Official Cultures & Literary Worlds of Nineteenth Century Provincial Administrators in Company India

Khandesh was a challenging first independent charge for Briggs. Judicial trials, revenue investigations, and frequent travel left him »hardly enough time for rest, and none for relaxation.«⁽²⁸⁾ At the cutcherry, and on tour, Briggs received representations and complaints from Indians in writing and verbally in Marathi (a regional language).⁽²⁹⁾ Considering his peripatetic lifestyle and the variety of official duties, Briggs’ assertion of being in office daily between 10:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. seems an unattained ideal.⁽³⁰⁾ This communication to Elphinstone was perhaps only to demonstrate how easily accessible he was to the Indians he governed and to preclude complaints about maladministration, which later emerged.

Briggs complained of having »More duty than one man could perform« and being perpetually understaffed.⁽³¹⁾ Briggs relied heavily on his Indian officials, overlooking murmurs of corruption amongst his dufterdars.⁽³²⁾ Mamlutdars (important Indian regional officials), Briggs complained, were »most of them very negligent«, writing that if he had not focussed just on essentials, he »should have gone mad before this.«⁽³³⁾ Corruption in Khandesh appeared rampant with few civil disputes coming before Briggs.⁽³⁴⁾

Other than one Lieutenant Hodges, Briggs lacked constant British assistance in Khandesh.⁽³⁵⁾ A young assistant named Macshaith was briefly appointed to Khandesh, but Briggs found him »impatient at being a subordinate«, and annoyed if all his plans were not approved.⁽³⁶⁾ Briggs assessed Macshaith as »a very fine young man« but one who was »sadly prejudiced and is not very well versed in general principles.«⁽³⁷⁾ Briggs granted Macshaith independent revenue charge so that »his pride will not be hurt by being placed under any one«.⁽³⁸⁾ In private correspondence, Briggs implored that Elphinstone publicly clarify Macshaith’s appointment and salary.⁽³⁹⁾ Macshaith’s death from fever shortly after rendered this moot.⁽⁴⁰⁾

Illnesses raged all around Briggs. Cholera, which also afflicted Briggs, caused deaths of »six to 10 & 12 persons daily« in Khandesh.⁽⁴¹⁾ Cholera and the then undiscovered malaria claimed many lives. Briggs administered calomel to cholera-sufferers and bled other patients.⁽⁴²⁾ Forewarning Elphinstone about his poor performance in Khandesh, Briggs stated:

What with all the disturbing (?) accounts of the sick in all quarters and the quantity of other things I have to think of and to do I hardly know how I get on and if business flags a little in this quarter you must not be surprised at it.⁽⁴³⁾

Briggs felt isolated and disfavoured amongst peers. Grumbling that »All the other civilians Grant, Robertson & Pottinger are living in Palaces«, he only had a tent to house his wife in Khandesh.⁽⁴⁵⁾ Reduction in allowance added »so many more years to my stay in this country.« However, Briggs reassured Elphinstone it did not »affect my public zeal or private happiness one iota- I am a satisfied and grateful subject.«⁽⁴⁶⁾ Briggs longed to »run down to Bombay for a month« to see his wife, but lamented that with his heavy official burden, he »might as well expect to be able to spare time for a trip to Cashmeer«.⁽⁴⁷⁾ Frequently imagining escaping Khandesh, was a »delightful change from wilderness & desolation«.⁽⁴⁸⁾

Adding to Briggs’ woes were frequent rebukes in official Company proceedings by the Bombay Government (including Elphinstone), the Company’s Supreme Government in Calcutta, and even Company overseers in London. These rebukes were chiefly for irregularities in capital trials, and failures to curb cutcherry corruption. While Briggs escaped punishment due to Elphinstone’s backing, his reputation was tarnished. Relieved when appointed as Resident of Satara (a kingdom in the Commissioner’s territories), however, Briggs confessed his »mind was hardly free from the anxieties of Candeish«. Briggs relied on »your [Elphinstone’s] friendship to allow me to proceed quietly now to Sattara if it is practicable.«⁽⁴⁹⁾ (words in bracket mine). It was at Satara, a relatively more comfortable posting that Briggs composed »Letters« in 1823, although it was only published in 1828 on his return to England.

»Letters« claimed to merely publish actual correspondence between Briggs and two young Company men, after endeavouring to »suppress or to soften down« some observations about systems and persons. However, private letters to Elphinstone amply evidence »Letters«’ fictitious origins. Briggs communicated his gratefulness and honour on being chosen by Elphinstone for the task. Although initially unsure about its form, he sent Elphinstone a draft in 1823 in the style of an epistolary novel.⁽⁵⁰⁾

While the original 1823 draft is unavailable, Briggs appears to have acted on Elphinstone’s »hint« to ensure »Letters« contained »nothing bad regarding India«.⁽⁵¹⁾ Briggs let neither the despair of Khandesh, nor the bitterness about his feelings towards the Company seep through in »Letters«. Apart from Elphinstone, Briggs got input for »Letters« from his two younger brothers in the Company army, to make it »sufficiently amusing to cheat the idlest Griffin into their perusal«.⁽⁵²⁾ Absent a complete archival picture of Briggs’ various correspondents, it remains unclear why Briggs wrote »Letters«, or why it was dedicated to the then Governor of Bombay, Sir John Malcolm, instead of Mountstuart Elphinstone (then retired), who selected him to write it. Perhaps it was a vehicle to salvage his ruined reputation, or perhaps it was inspired by Malcolm’s instructions to his subordinates, which is appended to »Letters«. Written as he was departing from central India, Malcolm’s instructions bore some similarities to Briggs’ letters, including similarities related to the treatment of Indians and the importance of using discretion in exercising bureaucratic power. However, unlike »Letters«, which was a more general account of Company officials preparing themselves for a career in India and dealings with Indians, Malcolm’s instructions were specifically directed at men already in Company service who routinely interacted with the heads of polities of varying sizes. The tone of Malcolm’s reflections, though authoritative, also reflects on his own experiences and occasionally admits missteps. In »Letters«, conversely, rather than demonstrating candour and admitting mistakes, Briggs reveals little of himself other than assuming the role of a wise, all-knowing correspondent in matters related to India and Indians. Whatever the motivations behind publishing »Letters«, regarding its necessity Briggs felt no doubt. From Satara, Briggs complained privately to Elphinstone about his assistant, one Mr. Shaw, and recommended his transfer. Not only did Shaw refuse to learn his duties, Briggs feared that if the volatile assistant was entrusted with official work, he might »throw down some one of the Rajah’s (king’s) people for not showing him proper respect.« In refusing to even dine with Briggs, Shaw »declared war with me«, and was »going to the dogs.« Despite Briggs withdrawing Shaw’s Indian servants due to ill-treatment, Shaw assaulted one servant of whom Briggs, wrote »the poor Devil came here covered with blood«. Though Briggs did not officially report it, »from reasons of delicacy«, he hoped, referring to his fictitious addresees in »Letters« that Shaw would »take a lesson from these boys«.⁽⁵³⁾ The following section examines »Letters«’ structure, contents, and style.

Briggs’ chief stated aims in »Letters« were to avoid it being »dull and tedious«, »attract the juvenile reader«, and »impart much instruction in a small compass« regarding »topics possessing little general interest to the European reader«.⁽⁵⁴⁾ »Letters« attempted this through the devices of practical advice, humorous anecdotes, examples of faux pas about Indian socioreligious customs, and fatal interracial romances. Contemporaneous reviewers were full of praise, terming it »a manual indispensably necessary« for Company recruits and others interested in India.⁽⁵⁵⁾

There were twenty-three letters spanning several years to George, a young Company civil service »writer« in the Commissioner’s territories. George was a new sort of civil servant, trained at the East India Company College, Haileybury, and leaving for India at 18 years. By contrast, George’s elder brother, Charles, had gone to India as a Company army »cadet« at 16. Cautionary tales from Charles, and anecdotes of recklessness and witlessness by other Company officials form subthemes in each letter to George. »Letters«’ narrative thread sees George rise through the ranks, shed prejudices about Indians, acquire Indian languages, and eventually secure the coveted post of assistant to a Resident. Each letter to George covered distinctive subjects like packing; Indian history; appropriate conduct; classifications of Indians based upon religion, caste, and gender; and tasks expected of young Company officials.

Though most Company army and civilian recruits attended the Company College or the Company Military Seminary at Addiscombe by the time of »Letters«’ publication, Briggs considered them ill-prepared for India. »Letters« described recruits as having »seen very little of the world«, and knowing »nothing beyond what they have acquired at the schools«.⁽⁵⁶⁾ »Letters« attempted to prepare readers materially, intellectually, and attitudinally. Materially, »Letters« listed items recruits should bring along to India, leaving measurements with London tradesmen.⁽⁵⁷⁾ Intellectually, »Letters« urged readers to continue their studies by bringing along college books, learning Indian history, and Indian languages on their long sea voyage.⁽⁵⁸⁾

Attitudinal aspects of working in Company India occupy the greatest part of »Letters«. Briggs considered far too many recruits to be ignorant about India and Indians resulting in prejudice, physical violence, and use of pejorative terms like »black fellow«.⁽⁵⁹⁾ Briggs listed several examples highlighting how Indians were »by no means in that low state of barbarism in which you have been induced to think it.«⁽⁶⁰⁾ Becoming »useful as a public functionary« required appreciating that Indians were not deficient in talents and good qualities.⁽⁶¹⁾ Rather than unlearning prejudices after occupying offices of trust and responsibility, »Letters« advised that young recruits arrive in India knowing something of its languages and peoples.⁽⁶²⁾ Just as British Company officials found Indian customs, habits, and religion to be strange or objectionable, the converse was equally true. »Letters« impressed upon Company recruits the need to broaden their own horizons and take in new experiences in India, »without at all meaning to impeach the propriety of our own (customs), or to uphold those of the East«.⁽⁶³⁾

Writings like Briggs’ thus reinforced the hybrid bureaucracy of Company India by seeking to mediate between the constructed worlds of the »East« and of »Europe«. Broadly following the Orientalist traditions then in vogue, Briggs declared himself an »enemy to innovations«, and was wary of changing or replacing Indian institutions without sufficient knowledge – even if they appeared faulty at first glance.⁽⁶⁴⁾

»Letters« viewed the Company in India as having reached a »dangerous pinnacle of power«, where its officials risked forgetting that its foundations were based on their moral strength.⁽⁶⁵⁾ The heavy burdens of office and high levels of trust placed in a handful of British officials meant there were many opportunities to go astray. The personal conduct of British Company army cadets needed to be impeccable, as embodiments of »the hinge on which the machinery of our Indian army turns«. Briggs, however, lamented that nearly daily »some act or other of the European officer tends to loosen or rivet the attachment of the sepoys«.⁽⁶⁶⁾

»Letters« had much to say about the challenges confronting Company recruits. This included indebtedness, gambling, drunkenness, and spending more time with women than with the moonshy (language tutor).⁽⁶⁷⁾ An embodiment of all that young recruits could do incorrectly was one of George’s friends. His tale was to serve as a caution for readers. This young official gambled his way into debt, and frequented late-night debauches. Having wantonly ill-treated Indian attendants and being irregular with their pay, all but one of his nearly fifteen Indian servants deserted him in his last days. Although fever occasioned his death, »Letters« concluded this fate was »brought on by his own imprudence«, his actions being »discreditable to himself«, reflecting »disgrace on his family«.⁽⁶⁸⁾

»Letters« considered consorting with Indian women as highly objectionable and deleterious to the moral foundations of Company India. Briggs exclaimed that this led Indians to think »their European superiors availing themselves of their power and rank to insult the people instead of protecting them!«⁽⁶⁹⁾ »Letters« notes an instance of the murder, by her husband, of an Indian woman, who was suspected of having dalliances with a British Company official. Her husband killed her »to protect his honour and his wife’s character«. The paucity of British Company officials in provincial India meant that the same official not only conducted the inquest on the corpse, but also recorded the husband’s confession and supervised his execution.⁽⁷⁰⁾

As both »supineness or excess of rigour are immediately felt«,⁽⁷¹⁾ governance needed to be conducted »by men of the very highest qualifications«.⁽⁷²⁾ These were not paper qualifications but rather an unblemished moral character, since the actions of British officials, both private and public, were under constant scrutiny by numerous Indians.⁽⁷³⁾ Analogising Company bureaucracy to the caste system, a letter advising George mentioned that governing a »nation of castes«, required British Company officials to themselves become »members of a sort of caste«.⁽⁷⁴⁾ Young Company recruits needed to assiduously follow routine and be abstemious if they wanted, not only to keep out of trouble, but also to rise in Company ranks.

Learning Indian languages was imperative, as recruits would find »nothing can be done without them«.⁽⁷⁵⁾ Language was to be acquired through a moonshy, foregoing »hot tiffins or luncheon«, and instead, devoting the »heat of the day…to your moonshy«.⁽⁷⁶⁾ Daily persistence and practise would not only provide better insights into Indian customs, but also expedited promotions.⁽⁷⁷⁾ For writers, failing to learn languages could result in dismissal. Cadets needed language skills to command parades, pay sepoys, and inspect troops.⁽⁷⁸⁾

Outside the time spent with moonshies, young writers were to peruse past Collectorate records, correct copies of outgoing letters, and make abstracts of incoming correspondence. This would teach »steady habits and lead you imperceptibly to be methodical«.⁽⁷⁹⁾ Once sufficiently proficient in an Indian language, writers were to translate the »several native papers which are daily received«. Although »extremely irksome and unimportant«, performing or avoiding these duties distinguished idlers from promising Company officials. With greater mastery of language, civilians were to examine village records. Seemingly »so complicated as if it were impossible to understand them« at first glance, persistence, study, practise, and interactions with agriculturists would diminish difficulties.⁽⁸⁰⁾ Nuanced understanding of agriculture would be critical for civilians to justly assess land revenue rates, the Company’s lifeblood.⁽⁸¹⁾

With young officials being daily involved in dealings with many Indians, Briggs considered it imperative for recruits to know how to engage with them officially and personally. »Letters« repeatedly underscored that subjecting Indians to physical violence was »very cruel and unmanly«.⁽⁸²⁾ British Company officials who attained notoriety for violence occasionally faced retaliation from Indians.⁽⁸³⁾

Many rules based upon the conventions, taboos of caste, and social hierarchies amongst Hindus and Muslims needed to be remembered.⁽⁸⁴⁾ »Letters« classed Indians into three categories: the higher, middle, and lower orders. In justifying caste-based government as »the frame of Indian society«, »Letters« was loathe to destabilise it.⁽⁸⁵⁾ Young civilians would mostly interact with middle-class Indian society comprising the Company’s Indian officials, agriculturists, tradesmen, and merchants. However, unlike those Briggs considered high or low, »Letters« found it hard to prescribe a general rule to govern conduct towards these Indians other than permitting those attending the cutcherry to sit on the floor when stating their case. Having cornered nearly all the important civilian bureaucratic posts, young officials would frequently interact with Brahmins. Treating Brahmins as a special case amongst the middle orders, »Letters« wrote that they expected »not only civility, but even some attention«.⁽⁸⁶⁾ They were not only permitted to sit down, but were not to be kept waiting, nor to be subjected to harsh language.⁽⁸⁷⁾ Simultaneously, however, »Letters« cautioned officials that Brahmins had a proclivity to screen caste members suspected of wrongdoing, and would jockey for bureaucratic appointments for their kin.⁽⁸⁸⁾

»Letters« classed many Indians as »menials and outcastes«, in dealing with whom young officials needed to exercise particular caution. They were not to commingle with them, or treat them on par with others, as this risked alienating other Indians upon whom the Company depended.⁽⁸⁹⁾ »Letters« illustrated this by envisaging the ritual purification, dishonour, and offence that would be caused by »a magistrate sending an outcast with his badge of office into the house of a Bramin, to deliver a summons requiring his attendance in his court«.⁽⁹⁰⁾

»Letters« contended that caste taboos mattered less to British Company army recruits, as most Indian troops were from the »lower orders«. Despite extolling their bravery, meriting recognition as »comrades«⁽⁹¹⁾, »Letters« noted that Indian troops were generally regarded poorly by other Indians. This, it contended, was because »It is absurd to suppose that a bit of parchment, though bearing the seal of the state, and the names of the council, can alter the man«.⁽⁹²⁾

Young recruits were unlikely to encounter »natives of the upper ranks«, except on hunts or as assistants to Residents later in their careers. Although seldom possessing much wealth, they were valuable for their services to the government or for their local influence. When dealing with princes especially, young officials were to be particularly careful, behaving in a manner befitting a »representative of the British nation«.⁽⁹³⁾ It was important that »you are not rude, […] but you must learn to be polite and attentive«.⁽⁹⁴⁾

»Letters« also contained general instruction about the importance of a young official’s numerous servants. During a recruit’s early days, he would have little opportunity to interact with Indians outside their household establishments, or those they met officially.⁽⁹⁵⁾ Briggs observed that »Servants in all countries have it greatly in their power to contribute to our comforts as well as to impose on us, and even sometimes to inflict on us positive distress, and this must be particularly the case in a strange land like this«.⁽⁹⁶⁾ Briggs recommended »procuring of one man of respectability« and engaging him to employ other servants.⁽⁹⁷⁾ »Letters« also elaborated on the importance of ceremony, like appropriate salutations and etiquette in official functions.⁽⁹⁸⁾

»Letters« contends that Company rule was different from India’s previous »haughty conquerors«, the Mughals, in its liberality, wherein Indians could live by their own religious dictates and customary rites.⁽⁹⁹⁾ However, »Letters«’ fastidiousness towards protocols and reciprocity of respect belies Company power’s lingering insecurities and tenuousness – even at the height of its power. »Letters« thus provides a unique insight into the Company’s »Indian empire« run by a handful of British officials with the aid of many Indians, which was the »most wonderful anomaly which history presents«.⁽¹⁰⁰⁾ The Company’s very survival depended upon officials keeping to character, and the lumbering transimperial bureaucratic behemoth’s ability to »blend our administration with the political institutions of the Indian communities«.⁽¹⁰¹⁾

Absent clear guidance on judicial standards, Company justice was based upon subjective assessments by officials like Briggs and Hockley. Whereas Briggs’ woes were his improper use of judicial discretion, it was Hockley’s close association with Indians that attracted the Company’s ire. Particularly, Keshoo Row Mistry, a carpenter signalled to litigants that he could sway Hockley’s favour for a price. The amounts which were termed as durbar khurch (court/assembly expenses), were concealed by a shroff (moneylender) named Hindu Mull, who allegedly fabricated entries in books of accounts to conceal Hockley’s ill-gotten gains.

Hockley’s nefarious dealings first emerged after leaving Ahmednagar for a judicial position in another part of Company India. Hockley was accused of soliciting a bribe amounting to five percent of the value of a civil dispute involving land and valuables. Fearing this information could leak through cutcherry scribes, Collector Henry Pottinger confidentially sought instructions from the Commissioner on how to proceed.⁽¹⁰⁶⁾ Pottinger’s discreet inquiries proved Hockley’s complicity, and a proclamation was issued calling for anyone asked for bribes by Hockley or on his behalf to come forward. Several persons did, and Hockley was suspended from Company service as allegations began to »assume a tangible shape«.⁽¹⁰⁷⁾ Simultaneously, letters sent by Keshoo Mistry to Hockley were intercepted. These contained intricate designs for a venetian blind, which Pottinger suspected was a cypher for details of bribe amounts arising from Hockley’s corrupt dealings.⁽¹⁰⁸⁾

The Bombay Government appointed two civil servants to enquire into fifty-four charges against Hockley, with Pottinger as prosecutor.⁽¹⁰⁹⁾ Despite Hockley’s numerous protests, he was forced to travel to Ahmednagar to face the enquiry.⁽¹¹⁰⁾ Examining only five charges, the enquiry found against Hockley. The Bombay Council considered this sufficient basis for a criminal trial. Hockley was humiliatingly brought to Bombay from Ahmednagar under military guard on foot rather than on horseback.⁽¹¹¹⁾ Following a lengthy jury trial, however, Hockley was acquitted.⁽¹¹²⁾

Notwithstanding the acquittal, Hockley was dismissed from Company service by the Bombay Council. His plea for making a personal representation to the Company Directors in London was rejected, but Hockley unauthorisedly travelled to London nonetheless. This representation was unsuccessful, and his dismissal cut short a promising – if not remunerative – career in Company India.⁽¹¹³⁾ Hockley’s later subsistence appears to be largely dependent on his fiction-writing, in which he was no more than modestly successful.⁽¹¹⁴⁾ Hockley’s best-known novel, »Pandurang Hari«, was published anonymously in three volumes. This permitted him several literary transgressions. These included portraying various kinds of ‘Indians’ in his novels, giving his emotions and opinions free range through feats of »colonial ventriloquism«,⁽¹¹⁵⁾ and using daily parlance instead of officialese. The novel purported to be a translation of a Marathi manuscript by an Indian man, who was uncharacteristically different from his otherwise »irksome«, »selfish« countrymen, and »left his mask at home«.⁽¹¹⁶⁾ The following section reads it for portrayals of petty Company bureaucracy.