Situating Crime and Administration of Law and Order in Colonial Bengal: A Study of Jalpaiguri (1869-1947)

Abstract

Crime and violence manifests in many ways and various factors have been responsible for crime and violence. Jalpaiguri has been a late history to the development of administrative changes and in the formative years of colonial administration, the district had witnessed widespread crime and criminal activities in miscellaneous forms; such as dacoity, murder, theft, burglary, and affray, riots etc. To prevent such types of crime the administrators as well the society have followed different techniques. Henceforth, police and judicial administration had played a crucial role for maintaining law and order. The present paper aims to study the nature of crime, criminals and the system of law and order in colonial Jalpaiguri.