Hopkinson's
Tank/Ward’s Lake
The existing
artificial lake in Shillong, Ward’s Lake, was named after the two-time Chief
Commissioner of Assam, Sir William Erskine Ward[1]
(1885–1887 and 1891–1896). The
preparatory work was initiated by Colonel Henry Hopkinson, the Commissioner of
Assam in 1872 (1861–1874). In the
early years it was known as ‘Hopkinson's Tank’. Local people still call the lake
after the Executive Engineer, Mr. Fitzwilliam Thomas Pollock as ‘Nan Palok’.
In this
connection there is a story of a Khasi prisoner, Jismot Chyne, who was brought
as a prisoner from Jaintia Hills and was kept in custody in the Shillong Jail.
He wanted some exercise as he felt tiresome by sitting idle in the jail. He was
given a piece of land for the purpose of digging only. After a few days he found some water coming
up and the incident was brought to the notice of jail authorities.
On examining the site, Colonel Hopkinson had
given orders for the excavation of the artificial lake. The work was
immediately executed by Pollock. When the construction work was in progress,
Ward, had taken over charge from Hopkinson and later Ward had made the lake
progressively more beautiful by giving it a much more natural look, which was
completed during 1893-94 (during his second stint as Chief Commissioner of
Assam).
There was one dispensary in
the Khasi and Jaintia Hills - at the Station of Shi11ong[2].
It was first opened in 1872, and considerable additions had since been made to
the building. During 1874 a total sum of Rs. 175 was expended on new
constructions and repairs, towards which the European residents subscribed
Rs.329. There was accommodation for 10 male and 3 female patients. The largest
number of cases were classified under the headings of fevers, constipation and
colic.
In
1874, the Governor General of India, Lord Northbrook, decided to reconstitute
the Province. On 6 February 1874, he took over the administration of all the
Brahmaputra Valley districts, the Bengal district of Goalpara and the Cachar
district of the Surma Valley.
On 6 February 1874, the Governor General by
two Notifications declared Assam as Chief Commissioner's Province and declared
it to be a Scheduled District[3].
On 7 February 1874, those territories were constituted into a Chief
Commissionership of Assam under his control and Col. Richard Harte Keatinge[4] (1874–1878) was appointed the first Chief
Commissioner. Shillong also became the ‘Capital’ of the Assam Province (Chief
Commissioner's Province) from 20 March 1874. The Chief Commissioner was also now
the ‘Local Government’.
As Shillong gained
importance on being made the seat of British administrative set up it
subsequently led to the settlement of the personnel who served under the
British administrative fold. In February 1874 a culturally composite Chief
Commissioner's province of Assam was carved out of Bengal and the next month,
Shillong was made the Chief Commissioner's Head Quarters. Its convenient
location between the Surma and the Brahmaputra valley was the main
consideration for its selection. Other determinants were its healthy condition
and sufficient water supply. The train of administration included a few British
officers and European clergymen, some of whom made Shillong their second home.
At first the Bengal Government thought that
the pleasant climate of Shillong would be suitable only for a Sanatorium. The
Government of India also did not consider it to be suitable for a Capital. As a
result, after the creation of the new Province, its Capital continued to be at
Gauhati.
On 12 September 1874, the Bengal district of
Sylhet, a close neighbour of both Cachar and the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, was
placed under the direct authority of the Governor General. The same day, Sylhet
was attached to Assam, thus completing the formation of the Chief
Commissioner's Province of Assam and the emergence of Shillong as the
Provincial Capital.
With
the formation of the Chief Commissionership of Assam in 1874, the political and
administrative Head Quarters (Secretariat) of the Chief Commissioner was
shifted after 40 days of stay at Gauhati to Shillong on 20 March 1874[5].
Since then Shillong has not ceased to grow as the capital city of the Province,
except for a brief period of 1905-1912, when after the partition of Bengal,
East Bengal was tagged to Assam and the capital shifted to Dhaka (winter
capital). Even then, most of the Government offices remained in Shillong
(summer capital).
Already the shifting
of District Head Quarters and stationing of army and police had started
attracting people from outside, especially Bengal. The new status not only
brought more government employees of various cadres but also traders, big and
small, and working class people rendering services for construction and meeting
the various demands of daily life. Gradually they came as professionals like
teachers, doctors, engineers, lawyers, administrators and so on.
Churches did not appear in
Shillong till one of the early converts to the Welsh Mission built a place of
worship at Umsoshun. Later on churches were built at Mawlai and at Mawtawar.
The first Welsh Mission minister to the people of Shillong, Griffith Huges
built a chapel in 1874 at Mawkhar on the site where presently stands a market. Interestingly,
up to 11 June 1876 when the Shillong Church was first used, church services
were held at Government House[6].
A distinct contribution to the
growth of Shillong was the presence of Brahmos
and the Ramkrishna Mission among
the early Bengali settlers. These two religious influences on the Bengali were to percolate to the Khasis.
[1]Sir William
Erskine Ward (4 February 1838-24 December 1916) graduated from Trinity College,
Cambridge University. He was in the Bengal Civil Service between 1861 and 1896.
He held the office of Chief Commissioner of Assam. He was invested as a Knight
Commander, Order of the Star of India (K.C.S.I.). http://www.thepeerage.com/p7830.htm.
[2]A statistical account of
Assam, Volume 2, 1879, William Wilson Hunter, Trubner & Co., London.
University of Michigan, Pg.214-264.
[3] The Khasis
Under British Rule (1824-1947), Helen Giri, published by Regency Publications,
New Delhi, 2002.
[4]Lieutenant
General Richard Harte Keatinge (17 June 1825 – 25 May 1904) was an Irish recipient
of the Victoria Cross. Keatinge was born in Dublin. He was 32 years old, and a
Major in the Bombay Artillery, Bombay Army during the Indian Mutiny and for the
assault of Chundairee, he was awarded the VC. In retirement, he settled at
Horsham, Sussex, where he died in 1904. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Harte_Keatinge.
[5]Sengupta,
Sutapa. & Dhar, Bibhash. & North-East India Council for Social
Science Research. 2004, Shillong: a
tribal town in transition / editors, Sutapa Sengupta, Bibhas Dhar
Reliance Pub. House, New Delhi:
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