(c) Copyright of Prabuddha Biswas
RECALLING HENRY THOMAS COLEBROOKE THROUGH HIS PIONEERING BOOK, “REMARKS ON THE HUSBANDRY AND INTERNAL COMMERCE OF BENGAL.”
MESSAGE FOR THE PEOPLE OF INDIA –
1. THIS BOOK IS THE PIONEERING
STUDY ABOUT THE RURAL PART OF THE BENGAL PROVINCE – i.e. BENGAL, BIHAR AND ORISSA,
IN SCIENTIFIC LINES, DURING THE LAST DECADE OF 18TH CENTURY
2. FOR THE FIRST TIME, THIS
BOOK HIGHLIGHTS THE ADVERSE IMPACT OF THE PERMANENT SETTLEMENT (1793) ON INDIAN
PEASANTRY.
3. PERMANENT SETTLEMENT WAS
GREETED BY A SECTION OF INDIANS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO WERE HEREDITARY
COLLECTORS OF LAND REVENUE.
4. AT ONE STROKE, ALL
HEREDITARY COLLECTORS OF LAND REVENUE BECAME ZAMINDARS, BIG OR SMALL, WITH
EQUAL RIGHTS AND BECAME THE PERMANENT ALLY OF THE ENGLISH RULE IN INDIA.
5. COLEBROOKE’S TREATISE CONTAINS
A CHAPTER DEVOTED TO THE SUBJECT OF ‘POPULATION’ AND HE MAY BE DEEMED AND
ACKNOWLEDGED AS A PRECURSOR OR PIONEER OF POPULATION STUDY.
MESSAGE FOR THE PEOPLE OF BIHAR –
1. THE BOOK DEALS WITH
DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF AGRICULTURE, PEASANTRY AND COMMERCE OF BENGAL AND BIHAR.
THE DATA REGARDING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, COMMERCE, ETC.WERE METICULOUSLY
COLLECTED BY THE AUTHOR.
2. THIS BOOK CONTAINS, SO FAR
AS WE KNOW, THE SOLE PICTURE WE POSSESS OF WHAT ‘BENGAL (AND BIHAR) AND ITS
AGRICULTURE WERE, AT THE TIME OF THE PERMANENT SETTLEMENT.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BOOK
1. After the Battle of Buxar in
1764, followed by the Diwani Rights of Bengal (i.e. Bengal, Bihar and Orissa)
in 1765, and the stabilization of the English rule in the Eastern India; the
English East India Company could take a very good look at the rural society,
because the largest chunk of land revenue was obtained here.
2. The English East India Company welcomed the opportunity to expand its share in the internal commerce of Bengal.
3. The Company officials now studied rural society and its economy.
4. (i) Some of these studies were voluntary and (ii) some were government sponsored.
5. (i) Among the latter (government sponsored), the most informative and most comprehensive was the report prepared by Hamilton Buchanan (1807 -14).
(ii) Similarly, William Crooke, an official of the Company in Bengal and his friends decided to prepare an account of rural Bengal (the then Bihar, Bengal and Orissa) based on their (voluntary) observation.
6. Interestingly, these voluntary works at private level; wrote against official policies and took a stand at variance with contemporary administrative practices. The conclusions carried convictions since they had been reached after an analysis marked by scientific rigour.
7. Similarly, Henry Thomas Colebrooke had published his pioneering work, “REMARKS ON THE HUSBANDRY AND INTERNAL COMMERCE OF BENGAL,” in the year 1794, as voluntary contributor and published his findings independently.
8. The book was republished twice in the nineteenth century, in 1804 in Calcutta and in 1884 in London. The Maharaja Kameshwar Singh Kalyani Foundation from Darbhanga (Bihar) has re-published it in 2007.
9. The work remains a valuable source for understanding the issues faced by the rural society in the last decade of the 18th Century.
10. It also enabled us to study the adverse impact of Company’s rule in Bengal.
11. This book highlights for the first time that the introduction of Permanent Settlement (1793) was greeted by a section of Indians, especially those who were hereditary collectors of land revenue.
12. At one stroke, all hereditary collectors of land revenue became Zamindars, big or small, with equal rights and became the permanent ally of the English rule in India.
13. The book discovered that Permanent Settlement prepared the ground work for peasant v/s Zamindar conflict which became a continuing feature of rural life for almost a century from mid-19th century onwards.
14. Colebrooke’s treatise contains a chapter devoted to the subject of population. His estimates of population appears to be one of the first, if not the first, attempt at an estimate of population of Bengal, or for that matter, of any part of India on a rational or objective basis.
15. Colebrooke dwelt on the subjects which included (i) General Aspects of Bengal – Its Climate, Soil, and Inhabitants; (ii) Population; (iii) Husbandry; (iv) Tenures of Occupants – Property in the Soil – Rents and Duties – Tenures of Free Lands, and Lands luble for Revenue; (v) Profits of Husbandry in Bengal (vi) Internal Commerce – Grain, Piece-Goods, Saltpetre, and other objects of exportation.
16. The treatise highlighted that entrepreneurial class invested in zamindaries as the growth of business and industries suffered severe setbacks due to the advent of Industrial Revolution in England and cheap machine-made-goods started coming in Indian markets to replace traditional crafts.
17. The treatise discussed that the Opium was the primary cash crop of the time and the adverse impact on Indian peasants due to its monopolisation by the English East India Company.
18. Similarly, he talks about Indigo, tobacco, sugar cultivations in Bihar and other parts of Bengal and the entrepreneurial venture of European indigo planters in Bihar simultaneously opening sugar factories in North Bihar.
19. Similarly, he talks about the riverine transport of North Bihar and Bengal and cites poor transport as the major reason behind the problem of internal commerce.
20. This book has its limitation also. While giving about his observation on the ‘rotation of crops,’ Colebrooke was neither correct nor accurate as he applied the western ideas and practices mechanically to Indian conditions disregarding the vast differences of climate, seasons, weather or soil composition between the two distant regions.
21. Still, this book might be cited as one of the pioneering study about the rural part of Bengal and Bihar in scientific lines during the initial part of the British Rule.
2. The English East India Company welcomed the opportunity to expand its share in the internal commerce of Bengal.
3. The Company officials now studied rural society and its economy.
4. (i) Some of these studies were voluntary and (ii) some were government sponsored.
5. (i) Among the latter (government sponsored), the most informative and most comprehensive was the report prepared by Hamilton Buchanan (1807 -14).
(ii) Similarly, William Crooke, an official of the Company in Bengal and his friends decided to prepare an account of rural Bengal (the then Bihar, Bengal and Orissa) based on their (voluntary) observation.
6. Interestingly, these voluntary works at private level; wrote against official policies and took a stand at variance with contemporary administrative practices. The conclusions carried convictions since they had been reached after an analysis marked by scientific rigour.
7. Similarly, Henry Thomas Colebrooke had published his pioneering work, “REMARKS ON THE HUSBANDRY AND INTERNAL COMMERCE OF BENGAL,” in the year 1794, as voluntary contributor and published his findings independently.
8. The book was republished twice in the nineteenth century, in 1804 in Calcutta and in 1884 in London. The Maharaja Kameshwar Singh Kalyani Foundation from Darbhanga (Bihar) has re-published it in 2007.
9. The work remains a valuable source for understanding the issues faced by the rural society in the last decade of the 18th Century.
10. It also enabled us to study the adverse impact of Company’s rule in Bengal.
11. This book highlights for the first time that the introduction of Permanent Settlement (1793) was greeted by a section of Indians, especially those who were hereditary collectors of land revenue.
12. At one stroke, all hereditary collectors of land revenue became Zamindars, big or small, with equal rights and became the permanent ally of the English rule in India.
13. The book discovered that Permanent Settlement prepared the ground work for peasant v/s Zamindar conflict which became a continuing feature of rural life for almost a century from mid-19th century onwards.
14. Colebrooke’s treatise contains a chapter devoted to the subject of population. His estimates of population appears to be one of the first, if not the first, attempt at an estimate of population of Bengal, or for that matter, of any part of India on a rational or objective basis.
15. Colebrooke dwelt on the subjects which included (i) General Aspects of Bengal – Its Climate, Soil, and Inhabitants; (ii) Population; (iii) Husbandry; (iv) Tenures of Occupants – Property in the Soil – Rents and Duties – Tenures of Free Lands, and Lands luble for Revenue; (v) Profits of Husbandry in Bengal (vi) Internal Commerce – Grain, Piece-Goods, Saltpetre, and other objects of exportation.
16. The treatise highlighted that entrepreneurial class invested in zamindaries as the growth of business and industries suffered severe setbacks due to the advent of Industrial Revolution in England and cheap machine-made-goods started coming in Indian markets to replace traditional crafts.
17. The treatise discussed that the Opium was the primary cash crop of the time and the adverse impact on Indian peasants due to its monopolisation by the English East India Company.
18. Similarly, he talks about Indigo, tobacco, sugar cultivations in Bihar and other parts of Bengal and the entrepreneurial venture of European indigo planters in Bihar simultaneously opening sugar factories in North Bihar.
19. Similarly, he talks about the riverine transport of North Bihar and Bengal and cites poor transport as the major reason behind the problem of internal commerce.
20. This book has its limitation also. While giving about his observation on the ‘rotation of crops,’ Colebrooke was neither correct nor accurate as he applied the western ideas and practices mechanically to Indian conditions disregarding the vast differences of climate, seasons, weather or soil composition between the two distant regions.
21. Still, this book might be cited as one of the pioneering study about the rural part of Bengal and Bihar in scientific lines during the initial part of the British Rule.
BRIEF LIFE SKETCH OF HENRY THOMAS COLEBROOKE
Henry Thomas Colebrooke FRS
FRSE (June 15, 1765 – March 10, 1837) was an English Orientalist and
Mathematician. He has been described as "the first great Sanskrit scholar
in Europe".
BIOGRAPHY
1. Henry Thomas Colebrooke, third son of Sir George Colebrooke, 2nd Baronet,
Chairman of the East India Company, and Mary Gaynor of Antigua, was born in
London.
2. He was educated at home; and when only fifteen (15) he had made considerable attainments in classics and mathematics.
3. From the age of twelve to sixteen he resided in France.
2. He was educated at home; and when only fifteen (15) he had made considerable attainments in classics and mathematics.
3. From the age of twelve to sixteen he resided in France.
IN INDIA
1. In 1782 Colebrooke was
appointed to a writership in India.
2. About a year after his arrival there he was placed in the board of accounts in Calcutta; and
3. Three years later he was removed to a situation in the revenue department at Tirhut.
4. In 1789 he was removed to Purneah, where he investigated the resources of that part of the country, and published his Remarks on the Husbandry and Commerce of Bengal, privately printed in 1794, in which he advocated free trade between Great Britain and India.
5. He was sent to Nagpur in 1799 on a special mission, and on his return was made a judge of the new court of appeal, over which he afterwards presided.
6. In 1805, Lord Wellesley appointed him honorary professor of Hindu law and Sanskrit at the college of Fort William.
7. He became a member of council in 1807 and returned to England seven years later (1814).
2. About a year after his arrival there he was placed in the board of accounts in Calcutta; and
3. Three years later he was removed to a situation in the revenue department at Tirhut.
4. In 1789 he was removed to Purneah, where he investigated the resources of that part of the country, and published his Remarks on the Husbandry and Commerce of Bengal, privately printed in 1794, in which he advocated free trade between Great Britain and India.
5. He was sent to Nagpur in 1799 on a special mission, and on his return was made a judge of the new court of appeal, over which he afterwards presided.
6. In 1805, Lord Wellesley appointed him honorary professor of Hindu law and Sanskrit at the college of Fort William.
7. He became a member of council in 1807 and returned to England seven years later (1814).
HIS ASSOCIATIONS
1. He was a director of the Royal Asiatic Society, and many of the papers in the society's Transactions were communicated by him.
2. In 1822 he was elected the second president of the Royal Astronomical Society.
1. He was a director of the Royal Asiatic Society, and many of the papers in the society's Transactions were communicated by him.
2. In 1822 he was elected the second president of the Royal Astronomical Society.
WORKS
1. After eleven years'
residence in India, Colebrooke began the study of the Sanskrit language; and to
him was entrusted the translation of the major Digest of Hindu Laws, a
monumental study of Hindu law which had been left unfinished by Sir William
Jones.
2. He translated the two treatises, the Mitacshara of Vijnaneshwara and the Dayabhaga of Jimutavahana, under the title Law of Inheritance.
3. During his residence at Calcutta he wrote his Sanskrit Grammar (1805), some papers on the religious ceremonies of the Hindus, and his Essay on the Vedas (1805), for a long time the standard work in English on the subject.
2. He translated the two treatises, the Mitacshara of Vijnaneshwara and the Dayabhaga of Jimutavahana, under the title Law of Inheritance.
3. During his residence at Calcutta he wrote his Sanskrit Grammar (1805), some papers on the religious ceremonies of the Hindus, and his Essay on the Vedas (1805), for a long time the standard work in English on the subject.
SOME OF HIS BOOKS
1. Remarks on the Husbandry and Internal Commerce of Bengal (1794)
2. Bible translations into Persian Calcutta (1804)
3. Kosha, Or Dictionary of the Sanscrit Language by Umura Singha with an English Interpretation and Annotations by H.T. Colebrooke. (1807)
4. Algebra, with Arithmetic and mensuration: from the Sanscrit of Brahmegupta. By Brahmagupta, Bhāsakārācārya. (translated by Colebrooke 1817)
5. Miscellaneous Essays. (1837) London: W.H. Allen & Company.
6. On the Religion and Philosophy of the Hindus. (published 1858) London: Williams & Norgate.
2. Bible translations into Persian Calcutta (1804)
3. Kosha, Or Dictionary of the Sanscrit Language by Umura Singha with an English Interpretation and Annotations by H.T. Colebrooke. (1807)
4. Algebra, with Arithmetic and mensuration: from the Sanscrit of Brahmegupta. By Brahmagupta, Bhāsakārācārya. (translated by Colebrooke 1817)
5. Miscellaneous Essays. (1837) London: W.H. Allen & Company.
6. On the Religion and Philosophy of the Hindus. (published 1858) London: Williams & Norgate.
REFERENCES AND EXCERPTS
1. "Colebrooke, Henry Thomas" in Dictionary of Indian Biography. Buckland, C. E., ed. (1906) London
2. Wikepedia
3. [Preface, Notes and Introduction] Remarks on the Husbandry and Internal Commerce of Bengal by Henry Thomas Colebrooke; Editor – Chandra Prakash N. Sinha. (2007)
1. "Colebrooke, Henry Thomas" in Dictionary of Indian Biography. Buckland, C. E., ed. (1906) London
2. Wikepedia
3. [Preface, Notes and Introduction] Remarks on the Husbandry and Internal Commerce of Bengal by Henry Thomas Colebrooke; Editor – Chandra Prakash N. Sinha. (2007)
PHOTOGRAPH
1. Henry Thomas Colebrooke
2. Cover Page of the book published by the Maharaja Kameshwar Singh Kalyani Foundation from Darbhanga, Bihar (2007)
2. Cover Page of the book published by the Maharaja Kameshwar Singh Kalyani Foundation from Darbhanga, Bihar (2007)
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