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Year Range | British East India Company (in_east_india_co) was in: |
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Calcutta. Definite figures are almost impossible to find as annual census' differed so greatly and other contemporary estimations to determine the population yielded differing results depending on who carried them out. There are no available records for those living in huts which at the time was the common dwelling for many indigenous people. [Sreemani_Bhattacharya 2020] The numbers listed above appear to be the generally accepted figures according to Sreemani. [Sreemani_Bhattacharya 2020]
in squared kilometers"In 1833, a detailed calculation indicated that the Company had established control over 500,000 square miles of territory in India. [Bowen 2009]
A report in 1833 told that there were 97.3 million 'British' subjects in the territories held by the EIC. [Bowen 2009]
levels.
(1) Capital cityMurshidabad: Writing in 1770, the German priest Fr. Joseph Tieffenthaeler, stated that Marshidabad was about five miles long, stretching from Bamian to Lalbagh along the Ganges River. There were many suburbs divided into towns in the Murshidabad-Qasimbazar complex with beautiful houses and gardens situated along the Ganges River which ran through the expanded city. [Ray_Sreemani 2020] Calcutta: TBC
(2) Market Towns There were several larger market towns in the Bengal region which were famous for selling certain goods, such as Jiaganj (cotton, sugar and grain), Azimganj (where south India merchants used to bulk purchase their items) [Ray_Sreemani 2020] (3) TownWhat distinguished them from villages, according to Majumdar, was that while they may also have had some agricultural activity, they served a “wide variety of functions, commercial, industrial, political, judicial and military.” But the greatest distinction was the luxury and wealth of the towns and it’s citizens, which the Ramacharita describes as “a city of rows of palaces” and as possessing ‘an immense mass of gems’.” [Majumdar 1943] “the archaeological record indicates that urban centres came up as early as the fifth century bce. During the following centuries large towns would develop along major rivers rather than on the exposed sea coast.” [van_Schendel 2009] (3) VillageMajumdar writes that since the beginning of historical record for Bengal, there have been well-established villages, in which the fields, meadows and woodlands have been organised to serve the population’s needs. They varied in size but people tended to live in compact groups within them They would all generally include livestock. The villages also contained “pits and canals (garta and nala) which might have served the purpose of drainage, barren tracts (ushara), tanks, reservoirs and temples, besides cattle-tracks and ordinary roads and paths.” [Majumdar 1943] (4) Hamlet [Furui 2020]
levels.
(1) Governor-General
(2)
(TBC) ZamindarisThese major landholders (under the Nawab rule) were kept on by the EIC in order to collect land revenues. Around fifteen zamindaris paid 60% of the revenue from the Bengal Subah region. [Roy_Bhattacharya 2020]
in 1763 the EIC raised 1200 Mughal cavalry for up-country service which they were compensated for in monthly salaries in cash. [Roy_Bhattacharya 2020]
Several government buildings were constructed in Calcutta: Government House [Sreemani_Bhattacharya 2020] , the Old Court House [Ray_Bhattacharya 0]
"As early as in 1810, Calcutta became a virtual goldmine for the English lawyers." [Sreemani_Bhattacharya 2020]
Judges worked at the Supreme Court in Calcutta. [Sreemani_Bhattacharya 2020]
The Supreme Court of Calcutta followed English legal principles. [Sreemani_Bhattacharya 2020]
The Supreme Court was established in Calcutta in 1773. [Sreemani_Bhattacharya 2020]
There were many markets across the region in every town and city. There were also night markets such as the one at Chowk Mosque in Murshidabad was a round, covered market where merchants would set up in the evening. [Ray_Sreemani 2020] The principle market for the sale of cotton, sugar and grains was at Jiagnaj, six miles from the capital. [Ray_Sreemani 2020]
City mosques had small ablution tanks or water taps. [Islam_Noble 1998] The English built the Great Tank in Calcutta - this was one of the only water tanks (and surrounding drains) that were cleaned and maintained in the region. [Sreemani_Bhattacharya 2020] The water supply systems that were available were poorly maintained - especially those serving the non-english population - and residents often had to resort to collecting water from the street aquaducts. [Sreemani_Bhattacharya 2020]
Mosques were used as a centre for the community as well as being a religious house. [Islam_Noble 1998]
Christian churches and missionaries were built all across the region by the EIC. [Sreemani_Bhattacharya 2020]
Fort William College in Calcutta. [Sreemani_Bhattacharya 2020] the Asiatic Society was established in 1784 and the Oriental Seminary was created in 1798. [Hussain_Bhattacharya 2020]
Calcutta quickly expanded and adapted to meet the entertainment expectations of the English people immigrating and working there: race-courses, hotels, clubs, Army and Navy stores all sprang up over the course of the eighteenth-century. [Sreemani_Bhattacharya 2020]
Even villages had paths and roads by this point, and within the larger cities such as Dhaka and Murshidabad brick roads had been being laid since the end of the seventeenth century. [Hussain_Bhattacharya 2020] further roads were laid by the EIC particularly in their main cities such as Calcutta. [Sreemani_Bhattacharya 2020]
There were ports all across the region for domestic and European trading. [van_Schendel 2009] And the British had their Royal Navy stationed in this region. [Roy_Bhattacharya 2020]
Hughli had two canals that ran the length of the city. [Ray_Sreemani 2020]
The English built Fort William in Calcutta. [Sreemani_Bhattacharya 2020]
English, French and Dutch factories were established along the rivers of the region. [Ray_Sreemani 2020]
All manner of written records (in English, Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit) were utilised in the polity including government and administration records, books, dictionaries, poetry, fiction, sacred texts, newspapers, pamphlets etc etc. [Hussain_Bhattacharya 2020]
All manner of written records (in English, Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit) were utilised in the polity including government and administration records, books, dictionaries, poetry, fiction, sacred texts, newspapers, pamphlets etc etc. [Hussain_Bhattacharya 2020]
"acquisition of working knowledge of Indian languages and creating a system of knowledge by producing dictionaries, grammars, books, treatises from Indian languages particularly Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit became one of the objectives for those who were a component of the ruling groups in India." [Hussain_Bhattacharya 2020]
The need for the EIC to recruit large numbers of Indian and Bengali speaking munshis (translators or language teachers) to assist them in learning and dealing with administrative documents in Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit led to the creation of a new literati class of historians, poets and language experts. [Hussain_Bhattacharya 2020] Calcutta became the centre of the production of colonial historical knowledge and books. [Hussain_Bhattacharya 2020]
The need for the EIC to recruit large numbers of Indian and Bengali speaking munshis (translators or language teachers) to assist them in learning and dealing with administrative documents in Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit led to the creation of a new literati class of historians, poets and language experts. [Hussain_Bhattacharya 2020]
“...by the early 1700s about two-fifths of the total Dutch exports from Asia to Europe were procured in Bengal. What the Europeans brought to Bengal was overwhelmingly precious metals – gold from Japan, Sumatra and Timor, silver from Japan, Burma and Persia and silver coins from Mexico and Spain...” [van_Schendel 2009] However in 1768 the minting of gold coins was banned due to the scarcity of gold. [Ray_Sreemani 2020]
The Bank of Hindostan, set up by the agency house, Alexander & Co., was the first bank to issue paper money in 1770. The notes ranged from Rs.4 - Rs.1000. However, these were only circulated within Calcutta. [Ray_Bhattacharya 0] The Bengal Bank later issued paper money in denominations of Rs. 50, 100 and 500. [Ray_Bhattacharya 0]
Coins were minted in Murshidabad and Calcutta. [Ray_Sreemani 2020]
“...by the early 1700s about two-fifths of the total Dutch exports from Asia to Europe were procured in Bengal. What the Europeans brought to Bengal was overwhelmingly precious metals – gold from Japan, Sumatra and Timor, silver from Japan, Burma and Persia and silver coins from Mexico and Spain...” [van_Schendel 2009]
Agency house and banks stored bullion, precious metals, paper currency and coins. [Ray_Bhattacharya 0]
By the second half of the eighteenth century, the English had established banking as well as trade and commerce. [Ray_Bhattacharya 0] "Besides financing external trade, the agency houses lent money to European merchants, indigo planters, ship owners, etc., and also acted as bill brokers, insurance agents and surveyors. As business agents, they charged a fee for the services rendered." [Ray_Bhattacharya 0] By the end of the eighteenth century there were fifteen agency houses in Calcutta alone, including Alexander & Co., Fergusson & Co., Palmer & Co., Mackintosh & Co. and Cruttenden & Co., who dominated private British enterprise in Bengal until the 1830s. [Ray_Bhattacharya 0] The Bank of Bengal was later set up in c.1784. It was the earliest bank to be independent from the EIC and the agency houses and they followed the structure of banking houses in London including not charging for depositing and withdrawing money. [Ray_Bhattacharya 0]
Islamic mosque architecture emphasised the use of geometry both in internal design and in it’s outer features such as domed roofs and arches. [Islam_Noble 1998]