Scholarship on the preBentinck period of Indian history has taken little notice of the inevitable dilemmas of colonial rule as they became visible in the districts. This book argues that the disdain the eighteenthcentury Westminster parliaments expressed both for Indians and the East India Company induced the Bengal civil service to formulate for itself a corporate identity that because of its distant and selfcentered character prevented it to acquire an executive hold on most levels of the Indian administration. The core of the book consists of superblydetailed studies of the ways in which in the GangesJumna doab villagers revenue farmers Indian policemen and revenue officials bankers and judges struggled to overcome or profit from this feature of the colonial administration. About the Author Dirk H.A. Kolff Ph.D. 1983 in History Leiden University is Emeritus Professor of South Asian History Leiden University. His publications mainly deal with the early modern history of India.
