Administrative History of the District of Balasore During the British Rule 1858 to 1936

Abstract

The British rule in India can be divided into two phases- the Company Rule till the year 1858 and the Crown Rule from 1858 to 1947.The year in 1858 was a great event that the administration of the Government of India passed into hands of the British Government from the East India Company.The present work is the first of its kind to make a comprehensive and critical study on the administration of the district of Balasore during the British Rule from 1858-1936.The British occupied Orissa in 1803 and the conquered province consisted of three districts of Cuttack, Puri and Balasore.During this period from 1803 to 1912 Orissa formed a division in the Bengal Presidency and administered according to Bengal regulation.The East India Company continued to rule Orissa solely for the purpose of revenue.Balasore was separately formed in 1828 and the separate province of Orissa created in 1936, ruled from Cuttack and then from Patna.Consequently, Balasore district continued to be backward in every respect.The terrible famine of 1866 was the epitome of the unsympathetic administration of the British.The famine exposed the defective British system of administration and lamentable neglect of the vital problem of development.The famine commission that was appointed in 1866 to make enquiry into the causes of the famine and some reformative measures were adopted in the Balasore district to bring about administrative improvement. This work aims at examining and analyzing the various aspects of the administrative systems like, land revenue administration, salt revenue administration, administration of police and justice and social services like education, communication and health care and local self government. The administrative history of Balasore district has not received attention of the historian past and present. The past is store-house of knowledge and fund of experience.