This book is a historical study of
order and desorder in early colonial
Bengal. It focuses on the encounter
of social restlessness, crime, and
violence, on the one hand, and the
colonial state’s attempt to control
these, on the other. Exploring these
themes through unique descriptions
of the numerous instruments of
control and myriad breaches of law,
Order and Desorder in Early Colonial
Bengal: 1800–1860 investigates
the mechanism of social control
with reference to contemporary
British administrative policies and
the ideological background and
colonial perceptions of law and
justice. It also concentrates on the
various social desorders faced by
the colonial state at times when
the society was relatively free
from insurrectionary disturbances.
It gives a detailed account of
apparently less significant rural
violence, dacoity, and rural riots
in particular—which kept the local
authorities on their toes—in the light
of popular attitudes, prejudices, and
perceptions of law and order vis-àvis
the colonial one.