■■r^^ ■— HTT^i^* . ^IW^^ ■^THYSICAL AND POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE PROVINCE OF ASSAM. {Reprinted from the Report on the Administration of the Province of Assam for the year 1892-93, and published by authority.) SHILLONG : PRINTED AT THE ASSAM SECRETARIAT PRINTING OFFICE, 1896. Price—One Rupee. ''-'~- ^ - -"^- PHYSICAL AND POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE PROVINCE OF, ASSAM, (Raprinted from the Report on the Administration of the Province of Assam for the year i8g2-gj, and published by authority.) SHILLONG : PRINTED AT THE ASSAM SECRETARIAT PRINTING OFFICE. 1896. Price— One Rupee. * GIFT OF rUlNTED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF TEE ASSxVM BEOEETAEIAT PKINIINQ OFFICE. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY, AREA, CLIMATE, AND CHIEF STAPLES. Pass Section 1. Area and Boundaries, and Physical Features ... 1 „ 2. Geological Features ... 10 ,, 3. Climate ... 18 „ 4. Chief Staples ... 2a_ „ 5. Commercial Staples ... 31 ,, 6. Manufactures ... 44 „ 7. Trade and Commerce .,. 47 ,, 8. Mines and Minerals ... 53 CHAPTER II. HISTORICAL SUMMARY. Section 1. Assam Proper ■ ... 62 „ 2. Godlp5ra ... 75 „ 3. Cachar ... 77 „ 4. Sylhet and Jaintia ... 80 „ 5. The Hill Districts ... 82 „ 6. Formation of the Chief Commissionership ... 97 CHAPTER III. FORM OF ADMINISTRATION. Bection 1. General Administrative System and StaflE ,.. 99 „ 2. Legislative Authority ... 110 „ 3. Education ... 112 „ 4. Immigration and Labour Inspection ... ... 120 Page Section 5. Public Works ... 133 „ G. Local Self-Government.. 138 „ 7. Finance ... ... 144 CHAPTER IV. CHARACTER OF LAND TENURES _ AND SYSTEM OF SETTLEMENT AND SURVEY. Section 1. Land Tenures ... 154 „ 2. Waste Land Tenures ... 167 ,, 3. System of Survey and Settlement ... 172 CHAPTER V. CIVIL DIVISIONS OF BRITISH TERRITORY. Civil Divisions of British Territory' 181 CHAPTER VI. DETAILS OF THE LAST CENSUS. Details of the Last Census ... 186 CHAPTER VII. FRONTIER RELATIONS AND FEUDATORY STATES. Frontier Relations and Feudatory States 207 31J4i>2l '^M^: Physical and Political Geography. CHAPTER I. Physical Features of the Country, Area, Climate, and Chief Staples. SECTION l.—AREA AND BOUNDARIES AND PHYSICAL FEATURES, 1. The Province of Assam lies on tlie north-east border of Bengal, on the extreme frontier of the Indian ^^ Area and boundaries. . ^ 7 Empire, with Bhutan and Thibet beyond it Bo7,ndalies on the north, and Burma and Manipur on the east. It comprises p.""*^ the whole of the valley of the Brahmaputra down to the point Features. where that river, emero-inor on the Benf^^al delta, takes a sudden southward curve, and the greater portion of the valley of the Surma, nearly to the junction of that stream with the great estuary of the Me^ma, too^ether with the intervening? rancre of hills which forms the watershed between them. It lies between latitude 28° 18^ and 23° 1 5' North, and longitude 89° 46' and 97° 4' East, and contains an area of 49,004 square miles, of which 28,755 square miles are plain and 20,249 square miles are hilly country.* The immediate boundaries of the province are, on the north Independent Bhutan, a tract inhabited by Bhutias under the direct Government of Lhassa, « These figures represent the area of the plains and hill districts, respectively, the North Cachar subdivision being treated for this purpose as a hill district. The real plains area is somewhat greater, as a portion of the Garo Hills district (473 square n)iles) is plain and so also a small part of the Naga and the KhAsi and Jaintia Hills districts. On the other hand, it must be remembered that the area classed above as plain includes the Mikir Hills in Nowgong, and also some low ranges of hills in the south of the Cachar and Sj'lhet districts. The North Lushui Hills are not included in these figures, as, although that tract of country is now practically part of Assam, it has not yet been actually formed intoa district and incorporated in the ordinary adiniuistratiun of the province. An account of this tract and of its occupation will be found in Chapter VII. B ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. 1. Section i. knowii as Towang, and a range of sub-Himalaj^an hills, inhabited, Ai^nd first by two small races of Blmtia origin, who are believed to be ^""'atd'" independent, and further eastwards by the savage tribes of Akas, Physical Daflas, Miris, Abors, and Mislnnis ; on the north-east the Mishmi Features. j 7 ? -yt n Hills, which sweep round the head of the Brahmaputra Valley > (•n the east the Pdtkoi range, the intervening ranges, inhabited clr.efly by -".arious tribes of Niigas, and the Native State of Mani- pur ; on the south the Lushai Hills, Hill Tippera, and the Bengal district of Tippera ; on the west the Bengal districts of Mymensingh and Eangpur, and the Native State of Kuch Bihar, 2. Assam Proper, or the valley of the Brahmaputra, is an alluvial plain, about 450 miles in length, with Brahmaputra Valley. ^^ average breadth of about 50 miles, lying almost east and west in its lower portion, but in its upper half trendino- somewhat to the north-east. To the north is the main chain- of the Himalayas, the lower ranges of which rise abruptly from the plain ; to the south is the great elevated plateau, or succession of plateaux, known as the Assam Eange, much broken at its eastern and western extremities and along its northern face, but in its central portion, from the eastern border of the Gdro Hills to the watershed of the Dhansiri, a region of table land and rolling uplands. The various portions of this range are called by the names of the tribes who inhabit them, — the Gdro, the Khdsi, the Jaintia, the North Cacliar, and the Ndga Hills. At several points on the southern side of the valley the hills of the Assam Eange abut on the river, and at GoAlpdra, Gaulidti, and Tezpur it has spurs belonging to this group on the north, as well as on the south bank. The broadest part of the valley is where the river divides the districts of Sibsdgar and Lakhimpur, below wdiich the isolated block of the Mikir Hills to the south (a mass of mountains cut off from the main Assam Eange by the valleys of the Dhansiri, Ldngpher, and Jamuna rivers), and the pro- jecting Rroup of the Dafla Hills to the north suddenly contract it. Forty miles lower down it widens out, but at the lower end of the Nowgong district it is again encroached upon by the Khdsi Hills, among the spurs of which the river makes its way in front of the C^aP" ^'] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. station of Gaulidti, and it is almost completely shut in just to the SEc;Tio>f i. west of that town, below the temple-crowned hill of Nildchal or Area and Kamdkhyil, where the stream is not 1,000 yards broad. Beyond ^'"'^f^Y''' this point the hills recede again, and the mountains do not approc.ch p'j^i][lfg the Brahmaputra until the station of GotUpara, situated on a spur of the Garo Hills, is reached. Here, at the confluence of the IManas and between the rocks of Jogighopa and Pagla Tek, is the *' ^^^^ Q^ A ssam," to the east of which Assamese is spoken, and to the west of it Bengali. Beyond this point the valley again widens, and at Dhubri opens out into the great delta ofjBengal. 3. Throughout its course the Brahmaputra receives a vast number of affluents, great and small, from The Brahmaputra ami ^|^^ i^ijjg ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^ g^^d south. The greater Its amuerits. o of the northern streams are snow-fed, while those from the south (except the Dihing) depend upon the annual rains for their volume, and shrink to small dimensions in the dry season. On the north the chief tributaries of the Brahmaputra are the Dibong, Dihong, Subausi'ri, Bhoroli, Bornadi, and Manc4s ; on the south the greater affluents are the new and old Dihings, the Disang, the Disoi, and the Dhansiri. A short distance below the junction of the last named a considerable body of water separates itself from the Brahmaputra, and, under the name of the Kallang, goes on a tortuous course through the Nowgong district, rejoining the main stream about 10 miles above Gauhdti. The Kallang receives, in the Kopili, the whole drainage of the North Cachar and the Jaintia Hills, besides several minor streams from the Kht'isi Hills. Below Gauhdti, the Kulsi and the Jinjiram are the chief southern affluents of the Brahmaputra. The Dihong, which emerges from the Himalayas through tlie hills inhabited by the Abors, has been proved by Mr. Needham to be the same stream as the Sanpo, the eastward course of whicli, along the north of the great Himalayan barrier, has been traced by explorers to a point where it turns southwards into the range. The Brahmaputra itself, so far as is known, has but a short course beyond the limits of British territory, and above Sadiya is far inferior in volume to the Dihong. b2 4 ASSAM ADMINISTHATION REPOHT. [Chap. I. Section i. Except at the points already mentioned, ■where hills impinge Area and iipon the Bralimaputra, the river flows between sandy banks, and which are subject to constant changes for a breadth of about 6 Physical j-^-^jjgg qj^ either side of the stream. Within this belt there is no Features. permanent cultivation, nor any habitation but temporary huts erected by people who grow mustard on the chur lands during the cold weather. Beyond, the level of the alluvium rises, and tillage and population take the place of sandy flats covered with long grass. Little of this is seen from the river, and the traveller up the Brahmaputra receives the impression that the country is a wilderness untenanted by man, except at the few points where, rock giving permanency to the channel, towns and villages have been established along the stream. These points are Dliubri, the capital of the Goalpdra district, Godlptira, GauhAti, the capital of Kdmrup, Tezpur, the capital of Darrang, Koliabar, the port for Nowgong, from which it is distant 32 miles, and Biswanath, in the Darrang district. Between the last named place and Sadiya, close to the point where the river emerg£s from the hills, a distance of about 200 miles, there is no tov;n or large village on the banks, Golaghat being 20 miles, Jorhiit 10, Sibsdgar 8, and Dibrugarh 5, away from the cold-weather channel. Proceeding inland from the belt just described, through which the river flows, one fine's a country consisting mainly of alluvial flats, much of which is un- tilled and covered with long grass, and in the eastern portion of the valley with forest, but much also is under cultivation. The most thickly populated part of the valley is North Kamrup ; the most thinly, Darrang, west of Tezpur, Lakhimpur, north of the Brahmaputra, and the forests in the extreme east and south of the latter district. To the peopled belt on either side of the valley succeeds another where population again falls off, and extensive forests and grass savannahs reach to the foot of the hills on the north and south. The Brahmaputra is navigable by large steamers as far as Dibrugarh throughout the year, and by smaller vessels as far as Sadiya. Many of its affluents are also navigable in the rains by steamers, and at all seasons by boats of small burthen. 4. The southern, or Surma, valley, which constitutes the second ^*^^P' '-^ PHYSICAL FEATrRES, ETC. Features. main division of the province, and comprises the two districts Section r. The Sunna Vail.y. °^ Cachar and Sylliet, presents many points A^and of contrast with that of the Brahmaputra ^'^"'"'r'" It IS much smalJer in extent, covering only 7,886 sc^uare miles, P'^y^icni against 20,8G9 m the latter. This,' however, excludes a portion of it which lies south of the Garo Hills and east of the old Brahma- putra, and which, though geographically a part of the Surma Valley, is not included in the Province of Assam, but forms part of the Bengal district of Mymensingh. Its mean elevation above sea level is much lower, the cold-weather zero of the Surma at Sylhet being only 22-7 feet above the sea, while that of the Brahmaputra at Gauhati is 148*36 feet. The course of the nume- rous rivers which traverse it is thus exceedingly sluggish, while the stream of the Brahmaputra is swift. While the latter river hurries rapidly along, through a waste of sandy churs, making and unmaking its banks year by year, the rivers of the Surma Valley find their way to the great estuary of the Megna by extremely tortuous channels, the banks of which, reinforced by the annual deposition of silt, are the highest ground in the alluvial area, and as such are the most populous and best cultivated portions. To the north of the valley stands the steep face of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, the plateau of which rises very abruptly from the plain to a height of 4,000 feet, the table land presenting, when seen from Sylhet, an almost level line. Near the eastern boundary of Sylhet, the plateau recedes into the interior of the hills, and a new barrier, the angular and serrated range of the Barail, or " Great Dyke," takes its place as the northern boundary of the valley. This range gradually increases in height and pre- cipitous character as one proceeds eastwards, and at the eastern extremity of Cachar takes a curve to the north-east, thereafter forming the main axis of the Ndga Hills, and eventually merging in the Pdtkoi. To the east the valley is shut in by the mountains of Manipur, a continuation of the succession of parallel ridges, lying north and south, into which the Arrakan Yoma range divides as it approaches the Himalayas. On the south also these parallel ridges extend for some distance into the alluvial plain, gradually 6 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. I. Section i. retreating as the river emerges from Cacliar into Sylliet, but still Ar7a~Ind preserving their uniform meridional direction, until the Bengal Boundaries ^T^i^^^.^^^ ^f Tippera is readied. ana ^ ^ Physical Tlirougliout tliis great alluvial plain, except in the western portion adjoining Mymensingh, the surface is broken by frequent groups of isolated hills of small height, called tilas. These may be regarded as continuations below the alluvium of the southern rano-es of Tippera and the Lushai Hills. The most notable are the groups about Chhatak and north of Sylliet, and the Chiknagul hills in Jaintia. In Cachar, the ridges from the south touch the Surma, or Bardk, at Badarpur and at the northern end of the Tilain ran^e, and many isolated hills rise throughout that district, chiefly to the south of the river. Except where the tilas and the southern rano-es project, the whole valley is a vast deltaic expanse, covered with a perplexing network of sluggish streams, and liable to deep floodin.cf in the rains. The highest ground is on the river banks, from which the surface slopes backward into great hollows, called haurs, all of which are lakes, some of great extent, in the rains, and in the greater of which water lies in some part through- out the cold season. In the deeply-flooded but populous country to the west, the villages are built on artificially-raised sites along the river margins, and the ground which is thus obtained is so precious that the houses are crowded together in a manner very unhke the straggling aspect of a village in Assam. 5. The Surma, or Barak, river rises in the Bardil range to the north of Manipur. Its sources are among the The Surma river. southern spurs or the great mountain mass called Jiipvo, on the northern slopes of which are situated the most powerful villages of the Anganii Ndgas. Thence its course is south, with a slight westerly bearing, among the Manipur hills, where it receives numerous tributaries befoi^e entering British territory. At Tipaimukh, the trij unction point of Manipur, Cachar, and the Lushai Hills, it turns sharply to the north, and, after, emer^in"- from the Bhuban range near Lakhipur, takes a very tortuous course, with a generally westward direction, through, the district. A short distance below Badarpur, on the western Chap. I.] PHYSICAL TEATURES, ETC. Features. boundary of Cacliar, it divides into two branches, the northern of Section t. which is known as the Surma, and (lows westwards, more or less, ArTT^nd closely under the Khtisi Hills, having on its banks the important Boundaries centres of Sylhet and Chhdtak, till it turns southwards at Sundm- Physical ganj ; the southern, called at first the Kusiara, has a south-westerly direction, and near the confluence of the Manu river from the south again divides into two branches, the southern of which reassumes the original name of the whole river, Barak, and, passing by the towns of Nabiganj and Habiganj, rejoins the Surma a short distance to the west of the latter place. The other arm called first the Bibidna and afterwards the Kalni, also rejoins the Surma, north of the confluence of the Barak, at Abidabad. The chief affluents of the Surma on the north, after it enters British territory, are the Jiri and Jatinga from the North Cachar Hills, the Luba, Hari, Piytiin, Bogapdni, and Jadukata, from the Jaintia and Khasi Hills, and the Maheshkali from the Gc4ro Hills. On the south it receives the Sonai, Dhaleswari, and Katakhal from the Lusliai Hills, and (in its southern branch, tlie Kusiara-Banik) the Langai, Juri, Manu, and Khwdhi from the Tippera Hills. At Bhairab Bc4zar, in Mymensingh, 20 miles below the Sylhet frontier at Lakhai, it unites with the old Brahmaputra, and becomes known thenceforward as the Megna. The Surma is navigable by steamers as far as Silchar in the rains ; in the cold weather, however, these vessels do not ascend above Chhatak on the northern and Fenchuganj on the southern branch. Boats of considerable burthen traverse the whole river system as far as Banskandi, east of Silchar, throughout the year, and in the rains are the most usual vehicle of traffic. 6. The hilly tracts included in the Province of Assam consist The Hill tracts. ^^ ^^® Assam Eange, which is interposed The Assam Range. between the BrahmajDutra and Surma Valleys, the North Lushai Hills, and the ridges, o-ene- rally of low elevation, w^hich run northward from Hill Tippera and the Lushai Hills into the Surma Valley. No part of the Himalayas fall within British territory. These hilly tracts have already been summarily described. The remarkable plateau of Features. 8 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. 1. Section i. tlie Gdro-Khdsi-Nortli-Cacliar Hills, wliicli, with the sharply- Area and seiTated range of the BarAil and its spurs, constitutes the Assam ^"^'^and^^^ Eange, is joined at its eastern extremity by the Pdtkoi to the Physical Himalayan system, and by the mountains of Manipur to the Arra- kan Yoma. At its western end, in the Gdro Hills, it attains an elevation of more than 4,G00 feet in the peak of Nokrek, above Tura, but falls again before the Khdsi boundary is reached. The highest points of the Khdsi- Jaintia table land are the Shillong Peak, 6,450 feet, the Dincryei, 6,077, Kdbleng, 6,283, and Suer, 6,300 ; but these are only the most elevated portions of a plateau, hardly any portion of which falls below 6,000 feet, and which is all inhabited and cultivated. To the east the level again falls, the hin-hest summits not much exceedingr 5,000 feet in the Jaintia Hills, and considerably less in the Cacliar Hills north of the Barail. The latter range, commencing on the south-east margin of the Khdsi-Jaintia plateau, where the Hari river issues from the hills, rises by sudden leaps to a considerable height, and among the hills bordering the Jatinga Valley summits of from 5,000 to 6,000 feet are found. The range then curves north-eastwards, and attains a still greater height, where it forms the boundary between the Naga Hills district and the State of Manipur. Here the greatest elevation (in British territory) is reached by the peak of Jdpvo, which is a little less than 10,000 feet above the sea. To the north-east of this point the mountain system of the 13arail is broken up, by the influence of the meridional axis of elevation prolonged from the Arrakan Yoma, into a mass of ranges having a general north-east and south-west direction until the Piitkoi is reached. The highest points in this portion are from 8,0C0 to 9,000 feet. Snow is frequent on Jdpvo and in its neighbourhood, but is not known further west. It is also seen to cover the hills lying about the upper course of the Hilling as far as the Pdtkoi, a country as yet insufficiently explored. ' Between the main axis of the Assam Eange and the valley of the Brahmaputra the average height of the hills varies considerabl}^ The country is deeply cut into by river channels, and is covered with dense forest. The isolated block of hills already referred Chap. K] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. to, lyino- to the east of Nowgonf^, called the Mikir-Kensilia Hills, SEcnoji i. is cut ofi from the main range by low-lying valleys, and has Area and within it summits attaining a height of 4,000 feet. Its interior ""anT^" is little known, the population is very sparse, and the country is f^'//,'f^gj densely wooded. The hills lying south of Sibsdgar and Lakhimpur, and peopled for the most part by the tribes of Niigas which have not yet been brought under British administration, consist of small broken ranges, running generally north-east and south-west, or having irregular spurs leading down into the plains, usually steep on the northern side, with a more gradual slope on the south. The greater part of this tract (in which very extensive and valuable seams of coal exist) is uncultivated and forest-clad, the outer ranges being chiefly uninhabited. On the southern face the Gdro and Khdsi Hills rise very abruptly from the plains, and present a succession of precipitous faces, into which the rivers, fed by the enormous rainfall of this region, have cut deep gorges as they issue upon the swamps of North Sylhet. The level line forming the horizon of the plateau is not broken until the BarAil is reached, where the contour becomes rugored and irreo^ular, thout^h the sides are still preci- pitous. In the Gdro Hills, the lower portions of the Khasi and^ Jaintia Hills and the Barail range, the slopes are forest-clad. In the upper and central plateau of the Khdsi Hills, and the greater portion of North Cachar, the landscape is one of undulating grass}^ hills, with occasional groves of pine and oak. It is believed that^ the forests here have been destroyed or kept down by the custom of annually burning, either for pasture or for cultivation, the lono' crrass with which the surface is covered. Where fires are excluded, thick forests of young pine and mixed leafy trees spring up. 7. The LjishaiHills, which divide Assam from Burma, consist of sandstones and shales of tertiary age The southern hills. _ , p i • i thrown into long folds, the axes ot which run a nearly north and south direction. From the general character of the deposits, it seems probable that they were laid down in the delta and estuary of an immense river issuing from the Himalayas, c lO ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. I. Section 2. to the north-east of Assam durmg tertiary tmies, and flowmg clue Geological south through the country now occupied by the Ndga and the Lushai Hills. The hills are for the most part covered with dense r bamboo jungle and rank undergrowth, but in the eastern portion, \ owing probably to a smaller rainfall, open grass-covered slopes are found, with groves of oak and pine interspersed with rhodo- dendrons. These hihs are inhabited by the Lushais and cognate tribes, but the population is extremely scanty. The outlying slopes in the Cachar district constitute a great forest reserve ; in Sylhet they are now being largely opened out for the growth of tea. Till lately, however, they have been left to be roamed over by Tipperas and Kukis, whose annual jhums were the only cultivation which they supported. SECTION 3.— GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. 8. The Province of Assam contains within its boundaries, as Ts. . . - ^, , . , already mentioned, two ffreat alluvial plains. Division of tlie subject. *^ ' o i ' separated by a central mass of mountains called the Assam Range, and further defined, — the Brahmaputra Valley by the Himalayas on the north, and the Surma Valley by the meridional ranges, the prolongation of the Arrakan hill system, on the south. To the east of both valleys is the great extension of the mountain system of Northern Burma, which eventually unites with the Himalayas in the Putkoi. The geology of this region, therefore, falls apart into that of the hill tracts, which are being denuded, and of the alluvial plains, which are being formed by the same process. 9. Of the Himalayan system which lies to the north of the „,,,,. , Brahmaputra Valley we know very little. Such observers as have explored it have been unable to penetrate further than the exterior zone. In this, how- ever, are found the same characteristic formations as distinguish the sub-Himalayan rocks throughout their whole length from the Indus to the eastern limit of observation. These rocks consist of great thicknesses of soft massive sandstones, of tertiary age and fresh-water origin, the dip of which is towards the interior zone of Chap, I.] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. TI metamorpliic rocks. In tlie western portion of the range, among Section 2. the Bliutan hills, it is believed that a gap exists in the.^^e sub-Hima- Ce'^kal layan sandstones, or, at any rate, that the outer zone of rocks found ^'''*^"''«- elsewhere along tlie chain, and known as the Siwaliks, is wantin^r ; but further east, in the Dafla hills, and in the Abor mountains north of Dibrugarh, there are the usual two well-marked ranges of sub- Himalayan hills, with an intervening Dun. As in the Siwaliks, nests and ^strings of lignite are frequently found in these rocks, and have given rise to expectations, proved on enquiry to be base- less, that useful coal might be discovered in them. 10. Of the rocks which close in the valley on the east nothing ^, is known, except that limestone is found Ihe eastern range. among them. This occurs in the shape of boulders and pebbles in the river-beds east of Sadiya, whence it is conveyed by boat down the Brahmaputra, and forms almost the sole lime-supply of Upper Assam.* 11. The Assam Eange, which divides the Brahmaputra and „, . ^ Surma Valleys, is separated by well-marked The Assam Range. '' ^. *^ , physical and geological features into two great regions, the boundary between which follows the line of the Dhansiri Valley and the Barail range to the point where the latter .commences at the south-eastern corner of the Jaintia Hills. The /, f mountains to the west of this boundary, which include the Garo, the Khasi, the Jaintia, and the Mikir Hills, with so much of North Cachar as lies north and west of the BarAil, have been described by geologists under the name of the Shillongj^laieau. '..The area to the ^ ^ east of this boundary, including tlie""^ariiil, the ranges of Manipur, and the Naga Hills, is orographically a part of the Burmese mountain system, and of a widely different geological character. 12. The Shillong plateau consists of a great mass of gneis§, bare on the northern border, where it is I. The Shillong plateau. » , i ^ broken into hills, for the most part low and ♦ It is, however, not obtainable in large quantities at reniunerative ratep, and the demand of the Assam- Bengal Railway, now under constrnclion, for limestone in the Nowgong and Kamn'ip districts are boing^met from the quarries on the southern face of the Khasi Hills, from which the stone is brought by river, vid Chhatak and Karain- ganj, to Gauhdti. C 2 12 ^ ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. I. Section 2. ver}'- irregular in outline, with numerous outliers in the Lower Geological Assam Valley, even close up to the Himalayas. In the central eatuyes. j-ggj^^-^ ^]^q gi-^eiss is covered by transition or sub-metamorphic rocks, consisting of a strong band of quartzites overlaying a mass of earthy giihists. In the very centre of the range, where the table land attains its highest elevation, great masses of intrusive diorite and granite occur ; and the latter is found, in dykes pierc- ing the gneiss and sub-metamorphic series, throughout the southern half to the boundary of the plains. To the south, in contact with the gneiss and sub-metamorphics, is a great volcanic outburst of trap, which is stratified, and is brought to the surface with the general rise of elevation along the face of the hills between Sheila and Thariaghat south of Cherrapunji : this has been described as the " Sylhet trap." South of the main axis of this m.etamorphic and volcanic mass, and almost at the edge of the central intrusive dykes of granite and diorile, fossiliferous strata commence belong- ) ing to" two well-defined series; (1) the cretaceous, and (2) the • nummulitic. On their northern margin both rest conformably on the metamorphics, and rapidly increase in thickness as one proceeds southwards. (Jn the south the whole series bends down- wards in a monoclinal flexure, and south of Cherrapunji disappears below the alluvium of the Surma Valle}''. The, cretaceous series, where last seen, occupies about 1,500 feet between the Sylhet trap and the nummulitic limestone ; it varies much in the character of the deposits, consisting chiefly of sandstones, locally massive, coarse, earthy, or ochreous, with intervening dark and pale sliales and some layers of flaky, earthy lirngstone. The series includes several beds of coal, of which the best known are the Maobehlarkar * coal, a few miles south of Mauphlang, whence the station of Shillong is supplied, the exten- sive and valuable coal-field of Darrangiri, on the Someswari river in the Garo Hills, and some coal close to the level of the plain at the debouchure of the Jadukata river near Laur in Sylhet ; another outcrop to the west of the last mentioned, on the Maheshkhdli river in the Garo Hills, is very possibly continuous with the latter, • Described in " Records of the Geological Survey of India," Volume VIII, page 86. Chap. 1.] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 1 3 and, if so, promises to be of great value. An isolated specimen section a. of the same series is found on the Ntimbar stream, on the extreme ^ "; — : , ^ ^ ' Geological eastern margin of the Shillong plateau, in the Mikir Hills, a few Features. miles east of Borpathdr. This cretaceous coal is brown in colour, compact, splintery, with a conchoidal fracture, and contains numerous specks and small nests of fossil resin. The nummulitic series, which overlies the cretaceous, varies greatly in thickness in different parts of the range. In the Gdro Hills west of the Someswari it is insignificant ; in the Khc4si Hills it is much more massive. " Below Cherrapunji it has a thickness of 900 feet in the Tharia river, consisting of alternating strata of compact limestones and sandstones. It is at the exposure of these rocks on their downward dip from the edge of the plateau that are situated the extensive liniestone quarries of the Khasi Hills, whence Eastern Bengal is supplied with lime of the best quality. On the level of the plateau above the same strata are found, but have undergone extensive denudation owing to the solubility of the limestone rock in water and the enormous rainfall of that region. In the whole of the southern face of these hills are found numerous caves and underground watercourses due to this cause ; and on the plateau of Cherrapunji, while the nummulitic series survives in the rocks on which the Khasi villacre is built. and in the ridge to the west of the old station, the site of the station itself has been swept perfectly clear of it, with the exception of a few rounded hills composed of tumbled fragments of the harder sandstones which alternated with the calcareous beds. Before the uptlwust of the Bardil range the nummulitic beds, like the other members of the series, retire in a north-easterly direction, and their eastern limit has not been traced satis- factorily. This series also includes coal-beds, several of which have been worked. The best known are the Cherra mines, in a seam situated in the nummulitic mass to the west of the station, and the Laka- dong mines in the Jaintia Hills. The nummulitic coal is black, bright, with a cuboidal fracture, and very bituminous. 14 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. 1. Section- 2. ^3, There is evidence that, as the niTmmulitic series overlies Geological the cretaceous, the former was in its turn Features. II. Banal range. ^' r x ^ ', ^ • x / overlain (perhaps only on its outer mari>in) by a third, or upper tertiary, series. These rocks have been traced from the western margin of the Garo Hills, along their southern face (where, south of the Someswari, the tertiary zone is 14 miles wide), and beneath the scarp of the Kliasi Hills, where they have been almost entirely removed from the plateau by denu- dation. East of Jaintiapur the soft massive greenish sandstones of this formation appear again, in force, and they rise rapidly from this point into the Barail range. To this series, apparently, belong also the tilas of the Sylhet and Cachar plain, and the low merid- ional ranges of the Tippera and the Lushai Hills, which run up into it on the south ; and the valley of Cachar seems to be excavated out of the broken ground where these two conflicting strikes, the west-east of the Bardil, and the south-north of the southern ridges, meet. West of Cachar, the Barail curves north-eastwards, and the southern ranges take the same direction, till eventually the two lines are found in confluence. Of this second great division of the Assam Eange we know some- thing of the north-western face, looking down upon the Sibsagar and Dibrugarh plains, but of the interior very little. A reconnois- sance was made in the cold weather of 1881-82 through the eastern and northern portions of Manipur and the district of the Naga Hills, which gave some information regarding the rocks of these regions. The whole of the western portion of this division of the Assam • Eange, from the rise of the Bardil in south-eastern Ja'intia to the peak of Jdpvo in the neighbourhood of Kohima, would appear to be composed of the same tertiary sandstones as have already been mentioned ; and the same rocks seem to be continued along the south-eastern margin of the Brahmaputra Valley in Sibsagar and Lakhimpur. To these succeed a series of hard sandstones, slates, and shales, with quartzose beds, supposed to be identical with the " axials " of the Northern Arrakan group. Still further east is a considerable trappian intrusion, consisting of serpentine dykes running north and south, identical in Chap. I] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 1 5 Section 2. composition with those of Burma. Of the Patkoi [itself, and of the junction between it and the Himalayas in the Mishmi Hills T . . I, . ' Geological we have at present no mtormation. Features. 14. The north-western face of this region, lying alon"- the Cuiii fielclH of Upper I^ibrugarh and Sibsagar districts, contains ^'''""- several very important coal-fields, which constitute the chief mineral resource of the province. The rocks in which the coal measures occur are, with one exception, situated to the south-west of a great fault, in some places a short distance within the hills, and in others constituting their escarpment towards the plains, which is conjectured to have a throw of from 10,000 to 15,000 feet. They consist of an enormous thickness of sandstones the npper series of which are topped by conglomerates and clays containing fossil wood ; the coal measures have a thickness of some 2,000 feet, and are succeeded by fine hard sandstones overlying splintery gray shales, several thousand feet thick. The exception is the Jaipur field, in the Tipam hills in the southern corner of the Dibrugarh district, which is north of the fault. Alono- the Buri Dihing, and near the exit from the hills of the Dikhu, Safrai, Jhanzi, and Disoi rivers, the coal measures are exposed. The greatest of the fields is that of Makum, on the Dihino- ; here there is a seam 100 feet thick, containing at least 75 feet of sohd coal and some very large seams have been traced for more than a mile without diminution. The age of these important and extensive coal measures is still uncertain. The coal is of superior quality, and not unhke the nummulitic coal of the Khasi Hills, though quite different from the cretaceous coal of the same region ; but the place of the coal in the series where it occurs in Upper Assam renders it ex- tremely difficult to correlate it with the nummuHtic coal of Cherra and Lakadong. It is possible that it belongs to the third series, already noticed, along the southern face of the Shillong plateau ; but the associated rocks have not as yet yielded any fossils by which their relations can be studied.* • " Records of tho Geological Survey of India," Volume XV, page 68. 1 6 ASSAM. ADMINISTRATION REPORT. ' [Chap. I. Section 2. 15 Turnuifr now to tlie alluvium, the marked difference G ololcal ^^ ^^® physical geography of the Brahmaputra Features. ^ ' and Surma Valleys, both of which belong to the i^reat Indo-Gangetic plain, has already been noticed. The former is at a considerably higher elevation above sea level than the latter, and the fall is consequently greater. The following are the hei"-hts above mean sea level of the chief points (at the surface of the alluvium) in the Brahmaputra Valley. Feet. -Feet. Sadiya ... ... 440 Dibrugarh ... 348 Sibsdgar ... 319 Burarnukh, near Tezpur 256 Gauhati ... I(i3 Goalpara ... 150 Dhubri ... ... 118 feet. The valley has thus, in a distance of about 450 miles, a fall exceedin^y 300 feet. In the Surma Valley, on the other hand, the following are the heights : Silchar .•• 87 feet | Sylhet ... 48 feet. Chhdtak ... ... 41 feet. In consequence of this greater fall, the rivers in the Brahma- r)utra Valley tend to cut away their banks, while those in the Surma Valley tend to raise them. The former is, indeed, most correctly described as in great part a gigantic khddar, or strath, within which the river oscillates to and fro, while the latter is a delta in the process of formation. Nearly the whole of the central portion of the Brahmaputra Valley consists of fine greyish-white sand, lio-htly covered by a layer of clay ; this is diversified near the rocks which occasionally impinge upon the river by beds of strong sandy clay, derived from their detritus. Away from the river the alluvium is more consolidated, and clay, due to the decomposition of the sand, predominates. Throughout this surface there are found here and there (as in the southern portions of the Sibsagar district, in the plain of Biswanath, and in the ridge of Tezpur) more elevated tracts, which seem to represent a more ancient hhdngar, or older alluvium, the greater part of which has Chap. 1.] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 1 7 disappeared. Such places, where they have been laid bare by the Section 2. river, are easily distinguishable, by their closer and heavier texture Geological and by their higher colour, from the shifting grey sands of which ^'^ "'^^'* the rest of the trough is composed, and are often indicated b}^ a name chosen for their peculiar features {Hanga-mati, " coloured earth," Ranga-gora, " coloured bank "). In the Surma Valley the process of deltaic formation (whether because depression of the surface has proceeded pari passu with alluvial accretion, or because the deposition of silt is slower and less copious than in the central portion of the Gangetic delta) is less advanced than anywhere else in the great alluvial plain. As already explained, the river banks are almost the only high land (always, of course, excepting the tllas and hill ranges) in the valley, and behind them lie great basins, or hdiirs, which are deeply covered with water half the year. In the flood season the rivers drain into these liciurs, and there deposit their silt, the water emerging when the river falls perfectly clear. This process results in a very noticeable raising of the level of these basins ; the Clidtla Mur, a great depression in South Oachar, which receives the floods of the Barak, is said to have risen 18 inches in the ten years ending 1882-83, and almost another foot during the last decade ; the extensive Hakaluki hiur in South Sylliet, which receives the Langai, is likewise steadily diminishing in depth. One remarkable event in the history of Western Sylliet was the diversion of the Brahmaputra, which, till the commencement of the present century, flowed east of Mymensingh, and of the great tract of old raised alluvium called the Madhupur Jungle, into a new course far to the w^est. Previously to this diversion, which has now brought the Brahmaputra, as a delta-forming agency, into direct competition with the Ganges, the former river threw the greater portion of its lighter silt into the Mis of West Sylhet, and thus co-operated in raising that region. Now the Surma Valley deperds for its accretions on the purely rain-fed floods of the minor rivers which traverse it, and which are, of course, far inferior as silt-bearers to the great glacier-fed streams that drain the mighty chain of the Himalayas. D l8 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. 1. SECTION S.— CLIMATE. ECTioN 3. ^^ ^1^^ climate of the Assam Province, botli in tlie Bralima- Cliniate. Dutra and Surma Valleys, is marked by extreme General remarks. humidity, the natural result of the great Tvater surface and extensive forests over which evaporation and condensation go On and the close proximity of the hill ranges Tvhich bound the alluvial tracts, and on and near to which an excessive precipitation takes place. The cloud proportion throughout the year, even in those months which in the rest of India are generally clear, is very large, dense fogs being cha- racteristic of the cold weather both north and south of the Assam range. It is frequently asserted that the monsoon may be said to beo-in in Assam two months before its commencement in the rest of India. This, however, is probably a mistake, the exceptionally heavy rainfall of April and May, which is characteristic of the province, and which, aided in the Brahmaputra Valley by the melting of the Himalayan snows, causes a sudden rise of the rivers in those months, being due to local causes, to storms and local evaporation. The spring rains are commonly succeeded by a break, more or less prolonged, of dry weather with westerly winds, before the true monsoon is ushered in, as in most other parts of India, about the beginning of June. 17. Systematic observations have unfortunately been regularly taken at only a few points in the province, * Observing stations, . and the record of its meteorology leaves much to be desired. The places where meteorological observa- tories have been long established are SibsAgar and Silchar ; that at Goalpara was closed at the beginning of 1881, and Dhubri was chosen in its stead. At other stations, only the rainfall has hitherto been registered. 18. The mean temperature of the plains portion of the province is, for a sub-tropical country, generall}^ low. Tenniiratu'e. mi c n • 11' r- c I he lollowiim' are the latest ni^^ures tor o Chap. I.J PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 19 Sibsdgar and Dhiibri in the Bralimaputra, and Silchar in the ^ectiom 3. Surma, Valley : ^ CUmaU. Average monthly mean temperature. — ►-5 a a p. <1 a 1-5 a so a 03 "S § a p s « ■3 Sibsagar 57-8 61*1 67'6 73-1 77-3 81-5 83-2 82-5 80-8 76-2 C7 6 58-7 72 3 Dhubri 62-2 64-5 74*6 78-2 77-6 79-3 81'6 80-6 79 1 77-9 70-1 6t5 74-2 Eilchar 63-3 6G-9 7 3-4 77-7 78-5 81-G 82-2 82-4 81-15 79-1 72-6 65-7 75-6 Wiiiils. It will be seen that Sibsagar, in the upper half of the Assam Valley, has a lower cold-weather, and higher rainy- season, tem- perature than Dliubri in the lower half ; and that there is a general coincidence throughout the year between the monthly means for the latter station and Silchar. These points may probably be taken as typical of the greater portion of the plains of Assam. 19. The wind circulation differs considerably in the two valleys. In the Surma Valley, the general direction is the same as that in the Gansretic delta, south-west, changing to east towards the head of the valley, for the greater part of the year, with a north-north-east direction during the months of April and May. Over the western portion of the Assam Range the south-west wind from the Ba}' of Bengal sweeps w^itli considerable force throughout the spring- months, preserving a remarkable uniformity of direction. During the rains the direction changes somewhat towards south and south-east, with an occasional northing. In the Brahmaputra Valley, on the other hand, north-east winds are prevalent during the cold-weather and spring months in the upper portion, south-west winds taking their place during July and August. At Goalpdra, in the lower half of the valley, the north-east wind also prevails during the greater part of the cold weather ; but for the rest of the year south-east winds are the general feature. Thus, the monsoon winds of the Assam Valley are a back- current of the south-west monsoon, which undoubtedly blows across the hill range to the south. Both in the cold weather D 2 20 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. I. Section 3. and rains calms are frequent in both valleys, though seldom of Climate, ^oug coutinuance. Storms often occur in the spring months, generally accompanied by high winds and heavy local rainfall. The valleys and hills of the Shillong plateau assist in the formation, and determine the direction, of these disturbances, which are most common in the lower portion of the Assam Valley. Cyclones from the Bay of Bengal frequently visit and give heavy rainfall to the western portion of the range and the plains at its foot ; they most often occur at the close of the rainy season. 20. The average monthly mean relative humidity of the three observing stations in the two valleys is shown below : Humidity, , , a fe a a C a 3 03 p. < i c s 3 <1 CO c; l^ tT > ^ Sibsagar .. 86 81 79 87 82 8i 84 84 86 85 84 85 84 Dhubri 76 64 61 68 80 88 86 87 87 80 77 78 78 Silchnr 74 70 72 70 80 85 85 86 84 80 77 75 79 This distribution of humidity resembles that of the Bengal delta, and differs greatly (except, of course, in the rainy season) from the data afforded by stations whose relative place in the Ganges Valley resembles those of the three stations selected in Assam. Taking the year as a whole, the humidity of the chmate of Sibsugar is exceeded by that of no other meteorological station in India,* and is equalled only by Darjeeling. 21. Tlie following figures show the recorded averages of cloud proportion (complete overclouding being represented by 10) at each of the three observing stations month by month : Cloud proportion. ea 3 ? .«" •s a a H f* 3 1 0, •< rt s 5 "3 ►-5 3 < r/i s 9 S ■a 2 Bibs4gar 5'4 6-5 6-1 6-9 7-8 8-4 8-5 8-5 8- 6-5 45 4-4 6-7 Dhnbii 1-9 1-G 2-4 3-3 4-6 TA 6-9 7-4 fi-5 2-7 1-4 1-2 3-9 Silchar 3-2 3-1 4-4 0-3 6-2 7'S 7-9 7-9 7-1 4-8 3-4 2-9 5-3 « Excluding Ceylon jrre Excluding Ceylon The humidity of Galie and Newera Eliya in that island is slightly atcr than that of 5:ib8<4gar, and that of two otlier stations is exactly equal to it. Chap. I.] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 21 Out of 81 stations at which cloud observations have been Secttox 3. taken in India, Sibsagar stands at the head of the hst,* being cumate. approached only by Darjeehng. This pecuharity is probably due to the regular prevalence of dense fogs (which are counted as cloud in the table) during the cold weather in the Assam Valley, and to the copious spring rainfall. In the Surma Valle}^ fogs are decidedly less prevalent, and less dense when they occur, than in that of the Brahmaputra, and are also less common in the upper part of the valley, where Silchar is situated, than in the western half. 22. The distribution of rainfall in Assam is that portion of the meteorology of the province which is Rainfall. , , '~^-. , , . -i •■,•-,• n^ best known, and also that m which it dmers most remarkably from other parts of India. Besides the observations taken at district and subdivisional headquarters, a rain-gauge is, as a rule, kept, and the rainfall is recorded at every tea garden. There are thus abundant materials for the study of the subject. The table below has been constructed to show separately the rainfall of the three seasons into which the year falls apart, in the Brahmaputra and Surma Valleys and the inter- vening hill region, respectively. The stations chosen are those at which observations have been recorded for the lon^^est time : Cold weath er rain fall. 1 Spring rainfall. Monsoon rainfall. 1 S S5 C a a s .0 as p. a! c s 1-S "a 1-3 3 bo 3 S 0. 1 Brahmapctra Valley. Dhubri 0-12 O-Ifi 0-42 0-52 1-92 5-l(. 14-87 28-87 14-63 12-37 12-68 4-23 9C-'95 Goalpara .. 0*20 0-27 0-52 0-54 2-24 c-4e 13-61 24-65 17-76 12-18 11-41 418| 9402 Gauhati 59 0-27 0-64 0-S9 2-4£ 6'OP 9-83 12-91 12-51 10-89 8-00 2-97 6800 Tczpur 0-80 0*59 0-65 0-88 2-31 6-o; 9-55 13-56 15-Ul 12-4f 9-33 3-07 74 23 Nowgong . . . . 0-50 0-26 0-87 1-03 2-4( 5-5S S-30 13-10 16-68 14-9; U-21 3-94 79-83 Sibsagar 1-21 0-60 1-22 2-15 4'54 9-73 U-30 14-66 15-75 15 6] 11-78 5-11 93-76 Dibrugarh 1-27 0-91 1-47 2-39 5-8( 9-7.^ 13-86 18-86 19-52 18-11 13-83 5-96 111-72 The cloud proportion at Batticaloa in Ceylon is exactly equal to that at Sibsagar. 22 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. I. Section 3. Climate. Colli- weather rain fall. Spring rain fall. 1 Monsoon rainfall. % >■ ^ 8 1 5 s a 1-5 i-< a <1 3 1-5 • B i J3 8 a si nn.L DisTKicrs. (Assam Range.) Tura 0-45 0-1': 0-6S 0'74 i-sr C-10 15-92 26-46 23-31 20-8' 20-75 7-99 125-25 8hiUong 1-03 o-so 0-50 0-74 1-92 3-75 9-54 18-29 13-G8 13-7 15-14 6-12 84-76 Cherra Piinji .. 1-59 0-28 0-?5 2S2 9-C8 29-89 51-o7 116-55 115-39 80-0. 54-96 12-49 475-61 Kobima 1-2:) 0-47 0-74 1-10 2-92 4*Ul 7-31 U-i4 17-67 14,-2: 10-15 3-17 77-03 SCRMA Valley. S.Tlhet 1-06 0-27 0-3D 1-43 6-3L' 14-75 21-51 32-35 25-33 26-lJ 20-72 7-80 158-13 fiilchar I'll 0-61 0'67 2-3o 8-25 1.3-2; 15-91 19-94 20-18 18-2i 13-87 5-94 120-30 This table exhibits, in a very conspicuous manner, the chief feature of the Assam climate, both in the Brahmaputra and Surma Valleys, viz., its copious rainfall between March and May, at a season when throughout Northern India generally precipitation is at its minimum. It also indicates the existence, in the Brahmaputra Valley, of a middle region (Gauhati, Tezpur, Nowgong), wdiere the spring and monsoon falls are less than at either extremity of the vallej^ This ma}^ possibly be due to the fact that south of this portion lies the most lofty part of the Shillong plateau, on the southern face of which (at Cherra Punji) and over the central table land the monsoon currents are drained of their humidity. To the west of this central plateau the valley is open to the winds of the Bengal delt^ ; and to the east the average height of the range falls greatly, admitting the south-west monsoon, by the gorge of the Jatinga Valley, over the low uplands of North Cacliar and down the long valley of the Dhansiri, into the great plain of Sibsagar and Lakhimpur. In the Surma Valley, the copiousness of the spring rainfall is even more conspicuous than in Assam Proper. The recording stations here are, unfortunately, rather close to the southern face of the Assam range, so that they do not very accurately represent the mean rainfall of this re<]jion* Chap. I,] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 23 The few stations for which observations liave been recorded in Section 3. the hill region have the character of their rainfall determined very cJbmte. largely by local conditions. Tura, the chief town of the Garo Hills, is situated (at an elevation of only 1,323 feet above the sea) on the northern skirts of the range which forms the main axis of the hills, and rises south of the station to a height of 4,G52 feet in the peak of Nokrek. It is thus greatly sheltered from the monsoon currents which expend their moisture upon the ridge at its back. Similarly, Shillong, though only 30 miles distant from Clierra, where the greatest recorded rainfall in Asia is found, has the clouds drained of their humidity long before they reach it by the immense precipi- tation along the southern edge of the plateau and in the central table land, which lies some 1,500 feet above the site of the station. Cherra Punji, on the other hand, is so placed as to exemplify all the conditions needed for a great rainfall. It stands, immediately over- looking the plains at a height of 4,455 feet, on a small plateau of thick-bedded sandstones, bounded on two sides by 2,000 feet of sheer descent, which close in gorges debouching southwards on Sylliet, which is practically at sea-level. The south-west wind sweeping over the inundated alluvial tract, blows up these gorges, as well as on the southern face of the general scarp, and, havino- reached the heads of the gorges, ascends vertically. The plateau is thus during the summer months surrounded, or nearlv so by vertically-ascending currents of saturated air, the d3'namic coolin"- of which is the cause of the enormous precipitation. It lies moreover, at the elevation of 4,000 feet, which is found in the Himalayas to be that of maximum precipitation. The annual average varies greatly in ditlerent parts of the station, although the whole extent of the plateau is not much more than a couple of square miles. Some of the earlier registers, which were those of rain-gauo-es near the edges of the plateau, show a higher precipitation than those kept in recent years nearer its centre. The fall has varied greatly from year to year : 805 inches were recorded in 1861, and in the month of July of that year 36G inches fell. In 1884 the total fall was only 270 inches. Kohima is situated on a ridize north of the great mountain 24 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. I. Section 3. mass of Japvo (9,890 feet high), and is thus, hke Tura and Shillong, CliiZte protected from the full force of the monsoon currents. 23. These being the general characteristics of the climate of Assam, it will readily be understood that in Effect of climate on jj-g effects upon human health and economic heahli. . i 1 i- e conditions, it presents the nsual leatures or a cool, equable, humid, sub -tropical region. Kdla-azdr, malarial diseases, and cholera are the most prevalent forms of sickness. Kdla-azdr was once thought to be due to the effects of malaria, but recent enquiries have shown that it is caused by the attacks of a parasite {Dochmius diiodenalis), to the development of which the humidity of the atmosphere is peculiarly favourable.* The heavy mortality from this cause was first noticed in 1882 in certain villages along the northern terai of the Giro Hills, and in 1884 the number of deaths became so great that a special relief work was organised. Since that date the disease has spread gradually through the Godlpdra subdivision, and throughout that portion of the Kamriip district which lies on the south bank of the Brahma- putra. It has now reached the Nowgong district, and for several years past a number of deaths in North Kamrup and Mangaldai have also been reported to be due to this disease. The mortality attending its progress has been terrible, and tracts, which before its advent were covered with thickly-peopled and prosperous villaf^es, have been left by it deserted and uncultivated. Whole villages have thus disappeared, and large areas of land have been thrown out of cultivation. Malaria lurks chiefly in the broken country forming the skirt of the Assam Eange, where the long low valleys are seldom stirred by the strong winds which blow on the southern face. In the open country away from the hills it is seldom severe ; and the plains of Sibs^gar and Dibrugarh, with the southern portion of Sylhet, are probably throughout the whole of India, outside of the hills, the tracts which are most suited for halntation by Europeans, who generally enjoy excellent health. Notwithstanding the great water surface of Sylhet, and the deep * Further enquiries liave, liowever, thrown doubt on the correctness of this view. Seo Assam Sanitary Reports for 1893 and 18'JJt an.l Chief Comuiissioucr's Resolutions thereon. Chap. I.] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 25 flooding wliicli it undergoes in the rains, it is, on the whole, a very Section 4. healthy district. Cachar, which is more confined by hills, is less chief so. The climate of the hills is healthy or the reverse according to -^^^i^^^^- their elevation. The whole of the central plateau of the Shillong range is very salubrious, and the same is the case with the Naga Hills. The Gdro and North Cachar Hills, on the other hand, are low and feverish. The copiousness of the spring rains, and the steady prevalence of moisture throughout the year, are on crops. extremely favourable to the two great crops of the province : rice and tea. The cultivation of the former resembles in its main features that of the same staple throughout Bengal. But in x\ssam and Sylhet,,_tea^ yields more largely, and can be plucked and manufactured more continuously, than in any other part of India. Famine, or even scarcity, due to drought, is unknown in the pro- vince ; losses from inundation occasionally happen.* But excessive floods are seldom of long duration, and the submerged lands can usually be re-sown ; in any case, a bumper crop Jthe next season invariably follows upon the destruction of one harvest by flooding. 24. Under this section may be mentioned the earthquakes to which the province, or at least the eastern half Earthquakes. of it, is subject. Several severe shocks have been recorded, but none such have occurred during the last decade* A full account of the Cachar earthquake of the lOtli January 1869 has been published in the " Memoirs of the Geological Survey," Volume XIX. Another severe shock occurred in September 1875, which did some damage to houses in Shillong and Gauhdti ; and Silchar was again visited by an earthquake in October 1882. SECTION 4.— CHIEF STAPLES. 25. The principal and almost the only food-grain of the plains ^ , . portion of the province is rice. The produc- jocd-grains. ^^ ... tion of this staple is carried on generally under the same conditions as in Bengal ; but the times of sowino- * In the Lushai Hills great scarcity has occasionally been caused by the ravages of rats. E 26 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. I. Section 4- and reaping, and the names given to the several crops, vary much Chief in different parts of the province. Staples. Q^^g exception to this barbarous system of agriculture is found among the Angami Ntigas. Tiie powerful villages of this people, which lie about the skirts of the central mass of .Tapyo, are surrounded by admirably-constructed terraced rice- fields, not, as in the Khdsi Hills, cut in the gentle slope of the valleys and embanked with earthen dykes, but built up with stone retaining-walls at different levels, and irrigated by means of skil- fully-engineered channels, which distribute the water over each step in the series. These remarkable works appear to be peculiar to the group of villages mentioned, their neighbours following the ordinary system of cultivation by jlium. They have doubtless been produced by the necessity of their position. Living in con- stant warfare w^ith one another and with their neighbours, and maintaining their supremacy by military force, these ruling villages were formerly compelled to keep their food-supply in the* immediate vicinity of their habitations, and thus to make the utmost of the productive powers of the valley bottoms, instead of carrying their tillage over the wide hill-sides in a rotation of many years, as is done by hillmen elsewhere. Another reason for their resort to irrigation appears to be that their hills are too densely peopled to admit oi jhum cultivation, as, although the latter seems to yield a larger outturn for the years during which the cultiva- tion is carried on, the land rapidly becomes exhausted, and, after two or three years' cultivation, requires a long rest before it recovers its fertility; a tribe cultivating on the jhum system thus requires a much greater area of land for its support than one resorting to irrigation. 26. In the Brahmaputra Valley generally there are only two great rice crops, — the dhu, [dsii, dus) and the ra mapu ra a o}. ^^^^ (^hdli). The dJm, or early rice, is generally sown broadcast (though it is sometimes transplanted) upon higher lands in February and March, and is reaped soon after the setting in of the rains, from June to August. The sdli^ on the contrary, is sown first in nurseries in June, and is trans- Chap. I.] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 27 Chief Staples, planted in July and August into fields which can be flooded in Section 4. the rains ; it is reaped in December and January.* The following table will serve to show comparatively the area under these two descriptions of rice and that under other crops in the districts of the Brahmaputra Valley. It represents only lands amalgamated with the mauza, that is, in charge of the local fiscal officers, and does not include in Godlpdra the permanently- settled portion of the .district, or, in the other districts, the estates of revenue-free holders, grantees of waste lands devoted to tea cultivation, or large privileged holders who pay only half the ordinary rates of revenue, but, though for these reasons not exhaustive, it sufficiently indicates the relative proportions of rice and other cultivation in the districts of the valley : District. Early rice. Late rice. Mns- tard. Cane. Pulse. Other crops. Basti. Fallow. Total. Deduct twice cropped. Total cultivated area. 1 2 3 4 6 6 7 8 9 10 n Acres. Acres. Acres, Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. Godlpdra 17,689 40,896 8,192 49 656 1,057 5.193 611 74,343 8.149 66,194 Kamriip 204,327 357,179 87,240 4,110 28,361 37.284 65,893 86,487 840,881 121,684 719,197 Parrang 40,159 146,315 11,876 2,123 12,563 10,618 23,387 39,131 286,172 10,127 276,045 Nowgong 44,894 is.^sgo 61,751 2,305 19,911 4,636 26,028 11,440 326,555 42,101 284,454 Sibsagar 10,889 250.049 12,552 7,661 9,003 28,373 60,619 58,081 428,127 9,936 418,191 Lakhimpur .. 11.611 84.160 3,057 3,468 1.640 4,581 10.614 7,316 126,447 1,915 124,532 Total 329,569 1,015,089 184,668 19,716 72,134 1 86,549 171.734 203,066 2,082,525 193,912 1,888,613 * The names in tliis paragraph designate harvests rather than kinds of crop. In Kamrup, for instance, the dhu includes (1) the dhulia dhu, sown early in dry pulverised fields, which gives the best outturn ; (2) dsrd, sovvn broadcast in fields reduced to a puddle by the early rains ; and (3) Icharma (called pharma in Upper Assam), which is transplant- ed. The last two are less productive than the first. Under sdli is included bdo, a kind of rice sown early in the season in hollows which fill too deeply with water for dhu or ordinary sdli ; it is reaped about a month before the latter, and yields a very heavy outturn. Bdo is sometimes sown broadcast and is sometimes transplanted ; in some districts the area under this crop is considerable. It is sometimes sown together with dhu, and if the inundation drowns the latter, the cultivator at least gets his crop of bdo ; if the rains are moderate, both crops may be reaped, the dhu first, the bdo springing up after the other has been taken away ; lastly, if the rains are scanty, the bdo hollows give an excellent crop of sdli rice. Sdli, properly so called, is again divided into " Idhi " and " bor " dhdn : tiie former includes the finer varieties, which are grown on comparatively high land where the supply of water is somewhat scanty ; the latter is planted on land whichis liable to be more heavily flooded. E2 28 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. 1 Section 4- Tlius, out of the total cultivation, 53-7 per cent, is late rice, or Chief scili, and 17-4 per cent, early rice or dim. the two to2;ether makinsx ""^ "' up 71-1 per cent, of the whole of the cultivation in the valley. The remainder is distributed between mustard 9-7 per cent., pulse 3*8 per cent., sugarcane 1*04 per cent., the balance consisting of other crops, such as til or sesamum, several varieties of pulse or ddl, Indian-corn, tobacco, betel, plantations of sz^m-trees {macliilus odoratissima) for rearing silk, vegetables for household use, &c. Of the land shown as cropped twice in the year, no portion is included in that occupied by sdli rice or sugarcane. Aim rice, mustard, and mdtikalai {phaseolus radiatus), the most common variety of ddl or pulse grown in Assam) to some extent occupy the same land, that cultivated in the sprim? with the first-named yielding a winter crop of either of the two latter. But mustard is chiefly grown in the low inundated country of Nowgong, Kdm- rup, and Darrang, known as the chdpuri mahdls, on the light soil left after the inundation has subsided. The grass is pressed down and left to wither, after which it is burnt, the soil lightly stirred, and the seed put in. The crop is reaped about February. 27. For the Surma Valley, owing to the fact that the greater part of Sylhet is permanently settled, and Sunn a ^ alley. ^ *' ^ •*■ '' that Cachar is settled for a term, while in neither district do mufassal establishments corresponding to the patwaris of Upper India or the mandals of the Brahmaputra Valley exist, we have no accurate statistics of the relative area under different kinds of crop. But here also rice is so much the most important staple that it is unnecessary to notice any other. There is proportionately much less mustard grown in this valley than in Assam Proper, and there is but little export of it to Bengal. Besides mustard, a variety of radish, or tnidi, with a white flower, is cultivated as an oil seed in Sylhet. The various kinds of pulse are also insignificant in area. Sugar is produced in some quantity in the south-west corner of the distri(3t, and has a local reputation. The great crop of rice in Sylhet is the late rice, dman and sail : the first of these two names is applied chiefly to rice sown broad- cast, while the latter (which corresponds in name and character ^*^^P- '•] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 29 to the sail of Assam) is transplanted. This crop is reaped from Section 4. the middle of JSTovember to the end of January. The cms {dsu or Chief cihu of Assam) is a comparatively small crop; it is harvested between the 1st June and the middle of September. In the western and central parts of the district, which are subject to deep flooding, a cold-weather rice, called sail hura, is grown in marshy land, and reaped in April and May. This variety is only locally of importance. In Cachar, the rice crops resemble those of Sylhet, consist- ing of the early and late dus (both minor crops), harvested between June and September, and the sail and dsrd (the latter answering to the dman of Sylhet), reaped in November and December. 28. In the hill districts, rice holds a less exclusive place amoni:^ the crops cultivated. There are o-reat Hill districts. ... *^ differences in different parts of the province in the crops grown and the system of cultivation adopted ; these differences are determined partly by the character of the country and partly by the degree of civilisation possessed by the tribe. Among the KhAsis the system of agriculture is comparatively elaborate, and carefully adjusted to the productive powers of the soil. In the flattish valleys, with which the central plateau abounds, rice is grown in terraced and well irrigated fields, and such fields are found also on the northern margin of the district wherever the conformation of the surface admits of them. With this exception, however, the rest of their crops are grown on hill sides, the turf and scrub upon which are burnt after being pre- viously arranged in beds, and the seed sown in the ashes, which serve as manure. In this way are raised unirrigated rice, potatoes, various kinds of millet [the three principal being soh-riu or Job's- tears (Coix lacrima), rai-tru {Eleusine coracarui), rai-shdng {Digi- taria sp-?)], and a crop called sohphldng {Flemingia vestita), a leguminous plant with a red flower, which produces large numbers of tubers about the size of a pigeon's egg among its roots : these are eaten raw by the Khdsis. The crops just described are those of the central plateau ; besides these, chiefly on the northern slopes of the hills towards 30 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. 1. Sectiov 4. Kamrup and Nowgong, cotton is grown in forest clearings, or ^l~f jhiims, -where the soil is enriched by burning the felled trees and Staples, scrub. On the southern face of "the hills, and on the slopes stretching into Sylhet, are produced the crops to which the wealth of the Khtisis is so largely due, — oranges, betel-nuts, and pine- apules. The orange and betel-nut trees grow together, in care- fully kept and regularly renewed groves, and bear in immense profusion. The pine-apple "grows like a weed in this region, and is extraordinarily cheap and abundant. Besides these field crops, every Kliasi village on the plateau has its carefully hedged home- stead lands, in which fine crops of potatoes, Indian-corii, vege- tables, and pulses are raised, with occasional plots of sugarcane. No others among the hill races can compe.e with the Khasis in the value of their staples, or the enlightened character of their agriculture. The Garos to the west, and the Mikirs, Kacharis, and Kukis to the east, cultivate entirely by jhuming, clearing the forest with axe and fire, and growing in the space thus secured, among the ashes of the trees and undergrowth, mixed crops of long-stemmed rice, chillies, cotton, millets, and gourds. Some of these tribes are less untidy than others in their mode of tillage, and devote a jhiim to a single crop, as rice, cotton, or millet : others mix their crops, which come to maturity at different times during the year. But such a jhilm at best is a repulsive sight with its rotting or half -burnt trunks of trees lying as they were felled, and the crop struggling w^ith the weeds of the jungle. Land thus jhiimed is nowhere occupied longer than three years, and often less, after which it requires from ten to twenty years to recover its fertility and to become reclothedwith forest. All the cotton grown in the province is raised by the hill tribes in this manner, and is remarkable for its short staple and harsh woolly fibre ; indeed, it so much resembles wool that it has found a demand in Europe for mixing with wool for the manufacture of carpets. 29. For a series of years, numerous experiments were made annually with a view to ascertaining the Average outturn of crops. , ° average outturn of the* different crops grown in Assam. The result of experiments continued over eight years Chap. I.] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 31 seems to be that sdli on the average yields a crop of about 20 Section 5, maiinds per acre, dhu 17 maunds, and hao IG maunds.* In Sylhet, Co,Z^rc{al the outturn of dman is nearly 19 maunds and that of dus 14 ^i'^P^es. maunds per acre. The yield of dus (diimai and murdli) in Cachar is 15 maunds per acre ; the experiments in other varieties of rice in that district have not been sufficiently numerous to furnish a reliable average. For mustard, the same series of experiments shows an averao-e outturn of 6^ maunds per acre. A particularly interestin^r feature of the experiments in the outturn of this crop is the proof afforded by them that the yield on land cultivated for the first year is greater than that for the second year, and that in subse- quent years the annual outturn falls rapidly. The figures for five ■ years' experiments on lands cultivated for the first, second, and third years are 574 pounds, 501 pounds, and 378 pounds, respectively. The average yield per acre of other crops is — sugarcane 1,515 pounds, mdtikalai 401 pounds, linseed 433 pounds, rapeseed 328 pounds, uncleaned cotton 283 pounds, til 274 pounds, jute 1,045 pounds, and onions 1,625 pounds. SECTION 5.— COMMERCIAL STAPLES. 30. The most important commercial staple of Assam 16 tea. The plant is indigenous to the province, being found wild in the forests south of the Dihino-, in the Naga Hills to the south of Sibsagar, and in Manipur, North Cachar, and the Lushai Hills. The following paragraphs, extracted from a memorandum written by Mr. (now Sir ifolm) Edgar in 1873, give in a brief and convenient form a sketch of the growth and progress of the tea industry in this province from its commencement down to that year : There have been lively disputes as to the first discoverer of tea in Assam and the date of its discovery. It is probable that a Mr. C. A. Bruce, who * Unfortunately, the experiments of earlier years failed to distinguish between the different varieties of sdli and dhu. But from the figures for 1888-89 it appears that wliile the bor dhdn variety of idli yielded 1,821 pounds per acre, ^ciAJ yielded only 1,159 pounds. Similarly, transplanted dJiu or kharma dhdn gave an average outturn of 1,380 pounds, against 1,300 pounds for dhu sown broadcast. 32 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. I. Section 5. commanded a division of gunboats in Upper Assam during the first Burmese ^ . , war brought down from Upper Assam some plants and seed of the indige- Commercial ? & ^ '■ -^ ^ Staples. nous plant in 1826, and he actually received a medal from the English Society of Arts. But his claim to have been the first discoverer of tea was disputed by a Captain Charlton, who asserted that the existence of tea in Assam had been first established by himself in 1832. In 1834, a committee was appointed to enquire into, and report on the possibility of introducing the cultivation of tea into India. In 1835 the first attempt was made by Government to establish an experimental plantation in Lakhimpur, but it failed, and the plants were afterwards removed to Jaipur, in the Sibsagar district, and a garden established, which was sold to the Assam Company in 1840. This Company, which was formed about 1839, was the first, and is still very much the greatest, concern for the cultivation of tea in Bengal. It was not, however, very prosperous during its early years, and in 1846-47 its shares are said to have been almost unsaleable. Its prospects began to improve about 1852, and in 1859 it was reported officially to have a cultiva- ted area of about 3,'J67 acres, with an estimated outturn of over 760,000 pounds of tea. Meantime, tea cultivation had been commenced in many other districts. In 1850 a garden was started by Colonel Hannay near Dibrugarh, and in 1853, when Mr. Mills of the Sudder Court visited Assam, he found three private gardens in Sibsagar and six in Lakhimpur. In 1854, the first gardens were started in Darrang and Kamriip. In 1855 indigenous tea was found in Cachar, and the first garden in the district was commenced in the cold season of that year. In the following year (1856) tea was discovered in Sylhet, but no attempt at cultivating it was made for some time after. It may be said generally that the foundations of the present tea indus- try were laid between 1856 and 1859. In the latter year the labour difficulty began to be seriously felt in Assam and Cachar ; but, although Colonel Jenkins, Commissioner of Assam, recorded a serious warning, no one else seemed able to foresee the formidable dangers into which the too rapid progress of the industry would bring it. Later still, in 1862-63, officials as well as planters seem to have indulged in visions of fabulous prosperity, which only deepened the gloom of the miserable time that was so soon to come on them. The Land Revenue Administration Report for that year contains extracts from reports from Assam, Cachar, Sylhet, and Darjeeling, written in the most hopeful spirit ; indeed, the two former are written in an exalted tone that contrasts curiously with the usual sobriety of official reports. But even'at the time of publication of these rej)orts suspicions had begun to arise about the soundness of this condition of Chap. 1.] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 33 affairs, which was apparently so brilliant. An Act for the regulation of the Sfxtion 5. transport of native labourers emigrating to Assam and C'achar, passed in Commercial 1863, was expected to remedy many hideous evils which were discovered to ■^^"Z''^'" exist in the impox'tation of labourers required to supplement the scanty local supply. But it soon came to light that the condition of these labourers on many gardens in both districts was most deplorable, while the morta- lity among them was appalling. The evil first fruits of the reckless way in which waste lands had been dealt with, in the belief that Government was fostering tea cultivation thereby, were being gathered in the shape of increasing hostility to Grovernment and its officials, caused by difficulties about surveys, boundaries, title-deeds, and the like, which all had arisen out of the mistaken policy of giving vast tracts of land to anyone choosing to ask for them, without enquiry and without precaution of any kind. In 1865, an Act was passed for the regulation of the relations of employ- ers and imported labourers after the arrival of the latter in the districts of Assam, Sylhet, and Cachar. Here I shall only say that, though at first at least it did little to improve the condition of the labourers, I am convinced that it had not the slightest connection with the temporary collapse of the tea industry which took place in the following year. The cause of the crash of 18G6 was the utterly unsound foundation on which the fabric of the tea industry had been based, and not directly the action of Government, as at the time it was the fashion of even usually well-informed persons to assert. At the same time, we should never lose sight of the fact that the industry might never have got into the ruinous slate of inflation that it was in previous to 1866, had it not been for the unwise attempts of Government to foster it at the outset by sacrificing the most necessary safeguards in dealing with land. The depression of the industry consequent on the collapse of so many concerns in 1866 was, of course, intensified by the ignorance of the general body of proprietors of tea, shares, who, as was remarked by me in a paper written in 1867, showed as much folly in their hurry to get out of tea as they had a few years before in their eagerness to undertake the speculation. This depreciation of tea property continued during the years 1866, 1867, and 1868; but about 1869 things began to look brighter. It was seen that people who had worked steadily for years with a view to make gardens that would yield a profit had been rewarded, while much of the property of the collapsed companies had turned out well under careful management. In fact, it was again found out that tea would pay, and ever since it has been steadily progressing in popular estimation, and, as a general rule, in profit to those engaged in it. 34 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. I. Section 5. There cannot be the slightest doubt that the industry is in an infinitely Commercial better and safer position now than it was ten years ago. The existing Staples. gardens are, as a general rule, well filled with plants, highly cultivated, and carefully managed. The amount of tea produced per acre, although falling far short of the sanguine expectation of the first days of tea-planting, is satisfactory in all the more important districts, while the prices obtained this season show that the average quality must be very good. There is every reason to hope that the labour difficulty is disappearing in Cachar, and, in spite of the complaints from Assam, there are evident signs of improvement in that province. Tea is now cultivated in all the plains districts of the province, and there is one "arden in the Khdsi Hills. The followin« fiiiures give the total area under tea in each district, and the estimated outturn iu pounds, according to the last returns, those of 1892 : Area in acres. Approximate outturn iu pounds. JMature plants. Immature plants. Total. Brahmaputra Valley. Godlpdra 380 36 416 144,825 Kamrup 4,004 218 4,822 769,384 Darrang 20,885 3,745 24,630 11,275,835 Nowgong 10,856 1,146 12,002 3,209,496 Sibsagar 50,503 7,441 57,994 18,094,557 Lakhimpur 32,793 7,391 19,997 40,184 15,567,207 Total 120,021 139,998 49,061,304 Surma Valley. Sylhet 40,300 7,574 47,874 18,649,385 Cachar 53,184 6,106 59,290 16,506,444 Khasi Hills 20 93,504 10 30 4,000 Total 13,090 107,194 35,159,829 Grand total 213,525 33,067 247,192 84,221,133 When the industry was first undertaken, the land which was supposed to be bast suited for the plant was hill or undulating Cha.X3, 1 ] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 35 Secttov c ground, siicli as the spurs of the Khasi Hills, in South Kamrup, •' and the tilas of Sylhet and Cachar. Now, however, it has been ^stapUsT found in the Surma Valley that, with good drainage, the heaviest crops of tea can be raised from low-lying land, even such as formerly supported rice cultivation. In the Assam Valley, the most suitable soil is considered to be the old alluvium, or bltdngar, .such as is found in the south of Sibsdgar district and in the north of Darrang. This is a rich loam, capable, by reason of its undu- lating surface, of excellent drainage, and very heavy crops are obtained from such gardens. The average outturn per acre was in 1892 returned as 376 pounds for Sylhet and Cachar, and 409 pounds for the Assam Valley. 31. There is ample space still available for the extension of the tea industry. Besides the 247,192 acres inLTuy?^^ "^ *^^ ^^* shown in the above statement as already occupied with tea, some 797,792 acres have been taken up for plantation purposes, much of which will, no doubt, in due time, be planted, though a good deal may be un- suitable for tea. Prices have fallen considerably during the last decade, but the introduction of labour-saving machinery and of improved methods of cultivation, together with careful attention to economic working, have combined to reduce the cost of production to such an extent that the profits from the better class of gardens are considerably larger, and the position of the industry generally is now much more assured and satisfactory than it was ten years ago. 32. There are four varieties of domesticated silkworms in Assam. The smaller or multivoltine pat Silk- ,7 7 -N T 1 1 worm {bombyjc croesi), and the larger or unlvoltine worm of the same name {bombyx textor), both feed on the mulberry, and produce a white silk, which was in considerable demand in the days of the Ahom kings. The cultivation of these silkworms is, however, decreasing, and there is little prospect of its revival. The muga worm {anthercea Assama) feeds on the sum tree {machilus odoratissima), and on the dualu {tetranthera monopetala), as also on a variety of other trees, but the silk yield- F 2 36 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. U Section 5. ed b}' the siuV'ied worm is the best. The worm is a multivoltine, Commercial j^elcling as many as live broods in the year, but nsually only three Staples. ^^ these are used for the manufacture of silk ; and in Upper Assam breedino- is discontinued during the rainy season, and is resumed on the approach of the cold weather with cocoons imported from Kamri'ip and Nowgong. In Upper Assam, the worms are fre- quently fed on patches of natural forest, but in the western districts land is planted out with sum trees for this purpose. The worms are placed on the trees as soon as they are hatched, and are watched night and day during the whole period of their life in the open air. When ready to spin their cocoons, they descend the tree, and are removed by the cultivator. The cocoon is about 11 inch long by J'^hs of an inch in diameter, and yields a soft silk of a bright yellow colour, with a beautiful gloss. The silk is wound off the cocoon by an extremely primitive process of reeling. In 1837, Mr. Hugon calculated that an acre of trees would support worms yielding 50,000 cocoons, capable of being reeled into 12 seers of silk ; but a careful estimate prepared by the Deputy Com- missioner of Sibsagar in 1882 places the outturn per acre at only a quarter of this quantity, — a difference which may partly be explained by supposing that Mr. Hugon was speaking of plantations, while the Sibsagar estimate relates to natural sum forest, where the trees grow much more sj^arsely. The area of such forests in the Assam Valley (where alone the muga is produced) is believed to be about 300 square miles ; but this great area is used for breeding silkworms only as the alluvial lands of the Brahma- putra are used for growing mustard, that is to say, parties of men make clearance of the undergrowth in patches, and cultivate silkworms for a year or two, after which they move to another spot. TheJ fourth kind of silkworm reared in Assam is that called m, from its feeding on the eri {endi) or castor-oil plant. This is bred chiefly by Ivacharis, Mikirs, Gdros, and Kukis, both in the Assam Valley and on the northern and southern skirts of the central range of Assam, as also in the low hills to the south of Sylhet and Cachar. It is a multivoltine worm, reared entirely indoors, and yielding five broods in the year. The cocoon is Chap. I.] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 37 smaller than that of the muga, and its colour is either white or a deep brick-red, both red and white cocoons being produced ^"'stTpul^^ indifferently by worms of the same brood. The silk is never reeled, but is spun off by hand. The demand for eri silk is rapidly increasing, but all attempts at producing it on a commercial scale have hitherto failed, the main reason being that the castor-oil plants, on which the worm feeds, are peculiarly liable to destruction by caterpillars when grown in large quantities. As regards the muga cocoon, no method of reeling it has yet been introduced which will enable it to be sold at remunerative prices, and its chief sale continues, as heretofore, to be for the purpose of embroidering the hand-made muslins manufactured at Dacca. 33. Cotton is grown in large quantities along the slopes of the Assam ramye, especially in the Gdro and Cotton. , ^ ... Mikir Hills ; it is also grown in the hilly country in South Cachar and Sjdliet. It forms, except in the Khasi Hills, almost the only produce which the hillman has to barter for the necessaries which he buys at the submontane markets, where a large business in it is done. The staple is, as already mentioned, short and harsh, and the main demand for the hill cotton comes from within the province. (A certain quantity, how- ever, is exported, and 68,485 maunds were exported during 1892- 93, against only 14,199 maunds during the corresponding year of the last decade. The demand outside the province seems, there- fore, to be increasing.) 34. One of the most valuable products of Assam is India- rubber, which is obtained almost exclusively Rubber. . , . , - ^ ^ from Ficus elastica, the outturn from other local species being inappreciable. The rubber tree, which formerly was found in greater or less abundance in many parts of the province, is now restricted to the most inaccessible forests of the Lakhimpur, Darrang, and Khasi Hills districts, and in the last of these this tree is now fast dis- appearing, owing to the wasteful and destructive methods employed by the tappers for obtaining the rubber. There is also good reason sii'i'o'j 38 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. I. Section 5. for supposing that the rubber forests situated in territory beyond Commercial tho Assam frontier, and from which the larger portion of the total ^^' outturn is obtained, are gradually becoming less productive than formerly, and that the more accessible of these forests have been completely worked out. When the last decennial report was com- piled in 1882-83, the outturn of rubber was returned as 10,000 niaunds per annum. But since then there has been a large falling off, the average output during the past ten years having only slightly exceeded 5,000 maunds, and even this comparatively low average has not been attained during recent years, as will be seen from the followinsj fi";ures : Maiinds. Outturn in 1889-90 ... ... ... 3,419 „ 1890-91 ... ... ... 3,076 „ 1891-92 ... ... ... 4,227 „ 1892-93 ... ... ... 3,250 Within the last year, the old system of leasing out the product over certain areas, known as mahdls, was abolished, and replaced by a duty of Es. 12 per maund, which is imposed on all rubber brought from beyond the frontier, or collected in the Government forests. This change of system, however, did not come into force until November 1892, which accounts for the sudden falling off exhibited in the figures of 1892-93, which must, therefore, be considered as abnormally low. The receipts from rubber durinoj the past ten years have averaged Es. 33,079 a year, but a consi- derable increase on this sum may be expected to result in future years from the collection of the abovementioned duty. The amount of rubber exported from Assam during the past three years has been 4,844 maunds in 1890-91, 5,903 maunds in 1891-92, and 4,006 maunds in 1892-93. Its selling price in the Assam markets is from Es. 50 to Es. GO a maund ; in Calcutta it fetches as much as Es. 100. 35. Indigenous lac is found in the Assam forests, but the j^^ staple is also largely cultivated by artificial propagation. The lac insect is chiefly reared on two kinds of fig [Ficus cordifolia and Ficus lacci/era), which are planted on a large scale near villages in the Kdmrup and Darrang Chap.l.] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 39 districts. The form in which the great bulk of the Lac is exported Section 5. is stick lac, the crude product, consisting of small twigs surrounded Commercial by cylinders of translucent orange yellow gum, in which the insects which deposited it are embedded. A small export exists of sliell and button lac, and of lac-dye, the result of a process of purifica- tion applied to the stickdac. The twigs are first separated, and the gummy envelope is then scraped and rubbed by hand under a stream of water till the colouring matter has been thoroughly extracted ; this con&ists of the dead bodies of the insects buried in the gum, and gradually precipitates itself to the bottom of the water when left to settle. The water is then drained off, and the sediment, after being strained, pressed, and dried, becomes lac-dye, ready for the market. The gummy exudation is meanwhile dried in the sun, and then melted, in bags of cotton cloth, over a char- coal fire. It is then squeezed out, either in thin sheets upon an earthen cylinder, when it becomes shell-lac, or in dabs upon a plantain stalk, when it is called button-lac. The exports of lac and lac-dye during the last three years have been as follows : in 1890-91, 9,337 maunds ; in 1891-92, 14,753 maunds ; and in 1892- 93, 15,376 maunds, 36. - Mustard forms a very important commercial staple in the Assam Valley, where, as shown in the ^^ ^^ ' preceding section, it is largely grown in the inundated country of Kdmrup and Nowgong. It is manufactured to a small extent into oil within the province ; but this product is consumed almost exclusively by the immigrant population. The following are the exports of mustard-seed during the past three years from the Assam Valley ; * Maunds. 1890-91 ... ... ... ... 8,69,571 1891-92 ... ... ... ... 12,77,217 1892-93 ... ... ... ... 11,28,996 But little mustard is exported from Sylhet and Cachar. The figures are — IMaunds. 1890-91 ... ... ... ... 25,974 1891-92 ... ... ... ... 2J,958 1892-93 ... ... ... ... 18,750 40 ASSx\JI ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. 1. Section 5. oij>^ j^te is growu for export in Godlpdra and Kamrup, but hardly Comnercial at all in Other districts of the Assam Valley. '*^ "' There is also a little jute in South Sylliet. The following are the figures showing the export of this staple for the past three years : Maunds. 1890-91 ... ... ... ... 3,40,678 1891-92 ... ... ... ... 2,21,595 1892-93 ... ... ... ... 2,16,479 Nearly the whole of the above came from the Assam Valley. 38. Potatoes are very largely grown in the Khdsi Hills, but in no other part of the province, as a commer- Potatoes. . ^ ^ . \ ^ . cial staple. They were introduced into this district by Mr. David Scott, Governor General's Agent, in 1830, and are now cultivated throughout the upper plateaux of the Khasi Hills Proper, though not in the Jaintia country. Two crops are produced j^early, the first being sown in February and March and reaped in July, and the second put down in August and taken up in November and December. The latter crop is chiefly used for seed, and the export is wholly derived from the former. Large quantities are carried down by cart to Gauhdti for the supply of the Assam Valley. But the main channel of export to Bengal is via Clierra Punji and Sylhet, whence the potatoes are conveyed by boat. The exports reached the highest point known in 18<Sl-82,. when they amounted to 1,26,981 maunds. In 1886-87, they were returned at 1,04,940 maunds, but in that year the tubers were attacked for the first time by a disease due to the presence of a fungus [PhytophtJiora infestans), and in the following year the crop was reported to have rotted in the ground. Owing to this disease, the exports continued to fall from 41,548 maunds in 1887-88, and 24,386 maunds in 1889-90 to 12,016 maunds in 1890-91. The disease is now reported to have disappeared to a large extent and the exports have increased in consequence. In 1891-92 they were returned at 29,321 maunds. In the following year (1892-93), however, the exports fell again to 10,776 maunds in consequence of diminished cultivation and increased local consumption. Forests. Chap. 1.] PHYSICAJi FEATUllES, ETC 4 1 39. Another article of considerable traffic '■which is exported Section 5. from the Khdsi Hills consists of oranf^^es. rn„7ZZr;,f Oran^'es. ^unimcrLiak These are produced in great abundance, and staples. of excellent quality, on the slopes of the hills bordering on Sylhet, where there is a continuous fringe of orange-groves belonging to the Khdsi proprietors from the Bogapani river to the exit of the Piy^ in at Dauki Bazar. The higher plateaux produce lemons of the best quality in profusion, but these are not largely exported. The exports of oranges from Sylhet during the last three years are shown below : Maunds. 1890-91 ... ... ... ... 1,06,854 1891-92 ... ... ... «. 1,13,694 1892-93 ... ... ... ... 25,259 40. As might be expected from the character of its surface and climate, the area of forest in Assam is very extensive, and it is the home of many extremely valuable timber trees. The head of the Assam Valley. including the Lakhimpur district and part of the Sibsdgar and Darrang districts, is a forest country, the greater portion of the land not under cultivation being stocked with dense and chiefly evergreen forest. The middle and lower portion of the valley, on the other hand, is a comparatively open tract with vast expanses of grass savannah, and forest only in the vicinity of the hills, on the extensive tracts of high land and on the isolated hills which are found in this part of the valley. In the Surma Valley there is little forest in Sylhet, except on the southern hills stretching up from Tippera, and in the great valley of the Langai and Singla rivers, in the south-eastern corner, where there is a forest tract of 170 square miles. In Cacliar the whole of the south of the district bordering on the Lushai Hills, measuring more than 700 square miles, is a forest reserve, whence the populous district of Sylhet draws its timber supply ; there are also 38 square miles of reserve in the north of this district. In the hill districts there is less good forest than might be expected, though there is no lack of wooded country ; the habits of the hill races do not permit G 42 ASSAM ADMINISTEATION EEPOET. [Chap. 1. Section 5. except ill isolated spots to -u'liicli their jhums have not extended, Commercial of tlie growtli of Valuable timber. Forest iires and jliuming have staphs. ([qy].^^{\q^ the interior of the hills, where the people chiefly live, of most of its forests ; but along the northern and southern skirts there are large areas of natural forest still untouched. The following is a statement of the forest area as it stood in each district on the 31st March 1893, classed either as (]) reserved or (2) unclassed forests in which no special measures of protection are in force, but Government asserts its right to the trees, and does not allow them to be felled without paj'inent : Cachar Sylhet Goalpdra ... Kdrariip ... Darrang ... Nowgong ... Sibsagar ... Lakhimpur Garo Hills Khasi andJaintia Hills Naga Hills The most valuable trees in the forests of Assam are ajhar {laqerstrcemia regince) and sam {artocarpus chaplasha), which are found throughout the Assam Valley, nahor (niesua ferrea)^ which does not grow in the plains of the Brahmaputra Valley west of the Mikir Hills, though common in the evergreen forests of the Gdro and Khasi Hills, sal {shorea rohusta), which is found only in the lower part of the valley, in Goalpdra, Kanirup, Darrang, and Nowgong, and the Gdro and Khasi Hills, sissu (daWergia sissoo) which is not found east of the Manas river, mir1 l-hgir (^acacia catechu), which extends eastwards to Charduar in Darrang. In the Surma Valley, 7iaho7' (there called nagesar), ajhar (there Forest reserves. uiic'jaBseu State forest Sq . miles. Sq. miles, 752 749 170 241 673 17 128 468 298 191 143 213 848 603 429 3,529 133 217 52 100 Chap. I.l PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 43 cnWed. jar id), and cham (the sam of A&sam) are the most important Section 5. trees. Commercial The only trees which are important articles of export are sal^ "^ ^^' sam, and ajhar, which are largely floated down the Brahmaputra into Bengal, and from Cachar into Sylliet, chiefly for boat building. The exploitation of the Cachar forests for the service of Sylhet has alwaj's been active and is extending, while that of the Brahmaputra forests in Goalpara and Kamrup has lately appeared to be stationary. The upper part of the Assam Valley is too remote from a market for its timber resources to be yet regularly exploited ; the only use made of the forests is to yield posts and beams for house building, trees for <:Zzf^ow^5 (the only kind of boat made in the Brahmaputra Valley), charcoal, chiefly for tea manufacture, and soft woods for tea boxes. The time, however, will doubtless come when, with ' the improvement of communications and the spread of population, these valuable forests will play their part in the development of the province. The timber exported from Assam in 1892-93 was valued at Es. 11,76,234. 41. Among the "commercial staples" of Assam, elephants ^, . , should also be mentioned. These valua- Llephants. ble animals abound in the forests of the Assam Valley, on the lower slopes of the Assam Hange, and in South Cachar and South-Eastern Sylhet. The Government khedda establishment from Dacca have annually hunted the Garo Uills forests for several years past, and large numbers of animals have been captured by this agency. When not required for the purposes of the Government khedda, the elephant mahdls (or right of hunt- ing within certain defined tracts) are leased by auction sale to the highest bidder. Besides the price of the mahdl, the lessee has to pay a royalty of Rs. 100 on each animal captured. In 1890-91 259 elephants were caught by lessees, in 1891-92, 66, and in 1892-93, 103. The number of elephants caught by lessees has been falling off' of late years, owing to the large captures effected by the Government khedda estabhshment, which have resulted in a considerable dechne in the market value of elephants. G2 44 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. I Chap. 1. SECTION 6,-^MJNUFACTUEES. Section 6. 42. Tea is tlie only important article of manufacture in Assam. M^^m^ac- The total quantity of tea produced in 1892 *"''''■ ^'^' is returned as 84,221,133 pounds, of which 35 159,829 pounds were manufactured in the Surma Valley and 49,061,304: pounds in the Assam Valley. A sketch of the tea industry has been given in the preceding section. 43. In proceeding to consider the native manufactures of Assam, it is necessary to remember that the Native mamifactureB province posscsses no large cities where artisans can find scope for employment, and that the common industrial classes of other parts of India, such as carpenters, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, or masons, are represented in Assam by workers imported from Bengal, and paid at extremely high rates. The list of indigenous Assamese manufactures com- prises only silk, thread, and fabrics, coarse cotton fabrics woven mostly from imported thread, brass utensils, oil expressed from the seeds of mustard and til, coarse sugar^ a few kinds of jewellery, some ornamental articles in ivory, and common domestic pottery and agricultural implements. The Assamese, in fact, are singularly wanting in mechanical genius, and, although the occupation of an artisan is one of the most remunerative in the province, the indus- trial school established at Jorhdt has always suffered from a lack of appreciation by the people whom it was intended to benefit. 44. The silk fabrics are the produce chiefly of the Assam Valley. The various kinds of silk have been described in the preceding section. It is difficult to say whether their production, on the whole, is increas- ing or decreasing. The common opinion is that it is largely on the decline, and this is probably true of the silk yielded by the pat or mulberry silkworms, which was more largely in vogue under the native Government of the Assam Valley than it is in the present day, when it is being supplanted by the cheaper tufisar of Bengal. The price of the i7iugd and eri silks has also risen fourfold within the last fifty years ; but this circumstance is probably 'due in part Chap. 1.] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 45 to the influx of money into the province, while it is by no means Sfxtion 6. certain that these silks were at any time more easily procurable Mamifac- than they are now. The earliest mention of them is to be found "''^^' in Muhammad Kasim's chronicle of Mir Jumla's invasion of Assam in 1GG2, and it was then observed that the silks, though good, were produced in quantities sufficient only for domestic consump- tion. This is exactly the case at the present time, and as the population of the Assam Valley is certainly greater now than it was in 1662, it would seem to follow that the production of silk is not less than it was in the most flourishing days of the Aliom kingdom. The muga silk is used as an article of dress by the wealthier classes in the Assam Valley, and is largely exported to the southern hills, where it is much sought after by the Gdros, Khdsis, and other hill tribes. Muga thread is also exported to Bengal. Eri silk is, perhaps, even more extensively manufactured than muga. Unlike the latter, it is not exported in the form of thread, but considerable quantities of the cloth are purchased by the Bhutia traders, who descend into the northern part of the Godlpara, Kamriip, and Darrang districts every winter. En cloth is now largely made up into coats, &c., for summer wear by Europeans, and the demand for it on this account is increasing every year. It is generally worn in the cold months by the peasantry of the Assam Valley. The thread is produced also by Kukis and Mikirs in the lower parts of the central range of Assam, and is woven into the striped cloths which form the ordinary dress of all the tribes inhabiting those highlands. It is impossible to give even an approximate estimate of the quantity of muga or eri produced annually in any part of the province. The value of eri thread is Us. 5 to Es. 7 per seer ; of muga thread, Es. 8 to Es. 12 ; while good gn' cloth sells at Ee. 1-8, and good m?^^^ at Es. 2-4 per square yard. The manufacture of both kinds of silk is purely domestic. There are no large filatures, nor is there any system of breeding the worms on an extensive scale. The raiyat breedM silkworms enough to yield him a few chhataks of thread, which he either weaves himself, or disposes of at the village fair. There is no regular trade in silk jarns or fabrics, nor any stated market where they can be bought in large quantities. 46 ASSAM ADiriNISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. I. Section 6. 45^ The cotton fabrics of Assam deserve no particular mention. Manufac- By tlie liill tribes and by the Miris in the plains, t tt VS S V^ O L L Oil • they are woven from cotton locally grown, and gaily coloured with native dcyes. Elsewhere English thread is generally used. A kind of rug or blanket is made by the Kukis and jNIiris, with cotton ticking on a backing of coarse cloth. The cotton cloths of the Nagas are very substantial and tastefully coloured. 46. Brass utensils are made by the Morias, a low Muhammadan caste found chiefly in the districts of Sibsa^ar Brass. "^ p and JSTowgong. These are of the rudest kind, without any attempt at finish or ornamentation. A style of vessels somewhat superior to these is made at Gauhdti and at Sarthibdri in Kdmrup. 47. The manufacture of mustard oil is of recent introduction. The mill used is the ordinary bullock-mill of Oil and sugar. ^ . Upper India, and is gradually supplantmg the domestic oil-press, which consists simply of a short beam loaded with a heavy stone. Gui\ or coarse sugar, is entirely an article of domestic manufacture. It is made by the rudest method, is never exported, and its consumption within the province is but small. 48. The common jewellery of Assam is chimsy and ungraceful, consistinoj chiefly of pieces of coloured glass Jeweller}^. ° . ^ ^ , ^ roughly set m gold or silver. Some beautiful gold filigree-work is, however, made in Barpeta, and the art of enamelling is still preserved in Jorlidt. The Klidsi bracelets, neck- lets, and earrings in gold and silver are handsome ornaments, though somewhat heavy in design ; and the Manipuri jewellery, or similar patterns, is imitated in Sylhet. 49. The district of Sylhet is noted for its ivory, mats, and fans, and the manufacture of shell-bracelets gives Sylhet manufactureH. .*, employment to a large number of artificers in the town of Sylhet. These bracelets are cut out as solid rings from large white conch-shells obtained from mau)^ places on the sea coast in and near India. They are of graceful appearance, and command a ready sale. In pargana Patharia, in this district, there is a considerable manufacture of agar attai\ a perfume distilled from the resinous sap of the agar tree {aquilaria Chap. I.] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 47 agallocha). This perfume is much esteemed by Oriental nations, Section 7. and is exported, vid Calcutta, to Turkey and Arabia. Iron work Trade and inlaid with brass, talwdrs and ddos, and such like articles, are '^'^>>''"^'^^<^^- manufactured in Eajnagar and Lashkarpur in Sylhet. Boat buildinix is also carried on to a considerable extent in that district. Jorhdt, in the Sibsdgar district, still enjoys some local reputa- tion for its ornamental carved work in ivory. This town is also the only place in Assam where ornamental pottery is made. 50. The. boat-making of Barpeta ought, perhaps, to be men- tioned in a catalo":ue of provincial industries. Boats. ° _ ^ ^ The roughly-hollowed logs are floated across from the Gdro Hills, and, after being further excavated till the thickness of the outer skin is reduced to about an inch and a quarter, they are subjected to a steaming process in the boat- builder's hands, being smeared with liquid mud and inverted over a line of burning embers. While thus softened, the future boat is widened by the insertion of thwarts. If, as usually happens, it splits in the process, the rent is patched with a piece of wood fastened in by clamps holding its bevelled edges to those of the aperture. In this way boats sixty feet long by six or seven feet in breadth are constructed, capable of lasting, if the wood be good forest timber, for ten years or even longer. The same process is followed elsewhere in the valley where boats are made. No such thing as a built boat has probably ever been attempted in the Brahmaputra Valley. SECTION 7.— TRADE AN J) COMMERCE. 51. In the preceding sections an account has been given of the most important commercial staples which Introductory, -^ ^ are produced in the province. It remains to describe the general course of provincial trade, the classes by whom it is conducted, the routes which it follows, and the markets where transactions are concluded. 52. The trade of Assam is carried on in two different directions : fu'st, and chiefly, with the neighbouring Assam. Trade routes. Nature of trade in Assam. . « -r» i t ^^ • ^^ ^i provnice 01 Bengal ; and, secondly, with the foreign Stales and tribes which surround 48 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. I. Section- 7. British territory on three sides. Both descriptions of trade are Trade and registered, the first at the stations of Dhubri on the Brahmaputra Commerce. ^^^^ Bhairab Bazar on the Surma, by -which channels nearly all the merchandise from or for Bengal enters or quits the province : and the second, either by special agency on the channels of communication, or by the collection of statistics at the various fairs or marts in the frontier districts to which the neisrhbourinoj tribesmen resort. The traffic conveyed by the boats and steamers that ply on the Brahmaputra and Surma represents by far the most important part of the trade between Bengal and Assam, in which as yet railwa3's have no share. A certain amount of road traffic also takes place, but this is not large enough to justify the retention of a special establishment for the purpose of registering it. Figures are, however, collected by the police at Sidli and Baida, but, as they receive no special pay for this work, the figures supplied are not very reliable. The river traffic is carried on both by boat and by steamer. Mail steamers run daily on the Brahmaputra river, between Dibrugarh and Goalundo, and on the Surma between Goalundo and Silchar during the rainy season and between Goalundo and Fenchuganj in the cold weather. A considerable amount of cargo is carried in these steamers, but special cargo steamers with large flats also run, and carry goods whose bulk renders them unsuitable for carriage by the smaller and more speedy mail steamers. Statistics of the goods carried by these vessels are transmitted by the companies to which they belong, through the Government of Bengal. The boat traffic is registered by special establishments, which were located in 1879 at the two points already mentioned. 1'lie quantity of the goods carried is all (except in a few instances) that these establishments record ; values are applied to these quantities in the offices of the Deputy Commissioners of Dhubri and Sylhet, according to the prices ruling for the articles at those stations. The figures furnished by the steamer companies are treated in the same way. Boats monopolise the greater part of the trade between Assam and Bengal in lime, rice, gram, kerosine and other oils, salt, sugar, Chap. I.] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 49 tobacco, oranges, and potatoes, but the more expensive articles of Section 7. merchandise, such as tea, piece-goods, liquors, and metals, and Trade and also coal and mustard, are for the most part carried by steamer. A curious feature in the returns is that whereas in the Brahma- putra Valley in 1882-83 steamers carried 85 per cent, of the total value of the inter-provincial trade, in 1892-93 they carried only 82*63 per cent., while in the Surma Valley the value of goods carried by steamer has increased from 45 per cent., at the commencement of the decade to 61*89 per cent, at its close. In the case of the latter valley, however, the increase in the propor- tional values of articles carried by steamer is more than accounted for by the traffic in a single article, tea. Not only is none of that article now carried by boat, but the total value of the tea exported has increased by more than the absolute increase in the value of goods carried by steamer. Taking the province as a whole, the value of goods carried by steamer has increased in the last ten years by 40 per cent., as against 50 per cent, in the case of goods carried by boat. 53. Full details of the imports into, and exports from, Assam to foreign countries and to the neighbouring province of Bengal will be found in Part IIb of the General Administration Eeport. In 1892-93, the total value of the imports from foreign countries amounted to Es. 7,92,189, and that of the exports amounted to Es. 2,54,192. The total value of the trans-frontier trade was therefore Es. 10,46,381. Considerably more than half the imports were from Hill Tippera, and consisted mainly of timber, canes, and other forest produce. Next in value were the imports from Bhutan and Towang, amongst which blankets and ponies formed the most important items. Of the exports, the largest were those to Bhutan and Towang (chiefly rice and raw silk), and to Hill Tippera (salt). Turning to the inter-provincial trade, it may be noted that the imports aggregated Es. 3,17,81,690, and the exports Es. 6,30,48,969. In the following table, statistics are given showing the imports and exports from each valley separately, and the form of carriage used : H 50 ASSAM ADMINISTEATION REPORT. [Chap. I. Section 7. Trade and Commerce. ^ -* ■^ "O QD OT • C5_ CD 03 ■^ !" ■<* P3 eo eo Tji c:> CO t^ t^ . <M ca m -* t-^ (M" P4 (M_ T?^ t>^ n •'l'" oT tcT Ci \a^ "*~ "3 ^ oT •* (M to 1— 1 eo ■<? & 1-4 i-H eo ■^ 1 m ca uo" eo' (^ iO to C^_ ^ oT t-^ t>^ 1/3 ■>* '^ C3 -*" (N" to 00 ^—^ en (M CO »o «o to •3 en t^ eo ■•-> Ph <— 1 CO «> ^ 00 CO Tp ■<i< vO '^ ctT 00 eo , eo eo 13 m cs^ • Oi C3 K 0^ • (M" P4 to eo to eo CO 05 r-l c— ^ • to 1—1 t^ rt (4 (N eo 10 (§ t^ to eo CO \S CJi" m C<l t- Oi CO lO CO c— CO »M CO B •* 1 01 eo Oi co" '"' Pi (M VO 00 _2 '^ 0" •^ 03 t^ 1—1 C^ 00 t^ CTS <M ^ 1^ • a^ (M T-( ii ^ « (N 00 rH to t-^ t>;^ ^ T-H •* i-H »— 4 CO '^' •a M 1^ ^ 0^ K tt) ' ■ ■ ■■ CX) CO •^ vO 05 >o 05_ lO lO -4^ ^" T-T -<* to" § U5 00 cq^ n 0" tcT t^ c- t- '<? I— T t^ 00 Q. 10 10 H , "* Oi^ ■<3< [3 to "*" »o" 0" 1 ^ eo ':»< s" t-T (M" l>^ 00 eo '-' -*" CO CO Oi 1— H lO to ^ 10 Ci "3 • oT 0" 00 pa iO_ 0^ ■<* B «r eo" cT t>^ »o CO co~ cT to __, P-. (a i^ j:i • •!-> -^ <o 3 . c3 ^ y g ^ ce g s CO ^ > 1" - Chap- I ] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 5 I The principal imports into the Brahmaputra Valley were rice, Section 7. salt, gram and pulse, kerosine-oil, iron and sugar, while salt, gram, Trade and kerosine-oil and pulse, sugar, tobacco, and coal and coke figured most largely amongst the Surma Valley imports. Of the exports from the Brahmaputra Valley, coal and coke, rape and mustard- seed, timber, tea, raw jute, and rice in the husk, were the most important, and rice in the husk, lime, bamboo, and tea from the Surma Valley. Eice in the husk (paddy) is exported from the Brahmaputra Valley, and husked rice is imported. Lime forms one of the most important articles of export from the Surma Valley, while in the Brahmaputra Valley a considerable quantity of the same commoditj'- is imported from Bengal. 54. The classes who conduct the trade of the province are _ ,. , different in the two valleys. In both, tea, the Trading classes. / great export of Assam, is consigned straight from the gardens where it is produced to Calcutta, either to be sold there or shipped to England for sale. But almost all the rest of the export traffic, and nearly the whole of the import traffic, of the Assam Valley is in the hands of Marwari traders, commonly called Kaiyas, who not only manage the wholesale, but to a very large extent the retail, trade of the valley. Besides these, there are a few Muhammadan merchants from Dacca, who have settlements in the chief centres ; but their transactions are small compared with those of the Kaiyas. It is very remarkable to notice the complete mastery of the internal commerce of the valley which these strangers possess. The native Assamese hardly ever engages in anything more extensive than petty shopkeeping, and this only in the western portion of the valley. But the Marwari is found, keen to buy and sell, wherever money is to be made ; he settles himself not only in the populous villages of the inhabited region, but in the midst of the jungle, on the paths leading to the mountains from which the wild tribes come ; and it is exclusively with him that these visitors do business. In the Surma Valley the conditions are different. Here there are comparatively few Marwaris, though they are not altogether absent. The native population contains a large trading element, and merchants from Dacca are more numerous than in Assam. H2 Comtnerce. 52 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPOET. [Chap. I. Section 7. jn the hill districts there are considerable differences in the Trade and cxtent to whicli the pcoplc themsclves engage in trade. In most of these tracts, traffic is a necessary of life, the hills not producing sufficient food for the people to live upon ; but in most also it takes the simple form of barter, the exports consisting chiefly of cotton, wax, ivory, and forest produce, and the imports of rice, salt, dried fish, and cloth. But in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills there is a much more active commerce. The valuable staples of this tract have already been mentioned, and the trade in them is kept by the people almost entirely in their own hands. Many of them are adventurous merchants, travelling as far as Dacca, or even Calcutta, during the cold season. In the Ndga Hills, too, the Angdmi Ndgas, who occupy the central region, though producing nothing of commercial importance themselves, do a thriving business as carriers between Manipur and Assam, and spend much money in the markets of the plains in the purchase of articles of use or luxury for themselves. 55, All over the province there are weekly lidts, or markets, on stated dates, where bu5^ers and sellers meet. Trading centres. and most of the business is done. Except at a few places, there are no permanent hdzdrs. During the cold weather, fairs are held along the foot of the hills which mark the frontier, and to these the hillmen come down with their produce. The most important permanent centres of commerce are Goalpara, Barpeta, Eangia, Gauhdti, Kalaigaon, Tezpur, Nowgong, Chappar- mukh, Bishndth, Golaghdt, Jorhtit, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, and Sadiya, in the Assam Valley ; and Habiganj, Ajmiriganj, Sundmganj, Chhdtak, Bdldganj, Sylhet, and Silchar in the Surma Valley. The cold-weather fairs for frontier trade are held at Udalguri, Kher- kheria, and Daimdra in the Darrang district for the Bhutias ; and at Sadiya in the Lakhimpur district for the Abors, Mishmis, Khdmptis, and Singphos. Besides these places, the Bhutias resort largely to various marts in North Kdmrup, the Akds and Daflas to Tezpur, the Daflas and Miris to Lakhimpur, and the southern Ndgas to Jaipur and Goldghdt. In the Surma Valley, Barkhola is the chief mart for North Cachar, Jaintiapur for the Jaintia Hills, and Lakhat, Bhoh'iganj, and several other smaller markets to the Chap. I.] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 53 east for the Klitisi Hills. The Lushais are mainly served by a Section- 8. bdziir at Changsil, where there are a few shops kept by Bengalis mIh^s and from Silchar. The Manipur trade is chiefly carried on at Lakhipiir, ^^'"'^''"^^• and that with Hill Tippera down the rivers which emerge from that country into Sylhet. SECTION 8.— MINES AND MINERALS. 56. In the section dealing with the geology of the province some account has been given of the most General remarks. . •inn-* important minerals found in Assam, viz,, coal and limestone. Iron occurs in the metamorphic and sub-metamor- pliic rocks of the Shillong plateau, and is found in small quantities, in the form of nodular masses of clay ironstone, in the neighbour- hood of the coal of the Makum field. Petroleum springs exist in the same locality. Gold was anciently washed in the rivers of Upper Assam, but the industry is not now found to be worth pursuing. Salt springs exist in several parts of the Bardil-Pdtkoi section of the Assam Eange. 57. The mineral of the first economic importance to Assam is undoubtedly the coal which is found on the • north-western face of the Eastern Xaga Hills. Upper Assam. o- t i r> i Situated as these fields are, near the upper terminus of steam navigation on the Brahmaputra, it had long been recognised that their successful exploitation would effect a revolution in the carrying trade by steamers on that river, which formerly depended on Kaniganj for their fuel supply. The exist- ence of coal here has been known since 1825. The question of opening out the fields was reported on by a coal committee, as- sembled at Calcutta in 1840 and 1845. The locahties were summarily examined by Mr. Medlicott, of the Geological Survey, in 1865, and in the seasons 1874-75 and 1875-76 Mr. Mallet, of the same Survey, made a careful inspection of all the coal outcrops from the Tirdp to the Desoi river. His report, which contains a detailed descrip- tion of the several fields, will be found in Volume XII of the Memoirs of the Geological Survey. The coal measures extend along a distance of about 110 miles, but are exposed only where 54 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPOHT. [Chap. I. Section- 8. ii^q river valleys have cut into them. Five coal-fields have been Mijies and described and named by Mr. Mallet, viz., the Makum, Jaipur, Minera s. -jvij-^^ira (Dildiu and Safrai), Jlianzi, and Desoi fields. Besides these, in the further extension of the Ndga Hills up the Dihing Valley to the frontiers of Burma, there are other known, but not regularly- explored, localities where coal occurs. The most important is the Makum field on the Dihing river, where the seams reach an immense thickness. Several desultory attempts had, from time to time, been made to work the coal there, but, owing to difficulties of labour and transport due to the uninhabited character of the country, and the difficult navigation of the Dihing river, no large quantity had, at any time, been brought out, until some ten years ago, when the mine was leased to the Assam Eailways and Trading Company, and a railway was constructed from the Brah- maputra at Dibrugarh to the coal measures on the Dihing. Since that time the mines have been vigorously tons, worked, and the output of coal has risen J890 '.!i 145,708 Steadily. The coal, which is of excellent J^^.^ ••• }g^'yj5 quality, not surpassed by any and equalled by few coals in India, is now exclusively used by the steamers navigating the Brahmaputra. Local requirements in the Brahmaputra Valley are entirely met by it, and in addition large quantities are exported for consumption in ocean-going steamers and other purposes. A portion of the Dikhu or Nazira field, situated a short distance within the hills south of Sibsagar, whence that river issues, is held on lease by the Assam Company, but, except for the needs of the lessees, has not yet been worked to any extent. In fact, since 1888 no coal at all has been extracted from this field. The other outcrops, the Jaipur field in the Dihing, which is very favourably situated for working, and the Jhanzi and Desoi fields, which are less accessible from the plains, have not yet been exploited. 58. The only other localities where coal has been found in „ , 1 rr, , . TT-,, the province are situated in the Gdro and Garo and Khasi Hills. ^ the Khdsi and Jaintia Hills. As already noticed, this coal is of two very distinct kinds, the older or cretaceous Minerals. Chap. I.] PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 55 coal, and the newer or nummulitic coal. The greatest deposits Section 8. are those of the former in the coal-field of Darranggiri, on the Mines and Someswari river, in the Gdro Hills. This field (which has been described in the " Records of the Geological Survey," Volume XV, page 175) is situated north of the main axis of the Garo Hills, on either side of the gorge through which the river makes its way to the plains. It has been estimated to contain 76 milhon tons of good workable coal. At the exit of the Jadukata river, near the western boundary of the Khdsi Hills, cretaceous coal is found ahnost at the level of the plains, and the coal-bearing rocks are exposed over an area of 30 square miles, so that there is a large amount of coal available here in a very accessible situation. A tramway might be laid from the Darranggiri field to the plains of Mymensingh without much difficulty, and would bring within reach of a market a very large supply of coal. With these exceptions, both the cretaceous and the nummulitic coal in the Khdsi Hills are found in small confined areas, which may be described as pockets, representing original depressions in the surface where the forests grew or woody matter accumulated. The seams soon thin out, and no very extensive supply from any one place can be reckoned on. The largest of these minor fields are those at Cherra Punji and Lakadong. The last estimate of the available coal (nummulitic) in the Cherra coal-field places it from 1,200,000 to 1,370,000 tons (" Eecords of the Geological Survey," Volume XXH, page 167), so that it would be exhausted in less than ten years if extracted at the rate now attained at Makum. Another obstacle in the way of working it is the eleva- tion at which the coal is found, and the consequent cost and difficulty which would be involved in transporting it to the plains. The coal, however, is of excellent quality, and is one of the few Indian coals which can be used with absolute safety on board ocean-going steamers. The Lakadong coal-field is situated near DO O the southern edge of the Jaintia Hills, about 7 miles from the plains, at Barghat on the Hari river. It was last visited in 1890 by Mr. T. D. LaTouche, whose report will be found in the *' Kecords of the Geological Survey," Volume XXIII, page 14. The Minerals. 56 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION EEPOIIT. [Chap. X. Sections, field is calculated to contain about 1,1G4,000 tons of coal, ^Yllich, Mines and like that of Clicrra Punji, belongs to the nummulitic or lower eocene division of the tertiary formation. The elevation of this field is 2,200 feet, or about half of that at Cherra Punji. 59. Iron exists in Assam, as in most other parts of India, in great quantity and in various forms ; but the competition of English iron, "vyitli the exhaus- tion of the supplies of fuel which supported the native furnaces, has almost extinguished the indigenous industry in the Khdsi Hills ; while in Sibsdgar, where in the days of the Assam Eajas iron-smelting was extensively practised, and the great iron cannon for which Assam was once famous were forged, the art ha^ completely ceased to exist. The Khdsi Hills iron, which is still made in small quantities and exported to the submontane bdzdrs,. is derived from the minute crystals of titaniferous iron ore, which are found in the decomposed granite on the surface of the central dyke of that rock, near the highest portion of the plateau. The decomposed granite is rolled down into a stream, where it is washed to separate the iron-sand, which is collected in wooden troufdis, dried, and reduced with charcoal in small furnaces. The quality of the iron is excellent, and it is still sought after to some' extent for manufacture into hoes and dhaos ; but it cannot be doubted that the industry must soon die out. Its s^reat extension in former times is evidenced by the remains of smelting furnaces which cover the surface for many miles, from the brow of the hill below Cherra Punji as far north as Molim and beyond. The slao- from these workings supplied a considerable portion of the metal for the cart road between Cherra and Shillong. In Upper Assam, clay ironstone occurs in nodules of various sizes, and sometimes in thin beds, interstratified with shales and sandstones, in the coal measures of the NAga Hills ; but it is believed that the ore is not in sufficient abundance to aflord a supply for a blast furnace on the English principle ; while the scarcity of limestone required to form a flux would, even if the ore were in greater quantity, probably form an insuperable obstacle to operations on a large scale. The company who have the Chap, I.] PnYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 57 concession of the Makum coal-field liave also the monopoly of the Section 8. iron of that region, but have hitherto made no attempt to work Mines and it. The iron ore formerly smelted in Sibs:lgar was derived both ^^^"^''''^^• from the clay ironstones in the coal measures (chiefly those of the Nazira field), and from the impure limonite which occurs in great abundance in the Tipani rocks south of the Dhodar Ali ; the former was the source most used. 60. Pyritous shales are also found associated with the coal . j^ measures of Upper Assam ; and it may, perhaps, hereafter be found profitable to use them for the manufacture of alum and copperas. 61. Petroleum is found in the neighbourhood of the coal of Petroleum Upper Assam. It is a heavy oil, containing a comparatively small proportion of the light illuminating hydro-carbons, in which respect it could not compete with the imported oils. For lubricating purposes, however, and for yielding solid paraffine, it is beheved that it will prove valuable. The earliest experiments in working it were made at Nahor Pung, in the Jaipur field (where they were a failure) and near Makum, when a considerable amount of oil was extracted in 1868. A concession for working petroleum in the Makum field was granted to the Assam Eailways and Trading Company in 1882-83, and two similar concessions in the same neighbourhood have recently been granted — one to the company already mentioned, and the other to a syndicate. Borings have been made by both concessionaires, and petroleum has been extracted, but their operations have not yet resulted in any considerable extraction of oil. In fact, the only field which has been at all properly worked up to date is the second concession of the Assam Eailways and Trading Company, the output from which in 1892 amounted to slightly over 19,000 gallons. Besides the petroleum of Upper Assam, this mineral is also found in Cachar. It occurs on the banks of the Bardk, at Mdsim- pur, where the Tilain range crosses the river, and near Badarpur, where the Sirispur hills run up to the stream from the south ; it has besides been detected at various places along these ridges, which I SS ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. I. Section 8. ^^yq Y^^vt of tlio prolongation into tlie Surma Valley of the Arakan Mines a7ii meridional ranges. It has also been found north of the Bardk, on the Ldrang, a small stream issuing from the Baniil range north of Kalain, and joining the Surma near Lebharpota. Spechnens of petroleum from these localities have been sent for examination to Calcutta, but no active steps have been taken to utilise it. 62. Salt-springs are found in conjunction with petroleum in the Upper Assam coal area, at Borhat, Jaipur, and other places. In former times their brine was largely nsed for conversion into merchantable salt ; and to this day a small quantity of salt so made (the brine being boiled down in joints of bamboo) is imported by the Nagas into Jaipur. Salt-springs exist in Cachar, both in the southern ranges (Sirispur and Bliuban hills) and in the Bardil, Those in the Haildkdndi Valley, in mauzas Bansbari and Chandipur, are the only ones which are now worked, though formerly the industry was more extensive. The springs are leased annually for a trifling sum ; the brine is not boiled down, the water being disposed of in gharas to the people of the neighbouring villages. Several salt-springs are worked in Manipur, where they are highly valued. 63. Next in importance to coal in this province are the vast stores of limestone which exist on the Lime. southern face of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, where the downward bendin<:j strata of the nummnlitic rocks have been worked as a lime-supply from a period long anterior to British rule. " Sylliet lime " was a monopoly of the Mogul Governors of Bengal, and, as such, figures in the early sanads, Jarmans, and treaties by which the East India Company acquired command over that province. The limestone is found from the exit of the Someswari river in the Garo Hills to that of the Ilari river in Jaintia ; but it can only be economically quarried in the neigh- bourhood of the small State Railway which riins from Tharia to Companyganj, or where facilities for water carriage exist, that is, where rivers navigable by boats in the rains adjoin the rock faces whence the stone is hewn. The most important of these quarries are those situated on the Jadukata and Bunatirth rivers, which Minerals. Chap. I.J PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC. 59 debouch near Laur in Sylliet ; the Dwdra quarries to the east of Section 8. these ; the Cheyla or SheHa quarries, on the Bogapani ; the Mdolong, Mine^< and Byrang, Sohbar, and Borpunji quarries, which He immediately under Cherrapunji ; and the Utma quarries a httle to the east on an affluent of the Piydin. Those beyond have rarely been worked, the advantages possessed by the quarries nearer the great limestone marts of Chhutak and Sundmganj enabling the latter to undersell them. Altogether, there are 34 limestone tracts which are separately treated as quarries in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, one in Sylhet, and one in the Garo Hills. The Government is the sole proprietor of all the quarries in the Jaintia and Garo Hills andtlie one in Sylhet, as well as of four in the Khasi Hills ; the remainder (with one exceptiou) are the joint property of the Khasi rulers or communities and the British Government, the latter administering the estates and reaping half the profits. Owing to the depression in the lime trade, and the consequent decline in the Government revenue from the quarries, a special enquiry was made in 1889 by the Director of Land Kecords, as the result of which all the small quarries in the Khasi Hills were closed for five years, and the five principal quarries only (Sohbar, Borpunji, and Sheila under the permit system, and Langrin and Nongstoin under lease) were kept open for work. In consequence of this step, the revenue from the quarries rose from Rs. 13,580 in 1889-90 to Es. 17,646 in 1890-91. In 1892-93, the revenue amounted to Rs. 15,536. The stone is quarried chiefly during the dry months, and either carried by rail to Companyganj, whence it is taken by boat to Chhdtak, or rolled down to the river banks and conveyed over the rapids, which occur before the rivers issue on the plains, in small boats when the hill streams are in flood during the rains. Below, the rapids it is generally reloaded on larger boats, and carried down to the Surma river, on the banks of which it is burnt into lime during the cold weather. The kilns are of a primitive descrip- tion, being mere excavations in the river bank, faced and roofed with clay. The fuel used consists of the reeds and grasses of the swampy tract which stretches along the foot of the hills. This I 2 6o ASSAM ADMINISTRATION EEPORT [Chap. 1. Minerals. Section 8. industry gives employment to a great mimber of people, the Mines and quarriers being generally Kliiisis, and the boatmen and hme-burners Bengalis of Sylhet. For the last three years the exports of lime from Sylhet to Bengal (all of which is derived from this source) have been as follows : Maunds. 1890-91 ... ... ... ... 18,04,197 1891-92 ... ... ... ... 18,26,675 1892-93 ... ... ... ... 13,14,161 Limestone is also found exposed in the Doigrung, a tributary of the Dhansiri, a few miles south of Golaghdt. A description of this formation, which still remains unworked, will be found in the " Records of the Geological Survey," Volume XVII, page 31. 64. The rivers of Assam which have yielded gold are those of the Darrang and Lakhimpur districts north of the Brahmaputra, the Brahmaputra itself in its upper course, the JSToa and Buri Dihings, and a small stream called the Jaglo, which rises in the Tiptim Hills and falls into the Buri Dihing. In the Sibsdgar district the Dhansiri, Disoi, and Jlianzi rivers are said to have been auriferous. Of these streams, the Bhoroli, Dikrang, and Subansiri in Darrang and Lakhimpur appear to have formerly given the largest quantities. The gold in these rivers is probably doubly derivative, being washed out of the tertiary sandstones of the sub-Himalayan formations, themselves the result of the denudation of the crystalline rocks in the interior of the chain. The industry was maintained in the time of the Assam Rajas by the peculiar system of taxation which then pre-- vailed, each class of the population being bound to contribute in kind or labour to the State. The Sonwals, or gold-washers, were taxed at four annas' weight, or four rupees' worth, of gold per annum. Since the British occupation of the country, the pursuit of the precious metal has dwindled almost to nothing, and the lease of the gold-washings in North Lakhimpur has of late years been sold for Rs. 5 or Pis. 6 a year. In 1882, a European speculator obtained Chap. I.] rnrsiCAL features, etc. 6i a monopoly for ten years of the right of seeking gold in the Suban- Section 8. siri and its tributaries, but his operations were not attended with Mines and success. This concession has recently again been granted to other ^^"'^''"'^^' persons, and it is hoped that the work will be more vigorously prosecuted than on previous occasions. 65. Platinum has been noticed with samples of gold obtained from washings in the Noa Dihinor river, and Platinum. . . .-, , , .^ . -,, -, -, p it IS possible that, if specially searched for, it might be found in large quantities (" Eecords of the Geological Survey," Volume XV, page 54), 62 ASSAM AD:^^NISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. II. Section :. CHiPTEE, 11. Historical Summary. 66. The different portions of territory included in tlie province of Assam were formerly quite distinct, and Assam IntroduclOry. ^.^ , . . , , , Proper. liave Qiiierent histories ; they were brought under British Administration at different times and in different waj^s, and it is, therefore, necessary to treat them separately before proceeding to describe the present organization of the province. This chapter is accordingly divided into sections, summarising the history of the following areas : I. Assam Proper, that is, the five districts of Kdmriip, Darrang, Nowgong, Sibsdgar, and Lakhimpur. II. Goalpdra, including the Eastern Dudrs. III. Cachar. IV, Sylhet, including Jaintia. V. The hill districts, viz., — (3) North Cacbar. (]) The Garo Hills. ('^>> The Khasi „ (4) The Ndga Hills. SECTION 1.— ASSAM PROPER. 67. The history of so much of the valley of the Brahmaputra as belongs to the modern province of Assam The ancient Kdinarupa. . • i j. u • vi i.i i.i e ^^ may be said to begin with the growth of the Koch power upon its western frontier, and the invasion of the Ahoms in the east. From such hints and glimpses of the country as can be gathered from the Tantras and Purans, and other ancient writings, it appears certain that, while the bulk of the inhabitants have always been of non- Aryan origin, the colonisation or conquest of parts of the valley by Aryan settlers began at an early date. Krishna is said to have carried away his bride Chap. II.] HISTORICAL SmrMAUY. 63 Eukmini from her father Bhismaka, king of Kundilya, the name Section i. of whose kingdom survives in the Kundil river to the east of J^ Sadiya, while the memory of the monarch is still preserved in ^''"per. Upper Assam. Krislma's son, Anirudha, captwred Sronitpur, now called Tezpur, the capital of Eaja Ban, and carried off his daughter Uslia.* Still more famous than Eaja Ban was his contemporary, Narak, who ruled in Gauhdti, and is famed in Hindu mytholoo-y as the guardian of KdmAkhyd and the conqueror of Ghatak, the king of the Kirats, He is said to have been the son of the earth by Vishnu, and for a long time enjoyed the favour of his celestial proo-enitor. But success turned his head, and his pride and waywardness at length gave such offence to Yishnu, that he was slain by him in the incarnation of Krishna. His son Bhogdatta is renowned for his zeal in propagating the Hindu religion, and is said to have given his daughter in marriage to Duryodhana and to have fallen in the battle of Kurukshetra, fighting on the Kauravas' side. Later on, we find a king of Kdmarupa sending a present of ele- phants to the hero of the Baghuvansa, and again when Hiouen Thsang visited India, Kdmarupa is mentioned as a country famous for these animals. Kdmarupa is described in the Jogini Tantra as extending from the Karatuya to the eastern boundary of the Brahmaputra Valley. f Its ancient divisions were Kampith, from the Karatuya to the Sankosh, Eatnapith, from the Sankosh to the Eupohi in the present district of Kdmriip, Suvarnapith from the Eupohi to the Bhoroli, and Saumarpith, from the latter river to the eastern end of the valley. The name Kdmarupa, however, varied greatly in its territorial signification from time to time. Between these legendary notices of Assam and the beginnings of what may be called history, a gap of about a thousand years intervenes ; but the Hindu religion would seem to have existed uninterruptedly during this interval at various points in the valley, whether pro- fessed by pure Aryans, or, as is more likely, by communities of mixed descent, or by converted non- Aryan tribes. A Sudra king, o The adventures of Krishna and tlie life of Narak aro described in Chapters 3G-42 of the Knlika Purun, and on paj^e 81 of the Jogini Tantra. Raghuvansa, IV — 81. f Jogini Tantra, page 76. 64 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPOHT. [Chap. II. Section i. named Debeswar, reigned in Gaulidti, a place wliicli the proximity Assam of the sacred hill Nilachal has always rendered notable. The Proper, ^gj^^pig Qf Kdmdkliyd on its summit is of comparatively modern origin, but rests on foundations reputed to be as old as the first introduction of the Hindu religion into the valley of the Brahmaputra. In Tezpur we find Eaja Nagasankar, who built the temple of Biswanath, and whose descendant, Jongal Balahu, was defeated in battle by the Kachari Eaja, near Eolia on the Kopili.* When Hiouen Thsang visited the country in 640 A.D., a prince, named Kumdr Bhdskara Barman, was on the throne. The people are described as being of small stature, with dark yellow com- plexions ; they were fierce in appearance, but upright and studious. Hinduism was the State religion, and the number of Buddhists was very small. The soil was deep and fertile, and the towns were surrounded by moats with water brought from rivers or banked up lakes. f 68. Subsequently, we read of Pdl rulers in Assam. It is sup- posed that these kings were Buddhist, and ^ '"'^'^' belonged to the Pal dynasty of Bengal, The latter supposition is strengthened by the recent discovery at Benares of a copper plate, on which is inscribed a deed of gift of some land in the neighbourhood of Pragjyotisha (Gauhdti) by Kumdra Pdl, son of Edma Pdl and grandson of Vigraha Pdl, the name of the two latter being synonymous with those of two of the later kings of the Bengal line of Pdls.J The fact that Deva Pdl (who ruled from about 895 to 915 A.D.) conquered Kdmarupa§ furnishes another reason for supposing that the Assam Pdls were a branch of the royal family ruling in Bengal, even if they were not lineal descendants of that dynasty. It should, however, be noted that " Pdl " was not an uncommon title at the period under discussion ; it was the designation of many of the Bdro Bhuiyds, and was also * Gunabhiram's Asam Baraiyi, page 48. f Deal's " Buddhist Records of the "Western "World," "Volume II, page 19G. X Phis copper plate, which bears a date equivalent to 1105 A.D., was deciphered by Professor Venis of the Government Sanskrit College at Benares. § " J(jurnal of the Asiatic Society o£ Bengal," 1878, page 407. Chap. II.] HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 65 borne by an Aryan dynasty reigning over Kundilya, or the country Sfxtion i. about Sadiya. Assam 69. After the fall of the Pal dynasty, the Khyen tribe under ''°^^^' Niladhwaj rose to power, and thus became Khyen dynasty. i p 1 • c t t^ , ^ worthy or the attention or the Brahmans.* Niladhwaj became a Hindu, and ordered that his caste should thenceforth be known as " High Sudra." Fie was succeeded by his son Chakradhwaj, who was followed by Nilambar, the last king of this line. Nildmbar quarrelled with his councillor, a Brahman named Suchi Patra, and the latter fled to the Nawab of Gaur, and persuaded him to invade the country. The result was Husan Shah's invasion, and the fall of the capital, Kamatdpur, in 1498 A.D.f The remains of this old city are still traceable, near the Dharld, in the State of Koch Bihar.J 70. Although the whole of Kamarupa appears from time to time to have been united into one kine^dom Baro Bhuiyds. <• i ■, under some unusually powerful monarch, it was more often split up into numerous petty States, each of which, under its own chief, was practically independent of the rest, and this was once more the condition of the country after the defeat of Nildmbar. About this time, two brothers, Chandan and Madan, ruled for a few years at Mardlavas, some miles north of Kamatapur,§ and the twelve chiefs, known as the Bdro Bhuiyds, were exercising sovereign rights in Kdmrup and Godlpdra. The settlement of the Bhuiyds in Assam is detailed in the Gu7m Chaintra, in which work it is said that they were introduced by a king named Durlabh Ndrdyan, who appears to have held sway in Godlpdra and Kdmrup, but whose lineage is still uncertain.. This king engaged in war with a Hindu prince, who called himself Gaureswar, or " the ruler of Gaur." Durlabh was victorious, and, • Gunabhiram's Asam Buranji, pages 52-54. •f The Musalman accounts of the fall of Kamatapur have been reprciluccd by Blochmann in the " Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal " for 1872, pages I'J and 336, and 1874, page 281 . :{; The ruins are described by Buchanan Hamilton, whose account is reproduced in Dr. Hunter's " Statistical Account of Koch Bihar," page 3G2. § Hunter's " Statistical Account of Koch Bihar," page 407. K 66 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. 11. Section- i. qu the conclusion of hostilities, obtained seven families of Brah- Assam mans and seven of Kavasthas under twelve acknowledi^ed heads, ' ^'''' the chief of whom was a Kiiyastha, named Chandibar, alias Debidds. These people were settled by Durlabh Nardyan in the country between Hdjo and the Bornadi, and soon became powerful feudatories. The date assigned to their advent in Assam corre- sponds to the year 1220 AD.* Their leader Chandibar was the lineal ancestor of the celebrated Assamese rehgious reformer Sankar Deb. 71. Nearly three centuries before the fall of Kamatdpur, an event occurred at the eastern extremity of The Ahoms. , ^. ■, • ■, t • ^ i .n the valley, which was destined to change the whole course of Assam history. -j* This was the invasion of the Ahoms. The Ahoms were Shans, from the ancient Shan kingdom of Pong, whose capital, Mogaung, still exists in the upper portion of the valley of the Irrawaddy. A quarrel as to the right of succession to the throne is said to have been the cause of the secession of Chukapha, one of the rival claimants, who, after wandering about the country between the Irrawaddy and the Patkoi mountains for some years, at length crossed the range and entered Assam with a small following. This was in the year 1228 A.D. The Ahoms found the country into which they descended peopled by small settlements of Morans and Borahis, people of the Bodo race, whom they had no difficulty in subduing. There was, however, a Chutia kingdom of considerable power in the back- ground, which had absorbed the ancient Pal dynasty of Sadiya, *' This seema too early. Chandibar was Sankar Deb's great-great-grandfather, and we have every reason for believing that the tradition that Sankar Deb was born in 1440A.D. is approximately correct. Allowing twenty-five years a generation, it would seem that Chandibar could not well have come to Assam before 1300A.D. at the earliest. ■f Tbo above account of the Ahoms is taken from Kasinath Tamuli Phukan's As'im Buranji, which was compiled about 1840 A.D., under the orders of Raja Purandar Singh. The Ahoms appear to have possessed the historical faculty to a very considerable extent, and many of their leading families maintained chronicles of important events. Our infcjrmution regarding Ahom history would have been much fuller than it is but for an act of literary iconoclasm in the reign of Rajeswar Singh (1751-1768), when many of these family histories were destroyed, owing to some remarks adverse to the Prime Minister having been made in a history produced by Numali Bar Phukan. Chap. II.] HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 67 and in so doing liad adopted tlie Hindu religion, and imported an SEcrio:^ i. Aryan strain into the royal blood by the marriage of the Pal king's Assam daughter with the Chutia prince who succeeded him. The Cliutia ^''"P'^^- dynasty at that time reigned at Sadi3^a and at Eangpur in the Sibsagar district, but their dominions did not extend uninterrupted- ly between the two places, nor did they reach very far back to- wards the southern hills, and tlie Ahoms consequently had room in which to develop themselves, for a considerable time, before coming into collision with the actual possessors of Upper Assam. Within the narrow limits of a territory corresponding to the south-eastern portion of Lakhimpur and part of the Sibsagar districts, the Aliom kings succeeded each other with great regula- rity, governing through the means of their chief officers of State, whose names and the dates of their appointments are duly chronicled in the native histories of Assam, together with the names of the kings and their dates of accession. We read that in 1350 A.D. the Chutia king invited his Ahom neighbour to a boat race on the Safrai river, and there treacherously captured and murdered him ; but the final struggle between Ahom and Chutia for the supremacy of Upper Assam did not take place until a century and a half later. Meanwhile, the Ahoms, extending their power along the south bank of the Brahmaputra, drove the Kacharis back to the Kopili and Dhansiri Valleys, and thus touched the Koch power on the west, as they touched the Chutia power on the south-east. The three powers between which the contest for the Assam Valley lay were the Koch, the Ahom, and the Chutia. 72. We have seen that, after the fall of Nilambar, the eastern portion of Kdmarupa was split up into ° ' numerous petty States, each of which was ruled by its own chief. Amongst these, the Koch kings rapidly forced their way to the front.* The legend runs that Hajo Koch * The story as related here follows the Bangsuhali of Raja Laksluni Narayan Knar of Howli Molianpiir. This Bangsdbali, is inscribed on oblong strips of sacli bark, each strip being illustrated. It is supposed to have been written under the orders of Kaja Sumudra Narayan about 1806 A.D. This version diflEers in some respects from accounts given elsewhere, but seems, on the whole, to be the most trustworthy narrative available. K 68 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPOUT. [Chap. II. Section i . had two daughters, Hira and Jira, whom he married to Haria Zllm Mandal, a Mech. Hira was an incarnation of Bhagavati, and was Proper. ^..g-^.g^^| ^^ g^y^ in the guise of Haria Mandah The offspring- of this intercourse was a son, Bisu, who consoHdated the power of his tribe, and defeated the Bc4ro Bhuiyiis, who had become powerful during the reign of Nilambar. He became a Hindu, taking the name of Biswa Singh, and imported Baidik Brahmans from Sylhet in the place of the KdUtas, who were previously the priests of his tribe. He made an abortive attempt to invade the country of the Ahoms, but was more successful in the internal management of his kinfrdom. He settled the different offices of State, and established his army on a secure basis. During his reign, the Ahoms attacked the Chutias, and, after several campaigns of varied fortune, defeated and slew the Chutia king, seized his capital, and over- threw the Chutia dominion in Upper Assam for ever. His son, Nar Narayan, succeeded him about 1528 A.D., and at once •commenced a series of expeditions against the neighbouring powers. He defeated the Ahoms, and made them tributary to him ; and his brother Sukladhwaj, alias SiLarai, subsequently conquered the kin<TS of Hiramba (Cachar), Jaintia, and Sylhet, but was defeated and made prisoner by the Musalman ruler of Gaur. Silarai's son, Kaghu, was adopted by Nar Narayan as his successor. Then Silarai died, and Nar Narayan begat a son of his own, named Lakshmi, whereupon Eaghu, fearing that he would lose the succes- sion, broke out in rebelUon. The armies met, but a peace was concluded without bloodshed ; the kingdom was divided into two parts, Eaghu taking the portion east of the Sankosh, while the part west of , that river was reserved for Nar Nardyan's son Lakshmi. This division of the kingdom took place about 1581 A.D. Eaghu was succeeded by his son Parikshit, who fought with and defeated Lakshmi. The latter then invoked the aid of the Emperor of Delhi, by whose troops the former was in his turn defeated and made prisoner. His brother, Balit Ndrdyan, fled to the Ahom Edja Swarga Narjiyan, who sent an army against the Musalmans, and drove them across the Karatuya. From that time, the independent rule of the Koch kings ceased. Balit Chap. 11.3 niSTOEICAL SUiniARY. 69 Nardyan became a tributary of the Alioms, and the western branch Section i. succumbed to the Musahiians. Assam 73. The Musalman invasions of the Brahmaputra Valley all ''"^^^' bear the character of temporary success due Musalman invasions. . , ,. . . to superior arms and discipline, and ultimate failure induced by the unfavourable nature of the climate, ignorance of the country, want of communications, and the impossibility of repairing losses by reinforcements.* The first expedition of the kind was despatched after the overthrow of the kingdom of Kamatapur, under a leader recorded in Assamese history as Turbuk, who fought his way as far as Koliabar, and was then defeated and destroyed. A second invasion occurred about the middle of the sixteenth century. The leader of this expedition was Kala Paliar, an apostate from Hinduism, whose chief object appears to have been the destruction of Hindu temples, and to him is ascribed j;lie spoliation of the old temples at Hajo and Kamakhyd. The next invasion was that, already referred to, in which Parikshit was overthrown, and this was followed later by another (in 1637) in which Balit Narayan was slain, and the rule of the Musalmans was extended as far as Gauhcdti. The last and greatest invasion was that undertaken by Mir Jumla in 1660-62. He captured the capital of the Ahoms, and is said to have sent word to the Emperor that the next campaign would carry him to the confines of China ; but his force melted away in the rains, and he was obhged to retreat with the loss of all his guns. The ultimate result of this disastrous invasion was to strengthen the hold of the Ahoms on Lower Assam, and their rule was shortly afterwards extended to Gauhati, at which place an Ahora Gover- nor was stationed, until near the end of the eighteenth century, when it became the headquarters of the Ahom kings. 74. Before the last Muhammadan invasion, the Ahoms had been largely converted to the Hindu religion. Fall of the Ahom r^^^ • • i i . • kingdom. J- 1^6 reignmg monarch became a convert in 1655 A.D,, and adopted the name of Jayad- waja Singh, and henceforward all the Ahom kings bear both * The accounts of these invasions, furnisl:ecl by Musalman historians, have been collected by Blochraann in an article in the "Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal " for 1872. yo ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. 11. Section i. Aliom and Hindu names. There were now no rivals to the Ahoms AJZ'm i^ the Assam Valley. The Kacharis had been defeated just before Proper. ]\j-j, j^nila's iuvasion, and the Eajas of Darrang and Bijni had become tributary to the Ahom power on the fall of the Koch monarchy. In 1695, Rudra Singh, the greatest of the Ahom kings, ascended the throne. His dominions comprised the whole of tlie Bralmiaputra Valley, so far as it was inhabited, except a strip of submontane territory claimed by the Bhutias. In 1780, Gaurinath Singh succeeded to the throne. His reign was marked chiefly by a formidable rising of the Moamarias, a powerful religious sect. Gaurinath, being hard-pressed, applied in his extremity to Mr. Eausch, a salt farmer at Goalpara. Mr. Eausch, it is said, sent a body of 700 sipahis to Gaurinath's aid, but these sipahis were cut to pieces by the Moamarias. The Eaja of Manipur also sent an armed force to Gaurinath's assistance, but the Manipuris were likewise defeated. At this juncture, the king of Darrang, Krishna Ndrdyan, taking advantage of (Taurinath's distress, made an attack upon Gauhati, whither Gaurinath had retired. Gaurinath again applied to Mr. Eausch for help, and also sent a deputation to Calcutta. At the close of 1792 the British Government sent a detachment, under the command of Captain Welsh, to assist Gaurinath.* Captain Welsh defeated Krishna Narayan, put down the Moamaria insurrection, and reduced the whole valley to obedience. He was, however, recalled in 1794. A few months later Gaurinath died. He was succeeded by Kamaleswar Singh, who was a mere puppet in the hands of his minister. He died in 1809, and was succeeded by his brother, Chandra Kanta Singh. The reign of this prince was marked by the appearance of the Burmese in Assam. Chandra Kanta, having quarrelled with his minister, the Bura Gohain, applied for aid to the Burmese. The Burmese entered Assam with a force with which the Assamese were utterly unable to cope. Shortly afterwards, however, the Burmese retired, when the Bura Gohain deposed Chandra Kanta and set up Purandar Singh. Chandra Kdnta again applied to the Burmese, who sent an army and reinstated him. In 1819, * A full account of Captain Welsh's expedition has been given by Sir J. Johnston in a pamphlet published by the Foreign Department some years ago. Chap. II.] HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 7 1 Purandar Singh applied for aid to tlie Lritisli Government, but Section i. was refused. Chandra Ktinta, however, quarrelled with the Assam\ Burmese, who finally expelled him from Assam, and he sought ^^P^^' refuge with the British officers at Goalpara. But at this juncture matters had come to a crisis between the British and tlia Burmese, and on the 5th March 1824 war was declared against Burma.* A British force, advancing with a gunboat flotilla, conquered the valley as far as Koliabar, and during the next cold season com- pleted the subjugation of the rest. Finally, on the 24th February 1826, the Burmese, by the treaty of Yandaboo, ceded Assam to the East India Company. 75. For some time after the conquest, it was still doubtful whether the Company would retain in their Commencement of I3ii- j^ands or not the province they had won. tish rule. '^ •' Mr. Scott, the Commissioner of North-East Eangpur, administered the country. Captain White being appointed in 1827 to assist him in Lower Assam, and Captain Neufville in 1828 to have charge under him of Upper Assam. The Moamarias, who had contributed so largely to the downfall of the Ahom power, and whose country (known as Matak) was the present district of Dibrugarh south of the Brahmaputra, were left under their own ruler, styled the Bor Senapati, who in May 1826 executed an agreement of allegiance to the British Government. And the Khampti chief of Sadiya, called the Sadiya-khoa, on the 15th of the same month, was confirmed as the Company's feuda- tory in possession of that district. At first, the civil and criminal duties of Assam Proper were performed by councils of the Assamese gentry, called panchdyats, of which there were two or three in each district of the province. In judicial cases Captains White and Neufville were both Magis- trates and Judges, trying the accused with the assistance of a panchdyat, but referring all heinous cases, with their opinions, to Mr. Scott for final judgment.f * A full account of tlie Burmese war, so far as Assam is concerned, will be found in Robinson's " Descriptive Account of Assam," published in 1841, pages 180-188. t The information in this and the next paragraph is taken from Robinson's " Descriptive Account of Assam," pages 207-211. 72 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. H. Section i. ij/q^ In 1S33 the districts of Sibsdgar and Lakhimpur north of Assam the Brahmaputra were placed under the Proper. Enie of Pnrandar Singh administration of Rai a Purandar Sincrh, who in Upper Assam. ^ ° ^ _ executed a treaty binding himself to -adminis- ter the country upon the principles of justice established in their territories by the East India Company, to act according to the advice of the Political Agent stationed in his principality, and to pay an annual tribute of Rs. 50,000. Thus, of Assam Proper there remained British in 1833 only the districts of Kamrup, Nowgong, and Darrang (which then only extended to and included Bishndth, beyond which was Lakhimpur, subject to Purandar Singh). 77. In 1835, Act II of that year was passed, which placed all functionaries in British Assam under the ThoAssana Cude. . • • -i j control and supermtendence, m civil and criminal cases, of the Sadr Court, and in revenue cases under that of the Board of Revenue, Lower Provinces, and further declared that such superintendence should be exercised in conformity with the instructions which these functionaries might receive from the Government of Fort William in Bengal. Under this Act, rules for the administration of Assam were framed by the Commis- sioner, revised by the Sadr Court, and finally issued by that Court with the sanction of Government in 1837. They applied not only to Assam Proper, but also [vide the next section) to Godlptira. These rules consisted of extracts from the Bengal Regulations of all that was considered at that time suitable to the circumstances and necessary for the proper administration of Assam. They were, however, merely rules of judicial procedure. They declared what courts, civil and criminal, should be established, and the mode of appointing officers thereto ; they declared the jurisdiction of these courts, and provided for appeals ; they prescribed a period of limitation for the institution of civil suits and a procedure to be followed in mortgage cases ; they provided also for the appoint- ment of vakils, the establishment and remuneration of process- servers, and the keeping of judicial registers and records. They established in each district a summary suit court, to be presided over generally by the Assistant in charge of the district (now called the Deputy Oommigsioner) in his capacity of Collector ; they also Chai HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 73 established an office for the registry of deeds. Lastly, in all cases Section i. not specially provided for in the rules, officers were directed to Assam conform, as nearly as the circumstances of the province would permit, to the provisions of the Bengal Regulations, and in all doubtful matters of a judicial nature to refer for instructions to the Sadr Court. The Police Law of Assam was at the same time declared to be Eegulation XX of 1817, with certain modifications. In 1839, a few supplementary civil rules were issued by the Sadr Court with the sanction of Government, the .effect of which was to give to Junior Assistants (now called Assistant Commis- sioners) and Sub- Assistants (now called Extra Assistant Commis- sioners) a greater share in the judicial administration of the country than was allowed to them by the rules of 1837 ; and in the same year an officer, styled Deputy Commissioner (whose designa- tion was in 1861 changed to that of Judicial Commissioner), was appointed to relieve the Commissioner of his duties as Civil and Sessions Judge. 78. In October 1838, the territories which had been placed in charge of Parandar Singh were resumed by ReBumptionof Upper ^|^g Government of India. The Edja had Assam. -^ fallen deeply into arrears with his tribute, and declared himself unable any longer to carry on the adminis- tration. At first, the officers placed in charge of this tract acted under the direct orders of the Government of India in the Foreign Department ; but in July 1839 a proclamation was issued by the Governor General in Council annexing the territory to Bengal, dividing it into two districts, Sibsdgar and Lakhimpur, and direct- ing that these two districts should be administered in the same manner as the districts of Lower Assam. In August 1842 another proclamation was issued, annexing the territory of the Bor Sena])ati, who had died in 1839, and whose son refused to accept the management of the country on the terms offered to him. Sadiya, the district of the Khdmpti chief, was, by the same proclamation, incorporated with the rest of the province. This place had been the scene of a rising of the Khdmptis in 1839. They treacherously attacked the station of Sadiya, and killed the L 74 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION EEPORT. [Chap. 11. Section- i. Political Agent, Colonel White. The combination was not broken ;; UD and dispersed till many lives had been lost. The son of the Assam i- ■•• .."... Proper. Sadiya-klioa, for his comphcity in this rebellion, was exiled with his followers to Narayanpur, on the Dikrang, in the west of the Lakhimpur district, where the colony still exists. Thus, from 1842, the whole of Assam Proper was under the same system of administration, save that in Lakhimpur, including Matak and Sadiya, an establishment of panchdyat courts was, for special reasons, maintained, to which persons of rank and influence in the district were appointed, without much regard to their judicial qualifications. This special panchdyat system was abolished in 1860. 79. In that year. Act VIII of 1859 (the Civil Procedure Code) and the Limitation Act (XIV of 1859) were Extension of general extended to the wholc of Assam Proper and laws to Assam. -•■ Goalpara. In 1861 the Criminal Procedure Code of that year was extended to the province, and in 1862 the Police Act (V of 1861). In 1862, also, the Penal Code came into force in the province without special extension. By these measures the Assam Code of 1837 (which had been meanwhile revised in 1847) was superseded. In 1861 the designations of the officers serving in the province under the Commissioner were changed, with the sanction of the Government of India, as follows : the Deputy Commissioner became Judicial Commissioner, the Senior or Principal Assistants Deputy Commissioners, the Junior Assistants Assistant Commissioners, and the Sub- Assistants Extra Assistant Commissioners. Side by side with these officers, there existed in the province a separate judicial establishment, consisting of one Principal Sadr Amin, two Sadr Amins, and ten Munsifs. In March 1872 this branch of the service was entirely abolished ; several of the Munsifs were created Extra Assistant Commis- sioners, and the ordinary district staff were invested with civil judicial powers, the Deputy Cv)mmissioner becoming Subordinate Judge and the Assistant and Extra Assistant Commissioners Munsifs This arrangement is substantially that which now exists. Chap. II.] niSTomcAL summary. 75 SECTION 2.—00ALPARA. 80. This district consists of two very distinct portions : the Section 2. permanently settled part, comprising the ColTfuira. '^^ ^ "" ^'^^' three tlianas of Goalpara, Dliubri, and Karai- bari ; and the temporarily settled part, called the Eastern Dudrs. The first tract was originally a portion of the district of Rangpur, and, as such, was included in the province of Bengal, which, by the Mogul Emperor's ya?v7i/f?z of the 12tli August 1765, became part of the dominions of the East India Company. Like the neighbouring district of Kamriip, this tract was inhabited chiefly by Koches, Meches, or Kacharis. It formed part of the dominions of the Koch dynasty, the rise and fall of which have already been described and passed out of their hands on the defeat of Parikshit, when it became a Musalman province. On its southern border, the Godlpdra district marches with the Garo Hills, and the thana of Karaibari, which stretches southwards from Dhubri, is almost wholly composed of hilly country inhabited by Garos. These mountaineers were, in the early period of our rule, a terror to the people of the plains ; and the chiefs of the border country, who had to restrain their incursions, were allowed in return for this duty to hold their estates at a very light revenue. Thus, it happened that when the decennial settlement of Bengal was made, the few great zamindars among whom the permanently- settled portion of Godlpjira was divided were assessed at an almost nominal amount. It is somewhat doubtful whether this assessment was ever formally converted into a permanent charge ; but these estates have uniformly been treated as covered by the permanent settlement of Bengal. 81. Shortly after this settlement, however, it became manifest that the zamindars of the plains country, Eegulation X of 1822. . , ^ . t i< .i \ instead of provmg guardians or the peace 01 the border, were rather likely, by their oppressions and exactions, to foster strife with the Garos of the hills, whose raids were con- stantly provoked by the treatment they received from the land- holders to whose markets they resorted. In order to check these L2 ^6 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. II. Section 2. exactions, and to promote the growth of order and civili sation Goalpara. amongst the hill people, it was deemed necessary to place this tract under a special form of administration. Then in 1822, a Eegnla- tion (Xo. X) was passed by the Governor General in Council, exempting the three thanas of north-eastern Eangpur from the operation of the General Regulations, and placing them under the control of a Special Civil Commissioner. Mr. David Scott was the first official entrusted with the charge ; and he took into his own hands the collection of the rents claimed by the zaminddrs from the Garo villages, paying over to them the proceeds, after deduct- ing the costs of collection and administration. At the same time, the duties levied by the zaminddrs on the hill produce (chiefly cotton) were commuted to an annual payment by Government, and abolished. Government recouping itself by imposing a special house assessment upon the Garo villages. 82. When Assam Proper was conquered from the Burmese in l826, Mr. Scott became Commissioner of the Incorporation in Assam ^^^ province, witli wliicli Goalpara was incorporated as a sej^arate district ; and from that date until 1866 it remained a portion of Assam, and w^as administered on the same system as the rest of the province. 83. In 18G6, the Eastern Duars, a thinly peopled but extensive tract alonsj the base of the Himalayas north Transfer to Koch Bihar. ^ -^ , of permanently-settled Godlpdra, which had previously been under the rule of the Deb Edja of Bhutan, was annexed by the British Government on the conclusion of the Bhutan war. For some little time these Dudrs were a separate district ; but in 1867 the Bengal Commissionership of Koch Bihar was formed, and from the 1st January of that year the Eastern Dudrs were joined to Goalpara, and the entire district was included in that Commissionership, the Commissioner having the powers of a Civil and Sessions Judge within his jurisdiction. In October 1868, the judicial administration of Godlp^ra and the Gdro Hills was taken away from the Commissioner of Koch Bihar, because of the inconvenient distance of this tract of country from his head- quarters, and placed in the hands of the Judicial Commissioner of Chap. II.] HISTORICAL SU30IARV. 77 Assam. The executive control, however, remained, as before, with Section 3. the Commissioner of Koch Bihar. In 1869, the Guro Hills were Cachar. formed into a separate district by Act XXII of that year, which repealed Regulation X of 1822, but still exempted the hills from the operation of the General Eegulations. In the same year the Eastern Dudrs were similarly deregulationised by Act XVI of 1869. Finally, when the Chief Commissionership of Assam was formed in February 1874, the district of Godlpdra and the Eastern Dudrs, and the district of the Gdro Hills were retransferred to Assam. SECTION 3.— CACHAR. 84. The early history of Cachar, or Hiramba, is extremely obscure. Although it bears the same name Early history. . p i t-» i i • pa as a section or the i5odo population or Assam, the part of the district south of the Barail was not until some two hundred years ago in the possession of the race now called Kachdris, It would appear that it belonged to the kingdom of Tippera, or Tripura, since it is stated to have been acquired by the Kachdri king, who had his capital at Maibong, as a dowry upon his marriage with a Tippera princess. The Tipperas, how- ever, are undoubtedly, as is proved by their language, themselves of the Bodo stock, and very near kinsmen, not only of the Kachd- ris of North Cachar, but also of those of the Brahmaputra Valley and of the Gdros of the Garo Hills. Their true history, like that of the Kachdri kings of Dimapur, Maibong, and Khdspur, has been lost in the fugitive memory of a barbarous people, unacquainted with letters, and has been further darkened by the fictitious genealogies which have been invented for them by Brahman priests on their reception within the pale of Hinduism. It is, however, certain that the last native king of Cachar was the descendant of a Hne of princes who came originally from the Assam Valley. Their deserted capital, Dimapur, on the Dhansiri river, beneath the Angdmi Naga Hills, contains some very striking monuments, the meaning and purpose of which have much per- plexed explorers, and a number of large and fine tanks. From this 7^ ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. II. Section- 3. ^[iq^ i;^q^ buried ill dense jungle, the Kacluiri kings were forced, Cachar. by tlie aggressious of the Ahoms on the north and of the Angumi Nao-as on the south, to remove into the interior of the hills, and took up their abode at Maibong, on the Mahur river. While settled there, about the beginning or middle of the seventeenth century, the Kachari king married a daughter of the Tippera Etija, and received the valley of Cachar as her dowr}^ And some time between 1700 and 1750 the court was transferred from the hills, across the Barail, to Khaspur, on the Madhura river in the plains. Here the Kachari rulers found themselves in presence of an already settled population of Hindus and Musalmans from Sylhet, who had over- flowed from that district into the valley. The process of Hindui- sation had probably already commenced at Maibong, at least among the royal family and the court, if not among the Kachari population. At Khaspur it proceeded rapidly ; and in 1790 the formal. act of conversion took place, the E^ja Krishna Chandra and his brother, Govind Chandra, entering the body of a copper image of a cow, and emerging therefrom as Hindus and Kshatriyas. A genealogy of a hundred generations, reaching to Bhima, the hero of the Mahdhhdrata, was composed for them by the Brahmans, only the last nine or ten names in which have probably any claim to represent real personages. 85. In the beginning of the present century the valley of Cachar became tlie scene of a struggle for Taken under British , ^.^ -mt • • -u i.i protection. Supremacy between the Manipuri brothers, Marjit, Chaurjit, and Gambhir Singh, who had been driven from their own country by the Burmese. Krishna Chandra had died in 1813, and Govind Chandra succeeded him. The Manipuri invaders speedily overran the country, and set at naught the feeble authority of the Kachari king. In 1823 Mdrjit held the Ilaihikdndi valley, and Gambhir Singh the rest of South Cachar. Tlie Burmese were then in Assam, and, as lords of Manipur (which they had conquered from Mdrjit in 1819), threat- ened to annex Cachar. This the British Government, seeing the danger which it would cause to Sylhet, decided to prevent. Negotiations were first entered on with a view to an alliance with Chap. II.] HISTORICAL SU^IMARY. 79 tlie Manipuri brothers. These overtures fell through, and it was Section - resolved to take up the cause of Govind Chandra, who was, with cZhar the Edja of Jaintia, taken under British protection. The Burmese armies, which had advanced both from Assam and Manipur, were driven out, and Govind Chandra was replaced on the throne. A treaty was executed on the 6th March 1824, by which the Eaja placed himself under British protection, and agreed to pay a tribute of Es. 10,000.* Govind Chandra's reign after his restoration was very short; he was assassinated in 1830, and, as he left no heir, either natural or adopted, the country was annexed by proclama- tion on the 14th August 1832. 86. In its subsequent history Cachar much resembles Assam. ^ .,. , , Act YI of 1835 (hke Act II of that year in British rule. ^ •^ the Assam Yalley) placed it under the control of the Sadr Court and Board of Eevenue. It was adminis- tered from the first by a Superintendent, who in 1833 was vested with the powers of a Magistrate and Collector ; and in the same year it was transferred from the supervision of the Commissioner of Assam to that of the Commissioner of Dacca. It differs from Assam in never having had any special code of administrative rules drawn up for it ; the officers in charge applied " the spirit of the Eegulations " inSacriti^g ^it]i judicial matters. The Civil Procedure Code and Ln^'P^^ion Act were formally extended to the district in 1859; in l8o2 the Criminal Procedure Code was extended, and the Penal Code came into force. A special pecu- liarity of the Cachar revenue system, which is a survival from native rule, will be noticed in Chapter IV, section 1, Since Cachar became British territory, the only important political events which have marked its history have been the Lushai raids of 1849 and subsequent years, which will be discussed in the section dealing with the Lushais. In the Mutiny of 1857 the sepoys of the 34th Native Infantry, who mutinied in Chittagong in November of that year, were met in Cachar, and were defeated and dispersed by the Sylhet Light Infantry. * It is commonly asserted that the Burmese were driven out of Cachar in the course of the first Burmese war. These events, however, occurred before the formal declaration of war (5th March 182-4). 8o ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPOllT. [Chap. II. Section 4. SECTION 4—SYLHET AND JAINTIA. Sylhet and S7. Of Sjlliet uiicler its early Hindu rulers hardly anything is 3^"^'^^^^- known. It is believed that its native popula- tion is largely made up of non- Aryan tribes, probably of the same race as the Bodo Tipperas who now inhabit the hills on its southern margin. The Eajas who held the country at the date of the Musalman conquest, the chief of whom was Gaur Govind, who ruled the south and centre, while the Raja of Laur, under the Khasi Hills, governed the north, had evidently, from their names, been taken up into Hinduism, and the country colonised by Brahmans, who gradually extended their proselytising operations. The district was conquered by the Muhammadan kings of Bengal in 1384 A.D., the invaders being led by a spiritual chief named Shah Jalal, whose shrine at Sylhet is still famous. Laur and Jaintia, under the hills, retained their independence during the rule of the Bengal kings. After the absorption of that province in the Mogul Empire under AVi"u:i', iLiiJir became a depend- ent principality. The last Hindu Rti^ a of Laur embraced Muham- madanism at Delhi in Aurangzeb's reign. Todar Mai assessed Sylhet (excluding Jaintia, which was? ^"'^v conquered by the Moguls, and Laur) at Rs. I,67,0i0, am as ruled continuously from that date, until, it passed into i /, hands of the East India Company with the rest of Bengal in 17G5, by a succession of Amils subordinate to the Nawab of Dacca. The district was included in the decennial settlement of Bengal, which afterwards became permanent in 1793, but the operation of assessment was conducted in an exceptional manner, each hold- ing being separately measured and settled upon fixed rates. Thus, in Sylhet, the permanent settlement assumed a form which it bears nowhere else, except perhaps in Chittagong. It was the policy of the Collector, Mr. J. Willes, to put aside the chaudhuris, or zamin- dars, who elsewhere obtained settlement, and to deal direct with the better class of raiyats or mirasddrs. The result is that the settle- ment is in great part a permanent raiyatwari one, the area which each holding should contain being (so far as the records have been Chap. II.] HISTORICAL SUMilAUY. 8l preserved and can be trusted) accurately known. All land not Section 4. included in the permanent settlement, or not subsequently settled Syiiiet and in perpetuity, is neld on temporary leases. The history of Sylhet since the permanent settlement has not been eventful. The depredations of the Khdsis on the north were brought to a close by the occupation of the station of Cherra Punji in 1828 ; and those of the Lushais on the south were stopped, so far as Sylhet is concerned, by the expedition of 1871-72. 88. The Edja of Jaintia, a Chief of Khdsi Hneage, was found by us, on the annexation of the district, in Jaintia. . » pi- . ^ • possession of a tract of plains country lying between the town of Sylhet and the Cachar border, and measuring about 450 square miles, in addition to his hill territory stretching from the foot of the hills overlooking the Surma Valley to the Kalang river in Nowgong. At the same time that Cachar was taken under British protection, in March 1824, a treaty was made with Eam Singh, the Raja of Jaintia, by which he acknowledged allegiance to the Company, and promised to aid in the military operations then commenced against the Burmese in Assam. In 1832 four British subjects were seized by Chattar Singh, chief of Gobha, under the orders of the heir-apparent, Rajendra Singh, and th.ree of them were sacrificed to Kali, the tutelary goddess of the Raja's family. One escaped, and gave information of the outrage, which led to a demand by the British Government for the surrender of the culprits. Negotiations went on for two years without any result. In November 1832 Ram Singh died, and Rajendra Singh succeeded him ; and it was finally resolved to punish this atrocious crime (which had been preceded by similar outrages in 1821, 1827, and 1832) by dispossessing the Rdja of his territory in the plains, and confining him thenceforth to the hilly tract. On the 15th March 1835 formal possession was taken of Jaintiapur, and the annexation of the plains territory proclaimed by Colonel Lister ; in April the district of Gobha was similarly annexed to Nowgong in Assam. Upon this, the Raja declared himself unwilling to continue in possession of his hill territory, over which he had but little control, and it thus also became included in the Company's M Districts. 82 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. U. Section 5. dominions. The population of the plains of Jaintia, like that of The Hill Cachar, is made up of Sylhet rai3^ats, with but a slight leaven of settlers from the hills. SECTION S.^THE HILL DISTRICTS. 89. The history of the Gjiro Hills has already been partly touched , „.„ upon in the account given of the Goc41pdra I. GAro Hills. : . , . district, in which, up to 1866, they were, 80 far as British administration extended, included. These hills, peopled by a wild race nearly akin to the Meches or Kacharis of the plains, were surrounded on all sides except the east by the estates of the great frontier zaminddrs or chaudhuris of Eangpur and Mymensingh. The Garos were in the habit of resorting to the markets in the plains estates of these zamindars for the sale of their cotton and the purchase of the supplies they needed ; and the police' of the border was maintained, and taxation levied on the hill produce, by the zaminddrs by means of harkanddzes whom they established at these marts. The chief of these chaudhuris were those of Mechpara, Kalumdlupara, and Karaibtiri in Eangpur, and Sherpur and Shushang in Mymensingh. The Gdros, like most of the wild tribes of the north-east frontier, lived in a state of con- stant internecine warfare, and it was a necessary ceremony at the funeral of a great chief to bury with him as many human heads as could be procured for the purpose, and, if possible, to put to death on the occasion living captives. The border was thus vexed by constant raids for the purpose of obtaining heads or prisoners ; and the exactions of the plains zaminddrs at the submontane hats likewise furnished frequent occasions for quarrel. Under the Moguls, the chaudhuris of the border paid their assessment in elephants, cotton, and agar wood to the Jaujddr of Eangamati, midway between Godlpdra and Dhubri. After the Company obtained the Diivdni, a sazdwal, or contractor, was annually appointed, who took the place of the faujddr, and made his own arrangements with the chaudhuris. Until 1787 the revenue of these landlords continued to be paid, as before, in kind. Cash Chap, 11.] HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 83 payments were introduced in 1788, and the permanent settlement Section 5. shortly afterwards followed. The Hill 90. In 1775, the chaudhuris of Mechpdra and Karaibdri, to avenge some Gdro raids of more tlian usual brou^ght within zlmindYiV Severity, invaded the hills bordering on their ^^**^^' respective estates, and entered on a career of conquest. They remained two or ihree years in the hills, and brought the tribes of a large tract entirely under their control. The zaminddr of Karaibdri, Mahendra Ndrdyan, was especially successful in establishing his influence over the south-western portion of the hills, and when the Company called his proceedings in question, defied them from his fastnesses. After a long course of warfare with other chaudhuris and with the chiefs of the interior, Mahendra Ndrdyan's estates were at last sold by the Company for arrears of revenue, and his influence gradually dwindled. 91. Meantime the raids of the Gdros on the plains continued, and in 1816 Mr. David Scott was deputed to Mr. Scott's proposals, report on the best means of preserving the peace of the frontier. He found that at that time the frontier zaminddrs had for the most part succeeded in reducing a greater or smaller area on their borders to a state of subjection, the largest conquests being those made by Karaibdri and Mechpdra; beyond these areas thus incorporated in their zaminddris, the chaudhuris had so far estabUshed their influence that several villages in the interior paid them tribute. Beyond these, again, in the heart of the hills, were the independent or bemalwa Gdros. Mr. Scott proposed to s«iparate all the tributary Gdros (from whom, and from the independent villages beyond, the raids proceeded) from the zaminddr's control, and take them under Government management, compensating the zaminddrs for any losses which they might show that they had sustained ; to appoint the chiefs of the villages thus brought under our jurisdiction to be responsible for the peace and the collection of revenue ; and to bring the submontane hats under Government control, all duties being abolished there, except upon independent Gdros frequenting them. These proposals were approved by Government, and after- M2 84 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. II. Sections, ^ards embodied in Eegulation X of 1822, which gave Mr. Scott^ The Hill who was appointed Special Commissioner, authority to extend Dtstyicts British administration over other Garo communities which miMit be still independent, and exempted the whole tract (together with the district of Godlpdra) from the operation of the General Regula- tions. After the passing of the Regulation, Mr. Scott proceeded to conclude engagements with the independent chiefs, and no fewer than 121 of those living west of the Someswari are said to have entered into terms with him. 92. Mr. Scott was shortly afterwards called away from his work among the Garos to assume the admini- Affairs eiibseqnent to gtration of Assam and the Eastern Frontier Regulation X ot 1822. generally, and his place was taken by the Principal Assistant of Godlpdra, who was aided by a Gdro Sarbarah- kdr with his headquarters at Singhimdri, situated nearly opposite the middle of the western face of the hills. For many years the British Government maintained a policy of non-interference with the interior of the hills. The tributary Garos within paid with great irregularity the tribute which they had agreed upon. Eaids were frequent, and were followed either by expeditions or by blockade of the submontane markets — measures which were found to be quite ineffectual to stop them. Some little influence was occasionally brought to bear upon the tributary Gdros through visits paid to them by the Principal Assistant of GoalpAra; but these annual tours were not regularly carried out, as designed by Mr. Scott, and any intermission in them was followed by an increase in the number of raids. 93. For all these years it was believed that the climate of the EBtabliebment of a ^^^^^^ ^^^ SO deadly that no European could Deputy Commissioner survivc witliin them, and that it was imprac- Avithin the hills. . ^ ticable to attempt any establishment of a permanent post in their midst. At last, in 18G6, after two expe- ditions to punish raids on the side of Mymensingh of more than usual atrocity, the Government for the first time resolved to appoint a special officer to the charge of the hills. Lieutenant WilHamson was selected for this purpose, and was estabUshed on Chap. I!,] HISTORiaVL SUMMARY. 8s a spur of the Tura mountain, with a special armed police force. Section 5. Shortly after, in 1869, Act XXII of that year was passed, which ThTHill enabled the Lieutenant-Governor to make special provision for the ^''*'''^^^- administration of the district, and to prevent the collection by zamindars or other persons of tributes, cesses, or other exactions in the hills. By this Act, Regulation X of 1822 was repealed. That Regulation had applied only to North-East Eangpur, after- wards the Godlpara district. The Act of 1869 included Mymen- singh, on Mdiich side also zamindari influence had been pushed into the hills, and had provoked retaliation by the hillmen. This experiment proved completely successful. The Deputy Commissioner of the Gdro Hills and his police force brouo-ht almost instant quiet to the district. Hearty aid was given to him by the Gdros, and the headmen, relieved from the dread of retaliatory feuds, at once began to perform their duty, to deliver up offenders, and to enforce the payment of revenue. Raids ceased, and numer- ous villages, theretofore independent, voluntarily became tributary. 94. In 1870 the survey, which had been carried through the neighbouring Khasi Hills, entered the district, Siibiection of the last -> •. it, ^ independent Garos. ^nd it was resolved to explore as much of the independent Garo country as was possible in the course of surveying that which acknowledged British authority. During that year no opposition whatever was offered by the independent villages, of which about 60 still remained in the heart of the district ; but in March 1871 a survey coolie, who had been sent to clear a station on the top of a hill, was seized by some Garos of Rongmagiri, and was tortured and murdered. This put a stop to survey operations for the time, and in the ensuing cold weather (1871-72) an expedition was led against the offending village. In the summer of 1872 some independent villages raided upon protected Gdro villages which had afforded assistance to the expedition against Rongmagiri, and were attacked and occupied by the Deputy Commissioner. It was eventually resolved that the whole of the country which had hitherto been left to its independence should be brought under the same mana^e- ment as the rest ; and in the cold weather of 1872-73 three detach- 86 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. II. Section 5. ments of police, from Mymensingli on the south, from Tiira on the The Hill west, and from Godlpara on the north, marched through the country tstricts. ^^|^j(,|^ jj- \^rj^^ been decided to annex. All resistance was easily overpowered, lashkars or headmen were appointed, the heads taken in recent raids were surrendered, and peaceful administration was established. 95. Since the expedition of 1872-73, the history of the district has been one of profound peace. In Febru- Eecent history. -^ . , ,. ary and March 1881, a slight disturbance took place near Bangdlkhd^ta, at the north-western corner of the hills, in consequence of the construction of a road through that tract ; but it was speedily suppressed without bloodshed. The whole of the district, with the exception of a small tract of plains land on the north, is now under the exclusive management of the Deputy Commissioner, and is free from the exactions of zamindars, the greater part of whose interests in the area formerly included in their zaminddris or tributary to them have been bought out and extinguished, 96. The Khasi Hills were first brought into direct relations _ , . „ with the British Government in 1826, after II. TheKh^si Hills. ^ n. • \ the conquest of Assam.* The chiefs of the Khasi States on the northern border of the hills had gradually, since the decay of the Ahom power in the year 1794, established themselves in the plains of Kdmriip in the tracts known as Dudrs, and were accustomed to pay only a nominal allegiance to the Assam kings. When Assam was acquired by the East India Company, it became an object with Mr. Scott to establish com- munication through the hills with Sylhet, and while the new administration of Kdmriip refused to recognise the right of the Khdsi rulers to encroach on the plains of Assam, Mr. Scott was able, by agreeing to allow Tirat Singh, Seim of Nongkhldo, to rent some lands in Bordudr, to induce that chief, and to persuade the ® Tlie Klidsis bad previously been known only as troublesome marauders upon the plains of Sylhet, where they were much dreaded. During the last century their ravages between 1780 and 1790 are specially mentioned as severe. A hne of forts was kept up under the hills to check these incursions. Chap. II.] HISTORICAL SUJOIARY. 87 Other Seims, to permit a road to be made through the hills vid Section 5, Cherra Punji, Maophldng, and Nongkhldo to Gauhdti. The Hill In 1829, the insolent talk of some native servants belonging to the surveying party who were making the road led to an attack upon the party at the village of Nongkhlao, and Lieutenants Burlton and Bedingfield, 'with about fifty or sixty natives, were massacred. This event was followed by a general confederacy of most of the neighbouring chiefs to resist the British, and led to a long and harassing war, in which troops from Assam and Sylhet co-operated. Eventually, Tirat Singh submitted in 1833, and was confined as a prisoner for life in the Dacca Jail. The other chiefs had either before made terms with the British Government, or did so immediately after ; and since that date the establishment of a British officer with an adequate military force in the midst of the people, at Cherra Punji, which was abandoned in 1866 for Shillong, liavS sufficed to maintain the most absolute tranquillity. The greater part of the Kh^si Hills consists of the territories of native chiefs in subsidiary alliance with the British Government ; only a few scattered villages have remained British since the conquest of 1833, or have been ceded since then under special circumstances. The people govern themselves through their elected rulers, who are bound to follow the advice of their darbdrs. They pay no revenue to the British Government, but the Seims are required on investiture to confirm the cession to the paramount power of the mines and minerals, elephants, forests, and other natural products of their States, on the condition of receiving half the profits from these sources. All petty crime committed by their subjects is dealt with by the chiefs and their darbdrs, only heinous offences, or those cases in which subjects of different States are concerned, being tried by the district authorities. The people are extremely well-to-do, and make much money by trade with the plains in the valuable staples which the hills produce. 97. It has already been related how, on the annexation of the plains country of Jaintia in 1835, Ed] a The Jaintia Hills. i^ ,. j o- -u j r ^ ^ . • +1 Til Edjendra Smgh dechned to retani the hilly portion of his principality, which thus lapsed to the British Govern- 88 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. II, Section 5. ment. This tract, inhabited by the same race of mountaineers as The~Hill ^^^ neighbouring Khasi territory, was thereupon placed under the Districts, administration of the PoUtical Agent at Cherra Punji. The Jaintia Hills were (and still are) divided into 23 petty districts, 19 of which are in charge of headmen, chosen by the people themselves, called Dollois, and the remaining 4 in 'that of hereditary Sarddrs. From 1835 to 1855 the people were left very much to themselves. The Dollois heard all civil cases, at first without exception, and after 1841 up to a certain limit, and all criminal complaints not of a heinous character in which only people of their own villages were concerned. No taxes of any kind were levied throughout the hills, the only contribution required being the annual ofiering of a he-goat from each village, which had been exacted by the Jaintia Edja. In 1853 Mr, Mills, of the Sadr Court, reported on the dis- trict, and drew attention to the absence of administrative control in this portion of it. He suggested that a house- tax (which had been proposed by the Political Officer in 1849, and then negatived by Government) should be imposed, and a police thana posted in the hills with a view to check the lawless proceedings of the Dollois. The latter recommendation was carried out, and a thdna established at Jowai ; but the former, though approved by Lord Dalhousie, remained without effect. In 1858, Mr. Allen, of the Board of Eevenue, again reported on the district, and strongly urged Mr. Mills' recommendation that a moderate house-tax should be imposed, but he added that a European civil officer should be stationed in the midst of the tract, to be to the people a visible representative of British authority. The latter of these proposals was neglected, the former was adopted. In 1860 the house-tax was imposed, and within a few months the people were in open rebellion. Fortunately, a large force of troops was close at hand ; and before the revolt could make any head, it was stamped out and the villages were awed into apparent submission. After this rising, measures were taken to improve the administration of the Dollois, who were notoriously corrupt, but still no officer was posted to the subdivision. In January 1862, the people of the Jaintia Hills were again in fierce rebellion. The occasion was the imposition, only a year after Chap. II.] HISTORICAL SUMMAEY. 89 the liouse tax had been introduced, of the income tax, to which 310 Sections. persons in the hills were subjected. This new impost, quickly xiiTHill succeeding the former, roused the deepest resentment among a Districts. people who had paid nothing for generations, either to their own Eaja or to the British Government, and had been left since annexa- tion entirely to themselves. ' The suppression of the revolt was long and tedious. Crushed apparently in four months after its outbreak, it again almost immediately burst out afresh ; and it was not till November 1863 that the last of the rebel leaders surrendered, and the pacification of Jaintia could be said to be complete. An English officer has since those events been stationed at Jowai. He is required to make himself acquainted with the Khasi language, and to be able to dispense with interpreters ; the administration of the DoUois has been reformed, education (by the agency of the Welsh Mission, estabhshed in the Khjisi Hills since 1842) has been encouraged, and the country has been thoroughly opened up by roads. The Jaintia Hills are now as secure and peaceable as the neighbouring Khasi States. 98. North Cachar, the tract of thinly-peopled, low undulating hills, divided from the valley of the Barak by the range of the Barail, and interposed between the Jaintia and the Naga Hills, has already been briefly referred to in the section dealing with Cachar. When the district w^as under native rule, during the last years of the reign of Govind Chandra, this portion of it was the scene of a struggle between that prince and one of his officers, named Kacha Din,* who rebelled and endeavoured to establish an independent government in the hills. He was captured and put to death by Govind Chandra, but his son, Tulanim, a chaprdsi in the E^ija's service, immediately revived the rebelhon, and in 1824 joined the Burmese in their attack on Cachar. After a series of years, during which Tularum successfully held his own, Mr. Scott induced Govind Chandra in 1829 to assign to him a tract of country in the hills, and bind himself not to molest him within these limits. After the assassina- III. North Cachar. « Called " Kohee Dan " by Colonel Butler, Mills' "Assam Eeport," page chiii. " Kacha Din " is the name given by Peniberton, "Eastern Frontier," page 191. N go ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPOKT. [Chap. II. Section 5. tion of tlie Edja of Cachar, Tularam was a candidate for tlie vacant The Hill throne, but failed to establish his title. In 1835, he entered into an agreement with the British Government, in which he resigned all the western portion of the tract ceded by Govind Chandra, retaining the tract on the east, bounded on the south by the Mahur river and the Naga Hills, on the west by the Diyung, on the east by the Dhansiri, and on the north by the Jamuna and Diyung. For this he was to pay a tribute of four pairs of elephants' tusks annually, receiving a monthly pension of Es. 50. Tulardm died in October 1850. His sons, Nakulnim and Braja Nath, held the country for two and half years more, when the former was killed in the Naga Hills, whither he had led an expedition to avenge an attack on his village of Semkhor ; and in 1854 the tract was resumed by the British Government, the surviving members of Tularam's family receiving pensions. In 1839, the portion of North Cachar, not included in Tularam's dominions, was annexed to Nowgong ; and in 1853 a separate officer was placed in charge of the subdivision, with his head- quarters at Asalu, near the northern skirts of the Barail, whose business it was to keep order among the Kukis and Arung Nagas dwelling in this neighbourhood, and to protect them against the Angfimi Nagas to the east, who were constantly making jaids into this country and that held by Tularam. In 1854, that officer's charge was augmented by the addition of Tularam's principality. 99. The defence of North Cachar and the Mikir Hills in Nowgong, lying to the north of that sub- history. ^^^ ' '^' ^^ ^ division, from the attacks of the Angami Ndgas was a task, however, which experience proved could not be successfully effected from Asalu. These turbulent neighbours led yearly expeditions into the hills and the valleys of the Jamuna, Diyung, and Dhansiri rivers. Outposts throughout the hills held only the ground they covered, and the Nagas were able to creep by them with impunity. Ten military expeditions were led into the Naga Hills between 1835 and 1851, the greater number of which were to punish raids. In 1846, a police post, under Bhogchand Darogha, was established at Sama- Chap. 11] HISTORICAL SUMxMART. 9I guting on a liill overlooking the Dhansiri Valley south of Dimapur. Section 5. In 1849, Bhogchand was killed at Piphima in the hills by the men The Hill of Khonoma and Mezuma. In 1S50, Lieutenant Vincent led a force to Mezuma to avenge Bhogchand's death, and remained there for six months, burning Klionoma daring his stay. In the winter of 1850-51, the tenth expedition, the greatest British force which had entered the hills, advanced to complete the work of punish- ment ; and on the lOtli and lltli December 1850, the strouf^ fort of Khonoma was taken under almost the same circumstances as attended its capture twenty-nine years later, in November 1879. Paplongmai was burnt, and the Nagas of Kekrima, who challenged our troops, lost 300 killed in a hand-to-hand fight which was long remembered in the hills. After this successful expedition the Government of India decided upon a complete withdrawal from interference with the internal concerns of the Angami Ndgas. The Governor General, Lord Dalhousie, wrote in his minute of the 20th February 1851 : Hereafter we should confine ourselves to our own ground ; protect it as it can and must be protected ; not meddle in the feuds or fights of these savages ; encourage trade with them as long as they are peaceful towards us ; and rigidly exclude them from all communication, either to sell what they have got or to buy what they want, if they should become turbulent or troublesome. These are the measures which are calculated to allay their natural fears of our aggression upon them, and to repel their aggression on our people. These will make them feel our power both to 'repel their attacks, and to exclude them from advantages they desire, far better, at less cost, and with more justice, than by annexing their country openly by a declaration, or virtually by a partial occupation. In March 1851, our troops were withdrawn, and in that rear twenty-two Naga raids were reported, in which 55 persons were killed, 10 were wounded, and 113 were taken captive. In 1853, as already related, an officer was stationed in the North Cacliar Hills at Asalu ; but he was instructed to regard the Angamis as persons living beyond the jurisdiction of the British Government, although in 1841 the watershed of the Barail range to the south of N 92 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION EEPORT. [Chap. II. Section 5. the Angami country liad been authoritatively laid down as the The Hill boundary of jurisdiction between Manipur and Assam. A line of Districts. . ■, outposts, with regular patrols, was established between Asalu and Barpathar, in the Nambar forest; but in 1857 these outposts were reduced and gradually withdrawn. 100. Eaids continued to be numerous between 1853 and 1865, during which years 19 occurred, in which Hilirdistrk".° ^^ ^^^ ^32 British subjects were killed, wounded or carried off. In 1864 and 18G5 the policy to be followed towards the Anoranii Najj^as aixain came under review, and the concurrent opinion of the local officers, of the Commis- sioner, Colonel Hopkinson, and of the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Cecil Beadon, was that it was necessary for the credit of our administration to advance into the hills, " to re-assert our authority over the Nagas, and bring them under a system of administration suited to their circumstances, and gradually to reclaim them from habits of lawlessness to those of order and civilisation. " The Government of India, in 1866, agreed to the proposal that a new district should be formed, with its headquarters at Samagu- ting, Asalu being abolished as a subdivision, and North Cachar being divided between the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, South Cachar, and Nowgong, that portion lying to the west of the Dhansiri and the country on both banks of the Doyong forming, wath the Angami Naga Hills, the new district. But they desired that the main object to be kept in view should be not to extend our rule into the interior, but to protect the lowlands from the incursion of the Nagas. Captain Gregory, the first officer in charge of the new district, was succeeded in 1869 by Captain J. Butler, whose energetic administration did much to consolidate our power in the hills. Acting in the spirit of his instructions, he received the allegiance of those villages which freely tendered it, but made no effort to include those who were not willing to become British subjects. Much of his time was given to exploration with survey parties ; and in 1876 he met his death in a fight with the LhotaNdgas of Pangti, a village in the hills east of the Doyong river. Chap. II.] HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 93 101. In February 1877, the Angtiini Nagas of Mezuma raided Section 5. Advance to Kohima. "P^^ ^^'^ ^^^^^" ^'^S^ ^^^^^g^ «^ Gumaigaju, r/^T^.z^ in the heart of Xorth Cachar, kiUinr/ G and ^''''''*'- wounding 2 persons. The cause of the attack was a feud thirty years old. With this exception, no raid had been committed by Angami Xagas within British territory since 1866, although there were numerous complaints of their depredations in Manipur ; and their internal feuds were^ as always, incessant. The village of Mezuma refused to give up the raiders, and in the cold weather of 1877-78 an expedition was sent against it, by which the village was burned. Mr. Carnegy, the PoHtical Officer, was accidentally killed by a sentry of his own party while occupying Mezuma^ These events led to a review of the position which we occupied in the hills ; and in 1878, it was determined by Colonel Keatinge, after a visit to the country, to abandon Samaguting, a low and unhealthy site on the extreme edge of the Angdmi country, and to fix the future head- quarters of the Political Officer at Kohima in the midst of the group of powerful villages which it was specially necessary to control. This selection was approved by the Government of India in March 1878, and by the end of the next cold weather the transfer from Samaguting to Kohima was completed. In the course of the rains of 1879, indications of coming trouble began to present themselves, but no serious apprehensions were entertained by the Political Officer, Mr. Damant, who had planned an expedition during the cold weather into the Hatigoria country to the east of the Doyong. Before starting on this, however, he resolved to visit the powerful villages of Jotsoma, Khonoma, and Mezuma, to ascertain their disposition, and whether he might safely leave Kohima. On the 14th October he arrived at Khonoma, and leaving half his escort of 21 sepoys and 65 police with his baggage at the foot of the hill, he advanced with the other half up the narrow path leading to the strongly-fortified village site. The gate of the village was found closed, and as Mr. Damant stood before it, he was shot dead. A volley was then poured into his escort, who turned and fied down the hill. The Nagas followed, and dispersed the troops and police, Avho endeavoured by twos and 94 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION RErOP.T. [Chap. 11. Section: 5. threes to escapc to Koliima. Of the military accompanying Mr. The Hill Daman t, 10 were killed and 5 were wounded ; of the police, 25 istncts. y^Q^Q killed and 14 were wounded. When this news reached Kohima, preparations were made to resist the attack. The subdivisioual officer was summoned from Wokha, 57 miles distant, and arrived with his force of sepoys and police on the 19th October. The stockade was besieged by the Nagas from the 16th to the 27tli, when the garrison, who were reduced to great straits for want of food and water, were relieved, and the siege was raised, by the arrival of Colonel Johnstone, Political Agent of Manipur, with a force of 2,000 Manipuri troops, and his own escort of 30 sepoys and a few police. A campaign against the Ndgas then ensued, in which the 42nd and 44th Hegiments, with a wing of the 18th Native Infantry and a detachment of the 43rd Native Infantry, took part, and which lasted till March 1880. Khonoma was taken on the 22nd November 1879, but the defenders retreated to a very strong position above the village on a spur of Japvo, where they maintained themselves until the end of the campaign. Jotsoma was captured on the 27th November, and every one of the 13 villages which had entered into the coali- tion against us was either occupied or destroyed. The most not- able event of the war, however, was the daring raid made in January 1880, by a party of Khonoma men from the fort above the village, at the time beleaguered by our troops, 'upon the tea garden of Bahidhan in Cachar, more than 80 miles distant, where they killed the manager, Mr. Blyth, and 16 coolies, plundered what they could, and burned everything in the place. On the 27tli March, the fort above Khonoma submitted, and the war was at an end. Fines in grain, cash, and labour were imposed upon those villages which took part against us. The Nagas were made to surrender the firearms they were known to possess, and in some instances the removal of a village from a fortified and inaccessible crest to a site below was directed. Khono- ma was razed to the ground, and its site occupied by an outpost. From all villages an agreement was taken to pay revenue in the shape of 1 maund of rice and 1 rupee per house, to provide a certain Chap. 11. 1 HISTORICAL SUM3IAKY. 95 amount of labour annually for State purposes, and to appoint Section 5. a headman who should be responsible for good order and for The Hill carrying out the wishes of Government. mtncts. After the close of this, the twelfth and last expedition, the question of the policy to be adopted in dealing with the Nagas was submitted by the Chief Commissioner to the Government of India, who in Februaxy 1881 finally decided that our position at Kohima should be retained, that a regiment should be permanently stationed in the hills, and that the district should be adminis- tered as British territory. Since that date the history of the district has been one of the progressive establishment of peace and good order, and the quiet submission of the Nagas to our rule, 102. In 1875, a subdivision was opened at Wokha, which is situated in the country of the Lliota Nagas, Wokha subdivision. '' 1 » / • i i who are separated from the Angamis by the Rengmas and Semas. The village of Wokha had on several oc- casions attacked survey parties sent into the hills, and it was deter- mined to occupy the site to secure our position there. The Lhotas have no connection with the Angamis, who do not pass through their country in visiting the plains. This tract has been in ch'arge of a tahsildar since 1889, when the Mokokchang subdivision was formed, as the Lhotas had by that time become so amenable to authority that it was considered unnecessary any longer to retain a European officer in their midst. 103. The boundaries of the Naga Hills district were gazetted in 1882, and the only change since that date Mokokchacg- feubdivision. , . . . . ^ oorv <• i has been the mclusion, m 18by, or the cis- Dikhu tract of country inhabited by the Ao Nagas. The reasons for this step were the difficulty of protecting the Aos from raids by trans-Dikhu tribes unless a garrison was permanently established in their midst, and the fact that the leading Ao villages had peti- tioned the Deputy Commissioner for their incorporation in British territory. The necessary measures were successfully carried out, and the tract in question is now known as the Mokokchang sub- division of the Naga Hills district. "» 96 ASSAM ADMINISTEATIOX REPORT. [Chap. II. Section- 5. 104. At the close of the Naga war of 1879-80, Sir Steuart The Hill Bayley recommended, and the Government of Districts. Re-establislunent of the t t -i A^ ^ i t i j_ i' ^i North Cachar subdivision. I^dia approved, the re-estabhshment of the subdivisional charge of North Cachar, where, since 1866, no officer liad been located, the hiUmen being left, save for the rare cold-weather tonrs of the Deputy Commissioner, entirely to themselves. The subdivision was opened in December 1880, and placed in charge of an Assistant Superintendent of Police, who was stationed at Gunjong, in the centre of the tract, a point connected by easy hill paths with Nowgong to the north, Silchar to the south, and Jowai to the west. A bridle path to Kohima, vid the Kacha or A rung Naga country, has since been constructed. In this hitherto isolated and thinly-peopled region, in the cold weather of 1881-82, an event occurred which cost the life of a valued officer. Major Boyd, the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar. A Kacliari, named Sambhudan, declared himself inspired, claimed to work miraculous cures, and with his followers, who, like himself, took the title of deo, or god, levied contributions on the vil- lagers about Maibong, the old capital of the Kachari kings, where he took up his abode. The matter came under the notice of the subdivisional officer, who reported it, and the Deputy Commis- sioner, Major Boyd, immediately started for Gunjong with 30 police, and reached that place without impediment. On the loth January he left Gunjong with Mr. Soppitt, the subdivisional officer, for Maibon^, which is six or eij2'lit hours' march distant ; Maibonsf was reached and found deserted, and the party encamped in the huts of the deos. On the same day Sambhuddn and his party, some 20 men, countermarched him, and about noon fell upon Gunjong, where only a weak police guard, composed mainly of Kachdri constables, who shared in the superstitions of their people, had been left. They were panic-stricken, and fled without firing a shot ; and the deos burned down all the houses at Gunjong, killed two servants and a sick policeman, and left precipitately for Maibong. On the morning of the 16th, soon after dawn. Major Boyd was awakened by the shouts and drums of Sambhuddn and his followers, • who had passed the night in the jungle. The police formed up in Chap. 11. ] niSTomcAL smiMAUY. 97 line with bayonets fixed, but did not fire at first. The enemy ad- Section 6. vanced right up to them, and struck at them with their daos ; one Formation man was wounded on the shoulder with a dao, and Major Boyd ° Commis- received a deep cut between the forefinger and thumb. The police ^^°^^^^^^P' then fired a volley, and killed eight of their assailants ; two or three more were afterwards found dead in the jungle. Sambhudan escaped for the time, but the insurrection completely collapsed at once. Major Boyd was carried into Silchar ; his wound brought on tetanus, from which he died on the 30th January 1882. Sambhuddn evaded capture till the end of the year, when he was surrounded by the police, who had received information of his hiding place. In endeavouring to escape, he received a wound, from which he quickly bled to death. Four of his gang were arrested, of whom two died in jail, and two were tried at the sessions ; one was acquitted, and the other was sentenced to transportation for life. During the last ten years the history of this subdivision has been peaceful and uneventful, and nothing has transpired worthy of permanent record. SECTION 6.— FORMATION OF THE CHIEF COMMISSIONER- SHIP. 105. In 1873 it was determined by the Government of India to separate the districts now forming the Assam Formation of the Chief province from the administration of the ComnuBsionership. Government of Bengal, and to form them into a Chief Commissionership. By a proclamation dated the 6th February 1874, the districts of Goalpara, Kamrup, Darrang, Now- gong, Sibsagar, Lakhimpur, the three hill districts, and the district of Cachar were taken under the immediate authority and manage- ment of the Governor General in Council ; and by a notification of the same date they were formed into a Chief Commissionership, and Lieutenant- Colonel R. H. Keatinge, v.c, c.s.r., was appointed the first Chief Commissioner. On the 12th September of the same year, by another proclamation and notification, Sylhet was added, and the province, as it now exists, was completed. 98 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION HEPORT. [Chap. II. Section 6. r^^^ following statement sliows the officers who have filled the Formation Q^^ of Chief Commissioner since the formation of the Chief Com- or t'le Chief i Conimis- missioncrship : It on ersli ip. Name. From To Bemarks. Colonel R. H. Keatinge, v.c, c S.I. Sir S. C. Bayley, K.c.s.i.... Mr. C. A. EUiott, c.s.i. ... Mr. W. E. Ward Mr. C. A. Elliott, C.S.I. ... Mr. W.E.Ward Mr. D. Fitzpatricb, c.s.i. Mr. J. Westland, C.S.I. ... Mr. J. W. Quinton, c.S I. Brigadier-General Sir H. CoUett, K.c.B. Mr. W. E. Ward, c.s.i. ... 7th February 1874 S2nd June 1878 . 2nd March 1881 . 7th July 1883 ... 7th October 1883 23 rd February 1885. 31st October 1887 15th July 1889 22nd October 1889 24th March 1891 27th May 1891. 21st June 1878. 1st March 1881. 7th July 1883. 7th October 1883 23rd February 1885. 3ist October 1887 15th July 1889. 22nd October 1889. 24th Blarch 1891. 27th May 1891... Officiating. Officiating. Officiating. Chap. Ill ] FORM OF ADMINISTRATION. 99 CHAPTER III. Form of Administration. SECTION 1.-.GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM AND STAFF. 106. The province of Assam, excluding Sylhet, as already section i. mentioned, was taken under the immediate ~ — , p f i\ r"i ■ f General ComiSoner. authority and management of the Governor Admi.istya. General in Council, and constituted a separate ZU staff! Administration, by a proclamation, dated the 6th February 1874. A Chief Commissioner having been appointed, Act VIII of 1874 was passed to provide for the exercise by him of executive powers. In September of the same year, on the addition of the district of Sylhet to the Chief Commissionership, Act XII of that year made the same provision in regard to that district. By these Acts the powers which, on the date of the formation of the Chief Commis- sionership, and on that of the transfer to it of the district of Sylhet, were, by virtue of any law or regulation vested in, or exercisable by, the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal or the Board of Revenue Lower Provinces, were transferred to, and vested in, the'^Governor General in Council ; and it was enacted that the Governor General in Council might, from time to time, delegate to the Chief Com- missioner all or any of the said powers, and withdraw any powers 60 delegated. . By notification, dated the 16th April 1874, the Government of India delegated to the Chief Commissioner all powers which were vested in the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal by the direct opera- tion of any Act of the Governor General in Council, which also conferred the same powers on the Chief Commissioners of Gudh, the Central Provinces, and British Burma. By Act 'I of 1868 section 2, clause 10, all powers conferred upon a Local Govern- ment by any Act of the Governor General in Council in force in lOO ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [ Chap. ill. Sectio N I. Assam, and passed subsequent^ to the constitution of the Chief General Commissionership, vest in the Chief Commissioner. By the o^ersi- tive System ^ion of this clause and the notification of the 16th April (and, in and staff, j-ggard to Sylhet, a similar notification of the 12th September 1874), tlie Chief Commissioner has, in respect to all the general Acts of the Governor General in Council, the powers of a Local Govern- ment. Other powers have from time to time been delegated to the Chief Commissioner under Acts VIII and XII of 1874 [or assumed under section 6(c) of Act XIV of the same year], which, generally speaking, place him in the position of a Local Government in regard to most of the Eegulations and Acts, whether of the Legislative Council of India or that of Bengal, in practical operation in the province. The Chief Commissioner is assisted by a Secretary and an Assistant Secretary. 107. From the constitution of the province in 1874 down to 1880 there were no Commissioners in Assam. General executive g^j. jj-^ June of the latter year one was appoint- ed for the six districts of the Assam Valley, the office being combined with that of Judge in these districts, and the Commissioner being invested generally with the powers of a Commissioner of Division in Bengal. In the other districts of the province, that is, in the Surma Valley and Hill districts, the Chief Commissioner continues to perform himself the duties of a Commissioner of Division. Each of the eleven districts of the province has a Deputy Com- missioner as its chief executive officer, who is aided by a staff of I Assistant Commissioners and Extra Assistant Commissioners. Tlije functions of these oflicers are similar to those exercised by officers of the same name in other provinces. In addition to the above, there is the Director, Department of Land Eecords and Agriculture, whose main duty it is to supervise all survey and settlement operations, but who is also entrusted with the collection of trade and agricultural statistics, the manage- ment of survey schools, and other similar matters. Chap. Ill] FORM OF ADMINISTRATION. lOi 108. The judicial organisation of tho province is at present in Section i. much the same condition as at its constitution r'ZZ j Judicial staff '^tiierac in 1874. The six districts of the Brahmaputra ^^"'^I'^'t^a- , ■'■ tivi; System Valley, and the districts or Sylhet and Cachar, are subordinate to ^"'^ Staff. the High Court of Fort William in Bengal. For the whole of the Brahmaputra Valley there is one District and Sessions Judge (who is also the Commissioner), whose headquarters are at Gauhati, but who holds sessions at the various district headquarters when required. Tlie Deputy Commissioners of the six districts have the civil powers of Subordinate Judges, and the special powers conferred by sections 30 and 34 of the Criminal Procedure Code of tryino- all offences not punishable with death and awarding a sentence of seven years' imprisonment. The Assistant and Extra Assistant Commissioners have the ordinary powers of Magistrates of the first, second, and third classes, and have also generally the civil powers of aMunsif, though only the senior Extra Assistant Commissioner or, where there is no Extra Assistant Commissioner, the senior Assistant Commissioner at a headquarters station, and the subdi vi- sional officer at a subdivisional station ordinarily exercises the latter powers. In the Surma Valley a different system prevails. In Sylhet there is a separate judicial service, at the head of which is the District and Sessions Judge, aided by a Subordinate Judge and a staff of Munsifs for the disposal of civil cases. The . Deputy Com- missioner, Assistant Commissioners, and Extra Assistant Com- missioners have here no civil powers, and exercise only the ordinary magisterial powers in criminal matters. In Cachar the Sessions Judge is the Judge of Sylhet, who holds sessions at Silchar when necessary ; but the Deputy Commissioner has the special criminal powers mentioned in sections 30 and 34 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The Deputy Commissioner, however, and not the Judge of Sylhet, is the District Civil Judge ; there is no Subordinate Judge, and the Assistant and Extra Assistant Commissioners exercise the powers of Munsifs in addition to their functions as Magistrates and executive officers. In the hill districts and certain frontier tracts (the North 102 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPOHT. [Chap. III. Section I. Cacliar subdivision, the Mikir Hills tract in Nowgong, and the General Dibrugarli frontier tract in Lakhimpur), the High Court possesses I'^ris^iSn" ^^ J^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^''^^^P^ ^^^^ -^^^^^P^^^^ British subjects. The Hill and Staff, clistricts Were formerly under the operation of the Deregulation- izing Act, XXH of 1869, which was repealed by the Scheduled Districts Act, XIV of 1874. Subsequently, the Frontier Tracts Regulation, II of 1880, was passed, under which power is given to the Chief Commissioner, with the previous sanction of the Governor General in Council, to direct that any enactment in force in any frontier tract shall cease to be in force therein, and this Kegulation (with the additional power of extension conferred by Regulation III of 1884) has been brought into force in all the hill districts and frontier tracts referred to above. Under its provisions, the operation of the enactments relating to Civil and Criminal Procedure, Court-fees, Stamps, Transfer of Property, and Registration, has been barred,* and a simpler system of adminis- tering justice in civil and criminal matters has been prescribed by rules framed under section 6 of the Scheduled Districts Act, XIV of 1874. By these rules the Chief Commissioner is himself the chief appellate authority in civil and criminal cases. The Deputy Commissioner exercises the combined powers of District and Sessions Judge and Magistrate of a district, and the Assistant Commissioners and Extra Assistant Commissioners the powers of Magistrates and Munsifs. The judicial administration in all petty civil and criminal cases is carried on by village tribunals, pre- sided over by headmen chosen from among the people themselves, whose procedure is completely free from legal technicalities, and whose proceedings are not reduced to writing. The Criminal Procedure Code is in force in the Eastern Duars in Godlpdra, and that tract is, therefore, on the same footing as the plains districts so far as the administration of criminal justice is concern- ed. The Civil Procedure Code, however, is not in force ; its place is taken by rules under section 6 of Act XIV of 1874, which con- • Except in cases when such enactments never were in force. The Civil Procedure Code, for inatance, was nevcf extended to the hill districts, and it was, therefore, un- necessary to include this in the declarations under Regulation II of 1880, which were JBBued in regard to these districts. Chap. Ill ] pQj^^j Qj, ADMINISTRATION. IO3 tain much the same provisions as the corresponding rules framed Section i. for the tracts which are under the operation of Eegulation ]I of G~al 1*^80. Admimstra- Besides the judicial officers named above, there are a few ««^ -^'^^^ Honorary Magistrates in nearly every district. The latter in all cases, however, sit singly, no benches of Honorary Magistrates having yet been formed in any district except Sylhet. 109. Up to the year 1886, Sylhet Proper was under the T> 1 • • . *• operation of the old Benofal Eeo"ulations and Revenue adminislration. ^ c^'j. o-icQuiaLiuuis auu the Other land revenue enactments in force in Bengal. In Jaintia and Cachar, and also, though to a less extent, in Goalpara, these enactments were generally followed but they were not treated as actually in force. In the Brahma- putra Valley Proper, the settlement rules of the Board of Eevenue had been replaced by local rules, which were revised and recast in 1883. In other respects the revenue law of Bengal was follow- ed, so far as the local officers considered it to be applicable, but it was not treated as legally in force. All doubt and uncertainty have now been removed by the enactment of the Assam Land and Eevenue Eegulation, I of 1886, which has been brought into force in all the plains districts of the province. It contains all the necessary provisions of the revenue law of Bengal, the whole of which it repeals, so far as Assam is concerned. The Eegula- tion was amended in some respects as regards the recovery of arrears^f revenue by Eegulation II of 1889, and its provisions re- garding settlements, mutations, partitions, the recovery of arrears, &c., have been supplemented by rules issued under it and deriving from it the force of law. The superior authorities entrusted with the revenue administration have already been stated. They are the Chief Commissioner (as Local Government and Board of Eevenue, and, in the Surma Valley and hiil districts, as Commis- sioner), the Commissioner (in the Brahmaputra Valley), the Director, Department of Land Eecords and Agriculture, and an assistant for supervising the preparation and maintenance of land records in cadastrally surveyed tracts in the Assam Valley districts, the Deputy Commissioners in each district, and the Assistant 104 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. ill. Section i. and Extra Assistant Commissioners. Below these there are ^ , different subordinate officers in different districts. Each subdivi- Uoicral Admiiiistra- gion in the plains districts, except South Sylhet and GoAlpara, has ^and staff! an officcr called a Sub-Deputy Collector, who is employed mainly upon supervision of the revenue establishments, upon surveying waste and cultivated lands (the extent and importance of this work in Assam will be seen from the following chapter), and the com- pilation of the revenue records and returns. Goalp<4ra, except the Eastern Duars, is, for all practical purposes, a permanently-settled tract, and there are no mujassal revenue establishments ; in the other districts of the Brahmaputra Yalley the whole of the revenue was formerly collected by con- tractors, called 77iaiizaddrs, holding charge of the revenue assess- ment and collection within definite areas, called mauzas, into which these districts are divided. On the conclusion of the annual assess- ment (which will be described in a subsequent section*), the mauzaddr entered into a contract to pay into the treasury the revenue assessed, together with any additional revenue which might be assessed on lands subsequently taken up within the year for cold weather cultivation, irrespective of whether he succeeded in realising the full amount from the cultivators or not, and was remunerated by a commission calculated at 10 per cent, on the first Es. 6,000 of revenue and 5 per cent, on any amount above that sum. This system is still largely in vogue, but is being rapidly superseded by the formation of tahsils, whereby from 3 to 11 mauzas are amalgamated and placed in charge of an ofUcial called a tahsilddr, who is paid by a regular salary, and not by commission. The first tahsils were started in 1883-84 durinsr which year four were formed in the Ktirariip district, and from that date the extension of the system has progressed rapidly. There were at the close of 1892-93, 23 tahsils in the Brahmaputra Valley, absorbing in all 125 mauzas. The chief argument in favour of the tahsilddri as opposed to the mauzaddri system is the great saving which is thereby effected in the cost of collection, the percentage in 1892-93 of collection ♦ See post, Chapter IV, Section 3, SyBtem of Survey and Settlement. Chap. III.] FORM OF ADMINISTRATION. IO5 charges in tahsils being only 2*38, against 3*71 in mauzas* The Section i. amount thus saved is devoted to increasing the efficiency of the General assessment operations, as will be described in the paragraphs the System deaUng with the system of survey and settlement. Where tahsils ^" ^'^"' have not yet been introduced, the cost of collection has been reduced as far as possible by amalgamating mauzas, thereby reducing the number of mauzaddrs^ and saving to that extent the higher rate of commission which is payable on the first Es. 6,000 of a mauzaddrs collections. Ten years ago, the collection charges amounted to 11'87 per cent, of the total revenue collected, while in the present year the corresponding percentage is only 3*53. It should be mentioned here that there are certain estates, the revenue on which is paid direct into the treasury, and not through the local revenue collector. This privilege is conceded in the cases of waste land grants, all nisj-khiraj estates in Nowgong and Darrang and many of those in Kamrup, and a few other special tenures. Certain communities of Miris in North Lakhimpur also pay their revenue direct into the treasury, through their own headmen or gams. At each subdivisional headquarters in Sylhet there is a collecting office, where the revenue is paid in and the accounts are made up. There are also mujassal establishments, viz., in Kanairghdt in Jaintia, and at Hakaluki and Pratabgarh in Karimganj. Pro- ceedings for the realisation of arrears (which are here generally recovered by means of the Sale Law) are taken at the subdivisions. In the plains portion of Cachar also, there are three collecting or tahsil establishments for receipt of the revenue, which is here settled for a term. Two of these are located at the sadr and subdivisional headquarters, and the third at a point close to the Sylhet boundary. In the hill districts, the general rule is that house tax, and not land revenue, properly so called, is paid ; but in the Garo Hills and a small area in the Jaintia and Naga Hills, there are tracts where land revenue is taken, and mauzaddrs are the agency em- ployed for collection. The house tax is, in the Garo, Jaintia, Naga * In this calculation the Bijni tahsil has not been included, as the circumstances of that tahsil are somewhat esccptional. P I05 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. III. Section i. Hills, and North Cacliar, and the few villages in the Khc4si Hills General which are British territor}-, collected and paid in by headmen, the System "^^^10, like the mauzaddvs of the Assam Valley are remunerated by and staff, a Commission. These officers are called Za5/d-«?'5 and Lakmas in the Gc4ro Hills, Vollois and Sarddrs in the Jaintia and Khasi Hills, Lamharddrs in the Naga Hills, and Mauzaddrs in North Cachar. 110, The province of Assam is a general police district under Act V of 1861, and the police are under the Police. ^ control of an Inspector General, Tvho is on the graded list of Deputy Commissioners. In each of the plains districts there is an officer, either a District Superintendent or an Assistant Superintendent, who has charge of the Civil Police work. These officers are borne on the Bengal staff of police officers, and receive promotion in that list. In addition to these officers, whose work is to superintend the prevention and detection of crime, there is a small stafi' consisting of one Civil and three Military Police officers, who, under the designation of Command- ants of Military Police, control that division of the Assam Police Force which performs semi-military duties in manning the frontier outposts, and in holding as a garrison the Garo, Naga, and North Lushai Hills. This division of the force, besides being subject to Act V of 1861, is under a special Regulation (The Assam Military Police Regulation, 1890), which makes provision for the enforce- ment of due discipline, and assimilates generally the terms of service to those prevailing in the Native Army. The four divisions of the Military Police are located as follows : (1) in the Brahma- putra Valley, with headquarters at Dibrugarh ; (2) in the Surma Valley, with headquarters at Silchar ; (3) in the Naga Hills, with headquarters at Koliima ; and (4) in the Garo Hills, with head- quarters at Tura. The Surma Valley battalion also holds the North Lushai Hills, but a proposal has recently been sanctioned to form a separate battalion for that purpose. In the meantime, the Commandant is assisted by a second military officer, who is called an Assistant Commandant. At the close of 1892 the sanctioned strength of the Civil and Armed Civil Police in Assam was 2,178 officers and men, and of the Military Police 2,535 officers and men. Chap. 111.] rOEM OF ADMINISTRATION. I07 Besides the regular Civil Police, there are a few municipal Section i. poUce entertained in towns which have been constituted " Unions " General under the Bengal Municipal Act (these numbered 15 officers ana tive System men at the close of 1892), and there is a force of chaukidars, or "" ^^' rural police, in the districts of Sylhet, Cachar, and Godlpdra. Except in the last-named district, there are no village police in the Brahmaputra Valley. The mauzaddrs and mandals are re- quired to give information and aid in detection of crime, and in each village, or group of hamlets, there is a gaonbura, or village elder, who is the recognised representative of the villagers in police matters, but receives no remuueration from Government. The chaukidars in Goalpara are governed by the Bengal Chauki- ddri Act [VI (B.C.) of 1870 as amended by Act I (B.C.) of 1871], and those in the Surma Valley by the Sylhet and Cachar Ftural Police Regulation, I of 1883. On the last day of 1892 there were 6,812 village police in the province, of whom 5,616 were in Sylhet, 480 in Cachar, and 716 in Goalpara. Their cost was Rs. 2,93,960 for the year, the whole of which was paid by the villagers. 111. The jails in Assam are divided into three jails, large es- tablishments at Gauhati, Tezpur, and Sylhet ; six subsidiary jails, smaller places or con- finement, at Dhubri, Nowgong, Sibsagar, Dibrugarh, Silchar, and Shillong ; and thirteen lock-Kjys, at the headquarters stations of Tura and Kohima, and the subdivisional stations of Goalpara, Barpeta, Mangaldai, Jorhat, Golc4ghat, Lakhimpur, Sundmganj, Karimganj, Habiganj, Maulvi Bazar, and Hailakandi. Besides these, temporary jails are also opened, from time to time as necessary, for the accommodation of prisoners employed upon public works at a distance from the permanent jails. Where a civil medical officer is employed (as is gererally the case at Gauhati, Tezpur, and Sylhet), he is the Superintendent of the Jail. The department is supervised by an Inspector General, who is also Inspector General of Police. The Jail Law of the province is Act XXVI of 1870, which was brought into force in supersession of the Jail Acts, II of 1864 and V of 1865, of the Bengal Council, by Regulation No. II of 1875. I08 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. 111. Section i. The Bengal Jail Manual, consisting of rules and orders issued by cTZ'ral tlie Government and the Inspector General of Jails in that province, Administra- - Iq\\q^^q^ j^ Assam SO far as it does not conflict with the provi- iive oystem and Staff, gions of Act XXYI of 1870. 112. Excise is managed (under the Excise Laws^ of Bengal, which have been extended to Assam) by- Excise, Stamps, Re- ^^^ Commissioner of Excise, an office which giatration. ' is held by the Inspector General of Police and Jails in addition to his other duties. The same officer is also Superintendent of Stamps and Inspector General of j Eegistration, as well as Registrar of Joint Stock Companies under the Companies' Act, and Eegistrar General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages under Act VI of 1886. All Deputy Commissioners are Eegistrars in their respective districts; the Sub-Eegistrars at headquarters are either Extra Assistant Commissioners, who do this work in addition to their other work, or special Sub-Eegistrars (at Sylhet and Silchar) ; at subdivisions either the subdivisional officer, or a second officer (generally an Extra Assistant Com- missioner), if there is one, is Sub-Eegistrar. But in all the sub- divisions of Sylhet there are special Sub-Eegistrars, and at Bala- ganj, Hingajia, and Madhabpur in the same district there are rural Sub-Eegistrars, 113. The Educational Department is supervised by a Director of Public Instruction, who is borne on the Educational Department. t n ,• , r ti i tt • ' ^ i ^ graded hst of iiengal. He is assisted by four Deputy Inspectors (one for the Surma Valley and three for the Brahmaputra Valley, i.e., one each for Upper, Central, and Lower Assam) and 24 Sub-Inspectors, viz., one forjeach [subdivi- sion in the plains districts, with an extra man for Gauhdti, one for the Gdro Hills, and two for the Khdsi and Jaintia Hills. Besides these departmental officers, who directly control the Government hif^h and middle schools and the higher normal school at Gauhdti, all classes of aided schools in the eight plains districts are under the supervision of the several Local Boards estabhshed under the Assam Local Eates Eegulation, 1879. These authorities receive applications and make allotments of grants-in-aid without reference Chap. Ill] FORM OF ADMINISTBATION. IO9 to the Director, but subject to the rules prescribed for such grants. Section i. The aided schools are still generally under the control of the cTZ^al Director of PubHc Instruction, and are, of course, subiect to in- ^!^""''^^i^a- 'J iiije System spection by hnn, the Deputy Inspectors, and the Sub-Inspectors. and staff. 114. The Forest Department is under the control of a Con- Forest Department. ^crvator, who is assisted by a staff of Deputy and Assistant and Extra Assistant Conser- vators. These officers are now borne on a separate Provincial list, and their standing in the department depends on their places in that list. At the time of writing this report, the sanctioned list consists of six Deputy Conservators, three Assistant and three Extra Assistant Conservators, but two of the three appointments of Assistant Conservators are vacant. The remaining ten officers are posted respectively to Lakhim- pur, Sibsagar, and the Naga Hills, Darrang, Nowgong, Kdmriip, and the Khdsi Hills, Goalpdra, the Gdro Hills, Cachar, Sylhet, and the Working Plans Division. 115. The staff of direction of the Public Works Department in Assam consists of a Chief or Superintending ^Public Works Depart. Engineer, who is also Secretary to the Chief Commissioner in that Department, aided by an Assistant Secretary, and, as regards the accounts of Provincial and Imperial works, by an Examiner and the usual staff. Excludincr the above, as also the special establishment sanctioned for the Nichuguard-Manipur road (an Imperial work), the present sanc- tioned scale of executive staff provides seven Executive and five Assistant Engineers. Besides the foregoing, the following special stall is at present employed in the province : — Attached to the Assam- Bengal Eailway, a Consulting Engineer, a Deputy Con- sulting Engineer, and an Examiner of Accounts ; for the Nichu- guard-Manipur road, one Superintendent of Works, two Executive and two Assistant Engineers. 116. The medical institutions of the province are supervised by the Principal Medical Officer, Assam osSi>r' """"' Di«t"«t. ^^°' i" ^'idition to his military duties, is the Sanitary Commissioner of the no ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. 111. Sectio.^ 2, province, and is the Chief Commissioner's adviser on sanitary and Legislative msdical matters generally. Each district has a Civil Surgeon, . utiortty. ^^^ ^^ •\vhom, assisted by an Assistant Surgeon (at Koliima), holds that post in addition to his duties as Regimental Surgeon. The Civil Surgeon of Tezpur, besides holding charge of the jail there, is also Superintendent of the only Lunatic Asylum which the province possesses, and which receives lunatics -from the Assam Valley and Hill districts ; lunatics from the Surma Valley are treated in the Dacca Asylum. The Civil Surgeons of Sylhet and Gauhati are Superintendents of the jails there. The Civil Surgeon of Dhubri is Embarkation Agent for emigrants recruited for the labour districts of the Brahmaputra Valley. A medical officer is stationed at Aijal as Civil Surgeon, North Lushai Hills, and the Eegi- mental Surgeon at Manipur is in civil medical charge of that station, 117. The only Government Chaplain in the province is the Minister of Shillong, who also visits Sylhet, Ecclesiastical officers. ,,. -i r^ ^ - • it--i Dhubri, and Gauhati at intervals during the course of the year. Small allowances are, besides, given to clergy- men provided by the Additional Clergy Society or by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for the spiritual charge of the European population in other districts. These allowances are drawn by ministers stationed at Tezpur, Dibrugarh, and Silchar. 118. The accounts of the province are in charge of a Comp- troller, who is directly subordinate to the Imperial departments financial Department of the Government of lu the province. -l India. The Post Office Department is in charge of a Deputy Postmaster General, and the Telegraph De- partment in that of a Superintendent. These officers, as well as the officers of the Survey Department serving in the province, are not subordinate to the Chief Commissioner. SECTION 2.— LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY. 119. There are three ways in which measures of legislation are brought into force in this province. The Acts of the Governor r. , • ,i ^• ,.^ ^ ^ xi „ General's Council. ni'^t IS the ordinary method, common to the whole of India, of passing Acts in the Coun- cil of the Governor General for making Laws and Eegulations. Chap. III. ] FORM OF ADMINISTRATION. I i i 120. The second is the method of passing Eegulations in Sectiok 2, n 1 ,. 1 00 accordance with the provisions of 33 Vic- Legislative RcRnlatidns under 33 . ■*■ ^*,, ., Victoria, ciiapter 3, sec- toria,Chapter 3, section 1 (an Act to make '''«:>'• tion 1. 1 , , • • p 1 • -r better provision ior making Laws and Eegulations for certain parts of India, and for certain other purposes relating thereto). This Act was, by Eesolutions passed by the Secretary of State for India in. Council, made applicable to the districts of Kamrup, Darrang, Nowgong, Sibsagar, and Lakhimpur, and the Gdro, Khdsi and Jaintia, Ndga Hills, and Cacliar from the 1st January 1873 ; to the district of Goalpara from the 15 til December 1873 ; and to the district of Sylhet from the 1st August 1874. Under its provisions, the Chief Commissioner has power to "propose to the Governor General in Council drafts of any Regulations, together with the reasons for proposing the same, for the peace and government of the territories under his admi- nistration. " Such drafts, when approved by the Governor General in Council, and after they have received the Governor General's assent, are published in the Gazette oj India, and thereupon have the force of law. This method, which was first used in Assam in 1873, on the passing of Regulation Y of that year (the Inner Line Regulation), before the constitution of the Chief Commissionership, has since been frequently resorted to. 121. The third method is to make use of section 5 of Act XIV of 1874 (The Scheduled Districts Act), Extension under section _ ^ '' 5 of the Scheduled Dis- w^hich declares that " the Local Govern- ment, with the previous sanction of the Governor General in Council, may from time to time, by notification in the Gazette of India, and also in the local Gazette (if any), extend to any of the scheduled districts, or to any part of any such district, any enactment which is in force in any part of British India at the date of such extension." By section 6, clause (c), of the same Act, the Chief Commissioner is empowered to direct by what authority any jurisdiction, powers, or duties incident to the operation of any enactment for the time being in force in a scheduled district shall be exercised or performed. Assam is one of the scheduled districts under this Act (Sche- I 12 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. HI- Section 3. diile I, Part X) ; and the Act Tras declared to be in force in the EdZZtion. province by notification on the 7th November 1877. Since that date, numerous Acts in force in other parts of India have, under the powers given by section 5, been brought into force in Assam. DEPARTMENTAL SYSTEMS. SECTION S.—EDUGATION. 122. The inspecting staff of the Educational Department has already been described. It remains to state Divisions of echools. c ^ i • .i i • i r here the system 01 teaching, the kinds of schools, and the manner in which they are supported. In the first place, educational institutions in Assam are divided into those subject to departmental inspection and rules and those not so subject. The former are either Government institutions, or receive some kind of assistance from public money, whether granted direct from Provincial revenues or from Local Punds, and are classified as follows : I. Primary, divided into (a) Lower primary or pdthshdlas, and (b) Upper primary. II. Middle, divided into {a) Vernacular, and (5) English. III. High schools. lY. Training and special. The latter are of two kinds : either wholly unaided and unin- spected, being for the most part religious in their object ; or schools established with a view to eventually obtaining a Govern- ment grant, and carried on entirely on the model of Government schools. The latter differ in no respect, expect in efficiency, from the Government schools which they imitate. The former are chiefly tols^ or Sanskrit schools, where, in addition to religious subjects, books on literature, logic, philosophy, &c., in that lan- guage are read ; and maktabs, Muhammadan schools, where the Koran is learned by rote, and Arabic and Persian reading and writing are taught. In 1887, however, reward rules for tols and maktabs were framed, and schools competing for three rewards are Chap. III.] FORM OF ADMINISTRATION. 113 liable to inspection. The result of this change is a marked Section 3. improvement in the method of teaching, and pupils from tots in Education. Sylhet have of late years competed with success at the Title Exam- inations held in Bengal. In addition to these, there are Khampti Buddhist schools, which are found in every village of that people, where a monk, or hdim, gives instruction to the boys in reading and writing the Shdn language, and teaches them the doctrines of Buddha in that languas^e and Pali. Attendance at school is quite optional, but the boys are kindly treated, and nearly all of them avail themselves of the educational opportunities offered to them. The usual course lasts three years, during which time the boys live in the temple. Some of them ele-^t to remain on when the usual course is finished, and qualify themselves for the priesthood. The boys first learn to write with chalk on a piece of dark stained wood, and when more advanced, they are allowed the use of paper of local manufacture. Arithmetic does not apparently enter into the curriculum. The teacher is remunerated by daily offerings of food, and not by money. 123. The lower primary schools or pcithshdlas Sive institutions , , where an elementary knowledge of the local Primary schools. _ . . vernacular is imparted. Beginning at the beginning, they teach up to a course of study which forms the subject of an examination, called the Primary Scholarship Exam- ination. The subjects of this course are — I. (a) Handwriting and dictation. (b) Easy questions in grammar and explanations from vernacular text-books. II. Arithmetic — the first four rules, simple and compound, after the European method ; practice, simple and com- pound, after the native method ; and mental arithmetic, native and European methods, on above rules. III. Zaminddri and mahajani accounts and simple mensuration after the native method. IV. Sanitary Science. A certain number of primary scholarships, worth Es. 3 a month, and tenable for two years at any school of a higher status Q 114 ASSAM ADMIMSTRATION REPORT. [Chap. III. Section 3. js allotted to each district, and these are awarded to the pupils Education. Tvlio pass best ill the Primary Scholarship Examination. Tlie course in the upper primary schools also works up to a scholarship examination, the amount and conditions of the scho- larship being the same as for the lower primaries. In these schools a slightly higher degree of acquaintance with literature, a- more extensive knowledge of arithmetic, part of Book I of Euclid as well as mensuration, the history of Assam or Bengal (according as the school is in the Assam or the Surma Valley), the geography of the province (with a general knowledge of the four quarters), and the elements of sanitation, are the objects aimed at in the course of study, 124. In Government middle vernacular schools the course of instruction is altoujether in Benc^ali, but in Middle schools. ° . . , aided schools of this class in the Brahma- putra Valley the option is allowed of imparting instruction through the medium of Assamese. The following are the subjects taught : I. Bengali, or Assamese, comprising literature, grammar, and composition. II. History of India — Hindu, Muhammadan, and English periods. III. Geography, a general knowledge of the four quarters, with special knowledge of that of India, and map-drawing. IV. Arithmetic, general bazar, and zaminddri accounts, and mental arithmetic. V. Euclid (Book I), mensuration of plane surfaces and sur- veying. VI. Sanitary Science. The course of study is closed by the Middle Vernacular Scho- larship Examination, the successful candidates in which receive scholarships worth Rs. 4 per mensem, tenable for four years in any school of a higher class. The middle English schools take up the full vernacular course, with English as a second language. The course of instruction is terminated by tlie ]\liddle En 'dish Examination. The value of Chap. Ill ] FORM or ADMINISTRATION. 115 these scholarships is Rs. 5 a month for three years, and they are Section 3. tenable at any high school. Education. There are 2G middle vernacular and 15 middle EnHish scho- o larships for which the candidates at the scholarship examination compete. 125. Under the definition of high schools are included all schools that profess to teach up to the Cal- HJgh schools. cutta University Entrance standard. The course of study here is that prescribed for the University Exam- ination, and needs no further description. Junior scholarships are awarded to students who, after passing the Entrance Exam- ination, go up to study for the F. A. Examination at any college in Bengal. The number of these scholarships is 36 in all, viz., 11 for the Surma Valley, 14 for natives of the Brahmaputra "Valley, 3 for natives of the hill districts, and 8 for other than natives of the Brahmaputra Valley or hill districts reading in high schools in those parts. The monthly value of these scholarships is fixed at Es. 25 for the two best boys, Es. 20 for natives of the Brahmaputra Valley and hill districts, Es. 15 for boys passing in the Surma Valley, and Es. 20, Es. 15, or Es. 10 for boys other than natives who pass from schools in the Brahmaputra Valley and hill districts according as they pass in the first, second, or third division at the Entrance Examination. Junior scholars, who pass the F. A, Ex- amination within two years of matriculating, are awarded senior scholarships of an amount equal to that of the junior scholarship previously granted to them. There is no Government institution in the province which im- parts instruction in the University course beyond the Entrance Examination ; a lower grade college formerly existed in Gauhati, but it was reduced in 1876 to the status of a Government high school, on account of the excessive expense of its maintenance and the small number of students who read at it. It is considered more desirable that the natives of the province (aided, if neces- sary, by scholarships under the scheme mentioned above) should resort to Bengal to prosecute their studies, and thus enlarge their minds by contact with a higher civilisation, than that an Il6 ASSiJM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. III. Section 3. expensive Government college should be maintained for them in Education. Assani. It should, however, be mentioned that a private college teaching up to the F. A. standard was started in the town of Sylhet iu iS92, at which twelve junior scholarships may be held. In all these schools, whether middle or high, it must be understood that the lower classes include mere beginners, and that the courses of study actually pursued by the boys in each kind of schools very largely overlap, 126. The fourth class of schools consists of the training and special schools. The hrst are the normal Training and special ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ training classes in which lads are schools. o taught with a view to becoming teachers. There are fifteen institutions or classes for the training of gurus, or teachers for primary schools, two of which (Gauhati and Shillong) also prepare teachers for middle schools. The second or special schools include an artizan school at Jorliat maintained by a special bequest made by Mr. AVilliamson, a tea-planter in Upper Assam, and some survey schools. The latter are under the control of the Director, Department of Land Eecords and Agriculture. 127. With the exception of a few schools which teach up to the middle standard, female education in Female education. • r^ t 1 Assam is confined to elementary instruction in primary schools. There are pdthslidlas, exclusively for females, managed on the same principle as boys' primary schools, and, in addition, a considerable number of girls read in boys' pdthshalas. The Khasi and Jaintia Hills is the only district in which female education has made any considerable progress. The census re- turns for that district show that, out of every 1,000 females, 13"7 are learning and lO'o are literate, the corresponding figures for the province as a whole being 13 and 2*2 respectively. 128. The only school in the province for the education of Eu- ropeans and Eurasians is the aided school at European and Eurasian Sllillong. The number of SCholarS ill tllis education. , . ^„„ ^„ « , ^-, school m 1892-93 was 23, of whom 11 were boys and 12 were girls. The Government grant-in-aid is Es. 140 per month, and the use of the school house and furniture (which Chap. III.] FORM OF ADMINISTRATION, 117 belong to Government) is allowed at a rent of Es. 50 a montli. A Section 3. mixed school was opened at Ganluiti in 1882 and a boys' school r^, 7. at Shillong in 1883, but neither of these proved a success, and they were closed in 188G. The girls' school which had been started at Shillong in 1881 was closed in 1887 for the same reason. Two scholarships of Ks. 15 a month are given annually to sons of indi- gent European or Eurasian parents who are bond fide residents of Assam. These scholarships are tenable for three years at any Eu- ropean hill school approved by the Director of Public Instruction. 129. Schools .under inspection are, as already stated, divided into (1) Government, the salaries of the Division into Govern- , ment, aided, and unaided teaclicrs bcmg bomc entirely by public funds and the fees credited in the treasury; (2) aided, a fixed contribution being made to meet the expenses of the school; and (3) unaided. The following hst shows how many schools there were of each class in the year 1892-93 ; the three classes of religious unaided schools mentioned in paragraph 120 are not included : Governme't. /ided. Unaided. Class of institution. Nnmbf-r of insti- tutions. Number of pnpils. Number of insti- tutions. Number of pupils. Number of insti- tutions. Number of pupils. ARTS COLLEGES. TTniversity Education— English 1 18 ' For Boys— % High Schools 11 1.991 3 664 5 818 Middle schools i^^^Sular Z 2 15 146 1,195 35 23 2,849 1,701 12 2 931 104 fe For Girls— •5 Middle Schools— Vernacular 2 48 1 Primary Schools— For Boys ... 1,173 32,748 1,026 30,995 150 4,479 „ Girls ... 123 1,711 23 671 27 359 SCHOOLS FOR SPECIAL INSTRUCTION. Pchool Educa- tion, Special. ' Training Schools and Classes ... Law Schools ,., Industrial Schools ... 13 1 230 9 3 134 3 43 ^ Other Schools 1 23 1 23 1 95 Il8 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPOHT. [Chap HI. Sectiox 3. 130. Except in tlie case of high schools, the grants-in-aid for Education. which are now given by the Education De- rrineiplLS of grauts-in- partmeut, all ffrants-in-aid are o-iven from aid. *• ^ ^ ^ ° funds administered by Local Boards and Municipahties, but before making any grant, the local authority must satisfy itself that there is a probability that the school will be kept up, that it meets a recognised want, that the education provided is likely to be good, and that local subscriptions are forthcoming. The principles on which they are awatded are the foUowins : o {!) Middle and Uj)per Primary Schods. {a) The grants must be given on the principle of strict religious neutrality. {b) The schools receiving them must require some fee from their scholars, unless in special cases exemption is recommended by -the Local Board and allowed by the Director of Public Listruction, Assam. (c) Grants to middle schools at sadr and subdivisional head- quarters may not exceed two-thirds of the income expended from private sources ; at other places they may not exceed the total sum so expended. Grants to upper primary schools in Sylhet may not exceed the local income, elsewhere they may not exceed three fifths of the total monthly expenditure ; in no case must the grant exceed Hs. 10 a month. Such schools must have a responsible committee of manage- ment and a Secretary to conduct their correspondence ; they must submit the prescribed returns, and be always open to inspection by the inspecting officers ; and they must keep strict accounts of receipts and disbursements. If the school becomes inefficient, the grant is liable to be reduced or withdrawn. {2) Lower Primary Schools. In these schools the gurus are paid — (a) by a fixed monthly salary combined with rewards for pupils who pass an examination. Chap. Ill] rORM OF ADMINISTRATION. II9 (b) by rewards alone, or Section 3. (c) under special rules. Edition. Under [a) the maximum fixed salary is Es. 48, and the maximum reward at the rate of Es. 48, a year. Under {b) the maximum reward is at the rate .of Es. 96 a year. Under (c) fixed salaries are given not exceeding Ks. G a month for one teacher or Es. 10 for two in the case of girls' schools and schools for backward races. For municipal schools and schools in hill districts, the limit of pay for a teacher is fixed at Es. 10 a month. In addition to the above, small rewards are paid for each pupil passing the Lower Primary Scholarsliip Examination, pro'- vided that the Deputy or Sub-Inspector certifies that the junior classes of the school have not been neglected. 131. In the Giiro, Naga, and Khasi and Jaintia Hills, and among the Kachari population of Darrang Special arrangements and the Mikirs of Nowcroucr, the COUtrol of with missionary bodies. ... o o^ education is in the hands of different mis- sionary bodies, who receive grants from the Local Boards con- cerned (or from Government where there are no Local Boards), and themselves make considerable contributions to the work. The most important of these is the Welsh Mission in the Khdsi and Jaintia Hills, who receive a grant of Es. 6,000 a year from Govern- ment, the Mission themselves contributing (in 1892-93) Es. 29,085 towards primary education. In the Garo Hills the yearly grant to the American Baptist Mission is Es. 2,600, and in Godlpara a grant of Es. 400 is made to the same Mission for the furtherance of education amongst the Gdros resident in that district. In Darrang, the Kachari S. P. G. Mission receive Es. 1,500 a year towards the support of Kachari schools. A grant of Es. 1,500 a year is similarly made to the American Baptist Mission in Now- gong for Mikir schools and of Es. 780 a year to the same Mission at Amguri to assist them in keeping up schools in the Ao Naga country. It has long been recognised that among these primitive races, destitute of any settled form of religion, there is not the same objection to the subsidising of missionary schools by the State as exists in the case of Hindus and Muhammadans. I20 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. .11. Section 4. 132. It only remains to notice the scale of fees levied from the hn>^^7ation piipils attending these different classes of and Labour ' scliools. In primary schools or pdthshdlas Jnspectioii. i. ./ 1 there are no fixed rules for fees ; no pupil is prevented from read- in"" by his inabihty to pay a fee : those who can pay, do so, and those who cannot, do not. Often the fees are given in kind, the gwni being supplied with food and other necessaries by the parents of the pupils. In upper primary schools, the rate of fees varies from one pice in the lowest to four annas in the highest class per month. In middle schools the fees vary in different schools and in different districts : the highest taken are 8 annas in the lowest, and Re. 1 in the highest class ; the lowest 1 anna in the lowest class and 2 annas in the highest. The scale of fees has to be approved, if the school is an aided one, at the time the grant- in-aid is settled. In high schools the fees vary from 12 annas in the lowest to Es. 3 in the highest class. In the normal schools and training' classes, on the other hand, the pupils, instead of paying fees, receive small stipends, generally Rs. 3 or Es. 4 a month. 133 The total expenditure on education in the province (in- cluding the school at Manipur) in schools Total expendituro on i r^ i. • i.- • r education. under (Government inspection varies irom year to year. The following figures are the most recent, viz., those for 1892-93 : Rs. From Provincial ... ... 1,79,506 „ Local Boards' Funds ... 1,01,673 „ Municipal Funds 4,058 „ Fees ... 1,09,420 „ Subscriptions 21,936 „ Endowments and other sources 60,427 Total ... 5,40,020 SECTION 4.— IMMIGRATION AND LABOUR INSPECTION. 134. The principal recruiting areas are either densely inhabited „ ,. p p, . districts, where the means of subsistence are rolicy oi Lrovernment. ' not suflicient for the support of the entire Chap. Ill,] FORM OJ: administration. 12 1 population in tolerable comfort, or such tracts as Choi a Nagpur, Section 4. where, though the population in proportion to the area does not Immigration T 1 1,1 11 • and Labour appear excessive, wages are extremely low, and the labouring inspection. classes are unable, without some relief by emigration, to obtain an adequate livelihood. It has, therefore, been the settled policy of Government to promote emigration from such areas to others enjoying more favourable conditions ; and the importation of coolies to Assam, at the expense of persons interested iu the tea industry, has done much towards opening out and colonising the fertile, but sparsely peopled, districts of Assam. 135. The necessity for legislation on the subject of labour immigration into Assam is of the same charac- tion?^^^^' ^ '^^ ^°'^ ^" ^^^ ^*^' though less in degree than, that which exists in respect of emigration from India to colonies beyond the seas. The classes which furnish emigrants in both cases are extremely ignorant, and the interference of Government is required to secure that they are not imposed upon ; the transport between their homes and the place of labour, not- withstanding the improvements of recent years, is still long and tedious, and supervision is necessary to prevent overcrowding, disease, and consequent mortality ; and under the changed con- ditions of life, and especially of climate and food, which the new country imposes, the immigrant is peculiarly liable to sickness, often fatal in its results, and it is thus needful that the provision of the requisite comforts, medical attendance, and other appliances for his well-being should be enforced by law. Of these reasons, the first is yearly becoming less and less operative, as returned immigrants settle again in their homes, and form a centre of information as to work and residence in the tea districts for their neighbours. It is hoped that the second will also become less cogent as communications continue to improve. On the other hand, some regulation of the contract between the labourer and his employer, and some more effectual means of enforcing it than a civil action, is demanded by justice. It costs a large sum to import a coolie into Assam ; and the provisions for his comfort, which the law requires, are also expensive. The E 122 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. Ill, Se ctio n 4. employer is compelled by law to guarantee to the coolie a minimum Immigration "wage ; and it is only equitable that the law should provide him and Labour . ^ ^ „,.. Inspection, witli tlic meaus 01 oDtamuig the due fulfilment of the contract by the coolie, whose only capital is his labour, and who ought not to be allowed capriciously to withdraw himself from the service of the employer who has paid for his introduction. A penal labour law and Government protection, to the labourer are thus correlative terms ; and both have been provided together in the series of enactments which have from time to time been passed on the subject, and of which a sketch is given in the follow- ing paragraphs. 136. The first of the labour Acts was Act III (B.C.) of 1863. This was an Act to regulate the transport History of legislation q£ native labourers emif^ratincr to Assam, on the subject. 00 ' Cachar, and Sylhet. In 1865, Act VI (B.C.) of that year was passed to provide for the protection of the labour- ers after their arrival in the labour districts and for the enforce- ment of the contracts entered into by them. Act II (B.C.) of 1870 consolidated and amended the law relating to the transport of labourers to the labour districts and their employment therein, and repealed the two previous Acts. Then came Act VII (B.C.) of 1873, which repealed Act II (B.C.) of 1870, and was the labour law of the province for nine years. During the last three years of this period the amendment of the law regulating immigration and the relations between employers and labourers in the tea districts was under discussion. In April 1880, in consequence of a memorial by the Indian Tea Districts Association (an Association formed in London of persons interested in the Indian tea industry), praying that some measures might be taken to improve the position of the tea in- dustry by the amendment of Act VII (B.C.) of 1873, a Commission was appointed to enquire into the working of Act VII (B.C.) of 1873. The opinions of district officers and of the managers of tea gardens consulted by them were laid before the Commission, as' well as the recommendations of the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal and those of the Chief Commissioner, and, after successive Chap, III.] FORM OF ADMINISTRATION. 1 23 meetings, the Commission submitted its fmal report, with a draft Section Bill embodying the amendments proposed in the law, in January r — • "IQQT •' I fit migration ^001. andLabour Inspettion. This draft Bill was eventually passed into law as Act I of 1882. In giving his assent to this Act, the Secretary of State for India desired that at the end of three years he mio-ht receive a special report on the working of the Act, with a view to consider- ing the possibihty of abandoning all exceptional legislation respect- ing contracts of labour in the Indian tea districts. On receipt of the first special report, which was submitted in 1886, the Secretary of State agreed that the time had not yet arrived when special legislation might be abandoned, but added that such legislation should be regarded as temporary only, and desired that a further special report should be submitted after the lapse of another period of three years. This report was submitted in 1890, It was again admitted that exceptional legislation was still necessary, but as experience had shown that Act I of 1882 was defective in certain respects, it was decided to amend it. The draft amending Bill was introduced into Council in January 1893, and was even- tually passed as Act VII of that year. 137. Act YII (B.C.) of 1873 had been passed in the expectation , , ^^^^ that it would give a great impetus to free immi- Object of Act VII . . (B.C.) of 1873 and its gration, and that such immigration would piiccipa provisions. gradually establish itself and eventually render the existence of a special law unnecessary. Among the changes made by the Act which were looked upon as most important, were those by which time-expired labourers were, on re-engagement, freed from the ordinary provisions of the law, and by which a new class of free labourers, those under contract for a term not exceed- ing one year, was recognised. The collection of labourers by means of garden sardars, without the intervention of contractors, was provided for ; and the opportunity was taken, in amending the law, to render more definite than before the provisions regard- ing the closing of gardens declared unfit for the habitation of labourers. 1 24 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION EEPORT. [Chap. Ill* Section 4. 233, The Commissioners appointed to enquire into the working Imi^niion of Act YII (B.C.) of 1873 reported that they luspeaion. Yif (B"c')^of ms'" '^'^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ defective in respect chiefly of the following points : (1) That it did not afford sufficient encouragement to free emi- gration. (2) That it imposed unnecessary restrictions upon sardari recruiting. (3) That it failed to provide for the enforcement of contracts made otherwise than under the provisions of the Act itself, even in the case of imported labourers. (4) That the remedies provided for employers in the event of the unlawful absence, idleness, or desertion of their contract labourers, were insufficient. 139. Act II (B.C.) of 1870 did not recognise free recruiting, but made it penal to engage or convey an Free immigration and immii^rant to the labour districts except in free recruiting. '-' . . , . accordance with its provisions. Act VII (B.C.) of 1873, which repealed the Act of 1870, contained no penal clauses forbidding free recruiting, and section 7 allowed contracts between an intending immigrant and an employer for a term not exceeding one year, although not made under the provisions of the Act. Under the present Act, I of 1882, a labourer may now proceed to the labour districts as a free immigrant, and on arrival he may take work on an ordinary contract not under the Act ; or, having gone to the labour districts as a free immigrant, he may on arrival enter into a contract under the Act ; or, lastly, he may go to the labour districts as an immigrant recruited and registered under the Act, and having executed a contract to labour before arrival in the labour districts. In the ffrst case he is in no way subject to the Act ; in the second case he is subject only to such of its provisions as refer to the carrying out of the labour contract ; and in the third he is completely under the Act from the date of his recruitment until the expiration of his engagement. Chap. 1 1 1. J FORM OF ADMINISTIIATION. I 25 140. As to tlie second point, under the old law a garden Section 4. sardar' s certificate was only allowed to run immT^tion Sardari recruiting. ^^^, ^.^ montlis ; lie was not allowed to travel "I^^'^^^"^^ Inspection. with another garden sardar if the total number of their united band of immigrants exceeded twenty ; and if he recruited more than twenty immigrants himself, he was obliged to take tliem to a con- tractor's depot. Under the present Act, a garden sardar's certi- ficate may be given for a period of one year, and, on the appHcation of the employer by whom the certificate was granted, an Inspector or Magistrate may, without requiring the reappearance of the garden sardar before him, countersign and forward, for delivery to the garden sardar by the Magistrate of the district in which the sardar is employed, a fresh certificate in renewal of a former certificate. All connection between garden sardars and contractors' depots has been severed, and a garden sardar may now recruit anv number of persons. Moreover, the employment of local agents to supervise the operations of garden sardars, or, under special license, to recruit emigrants themselves and despatch them to the labour districts without the assistance of certificated sardars, has been authorised > 141. With respect to the third point, labour contracts could not be made under Act VII (B.C.) of 1873 in a inuteiaLurSictr''"^' labour district. Labour contracts entered into in the tea districts, before the passing of Act I of 1882, were made under the ordinary law. Act XIII of 1859 {an Act to provide for the pimis/unent of breaches of contract bij artificers, workmen, and labourers in certain cases) has been applied, and is still applied, in these districts to locally-made contracts ; but, as was remarked in the Statement of Objects and Eeasons published with the Bill which afterwards became the present Act I of 1882, " its provisions were obviously never intended to meet such cases." Act I of 1882, as originally enacted, permitted local labour contracts to be made in labour districts by any natives of India, whether immigrants to, or residing in, Assam on the same conditions and subject to the same penalties for breach of the conditions, as labour contracts made outside the province by 1 26 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. III. Section 4. intending immigrants. As now amended, tlie Act distinguishes Immigration between contracts made in the presence of a Magistrate or Inspection. Inspector and contracts not so made, and permits contracts of the latter class to be entered into for a term of one year only. 142. With regard to the fourth point as to which the Commis- sion considered that the law was defective, Penalty for unlawful ^^^ present Act provides for a system of absence irom labour. i jr j monthly lists of defaulters from work to be forwarded by the employer to the Inspector, who, on enquiry, may punish any such defaulter by entering the days of absence on his contract and adding them to the term thereof, unless the labourer consents to forfeit to his employer the sum of 4 annas for each day of absence. Prolonged and repeated absence, or desertion, may be punished criminally by the Magistrate as under the former law. 143. The only other points in which the provisions of Act VII (B.C.) of 1873 were ahered by Act I of 1882, T-i^^I^p n*;^^^p"?Q"o'" ^^^ which need be noticed, are the extension of ^ II (B.C.) or lo/3. ' the term, for which a labourer may contract to labour, from three years under the old law to five years under Act I of 1882 as originally enacted, and its subsequent reduction to four years by the recent amending Act ; the provision in the present Act that the maximum annual capitation fee leviable from employers for each labourer on contract under the Act shall not exceed one rupee (one rupee eight annas was the rate levied under the old law) ; and the provisions making it compulsory for all employers to keep up registers and submit returns of vital statistics of the labour force employed by them, whether on contract under the Act or not. 144. Two important changes effected by Act VII of 1893, viz., the reduction of the general term of contract Aa viT of Tsot''^'"^ ^^' to four years, and of local contracts not made in the presence of a Magistrate or Inspector to one year, have already been referred to. Another important feature of the recent enactment is that it recognises what is known as the " Dhubri system. " As already stated, one of the main fea- tures of Act I of 1882 was that, while imposing careful restrictions Chap. III.j pQjjj^ Qj, ADMINISTRATION. 12; on recruitment by contractors and garden sardars, it aimed at Section 4. encouraging and facilitating free emigration. The result was that i>m^ation both contractors and garden sardars evaded the restrictions intend- 7nspeftion ed for them by refusing to register in the district of recruitment, and by bringing their coolies as free labourers to Dhubri and putting them under a local contract there. Although unforeseen, this system has, in practice, been found, on the whole, to work well, and Act yil of 1893 accordingly places it on a legal footino- by bringing contracts so executed within the scope of section 112 of the Act and by empowering the Chief Commissioner to make rules having the force of law for regulating the procedure for the execu- tion of these contracts. The other provisions of the amending Act are framed to prevent and remedy abuses in recruitment, and to strengthen the control of the Local Administration over unhealthy gardens. The cancellation of contracts in certain cases and the repatriation of coolies are provided for in greater detail, and the option of a fine is allowed in some cases in which imprisonment was formerly the only legal penalty. 145. The whole subiect of the Govern- Government supervi- hion of the immigrant mcut supcrvisiou of the immigrant labourer falls into three parts : I. The recruitment of the labourer. II. His journey to the labour districts. III. His status while labouring under contract. The immigrant labour force of the tea gardens of the province is recruited by free immigrants (that is, by immigrants who go to the tea districts without having been registered and without having made contracts under the immigration Law) and by labourers who have been registered and who have executed contracts under Act I of 1882, imported through garden sardars authorised by employers to recruit, or through contractors and recruiters licensed by Government. 146. The extent to which free immigration exists will be apparent from the fact that out of 41,802 adult The free immigrant. immigrants who camc to the tea gardens of 128 ASSAM ad:ministration report. [Chap. ill. Section 4. the province during the year 1892, 13,347, or 311) per cent., were iniT^ation " non-Act " or free. Ten years ago the percentage of free immigrants and Labour | ;|^3.5_ j^-^ ^his respect the reversal of the policy which Inspection. » ^ ± j framed the penal clauses of Act II (B.C. ) of 1870 has been complete. Section 7 of Act I of 1882 provides that nothing in that Act is to be taken to prevent natives of India from emigrating otherwise than under its provisions, and the only restriction is that allowed by section 5, under which power is reserved to Local Governments (with the sanction of the Governor General in Council) to prohibit natives of India, or any specified class of natives, from emigrating from any particular tract to any specified labour district or portion of a labour district. As, however, great sickness and mortality were found to exist amongst these free immigrants, an Act was passed by the Bengal Council in 1889 (No. I of that year), ena- bling the Local Government to exercise control over the routes by which they should travel and to make such sanitary rules as might seem to be needed. Tliis Act was extended to Assam by Notifica- tion No. 1211J., dated the 2nd April 1890 ; and rules under it have been framed for the regulation of the transit of free immigrants to gardens in the Surma Valley, where the mode of travelling very frequently adopted is by country boats carrying less than tT,fenty passengers. In the Brahmaputra Valley the Act is not needed. Almost all the coolies to gardens in that valley travel by steamer ; and as these steamers carry more than twenty passengers, they require to be licensed, and, in accordance with the rules framed under Act I of 1882, they must carry a medical officer and also medical stores and provisions. On board these steamers the free immigrant is subject to the same supervision as the Act labourer. When the transport is by boats carrying less than twenty passengers, which do not require to be licensed under Act I of 1882, the rules framed under Act I (B.C.) of 1889 provide that the supply of food and water shall be similar to that prescribed for licensed vessels, and lay down that not more than one passen<Ter shall be carried for every 5 maunds of the capacity of the boat. They also empower any magistrate to detain any immigrant who is certified by a medical officer to be unfit to proceed on tlie journey. Chap. III.] FORM OF ADMINISTRATION. 1 29 147. Tlie subject of recruitment by garden sardars has Section 4. been noticed above. A garden sardar must immigmtion Recruitment by £rarden vi ^i • i. t • • . ^ and Labour saidars. appear With the intending immigrant -whom inspection. he wishes to en^afTe before the registering officer of the area within which he has been authorised to recruit. Particulars of the intending immigrant are registered by the registering officer, and the labour contract is executed before him. The garden sardar is bound to provide proper food and lodging throughout their journey for the labourers and dependents whom he engages. If the garden sardar's employer has specified in the garden sardar's certificate that he \\ishes a medical examination to be made of labourers engaged, such an examination is required to be made with reference to the labourer's fitness to travel to, and to labour m, the labour district ; or if it appears to the registering officer or to any Magistrate or Embarkation Agent to be necessary that a medical examination should be made of any person about to emigrate under the Act, a medical inspection of the labourer's fitness to travel is made before he is allowed to proceed. It has already been explained that these provisions have to a great extent become a dead letter, and that the general procedure now followed is for the sardars to recruit coolies and bring them as free immigrants to Dhubri or to the garden for which they are recruited, and to place them under the Act at one or other of these places. 148. Contractors and recruiters are licensed by other Govern- ments than that of this province, and their Eecriutment by con- supervision is onlv to a vcrv small degree the tractors and recruiters. ^ J J n care of this Administration. Contractors are bound to establish suitable depots for the reception and lodging of labourers engaged by them or by their .recruiters, previous to their despatch to the labour districts, and they are bound to provide food, clothing, and medical treatment for such labourers during their stay at the depot. An intending immigrant, who is engaged by a contractor or recruiter, must be brought before the registering oft'icer of the area in which he is recruited, and he must also be examined by a s 130 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. Ill, Section 4. medical officer, who niusi certify to liis fitness to travel before lie hnmigration is allowcd to procced. When the labourer reaches the depot, "'inspection. ^16 undergoes another medical examination by the medical inspector of the dejjot, and he executes his labour contract after it has been explained to him by the Superintendent of Emigration. Here also the restrictions imposed by the Act are, as a general rule, avoided by recruiting outside the provisions of the Act and only placing the labourers under contract after their arrival in the labour districts. 149. Practically, the whole of the immigration into the districts of _ the Brahmaputra Valley is by steamer, while Transport. . ^ J J ^ ■> that into the Surma Valley, which was for- merly almost entirely confined to boats, is now divided between boats and steamers in very nearly equal proportions. The provisions of the law with regard to Government supervision of the transport by rivei: steamers and boats and the food and medical comforts which they are required to carry have already been touched on. Licensed vessels containing immigrants are inspected at the port of embarkation, which is generally Dhubri or Goalundo for the Brahmaputra Valley districts, and Goalundo for the Surma Valley districts, by the Embarkation Agent and by a Government medical ofiicer if the Embarkation Agent be not himself a medical officer. They are also inspected by Government officers at all ports touched during the voyage w^here civil officers are stationed. At debar- kation ports, where the number of labourers annually landed is large, there are Government depots under the charge of hospital' assistants, to which all Act labourers and their dependents must go for the purpose of being registered. They are also open to the admission of all free immigrants who choose to avail themselves of their accommodation. Sick persons are, if necessary, detained in the depots for medical treatment. 150. Every employer is bound to provide for the labourers employed on his estate proper house accom- th^gardfn. '^^°"''^'"' '''' modation, water-supply, and sanitary arrange- ments. He must supply Act labourers with rice at a reasonable price, and he must provide hospital accommo- Chap, III.] rOllM OF ADMINISTRATION. I3I Section 4. dation, medicines, and medical attendance. If an estate be - — declared by Government after enquiry to be unfit for tlie residence ami 'Labour of labourers by reason of climate, situation, or condition, labour -^'"/"^^'^^<"'' contract-s to labour on the estate cannot be enforced aiTainst the labourer. 151. The duty of inspecting tea gardens upon which immigrant labourers are employed is performed by In- Inspection of estates. i * • t • pt ^ spectors and Assistant Inspectors 01 Labourers, most of whom are the officers of the Commission, and medical officers. Every garden employing imported Act labourers must be inspected at least once every year, and every garden in which the mortality shown in the return of the last calendar year has exceeded 7 per cent, (the number of deaths having exceeded 9) niust be inspected by the Civil Surgeon of the district. The inspection reports state what house accommodation, water-supply, medical attendance, hospital accommodation, and sanitary arrangements have been provided, and what the food-supply is. They also notice the general treatment and condition of the labourers, and record their vital statistics. In the case of unhealthy gardens a special form of inspection report has been prescribed. 152. Contracts under the Act cannot be made for a term exceed- ing four years, and the minimum monthly wage Labour contracts under i-i i i_'i.-ip • -rt kp Act I of 1882. which can be stipulated tor is ixs. 5 tor a man and Es. 4 for a woman for the first three years of the term of contract, and Es. 6 for a man and Es, 5 for a woman for the fourth year of the term of contract. They must also state the price at which rice is to be supplied to the labourer. Schedules of tasks must be kept by employers, and if found to be unreasonable, may be revised by an Inspector of Labourers. Weakly labourers may be allowed subsistence allowance or diet by order of an Inspector of Labourers, and labourers permanently incapacitated for labour may be released from their contracts by an Inspector. A labourer so released is entitled to receive from his employer such sum, not exceeding three months' wages, as the Inspector may award, or, if the labourer desires to return to his 3ountry, such sum, whether in excess of three months' wages or 132 ASSAM ADMINISTllATION REPORT. [Chap, III. Section 4- j^ot, as will suffice to defray the expenses of the journey. A Immigration labourer may redeem his contract by payment of a sum of Ke. 1 and Labour ici -i • f ^ o x-no Inspection, for evcry month of the unexpired portion of the nrst year, 01 Rs. 6 for every month of the second year, and of Es. 5 for every month of the third and fourth j^ears of the term of contract. A contract may be cancelled if ill-usage by the employer is proved, or if the labourer's wao:es are in arrear for more than four months. When the contracts of husband and wife expire at dillerent times, the Magistrate may equalise the terras of their contracts by adding to the one and deducting from the other in such proportions as may appear to him to be equitable. Labourers who, without reasonable cause, absent themselves from labour during their terms of contract, or who desert, are punishable with fine and imprisonment. In the case of a first conviction for the offence of desertion, the imprison- ment may extend to the term of one month ; for a second conviction the term may extend to two months, and for a third conviction to three months. When a labourer has suflered imprisonment for terms amounting altogether to six months for desertion, his labour contract must be cancelled. 153. The fund raised from fees, fines, and rates levied under the provisions of the Act is called the Inland ^ The Labour Transport Labour Transport Fund. The law directs that the fund so raised in a province shall be at the disposal of the Local Government, who must apply it, under the control of the Government of India, for defraying the expenses of carrying out the purposes of the Act, including the cost of sending labourers and other persons back to their native districts. The income of the fund in the year 1892-93 amounted to Es. 78,763-100, of which Es. 64,043-4-6 were raised in Assam and Es. 14,720-0 6 in Bengal. The expenditure during the same year amounted to Es. 71,994-2-7, of wJiicli the Assam share was Es. 47,682-7-10. The principal local heads of receipts were Capitation fees under section 109 (now levied at the rate of 8 annas per head) Es. 54,975-3-0, Depot receipts Es. 5,460-2-9, and Contractors' license fees Es. 3,148. The heaviest items on the other Chap. III.] FOEM OF ADMINISTRATION. ^33 side of the account were Depot charges Es. 8,680-10-4, Supphes Sections. and Services Rs. 8,625-9-4, Clerks and servants Us'. 8,453-10-8, p^v Inspectors, Embarkation Agents, etc.. Us. 5,782-6-1, Grants to ^^°''^^' dispensaries Es. 5,530, TraveUing allowances Es. 5,081-1-0, and Miscellaneous Rs. 3,774-15-10. In addition to the above, Es. 9,591-5-3 were transferred to the Bengal portion of the fund, which showed a deficit to that extent. SECTION 5.— PUBLIC WORKS. 154. For the more efficient administration of the Public Works Department in Assam, it was found necessary, OrganisatiDn of the „ , , -fo/>r> i /^ • • department. ^s tar bacK as Ibbb, to vest the Commissioner with the powers of a Local Administration, subordinate to the Government of Bengal. But his authority to sanction expenditure was then limited to works the cost of which did not exceed Es. 5,000. The Superintending Engineer was at the same time invested locally with the powers of a Chief Engineer, and was appointed Secretary to the Commissioner in the Public Works Department. On the formation of the Chief Commissioner- ship, therefore, the organisation of the Public Works Department was already in some measure adapted for a separate Administration. The transfer of Sylhet and Cachar to Assam added an executive charge to [the three already existing in the Brahmaputra Valley ; and a fifth was created on the transfer of the headquarters of the Administration to Shillong, when important public works in the public buildings which had to be erected, and the roads which had to be made, were thereby rendered necessary. Until the end of the official year 1881-82, the organisation of the Public Works Department in the province underwent little change. The districts of Sylhet and Cachar constituted the Sylhet Division ; Godlpdra, the Gdro Hills,* and a portion of Kdmrup the Lower Assam Division ; the remainder of Kdmrup with the Khdsi Hills the Shillong Division ; Darrang, Nowgong, and part of Sibsdgar the Central Assam Division ; and Lakhimpur and the remainder of * In the Gaio Ilills, public works are directly under the Deputy Commissioner, who is assisted in carrying them out by an upper subordinate of the Public Works Department. 134 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap, III, Sections, gibg^aar the Upper Assam Division. After the close of the Naga Public Hills expedition of 1879-80, these hills were made into a separate division. In 1882 the Public Works executive divisions were made conterminous with the civil districts of the province, and the Eno-ineer establishment was increased accordingly. These changes were synchronous in their effect with a large transfer to the charge of Local Boards of works which had theretofore been classed as Provincial ; and it was at the same time ruled that the officers of the Public Works Department in each district were not only responsible for the due execution of Imperial and Provincial Works, but were also (except in the hill districts, where Local Boards do not exist) to act as assistants to the Chairmen of Local Boards for carrying out works under the Local Boards' control. It will be explained in the next section that many of the works made over to Local Boards in 1882 were afterwards found to be less effectively administered than they were when classed as Provincial, and that they were consequently again made over to the direct control of the Pubhc Works Department. Experience also showed that the position assigned to Executive Engineers in the arrano-ements of 1882 was not altogether satisfactory. It was therefore decided to sever their connection with local works, except as regards works definitely made over to them for execution by the Boards and the duty of assisting the Boards with their advice on professional matters when called upon to do so ; and as the sphere of their duties was thus considerably restricted, it was decided to revert in part to the distribution of Public Works charges which obtained prior to 1882. Kdmrup and Goalpiira were combined into one charge under the name of the Lower Assam Division, and Darrang and Nowgong were amalgamated to form the Central Assam Division. The other districts remained, as previously, in charge of separate Engineers, These orders took effect in 1889-90. The only changes that have since been made are the for- mation of a new division in the North Lushai Hills, and the temporary appointment of a special officer, as Superintendent of Works, with a sanctioned staff of Executive and Assistant Chap. III.] FORM OF ADMINISTRATION. 135 Roads. District. Imperial roads. Provincial roads. Local roads. Metalled. Unmetalled. Metalled. Unmetalled. Metalled. Unmetalled. Cachar Sylhct Lower Assam Central „ Sibsdgar .. Lakhimpnr Kh4si and Jaintia Hills KAga Hills G4ro „ Nlchugnard-Manipur Road Circle North Lushai Hills . . Miles. H 3| Miles. i 63 H 7Ci 165 Miles, 6 Miles. 144 97 448 293 174 205 382f 193| 125 Miles. Mil^ U 5i 6- 8' 4 32J s. 8 li 81 9 Total lU snj 112 2,1 683^ 3,0991=5^ From an administrative standpoint, the most important roads are the new mihtary road from Golaghat to Manipur, the Assam Public Works. Engineers, to supervise the construction of the Kohima-Manipur Section 5. road. 155. The facilities for communication by water which are pro- vided by the river system of the Brahma- putra and Surma Valleys have been already alluded to. Communication by land is less easy. When the British occupied the province, roads were practically unknown, for, although the remains of ancient embankments (chief amongst which is the Gosain Kamala Ali, which stretches from Eangpur to Sadiya) bear witness to the existence of numerous roads at some period of the past, the anarchy which preceded the annexa- tion of the country by the Company had been so great and so prolonged, that they had been allowed to fall into utter disrepair, and were of little or no use to travellers. During the early period of British rule very little was done to improve matters ; but since 1861 a more active policy has found favour, and considerable sums are now spent annually on the construction of new roads and the maintenance of those already in existence. The mileage under roads in each district of the province is detailed below : Works. 136 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. HU Section 5. Trunk road, and the hill road which connects Shillong, the head- Pubiic quarters of the z\dministration, with the Brahmaputra at Gauhati. For local requirements, the short feeder roads, which connect the centres of trade in the interior with the muJchs or stations at which the river steamers stop, are by far the most useful. A notable feature in the statement given above is the very small proportion of metalled as compared with unmetalled roads. Two reasons may be given to account for this, firstly, that the requirements of the province in the matter of communica- tions are still so great that many more miles of road must be constructed before any large amount of money can be spared for improving those already in existence ; and, secondly, that the soil is alluvial, and stones for metalling would consequently have, as a rule, to be brought from distances so great as to make the cost involved in doing so prohibitive. The fact that in some parts, particularly in the Surma Valle}", communication by water com- petes with communication by road during the rainy season is, another reason why less money is expended on roads in these tracts than would otherwise be necessary. 156. Owing partly to the excellent water carriage available and partly to the backward nature of the Railways. . . , country, railway enterprise has not hitherto made much progress. But signs of a new condition of things are not wanting. Within the last ten years three small lines have been constructed, viz., the Dibrugarh-Sadiya Eailway (77'5 miles) in Lakhimpur, the Jorhdt-Kokilamukh line (28'40 miles) in Sibsagar, and the Theria-Companyganj line (8| miles) in Sylliet. Of these, the firstmentioned was constructed by the Assam Eailways and Trading Company with a State guarantee ; the other two are purely State Eailways, constructed by Government without the intervention of private capitalists. An attempt to extend the last- mentioned line from Theriaghat at the foot of the Shillong plateau to Cherrapunji at its summit, by means of a series of inclines, was unsuccessful ; but the plains portion is still worked. It more than pays for the cost of its upkeej), aud it is not unlikely that it will, sooner or later, be extended to Chhatak on the Surma river. Chap. 111.] rOHM OF ADMINISTRATION. 1,37 But the most important railway project which Assam has yet Section 5. seen still remains to be mentioned. Between the 3'ears 1882 and ^"^^/'^ ^ ^ . Works. 1886, a railway survey party was engaged in Assam in making a survey with a view to laying down a line connecting this province with Bengal. The route followed by this survey runs from Chittagong through the south of the Sylhet district to Badar- pur in Cachar, thence througli the North Cachar Hills to Lumding, near Dimapur, and from Lumding, via Golaghat, to Dibrugarh, with a branch line from Lumding to Grauhati.* A survey of the country between Gauhati and Dhubri had been carried out some years previously, when the Eastern Bengal State Railway was under construction. It was lono^ a matter of discussioiL whether greater advantages might be expected to ensue from a railway along the route surve3"ed in 1882-1886, or from a line running laterally along the Brahmaputra Valley between Dibrugarh and a point on the Eastern Bengal State Railway, thus connecting the whole of the northern portion of the province with the existing railway system of Bengal. For some years no practical result supervened, as want of funds prevented the construction of a line at the expense of the State, and negotiations with private capital- ists were not successful. During the year 1891-92, however, a company was at last formed to construct a railway along the former of the two routes described above, subject to a guarantee by the State, and work was commenced in November 1891. It is hoped that the line, when finished, will be the means of largely opening out the province ; but, as some years must elapse before the construction of the railway can be completed, speculation as to the consequences which may be expected to result from it would be premature. 157. The annual assignment to the province for Imperial Public _ . , TTT , Works varies from year to year, the o'rant Imperial Works. . / ./ ' ^ o being fixed according to the requirements * A line between Mymensinf^h and GaubAti throiigb tbo Garo Hills was also surveyed, and found to be practicable for a railway, but at a cost so great as to be prohibitive. 138 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. 111. Section 6. of the time. The grants for the last three years, together with the Local Self- expenditure, are shown below : Government Imperial (utlay. 1890-91. 1891-92. 189 2-93. Finnl grant. Expendi- ture. Final grant. E.xppndi- ture. Final grant. 1,08,400 8,41,2j0 Expendi- ture. Military Works Civil Rs. 2,07,600 17,100 Rs. 2.09,586 16,064 Rs. 1,04,100 3,47,700 Rs. 99,536 3,23,594 Rs. 96.541 7,74,736 Total 2,24,700 2,25,650 4,51,800 4,23,130 9,49,600 8,71,277 158. The Provincial assignment for Public Works is fixed annually by the Chief Commissioner. The grants for the years 1890-91, 1891-92, and 1892-93, as compared with the expenditure, Provincial Works. Public are given below 1890-91. 1891-92. 1892-9.S. Final grant. Expendi- ture. Final grant. Expendi- ture. Fir.al grant. Expendi- ture. Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. Civil Works . . 12,16.000 11,43.705 11.38.000 10,49,895 13,76,000 13.01,03) Jorhat State Eailway, Capital 15,000 11,871 4,000 2.725 So.OqO 37,319 Cherra-Comranyganj State Railway, Capital. 4.670 4,042 —400 23 6,000 4,46* Jorhat State Railway, Revenue 57.000 67.971 60.n00 60,908 60,000 64,950 Cherra-Companyganj State Railway, Revenue. 19,000 19.171 19,500 19,093 17,000 17,503 Subsidised Railways 1.01,000 1,01,130 1.01,000 1,00,700 1,01,000 1,00,404 Total 14,12,670 13,37,890 13,22,100 12,33,311 15,90,000 15,15,664 This is exclusive of expenditure on public works by Local Boards, figures for which will be found in the next section. SECTION 6.— LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT. 159. Besides the agency of Government officers, much assist- ance is given to the administration of the pro- Assain^ ^^'^^ '" viucc by local bodics, who administer funds raised under special enactments or placed at Chap. III.] FORM OF ADiMINISTRATION. 1 39 their disposal by tlie Chief Commissioner. These are either muni- Section 6. cipahties for town areas, or Local Boards for the district at LocaTself- laro"e Government. 160. The municipalities are the older institutions. Under this general name are included — (1) Munici- Miniicipalities. ,. . ^ „ ^ ,^. ^ palities properly so called ; (2) Stations, whose administration is less independent than that of the first named ; and {3) Unions, or towns where a rate is assessed by a panchayat for the purpose of providing funds for local improvements- Of these, Sylhet, Gauhati, and Dibrugarh are municipalities under Act III (B C.) of 1884 ; the others are all constituted under the provisions of Act V (B.C.) of 1876 ; Silchar, Dhubri, Goalpara, and Barpeta being second-class Municipalities ; Shillong and Sibsdgar, Stations ; and Habiganj, Jorhat, and Golaghat, Unions. In the municipalities of Sylhet, Gauhati, and Dibrugarh the elective system is in full force, and rules for the conduct of elections have been framed under section 15 of Act III (B.C.) of 1884. A system of election has also been introduced, at the instance of the ratepayers, for the choice of members to sit on the Committees at GotUpdra and Silchar. The official members of all municipal institutions are very few in number ; and although the Chairmen are officials in all cases except that of the Sylhet Municipality, the Vice- Chairmen are usually non-officials. 161. These bodies derive their income partly from taxation and partly from other sources. The taxation Municipal income. ^ , ^ . ..,., . ^ • n • i c levied m municipalities is cliieny m the term of a tax on persons or buildings, a latrine tax, and a water-rate (in Gauhdti) ; in stations the taxation is a house assessment, and in unions a chaukidari tax. Other small items of taxation are taxes on animals and wheeled vehicles. These taxes are levied under the provisions of the Act under which each municipality, etc., is constituted. No octroi or other duties are taken anywhere in the province. Of the other sources of income, the most important are the receipts from ferries [levied under the provisions of sections 148-156 of Act III (B.C.) of 1884, or sections 1S9-147 of Act V 140 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. 111. Sectiox 6. (B.C.) (f 1S7G, as the case may be] from municipal pounds, tlie Local Self- Incouie fi'om municipal markets, and the assignments from Provin- Government. ^-^^ ^^_^j Local Funds enjoyed by several municipahties. The last item consists of grants made in commutation of the land revenue of the town areas, which in the early days of tlie province was allowed to be appropriated to the improvement of the towns. In 1892-93, municipalities enjoyed an income of Es. 1,76,511-2-0, of which Es. 8,728-9-0 were derived from taxation and Es. 89,221-9 from other sources. The total expenditure during the same year amounted to Es. 1,52,916-3. Some account of the working of municipal bodies will be found in Part II 13 of the General Adminis- tration Eeport, Chapter III, Section 8. 162. The Local Boards are constituted under the Assam Local Eates Eegulation, 1879. They exist in the Local Boards. ^-^^^^ plains districts only, the hill districts not being sufhciently advanced to admit of their establishment. By the ?iegulation a rate may be levied of one anna on every rupee of annual value of the land in these eight districts, and the rate so levied forms the chief item in the income of the Local Boards. Prior to May 1882, these Boards were charged with the administra- tion of primary education, the district post, and repairs of district roads and general improvements, the funds to meet these heads of expenditure being provided from five-eighths of the local rate, ferries (excluding a few retained as Provincial), rents, and other miscellaneous items of income, and the surplus receipts from pounds. In 1882, the functions of the District Committees were enlarged by the transfer to their control of grants-in-aid to all schools except high schools, grants to dispensaries, fairs, rewards for the destruction of wild beasts, the cost of the establishments for collecting the local rate, circuit-houses and staging bungalows, grants to municipahties, and almost all the pubhc works thereto- fore classed as Provincial. To meet these charges, the Provincial grants, previously allotted for them, were made over to the Local Boards, tosfether with the three-fifths d the local rate which had formerly been credited to provincial funds. The Chap. III.] FORM OF ADMINISTEATION. I4I Public Works establishments were transferred to " Local," and Section 6. so also were most of the Sub-Inspectors of Schools in plains ^^^^^ ^^^-_ districts. Government. The effect of these orders was to place under Local Boards the entire control of all local expenditure, except that immediately connected with the administration of the province. It was soon seen that the change was too radical, and the policy of subsequent years up till 1890 Avas to reduce in some degree the too extended functions of the Boards by withdrawing from their control the management of matters of Provincial, rather than of strictly Local, interest. In the first place (in 1884), the charges on account of the professional establishment of Executive and Assistant Engineers and such of their subordinate officers as were borne on the list of the Public Works Department, were retransferred to the Provincial budget. At the same time the construction and repairs of treasuries, jails, circuit-houses, churches, cemeteries, floating dak bungalows, and cutcherries at headquarters stations were again classed as Provincial works. Three years later the construction and repairs of similar buildings at subdivisions were made a Provincial charge, and so also were dak bungalows (as distinguished from rest-houses) and grants to municipalities. In the same j^ear, the Sub-Inspectors of Schools, who had been made Local in 1882, were again brought on to the Provincial list. Finally, in 1890, the principle that Local Boards should deal only with matters of purely local interest was extended to that portion of Public Works which comes under the denomination of " Communications." Trunk roads and their feeder lines connecting them with the steamer ghats and with sub- divisional stations, together with all ferries and rest-houses on such roads, were made Provincial. All roads not included in the above category continued to be " Local," as theretofore ; and as these were of purely local importance, far greater independence was conferred on Local Boards in respect to their management than had been found possible when the Boards were entrusted with the upkeep of roads, the importance of which was not confined to the area administered by any particular Board. 142 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPOUT. [Chap. 111. Sectiox 6. At the same time, the opportunity was taken to introduce Local Self- gi'eater continuity in the administration of Local Funds, by allot- Goveynment. |-jj^g |q g^^^|-^ Board Provincial grants fixed for a term of years, instead of an annually varying amount. On the expiry of the term for which these grants had been made (in 1893), the wants of each Board were carefully considered and new grants were allotted ; but, instead of these grants being absolutely fixed, it was arranged that they should be increased annually by 2 per cent, in order to meet o-rowinf^ wants. Tliis arrans^ement will continue in force until 1898, when the amount of the different grants will again be revised and a fresh allotment will be made. The total income of Local Boards in 1892-93 was Rs. 11,57,920, of which Hs. 7,15,184 represent the receipts from local sources of income, and Rs. 1,89,783 the Provincial grants. The expenditure in the same year amounted to Rs. 9,02,146, of which Rs. 6,13,235 represent the expenditure on local public works. In the following statement the expenditure by the Local Boards on public works for the past three years is shown : 1890-91. 1891-92. 1S92-93. Local Fund outlay. Final grant. Expendi- ture. Final grant. Expendi- ture. Final grant. Expendi- tnre. Original Works — Civil Buildings Communications Miscellaneous Public Improvf- meuts Rs. 2,800 2,23,900 62,000 Rs. 3,191 1,78,348 32,413 Rs. 2,005 2,51,053 43,310 Rs. 1,113 2,10,171 30,4-22 Rs. 1,040 3,10,300 45,195 Rs. 1,066 2,97,681 34,688 Total .. 2,78,700 l.GOO 2,21,900 12,500 2,30,000 4,500 47,800 2,13,952 2,96,368 2,41,736 3,56,535 3,33,435 Repairs — Civil Buildings Communications Miscellaneous Public Improve- ments . . 1,3G0 2,00,71 G 12,357 1,727 2,16,625 18,157 1,529 2,13,272 1G,564 2,33:) 2,23,393 19,6G8 2,238 2,17,171 14,537 Total 2,14,433 2,36,509 2,31,366 2,45,391 2,33,946 Tools and Plant, Establishment Suspense 3,439 42,23S 2,23 » 49,893 45,945 49,0 74 45,864 Grand total 6,S7,000 4,74,062 6,85,000 6,19,046 6,61,000 6,13,236 Chap. I IK] FORM OF ADMINISTRATION. 1 43 163. Prior to 1882 tlie administration of Local Funds within Section 6. a district had been vested in a District Com- ucai Seif- Constitution of Boards. i, T ^ l. i -^f Government. mittee, with subordniate branch committees in each subdivision. In that year the subdivision was made the unit of administration for Local Boards, each Board being entirely self-contained and independent. At the same time an attempt was made to introduce the elective principle for the selection of mem- bers, instead of the system of nomination which had previously been followed. It was decided that election should be the normal mode of appointment of representatives of the tea interest, who were to form half the non-official strength of all Boards in districts where that interest was important. An attempt was also made to select, by means of election, the representatives of the native community in Kdmriip, Sibsrigar, and Sylhet; but the success met with in these districts has not been such as to encourage the extension of the elective system to the other districts in which there are Local Boards. In the latter, therefore, the native members are still appointed by the Chief Commissioner on the recommendation of the Deputy Commissioner. Non-official members, whether elected or nominated, hold office for two years. Concurrently with the above changes, the number of officials on the committees was reduced considerably, and there are now on the average only three or four official members of each Board. The Chairmen are still, in all cases, officials, it being considered that for the present their guidance and supervision can most profitably be exercised from within, rather than from without, the Boards; but, although they preside at the Board meetings and are the executive officers of the committees, they have no vote, except a casting one when members are equally divided. 164. Local Boards are required to meet not less than four times a vear for the purpose of transacting]^ such Procedure. '' , ^ , , . ^ , . , -, , . business as may be laid before them by their executive officers, the Chairmen. For the more important branches of their administration (public works, education, and medical and sanitation), sub-committees are appointed, who are supposed to 144 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT, [Chap. Ul. Section 7. meet moiitlily and to refer important matters for the consideration Finance, of the full Board. One of the most important duties of the Boards is the prepara- tion of the annual budget, which is submitted in October. The works are entered therein in the order of their importance, but no work can be entered until the administrative sanction of the Chief Commissioner has been accorded to it. Formerly, the Executive Engineer was the servant of the Board, and was responsible for carrying out its undertakings. But this arrangement was not altogether satisfactory, and in 1890, when the separation of Provincial from Local works was effected, the opportunity was taken to place the relations between the Boards on the one side, and the officers of the Public Works Department on the other, on a more definite basis. Greater in- dependence was given to the Boards as regards the selection of the agency for the execution of works not requiring professional skill ; but it was ruled that when a work was once made over to the Executive Engineer, he was to be allowed to carry it out in his own way, subject to the necessity of furnishing the Board with information regarding its progress, and of taking up each work in the order of importance indicated by the Board. It was proposed to make over a subordinate officer of tlie Public Works Department to each Board for the supervision of such works as it might decide to execute without the aid of the Executive Engineer ; but it was sub- sequently found that the Provincial establishment was not large enough to provide every Board with such an officer, and it was therefore decided (in 1892) that each Board should engage and pay for its own staff. It was afterwards ruled that all appointments to the engineering staff require the sanction of the Chief Commissioner, and a fixed scale was laid down showing the maximum scale of establishment permissible for each Board. SECTION 7.— FINANCE. 165. The year 1892-93 was the first of a new contract between the Provincial and Imperial Governments. 'rovincial contract. ^ , The province was formed in 1874, and it Chap. Ill.l FOUM OF ADMINISTRATION. I45 will be convenient to divide the period from that year to the year Sectiox;. under review into four sections corresponding with the terms of Finance. the different contracts, viz., (1) from 1874 to March 1878, (2) from 1878-79 to 1881-82, (3) from 1882-83 to 1886-87, and (4) from 1887-88 to 1891-92. (1) When the province w^as formed, in 1874, it took over its proportional share of the then subsisting Provincial contract of Bengal, the principle of which was that certain heads of expendi- ture were handed over to the control of the Local Government, together with the resources for meeting them, consisting partly of the receipts under the same heads and partly of a fixed consoli- dated allotment from the Imperial revenues. Any deficit w^as to be made good by the Local Government, and any surplus was to be applied to Provincial purposes. (2) From the beginning of 1878-79 a second contract was made upon a more extended basis. Certain heads of revenue w^ere handed over, with their charges, completely to the control of the Local Administration, and the principle was introduced of Provin- cial responsibility for works undertaken for Local and Provincial purposes. Under this arrancjement, the province received the whole revenues from Excise, Provincial Plates, Stamps, Eegistra- tion, Law and Justice, Police, Education, and a few minor heads, together with 20 per cent, of the Land He venue, and undertook the whole responsibility for the charges of these departments, besides those for Administration and Provincial Public Works. (3) The principle of the contract of 1882-83 differed from that of the previous one, chiefly in the following points : — Instead of Provincial revenues taking the whole receipts and charges under certain heads, these were equally divided between Imperial and Provincial. The only heads formerly Provincial which remained so were Provincial Eates, Post Office {i.e., the District Post only), Law and Justice, Police, Education, Medical, Stationery and Print- ing ; the revenue yielding Departments of Excise, Stamps, and Eegistration, formerly entirely Provincial, were shared equally between Provincial and Imperial both under receipts and charges ; and Forests, formerly entirely Imperial, was added to the shared u H6 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION EEPORT. [Chap. HI. ECTioN 7 heads. As this left the province in deficit, an equiUbrium was Finance, re-estabhshed by allotting to Provincial Funds, in addition to the above resources, a fixed percentage of the Land Eevenue sufficient, in the year of contract, to adjust the account. This proportion was a little over 63 per cent. Land Eevenue charges were shared m the same proportion as receipts. There remained wholly Ln- perial only Opium (cost price) and some small miscellaneous receipts* and, under charges, Interest, Assignments, and Compensation, the Offices of Account, Ecclesiastical and Political charges, a few other miscellaneous heads, and Imperial Public Works. (4) The year 1887-88 was the first of a new quinquennial con- tract. This contract differed from the last in several respects, principally as regards revenue. These differences were: — (1) The grant to the Local Administration of the whole of the Land Revenue, instead of only a percentao-e, as in the last contract, subject to the contribution of a certain fixed sum to Imperial revenues, so that the Local Administration enjoyed the whole of any increase in the land revenue of the province during the cur- rency of the contract ; (2) the percentages of the Stamps and Excise revenues made over for Provincial uses were 75 and 25, respective!}^, instead of 50 in the last contract ; (3) the grant of a moiety of the revenue from Assessed Taxes for Provincial uses, whereas in the last contract the revenue from this source was reserved for Imperial purposes. Under the expenditure heads, the charges on account of " Survey and settlement " and " Charges on account of land revenue collections " (two heads of account subordinate to the general head of Land Revenue) and those on account of Stamps and Excise were shared between the Imperial and the Provincial Governments to the same extent as the revenues were shared. This was also the principle in the last contract, but ' the percentages were not the same. A moiety of the expenditure upon " Assessed Taxes " now became a Provincial charge, and tlie political expenditure in the province, which was formerly an Imperial charge, was transferred to the Provincial side of the account. The new contract provided for a scale of expenditure amounting to Rs. 49,08,572, and the revenues and receipts made Chap. III.J FORM OF ADMINISTRATION. I47 over to the Provincial Government were estimated to cover tins Section 7. expenditure exactly. In the previous contract the revenues and Finance. receipts made over to Provincial uses were estimated to exceed the scale of expenditure provided for in the contract by Rs. 1,09,000. This contract expired on the 31st March 1892. During its currency several alterations were made, which affected the distri- bution of revenue and expenditure between Imperial and Provin- cial, the principal of which were that Marine and Political charges were transferred from the Imperial to the Provincial budget ; that Imperial made a grant to the province of Rs. 1,82,500 on account of Capital expenditure on the Cherra-Companyganj and Jorhat State Railways ; and that Assam made a special contribution to Imperial of one lakh of rupees out of the seventy-four lakhs which the Imperial Government demanded from Provincial Administrations. The contract was also considerably affected by the grant to Provincial revenues of the amount of extra expenditure incurred by Assam owing to the Lusliai outbreaks of 1890 and 1891. The progress of the revenue and expenditure of the province during the period of this contract was shown in considerable detail on pages 119-124 of the Provincial General Administration Report for 1891-92, and may be thus summarised : The contract provided for an annual expenditure of Rs. 47,40,000, or a total for the five years of Rs. 2,37,00,000, and revenue sufficient to meet that sum was provided in the contract, the estimated annual excess, Rs. 13,12,000, being treated as a contri- bution from Provincial to Imperial. The actual Provincial receipts during the five years aggregated Rs. 2,62,40,000, or an excess over the contract of Rs. 25,40,000. The expenditure exceeded the con- tract allotment by Rs. 18,65,000. The Provincial opening balance on the 1st April 1887 was Rs. 6,84,000, and at the close of the contract, on the 31st March 1892, the balance was Rs. 13,59,000. The total Civil Receipts surplus over the contract was Rs. 15,96,000, mainly due to increase in the Land Revenue (lis. 12,50,000) and in Forest Receipts (Rs. 2,81,000). The receipts under Jails and Police at no time came near the contract estimate^ The increase in Civil expenditure under the heads included in Finance. 148 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. III. c direct demands on the revenue was almost entirely in the Forest bECTlON 7. '' expenditure. The cost of the Civil Departments was Es. 8,99,000 more than the contract allotment, but much of this was due to the transfer of Marine and Political expenditure to Provincial, and to extra expenditure in the North Lushai Hills, all of which was met by a corresponding reduction in the contribution made to Imperial by Provincial. A satisfactory feature in the finance of the province during this period was the continually decreasing cost of collecting the land revenue, due to the gradual substitution of tahsilddrs, as revenue collecting agents, for the mauzadars, who were paid by commis- sion on the amounts of their collections. The amount spent on Public Works out of the profits that accrued to the Local Administration on the terms of the contract, ?'.£?,, in addition to the contract allotment, was Es. 8,01,000. This contract came to an end on the 31st March 1892. In the estimates for the new contract, the expenditure, which was based on the revised estimates of 1891-92, was taken at Es. 52^80,000 ; and as the receipts worked out to Es. 54,53,000, the Government of India proposed to resume the difference of Es. 1,73,000 per annum. Subsequently, however, it was decided not to resume this surplus, but to leave the province in the same financial position as under the contract which came to an end on the 31st March 1892. The following figures were, therefore, adopted: Rs. Revenue, excluding adjustments -•• ... 65^36,000 Adjustments through the Land lievenue head ... 10,83,000 Total Provincial Revenue ... ... ... 54,53,000 Total Provincial Expenditure ... ... 54,53,000 The main features of the new contract were (1) that all interpro- vincial adjustments ceased ; the charges paid by other provinces on account of Assam, and vice versd, were taken into account in fixing the expenditure, and it was decided that such charges as had been paid during the previous contract by one province on account of Chap. HI] FORM OF ADMINISTRATION. 149 the other should continue to be so paid, but that no claim should Section 7. be made by either province for reimbursement; (2) the whole of Finance. the Land Eevenue receipts were allowed to remain Provincial, subject to a lump adjustment in favour of Imperial revenues ; (3) certain changes of classification were made, as shown below, which slightly altered the figures adopted at first for the contract ; (4) the new contract was a consolidated one, and not a collection of separate contracts for each Provincial head, and therefore no separate amounts were stated for each head of Provincial revenue and expenditure. The lump contribution to Imperial was finally fixed at Es. 11,27,000, thus : Rs. Expenditure ... ... ... ... 54,53,000 Compensation to Provincial for change of classifi- cation of charges of the office of the Inspector General of Police, &c., formerly charged to divided heads, but now to be charged to General Adminis- tration, a head wholly Provincial ... ... + 4,000 Compensation to Imperial for Comptroller's office Provincial establishment now to be made Imperial — 5,000 Ctmpensation to Imperial for charge of plain paper used with court-fee stamps to the divided head " Stamps," instead of to'the wholly Provincial head "Stationery and Printing" ... ... — 2,000 P eduction of charges formerly debited inter-provin- cially to Assam, now to be borne by other provinces — 41,000 Expenditure thus revised ... ... ... 54,09,000 Kevenue ... ... ... ... 65,36,000 Contribution, Provincial to Imperial ... 11,27,000 Subsequently, a question arose as to the claim to the increase in Land Kevenue, not estimated for in the contract, due to the re-assessment of the Assam Valley districts, amounting to Es. 150 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. III. Section 7. 7,59,000 a year. In settling this question, the terms of the Finance. Contract under which a certain sum was allotted for expenditure in the Lushai Hills were also amended. The actual amount of the expenditure in 1891-92 was taken as the assignment in the contract for Lushai charges, viz.., Pis. 3,56,000 per annum, and it was settled that, to meet any excess over that amount of the charges in the portion of the Lushai country now under the control of the Chief Commissioner of Assam, an equivalent portion of the excess of Land Eevenue over the amount now to be allotted to Assam should be made wholly Provincial. Listead, therefore, of the whole of the Land Eevenue being Provincial, it was decided that the ordinary increase should be taken at Rs. 66,000 per annum, and that the Provincial claim should be limited in — Us. 1893-94 ... ... ... ... to 47,74,000 1894-95 ... ... ... ... „ 48,40,000 1895-96 ... ... ... ... „ 49,06,000 1896-97 ... ... ... ... „ 49,72,000 Of the excess over these amounts, a sum equivalent to the excess of the actual charges in the North Lushai country over Es. 3,56,000 and of the actual charges in the South Lushai country (when that tract was transferred to Assam) over the assignment which might be transferred from Bengal with the territory, would also be wholly Provincial, and that of the remainder one-fourth would be Provincial. 166. Exclusive of the receipts of purely Imperial Departments (Post Office, Telegraph, Military, and Imperial Total revenues of the PubUc Works), the acrfrrefrate revenue now province. '' or^ o (1892-93) derived from the province is nearly 105 lakhs of rupees. The principal heads are Land Eevenue (47J lakhs). Opium (4 lakhs), Stamps (8 lakhs). Excise (26 lakhs), Pro- vincial Eates (5^- lakhs), Assessed Taxes (2^ lakhs). Forest {Z\ lakhs), Eegistration (i lakh), and Tributes {\ lakh). The receipts by Civil Departments aggregate about 5 lakhs, and Public Works receipts, including receipts for Ferries, 2-J lakhs. Since 1882-83 Chap. in. J rORM OF ADMINISTRATION. 151 the revenue lias risen from 81^ to 105 lakhs, or by nearly 29 per ^. cent. Land Eevenue and Excise show the most marked increase, ^'"^"^^• 8J and G lakhs respectively. The item under THbutes is a receipt from the Manipur State, and appears for the first time in the ac- counts of this province. The receipts under Assessed Taxes, being recoveries under Act II of 1886, also constitute a new feature. 167. The ordinary Civil expenditure is now 47^ lakhs, and the Public Works Provincial and Local expendi- Tctal expenditure of ture about 2U laklis, or about 69 lakhs in Ihe province. all, leaving a surplus of 36 lakhs as the con- tribution of the province to the general expenses of the Empire. Of the Civil expenditure (47^ lakhs), about 13 lakhs represent direct demands upon the revenue, such as Cost of Collection, Refunds, Assignments and Compensations, &c., about 32 lakhs represent salaries and expenses of the Civil Departments, including General Administration, and about 2^ laklis are expended in Pensions, Stationery and Printing, and other miscellaneous charges. 168. The receipts and expenditure of the Imperial Depart- ments (Post Office, Telegraph, Military, Ma- Surplus how disposed j.jj-^e^ r^^^ Imperial Public Works) aggre- gate, in round figures, 42 and 32 lakhs, re- spectively, as compared with 18 and 20 lakhs, respectively, in 1882- 83. The increase in the receipts is almost entirely under Post Office, and is due to expansion of money order and savings banks transactions. The excess expenditure is chiefly under PublicWorks. The Provincial surplus (36 lakhs), and the net receipts of the Imperial Departments (10 laklis) aggregate 46 lakhs. This is remit- ted to Calcutta by means of currency note remittances and supply bills granted on Assam treasuries, to the agents of tea planters and others. Notes of the higher denominations accumulate largely in the Assam treasuries. They are imported by planters and Mar- ■wari traders, and find their way into the treasury as revenue either through revenue collectors (mauzadars) or purchasers of opium and excise license-holders. There are no banking establishments in Assam. Nearly 29 lakhs of these notes were remitted to .Calcutta in 1892-93. The supply bill payments amounted during 152 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. III. Section 7. the same year to upwards of 45 lakhs, and about 16 lakhs in coin Finance. Were placed at the Comptroller General's disposal at Calcutta by means of transfers to currency chests. By this means money which was not required in Assam was placed in currency in Assam, the equivalent required in other provinces being withdrawn from currency and placed at the disposal of Government for treasury purposes, thus saving all charges of remittance. Accommodation was thus offered to the commercial public in Assam and in Calcutta to the extent of 90 lakhs, the amount being made up of the local surplus, 46 lakhs, supplemented by the issue of bills upon other provinces, about 31 lakhs, and by remittances from Calcutta and withdrawals from the currency chests, 13 lakhs, equivalent sums being placed in currency chests in other provinces where coin was not immediately required. For bills issued upon Assam a premium of J per cent, is realised by Government ; those issued by Assam are granted at par, except in the case of bills in favour of Messrs, Macneill and Co., the Elvers Steam Navigation Company's Agents at Dhubri, for their earnings paid into that treasury, upon which a premium of a quarter per cent, is levied. 169- Dividing the revenues and expenditure between Imperial, Provincial, and Local in accordance with the Provincial revenue ^emis of the current contract, the annual and expenditure. revenue of Provincial and Local Funds in 1892-93 aggregate, in round figures, about 64j lakhs, and the ex- V penditure 66 lakhs. The expenditure exceeds the receipts, in consequence of the permission, granted by the Government of India, to the Local Administration to utilise on Provincial Public Works about five lakhs from the accumulated Provincial balances. The following are the chief heads of expenditure in round numbers : Rs. Direct demand on the revenues (collection, &c.) ... 11,20,000 Administration ... ... ... ... 2^48,000 Law and Justice — Courts of law ... ... 5,44,000 Chap. Ill] FORM OF ADMINISTRAIION. . I 53 Es. Law and Justice— Jails ... ... 85,000 Police ... ... ... ... ll,G(i,O00 Marine ... ... ... ... 99,000 Education ... ... ••• ... 3,39,000 Medical ... ... ... ... 2,76,000 Political ... ... ... ... 2,68,000 Public Works ... ... ... ... 21,50,000 Since 1882-83 the Assam portion of the Inland Labour Trans- port Fund has been transferred from Bengal (in 1884). The Local income and expenditure included in the above figures are Es. 9,69,000 and Rs. 9,59,000 respectively, of which the portions per- taining to the Liland Labour Transport Fund are Pis. 64,000 and Rs. 57,000 respectively, the remainder representing transactions of the nineteen Local Boards, which exist in the eight plains dis- tricts of tlie province. There has been no change in the heads of receipts and expenditure entrusted to these bodies, but there have been several transfers between Provincial and Local, cliiefly in the expenditure upon Public Works, which have resulted in a reduc- tion of the amount of Provincial contribution to the Local Boards and of the Local Boards' expenditure. In 1882-83 each Local Board received from Provincial varying amounts sufficient to cover the difference between the Local income and Local expen- diture. Each Board now receives from Provincial a fixed annual contribution, plus or minus the amount of its closing balance, i.e., of the surplus or deficit of the penultimate year. The balances are taken in the accounts as lapsing to Provincial at the end of the year, and are regranted as contributions. 170. The Local Funds, which are excluded from the general Excluded Local Funds. accounts, are the following : Section j. Finance. (1) Municipal Funds. (2) Cantonment Funds. (3) Town Funds. (4j Williamson Educational En- dowment Funds. Of these, the first has been described in the preceding section, and the last has also been mentioned above in paragraph 124. X 154 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. IV. CHAPTER VI Character of Land Tenures and System of Settlement and Survey. SE CTION 1.— LA ND TENURES. Section i. 171. The Ordinary land tenures in Assam vary considerably in Land r.. • • . , , ■ difl'erent parts of the province. Distinct y. Division of the subject. ^ ""'^^' systems of tenure are found in — (1) Assam Proper, (3) Sylliet, (2) Goalpara, (4) Cachar, (5) the hill districts, "while several varieties of special waste land tenures granted by Government at different periods exist in all the plains dis- tricts. 172- There are three main classes of ordinary tenure in the Assam Valley exclusive of Goalpara, A.smn Proper raiyai- ^iz., raiyatwdvi, nisf-Miivoj, 2iXidildkhiraj, The wari, tenure. ' ./ ^ J y J' original raiyatiodri tenure is of the simplest character: the raiyat holds on annual or decennial lease from the Government, being free to relinquish the whole or any part of his holding or to take up new lands, provided that notice is given to the revenue olFicers at the proper time of the year. In 1870 a set of rules for the encouragement of ten-year (instead of annual) leases was sanctioned by the Bengal Government, expressly declaring that holdings so settled should be heritable and trans- ferable, on condition of the transfer being registered in the Deputy Commissioner's office, while holders on annual patfa were left without any legal assurance on these points. The principle of these rules was afterwards embodied in the Land and lievenue Regula- tion of 1886, which confers a permanent, heritable, and transferable right on persons holding land under a decennial lease, but recog- Chap. IV.] LAND TENURES, SETTLEMENT, SURVEY. 1 55 nizes no rights beyond those expressed in the lease in the case of Se ction ' i. annual tenants. The Eules of 1870 remained practically inopera- Land tivft until 1883, when they were recast, and a general system of ten-year settlements was introduced in all parts of the Assam Valley, where the cultivation and occupation of land are of a permanent character.* The large tracts of land, however, consisting chiefly of the chaporl, or inundated tracts along the rivers, and the thinly- peopled country under the hills, where only shifting cultivation is practised, were left to the system of annual settlements, as the only one adapted to their peculiar circumstances. In the five districts of Assam Proper, the bulk of the more permanently cultivated land is, therefore, now held under a ten-year settlement, during the currency of which die raiyat is guaranteed against enhancement of the revenue rates. He is at liberty to relinquish any portion of his holding that consists of entire fields, and to take up new lands ; while he will receive compensation from Government for any lands taken up for a public purpose. The rest of the area, where a fluctuating system of cultivation prevails, is resettled annually on the basis of actual occupation ; and if dispossessed by Government for a public purpose, the raiyat is only entitled to compensation for the value of trees, houses, crops, &c., actually standing on the land at the time of its resumption, but not to compensation for the land itself. 173. Chamuas are said to have originated in the early days of British administration, when raiyats sometimes Chamuas a.ndkhirai-1-Juils. -, i • ■, c made over their leases to some person 01 standing in the neighbourliood, and paid their revenue to him in order to avoid the exactions of the inauzaddrs. An estate thus formed was called a chamiia, and the chamuaddr was allowed the privilege of paying direct into the Government treasury. The only chamua still remaining is situated in the Barpeta subdivision. There is one estate called a klidt in Kamriip and another in * Although nominally decennial, all snch settlements are fixed so as to expire in the same year, so that only those settlements which are made in the first year of the term are actually made for ten years. All decennial leases now being issued will expire in the year 1903, so that leases issued in 1893-94 will be for a term of ten years, those issued in 1894-95 for nine years, and so on. X 2 Tenures. 156 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. {C'CiSi^. IV. Section i. Nowgong, while in Lakliimpur there are two khirdj-khat^. The Lajtd owners of these estates, hke the chamuaddr of Barpeta, pay their revenue direct into the Government treasury instead of through the mauzaddr. Except for this privilege, there is nothing to distinguish the holders of these tenures from ordinary raiyats. Their estates are mostly cultivated by sub-tenants, who pay a grain rent of half the produce of their fields {ddhyd), or, where cash is taken, the Government rates, except in the more densely-peopled parts, where land is specially valuable. Where the Government rates only are paid, the landlord's profit consists in the command of his tenants' services for supplies, carriage, and house-building, and for reaping and harvesting his crops, and in such occasional contributions as he is able to levy. 174. The history of the nisf-khirdi tenure in Assam is a curious example of the manner in which rights in Nisf-khirdi and lokhirdi in . • it -i , estates. land are sometimes allowed to grow up. Former rulers of the country had granted certain lands rent free for religious and other purposes (that is, had assigned to persons or institutions the Government right to the revenue, then taken mostly in labour, of these lands). The last Ahom ruler, however, Chandra Ivanta Singh, imposed on the lands in question a tax called kliarikdtdna, of 6 annas a pura (a measure of four bighas), which continued to be levied by the Burmese invaders after their conquest of the country. When Assam became British by conquest, all these grants were held to have lapsed ; but Mr. Scott retained the moderate assessment which he found in force upon them, adding later on 2 annas a pui^a, so that the whole assessment came, as left by him, to 8 annas a pura. In 1834 the Government directed that a full enquiry should be made into all claims to hold land rent free, as debottar, dharmottar, or on any other plea, throughout the districts of Assam. Captain Bogle was appointed to make this enquiry, subject to the control and orders of the Commissioner, Captain Jenkins. Another officer, Captain Matthie, was also similarly employed. At the same time the following principles were laid down for the guidance of these officers : (1) All rights to hold land free of assessment founded on grants Chap. IV.] LAND TENURES, SETTLEMENT, SURVEY. 157 by any former Government were to be considered as cancelled ; Section i, and it was pointed out that all claims for restoration to any Umd such tenures could rest only on the indulgence of Govern- ^^'"^^«-^- ment. (2) All lands found to be held in excess of what was held and possessed on Z^o?i(2 yic/e grants prior to the Burmese conquest, or for services still performed, as well as all lands held for services no longer performed, w^ere to be assessed at full rates. (3) All lands held on bona fide grants before the Burmese conquest, or for services still performed, were to be reported to Government ; on receipt of the report, special orders would be issued on each case. (4) Captain Jenkins might in his discretion suspend the orders for bringing any particular land on full rates ; but he was to submit his reasons for the consideration of Government. (5) Pending the lakhiraj enquiry, Mr. Scott's moderate rates were to be levied as before on all lands claimed as lakhiraj (whether as dehottar, brahmottar, dharmottar, or on whatever plea) until brought under assessment at full rates, or until orders to the contrary were received from Government. The work was commenced in 1834, but was not concluded till 1860, and in the lapse of time these orders were altogether forgotten. Instead of referring the cases which came before him for the orders of Government, General Jenkins dealt with them in a manner which was not authorised by his instructions. He drew a distinc- tion between dehottar, or temple lands, and other grants, such as brahmottar (personal grants to Brahmans for religious service), dharmottar (grants to religious communities other than temples, or for pious uses), &c. In the case of the first, when he found the grants to be bond fide and valid, he confirmed them as revenue free, without, as he was ordered, referring the case to superior authority. In all other cases oihond Rde and valid grants, he simply confirmed the grantee in possession, and directed that, as ordered in his in- structions, the land should be assessed as before, i.e., at Mr. Scott's favourable rates of 8 annas a pM?^a, pending the Qnal orders of ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. IV. Section- I. Government on the ^Yllole question. Where the hxnd held was not Ta'^d found to be lield under a bond fide and vahd grant, it was resumed Tenures. ^^^^ settled at full rates, which in those days were Ee. 1 a jmra. But no reference was ever made to Government on the conclusion of the proceedings ; and thus until 1861, when the revenue rates were raised throughout Assam, the second class of lands continued to be assessed at rates which, though this was not expressly in- tended, were, as a matter of fact, half the rates prevailing for other lands. The question what was to be done with these lands was not again stirred till 1372, when a long correspondence began, which was not finally closed till 1879. It was considered by the Govern- ment of India that the grantees having so long been suffered to hold at half rates, it would not be judicious to make any alteration in their status ; and so General Jenkins' unauthorised action was condoned. These half-rate holders were at that time called, equally with the revenue-free holders, Idkhirdjddrs. The term nisf-khirdjddr was adopted in 1871, as a more accurate de- scription of their status as landholders liable to be assessed at only half the current rates of revenue, whatever these may happen to be. A nisf-hhirdjddr enjo3"s the further privilege of paying for the waste land of his estate onl}^ one-eighth of the rate assessed on ordinary rwpit land in the neighbourhood. Nisf-kliirdj estates generally are settled for a term of ten years throughout the Brah- maputra Valley. Three-fourths of the total number of nisf-hhivdj estates are situated in the district of Kamrup and date from the last period of Ahom rule, when the seat of Government had been transferred from GarhgaoD to Gauhdti, and the Ahom kings gave away lands whole- sale with all the zeal of recent converts to Hinduism. The Idkldrdj or dehottar grants, on the other hand, are usually of older date, the most ancient being ascribed to kings Dharmapal and Vanamdla, who are said to have reigned between 1100 and 1200 A.D. These estates are, like the chamuas and khirdj-Ichdts already mentioned, ordinarily cultivated by sub-tenants, who, when their Te mires. Chap. IV.] LAND TENURES, SETTLEMENT, SURVEY. 159 superior landlord is (as is generally the case) a religious institution, Sectiox i. are known as paiks or hliakats of the temple or chaitra ; they usually Land pay only the Government rates as rent, but are in addition bound to do service for their, superior landlord. 175. The history of the permaijently-settled portion of Goalpara ,, , has been eiven above (paragraphs 80 and Goalpara. ^ . Vi o r 81). It consists of nineteen permanently- settled estates and eight small temporarily-settled holdings. These between them cover the whole district, excluding the Eastern Duars. Twelve of the nineteen permanently-settled estates are those of the border Chaudhuris described in paragraph 89. The remaining seven consist of lands held originally revenue free on invalid titles? which were resumed in consequence, and settled at :\,jama fixed in perpetuity. The eight temporarily-settled estates include five chars, which are farmed yearly to the highest bidder. Of the remaining three, two are resumed Idkhiraj, and the third was acquired by Government as a free gift from the zemindar. 176. The Eastern Duars comprise five separate tracts, viz., ^ , Biini, Sidli, Chirano', Eiplm, and Guma. The Eastern Duars. ox last three are the sole property of Government, and are managed on the same system as the raiyaticdri tracts of Assam Proper, the only difference being that cultivation is entirely on annual leases, and that the revenue rates are lower than those prevailing in Assam. Bijni and Sidli, with the exception of tli3 submontane forests wdiich have been excluded from them and brought under conservancy, are the estates of the Etijas of the same names. But they are at present managed by Government on the same terms as the remaining three Duars, a fixed percentage of the revenue realised being paid over to the zemindars. 177- The land tenures in the district of Sylliet (excluding Jaintia, which was not annexed to the district SylLet. . ' until 1835) present a remarkable contrast to those of all the districts of permanently-settled Bengal except Chittagong. In no other district was the permanent-settlement preceded, as in these, by a survey ; in no other district were the zemindars passed over at that settlement in favour of the superior l6o ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. IV. Section- i. raiyats or middlemen called mirasdars or taluqddrs* (c/. the Cliitta- 2^ goni? tarafdars). The consequence of the survey is that all lands Tenures. ^^i^\^\y^ the Surveyed portion of the district which were not settled in 1791-92, the date of the decennial settlement, and have not since been specially settled in perpetuity, are the property of Government and held under temporary settlement. The result of the settlement having been made with a large number of middle- men is that while in the districts of permaneutly-settled Bengal estates are counted by tens or hundreds, in Sylhet they are counted by thousands, and the individual revenue of each estate is generally very small. Of 49,946 permanently-settled estates at the close of the 3'ears 1892-93, only 469 paid a revenue of over Es. 100, and 20,621 paid under one rupee. Thus, Sylhet is distinguished (1) by the large proportion of its area which is not permanently settled, and (2) by the extremely small payments of revenue due from individual estates, which make the collection (in the absence of ynufassal revenue establishments, entertained nowhere in permanently-settled districts) a peculiarly difficult and complicated task. 178. The permanently-settled tenures of Sylhet are all held on the same conditions, but have received the Permanently-s ettled . ^ ^ . . . tenures. nani8s given below with reterence to their revenue history : (1) Dassana, estates included in the decennial settlement of 1791-92, which in 1793 became permanent ; in 1892-93 these numbered 25,967, and paid a revenue of Es. 3,16,838. (2) Bdzyajti Ddimi, lands resumed by the Special Commis- sioner appointed under Eegulation III of 1828, and then permanently settled. Number 23,028 ; revenue Es. 39,605. Of these, 33 estates paying a revenue of Es. 402 are in the Jaintia parganas. (3) Ildin lands settled permanently (see below under tempora- rily-settled estates). Number 9 ; revenue Es. 26. ** The above statement docs not apply to (1) parganas Taraf, Bamai, and Putijiiri, forniing zila Laskarpur in the Ilabiganj subdivision, whicli were transferred to Sylhet from the Dacca and Mymensingh districts after the assessment for the decennial settle- ment had been effected and (2) certain parganas in the Sunumganj subdivision which could not be surveyed on account of difficulties with the Khasis. In other parts of Sylhet also, the settlement was occasionally made with the zemindars, and not with the raiyats. Chap. IV.] LAND TENURES, SETTLEMENT, SURVEY. idl ^4) Khds Ddimi, permanently-settled estates purchased by Section i. Government at sales for arrears of revenue and sold again as Land permanently-settled. Number 4.'^5 ; revenue Rs. 5,782. (5) Hdldbcidi. The term hdldhddi literally means "recently cultivated, " but in Sylliet it is applied to all lands not included in the decennial settlement of 1791-92. The so-called hdldbddi (also known as dbddi or jawjal dbddi) pattas or sanads were granted between the ^^ears 1791 and i8u7. They contained no express limitation of the term of settlement, and in 1869 were held by Government to have been settlements in perpetuity. Number of estates 474 ; revenue Es. 2,767. (6) Khds hdldbddi, estates belonging to class (5) whi(ih, having been bought in by Government at sales for arrears of revenue have been resettled permanently. Number 31 ; revenue Es. 1,337. (7) Permanently -settled loaste land grants. The proprietors of three hdldbddi estates paying a revenue of Es. 9-5-3 claimed a large tract in the Eaghunandan hills. Their claims were compromised by the grant in perjDctuity of two estates covering an area of 1,659 acres and paying a revenue of Es. 9-6-0. (8) Dhali Miijrai, mahdls exempted from assessment on condition of the holders furnishing dhali servants for the Sylhet Collectorate. At present two such servants are furnished. There are 41 such estates in Sylhet, covering an area of 377 acres. 179. The temporarily-settled estates of Sylhet Proper are also rn ., .~^ A known under different names, but by far the Temporanly-s e 1 1 1 e d ' -J tenures. most extcusive class is that called ildm. In consequence of the success met with in Behar in bringing under assessment land not included in the decennial settlement which afterwards became permanent, the pargana pdtwdris were, in 1802, directed to prepare and submit schedules of lands in their respective parganas, which had not been included in that settlement. On receipt of these schedules, the Collector issued proclamations {ildms) inviting claimants to any of the lands to come forward ; but no one appeared to claim them. These lands have thus acquired the name of ildm or proclaimed lands. During the years 1829 to 1834, these ildm lands were surveyed, and in V iSa ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. 1>^^ Section i. jg^^^^ those that were found cultivated were settled with the occu- Land pants if willinfT to engaf^e ; otherwise they were farmed. The term Tenures. ^ o o o ' ^ ^ of the first settlement was ten years for cultivated and fifteen years for jungle lands, and it was subsequently renewed on its expiry for successive further periods. In 18G9, a systematic survey was commenced, and revised rules of settlement and a form of patta were drawn out. These rules were again revised in 1875 and modified in 1876. The resettlement commenced in 1871, and was practically concluded in 1881. On resettlement, all waste lands in excess of one-fifth of the cultivated area of an estate were, as a rule, excluded from the settlement. In order to protect the rights of Government in these excluded lands, and to prevent encroachment by the neighbouring permanent settlement-holders, a special form of farming lease was sanctioned in 1889, Holders of these leases have no right to resettlement. Holders of ilcim pattas, on the other hand, have a permanent and heritable right of occupancy subject to payment of the revenue assessed and to acceptance of the terms of settlement. But, as the proprietary right vests in Government, they have no title to mdlikdna if they refuse to engage. The last settlement of ildm lands in zilas Parkul and Latu, which expired on 31st March 1893, has been extended for one year. The settle- ment in the rest of the district will expire on different dates between 1st April 1894 and 31st March 1896. There are 3,262 ildm estates, with a total area of 97,571 acres.* So much of the ildm area as was not included in the settlement of 1835 and subsequent years has been entered in the waste land register as waste at the disposal of Government ; much of it has been taken up by tea planters on the tenures to be described in the next section. The rest of the temporarily-settled area in Sylhet falls apart into two divisions : first, the small tenures settled on the same prin- ciple as ildm lands, but different in their origin ; and, secondly, the areas held kltds by Government, in which, instead of makinir over definitely the use and occupancy of the land to a settlement-holder ■* Exclusive of ildm lands in parganas Pratabgarli and Egarasati, whicli have been cadaatrally surveyed. Chap. IV.] LAND TENTTEES^ ^TTIEMENT, StTRVET. 1 63 who may eventually become a middleman, the Government has re- Section i. tained the management in its own hands, and deals directly with the Land cultivators. The first class consists of 2,428 mahdls covering an area of 24,214 acres, and technically known by the following names: (1) Ncinkdr patwdrigari. — Lands formerly held by the pargana pdtwdris as ndnkdr, i.e., in lieu of salary. The pdtwdris were abohshed in 1833, and the lands were ordered to be assessed in 1835. (2) Char-bhardt. — Alluvial accretions, which in Sylhet all belong to the State. (3) Bil-hhardt. — The silted-up beds of hils, which were excluded from the permanent settlement because they were then useless. (4) Izdd. — Surplus lands discovered after the permanent settlement (but not formally proclaimed as the ildm lands were), and thus not included in it. (5) Resumed revenue- free land. — Resumed because found to be held on invalid titles. (6) Khds. — ^The khds lands in Sylhet are, for the most part, originally ildm estates, the settlement of which has for various reasons broken down ; in some the holders as a body refused to accept resettlement with joint responsibility ; in some, Government has bought in the estate at sales for arrears of revenue ; in some the settlement has been cancelled for default inpayment of revenue. These estates are, for the most part, situated in the Karimganj subdivision of the Sylhet district, which contains a large area of waste land stretching south to the Tippera Hills. They are managed by the tahsilddrs of the Pratabgarh and Hakaluki tahsils upon principles in general similar to the raiyatwdri settle- ment of Assam Proper. Certain fixed rates are' laid down, and raiyats are free to take up land when they please at those rates, after application to the tahsilddr. The Mas lands in the Pratdb- garh tahsil have been cadastrally surveyed. In addition to the above, the term ''khds''' includes- also petty permanently-settled estates of httle value, bought in by Govern- ment at sales for arrears of revenue and not resettled' in perpetuity. A full account of the last settlement of the estates in classes (1) to (5) and of the petty estates in class (6) will be found- in 164 ASSAM AD^IINISTRATION REPORT. Chap. IV. S«cTio;j I. paragraph 51 of the Administration Eeport for 1880-81. This Land settlement will expire in 190G-7. 180. The Jaintia parganas have, since they first came under , . ,. British rule, been temporarily settled.* The Jaintia parganas. 5 r j first rej?ular settlement was made in 1838-40, when the tract was professionally surveyed and measured. It was made for a term of five years, at the end of which it was further extended for ten years, and then again extended, so that the settlement of the whole area expired in 185G. In that year the whole of Jaintia was resettled, without remeasurement, for twenty years. This settlement expired in 1876, when a nev/ settlement was begun, which, owing to errors in the classification and assessment of land, was not finally completed until 1882. The term of settlement will expire in 1894, and resettlement operations are no^ in pro- gress, the tract having been cadastrally surveyed for this purpose*. 181, Besides these permanently and temporarily settled estates in Sylhet, there are, as in other Ld^^/ra; estates. . ti 7,77. ,• r. districts, valid iakliira] or revenue-iree estates* There are in all 11,489 revenue-free estates, with an area of 41,914 acres, including — (1) 178 grants, which were declared valid after resumption proceedings under Eegulations II of 1819 and III of 1828. (2) 6,345 petty grants, mostly under 10 bighas in area, which were exempted from assessment under order of the Bengal Govern- ment in 1841. (3) Kasha Sylhet. — These estates are nominally all less than 10 bighas in extent, but many, as a matter of fact, greatly exceed this area. This anomaly probably originated through fraud, but it is hard, if not impossible, to rectify it now. Eesumption proceedings were initiated many years ago, but the cases were struck off for no apparent reason. The number of these estates has been returned as 2,554, with an area of 4,560 acres. f ° With the exception of 33 permanently-settled and 29 revenue-free estates. The former consist of lands claimed as revenue-free, but resumed by the Special Commissicmer appointed under Regulation III of 1828 and subsequently permanently settled. f These figures, wliich are taken from a chitha drawn up by a former Collector for the pyrpose of aaeeesing chaukidiri tax, are only approximate. Chap. IV.] i^AND TENURES, SETTLEMENT, STJRYEY. l6^ (4) 2,412 redeemed estates, consisting of ildm estates paying Se ction i. a revenue of Ee. 1 and under, which were sold at auction revenue Land 16)1 TiY&S free and other estates redeemed on payment of twenty or twenty- five times the annual revenue. 182. In the plains portion of Cachar there is, excluding the Cachar. waste land grants, but one form of revenue- paying tenure, that known as mirdsddri. The peculiarity of the system as found in this district is that joint responsibility for the revenue prevails among all the holders of a mahdl, who are usually numerous. In this district, on the margin of cultivation and settlement, it has been the custom from the days of the native rulers to the present time for bodies of cultivators, often consisting of persons of quite different castes, and even of combinations of Hindus, Musalmans, and hillmen, to join together in a coparcenary body in obtaining the settlement of new land. The Government deals with them as a single holder, and they arrange among themselves the distribution of the revenue payable, the joint responsibility, however, remaining. This system is a curious survival of primitive conditions which is now tending to break up, though division of responsibility is not yet formally recognised in Cachar. Whether in long-settled mahdls, or in new allotments of waste (the latter being known as jVm^a/^z^n grants and given on a progressive assessment), the niirdsddri tenure is, in face of Government, the same. The cultivators have a perma- nent, heritable, and transferable right of use and occupancy of the land, subject to payment of the revenue assessed and to acceptance of the terms of settlement. The settlement of Cachar, like that of the temporarily-settled lands in Sylhet, is for a term of years. The existing settlement, which is for a term of fifteen years, will expire on the 31st March 1898.* There are a few Idkhirdj or revenue free estates in Cachar, being the grants held by dependents of the old royal family, or dating from the time of native rule. These are known as bakhsha •* The Jangalburi Rules have since been be repealed, so far as futui'e applications for land are concerned, by settlement rules framed for the Surma Valley under sections 12 and 29 of the Land and Revenue Regulation. The diaft of these rules does not provide for the settlement of waste land at progressive rates, l66 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPOHT. [Chap. IV. Section i. j^^^^jg^ ^^(j ^j-g revenue-free only so long as they remain in posses- Land gJQ^ ^f the grantee and his heirs ; when alienated, they are liable Tenures. ^ to assessment like other mirdsddri lands. 183. In the hill districts there is no land , revenue settlement properly so called, except in a few isolated I lb nc p. tracts. The strip of plains land which en- closes the Gdro Hills on three sides is managed on the system of settlement which obtains in Assam Proper, save in one portion, where the zemindars of Mechpdra hold certain land as part of their permanently-settled estates, and manage it themselves. The terms of tenure are similar to those of the annual pa ^^a -holders of Assam. In the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, a class of land known as rajhdli, in the Jaintia Hills subdivision, has since the year 1886 been assessed to land revenue under special rules, the rate charged being 10 annas per bigha. In the Naga Hills district there is also some land in the Nambar forest, which is held on annual joaiia. In the rest of these districts Government does not assess the land, but the houses. Each village, however, in the Garo, Khdsi and Jaintia, and Naga Hills has its own known lands, in which rights of private owner- ship' are recognised to a degree which seems surprising in so primitive a state of society. The system of cultivation by ^/A^m, which prevails throughout the greater part of this area, demands lonc' periods of rest during which the land becomes reclothed with forest; and it is often difficult to believe that what seems an uncared-for wilderness is really the jealously-guarded private property of a clan, family, or village. But the case is so ; and no quarrels have been more enduring or more bitter among these people than those relating to land. The customs of land tenure among these primitive races are often strangely complicated and full of interest ; but they have as yet been insufficiently explored, and it is impossible to describe them at length here. The practice of tidxing houses, instead of assessing the land, prevails also in certain remote parts of the plains districts, such as- the North Cachar subdivision and the Mikir Hills in Nowgong, while from the Miris in Lakhimpur and the Tipperas in Sylhet a poll-tax is collected in lieu of.land.revenue. Chap. IV.] LAND TENURES, SETTLEMENT, SUIIVET. 167 SECTION 2.— IF AST E LAND TENURES. 184. In a province like Assam, thinly peopled and sparsely Section 2. cultivated, with a boundless extent of waste, Waste Land o/3e knd if AsSr.*' inviting new settlers, the terms upon which land is allotted for extension of cultivation have always naturally been a subject of much consideration. The discovery of indigenous tea in Assam and of the possibility of growing this important staple on a large scale in the plains portion of the province, has given a special impetus to the taking up of waste, and the various rules which have from time to time been issued have generally had the extension of tea cultivation in view. 165. It is not intended in this section to deal with the ordinary tenures, common to all revenue-paying lands Waste taken up on or- |^ ^j^g district, on which land under tea, like dinary tenures. ' that under any other crop, may be held. There is a considerable extent of land in Assam Proper, amounting at present to 86,382 acres, held by planters under the ordinary raiyatwdri leases described above, the greater part of which is under tea, and in Cachar the mirdsddri tenure is the favourite form in which land is now taken up for tea cultivation. The jangatburi or reclamation lease in this district, which is allotted to any ap- plicant whose appropriation of the land will not prejudicially affect existing rights, gives a lease at favourable rates for twenty years, for the first two years of which the land is revenue free, for the next four it is assessed at 3 annas an acre, for the next four at 6 annas, and for the remaining ten at 12 annas, after which the land is assessable at the ordinary district rates for lands of similar description. 186. ITie following is an account of the special terms under „ . , which waste land grants are held from Govern- ment in the various districts of the province* Only one of these systems, ^;^V., the Thirty-years' Lease Rules, is now actually in force for new applications ; but grants made under i68 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. IV. Section 2. all of tlie prior rules actually exist, and are governed by the con- Waste Land ditions in force at tlie time when they were given. I. The first special grant rules were those of the Gth March • 1808, and related to Assam Proper only. No grant was to be made of a less extent than 100 acres, or of a greater extent than 10,000 acres. One-fourth of the entire area was to be under cultivation by the expiration of the fifth year from the date of grant, on failure of which the whole grant washable to resumption. One -fourth of the grant was to be held in perpetuity revenue free. On the remaining three-fourths no revenue was to be assessed for the first five years if the land was under grass, ten years if under reeds and high grass, and twenty 3^ears if under forest ; at the expiry of this term, revenue was to be assessed at 9 annas per acre for the next three years, after which the rate was to be for twenty-two years Ee. 1-2 an acre. At the close of this period (the thirtieth year in the case of grants of grass lands, thirty-fifth in the case of reed lands, and forty-fifth in the case of forest lands), the three- fourths liable to assessment were to be assessed, at the option of the grantee, either at the market value of one-fourth of the produce of the land, or at the average rate of revenue paid by rice lands in the district where the grant was situated ; the revenue was thereafter to be adjusted in the same manner at the end of every term of twenty-one years. Very few grants under these rules still exist. There are now only two in Kamriip and sixteen in Sibsagar, with a total area of 5,533 acres. II. The next rules were those for leasehold grants of the 23rd October 1854, commonly called the Old Assam Eules. Under these rules, no grant was to be less than 500 acres in extent (afterwards reduced to 200 acres, or even 100 acres in special cases). One-fourth of the grant was exempted from assessment in perpetuity, and the remaining three-fourths were granted revenue- free for fifteen years, to be assessed thereafter at 3 annas an acre for ten years, and at G annas an acre for seventy-four years more, making a whole term of ninety-nine years ; after which the grant Was to be subject to resurvey and settlement " at such moderate Chap. IV.] lAKD TENURES, SETTLEMENT, SURVEY. 169 assessment as might seem proper to tlie Government of the day Sk ctiqn 2. the proprietary right remaining with the grantee's representatives W^^^^ Land under the conditions generally ajDplicable to the owners of the estates not permanently-settled." One-eighth of the grant was to be cleared and rendered fit for cultivation in five years, one-fourth in ten years, one-half in twenty years, and three-fourths by the expiration of the tiiirtieth year ; and the entire grant was declared to be liable to resumption in case of the non-fulfilment of these ^conditions. The grants were transferable, subject to registration of transfer in the Deputy Commissioner's office. These rules were extended to Sylhet and Cachar in 1856, and were in force until 1861, when they were superseded by rules for grants in fee-simple, which at the same time allowed holders of leasehold grants under the prior rules to redeem their revenue payments, on condition that the stipulated area had been duly cleared, at twenty years' purchase of the revenue at the time payable. This permission is still in force, and has been largely taken advantage of. Two hundred and seventy-one grants, with an area of 238,206 acres, have thus been redeemed, and 36 grants, with an area of 35,451 acres (most of which are in Cachar), remain upon the original terms. III. To these succeeded a new policy, that of disposing of land in fee-simple. The first fee-simple rules were those issued by Lord Canning in October 1861. The Secretary of State took objection to some of their provisions, and a fresh set of rules was issued on the 30th August 1862. The rules issued by Lord Canning provided for the disposal of the land to the applicant at fixed rates, rangincp •from Es. 2-8 to Es. 5 per acre. The rules of August 1862 provided that the lot should be put up to auction. Grants were to be limited, except under special circumstances, to an area of 3,000 acres. In each case the grant was ordinarily to be compact, including no more than one tract of land in a ring fence. The upset price was to be not less than Es. 2-8 an acre, and in exceptional localities it might be as high as Rs. 10. Provision was made for the survey of lands previous to sale, and for the demarcation of proper boundaries where applicants for unsurveyed lands were for special reasons, put in possession prior to survey, and also for 55 jyo assa:m administratiox report. [Chap. IV. Section 2. ^]^q protection of proprietary or occupancy rights in the kinds Waste land apphed for. The purcliase-mone}^ was to he paid either at once or by instahnents. In the latter case, a portion of the purchase-money, not less than 10 per cent., was to be paid at the time of sale, and the balance within ten years of that date, with interest at 10 per cent, per annum on the portion remaining unpaid. Default of payment of interest or purchase-money rendered the grant liable to re-sale. These rules were in force till August 1872, when the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal stopped further grants under them, pending revision of the rules. IV. Eevised fee-simple rules were issued in February 1874 just before the constitution of the province as a separate Adminis- tration, which raised the upset price of land sold to Es. 8 per acre, and made more careful provision for accurate identification of the land, and for consideration of existing rights and claims, before its disposal. These rules continued in force till April 1876. There now exist in the province 319 fee-simple grants (exclud- ing redeemed leasehold grants already mentioned), covering an area of 192,734 acres. V. The existing special rules under which applications for waste land for the cultivation of tea, coffee, or timber trees are dealt with, were originally issued in April 1876, and were revised and re-issued under sections 12 and 29 of the Land and Kevenue Eegulation in 1887. The land is leased (for thirty years) at progressive rates, and the lease is put up for auction sale, but only among applicants prior to its advertisement in the Gazette^ at an upset price of Ee. 1 per acre, under the provisions of Act XXIII of 1SG3. The progressive rates are as follows : For the first two years ... ... revenue free. „ next four „ ... ... 3 annas an acre. » » four „ ... ... 6 „ „ „ „ ten „ ... ... o „ „ „ „ ten „ ... ... 1 rupee „ After the expiration of the last mentioned term, the land is to be assessed under the laws in force, " provided that no portion of Chap. IV.] LAND TENURES, SETTLEMENT, SUHVEY. 1^! the said land shall at an}^ time be assessed at a rate higher than Section a. that then pa3^able on the most highly-assessed lands in the said Wasteland district, cultiva.ed with rice, pulses, or other ordinary agricul- ««"^«*- tural produce," The grantee is required to pay the revenue punctually on the due date ; to devote the land only to the special crops for cultivating which it is granted ; to personally reside in the district, or have an agent residing there ; to erect, and maintain in repair, proper boundary marks ; not voluntarily to alienate any portion of the land, unless the estate is transferred as a whole ; and to give notice to the Deputy Commis- sioner of all such transfers. On breach of any of these conditions, the concession of the favourable rates of assessment on which the land is held is liable to be withdrawn, and the estate is liable to be assessed at the ordinary district rates. There were altogether, at the end of 1892-93, 645 estates, covering 244,011 acres, held on this tenure in Assam. Mention should here be made of a special tenure, compounded of the lease under the rules of April 1876 and the terms on which ildm land is held in the district, on which certain tea planters have been allowed to hold land for tea in South Sylhet. When the ildm resettlement was in progress in this district, it was found that several planters had recently acquired considerable areas of waste land held under ikbn pattas. One of the rules of the ildm settlement was that waste land within the boundaries of the ijatta which exceeded the proportion of one-fifth of the cultivated area should be cut off and resumed by Government. But it was precisely in order to obtain this waste land that tea planters had acquired the ildm pattas. A compromise was, therefore, made in 1879. The. land already under tea was assessed at Re. 1-8 per acre ; of the waste, an area equal to one-fifth of the cultivated area was allowed at 8 annas an acre ; and the rest was permitted to be held on the terms and at the rates specified in the waste land rules of 1876. There are 61 such estates in Sylhet, with an area of 2G,317 acres. From the above summ-ary it will be seen that from 1838 to 1861 the principle on which waste lands were granted for tea cultivation was that they should be held on a leasehold tenure for 172 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. IV. Se ction 3. \ong terms at low rates of assessment, the cultivation of the land ■System of heiug secured by stringent conditions as to clearance; from 1S61 Survey and -in-z^i t t tic p t Settlement, to lb<D the policj was to alienate land tree ol revenue demand, and without any clearance conditions ; while from 1876 to date the principle of leases has again been reverted to, but this time without any special stipnlations as to the area to be brought under cultivation within the term of lease. The total area held on these special terms for tea cultivation in the province is no less than 992,598 acres, or 1,550*93 square miles. SECTION 3.— SYSTEM OF SURVEY AND SETTLEMENT. 187. The nature of the raiyatwdri tenure in the Assam Valley has already been described. Estates held Settlements in Assam ^^^ annual lease are resettled every year. Proper. -^ '' ' while the ten-year settlements undergo no alteration during the length of their term, save such as may be caused by the raiyat's relinquishing some fields of his holding, and such relinquishments are naturally less common in decennially- settled lands, where the nature of the cultivation affords some guarantee of permanence, than in those tracts where the system of annual settlements continues to prevail. In either case settlement is preceded by measurement, which, like the assessment, is effected by the tahsildar or mauzadar with the help of his subordinate officials, called mandals. The position and duties of these officers have already been prescribed {ante., paragraph 109). A mauza is, as already explained, a defined revenue circle averaging 11 "589 square miles (though the area varies exceedingly in different parts of the same district), while a mandal's charge averages nearly 20 square miles of gross area. These figures include unoccupied waste, of which most parts of the valley contain an enormous extent, and waste land grants, with which a mauzadar has nothing to do. Excluding these, the average assessed area under a mauzadar is about 7,023 acres, and that in charge of a mandal about 1,986 acres. 188. The old system of making these measurements was by measuring up the four sides of the field with a 30 -foot chain and multiplying together the Chap. IV.j LAND TENURES, SETTLEMENT, SURVEY. 1 7;^ mean lens^tli and breadth tlius ascertained. The result of this Section 3. method was usually to give areas in excess of the reality, but this System of tendency was more than compensated by the omission to measure settUment. up the gradual extensions of cultivation which take place on the edges of waste. This system is still followed in tracts which have not yet come under survey ; but whenever the land has been cadastrally surveyed, its place has been taken by a regular survey. All new fields are connected with permanent points (prisms, theo- dolite stations, and the like), and are carefully plotted on the village map, old and permanent cultivation being distinguished from lands newly taken up by the use of different coloured lines. In all cases alike the area is recorded in terms of bighas, kdthas, ^ B,ndilessas, a biglta (14,400 square feet) being equivalent to 5 kdthas and 20 lessas. The registers in which the results of the measure- ments are recorded are two in number, — a field register or jamd- bandi, and a dag chit ha or revenue roll. The former shows the number borne by each field in the mandal's circle, the raiyat's name, the area and the class of soil ; in non-cadastral tracts the bounda- ries and dimensions are also entered. The jamdbandi is a record of the fields constituting each raiyat's holdings, their area, soil class, and assessment. Separate dag chithas and jamdbandis are main- tained for lands held on annual and lands held on decennial leases. These measurements are made, and registers kept, by the mandals, who answer to the pdtwdris of other parts of India, and of whom there are usually three or four in a mauza. 189. In the five upper districts of the Brahmaputra Valley, the soil is divided into three main classes,— bastL rupit, R.nd.fai'ingdti. The first mentioned is the land on which the raiyat's house stands, with the garden enclosure around it ; rupit land is that on which the winter crop of trans- planted rice (sail) is grown, as well as the low swampy lands devoted to the cultivation of bao ; the term Jaringdti denotes the higher and lighter soils which produce dhu or summer rice, sugar- cane, mustard, oil- seeds, and other crops. Until the present year, no attempt had ever been made to proceed further in the direction of classification. Advantage has now been Second Third class. class. Es. a. Rs. a. 1 8 1 4 per biff ha. 1 12 „ 12 10 i 74 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPOHT. [Chap. IV. Section 3. taken of the expiry of the decennial leases to revise the assessment ; System of and, while securing to Government its fair share of the increased SettUment. ^^^^^"^^ of the produce, to introduce a more equitable system of clas- sification. The main classes of soil already mentioned have each been divided into three sub-classes, the revenue payable on each being" as follows : First class. Rs. n. Ba8ti ... ... 2 Rnpit -.. ... 14 Farinffdti ... ... 10 The considerations taken into account in classifying land into these sub-classes are the demand for land as shown by the density of population and the proportion of settled to total area, etc., the productiveness of the soil, and the facilities for disposing of the crops-. Special rates have been sanctioned for lands held by tea planters, and also for lands newly taken up. In the Eastern Duurs no attempt has yet been made to go beyond the old three-fold classification of biist', jiipit, mid fa ri)2gdti. The rates current in that tract are basti and rupit 8 annas and Jariiigati 4 annas per higha. 190. The settlement year begins on the 1st April, and the tahsildar or mauzadar is responsible for see- Settlement statement. . ,,,.,, , -r^ mg that all his books are sent to the Deputy Commissioner (or in subdivisions to the subdi visional officer) on the date fixed by them (usually about July). The accuracy of the assessments is checked in the Deputy Commissioner's office, and a settlement statement is then prepared and submitted to the Com- missioner for conhrmation. Each raiyat or occupier of the land receives a patta for his holding, and executes a kabuliyat in exchange, binding himself to pay the Grovernment revenue. The pattas are issued under the signature of the Deputy Commissioner, or subdivisional officer, or, in the case of tahsils, the tahsildar. The settlement above described is called the main or regular settlement of the year, and includes all lands taken up for cul- tivation in the first half of the year to which it relates. A Chap. IV,] LAND I'ENUIIES, SETTLEltfENT, SURVEY. 1 75 supplementary settlement, however, is needed, in order to assess Section- 3. the lands which are broken up for oil-seeds and pulses in Septem- System of ber and October, when the floods subside. The measurements for slttUnient. this purpose are conducted during the winter months ; the papers of the dariabadi or supplementary settlement are filed before the close of the financial year ; and the settlements are reported to the Commissioner for confirmation in the same manner as the main settlements concluded in the July preceding. In the following- year these dariabadi lands come into the main settlement. The revenue is paid in two instalments of three-fifths in November and two-fifths in February ; but dariabadi lands, beino- settled too late for the November instalment, pay the whole year's revenue in a lump sum in February.* 191. In paragraph 188 reference has been made to the cadas- tral survey. Prior to 1883, maps showing Cadastral suivey. ,-, ^r r • i -n ti , • ^ the cultivation m each village did not exist, and the only record of the fields occupied by the raiyats was that contained in the mandal's dag chillia and jauidbandi. It was then decided, wherever practicable, to replace this inaccurate system by the exact record of a regular survey, and with this object operations were commenced by a professional survey party in November 1883. During the cold weather of 1883-84, 228 square miles were cadastrally surveyed in Kamrup, and between that year and 1890- 91 the whole of the more permanent and densely cultivated tracts in the five upper districts of the valley (consisting in all of 4^460 square miles) were brought under survey. As the survey progressed, steps were taken to ensure the proper maintenance of the maps and other records by increasing the number of Sub- Deputy Collectors (there is now one of these officers in each sub- division), who are held directly responsible for all survey and settlement operations by appointing a new class of officers known as supervisor kdnungos, whose duty it is to be constantly on the move» checking the work done by the mandals and training those whose knowledge is deficient ; and, lastly, by improving the status of the * In certain maiizay, where tlie cultivation of mustard is considerable, the whole revenue is paid in one instalment, on the 15ih February. 176 ASSAM ADM^^^STRATION REPORT. [Chap. IV. SECTION'S- mandals themselves. Formerly, the latter were all paid at a Sylt^iof tuiiform rate of Rs. 6 per month ; now they are divided into three %memni grades drawing Es. 12, Ks. 9 and Rs. 6 respectively, and promotion to the higher grades is made directly dependent on their quali- fications as surveyors. The principal statistics connected with the cadastral survey are set forth in the following statement : V, Cost. 3 I'ercentage of increase 3 >. t-t 1 3 73 u 1 d "o u a Locality suiveyod. > 3 (O C 0) a •^ P. ce g = 8 1 c '3 > a > 3 _o '> a p. g; u a 5H ■^ H " - '-' H H Sq. miles. Bs. Rs. a. P- Rs. 1883-84 .. Nine mauzas in Kamrilp i2S-19 1,13,635 497 15 9 6,005* 4-24 5-23 1884- 85' .. Twenty-one ditto 478-57 1,61,229 336 14 4 8,347* 3-29 5-18 1885- 86 .. Twenty-two ditto 468-51 1,30,46.- 278 7 6 13,307* 6-63 10-20 1886 87 .. Thirty-six mauzas in Mangaldni . . 647-02 1.53,159 279 15 9 976t 0-39 0-04 1887 88 .. Twenty-five ditto in Nowgong . . 586-59 1,42,981 243 12 29,523t 9-41 20-65 1888 89 .. Thirty-two manzas in Sibsagar .. 656-9!) 1,48,-291 225 11 5 68,51(it 17-04 46-20 1889 -90 .. Thirty two ditto 713--19 1,29,875 182 5 29,482t 12-69 22-70 1890-91 .. Twenty-four mauzas in KiVmriip and r.owgon-' and two mauzas (in part) in Darrang (.^ince trans- ferred to Nowgong; .. 781-00 1,24,999 160 9 tl8.152t 10'83 14-62 The main features brought out by this statement are the annually decreasing cost of survey operations and the large variations from year to year in the increase of revenue resulting therefrom. Taken as a whole, the survey has produced a total increase of revenue amounting to Rs. 1,74,301, which represents 7-94 per cent, on the original revenue and 15' 6 7 per cent, on the cost of the operations. It must, however, be remembered that * Calculated both on the Ichirui and the ninf-hhirdj areas. + Calculated on /c//ira/ area only, as the mauzadars' figures for nisf-khirdj area are not avaiUilile, and therefore the increase thereon cannot be ascertained. + In calculating the increase, the area of live mauzas of Kainni]) (Barpeta) and one tnauza of Nowgong have been excluded, as the niauzadars' figures for these areas xe not available. Chap. IV.] LAND TENURES, SETTLEMENT, SURVEY. 1 77 these fiizures do not take into account tlie normal increase in Section 3. revenue that would in any case have taken place, nor the fact that Syste?n of revised definitions of basti and rupit land, which were issued while slulem&rit. the survey was in progress, would in any case have produced a considerable ccain under the head of reclassification ; neither do they allow for the increased cost of survey and settlement opera- tions due to the necessity of maintaining the more elaborate system which the survey has inaugurated. But, even after making allow- ance for all this, it must be conceded that the operations have proved a fair financial success ; and it must, moreover, be borne in mind that the more powerful supervising staff now placed at the disposal of district officers, together with the increased facilities for checking afforded by the survey maps, will be of permanent benefit to the revenue by making it almost impossible for concealed cultivation to exist in the area over which the survey has extended. The work of the professional party has now come to an end, as no tracts remain of sufficient extent and cultivation to render it profitable to carry out their survey through this expensive agency. Bat it has been the steady policy of Government throughout the course of the survey to employ as many mandals as possible as amins, and thereby to secure a trained staff in every district ; and it is now intended to utilise the services of these men for the gradual extension of the surveyed area wherever there is sufficient cultivation to render this course desirable. Small areas will be selected annually in each district for survey by trained mandals from adjacent mauzas, under the supervision of the Sub- Deputy Collector and the supervisor kdnungo of the circle ; and by these means, in course of time, the whole of the cultivated area in the Brahmaputra Valley will be brought under cadastral survey.* 192. In Sylhet the temporarily-settled portions, as already g ,, explained, consist of the Jaintia parganas and the ildm and other miscellaneous mahdls not included in the permanent settlement. * The practicability of this scheme has been proved by an experimental survey at Barpeta, where 111 square miles were surveyed by the ordinary revenue s'aff al a total cost of Rs. 50-45 per square mile. 2 A lyS ASSA3I ADMINISTRATION EEPORT. [Chap. IV. Section- 3. 193. The history of the Jaintia settlement has already been System of ^. . i)artlv i>-iven. In l-SoS-lO a cadastral or Suy-npv n'n,1 Settlement in Jaiiitia. ^ ^ ^ Settlement- proiessional kliasra survey was made or these parganas, and the maps of this survey formed the basis, with additional surveys by amins where fresh land had beea taken up, of the resettlement made in 1856. At this settlement, the rates of assessment were determined on local enquiry by the Settlement Officer and his subordinates, according to the nature of the soil and its capabilities. The rates varied from 2 annas 6 pie to Re. 1-0-3 per acre ; but these rates were pitched extremely low in consequence of the successful opposition of the cultivators to the imposition of any higher assessment. This settlement expired in 1876 ; but, owing to errors commit- ted in the classification and assessment of the land, the new settle- ment was not finalh'' completed until 1882. A survey and re- assessment are now beinsf carried out with a view to the introduc- tion of a new settlement for ten years from the 1st April 1892. For this purpose, land is divided into four main classes, — (1) homestead, (2) cultivation, (3) fallow, and (4) waste. The seven- teen parganas, covering an area of 459 square miles, are further divided into homogeneous net profit tracts, after taking into consi- deration the productiveness of the soil, cost of cultivation, proximity to markets, liability to ravages by wild beasts, &c. In each of these tracts the four main classes of land are subdivi led into four sub-classes, called first, second, third, and fourth class homestead, cultivation, &c. Differential rates are fixed for these sub-classes in each homogeneous circle, the ultimate result for all the parganas taken together being that homestead land bears six diflerent rates of assessment, varying from 10 annas to 3 annas 9 pie per higha ; cultivation (seven rates), varying from 7 annas to 2 annas 7^ pie; fallow (seven rates), varying from 2 annas to 9 pie ; and jungle (eight rates), varying from 1 anna to 44 pie per higha. 194. Ihe resettlement of ildm and other miscellaneous tem- poraril3'-settled estates in Svlhet has been 7Z(im and niiscfllaneons . " , . -, otfr. i tcniporaiily-sottled oh- Conducted Under rules sanctioned m lb7o by ^^^^^' the Govermnent of India. Before settlement, Chap. IV.] LAND TENURES, SETTLEMENT, SURVEY. 179 the lands were measured with chahi and compass by native Sections. amins, a plan of the estate on the scale of IG inches to the System of ' -t _ _ iiHrvey and mile was prepared, and the area was calculated in both bighas and Settlement. acres. These measurements were tested by the Settlement Deputy Collector. The rates of assessment have not been scientifically determined with reference to the advantages of situation or productivity of the soil, but were fixed in each case by the Settle- ment Officer (himself a zeminddr of the district) with regard to the rates paid by cultivators for similar lands in the neighbourhood. From these rates, a deduction of 15 per cent, was made to cover cost of collection and risks, and the remainder was fixed as the assessment of the mahdls. The resultant assessment is considerably in excess of the former revenue derived from these mahdls, but is not, so far as can be judged, in itself burdensome, being considerably lower in its incidence than the revenue rates, which are found to be paid with ease in the more backward and less civilised districts of the Assam Valley. These settlements will all expire in 1907 A.D. 195. The last settlement of the Pratabgarh tahsil was effected in 1881-83, the previous one having broken Pratabgarh tahsil. ^ ^ • t n ^ down, owing to the rates havmg been lixed at too hiixh a fif^ure. At this settlement, the land was divided into four classes (homestead, dqfasal, ekfasal, and chetia), the rates varying from Ee. 1 to 7 annas per acre. This settlement expired in 1887, since which time it has been extended from year to year, pending a fresh survey which is now at last approaching comple- tion. For the purposes of this settlement, the land has been divided into ten classes, some of which are again divided into first and second sub-classes, according to the productiveness of the soil. The rates per bigha* which have been proposed vary from 3 annas to Re. 1-2-0. 198. The first regular settlement of Cachar was made in 1 838- 39 for a term of five years, and was based on a somewhat imperfect survey. In 1841-42 the district was surveyed on the same plan as the adjacent Jain^ia parganas. The cultivated land in the several mauzas was survey- ed field by field, and so much of the uncultivated area as seemed likely to come under cultivation was also surveyed and divided * 3-025 highas = 1 acre. Cachar. l8o ASSAM ADMINISTEATION REPORT. [Chap. IV. Section- 3. into numbered dihjs or plots, the intention being that, as cultivation Syite/n of extended, these plots should afford the means of determining its Seuhnient ^^^^ ^^^ ^ basis for a detailed map of its area. In 18-43-44 a re- settlement, based upon this survej^, was made for fifteen years. Then followed the settlement of 1859, made for twenty years, which expired in 1879. This also was based on the survey of 1841-42, the fresh cultivation vsince that was made being measured up by native amins. The land was divided into two classes, called awwal and duam respectively ; and within these classes it was ranged, according to situation, distance from navigable rivers, and exposure to the ravages of wild beasts, in four grades. The local measure of land in Cacliar is the hdl, or plough (also called by the Arabic name hidbah), which is equal to 4*82 acres ; and the rates imposed varied from Es. 3-8 to Es. 3-0 for first-grade land to Ks. 2 to Ee. 1-8 for fourth grade. Waste land producing thatching-grass and reeds, -which are valuable products in the densely-peopled Surma Valley, was settled at the full rates of revenue charged for cultivated land in the neighbourhood. Forest jungle, which required much clearing, was settled for three 3'ears revenue-free, and then at a progressive jama, rising to the full rates charged for adjacent lands at the end of the term, twenty years. 197- On the expiry of this settlement, a fresh survey was made, and a settlement was effected for fifteen years, years in 1879-84!^ ^^^ whicli extends up to 31st Marcli 1898. For the purpose of this settlement the three fiscal divisions, known as the Katigora tahsil, the Ilaihikandi tahsil, and the sadr tahsil, were dealt with separately. In each tahsil the soil was divided into four classes, viz.^ homestead, cultivation, tea, and waste, and each class was again subdivided into four circles, the constitution of the circles being based on a consideration of the productiveness of the soil, the facility or otherwise of communica- tion, the liability to inundation, the exposure to the ravages of wild animals, and the proximity to dense forests. The rates fixed at this assessment vary from Es. 8-4 to Es. 4-12 per hcH for homestead land, from Es. 7-2 to Es. 3-12 for cultivation, and from Es. 7-2 to Es. 6-0 for tea. Waste was assessed at a uniform rate of Ee. 1 per hul. Chap, v.] CIVIL DIVISIONS OF BEITISH TERRITORY. I8l CHAPTER V. VIL Civil Divisions of Britisli Territory. 198. The province of Assam is divided, for administrative pur- ex- poses, into twelve districts, viz., the six dis- ^^^^^^°^^- di^4sTc^'s^^ adininistrative ^ricts of the Brahmaputra Valley, the two districts of the Surma Valley, and the four hill districts. These districts, their administrative headquarters, the subdivisions into which tlie}^ are divided, their area, and their popu- lation according to the census of February 1891, are shown below: Name of district. Headquarters. Subdivisions. Area, m square lailes. Population. Surma Valley — Cachar Silchar .. .. | r Sylhet . . . . < 1 1 L Dhubri . . . . | Gauhati . . . . j Silchar Hailak:'indi Total North Sylhet . . Karimganj . . . . South Sylhet . . Habiganj Sunamganj Total Dhnbri Goalpara Total Gauhuti Barpeta Total 1,952 620 267,673 99,869 2,472 367,542 Sylhet 1,018. 1,122 828 937 1,509 482,341 334,633 365,373 508,854 413,331 5,114 2,154,593 Total Snrma Valley 7,88G 2,522,135 Brahmaputra Valley — Goalpara 2,384 1,570 317,781 134,523 3,954 45i,304 Kdmriip 2,353 1,307 498,544 135,705 3,6G0 634,249 I«2 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. Chap. V. Civil Divisions. Name of district. Headquarters. Subdivisions. Area m squai'e miles. Population. Darrang Te/.pur . . .A Nowgong.. Sibsigar . . . • < Dibrugarh . . j Tura Sliillong.. ..| Kohima .. Gnnjong .. Aijal Tezpnr Mangaldai Total Sibs.igar Jorhat Golaghdt Total Dibrugarh* North Lakhimpur Total Shillong Jowai Total Kohima Mokokchang . . Total ... 2,173 1,245 125.637 182,124 3,418 307.761 Nowgong 3,2jS 344,141 Sibsagar 890 918 947 160,304 181.152 115,818 '2,S55 457,274 Lathimpur . . 2,5G3 1,161 li)0,619 63,434 • 3,724 254,053 Total Brahmaputra Valley 20,869 2,449,782 mil Districts— Giro Hills .. 3,270 121,570 Khisi and Jaintia Hills.. 3,055 2,086 133,383 64,521 6,041 197,S04 Ndga Hills .. 5,110 600 96,451 26,416 5,710 122,867 North Cachart 1,728 18,941 North Lushai Hillst ."s.r.HO ■1 3,631 Total Hill districts 20,249 504,916 Grand total .. ■1!),0(I4 5,476,833 * Including Saliya. + North Cachar is really a subdivision of Cacliar, but is here shown as a separate district for the reasons Stated in the foot-n')to to paragraph 1. t The area and population shown against " North Luthai Hills" arc only estimates. Chap, v.] CIVIL DIVISIONS OF BRITISH TERRITORY. 183 At each headquarters station there is a Deputy Commissioner '^'^'ii' and at each subdivisional station other than that of the head- quarters subdivision an Assistant or Extra Assistant Commissioner, or, in one or two cases, a j^ohce officer. The six districts of the Brahmaputra Valley constitute the charge of the Commissioner of the Assam Valley Districts, whose headquarters are at Gaulniti. 199. In the eight plains districts and the Khc4si and Jaintia T3 ,. ,. . . Hills the area is further subdivided into rulice divisions. tlianas, or jurisdictions of poUce stations. There are 46 thana areas in these districts. Some of the larc^er thanas are again divided into outposts, of which there are 58 in the province. These areas, though they originally define police jurisdiction, are convenient for other purposes : thus, the jurisdic- tion of the munsifs in Sylhet is arranged by thanas ; the registra- tion sub-districts are similarly arranged; Muhammadan Marriai?e Eegistrars and Kazis in the Surma Valley are also appointed for thana and outpost areas. 200. In Assam Proper and the Eastern Duars the district is , . . portioned out for revenue purposes into Revenue divisions. mauzas. The average area of these mauzas is 115-89 square miles. They thus correspond in size rather to the pargana or tappa than to the mauza of Upper India. In Assam there is little cohesion in the village society, and almost nothing which represents the complex social organization of the North-Western Provinces or the Punjab. Hamlets of a few houses are scattered about the whole mauza area ; and though the boundaries of the lands recognised as belonfyini:^ to a particular villao-e are in some districts {e.g., parts of Kamriip) known to the people, they do not imply any definite appropriation of the soil to that village ; an3^one applying for it can settle upon Government waste wherever it is situated. Formerly, each of these mauzas was under a mauzadar or reve- nue contractor (see paragraph 109 ante) ; but since 1882 the tahsildari system has been partially introduced into Kamriip, Darrang, Nowgong, and Sibsagar, each tnhsil being under a tahsil- 1 84 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. Civil division's. dar paid bv salary and not by commission, and consisting of a collection of from three to eleven of the old mauzas. This system is still being extended as opportunity occurs, and the entire dis- appearance of the old mauzadari system is now only a matter of time. The following statement shows the extent to which mauzas have already been amalgamated into tahsils : Area, Revenne. 1 1 S Already included in tahsils. Xot inclnded in tahsils. Dis'rict. i i S N a a Area. Revenne. "o Area, Revenue. "o -a 1 a s a Acres. Rs, Acres. Bs. Acres. Ss. Kamrup 2,342,400 9,79,317 72 1,693,497-6 8.46,276 65 648,902 4 1,33.071 7 Darrang . . 2,187.690 4.96,682 51 526,361-6 2,78,586 35 1,661,328-4 2,18,096 16 Nowgong .. 2,084,936 5,41,144 3S 265,433-6 2,16,099 13 1,819,502-4 3,25,045 23 Sibsagar . . 1,806,188 8,72,484 50 316,096 2,66,975 14 1,490,092 6,05,509 36 In Sylhet and the plains of Cacliar, as well as in permanently- settled Goalpdra, the ordinary revenue division into parganas, which dates from times prior to British rule, is in force. In the two former districts, however, these parganas are very small, and much interlaced one with another. In Sylhet, there are 186 par- ganas, so that their average area is less than 29 square miles ; 15 are less than one square mile, and 42 are more than one and less than two square miles. In the plains of Cachar there are 24 and in Goalpara 19 parganas, the last representing separately-settled estates of the permanent settlement. These parganas are grouped, in Sylhet and Caohar, into larger areas for the purposes of revenue payment. In Sylhet these areas are called zilas, of which there are ten, besides the Jaintia parganas, which latter are divided into two tahsils or collection areas. The zilas are made up of parganas, and the revenue is paid at each subdivisional headquarters for the zilas included in its jurisdiction. In the Jaintia parganas there are two collecting centres, one at Kauairghat, and the other at Sylhet, In Cachar, the plains portion Chap, v.] CIVIL DIVISIONS OF BRITISH TERIIITORY. 1 85 of the* district is divided into three tahsils, the offices of which are Civil ... Divisions. located at Silchar, Haihikaiidi, and Katigora. In the hiU districts different divisions for revenue purposes prevail. In the Garo Hills, the strip of plains land which surrounds the hill area on three sides is managed by two mauzadars, who, however, are not contractors, as in Assam, but officers on a fixed salary. The hill area is also portioned out into five mauzas ; but the mauzadar here is merely the superior officer who receives the house tax from the lashkars, or Garo headmen of groups of villages. These a^ain collect from the lakma or nokma, the head and representative of each village. In the Khasi Hills, as already mentioned, there is not much British territory, the area being generally included in the States of the Khasi Seims, Sardars, Longdohs, or other petty chiefs. Only 25 villages, or groups of villages, are British, and these pay house tax through a villacfe headman. In the Jaintia Hills there are 19 circles of villages, each of which is managed by a dolloi or head- man, who collects the house tax and pays it in, receiving com- mission. There are, besides, four Sardarships, the management of which is hereditary, the headmen being Kuki or Mikir chiefs. In North Cachar, the assessment and collection of house tax were formerly carried out by a special tahsil establishment, but this has been replaced since 1884 by mauzadars, who are remu- nerated by a commission of ten per cent., and occupy much the same position .as the mauzadar in the Brahmaputra Valley. In the Naga Hills, part of the district is in charge of mauzadars (the Mikir and Eengma Hills and the land revenue paying villages in the Nambar forest), and in part (the Angami, Rengma, Sema, Lhota, Ao, and Kacha ISTaga villages on the main range) the house tax is collected by village headmen, called lamhdrdars, who receive a commission varying from 12^ to 20 per cent. 2 B 1 86 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. VI. CHAPTER VL Details of the last Census {1891). Census. 201. The last census of Assam was taken on the 26th February 1891 in all those portions of the province in Manner of taking the ^^^^.^-^^ .^. ^^.^^ synchronous, that is tO Say, census. ./ ' •' ' throughout the plains and in some parts of the hill districts. In the greater portion of the latter a more gradual enumeration was carried out, but the total number of persons included in the non-synchronous returns amounted only to about 400,000, or less than 8 per cent, of the total population. A census was taken of Manipur, but all papers connected therewith were destroyed in the disturbances which took place in the following March, and no statistics are, therefore, available for that State. In the North Lushai Hills the Civil and Military popula- tion was censused on the 26th February, while, for the Lushais; an estimate of the population was prepared by the Political Officer, based on enquiries made by him during his tours. The figures furnished for the last mentioned tract are, of course, only approxi- mate, but it is believed that they are very fairly accurate. The report and tables were issued in June 1892, or about fifteen months after the census was taken. A brief summary of some of the more important results is given below. 202. As stated in the last chapter, the area of the province is about 49,004 square miles, and the popu- Area and dcnsitj". lation 5,476,833, or on the average 111 persons per square mile, which is less than in any other part of India, except only .in Burma and Coorg. The details of the Chap, VI.] DETAILS OF THE LAST CENSUS. 187 population in each district are shown in the following state- Census. ment : R l District. a 1 n a i < a "3 p. a i. . 1 ft a i -3 a ^ So 3 => Cacliar (plains) 2,472 367,542 148-6 4-4 89-09 Sylhet ... ... ... 5,414 2,154,593 397-9 4-9 95-70 Goalpara... 3,954 452,304 114-3 6-5 91-14 Kdmriip ... 3,660 634,249 173-2 5-0 97-56 Darrang ... 3,418 307,761 90-0 4-8 90-70 Nowgong 3,258 344,141 105-6 5-1 93-56 Sibsagar ... 2,855 457,274 160-1 4-6 89-74 Lakhimpur 3,724 254,053 68-2 4-5 86-25 North Cachar 1,728 18,941 10-9 5-0 103-53 Kaga Hills 5,710 122,867 21-5 3-5 97-53 Khasi and Jaintia Hills 6,041 197,904 32-7 5-0 109-18 Garo Hills 3,270 121,570 37-1 5-0 98-60 North Lushai 3,500 r 2,0440^ i 41,590t] 12-4 5-0 91-05 Total 49,004 5,476,833 1110 4-8 94-23 <* Civil and Military. t Estimated. ASSAM ADMINISTi^ATION REPORT. [Chap. VI. Census. The KliAsi and Jaiiitia and the Niiga Hills districts stand first in respect of area ; but they consist, to a large extent, of rocky and unculturable uplands, and their population is consequently sparse. Their combined area is double that of Yorkshire, but they contain only about one-ninth of the population of tliat county. The next largest district is Sylhet, which contains very nearly two-fifths of the total population of the province. AYitli the exception of a large belt of jungle at the foot of the hills along the southern boundary and of a smaller similar tract towards the north, the whole of the district is very densely peopled. It is equal in area to Durham, Cumberland, Northumberland, and West- moreland ; its population is larger by 33 per cent, than that of these four counties taken together. The next district, Goalpdra, is about the size of North Wales, and is equally densely peopled. Lakhimpur comes next in size, and then Kdmryp, with an area equal to that of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, but only about 70 per cent, of the combined population of these counties. The smallest district in the province is North Cachar, which is somewhat larger than Somersetshire, but has less than 4 per cent, of its population.* As a general rule, it may be said that the density of the population is greatest in the west, and decreases gradually towards the east, the main reason for this result ajDparently being that in the days of native rule the eastern districts suffered more from wars and a disturbed frontier than those further west. 203. For census purposes a house was defined to be " the homestead where the members of one family Ilouses and house room. ^ ^ ^ reside under a common head with their servants," That the definition Avas well understood is shown by the great uniformity in the average number of persons per house returned in the difTerent districts. With the exception of the Naga Hills and Goalpdra, the average in all districts lies between • North Cachar is adniiiiiKtratively a subdivision of the Cachar dis-trict, hut, OM'ing to the wide physical and ethnological differences between it and the plains portion of Cachar, it was treated as a separate district for the purposes of the census. Chap. VI. J DETAILS OF THE LAST CENSUS. 189 5-0 in Kdmriip, Sylhet, ard three out of the four hill districts, Census. and 5 "3 in Nowgong, where the figures are higher than they otherwise would be, owing to the great number of Mikirs living in the district, amongst whom it is customary for large groups of relatives to reside tosjether under a common roof. The mate- rials of which houses are constructed in Assam are extremely plentiful, and can be got everywhere at a very trifling cost ; in fact, in most parts they cost nothing more than the labour involved in cutting them and bringing them to the homestead. So far, therefore, as their houses are concerned, the condition of the people is one of great comfort, and overcrowding is practically unknown. 204. The number of males exceeds that of females in every district except the Khdsi and Jaintia Hills Proportions 01 the sexes. ^ and North Cachar, which are peopled mainly by aboriginal tribes. In the Ndga Hills and the Garo Hills districts the preponderance of males is very slight, and is due entirely to the Hindu and Musalman population. In the province generally, not only does the number of males exceed that of females, but this excess is more marked now than it was in 1881, males havino- increased by 316,000, or 12-62 per cent., and females by 279,407, or 11*75 per cent. The explanation of these figures will be found in the fact that amongst the immigrant population males largely outnumber females. In 1881 there was a foreign-born population of 280,609, viz., males 163,664, and females 116,945. The total foreign-born population now numbers 510,672, including 297,301 males and 213,371 females, that is to say, the excess of immigrant males over females is greater by 37,211 than it was in 1881. Excluding immigrants, 50-79 out of every 100 persons are males and 49-21 are females. 190 ASSAM AD]MINISTRATIOX REPORT. [Chap. VI. C2NSU5. 205. The statement below displays some of tlie most prominent facts regarding the distribution of the popu- lation over towns and villag^es : Towns and villages. Cachar (plains) Sylhet Oo&lpira Kamrup Darrang Kowgong SibsAgar Lathimpur .. Korth Cachar .. Kiiga Hills .. Khdsi and Jaiiitia Hills GAro Hills .. Nortli Lnsbai Hills Total Towns. 7,523 27,305 20,159 Villages, 3-1 4,011 1-3 4,815 9,876 1,781 fi,720 102,074 638 C,J15 1,098 1,565 Mr:: fcoto 360,019 2,127.28 442,039 614,090 1,116 303,750 339,320 2-1 1,306 1,329 1,005 17,142 447,655 244,177 18,941 121,086 191,184 121,570 43,631 980 575 98-8 330 97-8 411 9G-9 404 98-7 275 98-7 378 97-9 349 96-2 324 100-0 90 98-6 191 96-7 148 100-0 120 100 1504-5 98-2 313-54 2,475 2,300 1,491 1,958 2,291 1,395 3,043 5,260 5,701 2,90il 2,082 0-98 Chap. VI.] DETAILS OF THE LAST CENSUS. I9I The urban population is extremely small, being only TS per Census. cent, of the total population of the province. The corresponding percentage in Bengal amounts to 5"3, in Bombay to 17'8, and in England and Wales to 66"6. The reasons for the absence of large towns in x^ssam are that the country is still very sparsely populated ; there are no large industries to encourage the growth of towns, and the main occupation of the great bulk of the people is- agriculture. The figures regarding the number of villages are of very little statistical value, as the definition adopted for census purposes in the diflerent districts was far from uniform. In the cadastrally-surveyed portions of the Brahmaputra Valley and Cachar, the area which formed the revenue survey village was taken as a " village "; elsewhere it was taken to be a group of houses bearing a separate name, outlying hamlets being included in, or excluded from, the parent village according to the require- ments of the work of enumeration. The total number of " villages '' returned is 17,160, and the average population per village is 319. Nearly half of the population reside in villages containing from 200 to 499 persons, and nearly half of the remainder in villages containing more than 500 and less than 1,000; 13 per cent, of the people live in hamlets, where there are less than 200 persons, and only 19 per cent, in places of which the population exceeds 1,000. 192 ASSA31 ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. VI. Cexsus. ^ o a .r-l C3 •• • f— 4 !Z3 ^ > rt H) QJ 'B tn !-J rn ^ > CI) r-l t-« 02 ^ -1-3 a) C3 ^ o -i-i B a d -<-> 03 ^-3 M O) n^ f^ O) Ph r^ rH H 0) ^ . 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C5 '^ CO ■<* t- 10 t- OS ^ 10 lO CO (M t^ T-J_ (N OS^ 10 CO, eS t>." ■«? c<r -* t>r ^^ t-" '*" r t-^ I— 1 T— < CO 10 10 CO lO »o. 05 (M OS CO '^ CO 00 CO ■<1< (N T-( 1— < (M^ (n 0" , . . . . . . : 03 . 03 03 • • • • • • • §4* 'ri T^ >-s -M ■j^ T3 « bo • • • ».< M S "5 ° s C8 a, to a i bo a u be m 3 ft a IS CO ^-'^ t> M P S^i in h-l ^2; M a EH Chap. VI.] DETAILS OF THE LAST CENSUS. 1 93 The general result of the statistics for the diflerent districts Census. appears to be that the population of the eastern portion of the province is advancing far more rapidly than that of the western districts. The natural increase in Cachar is more than three times as great as in Sylhet. In the Brahmaputra Valley, Goalpdra shows a considerable decrease in its natural population, and so also does Kdmrup, though to a less extent. The population of Darrang is stationary, that of Nowgong is growing at the rate of 10 per thousand per annum, and that of Sibsdgar at the annual rate of 11 '5 per thousand, while in Lakhimpur the rate reaches 17 '3 per thousand, which is approximately the same as in Cachar, the eastern district of the Surma Valley. The growth of the popula- tion in the hill districts cannot be stated with any degree of accuracy. The total increase in the people of the province is contributed to by all districts except Kdmriip and the North Cachar subdivision, where there is a decrease of 10,711 and 1,179, respect- ively, due, in the former case, to the prevalence of hdla-azdi\ which also accounts for the comparatively small increase in Goal- pdra, and, in the latter, to the migrations of Kachdris and other tribes. The largest additions to the population are in Sylhet (185,584), Sibsdgar (87,000), Lakhimpur (74,160), and Cachar .plains (73,804). The largest percentage of increase is in Lakhim- pur (41-22), Sibsdgar (23-49), and Cachar (25-12), in all of which districts immigration, due to the extension of the tea industry, accounts for the greater part of the excess of the present figures over those of 1881. Excluding the Ndga Ilills, where the increase is mainly dne to the inclusion of the newly-formed Mokok- chang subdivision, the Khdsi and Jaintia Hills district furnishes the largest proportional increase (16*85 per cent.) amongst the districts in which tea is not largely cultivated. The population of the lower portion of the Brahmaputra Valley, where the land is not very favourable to tea cultivation, and which has, moreover, suffered considerably from kdla-azar, has been stationary, the nominal increase in Godlpdra and Mangaldai being more than counterbalanced by the decrease in Kdmrup. 2 c 194 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. VI. Census. 207. The increase in the number of immigrants from other provinces is remarkable. The number of graSon!*"^^ '°" '^" ^"^'' persous bom elsewhere is 510,672, against 280,710 in 1881, being an increase of nearly 82 per cent, in the course of the decade. It has been estimated that out of the total number of immigrants, about 424,000, or 83 per cent., are probably persons who originally came to the province as garden coolies, and that of the remainder, some 61,000, or nearly 12 per cent., are cultivators from adjacent districts of Bengal. The Census Superintendent calculates that, on the aver- age, an annual immigration of close upon 39,000 persons must have taken place, in order to keep up the number of immigrants censused in Assam in 1881 and to produce the increase over that number which has been recorded at the present census. The loss to the province by emigration during the inter-censal interval has been very slight. The total number of persons born in Assam who were censused in other provinces in 1881 was 41,038, and the number has now risen to 43,611, so that the net increase of persons born in the province, who have emigrated during the decade, over the number of such persons who were absent in 1881, but have since returned, is only 2,573. The total net emigration of persons born in Assam is, therefore, represented by this figure, |;Zi<5 the number required to keep up the emigrant population of 1881, which, at the assumed death-rate of 35 per thousand, would involve an annual exodus of 1,687 persons. Chap. VI.] DETAILS OF THE LAST CENSUS. 195 o 'So r 1 u rd bO ri ^13 f-i ci p3 -4-^ a 7i Ph Ph a> rd -U «+-! fl .. • 1-1 r— ( r^ <D • r-l ri-i a • i-H OJ '^ > <D fcl) r-H H 02 i-< 00 1^ rP Census. T-l CO U5 r-l ^ ,-H I— I •<# M u bo ►4 05 00^ o^ y—l iO OS »— 1 ,-1 r-( N 1^ O M . , , . . . 03 • ^ X • • • • ■ "3 w ■<=^ fcO d m u 1-3 xn s 45 orth Lushai Military.) orth Lushai P ;zi CO t-1 ;2; ^ M 'i^ ;z5 Census. 196 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION KEPOET. [Chap. VI. Speaking generally, it may be said that nearly 55 per cent, of the total population profess the Hindu religion, that 2 7 '09 are Muhammadans, 0'30 Christians, and 0"14 Buddhists, while 17'70 per cent, consist of persons whose tenets have been described as Animistic. Under the head " Others " are included the Jains, who are all immigrants, and also a few Theists and Agnostics. The Hindu religion predominates most largely in Sibsdgar and Lakhimpur, where the influence of the Vaishnava Gosains is greatest. It includes amongst its adherents more than half the population of Cacliar, Ka,mrup, Darrang, and Nowgong, and slightly less than half of the people living in Sylhet and Godlpdra. In the hill districts, the number of Hindus is nominal. The prevalence of the Muhammadan religion is precisely that which one would expect from the previous history of the province. Musalmans constitute slightly more than half of the population of Sylhet and very nearly one-third of the population of the Cachar and Goalpdra districts. Higher up the Brahmaputra Valley, the proportion of Musalmans steadily decreases, while in the hill districts the number is almost nominal. There has been very little change during the decade in the proportion which Musalmans bear to the total population. In 1881 the percentage was 26-98, and it is now 27*09. The primitive beliefs of the different Mongolian tribes have been classed together under one head, " Animistic," partly because too little is known about them to enable any more minute classification to be adopted, and partly because their general characteristics are everywhere much the same. The following description of them is taken from the last Census Eeport : There is a vague but very general belief in some one omnipotent being, who is well disposed towards men, and whom, therefore, there is no necessity for propitiating. Then come a number of evil spirits, who are ill-disposed towards human beings, and to whose malevolent interference are ascribed all the woes which afflict mankind. To them, therefore, sacrifices must be offered. Ihese malevolent spirits are sylvan deities, spirits of the trees the rocks and the streams, and sometimes also of the tribal ancestors. There is no regular priesthood, but some persons are supposed to be better endowed with the power of divination than others. When a calamity occurs, one or more of these diviners, shamans, or soothsayers, is called on to Chap. VI.] DETAILS OF THE LAST CEXSUS. 197 ascertain the particular demon who is offended, and who requires to be Census. pacified by a sacrifice. This is done either by devil-dancing, when the diviner works himself into a paroxysm of drunkenness and excitement, and then holds converse with the unseen spirits around him, or by the exami- nation of omens, — eggs, grains of rice, or the entrails of a fowl. There is a profound belief in omens of all sorts ; no journey is undertaken unless it is ascertained that the fates are propitious, while persons who have started on a journey will turn back, should adverse omens be met with on the way. One peculiarity in connection with their sacrifices may be mentioned. On all necessary occasions goats, fowls, and other animals are offered to the gods ; but it is always assumed that the latter will be contented -oith the blood and entrails ; the flesh is divided amongst the sacrificer and his friends, the presiding soothsayer usually getting the lion's share. The great majority of the people in the hill districts are still animistic, and so also are from 20 to 30 per cent, of the popula- tion of Kamriip, Darrang, and Nowgong. Elsewhere the number are comparatively small, owing to the proselytising influence of Hinduism, which has almost efl'aced the identity of the non- Aryan constituents of the Surma Valley population, and is rapidly doing the same in Upper Assam, where the Yaisnava Gosains are especially active, and the observances which they enforce in the case of new converts are few^ and light. Owing to defects in the form in which information on the subject was collected in 1881, it is impossible to furnish figures to show at what rate the process of conversion is proceeding to-day, but there is no doubt that it is steadily going on. 198 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. VI. Census. ij^he fio-ures for Christians are given in greater detail below I^ umber of Christians, Percentage on 1881. 1891, total population* Europeans and Eurasians, Natives, Europeans and Eurasians, Natives. 1881, 1891. Toial. Eaiopeans. Eurasians, Cachar (plains) 201 476 321 273 48 488 ■26 •22 Sylhet 115 264 387 278 109 256 •01 •02 Goalpara 121 392 85 52 33 1,547 •11 •36 Kamriip 101 265 72 62 20 876 •05 •14 Darrang 136 235 207 183 24 642 •13 •27 Nowgong 50 204 63 63 854 •08 •12 Bibsdgar 342 462 317 274 43 1,048 •21 •29 Lakhimpiir 227 610 363 305 53 1,243 •46 •63 Korth Cachar 1 1 •• •• •005 NagaHiU3 22 3 20 20 211 •02 •18 Khdsi and Jaintia Hills 212 1,895 203 164 39 6,941 V24 3'60 Garo Hills 14 656 30 21 9 1,154 •61 •97 North Lushai Hills (Civil and Military) 13 13 2 " •73 Total for the Province 1,631 5,462 2,082 1,699 383 14,762 •14 •30 In Assam there are several^ missions. Judging by their results, the most important of these is that of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists already referred to, who for many years past have been working amongst the Khasis. This race appears to be more than usually receptive of Christianity, and the number of Christians amongst them has risen from 1,895 in 1881 to 6,941 at the census taken two years ago. The next missions to be mentioned are those of the American Baptists, who have stations at Tura, Gauhdti, Nowtromx, Sibsti^ar, and Mokokcham?. A fair amount of success has attended their efiorts, and the number of native Baptists now Chap. VI.] DETAILS OF THE LAST CENSUS. 199 reported amounts to 3,718, against 1,475 at the previous census. Census. The greater part of the increase is found in Godlpara and the Garo Hills. In Nowgong the number is almost |^stationary, the increase during the last ten years being only 29, or less than three new converts a year. Next, in point of numbers, come the missions of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, whose converts have risen from 640 to 1,324. There is a small colony of Sonthals of the Lutheran Church in Goalpdra ; but this is rather a settlement of persons converted to Christianity elsewhere than a centre of mission work in the generally accepted use of the term. The total number of native Christians has risen during the last ten years from 5,462 to 14,762. A small proportion of the increase is due to the immigration of Christian Uriyas and Sonthals, but by far the greater part is the result of the labours of the missionaries of different denominations within the province. The other religions may be dismissed in a few words. The persons shown as Bhuddhists in Sibsagar, Lakhimpur, and the Naga Hills are chiefly the descendants of persons who immigrated from the Hukong valley about a hundred years ago ; those in Kamrup and Darrang are Bhutias, of whom numbers visit these districts every cold weather ; and those in Goalpara and the Gdro Hills are the relics of the Burmese occupation at the beginning of the century. 209. The age statistics have been discussed in the Census Beport, and it would be superfluous to reproduce them here. It will suffice to say that an examination of the fii^ures recorded seems to indicate a birth- rate of 49 and a death-rate of 42 per thousand, and an average duration of life of rather less than 24 years ; but the age returns are so unreliable that it would be unsafe to accept these figures as anything more than a rough approximation to the truth. Assuming that men are fit for work between the aoje of 15 and 59, and women from 15 to 44, it has been calculated that 63 per cent. of the male and 46 per cent, of the female population of the province are capable of adding to the material prosperity of the community. 200 ASSAM AD3IINISTRATI0N REPORT. [Chap, VI. Census. g-j^Q. The proportion of the married, single, and widowed of each sex per ten thousand of the population in the different districts is as follows : Mariia2-e. Unmarried. Ma ried. ^Yidowed. Distiict. Males. Females. Males. Females, Males. Females. Cachar (plains) 5,337-0 4,040-5 4,326-7 4,489-7 336-3 1,469-8 Sylhct 5,832-1 3,786-9 3,849-3 4,147-2 318-6 2,065-9 Godlpara 5,2841 3,838-2 4,368-3 4,261-7 317-6 1,897-1 Kamr\ip 5,020-2 4,273-4 3,911-4 3,996-6 468-4 1,730-0 Darrang 5,353-4 4,379-1 4,059-8 4,228-8 586-8 1,3921 Nowgong 5,827-4 4,864-3 3,679-9 3,833-6 492-7 1,272 1 SibsAgar 5,607-1 4,701-4 3,768-5 4,081-7 624-4 1,213-9 Liikhimpur 5,405-9 4,620-9 4,019-1 4,246-0 575-0 1.133-1 North Cachar 5,867-2 5,0732 3,759-9 3,517-4 872-9 1,409-4 Naga Hills 5,031-7 4,196-1 4,421-5 4,493-5 546-8 1,310-4, Khasi and Jaintia Hills 5,637-7 4,663-0 3,978-4 3,953-7 3S3-0 l,3S.3-3 Garo Hills 5,262-9 4,289-1 4,503-9 4,880-6 233-2 850-3 Nortb Lushai Hills (Civil and Military) 5,283-8 4,094-1 4.505-8 5,029-9 4,970-1 210-4 2,010-1 .... Total ot the Province 5,905-5 7,959-8 The proportions of the married, single, and widowed at the different age periods and amongst the various religions have been fully discussed in the Census Report, and it is unnecessary to discuss the subject further here. 211. The census returns deal with four infirmities, — insanity, Infirmities. dcaf-mutism, blindness, and leprosy. Total number afflicted. Average number of I'ersons of whom one is afflicted. s§ Infirmity. 1891. 1881. c ^^.2 Total. Males. Females. Total. Males. Females. Insanity 3,022 1.737 1.285 1,518 919 599 1,798-5 4 3,215-6 74 Deaf-mutism .. 4,681 2.683 1.998 2.578 1,639 939 1,161-1 1,893-4 74 Blindness 5,832 8,031 2,801 3.210 1.846 1,364 931-9 1,520-6 92 Leprosy 6,727 5.128 1.599 3,313 2,408 905 807-9 1,472-9 31 The large increase in the total number of persons afflicted is attributed to better enumeration and a more perfect system of Chap. Vl.] DETAILS OF THE LAST CENSUS. 201 tabulation, rather than to any spread of these infirmities during Census. the decade. The figures for insanity and leprosy show that these infirmities are more prevalent in Assam than in most parts of India, but the number of the insane is nevertheless far lower than that recorded in European countries. The proportion of deaf-mutes is much the same in Assam as in other Indian provinces, while that of the blind is considerably smaller, the reasons for the latter result being apparently the dampness of the climate and a less general prevalence of small-pox. The high proportion of lepers is somewhat unexpected ; the liability of the people to this loathsome complaint was first noticed in a report by the Civil Surgeon of Sibsdgar to ^Ir. Mills, on his visit to the province in 1853. 212. The census returns display a great variety of language. The province is peopled by numerous differ- Languages. ., -, ., ^ ent tribes, and each tribe has its own pe- culiar dialect. The list of languages is further swollen by the various tongues spoken by the large immigrant population. The indi- genous languages may all be classed under four main families, between the individual members of which verbal and grammatical resemblances are sufficiently numerous, and the difierences are, generally speaking, not more marked than one would have anticipated from the former isolation of the difierent tribes and the fact that their languages are, as a rule, unwritten. First come two languages of the Aryan family, Bengali and Assamese, the former being spoken by some two and three quarter millions of people, residing chiefly in the Surma Valley and Goalpdra, while the latter is the parent tongue of nearly one and a half millions in the five upper districts of the Brahmaputra Valley. Next to be mentioned is the Assam branch of the great family of Tibeto-Burman languages, which, with the exception of the small Khasi family, includes all the tongues spoken by the Non-Aryan tribes whose residence in the province dates from pre-historic times. More than 800,000 persons still speak languages of this stock, chief amongst which may be reckoned Kachari, spoken by 200,000 persons, Garo, spoken by 120,000, and Manipuri^ by 72,000. These languages have been 2 D * 20 2 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. VI. Census, classified into groups, of wliicli, so far as our knowledge at present extends, that known as the Bodo group is the most homogeneous, and at the same time the largest, containing, as it does, more than half the total number of persons returned as speaking one or other of the Tibeto-Assam languages. One of the most interesting pieces of information derived from the returns of the last census is the proof afforded us that these languages, especially those of the Bodo group, are rapidly dying out. Two Bodo dialects (Moran and Chutiya) have entirely disappeared from the realms of spoken speech ; and Koch, Eabha, Kachari, and Lalung are also showing signs of a rapidly approaching extinction. It is only in the hills, where contact with other languages is very slight, that these dialects still retain their hold over the tribes to which they belong. The Khasi family, referred to above, consists of Khdsi and three allied dialects (Synteng, Dyko, and Langam), which are spoken in all by over 178,000 people. This family is noteworthy as being altogether distinct from the Tibeto-Burman dialects spoken from the tribes around it, and in fact from all other non- Aryan languages in India. No allied language is known anywhere, except perhaps that spoken in Anam. The only family remaining to be referred to is the Shan, of which several dialects are spoken in this province by people whose ancestors immigrated within comparatively recent years. The older Shdn settlers (the Ahoms and many of the Noras) have abandoned their ancestral forms of speech, and now ta Ik Assamese, while the Turungs, another Shan tribe, speak the language of the Singphos. 213. The number of castes and tribes returned at the census is very great, and only a very brief reference can be made to the subject here. The following table shows the strength of the professional classes under which the castes were tabulated : Class, Strength, Percentage on total population. Class A.— Agricultural ... 2,465,767 45-02 B. — Professional ... ... 245,669 4-43 C. — Commercial ... 11,086 •20 D. — Artizan . . . 1,089,632 2004 E. — Vagrant and minor artizan s 24,671 •47 F. — Kaces and nationahties ... 1,598,418 29-40 Chap. VI.] DETAILS OF THE LAST CENSUS. 2O3 Each class was subdivided into groups, but space forbids a Census. detailed examination of the scheme. It may, however, be said that the most numerous Hindu castes included in class A are the Kalita (222,606), Halwa Das (143,536), Koch and Eajbansi (377,807), Kewat (91,129), and Kaibartta (67,324), and that the aboriginal hill tribes, which number in all 1,188,974, are also classified under the same head. Chief amongst these tribes are the Kacharis (243,378), the Gdros (119,754), the Khasis (117,891), the Mikirs (94,829), the Meches (70,201), the Chutiyas (87,691), the Eabhas (69,774), the Ldlungs (52,423), the Syntengs (51,739), and the different Ndga tribes, numbering in all 102,085. Class B includes 102,569 Brahmans, 92,395 Kayasthas, and 23,739 Ganaks. Class C is almost entirely composed of immigrants belonging to the different Baniya castes. In class D, group 40 — '* Fishermen, Boat- men, and Palki bearers " — is numerically the most important ; it includes 205,053 Doms, 180,539 Chanddls, and 58,100 Mdhimals, the last mentioned being a Musalman fishing caste of Sylhet. Other important castes in class D are the following : Jugi Shaha Bhuimali Teli Napit Kamar Kumar Dhoba 177,746 51,971 50,940 35,624 32,989 29,654 25,441 24,299 In class F have been included — non-Asiatic foreigners (1,698) [amongst whom Enghsh (1,381) and Europeans unspecified (237) are the most numerous], Eurasians (383), Christian converts (14,756), and "non-Indian Asiatic races" (1,573,237). The last mentioned group is artificially swollen by the inclusion in it of all Musalmans who described themselves as Sheikh (1,377,015), Saiad (12,127), Moghal (2,126), or Pdthdn (13,088). It is weU known 204 ASSAM ADMINISTHATION EEPORT. [Chap. VI, Census. ^]^^^ ^|^q ^^^g^ majority of tlie persons tlius returned have no foreign blood in their veins, and are simply natives of the country, who have assumed these titles on conversion to Muhammadanism ; and it would, therefore, have been more correct ethnologically, had these persons been classified under some other head. Their entry under this head was made under instructions laid down for the whole of India by the Census Commissioner. It should be mentioned that the Ahoms (153,528), Khamtis (3,040), and other tribes of Shan extraction have been included in this class, as the country from which their ancestors emigrated lies outside the British boundary. 214. The occupations returned at the census were classified under seven classes, twenty-four orders, and ccupa ion. seventy-seven sub-orders. The following statement exhibits the distribution of the people per 1,000 over the seven main classes in the province generally, in town and country and in the three principal divisions, — the Surma Valley the Brahmaputra Valley, and the hill districts : Class. Total population. Surma Valley. Brahma- putra Valley. Total. Hill districts 1 Total. Town. Country. Total. Total. A— Government 8-49 131-69 6-13 1063 5-32 U-15 B — Pasture and agriculture .. 777-85 13102 790-23 699-79 849-51 823-83 C— Personal and domestic services 16-37 94-31 14-88 22-30 12-14 6-49 D— Preparation and supply of material substances 127-38 368-88 122-75 184-27 81-96 57-82 B— Commerca 16-26 112-54 14-42 20-95 13-23 6-81 F— Professions 1910 73-15 18-07 28-09 12-87 4-18 G— Indefinite occupation 34-55 88-41 83-52 34-07 25-18 86-72 Total ., 1,000 1.000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 Taking the province as a whole, 777 persons in every 1,000, or nearly four-fifths of the total population, derive their support directly from agriculture, and 127, or rather more than one-eighth, from the preparation and supply of material substances. Only 19 per thousand are returned as belonging to the professional class, and only 16 to the commercial. The proportion of persons supported by personal and domestic services is also 16 per 1,000. Government employment supports 8 per 1,000. Chap. VI.] DETAILS OF THE LAST CENSUS. 205 Total number Total of persons number in each Number Class. of persons class in l.OUO in each combined persons. class. with agricul- ture. A— Government 46,144 16,653 860-89 B — Pasture and agriculture 15,625 2,578 166-05 C — Personal services 88,989 28,916 324 ■;t4 D — Preparation :ind supply of material substances 692,312 335,973 485-29 E — Commerce, transport. and storage 88,393 30.506 345-12 F — Profcsfii.ns I08,«;i8 4-2,405 408-37 G — Indefinite and inde- 187,785 23,709 126-25 pendent . . Total.. 1.222.986 480,740 39308 In the proportional statement given in tlie margin, persons Census. who combine agriculture "with some other non-agri- cultural occupation have been shown under the latter. The number of persons in each class who combine the occupation under which they have been classified witli some means of liveU- hood connected with the soil, and the proportion which they bear to tlie toial strength of the class, are shown in the margin. More than a third of the persons employed under Government, in commercial pursuits, and in the profession, are also partly dependent for their subsistence upon agriculture, and the same reijiark is true of nearly half the total number of persons in class D. Out of the total population shown as follow- ing non- agricultural occupations, no' less than 480,740, or 39 per cent., derive a portion of their sustenance from cultivation. If these be added to those already shown under " Agriculture " in the table, the number of persons connected with the soil rises to 4,692,997, or 86'34 per cent, of the total population. Assuming that, on the whole, these persons are supported by agriculture and their other occupations in equal proportions, the former is found to be the means of subsistence of 82*2 per cent, of the people. Turning to the distribution by classes in the three main divi- sions of the province, the proportion of persons supported by Government service is highest in the hill districts, where the regiments and police battalions form a comparatively large proportion of the population, and is next highest in the Surma Valley, where out of a total of 26,568 persons in this class, 18,155 are members of the rural police force and their families. The proportion of persons whose occupations are purely agricul- tural is highest in the Brahmaputra Valley, where it amounts to 2o6 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION KEPOHT. [Chap. VI. Census. 849 per thousand. In the hill districts, it is somewhat lower, owing to the figures for the Khdsi and Jaintia Hills, where a large number of persons were returned as general labourers. It is lowest in the Surma Valley, which is the most advanced portion of the province, and in which the smaller number of agriculturists is partly due to a larger number of persons engaged in the prepara- tion and supply of material substances, and partly to the fact that many cultivators follow also other occupations, and have thus been entered under the latter. Next to the large proportion of cultivators, the primitive condition of the people of this province is best illustrated by the exceptionally small number of persons engaged on personal and domestic services. In the hill districts only 6 persons per thousand, and in the Brahmaputra Valley only 12 per thousand, derive their support from this source, while in Sylhet and Cachar the ratio only rises to 22 per thousand. The number of persons engaged in the preparation and supply of material substances is 184 per thousand in the Surma Valley ; in the Brahmaputra Valley it falls to 81, and in the hill districts to 57 per thousand. The commercial and professional classes are small everywhere but are better represented in Sylhet and Cachar than in the Brahmaputra Valley, and in the latter than in the hill districts. Chap. VIIJ.' FRONTIER RELATIONS, ETC. 207 CHAPTER VIL Frontier Relations and Feudatory States. 215. The only Feudatory States with which the Assam Frontier 4 1 • • • 1 T • 1 1 • Relations. Administration has pohtical relations are Feudatory States. . . , Manipur and the petty States in the Khdsi Hills, Of the latter, sufficient has already been said in Chap- ter II, Section 5, of this report. A list of these States, their population, revenue, and the names of their rulers will be found among the statistical tables appended (Part I, Tables Bl and 2). 216. Manipur is a protected State lying between Burma on the east, the Naga Hills on the north, Cachar on the west, and the Lushai Hills and the country of the Sukte Kukis on the south. It is almost entirely a hill country, the exception being the valley of Manipur in its centre. Its area is between 7,000 and 8,000 square miles, and its population, according to the census of 1881,* 221,070 souls. Of these, 85,288 are returned as hill tribes, the remainder being by religion Hindu or Muhammadan, and consisting of the popula- tion of the valley of Manipur, in which is vsituated the capital of the State. The claim of the Manipuris to be Hindus, however, rests on no better foundation than the same claim on the part of Ahoms, Kacharis, or Tipperas (with all of whom the Manipur ruling family has intermarried) ; and while their features clearly show that they belong to the Indo-Chinese stock, their language is closely allied to those of the Kuki tribes which border them on the south. f * It was explained in the last chapter that the records of the Census taken in Manipur in 1891 were destroyed during the disturbances of the following March. •f Although the above ia true of the present people of Manipur, there is some reason for believing that this territory was the road by which Hindu influence from the west was first brought to bear upon the Burmese races of the Irrawaddy Valley (see Phayre, " History of Burma," pages 3, 4, and 15). 2o3 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. VII. Frontier The kingdom of Maiiipur first emerges from obscurity as a RELATION'S. Qgjgi^|3o^^i, and ally of the Shdn kingdom of Pong, which had its capital at Mogaung. The regalia of the royal family are said to have been bestowed by king Komba of Pong, who at the same time added the valley of Khambat to Manipur. In 1714 a Naga, named Pamheiba, became Edja of Manipur, and adopted Hinduism, taking the name of Gharib Kawaz. His people followed his example, and since that date have been conspicuous for the rigidity with which they observe the rules of caste and ceremonial purity. Gharib Nawaz, during his reign of forty years, was eno-ao-ed in constant warfare with Burma, and this state of things continued during those of his successors. Manipur was frequently invaded by the Burmese, whose last occupation of the country beo-an in 1819. The three Manipuri princes, Mdrjit, Chaurjit, and Gambhir Singh, were compelled to escape to Cachar, which country, as has already been related, they occupied. With them laro-e numbers of Manipuris emigrated, and many of their descendants, together with emigrants of later date, are still to be found in Cachar and Sylhet. When war was declared against Burma by the British Govern- ment in 1824, and the Burmese had been expelled from Cachar, assistance in arms and money was given by the Company to Gambhir Singh in an attempt to recover possession of Manipur. In this he was successful, occupying not only the valley in which the capital is situated, but also the Kubo Valley down to the Nino-thi or Chindwin river, lying to the east of the former bounda- ries of the State, and peopled by Shdns (called Kabau in Manipuri). The treaty of Yandabu with Burma, executed in February 1826, declared (article II) that should Gambhir Singh desire to return to Manipur, he should be recognised by the king of Ava as lUja thereof. Gambhir Singh being thus established on the throne, the levy with which he had effected the reconquest of his country was placed under the management of two British officers, and supplied with ammunition, and also with pay, by the British Government. In 1833 the British Government agreed to annex to Manipur the Chap VII. ] FRONTIER RELATIONS, ETC. 209 ranges of hills on the west, between the eastern and western bends Frontier . . . . . Rll\tions. of the Barak, giving that State the line of the Jiri and the western bend of the Barak as its boundary, on condition that the Raja removed all obstructions to trade between his State and Cachar, kept in repair the road between Manipur and British territory, and promised to assist the Government, in the event of war with Burma, both with carriage and with troops. In 1834 Gambhir Singh died, and his death was followed by the regency of Nar Singh, his minister, and a great grandson of Gharib Nawaz, on behalf of the dead king's son, Chandra Kirti Singh, then one year old. In the same year, the British Government decided to restore the Kubo Valley to Burma, the Government of which had never ceased to remonstrate against its separation from that country^ The valley was given back, and a new boundary laid down in the presence of British Commissioners by an agreement dated the 9th January 1834, and at the same time the British Government bound itself to pay a monthly stipend of Rs. 500 to the Eaja of Manipur in compensation for its loss. In 1835 the assistance formerly given to the Manipur levy was withdrawn, and a Political •Agent was appointed to reside at Manipur. In 1844 the Queen Dowager, widow of Gambhir Singh and mother of Chandra Kirti, attempted to poison Nar Singh, the Eegent ; her attempt failed, and she fled from the country with her son. Nar Snigh then assumed the raj in his own name, and ruled till his death in 1850. He was succeeded by his brother Debendra Singh ; but this prince ruled for only three months, Chandra Kirti Singh, with the help of Nar Singh's three sons succeeding in ejecting him and recovering possession of the throne. 'J'his was followed by some disorder in the State ; but in February 1851 the Government of India decided upon recognising the succession of Chandra Kirti Singh, fruaranteeincf the raj to him and his descendants, and preventing, by force of arms if necessary, any attempts by rival chiefs to dislodge him. In 1851 Debendra Singh's and Nar Singh's sons attempted a rising. In 1852 another attempt occurred, led by Kanhai Singh, son of Marjit, Gambhir Singh's brother. In 1857 some of the 2 E 2IO ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPOET. [Chap, VII. Frontier rebellious sepoys from Cliittagong, wlio had found tlieir way to Relations. ,, Cacliar, were used by one Narendrajit, a younger son of Chaurjit, to raise a disturbance. Narendrajit was transported. In 1859 Maipdk, a descendant of Gharib Nawaz, invaded tlie valley, but was defeated and fled. In 1862 he again, in conjunction with another Eajputra, named Khaifa Singh, headed an attack, and penetrated to the Eaja's palace, where he was captured. Kanhai Singh made another attempt in 18G5, when his followers were attacked and dispersed by British troops and police. Another raid was perpetrated by Gokul Singh, a younger son of Debendra Singh, in 1866. His enterprise failed, like the rest, but he escaped for the time. He was captured in 1868, tried in Cacliar, and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. In the Naga w^ar of 1879 the Mahardja of Manipur distinguish- ed himself by rendering loyal assistance to the British Government. He furnished a force, which under the leadership of the Political Ageiit, Tolonel (now Sir James) Johnstone, raised the siege of Koliima by the Nagas, and prevented a great catastrophe. In recognition of this service the Government of India bestowed upon the Mahdraja Chandra Kirti Singh the dignity of K.C.S.I. Another series of events, which gave occasion for much correspondence, was the raids of certain Kukis known as Chasads on the eastern frontier of Manipur territory. It was believed that these raids were abetted by the Shdn Tsawbwa, or chief of Samjok in the Kubo Valley ; and, as there was much indehniteness in the frontier north of the Kubo Valley proper as set forth in the agreement of 1 834, it was determined by the Government of India to send a Commission to define and demarcate the boundary of Manipur in this direction. This task was accomplished in the cold weather of 1881-82, and the Burmese Government (who were invited to co-operate in the demarcation, but did not do so) were informed that the boundary so laid down would be maintained by the Government of India. The raiding Kukis, who were favoured in their enterprise by the uncertainty of the frontier, were found to be settled within Manipur territory, and some of them were induced to move further in, and were thus brought under stricter control. Chap. VII,] FRONTIER RELATIONS, ETC. 211 On the death of Chandra Kirti Singh in 1886, Bara Chauba Frontier the eldest son of Nar Singh, who had been Maharaja from 1844 to 1850, made an attempt to get possession of the gadi^ but was eventually defeated by a detachment of the Cachar Military Police, after which he gave himself up, and was deported with his relatives to Hazaribac^h. The last event to be recorded in the history of this State is the terrible disaster which took place in March 1891. In Septem- ber 18yO the Mahdnija Sura Chandra Singh was driven from his palace by his two youngest brothers, at the instigation of the Senapati, Tekendrajit Singh, and took refuge with the Political Agent. Notwithstanding the advice given by the latter, he declared his intention of abdicating, and left Manipur for Brinda-- ban. On reaching British territory, he repudiated any intention of abdicating, and requested the assistance of the Government of India to regain the gadi. The Government of India, after duly considering the matter, decided that the Jubraj should be confirmed as Raja, but that the turbulent Senapati should be removed from Manipur. To carry out this decision, Mr. Quinton, who was then Chief Commissioner, proceeded to Manipur early in 1891 with an escort, and ordered the Senapati to surrender himself. This he refused to do. Troops were sent to arrest him in his house in the palace enclosure. They were fiercely attacked by the Manipuris, and the engagement continued until the evening, wlien an armistice was agreed to, and firing temporarily ceased. The Chief Commissioner and four other officers were then induced, under a promise of safe conduct, to enter the " Pat " and hold a Darbar in the Darbar hall at the entrance to the Pidja's citadel. No agreement being found possible, the oSicers started to return to the Residency ; but on the way the crowd closed in on them, and the Political Agent, Mr. Grimwood, was fatally speared and Lieutenant Simpson severely wounded. The Chief Commissioner and his companions were then kept prisoners for two hours, after which they were marched to the green space in front of the dragons, and there beheaded by the public execu- tioner. The attack on the Residency was then resumed, and the 2 1 2 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. VIF. Froxtiek defenders, tliinking it untenable, retreated to Cacliar. These * events took place on the 2^111 March. On the 27th April the place Tras entered b}^ three columns of British troops, marching from Silchar, Koliima, and Tammu. Ihe Eegent and his brothers had fled the night before, together with the Tangkhul Major, the Senapati, and other persons implicated in the outrage, but all were subsequently captured. The Senapati, Tangkhul Major, and some others were sentenced to death and executed, and the Eegent and his brothers were transported for life. The future of the State had then to be considered, and it was eventually decided by the Gcjvernment of India to regrant the State and to place upon the throne a j'outh named Chura Chand, a scion of a collateral line. During his minority the administration of the State is to be con- ducted by the Political Agent, and numerous reforms, including the introduction of better judicial tribunals, the abolition of the system of lalup, or forced labour, etc., have already been effected. The Political Agent in Manipur was till 1879 only partly under the control of the Chief Commissioner, with whom he corresponded only in regard to matters connected with Assam and its frontier, but in that year he was made directly subordinate to the Chief Commissioner. On the regrant of the State in 1891, his designation was changed to " Political Agent and Superintendent of the State. " 217. The frontier States and tribes which adjoin the province Frontier States and tribes. ^^ ^^^^^^^' Commencing at the north-west cor- ner, are the followinij;' : (1) Bhutan, {i) Ehutias subject to Thibet, (3) Independent Bhutias, (4) Akas, (5) Dafla«, (6) Miris, (7) Abors, (8) Mishmis, (9) Khamtis, (10) Singpbos, (11) Ncl^ras, (bere Manipur intervenes, and tben follow) — (12) Lusbais, and (13) HillTippera. 218. With the Deb Eaja of Bhutan the Chief Commissioner, ■gjjy^^j^ has now no direct relations. Whenever it may be necessary to communicate with him, Chap. VU] FRONTIER RELATIONS, ETC. 213 this is (lone tliroiigli die Commissioner of Koch Bihar, a copy of Frontier ,1 . . ' . , , . 1 ^ Relations. the communication beini^^ sent at the same time to the Government of liengal. Akhough this State adjoins Assam to the north of the districts of Goalpara, Kdmrup, and Darrang, as far east as the Doishdm river, no official intercourse other than complimentary interviews with local officials is kept up. On the conquest of Assam, tlie northern portion of Kdmrup, consisting of the Bijni, Chappakamar, Chappaguri, Banska, and Garkaha Duars was found in possession of Bhutia chiefs, who paid a tribute of Es. 3,049 yearly to the Assam Eajas. 'Jo the east of the Bornadi the two Duars of Khalim? and Buriiruma were held by the Bhutias for eight months of the year, and by the Assam Eaja for the remaining four (the rainy season). The pay- ment of tribute by the Bhutia Jungpens during the first fifteen years of our rule was very irregular, and the frontier was conti- nually harassed by dacoities and outrages perpetrated on our sub- jects, which necessitated frequent armed reprisals. At last, in 1841, it was determined (since the possession of these tracts by the Bhutias was of recent date) to resume the Dudrs, and bring them under British management, paying to the Bhutan Govern- ment an annual sum of Es. 10,000 as compensation for their loss. This sum was regularly paid until the outbreak of the Bhutan war in 1864, when it was stopped, and the seven Assam Duars (as well as the five Eastern Duars north of Goalpara, by name Guma, Eipu, Chirang, Sidli, and Bijni, and the seven Western Dudrs north of Koch Bihar, were finally annexed to British territory. At the same time the Fort of Diwangiri and its neighbourhood, which commands the passage down to the bazars of Kdmrup, was occupied and retained as British territory. The Bhutias come dowm during the cold weather for pasture and trade into the north of Kdmriip and western Darrancf, but few of them appear to visit the thinly-peopled submontane tract of Godlpdra. Most of their trade is done at Subankhata, Kumori Kata, and Genbdri in the Kdmrup district south of Dewangiri, and at Ghagrapara in Darrang. There are a few Bhutia settle- ments in British territory at the foot of the hills, but their condi- 214 ASSAM AD:\nNISTRATION REPOHT. [Chap. VII' Frontier tion is not very prosperous, and they seem to be a survival of the ■ old days of Bhutia supremacy, rather than the beginning of a more extended immigration. During their visits to the plains it is not uncommon to hear of exactions made by the Bhutias visiting the Kamrup district, who take advantage of the timorous nature of the villagers to force upon them chillies and salt and extort in exchange large quantities of rice and other articles. These exactions have of late become so bad that it has been found necessary to place an additional guard at Kakolabari, the cost of which is deducted from the posa of the Eaja. 21q. The Bhutias of the Kan^pdra Dudr, which lies east of Bhutan Proper and extends from the Bhutias subject to Thibet. -r\ • i it-. Doisham to the Eota river, are dependent upon Towang, which is a dependency of the Government of Lhassa- The chiefs of this Duar, called the Sat Rajas, used, like their neigh- bours of Bhutan Proper, to levy dues from the inhabitants of the adjoining plains. In 1844 their claims were bought out by the British Government on payment of an annual sum of Es, 5,000. Our relations with these people since the composition of 1844 have only once been disturbed. In 1852 one of the Gelongs, or Thibet- an officials appointed from Lhassa to supervise the local chiefs, having some misunderstanding with his superiors, fled to British territory. His surrender was peremptorily demanded by the autho- rities of Lhassa, and a Thibetan army moved towards the frontier. A British force was assembled at Udalijuri, with two suns. But no hostihties actually occurred ; the Thibetans retired, the fugitive Gelong was removed to Gauhati, and the Dudr was reopened for trade. This pass is specially interesting, as it is the only place in many hundred miles of Himdlaydn barrier where the British power is in actual contact with Thibet. The hillmen, including Thibetans from the higher ranges, resort in considerable numbers during the cold weather through this Dudr to the annual fair at Udalguri, which lies due south of the gap through which the Dhansiri river issues from the hills. Chap. VII.] FRONTIER RELATIONS, ETC. 2 1$ Exactions, similar to those referred to in the last para^fraph Fi^o^-'tier lor Relations. have occasionally been reported ; but these acts of oppression are now comparatively rare. Owing to the fall in the price of salt imported from England, the Bhutias find their trade less profitable than it used to be, and the number who visit the plains is decreas- ing every year. 220. Next to these Bhutias subject to Towang come the Sat Eajas of Charduar, chiefs who live at villages Independent Bhutias. i\ i i i ^ r i i • t-» , "^z • called by the people ot the plains Ftuprai- gaon and ShergAon. They claim to be independent of Towang, and rule the face of the hills from the Rota to the Diputa river. The Thebengia Bhutias are a distinct race and live several days' journey into the hills, but they used, in conjunction with the Sat Edjas, to levy contributions from the people of the adjacent plains. Erom 1839 to 1844 these people were excluded from the plains by the British Government, in punishment for outrages com- mitted bv them. On their submittinc^ and executinof a formal agreement to refrain from aggressions, they received annual pen- sions, — the Shergdon and Ruprdigdon Bhutias of Rs. 2,526-7 a year, and the Thebengia Bhutias of Rs. 145-13-6. They come down annually to receive their pensions at Tezpur. They also hold an annual fair at a place beyond British territor}'-, in the gorge of the Belsiri river, called Daimdra, where some trade is done with the people of the plains, which is registered by a police post at the boundary pillar on the frontier. 221. Next to the Bhutias come the Akas, who occupy the sub-Himalayan region as far east as the issue of tlie Khari-Dikarai river. This tribe is divided into two sections, called by the Assamese the Hazdrikhoas and the Kapahchors.* The former rec3ived a ♦ The first of these names probably indicates that a thousand gots of pails, or indi- vidual groups of revenue-payers, was set aside to provide a stipend for the tribe : kiwa (eater) is the usual Assamese termination, indicating tliat a person is supported f -om the revenues of any place or people. Kapuhchor means cotton-thief, this cla-s of Akas being famous for their night attacks, in which they lurked in the cotton-fieldg with a primitive sort of dark lantern, waiting their opportunity. 2l6 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. VII. Frontier ^jo^w * or stipend, from tlie Assam Rajas, and tlie latter levied ' contributions without having any such title. Both tribes are believed to be very limited in number ; but to the north of them is an allied race called the Mijis, of whose strength nothing certain is known. Though small, however, this tribe has a great reputation for violence and audacity. For many years Tdgi Rdja, the chief of the Kapahchor Akas, gave us much trouble by his robberies and murders in the plains. In 1829 he was captured, and lodged for four years in the Gauhati jail. In 1832 he was released, in the hope that he had learnt a lesson, and would be quiet in future ; but he immediately resumed his attacks, and in 1835 massacred all the inhabitants of the British village and police outpost of Balipara. For seven years after this he evaded capture-, his tribe remaining outlawed in the hills. At length, in 1842, he surren- dered, and it was decided to use his influence with the other chiefs to secure the peace of the border. An agreement was made, under which the Kapahchor Aka chiefs receive Es. 520 a year as pen- sion. The Hazarikhoas receive a pension of Rs. 180. Both tribes have certain small areas of land in the plains allotted to them for cultivation. The Kapahchors threatened in 1875 to give trouble, claiming an extensive tract of forest and other land on the Bharali river, which was cut off by the demarcation of the boundary in 1874-75. Nothing further occurred at the time, and the new boundary was quietly accepted. This dispute, however, coupled with one or two other grievances of a very minor nature, is believed to have been the cause of the acts of aggression which resulted in the expedition of 1883-84. In Ot'tober 1883, Lakhidhar mauzadar, who had visited the village of Medhi, the Kapahchor Aka chief, to ask him to supply articles for the Calcutta Exhibition and to send down a man and a woman * Tlic word ^:)o.sa or jmcha ( •'(5! ) litei ally means a collection or subsciiption for a common purpose ; it is probably connected with the word pnnch (live), and recalls the Mahratta chanlh, <>r fourth. Tlic word is still well understood in this sense in Upper Assam. In its special sense of payment to a hill tribe, it strictly denotes the subscription which the \illafre raised in order to mr;et the customary demands of their visitors from the hills, in other words, blackmail. It is not properly applicable to a fixed stipend, paid, as in these cases, by Government in accordance with treaty ; but it has now come to include such stipends. Chap. VII.] FKONTIEll llELATIONS, ETC. 2 1 7 to be modelled there, was forcibly detained, and shortly afterwards Frontier ' '' -I p p Relations, Medhi's brother, Chandi, carried off a clerk and forest ranger trom BaHpara. A punitive expedition was despatched, and Medhi's village was occupied, the Akas taking refuge in the jungle. They gave up their captives (except Lakhidhar, who had died) and sent in some rifles and other articles which they had carried off; but the chiefs themselves did not come in before tlie departure of the troops, which took place only fourteen days after their arrival' and appears to have been somewhat premature. The expedition was followed by a blockade of the frontier, which was maintained until 1888, when the Aka chiefs appeared before the Deputy Commissioner and tendered their submission. Since that time they are reported to have been perfectly well behaved and contented. 222. Next to the Akas come the Dafl as, who, with the Hill Miris and the Abors, occupy the whole of the rest of the sub-Himdlaydn hills until the Mishmi country is reached. These three races speak languages which are said to be mutually intelligible, and they are evidently, though differing in arms and style of dress, nearly akin. The Daflas and Miris were, hke the Akas, in receipt of f>05a5, or pensionary allowance, under the Assam Government, as a condition of their refraining from aggression on the northern tracts of Darrang and Lakhimpur, and these allowances have been continued by the British Govern- ment. There are two divisions of the Daflas, one called the Paschim, or Western, Daflas, and the other the Tagin Daflas, who live to the east of these. For many years the Daflas have been quiet neighbours. Previous to 1837 their raids on the frontier were numerous, but in that year the system of annual pensions was settled. The only occasion since then when they have given trouble was in 1872 and 1873, when the Tagin Daflas broke the peace on two occasions by seizing some plains Daflas who were believed by them to have caused sickness in the hills. These outrages were punished first by a blockade ; on this proving ineffectual in obtain- ing the surrender of the captives, an expedition was sent into the hills north of the Dikhrang river in the cold weather of 1874-75, which was followed by the release of the prisoners and the 2 F 2i8 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. VII. Frontier Submission of the tribe. Since then our relations with the Dallas Relations, j^^^,^ }^een peaceful. Considerable numbers of this people, whose superstitions in regard to sickness and witchcraft lead them to frequent attacks by one village upon another, have settled in the plains of Darrang and Lakhimpur as Government ryots. The last census showed 1,137 Daflas as settled in these districts, against 549 in 1881 and 418 in 1872. 223. The Miris are a quiet and inoffensive race. They receive an annual allowance in money, salt, and rum Miris. from the North Lakhimpur treasury. It is believed that they stand in some sort of servile relation to the Abors, to avoid which large numbers of this people have settled in Upper Assam as British subjects. In the plains they still preserve their customs of building houses on piles, and of cultivat- ino- hy j hum ; they are expert and fearless boatmen, and always settle on the banks of a river. Eetaining their own language among themselves, they also speak Assamese, to which is due the name by which they are known in Assam (Miri, or Mili, meaning go-between or interpreter), as they act as a channel of communica- tion with the Abors of the hills. The total number of Miris settled in Assam is 37,430, of whom all except about 3,000 are found in Sibsdgar and Lakhimpur. 224. The Abors, who call themselves P^ddm {Abor being an , Assamese word designating an independent, remote, and unknown savage), occupy the hills east of the Miris as far as the Dibong river. They bear a very different character from the latter, and the want of popula- tion on the north bank of the Brahmaputra from opposite Dibrugarh to Sadiya is chiefly due to dread of their raids. Their principal villages are in the hills about the course of the Diliong, but several recent settlements have been founded in the plains. Murders and outrages committed by them on Government ryots, in some cases close to the headquarters station of Dibrugarh, have led to several punitive expeditions. In 1858 one was sent to punish the massacre of a Bihia village by the Bor Meyong Abors, but was not successful in its object. In 1859 a second expedition was sent. Chap. VII.] FRONTIER EELATIONSj ETC. 219 and met with better fortune. In 18G1 another massacre of Bihias, frontier a few miles from Dibrugarh, on the south side of the Brahmaputra, Relation's. occurred. This was followed by preparations for establishing a line of outposts along the north bank of the Brahmaputra, connected by a road, to guard against such attacks in future. The Abors appear to have been impressed by these operations. They made overtures, which were responded to, and a meeting took place in November 1862 between them and the Deputy Commissioner. A treaty was arranged with eight communities of the tribe, promis- ing them, on condition of good behaviour, an annual allowance of iron hoes, salt, rum, opium, and tobacco. Later, in November 1862 and in January 1863, some other powerful villages made similar as^reements. The last concluded was made with the remaining communities in April 1866. All these agreements recite that the British territory extends to the foot of the hills. The allowance to the tribe is paid at the Darbdr held annually at Sadiya ; but on several occasions the Abors have held sulkily aloof, and have not presented themselves at the Darbar. In 1881 it was apprehended that certain villages of Abors, who had expressed an intention to cross the Dibong river and settle upon the hills beneath those occupied by the Chuhkdta Mishmis, would carry their hostihties with the latter tribe into British territory, and cut them off from access to Sadiya. The execution of this plan was prevented by the despatch of a mixed force of troops and police to occupy the post of Nizamghat, where the Dibong river issues from the hills north of Sadiya, and another lower down, opposite the Abor village of Bomjur. In 1889 two Meyong villages combined to decoy four British subjects, Miris, beyond the Inner Line, where they murdered them, the object apparently being to establish a claim iovposa. A fine of 20 mithans was imposed upon them, and the whole of the Passi and Meyong Abor frontier was blockaded pendinpj payment. The fine was paid in less than a year, and no trouble has since been given by this tribe. 225. The Mishmis, who occupy the hills from the Dibong to the Brahmakund in the north-eastern corner of the valley, are divided into three tribes, R£LATIONS. 2 20 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. VU. Frontier called respectively the Chulikata or crop-haired Mishmis, the Tain or Digaru Mishmis, and the Mizhu or Midhi Mishmis. The first named have on several occasions attacked Khdmti settlements in the neighbourhood of Sadiya, and have threatened to give trouble. Of late years, however, they have become embroiled with the Abors, and have looked to the British Government for protection and assistance. They resort in considerable numbers to the Sadiya fair, and are active traders. The Digdru Mishmis are a qtiiet, inoffensive people, and act as guides to the pilgrims to the Brahma- kund. Of the Mizhu or Midhi Mishmis, who are the most remote of the three, we know little. In 1854 two French priests, M. M. Krick and Bourry, who endeavoured to pass through their country from Assam to Thibet, were murdered by a party of these Mishmis under a chief named Kai-i-sha. This outrac^e was aveng^ed in February 1855 by an expedition under Lieutenant Eden, who with 20 Assam Light Infantry and 40 Khamti volunteers reached Kai-i-sha's village, stormed it, and took the murderer prisoner. In December 1885, Mr. F. J. Needham, Assistant Political Officer at Sadiya, accompanied by Captain E. II. Molesworth, Commandant of Military Police, and three police orderlies, succeeded in penetrat- ing through the Mizhu Mishmi country and in entering the Thibetan province of Zayul, and thereby establishing the identity of the Sanpo with the Dibong. The Chulikata Mishmis were blockaded from 1884 to 1887 in consequence of the murder of an Assamese at Dikrang in revenge, it is said, for the death of a Chulikata chief, Lako, on his return from the Calcutta Exhibition, for which the superstitious tribesmen believed the British Government to be responsible. The blockade was raised in 1887 on the payment of a fine of Es. 2,000. None of the Mishmi tribes receive any jiosa^ nor do formal treaties or aojreements with them exist. 226. The Khamtis settled about Sadiya have already been Khimtis mentioned in paragraph 75 of this report. They are immigrants from a Shfln State beyond the Pjitkoi range, formerly tributary to Burma, and known to the Assamese as Bor Kluimti, They are of the same race as the Ahoms, but differ from the latter in being Buddhists. They are Chap. VII.] FRONTIER llELATIONS, ETC. 22 1 a literary and cultivated people, and much more civilised than Froxtier •^ . . ^ ^ . Relations. any of their neighbours, not excluding the Assamese. They first settled in Sadiya during the latter part of the eighteenth century. When the Burmese were expelled from Assam, the Khdrati Gohain, or chief of Sadiya, executed an agreement of allegiance to the British Government, and Sadiya was selected as the residence of the Political Agent in Upper Assam. In 1839, after the death of the Khamti chief, with whom we made the agreement, the Khdmtis of Sadiya suddenly rose, and massacred the Political Agent, Colonel White, and many of his guards and attendants. A war folio ,ved, ending in the transportation of the Khdmti chief's son and his followers to a distant part of British territory. In 1843 some chiefs of this race were again allowed to settle about Sadiya ; and in 1850 a new immigration from Bor Khamti took place. The Khamtis living about Sadiya and Saikwa are British ryots, and pay reve- nue. Those living on the Tengapc4ni beyond the Inner Line acknow- ledge allegiance to the British Government, but pay no revenue. A small force of 24i men, known as the Khamti Volunteers, are em- ployed for the protection of the villages about Sadiya. They receive a trifling yearly pay from (jovernment, and have been supplied with muskets and ammunition. They patrol the paths to the north and east of Sadiya by which the Mishmis come down to that place. This force is gradually being abolished, and no new appointments are being made to replace losses by death, &c. The last census showed 3,040 Khamtis to be resident in Assam. 227. The Phakials, or Pliake, are said to have left Mogaung for Assam about 17G0 A. D., immediately after the Phakials and lurungs. ^ ^ ^ "^ subjugation cf that province by Alomphra. Colonel Hannay tells us that, prior to their immigration into this province, they were resident on the banks of the Turungpani, and were thus apparently near neighboursof the Turungs. On reaching Assam, they at first settled on the banks of the Buri Dihing, whence they were brought by the Ahoms, and settled near Jorhdt. When the Burmese invaded Assam, they and other Shan tribes were ordered by the Burmese authorities to return to Mogaung, and they had got as far as their old settlement on the Buri Dihing when the province was taken by the British. 222 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. Vll. Frontier Their lancruasje closely resembles that of the other northern Relations. o o ./ Shuns. Like the Khamtis and Turungs, they are Buddhists. They seldom marry outside their own community ; and, as this is very small, their physique is said to be deteriorating. They are adepts in the art of dyeing. The total strength of the Phakidls is only 565 ; all of whom are found in the Sadr subdivision of the Lakhim- pur district. The Turungs immigrated into the province less than seventy years ago. Their own tradition is that they originally came from Mungmang Khaosang on the north-east of Upper Burma, and set- tled on the Turungpani, whence the name by which they are now known. While there, they received an invitation from the Noras, who had preceded them and settled near Jorhat, and in conse- quence they started across the Patkoi en route for the Brahmaputra Valley. They were, however, taken prisoners by the Singphos and made to work as slaves, in which condition they remained for five years. They were released by Captain Neufville, along with nearly 6,000 Assamese slaves, in 1825, and continued their journey to the Jorhat subdivision, where they are still settled. 228- The Singphos, who live intermixed with the Khamtis on the New and Old Dihings, the Tenojapani, Singphos. . ° . » i ' and themountams beyond, are, like the latter, but an outlier of the main population of the same race who occupy in force the hilly country between the Patkoi and Chindwin river, where they are nominally subject to Burma. To the Burmese they are known as Ralchye7ift, and Shigpho is but the word in their lan- guage meaning " man." They are, apparently, from what is known of their language, related to the Nfiga tribes in their neighbour- hood, to whom, however, they stand distinctly in the position of masters and superiors ; where brought in contact with the Khamtis they have borrowed something of the civilisation and out- ward appearance of the latter, and have also in some cases been converted to Buddhism. They are, however, probably quite distinct by race. The Singphos are recent arrivals in Assam, having made their appearance at the head of the valley during the troubles of Kdja Gaurindth Singh with the Moamarids about 1793. It was through Chap. VII.] FRONTIER RELATIONS, ETC, 223 their country that tlie Burmese invaders passed into Assam in 1818 Frontier *' ^, ^ Relations. and 1822 ; and the ravages of the Singphos, added to those of the Burmese, contributed greatly to the depopulation of the Matak country and Sibsagar. When Assam was conquered from tlie Burmese, the chiefs of the Singphos, after several engagements with our troops, tendered their allegiance, and entered into agreements not to disturb the peace of the frontier. Great numbers of Assamese slaves, who had been carried off by them in the early years of the century, were released, and the wealth and power of the tribe were in this manner much reduced. In 1839 they joined the Khamtis in their attack on Sadiya ; but by 1842 they had again been brought to acknowledge their subjection. Many of the Singpho immigrants, with whom agreements were made in 1826, have since retired across the frontier into Hukou"'. The Duaniiis, or Singpho-Assamese half-breeds (so called from the Assamese dudn = language, because they act as interpreters), are the offspring of the intercourse between these slaves and their captors. They are chiefly settled along the Buri or Old Dihing, and are quiet subjects. The now universal habit of opium-eating is believed to have con- tributed largely to the present quiet attitude of the Singphos and Khdmtis. The chiefs of these people meet annually at the full moon of Magh (in the end of January or beginning of February) at Sadiya to present themselves, with the chiefs of the Mishmi and Abor tribes, before the Political Officer, who receives their offerings, and gives them in return small presents. They pay no revenue except where settled within the Inner Line. 229. The tribes known to the Assamese as Nagas stretch un- interruptedly from the P4tkoi alonor the south- Nagaa. . - , . . ern frontier of the Lakhimpur and Sibsagar districts, to the valley of the Dhansiri and North Cachar. Of the Nagasin the British district of the Naga Hills (the Angamis, Kacha Ncigas, Eengmas, Semas, Lhotas, and Aos) mention has already been made. Our relations with the remaining tribes are conducted through the Deputy Commissioners of Dibrugarh and Sibsagar. From the Tirdp river eastward to the Patkoi, the Nagas are com- 224 ASSAM iVDMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. Vll. Froxtier pietely in subjection to the Singplios, and are apparently a very quiet race. West of tliis point begins a succession of groups of villa"-es known to the Assamese by the names of the passes or Dudrs throuf^h which their inhabitants resort to the plains,— as the Ndm- sdm^ias, Bordudrias, Panidudrias, Mithonias, Banpheras, Jobokas, Bhitarndmsangias, Jdtungias, Tdblungias, Assiringias, etc. The outer tribes of this region are in constant communication with the plains, and in the times of the Assam Edjas used to make annual offerings of elephants' tusks and other such articles. They do a considerable trade in cotton and other hill produce, and carry back larcre quantities of salt and rice. The inner tribes, known to the Assamese as Abors, or wild men, are kept from access to the plains by these outer or Bori (subject, civihsed) Ndgas, who thus keep the carrying trade in their own hands. Besides, for purposes of trade, these outer Nagas come down in considerable numbers to labour in tea plantations and on roads during the cold weather. Unlike the Ano-amis, Semds, and Lhotds, who are intensely democratic in their social economy, many of the Eastern Ndgas appear to acknowledge the authority of Edjas and minor chiefs among themselves. With the internal affairs of these people we hardly meddle at all ; but they are prohibited from carrying their quarrels into the settled British territory, and, if they do so, are tried and punished by our courts. On this frontier, a system prevails by which the Na""as of each group have allotted to them certain Assamese a^^ents, called kotokis, who manage small plots of revenue-free land called Nciga khdts, on behalf of the tribes. When the attendance of the chiefs in the hills is required for any purpose, they are sum- moned through these kotokis. If satisfaction for robberies and other outrages is not in this way obtained, theDudr or pass through which the tribe visits the plains is blocked, and no one is allowed to come down or go up. This system has rarely failed to secure reparation : and, on the whole, the conduct of the Ndgas on this frontier, when left to themselves, has been peaceable and quiet, so far as the settled lands of the plains are concerned. Among themselves, however, their feuds are incessant, and are only com- posed to break out anew. The easternmost tribes of Bordudrias Chap. VII.] FRONTIER RELATIONS, ETC. 225 and Ndmsdnofias have thus been prosecutmf^r a quarrel for over fifty Frontier ,. ,. ii-iiir Relations. years, each group taking, when it can, the hves and heads of some of the others. With these feuds it has not been our pohcy to meddle, though attempts have occasionally been made to mediate between contending tribes. The Nciga country up to the Ptitkoi range is nominally British territory by inheritance from the rulers of Assam and by our trea- ties with Burma. It has from time to time been explored by survey parties, and on one of these occasions, in February 1875, a party sent into the hills south of Jaipur was treacherously attacked at Ninu, a village four marches from the plains up the valley of the Disang, and Lieutenant Holcombe, the Assistant Commissioner accompany- ing the party, with eighty coolies and followers, was killed. Captain Badgley, the survey officer, and fifty others being wounded. This was followed by a punitive expedition, by which the villages which took part in the massacre were attacked and destroyed. During the same season the survey party in the western Naga Hills was attacked by Ndgas ; and in December 1875 Captain Butler, the Political Agent, who was accompanying the survey party, was again attacked near the Lhota Niiga village of Pangti, and received a wound of which he died a few days later. The village was at once destroyed by the force which accompanied the survey party. 230. Passing by the British district of the Naga Hills and Manipur already described, we come to the country of the Lushai Kukis lying south of Cachar. From the earliest period of which we have any knowledge, the hills lying to the south of Manipur, Cachar, and eastern Sylliet have been inhabited by various tribes known to the Bengalis by the common name of Kukis. These tribes have always, so far as we know, been divided into numerous families, each family acknowledging a chief or ruling house, and these houses being generally engaged in warfare with one another. Each village had its chief, whose object it was to extend the fame and power of his village by fighting with his neighbours. As among the Garos and 2 G 2.26 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPOHT. [Chap. VII. Frostier otlier wild tribes ill tilis part of India, the gathering of heads was ELATioNs. ^j^^ QJ^ject of many of these attacks and of raids upon the adjacent plains. During the weak rule of the last E^jas of Cachar, the valleys in the south of that district were almost depopulated by attacks from these hillmen, and at the same time the district began to be invaded by refugee bodies of Kukis who had been driven out of their own country by more powerful chiefs, and sought protection from the rulers of Cachar. Many of these communities settled across the Bardil in North Cachar, where they were comparatively safe from pursuit. Those who settled in the southern hills were often followed up by their conquerors and massacred. The older immigrants of this period (none of whom probably date from before the beginning of the present century) are known to the Kacharis as " old Kukis," those who have immigrated since British rule began being called the " new Kukis." Govind Chandra is said to have employed Kukis in his contest with Tulardm Senapati, and this no doubt increased their numbers in North Cachar. The Kuki families whose feuds first attracted most attention, and from whose raids we suffered during the first years of British rule, were the Tldngams, Changsels, Thadois, and Poitus. The Lushais* were not heard of until about 1840, when they made their appearance on the Chattachura range, from which they were driving the Poitus. Their chiefs are all descendants of Chunglunga, whose successor, Lallula, had four sons, — Lalpuilena, Lalienvunga, Mangpor, and Vuta. The descendants of the first mentioned are the Eastern chiefs, of whom Lengkdm, LtUbura, and Poiboi are names of note in our recent relations with the Lushais. Of the descendants of Ldlienvunga, Lulhai may be mentioned ; of Vuta- Laleya and of Mang^por-Lenkhunga, Khiilkam, Lengpunga, Thdnruma, Ldlrima, and Thdngula, all of whom, with the excep- * Liisliai is said to be derived from Z2i=head ands7ia = cut. This name is not known to the people so designated, who are paid to call themselves Zlto. This name is haid to "include all tlic liill tribes of this region who wear their hair in a knot resting on the napo of the neck. The tribes further south and east are distinguished under the generic title of Poi ; these wear the hair knotted upon the temple." Between the Lushais wuil the Puis are the Howlongs and the Kamhows, and cast of the Pois are the Suktes. Chap. Vll.] FRONTIER RELATIONS, ETC. 227 tion of the last mentioned, are sons or grandsons of Sukpildl, wlio Frontier *^ Relations. died in 1880, and wlio at the time of his death was ruler over the whole of the Western Lushais. The hrst atttacks upon British territory made by the Lushais after their advance northwards were in November 1849, when almost at the same time a party of woodcutters was massacred, a village of Tipperas was burnt, and another village was plundered, in the Singla valley in Sylhet, west of the Chdttachura range, and an attack was made by Mora, son of Ldlienvunga, on three villages of refuofee Thadoi Kukis within ten miles of the station of Silchar. To punish these outrages, the first expedition was led against the Lushais by Colonel Lister, who in January 1850 surprised and destroyed Mora's village, situated a little way south of the great peak of Nisapwi, between the Dhaleswari and the Sonai rivers. This expedition secured peace for many years. The Lushais gradually withdrew their advanced posts southwards, and we ceased to have much communication with, or information about, them. A raid was committed in 1862 on Hill Tippera and South Sylhet near Adampur, which two years later was discovered to have been perpetrated by Sukpihil ; but this was followed only by negotiations. A meeting was held between the Deputy Commis- sioner of Cachar and Sukpilal's agents, and it was arranged that the captives taken should be surrendered, and that Sukpildl should receive an allowance for keeping the peace of the frontier. A similar arrangement was made with Vonpilal, son of Mora. But, although four of the captives were surrendered, these arrange- ments were never actually carried much further. In November 1868 the Eastern Lushais began a series of attacks on Manipur. In December of the same year Sukpihil carried his feuds with the Poitus into Sylhet, In January 1869 the tea garden of Nodrbdnd in Cachar was plundered and burned, several coolies being killed, by Ldlruma, son of Ldlpunga and brother of Poiboi. On the 14th January, Diintdu, son of Vonolel and brother of Lengkdm and Ldlbura, attacked the garden of Monierkhdl, which he burned and plundered. In February a combined attack was made upon the Kala Naga stockade in Manipur. It was determined to punish 2 23 ASSAM ADMINISTJIATION REPORT. [Chap. VII. RelSoks ^^'"^^^ outrages by an expedition, one portion of which was to go up the Dhaleswari river to attack Sukpilal, and another up the Sonai, while a Manipuri force was to march south and join the second. The season, however, was too late for effective measures, and the expedition was practically a failure. Emboldened by this result, a new series of attacks was planned by the Lushais in the cold weather of 1870-71. A new family now appeared on the scene. While the Eastern Lushais of the family of Yonolel (Ldlbura and Lengkdm, his sons, and his nephew Thondong) led an attack on the Monierkhdl stockade, the Benc^ali villao^e of Nagdirgrdm, and the Ndgas in Manipur, the Howlongs of Lalpitang's house, who dwell south of Sukpildl's Lushais, and the western Poitu Kukis raided down the Hailakdndi valley, and attacked the tea garden of Alexandrapur, where they killed a number of coolies and the manager, Mr Winchester, and carried off his daughter and several other captives, besides much plunder. A subsequent attack on a neighbouring garden, Katlacherra, was repulsed. Upon this it was determined to send a thoroughly effective expedi tion to march through the hills and exact reparation. Two columns were despatched in the cold weather of 1871-72, one from the Chittagong side, which marched northwards through the country of the Sylus and Howlongs and recovered the captives taken from Alexandrapur ; and the other, which advanced, vid Tipaimukh, southwards into the country of Vonolel and his sons. This expedition was completely successful in procuring the sub- mission of the chiefs and satisfaction for the outrages ; and from its termination down to 1892, no raid was made on territory under the Assam Administration. In 1889, however, a raid was made in the Chengri valley on the Chittagong frontier, and a number of captives were taken, whom the chiefs concerned (Lengpunga and his brother Zarok) declined to release, and an expedition w^as accordingly undertaken in the cold weather of 1889-90. The main column marched through the Lushai Hills from Chittagong, and were met by a detachment of 400 Military Police from Silchar. The captives were surrendered, but Lengpunga escaped for the time. His Chap. VII.] FRONTIER RELATIONS, ETC. 229 village was burnt, and tlie troops then left the country. Previous Frontier to this raid, the pohcy of Government since 1872 had been to ^^^^^ions. maintain a line of outposts connected by patrol paths, and, while cultivating, as much as possible, a friendly intercourse with the chiefs, to abstain from interfering in their internal affairs. It was now decided to endeavour to put down raids once for all by 'proving our power to occupy their country and estabhshing military outposts in their midst. Two such outposts (at Aijal andChangsil) with a garrison of Mihtary Police were estabUshed in the portion of the Lushai Hills bordering on the Cachar district, and Captain Browne was deputed thither as Political Officer. For a time, the Lushais appeared to have accepted the situation, and, amongst other proofs of friendship, the leading chiefs attended a darbdr held by Captain Browne, and killed a metna and swore an oath of friendship to the British Government. But the hopes thus raised were soon dissipated. Suddenly, without a word of warning, they rose in a body, attacked simultaneously the stockades at Aijal and Changsil, and killed Captain Browne, who was marching from Saireng to Changsil with a small escort of four sepoys. This was on the 10th September 1890, Three daj'-s later a relieving force of 200 Military Police left Silchar under Lieutenants Swinton and Tytler. Lieutenant Swinton was killed on the passage up the river Dhaleswari, whereupon Lieutenant Tytler assumed command, and reached Changsil and relieved the garrison under Lieutenant Cole, on the 28th September. The force at Changsil was further augmented by a detachment of 200 men of the 40tli Bengal In- fantry under Lieutenant Watson, who arrived at Changsil on the 30th. Mr. McCabe, who had been deputed to Cachar on special duty, reached Changsil on the 5th October 1890, and on his arrival offensive operations were at once commenced, with such success that within two months all but one of the Western Lushai chiefs had been arrested. The three ringleaders, Khjilkdm, Lengpunga, and Thdn- gula, were deported, and the others were released on payment of the fines imposed on them, A few months later Khalkdm and Lengpunga put an end to their existence by hanging themselves with ropes, which they had surreptitiously manufactured from their clothes. 230 ASSAM AmUNISTEATION EEPOET. [Chap. VII. Frontier These ox3erations resulted in the complete pacification of the ELATioNs. 2^Qj.^]^Qj,jj Lushai villages west of the Sonai river and the uncondi- tional surrender of all the chiefs implicated in the rising, with the exception of Thdnruma, who fled for refuge towards the east, and who is still at large. At the commencement of 1891, the Lushais were peacefully employed in jhihning and in rebuilding their villages, many of which had been destroyed by our troops as a * punishment. The feeling of insecurity which our operations had occasioned was beginning to wear off, and Lushais came readily to trade at the newly reopened bdzdr at Changsil and to barter vegetables and live stock with the garrison of Fort Aijal, Ee- quisitions for the supply of coolies to woik on roads and carry stores and baggage, &c., were promptly complied with by all the chiefs so requisitioned except Ldlbura, in consequence of whose non-compliance, Mr. McCabe, with an escort of 100 Military Police under. Lieutenant T^^tler, marched to his village, where he halted for the night. Next day, as Lalbura refused to come in, Mr. McCabe commenced collecting supplies and making other arrange- ments for halting in the village. Shortly afterwards 300 armed Lushais were observed to advance towards the north crest of the hill commanding his camp. The Political Officer promptly ordered them to be fired on, and at once commenced to make dispositions for the defence of the camp. Before they could be completed, however, the Lushais attacked the camp from all directions, and set fire to the village. They were driven ofi, and the fortification of the camp was then proceeded with. Stores of paddy were collected from the jungle where they had been hidden by the Lushais ; a bridle path from Aijal to the Sonai was pushed on with great rapidity ; and a reinforcement of 100 Military Police was at once sent to Mr. McCabe's assistance from Aijal. The fact was recognised that it would be impossible to undertake punitive measures in a satisfactory way with the small force then available, and it was therefore decided to bring up 300 men of the 18th Bengal Infantry from Silchar to hold Aijal and Changsil, and thus enable the whole of the Military Police stationed at those places to join the force with Mr. McCabe. In the meantime, skirmishing Chap. Vll.] FRONTIER RELATIONS, ETC. 23 1 parties were sent out daily to disperse the Lushais in the neighbour- ^^^^'^^^^^_ hood of the camp, and search for further stores of paddy. The Lushais soon found that it was hopeless to try to take the camp, and confined themselves to ambuscading small parties. Encpiries showed that Ldlbura was assisted in his rising by all the Lushais east of the Sonai, and also probably by the Howlongs ; but that the Western Lushais had profited by the lesson taught them in the previous year, and had stood aloof. The attack at Ldlbura took place on 1st March 1892. On the 10th April, the punitive force, consisting of 225 men of the Military Police and 75 of the 18tli Bengal Infantry under Captain Loch, left Aijal. Ldlruya, Poiboi, Ldlhai, Bungteya, Maite, and other villages were occupied in turn, and all the chiefs submitted, except Ldlbura, who fled, accompanied by only twenty followers, to the impenetrable jungles on the Manipur frontier. These operations were followed by the complete submission of the Eastern Lushais, who now, like the Lushais west of the Sonai, appear at last to have recognised that it is far better to submit willingly to our rule than to sufier the inevitable consequences of fighting against it. In the course of these operations, the inconvenience of dividing the Lushai country amongst three Administrations — Assam, Bengal, and Burma — was found to be considerable. It has now been settled that the portion administered from Bengal will shortly be made over to Assam. The Burma portion will, however, for»the present at least, continue to be under the control of the Chief Commissioner of Burma. 231. With the State of Hill Tippera this Administration has no direct relations ; all communications for Hill Tippera. i-»rirf r- t -i ■, ■, -, the Mahardja are forwarded through the Government of Bengal. The State is conterminous with Sylhet, along the whole of the southern border of that district, and con- siderable intercourse takes place up and down the valleys of the rivers which flow northwards from the Tippera Hills. The Mahdrdja's boundary was laid down on this side by a joint Commission in 1865-66. The Mahdrdja is the zeminddr of considerable estates in Sylhet, and is to that extent subject to our revenue jurisdiction. 232 ASSAM ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [Chap. VU. Froxtier 030 111 the precedinsj parai^raplis reference has been made to the " Inner Line." This expression denotes a The Inner Line. ^ , , . , . ^ . • boundary which, m accordance with the poHcy to which eHect was given by Kegulation V of 1873, has been laid down in certain districts as that up to which the protec- tion of British authority is guaranteed, and beyond which^ except by special permission, it is not lawful for British subjects to go. The Inner Line Eegulation was the result of much correspondence between the Government of Bengal and that of India on the subject of frontier policy. It was believed that many complications were caused by permitting persons from the plains to penetrate into the hills or submontane forests inhabited or frequented by wild tribes, where no eflective protection could be given by Government, and where disputes relating to buying and selling frequently occurred. At the time the Eegulation was passed, the great demand and competition for India-rubber brought down by the hillmen gave special prominence to these considerations : and it was decided that the best way to prevent these complications was to stop, as far as possible, the access of strangers to tracts where adequate control could not be exercised. An Inner Line has been laid down in the following districts : — In Darrang, towards the Bhutias, Akas, and Daflas ; in Lakhimpur, towards the Daflas, Miris, Abors, Mishmis, Khdmtis, Singphos, and Ndgas ; in SibsAgar, towards the southern Ndgas ; and in Cachar, towards the Lushais. The line is marked at intervals by frontier posts, held by Military Police or troops, and commanding the roads of access to the tract beyond ; and any person from the plains who has received permission to cross the line has to present his pass at -these posts. At the close of 1892-93 there were 5 such outposts in the Darrang district, 4 of which were manned by detachments of the Military Police and the other by troops ; 13 garrisoned by Military Police in the Lakhim- pur district ; one at Abhaypur in Sibsdgar garrisoned by Military Police ; and 7 in Cachar, all held by troops. ASSAM SECRETAKIAT PRINTINO OFFICE (GENL.) NO. 168 — 300 — 29-4-96. MAR 9 5 ^^l UN,VERS,TVOrCAL,.O.N,AATLOSA^^.,,3 THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY This book is DUE on the last date stamped below OCT 2 2 19521 m>i 1 1 1952 j^OV 2 4 RECO SEP 2 11959 ^ '^^'f^ ■^A t<t(?<5 tJCO ini. WAR g tj Form L-9 20m-l, •42(8016) Ui.NlV^- ^i^^JilNlA AT LOS ANGELES t PLEA.^ DO NOT REMOVE THIS BOOK CARD ! 5 nr^ ^ ^<!/0JIIV3JO^ University Research Library 3 1158 00824 6323 AA 001 129 177 ,3i cr. ^ PHYSICAL AND POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE i'ROVlNCE OF ASSAM, (Reprinted from the Report on the Administration of the Province of Assair: for the year iSgz-gs, and published by authority.) 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