Civil Disobedience in Indian Tradition, with Some Early Nineteenth Century Documents c5.s1.4

c5.s1.4

At this period, the job of the district ‘collector’ (in Bengal, Behar, Benares, etc.,) was mainly concerned with matters relating to revenue assessment and collection while the superintendence of the police and the performance of law and order functions were exercised by a separate official termed the ‘magistrate’ of the particular district. Ordinarily, the collector corresponded with and received his instructions from the Board of Revenue. The magistrate on the other hand corresponded with and received his instructions directly from the Governor-General-in-Council in the Judicial Department. Both the collector and the magistrate were independent and supreme in their respective spheres within their jurisdictions. It appears, however, from the nature of their respective links with the supreme presidency authority that the magistrate at this period had a slight edge over the authority of the collector. Benares, and perhaps many other districts also, further had two other independent, and superior, authorities: the court of appeal and circuit, and the military establishments. Some aspects of their mutual relationships and also differences in approach clearly come through in the documents included in this volume.