Board of Revenue Proceedings, 18th-29th January, 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.
1.1. Agreed that an extract from Mr. Bolts letter together with copies of the circular order sent to the collectors on the 13th …. And the account laid before the board by the secretary as also Captain Mc Farlane’s letter and enclosure be sent to the governor general in council with the following letter-
In conformity to the orders of your lordship in council, we do ourselves the honor to lay before you a comparative account of the prices of grain during the months of October, November, and December 1786/7 in such districts from which price currents of grain have been received
The letter to ascertain the present state of grain in the several districts in circular order has been issued by us to the different collectors, copy of which we here with submit it for your information.
We further do ourselves the honor to transmit a copy of a letter of an account received from Mr. Macfarlane if the bazar prices of grain at the Presidency from January 8 to the instant since which time we understand the market price is [...] considerably.
With respect to our opinion formed from the best information we can procure if there be any apprehensions of scarcity of grains before the crops of the next season may be expected to be ripe. We big have to state from the best information we can procure that there exists at this moment a scarcity of grain in most of the interior districts of Bengal, particularly in those that have suffered most from the inundation and storm- and we are of opinion that this scarcity most probably increase as the great crop of the current grain is now in the market without having removed the [...], and as the first crop of the [...] season being the smallest of the town will not be in the market before August.
Having received a letter from the collector of government customs at Moorshedabad respecting the [Page 666] price of grain in that place we do ourselves the honor to forward to you the accompanying extract there of [...]