Administration of the Company

The British East India Company ensured the protection of its interests. This objective could also be observed in the administration of the Company. The activities of the Company were written down in the Fifth Report. A great deal of power was practised by the British, mainly to achieve the goal of economic exploitation. In order to make administration easier, the country was divided into districts. Along with this, Acts and laws were passed favouring the interests of the British. These exploitations also gave rise to revolts which slowed down the growing influence of the East India Company.

Report on the Administration of the Company:

In 1813, the British Parliament received a report on the administration and activities of the East India Company in India, known as the Fifth Report.

Opposition to Monopoly of the Company by Private Traders: Private traders protested the company’s monopoly in trade after closely studying the company’s activity in Britain.

Revocation of the Royal Charter: Private traders demanded that the Royal Charter that granted the Company its monopoly be revoked. Many political organisations in England claimed that the conquest of Bengal was solely for the advantage of the East India Company.

Scrutiny of Company’s Administration: Company mismanagement, maladministration, greed, and corruption were all highly disputed in Britain and widely reported in the media.

The Fifth Report :

This study, which was presented to the British Parliament, altered our understanding of what happened in rural Bengal in the late 1800s. It includes zamindar and ryot petitions, collector reports from several districts, statistical statistics on revenue returns, and observations on Bengal and Madras revenue and judicial administration.

The Conflict Between Hoe (Paharias) and the Plough (Santhals):

Conflicts arose as the peasant economy increased, consuming meadows and woods. As the Santhals poured into the Rajmahal hills, destroying forests and ploughing land, the Paharias were forced to retreat deeper into the hills. The hoe, which the Paharias employed for shifting cultivation, represented Paharia life, whereas the Santhals represented the plough.

The Paharias and the Rajmahal Hills:

It was a thickly forested area where Paharia hill people resided around the Rajmahal hills, relying solely on forest produce, shifting farming, and being inextricably linked to the forest.

The Life of Paharias: 

Paharias believed the Rajmahal Hills region to be the foundation of their identity and survival. For their survival, they plundered the plains where settled agriculturists lived and even controlled the routes that ran through their territory in exchange for a toll levy for safe passage and security.

British policy of extermination and pacification towards Paharias: Elimination and pacification policy of the British against the Paharias: In the 1770s, the British started on a merciless policy of extermination, hunting down and killing the Paharias. By the 1780s, Augustus Cleveland had suggested a pacification approach.

Agreement:

Paharia chiefs were granted an annual allowance and were held responsible for their men’s decent conduct.

White as Symbol of Oppression: Every white man looked to Paharias to represent a power that was destroying their way of life and means of survival by stealing away their control over their forests and lands.

Santhals: Wanderers to Cultivators

Santhals expanded the agricultural frontiers by displacing the Paharias, who lived on the lower slopes. Santhals, on the other hand, abandoned their prior life of mobility and settled down, producing a variety of commercial crops for the market and dealing with traders and moneylenders.

British installed Santhals in Rajmahal hills: After failing to conquer and convert the Paharias into permanent agriculturists, British officials engaged Santhals to reclaim land, expand farming, and take up residence in the Jangal Mahals.

Damin-i-Koh: In 1832, a big stretch of land was declared as the land of Santhals and named Damin-i-Koh.

Reason for the revolt of Santhals: The state was imposing massive taxes on the land cleared by the Santhals, and moneylenders (dikus) were charging them exorbitant interest rates, and the land was being taken over if debts were not paid. By the 1850s, the Santhals believed it was time to revolt against zamindars, moneylenders, and the colonial government.

The conciliatory policy of the Company: The Santhal Pargana was established after the Santhal Revolt (1855-56), carving out 5,500 square miles from the districts of Bhagalpur and Birbhum.

A Revolt in the Countryside, The Bombay Deccan: 

• Focusing on a peasant uprising and their resentments is one approach to understanding the social state of a location like the Bombay Deccan countryside
• On May 12, 1875, in the Deccan, an uprising happened at Supa, a big village in Poona, ryots from the surrounding rural areas banded together and attacked businesses, demanding debt bonds and bahi khatas (account books)
• They burned khatas, robbed grain stores, and set sahukars’ homes on fire in certain cases. The insurrection stretched from Poona to Ahmednagar. Then it expanded considerably more during the next two months

Conclusion

The British administration was self-serving and exploitative in nature. The Company’s aim was to gain economic and political power over India. There were several conflicts that arose as a result of this. The Santhals and the Paharias were in dispute as a result of the British influence. There was violence experienced on part of the Paharias, not only by the Santhals but also by the British government. This created a dominance of the British in the minds of the Paharias. Finally, an agreement was reached with the Paharias and the Santhals with the British government to avoid revolts. The increase in peasants was a reason for various conflicts, including the revolt in the Bombay Deccan, where businesses were attacked to gain access to account books. This was a small fraction of the great influence and control of the British Colonialism.