Edward Tuite Dalton
CSI (1815 - 1880) was a British soldier and anthropologist. He was posted in
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
, then became commissioner of
Chota Nagpur Division. He was posted in Chotanagpur for two decades. Later he became major general of Bengal Lancer. He commanded both European and native people during the sepoy mutiny of 1857. Dalton, along with justice Campbell,
Herbert Hope Risley,
John-Baptist Hoffmann and P.O.Bidding initiated ethnographic studies in Chotanagpur. His work ''Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal'' formed a part of the
Census in British India
The Census of India prior to independence was conducted periodically from 1865 to 1941. The censuses were primarily concerned with administration and faced numerous problems in their design and conduct ranging from the absence of house numbering ...
in 1872.
Early life
He was born in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
in 1815. His father was a music composer. His maternal grandfather, Sir
John Andrew Stevenson
Sir John Andrew Stevenson (November 1761 – 14 September 1833) was an Irish composer. He is best known for his piano arrangements of ''Irish Melodies'' with poet Thomas Moore. He was granted an honorary doctorate by the University of Dublin an ...
, was also a music composer. His father died in 1821. Then his mother, Olivia, married
Thomas Taylour in 1822. His brother's name was Gustavus and his sister's Adelaide. His mother died in 1834. Then Thomas married the widowed Frances in 1853. Edward studied at
Horrow School. Edward remained a Bachelor throughout his life and never married.
Career
Assam
After education, Edward joined the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
and arrived in India on 12 November 1835 at the age of 20. He worked for 39 years and resigned his commission on 18 April 1875. He first was commissioned at
Dibrugarh
Dibrugarh (pron: ˌdɪbru:ˈgɑ:) is an industrial city in Upper Assam with sprawling tea gardens. It is located 435 kms East from the state capital of Dispur. It serves as the headquarters of Dibrugarh district in the state of Assam i ...
in
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
from 1838 to 1841. He had proficiency in
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
and
Assamese and cleared the exam in these languages. The territory of Assam came under British control in 1826 after defeating the Burmese in the
Anglo-Burmese Wars
The Anglo-Burmese Wars were a clash between two expanding empires, the British Empire against the Konbaung Dynasty that became British India‘s most expensive and longest war, costing 5–13 million pounds sterling (£400 million – £1.1 billio ...
. The Northeast was inhabited by numerous tribes such as the
Naga,
Khamtis,
Mishing, who did not hesitate to raid and pillage the towns of East India company and tea gardens. In 1835, a military base was destroyed by the Kopachor tribe in Balipara in
Sonitpur
Sonitpur district ron: ˌsə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊə or ˌʃə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊəis an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters is located at Tezpur.
Etymology
The name of the is derived from a mythological story fo ...
of Assam. Later, in
Sadia, Khampti and Singhpo tribe killed a political agent and 80 soldiers in 1839. He spent eighteen years in the first Assam light infantry, which was raised in 1817 in
Cuttack
Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literally ...
, Odisha. In 1858, two French missionaries, Nicholas Michael Kirck and Bourry, were killed by Mishmi villagers with their chief Kaieesha in Rima, Tibet, who were travelling to Tibet for their missnary activities. Edward was ordered to carry out an expedition against the
Mishmi tribe from Dibrugarh. The British forces arrived at the villages. Edward sent Lieutenant Eden with a band of soldiers and in the fight, three sons of Kaieesha were killed. Their chief Kaieesha was arrested and executed in Dibrugarh.
Chota Nagpur
Later, he was posted to
Ranchi in 1857 as commissioner of
Chota Nagpur Division with the rank of Captain. During 1857, a mutiny of sepoys had occurred. The revolt in Chotanagpur began with the revolt of the
Danapur
Danapur is a Indian satellite town and one of the 6 sub-divisions (Tehsil) in Patna district of Bihar state.[Hazaribagh
Hazaribagh is a city and a municipal corporation in Hazaribagh district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is the divisional headquarters of North Chotanagpur division. It is considered as a health resort and is also popular for Hazaribag ...](_blank)
. Then to
Purulia
Purulia is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Purulia district. It is located on the north of the Kangsabati River.
Geography
Location
Purulia is located at . It has an average ele ...
in
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...
and
Chaibasa. In
Singhbhum district
Singhbhum was a district of India during the British Raj, part of the Chota Nagpur Division of the Bengal Presidency. It was located in the present-day Indian state of Jharkhand. Chaibasa was the district headquarters. Located in the southern li ...
, the king of Porahat,
Raja Arjun Singh
Raja Arjun Singh (1829 – 1890) was a prominent leader of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 in Singhbhum. He served as the Raja of Porahat in Singhbhum, (now in chakradharpur, Jharkhand). Arjun Singh had great influence over Kols (also called Hos) ...
, aided by kol (
Hos), declared war on the king of the
Saraikela
Saraikela (also spelled Seraikella) is the district headquarters and a nagar panchayat in the Seraikela Sadar subdivision of the Seraikela Kharsawan district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It was formerly the capital of the Odia Saraikela S ...
and
Kharsawan
Kharsawan garh is a town and a notified area in the Seraikela Sadar subdivision of the Seraikela Kharsawan district in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
History
Kharsawan (also spelt as Kharsuan) was founded around 1650. It was one of the Oriya ...
, the allies of the East India Company. In September, the Sepoys of Chaibasa plundered the treasury. In Palamu, the
Chero
The Chero is a caste found in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh in India.
History and origin
The community claims to have originally been tribal people. The Chero are essentially one of many tribal communities, such as the Bhar ...
and Bhogta revolted. Lieutenant Graham went to subdue the mutineers of Hazaribagh but his troops also revolted and did not follow the orders of Graham. They arrived in Ranchi at night. The sepoy of head quarter were not ready to repel the mutineers. So, on 2 August 1857, Edward, other British officers and a few soldiers left for Hazaribagh. After they left, the mutineers burnt down and destroyed the British headquarters, buildings and churches. But they spared the house of Edward. They also took his four personal elephants. On the next day, Edward reached Hazaribagh but large numbers of insurgents forced him to abandon the military station in Hazaribagh. During this time, the king of Ramgarh, Jagannath Shahi, helped him and provided his fifty Soldiers for protection. The king of
Seraikela
Saraikela (also spelled Seraikella) is the district headquarters and a nagar panchayat in the Seraikela Sadar subdivision of the Seraikela Kharsawan district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It was formerly the capital of the Odia Saraikela Sta ...
,
Kharsawan
Kharsawan garh is a town and a notified area in the Seraikela Sadar subdivision of the Seraikela Kharsawan district in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
History
Kharsawan (also spelt as Kharsuan) was founded around 1650. It was one of the Oriya ...
and several other zamindar and tribal chiefs provided assistants to him in the
Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...
. While Edward requested reenforcement in Chotanagpur, East India Company was more concerned with mutiny in North India in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with large numbers of soldiers. With regiments in North India in mutiny, the British mobilized the
Madras Regiment
The Madras Regiment is the oldest infantry regiment of the Indian Army, originating in the 1750s. The regiment took part in numerous campaigns with both the British Indian Army and the post-independence Indian Army.
History
The town of Madras wa ...
from South India, which arrived in Kolkata on 5 August 1857 and while others marched to Chotanagpur from Cuttuck. The detachment reinforced Edward in Bagodar and occupied Hazaribagh, then Doronda in Ranchi, which was declared part of the Mughal Empire by rebel Soldiers. On 2 October 1857, 300 Soldiers defeated 3000 rebel mutineers, which is known as the
Battle of Chatra
The Battle of Chatra was a conflict that took place during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 between the East India Company and the mutinying sepoys who were allied certain local zamindars. The rebels had amassed a force of 3000 men and had taken the ...
.
In January 1858, Edward marched to quell Chero and Bhogta, who had attacked landlords and destroyed jails, courthouses, government buildings and occupied
Palamu Forts. He failed to capture the leaders of the Rebellion due to difficult terrain. He founded the city of
Daltonganj
Medininagar, formerly Daltonganj, is a city municipal corporation in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is the headquarters of Palamu division and Palamu district, as well as the subdivision and block of the same name. The city is situated on ...
, now known as Medininagar. In
Singhbhum
Singhbhum was a district of India during the British Raj, part of the Chota Nagpur Division of the Bengal Presidency. It was located in the present-day Indian state of Jharkhand. Chaibasa was the district headquarters. Located in the southern li ...
, the kols had declared
Arjun Singh as their king and revolted against colonial rule and burnt down the government buildings. The British forces defeated kols in a pitted battle and Arjun Singh surrendered, but Kol continued their insurgency till 1861.
In 1859, the East India Company desolated. For war service, Edward received a gallantry award and was promoted to the rank of Major.
Then he authored the book ''Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal'' in which he gave descriptions of people of the
Bengal Presidency
The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...
. He started to work on Ethnology of Bengal in 1866 with the rank of Colonel at the age of 51. It was a catalogue entrusted by
The Asiatic Society
The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...
of Bengal for an exhibition of the primitive tribes of British India in Kolkata, which was the brainchild of Sir Joseph Fayrer. But the exhibition ended due to logistical, political and health issues about ferrying the tribals of Assam to Kolkata. The exhibition was scrapped but the Asiatic Society of Bengal and the British Indian Government were interested in scientific studies of tribals. Edwards completed the book after six years in 1872, residing in Ranchi.
Helping pastor Fedrick Batsch
In 1868, Edward supported pastor Fedrick Batsch, who constructed the
Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church, Ranchi in 1855 and accumulated a congregation of 10,000 tribal followers. Between 1866 and 1872, under investigation by Reverend Ansorge, he was wrongfully accused of crimes and ex-communicated. He tried to reconcile Batsch with Reverend Ansorge but was in vain. After the ex-communication of Batsch with four other pastors in 1871, the Bishop Robert Milman inducted them into the Anglican fold. Edward donated 500 pounds for the construction of St.Paul's Church in 1871 in Ranchi.
Companion of the Order of the Star of India
In 1869, he was knighted with the Companion of the Order of the Star of India for his service. In 1975, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, he resigned as the commissioner of Chotanagpur at the age of 60.
Death
He died on 30 December 1880 in
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
due to a
Cardiac Arrest
Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and poss ...
at the age of 65.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalton, Edward Tuite
1815 births
1880 deaths
British anthropologists
Companions of the Order of the Star of India