THE District of the 24 Parganas lies between 22° 57’ 32” and 21° 55’ 20” north latitude, and 88° 20’ 51” and 88° 6’ 45” east longitude. It contains a total area, as returned by the Surveyor-General in 1871, of 2536 square miles, exclusive of the Sundarbans, but inclusive of the area of Calcutta, which is 7.80 square miles, and of its suburbs, which amount to 23.17 square miles. The population of the District, according to the Census of 1872, which takes the area at 2788 square miles, is 2,210,047 souls, exclusive of the town of Calcutta, but inclusive of its suburbs. Calcutta contains an additional population returned at 447,601 souls. The Census of 1872 cannot, however, be accepted as accurate for the city, and has been condemned. It is the chief town; but the Administrative
- ↑ My Account of the 24 Parganás is chiefly derived (1) from the answers to my six series of questions furnished by successive district officers, and signed respectively A. Smith, H. Cockerell (countersigning the answers drawn up by Kálí Charan Ghosh, Deputy-Collector), and H. T. Prinsep; (2) the Report of the Revenue Surveyor, Major Ralph Smyth, 1857; (3) Mr. J. Grant’s Report on the Zamíndárí of Calcutta, in the Fifth Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons, London 1812, Madras Reprint 1866; (4) Report on Bengal Census, 1872, by Mr. H. Beverley, C.S., with subsequent district compilation by Mr. C. F. Magratsh, C.S. ; (5) A Paper on the Castes of the 24 Parganás, by Mr. W. H. Verner, C.S.; (6) Papers on the Income Tax and Village Headmen, by Mr. Verner; (7) Papers furnished by the Bengal Government on Port Canning; (8) Ditto furnished by the Port Canning Company; (9) Papers and Reports furnished by the Board of Revenue; (10) Area Report, etc., and Longitudes and Latitudes furnished by the Surveyor-General; (11) Mr. Aitchison’s Treaties and Engagements relating to India, Calcutta 1862; (12) My own Abstracts of the MS. Records of the Board of Revenue, 1782-1812; and various original researches. I have also to thank Mr. Blochmann, M.A., Mr. C. A. Dollman, and Bábu Trailokya Náth Mukharji for assistance in the work.
