History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c45.2

v2.c45.2

Jadab Chandra Chatterji, the father of the celebrated Bengali *Litterateur*, wrote a very short autobiography, which has been published in recent times by his grandson, Mr. Sachish Chandra Chatterji, in the now defunct Bengali magazine, *Sahitya*. Unfortunately the editor of this autobiography could not read his grandfather's crabbed hand-writing and has left out certain portions. This short account is full of first-hand information about early British misrule and the tyranny of Bengali petty officials in Orissa. Jadab Chandra was born on the 18th Pausha 1201 B. S. (December 1794). He ran away to Orissa at the age of sixteen, where his elder brother was already in Government service at Bhadrak. At the age of 18, Jadab Chandra was appointed in place of his brother as *Darogha* of the Salt-Excise Office at Jajpur. Jadab Chandra states that he was eighteen in 1817 and also that he was born in B. S. 1201. The date of his birth is correct, because towards the end of the account he states that his age was 79 on the 15th of Vaisakha 1279 B. S. but the Bengali *San* began in 597-98 A. D. and therefore his age must have been 23 when he received his first appointment on the 2nd January 1817. He remained in service at Jajpur till the 15th November 1821. In this year he was transferred to Balihanta. There is a gap in the autobiography on account of the whim of the editor, which is exceedingly unfortunate, as the subsequent portions are full of accounts of the dishonesty of Bengali officials of the Salt Department of Orissa.