Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive c10.69

c10.69

The grant, by Shāh 'Ālam, in 1765, of the Dewanny of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa to the Company, transferred all power, civil and military, in those provinces, to that body. But no immediate attempt was made to undertake the direct detailed administration of either revenue or justice by the agency of the European servants of the Company. Such superintendence, indeed, of the administration was maintained in the prior acquisitions of the Company—viz., in the Zemindary of Calcutta, in the Twenty-four Pergunnas, and in the Chucklas (Chucklah) or districts of Burdwan, Midnapoor, and Chittagong, which had been transferred by the Nawab, Kāsim 'Ali Khān, in 1760; but in the rest of the territory it was confined to the agency of a Resident at the Moorshedabad Durbar, and a 'Chief' at Patna. Justice was administered by the Mohammedan courts under the native officials of the Dewanny.