Order and Disorder in Early Colonial Bengal: 1800-1860

Contents: Preface. Introduction. 1. Rule of Law as Rulers’ Law. 2. Policing the Bengal Rural Society. 3. Prison as a Lever of Control. 4. Prisoners in Exile: A Case Study of the Andamans. 5. Colonial Perception of Crime, Criminal Tribes and Castes. 6. Dacoity, Affray and Violence in the Rural Society. 7. Anatomy of Violence. Conclusion. Glossary. Bibliography. Index.

This book is a historical study of order and disorder in early colonial Bengal. It focuses on the encounter of social restlessness, crime, and violence, on the one hand, and the colonial state’s attempt to control these, on the other. Exploring these themes through unique descriptions of the numerous instruments of control and myriad breaches of law, Order and Disorder in Early Colonial Bengal: 1800–1860 investigates the mechanism of social control with reference to contemporary British administrative policies and the ideological background and colonial perceptions of law and justice. It also concentrates on the various social disorders faced by the colonial state at times when the society was relatively free from insurrectionary disturbances. It gives a detailed account of apparently less significant rural violence, dacoity and rural riots in particular—which kept the local authorities on their toes—in the light of popular attitudes, prejudices and perceptions of law and order vis-a-vis the colonial one.