Page images
PDF
EPUB

the country to be divided into districts, and appointed a collec tor over each district. The collectors, commonly called Zemindars, received a certain percentage, generally one tenth of the amount collected. They were merely the agents of government, with no right in the soil, but as they were seldom removed so long as they gave satisfaction, and the office frequently continued in the same family two or three generations, it came often to be regarded as a kind of hereditary property. There is a strong feeling in India to make every thing hereditary. If a man holds any situation till he dies, his family will always feel that they have a claim to the same place.

It has already been stated that in the administration of Mr. Hastings, the land was divided into districts, and sold to the highest bidder for 5 years. The purchasers were generally the collectors of the taxes or rents, and they made the purchases with the expectation that at the close of 5 years, some further settlement would be made. But as the English government had not fixed on any system, the collectors generally continued in charge on such terms as could be agreed upon with the government. But all parties were in a dissatisfied state. Lord Cornwallis appears to have had strong aristocratical prejudices, and believed the country could be best governed and improved by creating a landed aristocracy. So the Zemindars, who were all natives of the country, were declared to be the landlords, or proprietors of their respective districts, upon condition of paying to the government annually a certain specified amount of taxes or rents, and the cultivators were all declared to be the tenants of the Zemindars. Thus in provinces containing a population of 30,000,000 of people, the cultivators of the land, in whose possession it had been for many generations, and whose right to it had never been questioned, were made the tenants of landlords (the Zemindars) who had previously no right whatever in the soil by inheritance, occupation, or purchase. It was intended at first, that this arrangement or settlement should continue for only 10 years, and then be made permanent, if approved by the Court of Directors, and the results should be such as were anticipated. But Lord Cornwallis, after some delay, resolved to make this settlement permanent, and so it was made.

This was the greatest change yet made by any English administration in India. Indeed, so great a change was probably never made in the state of any country by the mere enactment and operation of law. And probably no change ever produced more unhappy consequences- unhappy to the East India Company in its effects upon their revenue, and the improvement of the country; unhappy upon the Zemindars, many of whom became involved and insolvent; and yet more unhappy upon the cultivators, who were oppressed and impoverished, and, to a fearful extent, ruined. Such is the general testimony and opinion of numerous writers upon this settlement. The author of the Rise and Progress of the British Power in India, whose principal aim appears to have been to seek, in all the proceedings of the East India Company, and of their governors and agents, for what he could praise, and for circumstances and reasons to excuse what he could not commend, says, "this attempt to create a landed aristocracy out of the hereditary contract agency in managing the land revenue, was attended by a vast subversion of individual property and the loss of a considerable portion of revenue to the State, without securing that relief to the cultivator of the soil which formed one of the principal objects contemplated on the introduction of the system."* And Sir H. Strachey, who was for many years one of the Company's magistrates in Bengal, declared, "that an almost universal destruction had overtaken the Zemindars, and that if any survived, they were reduced to the same condition and placed at an equal distance from their masters (the English), as the lowest ryots (cultivators)." Another historian of British India says: "It is impossible to read the accounts given, by the Company's most intelligent agents, of the state of the country, and of the causes of its moral decline, without receiving a full conviction that with the best intentions in the world, Lord Cornwallis, by his financial changes brought more injury upon British India, than had been brought by all his predecessors put together.Ӡ

A reform in the courts of law, or rather the introduction and establishment of a judicial system was not less required

* Auber, vol. 2, p. 83.

† Gleig, vol. 3, p. 132.

than changes in the revenue. The revenue concerned the government; the administration of justice concerned all classes of people. The country was divided into districts, and a series of courts, with appeals from the lower to the higher, was arranged. Europeans connected with the army were of course subject to military laws. Europeans in the other departments of government, and those unconnected with the government, were amenable to the Supreme Court in Calcutta. In respect to the native population generally, where both parties were Hindus, the matters in question were to be decided in accorda ce with Hindu laws, as defined and interpreted by the Hindu law-officers of the courts. So where both parties were Mohamriedans, the decision was to be in accordance with the established principles of Mohammedan law. And where the parties *were of different creeds, then the law of the defendant was to govern the decision. In the application of these general principles, much must have remained for the discretionary consideration and decision of the magistrates.

The great mistake in framing this system, and one which greatly embarrassed its operations, was the introduction of tedious and technical forms in conformity with English courts and usages. Here, as in the matters of revenue, the governorgeneral, though a man of great ability, and with the best intentions, appears to have been misled by his admiration of every thing English, and by his not being sufficiently acquainted with the character, the history, and the habits of the native population, to see that such a system was not suited to them. So in the administration of justice among the people as well as of revenue for the government, Lord Cornwallis's measures, instead of producing the good effects which were expected from them, became the cause of great, complicated, and long continued evils. These two measures, one concerning the land revenue, and the other concerning the judiciary, were the greatest errors ever made by the English in their government of India.

In October, of 1793, Lord Cornwallis embarked for England, having been governor-general for 5 years. The East India Company gave him an annuity of £5,000 for 20 years, to commence from the time he quitted India, and to be continued to his family in the event of his death. His salary had been £25,000 annually, while in office.

Sir John Shore, subsequently Lord Teignmouth, then became governor-general, and held the office till 1798. He had previously been many years in India, and so had much experience in the affairs of government. His administration gave general satisfaction in India as well as in England.

HISTORY OF MADRAS TILL 1800.

Madras is the oldest of the English possessions in India. It was obtained by the East India Company in 1640, from a native prince, who had then some possessions on the Coromandel Coast. The territory acquired, consisted of only a few square miles. The English here erected a fort and called it St. George. The village or town has retained its original name Madras, or Madraspatam, the town of Madras. It was soon made the seat of the East India Company's government and agency on that coast, and has ever since retained its preeminence, having increased from a native village to a city of half a million of inhabitants.

With the close of the 17th century the difficulties of the East India Company in England terminated, and with the 18th century a new era commenced. The two rival companies which had so long contended for the trade of India, had become united in one corporation to manage their affairs under legislative sanction. Their charter gave them the exclusive right to the trade with all places east of the Cape of Good Hope, and power to seize and punish any of their nation, who should interfere with it. They had civil and criminal jurisdiction in the courts they had established. They had resolved to extend their power and to increase their revenue by acquiring territorial possessions. They had determined that "independence was to be established in India;" and to become "a nation in India." And what was of great importance, they had all the experience acquired by the management of their extensive and complicated affairs, for more than a century. They knew the character, the power, and the weakness of the native princes and governments, and by observation, social intercourse, and transactions of business, they had become well acquainted with the character, circumstances, and habits of all classes of the native population.

Arrangements were made in London for managing the affairs of the Company in a manner far superior to any that had before existed. The proprietors assembled in due form for business, were called "the Court of Proprietors," and to take a part in the proceedings of this body, a proprietor must own £500 of stock. The proprietors chose 24 of their body to be a committee of management; these were called the Directors, and when assembled for business, "the Court of Directors." But no one could become a Director, who did not possess £2,000 of stock.

In India the Company had 3 presidencies, namely, Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. A presidency consisted of a president or governor, and council, all appointed by the Directors in London. Subordinate to these presidencies, were 80 factories scattered in all the considerable seaports and cities in India and other parts of southern Asia. Some of these factories were strongly fortified and garrisoned.

For some years little of historical interest occurred in the affairs of the English in India. In 1715, a physician by the name of Hamilton, who accompanied an embassy to Delhi, cured the emperor of a disease which had baffled the native physicians. For this service the emperor gave liberal presents to Hamilton; he also gave 3 villages near Madras, and 37 villages near Calcutta, to the East India Company. He also gave permission for their agents to transport their goods through his dominions to some places without paying duty. The trade of the Company was generally prosperous. In 1717, they paid dividends of 10 per cent. upon a capital of £3,194,030, and this appears to have been the rate of dividend for 10 or 12 years.

In 1721, Indian calicoes were so much used in England that they were considered "a great detriment and obstruction to the woollen and silk manufactures of the kingdom, and occasioned several riots and tumults among the weavers in London,” in consequence of which Parliament passed an act, which "prohibited the wear of Indian printed calicoes under a penalty of £5 for each offence on the wearer, and £20 on the seller." This was rather a singular way of protecting domestic manufactures. The Company had great difficulty in obtaining a renewal of

« PreviousContinue »