MIRZAPUR: DID THE RAILWAYS CHANGE ITS COMMERCIAL NARRATIVE?

Author(s): Neha Lal

Source: Proceedings of the Indian History Congress , 2015, Vol. 76 (2015), pp. 408-425
Published by: Indian History Congress

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156607

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

Indian History Congress is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Proceedings of the Indian History Congress

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 MIRZAPUR: DID THE RAILWAYS CHANGE ITS
COMMERCIAL NARRATIVE?

Neha Lai

Mirzapur's emergence as a place ofcommercial importance and its

decline happened within a span of hundred years- from late eighteenth century
to mid nineteenth century, the railways being blamed for the latter.
This paper posits that the railways had no significant role to play in
Mirzapur's decline as a commercial town. In fact, the railways helped stabilize
the town and retain its relevance as a manufacturing town right into the
twentieth century.
There is a discernable period between Mirzapur losing its sheen as a
commercial hub and the arrival of railways, which supposedly caused its
decline. The view presented in this paper is that Mirzapur never rose beyond
being just a transit town for cotton. The collection of town duties in 1 8 1 5- 1 6
(Rs 61,363) was substantially higher than towns of Allahabad (Rs 10,482)
and Kanpur (Rs 9,8 1 8) in the same period.1 These funds were rarely ploughed
back for the city's growth and development.2 The merchants and tradesmen
located in the city were part of a large network, andweremere agents and
branches,3 which suggest the expatriation of profit from the city. Apart from a
few wealthy merchants before the 1850s,4 Mirzapur never really had the
patronage of rich business houses or, for that matter, royaltythat other cities
thrived upon5. So it remained a city of humble economic growth which was
overtaken by the cotton extravaganza that turned out to be transitory - both in
terms of the commodity and the profits made through it. The real commercial
foundation of the city remained hidden behind the booming cotton trade but
came out to hold its own once the railways provided the surety of timeliness
and deliverability giving a fillip to the industry and manufacturing in Mirzapur.
Christopher Bayly, in his seminal work Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaar, has
blamed the railways for Mirzapur's decline.6 Mukhopadhyaya, in her doctoral
thesis questions this theory of railway's role in Mirzapur's decline. She cites
two pairs of cities - Mirzapur /Kanpur and Patna/Champaran, to illustrate, by
contrasting the socio-economic fortunes of places connected by railways, the
limited role of railways in their transformation, though her focus is more on
the social aspects.7 This paper will provide empirical evidence to take
Mukhopadhyay's contention on Mirzapur forward and deeper into the realm
of socio-economic transformations which impacted urbanisation, if any, caused
by the railways.

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Modem India 409

Railways have often been credited

fortunes of cities and thus, the nar
proverbial 'engine of change', railway
and space in the annals of Indian histo
on the one hand, for the rise of Kanp
decline of Mirzapur? Both were on
further research is required to unders
cities.
Primary sources referred for this paper include Government of India
records and documents, reports on various censuses, administration, trade,
revenue and railways, and newspaper and magazine articles while secondary
sources include published books and articles by eminent authors and
scholars, as also some unpublished dissertations.
Mirzapur's commercial importance was inextricably linked with trade
in raw cotton.8 Cotton was brought from the Amravati region over 500 miles
away and from Bundelkhand to Mirzapur from where it was taken to other
towns in the north and east, especially to Calcutta.9 Not surprising that a
mohalla (ward) was called Bundelkhandi10. The geographical location of
Mirzapur was an important reason for its growth as an entrepôt. In the years
when rivers formed the backbone of communication and transportation, traders
relied on boats to reach Bengal where, initially, the handloom industry
consumed most of the cotton, and later was exported to England and China.
Export demand grew with industrialisation, giving increasing impetus to
internal trade in cotton, which proved beneficial to Mirzapur.
Consequent treaties of Battle of Buxar of 1764 opened up a vast
tongue of land from Mirzapur to the Shivaliks, encompassing the whole doab
region to the rule of East India Company (EIC). To access this newly acquired
territory and to facilitate supplies and trade between this tongue of land and
Bengal, EIC found Mirzapur at a convenient juncture of the two," thus
becoming a crucial link for all trade and supplies of the EIC as also produce
and products of central India12 for transhipment to east and north. Mirzapur
afforded a 'Goldilocks' solution to the EIC andwas promoted as their
commercial gateway, earning the sobriquet 'commercial child of British
India'.13

Before the Railways

Historically, Mirzapur first finds a mention when Teiffenthaler visits
in 1760s and describes it as 'a mart having two ghauts giving access to the
Ganges.'14 Bayly states that it began as a palace market for the Raja of Kantit.15
The Gosains16 transported their goods to Mirzapur from where traders of the
same clan17 from the Deccan would take these goods to the central and southern

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
410 IHC: Proceedings, 76th Session, 2015

parts of India.1* Apart from its location on the Ganges, the adjoining hilltop
temple of Vindhyachal - a much revered place for devout Hindus -may hav
drawn merchants and traders to Mirzapur during religious festivals and fairs.
After its annexation by the British from Awadh inthe latter half of the
eighteenth century, Mirzapur became a sanctuaryin the early years of th
nineteenth century for traders from established commercial towns around
Allahabad. 19 Commerce and trade flourished as EIC officials extended support
to merchants and traders,20 and Mirzapur soon became a thriving town
withMarwaris21 and beoparis flocking from other parts of India.
By 1800 Mirzapur was already considered a principal town of the
region by the British, along with Ghazipur,22 and in two decades it was called
an 'opulent place, being the chief mart for silk and cotton between British
and Mahratta territories. '"The word 'opulent' suggests a stereotypica
definition for a place which was a mart for silk. Silk was and has always been
associated with wealth and opulence, and therefore for a writer based in
London, Mirzapur would be an 'opulent' place. In contrast, a drawing made
by Harriot Mary Woodcock of Mirzapur in 183524 shows a narrow unmetalled
road with buildings of no great stature made of bricks and stones. A chhatri
and a gazebo like structure do reflect prosperity but not on a scale to be called
'opulent'. This depiction is representative more of a small town than a city.
Reginald Heber, too, describes the place in 1820s as being opulent
and being of recent importance 25 but he views the city from his boat on the
Ganges and therefore his assessment seems conjectural. Within 30 years o
Heber's description, Thornton said the following for Mirzapur - "There is no
appearance of grandeur or antiquity in this city, though much of business and
bustle." The city was described as having just three principal streets, mos
houses built of 'mud or unbaked brick' with only a few good specimens of
stone buildings.26 In contrast, Chunder, while on a visit in 1 860, describe
Mirzapur as having a large number of richly carved temples, nice native houses,
and elegant bungalows, and that it presented an 'appearance of grandeur that
rivals Varanasi', and displays the 'opulence possessed by the largest and richest
mart of traffic in the centre of Hindoostan'.27 The true description would lie
somewhere between the two contrarian views. Maybe Mirzapur was a larg
town with some good buildings (temples, serai1*) and healthy commerce, but
not quite in the league of Agra or Varanasi.
The decline in quantum of trade through Mirzapur and the consequent
'decline' of the city, had started in 1 820s,29 much earlier than the diversion o
cotton traffic from Central Provinces to Bombay in the 1 840s as alluded to by
Bayly who called it a 'serious blow to Mirzapur'.30 AmalenduGuha states that
with the decline of the Bengal handloom industry from the 1 820s, was
'indicated by the simultaneous decline of the cotton town of Mirzapur.'51

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Modem India 4 1 1

In 1840sdemand for Indian cotton a

1 848 the quantity of cotton from Decca
arrived in 1845-46 to Mirzapur. The w
Mirzapur leading to fall in prices,32 an
gradually lost its importance because
domestic and foreign market.
Also, opening of new routes was h
commercial mart. In 1862 it was reported
on its way on numerous carts to Karachi
of cotton from Hathrashad made its way
while only 14,000 mds was sent to
movement of cotton away from th
indicategradual shifting of routes of c
been in existence between Kanpur and
The Government was also eager to
India to England to reduce the lengthy
his Minute on Railways that the 'esta
regularly on the Indus has enabled th
discomfort of travelling a long and ar
England. By 1 856, Indus 'the great highw
arriving from England35 and the Gov
sending steamers from Indus River direc
to Calcutta on the Ganges was perfor
recognition and this change toward
importance.
Within the province too, routes were shifting. With the revival in
demand for Indian cotton in 1 860 from English mills,37 a Senior Commissioner
reported in 1861 that cotton in large quantities was being taken from Kalpi
straight to Ghazipur via Jaunpur, bypassing Kanpur and Allahabad. The reasons
for this diversion from the usual trade route was due to the shallowness of the
Ganges at Mirzapur which made it difficult for laden steamers and boats to
navigate, and because of exaction of bazaar fees at Mirzapur which forced
merchants take new routes to reach Calcutta.3*

Arrival of Railways
The first East Indian Railway (EIR) line from Calcutta to Delhi was
opened to traffic in sections. The Mughalsarai to Mirzapur section was opened
in January 1 864 - and the section from Mirzapur to Allahabad, till the Jamuna
River, in April, 1864.39
EIR located Mirzapur station in the southern part of the city, away from the
riverside40 to avoid destruction of native houses and establishments. Prominent

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
4 1 2 IHC: Proceedings, 76th Session, 2015

merchants of the city of Mirzapur were consulted on the location of the railway
station,41 which suggests the supportive role of the railways to commerce.
Initially, EIR had to devise and employ strategies to attract commercial traffic
to it- like offering 'gratuitous half-pressing of cotton' at some railway stations
in the North Western Provinces in 1870s which did result in gaining cotton
traffic.42 Nevertheless, large part of the trade still was carried by the country
boats in the 1 870s43 and the railways were struggling for goods traffic.44
The Government and the EIR also proposed to set up 'quasi chambers
of commerce' along the line at some large stations to offer the commercial
class a forum to discuss ways to make railways more amiable to trade. The
EIR even published price lists in vernacular, reduced rates for carriage of
staple commodities like food-grains, oil-seeds, salt etc. These efforts bore
fruit as by 1872-73 the salt traffic on the EIR went up by 20 per cent.45
Government also provided depots for stones at railway stations and ghats
along the river for the convenience of the stone dressers of this industry.46
The commercial health of Mirzapur continued to be quite good even
in the 1 870s, 47 six years after coming of the railways. To properly gauge the
scale and spread of industry an insightful study is required into the traffic on
the various modes of transportation available to the traders and merchants of
the city.4* Carpet, brassware, stone and lac were the main industries of Mirzapur
and a detailed study of each post the arrival of railways will give a better
sense of Mirzapur's relevance.
Mirzapur's carpet industry49 showed gradual growth in the first half
of the nineteenth century though inflicted with periods of decline.50 However
it gained importance after the arrival of railways. By 1883 the demand for
Indian designs had increased the demand for carpets, averaging Rs 18,000 •
20,000 per month, with 200 carpet weavers.
In the last years of the nineteenth century, a laige number of carpet-
making native firms existed in Mirzapur which drew wool from Hamirpur,
Fatehpur and Jalaun.51 Carpet factories - E.Hill and Co52 and Messrs Telleiy -
were set up in Mirzapur53 and by the first decade of the twentieth century
there were six large factories involved in carpet manufacture which gave
employment to 700 people.54
Railway brought in the wool from Agra and Jhansi for the carpet
industry, roughly 2 1 58maundsbeing imported into Mirzapur in the year 1 920-
21 Another new carpet factory by the name of Obeetee was established by
Oakley Bowden and Taylor in 1920.54 In 1920, 90 percent of the carpets
manufactured in Mirzapur were exported to Europe, Australia and America
with railways carrying 1 1 ,352 maunds for export. "By 1 923 .Mirzapur 's carpet
industry employed 5500 people and exported carpets worth Rs 1,500, 000
annually • almost all headed for foreign markets.5* A new company E. Sefton

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Modem India 4 1 3

and Co. Woollen Mills was set up in 19

manufacturers, suggesting the robustn
problems with quality continuedbecaus
replication of European designs remained
The metalware industry made Mirzapu
was primarily becauserailways transporte
the products to different parts of the Pr
considered an important centre for brass
that one could witness bullock carts lo
way to adjacent districts daily. Also, th
these utensils to districts further away."
In 1901, the district had 1618 brass
than any other district in the Province
supplier to Varanasi where the demand fo
brass was great,65 and by 1910 the bra
supplier of domestic vessels in the United
gave employment to 5000 men in 1 50 fac
of brassware to the domestic markets.
brass sheets, ingots and broken utensils -
maunds.67 The demand for metal wor
recruitment from other castes6* thus br
Shellac manufacture was another pr
1 875, the lac business was flourishing
with metal ware.69 There were 37 lac fact
33 were owned by natives and four by
Co70 and Messrs Schoene, Kilburn & C
people producing 26,575 mds worth R
were 2830 people employed in this indust
Stone was an important product fr
jumped from 1 63,831 maunds in 1 879 to 2
of 39 percent. The EIR opened stations eve
it convenient for quarries to reach their s
yielded Rs 75,000 as income in 191 1,75
was exported annually primarily by rai
heavy boats.76
Apart from the mills and factories m
cotton-spinning mill called the Sri Gan
1 89677and the Radha Krishna Weaving
Mirzapur was also a hub for grain trade
1870s, much after the railways arrived
the arrival of the railways to Allahabad in

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
414 l HC: Proceedings, 76th Session, 2015

Mirzapur's role as a commercial hub as the railways enabled the dealers and
traders to load their commodities and send them directly to the western cities79
bypassing Mirzapur.But the returns of river (Table A) and rail traffic (Graph
A) seem to suggest otherwise.

Table A: River Traffic at Mirzapur 1877-78

Outgoing TVade Up and Incoming trade Total

up and Down (Mds) Down (Mds)
1st quarter Apr, May, June 20574 39642 60216
2nd quarter July, Aug, Sept 1 3097 1 063 10 11 9407
3rd quarter Oct, Nov, Dec 25830 100790 126620
4th quarter Jan, Feb, Mar 33029 39518 72547
Total 92530 286260 378790

Source: Demi-Official from

1879. GOI, Public Work Depar
A, Dated 23 December 1879,
Ganges Canal. NAI.

Graph A- Railway Borne Traff

(in maunds)

Going by Table A, Mirzapu

after the Jubbulpore line
as the reason for Mirzapu

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Modem India 4 1 5

Cotton continued to be traded at Mirzap

in 1 870, 80 and in 1 872 and 1 873 (Tabl
amount as compared to Agra and Kanpur
way to Mirzapur indicates that it was st
of railways for transportation grew imm
returns of Mirzapur station (Graph A
percent in exports and 50 percent in im

Table B: Cotton Traffic on EIR for 2M half of 1873

Stations Maunds Rupees

From To 1872 1873 1872 1873 Decrease

Mirzapur 23622 10644 Ī82ĪĪ 8104 at all

Kanpur 76404 33408 104484 40099 stations
Agra 194420 73900 340449 125064
etc

Etawah 25763 3610 29067 2721

Source: GOI, Revenue and Agriculture Department, Bran

September 1 874, NAI. This is from a report from the PW
cotton traffic of upper India by the main line of the EIR fo

Table C: Traffic on EIR 1892-93 1893-94 1894-95

Exports from Mirzapur Station on EIR

Gram and Pulse (Mds) 8179 5607 18

I, in seed (Mds) 60510 78808 37032

Mustard (Mds) 10057 2474

imports into Mirzapur Station on EIR

Cotton Piece Goods (Rs)-

European 923128 852058 744941

Indian 129 36 1412

Gunny Bags (Numbers) 141015 168873 98980

Kerosene Oil (Mds) 5736 6929 tUI"y

Mir I

j Source: Report on the River Borne Traffic of the Lx>wcr Provinces of Bengal and on _r
aOO j lhe Inland trade of Calcutta, 1894-95 (Calcutta. 1895) Appendix E. p. lvi and cii. The <T OI
dota «elected is specific to Mirzapur.
gUriii^-uaga id liiuiwauvt ui a uiaiiuiaviui lug wiii/Ciu in iviuz^apui uwi/dUSc

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
416 IHC: Proceedings, 76th Session, 2015

these bags were used for packaging. The supply of bags was great even in
1 876-77 when EIR carried nearly 300,000 power-loom bags to Mirzapur from
Calcutta.'3
Thus, import and export figures for Mirzapur on the EIR further
confirm that Mirzapur was much more than a city that 'fell almost to th
ordinary somnolent level of other small district capitals'.*4 The coming of the
railways did not necessarily mean the decline of a city which was earlie
dependent on river trade for its commerce and trade. In fact, old established
trade routes continued to exist even in the 1 880s adapting to the changes in
mode of transportation when needed." River trade had several things goin
against it which made trade and commerce a tedious and perilous business
while in contrast the railways provided an expeditious and reliable mode o
transportation for goods. It is not to say that railways were perfect86 but one
cannot take away the fact that they enabled the traders, merchants and
industrialists to transform their businesses provided they adapted to it.
Financial support for commerce lay with native bankers and money-
lenders. Large European and joint-stock banks had a blow hot blow cold
relationship with Mirzapur. The Bank of Mirzapore was started in 1830s bu
shut down within two years.'7 In 1939 the city of Mirzapur was chosen by the
Bank of Bengal as part of an experiment to open branches in mofussil towns.
The Agency recorded a profit of Rs 13,791 in the first half year of its existence
but in 1848 this experiment was closed down." However, a branch wa
reopened in 1 862. Considering that the Directors of the Bank chose Mirzapur,
Varanasi, Patna and Dhaka from a list which consisted of Farrukhabad,
Amritsar, Multan, Saugor, Jubbulpore and Rangoon, indicates that Mirzapu
was still viewed as a relatively important commercial town even in the early
1 860s." However, this branch was closed in 1 876.90 A branch of the Imperial
Bank of India opened in Mirzapur in 192991 and didn't last beyond three
years.92 Like all towns without a bank, the Hundi( bill of exchange) system
was prevalent and a large number of Hundís from Mirzapur started moving to
big cities like Allahabad and Varanasi93 where they would be re-discounted.94
The district saw the establishment of cooperative credit societies in 1 9 1 2 which
increased to 35 in 1916.9S The dealers in stone, shellac, brass and carpets in
Mirzapur also had subsidiaiy business of money lending.96 By 1 930 the volume
of business in Mirzapur was extensive.97
The hundi system was used extensively in Mirzapur and the revenue
generated by hundi stamps is a good indicator of the scale of commerce in the
city. From the mid- 1 860s, hundi stamp revenue for Mirzapur shows erratic
collections.9' The reason assigned by the government for any rise was always
the improvement in trade in the city and when it recorded a low, the reason
was assigned to the declining state of the city.

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Modem India 417

In 1875, the value of hundi stamp

Mirzapur even though it was mention
worn off, Mirzapur was still higher
where the daily value was Rs. 1 4-4-0.w
of Stamps, NWP says that except for
all other 'principal houses in Caw
headquarters are either Farrukhabad,
year Mirzapur returned an increase in
which is then attributed to increase i
the hundi stamp revenue of Mirzapur
and Kanpur, in that order. luz The rea
in grain trade in Mirzapur.
In the 1880s, the revenue dec
'permanent decrease' as it showed '
while others called it the 'total stagna
failures in trade.'104

Infrastructure and Population

Mirzapur, even after being lab
conversion of the single line to doubl
to Ahraura Road and Jhingura to M
the expense of converting an old p
island platform with a foot over-bridg
and North Western Railways (BNWR)
opposite the Mirzapur town in Chi
Vindhyachal from the northern distr
from Chilh (Bara), the BNWR introdu
for all the trappings that it entailed
railway company invested money to
Ganges on the opposite bank of M
called Mirzapur Kantit, indicates th
Apart from purchasing land on the
other establishments,107 BNW, in
which 6 acres were on the souther
Mirzapur, the price of which was m
land. 108 The high price of land w
indicates the urban growth of the city
After the railways, the population of
due to epidemics and migrations. J
declined only when cotton was sent b
decreased by half in 1911 of what i

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
418 IHC: Proceedings, 76th Session, 2015

the reduction of railway rate in mid 1870sresulted in the decline of the

population of the city by a fifth between 1865 and 1881. 110
Bayly, Hurd and Derbyshire used the decrease in population in
Mirzapur as another evidence for the decline of die city; however, the decline
in the population was for various other reasons.
Firstly, Mirzapur 's area was not defined clearly till 1867 when it
became a Municipality111, which would make the population figures before
that ambivalent and comparison with succeeding censuses faulty. Secondly,
famine and epidemics like plague caused havoc leading to death of many
inhabitants or migration till the disease ravaged. Case in point is the Census
of 191 1 when plague ravaged the city in the early months.112 Two enumerations
were conducted during the year and the returns showed a swing of 23,000
inhabitants which suggests a high proportion of migration from rural areas
around it to the city of Mirzapur. 113 Commercial population of Mirzapur city
was 5.85 per cent in 1911 which was considered high and is said to testify the
'position which Mirzapur holds as a collecting and distributing centre. ' 1 14
Over the years, wages of workers in industries of Mirzapur too
increased. Table D shows earnings of workers from some relevant industries
as well as daily labourers.

I Table D- Average Daily Earnings

Occupation Year 1856 1860 1880 1890 1911 1944 1947
___ __ _

Boatmen
annas anna» annas annas 8 annas

Metal workers 4-5 4-5 4-5

(brass and Copper) annas annas annas 6 annas

Dai
1 anna 1 anna anna annas

fŠ=2 2^5 Í4 ' 6 1 Re 1 1

Carpet Weavers
annas annas annas annas annas

Source: Jackson, 'Statistical,' far columns

First Repon of the United Provinces Labou
1948) for 1940s.

Source: Jackson, 'Statistica

columns 1890 and 1911; an
Enquiry Committee 1946-4
Conclusion
Mirzapur transformed from a prominent centre of distribution to a
moderate centre of production 115 in the years following the railways. The earlier
manufactures of the city were completely sidelined by the prevalence of cotton
trade during the first half of the nineteenth century, but these remained

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Modem India 419

resilient116 and in the second half of

of industrialisation of Mirzapur. Ba
production and calico printing for
railways and consequently saving M
The comparison drawn between K
impact of railways seems inequi
Government patronage for its indust
military or civil requirements. Kanpur
in terms of the large presence of arm
also received encouragement and fi
setting up the Government Harnes
by Messrs Cooper, Allen and Co. w
Government for the Army Boot
Government in financing certain ind
of the Ganges canal, gave fillip to
Mukhopadhyay states that both K
by railways in 1864.llg Kanpur got
1859, though only to Allahabad on
This early connection helped Kanpur
before Mirzapur. Even this limited r
on Kanpur as adaptation to the ra
commerce routes had the opportunit
and was one of the many reasons for
Right through the latter half of
first few decades of the twentieth c
but the establishment of a few
considerable trade in grain, piece-goo
Even though Mirzapur was 'dwindl
saw it as an industrial town of som
of already mentioned industries. I
pilgrim tax all year round on railw
down by the Governor General in
commercial town. The EIR Agent in
tax opined that as Mirzapur was h
'there is a large movement of passe
business reasons and it would be unf
of pilgrims at Bindhachal.'121
In 1930s Mirzapur was considere
towns of the United Provinces' and 'a
the chief industries of carpets, brass
to be known for silk clothes and pap

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
420 IHC: Proceedings , 76th Session , 2015

to Calcutta. Goods from Mirzapur were generally sent by raill 24 as it enabled

the carriage of far greater quantities of goods125 with a faster turnaround time
which gave an impetus tote city to grow as a centre of production. Though
Mirzapur did not rise as dramatically as Kanpur, nonetheless, its entrepreneurial
class propelled commerce and industry at a moderate rate right into the
twentieth century.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1 . Walter Hamilton, A Geographical Statistical , and Historical Descriptio

Hindostán and the Adjacent Countries* Volume 1 (London, 1820), p. 78.
2. Ibid., 310. The author, writing in 1820s, says there are no noteworthy buildi
Mirzapur.
3. C. A. Bayly, Rulers , Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of
British Expansion - 1770-1870 (Cambridge, 1983), 341.
4. Asiatic Intelligence , May 1838, p. 25. A rich Hindu merchant gave a sum of Rs
1 2000 for the construction of a bridge over the 'OojlahNudee' (Ojhala river) between
the Mirzapur town and Vindhyachal temple.
5. BholanauthChunder, The Travels of a Hindoo to Various Parts of Bengal and Upper
India , Volume 1 (London, 1869), p. 137. He terms Mirzapur as the only town in India
which has risen purely because of commercial reasons.
6. Bayly, 'Rulers'.
7. Aparajita Mukhopadhyay, Wheels of Change? Impact of railways on colonial north
Indian society, 1855-1920 , (unpublished PhD Thesis, SOAS, University of London,
2013).
8. J. F. Royle, On the Culture and Commerce of Cotton in India , Part I (London,
1850), p. 41. It was in 1802 that Mirzapur became the mart for cotton for domestic
trade because of the heavy levies at Allahabad.
9. Major General Briggs, 'The Cotton Trade of India, Its Past and Present', a paper
read before the Royal Asiatic Society on 16th November, 1839, p. 7.
10. Gnerson Jackson, Statistical Descriptive and Historical account of the North
Western Provinces of India- Mirzapur Division, Part II, Vol XIV (Allahabad, 1883),
p. 211.
1 1 . Maps of India under the British East India Company, Imperial Gazetteer of India
(OUP, 1907).
12. Lawrence Dundas Campbells, A Narrative ofa Journey from Mirzapur to Nagpur
by a route never before travelled by any European', The Asiatic Annual Register} 806,
Vol VIII, Part II (London, 1 809). Under Miscellaneous Tracts for the year 1 806.
13. Allen's Indian Mail and Register of Intelligence, January to December 1855, Vol
XIII, No. 266, April 17, 1855. The Collector of Mirzapur said this of Mirzapur during
the ground-breaking ceremony of the East Indian Railway line between Mirzapur and
Allahabad.
14. Bholanauth, 'The Travels', pp. 136-137.Author quotes Tieffenthaler.

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Modern India 42 1

15. Bayly, 'Rulers', p.251. Quotes from

1872), p. 320.
16. Shama Praveen, 'Stability of Merch
Gosain' in International Journal of Mu
2015, 2 (I), pp. 496-500. The Gosains sk
and visited and resided in places of reli
17. Campbells, 'A Narrative', p. 34. Auth
'merchant adventurer. . . which is more d
were the Gosains.
18. Jackson, 'Statistical Descriptive', p. 217.
19. Hamilton, 'Geographical', p. 310; Walter Hamilton, The East India Gazetteer ,
Volume T, Second Edition of 1815 (London, 1828), p. 32. Traders moved because of
oppressive treatment by Awadh.
20. Bernard S. Cohn, 'The Role of Gosains in the Economy of Eighteenth and
Nineteenth Century Upper India', in The Indian Economic and Social History Review ,
1, April 1964:175-182; and Jackson, 'Statistical', p. 217. They had protested against
the double taxation in Varanasi and Mirzapur for goods and ETC responded by placing
a Hindu Magistrate in Mirzapur in 1788 who abolished the exactions.
21 . Anand A. Yang, Bazaar India : Markets, Society , and the Colonial State in Bihar
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998). http://ark.cdlib.Org/ark:/13030/
ft4779n9tq/
22. l'. D. Ascoli, Early Revenue History of Bengal , and the Fifth Report, 1812 (Oxford,
1917), p. 187.
23. The London General Gazetteer , Volume II, (London, 1825), p. 743.
24. This drawing is located in the British Library, London, and can be accessed on the
website. The title of the drawing is 'Mirzapur 1835' by Harriet Mary Woodcock.
http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/other/zoomify68261 .html. Another
drawing by the same artist of the 'Mozuffergunge Gate' at Mirzapur town made in
1 833 depicts, similar scene.
25. Reginald Heber, A Narrative of Journey Through the Upper Provinces of India,
l824-25y Second Edition, Volume I (London, 1828), p. 416.
26. Edward Thornton ,/1 Gazetteer of the Territories under the Government of the
East India Companv (London, 1858), p. 620.
27. Chunder, 'Travels', Vol I , p. 1 37.
28. Ibid.
29. AmalenduGuha, 'Raw Cotton of Western India: 1750-1850', The Indian Economic
and Social History Review , 9, 1972: 1-41 .Berar cotton was for the first time sent to
Bombay in 1825-26 -the supplies gradually rising from 120,000lbs in 1825-26 to 48
million lbs in 1 835-36. However, with the construction of a new road from Narsinghpur
to Mirzapur, cotton was again rerouted towards Mirzapur for Calcutta, though not in
as great quantities as earlier.
30. Roylc, 'On the Culture', p. 42.
31. Bayly, 'Rulers', p. 437.
32. Guha, 'Raw Cotton'.

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 422 IHC: Proceedings , 76th Session , 2015

33. Royle, 'On the Culture', p. 42. It was reported by the collector of Mirzapur that
cotton in 1845-46 was 351,810 maunds and in the next year it came down to 256,745
maunds.
34. Accounts and Papers- East India Affairs, Volume XLIV, 5 February to 28 July
1863. (Parliamentary Papers (Henceforth PP)), p. 250.
35. W. P. Andrew, The Indus and Its Provinces : Their Political and Commercial
Importance (London, 1857), p. 40.
36. Selections from the Records of the Government of India (Home Department), No
XIV, dated 28th February 1856 (Calcutta, 1856), p. 44.
37. Ibid.
38. Jitendra G. Borpujari, 'Indian Cottons and Cotton Famine, 1860-65', The Indian
Economic and Social History Review , 10, January 1973: 37-49, p. 38. The supply of
American cotton dried up because of the American Civil War in 1860.
39. Accounts and Papers- East India Affairs, Volume XLIV, 5 February to 28 July
1863. (PP), p. 20.
40. Report on the Administration of the North Western Provincesfor the year 1 863-64
(Allahabad, 1 864), p. 78. Hereafter referred to Admin Report N WP.
41. Report by the Consulting Engineer to Government Railway Department, on the
result of his examination of certain lines for extensions of railways in Bengal Presidency
during the cold season of 1852-53, (PP), p. 10.
42. Return on Railways, House of Commons, 12 July 1853, p. 19.
43. Report on Administration of Bengal, 1872-73 (Calcutta, 1873), p. 271; Statistical
Reporter, 15 November, 1870, p. 59. Mentions 240,000 maunds of cotton arrived
there.
44. Administration Report Bengal, 1872-73, p. 272.
45. 11. G ICeene, A Handbook for Visitors to Agra and its Neighbourhood, 4th lid.
(Calcutta, 1 878), p. 2. Cotton and salt were transported by boats from Agra to Mirzapur.
46. Admin Report Bengal, 1872-73, p. 269.
47. D. L. Drake-Brockman, Mirzapur: A Gazetteer being Volíme XXVII of the Distici
Gazetteer of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh (Allahabad: Superintendent
Government Press, United Provinces (UP), 1 91 1 ), p. 29. 1 lereafler referred as Mirzapur
Gaz ¡911. There were 37 such depots and the government had also purchased large
blocks of land near the railway stations of Mirzapur, Jhingura and Dagmagpur for
such conveniences.
48. Admin Report Bengal, 1 872-73, p. 271 .
49. Since the contestation has been between rail and river, roads will not be considered.
50. B. R. Bhatta, Report on the Industrial Survey of the United Provinces, Mirzapur
District (Allahabad, 1923), pp. 21-22. Carpet weaving arrived in the area in the first
decade of the nineteenth century; also. The Edinburgh Gazetteer, Volume 2 (Edinburgh:
Archibald Constable and Co., 1 822), p. 753. Galteechabad near Jaunpur was formerly
known for carpet manufacturing and it is said that the carpet weavers moved to
M irzapur taking their craft with them.
5 1 . Thornton, 'A Gazetteer', p. 620.
52. A. W. Pim, A Monograph on Woollen Fabrics in the North Western Provinces
and Oudh (Allahabad, 1898), pp. 9, 2.

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Modem Iridia 423

53. E.Hill and Co. was established in 18

today. Information taken from their.
website- http://ehillscompanylimited.tr
54. Pim, 'A Monograph', p. 15.
55. The Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vo
56. R. D. Tiwari, Railway Rales in Relat
1937), pp. 118-119.
57. Obeetee continues to operate ev
www.obeetee.com
58. Tiwari, 'Railway Rates', pp. 1 1 8-1 1 9
59. ibid., Foreword.
60. Parmanand Mishra, (ed.), Uttar Pradesh District Gazetteers - Mirzapur (Lucknow,
1988), p. 122.
61 . Tiwari, 'Railway Rates', Foreword.
62. Henry M. Elliot, Memoirs on the History, Folk-lore , and Distribution of the Races
of the North Western Provinces of India, Volume I (London, 1869), p. 352.
63. G. R. Dampier, A Monograph on the Brass and Copper Wares of the North Western
Provinces and Oudh( Allahabad, 1 894), Preface.
64. ibid., p. 18
65. Mirzapur Gazetteer , 191 1 , p. 70.
66. Report of the First Indian Industrial Conference held at Varanasi on 30th December,
1905, (Allahabad, 1906), pp. 346-347.
67. The Imperial Gazetteer of India , Volume 17, (Oxford, 1908), p. 377.
68. Bhatta, 'Industrial Survey', p. Foreword.
69. Jackson, 'Statistical Descriptive', p. 215.
70. Annual Report of the Administration of the Stamp Revenue of the N WP, 1 874-75
(Allahabad, 1875), p. 2. Hereafter referred to as Stamp Revenue Report.
71. Drake-Brockman, 'Mirzapur', p. 72.
72. Statistical Table for British India, Seventeenth Issue, Finance and Commerce
Department, (Calcutta, 1893), p. 81.
73. Mirzapur Gazetteer , 1 9 1 1 , p. 72.
74. Jackson, 'Statistical Descriptive', p. 105.
75. Drake-Brockman, 'Mirzapur', p. 29.
76. ibid.
77. Bhatta, 'Industrial Survey', Foreword.
78. Joint Slock Companies in British India, 1937-38 (Delhi, 1941), p. 214.
79. Bhatta, Industrial Survey', p. 20.
80. Bayly, 'Rulers', p. 437.
81. Statistical Reporter, Issue 15 November 1870, p. 59.
82. GOI, Revenue and Agriculture Department, Branch Fibre and Silks, File No- 22,
B, September 1 874, NAI. It is mentioned in the same document that in 1872, 35,926
bales had been exported from Calcutta, while in 1 873 it was just 1 539 bales, confirming
the weak demand.
83. Jackson, 'Statistical', p. 104. Percentage calculated from information given.
84. Administration Report Bengal, 1 876-77, p. 1 88.

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
424 IHC : Proceedings , 76th Session , 2015

85. Grierson, 'Statistical', p. 213. Bayly uses this quote to emphasise the decline of
Mirzapur.
86. Report of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce for the Year 1870-71 (Bombay,
1872), Appendix G. In 1871 Colonel Keatinge reported that during his visit to
Narsinghpur on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (G1PR) line he saw cotton being
sent in considerable quantities to Mirzapur in 'common country carts' to reach Calcutta.
This was a matter of concern for G1PR which had opened a line a year back. Upon
enquiry it was realised that old established routes were still being used.
87. Bhatta, 'Industrial Survey, Mirzapur,' p. Foreword. There was perpetual shortage
of wagons and problems existed during transportation.
88. G. P. Symes Scutt, The History of the Bank of Bengal (Calcutta, 1904), p. 36.
89. ibid.
90. ibid.
91. ibid.
92. Report of the United Provinces Provincial Banking Enquiry Committee, 1 929-30,
Volume IV, Evidence (Allahabad, 1931), p. 273. Evidence given by Director, District
Co-operative Bank Ltd., Mirzapur.
93. GOl, Finance Department, Finance Branch, File No/7 (52)-F, 1932, NA1.
94. Report of the United Provinces Provincial Banking Enquiry Committee, 1929-30
Volume 11, Evidence (Allahabad, 1930), p. 63.
95. Ibid., p. 64.
96. Mishra, 'Uttar Pradesh District Gazetteers', p. 135.
97. Report of the United Provinces Provincial Banking Enquiry Committee, 1 929-30,
Volume IV, Evidence (Allahabad, 1931), p. 170. Evidence given by Chaudhri Govind
Lai Saheb, a banker in Mirzapur.
98. Ibid.
99. Stamp Revenue Report, NWP, 1872-73, p. 8 A.
100. Stamp Revenue Report, NWP, 1874-75, p. ii
101. Stamp Revenue Report, NWP, 1875-76), p. 2
102. ibid., p. 4.
103. Stamp Revenue Report, NWP, 1877-78, p. 4.
104. Stamp Revenue Report, NWP, 1883-84, p. 7.
105. Ibid., p. 39.
106. GOl, Railway Board, Construction, File No. 54-57, A, November 1907, NAl
107. GOl, Railway Board, General, File No 33-37, B, June 1911, NAl. BNW paid Rs
152 per acre for 'A' Class land in 1911 for their terminal station in Chilh, on the
opposite bank of the Ganges River from Mirzapur.
108. GOl, Railway Board, Ways of Works, File No 821/1-3, B, August 1916, NAL In
1916 they purchased 'A' Class land right on the river bank for its ghat ferry station in
Kant it Pargana (this is on the north bank) at Rs 98 per acre.
109. GOl, Railway Board, General, File No 221-223, B, August 1912, NAl.
110. John llurd, 'Railways', lhe Cambridge Economic History of India, Vol 11, c.
1757 to 2003 (Hyderabad, 2005), p. 757.
1 1 1 . Ian D. Derbyshire, 'Competition and Adaptation: The Operation of Railways in
Northern India: Uttar Pradesh 1 860-1914', in Otir Indian Railway: Themes in India's

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Modem India 425

Railway History, edited by Roopa Srin

2006), p. 55.
1 12. Y. D. Gundevia, In the Districts
1 13. A. C. Turner, Census of India, 193
(Allahabad, 1933), p. 124. First enum
second in June- July returned 55,304.
114. Turner, 'Census of India', p. 141.
115. Mirzapur Gaz 1911, p. 351.
116. R. Burn, Census of India 1901 V
(Allahabad, 1902), p.17. The author st
Kanpur, Agra and Hathras where manu
117. Mukhopadhyay, 'Wheels of chan
household industries were 'evidence of
through the rise and the so called decli
1 1 8. Mukhopadhyay, 4 Wheels of Ch
119. Ibid.
120. Bayly, 'Rulers', p. 439. According
after 1 860 by which time the railways
121 . GOĪ, Department of Education, H
No 1-6, A, February 1929, NA1
122. Ibid.
123. Industry Year Book and Director
304.
124. Ibid. Thirty three factories for sh
125. Ibid.
126.Bhatta, 'Report on Industrial Sur
goodsworth Rs 19,873,679 were import
worth Rs 1,351,422 were re-exported to

This content downloaded from

202.41.10.106 on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:55 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms