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

¹ Agricultural and Administrative Reform in Bengal By a Bengal Civilian (A. P. MacDonnell) (London, 1883), pp. 15–21.Google ScholarSee also my chapter on ‘The Limited Raj: The British Development of Control Institutions, 1866–1920,’ in ‘Control and Conflict in an Agrarian Society: A Study of Saran District 1866–1920,’ (Ph.D. thesis, University of Virginia, 1976), pp. 79–132, for a detailed analysis of the development and role of such control institutions as kanungos, patwaris and chaukidars.Google Scholar

² British control at the local level in the late nineteenth century rested on two major supports, the administrative machinery and powerful allies. For details on the institutions which served as links between government and its allies, see Yang, ‘Control and Conflict,’ pp. 80–101.Google Scholar

³ Elsewhere, I have discussed this state–local interaction as a process involving the exchange of resources such as economic goods and services, status and authority, ‘Control and Conflict,’ pp. 52–4. This ‘resource-exchange’ model has been adapted from Ilchman, Warren F. and Uphoff, N., The Political Economy of Change (Berkeley, 1969).Google Scholar

⁴ In England knight-service obligated a tenant to give his lord military service in return for the grant of land. In the event that the tenant died leaving as heir a minor, the lord assumed charge of both the land and the child. In the period after 1066, wardship increasingly came to reflect the growing authority of the lord, and decreasingly its feudal incidents of mutual obligations. Wardships became a source of revenue, and the crown as overlord of the realm made the greatest gains. In the mid-seventeenth century the Court of Wards was abolished. For additional information, see Hurstfield, Joel, The Queen's Wards: Wardship and Marriage under Elizabeth I (Cambridge, Harvard, 1958)Google Scholar, and Bell, H. E., An Introduction to the History and Records of the Court of Wards and Liveries (Cambridge, 1953).Google Scholar

⁵ See Firminger, W. K., Historical Introduction to the Bengal Portion of the Fifth Report (Calcutta, 1962), p. 302Google Scholar, and Misra, Bankey Bihari, The Central Administration of the East India Company, 1773–1834 (Manchester, 1959), p. 139.Google Scholar

⁶ For example, see A. Montgomerie to John Shore, President and Members of Board of Revenue, 23 July 1789, Bengal Revenue Consultations, 18 September 1789, India Office Library, London (IOL).Google Scholar

⁷ Minute on ‘The Administration of Wards' Estates,’ 23 November 1871, Bengal Revenue Proceedings (Beng Rev Pro), September–December 1871, November 157, IOL.Google Scholar

⁸ ibid. ‘Estate’ in this essay refers to all the holdings of a family, although large land holdings were generally made up of many mahals (the collectorate fiscal unit) or estates.

⁹ Supplementary Land Revenue Administration Report for Patna and Bhagalpur Divisions,' Beng Rev Pro, January–April 1872, February 107, IOL. In 1875 Tirhut was divided into Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga districts.Google Scholar

¹⁰ A similar point is made for the eighteenth century by Raychaudhuri, Tapan, ‘Permanent Settlement in Operation: Bakarganj District, East Bengal,’ in Robert, Eric Frykenberg (ed.), Land Control and Social Structure in Indian History (Madison, 1969), p. 169.Google Scholar

¹¹ G. P. S. (pseud.), ‘The Aristocracy of Behar,’ Calcutta Review CLI (1883), 80–101.Google Scholar

¹² Compiled from ‘Annual General Report on the Patna Division, 1872–73,’ Bengal General (Miscellaneous) Proceedings (Beng Genl Pro), 1873, November, 873, IOL, and ‘Annual Report of Hutwah Estate under Court of Wards for 1872–73,’ Patna Commissioner's (P.C.) Basta no. 103, Monthly Bundles, General Department, From Collector of Saran to Patna Commissioner, 1870–75, State Central Records Office, Patna (SCRO).Google Scholar

¹³ For the different reasons why estates were placed under the Court of Wards in Saran district, for example, see Basta, P. C. no. 136, Wards, Saran, 1859–1908, SCRO.Google Scholar

¹⁴ For example, ‘Return (of the estate) of Moharaj Koomar Babu Teelukdhary Sahee for year ending 1866,’ in ibid.

¹⁵ See for example, Robinson, F. C. R., ‘Consultation and Control: The United Provinces' Government and its Allies, 1860–1906,’ Modern Asian Studies 5, 4 (1971), 313–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar For a general discussion of the late nineteenth-century policies favoring ‘the restoration of the artistocracy,’ see Metcalf, Thomas R., The Aftermath of Revolt: India, 1857–1870 (Princeton, 1964), Ch. 4.Google Scholar

¹⁶ ‘Management of the Hutwah Raj,’ Beng Rev Pro, January–April 1872, April, no. 149, IOL.Google Scholar

¹⁷ ‘Note on Commissioner's letter and proceedings relating to the inquiry into the age of the Hutwah Rajah,’ by Schalch, V. H., Beng Rev Pro, September–December 1871, December, 70, IOL.Google Scholar

¹⁸ Secretary, Government of Bengal (GOB) to Officiating Secretary, Board of Revenue (BOR), no. 4581, 19 December 1871, in ibid, 71, IOL.

¹⁹ GOB to BOR, no. 1796, 25 April 1872, Beng Rev Pro, January–April 1872, April, 149, IOL. See also the account of the then-Assistant Magistrate of Darbhanga which states that the Collector had differences with the brother of the late Raja of Darbhanga who had allied with the Rani to prevent the estate from falling under the Court of Wards. See Life in the Mofussil or, The Civilian in Lower Bengal, by an excivilian (G. Graham), Vol. 1 (London, 1878), p. 229.Google Scholar

²⁰ Phillips, H. A. D., Our Administration of India (being a complete account of the Revenue and Collectorate Administration in all departments with special reference to the works and duties of a district officer in Bengal) (London, 1866), p. 43.Google Scholar

²¹ ‘The humble petition on behalf of Babu Chandreswar Prasad Narayan Singh, owner and possessor of estate known as Mudsudpur Raj,’ Beng Rev Pro, August–September 1907, August, 174, IOL.Google Scholar

²² Commissioner of Patna to BOR, no. W. 340–1, 1 August 1907Google Scholar, ibid, no. 173.

²³ Government resolution no. 251, 12 January 1907, inGoogle ScholarLister, E., Final Report on the Survey and Settlement Operations in the Muksudpur Estate in the District of Gaya, 1900–1904 (Calcutta, 1907).Google Scholar

²⁴ Cited in BOR to GOB, no 316A, 25 May 1876, Beng Rev Pro, Land Revenue, B for August 1876, nos 51–54, SCRO.Google Scholar

²⁵ ‘Original Application of Maharaja Joy Prokash Singha and his son Bikho Naraen Singha of Deo’ with Collector of Gaya to Commissioner of Patna, no. 213, 26 April 1875, Beng Rev Pro, B for June 1879, nos 16 to 22, SCRO.Google Scholar

²⁶ Collector of Gaya to Commissioner of Patna, no. 706, 23 June 1879, in ibid.

²⁷ Jha, Jata Shankar, ‘History of Darbhanga Raj,’ Journal of the Bihar Research Society, XLVIII, Parts I–IV (01–12 1962) (Maharajadhiraj Dr Kameshwara Singh Memorial Volume), Pt I, 75–84.Google Scholar

²⁸ Bengal District Gazetteers, Gaya, by O'Malley, L. S. S. (Calcutta, 1906), p. 238.Google Scholar

²⁹ Compiled from GOB to BOR, no. 1796, 25 April 1872, Beng Rev Pro, January–April 1872, April, no. 150, IOL and BengalGoogle Scholar, Reports on Wards and Attached Estates in the Lower Provinces for the years 1874–75 (Calcutta, 1876), p. 60.Google Scholar

³⁰ ‘Management of the Hutwa Estate during 1873–74,’ Pro, Beng Rev, April 1873–1875, August, 78, IOL.Google Scholar

³¹ Ibid., p. 82.

³² ‘Report for 1897–98,’ P. C. Basta no. 166, Court of Wards, Hathwa Estate, Saran District, SCRO.Google Scholar

³³ ibid.

³⁴ For a list of shares and locations of holdings purchasedGoogle Scholar, see ‘Management of the Hutwa Estate during 1873–74,’ Beng Rev Pro, April 1873–1875, August, 78, IOL.Google Scholar

³⁵ ‘Report for 1903–04,’ P. C. Basta no. 166, Court of Wards, Hathwa Estate, Saran District, SCRO.Google Scholar

³⁶ BOR to GOB, Beng Rev Pro, A Bundles, 1866, February, no. 52, SCRO.Google Scholar

³⁷ Cited in Jha, ‘History of Darbhanga,’ p. 77. On direct and indirect systems of estate control, see Yang, ‘Control and Conflict,’ Chs 5–6.Google Scholar See also Musgrave, P. J., ‘Landlords and Lords of the Land: Estate Management and Social Control in Uttar Pradesh, 1860–1920,’ Modern Asian Studies 6, 3 (1972), 266–7, for a provocative analysis of landlord power and rent-farming systems.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

³⁸ Gaya Gazetteer, p. 238.Google Scholar

³⁹ ‘Management of the Hutwa Estate during 1873–74,’ Beng Rev Pro, April 1873–1875, August, 78, IOL.Google Scholar

⁴⁰ ‘Report for 1902–03,’ P. C. Basta no. 166, Court of Wards, Hathwa Estate, Saran District, SCRO.Google Scholar

⁴¹ ibid.

⁴² ibid.

⁴³ Jha, , ‘History of Darbhanga,’ p. 83.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ In 1878, four years after the Hathwa wardship ended, Hodgkinson returned to Saran as District Magistrate, see Appointments in Bengal and their holders from about the year 1850 down to 1910 (Calcutta, 1912), pp. 454–5.Google Scholar

⁴⁵ ‘Management of the Hutwa Raj,’ Beng Rev Pro, January–April 1872, April, no. 149, IOL.Google Scholar

⁴⁶ Lal Behari Basu, ‘Life of Devendra Nath Dutt,’ unpublished Bengali ms., 1923, private collection, Patna.Google Scholar

⁴⁷ ibid.

⁴⁸ Devendra Nath Dutt to Manager, Hathwa Raj, 4 March 1899, Beng Rev Pro, April–June 1899, June, no. 1, IOL.Google Scholar

⁴⁹ Basu, ‘Life of Devendra Nath Dutt.’ See also, Rudolph, Susanne Hoeber and Rudolph, Lloyd I. with Singh, Mohan, ‘A Bureaucratic Lineage in Princely India: Elite Formation and Conflict in a Patrimonial System,’ Journal of Asian Studies, 34, no. 3 (05 1975), 717–53, for an insightful analysis of the development of a ‘bureaucratic lineage.’CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁵⁰ ‘Report for 1902–03,’ P. C. Basta no. 166, Court of Wards, Hathwa Estate, Saran district, SCRO.Google Scholar

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

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

⁵³ For a discussion of Court of Wards estates as areas for experiments in agriculture, see Whitcombe, Elizabeth, Agrarian Conditions in Northern India, Vol. 1, The United Provinces under British Rule, 1860–1900 (Berkeley, 1971), pp. 105–7.Google Scholar

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

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

⁵⁶ O'Donnell, Charles James, The Ruin of an Indian Province (An Indian Famine Explained) (A Letter to the Marquis of Hartington, Secretary of State for India in the Liberal and Reforming Government) (London, 1880), pp. 21–3. See also Jha, ‘History of Darbhanga,’ p. 85.Google Scholar

⁵⁷ O'Donnell, , Ruin of an Indian Province, pp. 23–4.Google Scholar

⁵⁸ Ibid., p. 25.

⁵⁹ ‘Memoranda by MacDonnel, A.P., Magistrate of Saran District,’ 1880 Revenue Papers, L/E/6/13, R 698/80, IOL.Google Scholar

⁶⁰ Ibid.

⁶¹ MacDonnel, A.P. to Secretary, GOB, 7 September 1880Google Scholar, in ibid.

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

⁶³ MacDonnel, A.P. to Commissioner of Patna, 1 January 1880, P. C. Revenue Basta 331, 1879–1880, SCRO.Google Scholar

⁶⁴ Ibid.

⁶⁵ MacDonnel, A.P. to Earl of Elgin, no. 178, 9 May 1894, Elgin Papers, Mss. Eur. F. 84/34, IOL.Google Scholar

⁶⁶ Ibid.

⁶⁷ BOR to GOB, 31 March 1871, Beng Rev Pro, May–August 1871, July, 23, IOL. This letter is a comprehensive summary of the history of wards’ educational institutions in Bengal.Google Scholar

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

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

⁷⁰ Cited in ‘Education of Minors at the Benares Wards' Institution,’ Report of Commissioner of Patna, 20 February 1872, Beng Rev Pro, January–April 1872, March, 83, IOL.Google Scholar

⁷¹ Ibid.

⁷² Ibid.

⁷³ Officiating Commissioner of Patna to GOB, no. 1W, 15 August 1872, Beng Rev Pro, August–September 1972, September, 52, IOL.Google Scholar

⁷⁴ GOB to BOR, no. 1796, 25 April 1872, Beng Rev Pro, January–April 1872, April, no. 150, IOL.Google Scholar

⁷⁵ Ibid.

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

⁷⁷ BOR to MacNaghten, no. 882A, 27 July 1866, Beng Rev Pro, A Bundles, 1866, August no. 5, SCRO.Google Scholar

⁷⁸ Ibid.

⁷⁹ Zanana in this context refers to the women of the family, particularly the mother of the ward. Ibid.

⁸⁰ See file on ‘Affairs of Hatwa Zamindari,’ Government of India, Public and Judicial, L/P&J/6/1038, 1910, J&P 3660, IOL.Google Scholar

⁸¹ W. R. Gourlay, Officiating Secretary, GOB to J. H. Kerr, Secretary GOB (Confidential), no. 2129T-R, 17 October 1910, in Ibid. The Bengali Dewan was linked with Phanindra Nath Mitter, editor of the ‘seditious’ Yugantar and later in 1906–1907, of the Motherland.

⁸² Ibid.

⁸³ Chester MacNaghten to Major Burn, Manager and Guardian of Darbhanga estate, 17 December 1870, Beng Rev Pro, A Bundles, 1871, SCRO.Google Scholar

⁸⁴ Dutt, Devendra Nath, A Brief History of the Hutwa Raj (Compiled and Published under the authority of Her Highness the Maharani Sahiba of Hutwa) (Calcutta, 1909), p. 31.Google Scholar

⁸⁵ Ibid. p. 32. See also the speech of the Maharaja of Darbhanga in 1913 on the need for good Court of Wards tutors to educate ‘our youths … to fear God and to honour the King …’ The Beharee, January 10, 1913.

⁸⁶ Raychaudhuri, , ‘Permanent Settlement in Bakarganj,’ p. 173.Google Scholar

⁸⁷ Selections from this diary are cited in Jata Shankar Jha, Biography of an Indian Patriot: Maharaja Lakshmishwar Singh of Darbhanga (Patna, 1972), pp. 15–23.Google Scholar

⁸⁸ Dutt, , Brief History of Hutwa, pp. 33–4.Google Scholar

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⁹⁰ Bengal, , Twenty Years' Statistics, Vol. A, Land Revenue (Calcutta, n.d.), pp. 32–3.Google Scholar

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⁹² On the importance of primogeniture and impartibility for the survival and development of a major estate, see Ibid., Ch. 2. However, their establishment as customs of an estate was lengthy and expensive process, as was the case with Hathwa, where it took ten years and two million rupees. Darbhanga established primogeniture in the 1840s. See Jha, ‘History of Darbhanga,’ p. 70.

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