Curzon Hall is a historic building located in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, which is recognized as an antiquities. It was built for the use of Dhaka College. Currently, it is currently being used as some classrooms and examination halls of the Faculty of Science and Biology of Dhaka University. On February 19, 1904, the then Viceroy and Governor General of India - Lord Curzon laid its foundation stone. Curzon Hall is one of the buildings in the Ramna area that increased in importance to develop Dhaka as the provincial capital after the partition of Bengal was declared. Dani wrote, 'Curzon Hall was built as a town hall'. But Sharifuddin Ahmed has shown in an article that this idea is wrong. It was built as a library of Dhaka College. And the money for the construction was paid for by the Prince of Bhawal. The Dhaka Prakash of 1904 wrote: "Dhaka College will be shifted to Nimtali. The able Principal Dr. Roy Mahasoy was careful to build a library in connection with this college. On the occasion of the arrival of Barlat Bahadur, the princes of Bhawal have donated one and a half lakh taka for the construction of a general library called 'Curzon Hall' in this area to make the name of Lord Curzon Bahadur memorable." When the partition of Bengal was repealed in 1911, Dhaka College classes started being held in Curzon Hall. Later, when Dhaka University was established in 1921, Curzon Hall was included for the science department of Dhaka University, which is still in use today.
Curzon Hall
Lord Curzon (1859–1925) Governor-General and Viceroy of India. Full name George Nathaniel Curzon. Born on 11 January 1859. The eldest son and heir of Lord Scarsdale, of Kedlestone, Derbyshire. Educated at Wixenford Public School in Hampshire, and later at Eton School and Balliol College, Oxford. Coming from a very conservative family, Lord Curzon was known as a Conservative. Before becoming Viceroy of India, he did not hold many high offices. As a Member of Parliament, he represented Southport (1885–86). In 1891–92 he served as ‘Parliamentary Under-Secretary’ for India and later as ‘Foreign Under-Secretary’ from 1895–98. He was greatly surprised and thrilled when Prime Minister Lord Salisbury invited him to assume the office of Governor General and Viceroy of India.
Lord Curzon was the Governor of the Indian Empire twice in succession. His first term (1899-1904) can be called the golden age of the British Empire in India. This term ended with glory. He resigned after just one year of assuming the charge of India for the second time. The reason for this resignation was the extreme controversy that arose over the measures he had taken. As a representative of the Conservative government, he would play the role of an efficient and benevolent ruler of the British Empire, which was the expectation of his government. Oratorical, skillful, and lively Curzon had previously visited India four times and was the Under-Secretary of the Foreign Office for three years. Therefore, it cannot be said that he was ignorant of Indian affairs at all. As was done in the case of his predecessors Wellesley and Dalhousie. However, the British Parliament did not expect him to establish such an empire; because the empire existed at that time, albeit in an unstable state. The British government expected him to establish the empire on a solid foundation.
Frontier Policy Curzon's first step was to withdraw troops from Chitral, Khyber and Khurram Valleys. Because these were not directly ruled by the British. Lord Curzon's policy was that the tribes of the region would defend themselves with British help if necessary. Due to this policy, the border region remained peaceful until the end of the First World War. The North-West Frontier Province was created as a complement to this policy.
Internal Administration From the assessment of the tax-revenue system at the village level to the expenditure of the Viceroy's household, there was no matter that Lord Curzon did not personally inquire into. He arranged for the entire bureaucratic apparatus to be overhauled. As a background for reforms, he identified the shortcomings of each department one by one. Regular lateness in office attendance, slowness of files, unnecessarily long comments on files, eloquent work reports, endless and aimless movement of files from one table to another, taking the matter of obstruction as an ideal, dependence on subordinates in trivial matters, etc., plagued Lord Curzon. He personally supervised the measures taken for official development. He even took the accounts of the official work of the ICS officers and instructed them to take initiative for good governance. Initially, the officers were cool towards his patronizing approach, but eventually they yielded and followed Lord Curzon just as British bureaucrats follow their Prime Minister. He reorganised the Indian Police Force on the basis of the Police Report of 1903. He brought about drastic changes in the slow-moving office system.
Lord Curzon's work in land administration is commendable. He noticed that the rent paid by farmers cultivating government-owned khas land was much higher than that of farmers under zamindari. For this reason, he issued orders to reduce the rent of khas land. His most significant contribution to land administration was the 'Punjab Land Alienation Act'. The aim of this act was to protect farmers from being evicted from their land due to debt and to prevent non-agricultural people from taking control of the land. He created an agriculture department to improve the scientific agricultural system. He set up experimental farms and research institutes in Pusa, Bihar. Lord Curzon established co-operative societies to free the farming community from the slavery of moneylenders. This is perhaps the most important of his steps in land administration.
Lord Curzon understood development as the combined development of agriculture, industry and transport. Therefore, he paid equal attention to these three aspects. By the end of the 19th century, there were 43,200 km of railways in India. Lord Curzon added another 9,600 km of railways to this. This was astonishing in terms of the rate of growth. For better management, the railways were separated from the Public Works Department and placed under the newly created ‘Railway Board’. This board was responsible for the management and development of the railways of the state. A new Department of Industries and Commerce was created to supervise industry and trade. Lord Curzon was equally enthusiastic about the development of the irrigation system. He spent 4 crores of rupees for the expansion of this system and set up a commission (Scott-Moncrief Commission) for this purpose.
Despite being a great imperialist, Lord Curzon ended his worldly activities with cultural activities. He built the Victoria Memorial in Calcutta as a symbol of British rule. He established the Imperial Library on the model of the British Museum and the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Lord Curzon established the Department of Archaeology to preserve India's cultural heritage and through it gave an institutional basis to the excavations conducted by General Cunningham and others. He strictly evicted offices and officers from historical establishments. In all these works and in the work of preserving and managing archaeological monuments, he found a new Cunningham in Sir John Marshall.
Two controversial policies have tarnished Lord Curzon's glorious administrative history to a great extent. One of them is his education policy. The 'Universities Act' of 1904 is a prime example of this. The aim of this act was to reform the relationship between the University of Calcutta and other educational institutions. Previously, Calcutta University had no teaching activities other than conducting examinations and affiliation. Lord Curzon's reforms led to the introduction of a postgraduate department in the university. The common people welcomed this reform. But his other reforms in the management of schools and colleges faced severe criticism. Under the 'Universities Act', the predominance of government nominees in the governing boards of schools and colleges was established. The conditions for affiliation and receiving grants were made very difficult. Nationalists alleged that the aim of Lord Curzon's education policy was to maintain strict imperialist control over educational institutions.
Lord Curzon's most controversial step was the partition of Bengal. In the name of improving the fate of the relatively neglected Bengal, he divided the province into two parts - a. West Bengal and b. East Bengal and Assam. Nationalists saw this division as an attempt to consolidate imperial control through communalism. Congress termed it as the policy of 'Divide and Rule'. The movement to abolish the partition of Bengal took the form of a Swadeshi and terrorist movement. Needless to say, this Swadeshi and revolutionary movement shook the foundation of the British Empire in India. Lord Curzon was proud of his ability to confront the Indians. He even once commented about the nationalist leaders of the Congress that they 'will not be able to set fire to the Ganges anymore'. The confident Lord Curzon began to feel disappointed and disturbed in the face of the Swadeshi and revolutionary movement that flared up around the partition of Bengal. He even considered resigning with honor. Lord Kitchener, the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, gave him that opportunity. He had deep differences with Lord Kitchener over army reforms. Curzon felt that the 'India Office' was siding with Kitchener. In this situation, Lord Curzon resigned in August 1905 and the India Office immediately accepted his resignation. In fact, the Bengali nationalist gentry class was responsible for Curzon's fate. Curzon's contemptuous comment about them was, 'They are not an inspiring or virile race.' The successful nationalist movement led by Hindu gentry was the main reason for the end of Curzon's rule. Lord Curzon died on 20 March 1925. Source [Sirajul Islam] Bangla Pedia
Note: Many people mistakenly consider Curzon Hall to be a residential hall for students like other residential halls (student halls) of Dhaka University. In reality, Curzon Hall is the academic and administrative building of the Faculty of Science.
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