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An Institutional Shelter: The Court of Wards in Late Nineteenth-Century Bihar

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Anand A. Yang
Anand A. Yang
Affiliation:
University of Utah
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Extract

The late nineteenth century was a period of selective institution-building by the British in India. Government's efforts were directed primarily towards the development of a more effective control and communications infrastructure. The initial impetus for such changes in Bengal came during the energetic administration of Sir George Campbell, the Lieutenant Governor from 1871 to 1874. Under his auspices, attempts were made to extend the administrative machinery down to the sub-district levels by the creation of sub-deputy collectorships and the revitalization of such local officials as kanungos (registrars), patwaris (village accountants) and chaukidars (village watchmen). Better connections to local society were also sought through institutions which linked government to its allies, such as municipal, local, and district boards, and the Court of Wards.

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Articles
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , April 1979 , pp. 247 - 264
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1979

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References

For comments on an earlier draft of this paper presented at the Southeast Regional Conference of the Association of the Asian Studies, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, January 23–25, 1975, I am indebted to Richard Barnett, Chris Bayly and Walter Hauser.

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51 Musgrave, P. J., ‘Landlords and Lords of the Land,’ p. 270, suggests that in large estates power was in the hands of estate managers and their cronies. For an example of how the Court of Wards could level such power to benefit the estateholder, see Yang, ‘Control and Conflict,’ Chs 5 and 6.Google Scholar

52 An interesting illustration of this beneficial relationship is the record of court cases of wards' estates. Hathwa, for example, won 404 of the 412 rent suits it instituted, with only 4 pending, 1 withdrawn and 1 against during the year 1897–98. The same year all the criminal cases were decided in its favor! See ‘Report for 1897–98,’ P. C. Basta 166, Court of Wards, Hathwa Estate, Saran district, SCRO.Google Scholar

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54 Cited in Jha, ‘History of Darbhanga,’ p. 81.Google Scholar

55 The Black Pamphlet of Calcutta (The Famine of 1874) by a Bengal Civilian (Charles James O'Donnell) (London, 1876).Google Scholar

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62 The Maharaja was supported by the Commissioner of Patna, see ‘Alleged Desertion of Ryots in Hutwa Estate,’ Beng Rev Pro, 1879, December, 173–214, IOL. See also Yang, ‘Control and Conflict,’ pp. 281–90, for a general discussion of this and other desertions as an option for peasants in an agrarian society.Google Scholar

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68 By this act the Collectors of districts had the authority to make suitable arrangements for wards’ education. Act IV (Bengal Code) of 1870 established specific rules by which the education of minors was to be entrusted to the Court of Wards, that is, with the Commissioner of the division in which the ward resided, in consultation with the Board of Revenue, see Ibid.

69 Generally minors between nine and sixteen years of age were admitted. Each boy was allowed one ‘trustworthy agent,’ two personal attendants, a cook and other necessary servants, Ibid. See also ‘Regulations for the Management of a Wards’ Institution at Benares,’ Beng Rev Pro, August–September 1872, September 54–8, IOL.

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76 BOR to Chester MacNaghten, no. 882A, 27 July 1866, Beng Rev Pro, A Bundles, 1866, August no. 5, SCRO. Chester MacNaghten, 1843–1896, went to India in 1866 as tutor to the Darbhanga wards, then became first principal of Rajkumar or Chiefs' College at Rajkot, from 1870 to 1896, see Buckland, C. E., Dictionary of Indian Biography (London, 1906), p. 266.Google Scholar

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82 Ibid.

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93 Kerr, J. H., Final Report on the Survey and Settlement Operations in the Darbhanga District, 1896 to 1903 (Patna, 1926), p. 2.Google Scholar