Gazetteer of Bengal and North-East India

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The Gazetteers in our country can be classed into three broad categories the Central Gazetteer (previously known as Imperial Gazetteer), the State Gazetteer (previously known as Provincial Gazetteer) and the District Gazetteer. As the Gazetteer is an official record, it bears the stamp of authenticity which makes it a reference tool of inestimable value for historians, sociologists, administrators and research scholars engaged in the study of ancient history. It goes to the credit of the then British administrators that they have left behind gazetteers of almost all provinces and districts in India.

The present volume is the provincial gazetteer of Bengal and Old Assam as it was administratively known before the advent of Indian Independence and covered the whole of North East of India. Written by four outstanding administrators who belonged to coveted Indian Civil Service, the steelframe which greatly contributed to the stability of the Raj, the volume is based on the authentic material collected at the initial stage by the District Officers, also known as Deputy Commissioners, and finally compiled and collated by Senior officials who have also contributed their original articles.

The gazetteer opens with the history of the province of Eastern Bengal and Assam as it was constituted in October 1905 by the Bengal and Assam Laws Act. It consisted of the territories formerly administered by the Chief Commissioner of Assam to which were later added the Dacca and Chittangong Divisions together with the districts of Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri, Rangpur, Bogra Pabna and Malda, now in Bangladesh.

The Gazetteer covers the geography, the physical features, including mountains, lakes, rivers and forests with their flora and fauna, population, agriculture, infrastructure of Government including revenue and finance, means of communication, legislation and justice, education, including primary and high schools, colleges, female education, the tribes and castes, the social mores and customs and hosts of subjects and problems relating to day-to-day life of society with its social, sexual and marital life as it existed nearly 80 years ago. Vital information in respect of all districts has been presented in a uniform pattern.

The volume is undoubtedly one of the most indispensable source material and reference tool worthy of acquisition by all libraries-academic, public and private as well as private bookshelves not only in India and Bangladesh but also throughout the world.

THE articles contained in this volume were drafted before the territorial changes forming the new Province were carried out. It has therefore been found impossible to describe Eastern Bengal and Assam as a whole on the scale laid down for Provinces generally; but a short article has been prepared giving details so far as these were available. Mr. B. C. Allen, I.C.S., wrote this article, and also the articles dealing with the former Province of Assam, with the exception of the section on History, which was con- tribsted by Mr. E. A. Gait, C.I.E. The articles on Divisions, Districts, and places therein in Eastern Bengal were written by Mr. C. G. H. Allen, I.C.S., and Mr. H. F. Howard, I.C.S., and were read by Mr. Galt. In both Eastern Bengal and Aacam the greater part of the material was collected by District officers, who examined the arafts in proof.