Assam

The administration reports are divided into three parts. Part 1 is a general summary of the year's events. Part 2A are the 'permanent chapters', summarising information that, every tenth year, is set down in full. The chapters cover: physical features of the country; historical summary; form of administration; character of land tenures and system of settlement and survey; civil divisions of British territory; details of last census; frontier relations. Part 2B covers the year in question, under the following heads: physical and political geography; administration of the land; protection (ie law and order); production and distribution (ie agriculture, manufacture etc); revenue and finance (land, other); vital statistics and medical services; instruction (ie education); archaeology; miscellaneous. Statistical returns relating to all these topics are included at the end as appendices. Format changes from quarto size to folio size from 1882/83. red letter volumes noted below but 1921-22 is the last one with a detailed summary. From about 1930 (check) there is a brief historical summary in each one. The high point of detail is between 1911 and 1923 - after this (check) the reports get gradually less detailed. (Would this co-incide with the diarchy system??).

Unrestricted

In 1826, Burma ceded the settled parts of Assam to the British. The territory was administered by the Government of Bengal until 1874 when, following substantial changes to the Bengal administration, Assam was placed under the charge of a Chief Commissioner reporting directly to the Government of India. The territory by this time comprised eleven districts: the six districts of the Brahmaputra Valley (Goalpara, Kamrup, Nowgong, Darrang, Sibsagar and Lakhimpur); the two districts of the Surma Valley (Sylhet and Cachar); and the three hill districts (the Garo Hills, the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, and the Naga Hills). The seat of government was Shillong, in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills. In October 1905, the Bengal administration was divided in two. The western part retained the name of Bengal and the existing headquarters at Calcutta; the eastern part was augmented by the addition of Assam. Each part was administered by a Lieutenant-Governor. The eastern part was named Eastern Bengal and Assam, and Dacca became the administrative capital, although a secretariat remained at Shillong. This state of affairs lasted only until 1912, when Assam was restored to a separate administration under a Chief Commissioner. In 1921, following the constitutional reforms introduced by the Government of India Act of 1919, Assam acquired the status of a separate province, with its own governor and an enlarged council.