Board of Revenue Proceedings, 1st-18th July, 1788

About this text

Introductory notes

The early records preserved in the West Bengal State Archive pertains to the administration of the land revenue system by the East India Company. The Company attained the revenue rights of the Province through the Grant of Diwani in 1765. The records in the repositories of the Archive date back to the Select Committee Records in 1768. In the early the revenue administration was managed by various intermediary agencies, these committees reflect the early experiments and confusion of the East India Company over revenue collection.

The Court of Directors decided to reconsider the revenue administration in 1785. On this line the Court wrote in their General Letter, dated 21st September, 1785, that, there would be a Board of Revenue comprising of one of Junior Member of Council, and four other senior servants of the Company. The department would manage the whole administration of settlement, collection and receipt of every branch of the Revenue department together. The Board of Revenue at the Fort William operated from 1786 to 1822.

Selection details

The Court of Directors decided to reconsider the revenue administration in 1785. On this line the Court wrote in their General Letter, dated 21st September, 1785, that, there would be a Board of Revenue comprising of one of Junior Member of Council, and four other senior servants of the Company. The department would manage the whole administration of settlement, collection and receipt of every branch of the Revenue department together. The Board of Revenue at the Fort William operated from 1786 to 1822.

1.

[Page 307]

1.1. Read the following Letter from the Governor General in Council To John Shore Esq

President & Members of the Board of Revenue Gentlemen,

We have received your Letter of the 20th [...]to the 27th June, and of the Instant.

27th June Ditto We authorize you to disburse the Sumo of 1000 Rupees for the relief of the Inhabitants of Rangamatty [Page 308]under the reliance that the Collector will take the necessary precautions of its being distributed to such persons as stand most in need of relief.

We are &C
Cornwallis
[Page 308]

1.2. To Mr Hugh Bailie Collector of Rangamatty

Sir,

We have to inform you that the Governor General [Page 309] in Council has been pleased to authorize you to disburse the sum of 1000 Rupees applied for you by on the 13th Ultimo for the relief of the Inhabitants of the District under your Charge, under the reliance that you will take the necessary precautions for its being distributed to such persons as stand most in need of relief.

We are &C

This is a selection from the original text

Keywords

charge, charity, collector, money, relief, support

Source text

Title: Board of Revenue Proceedings, 1st-18th July, 1788, Board of Revenue Proceedings

Subtitle: Volume 44

Original compiled 1788

Provenance/location: This text was transcribed from manuscripts at the West Bengal State Archives. Original compiled 1788 West Bengal State Archive

Digital edition

Language: English

Selection used:

  • 1 ) pp 307 to 309

Responsibility:

Texts collected by: Ayesha Mukherjee, Amlan Das Gupta, Azarmi Dukht Safavi

Texts transcribed by: Muhammad Irshad Alam, Bonisha Bhattacharya, Arshdeep Singh Brar, Muhammad Ehteshamuddin, Kahkashan Khalil, Sarbajit Mitra

Texts encoded by: Bonisha Bhattacharya, Shreya Bose, Lucy Corley, Kinshuk Das, Bedbyas Datta, Arshdeep Singh Brar, Sarbajit Mitra, Josh Monk, Reesoom Pal

Encoding checking by: Hannah Petrie, Gary Stringer, Charlotte Tupman

Genre: India > official correspondence > state archives > West Bengal

For more information about the project, contact Dr Ayesha Mukherjee at the University of Exeter.

Acknowledgements