‘BOMBAY 1921-22. A REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE PRESIDENCY’ [‎203v] (402/434)

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‘BOMBAY 1921-22. A REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE PRESIDENCY’

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Ref: IOR/V/10/317/1

The record is made up of 1 item (216 folios). It was created in 1923?. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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172
BOMBAY, 1921-22
Precious Metals and Precious Stones.—The gold and silver
smiths’ craft is one of the widest spread in the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. . There is
hardly a village of any size in which some goldsmith is not to be found,
and in the large cities their numbers are considerable. These craftsmen
are most numerous in Ratnagiri and next to them in Khandesh. But
the best work produced within the limits of Bombay Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. is
undoubtedly in Cutch, in Kathiawar, and in Gujarat. It, however,
unfortunately seems to be undoubted that in the last 20 years there has
been a very marked deterioration in quality. Partly this is due to the
prevailing degradation of taste, and partly to the increasing cost of
workmanship which makes the customer seek cheapness rather than
good quality, and lastly, it has been due to the tourist traffic. Tourists,
especially Americans,inevitably refuse to pay the high price required for
good work and seem almost incapable of discerning or appreciating the
difference between fine and shoddy craftsmanship. In consequence
the goldsmiths have found it more remunerative to produce larger
quantities of bad work at a cheaper price than to produce a few choice
pieces. It is difficult now to find any craftsman capable of producing
the best Cacchi silver work which 20 years ago could readily be bought
in Ahmedabad. What hope there is for the future lies in the fact that
the traditions of good work have not yet quite expired and that the
School of Art in Bombay has classes filled almost entirely by children
of the Sonar class, where artistic ideals are being taught. Regarded as
a trade, production is particularly remunerative at Kolhapur and Sangli
in the Southern Maratha Country. In general in India ornaments are
only made to order. But from these two centres, ready-made ornaments
are exported in great numbers to other places for sale. As a whole the
actual workmen at the craft are not well-off. They are in the-hands of
richer men largely of their own caste who advance the precious metals
to them and who conduct the sale and very often pay them fixed wages.
The workers are therefore at the mercy of capitalists in this as in so
many other trades. A Co-operative Society, however, has been started
by the goldsmiths in Bombay City and may prove to be the first step
towards their liberation from the capitalist bond. The trade in agate,
cornelian and similar pebble worked in Cutch but extracted from the
hills near Broach continues to be thriving. The work is particularly
good and a large selection of these articles was sent in 1920 by the
Department of Industries to the British Industries’ Fair.
Iron. Work on iron as a handicraft hardly exists in this Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent.
except in the primitive form in which the village blacksmith provides
rough articles of everyday use. Of any artistic use of iron there is not
the remotest idea. The most interesting development in recent years
in the work of iron-smiths has been that started by the firm of Messrs.
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172

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Annual administration report of the Bombay Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. , providing a summary record of the main events and developments in each department of the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. during the financial year 1921-22.

The report is divided into three parts. Part I (ff 9-22) comprises a report ‘GENERAL SUMMARY’, consisting of: Political; Finance; Trade and Commerce; Agriculture; Department of Agriculture; Education; Law and Justice; Police and Crime; Bombay [Mumbai] City Police; Public Health; Excise; Salt; The Co-operative Movement; Public Works; Irrigation; Development Department.

PART II (ff 23-117) comprises the following headings, which are further divided into sub-headings:

CHAPTER I ‘INDIAN STATES.’ (ff 23-27), consisting of: I. North Gujarat; II. South Gujarat; III. North Konkan; IV. South Konkan; V. The Deccan; VI. Kolhapur and Southern Maratha Country States; VII. Sind [Sindh]; VIII. Aden; Condition of the people
CHAPTER II ‘ADMINISTRATION OF THE LAND’ (ff 27-29), consisting of: Land Records; Routine Measurement Work; Revenue Surveys; City Surveys; Revision Settlements; Waste Lands; Wards and Other Estates; Sind
CHAPTER III ‘LAW AND JUSTICE.’ (ff 29-32), consisting of: Work of the Year; Bills; Resolutions; Civil Justice; Criminal Justice; Registration
CHAPTER IV ‘POLICE AND CRIME’ (ff 33-38), consisting of: Apathy of the Public; Bombay City Police; Village Police; Aden Police; Government Male Workhouse; Bombay Jails; Prisoners’ Aid Societies; Criminal Tribes
CHAPTER V ‘AGRICULTURE, WEATHER AND CROPS.’ (ff 39-55), consisting of: Nature of the Crops; Outturn of the Crops; Aid to Agriculture; Research and Investigation; Agricultural Education; Advances to Cultivators; Note on the Weather for 1921-1922; Bombay (Colaba) and Alibag Observatories; Prices; Wholesale Food Prices; Labour and Wages; Forests; Co-operative Movement; Horticulture
CHAPTER VI ‘TRADE AND COMMERCE’ (ff 56-71), consisting of: [Industries]; the Department of Industries; the Factories Act; Sea-borne Trade; Chief-Port – Bombay; Foreign Trade; Foreign Merchandise; Indian Produce and Manufactures; Trade According to Countries; Shipping; Coasting Trade; Subordinate Ports of the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. ; the Trade of Sind; Aden; the Labour Office
CHAPTER VII ‘PUBLIC WORKS’ (ff 72-80), consisting of: Roads and Buildings; Irrigation; Railways
CHAPTER VIII ‘VITAL STATISTICS AND MEDICAL RELIEF’ (ff 80-87), consisting of: [Births and Deaths]; Epidemic Diseases; Hospitals and Dispensaries; Sanitation; Vaccination; Veterinary; Chemical Analyses; Wild Animals and Venomous Snakes; Lunatic Asylums [psychiatric hospitals]; Acworth Leper Asylum [hospital for people affected by leprosy or Hansen’s Disease], Matunga; Emigration and Immigration
CHAPTER IX ‘LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT’ (ff 88-92), consisting of: District Municipalities; Bombay Municipality; Local Board Administration; Bombay Improvement Trust; Bombay Port Trust; Karachi Port Trust; Aden Port Trust; Working of the Rent Acts
CHAPTER X ‘FINANCIAL’ (ff 93-103), consisting of: Financial Review; Public Works Revenue; Customs Administration; Salt Department; Excise Department; Cotton Duties Act; Stamps; Taxes on Income; Miscellaneous Funds
CHAPTER XI ‘INSTRUCTION’ (ff 103-107), consisting of: Education; Reformatory Schools; Books and Publications; Newspapers; Royal Asiatic Society; Victoria and Albert Museum, Bombay; Prince of Wales Museum; Victoria Museum, Karachi; Bombay Natural History Society
CHAPTER XII ‘ARCHAEOLOGY’ (f 108), consisting of: Archaeological Survey of India, Western Circle
CHAPTER XIII ‘MISCELLANEOUS’ (ff 108-117), consisting of: the Established Church of England; the Established Church of Scotland; Stationary; Printing; Bombay Development Department; Military (Indian Auxiliary and Territorial Forces); Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; Visit of the Prince of Wales.

PART III (ff 118-211) comprises the following headings, which are further divided into sub-headings:

CHAPTER I ‘HISTORICAL SUMMARY’ (ff 118-142), consisting of: Prehistoric Period; I. Hindu Period – 325 BC-1300 AD; II. Early Mahomedan [Muslim] Period; III. Mughal Period, 1600-1739 AD; Shivaji; Bombay and the British; Sind, 1739-1843 AD; British Period, 1803-1911 AD; The War and the Reformed Constitution; The Indian States; Legislation; Famine; Co-operation; Trade and Commerce; Public Works; Public Health; Finance; Education; Boy Scouts; Bombay Development; Labour Problems; Publicity; Agriculture; Irrigation
CHAPTER II ‘AREA, ASPECT, CLIMATE AND PRODUCTS’ (ff 143-148), consisting of: [Introduction]; Sind; Cutch [Kutch or Kachchh]; Kathiawar; Gujarat; the Tapti Valley; the Deccan; the Konkan; Economic Geography
CHAPTER III ‘FORMS OF ADMINISTRATION’ (ff 149-168), consisting of: [Government]; Political; Collection of Revenue; Land Records; Registration; Administration of Justice; Organisation of the Police; Local Funds; Municipalities; The Medical Department; Forests; Opium; Excise; Salt; Customs, Bombay and Karachi; Cotton Duties; Co-operative Societies; Civil Veterinary Department; Department of Industries; Public Works Department; Irrigation; Town Planning; Income Tax; Educational Department; The Gujarat Talukdars Act; Encumbered Estates Rules, Kathiawar; Sind Incumbered Estates Act; The Court of Wards Act; The Guardians and Wards Act
CHAPTER IV ‘CHARACTER OF LAND TENURES: SYSTEM OF SURVEY AND SETTLEMENTS’ (ff 169-173), consisting of: [The Survey Tenure]; The Record of Rights; Remissions of Revenue; System of Land Tenure; Special Tenures; Sind; Area held under different Tenures
CHAPTER V ‘CIVIL DIVISIONS OF BRITISH TERRITORY’ (ff 173-188), consisting of: Northern Division: Ahmedabad; Kaira [Kheda]; Panch Mahals [or Panchmahal]; Broach [Bharuch]; Surat; Thana [Thane]; Central Division: Ahmednagar; East Khandesh; West Khandesh; Nasik [or Nashik]; Poona [Pune]; Satara; Sholapur [Solapur]; Southern Division: Belgaum [Belagavi]; Dharwar [or Dharwad]; Kanara [Karavali]; Kolaba [Colaba]; Ratnagiri; Bijapur [Vijayapura]; Bombay Suburban Division: Bombay Suburban District; Sind: Karachi; Hyderabad; Sukkur; Larkana; Thar Parkar [Tharparkar]; Upper Sind Frontier; Nawabshah; Town and Island of Bombay
CHAPTER VI ‘DETAILS OF THE LAST CENSUS’ (ff 189-195), consisting of: Distribution of Population; Movement of the Population; Religion; Age, Sex or Civil Condition; Literacy; Infirmities; Occupations; Textile Industry; Occupations of Women; Caste, Tribe and Race; Languages
CHAPTER VII ‘LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY’ (ff 196-199), consisting of: [Legislation]
CHAPTER VIII ‘POWER INDUSTRIES AND HANDICRAFTS’ (ff 200-206), consisting of: [Power Industries]; Handicrafts Manufacture
CHAPTER IX ‘EDUCATION’ (ff 206-209), consisting of: General System of Public Instruction; Literary Societies
CHAPTER X ‘ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION’ (ff 210-211), consisting of [Decennial Review of]: the Established Church of England; the Established Church of Scotland; the Roman Catholic Church.

The report includes the following photographs:

‘THE SECRETARIAT BUILDING. Administrative Offices of the Government of Bombay’ (f 3)
‘The Prince of Wales landing at the Gateway of India, November 17, 1921.’ (f 8v)
‘An irrigated Sugar-Cane Plantation.’ (f 40)
‘Irrigation channel showing how the water is distributed.’ (f 42)
‘“Manjav” sugarcane growing in water-logged land, under advice from the Agricultural Department. Previously this land would not grow sugarcane at all.’ (f 44)
‘Two ways of growing jowar [or sorghum]: 1.-Crop from field cultivated by the old method.’ (f 46)
‘Two ways of growing jowar. II.-Crop from field where the ridge method of cultivation introduced by Agricultural Department was used.’ (f 48)
‘The Bhandadara [Bhandardara] Dam in Ahmednagar District which feeds the Pravara Canal. It will be completed next year.’ (f 71)
‘Another view of the great Bhandadara Dam. It is 270 feet high and 1,600 feet long, and is one of the highest dams in the World’ (f 73)
‘A photograph taken in 1913, showing the excavation of the river-bed for the foundations of the great new dam at Bhatgar. The old dam is seen in the back ground.’ (f 75)
‘Part of the new Lloyd Dam at Bhatgar, viewed from the top of the old dam. It is a mile long, and 190 feet high and, in respect of volume of masonry, is the largest dam in the world.’ (f 77)
‘The Old Bhatgar Dam. Waste weir in flood. The new dam will store 24,000 million cubic feet of water.’ (f 79)
‘Chankapur Tank and Girna Canal. The Tank holds 1,548 million cubic feet of water and feeds the Girna Left Bank Canal. This commands an area of 19,000 acres.’ (f 81)
‘The Godaveri Headworks and Durna Reservoir in Nasik District.’ (f 83)
‘The Reclamation of Back Bay involves the building of a sea wall four miles long. This photograph shows the work in progress.’ (f 110)
‘The Development Department’s quarry at Khandivli.’ (f 112)
‘The Prince replying to the Municipal address.’ (f 114)
‘Government Buildings illuminated by the Electrical Engineer’s Department.’ (f 116).

There are also graphs showing the following: total expenditure from revenue for the years 1912-13 to 1921-22 (f 92v); distribution of principal heads of revenue for the year 1921-22 (f 94); distribution of principal heads of expenditure, for the year 1921-22 (f 95); and relative cost of various services in 1915-16 and 1921-22 (f 96).

There are appendices on folios 211-213, and an index on folios 214-217. There is a map of the Bombay Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. on folio 218.

A table of contents listing the headings and sub-headings of the report is on folio 5-7. In a small number of instances, there are discrepancies in the phrasing or inclusion of sub-headings between the table of contents and the body of the report. In these cases, the sub-heading as it appears in the body of the report is included above.

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Reference: IOR/V/10/317/1
Title: ‘BOMBAY 1921-22. A REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE PRESIDENCY’
Pages: 3r:218r, 218r:218v, 218v
Author: East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
Usage terms: Open Government Licence

‘BOMBAY 1921-22. A REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE PRESIDENCY’ [‎203v] (402/434)

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