Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T19:48:29.210Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Daladali in Calcutta in the Nineteenth Century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

S. N. Mukherjee
S. N. Mukherjee
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In this paper I wish to illustrate the hypothesis that a necessary co-relate of stable social order is a system of controlled conflict. In other words, a social system depends for its cohesion on the existence of conflicts in smaller sub-systems, provided that the conflicts are conducted within an accepted convention. Hence faction-feuds in a social system are not necessarily evidence of fission in that system but may also be evidence of fusion. I wish to illustrate this theme, what Gluckman called ‘The peace in the feud’, from evidence from Calcutta in the nineteenth century.

Type
Articles
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , January 1975 , pp. 59 - 80
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1975

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

The research for this paper was undertaken as the Director of a project, ‘Class, Caste and Politics in Calcutta, 1815–1876’. This research project was sponsored by the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, and was financed by the Indian Council of Social Science Research in 1970–71. I am most grateful to the Institute and the Council of Social Science Research in 1970–71. I am most grateful to the Institute and the Council and, more particularly, to J. P. Naik, for their generous assistance. I am also grateful to my project assistants, particularly to Prathama Sen. Mary Murnane, of the Department of History, Sydney University, has made some valuable suggestions, which were particularly helpful in revising the first draft of the paper.Google Scholar

1 Max, Gluckman, Custom and Conflict in Africa, Oxford, 1959, pp. 2–3.Google Scholar

2 See for instance, Memoirs of Maharaja Nubkissen Bahadur, Calcutta, 1901,Google Scholar

or Dwijendranath Thakurer Smritikatha, in Bipinbihari, Gupta, Puratan Prasanga, Biswabharati edition, Calcutta, 1373 (Bengali era).Google Scholar

3 Carstairs, R., The Little World of an Indian District Officer, London, 1912, p. 103;Google Scholar

Jack, cf. J. C., The Economic Life of a Bengal District. A Study, Oxford, 1916, p. 53Google Scholar

and George, Johnson H., The Stranger in India or Three Years in Calcutta, London, 1843, vol. 2, p. 152.Google Scholar

4 Ralph, Nicholas W., ‘Village factions and Political parties in rural West Bengal’, Journal of Commonwealth Political Studies, vol. II, 1963–1964, pp. 17–32.Google Scholar

5 Mukherjee, S. N., ‘Class, Caste and Politics in Calcutta 1815–1838’, in Leach, E. R. and Mukherjee, S. N. (eds), Elites in South Asia, Cambridge, 1970.Google Scholar

6 Leonard, A. Gordon, ‘Portrait of a Bengal Revolutionary’, Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 27, p. 204.Google Scholar

7 Bernard, Cohn S., ‘From Indian Status to British Contract’, Journal of Economic History, 1961.Google Scholar

8 Collet, S. D., The Life and Letters of Raja Rammohun Roy (3rd ed.), Calcutta, 1962. See editors' notes.Google Scholar

9 Samachar Chandrika, 6 August 1836,Google Scholar

as quoted in Banerjee, B. N. (ed.), Sangbad Patre Sekaler Katha, (S.S.K.) vol. 2 (3rd ed.), Calcutta, 1356 (Bengali era), pp. 362–63.Google Scholar

10 Evans-Pritchard, E. E., The Nuer, Oxford, 1940, pp. 147–48.Google ScholarPubMed

11 For a conservative view on the importance of diversity and conflicts for progress and creativeness in a society see Eliot, T. S., Notes towards the definition of culture (paperback ed.) London, 1961.Google Scholar

12 Gaurdeshiya Samaj Sthapanartha-Pratham Sabhar Vivaran, Calcutta, 1229 (Bengali era), p. 27.Google Scholar

13 For a further discussion on the self-image of the bhadralok class see my article ‘Bhadralok in Bengali language and literature—an assay on the language of class and status’ in my forthcoming book Towards a Revolutionary Past (to be published in 1975).Google Scholar

14 Bhavani, Charan Banerjee, Kalikata Kamalalaya (reprint) Calcutta, 1343 (Bengali era), pp. 8–9.Google Scholar

15 Prinsep, H. T., ‘Three generations in India 1770–1904’, India Office Library (I.O.L.) MSS. Eur. C.97/1.Google Scholar

16 Bengal Herald, 13 06 1829.Google Scholar

17 Gaurdeshiya Samaj Sthapanartha etc., p. 3.Google Scholar

18 Foreign Miscellaneous Series, National Archives of India, (F.M.S.) No. 130, ff. 113–118.Google Scholar

19 Ghosh, L. N., The modern history of the Indian chiefs, Rajas, Zaminders etc., Calcutta, 1879–1881, Vol. 2, pp. 155–7.Google Scholar

20 Bhattacharya, J. N., Hindu castes and sects, (reprint) Calcutta, 1968, p. 185.Google Scholar

21 Risley, H. H., Tribes and castes of Bengal, Calcutta, 1891, Vol. 1, p. 440.Google Scholar

22 For the profession of the Brahmins in Calcutta in the early nineteenth century see Ward, W., A view of the History, Literature and Mythology of the Hindoos London, 1817–1820, Vol. 3, p. 88 n.Google Scholar

It is interesting to note that according to 1921 census the majority of the Brahmins and Kayasthas of Calcutta were not educated in English, hence were not a part of the elite group. Census of Calcutta, 1921, Report, Pt. I. pp. 87–89.Google Scholar

23 Ronald, Inden, ‘The Hindu Chiefdom in Middle Bengal Literature’, in Edward, Dimock C., (ed.) Bengal, Literature and History, Chicago, 1967.Google Scholar

24 Ram, Bose Ram, Pratapaditya Charit, Serampore, 1801, pp. 45–46.Google Scholar

25 Chandra, Roy Bharat, Annada Mangal in Bharatchandra Granthavali, Calcutta, 1369 (Bengali era), p. 11.Google Scholar

26 Ronald, Inden, op. cit. p. 30. Cf. Census of India 1921 Report Vol. I Pt. I, p. 393.Google Scholar

27 Eric, Millar, ‘Caste and Territory in Malabar’, The American Anthropologist, 1954, No. 56, pp. 410–20.Google Scholar

28 For the life of Bharat Chandra Roy see Madanmuhon, Goswami, Bharat Chandra, Delhi, 1961 and for the autobiographies of two other authors of pre-colonial Bengal see G. Whyte Kilpatrick, ‘Two autobiographical accounts from Middle Bengali Literature’, in Dimock op. cit., pp. 47–66.Google Scholar

29 Risley, , op. cit., Vol. II, p. 132.Google Scholar

30 This story about Rajballava's attempts to introduce social reform in Bengal had been told in most biographies and memoirs of the nineteenth century, but the earliest account of it appeared in print in Kartik Chandra Roy's Kshitish Vamsavali. See Banerjee, C. C., Vidyasagar, Allahabad, 1909, p. 227.Google Scholar

31 Bhattacharya, J. N., op. cit., p. 99.Google Scholar

32 Shivnath, Shastri, Ramtanu Lahiri O Tatkalin Banga samaj (3rd ed.), Calcutta, 1909, p. 2.Google Scholar

33 Dobbin, C., ‘The Parsi Panchayat in Bombay City in the nineteenth century’, Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 4, 1970, pp. 149–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

34 Kumar, R., ‘The new Brahmans of Maharashtra’, in Low, D. A. (ed.) Soundings in Modern South Asian History, London, 1968, pp. 96–97.Google Scholar

35 Select Secret Proceedings May 1775 as quoted in Census of India 1911 Report, Vol. I part I, p. 395.Google Scholar

36 Harry, Verelst, A view of the rise, progress and present state of the English in Bengal, London 1772, pp. 27–28 n.Google Scholar

37 Census of India, 1911 Report, Vol. I, Pt. I, p. 394.Google Scholar

38 Select Secret Proceedings, March 1775, as quoted in Census of India, 1911, p. 395.Google Scholar

39 Ghose, N. N., op. cit., p. 204.Google Scholar

40 Samachar Darpan, 24 september 1831.Google Scholar

41 Ghose, N. N., op. cit., p. 171.Google Scholar

42 Ibid., p. 190.

43 Ghose, N. N. in his memoirs gives an eulogistic description of Nubkissen's Sabha: ‘Maharaja Nubkissen was the Maecenas of Bengal. There never was in this province a more munificent or more enthusiastic patron of letters and the fine arts. His home was the favourite resort of men of learning. His sabha (Association) of pundits was pre-eminently the first in the land. It has been popularly compared to the famous council of Vikramaditya.’ p. 184.Google Scholar

44 A rapid sketch of the life of Raja Radhakanta Deb Bahadur, Calcutta, 1859, p. 17.Google Scholar

45 George Johnson, op. cit., p. 229.Google Scholar

46 Risley, H. H., The Tribes and castes of Bengal, Vol. I, p. 279.Google Scholar

47 Ibid., pp. 279–80.

48 Ghose, N. N., op. cit., pp. 173–74.Google Scholar

49 Samachar Darpan, 24 september 1831.Google Scholar

50 Bhavani, Charan Banerjee, op. cit., pp. 30–31.Google Scholar

51 Ghose, N. N., op. cit., p. 186.Google Scholar

52 Hickey's Bengal Gazette, 25 september 1781 as quoted in N. N. Ghose, op. cit., p. 184.Google Scholar

53 Ghosh, L. N., The Modern history of the Indian Chiefs, etc. vol. 2, p. 51.Google Scholar

54 Ibid., p. 59.

55 Ibid., p. 68.

56 Charan, Banerjee Bhavani, op. cit., p. 33.Google Scholar

57 Samachar Darpan 5 september 1837, S.S.K., Vol. 2, p. 274.Google Scholar

58 Ghosh, N. N., op. cit., p. 191.Google Scholar

59 Ashutosh Deb started his dal in 1833 and was very active in the ‘40’s and ‘50’s of the century, but soon after his death his dal was never mentioned again. Samachar Darpan, 5 January 1833, S.S.K., Vol. 2, pp. 271–2. Cf. Dwijendranath Thakurer Smritikatha, Puratan Prasanga, pp. 285–6.Google Scholar

60 Ghosh, N. N., op. cit., pp. 204. Cf. Samachar Darpan, 24 september 1831.Google Scholar

61 Samachar Darpan, 9 July 1831. Cf. Bhavani Charan Banerjee, op. cit., p. 29.Google Scholar

62 Samachar Darpan, 5 september 1837. S.S.K., Vol. 2, pp. 273–75. In Baranagar there were five dalapatis, Pran-nath Chowdhury, Joynarayan Bandopadhyaya, Durgachran Mukhopadhyaya, Ram Ratna Roy and Kalinath Munshi. See letter to the Editor, Samachar Chandrika, as reprinted in Samachar Darpan, 6 september 1831.Google Scholar

63 Letter to the Editor Samachar Chandrika, 24 December 1831, S.S.K., Vol. 2, pp. 266–67.Google Scholar

64 See Samachar Chandrika especially 8 June 1843, 23 November, 1843, 4 February 1844 and 6 October 1845.Google Scholar

65 Samachar Darpan, 24 september 1831.Google Scholar

66 Letter to the Editor Samachar Chandrika as reprinted in Samachar Darpan, 24 December 1831. S.S.K., Vol. 2, pp. 266–67.Google Scholar

67 The Bengal Spectator, 1 september 1842,Google Scholar

as reprinted in Benoy, Ghosh (ed.), Samayikpatre Banglar Samajchitra (S.B.S.) Vol. 3, Calcutta, 1964, pp. 96–100.Google Scholar

68 Ghose, L. N., op. cit., pp. 165–66.Google Scholar

69 Rajnarayan, Bose, Atmacharit, Calcutta, 1315 (Bengali era), pp. 112–13.Google Scholar

70 Umeschandra Datter Smritikatha in Bipin, Bihari Gupta, Puratan Prasanga, pp. 179–80.Google Scholar

71 A Brief Account of the Tagore family, Calcutta, 1868, p. 5.Google Scholar

72 Samachar Darpan, 25 February 1832.Google Scholar

73 Ward, W., A view of the history etc. as mentioned in J. N. Bhattacharya, op. cit., p. 99–Google Scholar

74 Ibid.

75 Samachar Chandrika, 1 August 1844.Google Scholar

76 Samachar Chandrika, 13 February 1830, S.S.K., Vol. 2, pp. 306–7.Google Scholar

77 Carstairs, R., op. cit., p. 98.Google Scholar

78 Samachar Chandrika, 5 January 1833. S.S.K., Vol. 2, pp. 271–72.Google Scholar

79 Letter to the Editor, Samachar Darpan, 5 August 1837.Google Scholar

80 Charan, Banerjee Bhavani, op. cit., p. 30.Google Scholar

81 Samachar Chandrika, 5 July 1830.Google Scholar

Cf., Alexander's East India Magazine, vol. 1, pp. 403–4.Google Scholar

82 Letter to the Editor, Samachar Chandrika as reprinted in Samachar Darpan, 24 December 1831. S.S.K., vol. 2, pp. 266–7.Google Scholar

83 The Bengal Spectator, 1 september 1842, S.B.S., vol. 3, pp. 96–100.Google Scholar

84 Samachar Chandrika of 1830–1831 and 1844–1845.Google Scholar

85 Biprabhakti Chandrika, Calcutta 1832,Google Scholar

as reprinted in Law, N. N., Suvarnavanik, Katha o Kriti, Calcutta, 1940, vol. 1, pp. 40–50.Google Scholar

86 Dwijendranath Thakurer Smritikatha, p. 285.Google Scholar

87 Samachar Chandrika, 3 March 1845.Google Scholar

88 Mittra, K. C., Mutylal Seal, Calcutta, 1869, p. 17.Google Scholar

89 The Bengal Spectator, 1 February, 1843. S.B.S., vol. 3, pp. 135–36.Google Scholar

90 Sterling, to Raja Baidyanath, 17 June 1829. F.M.S. vol. 158, D.O. Letter.Google Scholar

91 Dwijendranath Thakurer Smritikatha, p. 281.Google Scholar

92 Samachar Darpan 21 August 1819 and 2 June 1827. S.S.K., vol. 1, pp. 171, 344–5. Cf. Samachar Chandrika, 12 May 1830.Google Scholar

93 ‘Class, Caste and Politics in Calcutta, 1815–1838’, in Edmund, Leach and Mukherjee, S. N., Elites in South Asia, Cambridge, 1970, p. 34.Google Scholar

94 F.M.S. vols 130 and 131.

95 F.M.S. vol. 9, p. 603 and vol. 157. D.O. Letters.

96 Mukherjee, , ‘Class, Caste and Politics’, pp. 66–68.Google Scholar

97 Letter to the Editor, Samachar Chandrika, 22 July 1845.Google Scholar

98 The Bengal Spectator, 1 september 1842, S.B.S. vol. 3, p. 99.Google Scholar

99 Sangbad Prabhakar, 5 september 1850 (?), S.B.S. vol. 2, pp. 174–75.Google Scholar

100 Samachar Darpan, 22 October 1831.Google Scholar

101 Samachar Darpan, 1 October 1831.Google Scholar

102 Samachar Darpan, 2 July 1831.Google Scholar

103 Samachar Darpan, 5 November 1831.Google Scholar

104 Samachar Chandrika, 30 July 1831, as quoted in Samachar Darpan.Google Scholar

105 Samachar Darpan, 6 August 1831.Google Scholar

106 George, Johnson, op. cit., vol. 2, p. 152.Google Scholar

107 Shivnath, Shastri, op. cit., pp. 95–114.Google Scholar

108 Rajnarayan, Bose, Sekal aar Ekal (reprint) Calcutta, 1363 (Bengali era), pp. 1–2.Google Scholar

109 Ahmed, A. F. S., Social ideas and social change in Bengal, 1818–1835, Leiden, 1965, pp. 27–31.Google Scholar

110 Calcutta Review, vol. IV (July–December, 1845), p. 385.Google Scholar

111 Evans-Pritchard, , op. cit., pp. 190–91.Google Scholar

112 For biographical notes of the members of ‘The young Bengal’ group see Shivnath Shastri, op. cit. and for an analysis of their ideology see Ghosh, B., op. cit. vol. 3, pp. 22–33.Google Scholar

113 Samachar Darpan, 23:7, 1831, S.S.K., vol. 2, p. 337.Google Scholar

114 Samachar Chandrika, 1 August 1854 and 27 January 1845.Google Scholar

115 Radhakanta Deb was the first President and Debendranath Tagore was the first secretary of The British-India Association. See Singh-Roy, P. N., The Chronicle of The British-India Association, Calcutta, 1965.Google Scholar

116 Dwijendranath Thakurer Smritikatha, p. 285.Google Scholar

117 According to the Census Report of 1911, ‘It is in Bengal that the progress has been greatest in sweeping away the vexatious restrictions on eating and drinking imposed by the caste system. Many of the leading Indian gentlemen dine without hesitation with Europeans at the Calcutta Club and in private houses, and are served on such occasions by Muhamedan table servants’, Census, 1911, Bengal, p. 388. J. N. Bhattacharya noticed the loosening of caste restrictions in 1892.Google Scholar See Bhattacharya, , op. cit., pp. 248–49.Google Scholar

118 Ralph, Nicholas, op. cit.Google Scholar

119 Dwijendranath Thakurer Smritikatha, p. 286.Google Scholar