|
|
 |
 |
| |
| |
Time is always on the move. Its movement is timeless as well as timely; timeless in the sense that it is ceaseless. Neither its beginning nor its end is identifiable. Its classification into past, present and future is of our own reckoning. Despite its infiniteness, we can capture a slice of it and make it as our own. This is what all history and chronological records are. These are representations of different slices of time which, despite their being timely, keep on preserving through written records, books and visual artefacts of diverse variety. The sum total of these slices may take us to the beginnings of time though not the precise moment of beginning and may also point towards eternity. Till then, we have to be content with the part and keep aspiring for the whole. Since timelessness is beyond our grasp, we keep on preserving what is timely.
Gazetteer of the British Indian Empire was one such attempt to capture and preserve in the form of written records – the entire territorial, topographical, racial, ethnic, socio-cultural, economic, religious, administrative, in fact, complete civilizational profile of Indian landmass as it came to be occupied and governed by the British, bit by bit, from the early decades of 18th century till the mid twentieth century. This tradition of collection of data through official channels and its yearly publication through a gazette notification is still being followed in India.
The original plan for starting the Gazetteer of India was made by Sir William Wilson Hunter in 1869 and its first Edition consisting of nine volumes was published in 1881, while the second and third editions consisting of fourteen volumes were published in 1885-87, and 1893 respectively, all these three editions being edited by Sir William Wilson Hunter, the original planner. The next three editions have been published in 1908, 1909, 1931 by Oxford University Press. All these editions are now acknowledged as a standard historical reference work for historical research and are available online now.
The Gazetteer consists of information about geographical, topographical features such as river systems, Geology, Fauna and Flora such as wild animals and plant species; demographic patterns such as births and deaths, socio-religious variations such as distinctions of caste, religion and language, dress, housing and food patterns; major occupations in agriculture, industry and commerce; governmental, administrative and financial management systems, and major landmarks such as towns and cities, taking a district as a unit and notifying its data on a yearly basis. Since then, it has been and is still taken to be an authentic and reliable source of information despite its obvious tag of being a British official version.
The entire data, being based on the entries made in the official registers and records and submitted and tabulated by responsible, accountable officials, seems to be fairly reliable. Information and data recorded in each yearly gazette of a district is encyclopaedic in range, systematic and meticulous in recording and illuminating and knowledgeable in information. Studied minutely and assimilated discerningly, the reader gets a complete feel of the pulse of times in all its complexity. A few snippets from the gazetteers of the Karnal and Ambala districts pertaining to the year 1883-84 (BK-004287, BK-004288) would bring out the full spectacle of the state of the Indian society in the northern region during the British colonial rule. Both Karnal and Ambala districts, being contiguous, have striking similarities in topography, demographic distribution as well in socio-cultural moorings. Both the districts have been a theatre of war in antiquity (Mahabharta) as well as in eighteen century when its populace had to bear the brunt of invasions by Afghan-Moghul-Sikh, Maratha and Anglo-British armies right up to the great mutiny of 1857. This 18th century war ravaged region was also afflicted by a more sinister catastrophe in the form of famines in 1783, 1803, 1812, 1824-25, 1833, 1834, 1837, 1842, 1851, 1852, 1858, 1861, 1868, 1869, 1875-77, due to paucity of rains. It resulted in high rates of mortality, rising food prices, deaths due to starvation and sporadic spells of epidemics throughout the 19th century. Describing the aftermath of 1869 famine, the Gazetteer of Karnal (1883-84) records: “Hundreds of people are in a state of semi-starvation, never getting enough to eat from one day to another. Not a leaf is to be seen on the trees that have, while they lasted, made a wretched substitute for fodder for the cattle. Skeletons of cattle in all directions, empty huts, and lean countenances of the people in villages indicate state of poverty fully justifying the relief proposed”.
|
|
|
PDL has digitized a large number of gazetteers relating to Panjab which are listed here.
|
|
(p. 24): Based on 1881 census, the average density of population in two districts in the period from 1853-1881 varied between 200-300 persons per square mile with minor variations in certain pockets. Society on the whole in these two districts being medieval in mind set, casteist, patriarchal and male Chauvinistic in outlook s, the region suffered from an adverse male-female ratio, infanticide especially of the female child and considerable presence of widows among the higher castes. The gazetteer provides meticulously recorded statistics in each of these social indices. That some of these social maladies still afflict the modern society in this region explains the legacy of the past which may interest the sociologists and social activists today as well. The two gazetteers give a tabulated information about the number and courses of its rivers, seasonal rivulets such as the now extinct Sarswati, Ghaggar, Markanda, Tangari, Fauna and Flora, major crops, people’s major occupations, modes of measurement of time in terms of Pahars and gharis, birth, death, betrothal, marriage ceremonies, tribes, castes, genealogy of ruling feudal, princely rulers and names and boundaries of their principalities.
|
What makes these gazetteers really credible and reliable documents is the stamp of authenticity and seal of authority that this tabulated data bears. The final published data in each gazetteer has been collected and verified by a hierarchy of officials, fully accountable for the genuineness of their inputs. Thus these gazetteers are finely packed and preserved snippets and capsules of reliable statistics and facts of history as well as politico-social and sociological aspects of mid-nineteenth century northern region. Panjab Digital Library, with a sizeable collection of these rare documents in digital formats, endeavours to make this data about our past, legacy and heritage available to the readers.
- Prof. Kulwant Singh
Senior Metadata Editor at Panjab Digital Library
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
| Comments on this Article:
|
| |
| No Comments yet. Be the first to comment about this article. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
