https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Chota_Nagpur_DivisionChota Nagpur Division - Revision history2026-07-31T18:28:41ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Chota_Nagpur_Division&diff=469094&oldid=prevAdvsalahuddinahmed at 11:40, 9 October 20252025-10-09T11:40:00Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Administrative division of British India}}<br />
{{For|disambiguation|Chota Nagpur (disambiguation)}}<br />
{{Primary sources|date=February 2025}}<br />
{{Infobox former subdivision<br />
| native_name =<br />
| conventional_long_name = Chota Nagpur Division<br />
| common_name = <br />
| nation = [[British India]]<br />
| status_text = [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|Division of British India]]<br />
| capital = [[Ranchi]]<br />
| era = Modern Period<br />
| year_start = 1854<br />
| date_start = <br />
| event_start = Creation of the division<br />
| year_end = 1912<br />
| date_end = <br />
| event_end = Bifurcation<br />
| event1 = <br />
| date_event1 = <br />
| p1 = South-West Frontier Agency<br />
| p2 = <br />
| s1 = Bihar and Orissa Province<br />
| flag_p1 = British Raj Red Ensign.svg<br />
| flag_p2 = Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg<br />
| flag_s1 = Blue Ensign of British Bihar and Orissa Province.jpg<br />
| image_flag = Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg<br />
| image_flag2 = British Raj Red Ensign.svg<br />
| image_coat = <br />
| image_map = Bengalpresidency 1858.jpg<br />
| image_map_caption = 1858 map of the Bengal Presidency<br />
| stat_area1 = 70161<br />
| stat_year1 = 1901<br />
| stat_pop1 = 4900429<br />
| footnotes = <br />
| today = [[Bihar]]<br/>[[Jharkhand]]<br />[[Odisha]]<br/>[[Chhattisgarh]]<br/>[[West Bengal]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Chotanagpur Plateau |url=https://www.asianagrihistory.org/pdf/research/ak-singhs-paper-16-4.pdf}}</ref>| government_type = <br />
| title_leader = [[Indian Political Department|Commissioner]]<br />
| year_leader1 = 1854-1859<br />
| leader1 = Mr. J. H. Crawford<br />
| year_leader2 = 1853-1854<br />
| year_leader3 = 1866<br />
| year_leader4 = 1878<br />
| year_leader5 = 1878- 1882<br />
| year_leader6 = 1882<br />
| year_leader7 = 1882-1885<br />
| year_leader8 = 1879<br />
| year_leader9 = 1888<br />
| year_leader10 = 1885-1889<br />
| year_leader11 = 1896<br />
| year_leader12 = <br />
| leader2 = Mr. W. J Allen<br />
| leader3 = [[Edward Tuite Dalton]]<ref name="T">{{cite journal |last1=Dasgupta |first1=Sangeeta |title=The Oraons of Chhotanagpur: A journey through colonial ethnography |journal=Modern Asian Studies |date=September 2022 |volume=56 |issue=5 |pages=1375–1415 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X21000597 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-asian-studies/article/abs/oraons-of-chhotanagpur-a-journey-through-colonial-ethnography/C390EC9CF90CF023354939702D626135 |language=en |issn=0026-749X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{rp|1385}}<br />
<br />
(Commissioner)<br />
| leader4 = Mr. A. C. Mangles (Commissioner)<br />
| leader5 = Mr. J. F. K. Hewitt<br />
| leader6 = Mr. John Edgar<br />
| leader7 = Mr. J. F. K. Hewitt<br />
| leader8 = Babu Rakhal Dass (special Commissioner)<br />
| leader9 = F. W. R. Cowley (Judicial Commissioner)<br />
| leader10 = Mr. Charles Cecil Stevens (Commissioner)<br />
<br />
| leader11 = Mr. Grimley (Commissioner)<ref>{{cite web |last1=Roy |first1=Sarat Chandra |title=The Mundas And Their Country |url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.125201/2015.125201.The-Mundas-And-Their-Country_djvu.txt |date=1912}}</ref><br />
}}<br />
The '''Chota Nagpur Division''' was one of the administrative divisions established under British rule. Under Act XX of 1854, the [[South-West Frontier Agency|South West Frontier Agency]] was renamed a Commissionary, with the Political Agent becoming the Commissioner and the Assistant Political Agent designated as the Deputy Commissioner. As a result, the head of the Agency became the Commissioner of Chota Nagpur Division, shaping its colonial administration.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tiwari |first1=Lalan |title=Issues in Indian Politics |date=1995 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-7099-618-7 |pages=153 |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Issues_in_Indian_Politics/d1nqYqBBf_IC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=South-West+Frontier+Agency+headquarters&pg=PA152&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite web |title=Courts District West SinghBhum, Government of Jharkhand India |url=https://chaibasa.nic.in/courts/}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite web |last1=Gandhi |first1=Rajiv For |title=Indias Struggle For Freedom Vol. 3 |url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.98808/2015.98808.Indias-Struggle-For-Freedom-Vol-3_djvu.txt |date=1985}}</ref><br />
<br />
==History==<br />
===Background===<br />
[[File:Map of present-day Jharkhand region by Rennell, 1779.jpg|thumb|Chota Nagpur region in the 1770s, map by [[James Rennell]].]]<br />
Chota Nagpur division was a hilly and forested area. Part of [[Nagpur State]] in [[Maratha Empire]]. The region came under the control of the British in the 18th and 19th centuries, and was annexed to the [[Bengal Presidency]], the largest province of British India. After the [[Kol rebellion]] of 1831-2, the division was exempted by Regulation XIII of 1833 from the general laws and regulations governing Bengal, and every branch of the administration was vested in an officer appointed by the supreme Government and called the Agent to the [[Governor-General of India]] for the South-West Frontier.{{cn|date=February 2025}}<br />
<br />
===The Period of Commissionership (1854-1912)===<br />
<br />
In 1854, under Act XX of 1854, the districts of the [[South-West Frontier Agency|Agency]] were reorganized into a [[Non-regulation province|Non-Regulation]] Division under the authority of a Commissioner.<ref name="auto" /><br />
<br />
During this period, the South-West Frontier Agency was designated as the Commissioner, and the Principal Assistant Agents became Principal Assistant Commissioners. Other Assistant Agents were re-designated as Senior Assistant Commissioners.<ref name="auto1" /> The 31 rules, approved by the Government in Notification No. 615 of June 6, 1837, remained in effect as the governing laws for the division until they were gradually replaced by new legislative enactments.<ref name="auto" /><br />
<br />
This reorganization also granted the Deputy Commissioner full executive and judicial powers, significantly enhancing the role’s authority. The region was formally restructured as the Chota Nagpur Division, with Ranchi as its headquarters and Hazaribagh, Chaibasa, and Purulia serving as subordinate district centers. These administrative changes played a pivotal role in shaping the governance of the region under British rule.<ref name="auto1" /><ref name="auto" /><br />
<br />
===Judicial Administration of Singhbhum===<br />
Until March 8, 1910, Singhbhum was under the jurisdiction of the Sessions Judge of Bankura, who was appointed as Additional Sessions Judge for Chota Nagpur in 1904. He presided over Sessions Cases and Criminal Appeals from Singhbhum and Manbhum, with trials conducted at Purulia and appeals heard at Purulia or Bankura for faster resolution. The local Criminal Courts consisted of a Deputy Magistrate and four Honorary Magistrates, with three based in Chaibasa and one in Chakardharpur. Additionally, a Subordinate Judge oversaw both Singhbhum and Manbhum, while a Munsif handled cases for Purulia. The Deputy Commissioner also served as a Subordinate Judge.<ref name="auto1" /><br />
<br />
In 1910, the Manbhum-Sambalpur Judgeship was established, comprising Sambalpur, Singhbhum, and Manbhum. Under this new judicial system, cases from Singhbhum and Manbhum were heard at Purulia, while those from Sambalpur were handled at Sambalpur. This reorganization streamlined the judicial process, improving legal administration in the region.<ref name="auto1" /><br />
<br />
=== Reorganization and judicial reforms ===<br />
Chota Nagpur Division became part of the new province of [[Bihar and Orissa]] when it was created in 1912 to 1936.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://princelystates.com/ArchivedFeatures/fa-02-01.shtml |title=Rice, Ron (2001). New Indian States, ''Princely States Report'', January 2001. |access-date=2006-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060321223204/http://www.princelystates.com/ArchivedFeatures/fa-02-01.shtml |archive-date=2006-03-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1936, the province was divided into two separate entities: [[Bihar Province|Bihar]] and [[Orissa Province|Orissa]]. Following this division, Sambalpur district was incorporated into Orissa, while Manbhum district remained in Bihar. As a result, a new judicial division, the Manbhum-Singhbhum Judgeship, was established to oversee legal matters in the region, with court sittings held at Purulia for cases from Manbhum and Singhbhum, ensuring efficient judicial administration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Courts {{!}} District West SinghBhum, Government of Jharkhand {{!}} India |url=https://chaibasa.nic.in/courts/}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Administration==<br />
[[File:The Sketch Map Showing Provincial and District Divisions to Accompany the Administration Report, 1872–73 (Cropped to Bihar, Chota Nagpur, and Odisha).jpg|thumb|Chota Nagpur Division of the [[Bengal Presidency]], 1872]]<br />
The administrative headquarters of the division was at [[Ranchi]]. The total area of the division was {{convert|27,101|sqmi|sqkm}}, and the population was 4,900,429 in 1901. In 1901 [[Hinduism|Hindus]] constituted 68.5% of the total population, [[animism|animists]] 22.7%, [[Islam|Muslims]] 5.7%, [[Christianity|Christians]] 2.9%, and 853 [[Jainism|Jains]]. The [[Chota Nagpur States]], a group of [[princely state]]s, was under the political authority of the division's commissioner.<ref>Hunter, William Wilson, Sir, et al. (1908). ''[[Imperial Gazetteer of India]]'', Volume 12. 1908-1931; Clarendon Press, Oxford.</ref><br />
{{Table alignment}}<br />
{| class="wikitable defaultleft col2right col4right"<br />
|+ District of Chota Nagpur Division<br />
! District !! Area (1872)<br>{{nobold|(sq miles)}} !! District !! Area (1901) <br>{{nobold|(sq miles)}}<br />
|-<br />
| [[Hazaribagh district|Hazaribagh]]<br />
| 7,021 <br />
| [[Hazaribagh district|Hazaribagh]]<br />
| 7,029<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan=2|[[Lohardaga district|Lohardaga]]<br />
| rowspan=2|12,044 <br />
| [[Ranchi district|Ranchi]]<br />
| 7,128<br />
|-<br />
| [[Palamu district|Palamu]]<br />
| 4,914<br />
|-<br />
| [[Manbhum]]<br />
| 4,914 <br />
| [[Manbhum]]<br />
| 4,147<br />
|-<br />
| [[Singhbhum district|Singbhum]]<br />
| 4,503 <br />
| [[Singhbhum district|Singbhum]]<br />
| 3,753<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Gallery==<br />
<gallery><br />
<br />
File:BengalPartition1905 Map.png|Chota Nagpur area in 1905<br />
File:Chota Nagpur area-IGI.jpg|[[Chota Nagpur Plateau]] area. Political Divisions. 1909 [[Imperial Gazetteer of India]] map section.<br />
<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
*[[Chota Nagpur Tributary States]]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
* Goswami Prodipto, Untold Story of Chota Nagpur: Its Journey with the Colonial Army 1767-1947, Chennai: Notion Press (2020)<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
*{{Cite book|title=Bengal District Gazetteers: B Volume : Statistics, 1900-1901 to 1910-11|chapter=Chota Nagpu Tributary|url=https://archive.org/details/bengaldistrictg00indigoog|year=1905|publisher=Bihar and Orissa Govt. Press}}<br />
<br />
{{coord|23|00|N|85|00|E|region:IN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki|display=title}}<br />
{{Divisions of British India}}<br />
{{Districts of Jharkhand}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Divisions of British India]]<br />
[[Category:History of Jharkhand]]<br />
[[Category:1854 establishments in British India]]</div>Advsalahuddinahmed