About the Book
The volume presents in extenso an analytical and statistical study of the internal migration in India, with special reference to Bengal, from the second half of the 19th century till 1931. Principally based on primary sources, the book has its text-matter broken into eight chapters. An analysis of internal migration with an emphasis on the impact of rural economy and push-pull factor has been embodied in Chapter 1. Chapters II and III deal with inter-district and inter-provincial migration respectively. The story of urbanization including the growth of urban population has been narrated in Chapter IV. The role of Calcutta has been discussed in Chapter V. Chapter VI has been devoted to white-collar migration while the story of the Santal migration has been told in Chapter VII. The next or last chapter contains concluding remarks.
The notes at the end of each chapter collectively serve the purpose of a select bibliography. The picture that emerges from the discussion of the subject-matter broken into the above chapters is, to all intents and purposes, a socio-economic and cultural image of Bengal during the period under review.
Well documented and written in a lucid and elegant style, the book is a valued addition to the existing literature on the subject.
About the Author
Well known as a dedicated teacher and a devoted research worker, Professor H. P. Chattopadhyaya took his M.A. in History in 1942 from Calcutta University. He obtained another degree, that in Political Science, later on. He obtained his D. Phil. in 1960 on his thesis 'Sepoy Mutiny a social study and ana-lysis', which has been acclaimed as a standard work both at home and abroad. He started his career as a teacher at Asutosh college where-from he transferred his allegiance to the Department of History, Calcutta University. He retired from Calcutta University as a Pro-fessor of History in 1985. His research-interest was, in course of time, switched over to the study of the problems of Indians settled abroad. He successively published two much acclaimed dissertations-Indians in Africa, and Indians in Sri Lanka. His two recently pub-lished monographs written in Bengali-Japaner Itihas (History of Japan) and Chiner Itihas (History of China)-emphasize the need for writing text-books in History in our mother tongue so as to enable our children to enjoy the taste of history with their own tongue. Professor Chattopadhyaya has published many research articles in Bengal, Past and Present, Calcutta Review, Calcutta Historical Journal and in the now-defunct Itihas.
Preface
The publication of the present volume fulfils my long-cherished desire to write a comprehensive history of the internal migration in India, with special reference to Bengal, covering the period from the second half of the 19th century till the census year 1931. While my dissertation was taking shape, I was still then a teacher at Calcutta University. I retired in 1985. When in service, I associated teaching, as my metier, with research into the historical past, as my academic hobby. I, for one, genuinely feel that I would have stood academically poorer if I had remained complacent with teaching only, without being attracted to research-enterprise as well. I owe my initiation into the mysteries of historical research to the late Asutosh Professor of History, Calcutta University, Dr. Narendra Krishna Sinha, whose life-long dedication to research in the field of modern Indian history had been a contagious source of inspiration to the generation of students and teachers alike who had the privilege of coming into close contact with him. I bow my deepest respects to him.
Introduction
The object of the present study is to analyse the various issues connected with internal migration in India, with special reference to Bengal proper¹, during the period from the second half of the 19th century till 1931, the sixth decennial census year, if reckoned from the first synchronous Census of 1881, or the seventh census year, if the 1872 Census of Bengal, the first ever to be taken in the province on systematic lines, be considered as well. Burma was still a province of British India in 1931. British Burma has, therefore, been included in the scope of the study. K.C. Zacharia selected a shorter period, 1901-31, for his study of internal migration in India in his book 'A historical study of internal migration in the Indian sub-continent', published in 1964. 'Extensive boundary changes, additions of new areas and the relatively poor quality of the earlier censuses' prevailed upon him to begin his analysis from 1901. I have, however, chosen to analyse the problem from the period dating back to the mid-19th century which marks my starting point, a choice dictated by two factors first, I have selected a smaller area, Bengal proper only, as the field of my investigation; secondly, the 19th century archival records available in the State Archives, West Bengal, have stood me in good stead in reconstructing the history of internal migration prior to 1901. I have advisedly confined my discussion up to 1931 only, lest the period of investigation should be unduly lengthy for the purpose of an in-depth study.
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