Abstract
The article seeks to show how Assam’s riverine environment, and its natural resources, generated and inflected a process of commercialisation in the nineteenth century. Historically, present-day Assam was connected to the rest of the world through the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries. In the early decades of colonial rule, plants such as caoutchouc and tea were discovered in the valley. These developments, together with transportation networks built with state and private capital, heralded a new phase of commerce in the region. A rich scholarship in South Asian history has shown how the river played a crucial role in the economic changes in different regions. The article belongs in that scholarship but stresses the role of the river as an artery of transportation rather than as an agricultural resource. The river system facilitated Assam’s closer integration with the world economy and the colonial regime.
Introduction
The Brahmaputra valley lies between the Eastern Himalayas to its north and east and the Khasi, Garo and Jaintia hills in the south. In the west, it connects to Bengal. This region falls between Southeast Asia and South Asia. From the early nineteenth century, British colonial rule connected the region to the rest of South Asia through administrative and policy measures. Historically, the region remained dependent on the Brahmaputra river system and on a few roads and mountain passes for commerce and communication. The Bhutia traders coming down from Tibet connected the Brahmaputra valley to the silk routes of China. 1 The Brahmaputra connected the valley with Bengal and the rest of South Asia. Ahom rulers set up chawkeys to monitor the traffic of goods and collect duties. 2 Colonial rulers exploited this dependency on riverine routes to establish their dominance over trade and the regional economy.
The Brahmaputra river valley’s environment played a key role in the process of colonisation. Enterprises in opium, caoutchouc and tea developed around the unique ecology of the region. 3 Modern transportation on the river like steamers, and railways as the feeder of steamers, came into existence, often under government encouragement. Despite the introduction of steamers, country boats continued to exist. Europeans also continued to use native boats. 4 The indigenous traders continued to use these due to their affordability and effectiveness. 5
The article shares the sense, with a rich historical scholarship, that rivers imparted a deep influence upon regional economies in South Asia. This influence was quite varied. In the tropical climate, reliable sources of water sustained urbanisation, irrigation and transportation. Whereas some of these effects were long-standing, their significance increased since the nineteenth century, as regions were drawn into networks of commodity trade and migration.
Henry T. Bernstein’s work is one of the earliest to have identified the close relationship between the riverine environment and the economic change in the Indian subcontinent. 6 The Ganges influenced the lives of people who lived on its banks. Iftekhar Iqbal has shown how the deltaic geography shaped the economic change in the nineteenth-century eastern Bengal and how the economic change impacted the environment. 7 The study of a riverine economy is also about the use of scarce resources in an arid area. David Gilmartin’s study of the agrarian history and community connections in colonial northwestern India is a significant illustration. 8 The colonial rulers resorted to the law (Northern India Canal and Drainage Act, 1873) to control the water of the Indus and other water bodies. 9 This measure created confusion about rights, duties and practices amongst the ‘natural communities’ and the British government. Whereas Gilmartin’s study focuses on the river as a vital part of an agrarian landscape, Clive Dewey has studied the river system as a transportation artery. 10 In scope, the present article is similar to Dewey’s work since it stresses the transportation angle rather than the agricultural one. Assam receives a heavier monsoon than the rest of India, and much of the valley is not arid like Sind. However, it was not easy to travel or transport goods partly because of forests and rivers. Like the study of Indus, the article shows how steamers and country boats coexisted in the Brahmaputra system for a long time because each had certain comparative advantages. Boats survived the colonial modernisation process, as these had evolved locally and were accustomed to the region’s environment. 11
The historiography of colonial Assam is rich and varied. Among the key contributions, Amalendu Guha has written about the plantation economy of Assam and the migration of workers who came from other regions into Assam to work in these plantations. The climatic condition discouraged permanent European settlements in tea estates in the nineteenth century. Still, modern means of transportation on water like steamers and the communities such as immigrant traders, bankers and missionaries helped to expand the base of the British capital in Assam. 12 A part of the scholarship on Assam has focused upon changing technologies of transportation. Kaya Dasgupta points out that until the discovery of tea, the East India Company (EIC) used the existing road and river transportation networks. A new transportation system was developed to support the tea industry. Development in transportation networks led to changes in the way people and goods moved in the valley and encouraged urbanisation. 13 Dasgupta’s main argument is that the plantation interest of the British and other European planters propelled the transportation revolution in the early decades of colonial rule. Nandita Khadria also points to the role of the Assam Company and colonial government in introducing a modern water transport system in the valley. 14 Precolonial Assam was connected to Bengal by the Brahmaputra. After the colonial occupation, however, the use of the river for this purpose became less marked, especially with the development of the tea plantation industry. The Brahmaputra and its tributaries such as Dhansiri, Buridihing and Suansiri played a crucial role in transporting tea, timber and grain to the gardens. 15 Rajen Saikia, in his remarkable research on Assam’s society and economy, documented the changes in the late nineteenth century. He recognised the importance of riverine ecology and the natural resources in shaping Assam’s agrarian economy. 16 More recently, Sanghamitra Misra emphasised the role of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries, among other ecological factors, in the creation of a unique culture and subsistence pattern in Goalpara. 17
In this article, I add to the existing historiography in two ways. First, the article explores the patterns of use of the river more thoroughly rather than seeing it through the lens of plantation or agrarian history. A theme of related interest is the coexistence of steamers and boats in recent times. I also place the colonial history in the context of the precolonial to map the changes or the lack of it more specifically. Second, I consider a wider range of commodities along with the more familiar basket of goods which the existing scholarship has studied. Also, in contrast with several general economic histories of the region, the focus of the article falls on the time span 1826–900, the years when a new infrastructure network came into existence. This should further help in locating the narrative of transitions in Assam’s ecology within the wider context of South Asian history.
The article makes full use of the many communications, annual reports and trade reports that suggest the centrality of the river in the region’s trade in different ways. I have used Ahom chronicles (Buranjis), travelogues and expedition reports, archival sources in the National Archives of India, Delhi, and Assam State Archives alongside the published secondary literatures on them. The Buranjis speak about Ahom dependence on the Brahmaputra and its tributaries for trade and war. Early European travelogues such as Chevalier’s account and reports of McCosh and Pemberton help understand the importance of the Brahmaputra in matters of expansion of colonialism in the valley. The annual and three yearly reports on trade with adjoining foreign countries provide further information showing how the river helped in the region’s transformation.
The Precolonial Economy
The Ahom chronicles, as well as other contemporary sources, throw light on the riverine communication networks. Shehabuddin Talesh noted that the Brahmaputra river was crucial for communications with the west. Mir Jumla (with whom Talesh visited Assam) used the Brahmaputra and its tributaries from Bengal to reach Assam. Talesh mentioned that boats were the main vehicle used by the commuters on the river. Talesh identified a place named Naoasalraja on the Dihing river as a centre for making boats. Good quality boats of varied sizes were made here. Koos and Bechari were some of them. Some of these boats were primarily war boats. 18 Talesh also witnessed markets on the banks of the Dikhow river in Gargaon. These were betel vine and areca nut markets. 19 In the seventeenth century, the Brahmaputra river’s primary use was in warfare. 20
Trade along the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries continued to be robust in the eighteenth century. Jean Baptiste Chevalier, an agent of the French EIC, used the Brahmaputra and its tributaries to reach the Ahom capital Gargaon. He witnessed several riverside markets on his way. These included the wood and wax businesses at the Silimari chawkey and the gunny bag and sugar markets at Rangpur. 21 Jogighopa on the Brahmaputra was the boundary between Ahom and Muslim rulers. Salt merchants from all over Bengal had their warehouses at Jogighopa. 22 Like his Mughal predecessors, Chevalier noticed that boats were an important means of communication in this region. While in-country (internal) trade was dependent largely on the riverine routes, there were routes from Guwahati, as we shall see, to many destinations beyond the region. 23
Robert Charles Boileau Pemberton, army officer and civil servant in the late nineteenth century, discussed the history of riverine commerce in the Brahmaputra valley. Pemberton noticed the importance of rivers as means of trade in the junction region of China, Burma and present-day Northeast India. He reported the presence of Chinese merchants in the Shan country on the banks of the Chindwin River. 24 Similarly, he saw Marwari traders on the Brahmaputra river banks in Sadiya. These traders crossed the Hukong Valley to reach the Burmese side. 25 Due to the importance of rivers in the Brahmaputra valley, the Assam Light Infantry headquarter was set up at Biswanath on the northern banks of the Brahmaputra. 26 The army surgeon and photographer John McCosh discussed the navigability of the Brahmaputra river and its connectivity with the Ganges. 27 It took 25 to 35 days to reach Goalpara from Calcutta. There were overland routes from Bengal to Assam, some of which were nearly impassable during rains. Also, many of these routes worked as a feeder of river navigation. 28
Candahar (Kandahar) chawkey on the river was the entry gate to the Ahom kingdom. Merchants were reported to have traded cotton for salt here. 29 Kandahar chawkey and Guwahati on the Brahmaputra river served as a customs house for the merchant boats arriving from Bengal. This is where the authorised agents collected duties from the cargo-laden boats and issued ‘passports’ to move towards Ahom territory. 30 Kandahar chawkey continued to be a symbol of Ahom dominance on the riverine trade and commerce for several centuries. Indeed, it played the crucial role of collector of taxes and data on riverine trade in the Brahmaputra valley throughout its existence. The data of import and export trade from this source in 1808 establish the considerable importance of this trading post.
At this time, Assam was recovering from Burmese invasions. The Brahmaputra valley was depopulated, and the economy was in decline. In 1826, with the Treaty of Yandabo, Assam came under British rule. It would appear that trade between the Brahmaputra valley and Bengal was beginning to be revived. The riverine communication and commerce did not end with the ending of the Ahom rule. David Scott, the first official agent of the EIC in Assam after 1826, confirmed that Kandahar chawkey on the Brahmaputra remained a trading spot for the most (and almost the only) traded commodity at this time, that is, salt. It was from Kandahar chawkey that goods like salt reached Guwahati. 31 Scott proposed entry of the Bengal traders’ merchandise boats into Assam rather than their halt at Kandahar chawkey. 32 Table 1 shows the value of trade from Kandahar chawkey in the 1830s. 33 Kandahar chawkey was in operation since the mid-seventeenth century. It was abolished in 1835. 34 The purpose was to bring uniformity in matters of taxation. 35
Registered Trade at the Kandahar Chawkey in the Years 1832–35
The colonial regime found several places on the riverbanks suitable for the development of trade and communication. Goalpara on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra remained the natural entrance to the valley (as argued by Pemberton). For transportation of the goods, several small haats and chawkeys opened on the rivers. Raha chawkey was an example of such a trading spot in the valley. It was on the junction of the Kapili and the Jamuna rivers. 37
Construction of roadways and railways connected places such as Goalpara and Guwahati. However, roads were not useable throughout the year. The Brahmaputra river and inland nullahs (drains, some artificial) were navigable by boats throughout the year. This system continued in the 1830s. The dawk (post) system of the government continued through the river. The Calcutta dawk took about a week to reach Goalpara, 10 days to reach Guwahati and 13 days to Bishwanath, and many more days to reach Sadiya. 38 Francis Jenkins, EIC’s Chief Commissioner of Assam, observed haats on the Brahmaputra and its tributaries such as the Dikhou and the Buridihing (Booree Dehing) in upper Assam. 39 The haats on the latter rivers traded in salt from the salt wells of upper Assam. Such was the condition of the river-borne trade in Assam on the eve of the colonial takeover. The next section details how the conditions changed as new commodities were added to older goods like salt.
New Discoveries: Tea, Caoutchouc and Opium
The discovery of many natural products made the colonial regime take interest in the commercial prospects of the Brahmaputra valley. Tea and caoutchouc were among the products that interested them. Robert and Charles Bruce discovered tea in Assam in 1826. This tea was similar to that of China tea and became a lucrative product of trade immediately. 40 In 1834, a committee was set up to look for the possibility of tea cultivation in Assam. The first tea cultivation started in the Lakhimpur district in 1835. 41 The EIC made provisions to allow and encourage the Europeans to set up commercial tea plantations. By the Waste Land Grant Rules of 1838, European planters received land leases. The establishment of Assam Company in 1838–39 was another step in this direction. Assam Company received a charter to carry on its transactions under the Assam Company Act, 30 August 1845. This charter was valid for ten years. The company did not have the permission to grow anything unconnected with tea by the Act no. XIX of 1845. However, at the time of renewal of the charter, the company wished to extend their cultivation and manufacturing to other articles except opium. 42 The Charter of the Assam Company was extended for another 20 years. By 1851, Assam Company had estimated tea crops of 280,000 lbs. There were new gardens in Darrang and Kamrup. Tea plants were discovered in several other parts of the Brahmaputra valley. These brought more European entrepreneurs to the plantation industry. Many British government employees working in Assam left their jobs to start plantations. 43
Besides Assam Company, several other private players also engaged in the plantation and in mining activities in the Brahmaputra valley. For example, M/s Watkins and Mendes was engaged in coal mining, and it also procured muga silk for trade. They received a rent-free grant for a year. In return, they agreed to supply coal to the government at the Buridihing river mouth. 44 M/s Bruce and Brown was granted land for tea cultivation by the EIC. The terms of the grant were the same for these companies as those for the Assam Company. 45 Tea estates located on the Brahmaputra or its tributaries received favours from the government. For instance, there were correspondences to purchase Bhomagoore tea estates from Darrang Tea Company, as the former was located on sites close to a tributary of the Brahmaputra. 46
Caoutchouc or India rubber was another raw material that attracted the colonial rulers’ attention. Private companies were allowed to exploit this resource. M/s Kemp Brownlow & Co. was one of the many companies already involved in this field and paying revenue to the EIC. 47 The botanist and civil surgeon William Griffith was sent to Assam to survey the flora and fauna and to explore the prospect of tea plantations. He came across rubber trees in the Brahmaputra valley and neighbouring areas. Bodhisattva Kar has discussed the beginning of rubber plantation in the plains and hills in Assam from the 1840s onwards. 48 His essay is crucial in identifying the stages of the rubber trade in the Brahmaputra valley. A survey conducted in 1848 had found that Charduar forests contained ficus elastica, which prompted the division of the forests between two European companies by the Board of Revenue. M/s Martin and Co. and M/s Ritchie and Co. were the two companies engaged in the collection of rubber in these jungles for 15 years on rent-free terms. 49
Opium was a widely consumed commodity in Assam in the 1840s. The cultivation of opium by Assamese peasants started in the 1770s. Soon its cultivation extended to different parts of the valley. The government followed a policy of non-intervention by which they did not ban opium cultivation, but imported opium and sold it at higher prices, hoping that it would stop opium consumption. 50 The attempt to monetise the economy of Assam by the EIC led to more cash crop cultivation. As the tea plantation sector was growing and required more land, labour and time, ordinary cultivators resorted to opium cultivation. Abkari sale of opium started in 1851–52 and continued hereafter. 51 Opium cultivation was banned in 1860, but the import and sale of opium in the region continued.
Certain natural products became viable commercial goods due to the new laws and taxation measures. Timber and elephant tusk were significant examples. In 1850, the government imposed a tax of ₹15 on every hundred logs of saul (sal) tree in Assam. At the pargana level, officers called Chaudhuris were appointed as tax collectors. They received a certain amount as a commission on the revenue collected. The administrators of the region noticed clashes between the Chaudhuris and woodcutters. Hence, a new revenue administration came into existence to simplify the revenue collection process. In this scheme, each farm would comprise of a Pergunnah or Duar. These Pergunnah will be allotted to the highest bidder at public auction for a short duration not exceeding five years. 52 Also, farmers had the sole right to cut timber from their farm. As for the firewood or grass, ryots could also cut and take these away; they would have to pay for the timber though. 53 The farmer could not levy a tax but could sue the ryots for encroachment. 54 Elephants also became a “forest produce”, and the government had sole right over this animal. In 1851, elephants became the topic of deliberations. Government opinion was that it would be impolitic and unfair to prohibit the killing or capture of elephants by private persons. Hence, the system of issuing a license to catch elephants by individuals was introduced. In 1862, the Kheddah system was abolished, and the government’s rights on elephants prevailed. 55 These steps led to government monopoly over the trade of timber and elephant tusk. The timber trade was closely connected with the river networks in the valley, as there was no other way except the watercourse itself to transport the logs.
These developments set the background for the development of trade-related transport in the Brahmaputra valley, as I discuss next.
Riverine Trade and Transportation
The Treaty of Yandabo (1826) marked the EIC’s occupation of parts of the present-day Northeast India. The economic needs and military necessities prompted the EIC to improve the transportation system. In different parts of the Brahmaputra valley, a process was already underway in Bengal under the supervision of William Bentick. In Assam, the troops received their supply, like food grains, by rented and purchased boats. 56 Private traders and ryots also assisted in the process. 57 To clear wasteland and bring them under use, there was an acute need for improved transport. Beginning with the Assam Company (1842), several other private tea planters started their steamer services to avoid the irregular services of the government. 58 Assam Company also started manufacturing its boats to facilitate the transportation of coolies and goods. These boats measure 40 feet long, 8 feet broad and 4 feet deep. It needed at least five people to track the river by these boats. Besides, the company manufactured country boats in Calcutta and Dhaka to facilitate their transportations. 59
Before steamers, boats plied on the Brahmaputra and its tributaries. Hoolung was a term used for boats. These were used to transport grains. 60 Information related to the new chawkey at Jammoona Mookh that started functioning in 1834 shows that boats frequently passed through the chawkey carrying salt and other necessities. 61
Steam navigation started in the region to carry natural resources such as caoutchouc and iron. In India, the first steamers were plied on the Hooghly (a branch of the Ganga) in 1817–18. Commercial use of steamers started in 1823 with the launch of Diana on the Hooghly. 62 After two decades or so, steamers were launched in the valley. Steamers started plying between Assam and Calcutta in July 1847, though the frequency is unknown. 63 Initially, Guwahati was the terminus. With the setting up of Dibrugarh cantonment in the late 1840s, steamers started running to Dibrugarh station too. The steamboat was convenient for tea planters as well as merchants coming from Bengal. Jute, hemp, seeds and safflower were traded by the steamers until the early 1850s. 64 Alongside, steamers that were mainly used by the European merchants and planters, Assamese people continued to use a raft, constructed on two or three small boats. 65 In fact, Assam’s share of steamer services remained meagre and partially maintained, as per the data available for the year 1858–59. 66
The regular commercial steamer services between Assam and Calcutta started in 1864. 67 The service made the use of steamboats affordable for ordinary, non-mercantile commuters. In the 1860s, the India General Steam Navigation Company entered the field. On a contract basis, they were allowed to ply vessels once a month or once in six weeks on the Decca and Assam Line. 68 These steamers carried immigrant workers or coolies upward from Bengal and tea downwards. The frequency of the serviced was not regular. In plying these vessels, several other trading agencies such as coal suppliers and timber traders were involved. Opium was another commodity for the steam navigation companies to carry through the river Brahmaputra and its tributaries in the upper Assam. The coaling stations for those newly plied steamers too rose to importance commercially. Dhubri was one such town that was a coaling station in the beginning. Dhubri was close to Khasi hills, where good quality iron was discovered. 69 Besides these, Jaipur, Golaghat and Diugeruoo (Digaru) were some other places in the Brahmaputra valley where iron was discovered in the 1850s. 70
The finding of coal at many places such as Borhat and Jaipur also made steamers a necessity. Several tributaries of Brahmaputra, such as Buridihing, Dhansiri and Daising, saw growth in river traffic. Large boats were plying on these rivers for the transportation of coal to the main river. 71 Along with coal, oil springs were also discovered in places such as Nagaon. 72 These discoveries and plantation of cash crops made it necessary for the government officials to introduce more steamers on the Brahmaputra and its tributaries in upper Assam. A memorandum submitted by Mr W. Gordon Young mentioned that in 1859–60, three steamers were plying on the Brahmaputra, and there was demand for more. 73 The Assam Company and other Companies sending goods to Calcutta from the Brahmaputra valley had to rely upon private boats. Indigenous merchants continued to rely on local boats. The high freight costs of steamers discouraged them from using the service. The goods carried by these merchants by using boats were rice, jute, tobacco, mustard seeds, indigo, safflower and silk. 74 These goods were less profitable than tea or Indian rubber to justify the use of steamboats.
As the use of steam and local boats expanded, urban centres and market towns grew in size. Guwahati was historically a commercial place in the Brahmaputra valley. Some new areas developed as commercial places, sometimes around cantonments. These were called Regimental Bazaar. Biswanath and Dibrugarh were such towns that started as camps for the infantry. 75 Steamers supplied necessities to these regimental towns. While connecting markets, boats and steamers encouraged the procurement of relatively new commodities for trade such as caoutchouc, sugar and tea. From Tezpore and Sibsagar, these goods were sent to the ports in Bengal. In the early half of the 1850s, two sugar factories came into existence; one in upper Assam and the other one near Guwahati (lower Assam). Steamers served the plantations’ needs of plant seeds and workers. 76 Private companies supplied coal to the government-run steamers. M/s Mackey and Barry was one such company involved in the trade. 77 Places such as Dhubri attained a central stage as a coal station to government vessels and private steamers. The freight of these steamers was higher downward, as they carry natural resources such as tea to the Bay of Bengal. 78 Towards the end of the nineteenth century, both indigenous and European merchants used steamers quite extensively. 79
As mentioned before, indigenous merchants relied on country boats. Country boat trade was significant in lower Assam. 80 Whereas country boats held their place in local trades, tea trade relied on steamers. Thanks to tea, overall scale of trade increased greatly. Along with tea, jute and timber were other necessities of export. Rice, lentil, coal, iron and salt were chief items of import in river-borne trade.
The new transport network connected some areas that it was difficult to reach by land. For example, Ranganadi on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra was used to purchase rapeseed and mejati from Dafla hills. 81 Rivers also served other economic activities such as fisheries and irrigation. 82 W. W. Hunter’s account confirms that until the late 1870s, most of the traded goods in Assam travelled by the Brahmaputra. The government was trying to repair and build roads since the inception of the tea industry. Cattle dealers, elephant catchers, pilgrims or tea garden coolies used the roadways. Hunter’s account says that despite the growth of boats for trade, the boats were neither modern nor adequate.
There was no composite data available for the river-borne trade in the Brahmaputra since the removal of Kandahar chawkey in 1835, until the compilation of river-borne trade reports started in 1879. From September 1875 onwards, the system of registering imports and exports at the district level started. 83 These were six monthly reports. Table 2 shows the volume of trade from and to Assam based on the data as reported by Hunter. 84
Volume of Riverine Trade from September 1875 to February 1876
These numbers are based on six months of trading activities and do not reflect a broader picture of trade and commerce in the Brahmaputra valley. River trade was closely associated with permanent and seasonal markets of these Brahmaputra valley districts. Hence, this table gives some idea of the importance of the river for inland trade as well. From the analysis of traded goods, it comes to light that salt remained the most valued import in all these districts, oil remained the chief export. 86 Until the end of the nineteenth century, salt and oilseeds were the chief commodities of the Brahmaputra valley trade. Almost all the trading activities were riverine. Marwari traders carried most of this commerce. 87
From the late-nineteenth century, riverine trade appears to have been bifurcated into two segments. Colonial reports available from the 1880s onwards classify the river trade of Assam into two parts: the Brahmaputra valley trade and the Surma valley trade. All parts of Bengal had commercial interactions with both the Brahmaputra and Surma valleys. 88 Goalundo was a busy junction for river-borne trade and railway traffic, especially after the beginning of ‘dispatch services’ in 1886. 89 Goods coming from different parts of Bengal by train would reach Goalundo. Through steamers and boats, goods reached Dibrugarh. 90 The India General Steam Navigation Company and the Rivers Steam Navigation Company were engaged in steamer trade in the Brahmaputra valley. The steamers of these companies ran from Calcutta to Dibrughar and from Goalundo to Dibrugarh. Some small steam powered vessels were plying to Dhubri as well. However, the railways run dispatch services were not of significant volume yet. 91
Changes were visible in the composition of goods also. However, the main items of import remained the same. These were rice, mustard oil and salt. These figures show that the people were dependent on the rest of the world for many basic necessities and most industrial products. The trade report of 1887–88 showed that the Brahmaputra valley started importing more cotton products (piece goods). 92 Some other industrial imports to the Brahmaputra valley by the river included gunny bags, liquors, manufactured leathers, drugs and chemicals. 93 Export items included tea, mustard seeds, hides, timber and coal and coke. 94 Of these, tea, coal and coke were carried entirely by steamers. Cattle hides, mustard seeds and oil were carried by both steamers and boats. 95 The list of commodities exported from Assam also suggests the agrarian nature of the economy. All the exported goods were either agricultural or forest produce. The nineteenth-century economy of the Brahmaputra valley was entirely primary sector dependent. In these river-borne trading activities, the Calcutta division of Bengal remained the substantial trading partner of the Brahmaputra valley. More than a third of the combined trade of the Brahmaputra and Surma valleys was with Calcutta. 96
The tea plantations were a relatively safe business for the European entrepreneurs. They also offered an indirect way of getting access to Yunnan in China. Traders active in Yunnan were encouraged to settle in the Brahmaputra valley to help disseminate knowledge and technologies associated with tea cultivation. Talks to open roads and to set up marts were other ways to improve communication with China. The government sent many agents to Burma to re-establish trade contact between Sadiya and Burma. Some tea planters were also involved in finding and reopening routes towards Burma and China. The apparent reason was to facilitate the tea industry. M/s Cooper, Sladen, Colquhon and S. E. Peal were some of the planters who took the initiative to connect Makum with the Irrawaddy River. 97
With the introduction of the railway in India in 1853, commercially more viable means of transportation was beginning to be established. The Assam and Cachar Railway Survey was conducted by one Mr Bryers to discover routes to connect Assam with Bengal. 98 Assam Railways and Trading Company was authorised to extract petroleum and timber. 99 Bhammo was a trading post on the northern Burma border that linked China, Burma, Tibet and the Brahmaputra valley in precolonial times. There were attempts to revive this connection. Trade networks opened between the Brahmaputra valley and Sylhet to carry tea, raw silk and precious metals. 100
The colonial administration started repairing the Ahom era roads that connected the navigable rivers. Bor ali (or allee/alee), 101 Bor Baruah (Bur Burrooah/Bur Boorwah) ali and Mori (Moree) ali were also considered for repair work. 102 Bor ali connected Sibsagar to Dikhow Mukh on the Brahmaputra. 103 The Road Commissioner’s ali connected Jorhat to Kokila Mukh on the Brahmaputra. 104 In these activities, European enterprises again played an important role. M/s Gilman Brothers and M/s Huttman and Congdon were involved in maintaining Ghur ali. M/s Begg and Peeden undertook to repair Hatigarh (Hatighur) ali. M/s Begg Miln and Lawrie repaired Dhudor ali. 105 The Lower Assam Company was involved in repairing and maintaining roads in lower Assam, especially in the Kamrup district. Most of the tea planters were in charge of these repair works. 106
These old roads connected the navigable rivers and, thus, were convenient for the new administrators. For example, these helped the colonial rulers to move the troops as well as goods. Thus, Bor Baruah ali connected two upcoming towns Sibsagar and Dibrugarh and the Buridihing river. 107 The Assam Company was also involved in the process of opening roads since 1839. 108 For example, Dhudor ali from Dikhou river to Gabhoru Parbat (Gabroo purbut) was cleared by the Assam Company. 109 An executive officer for public work was appointed in the 1840s to deal with road-building in lower Assam. 110 When the upper Assam came under the direct jurisdiction of the Company government, the newly created office of deputy commissioners were vested with the responsibility of improving the roads. The reason cited was the improvement of communication for the tea planters. 111 Repairing of some roads on a riverbank had the added advantage of connecting this road to the people living on the other riverbanks in the valley. For example, repairing Bor Baruah ali helped inhabitants on the Disang river to connect to the ali. 112 In 1833, there were road-building activities to connect Jaintia hills with the Brahmaputra valley. 113 Among these, at the end of the 1800s, roads and river transportation had become interdependent. ‘Ferry boats’, said William Hunter, ‘ply at the crossing of all important roads over large rivers’. There were landing depots on the Brahmaputra for these ferries. 114
With the increasing number of steamers plying on the Brahmaputra and its tributaries, the number of private traders availing its benefits also increased. After the advent of the railways, both these modes of transport supplemented each other. For example, the Eastern Bengal State Railway had its steamer services on the Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers. Country boats were also used on the Brahmaputra to carry on Assam’s trade with Bengal. 115
At the end of the 1800s, most of the traditional haats, and new commercial towns, were located on the Brahmaputra river system. Sadiya and Bengmari were such markets. In 1878, the value of transactions at the Bengbari fair was ₹32,648. 116 The entire economy of the Brahmaputra valley was heavily dependent on these river-borne trading networks with Bengal. Goods imported from Bengal include several varieties of foreign silk, piece—goods, coal, opium, poppy, castor—oil, raw silk and raw wool, European cotton goods, twist and yarns, non-intoxicating drugs, gunny bags, liquors and kerosene. There is a paucity of good data to measure the composition of this trade before 1878. 117 The annual trade reports are available from the year 1878 onwards. An analysis of the trade reports of the Brahmaputra valley that are available from 1880 shows that the volume of trade with the neighbouring hill areas was decreasing, while trade with Bengal was increasing.
Besides European planters and the government, Marwari traders and small farmers and traders like the Khasis gained from the network. The Khasis would bring their produce such as orange and potato to the river banks to sell them to the steamers going towards Bengal. 118 River-borne trade covered 43% of the total interprovincial commerce. 119 Besides boats- and steamers-dependent trade, traditional fairs on the banks of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries too shared a significant part in the trading activities of the valley. 120 Kerkeria fair on the Lukmi river and Sadiya fair were two such fairs. 121 The introduction of steamers in the Brahmaputra river trade did not replace country boats, as boats continued to cover around 5% of the Brahmaputra trade with Bengal. 122 The trade carried on by boats was registered in Bhairab bazaar (in present-day Bangladesh) and Dhubri (in Assam). 123
The railways, as I have shown, had become a compatible piece in the transport network. This role is discussed more fully in the next section.
Railways as an Appendage to Riverine Trade
Railways were introduced in South Asia in 1853. 124 In the 1880s, railways expanded in the Brahmaputra valley. As the tea planters needed better ways to send goods to their markets, they took the initiative to introduce railways. Assam Railways and Trading Company Limited was the first such private enterprise that plied rails in the region. Later, Dibru–Sadiya Railway, Jorhat State Railway, Cherra–Companyganj State Railway and other private companies came into the picture. These railway companies also ran their steamboat services on the Brahmaputra and her tributaries to serve the planters and other customers. 125 The companies served business and passenger traffic. A weekly audit report of the Assam Railways and Trading Company shows that the number of people opting for railways increased substantially. The week ending 14 November 1891 witnessed 33,299 passengers travelling by this railway company. 126 Many of them were either planters or merchants carrying their goods by railway. With the introduction of the railways for goods traffic in 1896, Eastern Bengal State Railways started registering growth in traffic between Goalundo or Calcutta and Brahmaputra valley by waterways and railways. 127 The railways started engaging in various other activities, like famine relief measures, by the end of the nineteenth century. 128 But the primary goal remained serving the commercial interest of the region and the empire. The Assam Gazettes from the 1890s documented the process of bringing immigrants into the tea gardens. In these activities, the railway and steamers played a crucial role. The railways offered some competition to the waterways, but the share of commercial transactions through the waterways remained significant because the railways did not reach everywhere. 129
Indeed, river-borne trade continued to remain the main form of commerce despite the introduction of the railways. In 1897, the total value of rail-borne trade for a quarter in the valley was Rs. 884,473, 130 which was much lower than the river-borne trade volume.
Conclusion
This article identified the role of the special significance of the Himalayan river system in the process of colonisation and commercialisation of the Brahmaputra valley. After the Treaty of Yandabo (1826), the valley could have remained a backwater for Bengal commerce. But the commodities such as opium, caoutchouc and tea made the region a major field for European private traders’ operations. The precolonial rulers and traders had intimate knowledge of their riverine system, topography and environment. They developed and deployed new technologies over the centuries to navigate the Brahmaputra river system. The Brahmaputra saw the introduction of steamers and subsequently railways (as feeder services of the steamers). New roads were built, and certain old roads were repaired to connect different parts of the valley to the navigable rivers. These initiatives came from the government, private European Companies and subsequently even the Indian merchants. Despite this development, the article showed, country boats held their own in local trades. These developments led to the exploitation of many types of forest products and agrarian produce and advanced the process of market integration. The study underlined the great and many-sided significance of the rivers pointed to a very specific trajectory of the river-based commercialisation of agrarian processes in the Brahmaputra valley of the nineteenth century. As we saw, other historians have also written about these processes in other contexts. However, Assam presented certain unique features within that narrative which is derived from special products like tea, the integration with the economy of Bengal and the reliance on migrant capital and labour.