat, if the returns can be 
relied upon, they reflect the variations of the market much less 
rapidly than the grain-dealers do. In 1873, the wages of an 
agricultural labourer were Rs. 6 per mensem and they remained 
at about that figure till 1886 though the period included several 
years of scarcity when tlie price of rice was up to less than 12 and 
13 seers to a rupee. In 1886 and 1889, they were returned at 
from Rs. 6 to Ks. 10 per mensem, and in 1893 at from Ks. 8 to 
Rs. 10. This was, however, a year of scarcity when rio^ rose to 
10"24 seers to the rupee and they are said to have subsequently 
fallen to from Rs. 5 to Rs. 7. Tlie high prices at the beginning 
of the century sent wages up again and they touched their 
highest level in 1905 at from Rs. 10 to Rs. 12 per mensem. 
Wages, however, vary considerably in different parts of the 
district and at different seasons of the year, and for jute weeding 
it is not uncommon to pay from 8 to 10 annas a day. 

A large number of the houses in Dacca city are built of DweUings. 
brick and some of those along the river bank are of considerable 
size. They hardly, however, comply with European standaids of 
comfort, as the rooms though numerous are very small and dark, » 

* Topocraphy of Dacca, p. 291. 



86 DACCA DISTRICT. 

There are also a considerable number of mas;onry houses in the 
interior, especially in the south of the district where so many 
families of tlie middle classes have their ancestral homes. Poorer 
houses in Dacca generally have mud walls with a roof made of 
kerosene oil tins beaten flat and stretched over bamboo rafters, 
but there are some in which the walls are made of split bamboo 
and the roof of thatch. The peasants' cottages in the interior 
have walls of split bamboo or reeds plastered with mud, roofs of 
thatch or corrugated iron. The centre of the ridge pole in 
thatched houses is very much higher than either end, as it is 
found that curved roofs are less likely to be injured by storms. 
In the flooded tracts the houses have to be raised on high mounds, 
find the cost of preparing the site leads to the construction of 
small and uncomfortable dwellings. In the north, where the 
demand for laud is less acute and a lower plinth suffices, the 
cultivator plans his homestead on a more liberal scale and each 
steading consists of three or four cottages surrounding a small 
com tyard which is regularly plastered with mud and cowdung 
and kept scrupulously clean. In certain villages, where suitable 
earth is found, the walls of the houses are made of mud, and the 
building, especially if inhabited by a wealthy Shaba, presents 
quite an imposing appearance. Good examples of this mud 
architecture are to be found at MurapSra, Sabhar, Birulea, 
Dhainiai, Bhabla and Gotasia in Manohardi. The cost of prepar- 
ing a cuUivator's hut in the flooded tracts, including the cost of 
raising the plinth would be about Ks. 400, of a good steading 
with three or four different houses in the north of the district 
about Ks. 100 and of a mud house such as is to be found at 
Murapara Ks. 3U0. 

Furniture is a commodity which has comparatively small 
attractions either to rich or poor. Even the wealthiest zamindars 
have little furniture in tlie rooms appropriated for their own use 
and what there is, is of the simplest character. There is a wooden 
platform (/((/.'/(a^ms/o with a carpet {sat rang i) and a few big 
jjillars on which visitors of good position sit, with low benches 
and matft'for humbler folk. 13ut wealthy men also have rooms 
furnislied in European style for the reception of European visitors. 

Cultivators even when well to do have still less. A box or 
two to hold their clothes, a wooden stool, some mats on which 
they sleep on the mud floor and that is all. 

The l)edding of the ordinary villager consists of a [)alch-work 
quilt made ol clothes too old to be any longer worn, but the well- 
to-do use sheets and a cotton (juilt in the cold weather. All 
classes of the community use mosquito curtains wliich are gener- 
ally made of cloth woven in Tippera and Noakhali Till recently 
the. well-to-do used ordinary European mosquito curtains, but 
under the influence of the Swadeshi movement, many Hindu 
gentlemen sacrificed their comfort to their enthusiasm and reverted 
to the thicker and stuflicr native cloth. For cooking and eating 



ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. 87 

they use brass and bell-metal pots and pans, plates and howls of 
enamelled iron and cheap but iiijjly imported potlery. Kiiainelled 
ware is cheaper and easier to clean than brass but is denounced 
by advocates of Swadeshi. For lamps the cultivators use little . 
tin pots filled with kerosene or earthenware saucers with the wick 
floating in the oil, but in the winter they go early to bed and are 
generally satisfied with the light afforded by the fire at which 
they cook tlieir food. 

The most advanced section of the community appear in Dress, 
public either in full European dress or in trou"Bers and the neat and 
decorous chapkan, which resembles a cassock reaching to the 
knee more than anything else known in western lamis. But in 
private rich and poor alike amongst Hindus wear dhuti, shawl, 
and puggaree, thougli ready-made jackets are coming into favour 
even amongst the poorer classes. Muhammadans in place of the • 
dhuti wear a hingti or petticoat of coloured cloth reaching to the 
ankles and a fez or cap. Well-to-do Muhammadans often spend 
a good deal upon their wardrobe, but fortunately the villagers 
have not yet become imbued with any desire to squander money 
on dress and an old man whose clothes would disgrace a scarecrow 
will sometimes admit that he has sold his jute for as much as 
Rs. 500. The ordinary dress of a woman, whether fHindu or 
Muhammadan, is the scnn, a long piece of cloth fastened round the 
waist so as to form a petticoat and also a covering for the upper 
part* of the body. It has the great advantage of being cool hut 
at times leaves little to the imagination, and it is no matter for 
surprise that men should not like their womenfolk to appear too 
freely in public in quite such exiguous attire. The saris worn 
by ladies of the upper classes are often very beautiful garments 
and they also wear bodices and jackets. 

The jewellery worn falls into the following classes : — Jewellery. 

Head ornaments.— J/iap^ct weight 3 tolahs ; flower for the hair 
knot weight 2 tolahs. Forehead, shitri weight 1| tolahs. Nose, 
lalok weight 1 anna ; ear-rings weight 1 to 5 tolahs, necklaces 
weight 3 to 6 tolahs ; armlets weight 3 to 5 tolahs, bracelets, 
anklets and waist chains. • 

It is difficult to speak with much precision with regard to Economic 
the economic condition of the people. Tlie permanent settle- comlitioti cf 
ment allows a large margin of profit to the zamindars, but the 
number of big estates is not great and some old families have 
been impoverished by the subdivision of their properties and by 
expenditure in excess even of a very considerable income. The 
upper middle classes are comfortably off, but the great body of 
persons who hold ministerial appointments have suffered severely 
of recent years from the high prices of food. They feel themselves 
compelled to keep up the outward appearances of gentility, but 
in many cases tliis can only be done at the price of abstinence 
from real necessaries. The trading and money-lending classes 
are wealthy and the district as a whole is undoubtedly a very rich 



88 DACCA DISTRICT. 

one. This is shown by the fact that in 1906 when rice was 
selling at between four and five seers for the rupee there was 
never anything in the shape of famine. The cultivating classes 
are, as a whole, well off and would be still more prosperous had 
they fully learnt the art of managing money. At present a con- 
siderable portion of the golden harvest reaped from jute is 
frittered away in unnecessary and unproductive expenditure. 
Artizans. such as potters and weavers and fishermen and boatmen, 
are, as a rule, poorer than the class directly supported by the land. 

The great majority of the cultivators are said to be in debt, 
the ordinary rate of interest being in the neighbourhood of Rs. 3-2-0 
per cent per month. Where the demand is great and the security 
poorer than usual, the rates rise to 6|- and even 12^ per cent 
per mensem. Small sums are often lent on the personal credit 
of the borrower, sometimes without any documentary evidence, 
but these loans are seldom repudiated. When more money is 
required the holding is hypothecated, though jo^es are not usually 
held to be transferable without the consent of the zamindar. 
Cultivators seldom mortgage or sell their crops, before harvest 
time, except in the case of jute when they occasionally take an 
advance on the understanding that the whole of the crop will be 
sold to the creditor either at current bazar rates or at a price 
agreed upon beforehand. 

Intelligent observers whose acquaintance with the district 
extends over more than a quarter of a century affirm without 
hesitation that the standard of comfort amongst the peasants has 
risen in a very noticeable manner and they are much more 
prosperous than they used to be. No small part too of the sense 
of poverty amongst the clerical classes is due to their increased 
desire for luxuries. Grramophones and bicycles command a large 
sale and the young hhadralok of the present day ask much more 
of life than did their grandfathers. There was much that was 
reprehensible in the swadcslii movement, but as far as it repre- 
sented a desire to revert towards a simpler form of life, to eschew 
foreign luxuries which were really beyond the purses of the 
people ttKd to open up means of livelihood to young men who had 
outgrown the profession of their fathers, it was wholly good. 



AGRICULTURE. r",^' 80 



CHAPTER VI. 



AGRICULTURE. 



It has already been explained that the district falls into two general 
main divisions, the high land known as Bhowal or the -Madhupur conditions. 
jungle and the low land that surrounds it. Along its western and 
soutli-western face the boundary of the Madlmpur jungle is for 
the most part clearly marked and drops steeply to the alluvial 
flats. But on the east the slope is much more general and the 
level gradually falls as one proceeds from the north of the district • 
towards Narayanganj so that in many places it would not be easy 
to lay down a Hx^^d line and say here the high land ceases and the 
low land begins. Even within the limits of Bhowal it would be 
a mistake to suppose tiiat there is nothing but high land for 
there are considerable differences of level ranging from land 
that is so liigh and dry as to be almost unfit for cultivation 
to land that is too low to grow even long stemmed rice. 
Outside the INIadhupur jungle the staple crops are wet rice 
and jute, The whole of the surface is flooded in the rains 
and near the bits the depth of the flood is such that only boro 
or spring rice can be grown before the water rises. On the 
high lands in the north the staple crops are cms or summer 
rice, jute, hemp, safflower, sugarcane, tobacco, mustard, pulses 
and vegetables. The baids or stretches of lower land in the 
iVladhupur jungle are planted out withsa-i^ or transplanted winter 
paddy, while aiinan or long stemmed winter rice is grown in the 
lower lands. Barley, wheat, mustard and millet are sown in the 
lower parts of the district during the cold weather and sugarcane 
is raised both in the dry and flooded tracts. The really essential 
factor which determines the value of any given field is not so 
much the soil of which it is composed but the depth of th« water 
which stands on it in the rains and it is the height and duration 
of the flood even more than the local rainfall which decides 
whether the harvest in Dacca will be good or bad. These floods 
serve a double purpose for they not only supply the crop with the 
moisture it requires, but they restore fertility to the soil by 
the rich deposits of silt which they bring down. 

The soils of the district fall into three main classes — the soils 
red clay of the Mad hu pur jungle, the ordinary bil clay and the 
newly-formed alluvium. The red clay contains an excess of * 

iron and lime but is deficient in silicious matter. When dry 
it is extremely hard and like the red clays of the Khasi Hills it 
becomes slippery rather than soft when exposed to rain. On 
the surface it has in many places been enriched by the formation 

M 



90 DACCA DISTRICT. 

of a vegetable mould. The bit clay is a stiff clay depositH 
on the bottoms and edges of hiis. It is most common in the 
southern and western parts of the district where the main 
channel of the Ganges used to flow and has in many places 
been mixed with the decayed remains of aquatic plants. This 
clay is stiff and difficult to prepare as it cakes into large clods 
which resist the plough and have to be broken with the hammer. 
The new alluvium consists of s-and and loam mixed in varying 
proportions The alluvium of the Meghna where the current is 
less rapid has a iiner texture, is richer in vegetable matter and is 
more retentive of moisture than the alluvium of the Ganges. 
These three classes of ^oil are styled by tlie cultivators lal mati^ 
'Maithal maii and dorosha inati. Aus paddy and the jack fruit 
tree alone do really well on Id mati and though the villagers sow 
' mustard, pulse, and tobacco the outturn is poor. The bil soil is 
however very rich and yields Bne crops of jute and rice. A fourth 
term used by the peasants is clihaiya mati, a name which is 
applied to any poor class of soil. 
P . The mean rainfall at Dacca is 1\'1\ inches, but the variation 

from year to year is not infrequently considerable, and though 
the total rainfall of the year is seldom insufficient it is occasionally 
ill distributed. The character of the spring rain has agreateff"ect 
upon the harvest. If it is too heavy the seed is liable to be 
washed away, if it is too late the seed cannot be sown in time to 
allow the young plants to grow high enough to overtop the Hoods 
when they come. When once the rivers have spread over the 
land it is they who dominate the situation much more than the 
local rainfall. If the water is too deep the rice is liable to be 
drowned outright or to be swept away or the vital force of the 
plant is exhausted in growing a stem long enough to keep its 
head above the water and there is not sufficient vitality left to 
form good grain in the ear. If, on the other hand, the floods 
drain off too rapidly, the stalk collapses from want of proper sup- 
port and the ears are injured by falling in the water. In the 
north of the district there is, however, a considerable area of 
unflooded land and this requires seasonable rain throughout the 
summer and especially in September and October. So great, 
however, is the difference in the levels of the cultivated land that 
it is hardly possible for every part of the district to produce a 
bumper crop. In seasons when tlie highest rice fields receive 
sufficient moisture, the lowest lands almost of necessity receive 
too much, and when the flood is not too high in the south of the 
district the transplanted rice fields in the north have generally 
to go a little shoit. 
J,, |.^,"i,^ij In 191)1 f).5-l^ per cent of the population were declared to be 

hiipi orii.i by sup])orted by agiiculture which was 6 per cent less than the 
a;4ric.iiiiur.i. proportion returned for the whole of old Bengal. This is 
partly due to the fact that the famous Hikrainpur })argana in 
-Munshiganj i.*! the great home of the Bengali middle class and in 



AGKICULTURE, 91 

the densely populated Srinagar thana no less than 53 per cent of 
the population were non-agiiculturists. In (net the proportion of 
the population supported by industries, commerce and the profes- 
sions is not approached by that recorded in any otlier district of 
the two Bengals. The proportion of agriculturists to the total 
population is liighest in Hliowal and lowest in Mtinshiganj 

The only form of irrigation which is required in the lower Irrigation, 
parts of the district are the water-lifts used in the cultivation of 
boro or spring rice. These lifts, called duuw, are of a very 
simple character and are used to raise the water from the centre 
of the bit to the fields round the edge on wliicih tiie horo has been 
sown. Wells might, perhaps, be usefully employed in the north 
of the district, but the supply of subsoil water is not large and it 
is doubtful whether the cost of sinking a well would be recouped. 
Well irrigation is, at any rate, only practised by the up-country • 
men who have settled down as market gardeners near the city 
of Dacca. 

The staple food crop of the district is rice, which falls into Rice, 
three main species — boro or spring rice, aus or summer rice and 
avian or winter rice which is again subdivided into two distinct 
kinds — the long stemmed amdn sown broadcast on the lower lands 
and the transplanted aman (roa) which is grown on the higher 
land in the north of the district. Under each of the main 
species there are, moreover, numerous varieties ripening at 
different seasons of the year, and there is hardly a month in 
which some form of rice is' not coming under the sickle. 

Boro paddy is grown on the sides of bils and streams and on Boro paddy, 
the churs and along the banks of the Meghna and to a less extent 
of the Padma and the Dhaleswan. At iVlirpur, a little to the 
west of Dacca, there is a great expanse of 6oro land near the 
confluence of the Turag and Buri Ganga and much boro is grown 
along the banks of the Turag all the way from Mirpur to Kaliakoer. 
As soon as the rains are over the seed' is sown on a piece of soft 
land which has been worked into puddle by treading it up, or, in 
exceptional cases, by from three to five ploughinys Before it 
is sown the seed is moistened and hung up in a damp basket in 
the cultivator's house till it begins to germinate. When the plants 
are about S> inches high they are moved from the nursery to the 
field, though on tlie banks of the Meghna and in other places where 
they are exposed to a strong tide they are often allowed to grow 
to double tliat height. The fields are as a rule not ploughed and 
the seedlings are simply planted in the soft mud left behind when 
the floods recede ; but unless the plants are exposed to the action 
df the river tides the fields have to be irrigated by water-lifts. 
'The seed is generally sown in Novem.ber transplanted in Decern- • 
ber or January and harvested in April or May. The grain is 
coarse but the outturn is larger than that of the other varieties, 
and the cost of cultivation is less as there is as a rule no plough- 
ing to do. There is another system of boro cultivation, known as 



92 DACCA DISTRICT. 

Ie2n^ which really entails the minimum of time and trouble. 
The seed is simply sown broadcast on soft mud flats near the 
big rivers and the mud is then smoothed over it, to protect it 
from the action of the tides. There is no ploughing, harrowing, 
transplanting, or weeding, simply the sowing of the seed and the 
reaping of the harvest. It must, however, be admitted that the 
sowing is a little troublesome as the mud is so soft that the cul- 
tivator has to seek a pi-ecarious footing on the trunk of a plantain 
tree or a couple of bamboos to prevent himself from sinking in. 
^^j8 Au8 paddy is grown on high land and is usually found in 

the more elevated parts of the Madhupur jungle and on high 
land near the riveps. It can, however, only be grown on land 
on which the depth of water does not exceed two feet at the 
beginning of the rains, as the crop is only from three to three 
' and a half feet high and the stalk does not grow fast enough to 
keep pace with the rising of the flood. The fields on which it is 
grown are generally sown with pulse and mustard, and as soon as 
the winter crop has been carried they are ploughed and harrowed 
with all speed to prepare them for the mis. The date of sowing 
depends upon the time when the floods may be expected to rise 
in the locality. On the churs of theMeghna the seed is sometimes 
sown in the middle of February while in the north of Munshiganj 
it is often left till two months later. As soon as the tiny shoots 
appear the field is harrowed with a ladder and when the plants 
are about six inches high the operation is repeated with a rake. 
Weeding is a very troublesome process and hired labour is occa- 
sionally employed. Harvesting takes place between July and 
September, but in the diaras if the rivers rise too soon the culti- 
vators have to cut the crop while it is still green and only fit for 
fodder. The principal varieties of aus are the puki, gorfa, 
surjomukhi and shaita, the last, as its name suggests, being 
supposed to ripen in sixty days, 
Ainaii ; long Long stemmed uinaii is grown in those pares of the district 

aman. where from five to fifteen feet of water accumulate during the 

rainy season. It possesses the power of growing to keep pace 
with thft rising of the flood to a remarkable degree and has been 
known to slioot u[) as much as 12 inches in a day and night and 
to attain a total length of twenty feet, though the average length 
is from ten to twelve feet. This is, however, prejudicial to the 
proper development of the plant, and if it has had too severe a 
struggle to surmount tlie rising flood, there is not enough strength 
left for the proper formation of the ear. At harvest time only 
about a foot and a half of the stalk is cut ofif with the ear and 
the remainder is gathercnl into heaps and burnt upon the field. 
' The land is then ploughed two or three times and left till the 

middle of March when the clods are broken with the mallet and 
there are one or two njore ploughings and harrowings. Sowing 
takes ])lace in April and after the seeds have germinated a ladder 
is drugged over the held. VN'hen the plants are four or five inches 



AGRICULTURE 93 

high the soil is loosened with a rake, and then all that remains to 
be done is to weed, and this is an operation wliich is often 
omitted. The principal danger to which this rice is exposed is 
too high and sudden a rise of water which may either drown the 
plants altogether or wash them bodily away. Aus is sometimes 
sown in conjunction with long stemmed aman in the hope that if 
one crop fails the other may prove successful. In these cases 
the sowing takes place a few weeks earlier and the aas is reaped 
towards the end of July. 

Transplanted aman is generally grown in the Madhupur Transplaut- 
iungle and in the higher land in the north-east corner of the '-<^ "-'"^i" o^" 
district. In April a small plot of land is reduced by numerous 
ploughings to a fair tilth, and is thickly sown with seed which 
has been soaked in water for twelve hours and kept till it has 
germinated. While the seed is growing the fields are ploughed , 
up into a rich puddle and the embankments intended to retain 
the water, are repaired. Tlie plants are transplanted between 
August and October when they are from a foot to eighteen inches 
high and harvested in December. Late transplantation often 
injures the crop as if the rain stops early it fails to obtain suf- 
ficient moisture and lazy and impecunious raiyats often allow it 
to be partly choked by weeds. Sail paddy is sometimes sown 
after jute or shaita aus has been harvested but in such cases 
seldom yields a good return. 

When the same variety of paddy is sown too often on the ^V'ild paddy, 
same field it degenerates into a plant which sheds its grains at 
the slightest touch. Tliis paddy is known as jhara and often 
appears self-sown in the helds where it has to be destroyed to 
prevent it from choking the crop. 

Apart from the vital question of the suitability of the supply Accidents 
of water, the crops are exposed to otlier incidents of fortune. °.^ cultiva- 
Monkeys sometimes do much damage, specially in the haids of 
the Madhupur jungle, where wild pigs are also troublesome. In 
this locality in 1904 and 1905 considerable areas of rice were 
destroyed by a mysterious blight called <iak which the villagers 
described as a vapour issuing from the ground but whic^ appears 
to have been an obscure form of blight. Insects also attack the 
crop, the most troublesome being the small black beetle, known 
as the rice hisija {hlspa ascuesceus). Other pests are known to 
the cultivators as echi, manjitra, chhagla, hiccha. A satisfactory 
metliod of dealing with these insect plagues has still to be 
discovered. 

The area under wheat is small, the principal centres of wheat and 
cultivation being at Patharghata at the junction of the Ichha- ^>arley. 
mati and Dhaleswari, near Uoail, and near Teota. Ploughing • 
begins as soon as the waters recede, as the seed must be sown 
before the middle of November if a full crop is to be secured. 
From four to eight ploughings and harrowings are given and ' 
weeding also is necessary. The crop is harvested towards the end 



Sugarcane. 



94 DACCA DISTRICT. 

of March and difficulty is sometimes experienced in threshing 
out the grain owing to the dampness of the atmosphere. VVlieat 
was originally introduced from Behar and unless fresh seed is 
periodically obtained it rapidly deteriorates in these uncon- 
genial surroundings. Barley is grown on the highlands fringing 
the Padma, iMeghna, and Dhaleswari. Four or five ploughings 
are required but weeding is not necessary. The beginning of 
November is the proper seed time, 
j^jjjjg^ China is a fairly common crop in the Nawabganj thana but 

is not extensively cultivated elsewhere. The soil most favoured 
is a rich clay loam which is prepared with about ten ploughings, 
care being taken to retain as much moisture as possible. The 
seed is sown in the middle of February and is harvested about the 
beo-inning of June. The crop is said to be a heating one and 
after it has been carried the soil is allowed to fallow. Kaon is 
also grown on rich sandy loams on high, well-drained river banks. 
The crop is very sensitive to standing water, and if rain water 
remains on the field for but twenty hours it will be lost. Sowing 
time extends from the beginning of February till the middle of 
March and the crop takes about four months to mature. 

Several varieties of sugarcane are raised in the district but 
they fall into two broad classes— A7<ta/?'i, a cane that, like jute, will 
grow in standing water, and the other kinds which succumb at 
once to water-logging. Khagri is a thin hard cane and though 
the juice is of good quality the yield is poor. The deshi is 
thicker than khagri and has a soft rind ; the yield of juice is 
poor, less than that of the geridari, which has long joints, a soft 
rind, and a large supply of sweet juice, qualities which render it 
much in favour as an eating cane. The sharping has much the 
same qualities but is a larger cane than the gendari. The 
kali or hiili is a hard red cane with sweet juice. Sugarcane is 
generally grown in small plots as, though the crop is a very 
paying one, it entails much labour on the cultivator. It is much 
in favour with up-countrymen who plant it in the environs of 
Dacca and on the banks of the Dolai Khal, and it is also freely 
grown or. the banks of the Lakshya river. The khagri variety is 
cultivated near Kampal and on alluvial lands which are not too 
deeply flooded but much of the district lies too low for the 
purpose. The method of cultivation varies with the soil. On the 
red clay near Dacca city the plough is seldom used and the 
soil is merely hoed up. Along the Dolai Khal seven or eight 
ploughings are generally allowed, but on the alluvial flats and 
on the high land near the Meghna the cane is generally planted 
on fields from which a crop of mustard has been taken and a 
smaller number of ploughings will then suffice. The plants are 
raised from shoots put out from the joints of the mature cane 
after it has been cut into suitable lengths. Near Dacca almost 
the whole of an old cane is used for the purpose with the excep- 
tion of about two feet at the lower end but elsewhere only the 



AGRICULTT]RE 9^ 

taps of the canes are generally used. The shoots are j)lanted in 
holes or trenches which are from one to three feet apart and have 
been well manured with cow-dung or, less often, oil-cake. During 
the rains the field is well hoed and weeded and the plants are well 
earthed up. While the crop is growing the withered leaves are 
either stripped off or are tied up round each cane and care must 
he taken to protect the patch from the ravages of jackals and other 
animals. December and January are the months in which canes 
intended for the sugar-mill are cut, but canes sold in the market 
to be eaten raw are harvested much eiirlier. Tlie canes are 
exposed to the attacks of otlier pests besides wild animals. The 
manjura is an insect which eats up the central shoot and is 
treated with powdered turmeric and borers also damage the 
plant. Cracks sometimes appear and should be treated with 
kerosene oil, though care must be taken that no oil reaches ' 
the root In former days wooden mills were employed to 
crush the canes but they have been superseded b}' the iron Bihia 
mill. Tlie juice is collected in earthen pots and is now generally 
boiled in large iron pans, for, though they have some drawbacks, 
they are free from the risk of breaking over the fire and spoiling 
their contents. When the gu7^ has been sufficiently boiled it is 
transferred to a large vessel and churned to clarify it, after which 
it is stored in pots of convenient size. 

Three varieties of mustard are raised in Dacca district — viaghi Oilseeds. 
or early mustard that is harvested in the month of Magh, white 
mustard, and black mustard. Maghi is only sown on didrah 
lands. White mustard is sometimes sown broadcast on soft land 
but is generally sown as a mixed crop with peas. Hlack mustard 
is the commoner variety and is grown on the high land in the 
north and east, generally on fields from which a crop of jute or 
aus paddy has been taken. The land receives from six to ten 
ploughings, the seed is sown about the middle of November and 
the plants pulled in February and March. The only variety of 
til raised in the district is the kat or white ill. It is generally 
grown in conjunction with aus or avian paddy on high and well 
drained land, for stagnant water is most injurious to it. 'Linseed 
is also a crop of some importance. 

Khesari is grown on the low lands of the district and forms Puieea. 
the principal pulse of Munshiganj. It generally follows aus or 
aman paddy. In the former case two or three ploughings are 
required but in the latter the seed is sown broadcast on the soft 
soil before the rice is cut. Khesari straw affords some of the best 
fodder available in the district. Two varieties of maskalai are 
known — common kalai and a kalai with white seeds known 
as thikra. It is grown on the alluvial flats, after the water * 
recedes, when no ploughing is required and also on the higher 
ground. Of iiiumg there are three varieties —soTirt tnung , 
which has golden seeds of medium size, ghasi inung which 
has seeds of grass colour and ghora, tilling which has large 



96 DACCA DISTRICT. 

golden'seeds. Mung is not extensively cultivated and is seldom 
seen except in the IVlanikganj subdivision and near the old 
Brahmaputra, A rich sandy loam is required and it is never grown 
on unploughed land. 

Two varieties of pea are raised in the district, the chick or 
smairash coloured pea and the large white pea known as the 
Kahuli or Patna pea. The tract of land that stretches from Sung- 
har on the Dhaleswari to the north of Tangailin the Mymensingh 
district grows particularly good peas. The soil is a black clay 
and all that is required is to broadcast the seed on the soft mud 
when the water recedes. The plants are pulled in March and the 
seeds threshed out by bullocks. 

ijj^.pg Excellent cotton used at one time to be produced in the 

. Dacca district. Mr. John Taylor writing in 1800 stated that a 
tract of land about 40 miles long by 3 miles wide in the parganas 
of Bikrampur, Kartikpur, Kedirpur, and Fajanagar, produced 
some of the finest cotton then known. Cotton was also grown in 
the north of the district as the name of the Kapasia thana clearly 
indicates. Mr. James Taylor has given a full account of the 
system of cotton cultivation in his Topography of Dacca (1840) 
wliich has been reproduced in Sir William Hunter's Statistical 
Account of the Dacca District (pp. 84 and 85), but at the present 
day the cotton crop is not of sufficient importance to warrant 
more than tlie most summary of notices. It is, in fact, 'only 
raised in small plots by aboriginal tribes in the forests in the north 
of the district, and the total area under this fibre probably does 
not exceed a few acres. Cotton is still found by the hillmen of 
Assam to be a very paying crop, so its disappearance from the 
district must be due to the fact that the cultivators find that they 
can use their time and land to better account. 

ite. But, if cotton has disappeared, its place in the agricultural 

economy of the district has been more than filled by another 
fibre — jute. Estimates of the money worth of a crop to the actual 
cultivators are dangerous things, but in 1906 when the price of 
jute was 'exceptionally high the amount paid for the Dacca crop 
by the big jute dealers was probably over 450 lakhs of rupees.* 
Jute is said to have been cultivated for many years in Dacca but 
first came into importance as a commercial crop in 1865, when 
indigo was falling out of favour. According to Mr. Sen a maund 
of fibre could originally be bought for 8 anuas,t in 1855 it was 
Re. 1-8 a maund and in 1868 about Rs. 2-4, Thirty years later it 
was only Hs. :}-8 per maund but then ensued a period of rising 
markets, which reached their height in 19'i6 when the average 

» Kfltimated area under juto 205,000 acres, estimated yield 18 mauuds of 
fihn; .'III iicro, average price Us. 8-12 porraaniid, 

t Agricultural Report of the Dacca District by ^- ^- Seu, Calcutta, 
1885, p. 50. 



AGRICULTURE. 9? 

prttne Was Rs. 8-12 per maund.* Jute is, however, subjt^t toeveh 
more marked fluctuations than other staples and oVer production 
met its usual reward, the price falling sharply in 1908. Two 
varieties of jute are in cultivation but both belong to the sarne 
species, Cannahus cfipsularis. One has a light green stalk and 
yields a large amount of iibre, the other has a red stalk and 
though the fibre is of good quality the yield is smaller. Tl e 
following different varieties of jute are recognised in the Naiayan- 
ganj market. Good qualities^ — Bhawalia, Uttoria, Belabo, all from 
the northern part of the district, poor qualities Bikrampuri, which 
loses its colour and lustre very soon and comes from JVlunshiganj, 
and Lamjaor which comes from the other side of the Meglina.f 
Jute, like rice, is a very accommodating crop. It is grown on 
high land where it depends upon rain alone for the moisture it 
requires, on the diaraJts which always retain much moisture in ' 
the soil, and on low land where it stands in three or four feet of 
water. It is grown all over the district but more towards the 
north and east than towards the south and south-west. 1 he 
crop is an exhausting one and where tlie land is not enriclied by 
deposits of silt the raiyats not uufrequently use manure. The 
cost of cultivation is high. From six to twelve ploughings are 
required, where the soil is stiff the clods have to be broken with 
the hammer, and weeding is a troublesome and essential operation. 
Tho crop, too, has to be carefully thinned out, for if too many 
plants are left they become sickly, while if there are too few they 
branch too soon and are stunted in their growth. Seed time 
varies with the level of the field. On low land it is scattered as 
early as the latter half of February to admit of the plants attain- 
ing sufficient growth before the rising of the waters. On high land 
it is not put in before the middle of April. When the seed has 
formed, which is generally about five months after sowing, the 
crop is ready for the sickle. The plants are cut about two 
inches from the ground, the tops cut off at the point where they 
bifurcate, and the sticks tied up in bundles. They are then 
placed in a heap in the water, covered with the tops and a layer of 
earth, and left to rot from ten days to a month. If the jute is 
lying in the inundated fields the fibre is stripped from each 
plant separately. If it has been collected in a pond or ditch a 
handful of plants are taken up and the stalks broken close to the 
lower end. The operator then removes the stalks from this por- 
tion, and wrapping the fibres round his hand drags off the outer 
covering of the remainder of the stalks. The fibre is then well 
washed, dried in the sun for two or three days, and made up into 

* Tliis is the average price showu iu the official returns. Messrs Kiilli 
Brothers, however, slate that the average price iu 1906-07 was Rs 10-2-9 per 
maund. 

t Tlie following classification of jute has also been received from 
Narayauganj. Good quality — Bliowal, I'ubail, Mirzapuri, Lakhpuri. Medium — 
Lamjoari, Belalia, Baktabali, Bhabauathpiiri, Baliiapara, Low quality - 
Bhatial, Chaura, Bikrampuri. 

N 



98 



DACCA DISTRICT. 



bundles. Apart from the injury caused by insufficient or 
excessive rain much harm is occasionally done by the cricket 
(urchenga) which bites through the plants near the ground and 
the chenga, the caterpillar of a kind of ait worm. Tbe commer- 
cial aspects of the jute trade is discussed further in Chapter IX. 
Hemp (sanpat) was formerly raised in considerable quantities 
and in 1806 the district produced 10,000 maunds of hemp fibre. 
At the present day little is grown for export and most of the fibre 
is consumed locally in the manufacture of nets. The seed is 
sown in autumn, generally on the banks of rivers, and the plants 
are gathered in February. They are then soaked and macerated 
for ten days till the fibre has been sufficiently softened to admit 
of its being gathered in bundles at the centre of the stalks. In 
that state it is exposed to the sun, and, when dry, is stripped off 
i.nd twisted into hanks. The tops of the plant make good 
fodder and are sometimes pressed into a kind of hay. Khea 
(Urtica nivea) also thrives in the district but the difficulty 
experienced in decorticating the fibre has been a bar to any wide 
extension of cultivation. 

Ulu grass (Saccharum cylindricum) and kaola are grown 
for thatch. Ulu grass is planted on high land which has been 
ploughed up into a good clayey surface. The first year's crop 
will not be more than 18 inches long and after it has been cut 
the field is burnt and covered with rice straw. Kaola is grown 
in the Madhupur jungle. Lataghas is grown on river churs and 
alluvial flats and is used for the walls of huts. A number of 
plants are cut into small pieces and stuck in the soft mud, and 
after this nothing further is required. The grass yields a crop 
for three successive years before the field needs to be broken up 
again. Khaliycb grass is also grown on churs and submerged 
land and makes excellent fodder for cattle. Dhaincke is a 
leguminous plant largely grown on churs and newly formed 
alluvial land. It grows with extraordinary rapidity and is thus 
useful for fuel and it serves as a hedge to prevent cattle trespass 
and to check the flow of water on to the fields. 

Tobacco is generally grown on land from which a crop of jute 
has been taken but it is not often raised on a commercial scale 
and the requirements of the districts are to a great extent met 
from outside. Several varieties of the plant are recognised such 
as the bilati, deshi, kattabogi, siberjata, bilaikani, baiigala, and 
hingli. When the plants have been cut they are left for three 
or four days on the ground and are then collected in a heap and 
allowed to ferment for 48 hours. After this they are spread for 
three days on the roof of a house and then hung up inside for a 
fortnight more. Three days' pressure in a weighted heap com- 
pletes the process. Sweet potatoes are grown in the sandy soil 
along the banks of the Meghna arid the old Brahmaputra and 
ordinary potatoes do well though they are only grown to a very 
small extent. Chillies are raised in considerable quantities 



AGRICULTURE. 09 

especially in tbe eastern part of the district, but the local supply 
has to be supplemented by imports from Chittagong and 
liangoon The Dacca brinjal is of a rather unusual variety, 
the fruit being in the shape of a crescent about one and a half 
inches thick and from six to twelve inches long. Both brinjal and 
chillies require transplantation and careful cultivation. Ginger 
and turmeric are raised near Rampal and in the Madhupur jungle, 
but the supply of the latter spice does not meet the local demand 
and has to be supplemented by imports from Patna, Jessore and 
other places. Onions are grown in the Nawabganj and Harirampur 
thanas along both sides of the Ichhamati from f/hhatea to Jhitka. 
The best onion fields are entirely reserved for that crop and are 
manured with rice straw. The plant requires careful cultivation, 
with plenty of ploughing, harrowing and weeding. Grarlic ia 
also a well known garden plant especially near the Ichhamati • 
river. 'I'hree or four varieties of kachu are in cultivation of which 
the narikeli is the best known variety. The Gimi kumra is 
grown as a garden crop in Munshiganj in betel gardens which 
have a good clayey soil. The seeds must be taken from the plant 
not more than a day or two before use and sown at distances of 
six feet apart on land which has been well ploughed and harrowed. 
Near Teota the Gl'^ni kumra is grown as a field crop. The water- 
melon ( tarmuj ) is grown on the same kind of soil in much the 
same way but the seeds are steeped in water for two days and 
alloVed to germinate before they are sown. 

The karola (Cleome pentophylla) is grown in the Madhupur 
jungle especially near Mirpur and Pubail. It is a rains crop and 
is sown in April and gathered from July to September. The 
seeds are washed before they are put in the ground and the plants 
are trained over bamboo platforms. Plantains {Musa sapientuin) 
are grown all over the district, but near Munshiganj they are 
treated as a field crop and are planted in rows six or seven feet 
apart with ginger and turmeric in between. The plantains of 
Munshiganj have a great reputation in Bengal but are rather too 
highly scented for European taste. The principal varieties recog- 
nised are the kab iri, sabari, chinichampa, kinaibansi,* amrita- 
bhog, Tnartaban, agniswar, &vd bichikala. The pan vine {Piper 
betel) is grown by Baruis and pan gardens are a conspicuous 
feature in the landscape seen from the Buri Ganga, and the 
Ichamati. Jack fruit trees are common in the Madhupur jungle 
and the datepalm in the west of the district in the Manikganj 
subdivision. Cocoanut palms and the areca palm are met with 
all over the district but the cocoanut is not very common. Pine- 
apples, lychees, pepayas and mangoes form the best table fruit. 

Indigo was at one time extensively cultivated, and in 1840 Dy^rops. 
there were thirty-three factories in the district. The ruins of 
these buildings are still to be seen in various places, melancholy 
records of a vanished industry, for indigo has now entirely dis- 
appeared. Safflower was also once an important crop and in 1824 



cultivaticn. 



100 DACCA DISTRICT. 

the safflower exported from the neighhourliood of Dacca was 
valued at about two lakhs of rupees. The industry has, however, 
been almost killed by aniline dyes, and the plant is seldom seen 
outside the Nawabganj, Manikganj and 8abhar thanas. 
Extension of jsJq figares are available to show t\\e actual extension of 

cultivation, but it is clear that the cultivated area must have grown 
with the growth of the population and outside the Madtiupur 
jungle there is no longer any culturable land available. Thechurs 
that are thrown up in the great rivers are a fruitful source of 
bloody quarrels and raiyats will gladly take settlement of land that 
has not yet emerged above the water even in the dry seasou. A 
subdivision like Munshiganj that has a rural population approach- 
ing 2,000 to the square mile must clearly be cultivated up to the 
highest limit, and there can be little do'ubt that for many years there 
has been no culturable waste land in the district outside Bhowal. 

This great extension of cultivation is apparently a develop- 
ment of British times. In 1786 the Collector, Mr. Day, stated 
that in his opinion there was no district in the three provinces 
of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa which had more waste land and 
jungle in it than Dacca. In 1802 the Collector estimated that 
one-fourth of the southern, one-eighth of the eastern, three- 
eightlis of the western, and five-eighths of the northern division 
of the district was uncultivated. Dr. Taylor in 183y estimated 
that one-third of the area of the district was still uncultivated 
and under jungle. Estimates are dangerous things, but there 
can be little doubt that at the time when the Hon'ble Company 
took over the diiud^ni there were still considerable areas of waste 
land lying idle in every quarter of the district, whereas at the 
present day there is hardly a square foot of land outside Bhowal 
wliich has not been pressed into the service of man. In Bhowal, 
however, the condition of affairs is rather different. The popula- 
tion of the district as a whole increased by 25 per cent in the 
twenty years ending 1901, but the population of the Kapasia 
thana, the whole of which lies within the Madhupur jungle, 
increased by 4G per cent. The construction of the Dacca Mymen- 
singh railway has helped to open up this tract and every year raiyats 
are moving into it fron> the more congei?ted areas that surround 
it on all sides. The want of water is the most serious obstacle to 
an even more rapid enlargement of the cultivated area, for much 
of the land lies high and is only fit for rice cultivation in years 
of abundant rainfall. More, however, could probably be done for 
the cultivation of dry crops, for the great bulk of the inhabitants 
of this tract are very simple people with little initiative or 
euterprite. Communications still "leave much to be desired, there 
are few schools or shops and the interior of this tract forms a 
Itronouncod contrast to the more progressive and advanced low 
lands wlii(rh suriound it. 

The natives of the district are not as expert or diligent 
cult! valors iis the natives of Bihar, but so little attempt has 



AGRICULTURE. 101 

as yet been made to introduce new varieties of crops or 
improved agricultural methods that it wouJd not be fair to 
stignmtisH them as too unenterprising or conservative. They are 
certainly free from that restless craving for something new which 
drives men into rash and ill-considered enterprises, but when once 
it has been proved that a crop will really pay they are ready 
to take it up. The cultivation of jute has extended enormously of 
recent years, and the iron variety of sugar-mill has ousted tlie 
less efficient country-made machine. Iron ploughs of European 
pattern were tried at Teota in 1885 but they proved too heavy 
for the small undersized bullocks and too costly for the purses of 
the raiyats. Tlie zamindars of Teota have also tried to introduce 
potatoes and new varieties of sugarcane, but the cultivators are 
still disposed to regard all innovations with indifference. In 
1906 a model agricultural farm was opened a little to the north 
of Dacca city, and there are grounds for hoping that new agri- 
cultural methods of proved merit will not be rejected by the 
people. The most hopeful field for development is to be found 
in the high land of Bhowal and here much might still be done. 
Mr. Sen, who examined the agricultural resources of the district 
in 1889, declared that this tract was admirably adapted for the 
cultivation of the following crops — sugarcane, cotton, ginger, 
tobacco, sorghum, turmeric, plantains, rhea, mulberries and 
lychees. At the time of the scarcity of 1906 the District Board 
distfibuted potato seed to raiyats who would undertake to sow it, 
but few persons could be induced to make the experiment. An 
attempt was made to grow tea in Bhowal but it was abandoned 
in 1890. It is doubtful whether the rainfall is sufficient there 
to make tea a paying crop. No advantage has yet been taken of 
the Land Improvements Loans Act. The Agriculturists Loans 
Act, however, proved very useful during the periods of hic^h 
prices from 1906 to 1908 and the total amount advanced in those 
three years was over three-quarters of a lakh. 

Chemical manures and bone-meal are very seldom used but Manures, 
the cultivators are by no means indifferent to the advantages 
of manure. The straw of the long stemmed paddy is invariably 
burnt in the iields and ccw-dung, ashes and house sweppings 
freely used. Higli land jute is always manured with cow-dung 
where it is available, and in Manikganj a kind of green manure 
is applied by growing khesari and feeding it off the land. Fields 
in which plantains are grown are top-dressed with pond mud, 
while if onions and radishes are to be sown straw is first ploughed 
in. Tobacco and hrinjal are not manured direct as such applica- 
tions are said to spoil their flavour, but cow-dung is applied to 
the preceding crop of jute. Oil-cake is also used but sparingly » 
as it is far from cheap, and it is the question of expense which 
militates against a more extended use of manure. The cultiva- 
tors recognise that it is to their advantage to use such materials • 
as are ready to their hand but they are not satisfied that chemical 



Cattle. 



102 DACCA DISTRICT. 

manures are a good investment for their money. Much of the land 
of the district, too, has its fertility renewed by rich deposits 
of silt and on this account is less dependent on artificial 
appliances. 

The indigenous cattle are undersized and poor milkers but 
they are fairly hardy and do not require much fodder. Efforts 
have from tiice to time been made to improve the breed by the 
importation of Hissar bulls, but the lack of good grazing ground 
or suitable fodder crops pcon produces a deterioration in their 
descendants. The Teota zamindars have been more successful 
with Nagara bulls which are small and hardy but get offspring 
capable of yielding from four to seven seers of milk a day. In 
Dacca itself the big white Hissar bullocks are sometimes used for 
traction, but though there are a large number of carts in the 
north of the district, it is very seldom that anything more than 
the small country bullock is employed in them. In the lower 
parts of the district there is no grazing ground above water in the 
rains and the cattle are tethered on mounds, often up to their 
knees in water, and stall fed. In the Madhupur jungle there 
is generally grazing land available but the grass is poor. 
In addition to what they can pick up on the grazing grounds 
or the stubble of the rice fields, milch cows are fed on dal 
grass, kfialia grass, oil-cake, bran and occasionally boiled 
rice. An ordinary country cow seldom gives more than two 
quarts of milk per diem. An up-country cow will yield as 
much as ten quarts but the milk is of inferior quality. The 
following different preparations are obtained by the Goalas from 
their milk. Dadhi is milk which has been boiled till it has lost 
one-fourth of its volume and has then been fermented by the 
admixture of a small piece of dadhi left over from the preceding 
brew Butter is of two kinds — nani, which is made from fresh 
milk, and iwikhan which is made from dadhi. Khir is milk 
which is boiled and stirred till it has thickened. Chhana, ordinary 
curds, and ghi, clarified butter, need no explanation. A seer of 
milk will yield | of a seer of diulhi, 4 chittacks of chhana., 
3 chittacks of kh ir and one chittack of butter. Dacca cheese is pre- 
pared from Vjuffalo milk treated witii rennet and salt, but most 
of it is manufactured outside the district in Sylhet and Mymen- 
singh. Huffaloes as a rule are finer animals than cattle, but they 
are not kept in large numbers. Sheep and goats alike are 
undersized, so also are the ponies bred in the district, and well- 
to-do people generally use Australian aniirals. Pack ponies are 
fairly common in the western part of the district, where the people 
have been very slow in taking to the use of bullock carts, but they 
are very sorry little beasts as are also the ponies driven in the 
tikJca (fharis of Dacca. Pigs are reared by the aboriginal tribes in 
the Madhupur jungle and are much in evidence round the 
sweepers* lines in Dacca. Elephants are kept by the wealthier 
samindSrs and in parts of the Madhupur jungle they afford 



AOKICULTURE. 103 

practically the only means of locomotion by land ag the beds of 
the streams are so soft as to be unfordable. 

There is a veterinary dispensary in the city of Dacca and 
a travelling veterinary surgeon is also employed by the District 
Board. The diseases most prevalent are foot and mouth disease, 
rinderpest, tympanites, dysentery, diarrhoea and fever. The 
principal centres for the purchase and sale of indigenous cattle 
are the markets held at the following places :— Mad hobdi in 
Rupganj thana, BSradi in Naiayauganj, Chalakchur in Manobardi 
thana, Futia in Kaipura thana, Ali Panchdona in Keraniganj 
tbSna, and Jhitka in Harirampur thana. 



104 DACCA t)I STRICT. 



CHAPTER VII. 



TRADE AND INDUSTRIES. 

The muslins of Bengal are mentioned as an article of com- 
merce as early as the second or third centuries of the Christian 
era, witli pearls, which are still found in mussels in the rivers, 
malabathrum and spikenard ; and there can be little doubt that 
Dacca contributed its share to the shipments of merchandise to 
the West. Business no doubt was brisk in the capital of Raja 
BikramSditya but the first authentic reference to the trade of the 
Dacca district as distinguished from the trade of Bengal in general 
occurs in the sixteenth century. Ralph Fitch describes Seripur, 
a town about 18 miles from Sonargaon, which was entirely washed 
away by the river at the beginning of the seventeenth century, as 
being a great mart for cotton goods, while Sonargaon was a centre 
of the rice trade. Many of the residents of the latter place were 
reported to be very rich, but if they had wealth they were afraid 
to avail themselves of the advantages it confers as they still lived 
in huts and wore nothing but a cloth about their loins. „ 

When Dacca became the capital of Bengal in 1G08 it soon 
became the principal centre of trade in that locality, Tavernier 
who visited the place in 1666 describes it as " a city of great 
trade."* The " great trade " does not, however, seem to have 
brought to those engaged in it great wealth, or, if it did, they 
were not disposed to invest their profits in their houses for Taver- 
nier has but a mean opinion of the city. 

" These houses (those of the carpenters along the river bank) 
are properly no more than paltry huts built up with bamboos 
and daubed over with fat earth. Those of Dacca are not much 
better built. Tlie governor's palace is a place enclosed with high 
walls in the midst whereof is a pitiful house built only of wood. 
He generally lodges in tents which he causes to be set up in the 
great court of that enclosure. The Hollanders finding that their 
goods were not safe in the ordinary houses of Dacca have built 
them a very fair house, and the English have another which is 
reasonably handsome." At that time Dacca was a mart for 
cotton cloths, rice, sugar, salt, betel-nut, tobacco, shell bracelets, 
and ornaments of coral, amber, and tortoise shell. Wheat, pulse, 
raw cotton and woollen cloths were imported from Upper India and 
Bilk and lac from Assam. f 

• Tavern ior'a Tnivela in ludia, Part 11, Book 1, p. 55. 

■\ A DfiHCripfcivo and Historical Accouut of the Cotton Manufacture of 
Dacca— Loudou, Idol, p. 123. 



TRADE AND INDUSTRIES. 105 

Both the Dutch and English had factories in Dacca in 1666 Dutch and 

at the time of Tavernier's visit. The total amount of the Eng- .^"^''^.'^ 
lish investment was not, however, large, amounting in lfi81 to 
only s€l6,000 and trade was not allowed to proceed without 
frequent unpleasant interruptions. 

In 1('88, the (Company's agents were confined in their 
factory by the Nawab and were not released till July in the 
following year. Daring this period the Company are said to 
have lost Rs. 40,000 at Dacca. The factory was again closed 
between IG96 and 1699, but matters gradually improved and 
in 1724 a new factory was founded at Dacca by Mr. Stark, where 
business was carried on till l7o6. In that year the factory was 
occupied by the Nawab's troops when Calcutta was captured by 
Siraj-ud-daula, but it was soon restored again to the factors and , 
in 1757 they were lending 50 of their Kuxis to the Nawab who 
was threatened by one Amani Khan and had very little confi- 
dence in the bulk of his military forces. 

Peace, however, did not last long and in October 1762 the 
factors placed the following minute on their records : — " The 
various rumours that prevail in the country and the general 
insolence of the natives with the interruption put upon trade in 
general giving us reason to suspect that we shall be engaged in 
troubles when the season shall permit of carrying on opera- 
tion s*in the field — agreed to put factory in state of defence and 
get sepoys from Chittagong."* The troubles which they antici- 
pated did not arrive in the next open season but were deferred 
to a more unpleasant time, for in July 1763 the factory was cap- 
tured and its occupants compelled to fly from Dacca by night. 
The tide, however, soon turned and in the same mouth the factors 
were back again, not merely as the agents of a trading institu- 
tion but as the administrators of the district, burdened with newly 
acquired responsibilities. Of the weight of their responsibili- 
ties they were fully conscious as they pathetically remark : " The 
collecting of the revenues of so large a district is an important 
business which we are not much acquainted with, "f , 

The French trade with Dacca dates back to 1726 when they The French 
sent an agent to represent them, and about 1740 a factory was factory, 
founded there by Messieurs Devewz and Chameuz.| In 1778 the 
English took possession of this factory, restored it in 1783, occu- 
pied it once more ten years later and restored it again at the 
peace of Amiens. In 18(i3 it was again taken and held till 1815 
when it was returned to the French who finally sold it in 1830. 

Under the Mughal Empire establishments for the manufacture xrado in 

of the finest muslins for the use of the Imperial Court were cloth ft the 

maintained at Dacca, Souargaou and other places. The most <^^y^ o^ '^® 
Mughals. 

* India OfBce Archives. • 

t India Office Archives. 

I Account of the district of Dacca by Mr. Jahu Taylor iu a letter dated 
November 30th, 1800. ladia Office Archives. 



106 DACCA DISTRICT. 

expert weavers in the province were selected to work here ; their 
names were registered and they were compelled to attend daily 
at the appointed hours, until the different tasks assigned to 
them#ere finished. "The incessant inspection of the darogahs 
and their people," says the Eesident, " and the fear of incurring 
punishment for any deviation of the duty expected of them must 
have effectually deterred the w^eavers, while manufacturing tbe 
cloths, from attempting any improper practices." Guards were 
placed over any weaver who showed an unwillingness to work and 
corporal punishment was inflicted on them if they attempted to 
abscond. Besides being thus oppressed they were defraiided of a 
considerable portion of the wfiges allowed them by Government. 
Speaking of the condition of the Dacca weavers at this time the 
Abbe Raynal remarks (Raynal's History of the Settlements and 
Trade of the Europeans in the East and West Indies, Vol. II, 
p. 157) : " It was a misfortune to them to appear too dexterous, 
because they were then forced to work only for the Government 
which paid them ill and kept them in a sort of captivity."* 

In the middle of the eighteenth century the establishment of 
the Dacca factory consisted of two or more European factors, a con- 
siderable number of domestic and factory servants engaged on 
sorting, marking and packing the cloths and a company of sepoys. 
The goods were procured through brokers who drew money from 
the factory and travelled through the country making advanaes to 
the weavers. When the cloths were delivered at the factory they 
were classified and valued by an arbitrator and a commission on 
the total value varying from 8 to 4k per cent paid to the brokers, 
in addition to incidental expenses incurred by them which 
amounted to about 71 per cent of the value of the cloths. 
Decline of In 1747 the estimated value of the cotton goods exported 

trade in from Dacca was 28| lakhs of rupeesf. During the last ten years 
^ of the eighteenth century the average annual value of the exports 
was about 17 lakhs, nearly two-thirds of which represented the pro- 
perty of private merchants. By 1813 the amount of the Company's 
export had fallen to the small sun of 3| lakhs and in 1817 the 
factory was closed. Much has been written of the departed 
glories of the trade of Dacca, but it seems doubtful whether the 
weavers of those world-famed fabrics personally derived much 
benefit from the practice of their art. The Abbd Raynal draws 
but a dreary picture of the life of a skilled worker in the days of 
the Miighal.s, and even in 1754, many years before the manufac- 
ture of muslins was commenced in Britain, the profits of weaving 
had fallen very low. Mr. Hyndman writing in that year to the 
Chief at Dacca describes the miserable condition of tlie weavers at 
Chandpur. They were deeply indebted to dulah and pdikars, 
many had left their homee, those who remained had little desire 

* A D.'scripfivo aii'l Historicil Account of tl)e Cotton Mamifactiire of 
Dacca in l{oiii,Ml, f^on loii, IH51, p. 83. 

•f liep^rt of Mr. John Taylor in 1800. 



TRADE AND INDUSTRIES. 107 

to work seeing that the fruit of their labours passed into the hands 
of others and they alleged that at the ruling prices weaving did 
not even afford them a living wage. In 1800, Mr. Taylor, the 
Resident, reported that in 1760 a weaver earned from 1 to 1^ 
Arcot rupees per mensem. Salt at that time was a rupee a maund, 
rice 2| maunds the rupee, and oil 2| rupees a maund so that the 
weavers ' wages clearly only sufficed to provide him with the 
barest necessities of life. 

British yarn was first imported into the district in 1821 and 
soon displaced the hand-made product. One of its chief attrac- 
tions was the fact that it was uniform in size and that no difficulty 
was experienced in obtaining any quantity of a particular quality. 
This entailed an enormous saving of time and labour as it was 
estimated that two-thirds of the time occupied in preparing the 
fine muslins was spent in visiting the different marts to search 
for thread suited for their manufacture. There was also a very 
marked difference in the price. Native yarn of the same quality 
as the best imported yarn (No. 200j cost 13 annas per f of a hank 
as against 3 annas, while the price of the lowest grade was 
2 annas as compared with 1 anna 10 gandas.* Kagidas or embroi- 
dered cotton cloths were another article of trade which fell into 
disfavour. They were used as a head-dress by soldiers in the 
Turkish army, but on the uniform being changed the sales in 
Calcutta fell from Rs. 4,00,000 in 1835 to Rs. 1,00,000 in 1838.t 

When the business of weaving became no longer profitable indigo, 
more attention was paid to the production of raw staples, an 
industry to which the abundance of culturable land allowed full 
scope. Safflower became an important product, and indigo, for 
which there were* only two small factories in 1800, was manu- 
factured in 33 factories in 1833, which produced 2,500 maunds of 
dye and distributed £30,000 amongst the cultivators.^ At the 
height of the trade there were no less than 37 indigo factories in 
the district situated in the following places. All of them have 
now disappeared and crumbling ruins overgrown with trees alone 
remain to tell the tale of a once flourishing industry. 
List of Indigo Factories : — 
Keraniganj Thana. 

Ati. 

Sabhar Thana. 

Fulbaria — Duligram. 

Nawabganj Thana. 

Joy para — Galimpur. 

Kapasia Thana, 

Shaorati — Ekdala — Burmi. • 



* Taylor's Topography of Dacca, p. 171. 
t Taylor's Topography of Dacca, p. 308. 

i A Descriptive and Historical Account of the Cotton Manufacture of 
Dacca, p . 135. 



108 DACCA DISTRICT. 

Manikganj Thana. 
Burrarea — Tilli — Kinjinkhara — Manikganj — Sanacel. 

Ghior Thana. 
Mirzapur — N'athpur — Paikara — Groalkhali — Mawacel— Bogla 
or Khetapara. 

Harirampur Thana, 
Azimnagar — Machain — Maloochi— Kubeerpoor. 

Munshiganj Thana. 
Serajabaj — Balasia — Bhabercbar. 

Srinagar Thana. 
Char Ramanud — Deguli — Lohajang. 
Rupganj Thana. 
Ramchandradi — Ladoorchar — Petulganj — Hoshunkata 

Raipura Thana. 
Guzareea — Mamdabad — Burhi bari — Kamalpur. 
Trade in In 1839, Tajdor gives the following list of exports — cloths, 

1839. indigo, betel-nut, safflower, pat, soap, skins, shell bracelets, jewel- 

lery, copper utensils, clieese and preserved fruits. The imports 
were mustard and til seed, sugar, lime, timber, tobacco, cotton, 
rubber, ivory, pepper, arsenic, wax, gold and silver, silk, wheat, 
shoes and blankets, chank shells, English yarn and piece-goods, 
earthen and glassware, needles, country drugs, spices and 
cutlery. 
Trade at the At the present day the principal imports are cotton p.-ece- 

present day. goods and yarn, salt, kerosene oil, wines, shoes and umbrellas 
from Calcutta, lime and coal from Assam and timber from Assam 
and Chittagoug. Rice is also imported in large quantities, • with 
spices, molasses, and betel-nuts. The principal article of export 
is jute, Narayanganj being the great centre of the jute trade in 
Bengal, collecting the fibre that comes in from the neighbouring 
districts of Mymensingh, Tippera, and Faridpur and pressing it 
into bales. There is also a brisk trade in hides and some export 
of pulses, betel-leaf, oilseeds and pottery. 
Trade routes A considerable volume of trade is carried by the Dacca- 

and centres. Mymensingh railway, which brings jute down from Mymensingh 
and carries goods imported through Narayanganj to Dacca and 
stations further up the line, but the bulk of the commerce of the 
district is water borne. Communication with Calcutta is kept 
up by large steamers plying between Narayanganj and Goalando 
or direct to Calcutta through the Sundarbans. Other steamers 
serve the Meghna and in the rains smaller vessels with light 
draught ply up the Buri Ganga and tlie Dhaleswari. But within 
the district tlie bulk of the commerce is carried by country boat. 
4 When the rivers and creeks fill these great lumbering hulks can 
penetrate into almost every corner collecting jute and other 
produce and distributing salt, oil and sometimes rice. The dis- 
tribution of the ])tirely internal trade of the local products sold at 
the local niarkcl, in carried on through the agency of smaller boats 
and iu Bhowal carte are employed to carry timber and other articles 



TRADE AND INDUSTRIES. 109 

from the interior to the railway or the marts along the Lakshya 
river. 

As a result all the important centres of trade are situated 
on the banks of navigable rivers. With the exception of Dacca 
and Narayanganj none of these places give any indication of their 
real importance. The ordinary shop is a building of no preten- 
sions with corrugated iron roof and walls of bamboo mats or 
reeds daubed with mud, standing on a mud plinth, but at the 
large centres there are warehouses and godowns with walls as 
well as roof of corrugated iron. The houses are huddled together 
in close proximity and the lanes connecting them are, in the , 
rains, little better than quagmires. In the centre of the bazar 
there is generally an open space covered with tumble down 
sheds where the local market is held. There are no outward 
indications of wealth and nothing to suggest that this dirty, 
untidy, dilapidated village has a trade worth many lakhs of rupee? 
a year and that not a few of its inhabitants are rich men. 

The original germ from which all trade springs is the bazar, 
market, or hat held once or twice during the week to which the 
neighbouring villagers bring their surplus produce for sale. 
Round this market place a few permanent shops spring up and 
if the site is a convenient centre for the collection and distri- 
bution of commodities these shops increase in number. Appended 
to this chapter is a list of the bazars and of the more perma- 
nent centres of trade. Fairs are also held at various places 
throughout the district, generally in connection with some reli- 
gious festival. The most numerously attended fair is the great 
bathing festival at Nangalband which is visited by as many as 
100, OOU people. Great numbers of people also assemble on the 
occasion of the Rath Jatra at Dhamrai, but more trade is actually 
done at the Kartik Baruui fair which is held in the cold weather 
on the banks of the Dhaleswari, about a mile to the north of the 
Munshiganj court-house. Before the introduction of river steam- 
ers this fair was one of the principal centres of trade in the whole 
district but it is rapidly losing its importance. 

If Dacca was famous for its manufacture of one kindTof fibre The jute 
two hundred years ago, it is almost equally famous for its output trade. 
of another kind of fibre at the present day. The trade in Dacca 
muslins was no doubt a valuable one, but the amount received on 
their account was never in any way comparable with the sums 
paid for the bales of jute that left the district at the beginning of 
the twentieth century. As there has been no survey of recent 
years and as there is no machinery for the record of agricultural 
statistics, estimates of the area under a given crop are largely .* 
guesswork. Experience has, however, shown that the guess of 
the Agricultural Department with regard to the jute crop of 
any given year is generally in fairly close agreement with the • 
figures of tlie crop as subsequently ascertained, and it would thus 
seem that these estimates are not so very much beside the mark. 



110 DACCA DISTRICT. 

Taking these estimates then for what they are worth, it appears 
that the jute crop of Dacca in 1906, a year when the area under 
cultivation was large and the price phenomenally high, must 
have been worth about 465 lakhs of rupees-* 

Owing to the absence of regular agricultural statistics it 
is difficult to measure the growth of the industry by the area 
under cultivation. Figures for early years are not available, 
but in 1891 it was calculated that the area under jute was 104,000 
acres. From that date onwards there was a general tendency 
upwards, but the figures, as they are only estimates, would 
hardly repay detailed examination. The highest on record was 
reached in 1907 with 312,000 acres under cultivation, but this 
increase in production was naturally accompanied by a fall in 
price and in the following year the area fell to 222,800 acres. 
Turning to prices we reach firmer ground. From the Report on 
the cultivation of and trade in jute in Bengal published in 1874, 
it appears that between 1856 and 1872 the price per maund in 
September ranged between Rs. 2 and Rs. 4, the average being 
Rs. 2-12. In 1872 the price was Rs. 2-4 per maund, in 1897 
it was Rs. 3-8, by 1903 it had risen to Rs. 5 per maund, and 
three years later it was Rs. 8-1 2.1 Prices could hardly be 
expected to remain at this high level and in 1908 they dropped 
to Rs. 7-4 per maund, but by June 1911 it was up again to Rs. 8. 

The system of cultivation has already been describe(^ in 
Chapter IV. The cultivator generally sells to a petty trader or 
farriah who goes to the villages and markets with a boat. The 
farriah again sells to a hepdri, who either deals direct with the 
jute merchants at Narayanganj or through an aratddr or broker 
who has advanced him money. The bepdris are usually 
Muhammadans, the ara^cZars Hindus. The jute growers do not 
as a rule take advances on their crop and they generally receive 
only about eight annas less than the amount actually paid by 
the Narayanganj merchants. Tlieir opportunities for gauging 
the market are naturally not great, but they try to do the best 
for themselves they can and hold up their fibre if they think 
prices are too low and that there are chances of a rise. Jute 
is not as a rule assorted before it is offered for sale in Narayan- 
ganj, but a bundle or two is opened and if, after the price has 
been determined, the quality is found on weighment to be below 
sample the purchaser insists on a reduction. There is no regular 
market but hrpdris come with their boatloads of jute to the 
godowns of the different firms and try to deal. The jute is 
taken out of the boat and a bundle opened here and there, but 

* K.stirnated area under jute, 2'.I5,0U0 acres. E.stimated outturn per acre, 
18 raaunds. Average price Uh. K-12 per maund. Me.ssrs Kalli Brothers, the 
great oxportiirs, give tlie average price as Kg. 10-2 per maund in 1906-07, 
but to \)ti oil the aai'e side tiie ollicial figure which is lower has been taken. 

t Thin i.stiio ollicial average price. MeHnrs. Ivalli Brothers, who are largo 
oxportor.1, give llio price at iNar.iyangaiij in l'.J0G-U7 at lis. 10-2-9 per maund, 



TRADE AND INDUSTRIES. Ill 

if the price offered does not tempt him the hepari has no hesita- 
tion in loading up his boat at:;ain and will sometimes visit half a 
dozen different firms before finally parting with his goods. In 
addition to purchasing at Narayangauj merchants have buyers 
at all the important mofussil centres and from July onwards 
their tugs are to be seen puffing up and down the rivers towing 
after them six or seven liuge native boats, sometimes riding 
light in ballast, sometimes laden with their cargoes of the fibre. 
The boats of the traders are to be found on every river and stream 
and at every market and bazar, and the whole countryside is full 
of life and bustle. After Narayanganj and Dacca, Lohajang, Aricha 
and Baira are probably the most iuqwrtant centres of the trade in 
Dacca district, but there are many markets where jute is bought 
and sold in large quantities which will be found in the list 
appended to this chapter. 

When the jute is purchased it is assorted in the merchants' 
godowns into different qualities and pressed in hydraulic presses 
into bales, which are as hard as blocks of stone. Cutcha bales 
which are less tightly pressed and weigh from 3^ — 4 maunds are 
sent direct to Calcutta ; Y)ucka bales which weigh 5 maunds are 
sent to Chittagong vid Chandpur and thence to Europe. Before 
the construction of the railway, pucka bales used to go direct to 
Chittagong by sea and sea-going brigs are still to be seen in the 
Tiabehya river. In 1910 there were 47 haling houses in the district 
which employed daily on the average nearly 9,300 adult labourers. 

For mills in Calcutta there are generally five grades or 'marks' 
of jute, but Messrs. David & Co., who do a large export trade to 
Europe, make up tlieir pucka bales into ten different qualities. 
The points of fine quality jute are strength, good colour, good 
gloss and reasonable length. Jute from the point of view of the 
baler is divided into two main classes, higliland and lowland, 
highland being considerably the better of the two. The best known 
classes of jute in the Narayanganj market are highland — Mymen- 
singh, Serail, Fanduk and Cachar, which does not come from 
Cachar but from the neighbourhood of Brahmanbaria, and Lamjoar, 
or lowland jute, in which is included the produce of JVninshiganj 
and all low-lying country. 

The niaund with which jute is purchased is calculated at the 
rate of 84|f tolas to the seer. Another curious custom is that 
when the aratdd/r and, the merchant's clerk are bargaining they 
communicate to one another the prices offered and demanded by 
writing them with the finger on the palm of the other man's hand 
underneath a cloth. 

Dacca is also an important centre of the hide trade and a Th^l^i^e 
hide merchant calculated that in 1908 hides to the value of more trade, 
than 42 lakhs of rupees were exported from the district. They 
are despatched to Calcutta and then shippe] abroad, co>v-hides 
going as a rule to the contioeat, buffilo-hides to Xnrkey and goat 



US DACCA DISTRICT. 

skins to America. A tannery has recently been opened at Dacca 
and is reported to be doing well. 

In 1901, 17,044 persons in the Dacca district were returned 
as actual weavers. The bulk of these people were Muhammadan 
weavers or Jolahas, who manufacture coloured saris, the lunghis 
or cotton petticoats which are worn by men, gamchas or napkins 
and chaddars or shawls. These articles are cheap and durable 
and still command a ready sale, the price of a sari ranging from 
Re. 1-8 to annas 12 and of a lunghi from Re. 1 to annas 8. The 
ordinary native loom and the method of weaving have often been 
described, and full accounts will be found in the Monographs on 
the Cotton Fabrics of Assam, by Mr. Samman, and in the corres- 
ponding work, by Mr. N. N. Banarji, on the Fabrics of Bengal. 
Descriptions of mechanical processes of this nature uhen con- 
densed are generally unintelligible and dull, and those who are 
really interested in the subject should refer to the work of Mr. 
Sammau, where it is discussed with a perfect wealth of detail, and 
where the obscurity of mere verbal description is to some extent 
dispelled by photographs. Tradition has it that the most expen- 
sive Dacca muslins were so fine that they had to be woven under 
water. This is, in all probability, incorrect, but it is a fact that 
vessels of water are sometimes placed underneath the loom to 
produce the requisite humidity in the atmosphere. Dr. Taylor 
states that he saw specimens of thread spun in Dacca which., was 
on the scale of 160 miles to a pound of the staple.* 

Even at that date, however, thread had been spun in England 
of the fineness of 167 miles to the pound though it was not used 
for manufacture. Cloth of very fine texture used formerly to be 
woven for the use of the Imperial Court. One variety, known as 
jhuma, is mentioned in an old Tibetan work, where it is said that 
a licientious priestess who appeared in public clad in it, appeared 
to all intents and purposes to be naked. t 

Ahrawa7i, or running water, is of an equally delicate texture. 
It is stated that, on one occasion, the Emperor Aurangzeb rebuked 
his daughter for exposing tlie charms of her person too freely, 
whereupo.i she urged in her defence that she was wearing no less 
than seven suits of ahraivan.t Sltuldwrn, or evening dew, takes 
its name from the fact that it is supposed to be invisible when 
spread on the damp grass. Other well known kinds of muslin 
were mulviul khas, circar ali, nyansuk and huddun Jchas. The 
finest muslins made of recent years were called sogaivadi, i.e., 
" fit for presents only, " They were ten yards long by one wide, 
they generally weighed from 6 to 7 tolas and cost from Rs. 125 

to Rs. 200. ]\Iu8lins such as these are now only made to order. 

^ 

* Topography of Dacca, j). 169. 

•t A DeHciiptivo imd JJiHtorical Accoinit of the Cotton Manufacture of 
Dacca— London, 1851, p. 43. 

t Ibid, p. 44. 



TRADE AND INDUSTRIES. 113 

Dr. Taylor asserts that iu the time of JahSngir a piece of muslin 
five yards in length and one in breadth could be manufactured so 
as to weigh less than 1,600 grains.* 

It is doubtful, however, whether the prudent man can 
attach any importance to Jahanglr's weights. Inaccuracies in 
these matters readily creep in. Indeed Mr. Banarji, writing as 
recently as 1898, quotes Dr. Taylor as saying that the muslin 
was fifteen yards long instead of five.t At any rate in 1850, 
a piece of muslin ten yards by one yard was manufactured so 
as to weigh only 8i siccas, whereas the commercial resident in 
the time of Aurangzeb gives ten siccas as the weight of a piece 
only 35 inches longer and 3^ inches wider.^ 

At the present day the following fine cloths are manufac- 
tured : — 

1. Mulmul prepared from British yarn, size 20 yards by 1 yard, 
cost from Rs. 5 to Rs. 60, exported to Upper India and Nepal for 
wearing apparel. 

2. Saris with borders embroidered in gold thread, size 5 
to 6 yards long by 44 " to 50 " wide, price from Rs. 5 to Rs. 40. 
The best saris which are only prepared to order cost from Rs. 50 
toRs. 150. 

3. Ordinary sa^^is with coloured thread borders of the same 
size sell for from Rs. 2 to Rs. 15 a piece. 

4. Dhittis with coloured and white borders 5 to 6 yards long 
by 44" to 50" are generally sold for Re. 1-8 to Rs, 12. A superior 
kind adorned with gold borders and gollabottom fetch from Rs. 5 
to Rs. 10. 

5. Z/rms of different sizes 5 to 7 cubits long by 1^ to 3| 
cubits wide are sold for from annas 8 to Rs. 16 a piece. 

6. Handkerchiefs 18 or 24 inches square are prepared and 
sold per dozen Rs. 3 to Rs. 8. 

Coarse cotton goods are woven to a greater or less degree in 
almost every part of the district. Fine muslins are prepared at 
Nawabpur, Tanti bazar, and Kalta bazar in Dacca city and in the 
following villages : — Dhamrai and Sabhar in the Sabhar thana, 
Manikgauj and Baliati in the Manikganj thana, Abdull|pur and 
Muriswari in the Munshiganj tbana, Demra, Matail,* and Dogair 
in the Keraniganj thana and Kachpur in the Narayangauj thana. 

Cloths are embroidered not only with the needle, but in the Embroidery. 
loom itself, the latter process, according to Babu C. C. Mitra, being 
as follows : — ** The weaving is begun as in the case of a piece 
of ordinary cloth, and a pattern of the embroidery drawn 
on paper is pinned beneath. As the weaving goes on the work- 
man continually raises the paper pattern to ascertain if the woof 
has approached closely to where any flower or figure has to be •• 

* Topogiaphy of Dacca, p. 172. 

t Monograph on the Cotton Fabrics of JJeugal, p. 28. ^ 

I Descriptive and Historical Account of tlie Cotton Manufactures of 
Daccn. p. 57. 

Q 



114 DACCA DISTRICT. 

embroidered and when the exact place is reached he takes his 
needle (a bamboo splinter) and as each woof thread passes through 
the pattern, he sews down the intersected portion of it und so 
contiuaes until it is completed. When the embroidered pattern 
is continuous and regular as in the usual sari border, the weaver, if 
a skilfal workn^an, usually dispenses with the aid of a paper 
pattern. Two persons generally work together at a jtiece of 
jaindaniyhy which a great saving is effected." 

These cloths which are embroidered in the loom are known as 
jamdani. A piece of ordinary workmanship costs from Rs. 5 to 
Rs. l.T, bat as much as Ks. 400 may be asked for one in which the 
pattern and materials are of exceptional excellence. Kasidas are 
cloths embroidered by hand with silk or coloured cotton thread. The 
embroidery is very roughly done, generally by poor Muhammadan 
females, and the cloths are exported to Bassora, Jiddah, Constanti- 
nople and Aden where they command a fair sale. There is also a 
considerable production of chiJcan work or muslin embroidered 
with cotton, for which there is some demand in Europe. The 
same term is applied to a kind of network formed by breaking 
down the texture of the cloth with a needle and converting it into 
open meshes. Tailors are common in Dacca, and in 1901 3,244 
persons returned themt^elveS as working at this trade. A special 
brauijh of the art is rafugari or darning. An expert rafugar is 
able to extract a single thread from a piece of muslin twenty yards 
long and replace it with another. This operation, which is known 
as chunai, is necessary when a coarse thread is discovered after 
bleaching. 
Gold Some idea of the wealth of the district can be gathered from 

sihersmith's tlie fact that at the census of 1901, 6,426 persons reported that 
^^^'^' they earned tlieir living by working as gold and silver smiths. 

The methods and products of these smiths are, however, some- 
what primitive. A hole in the mud floor to do duty as a 
furnace, an earthenware bowl, a couple of dirty fans which serve 
as bellows, and a small box of hammers, pincers, chisels and other 
tools is their stock in trade.* Kings, bracelets, ear-rings, and 
other articles of jewellery, are their chief production, but these as 
a rule are only made to order and a Dacca jeweller keeps practi- 
cally nothing in stock. Stone-setting and ring-carving are 
moderately well done and the filigree work is fair though not 
comparable with that of Cuttack. Some of the costliest speci- 
mens of the jewellers' art are to be seen on the occasion of the 
JaninaaUiii procession, when really fine shrines of gold and 
silver are dragged through the city on bullock carts. 

Sl,g]j Shell carving is the industry which would be most likely to 

ciiivir.^. catch the eye of any visitor to Dacca, not so much because of 

its intrinsic importance as because the Sankharis who follow this 

* The curiou.s will find a detailed list of tools on p. 7 of Mr. Mnkharji'a 
Monograph oa Gold and yiUer Work in the Jjcngal Piesideucy.— Calcutta, lUOS. 



TK\I>K AN'l) INDUSTllIKS, 115 

profession all live in one bazar, which dest-rves a visit owing to 
the peculiar character of its architecture. The Sankharis are a 
hardworking community, and wliether from living so much in the 
shade or wlietlier it is due to their association with their white 
shells their complexions are much fairer than those of the ordi- 
nary Bengali. The shells are brought from Ceylon, Bombay, and 
the Madras coast. The Bombay shells, do-anna pati. aUa-billa, 
and surti are the most expensive of all but tlie}' are rare, the 
tiihdivri shatihha and ^>a^i which come from Ceylon are much 
esteeiiied, while the Madras shells are cheaj^er. Tlie tops of tlie 
shells are knocked off with a hammer and the shells sawn into 
widths suitable for bangles which are then polished and carved. 
The kSankharis live in well built brick houses and are an indus- 
trious and flourishing community. 

Other industries followed in the district are — the manufacture <)ther 
of brass, bell-metal, and earthen utensils, of buttons, socks and "^ ^^^''*^^" 
banians, biscuits, combs and churls, ink, penholders, shoes aiid 
caps, and musical instruments. Boatbuilding is an important 
industry, budgeroes or green boats, in which well-to-do persons 
pursue their leisurely but comfortable journeys, being constructed 
at Dacca. There is a steam oil mill a little outside the town on 
the road to Narayanganj and a soap factory, a tannery, and an iron 
foundry in the city, in addition to the railway workshops which 
employ over 400 men daily. 

The local measures of time are as follows : — 60 anupal—l ^Veights aud 
pal ; &^pal = 1 danda ; 2\ da^tidas = 1 ghanta (hour) ; 3 ghanfa == "^ ' * ■ 

1 p)rahar ; 8 prahar=\ dihas (day and night); 7 days = 1 
saj^jtaha ; \5 days =^paksha. ; 2:) - 32 days = 1 7nas (month); 365 
days = I hatshar or year. Gold, silver, spices, medicines, thread 
and fine cloth are Weighed by the following standard: — 4: dkan 
■=1 rati, kuj or lal ; ^ o^ati^l pi or poa anna; 6 Tati=\ 
anna; 8 rati = l raasha; 16 anna = lto^a or hhari 180 grains 
Troy. The weights for heavier substances are 1^ tola — 1 kachcha ; 
5 tola =• 1 chhatak ; 4 clthatah = 1 powa ; 16 ch/tatak == 1 ser ; 5 
ser~ 1 pasuri ; 8 pasuri= \ maund equal to 82 lbs avoirdupois. 
Land measures are as follows : — 1 biggat = 9 inches; 1 hath= 18 
inches ; 1 aOySsi = 120 feet. A 7ial is a measure of length varying 
from 9| to 11^ feet. A kani in the Munshiganj subdivision 
is 24 nals by 20 nals, the nal being usually llj feet in length 
and the area about 1 acre 1 rood and 23 poles. Elsewhere a 
kani or pxikhi is only 12 nals by 10 nals. A dron = 16 kani; a 
khada = 16 pakhi. 



116 



DACCA DISTRICT. 



List of Bdzdrs in the Dacca District. ' 

The more imp Ttant permanent centres of trade are marked with nn *. 
There is trafle everywhere in grain , salt, oil and piece-good s ; the principal 
centres for timber, hides and jute are also indicated. 



Name of 
Thaua. 


List of Bazars. 


Name of 
Thana. 


List of Bazars. 


( 


1. Ati. 


f 


9. Earpui. 




2. Baraid»(Hidesand 


1 


10. Fulbaria. 




timber ) 




11. Goalbari. 




3. Benjara. 




12. Kaiakhola. 




4. Dargar Bazar. 


1 


13. Kalampur. 


1 


5. Demra. 


3 Sabhar— 


14. Kasimpur. 


1. Kerani- 


6. Golamraja Bazar 


(coiitd.) ^ 


1.5 Konda. 


ganj- , 


7. Hazaribag.* 


16. Kushuria. 


8. Kalatia.* 




17. Nannar. 




9. Kander Baonia. 




18. Rowilo 


I 


10. Kan ran. 


1 


19. Sabhar» (Timber). 




11. Khagail 




20. Sadullapur. 




12. Kouda 




21. Shimalia. 




13. Mirpur.* 


1. 


22. Suapur. 




14. Rohitpnr* (timber 1 


( 


1. Aral. 


I 


15. Zenzira* (H id es 




2. Aralia. 




timber). 




3. Baghia. 

4. Bamanagar. 


{ 


1 Amta Barrah. 




5. Baraber. 




2. Bagmara, 




6. Barabo. 




3. Ban dura 




7. Baraid. 




4. Bariia Khali. 


1 


8. Barishabo. 




5. Bhatigovindapur. 


i 


9. Barami* (Jute ), 




6. Charkighat. 




cloth and timber. 




7. Churian. 




10. Bholaiganj. 




8. Daudpur. 




11. Chandpur. 




9 Debinagar. 




12. Dardaria. 




10. Govindapur. 




13. Durgapur. 




11. Joy para 




14. Ghorshalo. 


2. Nawab- 


12. Kalakopa* (tim- 




15. Ghorsinga, 


ganj. «; 


ber). 




16. Ikaria. 




13. Kaiiiarganj.* 




17. Kaoraid. 




14. Karimgani. 




18. Kapasie. 




15. Maghla. 




19. Karihata. 




16. Maksudpur. 


4. Kapasia. "! 


20. Lohaid. 


,) 


17. Mamudpiir. 




21. Mamradi. 




18. Naiidirhazar. 




22. Maona. 




19. Narisha 




23. Nainda Sangan. 




20. NawribKanj.** 




24. Nalgowu. 




21. Nayabari 




25 Nouia. 




22. ralang.mj. 




26. Nayan Bazar. 




23. Paragaoii. 


1 


27. Pabur. 


V 


24. 8ijiari})arft. 




28. Raied. 


( 


1. Ashnlia. 


1 


29. Raj a bar i. 




2. 15agdhaiiia. 


i 


30. Rajendrapur. 




3. liulilihadra. 




31. Raniganj. 




4. Bathuli. 




32. Sham mania. 


3. Sahhar. ^* 


5. ]')Onopur Naihati. 




33. Shingna. 


0. Biralia. 




34, Singri. 




7. Dhamr.ii* (Bel 1, 




35. Sripur. 




motfti, Qtensils, 




3'). Taraganj. 




cloth.) 




37. Trimshirai. 


\ 


8. Dhantara. 


I 


38. Ulushara. 



TRADE AND INDUSTRIES. 



117 



List of 


Bazars in the L 


ti.rcd. Ijinfrit 


/—(contd). 


Name of 
Thana. 


List of Bazars. 


Name of 
Thana. 


List of Bazars. 


( 


1. 


Amta. 


r 


12 Jhitka* (Jute). 


2. 


Baraibari. 




13. Kaiikanda. 




3. 


Baraipara. 




14. Kaita. 




4. 


Barinda.* 




15, K an c h an p ur* 


5. K a 1 i a ; 
koer . 


5 


Benoopur, 




(Jute). 


6. 


Chahut.* 




16. Kautapara. 




7. 


Dhaildi.* 


2. Harirara- 


17. Kiitirhat. 




P. 


Fiilbaria." 


pur — [contd) ) 


18. Lakshmikul. 


1 


9. 


Kalikair.* 


19. Le.sraganj* (Jute). 


^. 


10. 


Ulatpara. 




20. Lolakhola. 

21, Maniknagar. 


( 


1. 


Atigram. 




22. Mirjanagar. 




2. 


Ayanapnr. 




23. Rajkhara. 




3. 


Bainara. 




24. Ramkrishnapur. 




4. 


Baira * 




25. Shutanarihat. 




5. 


Haldhara. 


I 


26. Timanarhat. 




6 


Bankhuria. 








7. 


Barail. 


{ 


1. Aricha* (Jute). 




8. 


Barandi. 




2. Araibari. 




9. 


Basil Bamna. 




3 Jafarganj'f (Jute). 




10. 


Betila.* 


3. Aricha... { 


4. Nali. 




11. 


Bharalia, 




5. Rupsha. 




12. 


Chandor, 




6. Teota* (Jute). 




13. 


Dantia. 


I 


7. Uthali. 




14 


Daragram. 








15 


Dashara.* 


r 


1. Baniajuri. 


• 


16, 


Dhankora, 




2. Baraugail. 


I.Man ik- j 


17. 


(lorpara. 


. 


3. Bisunpur. 


gauj. "1 


18. 
19. 


Jagir Bazar.** 
Joyara. 




4. Butani Bazar. 

5. Dunlatpur. 




20. 


Joymantab. 




6. Deorchar. 




21. 


Kathigram. 




7. Ghior Bandar* 




22. 


Kb liber pur. 




(Jute\ 




23. 


Lalitganj.* 


4. Ghior ...i 


8, Jabra* iJutei. 




24. 


Lemubarihat. 




9. Khalsibater Bazar. 




2.5. 


Mitara. 




10. Koryonahat, 




26. 


Niltia. 




11, Mahadebpur. 




27. 


Kajarhat* (Jute). 




12. Mirjapiir. 




28. 


Rajnagar." 




13. Pacher Kanda. 




29. 


Ramnagar, 




14. Rajairhat. 




,30. 


Sanka. 




15. Sridharganj. 




31. 


Shaturia* fjute). 


K 


16 Uttararali. 




32. 


Singair* (Jute) 








33. 


Sunipiahat. 


( 


I, Aiona. 


\ 


34. 


Tilli. 




2. Antshahi. 

3. Bajrajogini. 


( 


1, 


Andhar M a n i k- 




4. Bauisai. 


2. 


nagar. 
Azimnagar. 




5. Baonia, 

6. Bhitikandi. 


I 


3. 


Bab irbMti. 


1. Mnnshi- 


7. Dadhiaramal Bazar. 


2. Hiraram- 


4. 


Bagmara. 


ganj- < 


R, Feringi Bazar. 


pur. 


5. 
6. 


Bah.ad'.irptir. 
Balarabazar. 




9 Gazaria. 
10. Gubakhali. 


1 
1 


7. 


Barinara. 




11. Kalma. 


1 


8. 


Bhagabanchar * 




12. Kamarkbara. 




9, 


Biikibati. 




13. Makkuhati. 




10. 


D hills lion. 




14. Mirkadim Kamala- 


V 


11, 


Gaugadhardi. 


K 


ghat* ( Kerosene oil) 



118 



DACCA DISTRICT. 

/y^'.sf of Bazars in the Dacca Distinct — (eontd). 



Name of 


List of Bazars. 


Name of 
Til ana. 




List ot Bazars. 


Than a. 








i 


1;"). Munshiganj. 


r 


12 


Kharia. 




16. Munshirhat* 




13. 


Lohiijang* (Jute). 




17. Rekdbi Btlzar.* 


4. h h a- 


14. 


Maidhyapara. 


1. Munshi- 


18. Sekherhat. 


jang- ) 


1.^. 


Nagerhat. 


g a n i— <( 


19. Sarajabad. 


(contd.) ^ 


16. 


Naopara.* 


i^contd.) 


20. S i d d h i s a d h a b 




17. 


Shaiiiliati. 




Bazar. 




IS. 


Shimalia. 


1 


21. Souaraug. 


I 


19. 


Teotia. 


I, 


22. Tangibari. 












( 


1. 


Baidyer Bazar.* 


( 


1. Bahar. 




2. 


Baradi. 




2. Balasia 




3. 


Chaitpur. 


* 


3. Bara B a g h a d i 




4. 


Fatulla. 




Bazar. 




5. 


Gabtali. 




4. Bidgaou. 




6. 


Kacbpur. 


2. Rajabari { 


5. D i g h i r p a r * 


1. N a r a - J 


7. 


Kalagachia. 




(timber). 


yangauj. ^ 


8. 


Madangatij.* 




6. Hashail. 




9. 


Mauohardi. 




7. Hat Kari m g a n 3 




10. 


Munshirail Bazar. 




alias Hasliail hat. 


1 


11. 


Naniyangauj.* 


K 


8. Kajabari, 




12 
13. 


Rupsi. 
Siddirganj. 


( 


1. Bagra. 

2. Baraikbali. 


I 


14. 


Uddabgauj. 




3. Baram. 


( 


1. 


Amirabad. 




4. Bashail. 




2. 


Basbgari. 




5 Bejerliati. 




3. 


Belal)qhat. 




6. Bh a g y a k u 1 * 




4. 


Dulalkandi. 




(Jute). 




5. 


Govindapur. 


1 


7. Damla. 




6. 


Hashnabad. 


1 


8. Hashara. 




7. 


Hatu Bhanga. 


! 


9. lehhapura. 




8. 


Jossarhilt. 


8. Srinagar ^ 


10. Kamargaou. 




9. 


Joynagar. 


11. Kathiapara. 




10. 


Ka'charikandi. 




12. Kukiilia. 




11. 


Kuthir Bazar. 




13. Maizpara. 


2 Raipura { 


12. 


LatarUo. 




14 Kajaiiagar. 




13. 


Manipiirhat. 




\5. Karikhal. 




14. 


Marjalhat. 


! 


16. Serajdigha* (.Jute). 




15. 


Narainpur. 


\ 


17. Shiujhara. 




16. 


Naodia. 


1 


18. Sholaghar. 




17. 


Para tali. 




19. Srinngar. 




18. 


I'atiahat. 




20. Taltala* (Jutej. 




19. 


Hahimilbad. 


>. 


lil. Tautra. 




20. 
21. 


Raipurahat. 
Sliilipurhat. 


r 


1. Bejgow. 




22. 


BriraiDpurhat. 


1 


2. Bhogarlia.* 


[ 


23. 


Talluk Kandi. 


1 


3. Birijkha.* 








1 

^ T 1 ' 


4 DaUhin Cbarigow. 
5. Dliaiikunia.* 


3 N a r - 1 


1. 
2. 


Gopaldi Bazar. 
Naisingdi Ba z a r 


4. L h n- , 


6 (iaiipaia 


siugdi. 1 




(Jute). 


i'm«- 


7. (Jiiodia.* 










8. Ilailda.* 




' 1. 

2. 


Bagadi. 




9 Kalikal. 


4. M a n - 


Baracbapa. 




10. Kami'irpiir. 


l\iirdi. 


3. 


Bbaiila. 


[ 


11. Kan.iksar. 


. 4 


Bhiticbinadi. 



THADI': ASM) INIUSTIIIKS. 119 

List of Bdrjdrfi in ike Dacca District — (coiKtld). 



Name of 




List of IJi'izars. 


Name of 






List of iiazars. 


Thaua. 






Tliana. 








f 
■ 1 


5. 
6. 


Ciramedpur. 
Clialabdiar. 




r 
1 


2G 


Kainpur Barapa- 
chani. 


1 


7. 


Cliandandia. 


4. M a n o- 


J 


27. 


Kampur Cliota 


1 


8. 


Doaigaou. 


h a rdi— 


^ 




picliaui. 




9. 


Kklua.'^in-. 


[Contd). 


1 


28. 


Kujierhaijdi 




10. 


Gli.isliari. 




I 


29. 


Sarippur, 




11 


Ghosligown. 












12. 


Gotasia. 




i 


1. 


DtMiga* (Jute). 




13. 


Harisangau. 






2. 


Dh:indi 


1 


14. 


Hasima Svampur. 






3. 


Aladliabdi. 


} 


15. 


Ilatiardi Nama 


5. Rupgauj 


) 


4 


Alurapara. 


4. M a n 0- ^ 




Bazar. 




1 


0. 


Pakaria." 


h a r d i - 


16. 


Ilatiardi Tan Bazar. 




1 


(J 


ITuiclidona. 


{contd.) 


17. 
18. 


Lakhpur* iJute). 
Loiiapur. 




I 


/ 


Si!ltaush:iliadi. 




19. 


Manoliardi. 




( 


1. 


Charsiudur, 




20. 


Naraindi. 




1 


2. 


Gliorasal. 


j 


21, 
22. 


Pachbabandi, 
Paib.n. 


6. Kaligatv 




3. 
4. 


Jatualpur. 
Kaliganj.* 




23. 


Faluly. 




1 


0. 


Palasll. 


i 


24. 


Paradia. 




I 


6. 


PubaiL* 


I 


25. 


Para tola. 











List of fairs and melas held in Dacca District. 



No. 



Name of Mela 
or I*' air. 



Situation. 



Kkuaniganj 
ThIna. 

Rajiirbag Mela . 



Char Raghuuath- 
pur. 

Jiujira Mela 
Demra Mela 

Malibag Mela ..-. 



4 miles from 
Railway Sta- 
tion. 

-^- a mile from 
Steamer S t a- 
tion. 

i a mile from 
Dacca Steamer 
Station. 

I a m i 1 e from 
S 1.1 o r u t i a 
Steamer Sta- 
tion. 

1 mile from Rail- 
way Station. 



Duration of Fair. 



2 days in Febru- 
ary and April. 



On the last day 

of the month 

of Paush. 
Iday during 

Polpiarnima in 

March. 
2 days in June... 



Everj' Saturday 
and Tuesday 
between Janu- 
ary loth and 
February 15tli. 



Number of 

people 
attending. 



1,000 

400 
700 

300 

400 



120 DACCA DISTRICT. 

List of fairs and melas held in Dacca District.— (contd). 



No. 


Name of ilela 
or Fair. 


Situation. 


Duration of Fair. 


Number of 

people 
attending. 




Kbranigano 

Thana— (con«c?.> 








6 


Shunna Mela ... 


1 mile from Sho- 
rutia Steamer 
Station. 


On the day of 
Chaitra Sank- 
rauti. 


400 


7 


Dhitpur Mela ... 


2miles from 

Shorutia Stea- 
mer Station. 


Ditto 


6C0 


8 


Sain para Mela... 


3mil esfrom 
Dacca Rail- 
way Station. 


Ditto 


500 


9 


Kohitpur 


Smiles from 
Dacca Steamer 
Station. 


Do. and during 
Rathjatra in 
June and in 
Maghipiirnima 
in February. 


600 


10 


Dliarma Sar 


Ditto 


On the last day 
of Sraban 
(July). 


500 


11 
12 


Subhadya 
Kaligauj Mela ... 


Imile from 
Dacca Steamer 
Station. 

.J a m i 1 e from 
Steamer Sta- 
tion. 


In the mrnth of 
PhusIi and Bai- 
sakh and dur- 
iiiy Rathjatra. 

On the Hasahra 
day. 


500 
400 


13 


Snail GliataMela 


.T ni i 1 e s from 
TaiiLji Raihv!iy 
Station. 


During Baruni 
Snan in Clinitra. 


500 


14 


Keiaiil M.-l:i ... 


13 miles from 
Dacca. 


On the 1st day of 
Baieakh. 


1,500 


15 i 


Koii.la M.'hi ... 


2miles from 
Jajira Steamer 
Station. 


Ditto 


400 


IG 


Sakta Meiii 


G m i 1 e 8 from 
Dacca. 


In Baisakh and 

Magh. 


4C0 • 


1 
17 


Basla Mela 


Smiles from 
Dacca. 


On the Ciiaitra 
Sankranti day. 


300 


18 1 


Mirpiir .Mala ... 


7 m i 1 e s 1 r o m 
Dacca. 


In the month of 
Baisakh. 


800 


19 


IJaHila M<;lii 


5 m i 1 s from 

Dacca. 


On tlie Miighi- 
piimima day. 


400 



TRADE AND INDUSTRIES. 121 

TAfif of fairs and mdas held in Dacca District — (oontd.) 



20 
21 
22 

23 



XattiH of Mela 
or Fair. 



I'jiiiiR Mela 
!5.ijt,'ii;iir Mela ... 
I' lull Mela ... 

Digaon Mela 



24 /. maya Mela 



2.5 

26 

27 
28 
29 
30 
.Si 

32 
33 



llarirampur Mela 
(folar TeU Mela 

Aliiiagar Mela ... 
Aksail .Mela 
IJadda Mela 
Syatnpur Mela ... 
Ka.ldaMela ... 

Jaydehpnr Mela... 
Jarur .VIela 



Situation. 



Duratinii of Fair. 



5mile8 from 
Dacca. 

4 m i I e s from 
Dacca 

5mile8 from 
Dacca 



10 miles from 
Dacca. 



Smiles from 
Taiigi Railway 
Station. 

Smiles from 
Dacca 

Tmiles from 
Dacca. 



II m i 1 e s from 
Dacca. 

II m i 1 e s from 
Dacca. 

4 miles from 
Dacca 

i mile fro m 
Da(;ca. 

5mileH from 
Jaydebpur 
Kailwaj St-t- 
tion. 

J a mile east 
from Railway 
Stitioii. 

4miles from 
Railway Sta- 
tion. 



March and April 

February 

On the occasion 
of .Iliulan in 
August. 

Ist Baisakh and 
on the Dasali- 
ra day. 

I day in Raisakh 
(April). 

Ditto 



Daring Rath- 
jatra in Jiuie. 



On the last day 
of Chaitra. 

On xh.<^ last day 
of i'aush. 

On the last day 
of Chaitra. 



.Number of 

people 
atteu ling. 



In April 



2 days in April 
during Astami 
and H a r u n i 
Snau. 

"2 days in June 
during Rath- 
jatr I. 

3 days on the 1st 
day of Baisakh, 
1st day of 
P a (1 8 h and 
Chaitra Sank- 
ranti da v. 



500 



Between 200 
and 250 

About 400 



3,000 
400 

400 

1,500 

6')0" 

400 
4,000 
1,000 

500 

800 
.SOO 



12i DACCA DISTRICT. 

List of fairs and melas held in Dacca District — (contd.) 



No. 


Name of Mela 
or Fair. 


Situation. 


Duration "f fair. 


NuiiiV)er of 

p^nplH 
attending. 




K riKANIGANJ 










Thana — condd.) 








84 


liar da ho Baj 


3 miles S.-E. from 


2 days in Chaitra 


300 




Mela. 


Jaydebpur Rail- 
way Station. 


Sankranti. 




35 


Bhadam Mela ... 


10 miles from 
J a y d e b p ore 
Railway S t a- 
tion. 


2 days in Chaitra 
Sankranti and 
1st day of 
Haisakh. 


300 


36 


Gutia Fair 
Kapasia. 


10 miles from 
Railway S t a- 
tion. 


1 day on the last 
day of Jaistha 
(May) 


400 


37 


Glialftghat Snan 


Close toLakhpur 


1 day only on 


2,000 




Fair. 


Steamer S t a - 
tion. 


three occasions 
in Baruni Snan 
and Astami 
Snan and in 
Ear t i k Fur- 
nima Snan in 
April and 
November. 


, 


38 


Aralia Astami 


20 miles from 


1 day only in 


2 COO 




Snan Mela. 


Kaoraid Rail- 
way Station. 


in April. 




39 


Torgao Fair 


9 miles from 
Rajend r a p u r 
Railway Sta- 
tion. 


1 day only in 
April. 


300 


40 


Kajabari Fair .. 


Smiles ircm 
Hajend ra)) ti r 
Railway Sta- 
tion. 


Ditto 


300 


41 


Paltamara Fair... 


Gmiles from 
Jaydebpur 
Railway Sta- 
tion. 


3 days in April 


300 


42 


Aral Dakshingao 


3 m i I 68 from 
L a k h p u r 
Steamer Ghat 


Ditto 


300 


43 


Barmi Fair 


2 miles from Sat 
Kliamair Rail- 
way Station. 


1 (]iiy on 1st r.:ii- 
eakh April . 


300 


44 


ChJindpui Fair... 


Smiles from 
L.ik li p ur or 
R a n i g a n j 
Steamer Sta- 
tion 


Ditto 


200 


45 


Augdh ) Fair 


Ditto 


Ditto 


20 



TRADE AND INDUSTRIES. 123 

List of fairs and Tildas held in Dacca District — fcontd.) 



No 



4C 



47 



48 



49 



50 



51 



52 



53 



54 



Name of Mela 
or Fair. 



Hora'd Fair 



Situation. 



Kapdsia 



55 



Smiles from 
L a k h p u r or 
R ii n i g an] 
Steamer Sta- 
tion. 

Smiles from 
Rajend r apur 
Railway Sta- 
tion. 



Duration of fair. 



1 d a y on Ist 
Baisakh (April i. 



1 day on 1st 

Jaistha 'mid- 
dle of May). 



Dhamrai Ratli- About 6 miles | 10 days in June 
jatra Mela. north of Sabhar and July. 

Thana 



Sabhar. 

Roail Siv Ralri 
Fair. 



Kangalband Fair 
(Astami or 
Bra hmaputra 
Snan). 

NARlYANaANJ. 

Pan c hamighat 

Mela. 



Baliapara Mela.. 



Baradi Fair 



RIlPlIRA. 



Manipura Mela. 



Marjal Mela 



66 Saiker Char Mela 



About 4 m i 1 68 
west of Sabhar 
Thana. 

4 miles N.-E. of 
Narayanga nj 
town. 



8 miles from 
Narayanganj. 

16 miles from 
Narayj'iiganj. 



li miles Baradi 
Steamer Sta- 
tion. 



Close to the 
Steamer Sta- 
tion. 

1 mile west of 
the Steamer 
Station. 

3 miles south of 
the Steamer 
Station. 



Number of 

people 
attending. 



200 



200 



3 daya in March 



4 days in April 
or May. 



1 day only in 
March and in 
June. 

Ditto. 



7 days from 
Chaitra Sank- 
ranti. 



3 days from the 
Chaitra Sank- 
rduti. 

Ditto 



7 days from the 
Chaitra Sank- 
ranti. 



About 30,000 



About 200 



100,000 



Between 400 
to 600. 



300 per day. 



l,000«ach day. 



800 



800 



600 



124 DACCA DISTRICT, 

List of fairs and nielas held in Dacca District — (contd.) 



No. 



Name of Mela 
or Fair. 



67 

58 

59 

CO 

61 
62 

63 
64 

65 
66 

67 



RIiPURA — iconCd.) 
Dulal Kauda Mela 

kUPGANJ. 

Eancbau Mela . 



Golakaudail Mela 

KiLlOANJ. 

Kaliganj Fair ... 



Chin Mela at 
E.anadi. 

Chiu Mela at 
Baragow. 



Chill Mela at 
(•ihorasal. 

Chin Mela at 
Paltamara. 



Chin Mela at 
ybekaudardi. 

Manohakdi. 

Hatirdia Fair ... 



MUNSHIGANJ. 

Kartik Utiruui , 



Situation. 



Duration of Fair. 



5 miles north of 
the S t e a m er 
Station. 



5 miles from 
Rupgau] P. S. 
Steamer Sta- 
tion. 



3 miles from 
Murapara 

Steamer Sta- 
tion. 



Close to the 
Steamer Ghat. 

Ditto 



4 miles from the 
Steamer Ghat. 



Close to the 
Steamer Ghat. 

12 miles from 
the Steamer 
Ghat. 

6 miles from the 
Steamer Ghat. 



Gmilen S.-W. of 
Lukhpur Stea- 
mer Station. 



On hanks of Dlia- 
lebwari near 
Kaiiuiltlg li a t 
Steamer Sta- 
tion about one 
mile from 
iMwushi g a a j 
town. 



mmimmirvmnrm 



3 dfiys from Ist 
iiaieakh. 



3 days. The Mela 
sits from the 
Lakshmip u r - 
nima day i u 
October. 



Nunnber of 
attending. 



aoo 



300 every day. 



3 days. P a u s h 500 every day 
Sankrauti day 
in January. 



1 day on Paush 
Sankrauti. 

1st Baisakh 



2 days. Ist Bai- 
sakh and 1st 
Jaistha. 

Ditto 
Ditto 

Ditto 



From Feliruary 
to middle of 
April. 



G weeks from the 
beginning of 
January. 



300 

200 

1,500 

1,500 
3,000 

800 
100 per day. 

15,000 



TRADE AND INDUSTRIES. 125 

List of fairs and tnelas held in Dacca District — (conid.) 



No. 


Name of Mela or 
Fair. 


Situation. 


Duration of Fair. 


Number of 
people 








attending. 




MUNSHIQANJ — 










(contd.) 








68 


Taiigibari Mela 


7 miles from 
Kiimalag hat 
Steamer Sta- 
tion. 


1 day during 
Rathjatra in 
June and 1 day 
during Dasah- 
ra. 


300 


69 


Ramgop a 1 p u r 


2 miles from 


1 day during 


300 




Mela. 


Kamal a g h a t 
Steamer Sta- 
tion. 


Baruui Mela in 
April. 




70 


Kampal Mela ... 


3 miles from 
Kama 1 a g h a t 
Steamer Sta- 
tion. 


Ditto 


300 


71 


Rekabi bazar 


Close to Steamer 


1 day during 


600 




Mela. 


Station. 


Baruui Mela 
and 1 day dur- 
ing Daeahra. 




< 


Srinagar. 








72 


Srinagar Fair ... 


7 miles from 
K a d i r p u r 

Steamer Gbat. 


3 days during 
Rathjatra in 
June. 


4,000 


73 


Bagra Fair 


11 miles N.-W. 
of Kadir p u r 
Steamer Sta- 
tion. 


7 days during 
Dipanwita in 
October and 1 
day on 1st 
Baiaakh. 


500 


74 


Taltala Qalaya 


Close to Taltala 
Steamer Sta- 
tion. 


1 day on Ist Bal- 
sa kh. 


2,000 


75 


Sy a m S i d h i 


7 miles from 


1 day on 2ud 


500 




Galaya. 


K a d 1 r p u r 

Steamer Sta- 
tion. 


Baisakh. 




76 


Bhagyakul Gal- 


2 miles from 


1 day on Ist 


500 




aya 


Kadirpur 
Steamer Sta- 
tion. 


Baisakh 




77 


Kukutia Galaya 


5 miles from 
T a r p a 8 a 
Steamer Sta- 
tion. 


1 day on 7th 
Baisakh. 


200 


78 


Rajanagar Gal- 


5 miles from 


1 day n 1 8 t 


500 




aya. 


T a r p a 8 a 
Steamer Sta- 
tion. 


Baisakh . 





126 DACCA DISTRICT. 

List of fairs and nwlas held in Dacca District — {concld.) 



No. 



79 

80 
81 
82 
83 
84 

85 
8G 

87 



Name of Mela or 
Fair. 



SuiNAGA ij — [contd. 

Baraikhali Gal- 
aya. 



Shekharii a g a r 
Gal ay a 

Sholajihar Gal- 
ay a Fair. 

Kaiiyamara Gal- 
aya Fair. 

Maijpara Ga'aya 
Fair. 

Serajdiglia Gal- 
aya Fair. 



Kola Galaya Fair 



Ichhapiira Gal- 
aya Fair. 

LOHAJANG 

Jhulan Mela at 
Lohajaiig. 



Gaodia Mela 



89 

90 
91 

9i! 



Situaliou. 



5 miles from 
T a r p a s a 
Steamer Sta- 
tion. 
Ditto 



Close to J'erai- 
diglia Steamer 
Station. 



^ a mile north 
i rom Tarpfisa 

Steamer Sta- 
tion. 

3 miles north 
of T a r p a 8 a 
Steamer S t a - 
tiou. 



Nagerhat Mela... i 7 miles north of 
T a r p a H a 
Steamer Sia- 
I tion. 

Kanaknhar Mela 5 miles do. 

K»i ni ar b h o g 2 miles N -K. of 



Duration of Fair. 



Go. la. 

Manikganj. 
liethila Mela . 



Mowa Steamer 
Station. 



4 a mile from 
Falora Steam- 
er Station. 



4 days from 2nd 
iiuisakh 



1 day on CLaitra 
Sankranli. 

1 day orj Chaitra 
Sankranti. 

Ditto 



1 day on 1st 
Baisakh. 

Ditto 



1 day o n 2 n d 

Baisakh. 

2 days on 1st and 
2nd Baisakh. 



5 days in t h e 
month of 

August. 



8 days in April 
from the be- 
ginning of the 
Bengali new 
year. 

7 days do. ... 



3 days do. 
Ditto 



7 days in Novem- 
ber during 
K.istjatra. 



^ umber of 

people 
atten ling. 



700 each day. 

400 

1.000 

900 

400 

1,000 

400 
800 each day 

2,000 

600 

500 

400 
400 

3,000 



NATURAL CALAMITIES 127 



CHAPTER VIII. 



NATUEAL CALAMITIES. 

The most serious natural calamities to which the district is 
exposed arise not from a deficiency but from an excess of water. 
The rice crop suffers no doubt from time to time from the want of 
rain at due seasons, but it is flood and not drought that is really 
dreaded by the inhabitants of Dacca. 

The first scarcity on record subsequent to the assumption of Thejamine 
the Dkvani by the British occurred in 1769-70. The greater °^ ^'^*"^''^"- 
part of the rice crop was destroyed by a prolong^-d inundation in 
in 1769, and this was followed by a period of intense drought in 
the spring of 1770. Tanks and wells dried up and fires, arising 
from the friction of branches and bamboos, were of constant occur- 
rence in the jungles and the neighbourhood of villages. The 
poorer classes were compelled to subsist largely on aquatic plants 
during the ensuing rainy season and many of tliem perished.* 

In 1784, there was again a famine which was due to a Tlie famine 
succession of bad crops coupled with a certain lack of caution ^'^'^^^ 
amongst the cultivators. The vvater subsided early in 1783 and 
no grain formed in the ears of rice growing on hii^her land. 
High prices were at that time ruling in other parts of India and 
the inhabitants of the lower tracts somewhat recklessly sold their 
crops, relying on the harvest of the following year. But this ' 
harvest never came, for spring, summer, and autumn rice were 
alike destroyed by the ever rising floods. The price of food-grains 
mounted with great rapidity and in June rice was selling in the 
Balda Kbal pargana at 1 7 seers to the rupee. 'J'his according to 
modern standards is far from dear, but it must be borne in mind 
that even twenty years later the wages of a boatman varied from 
eight annas to one rupee four annas a month so that' at those 
prices he would only be earning from four and a half to eleven 
chhataks of rice a day.f The rich attempted to lay in a stock 
regardless of the price and the dealers held up their supplies, 
opening their shops only in the middle of the night and declining 
to sell more than one seer at a tinie to any person. The distress 

* Taylor's Topography, p 299. 

t Taylor's Topography of Dacca, p. il06. These wages seem extraordi- 
narily low, but as Taylor in iiis ta!)le of wages expr«ssly states that coolies » 
and Bhandaries receive diet in addition to their wages, it s^eems clear that the 
Maujlues and boatmen about whom he makes no such statement did not. 
The same authority states i Topography, p. 313) that in 1K)S bearers at the 
commercial factory were paid Ks. 2-4 per mensem and that these were con- • 

gidered high wages, and the average earnings of a weiver in ly39 were put at 
Us. 2-8 per mensem. 



128 DACCA DISTRICT, 

lasted on into the following year and in March 1785, the Collector 
reported that " though the price had fallen to 25 seers to the rupee 
thousands of unhappy wretches are now lying on the banks of the 
Brahmaputra some in the agonies of death and others emaciated 
by famine with hardly strength to crawl along imploring assist- 
ance from passengers." * The Collector arranged for the supply 
of boiled rice at suitable centres and took what steps he could 
to save the dying, but how grave was the distress can be judged 
from the fact that a brisk trade arose in children, who were sold 
by their starving parents to low caste Portuguese and shipped by 
them to Calcutta. 

^1 . . Three years later a much more serious calamity overtook 

of 1787-88. the district. The rains set in early in the month of March 
and in the middle of July the rivers rose to an unprecedented 
height. Boats could sail along the streets of Dacca and in the 
interior the villagers were compelled to leave their huts and 
live on rafts or bamboo platforms. The local rice crop was 
destroyed and the imports from outside were insufficient to feed 
the starving people. In many parts of the district the price of 
rice rose to four seers to the rupee and crowds of starving wretches 
came flocking into the city. Between nine and ten thousand 
persons were fed daily by public charity, but it was impossible to 
deal with all deserving cases and numbers perished. Some par- 
ganas are eaid to have lost three-fourths of their populatiqn by 
death or emigration and the total death roll was put down at 
60,000, a large proportion of a population which was estimated at 
that time to be considerably under a million souls. "From the 
enquiries instituted by this gentleman (the Collector Mr. Day) 
• to ascertain the loss of life by this direful calamity, he 
calculated that 60,000 persons perished during the inundation 
and the subsequent famine. ' No pergunnahs suffered in so 
dreadful a degree,' he observes, ' as Kajanaghur and Cartickpore.' 
The distress and misery to which the inliabitants were reduced is 
painful to the feeling mind to describe. The famine raged with 
Buch violence that some thousands miserably perished, while whole 
families 'forsook their habitations to avoid the most cruel of 
deaths, but so reduced and emaciated were many through sickness 
and liunger, that tliey ended their days in search of sustenance ; 
otliers repaired to the town of Dacca in the hopes of finding some 
alleviation of their distresses and to such misery and wretchedness 
were mothers reduced by the griping hand of hunger, that forget- 
ting all parental affection, they offered their children for a hand- 
ful of rice. Although every assistance was offered, yet the 
numbers that flocked into the city, precluded the possibility of 
affording relief to all. Many thousand unliappy wretches conse- 
quently jniserably perished in the city and environs." The loss of 
property occasioned by this famine appears to have been very 

» Ollector'fl letter dated March 2nrl, 1785* 



NATURAL CALAMITIES. 129 

great. The zamindars were unable to pay their revenue, and 
subsequently, from the loss of cyotts and cattle, their lands 
remained uncultivated for a considerable time. Several of the 
perguunahs were deprived of three-fourths of their industrious 
inhabitants, who died or emigrated and the lands were in conse- 
quence soon overrun with jangle, infested with tigers and hogs."* 
Dacca is, however, very little exposed to risk of famine and no 
such calamity occurred during the eighteenth century. 

But at the beginning of 1906 high prices were ruling in Eastern The scarcity 
Bengal, and in August they suddenly rose to what in less wealthy of lyOG. 
districts would have been famine rates. On Sunday, August 12th, 
rice was selling in Dacca city at Rs. 5-8 per maund, five days later 
the nominal rate was 8 per maund and as much as Hs. 10 per maund 
was paid. This sudden movement was probably due to a com- 
bination of the dealers but they only anticipated a rise which soon 
became general throughout the province. The flood in August 
was exceptionally high and in the lower parts of the district it 
was quite impossible to open anything in the shape of relief 
works. Relief works were in fact not needed, for so wealthy is the 
district that able-bodied persons experienced little inconvenience. 
The pinch was felt by beggars and the poorer families of the 
middle class who were reluctant to disclose their necessities. 
About Rs. 24,000 was distributed in doles to the poor and a work- 
shop was opened in Dacca city to give employment to poor women 
who had no one to support them. A poor-house was also con- 
structed but was fortunately not required. Large quantities of 
Rangoon rice were imported through Ghittagong and did much 
to relieve the pressure on the local stocks. It is a significant 
indication of the change in the economic conditions of the 
district and in the value of money, that in 1785 thousands of 
people lay famine-stricken and dying with rice selling at 25 seers 
to the rupee and that in 1906 when rice was selling at between 
4 and 5 seers to the rupee there was not a single death from star- 
vation and only the very minimum of assistance was required. 

On April 7th, 1888, the city of Dacca was struck by.a tornado The tornado 
of exceptional violence. Dr. Crombie the Civil Surgeon who of 1888. 
contributed an interesting account of this phenomenon to the 
Asiatic Society of Bengal [J.A , S.B., Vol. LVIL Pt. II, No. 2, 
1888], is of opinion that the tornado originally formed in the 
higher strata of the atmosphere and that it first struck the earth 
at the south-west corner of the Municipality near the Fakirmi ka 
Tnasjid. From this point it travelled in a south-easterly direc- 
tion levelling huts and uprooting trees but it was not till the Lai 
Bagh was reached that it had developed sufficient strength to • 
demolish masonry buildings. Here, however, it knocked down 
a portion of the police barracks, killing one constable and severely 
wounding twelve others. It then crossed the river unroofing the 

* Taylor's Topography of Dacca, p. 304. 



130 DACCA DISTRICT. 

Commissioner's launch, the Linnet, and tearing the police launch 
Marion from its moorings and driving it up stream to founder in 
deep water. On reaching the southern bank of the Buri Ganga 
the storm ground to pieces a masonry house that had been 
recently constructed by one Abdul Bepari killing its owner and 
severely wounding three other persons. At this moment it seemed 
that the city was safe and that the village of 8ubadiya towards 
which the tornado was advancing was doomed. But suddenly it 
changed its course, swung back at right angles across the river 
and burst upon the Nawab's palace, the Ahsun Manzil. From 
there it made its way to the Sankari Bazar where it appears to 
have mounted into the air to descend again near Kajabari in the 
south of the Munshiganj subdivision. Here it crashed through 
six or seven villages and killed from 60 to 80 persons. 

In the city it completely destroyed 9 masonry buildings and 
injured 148 more and it wrecked 3,518 native huts and 121 boats: 
118 persons were known to have been killed and 1,200 severely 
wounded nearly 20 of them fatally. The damage done in the 
city was estimated at 6f lakhs of rupees. In no part of its course 
did the breadth of its path exceed 200 paces, and the very violence 
of the wind in some cases served to save its victims. The house 
in which a member of the Nawab's family was standing was 
demolished and he was pinned below a heavy beam which fell 
upon his shoulder. But so great was the force of the wind that 
the beam instead of crushing him descended slowly and gently 
pressed him to the ground. The back wall of the office in which 
Mr. Kelsall was working was blown out but the beams remained 
supported by the wind long enough to admit of his escape. Many 
of the eye-witnesses declared that the cloud accompanying the 
whirlwind glowed with a dull glare, but none of the killed or 
injured were scorched in any way. 

In April 1902 Dacca was again visited by a tornado. It 
appears to have formed on the south bank of the Buri Ganga 
river and to have travelled northwards demolishing some jute 
godowns, and damaging the Dolaiganj railway station. North and 
east of Dolaiganj there is a considerable expanse of open country 
and the tornado was next reported at Mijmiji about five miles 
north of Narayanganj. Here it crossed the Lakshya, razec^ the 
village of Sonachora to the ground, and travelled eastwards 
striking Kanighi, Barpara and Nangalband where it finally spent 
itself in the open country east of the old Brahmaputra river. 
Tlie path of the storm varied from 100 to 400 yards in breadth, 
88 persons were killed and 238 injured. About 2,000 huts were 
' demolished. 
I'iartiiquftkefl. -^^i^g slight tremblings of the earth which are so common in 

portions of Assam are seldom felt, but from time to time the 
district has sufTercnl from eartlnjuakes some of which have been 
of considerable severity. The following account of early visita- 



The tornado 
of 1902. 



NATURAL CALAMITIES. 131 

tions is taken from Taylor's Topography of Dacca* : — " In general, 
the shocks are slight but at times they have been productive of 
great loss of life and property. Tlie earthquake in April 1762 
proved very violent at this place and along the eastern bank of 
the Meghna as far as Cbittagong. At Dacca the rivers and ^tiYs 
were agitated, and rose high above their usual levels, leaving, 
when they receded, their banks strewed with dead fish. The 
shocks were accompanied by subterranean hollow noises and were 
so severe that a number of houses were thrown down by which 
500 persons, it is said, lost their lives. In 1775 and 1812 there 
were severe earthquakes. In the latter year violent shocks were 
experienced on the 10th of April and 11th of May which injured a 
number of houses and several buildings in the city and at 
Tezgong." 

The great earthquake of 1897 did much damage in the city 
but luckily caused comparatively little loss of life. The Shaheen 
Medical Hall, a temple known as the Nazirs Math, theShahbagh, 
and the house occupied by Mrs. Stansbury all collapsed and five 
persons were killed beneath the ruins, while nine other houses 
including the residences of the Commissioner, the Collector, the 
Judge, and the Civil Surgeon were rendered uninhabitable. It was 
estimated roughly that the cost of repairing Government buildings 
throughout the district would amount to about Ks. 1,50,000. 

* P. 18. 



l32 DACCA DIStRICt. 



CHAPTER IX. 



MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. 

The Dacca-Mjmeusingh railway runs through the district 
from Narajauganj, the southern terminus on the Lakshya, to 
Kaoraid, There are stations at — Chasara on the 1st mile, 
Dolaiganj (8th), Dacca (10th), Kurmitola (18th), Tangi (i!3rd), 
Jaydebpur (30th), Rajendrapur (37th), Sripur (44th) and Kaoraid 
(52nd). 

The line is a single one on the metre gauge and was con- 
structed in 1884. 

A special peculiarity of the line is the unusually loud noise 
produced by a train when travelling over the metals. There is 
some uncertainty as to the cause of these ' roaring rails,' as they 
are called but it is suggested that it may be due to the action 
of the salt carried by the monsoon winds. 

The most important means of communication in Dacca are, 
however, the waterways. The Padma and the Meghna which 
bound it on the south, east and west are open to steamer traffic 
at all seasons of the year. Express and slow passenger steamiers 
ply daily between Narayanganj and Goalando, which is connected 
by the Eastern Bengal State Railway with Calcutta. Heavy 
cargo boats with their attendant flats go either to Goalando or 
through the Sundarbans to Calcutta. The journey to Goalando 
takss about six hours by despatch steamer and about fifteen hours 
by the slower boats which stop at the following stations after 
leaving Narayanganj : — (1) Kamala Ghat, (2) IShatnol, (3) Bahar, 
(4^ Sureshur, (,')) Tarpasa (Lohajang), (6) Mowah, (7) Kadirpur 
(Bhagyakul), ^8) Narisa, (9) Moynot, (10) Jelaldi, (11) Kane- 
hanpur, (12) Goalando. 

The osteamers along the Meghna call at the following 
stations: — (1) Baidya Bazar, (2) Baradi, (3) Srimadi, (4) Bish- 
nundi, (5) Bhangarchur, (G) Narsinghdi, (7) Manipura, (8) 
Manicknagar, (9) Raipura, (10) lialpur, and take about seven hours 
to reach Bliairab Bazar, a great trade centre situated just on the 
further side of the northern boundary of the Dacca district. 
During the rainy season cargo boats come up to Dacca city, and 
a service of light steamers plies up the Buri Ganga and Dhaleswari 
stopping at (1) Rajpiiulliari, (2) Sabhar, (3) Singair hat, (4) 
Aldongganj (Byra), (5) Mattagliat, (G) Lalitganj, (7) Darogram. 
All these vessels are owned and managed by the India General 
Steam Navigation and the Hiver Steam Navigation Company, 
but tiiere is also a line of cargo boats plying to Narayanganj 
which belong to the East Bengal River Steam Service, Limited, 



MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. 13^ 

a company which was founded in 1907 and is managed and largely 
financed by the Kay family of Bhagyakul. 

When the rivers rise the whole of the lower part of the 
district goes under water and not only can boats proceed in every 
direction but they are practically the only means of transit for 
men and goods. In addition to the Lakshya, which is navigable 
by boats drawing 5 feet of water as far as Jjakhpur Ohur at all 
seasons of the year, the following rivers and water-courses become 
important routes for traffic. The Ichliamati gives access to the 
interior of the Bikrampur pargana and a steam launch can go 
from Ghior past Halla, Jliitka, Harirampur, Joy Krishnapur, and 
Sheikernagar into the Dhaleswari. The Taltala khal enables 
boats to avoid the dangerous journej' down the Dhaleswari to 
Kajabari, while a branch of it gives direct access to Munshiganj 
town. The Buri Ganga and the Dhaleswari are open to steamer 
traffic even in their upper reaches and large boats and steam 
launches can ply on the Gazikhali, the Bansi and the Turag, even 
over the bar at Kabakoer which in the dry season prevents 
communication between the two latter rivers. The Turag is 
joined to the Balu river by the Tangikhal, though the railway 
bridge at Tangi will only admit of low boats ]jassing under it, 
and the Dolaikhal connects Dacca with Demra and saves travel- 
lers down the Lakshya a journey of 25 miles past ^sarayanganj 
and up the Buri Ganga. This canal was deepened and improved 
in f864 and tolls are levied on all boats using it at the following 
rates : — On all boats above 50 maunds capacity, two annas per 100 
maunds tonnage. On all boats under 50 maunds of tonnage six 
pies. Rafts of timber, bamboo or grass not exceeding 50 feet in 
length and 5 feet in breadth four annas per raft. 

Steam launches can get up the Balu river as far as the 
Kaliganj road ; and the Arialkhan and the old Brahmaputra are 
full of water. Every one travels by water and on a market day 
in the flooded tracts hundreds of boats will be met coming from 
and going to the bazar. The vessels are of every shape and size, 
ranging from the earthenware pipkins in which children paddle 
themselves to school or from one house to another in the village, 
to the huge top-heavy country boats capable of holding 1,600 
maunds of jute. Ghasi boats about 45 feet long ply on the rivers 
as gaina boats, or boats which call for passengers at fixed stations 
at stated times, and the well-to-do travel in 'green boats' or 
house boats built on the lines of an ordinary country boat, which 
cost as much as Rs. 3,500. 

In 1839 there were only two roads in the district, one con- Roads, 
necting Dacca with Narayanganj, the other ending at Tangi • 
bridge. These are described by Taylor as * made roads,' * but he 
states that there were still remains of the old military road 
beyond Tangi to Toke, and he recommended that this road * 

* Topography of Dacca, p. 118. 



134 DACCA DISTRICT. 

should be repaired as communication between Dacca and Mymen- 
singh was almost impracticable during the dry season. This 
work was subsequently undertaken but it seems to have been 
considered a waste of public funds by the Europeans residing 
in the district. Mr. Forbes, the Secretary to the Local Planters 
Association, writes of it as follows : — " The road is utterly useless 
as scarcely a human being resides in the district through which 
its whole length, 40 miles, stretches. It is no sooner made 
during the cold weather than the jungle which covers it during 
the rains commences to grow. When the working season again 
comes round, this jungle, 10 and 12 feec in height and very thick, 
has to be cut down. The only time I ever went along it was on 
a tiger hunt, and we started two tigers from the very centre of the 
road about four miles from Dacca." * The re-opening of this road 
no doubt did much to assist in the development of the jungles of 
Bhowal, but the construction of the railway in 1884 diverted 
most of the traffic from it and it is now comparatively little used. 
There are the ruins of a fine masonry bridge over the Tangi river 
which is assigned to the period of Muhammadan rule. The 
centre arch is said to have been blown up by the District 
Magistrate at the time of the Mutiny and, 'though another 
bridge was subsequently constructed by the zamindar of Jaydeb- 
pur, that too was carried away by a high flood and the river is 
now crossed by a ferry. The total length of the road from Dacca 
to Toke is 52 miles. 

The next land routes to he undertaken were the road to 
Aricha opposite Goalando and the embanked bridle-path from 
Munshigauj to Srinagar. The latter had been constructed by 
1873, but in that year the former had only reached a point seven 
miles west of Dacca. The Aricha or Goalando road is 36 miles in 
length, and cost Rs. 1,23,000 to construct, exclusive of the bridge 
which was thrown across the Turag at Mirpur at a cost of 
Rs. 1,82,000. West of the Dhaleswari a considerable length of the 
road is still below flood level and is only open to traffic in the dry 
season. The Munshiganj -Srinagar bridle-path runs through low 
country cand the repairs have proved a heavy charge upon the 
finances of the District Board. In the Bikrampur pargana every 
one travels by boat in the rainy season and on foot in the dry 
weather, and it seems doubtful whether embanked roads are worth 
the heavy sums tliey cost. They are useless in tlie rains, unneces- 
sary in the dry weather, and it is only in the intermediate period 
when the water is rising or falling, when it is too shallow to boat 
and too wet to travel on foot across the plain, that they serve any 
useful purpose. 

Between 1887—1892 when Sir Lancelot Hare was Collector 
of Dacca, he realised the importance of constructing feeder roads 
to the railway tlirougli the high land of Bhowal, and nearly 

* India Office Records, Vol. 572. 



MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. 135 

64 miles of road were built for the modest sum of Rs. 80,000. 
Starting at the north of the district a road runs from jNIathajuri 
eastwards to Sripur railway station (14|- miles). Crossing the line 
it reaches Gosinga on the Ijakshya river (4t miles), turns south 
along the Lakshya to Ka[)asia (6 miles), tlien west again to Mirza- 
pur on the Turag (14^ miles), crossing the railway at Eajen- 
drapur station. Another road fourteen miles long runs west- 
wards from Jaydebpur through Kasimpur to Simulea on the 
Turag ; while lower down a road from Tangi crosses the Lakshya 
at Kaliganj (11 J miles) by a ferry and reaches Narsingdi on the 
Meghna (^3^ miles). Further south a road runs from Hajiganj 
opposite Narayanganj to Baid Bazar on the Meghna (7f miles). 
Unembanked roads run from a point opposite the city of Dacca 
to Moynot on the Padma and from Chur Sindur through Mano- 
hardi to (3halak Chur, and an embanked path connects Munshiganj 
and Eajabari. Altogether there are outside municipal areas 84 
miles of metalled road, 313 miles of unmetalled road and 419 
miles of village roads. 

Sir William Hunter in his Statistical Account of the Dacca 
District states that it was believed that there was not a single cart 
in the rural parts of the district. This is true of the Munshiganj 
subdivision and almost true of Narayanganj where only 47 carts 
were found when a census was taken in 1906. In the Sadr sub- 
division there were 2,758 carts, no less than 1,476 being found in 
the Kapasia thaua alone. P^ven in the Manikganj subdivision 
there were 267. _ Postal 

The district enjoys a fairly complete postal service and in service. 

1911 there were 256 post offices of various grades. „ 

^ o r ernes. 

No less than 73 ferries are maintained by the District Board 
on the rivers and khals with which the district is intersected. 
'The right to work these ferries is sold at public auction and 
yields from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 35,000 annually to the Board. 
The maintenance charges of the steam ferry which plies between 
Narayanganj and Munshiganj are considerable, but elsewhere the 
receipts are almost entirely profits. The ferry boats are as a rule 
open country boats which are well adapted for the conveyance of 
foot passengers but are not convenient means of transport for 
horses and carriages. Steps have been taken to provide rafts of 
the Assam pattern on ferries where there is much wheeled traffic. 



136 



DACCA DISTRICT. 



CHAPTER X. 



Staff and 
administra- 
TIVE 
SUBDIVI- 
SIONS. 



GENERAL ADMINISTRATION. 

The district is in charge of a Magistrate-Collector under the 
Commissioner of the Dacca Division. It is divided into four sub- 
divifiions, the sadr subdivision and those of Munshiganj, Manik- 
ganj, and Narayanganj. At Dacca the Collector is assisted by 
a staff of Deputy Magistrates and Sub-Deputy Collectors. The 
sanctioned staff of Deputy Magistrates is four first class Magis- 
trates and two Magistrates of the second or third class. Sub- 
Deputy Collectors are allotted to the division as a whole and are 
posted by the Commissioner in accordance with the requirements 
of the different districts. In addition to this there is a Deputy 
Magistrate in charge of Excise and Income-tax, and another whose 
special duty it is to inspect the work of the Presidents of Panchayat. 
Dacca is also the head-quarters of the Commissioner, of a Superin- 
tending Engineer, and an Executive Engineer, of the Deputy 
Inspector-General of Police, of the Eastern Bengal Range, and 
of the Inspector of Schools of the Dacca Division. 

The Munshiganj and Manikganj subdivisions were opened in 
1845, and the Narayanganj sub-division in 1882. In addition to 
the subdivisional officer, who, in Narayanganj is almost invariably 
a European covenanted Civilian, a second Magistrate is posted to 
each subdivision. Criminal work is particularly heavy at Mun- 
shiganj, and a tUird Magistrate is often needed there. A pecu- 
liarity of the district is the close proximity in which the city of 
Dacca and the subdivisional towns of Narayanganj and Munshiganj 
are situated to one another. Dacca being only ten miles from 
Narayanganj and Munshiganj but six miles farther on. This 
mileage gives, however, a very misleading idea of the real dis- 
tance between the two latter places, for the waters of the Dhales- 
wari and the Lakshya interpose their barrier between them and 
though a steam ferry plies across these rivers, the accommodation 
of necessity is limited and the Bikrampur pargana could not con- 
veniently be administered from Narayanganj. The latter place 
is undoubtedly very close to Dacca but it would not be easy to 
administer the two subdivisions as a single unit, for they have a 
population of over one and three-quarter million souls, and, given 
a Narayanganj sub-division, the head-quarters could hardly be 
fixed at any place other than the large and thriving town from 
which it takes its name. Prior to 1882 the Narayanganj thana 
was included in the Munshiganj subdivision and Raipura and 
Rupganj in the sadr. Had this arrangement been left unmodified 
the population of the Munshiganj subdivision in 1911 would have 



GENERAL ADMINISTRATION. 137 

been 880,168 and of the sadr 1,605,422, and a town which in the 
busy season has probably over 30,000 inhabitants would have been 
left without a resident Magistrate. The subdivisions are mainly 
centres for the administration of criminal and civil justice as the 
khas mahals are small and unimportant and the functions of the 
Local Boards are very limited. 

In 1765 when the Company assumed charge of the diivdni of Early 
Bengal, they found the administration of the district divided into ^.^stem of 
two departments — hiiziiri or revenue, and nizamat or criminal, tion. " 
and civil justice, with this admixture of revenue, however, 
that the officer in charge collected that portion of the revenue 
assigned to him for his own maintenance. In 1769, a European 
supervisor, Mr. Kelsall, was appointed to have entire control 
over both branches of the administration. The district budget 
as finally passed by the representatives of the Company was 
Es. 2,08,86"2. This in itself is not an unreasonable figure but the 
greater part of this modest total was allotted to more or less un- 
remunerative expenditure, no less than Rs. 1,20,000 being absorbed 
by the salaries of the Indian officials and nearly Rs. 35,000 by 
pensions to State prisoners, so that only Rs. 54,000, or less than 
a quarter of the whole, remained for the actual work of Govern- 
ment. The Superintendent and his establishment, which con- 
sisted of three European covenanted servants, an English writer, 
three sherishtidars, eleven mohurrirs, three amins, a naib, and 
two munshis, was to cost Rs. 36,000 per annum.* In 1,771, a 
covenanted Civilian was added to supervise the collection of the 
sayer duties as they had become the source of serious abuses and 
an European officer was required to attend in court when 
important cases were in progress. 

In the following year the Collector was made President of 
the Civil Court, and in 1776 the Provincial Council was consti- 
tuted at Dacca. The first Chief was Mr. Barwell and Messrs. 
Purling, Thackeray, Shakespear and Holland were the members. 
European assistants held the following appointment : — Treasurer, 
Assistant in the Revenue Department, Sub-Export Warehouse- 
Keeper, Secretary, Accountant, Assistant for the Recor(^ of the 
Diwdni Kachari, Assistant to the Secretary, Assistant to the 
Chief, Persian Translator. The control of the criminal courts 
and the police was still left in the hands of the Muhammadan 
official who had been in charge in the days of Mughal rule, 
and six companies of militia were raised to afford the Council the 
military backing it required. The country was still full of those 
lawless bands which sally forth to prey upon their weaker neigh- 
bours when the power of the central authority is relaxed. The 
rivers were infested with dacoits who had agents in the city to warn 
them of any measures taken for their apprehension and even a 
European, Captain Holland, was murdered on his journey to 

* Topography of Dacca, p. 2U. 



i38 DACCA DISTRICT. 

Calcutta. A large band of Sannyasis also collected in the 
neighbourhood of Madhupur, plundered the country and compelled 
the inhabitants to leave their villages and take refuge in the 
jungle. In 1775, the germ of the subdivisional system may be 
found in the appointment of uaibs to decide cases at the various 
Au7Xings \n which weavers were concerned. In 1781, the Council 
was abolished. iMr. Day was appointed Magistrate and Collector 
and Mr. Duncanson, Judge, though he seems to have comhined 
executive with judicial functions as he was especially entrusted 
with the duty of apprehending the dacoits. The functions of 
Magistrate and Collector were subsequently held by difiFerent 
persons, but in 1859 were re-united and this arrangement has 
continued to the present day. 
Changes in Considerable changes have taken place in the boundaries of 

district the district since first it came under British rule. At the time 

bouadaries. ^f ^^^ Permanent Settlement of 1 793 the district of Bakarganj 
and the greater part of the present district of Faridpur were 
included in the Dacca Collectorate. Independent revenue courts 
were erected at Faridpur in 1811 and from that year must be 
dated the Separate existence of that district but it was long before 
the district of Dacca took its present form. Part of the country 
lying between the Padma and the Dhaleswari was for many years 
included in the Collectorate of Faridpur and it was not till about 
1856 that the Manikganj subdivision and a portion of the Nawab- 
ganj thana were restored to Dacca. Bakarganj was formed into 
a separate revenue unit in 1817 and even before that date enjoyed 
a Judge and Magistrate of its own, but the criminal jurisdiction 
over thana Mulfatganj south of the Padma river was not trans- 
ferred from Dacca till 1866. The last great change to take place 
was the removal of Faridpur from the civil jurisdiction of the 
Judge at Dacca in 1875. 

Apart from changes such as these which are carried out by 
executive order, the area of the district is subject to continual 
modification. The huge rivers which flow along its borders 
are great alike as destroyers and as builders up and from time 
to time large slices of land are cut off from one section of 
their banks and large deposits of sand and fertile silt left 
as accretions to another. These are changes which take place 
without any administrative action, but in another way also the 
great Padma, or Kirtinasa, modifies the districts through which 
it flows. The main channel of that great flood is taken as the 
district boundary for want of any better, and this main channel 
is situated some times on one side of the huge strath, some- 
times on the other. When this takes place the islands and chars 
eituated in the centre of the river, in tlie debatable water which 
is in some years to the left, in some years to the riglit of the main 
current, suffer a change of jurisdiction, and are transferred to 
the district from which they are separated by the less formidable 
waste of waters. The arrangement seerns a cumbrous one but it 



GENERAL ADMINISTRATION. 139 

is diflScult to devise another. It can hardly be laid down that a 
cha7' that has once formed in one district shall remain permanent- 
ly in that district. For the chars are subject to alluvion and 
diluvion, and it might well be that a char which had originally 
formed in Dacca might be joined by accretion to a char which 
had formed subsequent to a change in the main channel of the 
river and therefore in P^aridpur and the same cJtar would then be 
situated in two dififerent districts and great confusions of 
jurisdiction would ensue. Neither would it be convenient to 
take the main bank as the boundary and to allot the whole 
of the river to one district. Islands would be liable to be 
joined by accretion to the main bank and thus to change their 
district and in the rains it would not be easy to administer 
islands separated by the whole flood of the Padma from their 
parent district. The present arrangement is thus likely to con- 
tinue though it means that an island may be transferred two or 
three times from one district to another before it suffers what 
is usually its last fate and is finally washed away. 

Statistics for the principal heads of revenue will be found Revenue. 
in the Statistical Appendix. The total reuenue in 1901-02 was 
Rs. 22,56,694 as compared with Rs, 19,11,157 ten years before. 
In round figures the increase amounted to Rs. 3,45,000, of which 
Rs. 2,01,001 occurred under the head of excise and opium, and 
Rs. 67,000 under the head of other sources of revenue. As the 
greater part of the district is permanently settled there is little 
fluctuation in the land revenue, and the increase under this head 
was less than Rs. 4,000. In 1901-02 it was about 22 per cent of 
the total revenue, while the receipts from stamps were 40 per 
cent. Stamps and excise are the most progressive heads of 
revenue and the land tax tends to form a constantly diminishing 
proportion of the total district receipts. 

Few things could be sold without paying a tax in the days Excite, 
of Mughal rule but, strangely enough, intoxicating drugs and 
liquor seem to have been exempt. The vendor of such harmless 
things as m.ilk, fish, vegetables or firewood had to pay his quota 
to the State, but if he wished to deal in ganja or countl-y spirit 
he escaped scot-free. Liquor is, of course, forbidden to the 
followers .of the Prophet and possibly the Muhammadan gover- 
nors were influenced by scruples similar to those which affect 
that section of the English people which is opposed to anything 
in the form of State regulation of vice. But the English were 
not oppressed by any quasi-religious delusions in the matter, and 
as early as 1789 the right to distil liquor in the city was let 
out for Rs, 2,100. Taxation was only the preliminary to regu- 
lation and in 1790 the Collector, Mr. Douglas, submitted his 
proposals for the better management of the liquor trade. Briefly 
these were (1) to compel all stills to be of a uniform size, (2) to , 

require distillers and vendors to take out licenses, the fee for the 
same being Rs. 10, (3) to compel the distiller to register the 



140 DACCA DIS'fftlCT. 

number of stills employed and to report any variation in this 
number, (4) that a tax of six pans per mensem should be levied 
on each still, (5) that a distiller who wished to dispose of liquor 
by retail vend should only be allowed to do so in a shop distinct 
and separate from his distillery, (fi) that the distiller should 
submit accounts showing the amount of liquor distilled and the 
vendors to whom sold, (7) that the retailer should pay to Grovern- 
ment a duty equivalent to 5 per cent of the sum paid by him 
to the distiller, (8) that the liquor shops should be closed at 
10 p.m., that no gambling should be permitted and that, if 
Government would go so far, consumption on the premises should 
be prohibited* It is difficult to believe that the vice of drinking 
was not to some extent checked and restricted by these regu- 
lations. In 1793, a duty of Rs. 2-4 per maund was imposed on 
all ganja imported into the city and a duty varying from two annas 
to one rupee per month was levied on the retail vendors. In 
1795, the products of opium were taxed and in 1796 opium itself. 
The excise revenue, which in 1789 was only Rs. 2,100, had risen 
in 1837 to Rs. 40,765. 

The expansion in the excise revenue has been steady, but 
the native of Eastern Bengal does not readily waste his money 
on these somewhat deleterious articles and the revenue raised 
in the district from excise during the year 1909-10 was less than 
2 annas 8 pie per head of the population. In 1865-66 the excise 
revenue was Rs. 1,21,207, in 1892-93 it was Rs. 2,45,592 and in 
1909-10 it was Rs. 4,51,070. In that year hemp drugs yielded 
over 48 per cent, country spirit over 40 per cent, and opium over 
10 per cent of the total. 

Country spirit used formerly to be manufactured on the out- 
still system, the right of manufacture and vend at a particular 
spot being put up to auction. In 1890, the central distillery 
system was introduced and approved persons are now allowed 
to erect stills and manufacture liquor in the central distillery 
at Dacca. The distillers erect their own stills, provide their 
own raw materials and conduct the whole process of distillation, 
but the distillery is under the charge of a Superintendent who 
is a member of the Excise Department. Duty which is levied 
at the rate of Rs. 4 per London proof gallon is paid when the 
liquor is removed from bond, and there are bonded warehouses 
not only at the distillery itself but at Munshiganj and Manikganj. 

Retail sale is carried on at duly licensed shops of which in 
1909-10 there were 59. The right of vend at these shops is put 
up every year to auction. Liquor is generally sold 25 per cent 
under proof at from Ke. 1-4 to Re. 1-12 a quart and is said to be 
of good quality. Persons under the influence of liquor are not 
often to be seen in streets or public places, but brawls and drunken 
quarrels sometimes occur in the brothels of the city. 

» Collector's Letter dated May 22ad, 1790. 



GENERAL ADMINISTRATION. I4l 

Licenses are issued for the wholesale and retail sale of 
foreign liquor, the former at a fixed fee, the latter at a price 
determined by public aution. Auction has not, however, invari- 
ably proved a satisfactory method of disposing of these licenses, 
and it is now proposed to settle the shops at fixed fees with 
vendors of approved character. The only places outside the towns 
of Dacca and Narayanganj where foreign liquor can be obtained 
are Munshiganj, Manikganj, Jaydebpur and Lohajang. 

Most of the juice drawn from the date-palm is converted into 
guv ami no attempt is made to impose a tree tax, though licenses 
have to be taken out for the sale of the juice as a beverage, whether 
it is fresh or fermented. These tari licenses are issued at the rate 
of Rs. 5 for fresh and Ks. 43 for fermented tari, but few are taken 
out except in the towns of Narayanganj and Dacca. 

Licenses for the brewing of rice beer for home consumption 
are issued at the rate of Re. 1-12 per house. These licenses are 
issued for the most part to aboriginal tribes inhabiting the 
jungles in the north of the district but they bring in little 
revenue. 

Granja is imported by wholesale dealers under bond who 
issue it to the retail vendor. The latter sells it at a licensed shop 
which he has bought at public auction. In 1909-10 there were 
74 such shops in the district. Opium is issued from the treasury 
and sub-treasuries to retail vendors, of whom there were 29 in 
1909-10. These persons pay Rs. 30 per seer for the drug and 
retail it at Rs. 50 per seer, but in 1909-10 they had to pay 
Rs. 18,000 as license fees. For the management of the excise 
revenue the Collector is assisted by a special Excise Deputy 
Collector and the following staff, 2 Deputy Inspectors, 4 Sub- 
Inspectors, 7 clerks, 1 jamadar and 23 peons. Country spirit, 
opium and ganja are generally all sold at the same shop which 
is regularly inspected and is free from any nuisance or impropriety. 
Drunkenness, at any rate in public, is rare, and breaches of the 
excise laws or public decency are not common. 

Stamps are the one head of revenue in which the district Stamps, 
shows a steady and very great increase. In 1836-37 the 
receipts from stamps amounted to Rs. 83,265, in 1865-66 they 
were Rs. 2,15,536, by 1892-93 they had risen to Rs. 7,14,428 
and in 1907-08 they were Rs. 11,72,411 of which Rs. 8,19,846 
were received for judicial and the balance for non-judicial stamps. 
Growth of population, advance in material prosperity, increase in 
business transactions and increased resort to the courts in prefer- 
ence to private settlement of cases and village arbitration are 
assigned as the main reasons for the great increase in the judicial • 
stamp revenue. 

Roads and public works cesses are levied at the usual rates Cesses. 
of one anna in the rupee. A revaluation of the district was • 
carried out in 1907-08, and it was ascertained that there were 
19,471 estates with 147,886 tenures. The gross rental of the> 



142 DACCA DISTEICT. 

district was Rs. 41,36,674 as compared with Rs. 22,49,564 in 
1872 when it was first valued for cess purposes. 

Income-tax. The Excise Deputy Collector is in charge of income-tax 

and has an Assessor working under him. Assessments over 
Rs. 10,000 are made by the Collector, and appeals lie direct from 
the Excise Deputy Collector to the Commissioner. The con- 
version of Dacca into the capital of a province led to a great 
increase in the receipts under this head. 

Registration. In 1910 there were 18 Registration Offices in the district. 

Registration is apparently growing in popularity and the volume 
of business has largely increased of recent years. The great 
bulk of the documents registered are mortgages and sale of 
movable property. Statistical details will be found in the Statis- 
tical Appendix. It was originally the practice to pay the rural 
sub-registrars by commission and to leave them to make arrange- 
ments for their oflfices. The sub-registrars have now become 
salaried officials, and as many of the existing offices are ramshackle 
untidy buildings, arrangements are being made to replace them 
by suitable structures erected by Government. 

Civil iustice Litigation in Dacca is very heavy and the stafif employed is 

proportionately large. In 1909 in addition to the District Judge 
there were three subordinate judges, one small cause Court judge, 
with powers of a subordinate judge, and 17 munsifs. An additional 
judge who has been posted to Dacca, Sylhet and Tippera also sits 
in Dacca for about four months in the year. Dacca is, of course, 
the centre of the civil administration but there are munsifs 
stationed at each of the subdivisional head-quarters. Some idea 
of the volume of work can be gathered from the fact that in 1906 
43,056 original civil cases and 1,051 appeals were decided, but for 
further statistical information reference should be made to the 
Statistical Appendix. Tlie great majority of the civil suits are for 
arrears of rent or mort2ao;e suits and the value as a rule is small. 

Criminal I'Lig District Judge also acts as Sessions Judge and there 

justice. were in the district in 1910 IS stipendiary and 33 honorary 

magistrates. There are usually three stipendiary magistrates at 
Munshiganj and two both at NarSyanganj and Manikganj. The 
remainder were stationed at Dacca itself but many of them are 
junior officers under training or, though members of the provincial 
service, employed for the most part on executive and not judicial 
work. There are single sitting honorary magistrates at Dacca 
and each of the subdivisional head-quarters, at Balla and at Teota 
in Manikganj, and at Srlnagar in .Munsliiganj. Tliere are benches 
of Magistrates at Dacca, Manikganj, Munshiganj, Teota and 
Srinagar. Honorary Magistrates dispose of a considerable number 
of petty cases but they are very apt to be dilatory in tlieir pro- 
cedure and it is doubtful whether they are popular with the 
people. 

Crime. As in the rest of Eastern Bengal serious crime is by no means 

uncommon. This is the result partly of the character of the 



GENERAL ADMINISTRATION. 143 

people themselves, partly of the conditions under which they 
live ; more perhaps of the latter, as character is largely dependant 
on environment. For centuries the hand of government has been 
weaker in Eastern Hengal than it has been in other parts of 
India. In the days of Muhammadan rule it was a frontier pro- 
vince and exi)osed to the raids of Maghs, Arakanese and Alioms. 
It was situated far from the seat of central government and the 
rulers of Eastern Bengal not infrequently repudiated their alle- 
giance and set up as independent chieftains. These two facts in 
themselves tended to creat a feeling of instability in the minds of 
the inhabitants and an indifference, bred of long usage, to turmoil 
and confusion. But even when the government is firmly estab- 
lished administration in these water districts must of necessity 
be less efficient than in drier country. Elsewhere it is not so 
easy for a person who is wanted by the authorities to abscond. 
A man who travels by land is likely to be seen by villagers who 
live along the route he takes, and if he wishes to carry property 
with him he is tied to a few high roads and to a slowly moving 
cart. But in the flooded tracts a person who is wanted by the 
police can at a moment's notice disappear. He has only to step 
into a boat with his belongings and in five minutes he is swal- 
lowed up into that waste of waters, leaving no tracks behind him, 
no traces of his movements, for there will be nothing in his little 
cratt to attract the attention of those who pass him on his way. 
Or if the criminal is ;vell-todo and the police officer is venal he 
has merely to offer him a bribe to say that the man is missing, 
and the policeman can return assured that it will be quite impos- 
sible to test the accuracy of his statement. On land it is not so 
easy to escape from justice, the criminal can be followed and 
tracked down, but amidst these gigantic rivers, with their network 
of minor channels and huge swamps, he vanishes from mortal ken 
and none, even if they wished to do so, can say where he is 
gone. Added to this the district and local units of administration 
have always been too large for efficient management and control. 
The population was no doubt originally turbulent and for 
centuries it has lived under conditions in which Govern'\nent was 
not sufficiently strong to compel general obedience to the law 
and thus create a more pacific and law-abiding disposition. 

There is another factor vyhich has a prejudicial effect upon 
the character of the people. Any dispute with regard to 
land is always in agricultural communities attended with 
exceptional bitterness and violence. Disputes as to land titles 
are the bitterest of all and there are two causes which tend to 
make such disputes exceedingly common in East Bengal. The 
minute subdivision of estates under the Hindu joint family 
system and the absence of a reliable survey promotes the growth 
of boundary disputes even where the land is a fixed factor in the 
case. But in the neighbourhood of the great rivers the matter is 
much aggravated. Islands are formed and there is often reasonable 



144 DACCA DISTRICT. 

doubt as to the particular estate within whose boundaries they have 
arisen. The disputing parties generally endeavour to take forci- 
ble possession and bloody tights from time to time occur. The 
relations between one co-sharer and another and between landlord 
and tenant have for many years been vague and indeterminate. A 
powerful and ambitious co-sharer would often attempt to seize and 
take under his immediate control a larger share of the joint pro- 
perty than was his by right, and landlords would attempt to 
extort from their tenants more than the law allowed. At times, 
too, tenants would combine to resist demands which were not 
unreasonable or to set up claims opposed to equity and right. 
Sometimes these disputes would be fought out in the law courts 
but not infrequently they would be settled with the bludgeon of 
the lathial or the sharp fishing spear of the raiyat. These are the 
bigger cases where landlord fights direct with landlord or with 
tenant but smaller frays occur between contending tenants. At 
the present day when there is a question of title in dispute the 
rival landlords both grant leases for the same plot of land to 
different men. Both then attempt to plough it, each relying on 
a ^:)?'rm(X /acz'e title, and not unfrequently, the soil is fertilised 
with the life-blood of the weaker. In conditions such as these 
human life has lost much of its sanctity and value. 
Police. For the purposes of police protection the district is divided 

into the following thanas and independent outposts : — Sadr sub- 
division — Dacca city (Kotwali), Keraniganj. Kapasia, Sabhar, 
Kaliakoer and Nawabganj ; Narayanganj subdivision — Narayan- 
ganj, Riipganj, Raipura and Manohardi ; Munshiganj subdivi- 
sion — Munshiganj, Srinagar, Rajabari and Lohajang ; Manikganj 
subdivision — Manikganj, Sealo Aricha, (xhior, and Harirampur. 
In 1910 the sanctioned force consisted of two Superintendents, 
(one temporary) one Assistant Superintendent, two Deputy 
Superintendents, 7 Inspectors, 69 Sub-Inspectors, 67 Head Con- 
stables, and 724 Constables. There was one police constable to 
every 3 1 square miles of area and to every 3,.S93 persons in the 
district. The force has been largely strengthened since the 
creation bf the new province but work continues to be heavy. 
In 1910 there were 102 cognizable cases under investigation for 
every Sub-Inspector employed on the prevention and detec- 
tion of crime. The police are further supported by the village 
chaukidars of whom in 1910 there were 4, '208. But these men- 
are poor and stupid and in many cases old, and they cannot be 
regarded as in any way an efficient force. In 1905 the experiment 
was tried of requiring the chaukidar to report crime not to the 
thana but to tlie President of his Union, but in practice it was 
found to he .so unsatisfactory tliat it had to be abandoned. 

Dacca is the head-quarters of a military })o]ice battalion with 
a total strength of 784 officers and men. Strong detachments from 
this battalion are however stationed at Bakargauj, Silchar and in 
the Garo Hills. 



GENERAL ADMINISTRATION. 145 

There is an interesting letter in the records of the Magistracy 
describing the arrangements made in 1814 for watch and ward in 
the city. In addition to the regular police the Magistrate recruited 
a force of 759 chaukidars who were paid by a levy of about two 
annas per house per mensem. He very properly considered that a 
newly raised body of men composed of such materials as this 
suddenly let loose upon the community might be productive of 
greater evils than those it was intended to redress unless under 
the guidance of a system of vigilant inspection and control. "For 
between a spirit of activity and inquiry so ardent as to be abso- 
lutely irritating to the people and a degree of apathy and indiffer- 
ence so extreme as to render the establishment altogether nuga- 
tory, it is no easy matter for persons of this class to discriminate." 

The Magistrate accordingly appointed daffadars and divided 
the chaukidars into three sections. One section was stationed as 
fixed guards at the various outlets or passes generally termed 
ghats or nakas. These men remained on duty all night. Of the 
other two sections one patrolled at the same time as the 
* zamadar ' but in the opposite direction, the other at the same 
time as the thanadar. Thus about 500 chaukidars were on duty the 
whole night through. It is no matter for surprise that with 
this large force continually on its rounds at night the profes- 
sional burglar was not encouraged to pursue his trade. The 
Magistrate also seems to have considered that the arrangement 
had the advantage of providing comfortably for potential male- 
factors, as he assumes that many of his chaukidars were " either 
formerly rogues, or maintained a precarious livelihood by that 
mixture of alternate labour, indolence and dishonesty so common 
among the lower class of natives." 

There must have been a jail of considerable size at Dacca Jails, 
even in the days of Muhammadan rule, and in 1775 there were 
llU prisoners, of whom 87 were dacoits, 15 were confined for 
murder and 8 for theft. Of the above number 95 were at 
work on the road and in irons, whose guilt had never been estab- 
lished before a court of judicature and many of them had been so 
circumstanced for nine years.* The supervision exercisSd over 
the extra-mural labour was, however, very lax, and in 1811 the 
Magistrate reported that he had seen a gang of prisoners in chains 
looting a mucli's shop before his very eyes and that he had previ- 
ously received complaints of similar occurrences. Matters had 
doubtless improved by 1824 when Bishop Heber visited Dacca for 
he describes the jail as being very well arranged with roomy wards 
and dry and airy apartments. t In 1837 the criminal jail had 
accommodation for 800 prisoners and a daily average population of ^ 
526. At the present day the jail premises cover an area of nearly 
30 acres. They are enclosed by a high brick wall within which 
stand the sleeping wards, working sheds, hospitals and offices. 

* Topography of Dacca, p. 217. 
t Heber"s Jouruals, Vol. 1, p. 152. 



146 . DACCA DI8TBICT. 

The wards are two or three stories high and are lofty, cool, and 
well ventilated, they provide accommodation for 1,171 male and 17 
female prisoners. 

More than half the total number of prisoners are employed 
on manufactures which include printing, weaving, tailoring, 
carpentry, canework, wheat-grinding and oil-pressing, and the 
manufacture of carpets. The total cost of the jail at present 
stands in the books of the P. W. D. at Rs. 4,84,000. It is in 
charge of a whole time ofl&cer of the Indian Medical Service. 

At Narayanganj and Manikganj there are subsidiary jails, 
built of brick, which can accommodate 35 and 22 prisoners respec- 
tively. The jail at Narayanganj was built in 1900 at a cost of 
Rs. 14,500 and the jail at Manikganj in 1891 at a cost of Rs. 13,800. 
The Munshiganj jail is situated in a corner of the old Muham- 
madan fort and is built of bamboo and thatch ; it can accommodate 
16 prisoners and as Munshiganj is a criminal subdivision in 
which there are often a large number of under-trial prisoners in 
confinement the jail is not infrequently overcrowded. Only 
prisoners with sentences of 14 days or less are kept at these jail« 
convicts with longer terms being despatched to Dacca. 



LAND REVENUE ADMINISTRATION. ~- 147 



CHAPTER XI. 



LAND llEVENUE ADMINISTRATION. 

Little is known of the system of land revenue administration [ an^ 
that prevailed under the Hindus prior to the conquest of Bengal revenue 
by the Muhammadans in the thirteenth century. It is said system in 
that the revenue was collected and remitted by the villacre native rule 
headmen and that the zamindar, who was merely an official tax 
gatherer removable at will, was a Muhammadan creation, but it 
would be dangerous to attach too great importance to these 
legends of a golden age. Tradition has it that Sikandar Shah 
(1359 — 68) made a survey of at least a part of Dacca district 
with a large standard of measurement still known as the Sikandari 
gaj, but the first settlement of which any record remains is that 
made by R5j5 Todar Mai, Akbar's great finance minister, in 1558. 
The province of Dacca, which included the Dacca division with 
Tippera and jfoakhali, was divided into two sarkars, Bajuha 
which included Dacca city, and Sonargaon. Bajuha was assessed 
at Rs. 9,87,921 and Sonargaon at Rs. 2,58,283.* The revenue 
administration was revised by Jafir Khan in 1722 and again by 
his successor Suja Kh5n, but the details of their arrangements 
are of little practical interest as the unit with which they were 
concerned was so much larger than the Dacca district. 

Under the Mughals it was the practice to allot almost a third 
of the total area as grants for the maintenance of the great services 
of State. The principal grants were the naiuara for the support 
of a fleet (which in Akbar's time is said to have consisted of 3,000 
boats) to defend the country against the Maghs and Assamese 
the ahsham for the maintenance of artillery, the sarkar ali for the 
expenses of the Nawab, the faujderani for the expenses of the 
Naib (a grant which was valued at over a lakh of rupees per 
annum) and the jaghir of the Commander-in-Ctiief of the Empire 
from which he could maintain 2,650 horse. 

In addition to the land revenue or mahal other taxes called Abw'b 
ahwdbs were collected by the Muhammadan rulers. The princi- 
pal ahwdbs were (1) Khasiutvisi, a fee exacted from the zamiu- 
dSrs at the renewal of their leases, (2) Nazirdna Mokm*txt to 
cover the cost of the presents sent to the Imperial Court, (31 
Zer mathout, a cess of 1| per cent on the original land revenue • 
(4) Faujddri ahwdh, a tax imposed by the Naib and retained by 
him, (5) Chautli Mar/iafta levied to defray the cost of the 
Marhatta tribute. This does! not however exhaust the list of • 

* Topography of Dacca, p 192. 



148 DACCA DISTRICT. 

ahwdbs and considerable sums were realised under the heads 
Kefyat and Tanfir which seem to have been in theory collec- 
tions to make good sums improperly omitted from the revenue 
demand. 
Say"- Another large source of income was the sayer or duty levied 

on professions and trades and most articles in ordinary use. 
These taxes were collected at ganges, ghats, and bazars and were 
generally let out to farmers who extorted as much as they could 
realise. The following were the principal sayer duties : — 

Mhir bari. — A tax on the building of boats varying from 8 
annas to Re. 1-4 per vessel. This in itself was not a serious mat- 
ter, but every boat arriving at or leaving the city was taxed accord- 
ing to the length of the intended voyage, e.g., boats leaving for 
Calcutta paid 10 annas an oar and boats arriving from that place 
a lump sum of Ks. 2. This tax gradually spread to the mofussil 
and survives in the shape of ghat dues at the present day. 

Chauk nikass. — A tax on all articles sold in the market place. 
Vendors of copper utensils, cutlery, hookahs, etc, paid at the rate 
of one anna in the rupee. In addition to this there were specific 
taxes on the sellers of grass, wood, vegetables, vermilion, paper, 
salt and dried fish. There was a general tax on all traders, and 
specific taxes for goldsmiths, shell-cutters, firework makers, musi- 
cians, snake charmers and others. The monopoly of the sale of 
betel leaf in the city was let out and in 1773 realised over 
Rs. 18,000. Evil customs die hard and in spite of the abolition of 
the sayer duties in 1790 such monopolies of vend in their markets 
are still sold by zamindars at the present day. 

This however does not exhaust the list of taxes. The oflScers 
charged with the supervision of the weights and measures used 
in the market were allowed to levy a duty of h per cent on all 
merchandise exposed for sale, while money was realised from 
dealers at the different marts in Bikrampur. There was a tax 
too of one anna in the rupee on all money taken out of the 
district, while natives of the district who had earned money in 
service in other parts of the country had to surrender a quota 
of it on their return home. According to the accounts submitted 
at the time of the transfer of the diwdni to the Company 
duties were levied at 556 markets in the Dacca province, which 
yielded an annual revenue of nearly Rs. 69,000, 

After the assumption of the duvdni by the Company in 

roVenue 1765 settlements were first made for short periods. The members 

under iiie of Council at Dacca remarked with much justice that '♦ the 

Cotapauy. collecting of the revenues of so large a district is an important 

business which we are not much acquainted with,"* and they very 

prudently confirmed the existing officers in their appointments. 

The correspondence of the first Collectors of Dacca is chiefly conr 

cerued with these settlements and with the difficulties experienced 

* India Office Records. 



LAND REVENUE ADMINISTRATION. 149 

in inducing the zamindars to take settlement at a jamma 
which seemed suitable, difficulties which were accentuated by 
the floods and famines with which the district was afflicted at 
the close of the eighteenth century. 

In 1765 the net revenue of the province of Dacca, which was 
a very much larger area than the present Dacca district, after 
deducting the allowances made for the cost of collection was 
Ks. 16,13,203.* This was, as was only natural, a far from complete 
account of all the sums rightly due to Grovernment and the 
corresponding figure for 1772 was Rs. 26,93,041. In 1777 the net 
revenue was fixed at Rs. 28,49,110 and in 1783 the province was 
settled for a period of ten years for Rs. 28,09,998 or nearly 
Rs. 40,000 less than at the preceding settlement, a reduction 
which was by no means unreasonable in view of the losses which 
it had sustained in the famine of 1784. The settlement of 1793 
was made permanent, the amount of revenue assessed on Dacca 
and Bakarganj, which at that time formed the unit of adminis- 
tration, being 12^ lakhs of rupees. 

Mr. Sen in his Agricultural Eeport of the Dacca district Position of 
(p. 61) remarks that whatever may have been the case elsewhere the 
there can be no doubt that the zamindars of the Dacca district ^^°^iDdfl'''a. 
had no proprietary rights in the land, that they were tahsildars 
of the Government revenue with more or less local influence and 
that it was the permanent settlement which converted persons 
who had formerly been mere rent collectors into proprietors. A 
reference to the earlier records tends to confirm this view. The 
Collector writing to the Board of Revenue in 1790 states that it 
was the difficulty of collecting revenue through tahsildars and the 
inconvenience of requiring every petty taluqdar to pay at Sadr 
that induced the Muhammadan rulers to settle with the zamin- 
dars, who were comparatively few in number and persons of some 
respectability. From this letter it would appear that these per- 
sons had no more property in their estates than the expectation 
of a resettlement, provided that they accepted the proposed reve- 
nue and that their conduct continued to be satisfactory, and that 
their position was entirely different from that of a free'holder. 

In 1792, against the advice of the Collector, the inferior 
talukdars were made independent and allowed to pay their 
revenue direct into the treasury instead of through the zamindar. 
The Collector opposed this change on the ground that it would 
very much lower the position of the zamindar, who derived some 
pecuniary advantage and additional consequence from the manage- 
ment of these taluqs. He was of opinion that tahsildars were 
just as likely to prove oppressive as zamindars and that it would 
be very inconvenient for the petty taluqdars to pay their few 
annas of revenue at sadr. His objections were, however, over- 
ruled and tahsildars were appointed, but they were soon abolished , 

* Topography of Dacca, p. 206. 



150 DACCA DISTRICT. 

and the system of payment at sach-" introduced. This system is 
still in force and the whole of the land revenue is paid direct 
at Dacca, with the exception of the amounts realised from the 
kbas mahals where Government stands itself in the position of 
the zamindar and collects direct from the cultivators through 
tahsildars. 

Different The following different classes of estates and tenures are 

estates °^ found within the district :— 

I. Estates in chief — 

(1) Estates the unalienated property of Government. 

f (a) Resumed lakhiraj. 
I (6) Purchased estates. 
Khas Mahals -^ (c) Alluvial accretions. 
I (d) Islands. 
\Je) Other khas mahals. 

(2) Settled estates paying revenue to Government. 

(a) Permanently settled — zamindSri, kharija, hatari 

taluq. 

(b) Temporarily settled — khas ijara. 

(3) Revenue-free estates, 
(a) Redeemed. 

(6) Religious foundation (Debottar). 

(c) Charitable foundation (Brahmottar). 

(d) Service estates (Lakhiraj). 

II. Subordinate tenures — 

(1) Held direct from the zamindSr. 

(a) Hereditary and transferable. 

At a fixed rent— samilat, patni, sikhni, mirash, 

mukhasi. 
At a rent liable to enhancement— /lao^a. 

(b) Hereditary but not transferable. 
At a fixed rent — bandobasti, kayemi. 

(c) Temporary but transferable — ijara. 

(2) Held from a tenure-holder under the zamindar. 

(a) Hereditary and transferable at a fixed rent —dar- 

'patni, dar mirash. 
At a rent liable to enhancement — nira haola. 

(b) Temporary — dar ijara. 

III. Rent-free tenures. 

(1) Religious foundation. 

Hindu — Debottar, Brahmottar. 
Muhammadan— Chiragan. 

(2) Charitable. 

. Hindu — Bhagattar. 

(3) Service. 

(a) Held by zamindars' servants — paikan. 
(6) Held by personal servants — tia^aran, chahran, 
Dxahatran. 



LAND REVENUE ADMINISTRATION. 



151 



The following abstract shows the number and nature of the xhe 
different classes of estates in 1910-11 : — permanently 

settled 
estates. 



Permanently settled 


Tempo KARiLY 


Estates heli> in 




ESTATES. 




SETTLED ESTATES. 


DUiECT MANAGEMENT. 




CO 






tn 






(C 






0) 












<v 






b 


















u 












o 




C 


OS 

(3 


3 




a 


i 


c 


rt 


a 


Xi 


'^ 


a 


.a 




d 


x^ 


"^ 


a 


B 


o3 


> 


a 


aj 


t- 


B 


rt 


0; 
If 






dj 






a> 






(» 


"z* 


< 


« 


"^ 


< 


M 


a 


< 


« 






Rs. 






Rs. 






Rs. 


10,181 


1,61K),661 


4,23,706 


464 


69,679 


60,618 


236 


10,986 


30,935 



The greater number of the permanently settled estates are 
very small. The highest revenue paid by any estate is Rs. 14,133. 
There are only 3 estates which pay above Rs. 10,000, 6 estates 
which pay between Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 10,000, and 52 which pay 
bet\Teen Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 5,000. Turning to the other end of 
the scale there are 947 estates which pay less than a rupee and 
4,554 which pay from one to ten rupees. The average revenue 
paid by an estate is Rs. 41. 

. The temporarily settled estates are estates which were settled Temporarily- 
after the permanent settlement. The settlement holder has a ^^|^*|^^*^ 
permanent, heritable and transferable title subject to the payment 
of the revenue assessed. 

The khas mahals of Dacca are neither numerous nor import- Estates held 

ant. They fall into the following main classes — island churs *" ^'"^^°'li„„. 
.1 -ji >i n ' i-i.ii ,. .. tnauiigement. 

thrown up in the beds oi rivers outside the boundaries of any 

permanently settled estate — lands resumed as invalid lakhirSj, 

service lands and lands bought in at revenue sales. The estates 

are small and scattered and efficient management is far from 

easy. The revenue assessed by Government is generally light 

and ranges from Rs. 2 to Rs. 3 per acre of culturable land. Eleven 

of these estates are situated in Dacca city. 

Reference has already been made to the small size of the Subordinate 
average estates and this perhaps is the reason why there has been tenures. 
no very elaborate development of under-tenures in Dacca. A 
large number of raiyats hold direct from the zamindar and 
tenures below the second degree are very rare. 

The following are the principal forms of tenures in existence 
in the district : — A kharija or kuzuri taluq is a tahtq or estate 
excluded from a zamindari and paying revenue direct to the , 
treasury. There is practically no difference between such a taluq 
and a zaminddr'i. In Asamilat taluq the revenue is permanently 
settled, but is paid to the Zamindar and by him to Government. • 

The following paragraphs are extracted from a letter written 
by the Collector of Dacca in 1790 to the Board of Revenue at 



152 DACCA DISTRICT. 

Fort William and are interesting as showing the relative positions 
of zamind5rs and taluqdars at that time : — 

" The first question that occurs is what is a Talookdar and 
what the essentials that constitute him an actual proprietor of the 
soil. As I was not satisfatorily informer] on this subject I referred 
to the most authentic evidence written or verbal within my reach 
and I find that they are in this district of four kinds besides a 
similar description of renter called a Kawaladar, as follows. 

Is^. Jungleboory. — Previous to the division of the country 
into pergannahs and Tuppahs and fixing what is called the 
Tuxeembundy many persons undertook to cultivate jungle and 
waste lands and when the Tuxeembundy was made these new 
cultivated lands were constituted Talooks and included in the 
Juminabundy of the nearest zamindar by the Government of 
that time and if any increase or remission was granted the 
zamindar a proportional part fell to the Talookdars. If the 
zamindar withheld from the Talookdar any part of this he was 
at liberty to complain to the Government who compelled the 
zapaindSr to allow the Talookdar his proportion of the remis- 
sion. If the Talookdar died leaving heirs they got possession 
of the lands in the same manner as their predecessor and the 
zamindar had nothing to do with them but receive ' his Mulgujari 
agreeably to Kistbundy, but if there happened to be no heirs the 
zamindar was the manager for the behalf of Government. 

2nd. Zur Khereed. —The Talookdars under this denomination 
were at liberty to sell their Talooks by bid of sale with or 
without the permission of the zamindar, and on failure of heirs 
the zamindar could take possession and sell the lands or keep 
them, as he might be inclined. These Talookdars were subject to 
increase or entitled to remissions proportionately with their 
zamindars agreeably to their respective jummas. 

3nZ. PottoJi Talookdar. — The zamindars and Chaudries could 
grant hereditary Talookdary Pattahs to any person for lands 
belonging to themselves called their neej, whether cultivated or 
uncultivated, in which pattah it was stipulated that the Talookdars 
should have? possession of the whole lands agreed upon, and that 
the management should descend to his heirs for ever : but this 
Talook'.lar could neither sell nor make over by deed of gift the lands 
of his Talook neither coald the zamindar dispose of it but on failure 
of issue it reverted to the zamindar. Pattah Talookdars were 
subject to increases and remissions along with the zamindars, .; 

^tJi.'Wasnut Talookdar or Talookdar within Talookdar is the 
same in respect to a Talookdar that a Zur Khereed Talookdar is 
to a zamindar. 

o/A. Ifoivlladar. — In the pargnnnah of Pikrampur a custom 
prevails that if any Talookdar sell any part of his Talook to 
another person upon receiving the purchase price, he calls him a 
llowlladar of so nuich land who pays his rents to the Talookdar, 
but if any dispute arises, between tlie Talookdar and HowUadar 



LAND REVENUE ADMINISTRATION. 



153 



he can get bis Howlladar separated from this Talookdar and 
included in some other Talookdary. The land is sul)ject to 
increase and decrease of revenue along with the other renters 
and the property is hereditary and transferable. 

The above is as accurate a definition of the dififerent 
Talookdars of this district as I have been able to procure, and it 
remains with the Board to decide what description of them or 
whether the whole are to be considered as having an actual 
property in the soil and to be separated from the zamindars. 

The number of Talookdars in this district are computed to 
be upwards of 20,000. Many {erguunahs are already a Talook- 
dary settlement, zamindars standing between them and Govern- 
ment in tlie liglit of Tasseeldars. 

lam authorised by the resolutions of the Governor-General in 
Council to appoint Tasseeldars in these pergunnahs where the 
Talooks are too numerous to receive the revenues immediately 
from the Talookdars This mode I must consequently adopt in 
many pergunnahs — but in doing this zamindars will murmur as 
long custom and possession have given them a sort of hereditary 
claim to the nmnagement from which they derive pecuniary 
advantages as well as influence and consequence. The new 
Tasseeldars it fs true can for some time to come have no hereditary 
claim, though there is no doubt but possession may at some future 
period give them a handle to set up pleas of the same kind : thus 
then a new set of men will be set up who may claim property to 
which they have no title, at the expense of those, who are 
already admitted to possess or supposed to have a right in the soil. 

In the mehal Keteraboe, the zamindars have not a foot of 
ground, all Talookdary, yet they claim a'.right to the lands and 
are allowed the usual Kussum. May we not suppose them to 
have been originally only Tasseeldars and from long possession 
have set up hereditary claims, and may we not also from thence 
infer that our Tasseeldars may have a sense of their own interests 
sufficient at least to attempt a similar claim. 

I beg to subjoin a list of some of the principal zamindars 
of this district, showing the Talukdary jumma, the n^ej jumma, 
the neej jumma of the zamindars and the number of Talookdars 
in each zamindary : — 





Own land. 


Talookdar's 


Total 


Numbsr of 




jumma. 


jumma. 


Talookdars. 


rergiinnah .lalalpur 


11,000 


7G,001 


87,001 


2.148 


Do. Cliundei'deep .. 


17,000 


72 725 


89,725 


400 


Do. Bikrampur 


2,010 


2.5,642 


27,G.52 


208 


Do. Ranjiuagar 


9i,.555 


2,01,118 


2.9.3,673 


400 


Tappa. Mysurdee 


4,000 


14,004 


18,004 


5,601 


Fergunnah Essakabad... 


1,700 


2,000 


3,700 


200 


Tuppah Hydrabad 


1237 


7.'i0 


1,985 


200 



Tenants. 



154 DACCA DISTRICT. 

From the above comparative view of the property of the 
Talookdars and Zemindars it appears that the latter possess hut 
little real property of their own and that a separation of the 
Talookdars would reduce many of them from affluent circumstances 
to a state of indigence, ^d the titles of Raja and Zemindars 
which they are allowed to enjoy will become a mere empty name." 

A sikimi tenure dates from the permanent settlement, is 
hereditary and transferable, and the rent is as a rule fixed in 
perpetuity by the deed granting the tenure. There are, how- 
ever, a few cases in which there is nothing in the terms of the 
deed to prohibit enhancement, but the custom of the district is 
against it. A inirash does not date back to the permanent 
settlement but otherwise does not differ materially from a sikioni. 
A haola is a tahtq created for the reclamation of jungle land, it is 
heritable and transferable but the rent may be enhanced. 
MusJtkasi is a tenure held immediately under the zamindar at a 
fixed rent: it is hereditary but not transferable by sale or gift. 
Bandohasti is a tenure which is generally created when a person 
wants to build a house or dig a tank or to reclaim jungle land. 
It can be inherited but not transferred by sale or gift. 

The great majority of tenants are occupancy raiyats, but 
there are many ways of eluding the provisions of the Bengal 
Tenancy Act and the occupancy raiyat does not invariably enjoy 
all the privileges to which he is entitled. The custom with 
regard to the transfer of land by sale or gift or the right to cut 
down fruit or timber trees is not clearly settled, but the right 
of transfer is generally recognised on payment of salmni. 
The utbandi raiyats or tenants-at-will are generally to be 
found in n-ewly formed churs and islands and in the jungles 
north of Dacca. In Munshiganj there are a few tenants at fixed 
rates but they are a small proportion of the whole. On the whole, 
however, the relations between landlords and tenants are not 
unsatisfactory. Rents are generally moderate and the benevo- 
lences levied in addition to the rent are seldom excessive. 



LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT. 1 15 



CHAPTER XII. 



LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT. 

Outside the municipalities of Dacca and Narayangauj local District 
affairs are managed by a District Board, which was constituted Boards, 
in 1885 under the Bengal Local Self-Government Act, super- 
seding the District Road Committee which had been constituted 
under the Cess Act of 1»80. 

The principal functions entrusted to the District Board are 
the construction and maintenance of roads and bridges, the pro- 
vision and management of ferries and rest-houses, the manage- 
ment of pounds, the inspection and financial aid of educational 
institutions and dispensaries, the provision of veterinary assist- 
ance and of wholesome drinking water, the improvement of the 
lesser waterways and of the sanitary surroundings of villages and 
towns, and the development of industries. In each subdivision 
there is also a iLocal Board to which certain of the functions of 
the District Board are delegated. 

„ The District Board is composed of 29 members, of whom 8 
hold office ex-officio, 7 are nominated and the remaining 14 are 
elected by the Local Boards. About five-sixths of the members 
are natives of India. The Collector is the Chairman, but the 
V^ice-Chairman is a non-official Indian gentleman. The total 
income of the Board in 1909-10, excluding the opening balance, 
was in round numbers Ks. 2,36,()()0, the three principal 
heads being Provincial Kates (Rs. 1,09,000), Ferry Receipts 
(Rs. 35,000} and Provincial Grant (Rs. 72,000). The incidence of 
taxation is very low and only amounted to 8 pies per head of the 
population. The total expenditure chargeable to current income 
was Rs. 2,56,000, the principal heads being Education, Rs. 78,000 
and Public Works Rs. 1,42,000. For further financial details 
reference should be made to the Statistical Appendix. 

In 1907-08 the District Board maintained 8^ miles of 
metalled, 312 miles of unmetalled, and 418 miles of village 
road, the cost of maintenance per mile being Rs. 1,041, Rs. 80 
and Rs. 50 respectively. It also kept in repair five major 
bridges, and controlled 78 ferries. Only five rest-houses are 
maintained, but comparatively few people travel by land and 
staging bungalows are not as necessary as in other parts of India. , 
Th^ provision of wholesome drinking water is a matter that is 
constantly engaging the board's attention and no less than 198 
masonry wells liave been constructed and 49 tanks havg been 
excavated and are kept in proper repair. There are, hovveVg r, few 
objects on which money can be better spent and the num ber of 



156 



DACCA DISTRICT. 



wells increases every year. Something has also been done for the 
improvement of the sanitary surroundings of certain villages — but 
this is a matter which must largely be left to the action of the 
villagers themselves. 

The Board maintains ten dispensaries and gives grants in 
aid to six more. In 1909-10 it gave grants in aid amounting to 
Ks. 44,700 to 1,377 schools. Attempts have been made to 
introduce the cultivation of eri silk, and improved methods of 
weaving, but up to date they have met with little success. The 
opening of a model weaviag school at Dacca is, however, in 
contemplation. An itinerating veterinary assistant is engaged 
by the Board to tour in the interior and treat the cattle of the 
villagers and a contribution is made to the support of a second man 
stationed at Dacca. The executive staff of the Board consists of a 
European engineer on a pay of Rs. 600 — 2o— 800, three overseers 
on pay ranging from Rs. 60— Rs. 100, and six sub-overseers. In 
the education department the Board employs three deputy inspec- 
tors and 1 1 sub-inspectors of schools. 
Local Local Boards are constituted in each subdivision and ad- 

BoARDs. minister allotments ranging from Rs. 9,000 to Rs. 12,000 which 
are made over to them by the District Board. They have no 
independent sources of income and they are only'entrusted with 
the duty of repairing village roads and providing to some extent 
for village water-supply. The Boards consist of from 9 tq 16 
members, the majority of whom are elected. They are only 
required to deal with petty local matters and discharge their 
functions as well as could reasonably be expected of them. 
There is, however, hardly room for a subdivisional Local Board 
under the District Board, and the standard of efficiency is conse- 
quently low. The following abstract shows the number of wells 
and bridges and the mileage of village roads kept up by these 
Boards : — 

Number of ,,., p 

II J Mileage ot 
wells and .,, ^ , 

tanks. ^'^^^^g^ •■°^^'* 

Sadr ... ... ... 45 135 

iMunshiganj ... ... 19 94 

Narayanganj ... ... 74 123 

Manikganj ... ... 50 65 

MuNicipALi- "Yhe L'erm of n)unicipal administration in the district is to 

Dacca be found in the arrangenuMit made in 1776 wlien the nuzzurs 

. received by the Provincial Council at the Puneah or day of annual 

settlement with the zamindars were made over to defray tlie 

expense of rejiairing the roads in Dacca.* Prisoners were also 

employed for the same purpose and for many years the care of the 

* Ti>|)0^'r,i|iliy ol' D.iCca, ]>. 2lH. 



LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT. IS-T 

city remained directly in the hands of Grovernrnent. In 1864, 
the District Municipal Improvement Act was introduced into 
Dacca and the affairs of the city have been administered by 
Commissioners since that date. At the present day they are 
21 in number, two-thirds of whom are elected. Only four of the 
Commissioners in 1910 were Europeans and the chairman was a 
non-official Indian gentleman, so that the Dacca Municipality 
may be regarded as an example of representative institutions 
subjected to the minimum of official interference. The total 
area of the Municipality was 6-05 square miles and the popula- 
tion residing within municipal limits in 1911 was 108,551. 
The principal sources of direct income are a tax on holdings 
levied at the rate of 10 per cent of the annual value, latrine 
rates, tolls on roads and ferries, and a tax on animals and 
vehicles. 

Few cities offer more serious obstacles to successful munici- 
pal administration than Dacca and few Commissioners have 
received freer or more generous aid in their struggle with their 
difficulties. For the proper understanding of the situation it is 
necessary to briefly summarise the many drawbacks of the town. 
The streets ar§ extraordinarily narrow and congested and, as the 
cost of stone is very high, they have been metalled with broken 
brick which wears into holes and is ground by traffic into a 
peculiarly irritating dust. Before the construction of the water- 
works the only sources of water-supply were the river and wells 
sunk in soil contaminated with every species of impurity. Even 
at the present day about 5,000 latrines cannot be reached by the 
conservancy sweepers and the removal of night-soil from the ones 
that are accessible is a process attended with considerable public 
inconvenience. There is no system of surface drainage and the 
cost of ordinary road clearing is extremely heavy. There are 
hardly any open spaces in the city and the surroundings of the 
market places are far from sanitary. On the other hand Dacca 
has benefited from the generosity of the family of the Nawab 
and, since 1905, from the grants which Grovernrnent bas made 
with the object of removing some of the more glaring sanitary 
disabilities under which it laboured. The water-works have been 
remodelled, a conservancy tramway conveys night-soil to a 
point outside the city, and the more important roads have been 
metalled with stone. P'or further details see article on Dacca 
city. 

ISarayanganj was constituted a muncipality in 1876. Tlie Narayan- 
area within municipal limits is 4^ square miles and the popu- K'luj- 
lation in 1911 was 27,876. There are twelve Commissioners, * 
four of whom are nominated and eight elected ; four of the .Com- 
missioners are Europeans but none are Government servants. 
The European jute merchants have large interests in the town, one 
of their number has always served as chairman, and it is possibly 
owing to the predominance of western interests that Narayanganj 



158 DACCA DISTRICT. 

has been described as being more of a western than an eastern 
town, and as the model municipality of Bengal. The roads 
are always clean and in excellent repair, the town is well drained, 
rubbish is nowhere to be seen, the municipal market is admir- 
ably arranged and all is neatness and order. The municipality 
have recently erected water-works at a cost of two lakhs of rupees, 
the water being drawn from the river Lakshya, passed through 
a 'jewel ' filter, and distributed over the town in pipes. The prin- 
cipal sources of income are a tax on holdings, conservancy and 
water rates, and tolls on roads and ferries. 



EDUCATION. 159 



CHAPTER XIII. 



EDUCATION. 

Public education was not entirely neglected in the Dacca Early 
district even in the days of native rule, though then as now it history of 
would appear to have been of too literary a character and to have ^"^'^atign 
failed to pay adequate attention to the proper training of the 
recipient for the active work of life. The Mughal Government 
paid a salary of Ks. 60 per mensem to a professor who lectured 
on the Arabic language, logic, metaphysics, and law, but on his 
death in 1751 his place was not refilled.* For Hindus there were 
numerous Sanskrit schools and in 1838 there were no less than 
125 of these institutions. The course of instruction was, however, 
far from practical ; the study of Sanskrit grammar occupied ten 
years, the Vedas eight, and the art of reasoning no less than 
twelve years. It is not, therefore, matter for surprise that only 
828 scholars wej-e attracted to these institutions. Astronomy and 
medicine were also studied in Bikrampur. The bias towards 
medicine still persists for, even at the present day, the number of 
me(>ical practitioners in that portion of the district is unusually 
large. The old paternal relation was maintained between the 
master and his pupils, who were not only taught, but fed, clothed, 
and lodged by him, the master looking for his support to the 
donations of the charitable. In Dacca city there were in 1838, 
11 Hindu schools with 302 scholars and 9 schools for Muham- 
madans with 115 scholars. In the Hindu schools children paid 
fees amounting to two annas a month ; education in the Muham- 
madan schools was free.-j- The course of instruction was simple 
but practical and consisted of reading, writing, ciphering, and the 
keeping of commercial and agricultural accounts. Muhammadans 
also studied grammar, literature and religion. 

The first schools to be opened under European supervision Education 
were those started by the Rev. 0. Leonard, a Baptist Missionary, ^'^.^q^^^"*" 
in 1817. They were seven in number, five imparting instruction 
in Bengali, one in Persian, and one in English. Five years later 
the number of schools had risen to 23 and of scholars to 1,300, and 
in 1825 separate schools were opened for women and girls. Funds, 
however, were not forthcoming in sufficient quantities and in 
1837 the number of mission schools had sunk to 11 with 529 
male and 99 female pupils. An English school had, however, » 
been opened by Government in 1835 and met at once with^ warm 

support, Mr. Taylor writing of it as follows : — 

— . • 

• Taylor's Topography of Dacca, p. 274. 
t Taylor's Topography of Dacca, p. 271. 



160 DACCA DISTRICT. 

" The n.atives of this part of the country have evinced great 
eagerness to acquire a knowledge of the English language, and 
accordingly the school which has lately been established in the 
o-ity by Government is well attended, and altogether is in a most 
flourishing and promising condition. The institution is admir- 
ably conducted, and under the able tuition of the present masters 
the pupils have made great proficiency not only in reading, writ- 
ing, and arithmetic but in the higher branches of education as 
geography, history, and geometry." * 

Education continued to make steady progress and in 1867 
there were 169 boys' schools in the district with 8,213 pupils on 
the rolls, while there were 452 girls at school in 26 institutions. 
The principle of making grants in aid had been introduced and 147 
of the boys' schools fell into the category of aided schools. There 
were also the Dacca College which was opened in 1841 and the 
Collegiate school attached to it, while two normal schools provided 
for the instruction of teachers. These were in addition to the 
madrasas and tols in which instruction was imparted on the 
old traditional lines. The attitude of the people is thus described 
by Mr. Clay, the Collector, in 1867 :— 

" The natives, especially the Hindus, as a rule evince a most 
laudable desire to obtain an English education, and will often 
pinch and screw and almost starve themselves in order to be able 
to pay their school or college fees. They are actuated by the 
strongest of all motives — self-interest, knowing as they do that a 
knowledge of English is now made almost a sine qua non in the 
distribution of the best appointments under Government which 
every native covets. As regards vernacular education the verna- 
cular scholarships offered a strong stimulus. There is still a 
strong feeling of opposition to the spread of female education." t 

Proyress of That there has been a great advance in education, especially 

educatiou. in English education, during the past fifty years is a matter of 
co!umon knowledge, but the mere citation of figures taken from 
official papers might induce impressions regarding the actual 
spread of knowledge which would be misleading. The absence or 
])resence of a state-aided village pundit does not make all the 
difference between light and darkness that writers such as Sir 
William Hunter would sometimes have us think and though the 
introduction of reforms, such as those initiated b}' Sir George 
Cain])bpll, produce an enormous increase in the number of pupils 
of whom cognisance is taken in blue-books, the immediate change 
is very much less than the figures would suggest. An aided 
school generally develops into something more efficient than one 
^ whicfi does not receive assistance from the State, but the fact that 
a number of schools and s-chohu's appear for the first time in the 

* T'ij)ot,'r!ipliy of Dacca, p. 271. 

t I'riiicip.il Jleails of tho History ami Htutistics of the Dacca Division, 
Calcutta, ]><(JH. 



EDUCATION. 161 

books of the department must not be assumed to imply that they 
have only just been called into existence. 

The following figures showing the number of scholars must 
be read with the reservation that in the earlier years of the period 
there were students of whom the Government bad no official 
knowledge. In 1856-57 there were 1,449 recognized pupils ; in 
1860-61, 2,003 ; in 1870-71, 7,155 ; in 1872-73, after «ir George 
Campbell's reforms had been put into effect, 18,086 ; iu 1892-93, 
78,834 ; and in 1909-10, 86,586. 

It is not easy to trace in the census tables the growth of Distribution 
literacy, i.e., of the capacity to read and write, as prior to 1901 of Literates, 
persons under instruction were returned as such whether they 
could read and write or not. In 1901, V?,'! per cent of the male 
population of Dacca were literate, the percentage for Bengal as a 
whole being 10'4. Table XXV of the Statistical Tables shows the 
distribution of literacy by tbanas and religion in 1901 and is 
interesting reading. Education has made considerable progress 
amongst Hindus and in that year 24-23 per cent of their males 
could read and write. Amongst Muhammadans the percentage 
was only 4'9. Taking Hindu males as the measure of value the 
proportion of literates was highest in Dacca city (48'8 per cent), 
Munshiganj (32*6 per cent), and Srinagar (27*3) ; lowest in 
Kapasia and Keraniganj (12 and 15 per cent). Dacca city (183 
per cent) was the only place where the proportion of Muhammadan 
literates exceeded 7 per cent. Female education is still in its 
infancy. In the district as a whole 990 females out of every 
thousand were illiterate, and even in Dacca city only 8'2 per cent 
of Hindu females could read and write. 

There are two colleges in the district, both of which are Collegiate 
located in the city. The first Government English school was ^['^^*'^'^^'^- 
opened in 1885 and in 1841 was converted into a college in col^lege?*^* 
which students could read for the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 
the same year the foundation-stone was laid of the substantial 
premises near the Judge's cutcherry in which the college remained 
for over sixty years. In 1908 the college was transferred to the 
buildings near the Ramna field which have been erected at a 
cost of nearly 14 lakhs of rupees and which include hostel accom- 
modation for 200 students and residences for four of the staff. 
Everything has been designed upon the most approved lines, no 
expense has been spared, and the institution can justly be des- 
cribed as a residential college of the best kind. The college hag a 
very complete scientific equipment and claims to have some of the 
best laboratories in India. It contains a library of 8,000 volumes, 
which is rapidly growing in size, as there is an annual allotment * 
of Rs. 1,000 for its maintenance and extension. The staff coi\sist3 
of a Principal and sixteen Professors and Lecturers, none of whom 
receive a salary of less than Rs. 100 per mensem. The college is 
affiliated to the Calcutta University and is, after the" Presidency 
College, the largest first grade college under the control of that 

Y 



The 



162 DACCA DISTRICT. 

body. It also maintains law classes in which students can read 
for the degree of B.L. 

The Jagannath College was founded as a jiroprietary college 
Jag.iinaih J" 1^83 but in 1908 was transferred to a Board of Trustees on 
College. which the teaching staff is represented. Prior to that date it was 

located in poor buildings in a congested portion of the city, but it 
has recently been moved to more suitable quarters. The stock of 
apparatus is sufificient for the First Arts standard under the exist- 
ing regulations, and there is a small library containing 800 
volumes. The staff consists of ten Masters of Arts and four 
assistants. The advantages offered by this institution are much 
inferior to thot^e of the Government College, but the fees 
charged are considerably lower and this is a consideration with 
needy students. Government has recently made a capital grant 
of Hs. 90,()00 and a recurring annual grant of Rs. 15,000 for the 
purpose of improving the administration of this college, 
jjigh or A special feature of education in the Dacca district is the 

Entrance large nimiber of schools which aspire to send up students to matri- 
scbools. culate at the Calcutta University and which are known as High 
or Entrance schools. In 1872-73 there were six of these schools, 
twenty years later there were 19, and in 1908-09 there were 45. 
Of these 2 were supported and managed by the Education Depart- 
ment, 9 were aided, and 34* were entirely unaided. The state- 
ment appended to this chapter, which gives particulars as to the 
location of these schools, shows what a very large proportion of 
them are situated in the Munshiganj subdivision. Out of the total 
of 45 no less than 23 are to be found in Munshiganj. The Govern- 
ment schools are well staffed and well equipped, but the same can- 
not be said of many of the aided and most of the unaided schools. 
The buildings and appliances are often quite inadequate, the 
staff is miserably paid, the instruction given poor, and the whole 
tone of the institution far from satisfactor}-. Some of the schools 
are opened by generous individuals who have a laudable desire 
to advance education in their native villages, but who do not 
realise that the cause they have at heart would be better served 
if they were to combine with some other person to found a really 
efficient central school instead of starting an institution which can 
never thrive on the amount they are able to allocate for its support. 
Other schools owe their origin to those feuds which are so common 
iu rural Bengal, and which are thus described by a Bengali gentle- 
man who is an Inspector of the Education Department : 

" The high scliool as a rule has a committee and the com- 
mittee is often a hotbed of quarrel. And the quarrel arises some- 
times on trivial grounds such as the promotion or transfer of a 
boy. The rival school is started in most cases with insufficient 
or no funds. The teachers engaged, therefore, cannot be men 
of high qualifications for want of proper remuneration" 

• Iiiclufliug 8 fcCli<X)Ifi not rccoj^iii.^ad l>y the Uuiversitj. 



EDUCATION. 163 

It is hardly to be expected that an institution that comes 
into existence amongst such circumstances and surroundings can 
do good work and there can be little doubt that the cause of 
education would be advanced by a process of consolidation. This 
principle has at last been accepted by the Calcutta University, 
and in 1U07-08 a survey of high schools was carried out under 
its instruction. The result of the survey was that recognition, 
i.e., the right of sending up pupils to the Matriculation Examina- 
tion of the University, was withdrawn from four schools and 
warnings were issued to several others. 

Middle schools are classed as middle English and middle Middle 
Vernacular, but in practice there is little difference as English si^hooU 
is freely taught even in the vernacular schools. iMiddle schools 
are as a rule poorly housed and poorly equipped and the staff is 
poorly paid, with the inevitable result that the education given 
is also poor. Parents prefer to send their sons whenever possible 
to read the middle course at a high school and the number of 
middle schools does not increase. They are supported partly by 
fees, partly by subscriptions, f)artly by grants made to them by 
the District Hoard which vary from Rs. 10 to Rs. 20 a month. In 
1908-09 there were 58 middle English schools of which 33 were 
aided by the District Board, 3 by the Education Department, and 
22 were unaided. Of the 75 middle vernacular schools, 67 includ- 
ing 53 departmental circle schools were aided and 8 unaided. 
The number of pupils in middle P^nglish schools was 4,882 and 
that attending middle vernacular schools was 4,2l9. A statement 
showing the distribution of the middle English schools is 
appended to this chapter. 

Primary schools are divided into upper and lower. In 1908-09 Primftry 
there were 254 of the former with 12.782 pupils and 1,091 of the **=^"o'» 
latter with 38,332 pupils. The course of instruction in a lower 
primary school consists of (1), Scinnce Primers, standards I and II, 
writing and reading; (2), Arithmetic including mental arithme- 
tic ; (3), [)rawing; (4) object les-ions ; (5) drill Upper primary 
schools add to this cour>!e a history reader and a literature book, 
geography, and elementary geometry and mensuration • 

Most of these schools are housed in very humble quarters 
and their equipment and apparatus are simplicity itself. Many 
schools sit in a verandah or outbuilding belonging to the richest 
man in the village and those that rise to ttie dignity of a separate 
house can seldom boast of anything more pretentious than a hut 
with earthen floor, bamboo walls and roof of thatch. The appara- 
tus usually consists of nothing more than the boys' own books 
and slates, and even the latter are occasionally dispensed with 
and the children learn to write on palm leaves. But simple 
though their quarters are, they satisfy the desires of those that 
use them. The Bengali has in his heart a certain contempt for ^ 
material luxury ; he prefers to sit in spacious leisure to expending 
time and sweat on the improvernent of his dwelling and he is not 



164 



DACCA DISTRICT. 



too exacting in his requirements when his children's school-house 
is in question. In 1906 Government made a grant of Rs. 27,600 
for the erection of primary school buildings subject to the proviso 
that where possible one-fourth of the sum should be raised from 
the villages in which the schoolhouses were built. But this 
liberality evoked little enthusiasm, and though 50 houses were 
ultimately erected the people evidently thought the whole matter 
something of a bore. In the flooded tracts the children have to 
come by water in the rains, and the collection of craft outside the 
door is quaint to a degree. Many paddle themselves to school in 
big earthen pipkins, others come on rafts of plantain trunks, and 
it is seldom that anyone rises to anything so elaborate as even the 
humblest skiff. 

There is a tine school in Dacca city for the training of 
teachers and head pandits of middle schools, and lower pandits of 
high schools. The school possesses a good library of over 5,000 
volumes and is well equipped in every way. There are six teach- 
ers on the staff, three of whom are Masters of Arts, and in 1907 
there were 84 pupils on the rolls, exclusive of pandits under train- 
ing. For the, training of lower primary teachers there are schools 
at Munshiganj, Manikganj, Raipura, and Agla. 

" The characteristic guru training school of Eustern Bengal 
has nothing attractive or insirping about it. A somewhat dis- 
hevelled mat or mud hut divided into two halves, an ill-qualified 
instructor ; in place of an intelligent display of the methods' of 
instruction, a string of lugubrious complaints from the gurus, 
how their stipends and their pay are inadequate, how they have to 
yield up the fees and salary of their school for two years to 
a substitute, and how the chances are that when they return home 
they will find themselves permanently displaced by that very 
substitute, and left, as a result of their training, without even 
their former scanty means of livelihood. The arrangement for 
training of teachers is admitted on all hands to be unsuccessful. 

This lamentable state of affairs can only be remedied by the 

erection of hostels, by the reduction of the length of the course, 
by the improvement of the condition of the gurus during the 
period under training, and, above all, by the increase of the 
grant to those of them who undergo the prescribed course of 
instruction." 

These remarks which are taken from the Report on the 
Progress of Education in Eastern Bengal and Assam during 
the years 1901-02 — 1906-07 applied in all their entirety to 
the Dacca district. Hostels for the accommodation of the gurus 
have, however, now been erected and decent houses provided for 
most of the schools. 

The AlisanuUa School of Engineering attached to the Dacca 
College was originally founded in 1876 as a survey school. In 1902 
it was decided to convert the iusLitutiou into a school of Kngineer- 
iug, the requisite funds being obtained from a grant of Rs. 00,000 



EDUCATION. 105 

from Government and a donation of Rs. 1,12,000 from the late 
Nawab of Dacca. Fine buildings have been erected which include a 
hostel with accommodation for 100 students in close proximity to 
the Dacca College, and the necessary workshops have been fitted up. 
The coarse comprises the four overseer classes and pupils presenting 
themselves at the Sibpur College examination are eligible for Over- 
seer Certificates. Arrangments have been made for the final 18 
months of practical training which leads up to the Foreman 
Mechanic's Certificate and an artizan class has been opened. 
The original Survey School still continues in the shape of Amin 
and Survey classes, but their popularity has been to some 
extent affected by the transfer of work which used formerly to 
be done by Civil Court Amins to junior pleaders with a know- 
ledge of survey. The school has a European head master and 
a European foreman and has proved extremely popular. In 
1901-02 there were 140 pupils on the rolls, and in 1908-09 there 
were no less than 373. 

The medical school which is attached to the Mitford Hospital The Dacca 
was founded in 1875. The present building was erected in 1889 gj£^^ 
at a cost of Rs. 64,000, which was raised by private subscription, 
and contains two lecture rooms, two separate dissecting rooms for 
males and fenftales, a laboratory, a library and a museum. 
Administrative sanction has been accorded to the erection of an 
examination hall, a laboratory, a gymnasium and a hostel. The 
Civil Surgeon of Dacca acts as Superintendent and the teaching 
stafiF consists of five teachers, two demonstrators, one chemical 
and one anatomical assistant. The course extends to four years 
and practical instruction is given in the wards of the Mitford 
Hospital. Twenty-four scholarships and as many free student- 
ships are annually awarded to successful students. The number 
of pupils on the rolls in 1908-01) was 205. 

The importance attached by JNluhammadans to the acquisition Muham- 
of a proper knowledge of the faith of Islam has led to the develop- ™^*^fjfj^"ion_ 
ment of a special class of educational institutions for their com- 
munity, i.e., madrasas, maktabs, and Koran schools. The 
course taught in madrasas is known as the Nezamidh course, 
and purports to be based on the system of instruction followefl in 
the Nezamiah College of Bagdad which was founded in 1065 A.D. 
and was for two centuries the great centre of Muhammadan 
learning. The pupils are divided into two divisions. The senior 
division comprises four classes and the subjects taught are Arabic 
and Persian literature, rhetoric, Muhammadan jurisprudence, 
logic, science of controversy, philosophy, scholastic theology, 
arithmetic, geometry and history. The junior division has from , 
four to seven classes and the course generally consists of Arabic 
and Persian literature, grammar, elementary logic, arithmetic and 
Muhammadan law. The premier madrasa of the province is the 
Dacca Madrasa, which was founded in 1872. The institution owes 
its origin to the liberality of a pious gentleman, Haji Muhammad 



Ififi DACCA DISTRICT. 

Muhsin, a resident of Hugli district, who died in 180G, and left 
an estate which yielded an income of about Rs. 45,000 per annum 
to be devoted to charitable purposes. The madrasa is divided into 
two departments, ttie Anglo-Persian department which is simply 
a high school teaching up to the matriculation examination, and 
the Arabic department in which English can be taken as an 
optional subject. The staflF consists of 21 maulvis and masters in 
addition to the Superintendent and the institution receives an 
annual grant of Rs. 2,400 from provincial funds. There is a fine 
hostel attached which was erected in 1905 at a cost of Rs. 45,500, 
two-thirds of which were contributed by private persons and the 
rest by Government. Other senior institutions are the Ahsaniah 
and Hammadiah madrasas in Dacca city. 

Outside the city there are 19 smaller madrasas which can 
hardly be regarded as very satisfactory institutions. They have 
little or no organisation, and are insuflSciently staflfed and poorly 
equipped. They do not in all cases follow the full course of 
studies prescribed for the corresponding classes in the larger 
madrasas and the education they im])art is never such as will 
help a pupil in practical life. It is said that many of the 
students after receiving n very imperfect education return to their 
homes and endeavour to obtain a living as religious instructors, 
but as the supply is considerably in excess of the demaud, there 
is often unseemly competition between rival maulvis. There are 
four recognised middle madrasas which are virtually middle 
English schools with the addition of Urdu in standards I to IV 
and Persian in standard VI. They also have Arabic departments 
in whicli instruction is supposed to be given up to a sufficiently 
high standard. Maktabs are Koran schools which have developed 
into lower primary schools, and which receive aid from local 
funds if they reach the requisite standard of efficiency. In 1908- 
09 the number of these institutions was 167. Koran schools, as 
their name implies, impart })Urely religious instruction ; their 
number in 1908-09 was 945 with 15,214 pupils. 

Tt;e figures of literacy quoted in the preceding pages have 
already indicated the extraordinary diflference between the 
educational attainments of Hindus and jMuhammadans. This 
difference is partly due to the conservative tendencies of IslSm, 
but to a much greater degree to dififerences in social position. 
The great majority of the manual workers are Muhammadans and 
it is rather qua manual worker than qua Muhammadan that they 
are illiterate. But even in the villages the Muhammadan is ceasing 
to be content with his position of educational inferiority and of 
recent years there has been a great increase of Muhammadan 
ftudenta. In 1904-05 the pupils in public institutions numbered 
2f5,260 but in 1908-09 they were no less than 40,081 as 
conij)ared with 45,731 Hindu pupils. 
F«iDttie Female education has made some progress of recent years 

•dncfitinn. but the progress continues to be slow. There is one high school 



EDUCATlOlf. 167 

for girls, the Eden female school, which was opened as a middle 
vernacular school in 1878, one middle and .548 primary schools. 
In addition to this, arrangements have been made for zenana 
classes in the city and a certain number of girls read in boys' 
schools. The total number of females under instruction in 
public institutions in 1908-09 was 13,776, of whom the immense 
majority were in the primary stages. The percentage of girls of 
school- going age who were actually at school was less than 7. 
In addition to the children who come within the purview of the 
Education Department, there are a certain number of girls 
belonging to prosperous Hindu families who receive some measure 
of instruction in their own homes, but the figures of the census of 
1901 showed conclusively how much leeway has still to be made up. 

St. Gregory's School at Dacca, a high school managed by ^^U'^Ppe^ial 
the Koman Catholic Mission, was founded in 188y and offers sc!iool«. 
instruction to Eurasian scholars. There are also four commercial 
schools under private management in the city at which type- 
writing and shorthand are taught. 

For the purposes of departmental control the district falls in .\draini8tra- 
the charge of the Inspector of Schools for the Dacca division. *^^^ ^'^^^• 
The stafl employed in 1901) consisted of 5 deputy inspectors, 1 1 sub- 
inspectors, 2 assistant sub-inspectors and 15 inspecting pandits. 

List of High Schools. 
Name of School. Name of ThSna. 

Sadar Subdivision. 
Dacca Collegiate... ... ... Dacca City. 



„ Eden Female 


Do. 


,, Armanitola 


Do. 


K. L. Jubilee ... 


Do. 


Pogose 


Do. 


Imperial Seminary 


Do. 


Ukils Institution 


Do. 


Teghoria 


... Keraniganj. 


Jaydebpur 


Do. , 


Kaliganj 


... Kapasia. 


Nawabganj 


Nawabganj. 


Govindapur 


Do. 


Roail 


... Sabhar. 




Narayanganj Subdivision. 


Narayanganj 


Narayanganj 


Baradi 


bo. 


SonSkanda 


Do. 


SouSrgaon 


Do. 


Raipura 


... Raipura. 


Araihazar 


.. Rupganj. 


Muraplra 


Do. 


SatirpSra 


... Narsiugdi. 



168 



DACCA DISTRICT. 



Munshiganj Subdivision. 
Name of School. Name of Thana. 



Munshiganj 
Bajrajugini ... 
AbduUapur 
Paikpara 
Sonaraug 






... 


Munshiganj. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 


Autshai 




. . . 


.. . 


Do. 


Kalma 




• • . 


• . • 


Do. 


Svarnagram Kadhanath 


. • . 


. • . 


Do. 


Kathadia Sinmlia 




. • . 


. , , 


Do. 


Ronthbhog 






. . . 


Do. 


Malkhanagar ... 

Ichapura 

Hasara 




... 


... 


Sriuagar. 
Do. 
Do. 


Beltali 




• • f 


. . • 


Do. 


Bhagyakul 






..• 


Do. 


Solaghar 




. • . 


« •■ 


Do. 


Brahmangaou ... 






• . • 


Do. 


Jjohajang 
Kukutia 






... 


Do. 

Do. < 


Kazirpagla 
Sidhesvari 
Banari 






... 


Do. 
Kajabari. 
Do. 


Telirbag 






... 


Db. 




Maui 


kganj 


Subdivision. 


Manikganj 
Teota Academy... 




::: 


•• 


Manikganj. 
. Sealo Aricha, 


List of Mi 


DDLE 


English Schools. 


Name of School. 






Postal address. 




Sad 


ar Su 


bdivision. 




Amligola ^ 




* • • 




Dacca. 


Konria 




• • • 




-. Konda. 


Balia 








Paralia. 


Khash Haola 








Do. 


Salim's 




• • • 




Dacca. 


Tetuljhora 
Nannar 




... 




.. Tetuljhora. 
Nannar. 


Suapur 
Dphiuui^ar 






■' 


Suapur. 
Debinagar. 


KiiMimliati 








Maiiu(l[)ur. 


' 


Narayj 


iuii;unj Subdivision. 


<io|ialiii 








,. MtTalali. 


l)ii|)l,aia 








Duptara. 


AmUia 






, , 


Pauulidona. 



EDUCATION. 



169 



Narajanganj Subdivision — {coiitd.) 
Name of School. Postal address. 



Panchrukhi 

Barpara 

Man i pur 

Sarrabad 

Goviudapur 

Lakshipura 

Gotasia 

Lakhpur Sinaulia 

Sadhar Char 



Gaodia 

Bejgaon 

Rarikhal 

Abirpara 

Solaghar 

Sekhernagar 

Baraparaldia 

Sridarkhola 

Feringi Bazar 



Baliati 

Chandair 

Dhankora 

Daragram 

Tilli 

Jian purchaklaradhia 

Kustia 

Mahadebpur 

Betila 

Jliitka 

Erishnapur 

I.otakhola 

Diabari 

Eajkhara 

Kaliharnagar 

Bakihaty 



... Duptara. 

... Naogalbanda Barpara. 

... Amirabadlapur. 

... Belaba. 

Do. 

Do. 
... Gotasia. 
... Lakhpur. 
... Paralia. 



Munsbiganj Subdivision. 



... Gaodia. 

... BejgSon. 

... Maijpara. 

... Serajdigha. 

... Solaghar. 

... Sekhernagar. 

... Malkhanagar. 

... Sekhernagar. 

... Munshiganj. 



Marjikganj Subdivision. 



. Baliati. 
. Garpara. 
. Dhankora. 
. Saturia. 
, Tilli. 

Khalsi. 

Ghior. 

Mahadebpur. 

Betila. 

Jhitka. * 

Kanchonpur. 

Lotakhola. 

Jhitka. 

Rajkhara. 

Chandahar. 
Joykrishnapur, 



170 DACCA DISTRICT. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



GAZETTEER. 

Baidya Bazar. — Large bazar situated in 23".S9 N. and 90-37 
E. on the right bank of the Meghna river. Baidya Bazar is 
connected by road with Narayanganj and has an unfavourable 
reputation as being not unfrequently the scene of river dacoities. 
Bajrajogini. — Large village in the Munshiganj subdivision 
situated in 23'32 N. and 9029 E. which is best known as being 
the home of a very large number of Government servants. 

Baliuti.— Village situated in 24 N. and 902 E. in the 
north of the Manikganj subdivision. A considerable trade in 
jute is done in the bazar, but the village is best known as the 
home of the Baliati Babus. From a distance their house stands 
up above the level p'ain, an imposing mass of masonry which 
recalls a Georgian country house in England, A closer inspection 
shows that it is not one fine house, but a terrace of five very 
ordinary ones. 

The founder of the family was one Gobinda Ram Shaha who 
was a big salt merchant in the middle of the 18th century. He 
left four sons: Dadhi Ram, Ananda Ram, Pandit Ram and Golap 
Ram. Dadbi Ram left two sons whose descendants now form the 
'• east " and " west " houses as they are called. Pandit Ram's 
family forms the " middle house " and Golap Ram's the '* north 
house," while Ananda Ram's descendants are known as the 
'* Golaba'i." The Jagannath College in Dacca was founded and 
endowed by a member of the Ba'iati family, Babu Kishori Lai 
Ray Chaudhri, in memory of his father. 

Barmi. — Large bazar situated in 2342 N. and 90'31 E. 
population, 1911, 276. The place is a collecting centre in the 
north of the district for jute, which is then despatched down the 
LaUshya to Narayanganj. The ruins of an old indigo factory 
are situated close by. 

Baradi.— Village situated in 23-42 N. and 9038 E , in the 
Narayanganj subdivision, the residence of the Nags of Baradi. 
Population, 1911, 1,189. The Nag family originally came from 
Bakarganj and their fortunes were founded by one Nayananda Nag, 
an eminent and learned man at the court of Nawab of Murshida- 
bSd, who was rewardt'd with a large_yV(r//7'of land for his skill in 
decii'liering a letter which came from Constantino[)le. The family 
estates are situated at Nagabal in the Tippera district immedi- 
ately opposite to Maradi, and are divided into three shares or 
kisyad, the eastern, the western, and the middle ov imnch hisya 



GAZETTEER. 171 

Situated as they are on the banks of the Meghna, whose chang- 
ing current gives rise to many land disputes, the Nag family has 
always been noted for the capable and courageous manner in 
which they have defended their own interests and for the skill 
they have displayed in fishing in troubled waters. Various 
members of the family have been efficient Government servants, 
others have lent their undoubted abilities to less worthy leaders. 
In the words of the member of the family who supplied the 
account of its history. " In the dark days of the sepoy mutiny 
they stood by the side of Government without seeking to attract 
notice by ostentatious operations." 

Bhagyakhul. — Village situated on the banks of the Padma 
river in the south-west corner of the Munshiganj subdivision. 
It is the family home of the wealthy Bhagyakul Babus. but 
as it is exposed to the erosive action of the river, they have 
abandoned the attempt to erect masonry buildings and their 
present quarters are of the most primitive description. There 
is a prosperous market at Bhagyakul and a charitable dispensary 
maintained by the family. The Bhagyakhul Babus have made 
their fortunes in trade and the principal members of the family 
live in Oalcuttaj 

Dacca. — The city of Dacca is situated in 23-43 N. and 90-24 
E., on the north bank of the Buri Ganga river, eight miles above its 
junction with the Dhaleswari and 254 miles distant from Calcutta 
by rail and river, vid Narayanganj, and Goalando. The Dacca-My- 
mensingh branch of the Eastern Bengal State Railway runs 
through the town, and in addition to its communication by rail * 

it is connected by road with Mymensingh and with the port of 
Narayanganj. The latter road is nine miles long and is metalled. 
The Buri Ganga is open for steamer traffic in the rains but 
will only carry native boats of light draught in the dry season. 

It has been suggested by Taylor that Dacca may be identi- 
cal with Bengala, a large and wealthy city to which reference is 
often made by European travellers in the sixteenth and seven- 
teenth centuries. This view receives some confirmatiion from 
the fact that Dacca and Bengala are never both mentioned ^ by 
the same author. Methold describes Rajmahal and Bengala as 
being " faire cities " while Herbert and Mandelso who travelled 
about the same time refer to Dacca and Rajmahal, but make no 
mention of Bengala. Rennell states that Bengala was near the 
eastern mouth of the Ganges and that its site had probably been 
diluviated by that river, but Taylor points out that though the 
natives have traditions regarding the destruction of Seripur and 
Kolesar, they have never even heard of Bengala.* Whether Dacca » 
and Bengala were identical it would be hard to say, but there can 
be little doubt that the town was a place of some importance even 
before it became the scene of the Provincial Government in 1608. 

* Topography of Dacca, p. 92. 



172 DACCA DISTRICT. 

Eaja Man Singh, Akbar's famous general, administered the 
country from this spot for some years, and in 1G()8 Islam Khan 
moved his capital here from Rajmahal. Three explanations are 
given of the origin of the city's name : one that it is derived from 
the dhak (butea frondosa), a tree which is said to have been 
common there in ancient times ; another that it took its name from 
Dbakeswari, 'the concealed goddess,' whose temple is said to 
have been first erected by Ballal Sen ; while a third story has it 
that Islam Khan fixed the boundaries of the city at those points 
north, east and west where the sound of the drums (dhak) beaten on 
the river banks ceased to' be audible. From 1608 to IG39 Dacca 
continued to be the capital of Bengal, but in the latter year the 
Government was retransferred to Kajmahal where it remained for 
one and twenty years. In 1660 Mir Jumla again made Dacca the 
capital and it continued to enjoy this proud position till 1704 
when the court was moved to Murshidabad. It is said that when 
the city was at the height of its glory it extended from Jafara- 
had on the west to Postgola on the east, a distance of ten miles, 
and on the north nearly fifteen miles to the Tangi river, and 
that the population was close upon 900,000 persons.* A large 
proportion of these people were no doubt hangers-on of the court 
and the military forces and much of the city doubtless was of the 
nature of a camp. 

Tavern ier visited Dacca in 1666 and described it in terms 
which are sufficiently modest but are in fair accord with the 
Dacca of the present day. 

" Dacca is a great town that extends itself only in length ; 
every one coveting to have a house by the Ganges side. The 
length of this town is above two leagues. And indeed from the 
last brick bridge, which I mentioned, to Dacca there is but one 
continued row of houses separated one from the other, inhabited 
for the most part by carpenters that build galleys and other small 
vessels. These houses are properly no more than paltry huts 
built up with bamboo and daubed over with fat earth. Those of 
Dacca are not much better built. The Governor's palace is a 
place enclosed with high walls, in the midst whereof is a pitiful 
house built only of wood. He generally lodges in tents which 
he causes to be set up in the great court of that enclosure. The 
Hollanders findinj,' that their goods were not safe in the ordinary 
houses of Dacca have built them a very fair house and the English 
have another which is reasonably handsome. The church of the 
Austin PViars is all of brick and is a very comely pile." f 

It is strange that Tavernier makes no reference to the two 
katras which had been built before the date of his visit, as the 
hiirrakalra at any rate is an imposing building. 

Tavernier s description agrees with that given by an Italian 
called Manucci who visited it a few years earlier. According to 

* JJalimaii All's Tarikh-i Dlinka, MSS., )». 3;"). 
t TaveruitT, Travels in ludia, rartll, Book 1, p. 65. 



GAZETTEER. 173 

him " The city of l^acca without being strong or large has many 
inhabitants, most of its houses are made of straw. At this period 
there were two factories, one English and the other Dutch: there 
were many Christians, white and black Portuguese, with a church 
served by a friar called Afostinho." During the ten years that 
followed Tavernier's visit the city seems to have grown for a 
certain Captain Bowrey who came there about 1678 writes of 
it as follows : — 

" The Citty of Dacca is a very large spacious one, but standeth 
upon low swampy ground and the water thereof very brackish, 
which is the only inconvenience it hath, but it hath some very 
fine conveniences that maketh amends, havinge a fine and large 
river that runneth close by the walls thereof, navigable for ships 
of 5 or 600 tunns in burthen, and the water of the river beinge an 
arme of the Ganges is extraordinary good, but it is a great way 
to be fetched by some of this citty, for it is not lesse in circuit 
than 40 English miles. 

" An admirable citty for its greatnesse, for it's magnificent 
buildings, and mailtitude of inhabitants. A very great and potent 
army is here in constant sallary and readinesse, as alsoe many 
large, stronge /md stately elephants, trained up for a warlike 
service, which are kept continually neareto the Pallace. 

" Many elephants, both for warre and state, are here kept by 
sevtiral rich men, and therefore by consequence a very great 
soldiary, for noe man in the kingdome is admitted to ride an 
elephant in state, unlesse he continually keep 500 horse to be 
ready at the Prince's service." 

In 1713 the city was visited by a Jesuit priest who refers to 
it in by no mean favourable terms. " Pour ce qui est de la 
villa rien de plus sale et tie plus mal-propre." He stated that 
the streets were full of dirt and ordure which s'y rassem blent 
after the slightest shower, and these are characteristics which 
have unhappily survived down to the present day. * 

The actual area of the city within municipal limits is 6-05 
square miles, and the new civil station to the north covers an area 
of "77 of a square mile. A traveller approaching the town from 
Naiayanganj first meets with small huts similar to the ones refer- 
red to by Tavernier, and the garden-houses of wealthy merchants, 
but shops and masonry buildings appear a few hundred yards 
to the east of tbe Dolai Khal. This creek is crossed by a fine 
suspension bridge erected by public subscription during the magis- 
tracy of Mr. Walter in 1830. Shortly alter passing the bridge 
the Sutrapur Bazar, a great centre for the grain trade, stretches 
away towards the north but the main road keeps near the river 
through Farashganj, a small tract of land which belongs to the 
French Government and which is now a centre for the lime trade. 

* Principal Heads of the History and Statistics of the Dacca Division, 
p. 80. ^ ^ 



174 DACCA DISTRICT. 

From the Northbrook Hall a fine embankment, known as the 
Buckland Bund, stretches along the river to the end of the Nawab's 
Palace. It is this river frontage which has earned for Dacca 
the title of the Venice of the East, and which undoubtedly, when 
the stream is descending in full flood, affords a view that contains 
some elements both of the stately and the picturesque. At the 
eastern end of the embankment is the magnificent dwelling of two 
bankers, Babus Rup Lai Das and Raghu Lai Das, and at the western 
end the Ahsun Munzil or palace of the Nawab. Between them are 
the residences of the Commissioner, the Collector, the Civil Sur- 
geon, and one or two European and Indian gentlemen. The Buck- 
land Bund is about three-quarters of a mile in length but its 
appearance as a promenade is to some extent marred by the fact 
that it is liable to be overtopped by high floods and by the diffi- 
culty experienced in entirely prohibiting its use as a place of 
disembarkment for passengers and goods. When the embankment 
finishes the river is fringed by houses, some of which are both 
dignified and picturesque, conspicuous amongst which stand out 
the two fine old Muliammadan rains, the Bara and Chota Katra. 

Back from the river the effect, unfortunately, is very much 
less pleasing. Leaving the Buckland Bund the rpad turns inland 
and runs parallel with the river, but three or four hundred yards 
away from it, through Patuatuli, Islampur, Babu Bazar, and 
Mogultuli to the Chauk or Market Place, and thence to the ^Lal 
BSgh, where the city proper ma}^ be said to end, though the 
municipal boundary is some distance farther on. The road is very 
narrow, and for a distance of 1,500 yards its width from house to 
house varies from '20 to 25 feet and in places is only 18 feet. This 
totally inadequate channel for the commerce of the city is packed 
with foot passengers, through whom lumbering bullock carts and 
ramshackle ticka gharis with diflSculty make their way and on 
either side is bordered by mean and dirty looking shops. The 
chauk is a large square which is crowded with stalls and surround- 
ed by unassuming shops and other buildings. The jail and 
lunatic asylum lie at the back of the chauk, while the Mitford 
Hospital is situated on the river front a little farther on. 
Beyond the hospital population and traffic become less congested 
and at tlie Lai BSgh we reach the suburban quarters of the town. 

The other main thoroughfare is known as the Nawabpur 
road and runs from the Buckland Bund northwards to the railway. 
This road is in places of a reasonable breadtli and is not so mean 
and squalid as the one which runs westward to the chauk. 
Between the Buckland Hund and the place where it crosses the 
Dolai Klial it passes the old European Club, the Bank, the cut- 
cherri(\s oi'tlie (Jollector and the Judge, the church and the office 
of the District Board. At the Dolai creek bridge it becomes 
inconveniently contracted and frotn here to the railway line there 
are a number of small shops interspersed with dwelling houses of 
very moderate appearance. 



GAZETTEER. 176 

These two roads are the maiu arteries of the city but they 
are connected with a great number of lesser roads and lanes. 
The chief markets for the supply of food are situated at Sutrapur 
and the Rai Saheb's Ba^ar and their surroundings from the sanitary 
point of view are far from satisfactory. The great centre for the 
jute trade is Postgola, for the grain trade Sutrapur, and for 
lime Fara^hganj. Most of the timber trade is done in the village 
of Keraniganj immediately opposite Dacca, but there is a large 
business in bamboos and canework in Bangshal Bazar, The 
residential quarters most favoured by ludian gentlemen are Wari, 
Nawabpur, Tanti Bazar, Bangla Bazar, Sutrapur, Lakshi Baz5r, 
and Armenitola. Some of the houses are of considerable size, 
especially in tlie Bangla Bazar, where many wealthy Shahas live ; 
but after the sites along the river's bank, the most attractive 
residential quarter of the town is the suburb of Wari. This 
is a Khas Mahal which in 1888 was laid out for building by the 
Collector who subsequently as Sir Lancelot Hare became Lieute- 
nant-Governor of the province. It is intersected by wide roads, 
each house is surrounded by a pleasant garden and additional 
buildings cannot be erected without the Collector's sanction. 

Nothing, in fact, could well be greater than the contrast 
between the amenities of Wari, and the squalid discomfort of the 
remainder of the town. For Dacca suffers from all the manifold 
drawbacks of an old Eastern city. The streets and lanes are 
extraordinarily narrow; there are neither sidewalks nor room for 
them, and as the foot passengers wander at will all over the 
roadway, continual shouting or the ringing of a bell are required 
to clear a passage for a wheeled vehicle. In the absence of stone the 
roads have been metalled with burnt brick which is unable to stand 
the heavy traSic, so that the surface is worn into holes and in all 
but the wettest weather is intolerably dusty. There is no system 
of drainage either for the removal of sewage or of surface water and 
filth and garbage accumulate in all the lanes. The city is inter- 
sected by the Dolai Khal and its dependant creeks, and though 
these channels are well enough when full of water in the rains, 
in the dry weather many of them contract into small pools filled 
with mud and every form of abomination. Many of the houses 
have been so built that it is impossible to obtain access to their 
back premises, and it is calculated that there are no less 
than .0,000 latrines in the city which are never cleaned. Many 
improvements have however been effected or taken into considera- 
tion since Dacca became tlie capital of the Province. The 
Nawabpur road has been metalled with stone, the water-works 
have been enlarged, the conservancy arrangements have been 
remodelled and a drainage scheme is under consideration. 

One of the most crowded parts of the city is the Sankhari 
Bazar, the quarter of the workers in shells. The houses here 
have a very narrow frontage with a quite disproportionate depth. 
The most extreme instance of a characteristic which is common in a 



176 DACCA DISTRICT. 

greater or a less degree to all the houses in this bazar is to be found 
in a well built masonry dwelling which in 1909 was inhabited by 
a family of eight persons. This extraordinary structure had a depth 
of 55| feet and a uniform breadth of o /ee^ ^ i7^cA,e.s only. An- 
other curious house is GO feet deep, 27 feet high and only 6 feet 
wide. These houses are well built and kept in excellent repair 
but very little light or air can penetrate into the curious little 
cave-like chambers of which they are composed. 
Public The principal public buildings in Dacca are the Secretariat 

buildings. and Government House, the jail, the lunatic asylum, the Mitford 
Hospital, the college, and the madrasa, the four Christian 
churches, GrreeU, Armenian, Protestant and Koman Catholic; 
the cutcherries of the Judge and the Collector-Magistrate, the 
offices of the Municipality and the District Board and the North- 
brook Hall. The cutcherries of the Magistrate-Collector and 
District Judge were completed in 1865. Prior to this the 
Collector held his office in the building which till 1905 was 
the Collegiate High School. In a letter written in 1857 he 
complains bitterly of his cramped quarters and describes how the 
Tauzinavis had to work in the kitchen and the Nazir to transact 
his business in the open air. The Magistrate held his court 
in what was afterwards the European Club, and -the Civil Judge 
sat in the house which in 1907 was assigned as an office and 
residence to the Executive Engineer. 
The old i\;^Q following account of the old buildings in Dacca has been 

orOacca^ for the most part condensed from Notes on the Antiquities of 
Dacca by Khan Bahadur Saiyid Aulad Husain, (Dacca, 1904). 
Of the European factories in Dacca no traces now remain. The 
English factory stood on the site of what till recently was the 
Dacca College. Even in 1837 the only part of the building still 
existing was the outer wall. The site of the French factory is 
now covered by the women's apartments in the Palace of the 
Nawab, the Ah sun Munzil, and the Dutch factory stood at the 
south-west corner of the compound of the .Mitford Hospital. 

The Lai Bagh fort was commenced in 1678 by Prince Muham- 
mad Azani, but it was never completed by his successor, 8haista 
Khan. The enclosure is 2,000 feet long by 8,000 feet broad, but 
there are walls only along two sides and the gateways though 
very lofty and impressive are falling into ruins. From the 
architectural point of view the most interesting building in the 
fort is the tomb of Hibi Peri, daughter of Shaista Khan, a great 
niece of Nur Jahan, who died in 1684 A.D. The tomb is thus 
described by Colonel Cunningham : " The tomb is built entirely 
of stone, of black basalt from (iaya, grey sandstone from Chunar 
and white marble from Jaypur. It consists of nine rooms, the 

central one being 19 feet 8 inches square ...The walls of the 

central room are of white marble, panelled with black lines, and 
the floor is laid out in a small pattern of the same material. 
The walls of the four central side rooms are also white marble, 



GAZETTEER. 177 

but the walls of tlie coiner rooms are decorated with glazed tilea. 
The colours of the panels are dark blue, orange, green and purple, 
on a yellow ground, with borders of orange and blue flowers on 
a green ground. But the most curious part of the tomb is its 
roof, which is built throughout in the old Hindu fashion of over- 
lapping layers. The summit of the roof is 19 feet 11 inches 
from the ground and on the top of tlie pyramid is a small 
dome, about ten feet in diameter covered with copper plates. 
The sarcophagus in the central room is of white marble." * There 
are a hainman and the ruins of a mosque in the fort, but the 
principal mosque in this quarter is one just outside the southern 
wall, measuring 164 feet by 54 feet. It was built by the Prince 
who afterwards became the Emperor Farrukh Siyar at the begin- 
ning of the eighteenth century and is still in use 

The Bara Katra was built in 1664 by Mir Abul Kasim. It The Katrsis. 
ofiFers a noble front to the river with its lofty and imposing 
central gateway which is flanked by smaller entrances and by 
two octagonal towers but was formerly used as a caravan serai. 
Much of the building is now in a very dilapidated state. On 
the south bank of the Buri Ganga opposite to the Bara Katra 
are a tower and a few ruined chambers which are the sole remains 
of the Zanjira t*alace, which was built by Ibrahim Khan about 
1620. It is said that the palace was connected with the north 
bank of the river by a wooden bridge, though at the present day 
it is difficult to imagine the Buri Ganga being spanned so easily. 
The Cliota Katra is situated about cue hundred yards to the 
east of the Bara Katra. and was built by Shaista Khan in 1663. 
The plan is similar to that of the Bara Katra but the style of 
architecture is similar to that which is known as Shaistakhani. 
It is now used as a warehouse. 

The Husaini Dalan is a large two-storied buildincr in the The Husnini 
north of the city which was built by Mir Murad, Superintendent L*'"'''"- 
of the Fleet, in 1642. The Muharram is celebrated here and 
a grant for the purpose which was made by the Nawab has been 
continued by the British Government. The building was badly 
damaged by the earthquake of 1897 and was restored by the late 
Nawab Sir Ah'^anullah Bahadur, K.C.I. E., at a cost of nearly a 
lakh of rupees. 

The following are some of the most interesting mosques in ntlier 
the city. The mosque on the west side of the Chauk was built mosques. 
by Shaista Khan in 1676. It measures 50 feet by 25 feet and is 
ke[)t in a state of very good repair. Khan Muhammad Mirdha's 
mosque is situated a little to the north-west of the Lai Bagh 
and was built in 1706. It stands on a platform measuring 125 
feet by 100 feet and, as the mosque is very poorly endowed, the 
rooms below the platform are let to the Municipality as a'stable 
for their bullocks. The oldest mosque in the city is Binat Bibi's , 

* Archpeological Survey of Bengal, Vol, 15, p. 131. 



178 DACCl DISTRICT. 

mosque at Narandia which was built in A.D. 145G, but it has 
nothing but its age to recommend it. Other old mosques are 
the one in Ashik Jamadar's lane which is ascribed to Islam 
Khan, who made Dacca his capital in 1608 and the one in 
Naswala Gulli which was built iu 1458. The Churihatta mosque 
is situated about a quarter of a mile west of" the Chauk and 
the interior measures 30 feet by 15. Tradition has it that a 
Hindu official was ordered to build a mosque at the spot but 
built a temple instead, but that this was converted into a mosque 
in 1649 A.D. The mosque and mausoleum near the southwest 
corner of the Kamna race- course must have been originally 
handsome buildings but they are now in a very dilapidated 
state. They were -built by Haji Khwaja ►Shahbaz in 1679 A.D. 
'I'he mosque measures 68 by 26 feet and is surmounted by three 
domes. The mausoleum is 26 feet square and has one dome 
only. 

On the Mymeusinghroad just north of the railway crossing, 
beyond the new civil station, is the mosque of" Khwaja Ambar which 
was built in 1680 A.D. The building is surmounted by three 
handsome domes, but is now in a very dilapidated state. A deep 
well dug by the pious founder in the compound still yields 
particularly good water, and the brick bridge built'by him across 
the Iskatau Khal where it crosses the Mymensingh road is still 
in use. Khwaja Ambar is said to have been the head eunuch of 
Shaisia Khan. West of the city, about two miles beyond the 
municipal boundary, is the Satgambaz Mosque, which measures 
58 by 27 feet The main building is surmounted by three domes 
and there are domes on the towers that flank each of the four 
corners. This mosque originally stood on the banks of the Buri 
(janga but the river has now receded fully a mile towards the 
south. Tradition has it that it w^as built by kfhaista Khan and 
that the mausoleum close by covers the tombs of two of the 
daughters of that great Nawab. The mosque in Babu Bazar was 
also built by Shaista Khan, and in his residence close by on the 
site of what is now the .Mitford Hospital, he is said to have met 
Tavernien Not far away, about a mile to tlie north-west of the 
pilUhana, is the mausoleum of Dara Begam. Tlie inner apartment 
is 274 fe-t square, the walls are 7 feet thick and the dome 
which crowns the whole is the largest in the city, having a 
diameter of 25 feet. At Azimpnra there is a mosque owned by 
the descendants of a famous saint. The head of the family for 
the time being, following the exain[)le of his pious ancestor, 
never leaves the precincts of his mosque and compound. The 
l\'igla bridge is an interesting old relic on the Narayanganj 
road. It is said to have been built by Mir Jumla about 1660, 
tliouL'li Hisho)) Heber states that the natives told him that the 
architect was a ]''renchman. Tiie bridge is now in ruins but two 
lowers are still standing and the general effect is rather pic- 
turesque. 



GAZETTEER. 1 79 

The most celebrated temple in Dacca is the Dliakeswari Jiindu 
which is situated in the north-west corner of the town. The temples. 
temple is said to have been originally founded by Ballal Sen 
in gratitude for assistance rendered to his mother when slie was 
banished here with her infant after her intrigue with the river 
Brahmaputra had been discovered. Raja Man Singh, Akbar's 
famous general, is said to have rebuilt the shrine, but all traces 
of these ancient temples have disappeared and the present build- 
ing is ascribed to the piety of an employe of the Company who 
lived about two hundred years ago. In the Nawabpur road is the 
shrine of Lakshi Narayan who is an object of special reverence 
to the Basaks inhabiting this quarter. One of the exterior stones 
of the temple abutting on the road is worn smooth by the fore- 
heads of devout Hindus saluting the deity within. The Shivhari 
and the Kalihaii near the Ramna race-course have also recently 
attracted many worshippers. -p^^de and 

The history of Dacca as a trade centre is virtually tlie history commerce, 
of the district, and will be found discussed in detail in Chapter 
VII, At the present day it is to some extent hampered as a trade 
centre by the deterioration of the Buri Ganga. During the rains 
that river is open to steamer traffic along its whole length, but in 
the dr}' weather only the smallest country boats can enter its 
western mouth and even steam launches cannot get up to the city 
from the east. Dacca collects jute and oil-seeds for export, but 
is not so large an emporium as Narayanganj, and it has a fair 
export business in hides. The principal imports are- grain, 
salt, oil, piece-goods, lime, stationery, umbrellas, drugs, ready- 
made clothing, and the miscellaneous articles which, an American 
would describe as 'notions.' There are few weavers of fine 
muslin left, but a few looms still are worked in Wari. There is, 
however, a considerable manufacture of jhcqypoiyis and kasidas 
which are exported to Turkey and Arabia. Other industries are 
shell cutting, which has its centre in the Sankhari Bazar, brass 
and metal work in the Tatari Bazar, gold and silver work in the 
Tanti Bazar and Na^vabpur, soap-making and boat-building. The 
Bank of Bengal at Dacca is the financial centre not 6nly of the 
district but of much of Eastern Bengal and there are a ceitain 
number of wealthy money-lenders in the Bazar. 

The water-works of Dacca took tlieir origin in gift of Water 
Rs. 50,000 made by Nawab Sir Abdul Gani, K.C.S.I.. m 1871 to ^o^^s. 
commemorate the recovery of King Edward VII, tlien Prince of 
Wales, from a serious illness. This gift was subsequently doubled 
by the generous donor and another half lakh was given by his 
son Nawab Sir Ahsanullah, K.C.I. E., to form the nucleus of a , 
maintenance fund. The works were completed in January 1878 
at a cost of Rs. 1,95,000, the amount in excess of the gift 6i one 
lakh being paid by Government. The water was drawn from the 
Buri Ganga, passed through settling tanks and filtering beds, and 
distributed through 4^ mil^s of pipes fitted with 25 street stand- 



l80 DACCA DISTRICT. 

posts. The daily supply of filtered water available was 200,000 
gallons. This supply was far from meeting the requirements of 
the city and the system was extended from time to time, 
Es. 25,000 beiug provided for the pur^jose by the NawSb and 
Rs. 1,25,000 by the Municipality. Ultimately there were nearly 
16 miles of piping with 142 street hydrants. In 1893, the great 
disturbers of Eastern Bengal began to make their influence felt. 
The main stream of the i3uri Ganga receded and a cJiur began to 
form in front of the intake pipe. The length of the pipe was 
extended and a channel was dug through the chur in the dry 
season. But these expedients proved of no avail in face of the 
constantly increasing size of the chur, and ultimately a new 
pumping fetation 1 ad to be erected on the further edge to drive 
the water across it through an open conduit into a pool from 
which it could be drawn by the main suction pipe. It was then 
felt that the time had come to remodel the whole system. The 
population had outgrown the available supply of water, the 
engines were old and expensive in their working and the supply 
of the unfiltered water precarious and unsatisfactory. It was at 
first suggested that four wells each 26 feet in diameter should 
be sunk in the chur and the water pumped direct from them 
into the mains but this scheme was rejected, as, apart from other 
objections, it was considered doubtful whether the wells would 
yield the requisite supply of water. Ultimately administrative 
sanction was accorded to a scheme estimated to cost Rs. 5,00,000, 
of which Rs. 3,00,000 were given as a grant by Government 
and the remainder as a loan to the Municipality repayable in 
twenty years. Under this scheme two new engines have been 
provided each capable of pumping 1()0,000 gallons per hour 
and the two old Worthiugton pumps which can deliver 40.000 
gallons an hour are retained as a reserve. The water is drawn direct 
from the river through a suction pipe 1,600 feet long, is filtered in 
six jewel filtds, and is finally distributed thoughout the city. 
Much credit is due to the Chairman of the Municipality Nawab 
Khwaja Muhammad Yusuf Khan Bahadur, for^^he tact and ability 
shown by Iiim in bringing to a conclusion a scheme that was beset 
witli many difficulties. A note recorded by him in 1908 on the water- 
works remodelling scheme contains much useful information. 
Cemeteries. 1'be Anglican cemetery is situated in the north-east corner of 

the city and was consecrated by Bishop Heber in 1824. It is des- 
cribed by that jjrelate as being about a mile distant irom the inhabi- 
ted portion of the city and as surrounded by a wilderness of jungle. 
" Some fine elephants with their mahouts weie brow^sing on 
the trees and bushes round the walls and amid the neighbouring 
ruins. Indian cattle occu[>ied the little grassy glades which 
intersected what would (Use have been a trackless forest and the 
whole had bo wild and characteristic an appearance that I regretted 
that 1 had no time to make a drawing."* 

* lleher'B .loiirnal, Vol. I, p ITiI. 



GAZETTEER. 181 

Since the development of the Khas Mahal of Wari the ceme- 
tery has had adjoining it on the west a really charming suburb 
and Heber's description is of interest from the contrast it affords 
to the present day sanoundings. The cemetery has still plenty 
of vacant space and is tastefully laid out with avenues of casuarina 
trees and beds of flowers. The most conspicuous object is a 
Moorish gateway which now stands near the centre of the 
enclosure and thus indicates that the original cemetry must have 
been considerably enlarged. 

The Baptist Mission has a cemetery close by but it contains 
no tombs of special interest. The Greek cemetery is to the west 
of the race-course and is in a very neglected state. Cemeteries for 
Muhammadans have been opened by the municipality, but Muham- 
madan graves are to be found on almost any piece of waste land 
in the suburbs and afford a far from pleasing spectacle. A frame- 
work of bamboo is placed above the body and the earth heaped 
upon it. When the bamboos rot the earth falls in and the grave 
is left as an empty hole two or three feet deep. A piece of land 
closely pitted with these holes has a most melancholy appearance. 

The European residences in old Dacca were not uncomfort- '^',^6. New 
able houses and had the advantage of being situated near the gt.^tion 
river. They vvere, however, surrounded by the most densely 
crowded portions of the city which had to be traversed before 
either walking or driving could be enjoyed in comfort. The new 
station has been located to the east and west of the Ramna race- 
course stretching away towards the Mirpur road. The site is an 
open one and beyond it the country has some claims to beauty, 
80 that in time to come, new Dacca may be a not unpleasant place 
of residence. The Ramna race-course was first cleared by Mr. 
Dawes, the Magistrate, in 1825, who threw up the mound at the 
northern end now known as Dawes' folly. 

The city of Dacca is so intimately associated with its Nawabs The family 
that no account of it would be complete without some reference ^^^^bof 
to the history of the family of the present Nawab of Dacca. This Dacca, 
family has no connection with the old Muhammadan rulers of 
the province but is descended from Khwaja Abdul Hakim who 
was governor of Kashmir during the reign of the Emperor 
Muhammad JShah Abdul Hakim was at Delhi when the city 
was sacked by Nadir Shah and fled to Bengal with the remnants 
of his fortune. He settled in Sylhet but on his death his two 
brothers moved to Hacca, where one of them, Maulvi Abdullah, 
was the founder of the present family. This gentleman was 
succeeded by Maulvi Ahsanullah, the great-great-grandfather of 
the present Nawab, who died soon afterwards when on a pilgrim- , 
age to Mecca. Up to this time the family had been engaged 
in trading in gold dust and skins, but the next head, 'Maulvi 
Hafizullah, brother of Ahsanullah, began to invest the property in 
land. He was succeeded by Maulvi Abdul Kafur, who was 
followed by Khwaja Alimullah, great-grandfather, NawSb Sir 



482 DA PC A DISTRICT. 

Abdul Gani grandfather, and Nawab Sir AhsanuUah, father of Sir 
Salimullah, (x.C.I.E., the present Nawab Bahadur of Dacca. 

Maulvi Hafizullah and Khwaja Alimullah accumulated a 
magnificent estate, and though its dignity and importance has 
been diminished by the Muhammadan law of inheritance which 
allocates it to numerous shareholders it is still a splendid 
properly. The Nawabs of Dacca have now for several generations 
maintained the traditions and position of great nobles, and their 
influence over the Muhammadan community was and is immense. 
The yVhsun Munzil, which was built in 1872, is a stately residence 
whose public apartments are furnished in the best European 
style and their garden houses at Dilkusha, Shah Bag, and 
Bagaiibari give evidence of equally good taste. The Nawabs 
offered a splendid hospitality alike to Europeans and to Indians 
and to the poor of the city they were an ever present help in 
trouble. Even at the present day when the resources of the 
estate have been to some extent dissipated by their distribution 
into so many channels no less than Rs. 65,000 are annually spent 
on religious and charitable purposes and the liberality of the 
Nawabs in t