The research for this paper was undertaken as the Director of a project, ‘Class, Caste and Politics in Calcutta, 1815–1876’. This research project was sponsored by the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, and was financed by the Indian Council of Social Science Research in 1970–71. I am most grateful to the Institute and the Council of Social Science Research in 1970–71. I am most grateful to the Institute and the Council and, more particularly, to J. P. Naik, for their generous assistance. I am also grateful to my project assistants, particularly to Prathama Sen. Mary Murnane, of the Department of History, Sydney University, has made some valuable suggestions, which were particularly helpful in revising the first draft of the paper.Google Scholar

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