Proceedings of the Committee of Circuit, 15th-18th February, 1773

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. Between 1769 and 1786 the revenue administration was managed by various intermediate agencies like the Resident at the Durbar, Provincial Council of Revenue, the Calcutta Committee of Revenue. These committees reflect the early experiments and confusion of the East India Company over revenue collection.

The Committee of Circuit was founded on 14th May 1772 and it continued to operate till February 1773. On August, 1771, the Directors of the Company, instructed the Company to take upon itself the entire care and management of the revenue. There upon, Warren Hastings, formed a Committee of the Board,, consisting of himself and four members to settle the land revenue in the various districts on the spot.

Selection details

The Committee of Circuit was founded on 14th May 1772 and it continued to operate till February 1773. On August, 1771, the Directors of the Company, instructed the Company to take upon itself the entire care and management of the revenue. There upon, Warren Hastings, formed a Committee of the Board,, consisting of himself and four members to settle the land revenue in the various districts on the spot.

1.

The Volume could not be located in the Archive. The Following notes are made from the Press List

OC 15th Feb No-2- From Jalpaiguri, Letter from the Captain Robert Stuart reporting his success against the Darap Deo and the sannyasi forces and the occupation of the city of Baikunthpur before the arrival of Captain Jones; praying that he may be recommended to the Board to be allowed to continue his operations on the west of the Tista and intimating the terms of the letter he wrote to Darap Deo.

OC 15th Feb No-2. From Jalpaiguri, Letter from Captain Robert Stuart describing his success in a campaign against Darap Deo and the sannyasi forces, and intimating his desire to remain encamped till he receives the Committee’s instructions or gets some information regarding the movements of the enemy that may render his presence in the field necessary.

OC 15th Feb, No.4- From Dinajpur, Letter from Mr Archibald Staples acting the Collector of Dinajpur, intimating the ravages committed in the district of Silberies by the Sannyasis and requesting Captain Stuart to take the necessary steps that will put these ravages to an end.

OC 15th Feb, No-5- From Vishnupur in the district of Rajmahal, Letter to Charles Purling Collector of Rungpore, requesting him with reference to the outbreak of a band of sannyasis in the district of Silberies, that he should direct Captain Jones to take steps either separately or in conjunction with Captain Edwards and Stuart to drive them out of Bengall.

OC 15th Feb, No-6- From Vishnpur in the district of Rajmahal, Letter to Captain Robert Stuart congratulating him on his success against Darap Deo and the sannyasi forces and directing him to take effective measures, either separately or in conjunction with Captain Jones and Edwards, to expel the sannyasis who have broken into the district of Silberies.

OC 15th Feb, No-7- Letter to Captain Timothy Edwards commanding a detachment of Silberies, directing him to take steps, either separately or in conjunction with Captain Jones and Stuart, to expel the Sannyasis who have broken into that district.

OC 15th Feb, No 8- Letter to Mr Archibald Staples,acting Collector of Dinajur stating that orders have been sent to Mr Purling and Captain Stuart to employ the forces under them for the expulsion of the sannyasis from Silberies and directing him to dispatch the collection of revenues of Murshidabad.

This is a selection from the original text

Keywords

brigade, invaded, ravage, sannyasi, war

Source text

Title: Proceedings of the Committee of Circuit, 15th-18th February, 1773, Proceedings of the Committee of Circuit

Original date(s) covered: 1773

Provenance/location: This text was transcribed from manuscripts at the West Bengal State Archives. Original date(s) covered: 1773 West Bengal State Archive

Digital edition

Language: English

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