Francis Buchanan Hamilton’s Dinajpur
Francis Buchanan Hamilton’s A Geographical, Statistical and Historical Description
of the District or Zila of Dinajpur (1833) was one of the earliest published accounts of an
Indian district. When Buchanan was asked to conduct a comprehensive survey of the
province of Bengal in 1807 for the preparation of what we may now safely describe as a
prototype of a South Asian gazetteer, the colonial administrative institutions had not yet
penetrated deep into the region and the ruling class knew very little about the place and its
people. In an effort to bridge the epistemic gulf a descriptive account of certain categories of
knowledge such as history, geography, agriculture, industry, natural resources, demographic
composition and so on, was found to be of utmost importance to the colonial state. There were obvious economic and security reasons behind such an elaborate preparation for an imperial knowledge base of India. After the initial military and commercial successes the
East India Company looked to expand and consolidate its position by collecting, preserving,
and analysing information of the people of India. The Court of Directors wanted Buchanan to
cover all the districts of Bengal in his survey. In those days Bengal administratively meant a
vast area comprising of Bihar, Orissa, Assam and Bengal. After spending seven years in the
field Buchanan could complete only eleven districts of the province. Though incomplete, the
Survey produced huge amount of information of the region. Much of it unfortunately
remained unpublished during Buchanan’s lifetime. Buchanan’s Dinajpur got published
posthumously from the Baptist Mission Press of Calcutta in 1833. Interestingly it was from
Dinajpur Buchanan commenced his Survey of Bengal in 1807.
Court of Directors most certainly knew of the challenges that lay ahead of them. In its
letter to Buchanan, the Board identified the specific requirements of the survey by defining
its area and scope. Buchanan took to an uncharted road in an effort to unravel the ‘mysteries’
of the land that had come under their possession in 1765. His survey foregrounded the
importance of collecting and arranging the statistical information of an area according to the
needs and requirements of the colonial state for effective governance. Arrangement of
statistical information emerged as an essential tool to increase the production level and
revenues. But collection of data itself had its own challenges in Buchanan’s time. The
Company rule had not yet been able to introduce uniformity in important areas such as
measurement, weight, distance, and so on, across the country, thus making it difficult to
produce a linear account of the land. Absence of effective administrative organisation in
remote regions made it difficult for Buchanan to collect authentic information. In spite of all
the difficulties Buchanan was able to give a shape to the vast amount of information that
arose out of his Survey. He was following the modern imperial categories of knowledge, such
as zoology, botany, geography, and so on, to structure his narrative. In the days to come these
emerging disciplines would become critically important to judge the Indian condition.
However there is an element of incertitude in Buchanan’s works largely due to his failures in
procuring authentic information in certain key matters. Buchanan’s own acknowledgement of
these weaknesses in his narrative often produced a sense of disappointment and anxiety.
However incomplete the account might be it was influential enough to introduce new ways of
viewing, describing and knowing an area and its people. Francis Buchanan Hamilton’s
Dinajpur has caught and fixed forever the early developments and successes, failures and
weakness of a statistical account of an Indian district.
[C] Pritam Mukherjee
of the District or Zila of Dinajpur (1833) was one of the earliest published accounts of an
Indian district. When Buchanan was asked to conduct a comprehensive survey of the
province of Bengal in 1807 for the preparation of what we may now safely describe as a
prototype of a South Asian gazetteer, the colonial administrative institutions had not yet
penetrated deep into the region and the ruling class knew very little about the place and its
people. In an effort to bridge the epistemic gulf a descriptive account of certain categories of
knowledge such as history, geography, agriculture, industry, natural resources, demographic
composition and so on, was found to be of utmost importance to the colonial state. There were obvious economic and security reasons behind such an elaborate preparation for an imperial knowledge base of India. After the initial military and commercial successes the
East India Company looked to expand and consolidate its position by collecting, preserving,
and analysing information of the people of India. The Court of Directors wanted Buchanan to
cover all the districts of Bengal in his survey. In those days Bengal administratively meant a
vast area comprising of Bihar, Orissa, Assam and Bengal. After spending seven years in the
field Buchanan could complete only eleven districts of the province. Though incomplete, the
Survey produced huge amount of information of the region. Much of it unfortunately
remained unpublished during Buchanan’s lifetime. Buchanan’s Dinajpur got published
posthumously from the Baptist Mission Press of Calcutta in 1833. Interestingly it was from
Dinajpur Buchanan commenced his Survey of Bengal in 1807.
Court of Directors most certainly knew of the challenges that lay ahead of them. In its
letter to Buchanan, the Board identified the specific requirements of the survey by defining
its area and scope. Buchanan took to an uncharted road in an effort to unravel the ‘mysteries’
of the land that had come under their possession in 1765. His survey foregrounded the
importance of collecting and arranging the statistical information of an area according to the
needs and requirements of the colonial state for effective governance. Arrangement of
statistical information emerged as an essential tool to increase the production level and
revenues. But collection of data itself had its own challenges in Buchanan’s time. The
Company rule had not yet been able to introduce uniformity in important areas such as
measurement, weight, distance, and so on, across the country, thus making it difficult to
produce a linear account of the land. Absence of effective administrative organisation in
remote regions made it difficult for Buchanan to collect authentic information. In spite of all
the difficulties Buchanan was able to give a shape to the vast amount of information that
arose out of his Survey. He was following the modern imperial categories of knowledge, such
as zoology, botany, geography, and so on, to structure his narrative. In the days to come these
emerging disciplines would become critically important to judge the Indian condition.
However there is an element of incertitude in Buchanan’s works largely due to his failures in
procuring authentic information in certain key matters. Buchanan’s own acknowledgement of
these weaknesses in his narrative often produced a sense of disappointment and anxiety.
However incomplete the account might be it was influential enough to introduce new ways of
viewing, describing and knowing an area and its people. Francis Buchanan Hamilton’s
Dinajpur has caught and fixed forever the early developments and successes, failures and
weakness of a statistical account of an Indian district.
[C] Pritam Mukherjee
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