The History of Forensic Science in India 9781032005188, 9781003177203, 9781032011165

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The History of Forensic Science in India

This book explores the interaction between science and society and the development of forensic science as well as the historical roots of crime detection in colonial India. Covering a period from the mid-19th to mid-20th century, the author examines how the colonial rulers changed the perception of crime which prevailed in the colonial states and introduced forensic science as a measure of criminal identification in the Indian subcontinent. The book traces the historical background of the development and use of forensic science in civil and criminal investigation during the colonial period, and explores the extent to which forensic science has proven useful in investigation and trials. Connecting the historical beginning of forensic science with its socio-historical, socio-political context and diversity of scientific applications for crime detection, this book sheds new light on the history of forensic science in colonial India. Using an interdisciplinary approach, incorporating science and technology studies and history of crime detection, the book will be of interest to researchers in the fields of forensic science, criminology, science and technology studies, law, South Asian history and colonial history. Saumitra Basu is an independent researcher in the field of history of science and history of medicine, and currently a guest faculty in the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Kolkata. He is the recipient of different national and international fellowships, including Visiting Fellowship at the Oxford Institute of Ageing, Oxford, UK.

Routledge Studies in South Asian History

17 Women and Literary Narratives in Colonial India Her Myriad Gaze on the “Other” Sukla Chatterjee 18 Gender, Nationalism, and Genocide in Bangladesh Naristhan/Ladyland Azra Rashid 19 Evolution, Race and Public Spheres in India Vernacular Concepts and Sciences (1860–1930) Luzia Savary 20 Democracy and Unity in India Understanding the All India Phenomenon, 1940–1960 Emily Rook-Koepsel 21 Memories and Postmemories of the Partition of India Anjali Gera Roy 22 Cultural Histories of India Subaltern Spaces, Peripheral Genres, and Alternate Historiography Rita Banerjee 23 Bureaucracy, Belonging, and the City in North India 1870–1930 Michael S. Dodson 24 The History of Forensic Science in India Saumitra Basu For more information about this series, please visit: https​:/​/ww​​w​.rou​​tledg​​e​.com​​/ asia​​nstud​​ies​/s​​e​ries​​/RSSA​H

The History of Forensic Science in India

Saumitra Basu

First published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 Saumitra Basu The right of Saumitra Basu to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Basu, Saumitra (History of science researcher), author. Title: The history of forensic science in India/Saumitra Basu. Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2021. | Series: Routledge studies in South Asian history | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021003144 (print) | LCCN 2021003145 (ebook) | ISBN 9781032005188 (hardback) | ISBN 9781003177203 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Forensic sciences–India. Classification: LCC HV8073 .B36114 2021 (print) | LCC HV8073 (ebook) | DDC 363.250954–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021003144 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021003145 ISBN: 978-1-032-00518-8 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-01116-5 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-17720-3 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India

I dedicate this monograph to Ma and Baba for their love, endless support, encouragement, and blessings

Contents

List of pictures Acknowledgements Preface List of abbreviations Introduction

viii ix xii xvi 1

1 Concept of Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India

27

2 Crime and crime detection in the Western world

57

3 Beginning of scientific measures for criminal identification in British India

81

4 Development of forensic institutions in colonial India

115

5 Forensic science in India, with special reference to the origin of fingerprints

140

6 Conclusion

176



Primary Sources

195

Subject Index

201

Pictures

4.1 Map showing the establishment of forensic institutions in different parts of British India 4.2 Instruments used for analyzing fingerprints in British India 5.1 Specimen of Aurangzeb’s panja sent to Ajit Singh 5.2 Handprint of Rajyadhar Konai 5.3 Finger print of Kangali Charan 5.4 Finger Print Pattern – Arch 5.5 Finger Print Pattern – Loop 5.6 Finger Print Pattern – Whorl

116 121 144 150 156 157 158 159

Acknowledgements

The monograph is a revised version of my project on Hundred Years of Forensic Science in India (1849–1947): A Historical Perspective which was conceived in October 2015, and the work on which began in June 2016 and was completed on August 31, 2019. Really, this is an unforgettable moment of contentment on the successful fulfilment of an aspiration and a milestone fostered for long, i.e. the successful completion of this research work. I bend my head at the feet of the Almighty God whose profound grace paved the path forward. This humble work is a reflection of the mercy of the Almighty. Many people and institutions have contributed to this study, in ways more profound than I can express here, over the years that it has been in the making. This work would not have been possible without the generosity of many people in different corners of India and the United Kingdom who valued my work, offered me hours of discussion, imparted their wisdom, and welcomed me into their wider research canvas. Personal debts cannot be adequately acknowledged to all those I have come across during the research work because they are so many. They all have extended their helping hands in unknown environs, both academic and geographic. First of all, I sincerely express my heartfelt gratitude to the Indian National Science Academy (INSA). The present study was only made possible due to the generous support of funding opportunities from the INSA, New Delhi. I have no words to express my heartfelt gratitude for the respectable members of the National Commission of History of Science, whose valuable suggestions and thoughtful review inspired me to complete the work in a successful manner. I am also grateful to Mr. Madhvendra Narayan, Assistant Executive Director, History of Science, for his cordial administrative assistance. I must acknowledge my heartiest regards to Professors K. C. Malhotra, Deepak Kumar, and Jagdish N. Sinha for their academic guidance, moral support, critical review, recommendations, and necessary help from the very beginning of this project, thus enabling me to continue my research work in a proper way and complete this monograph within the stipulated time frame. I wish to express my especial gratitude and respect from the bottom of my heart to Dr. Srabani Sen. Since the beginning she bestowed upon me her great wisdom in framing this work, constantly pushed my expectations of myself, of what it meant to write history of forensic science, of what my sources could tell

x Acknowledgements me, and what I could tell for future researchers. Really, I am privileged to have had such a resourceful mentor as Dr. Sen. I acknowledge my deep indebtedness to John O’ Brien, Archivist, India Office Library, and Edward Bishop, Wellcome Trust Library, London, UK, for their untiring assistance which enabled me to complete my archival and library work in those esteemed institutions of London, UK. I am really indebted to my friend, Prof. Debasish Mondal, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Calcutta, for his untiring academic and moral support which was really encouraging and provided me with generous mental support. With any research of this type, there are a large number of people who make important contributions for its completion. I shall be failing in my duty if I do not acknowledge the personal interest taken by Prof. Ranjana Ray, Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, University of Calcutta, and Anthropological Secretary, The Asiatic Society, Kolkata; Prof. Rajarshi Majumdar, Professor of Economics, University of Burdwan; Dr. A. K. Bag, Former Editor of the Indian Journal of History of Science and member of the National Commission of History of Science, Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi; Mr.  Suhas Mitra, Former Deputy Director, Central Finger Print Bureau (CFPB), Kolkata; Prof. Rajaram Jana, Professor of Ayurveda, J B Roy Ayurvedic Institute, Kolkata, Govt. of West Bengal; Dr.  Thirunabhu Kakkarasu, Deputy Director, Ballistic Department, Tamil Nadu Forensic Science, Tamil Nadu; Prof.  Mitra Sharafi, Professor of Law and History, University of Wisconsin, USA; Dr. D. Sengupta, Former Director, Forensic laboratory, Kolkata; Mr. R. N. Meena, Deputy Director, Petroleum & Explosive Safety Organization (PESO), Kolkata; Dr. P. R. Kumar, Assistant Serologist, Kolkata; Dr. Sukta, Das, Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya, Research Associate, Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi; and Prof. Badal Chandra Jana, Professor of Rognidan, Institute of Post Graduate Ayurvedic Education and Research, West Bengal Health University, for their valuable suggestions which aided the completion of the present study. I convey my sincere thanks to Dr. Satarupa Dutta Majumdar, Research Associate, Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi, for her academic assistance. I also convey my deep sense of gratitude to my student Arindam Chatterjee, for his heartiest academic cooperation. My special thanks to all the members of Editorial team of Routledge for their heartiest cooperation. I am greatly indebted to Eve Setch, Publisher, Routledge; Dorothea Schaefter, Senior Editor, Asian Stuides, Routledge; Alexandra de Brauw, Editorial Assistant, Asian Studies, Catherine Jones, Editorial Assistant, Health and Social care, Philip Stirups, Senior Production Editor, Natalie Larkin, Maria Rita J and all other editorial assistants of Deanta Global Publishing Services whose untiring effort make my draft manuscript into a book. I also express my sincere thanks to the library and archival authorities of the Department of History, University of Calcutta, The Asiatic Society, Metcalf Hall, Kolkata; American Center (USEFI), Kolkata; British Council, Kolkata; Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Patuli, Kolkata; National Library, Kolkata; West

Acknowledgements  xi Bengal State Archives, Kolkata; Calcutta Police Museum, Kolkata; Finger Print Department, Bhavani Bhavan, Kolkata; Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), New Delhi; National Archives of India, New Delhi; Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; National University of Singapore (NUS); Central European University (CEU), Budapest, Hungary; University College of London (UCL); and Bodleian Library, Social Science Library, Radcliffe Science Library, Oxford, Kings College Library, Cambridge, UK, for their sincere cooperation in my library work. My family’s contribution has been the most important. I cannot begin to acknowledge the role of my wife, Malika (Assistant Professor of History, Kalna College, University of Burdwan, West Bengal), and my little son, Soumalya, my best friend and life companion. Both of them have been enormously patient and supportive of my work – intellectually, emotionally, and materially – over my long, and sometimes strenuous, journey as an anthropologist of history of science. My work and my life would not be the same without them.

Preface

In the development of the history of science, the histories of the individual scientific disciplines have played a remarkable role. With regard to the subject, there are specific approaches whose advantages and disadvantages are also important concerns of the discipline. Undoubtedly, the developments of this discipline have not only marked a turning point in the development of knowledge but also new theoretical perspectives of the known facts were preceded by an extensive sociohistorical context. From the 18th century onwards, the growing specialization of science gave rise to newer understanding about science and scientific thoughts, which accelerated changes both in theories and in methods. In India, specifically since the late 19th century, different scientific discoveries profoundly altered scientific thoughts and their application for human welfare, which ultimately led to the material development of society. Therefore, it is well accepted that it is only through the history of the discipline that one can understand the origin, growth, development, controversies, and successive changes that ultimately shape the subject in its fullest meaning. From the days of my early boyhood, Bengali detective novels of Saradindu Bandopadhyay always fascinated me. I tried to understand the nature of crime and the innovative methods of crime detection by the detective Byomkesh Bakshi. A major motivation to visualize this project cropped up from this desire and my source of inspiration has been Dr. Srabani Sen, whom I met and discussed a lot to understand the issue historically and scientifically, and the present project is a fruitful outcome in this regard. During an international workshop on History of Science at Cambridge, the issues of forensic anthropology and fingerprint identification were raised by an overseas scholar from the United States. The backdrop of the discussion was the international perspective of forensic science. Being an overseas participant and specifically from India I pondered over the issue and in the course of time it became a research concern. However, it is not the lack of a substantive historical research tradition that urged me to think over the present research. Rather, it was the dearth of suitable historical material which provided me with the impetus to conduct my own study and the present research is a fruitful outcome of it. The history of forensic science in India encompasses a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to the legal system. The term includes the

Preface  xiii application of all sciences, such as physics, chemistry, and biology, and such other related disciplines. Almost all branches of science can help in the administration of justice and finally its application for understanding the truth. Though its application was not known by our ancestors in the present scientific form, its detailed reference can be seen from our ancient literatures. Scientific methods in one way or the other seem to have been followed in the investigation of crime. History of forensic science in India comprises a vast and multifaceted story which had different developmental consequences in different civilizations. The present research attempts a new kind of challenge to explore the rich historical account of the development of forensic science in colonial India. The word “forensic” has been derived from the Latin word forensis, meaning “belonging to the market place or forum”. In ancient Rome the “forum” or public meeting place was where legal cases were tried and pleaded. The term “forensic science” means the application of the knowledge of science for the purposes of law and justice. The present study tries to explore the two-way interaction between science and colonialism and the development of forensic science in colonial India and to highlight the growth and development of the different forensic institutions in colonial India and their interrelationship with the sociohistorical contexts of crime identification. The broader canvas tries to unravel how a new field of science produced an obvious, consistent, and authoritative message in the courtroom and grounded the colonial superiority in a more convincing manner. In such an endeavour, the institutionalization of crime investigation came as a new colonial discourse and the establishment of different forensic institutions in different presidencies can be placed at this juncture. Since the end of the 1857 rebellion, British India felt an impulse to reform the whole penal law and establish a new Indian Penal Code to demonstrate colonial supremacy in a more convincing manner. The present author has attempted to investigate the sociohistorical consequences and interconnectedness which have enabled him to discuss the total gamut in its entirety. The entire perspective creates a broader canvas within colonial supremacy. The history of magnificent and specialized scientific discipline, i.e. forensic science, is itself a longstanding historical science. Questions regarding what constituted an illegal act and what is right and what is wrong have plagued human history since the beginning of humankind. Keeping this philosophy in mind, the present attempt has visualized the present project from a science and technology studies (STs) and criminology studies perspective, particularly the history of crime detection and specifically the history of scientific witness. The basic aim of this study is to understand the historical roots of crime detection from ancient times to the end of British rule in India. Within this broader framework, the present study tries to understand how different socio historical and socio political consequences enables to establish forensic as a scientific endeavour. However, the essence of the study centres around the historical emergence of forensic science within the broader canvas of mid-19th-century sociopolitical climax. One must understand this sociopolitical interconnectivity before trying to understand this historical emergence. The historical moment of the 19th century

xiv Preface witnessed the amendment of three criminal laws, namely the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, and the New Police Regulation. The first two laws gave the colonial administration a new shape. The last one was very significant, considering the earlier experience of colonial rulers who had witnessed the utter failure of the police force in controlling dreadful crimes and establishing an effective order as desired by the Company Raj. In such an endeavour, institutionalization of crime investigation came as a new colonial discourse and establishment of different forensic institutions in different Presidencies can be placed at this juncture. In such a context, enactments of different legal acts were of great importance, which not only created a new vista in the measure of true criminal identification for scientific certainty but also drastically altered the concept of crime. After taking over the Crown permanently and to control the colonial subjects more systematically and vigorously, along with legal reforms and regulations, the imperial rulers introduced forensic science as a new scientific tool of supremacy in the Indian subcontinent. There were also other factors which provided inspiration for the establishment of different forensic science institutions in colonial Calcutta vis-àvis India. These were the different social reformatory and anti-British movements. In such a sociopolitical situation, the ideology behind this scientific supremacy was nothing but a colonial mission to mark the footsteps of Western scientific thoughts of criminal identification more rigidly in the colonial state. To understand this whole perspective in a comprehensive manner, the present author has interwoven all the necessary sociohistorical and sociopolitical events in such a fashion that the ways of ancient Indian and medieval Indian criminal identification and crime detection, Western forensic science and crime detection, historical consequence and the beginning of forensic science in the Indian subcontinent, and subsequently the establishment of different forensic science institutions in British India, historical origin and scientific beginning of finger print science in colonial India and the development of forensic science up to the end of the colonial period have been discussed in detail. It is expected that such a broader perspective will positively help the readers in understanding the context of the history of forensic science and the beginning of scientific measures of criminal identification in India in its totality. The endeavour ends with a theoretical understanding along with a future research perspective. However, there is no way to deny the importance of both primary and secondary sources which ultimately helped to materialize a dream. The archival sources were of immense help. Personal papers, diaries, letters of correspondence, minutes of meetings, newspaper articles, government reports, proceedings, micro-films, etc., not only helped the author to think in an in-depth manner but also helped to understand the perspective with varied connotations. The theoretical and conceptual understanding of this attempt was built mostly based on published books, papers in different national and international journals, personal interviews, and newspaper articles. To understand this entire effort in a comprehensive manner, the whole discussion has been divided into six chapters, including observations and conclusion. The treatise ends with a view that the emergence of forensic science in colonial India not only highlights the then sociopolitical

Preface  xv and sociohistorical milieu but also emphasizes a new vista for scientific certainty which drastically altered the concept of crime. The present treatise concludes with futuristic visions of Indian forensic science and its multifaceted scientific role which will cater to the justice of the teeming millions so far as the challenge of global crime is concerned. Saumitra Basu

Abbreviations

AAFS AFIS BPR&D CCI CMLAC CFI CFSL CID CIO CJS CrPC CSI CTDS DNA FBI FI FRS GEQD IAFS IB IDB IG INTERPOL IP IPC ITA JSTOR NAAU NCRB NIJ SACC SCFS SFPBs

American Academy of Forensic Sciences Automated Fingerprint Identification System Bureau of Police Research and Development Central Criminal Intelligence Central Medico-Legal Advisory Committee Central Forensic Institute Central Forensic Science Laboratory Criminal Investigation Department Central Intelligence Officers Criminal Justice System Criminal Procedure Code Crime Scene Investigation Central Detective Training School Deoxyribonucleic Acid Federal Bureau of Investigation Forensic Institutions Fellow of the Royal Society Government Examiner of Questioned Documents Indian Academy of Forensic Sciences Intelligence Bureau Inter-American Development Bank Inspector General International Criminal Police Organization Indian police Indian Penal Code Immoral Traffic Act Journal Storage Neutron Activation Analysis Unit National Crime Records Bureau National Institute of Justice Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet Standing Committee on Forensic Science State Finger Print Bureaus

Abbreviations  xvii S & T STs UNDP USAID UGC VDRL

Science and Technology Science and Technology Studies United Nations Development Program US Agency for International Development University Grants Commission Venereal Disease Research Laboratory

Introduction

Where to start the journey for this criminal investigation, crime identification, and how to unveil the truth? The beginning lies with the beginning of civilization. Since the beginning of civilization, the attainment of scientific knowledge has always been intrinsic to human nature. Man, the Homo sapiens sapiens, always tries to accumulate knowledge and power, which conjointly lead to the development of science for understanding truth in its totality.

Scientific enquiry and journey for the truth since the beginning of civilization The history of the magnificent and specialized scientific discipline of forensic science is itself a longstanding historical science. The philosophy of this splendid subject is also commensurate with the sastriya tradition mentioned in different ancient Indian religious texts for understanding truth in its totality. Since the beginning of human civilization the issue which affected human history was the search for what constituted an illegal act and what is right and wrong. From biblical stories of murder to modern accounts of assault, men have committed crimes against each other. In the distant past, crimes were largely solved based on eye witness accounts. Violence was often chalked up to accident, poisonings, even witchcraft or divine retribution, and illness to an imbalance of the “humours”. With the passage of time, man became advanced in knowledge, and so also in justice. As people got more and more interested in the details of crimes, information about crimes spread widely and this was accomplished, at least in part, through the penny press. The penny press,1 “newspapers” that delivered the news and were sold on street corners for a penny or so, relayed mainly sordid or fabricated details about lurid crimes. in the middle of the 19th century India, the penny press, low-priced newspapers, which mainly covered news stories of crime and adventure, made its apparition in the East coast. Penny press papers “revolutionized content by declaring their independence from political parties and concentrating on news rather than opinion”. The most important innovation of the penny press was its price; thus, it provided access to a larger audience of readers, indeed to the lower class. (Nerone, 1987, p. 378)

2 Introduction

Etymology and meaning of the word “forensic” Before going to the definition the author feels it is important to explain the etymology of the word “forensic”. The etymology of the word “forensic” is as follows: Origin LATIN LATIN forum→forensic In open court Public ENGLISH forum mid-17th century: from Latin forensis, “in open court, public,” from forum Online Etymology Dictionary (2003) defines “forensic” as “pertaining to or suitable for courts of law,” 1650s, with –ic + stem of Latin forensis “of a forum, place of assembly”, related to forum, “public place”. Afterwards “forensic medicine” was used in the sense of “pertaining to legal trials” (1845). In 1659, the MerriamWebster Dictionary officially recognized and printed the word “forensic.” Merriam Webster (1659) first used the term “forensic” and defines the meaning of forensic as relating to or dealing with the application of scientific knowledge to legal problems forensic medicine, forensic science, forensic pathologist, forensic experts. (Merrian Webster, 1659, pp.445) The term had been used in medical writings for many years, but until then was not considered to be an “official” word in the English language. In the present day, the term “forensic” is very much common in our day-to-day life. With the advancement in years, scientific discoveries became apparent to decide the outcome of important legal matters and the application of science became essential to solving legal matters. In this connection, the scientificity of “forensic” becomes obvious in a court to solve any legal matter. Therefore, forensic science is a conversation about the application of scientific theories in a judicial setting. It is uncertain exactly when the concept of “forensic science” originated. Historically, Chinese text dedicated to forensic medicine was discovered. The book Ming Yuen Shih Lu by Chich-ts’si was published around the 6th century AD. the first documented use of forensic science was in 6th century China in a book titled “Ming Yuen Shih Lu,” which described how to distinguish drowning from strangulation. (Tshai, 2008)

Introduction  3 The concept of utilizing fingerprint and handprint pattern as a means of personal identification dates back to thousands of years. there are indications of finger prints and handprints in artifacts recovered from archaeological excavations of ancient civilizations. Early potters may have used them to sign their work. Ancient records reveal that using fingerprint and handprint as marks of authenticity in China at least 2000 years ago. (James, Nordby and Bell, 2014, pp.331) At the outset, the discussion reveals that the term “forensic science”2 denotes that it is the application of natural sciences to matters of the law. Practically, forensic science applies the scientific knowledge of physics, chemistry, biology, and other scientific principles and methods to solve legal problems. This specific science is mainly concerned with the appreciation, recognition, individualization, and assessment of physical evidence. Forensic experts resolve scientific facts from the proof they assess and may authenticate as expert witnesses in civil or criminal courts or other legal contexts. It is the responsibility of the lawyers, judges, and juries to prosecute, defend, and judge the guilt or innocence of an individual accused of wrongdoing. It is the responsibility of the forensic scientist to present the scientific facts in a fair, objective manner, based on accepted scientific methods, to facilitate the decision (Williams, 2015). Therefore the terms “forensic” and “science” both relate to the common theme of truth, either speaking it or seeking it. Thus “forensic science” thrives by embracing the human intrigue and frailties, great mysteries and tragedies, and scientific triumphs and disgraces. Thus the definition briefly narrates that the word “forensic” has been derived from the Latin word forensis, meaning “belonging to the market place or forum”. In ancient Rome, public meetings were held and legal cases tried and pleaded in the “forum”. The history of the term itself originated from the Roman times during which criminal charges was used to refer to presenting the case before a group of public individuals in the forum. The forum is in relation to the Roman Empire. It is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the centre of the city of Rome where citizens go to carry out some public matters. For example; triumphal processions, elections, public speeches, criminal trials and gladiatorial matches. (Chroust, 1954) The term “forensic science” means the application of the knowledge of science for purposes of law and justice (Agarwal, 2001). Forensics as a science is devoted to or targeted at the methodical gathering and analysis of evidences to establish facts that can be referred to in a legal proceeding. It is multidisciplinary, that is, it is a subject that has a lot of disciplines which are embedded in, and stem from, biology, chemistry, physics, geology, psychology, and so on. In modern parlance,

4 Introduction an accurate forensic science definition extends beyond the traditional concept of science. It can include the areas of accounting, psychological testing, and interpretation of data and other services. In modern scientific parlance, forensics can embrace toxicology, autopsies, pathology, fingerprinting, and DNA analysis to determine the cause of death and scientifically connect a suspect to a crime. Both law enforcement officials and forensic experts use cutting-edge scientific techniques to preserve and scrutinize evidence in a systematic manner, known as “chain of evidence”, which confirms that the evidence is pure and has not been mishandled. Modern forensics can also interpret erased information and records and can evaluate if someone was involved in a crime (www​.the balancecareers​.c​ om). So from the discussion it is evident that since the beginning of humankind, the occurrence of crime is interwoven with society in the realm of its scientific prosperity.

Interconnectedness of crime and society When we talk about the intricate relationship between crime and society, it becomes important to know the meaning of both the terms, i.e. “crime and society”. So the first question to be asked is: what is crime? It is indeed a herculean task to define crime. It has always been regarded as a matter of great difficulty (Turner, 2013). R.C. Nigam says that to answer the question of what is crime, it is to be known at first what is law, because these two questions are closely interrelated. Generally, it has been accepted that the application of law is a control which commands a course of conduct. Therefore, a crime can be considered an act of disobedience which occurs against law. But then, sometimes, disobedience of all laws may not be a crime, for instance, disobedience of civil laws. Therefore, crime would mean something more than mere disobedience of law (Nigam, 1965). Of all the branches of law, the branch that closely touches and concerns man in his day-to-day affairs is criminal law, yet the law is not in a satisfactory state (Brett, 1963). Many attempts have been made to define crime, but they all fail to help us in precisely identifying what kind of act or omission amounts to a crime. The definition and concept of crime is a notion that changes from time to time and from place to place. For instance, suicide was a crime in England until the Suicide Act was passed in 1961 (Ormerod, Karl and Smith, 2018), and abortion was a crime in India until 1971, but now it is legal, except in some circumstances (Gupta and Gupta 2016). Therefore, it can be said that a crime is an act, omission, or event, the commission of which is prohibited by law. When it is committed, it leads to examination and punishment of some form administered by agents of the state rather than the payment of compensation. Therefore, from the above definition, we can define crime as any moral or social wrong committed by one person or a group of persons against another person or the state that are restricted by the state. There have been different types of crime since the beginning of civilization, such as crimes against a person, crimes against property, organized crimes, occupational crimes, and political crimes, as well as corporate crimes.

Introduction  5 After crime comes the concept of society. The word “society” comes from the Latin word socious, which indicates association and companionship. Thus, society means “A larger group of individuals, who are associated with each other”. According to sociologists, society is a group of people with a common territory, interaction, and culture. Generally, society is a “social group” composed of two or more people who work together and recognize one another. As it is based on a mutual understanding, a society can permit its members to get advantages in ways that would not otherwise be achievable on an individual basis. Thus individual and common social benefits can be differentiated, which in many cases are found to overarching. Society can also be composed of the same category of people who are administered by their own values and norms within a dominant, larger society. This is sometimes referred to as a subculture, a term used extensively in criminology (Ulmer, 2000). Thus it is evident that since the beginning of society, crime is interwoven with its ever-changing process. In other words, we can say that crime is basically defined through the eyes of society. Any act is not a crime until and unless society considers it to be, and if society considers that this activity does not hamper their group sentiments, then that act is not at all a crime. Any activity which grounds crimes and menaces society needs to be punished. The basic reason behind the making of laws is to penalize those who commit a crime and these laws are the result of society’s need to stop such acts from occurring. An example can be taken to understand it better. Much earlier, witchcraft3 was considered a crime and was punishable. Due to uncertainty in life, people were very spiritual and dependent on black magic or witchcraft. They thought that evil spirits help the devil in his evil work. As a consequence of this type of thinking, witchcraft became a practice and it was considered a crime, and the person practising witchcraft a criminal. Here the role of society was important. Society identified this type of crime, and a law was enacted to prevent it from happening. Society’s viewpoint on a specific act is important in identifying crime because, if society doesn’t believe that the act gives inducement to a crime, then it will not be considered a crime and no law will be made on that, although it is ethically incorrect (Johnson, 1978). Therefore, the discussion reveals that crime exists in society and they are interwoven with each other. The occurrence of crime is inevitable in society, and society sets certain norms to identify whether a particular act is a crime or not. Now it is important to understand how the investigation of crime began in different civilizations.

Historical beginning of crime investigation in different parts of the world and in India The most fascinating aspect of crime and criminals, and their power to mesmerize, perhaps boils down to our need to comprehend the reasons behind why such crimes occur (Onuigbo, 1985). Whether it’s a news report or a popular crime show or even a Sherlock Holmes’ novel, the power of the media continues to feed the galvanized interest of the public in regard to issues of crimes and criminals.

6 Introduction Instead of throwing light on the power of the media with regard to crime issues, recent academic discourse in the field of criminology has been taking place along the question of forensic science practices and their public interpretation within many criminal justice systems – in other words, the “CSI effect”4 (crime scene investigation, Schweitzer and Saks, 2007). Recent research data indicate that these effects tend to prefer the prosecution’s arguments. The most striking feature around this argument is public awareness of forensic science. The concept of justice is the central theme of the criminal justice system. Today, it is an inopportune fact that justice was not always based on evidence in history. With the methodological advancement in science and technology, the importance of crime scenes and evidences has also been transformed. The innocent are freed from unfounded accusations, while the guilty are convicted based on scientific facts. Dating back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, it was found that there was a tremendous impact of science, specifically forensic science, at that time. In 275 BC, the king of Syracuse approached Archimedes5 to undertake some tests as he suspected that he was being cheated by a goldsmith who was ordered to make a golden crown for him (Schafer, 2008). Recorded history reveals that in the 700s, legal science was established by the Chinese, who used fingerprints to establish the identities of documents and also clay sculptures. Another critical step in this field occurred in 1248, when the Chinese published the book Hsi Duan Yu (Ci and His, 1248) (“The Washing Away of Wrongs”), which describes the differences between cases of strangulation and drowning. This is perhaps the first-ever documented use of medical knowledge to elucidate a crime (Loudon, 2013). It was this book that also sparked more research in the field of forensic pathology and led to the first legally ordered autopsy to be held in Bologna in 1302 by Dr. Bartolomeo da Varignana (Glick, Livesay and Faith,2005). He was also motivated by the Chinese book and performed various autopsies to identify the cause of death in doubtful cases. Despite the fact that the invention of the microscope in 1590 unravelled various fields in science, initially scientists and doctors were only able to discover red blood cells and spermatozoa. The first-ever organized document examination was performed in France in 1609. Although various countries were slowly discovering new scientific inventions that could be used in solving crimes, it wasn’t until the 18th century that these discoveries in the field of science became both popular and practical. It was during this time that the foundations of modern pathology were established, which was then followed with great interest by investigators in finding proof for their theories in criminal investigations. However, the first case in which scientific methods were used to prove the guilt of a defendant took place in 1832 in England when a chemist, James Marsh (Marsh, 1836), was called in a murder trial to give evidence. The defendant, John Bodle, was accused of murdering his grandfather with coffee that had arsenic in it. Marsh designed an arsenic test and used it to solve this murder case, in which he sampled the lining of the victim’s stomach to prove that he was indeed poisoned with arsenic. Following the success of scientific research applied to a murder trial, efforts to solve crimes increased in the United Kingdom, specifically when the extensive use of guns led to a rapid increase in murder rates. In 1835, Scotland Yard (History of City

Introduction  7 of London, Retrieved on 29 December 2018) was able to take the first steps in laying the foundations for bullet matching. With an influx of gun murders, the police were able to trace physical flaws in a bullet, go back to the mould, and discover the individuals who had purchased them. In other words, the first formal ballistic practices were beginning to take shape. Public interest in crimes first became widespread with the involvement of the media. The concept of crime scene photography, and mug shot, was developed in 1888. Due to this reason, public interest and involvement were increased in assisting the authorities based on suspect photos. For the purposes of advancing the use of photography, in identifying suspects, it was a French police clerk, Alphonse Bertillon,6 who laid the initial groundwork of forensic photography through his idea of scales, angles, and standard lighting (Rhodes, 1956). Although fingerprints have been a pivotal approach in the fight against crime for the past hundred years, its first use goes back even further. In 1892, the world’s first fingerprint database was established in Argentina (Coppock, 2007) following a murder case in which a bloody fingerprint led to the capture of the perpetrator. Gradually, the British started the application of fingerprinting in India. It was mainly used to identify soldiers for the purposes of preventing their relatives from claiming pensions of deceased military personnel. In spite of that, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective Sherlock Holmes7 solved crimes through blood analysis, which was an unimaginable dream at the time of his writings. Discoveries made in the area of blood typing took place in 1900 and were used to determine whether the blood found at crime scenes could be matched to the perpetrators and victims of crimes. Slowly but steadily, the application of forensic science became prevalent in Britain, France, and also in other countries of Europe. In such a contour, experts gradually changed the face of criminal practices in the legal system. In such an endeavour, in France, Edmond Locard, who was also known as the Sherlock Holmes of France, became specialized in the application of forensic science. In 1910, he established a crime laboratory in the attic of the police headquarters in Lyon for analyzing evidence collected from crime scenes, leading to significant contributions to the field of forensic science. Apart from his work in fingerprinting, and in identifying the cause and location of death of soldiers and prisoners, he is renowned for a well-known theory called the “Locard Exchange Theory”8 (Chisum, 2000), which is the basic principle of forensic science today. During his research on particles of dust, Locard developed his theory. This theory dictates that when two objects come into contact, each object will take something from the other or leave something behind. Probably, the mesmerizing application of forensics came in the late 20th century. The innovation of DNA analysis, which is used to identify an individual’s inimitable biological code, changed the face of forensic science. This revolutionary innovation gradually replaced blood sampling as the main method of identification. Although in its initial days the testing took weeks to produce any form of result, today these tests can be achieved in a matter of days. With the passage of time and the complementary progress in science and technology, the application of forensic science has drastically changed. These

8 Introduction vibrant innovations in the field of science have also altered other disciplines and their application in crime science, for example, chemistry, biology, and physics. Today, the field of forensic science includes everything from pathology to DNA, entomology, toxicology, digital forensics, ballistics, blood spatter analysis, tool marks, odontology, anthropology, botany, fingerprinting, photography, and psychology to computer reconstructions and various other disciplines. Rapid advancements in the application of forensic science enable courtrooms all over the world to identify false confession as well as the true victim and to assist in freeing the innocent. However, most of the pioneers in the field of forensic science were self-taught. In Europe, the first curriculum of forensic science was developed at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. However, this field was established even earlier in Turkey. In 1839, Sultan Mahmud II9 established the first course of Forensic Medicine (Oguz and Cem, 2009) to be taught in Istanbul. This was followed by the forming of the Public Health and Medicine University in 1857 by his successor, Sultan Abdülmecid. This institute included an independent department titled the Commission of Forensic Medicine within its body, which was later attached to the Ministry of Health in 1915 and then to the Ministry of Justice in 1917. Today, this institute is called the Council of Forensic Medicine and is the official government body in Turkey implementing its forensic expertise in all civil and criminal cases. Ancient India In India, the application of science and technology to the detection and investigation of crime and administration of justice is not new. Although our ancestors did not know forensic science in its present form, scientific methods in one way or the other seem to have been followed in the investigation of crime. However, the regular system of state judicial administration may be traced to the pre-Mauryan age (c. 326–185 BC), which fills the gap between two great epochs of administration, namely Dharma Sutra and Manu’s Code. We also get ample references of law and protection of society from evil act and punishment for crime in Megasthenes’s Indica,10 from Pillar Edict IV of Ashoka, the law and judicial system of the preGupta period, the Kushanas, the Guptas, King Harshavardhana, the Chalukyas, and so on. In each dynasty, the law and administration, criminal justice system, framed by the ruling class for maintaining the society in a peaceful way (Jois, 2010). However, the entire Hindu legal system was embedded in dharma, as propounded in the Vedas, Puranas, and Smritis. The following verse describes the importance of dharma (law): “Dharma destroyed those who try to destroy dharma. Dharma tries to protect those who protect dharma with dignity. So a good citizen never tries to destroy dharma.” In ancient India, Veda was the first source of dharma. The Dharma Sutras, Smritis, and Puranas were other important sources. The sources of Veda were believed to be divine. In course of time, other than these sources, Mimasa (the art of interpretation) and Nibandhas (commentaries and digests) became supplementary sources of law. Dharma Sutras mention the

Introduction  9 law or rules of conduct regulating the entire gamut of human activity, whereas Smritis include Dharma Sutras as well as the custom which came to be practised and accepted by the society. The important Smritis were Manu Smriti, the Parashar Smriti, the Yajnavalkya Smriti, the Narada Smriti, and the Katyana Smriti. Different types of Smritis described different types of civil as well as criminal law, the conflict of law, sacred law, even in the absence of law, the role of the king, etc. It can easily be understood that according to the Smritis, the administration of justice was one of the most important functions of the king. The Smritis also emphasized that it was the responsibility of the king to protect the people through proper administration and justice, which, in turn, would enhance the prosperity of the kind (Jois, 1990). Next to the Smritis, another important and authoritative source of law and crime investigation during ancient India was Kautilya’s Arthasastra11 (Kangle, 1965). Kautilya not only gave a detailed description of the legal system but also highlighted the crime identification and criminal investigation system. The wicked people in society are considered as kaṇṭakas or thorns. In modern terms they are considered criminals. A criminal is one who commits or omits an act in violation of a law forbidding or commanding it. Manu and especially Kautilya dealt in depth with kaṇṭakas. They both gave an exhaustive list of these kaṇṭakas. Prevention is always better than cure; Manu and Kautilya stated that with the help of spies these criminals were to be found out. But Kautilya asked to appoint pradeṣṭṛs for the suppression of kaṇṭakas (Bapat, 2006). According to Dr. P. V. Kane, these pradeṣṭṛs correspond to coroners and police magistrates of modern time. It is the duty of the samᾱhartᾱ and nᾱgarika, respectively, to appoint different spies in the countryside and within the city. Even after such arrangements, crime would take place. The limit of crime always extended up to slaughter. In that case it was quite natural that the investigation of the body of the deceased would become obligatory. From different signs on a body one can guess how the slaughter of the person had taken place. In the prakaraṇa “Āśumṛtakparikṣa” of Kautiliya’s Arthasastra, different types of slaughters and their investigations were discussed by him, viz. strangulation, hanging, impaled, immersion, intoxication, slain by stick, etc. In Chapter VII, he specifically emphasized death – sudden death, death by suffocation, hanging, drowning, assault, and also death by poisoning and murder. He included the law of evidence both in civil and in criminal cases, the procedure of criminal investigation, and the method of punishment, and also prescribed a code of conduct for judges and for the king. For preventing and punishing criminal activities, maintenance of social order was essential. For this purpose, Kautilya pointed out the legal procedure, the law of evidence in civil as well as criminal cases, methods of criminal investigation, and the nature of punishments for various types of offences. Lockups, prison terms, and rehabilitation of prisoners were also the subject matter of the Arthasastra. Kautilya had prescribed a code of conduct for judges and for the king. But in course of time, all the laws changed according to the prevailing situation. So it may not be an overstatement to say that in ancient India, law, administration, and, specifically, the criminal justice system were organized in such a way that even a villager had easy access to a

10 Introduction judicial forum. Even the police system (from pre-Mauryan period) was very effective in preventing the violation of administrative and criminal law. Punishments, or Dandaniti, for different types of crime were also one of the important subjects of ancient Indian legal system. As a consequence of the criminal justice system, examination of witness and perjury were taken seriously. Literary sources also show the importance of the witness in the criminal justice system (though not as a scientific form as in the present day; Sikder, 2007). Ancient texts also mention forensic toxicology (Aggarwal, 2005), which deals with the medical and legal aspects of the harmful effects of chemicals on human beings. Starting from the ancient to medieval to Renaissance period, toxicology is rooted in the rich and interesting history of mankind. History reveals the application of poison for various purposes, like the use of natural poisons in hunting, as medicines, in assassinations, and also for warfare or for other purposes. The ancient Indian scriptures contain references to the poisoning of kings, the doings of professional poisoners (Vish Kanya, Vridha Vagbhata, and Sharma, 2006), and of widespread organized poisoning in pre-historic and historic times. In Kalpasthana, Chikitsasthana, and Uttarasthana of the Shastras, the symptoms of and antidotes for poisons are given in detail. The origin of toxicology in India can be traced to the Vedic period. The earliest mention of poisons is found in the Atharva Veda,12 which highlights different treatments for different ailments, including poisoning (Dwight and Lanman, 2011). Another major work in this field is the Agnivesa Caraka Samhita, which includes signs, symptoms, and treatment for commonly found poisons (Agnibesh et al., 2009). The third major work on Indian medicine, which contained a chapter on poisons, was the Susruta Samhita13 (Suśruta, 2012). Susruta mentioned the different modes of poisoning in ancient India. He narrated how the poisons were mixed with food, drink, honey, medicine, bathing water, anointing oils, perfumes, eyelash pigments, and snuff, or sprinkled over clothes, beds, couches, shoes, garlands and jewellery, saddles of horses, etc. He described the secret poisoning of wells and other drinking water bodies to destroy enemies (Murthy, 2012). Agada tantra (toxicology, Namburi, 2006), a branch of Ayurveda, basically deals with toxins. It mentions ways to get rid of poisoning in the body. A wide range of poisons were mentioned which were either of animal or plant origin. It also refers to poisons derived from minerals like arsenic and artificial poisoning substances. Charak Samhita, Sushurut Samhita and Ashtanga Samghrah also talk about the importance of Agada tantra in our lifestyle. Agada tantra includes the combinations of food stuffs that are to be avoided and the antidotes for the poisons. According to a legend of the Maurya period, Chanakya, the prime minister of Chandragupta Maurya, started adding small amounts of poison to Chandragupta’s food so that he would get used to it. The prime concern was to protect the emperor from being poisoned by enemies. In one instance, when the pregnant queen Durdha shared the food with the emperor, she died. To protect the baby, Chanakya cut the queen and took out the baby. But accidentally, a drop of poison (bindu in Sanskrit) had passed on to the baby’s head. Due to that drop of poison on his forehead, he was named Bindusara. Bindusara became a great king and was

Introduction  11 the father of the greatest Mauryan emperor since Chandragupta, Ashoka (Kumar, 2013). Testing of poisoned food was witnessed in ancient India. For personal safety, kings, like Chandragupta, became accustomed to poisoned food. In a wellprotected place the head cook prepared different varieties of delicious dishes. The king was advised to partake of such fresh dishes after making oblations, first to the fire and then to the birds. When the flame and the smoke turn blue and crackle, and when birds that eat the oblation die, the presence of poison in the dish was to be inferred. When the vapor arising from cooked rice has the colour of the neck of a peacock and appears chill as if suddenly cooled, when vegetables possess an unnatural colour and are watery and hardened and appear to have suddenly turned dry having broken layers of blackish form and being devoid of smell, touch and taste natural to them; when utensils reflect light either more or less than usual and are covered with the layer of foam at their edges; when any liquid preparation possesses streaks on its surface; when liquor and water possess reddish streaks; when curd is marked with black and dark streaks and honey with white streaks; presence of poison was to be inferred. (Shamasastry, 1915) Therefore, it is evident from the foregoing discussion that criminal identification and the institutions of the criminal justice system had taken root since the ancient period. Medieval India However, the Hindu rule came to a downfall towards the end of the 11th century. The Indian administration was gradually captured by Muslim rulers. Being in the authoritative position, the Muslim rulers emphasized the importance of the administration of criminal justice and introduced many reforms to improve judicial machinery (Balfour, 1976). The Muslim emperors mainly followed Islamic law or Shariah14 (Esposito, 2014). Criminal law was treated as a branch of private law rather than public law. The Quran, Sunnah, or hadiths were the main sources of Muslim law. The major functions of a king were to administer justice in his kingdom. Different courts were established for the administration of law and justice. During the Mughal period, an organized judicial procedure was followed by the courts. Diwan-e-Mulzim (Jaishankar, 2020) was the highest court for criminal appeal. Adalat- Qazi-e-Subah was the provincial headquarters for appealing civil and criminal cases. Another department of justice was Mahukma-e-adalat (Suresh, 2017), which was created to regulate justice properly. Another important court of the empire was the court of Chief Justice, Quazi-ul-Quazat (Wael, 2009). It had original civil and criminal jurisdiction and also heard and supervised the working of provincial courts. However, all types of crimes, such as crimes against god, state, and individuals, were not considered injuries to the state under Islamic Penal law. In criminal cases, a complaint was presented before the court,

12 Introduction and in each case a public prosecutor, Mohtasil, was attached. For justification of criminal cases of court, proof of evidence was an important indicator. During the Muslim period also, according to Hanafi Law15 (Ramadan, 2006), evidence was categorized into three categories, namely Tawatur (full corroboration), Ehad (testimony of a single individual), and Iqrar (admission, including confession). The law of evidence prescribed for proving the offence was highly technical. But in spite of such having an organized judicial system, Muslim criminal law had some defective provisions, especially in the case of murder, homicide, discretionary punishment on the basis of vague proof, and so on. For criminal offence in many cases, punishments were either severe or ridiculously light as there was no standard measure for them because the law of evidence under Muslim law was not satisfactory. Therefore, the discussion reveals that in spite of having some drawbacks, the Muslim rule in India marked a significant change in the criminal justice system from the earlier Hindu period, mostly with respect to the constitution and working of different courts. However, this perception of crime and criminal laws changed during the medieval period, which featured severe physical torture and capital punishment. British India India became a nation under the British, who arrived in the early 17th century as traders and gradually acquired territory across the subcontinent, mainly the powers of governance. Considering the Hindu and Muslim criminal law to be irrational and draconian, the Company brought about several reforms through a series of regulations which modified or expanded the definition of some crimes. New laws were introduced for new offences, which drastically changed penalties to make them more rational and realistic. To control the dynasty and establish British hegemony, an Indian Penal Code (IPC) (J. P. Grant’s Letter, 1837) defining crime and prescribing appropriate punishments was adopted in 1860. This was possible due to the enactment of the First Law Commission, specifically the tough work of Lord Macaulay. Basically, English criminal law motivated this venture and the IPC has stood the test of time. As a continuation of the IPC, a Code of Criminal Procedure was endorsed in 1861, which instituted the rules for examination, trial, and sentencing. This Code, along with parts of the Indian Evidence Act16 of 1872 (Indian Evidence Act, 1872), forms the essence of India’s criminal law. As a sequel to the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedural Code (Cr. P.C.) was enacted in 1861, which gives the rules to be followed in all stages of investigation, trial, and sentencing. This Code was repealed and a new code came into effect in 1974. These two codes, along with parts of the Indian Evidence Act of 1857, form the essence of Indian Criminal Law. Thus it was in 1860 that the codification of laws changed the discriminatory provisions of Muslim criminal law. Lord Cornwallis introduced many reforms to revamp the Muslim Criminal Justice System. Lord Hastings took a deep interest in reorganizing the police force to deal with criminals and maintain law and order. Lord Bentinck abolished the practice of sati (Kumar, 1993) and created the post of District and Sessions Judge.

Introduction  13 Royal Irish Constabulary, a new police system, was introduced by Sir Charles Napier17 in 1843. He created the post of Inspector General of Police to supervise the police in the whole province. The requirements of police were recommended by a commission, which subsequently enacted the Police Act of 1861. They codified the existing laws, established High Courts, and Prison Laws. A large number of special and local laws, such as the Arms Act, Prohibition Act, Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, etc., took care of various other anti-social activities (Government of India, 1908). In such a climax, when the new flavour of the judiciary system was blooming in the new administrative system, forensic science as a major scientific tool of the empire was introduced in the criminal justice system for taking scientific steps towards greater approximation of truth. This was the scientific beginning of true measures of criminal identification in British India. Now the author attempts to highlight both the primary and secondary sources which act as the background of the present study.

Sources The present study is based on primary documents such as archival documents such as minutes of the meeting, personal papers, diaries, letters, newspaper articles, government reports, micro-films, personal collections on specific scientific issues by some eminent personalities, etc. The theoretical and conceptual understanding of this study was built mostly on secondary sources such as books, papers in different national and international journals, personal interviews, and newspaper articles. Systematic studies in this respect date back to the post-independence era. The nature of the development of the subject is not always similar in the two places, India and the West. Here mention will, however, have to be made of those literary works that provide background material for the present understanding. Proceedings and reports of 18th- and 19th-century India covering different legal, administrative, judicial, and crime records reveal the changing social circumstances and billowy wave in society. Many legal reforms were made over the criminal justice system and new scientific tools for criminal investigations were introduced. This illustrious journey reveals that scholastic research in the history of forensic science is a scant phenomenon in India. Rather, some systematic attempts were documented on the history of crime in India, and in Bengal in particular. Nemai Majumdar (1960) narrated how the colonial police forces came and gradually became the sovereign power in Bengal. In the article “The Police and Control in South India”, David Arnold (1976) identifies the reasons for the failure of the Madras police in identifying crimes in Madras. In another article, he had shown that poverty was the cause of crime, such as grain looting in the Madras Province. Anand Yang (1979) explores the causes behind agricultural disputes and riots which were highly localized incidents. Saraj Kumar Bhowmik (1991) narrates the evolution of the chowkidari system in Bengal and its failure in bringing about the desired result for the early colonial government. Sandria Freitag (1991) highlights collective crime and individual offences which disrupted

14 Introduction colonial social order. He also shows how different policies and techniques were adopted by the colonial authorities to deal with individual and collective crime. Arun Mukherjee (1995) uses statistical methods to show the extent of crime occurrence in Bengal. His arguments are clearly in tune with the colonial discourse and the representation of crime and criminals. He also shows the close correlation between crime and the scarcity of control, criminal law and the nature of the state power operating on the subjects. Radhika Singh (1998) concentrates on the changes in criminal law which enabled the colonial government to assert greater control. Fisch (1983) examines criminal law as an innovative technique to suppress collective crime like thuggee and gang robbery. Basudeb Chattopadhyay (2000) in his book explores the origin and evolution of the police as an institution in Bengal. He also focuses on how the colonial authority tried to actualize the police power. Anindita Mukhapadhyay (2006) analyzes the deeper areas of class antagonism between the privileged (bhadralok) and underprivileged (chhotolok) classes in the face of different ideas of legality and sovereignty in colonial Bengal. David Arnold (2007) opines that colonial rulers actually used their increasing knowledge power to dominate the criminal section of Indian society. He situates the colonial prison within the British preoccupation with the extraction of revenue and the maintenance of law and order, and he claims that it became chiefly an institution of political control. Madhurima Sen (2007) in her book narrates the rise and development of prisons in Bengal and how the colonial administration had dealt with the criminals in prison. To establish colonial supremacy and to maintain public order and to exploit the rural surplus productions, institutions like the court, the police, prisons, the law, etc., were used as weapons. Ranjan Chakraborty (2009) exceptionally shows this colonial governance in his study. He also explores the probability of the existence of the social bandit in Bengal. Suranjan Das (2007) gives emphasis to examining dacoity in the 19th-century Bengal, against the backdrop of rural Bengal’s exploitative social structure. Sharmistha De (2008) narrates the criminality of marginal Europeans who resided in India. The marginal or low Europeans were sailors, soldiers, skilled or unskilled labourers, musicians, intermediaries in government departments, and private enterprises who were classified as “European delinquents” or “marginal whites” by the British authorities in India. Lakshmi Subramanian (2013) discusses the idea of a colonized subject that emerged out of the legal process and the social realities that gave it a social context. She also tries to revisit the social history of law and its relationship with society. The teachings of forensic academicians were shown by Haque and Siegel (2015) in their studies. The unique approaches give readers a new understanding of and appreciation for crime scenes as recent pieces of history, each with evidence that tells a story. Sharma (2016) highlights that scientific criminal investigation lays down the most intricate aspects of a criminal investigation involving the application of science and law. This book is written mainly for a non-scientific audience and should prove to be a useful guide to professional investigators, prosecutors, judges, students of forensics, trainers, and all those who are concerned with handling crime.

Introduction  15 All the works discussed above are valuable in their own merit. All these works are problem-specific and they cover either a provincial or a national-level perspective. Some other related works on the development of forensic science in India were also consulted, namely the fingerprint manual (Bose, 1927), and works on power and criminality (Rao, 1977), authority and violence in colonial Bengal (Chakrabarti, 1997), crime and justice in early colonial India (Singh, 1998), science of fingerprinting (Sodhi and Kaur, 2005), crime and empire (Mukherjee, 2003), terror, crime, and punishment in early colonial Bengal (Chakrabarti, 2009), crime and punishment in colonial Calcutta (Banerjee, 2009), forensic science and criminal prosecution in India (Grover and Tyagi, 2014), enactment of the penal code (Pervin, 2007), evolution of criminal justice system in ancient India (Tripathi, 2018), forensic medicine in India (Mittal et​.al​, 2​007), Indian civilization and the science of finger printing (Sodhi, 2003), admissibility of scientific evidence in Indian courts (Umamaheswari, 2014), growth and development of intelligence apparatus during British colonial era in India (Reshi and Dwibedi, 2015), history and development of forensic science in India (Tewari and Ravikumar, 2000), development of criminal law in India (Umair, 2017), evolution of the criminal justice system in ancient India (Tripathi, 2018), national reports on crime records, etc. Moreover, for a better understanding of crime investigation and criminal identification some foreign-language books and international reports have also been consulted. Notable amongst these are works on fingerprints (Galton, 1892), the shift in types of punishment for criminals (Foucault, 1977), criminal justice history in Latin America (Salvatore, 1998), late 18th-prison reform in England (Hardman, 2007), colonial justice in British India (Kolosky, 2010), scientific and investigative techniques (James, Nordby and Bell, 2014), development of penal power outside the metropolitan area ( Brown, 2014), an introduction to the technology of the modern crime laboratory for non-scientists (Saferstein, 2017), forensic science in the global perspective (Burney and Hamlin, 2019), etc. Over and above the books, the author has consulted reports, edited volumes, both Indian and foreign journals, a number of conference proceedings, unpublished PhD dissertations, seminar and symposium articles, and annotated bibliography dealing with the origin and development of forensic science and criminal investigation in different parts of the world. Besides, some important national and international journals on the history of science and other allied subjects related to forensic science have also been consulted for the present research. These are the Indian Medical Gazette, Indian Medical Journal, Indian Annals of Medical Science, British Journal of the History of Science, Bulletin of the British Society for the History of Science, Journal of History of Science and Technology, HOST – An International Journal of History of Science, Circumscribe – European Society for the History of Science, Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal, International Journal of Forensic Science, etc. The studies mentioned above have covered mainly the historical development of science, concept of crime, criminal investigation in different parts of the world, and also in colonial India, historical account of the development of forensic institutions in colonial

16 Introduction India and finally development of forensic science as a discipline. However, less attention is seen to have been given to finding out the nexus between social history of the development of forensic science and crime identification and criminal investigation so far. This inadequacy instilled the author to take this present endeavour. This is, however, in no way an exhaustive list of publications on science-colonialism-society and the history of forensic science in India. Any omission is unintentional.

Aim and objectives of the study The unique thrust of this attempt is to connect the historical beginning of forensic science with its socio-historical context and the diversity of scientific application for crime detection. The fundamental aim is to understand the historical roots of forensic science in India over a period which approximately spans from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century, in other words, a time period that observes the making of a profession to which the label “forensic science” could reasonably be attached. In fulfilling the above aim, the author hopes to investigate: (i) Did the concept of forensic science exist in ancient India at all? What methods were applied for crime detection? (ii) How has the application of forensic science been attested to in ancient Western texts? (iii) Is there any similarities or differences between the Indian and Western concepts of forensic science? (iv) What socio-historical and socio-political contexts instilled the British to introduce forensic science in their empire? (v) What kinds of crimes happened and what kinds of tools and technology were specifically used in crime investigation and trails in 19th-century and early 20th-century British India? (vi) What scientific necessity prompted the British to introduce fingerprint for crime detection instead of anthropometry? (vii) How were fingerprints classified and what was the procedure to detect a criminal through fingerprint? (viii) What kind of systematic development of forensic science took place at the beginning of 20th-century India, specifically up to the end of the colonial period? The present study attempts to trace the historical background of the development and use of forensic science in civil and criminal investigation during the British period and secondly to explore the extent to which forensic science has proved useful in investigation and trials. The perspective of the present study is interdisciplinary, drawing on science and technology studies (STs) and criminology, particularly the history of crime detection and specifically the history of scientific witnesses. Within STs, the history of science and technology provides the main methodological inspiration. Data and information have been collected both from primary and secondary sources available at different institutions in Kolkata and also from outside India (London, UK). Archival documents were collected from the West Bengal State Archives, Kolkata Police Museum, National Archives of India, Bombay Archives, Rajasthan Archives, Finger Print Bureau in India, and also from the India Office Library, Wellcome Trust Library, University College of London, and

Introduction  17 the National Archives of London, UK. I have also utilized the digitized reports available online at the National Medical Library of Scotland website, United States National Library of Medicine. Online journals available through JSTOR, SAGE, Oxford, Taylor & Francis, Cambridge Online were of great help for this investigation.

Plan of the book The present monograph, The History of Forensic Science in India, contains seven chapters, including observations and the conclusion. The Introduction briefly outlines the present study. It starts with the impulse for scientific enquiry. Then it includes the meaning of the word “forensic” and the interconnectedness between science and society. Besides, it also covers the historical beginning of crime identification as contextualized in different civilizations. Along with this, it portrays the concept of crime in ancient, medieval and British India, specifically highlighting the context of the 1857 rebellion. It ends with the aims, objectives, methodology and significance of the present research. Chapter 1 outlines the concept of “Agada Tantra” which mainly deals with toxicology. It also covers how the concept of toxicology was practised in ancient India, its classification, properties, diagnosis, and treatment of poison. The chapter also includes the concept of crime and punishment in ancient India, with special reference to Kautilya’s Arthasastra. A glimpse of the crime detection and justice system that prevailed in medieval India has also been incorporated. Chapter 2 highlights that the concept of crime is interwoven with each and every civilization of the world. Like India, other countries of the world also attest to the presence of crime. In this context, the present study highlights the context of crime detection and punishment in China, Rome, Egypt, England, America, and Latin America. Chapter 3 discusses the beginnings of forensic science in British India. For conceptual clarity it starts with the concept of crime as conceptualized by the colonial administrators and subsequently adds the perspectives of crime identification practices, criminal justice reforms, enactment of new penal code, criminal procedure code, and new police regulation, and finally initiation of institutionalization of crime identification as a new colonial discourse. Chapter 4 provides a comprehensive discussion about the genesis of different forensic ventures initiated by the British, starting from the chemical examiner’s laboratory, the anthropometric bureau, the fingerprint bureau, the explosive department, the serology department, the handwriting, footprint, and note forgery section, and finally the ballistic department in different parts of colonial India. The chapter also highlights the socio-historical contexts which compelled the British government to establish different kinds of forensic institutions to identify crime and criminals. Chapter 5 specifically deals with how fingerprint began to be used as a means for crime identification in India. This chapter tries to incorporate the beginning of fingerprint reading in ancient India, the use of handprint for official purpose in

18 Introduction medieval India, and finally the use of fingerprint as a major tool of crime identification in British India. In this regard, the chapter also highlights how fingerprint became an important tool for crime identification, fingerprint classification, previous methods of fingerprinting, and the contribution of two Indian pioneers, Azizul Haque and Hem Chandra Bose, in fingerprint classification. The chapter ends with the controversy between Edward Richard Henry, Azizul Haque, and Hem Chandra Bose. Chapter 6 summarizes the whole gamut of the discussion in a compressed manner and provides a conclusion. The chapter portrays the development of forensic science from a theoretical perspective, i.e., from body base to laboratory base. Basically, this abstraction tries to reflect how this science paved its way from medical jurisprudence to being laboratory based, and finally tries to emphasize the development of forensic science in post-independence India up to the end of the 20th century. Furthermore, this concluding chapter also gives a brief glimpse of further research to understand this magnificent science in its entirety. The monograph ends with primary sources and a subject index.

Significance of the present study At the end of the whole gamut of discussion, the author feels to portray the significance of the present attempt within the broader canvas of historical research in the field of history of science. In India systematic research on the history of science was initiated by the legendary scientist Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray through his monumental work entitled History of Hindu Chemistry. In the post-independence era, historical research mainly centred on regional history, economic history, the Industrial Revolution, the Renaissance, agrarian history, etc. Research on the history of science was not well documented in mainstream historical research until the late 1980s, though sporadic attempts were made by some scientific institutions like the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) and the National Institute for Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTAD). But at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, in order to maintain parity with the international standard, India’s historical research needed to be balanced. With the passage of time, the history of science in India was included with mainstream historical research. In India until the 1990s, the history of science research mainly centred around the impact of 300 years of British rule and its influence on the Indian economy, society, and culture, and the development of national scientific endeavour during the British Raj. However, since the beginning of the 21st century, the perspective of the history of science research changed, bringing in its purview the role of eminent scientists, the rise of technical education for national economic development, the emergence of premier medical institutions, the prevalence of different epidemic diseases and the beginning of the Western medical system, the inauguration of different scientific institutions by rationalist thinkers, and many other allied scientific endeavours. Against such a backdrop it can also be said that science has been nurtured with other allied subjects in India since ancient times. In the same vein, within the

Introduction  19 rubric of Indian society and culture, crime and criminal identifications were very much interwoven with the historical development of society. Crime and criminal justice system in India was not limited to criminal identification but also included maintaining a proper administration. In this light the present treatise, The History of Forensic Science in India, has been justified. The content of the present attempt and its time period undoubtedly centres on British India. But its roots can be traced back to ancient India’s crime, criminal investigation, punishment, and its application for good administration. The main thrust area of this study lies within the rise, growth, and development of forensic science in colonial India, which not only established scientific certainty but also drastically altered the concept of crime to a great extent. From the introductory chapter to the conclusion, the author has given emphasis to describing the historical evolution of the concept of crime and criminal justice system and finally the development of forensic science against the backdrop of colonial hegemony in its entirety. It is expected that the nature and magnitude of the study will be positively valued both as a historical reference and as a constructive attempt at scientific understanding in the future research arena of the history of science. To sum up, it can be said that the present attempt of the history of forensic science in India examines developmental consequences and demonstrates how socio-historical and socio-political contexts ultimately led to the emergence of forensics as a scientific tool of empire in the Indian subcontinent.

Notes 1 Penny press – In the middle of the 19th century, in India, the penny press, low-priced newspapers, which mainly covered news stories of crime and adventure, made its apparition in the East coast. Penny press papers “revolutionized content by declaring their independence from political parties and concentrating on news rather than opinion”. The most important innovation of the penny press was its price; thus, it provided access to a larger audience of readers, indeed to the lower class. 2 Forensic science – Forensic science is a specific branch of science which deals with the application of science and the scientific method to the judicial system. A forensic scientist will not only be analyzing and interpreting evidence but also be challenged in court while providing expert witness testimony. 3 Witchcraft – Witchcraft is a sort of magic, especially black magic practised in many cultures for thousands of years. The performers were shamans, priests, and priestesses. Witchcraft was basically used to control people by chanting prayers to control supernatural powers, typically involving sorcery or magic. Anthropological research revealed the connections between witchcraft, sorcery, and social tensions, erupting from conflicts inherent in social organization and social change. 4 CSI Effect – The CSI effect is a belief held primarily among those personnel who apply law and prosecutors that forensic science television dramas influence American jurors to want more forensic evidence to convict defendants of crimes. It’s coined from the show  CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The CSI effect has not been substantiated by empirical research. 5 Archimedes – Archimedes was born in 287 BC, in Syracuse, Sicily, and died on 211 BC. He was possibly the world’s greatest scientist – a physicist, mathematician, astronomer, inventor, and engineer. Archimedes discovered the relation between the surface and

20 Introduction volume of a sphere and its circumscribing cylinder. He was famous for his formulation of a hydrostatic principle and a device for raising water, which is known as Archimedes screw and is still used in developing countries. 6 Alphonse Bertillon – Alphonse Bertillon was a French criminologist and anthropologist. He discovered the first system of physical measurements, photography, and record-keeping. This was used to identify recidivist criminals. Before Bertillon, suspects could only be identified through eyewitness accounts and unorganized files of photographs. Bertillon’s most important contributions to forensics were the systematic use of photography to document crime scenes and evidence. 7 Sherlock Holmes – In the late 19th and early 20th century, Sherlock Holmes was an imaginary detective character invented by British physician and detective novel writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes was famous for his intellectual prowess, minute observations and logical analysis in criminal cases. Indeed, he was universally recognizable as the most famous fictional detective and best-known detective character. 8 Locard Exchange Theory – Dr. Edmund Locard was a French criminologist, a pioneer in forensic science. His exchange principle demonstrates that whenever two objects come in contact, a transfer of material occurs. He emphasized that, in the physical world, whenever perpetrators enter or leave a crime scene, they will leave something behind and take something with them. Examples include DNA, finger prints, hair, and fibres. 9 Sultan Mahmud II – Sultan Mahmud II was born in Istanbul in 1785 and came to the throne at the age of 24. He was the Empire’s 30th ruler and a major advocate of reform. To save the empire from dissolution he had been carefully instructed by Sultan Selim III. His Westernizing reforms helped to consolidate the Ottoman Empire despite defeats in wars and losses of territory. As an intellectual and intelligent young individual he followed closely the reforms in Europe. He especially reformed the judicial system and modified many regulations. 10 Megasthenes’s Indica – Megasthenes was the Greek ambassador of Selecus Nicator who came in the dynasty of Chandragupta Maurya. Megasthenes wrote an account of India and also that of Chandragupta’s reign in his book “Indica”. His book gives details about the Mauryan administration. 11 Kautilya’s Arthasastra – The time period of Kautilya was 4th century BC. He was also known as Vishnugupta and the counsellor of Chandragupta Maurya. Kautilya was the author of the Arthasastra, and the name came from the Sanskrit words Artha (“aim” or “goal”) and Shastra (“treatise” or “book”). The treatise emphasized on politics, economics, military strategy, the function of the state, and social organization which will enable a monarch to rule effectively. 12 Atharva Veda – Veda, the sacred book of Hinduism, is divided into four parts. The fourth part is known as the Atharvaveda. The scriptures are devoted to spells, rituals, sorcery mixing of potions and religious medicine. It mainly covers several topics related with health sciences, such as diseases, their causes and cures, longevity, and so on. This Veda is considered to be a precursor to Ayurveda. 13 Susruta Samhita –Susruta was a physician in ancient India, probably in the 7th or 6th century BC. He was considered as the father of inventing and developing surgical procedures. Sushruta Samhita is considered to be the oldest text in the world on surgery The Susruta Samhita, in its present form, in 184 chapters contains descriptions of 1120 illnesses, 700 medicinal plants, 64 preparations from mineral sources, and 57 preparations based on animal sources.  14 Shariah – Shariah is an Islamic religious law which governs not only religious rituals but also aspects of day-to-day life in Islam. It is derived from the Koran, Islam’s major religious text. Shariah literally means “the way.” 15 Hanafi Law – In Islam there are two major denominations, Shia and Sunni. Within the Sunni Muslim tradition, Hanafi is one of four “schools of law” and considered the oldest and most liberal school of law. It makes considerable use of reason or opinion in legal decisions.

Introduction  21 16 Indian Evidence Act – The Indian Evidence Act introduced a standard set of law applicable to all Indians. The law is mainly based upon the work by Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, who could be called the founding father of this comprehensive piece of legislation. In the Indian Evidence Act,1872, the word “Evidence” is used in the sense of all statements which the court permits or requires to be made before it by witnesses (both oral and documentary), in relation to matters of facts under inquiry. 17 Sir Charles Napier – Sir Charles James Napier, British soldier and statesman, was born at Whitehall, London, in 1782. He was a British soldier who came to India in 1842. The army of the Bombay presidency was ruled by him. Napier was the chief officer of Sind and in course of time he became the commander-in-chief in India.

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24 Introduction Hansaria, B. L. Rathinam vs Union of India on 26th April, 1994, equivalent citations: 1994 AIR 1844, 1994 Sec (3) 394. Houck, Max M., and Joy A Siegel. Fundamentals of Forensic Science. New Delhi: Academic Press, 2015, p. 23. Huff, E. Toby. The Rise of Early Modern Science – Islam, China and the West. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, p. 1. Indian Evidence Act. Delhi: Government of India, 1872, p. 1–47. Jaishankar, Karuppannan, Ed. Routledge Handbook of South Asian Criminology. New York: Routledge, 2020, p. 1–3. James, J. Stuart, Nordby, Jon J., and Suzanne Bell. Forensic Science: An Introduction to Scientific and Investigative Techniques. London: CRC Press, 2014, p. 3–37. Johnson, Elmer Hubert. Crime, Correction and Society: Introduction to Criminology. Belmont: Dorsey Press, 1978, p. 23–38. Jois, Rama M. Legal and Constitutional History of India, 1–2. Bombay: Tripathi Private Ltd., 1990, p. 11–38. Jois, Rama M. Legal and Constitutional History of India. New Delhi: Universal Law Publications Co., 2010, p. 575–76. Kane, Vaman Pandurag. History of Dharmasastra, Vol. l, Part. I. Pune: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1968, p. 1. Kangle, R. P. The Kautilya Arthashastra. Bombay: University of Bombay, 1965, p. 61–98. Kolsky, Elizabeth. Colonial Justice in British India: White Violence and the Rule of Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, p. 35. Krishnamurthy, Rukmani. Introduction to Forensic Science in Criminal Investigation. New Delhi: Selective & Scientific Books, 2015, p. 15. Kumar, Radha. The History of Doing: An Illustrated Account of Movements for Women’s Rights and Feminism in India 1800–1990. New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1993, p. 10–11. Kumar, Anu. Chanakya: The Kingmaker and the Philosopher. New Delhi: Hachette India Local, 2013, p. 31. Levinson, David. Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment, Volume 1. Kentucky, USA: SAGE Publications, 2002, p. 829. Loudon, Irvine. Western Medicine: An Illustrated History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, p. 25. Majumdar, Nemai. Justice and Police in Bengal 1765–1793: A Study of the Nizamat in Decline. Calcutta: Farma KLM, 1960, p. 31. Merriam Webster Dictionary. Massachusetts, USA: G. & C. Merriam Company Collection, Archive, 1659, p. 445. Mukhapadhyay, Anindita. Behind the Mask the Cultural Definition of Legal Subject in Bengal 1715–1911. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 25. Mukherjee, Arun. Crime and Public Disorder in Bengal: 1861–1912. Kolkata: K.P. Bagchi, 1995, p. 237–244. Mukherjee, Upamanyu Pablo. Crime and Empire – The Colony in Nineteenth Century Fictions of Crime. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 7. Murthy, K. R. Srinivasa, Ed. Susruta Samhita, Kalpasthana 2/53− 55. Reprint. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Orientalia, 2012, p. 427. Namburi, U.R. Sekhar. Text Book of Agada Tantra. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Bhawan, 2006, p. 5–9. Nigam, Chandra Ram. Law of Crimes in India. New York: Asia Publishing, 1965, p. 95.

Introduction  25 Officiating Secretary J.P. Grant’s letter to the Commission, dated Legislative Dept., the 5th June, 1837, National Archives of India, Legislative Department Act of 1860, No. XLV, Part I. Olivelle, Patrick. Manu’s Code of Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 353–54, 356–82. Ormerod, David, and Karl Laird, Smith, Hogan and Ormerod’s Criminal Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018, p. 12. Ramadan, Hisham M. Understanding Islamic Law: From Classical to Contemporary. Rowman: Altamira, 2006, p. 24–29. Rao, Benugopal S. Power and Criminality – A Survey of Famous Crimes in Indian History. Bombay: Allied Publishers Private Limited, 1977, p. 13–25. Report on National Crime Records Bureau. Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi: Govt. of India, Govt. Press, 2019, p. 1–13. Rhodes, Henry T. F. Rhodes. Alphonse Bertillon: Father of Scientific Detection. New York: Abelard-Schuman, 1956, p. 27. Saferstein, Richard. Criminalisitics: An Introduction to Forensic Science. London: Pearson, 2017, p. 13. Sarton, George. Introduction to the History of Science. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1927, p. 5. Schafer, Elizabeth D. “Ancient Science and Forensics”. In Forensic Science, edited by Ayn Embar-Seddon and Allan D. Pass. New York: Salem Press, 2008, p. 40. Sen, Madhurima. Prisons in Colonial Bengal 1838–1919. Kolkata: Thema, 2007, p. 9. Shamasastry, Rudrapatna. Translated Kautilya’s Arthashastra: Book IV, The Removal of Thorns, Chapter-VII – Examination of Sudden Death. Bangalore: Government Press, 1915, p. 253–296. Sharma, B. R. Scientific Criminal Investigation. George Town: Universal Law Publishing, 2016, p. 11–19. Singh, Radhika. A Despotism of Law: Crime and Justice in Early Colonial India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 89. Suśruta, Vaidya Jādavji Trikamji Āchāryā, Ed. Suśruta Saṃhitā with Nibandhasaṅgraha commentary of Śri Ḍalhaṇāchārya and the Nyāyachandrikā Pañjikā of Śrī Gayādāsāchārya on Nidānasthāna. Sharira Sthāna chapter 6 verse 25. p. 373. Vārāṇasī: Chowkhamba Surbharati Prakashan, 2012. Travers, Robert. Ideology and Empire in Eighteenth Century India: The British in Bengal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007, p. 1–30. Trivedi, Kshemkarandas. Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sam Veda and Atharva Veda, Mandal 1–10. New Delhi: Sarvadeshik Arya Pritinidhi Sabha, Ramlila Maidan, 1992, p. 1. Tshai, Hsu Chih. Ming Yuan Shih Lu, Discourse on Cases of the Bringing to Light of Unjust Imputations, 6th Century A.D. Harbin, China: National Museum of Crime and Punishment, Washington, DC, 2008, p. 19. Turner, Cecil, J. W. Kenny’s Outline of Criminal Law. Cambridge: Universal Law Publishing Works, Pvt Ltd, 2013, p. 5. Ulmer, T. Jeffrey. Sociology of Crime, Law and Deviance. London: Elseveir, 2000, p. 11. Vikor, S. Knut. Between God and the Sultan: A History of Islamic Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 281–285. Vridhda, Vagbhata, and Shiv Prasad Sharma, Eds. Ashtanga Sangraha with Shashilekha Commentary of Indu. 1st edition. Sutra Sthāna chapter 13 verse 24. Varanasi: Choukhamba Sanskrit Series Office, 2006, p. 513.

26 Introduction Wael, Hallaq B. An Introduction to Islamic Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 175–176. Wilkins, Joseph, William. Hindu Mythology: Vedic and Puranic. New Delhi: Rupa & Co., 2000, p. 17–23. Williams, Andy. Forensic Criminology. London: Routledge, 2015, p. 99–112.

Unpublished PhD Dissertation Hardman, Philippa. The Origins of Late Eighteenth Century Prison Reform in England. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, University of Sheffield: Department of History, 2007, p. 6–30. Sikder, Tarun Kanti. Crime and Punishment in Ancient India: A Study of Kautilya, Manu and Yajnavalkya. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, University of Pune, Pune, 2007.

1

Concept of Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India

The word “crime” is inextricably intertwined with the beginning of our civilization. Being one of the oldest civilizations in the world, India is not an exception to this phenomenon. In the present day, whatever the dictionary meaning of the word “crime” may be, the connotation of the word was quite different in ancient India. The way of criminal identification and crime investigation was completely unlike that of the present day. Rather, ancient India followed some specific measures for crime identification which were prescribed and governed by the norms and rules of the society. Our ancient medical heritage, i.e. Ayurveda,1 also specialized in toxicology, known as “agada tantra”. This specialized branch of Ayurveda not only discussed the application of poison to cause death but also mentioned the usage of poison as an antidote for different types of diseases. The present chapter highlights the concept of poison, different types of poison, application of poison, the mention of poison in Indian mythology, historical references to poison in the Indian texts, diverse types of crimes in ancient India, different types of punishments in ancient texts of India, crime and ways of crime detection mentioned in Kautilya’s Arthasastra and ancient Indian jurisprudence.

Agada tantra and its historical background Since ancient times, India has been enriched with its medical heritage. A remarkable contribution of the Indian civilization is being witnessed in the field of medical science also. Among India’s many claims to fame is the ancient medical heritage known as Ayurveda (from the Sanskrit words ayur, meaning life, and veda, meaning science). This ancient medical science is basically a complete guidance to life which encompasses the body, mind, and spirit. Due to medical necessities, Ayurveda has developed its different branches. It mainly uses two ways – curative and preventive. Preventive measures mainly focus on the prevention of disease. It gives more importance to regular practice (Dinachariya) to prevent the disease rather than to treat health issues. Curative measures deal with the treatment of disease conditions. Ayurveda is categorized into eight different branches which are collectively known as Ashtanga Ayurveda. Ashtanga refers to the eight parts of the limbs, and the basic mode of treatment of all these is the same. Ayurveda distinctly classified

28  Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India medical practice into kāyācikitsā (internal medicine), kaumārabhṛtya (paediatrics), bhūtavidyā (spirit medicine/psychiatry), urdhyaanga cikitsā (treatment of eyes, nose, throat, head related disease), śalyaroga cikitsā (surgery, including anatomy), damstra cikitsā or agada tantra (toxicology), rasāyana (science of rejuvenation/ geriatrics), and vājīkarana (aphrodisiacs/virility) (Srivastava, 2011). The present treatise is specifically concerned with agada tantra or toxicology, which includes the science of poisons. The practice of agada tantra is very ancient in nature. It originated from the school of toxicology, which was also known as Vriddhakashyapa, named after a great saint and medical practitioner. The students of the Kashyapa school of toxicology2 later became royal vaidyas in various kingdoms and were meant to protect the members of the royal families from being poisoned. Even at that time, they were trained to administer poison to their king’s enemies. Even now, the traditional practice of toxicology is done by different families of Vishavaidya who claim to be specialists in toxicology in various parts of the Indian subcontinent. Agada tantra3 deals with various methods of cleaning the poison out of the body and also recommends antidotes for particular poisons. It deals with a wide range of natural toxins originating from wildlife, like animals, birds, insects, etc., vegetables, and minerals, and artificial poisons prepared from poisonous drugs. This branch is concerned with air and water pollution, which are basically the causes of various dangerous epidemics (Raneesh, 2012). Now it is essential to know how poison was described in our Indian mythology.

Poisons in Indian mythology Poison has been called the cowardly person’s weapon. Its secretive nature has held a peculiar fascination for humanity. Since the beginning, the concept of poison was used in different spheres of life and even in the writings of novels and fairy tales and also in magic. It was also used in hunting, crime, punishment, politics, and romance. Even in our ancient medical texts, we find applications of poison as medicine. Almost all cultures have been very much accustomed with the application of toxicology from very early times. According to our Indian mythology, Lord Brahma, a god among the Holy Trinity of Indian gods and tradition (the Hindu Holy Trinity comprises Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe; Lord Vishnu, the preserver; and Lord Shiva, the destroyer of the universe), is considered the creator of poison. It is said that the creator of the universe was offended by a devil (asura) named Kaitabha, and that he created poison to kill him. He was, no doubt, successful in destroying the demon with his new weapon, but its evil spread over the whole world. To reduce its bad effects, Lord Brahma distributed that poison in various forms through vegetables, animals, and minerals and side by side antidotes were also created. Brahma thus distributed poison in three categories: animals, minerals, and vegetables. Brahma is often cited as the first to classify poison in this manner. In the West, the Greek physician Dioscorides (AD 40–80) developed a classification system independently. In the times of Buddha (6th-century BC) lived a famous Indian expert in the science of toxicology and physician

Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India  29 by the name Kashyapa. Kashyapa was a follower of the Brahmanic religion at first, but later converted to Buddhism. He was a successful curer of snakebite. A famous tale relating to his curative powers is frequently narrated. King Parikshit had been cursed that he would die of snakebite, but Kashyapa had taken it upon himself to cure the king when the curse befell him. When Takshaka (the king of serpents) was on his way to bite Parikshit, he met with Kashyapa and challenged him for his amazing powers. It was perhaps his idea to frighten Kashyapa, so that he would take back his vow. He bit a fully blossomed tree, and in front of everyone’s eyes, the tree turned to ashes. However, to everyone’s surprise and to the shame of Takshaka, Kashyapa, using his wonderful charms and medicines, restored the tree to its original blossom. In spite of Kashyapa’s medicinal charm, Parikshit was bitten by Takshaka. Sure enough, this tale is mythological, but it does show the expertise of ancient Hindu doctors in the science of toxicology (Smith, 1952). Sushruta (a famous 7th-century BC Indian surgeon) characterized agada tantra in his own way. This Ayurvedic specialization is very similar to our modern toxicology, which deals with diagnosis and treatment of any poisonous bite by insects or venomous reptiles or the area affected by any natural, artificial, or compound poison. Now it is important to know how poison is described in our ancient Indian tradition.

Toxicology in ancient India Since prehistoric times, poison was used as medicine. There are ample references in our ancient Indian texts about the poisoning of kings and the use of professional poisoners (Vish Kanya). The sloka on professional poisoners, known as Vish Kanya, is as follows: To give participant to the enemies or the accused said person was asked to have a physical relation with female partner who were habituated to take the snake bite (venom) every day in a very little dose. The said female was poisoned but not died because of the antibody production but the conjugal partner died due to the said activities. Now this phenomenon is implied by victimizing the male and female in respect to conjugal affair. Though these directly does not lead to physical death but ultimately because of the mental agony leads to death. Vagbhata. Astanga Samgraha – Sutrasthana: Volume I. Translated by B Rama Rao. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Visvabharati. Aga Sagraha- Sutrasthna 8/74 The origin of toxicology in India can be traced to the Vedic period. The earliest mention of poisons is found in the Atharva Veda (Dwight, 2011). Remedies for many ailments, including poisoning, were discussed in this text (Aggarwal, 2005). Besides Atharva Veda, the entire ancient medical texts of India, i.e. Ayurveda, describes applications and different types of poisons, as well as their classifications and antidotes. Ancient India lacked standardized forensic practices, which

30  Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India aided criminals in escaping punishment. Criminal investigations and trials heavily relied on forced confessions and witness testimony. But we get ample references on the application of poison on humans and its antidotes (Krishnamurthy, 2011). Since the beginning of human history and society, we come across the fact that science and law were developed concurrently. Like other civilizations of the world, with the beginning of Indian civilization and its progress, legal medicine (application of medical knowledge for the solution to legal problems) was born as a concrete separate branch of medical discipline by dint of its own merit, until it reached its present state through different periods. The history of the subject is the key to the past, an explanation of the present and a milestone for the future. In India, since ancient times through medieval times and the Renaissance period, toxicology became a science rooted in rich and interesting history. Historical records reveal the use of natural poisons in hunting, “medicines”, assassinations, warfare, or for other purposes. The development of toxicology as a science has been, like most other disciplines, a long process of slow and steady growth from the work and deeds of humankind. In the present day forensic toxicology becomes an important subdivision of the discipline forensic medicine. The term forensic toxicology deals with the nature, source, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment of poisoning by different poisonous and noxious substances, apart from the evidence of their presence from autopsy findings, body fluids, tissues, etc. (Karmakar, 1981). Ayurvedic texts mention the properties, symptoms, and antidotes of different types of poisons, which became one of the eight principal branches of medical knowledge. According to Ayurveda samhitas, visha classification is based on its origin and its site. In Rasasastra, the visha is classified into two types based on their properties. The following discussion will highlight the context of poison in different samhitas. According to Caraka Caraka Samhita Chikitsastahna deals with Visochikitsa. According to Caraka, poisons are mainly classified into two categories. One of them is Jangamavisha (animal poison) and the other is Sthavaravisha (plant and mineral poison). In another context, Caraka has described another type of visha, i.e., Garavisha, under the classification of Samyogajavisha (unnatural poison or chemically prepared poison) which is separate from Sthavara and Jangamavisha and is prepared by the toxic combination of either non-poisonous or poisonous substances. Chakrapani in his commentary has mentioned that Samyogavisha is of two types, one which is prepared by non-poisonous substances, called as Garavisha, and another one which is prepared by poisonous substances, called as Krtrimavisha (Sharma, 2007). According to Susruta The next major work on Indian medicine, which contained a chapter on poisons, was the Susruta Samhita. The entire Kalpasthana of Susruta Samhita deals with several modes of poisoning in ancient India. Susruta narrated how the poisons

Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India  31 were mixed with food, drink, honey, medicine, bathing water, anointing oils, perfumes, eyelash pigments, and snuff, or sprinkled over clothes, beds, couches, shoes, garlands and jewellery, saddles of horses, etc. He also mentions the secret poisoning of wells and other drinking water to destroy enemies. Apart from accidental poisoning and bites from animals, reptiles, and insects, deliberate administration of poison was apparently an usual occurrence in those days. According to Susruta, poison may be classified into two types. One of them is Sthavaravisha, which can occur in ten sites, and the other one is Jangamavisha, which can occur in 16 sites. In another context, while describing the action of the poison, Susruta described Kritimavisha (Murthy, 2012). According to Vagbhata Astangahridaya by Vabghata (Bengali translation by Upendranath Sen and Debendranath Sen), Vol-II, Uttarstahna, Chapter 35, deals with mainly antidotes of poison. According to Vagbhata poison may be classified into two types. One of them is the Akratrimavisha (natural poison), and this is again subdivided into two types, i.e. sthavaram and jangamam. The unnatural or chemically prepared poison is known as Kritimavisha, which is called Garavisha (Murthy, 2012). According to Bhavamishra According to Bhavamishra, the basic categorization of the poison is more or less same as that of ancient Samhitas. But he classified the Kritimavisha in a different manner. The Kritimavisha classification is as follows. The one which is prepared by non-poisonous substances is called Garavisha and the one which is prepared by poisonous substances is called Dusivisha (Bhavamishra, 1980). According to Rasasastra Rasasastra classified visa into two types. According to Rasatarangini, poison can be classified as Jangamavisha and Sthavaravisha. But he subclassified the Sthavaravisha into two types. One of them is Mahavisha, having high potency, and the other is Upavisha, having less potency. (a) Mahavisha – These are of nine types, namely, Halahala, Kalakuta, Srungaka, Pradipana, Saurastrika, Brahmaputra, Haridraka, Saktuka, and Vatsanabha. Vatsanabha plays a significant role in the rasakriya and rasayankarma. (b) Uapvisha – These are of eleven types, namely, Vishatinduka seeds, Ahiphena, Recakam, Dhattura seeds, Vijaya, Gunja, Bhallataka, Arkaksiram, Snuhiksiram, Langali, Karaviraka. However, medical texts and treatises, whether by Hindu or Muslim authors, continued into early modern times to mention about the use of specific poisons, and their symptoms and antidotes, in their writings, and the importance attributed to particular materials varied widely. We get many references about the medicinal application of poison. The physician of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, Noureddeen Mohammed Abdullah Shirazi, applied wolf’s bane (a

32  Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India drug of the aconite family). English-translated Unani treatise, Taleef Shereef, referred to both therapeutic and toxic properties of a number of vegetables, minerals, and animal substances like aconite, datura, orpiment, and nux vomica. Beyond the formal texts, and orthodox practices of Ayurvedic and Unani practitioners, there existed a vast popular poison-lore and a great range of practitioners from rural vaids, hakims, sadhus, and fakirs, who were renowned for their healing skills. In short the above discussion reveals that ancient India was not aware about the identification of poison through forensic method but the application of poison (forensic toxicology which is a subdivision of forensic medicine) in different forms and different purposes was very much common even in those days. Now the author has tried to portray how visha was mentioned in our different ancient historical texts.

Historical and ancient medical references of visha The historical reference of “visha” goes way back to centuries. The mythological concept regarding origin of VISHA states that it was created at the time of creation of universe by Lord Brahma (Bhishagratna 1907). References regarding visha or poison can also be traced in different historical sources. Atharveda We get the references regarding the morbid conditions arising due to different types of poisons and their antidotes. The Jangamavia for the Sthavaravisha and vice versa, and treating the different poisons by reciting the sacred hymns, and there is also a reference to the use of garuda mantra in treating snake poisons (Sharma, 2001). Ramayana In the great epic Ramayana, Rama and Lakshmana were treated for poisoning by Vaidya Sushena with the help of Sanjeevani vidyya (religious knowledge) along with four types of herbs from the mountain Himalaya (Vidyalankar, 1976). Mahabharata From the conversation between the Kasyapa and Narada we get the reference of the visha. In the epic Mahabharata, the second Pandava, Bhima, was poisoned and was treated by sarpavisha. Further a conversation between Kashyapa and Takshaka regarding the treatment of poisoning was also reported in Mahabharata (Vidyalankar, 1976). Samhitas In the Carakasamhita cikistasthana, Susrutsamhita kalpasthana, Asthangasan­ graha, and Astangahrdayam uttarsthana we get references to visha. Caraka mentioned that the medicine which is mixed with the visha will have more potency and

Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India  33 will act faster than the normal medicine. Susruta tried to give the correct perspective regarding the knowledge of the visha elaborately in the whole kalpasthanam as the cooperative and complementary asset to toxicology (Tarkabachaspati, 2002). In Kautilya’s Arthasastra many references were mentioned regarding visha, particularly descriptions of kalkuta, vatsanabha, halahala, meshasringa, musta, kustha, mahavisha, vellitaka, gaurada, balaka, markata, haimavata, kaligaka, daradaka, kolasaraka, and ushtraka are mentioned (Vidyalankar, 1976). Here it is to be mentioned that poisons belong to a history of “everyday things” (Roche, 2000). As such, poisons help us to appreciate the nature and texture of people’s lives, and the material circumstances of their daily existence. The author has tried to highlight how and why poisons were, in the main, everyday objects. India has its extensive history, often indivisible from mythology, of poison practices. One example from India’s antiquity was the attempt on the life of the Mauryan king Chandragupta,4 a contemporary of Alexander the Great, in the 4th-century BC, by means of a “poison maiden” (Waddell, 1914). These poison women were feared and shunned. A rich vein of poison-lore runs, too, through the medieval and early modern chronicles of Islamic South Asia from the early 13th century onwards (Jackson, 1999). These relate how poison was mixed up with food and drink which was offered by Hindu “unbelievers” to destroy Muslim conquerors. Moreover, wise rulers and canny commanders preserved their life by suspecting and detecting a poison plot against him. Poison became a formulaic device by which the warrior and statesman was tested and thereby revealed his superior powers (Elliot, 1869). In his accounts, the Mughal ruler Babur5 narrated that an attempt had been made to poison him, during 1526, the year of his conquest of northern India. The food served to him made him sick, so he fed his vomit to a dog (a common means of detecting poison): it became lethargic and “out of sorts” but did not die (Babur, 2006). Reports from the Mughal era (mostly from European sources) further indicate how the emperors used poison to silence or punish dissent. Poisoning offered a less aggressive, possibly less severe, method of execution, which allowed the offender to conserve a degree of self-respect and status. Political execution by means of poison might appear to elevate the practice of poisoning into the realms of the exceptional, and yet even these tales of courtly conspiracy and imperial punishment hint at a more subaltern consciousness. These are nothing but the indication of wide spread application of vegetable and mineral poisons in pre-colonial India. These descriptions passed from common legend and popular folklore to imperial memoirs and court chronicles also. Therefore after the historical references of visha in the ancient Indian medical texts and Puranas, it is very important to know about the properties of poisons and their effects on the body. The following sections will highlight the matter in a compressed manner.

Properties and action of poison According to Caraka, poison may have different properties. These are light (laghu), rough (ruksa), quick acting (asul), non-slimy (visadam), quickly absorbed (vyavayi), sharp (tiksanam), depressant (vikasi), minute (suksmam), and

34  Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India undefinable (anidesyarasam). Susruta also mentions the same properties of the poison as Caraka, except in case of anidesyarasam he mentions apaki. Similarly, Vagbhata mentions avyaktarasa but the other properties are same as those mentioned by Caraka and Susruta. In Sarangadhara samhita, the properties of the visha are described in the following way – the drugs possessing vyavaki, vikasi, suksma, chedi, madavaha, agneya, jivitahara, and yogavahi is called visham. The ten properties can be explained in the following way: (i) Laghu (lightness) is opposite to the guru (heaviness) which also helps to do the lekhanakarma and which is easily digestible and causes the lightness in the body. (ii) Ruksha (rough) is opposite to the snigdha and causes the stambhana (withholding), kharatva (harsh), and kathinatva (hardness), and is responsible for the sosantva (emaciation) of the body. (iii) Asu (quick acting), due to its quickness, spreads all over the body, like oil which spreads immediately on water. (iv) Visada (non-slimy) is opposite to its picchila and removes moistness and helps healing of ulcers. (v) Vyavayi (quickly absorbed) spreads very fast all over the body and then gets digested. (vi) Tiksana (sharpness) gives rise to a burning sensation and encourages suppuration and increases secretions. (vii) Vikasi (depressant), while spreading all over the body, produces looseness of the ligaments. (viii) Suksma (minuteness), due to its minuteness, enters into the most minute of channels. (ix) Usna (hotness) is opposite to the sita. (x) Anirdesya Rasa (tasteless) does not have any specific rasa or taste. (xi) Apaki or Avipaki (indigestible) is not digestible. However, administration of poison is an important matter of discussion. Powerful enemies and even the servants and relations of the king out of anger and jealousy would be in search for an opportunity to avenge themselves. These enemies having vitiated mind, after getting proper opportunity, used to kill the powerful king by administering poison. In this regard Susruta explained very clearly about the detection of the poison administer (poisoner) and the role of the doctor in the given condition.

Characteristics and features of a poisoner An intelligent physician, who is well qualified to ascertain the true state of one’s feelings from the speech, conduct, demeanour, and distortions of the face, would be able to discover the true culprit (poisoner) from the following external indicators. A giver of poison does not speak or answer when a question is put to him; he swoons or breaks off suddenly in the middle of his conversation and talks

Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India  35 inarticulately and indefinitely like a fool. He is found suddenly and listlessly to press the joints of his fingers or to scratch the earth, to laugh and to shiver. He will look frightened at the sight of others (indifferently) and will cut (straw or hay) with his finger nails, and his colour changes constantly. He will scratch his head in an agonized and confused state and will look this way and that way, trying to slip away by a back or side door, thus betraying his guilty conscience by his confusion.

Modes of administration of poison Susruta explained the methods of protecting the king from the different modes of administration of poison. Those are boiled rice, drink, tooth-twigs, combs, cosmetics, infusions, washes, anointments with sandal paste), garlands, clothes, beds, armour, ornaments, shoes, foot cushions, the backs of horses and elephants, snuffs, dhuma (tobacco smoking), and other such things reserved for the use of the king. These objects should be examined by the servants before they are used by the king. Another thing was Visakanya. Vrddhavagbhata has given the description for the first time about the Visakanya poisoning (poisonous woman) in a unique way. This Visakanya used to be prepared by administering the small doses of poison to her right from the birth so that the lady could be responsible to kill the enemies just by her touch or respiration or with the sexual interaction. The Visakanya can be diagnosed by putting flowers on her head, which will dry immediately; mites will die on her bed and also insects will die in her bath water. However, poison can be administered in different ways – like through oral, sublingual, applied on the unbroken surface of the body, e.g. organic phosphates, nicotine, some organic solvents and lewisite gas can penetrate the skin and produce intoxication and death; application to a wound, introduction into natural orifices, e.g. rectum, vagina, urethera, etc.; some drugs can be given by rectal route to produce systemic poisonous effect, sometimes by a parenteral route like subcutaneous, intramuscular, intravenous, etc., and sometimes by inhalation, i.e. through gaseous or vaporous form, e.g. hydrogen, sulphide, carbon-monoxide, methane, methyl chloroform, etc.

Effect of poison on the body After entering the body, the poison immediately vitiates the blood. It simultaneously vitiates all the tridosas and their respective sites and at last proves fatal for an individual after entering into the hrdaya (heart). The blood after getting vitiated by poison causes a tingling or pricking sensation all over the body, which leads to red colour or patches on the skin, sweating, horripilation, feeling of the ants moving over the body, severe aches and pains all over the body, yearning for the food stuffs having cold potency. The dominance or potency of tridosas also gets debilitated and they lose their potency by mixing up with the blood, which gets vitiated by the poison, thus leading to death or the hampering of health. This, in a nutshell, is how the poison affects the body, its manifestations, and finally how

36  Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India it leads to death. To understand the perspective of poison in its totality, it is also essential to understand both the diagnosis and treatment of poison. Here the present author has tried to discuss the matter in a composite way.

Diagnosis and treatment of poison Diagnosis of poison can be made in two cases – one in the living and the other in the dead. Diagnosis of poison in the living – the following considerations may be taken into account in case of acute poisoning: (i) the symptoms appear suddenly in a healthy person, (ii) proper history taking may be difficult in homicidal or suicidal cases, (iii) sudden onset of symptoms after meals in a previously healthy individual and a gradual increase in severity of symptoms point out to a positive diagnosis, (iv) other family members if affected uniformly, (v) detection of poison can be attempted in stool according to poisons used, e.g. corrosive poisons leave external marks, irritants produce cholera-like symptoms, and spinal poisons stimulate convulsions, (vi) a strong evidence in favour of poisoning is the detection of the poison in the food, medicine, vomit, urine, or faeces. Therefore in all the suspected cases of poisoning these samples must be sent for chemical analysis to the laboratory. In case of chronic poisoning manifestations are (i) the symptoms are exaggerated after the administration of suspected food, fluid, or medicine, (ii) malaise, cachexia, depression, and gradual deterioration of general condition of the patient is seen, (iii) repeated attacks of diarrhoea, vomiting, etc., are seen, (iv) when the patient is removed from his usual surroundings the symptoms disappear, and (v) traces of poison may be found in urine, stools, and in vomit. Diagnosis of poisoning in the dead requires a detailed history of the quality and quantity of poison administered; the character of the symptoms with reference to their onset, the time that has passed between the intake of the poison and the development of symptoms, the duration of illness, the treatment given, and the time of death should be obtained from the relatives of the deceased. The following considerations should be made: post-mortem examination6 – all deaths due to poisoning are medico-legal cases and in all probability will have to be subjected to a detailed autopsy. The general procedure of examination in any unnatural death is carried out with particular reference to those aspects which can give a clue to the detection and identification of poison. This identification can be done through external or internal examination. External examination can be done through stains or marks of vomit or faeces, and the colour of post-mortem lividity; certain poisons impart characteristic colouration, e.g. phosphorous is yellowish or brownish in colour; through injection marks; some poisons are reputed to retard putrefaction of the dead body, e.g. arsenic; condition of pupils and hands, if relaxed or clenched; odour, especially around the mouth and the nose area. In the case of internal examination odour always helps before opening the skull since many poisons impart a faint odour to brain tissues, e.g. alcohol and cyanide. Examination of the gastrointestinal tracts reveals that if the redness of the mucous membrane is maximum at the cardiac end of the stomach and the greater curvature. The colour is deep crimson, the hyperaemia may be diffused or patchy, e.g.

Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India  37 in arsenic poisoning the colour is velvety. Discolouration may be present due to various substances, like fruit juice. The differentiating feature from hyperaemia that is due to disease is that in case of poisoning, it is uniformly spread over the mucus membrane. Softening occurs due to corrosive poisons, mostly with alkalies seen in the stomach cardiac end and greater curvature, mouth, throat, and oesophagus. Ulceration is seen mostly on the greater curvature of the stomach and has to be differentiated from a peptic ulcer which occurs mostly on the lesser curvature and is sharply defined with a localized zone of hyperaemia around it. Perforation occurs rarely, except with sulphuric acid poisoning. Sometimes the poisonous substances in the form of tablets, powder, or fluid may still be present. In Ayurveda the use of the animals in the detection of poisons is described by Susruta in the kalpasthanam, i.e. on the sight of poisonous food, Chakora bird loses its redness of eyes instantly; Jivajivaka dies under a similar condition. The voice of Cuckoo becomes abnormal; Krauncha (crow) becomes excited; a Mayura (peacock) becomes unstable and agitated; a Hamsa (swan) roams excessively; and a Bhringaraja (a type of bird) raises its inarticulate voice. These types of animals and birds are kept in the royal palace not only to show entertainment but also to protect the sovereign master. The above discussion clearly reveals that even in ancient India, the diagnosis was thorough and in depth. But without treatment diagnosis cannot save the patient. So in the following section the author has tried to provide a brief glimpse about the treatment of a patient suffering from poisoning.

Treatment of poison in Ayurveda A general principle of treatment of poisoning is explained in Caraka samhita, Sushruta samhita, Ashtanga Sangraha, and Ashtanga Hridaya in the form of Vishavega – their manifestations and treatment. Caraka samhita has mentioned the manifestations and treatment of Sthavara visha (inanimate poison), vega and Jangama visha (animate poison). But Sushruta samhita, Ashtang sangraha, and Ashtang Hridaya describe Sthavara visha vega, its manifestations, and treatment at one place, and Jangama visha vega, its manifestations, and treatment in sarpavisha (snake poison). Caraka samhita has explained Chaturvimshati Upakrama (twenty-four modalities) of treatment of poisoning, which is also used in different visha vega and its treatment. These twenty-four principles of treatment of poisoning mentioned by Caraka can be used as unique eternal principles of Ayurveda and they are as follows: (i)

Mantra (Hymn): Mantra chikitsa is the most useful treatment in Jangama visha (animate poison), specially snake bites. Mantra chikitsa should be practised by an individual who refrains from women, meat, and wine. The person should take little food, maintain hygiene of body, and should sleep on a mattress made of kusha grass (Dutta, 2003). By use of mantra with arishtabandhana, the spread of poison is blocked and patient’s life is saved (Shastri, 1998).

38  Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India (ii) Arishta/Venikabandhana (tourniquet ligature): The spread of venom on limbs is arrested by application of tourniquet ligature four fingers above the site of bite with the help of cloth or bark of tree or any other soft material. Aristha lakshan is the sign of approaching death of patient or incurability or bad prognosis of a disease. To stop the spreading of venom, arishta or venikabandhana is done with or without mantra chanting. Ligature material should not be tied very tight or very loose. Very tight ligature material can produce necrosis or swelling and very loose material can’t stop the spreading of venom in the body. As water is obstructed by dam, poison is obstructed by arishta bandhana (Vaidya Shastri, 1988). (iii) Utkartana (incision): In this method an incision is made at the site of bite avoiding marmas (vital points) and joints to remove unabsorbed poison from the site of bite. As a tree does not grow after cutting its root, poison also does not spread after incision of site of bite (Shastri, Pankit and Chaturvedi, 1998). (iv) Nishpeedanam (compression): Poison is removed by squeezing the area of bite where incision is not advisable. This method helps in removing poison from the body just like destroying of seed before sprouting. Nishpeedan is not done at vital parts and joints. If it is done at vital parts it may lead to death and if it is done at joints it leads to distortion (Vaidya Shastri, 1988). (v) Chushana (suction): The physician’s mouth is filled with dry sand, ash, or dried powder of cow dung, and he is directed to suck venom along with blood by using his lips, through an incision made below the arishtabandhan at the site of bite. This method is specially adopted for fleshy parts (Vaidya Shastri, 1988). (vi) Agnikarma (cauterization/burning): Except Mandali snake bite all other snake bites should be burnt by heated rods of gold, iron, etc.(Vaidya Shastri, 1988). (vii) Parisheka (sprinkling): Sushruta has described Parisheka after Raktamokshan in poisonous condition. In snake bite, affected part or organ can be irrigated by water medicated with chandana and usher (Shastri, 2003). Contact or local poisons are also washed with cold/ lukewarm / medicated water. (viii) Avagahana (immersion bath): Avagahan means immersion or dipping of the affected part or whole body in a medicated decoction. (ix) Raktamokshan (bloodletting): As air blows the fire, blood is the major media which blow up poison (Shastri, 2003). Hence bloodletting eliminates the poison from blood and minimizes the manifestation of poison. Bloodletting should be done immediately in cases where poisoned area becomes discoloured, rigid, swollen, and painful (Shastri, 2003). If poison is not removed from blood, it spreads through the body and causes

Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India  39 death. Hence if poison is spread in the body, siravedha (venesection) should be done (Vaidya Shastri, 1988). Raktamokshan (Siravedh) is contraindicated during pregnancy, and in children and old-aged persons (Shastri, 2003). Siravedh at the site of bite or bloodletting by cutting the veins at extremities and forehead is effective in removing toxic blood from system. Due to this reason bloodletting is the topmost treatment in toxicity manifestation of poisons (Shastri, 2003). (x) Vamana (emesis): During first vega (phase) ingested poison should be eliminated by emesis, which means if the poison is in the stomach, emesis is indicated (Shastri, 1998). In first and second vega (phase) of Sthavara (inanimate) poison, emesis is indicated. In cold season, in presence of secretion of cold saliva, when there is predominant increase in kapha and when the patient is of shleshma constitution, induction of emesis is to be done by administration of emetics (Shastri, 2003). Emesis is induced in Dooshivisha (latent poison) and Garavisha (concocted poison) (Tripathi, 2009). In Darveekar sarpadamsha emesis is indicated in 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th vega (phase). In mandali sarpadamsha emesis is induced in 3rd vega (phase). In Rajimana sarpadamsha emesis indicated in 2nd, 4th, and 5th vega (phase). (xi) Virechana (purgation): In second vega (phase) of Sthavara visha (inanimate poison) purgation is done (Tripathi, 2009). Purgatives are indicated when patient suffers from burning sensation and pain in Koshtha (abdomen), Aadhman (distention of abdomen), retention of urine-stoolflatulus, dysuria and deranged pitta (Shastri, 2003). In dooshivisha purgation is indicated (Tripathi, 2009). Vagbhata describes that Virechana requires in person of pitta constitution, bitten by snake of pitta predominant features, having bite below umbilicus and if pitta is localized in the pakwashaya (Vaidya Shastri, 1988). (xii) Upadhana: The path of kapha is vitiated by poison and causes obstruction in the channels. Due to this, the movement of vata gets obstructed and the patient breathes like he is going to die soon. During this stage incision should be made on the scalp of the patient, resembling a crow’s leg, and a paste of Charmaksha (Picrorhiza kuruo) or meat of goat, cow, buffalo, or cock with blood in one bilva quantity should be applied on the incised area. After this nasal medication with fine powders like Katabhi (Jyotishmati), Katuka (Marich), and Kayaphala is given (Shastri, 1998). (xiii) Hridayavarana (protection of heart): Poison deranges kapha, pitta, and vata, including their ashayas (reservoirs), and then occupies the heart. From the heart it spreads all over the body, causing the death of the patient. Hence the heart is primarily protected by consuming Madhu (honey), ghee, majja, milk, gairik, gomaya rasa, ikshu rasa, kakand (Diospyros malabarica) juice, blood of goat and other animals, ash mixed with water, or soil mixed with water(Shastri, 1998). Poison by

40  Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India its penetrating property weakens the heart, so in order to protect it, the patient should be given pure ghee, ghee mixed with honey, or anti-poisonous drugs added with ghee. Also majja, gomaya rasa, ash or soil mixed with water are given (Vaidya Shastri, 1988). Properties of poison and properties of ghee are exactly opposite. Hence the administration of ghee immediately after poisoning or animal bite slows down the spread of poison and we get more time for treatment. This principle is known as Hridayavaran. (xiv) Anjana (collyrium): Anjana is indicated in poisoning when eyes are oedematous, patient feels sleepy, there is discolouration of the eye and blurred vision (Shastri, 1998). Pippali, Marich, Yavakshara, Vacha, sandhav, and shigru macerated with bile of rohita fish and applied as Collyrium helps to destroy poison present in the eye (Vaidya Shastri, 1988). After the use of strong nasal drops and collyrium, ghee should be drunk in large quantity because poison by its penetrating property destroys the eye. (xv) Nasya (nasal medication): Due to poisoning if obstruction occurs at nose, eye, ear, tongue, and throat then nasal medication is given in which a fine powder of Brihatkantakari, Beejpur, Jyotishmati, etc., is used (Shastri, 1998). When the effect of poison is seen in head then nasal medication is given with juice of Bandhujiva, Bharangi, and black tulsi, or powder of pippali, hingu, vrishikali, Manashila, Shirishbeej, Apamarga lavan (Vaidya Shastri, 1988). After the use of strong nasal drops and collyrium, ghee should be drunk in large quantity because poison by its penetrating property destroys the eye. (xvi) Dhuma (medicated fumigation): Tagar, Kushtha, head of Bhujang snake and shirish flower is mixed with ghee and Dhumaagad is prepared. It is used for medicated fumigation to alleviate all types of poison and swelling due to poisoning. Medicated fumigation of Laksha, Khas, Tejpatra, Guggul, Bhallataka, Arjunpushpa, Sarjarasa, and Shweta aparajita in same quantity helps in destruction of snake, rat, insects, and worms in cloth (Shastri, 1998). Pure ghee, ghee mixed with honey or anti-poisonous drugs added with ghee is given. Also majja, Gomaya rasa, ash or soil mixed with water is given. Properties of poison and properties of ghee are exactly opposite. Hence administration of ghee, immediately after poisoning or animal bite, slows down the spread of poison and we get more time for treatment. This principle is known as Hridayavaran. (xvii) Leha (linctus): Dryness of throat and mouth is common in poisoning. In such condition immediate medication should be administered to avoid the adverse effects of poison. But it should be in a palatable, easily digestible form. So lehya (linctus) are preferred as Anupana and for

Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India  41 this purpose honey and ghee are used separately or in mixed form with medicine as Anupana. (xviii) Oushadha (medicine): All the medicines which are used internally in the treatment of poisoning and its complications can be included under this module, e.g. AjitAgad, Ksharaagad, and Mahagandhahastinamagad. (xix) Prashamana (suppressive drugs and procedure): Complications like Mada, Murcha, Vishada, and Hriddrava are relieved by cold procedure like blowing of air with the help of a fan until poisonous person doesn’t show straightening of body hairs (Shastri, 1998). Kshiri plant like Vat is used to stop excess bloodletting (Shastri, 1988). Hinga and Pippali churna is given with honey and sugar or Kapithaswaras and Lavana is given with honey and sugar to stop complications like jwar, hikka, shwas, kasa, etc. (Shastri, 1998). (xx) Pratisarana (rubbing of medicated powder): If proper blood is not coming through bloodletting, rubbing of fine powders of Sunthi, Maricha, Pippli, Grahadhuma, Haridra, Panchlavana, and Brihatkantkari is done. (xxi) Prativisha (antidotes): In case of inanimate poisoning, in the 7th vega of visha, the person should be bitten by venomous animals. After the biting of venomous animal, he should be given inanimate poison as a part of the treatment (Shastri, 1998). When the effect of poison does not subside by mantra and oushadha chikitsa, then after 5th vega and before 7th vega (Shastri, 1998) Prativisha should be administered. Sthira visha generally possess properties similar with kapha and spreads upward, while Jangama visha possess properties of pitta and spreads downward. Thus two kinds of poison possessing opposite qualities when put together destroy each other; hence patient bitten by venomous animal should be administered poisonous root in the form of internal and external application. Any person who consumed poison should be bitten by snake under supervision of a clever physician. Thus poison is the best antidote to neutralize the effect of poison (Vaidya Lalchandshastri, 1988), (xxii) Sadnyasthapana (resuscitation): In 6th vega of poison Sadnyasthapan medicine, i.e. Gopitta, Haridara, Manjishtha, Maricha, Pimpali in same quantity, is given with water (Shastri, 1998). We can also utilize Teekshna dravya nasya, Upadhana karma, and Siravedha as part of the resuscitation treatment. (xxiii) Lepa (pastes): Gandhahastinamagad is applied for lepa (local application) to destroy the effect of Vishadagdha, Kshata, Leedh, dashta, and peeta visha vega (Shastri, 1998). (xxiv) Mritasanjivana Agad: Sprikka, Plava, Sthouneya, etc., are taken in same quantity and in fine powder form to prepare a pill known as Mritasanjivanaagad. Mritasanjivanaagad is used in all types of

42  Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India poisoning in the form of Nasya, Lepa, Dharana, Dhumagrahan, etc. (Shastri, 1998). Till now the present chapter has highlighted the context of “poison”, how it was used, detected, treated, and even how it was used as a means of crime. Now the author feels the need to highlight some other types of crime which were evidenced in different texts of ancient India.

Crime and justice in ancient India To describe the nature of crime in ancient India, the author has taken recourse to the voluminous document on History of Dharmasastra7 by P. V. Kane, where we get a detailed description about various crimes, punishments, judicial administration, evolution of Indian law, and several other related concepts. In ancient India the term “crime” is defined in a broad sense, which includes the violation of rules and regulations which are enforced by the state and the society. Members of the society tried to maintain the norms and rules of the society and the general pattern of rules was the same in all societies. From the Vedic period we get many references to crimes in the Indian society. Even the Rig Veda8 mentions the degeneration of early religion and morals and recorded the antisocial behaviour on the part of the members of the society. The Rig Veda mentions specifically about the thieves and robbers (R.V.I, 65, 1, IV, p.5, 38). The harmful activities of these antisocial elements are also revealed in the Mahabharata (Mahabharata, XII, p.12, 90). From the early reports it seems that these evil activities affected the society in such a manner that people considered them as major evils and wanted to get rid of them (Apas, 2, 9, 25, Baud, 3, 31, Gaut, 1, 21). Frequent references to theft can be found in contemporary inscriptions also. The Khoh Copper Plate grant of Maharaja Hastin and Jayanatha dated AD 496– 497 referred to two expressions, Coravarjjam and Coradandavarjam, implying the case of thieves (C.I.I., III, p.124). The Jain canonical literature specifically mentioned theft among various crimes, as well as evil elements such as thieves (Amosa), robbers (Lomahara), pickpockets (Granthibheya), and burglars (Takkara) (Uttaradhyayaana Sutra, 9, 28). Information about scientific burglary is described by Sudraka, where he mentions that a standard book on house breaking was in existence during his time and the book was attributed to Karnisuta. He also mentions the various implements required by a thief during his burglary operation. The Caryagitis of Bengal,9 which were mainly composed during the 9th–12th centuries AD, refer to the frequent occurrence of theft, for which doors had to be locked and guards were to be appointed. We get another important reference to robbery in a Chinese example. When Hiuen-Tsang came to visit India during the first half of the 7th century AD, he was attacked by robbers frequently. Even roads were very unsafe, due to both wild animals and robbers (Shaman, 1911). Merchants carried weapons for their selfdefence. Hiuen-Tsang10 also reported in his description that roads were surrounded by forests and people were very much afraid of wild animals and robbers. Like the land routes, water routes were not safe. In his descriptions Hiuen-Tsang described

Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India  43 that passengers were attacked by the pirates for their belongings and ornaments. Like robbery and pick pocketing, forgery was a crime prevalent during that time. Seals and documents were often counterfeit with proficiency. Authentic documents were of immense importance. Forgery occurred when a mortgage, sale, or gift was made by means of a document and by means of witness. To prevent forgery, seals were often affixed to letters and documents. They were tokens of authenticity of documents dispatched along with them. Use of false balance and fabrication of weights and measures were another criminal tendency commonly prevalent among the trading class. Heavy punishment was prescribed for those who fabricated false balances, measures, etc. Manufacturing of counterfeit coins was also a serious offence. Kautilya prescribed severe monetary punishment for manufacturing counterfeit coins. Adulteration was also prevalent and the crime was committed by the trading class. In ancient India, the deceptive nature of merchants was a known feature. Gambling and adultery were considered as the most heinous offences. Bribery and corruption were also not unknown in ancient India. However, lawmakers of ancient India classified a group of crimes under the heading of Sahasa or a crime of violence. But all types of crimes listed under Sahasa, murder deserves special attention. Besides, there were some offences which can be grouped as judicial crimes. False witnessed was always seriously condemned. Defamation of faulty witnesses in courts was considered an offence. When witness summoned in a suit was faulty the opponents were allowed to expose them. But an accuser trying to cast a blemish on faultless witness was liable to punishment. In ancient India, hearsay was not allowed, but a witness in a foreign country can give his evidence in writing before a man learned in the three Vedas and the writing sent by him may be examined in court. As regards the number of witnesses, it is said that this number may be multiple. But a single witness is not accepted, as the facts cannot be collaborated. However, Narada Smrti11 mentions the acceptance of a single witness if it is approved by both the parties. Kautilya also points out that a single witness can be accepted, if the very transaction had taken place in secret. The basic qualities of a witness should be good character, trustworthiness, knowledge of Dharma, and acting up to it. Witness from the same caste is to be prepared, and in cases relating to women a woman can be a witness. Persons having no faith in the Dharma, persons who are very old persons, minors, oil presser, intoxicated person, lunatic, distressed, inattentive, undertaking long journeys, gambler, etc., were never considered for effectual witnesses. False witnesses can be punished for the following reasons: (a) where a witness denies deposing in the court matter, after giving promise to that effect along with other witnesses, (b) if for adverse circumstances, a witness denies to depose, (c) if a witness gives false proof frequently. In all these cases the witness shall be punished with fine and in the last case physical punishment can also be imposed on such a witness. Apart from 18 subject matters of legal proceedings (as classified by Manu), distinction has been made between Artha-Vivada (civil dispute) and Himsra samudbhava Vivada (criminal disputes). Criminal disputes were divided into four subdivisions: (i) Danda Parusya (assault and battery), (ii) Vak-Parusya

44  Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India (defamation), (iii) Sahasa (murder and other violation), and (iv) Strisangrahana (adultery). Generally, a problem arises when a person, being harassed in a way opposing the rules of Smriti and usage, lodges a complaint. The judicial proceedings usually comprise four parts, namely complaint, reply, evidence, and judgement. Similarly, answers can probably be of four kinds, and these are admission, denial, a special plea, relating to a previous judgement. Confirmations may be of three types, namely document, possession, and witness. It is evident that the defendant, against whom the suit is filed, must be called upon to the court. Even other persons connected with the defendant (in the suit) may be summoned. Here Narada Smriti mentions that if persons like soldiers, agriculturists, cowherds, etc., are fully engaged with their work, their representative may be allowed to appear before the court. But in serious matters, those persons are allowed to appear in person before the court, but with proper safeguards. In exceptional cases like murdering women or adultery, as documented by the Mitakashara12 on the Yajanvalkya Smriti, no representative is allowed. In such matters, the concerned must appear before the court. However, defendants were exempted in some acute cases where the offender is a septuagenarian, or in any calamities, or engaged in religious rites, or in king’s duties, or a woman whose family is in bad condition. However if the defendant fails to come before the court, the king should wait for 15–30 days. After that the king passes the judgement in favour of the claimant. But if any unnatural circumstances occur, like invasion by enemy, famine, epidemic, then the king should not fine the defendant for coming to the court. However agents can be allowed to represent on behalf of his disabled master. However, ancient Indian records mention about the system of lawyers. In this regard, Narada, Katyayana, and Brhaspati showed that skilled help was required in court cases. The commentary of Asahaya on the Narada Smrti indicated that those who were well versed in the Smriti literature could afford help for monetary consideration to the parties before appearing in the court. This specialized person was appointed by parties, not by court, and his fee was also fixed. In ancient India, both Artha Shastra and Manu Smriti were considered as the most noteworthy legal treatise. In ancient Indian societies, an independent school of legal practices existed. In case of disagreement between two texts of Smriti, justice according to usage was to be followed. In case of conflict between a text of Smriti associated with the dharma and one relating to artha, the former prevails. The former sets rules regarding the otherworldly, while the latter is more concerned with everyday matters. The legal system in ancient India also includes adverse control and different modes of acquirement. Undesirable possession allowed the possessor if the owner who, even while seeing his property adversely possessed, does not raise any objection. A permanent property vests in the person unfavourably possessing it for 12 years without any objection from the owner, while for the movable, the period was ten years. The suitable modes of attainment of a property were purchase, gift, etc. Generally acquisition, by a valid mode, was stronger proof than possession. Acquisition, without even slight possession, was not valid. A mortgage vests in the mortgagee if it was not exchanged even after the principal amount was doubled.

Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India  45 After the Vedic period, the persistent attitude of Indian culture had been justice and righteousness. Justice was a human expression of a wider universal principle of nature and if a man was entirely true to nature, his actions would be spontaneously just. Men in three major guises experience justice, in the sense of a distributive equity, as moral justice, social justice, and legal justice. Each of these forms of justice is viewed as a specification of the general principle of the universe seen as a total organism. Starting from macro to micro perspective, ancient Indian views on justice are inextricably bound up with a sense of economy. Human institutions of justice – the state, law – participated in overall economy. But the belief remained strong in India through the centuries that nature, itself, is the ultimate and final authority of justice. Ultimately, justice is cosmic justice (Underwood 1978). India has the oldest judiciary in the world. No other judicial system has a more primordial or glorious pedigree. History of Indian judicial system takes us to the grey past when Manu and Brihaspati gave us Dharma Shastras, Narada the Smritis, and Kautilya the Arthasastra. A study of all these treatises revealed that we in ancient India had a fairly well-developed and complicated system of administration of justice. In broad terms there are considerable similarities between the system then in trend and now in force. Here special attempt has been made to enlighten readers of forensic science on how much scientific the detection of the causes of death was, as mentioned in Kautilya’s Arthasastra.

Detection of the causes of death in Kautilya’s Arthasastra Forensic as a scientific tool of crime detection was not used in ancient India. But crime was detected according to scientific perception, observation, and analysis of the situation, which was very much revealed in different ancient medical texts and specifically in Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Kautilya’s Arthasastra is a monumental work written in 400 BC. A wide range of subjects are covered in this treatise. The book contains about 6,000 hymns and is a comprehensive manual on how a state ought to be ruled and administrated by a king and his administration. It is very detailed and systematic in prescribing solutions to the various problems associated with monarchical form of governance. Several of the administrative suggestions prescribed by the author are still relevant and practicable in the modern administrative world. In this treatise, in Ashumritakpariksha the medico-legal aspect of death is described in detail. The major emphasis is to highlight the medico-legal aspect of death. Like today, in ancient time also post-mortem was carrying out as per their method. Now-a-days dead bodies are preserved and examined by different techniques. Post-mortem is done in unnatural death to find out the cause of death. In ancient times, in case of unnatural death, dead bodies were kept in oil so that the body is well preserved. This reference is found in Ramayana also. With reference to this, Kautilya had said that the dead body in case of sudden death should be examined by smearing oil over it (Kautilyam, 2002). Post-mortem examination and post-mortem appearances are described in detail in Kautilya’s Arthasastra as follows:

46  Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India (i) Nirudhochvashatam (strangulation): First he stated examination in case of nirudhochvashatam (strangulation). Any dead person with urine and stool passed out, organs inflated with air, with swollen hands and legs, eyes open and neck marked with ligature may be regarded as nirudhochvashatam (Kautilyam, 2002). Nirudhochvashatam can be correlated with strangulation. Similarities in ancient and modern concept – (a) mark of ligature, (b) eyes open (Kautilya); eyes may be partly open (ApurbaNandy), (c) sphincters get relaxed so incontinence of urine and faeces is seen. Dissimilarities: (a) swelling on hands and legs told by Kautilya and not found in modern science. (ii) Udbandhhatam (hanging): Along with the above signs as told in nirudhochvashatam, contracted arms and thighs indicate death by udbandhhatam (hanging) (Kautilyam, 2002). Udbandhahatamc can be correlated with hanging. Modern science has explained hanging in detail. Similarities with modern science: (a) swelling on hands and legs this is due to post-mortem lividity on dependent parts of body; (b) contracted arms and thighs (Kautilya); hands are clenched (C.K. Parikh); (c) neck marked with ligature. These signs are similar. (iii) Shoolaropitam: Any dead person with swollen hands, legs and belly, with sunken eyes and inflated navel may be regarded as shoolaropitam (Ganapatishastri, 2002). These signs cannot be correlated with any one of the specific mode of death as per modern science. (iv) Udakahatam (drowning): In case of udakahatam (drowning), prolapsed rectum, eyeballs steady and outside the cavity, tongue bitten between the teeth, swollen belly are found (Ganapatishastri, 2002). Udakahatam can be correlated with drowning. Swollen belly is due to collection of water in stomach. Modern science has mentioned the presence of water in the stomach as the main sign of drowning. (v) Kashthairashmibhirvahatam: Dead body wetted with blood and fractured limbs indicates that the person was killed with sticks or ropes (kashthairashmibhirvahatam) (Ganapatishastri, 2002). (vi) Avakshiptam (fall of building): In case of falling of house and other structures over the body, fractures and broken limbs are found (Ibid, 2002). Modern science: In modern science also injuries due to sticks, ropes, and fall of house are described and the post-mortem appearances are same as that of Kautilya. (vii) Vishahatam (poisoning): Any dead person with dark coloured hands, legs, teeth, and nails; loose skin, hairs fallen, flesh reduced, face bedaubed with foam; and saliva may be regarded as having been poisoned (Vishahatam) (Ganapatishastri, 2002). According to modern science: Modern science has cavity, tongue bitten between the teeth, swollen belly as features found during poisoning (Ganapatishastri, 2002). (viii) Sarpkithatam (snake bite or poisonous insect bite): Signs of Vishahatam as well as bleeding with marks of bite indicate death due to snake bite or poisonous insect bite (Sarpkithatam).

Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India  47 (ix) Madanyoghatam: Death may occur due to consumption of narcotic drugs (madanyoghatam). Signs include: body may be disorganized and cloths scattered, and excessive vomiting and purging may be seen. Madanayoga can be correlated with narcotic drugs or madya (alcohol) or it can be considered as madana plant, i.e dhatura or madanaphala. According to modern science the signs found in dhatura are same as those found in alcohol poisoning. Therefore it is evident from the foregoing discussion that how specific and scientific the detection of cause of death was. But towards the end of the 11th century began the downfall of the Hindu rule. Foreign invaders of Turkish race attacked and defeated Hindu rulers. Gradually, old Hindu kingdoms began to disintegrate. Different Hindu states took shape from time to time, varying in number, extent, and in their relations with each other; they were seldom at peace. The neverending dynastic wars and revolutions never brought any development of political institutions. No republics were formed, no free towns were established (Ahmad, 1941). An atmosphere of great mutual distrust was created amongst the contending states, which not only prevented their political unity against the common enemy but also hampered and disintegrated the legal system (Gazetter, 1900). Before concluding this chapter and to visualize the whole gamut of crime, justice, and society in a compressed manner, it is imperative to take a quick glimpse of crime and justice in medieval India. During the medieval period of Indian history, the criminal justice system of India was highly influenced by the Muslim rulers and therefore the period was generally known as the Muslim period.

Medieval period Islamic law or Sharia was followed by all the sultans and Mughal emperors during the Muslim rule in India. Muslim criminal law, which was applied in India, was defined once for all in the Quran,13 as revealed to the Arabian Prophet and his traditional sayings (hadiths). The Muslims followed the principle of equality for men and they had no faith in the graded or sanctified inequality of caste system. Muslim religion places every man on an equal platform before God, overriding distinctions of class, nationality, race, and colour. However, this concept of equality was applicable only to the Muslims. Non-Muslims were prohibited from enjoying all the rights and privileges in Muslim law. They were not treated as equal to Muslims in law and were called zimmis. Their evidence was inadmissible in the courts against Muslims. They had to pay an additional tax called jizya,14 and as regards other normal taxes also they had to pay at double the rate that a Muslim paid. Muslim criminal jurisprudence treated criminal law as a branch of private law rather than of public law and it was a special feature of the Muslim law. The principle governing the law was more in the nature of providing relief to the person injured in civil matters rather than to impose penalty for the offence committed. It was for the private persons to move the state machinery against

48  Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India such offences and the state would not suo moto take cognizance of the same. The main source of Muslim law, i.e. Sharia, is the Quran and sunnah or hadiths, which signify the practices and traditions of the Prophet who is regarded as the best interpreter of the Quran. On all issues where the Quran was silent, the sunnah or hadiths were regarded as the supreme authority. In addition to these the other two sources which developed inescapably in order to meet the needs of expanding Muslim society were the Ijma – consensus of opinion of the learned in the Quran – and Qiyas – analogical reasoning having due regard to the teachings of Mohammad. As the society progressed, owing to the divergent views taken on various provisions of the Quran by eminent Muslim jurists, four well-defined branches or schools of Muslim law were familiar with different sections of the Muslim society. They are the Hanafi school, the Maliki school, the Shafi school, and the Hanbali school. The administration of justice and maintaining and enforcing the criminal code were the primary functions of the king. Contrary to the practice under Hindu law, all crimes were not considered injuries to the state under the Islamic penal law. The offences were classified under three heads, namely (i) crimes against God, (ii) crimes against the state, and (iii) crimes against private individuals. Crimes against God and the state were treated as offences against public morals. Other crimes were treated as offences against the individuals; it was for the private persons to move the state machinery against such offences and the state would not suo moto take cognizance of the same. Offences like murder were considered as offences against individuals but drinking wine was considered a very serious offence against society. Specifically in criminal cases, complaint was presented before the court either personally or through a representative. Each criminal was attached with a public prosecutor known as Mohtasib who instituted the prosecutions against the accused before the court. The court was authorized to call the victim at once and to begin hearing of the cases. The criminal process required a valid allegation made in the presence of the defendant, who could confront his accusers and had the right to question him, interrogate him, and also ask him to take an oath. Ordinarily, the verdict was given in an open court. In extraordinary cases, where either the public trial was against the interest of the state or the victim was dangerously influential, the verdict was not enunciated in the open court. The punishments for different nature of crimes were classified into four broad categories: (a) kisa, i.e. revenge which meant in principle, life for life and limb for limb; (b) diya meant blood money being awarded to the victim or his heirs; (c) hadd was inflicted on persons who performed offences against God; (d) tazeer, i.e. penalty for the cases not falling under hadd and kisa. The chastisement which fell in this category includes imprisonment, corporal punishments, and any other shameful treatment. The nature and amount of penalty to be enforced was entirely within the discretion of the judge. In criminal cases, a great deal of diplomacy was allowed to them and they took a variety of issues into consideration in awarding punishment. The nature of punishments was very cruel. Disfigurement of the body was one of the types of punishment which resulted in great suffering and slow death. A special characteristic of the punishments was that of diya, i.e.

Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India  49 blood money. This applied to cases of certain offences, including those falling under kisa. Blood money was rewarded to the victim or the heirs of the victim in a fixed scale. Another special feature of the Muslim criminal law was that the death sentence was required to be implemented by the heirs of the deceased. Complainants were represented before the courts by professional legal experts. They were known as Vakils. The legal profession thrived during the Muslim period. The lawyers played a crucial role in the administration of justice. Two Muslim Indian codes, namely Fiqh-e-Firoz Shahi and Fatwa-e-Alamgiri, clearly stated the duties of a Vakil. Ibn Batuta, who was a judge during the sovereignty of Mohmmad Tughluq, mentioned about Vakils in his book. Vakils were appointed to support poor litigants by giving them free legal advice. A Vakil had a right of audience in the court. It was expected that the Vakil should preserve high standard of legal learning and behaviour. The emperor appointed both the chief justice and other judges of higher rank. But an eminent lawyer can appoint the chief justice and other judges. Similarly, lawyers can appoint provincial and district Qazis. As a rule practising lawyers in the courts can select a Qazi. Lapses on the part of government officers were systematically examined, if necessary, through commissions of inquiry. Corrupt judicial officers were penalized and discharged. Every probable attempt was made to keep up the high standard of the judiciary. From the discussion, it is seen that during the Muslim rule in India the criminal justice system marked a significant change from that of the Hindu period. Special emphasis was given to the constitution and working of different courts. In this chapter the author has tried to portray the nature of crime and the criminal justice system that prevailed in the Indian subcontinent. In the forthcoming chapter an attempt has been made to discuss the concept of crime and crime detection in the Western world. It is expected that this type of arrangement will not only provide a composite picture of crime detection in different parts of the world but also help in understanding the development of forensic science in a comprehensive manner.

Notes 1 Ayurveda – Ayurveda is the ancient medical heritage of India, an ancient health care tradition that has been practised in India for at least 5,000 years. The term ayur means life and veda means knowledge. Though Ayurveda, or Ayurvedic medicine, was documented in the sacred historical texts known as the Vedas many centuries ago, it has evolved over the years and is now integrated with other traditional practices, including yoga. 2 Kashyapa school of toxicology – Kashyapa was a revered Vedic sage of Hinduism. He is one of the Saptarishis, the seven ancient sages of the Rigveda, as well as numerous other Sanskrit texts and Indian mythologies. Toxicology, a specific branch of Ashtanga Ayurveda, mainly deals with the science of poisons, and this school of toxicology, which was founded and ran by Kashyapa. The students of the Kashyapa school of toxicology later became royal vaidyas (doctors) in various kingdoms and were meant to protect the members of the royal families from being poisoned.  3 Agada tantra – Agada tantra or toxicology is a branch of Ashtanga Ayurveda, which includes the science of poisons. The tradition of agada tantra practice is very ancient.

50  Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India This branch of Ayurveda is also known as Visha chikitsa, and deals with various methods of cleaning the poisons out of the body as well as recommends antidotes for particular poisons. This branch also deals with air and water pollution, which are basically the cause of various dangerous epidemics. 4 Chandragupta – Chandragupta was a king of the Gupta dynasty. The tenure of his regime was from AD c.380–c.415. He was also renamed as Vikramaditya – the sun of valour. He conquered Malwa, Gujarat, and parts of Bengal. To control western India he established matrimonial relations with the Vakataka and the Nagas. He moved his capital to Ujjain, which also became an important trade centre. Besides being a great conqueror, he was also a great patron of art and literature. 5 Babur – Zahir-Ud-din Muhammad Babur was the founder of the Mughal rule in India. He was a descendant of the powerful Mongol conquerors, Timur and Genghis Khan. He was born in 1483 CR in Farghana in Central Asia. At the age of 11 he came to rule his kingdom but he was prohibited by his cousins. In course of time he became the ruler and conquered Kabul in Afghanistan. Babur was also a famous military genius and skilful warrior. 6 Post-mortem examination – Post-mortem examination is also known as autopsy. This examination mainly deals with dissection and examination of a dead body and its organs and structures. An autopsy may be performed to determine the cause of death, to observe the effects of disease, and to establish the evolution and mechanisms of disease processes. The first legal autopsy was investigated to determine presence of “fault”, and is said to have been one requested by a magistrate in Bologna in 1302. 7 Dharmashastra – The Dharmashastras are the ancient law books of Hindus, which prescribe moral laws and principles for religious duty and righteous conduct for the followers of the faith. They also formed the guidelines for their social and religious code of conduct Hindus in the past, where Hindu rulers enforced the laws as part of their religious duty. Dharmashastras emphasized the social and religious conditions of ancient India, family life, gender and caste based distinctions, and principles of ancient jurisprudence.  8 Rig Veda – The Rig Veda is the earliest of the four Vedas and one of the most important texts of the Hindu tradition. It is a large collection of hymns in praise of the gods, which are chanted in various rituals. They were composed in an archaic language named Vedic that gradually evolved into classical Sanskrit. The Rig Veda consists of 1,028 hymns, organized into ten books known as mandalas. The philological and linguistic evidence indicates that the Rig Veda is one of the oldest existing texts in any Indo-European language and that probably originated from the region of present day Pakistan, between 1500 and 1200 BC. 9 Charyagitis of Bengal – Music has been in practice in Bangladesh region from very ancient times. Two very basic genres of music were classical music and regional music having closely linked with indigenous traits. The Charyacharyavinishcha, generally referred to as “charyagiti”, were composed by Buddhist monks or saints between the 7th and 12th centuries. The charyagitis were sung in a number of ragas and raginis. The charyagitis are mainly devotional songs of Buddhist Sahajiyas and spread in Bengal during the reign of the Pala kings. 10 Hiuen-Tsang – Hiuen-Tsang was the most famous Chinese Buddhist pilgrim and traveller in India and a translator of Buddhist texts. He was a Chinese Buddhist monk who came to India during the rule of Harshvardhan and studied at Nalanda. From his accounts, it can be said that the Nalanda University was a great centre of education and was famous even in far-off countries. 11 Narada Smriti – The Narada Smriti is a part of the Dharmasastras and work ascribed to divine sage Narada and deals exclusively with procedural and substantive law. The

Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India  51 text is purely juridical in character and focuses on procedural and substantive law. It has become a touchstone for Hindu and Indian rulers, including the British Raj. 12 Mitakshara – Mitakshara is a legal commentary in Yajnavalka Smriti centring on inheritance by birth. It was written by Vijnanesvara during the reign of Vikramarka, a Chalukya ruler of the 11th century AD. Mitakshara prevailed all over India, except in Bengal and Assam. Mitakshara was certainly not a law made by the Parliament. It was accepted as an authoritative text on Hindu law not due to promulgation by any sovereign authority such as the King or Parliament but due to its tremendous scholarship, logical analysis, and the sheer force of intellect of its author. 13 Quran – The Quran, also spelled as Koran, is the religious scripture of Islam. Muslims believe that it is a revelation from God. Islamic religious belief demonstrates that it was revealed by the angel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad in the West Arabian towns Mecca and Medina in AD 610–632. The Quran is thought by Muslims to be not simply divinely inspired but the literal word of God. 14 Jizya – Jizya is a kind tax levied by the Muslim rulers on certain permanent nonMuslim residents of the Muslim territory under Islamic law for their protection. The tax was fixed by understanding the payment level of the people. The poor won’t pay the same tax as the rich. In India, Islamic ruler Qutb-ud-din Aibak imposed Jizya on non-Muslims for the first time, which was called kharaj-o-jizya. Jizya was abolished by the Mughal ruler Akbar in the 16th century but was re-introduced by Aurangzeb in the 17th century.

Bibliography Articles Aiyar, N. Subramanya. “Certain Facts Regarding the Poison-Lore of the Hindus”. International Medical Group, 31 (1896): 6. Agnivesh, C. R. Toxicology – Ayurvedic Perspective. Kottakal: AGADA, 2002, p. 23. Babur, Zahir Uddin Muhammad. “Babur Nama”. Journal of Emperor Babur, 1 (2006): 285–88. Jaiswal, S. Yogini, and Leonard L. Williams. “A Glimpse of Ayurveda – The Forgotten History and Principles of Indian Traditional Medicine”. Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine, 7, 1 (2017): 50–53. Murthy, Vaidya A. R. “Dhanwantari – The God of Hindu Medicine”. Bulletin of the Indian Institute of History of Medicine, XXVII, 1 (1997): 1–14. Rao, Satyanarayana Rangaswamy Manchanahalli. “The History of Medicine in India and Burma”. Medical History, 12 (1968): 52–61. Underwood, B. Frederic. “Aspects of Justice in Ancient India”. Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 5 (1978): 271–285.

Books Aggarwal, Anil. “History of Toxicology”. In Encyclopedia of Forensic and Legal Medicine, Vol. 2, edited by J. Payne James, R. W. Byard and T. S. Corey, 525–38. London: Elseveir Academic Press, 2005. Ahmad, Basir Muhammad. The Adminstration of Justice in Medieval India 1206-1750 A.D. Aligarh University, Aligarh: The Aligarh Historical Research Institute, 1941, p.102.

52  Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India Bernier, François. Travels in the Mughal Empire, A.D. 1656–1668. Westminster: Archibald Constable, 1891, p. 105–07. Bhishagratna, Kaviraj Kunjalal. The Susruta Samhita. Calcutta: Wilkins Press, 1907, p. 28,35,47. Chatterjee, Bankim Chandra. The Poison Tree: A Tale of Hindu Life in Bengal. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1884, p. 191–92. Chopra, N. R., Badhwar, R. L., and S. Ghosh. Poisonous Plants of India. New Delhi: Indian Council of Agricultural Research, 1965, 2, p. 811–12. Doniger, Wendy. The Hindus: An Alternative History. New York: Penguin, 2009, p. 478. Dutta, Kaviraj Ambika. Sushruta Samhita of Maharshi Sushrut; Part-I, 14th edition, Kalpastahana 5/12, Sarpadashtavishachikitsaadhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Sanskrita Sansthana, 2003, p. 46. Dwight, Whitney Wiliam, and C. R. Lanman. Atharva-Veda-Samhita - 1 & 2 (Harvard Oriental Series). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 2011, p. 11. Elliot, Miers Hyers, and John Dowson. The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians: The Muhammadan Period, Vol. II. London: Trübner, 1869, p. 522–23. Gandhi, Karamchand Mohandas. Address to Workers, Patna, 24 April 1947. Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi 87. New Delhi: Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 1983, p. 349. Gandhi, Karamchand Mohandas. Gandhi’s Speeches and Writings. Madras: G. A. Natesan, 1963, p. 657. Gandhi, Karamchand Mohandas. “Hind Swaraj1909”. In M. K. Gandhi: Hind Swaraj and Other Writings, edited by Anthony J. Parel, 108. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Gandhi, Karamchand Mohandas. Speech at Madras. 14 February 1916. Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi 13. New Delhi: Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 1964, p. 223. Griffith, Ralph Thomas. Explanatory Notes and Review. London: Christian Literature Society for India, 1897, p. 3–8. Henry, Yule and A. C. Burnell. Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-India Words and Phrases, 2nd ed. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985, p. 953–59. Ions, Veronica. Indian Mythology. London: Newnes, 1983, p. 43. Jackson, Peter. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999, p. 77, 176. Karmakar, R. N. Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, I &II, Kolkata: Academic Publishers, 1981, p. 5–17. Kautliyam Arthashastra, Vol 2. with Shreemoolakhya commentary, T. GanpatiShastri, R.S.S. New Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass Publishers, 2002, p. 149–152. Krishnamurthy, R. Introduction to Forensic Science in Crime Investigation. Delhi: Selective and Scientific Books, 2011, pp. 3–17. Kumar, Surendra. Manu Smriti. Delhi: Arsh Sahitya Prachar Trust, 2017, p. 6–7. Maskiell, Michelle, and Adrienne Mayor, “Killer Khilats, Part 1: Legends of Poisoned Robes of Honour in India”. Folklore, 112 (2001): 23–45. Mishra, B. S. Bhavaprakasha of Bhavamishra with Hindi Commentry. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Sansthan, 1980, Bh​.pra​.ut​.73​​/01. Murthy, K. R. Srikantha, Ed. Astanga Hridaya of Vagbhata, Uttarasthana 35/38. 6th edition. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Krishnadas Academy, 2012, p. 334.

Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India  53 Murthy, K. R. Srikantha, Ed. Susruta Samhita, Kalpasthana 2/53−55. Reprint. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Orientalia, 2012, p. 427. Namburi, U. R. Sekhar. Text Book of Agada Tantra. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Bhawan, 2006, p. 3–19. Raneesh, S. “A Conceptual Note on the Understanding and Significance of Agadatantra in Ayurveda”. Ayurpham International Journal of Ayurveda and Allied sciences, 1, 7 (2012): 144–50. Roche, Daniel. A History of Everyday Things: The Birth of Consumption in France, 1600 – 1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, p. 1–7. Shaman, Hwui Li. Life of Hiuen-tsang. London: Oxford University Press, 1911, p. 73. Shamasastry, Rudrapatna. Translated Kautilya’s Arthashastra: Book IV, The Removal of Thorns, Chapter-VII – Examination of Sudden Death. Bangalore: Government Press, 1915, p. 253–296. Sharma, Acharya Priyavat. Ayurved ka Vaigyanik Itihas. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Orientalia, 2001, p. 21, 367. Sharma, Priyavat, Ed. Charaka Samhita, Chikitsasthana 23/28–30. 8th edition. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Orientalia, 2007, p. 345. Shastri, Kaviraj Ambikadutta. Sushruta Samhita of Maharshi Sushrut; Part-I, 14th edition, Kalpastahana 5/14-15, Sarpadashtavishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Sanskrita Sansthana, 2003, p. 47. Shastri, Kaviraj Ambikadutta. Sushruta Samhita of Maharshi Sushrut; Part-I, 14th edition, Kalpastahana 5/16, Sarpadashtavishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Sanskrita Sansthana, 2003, p. 47. Shastri, Kaviraj Ambikadutta. Sushruta Samhita of Maharshi Sushrut; Part-I, 14th edition, Kalpastahana5/30, Sarpadashtavishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Sanskrita Sansthana, 2003, p. 48. Shastri, Kaviraj Ambikadutta. Sushruta Samhita of Maharshi Sushrut; Part-I, 14th edition, Kalpastahana 5/36, Sarpadashtavisha chikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Sanskrita Sansthana, 2003, p. 49. Shastri, Kaviraj Ambikadutta. Sushruta Samhita of MaharshiSushrut; Part-I, 14th edition, Kalpastahana 5/39, Sarpadashtavishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi : Chaukhamba Sanskrita Sansthana, 2003, p. 49. Shastri, Kaviraj Ambikadutta. Sushruta Samhita of Maharshi Sushrut; Part-I, 14th edition, Kalpastahana 5/40, Sarpadashtavishachikitsaadhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Sanskrita Sansthana, 2003, p. 49. Shastri, Pandit K., and G. Chaturvedi. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha; Reprint edition, Chikitsasthana 23/40-41, Vishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Bharati Academy, 1998, p. 632. Shastri, Pandit K., and G. Chaturvedi. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha; Reprint edition, Chikitsasthana 23/42, Vishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Bharati Academy, 1998, p. 632. Shastri, Pandit K., and G. Chaturvedi. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha; Reprint edition, Chikitsasthana 23/43, Vishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Bharati Academy, 1998, p. 632. Shastri, Pandit K., and G. Chaturvedi. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha; Reprint edition, Chikitsasthana 23/44, Vishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Bharati Academy, 1998, p. 633.

54  Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India Shastri, Pandit K., and G. Chaturvedi. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha; Reprint edition, Chikitsasthana 23/45, Vishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Bharati Academy, 1998, p. 633. Shastri, Pandit K., and G. Chaturvedi. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha; Reprint edition, Chikitsasthana 23/46-47, Vishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Bharati Academy, 1998, p. 633. Shastri, Pandit K., and G. Chaturvedi. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha; Reprint edition, Chikitsasthana 23/49-50, Vishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Bharati Academy, 1998, p. 633–634. Shastri, Pandit K., and G. Chaturvedi. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha; Reprint edition, Chikitsasthana 23/50, Vishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Bharati Academy, 1998, p. 634. Shastri, Pandit K., and G. Chaturvedi. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha; Reprint edition, Chikitsasthana 23/54-60, Vishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Bharati Academy, 1998, p. 634. Shastri, Pandit K., and G. Chaturvedi. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha; Reprint edition, Chikitsasthana 23/61, Vishachikitsa adhyaya. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Bharati Academy, 1998, p. 635. Shastri, Pandit K., and G. Chaturvedi. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha; Reprint edition, Chikitsasthana 23/65-66, Vishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Bharati Academy, 1998, p. 636. Shastri, Pandit K., and G. Chaturvedi. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha; Reprint edition, Chikitsasthana 23/68, Vishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Bharati Academy, 1998, p. 636. Shastri, Pandit K., and G. Chaturvedi. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha; Reprint edition, Chikitsasthana 23/69, Vishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Bharati Academy, 1998, p. 637. Shastri, Pandit K., and G. Chaturvedi. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha; Reprint edition, Chikitsasthana 23/74, Vishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Bharati Academy, 1998, p. 637. Shastri, Pandit K., and G. Chaturvedi. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha; Reprint edition, Chikitsasthana 23/96, Vishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Bharati Academy, 1998, p. 640. Shastri, Pandit K., and G. Chaturvedi. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha; Reprint edition, Chikitsasthana 23/99-100, Vishachikitsa adhyay. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Bharati Academy, 1998, p. 640. Shastri, R. V. Manusmr ti: Bhāratīya ācāra-saṃhitā kā viśvakośa, Śāśvata. New Delhi: Sāhitya Prakāśana, 1997, p. 5. Shyam Sundar, K. M. Treatment for Poisons in Traditional Medicine. Madras: Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems, 1996, p. 3. Siegal, Lee. Sacred and Profane Dimensions of Love in Indian Traditions as Exemplified in the Gitagovinda of Jayadeva. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1978, p. 130–31. Smith, S. “Poisons and Poisoners through the Ages”. Medicolegal Journal, 20 (1952): 153–167. Srivastava, U. Encyclopedia of Indian Medicine, Vol. 3. New Delhi: D.P.S. Publishing House, 2011, p. 27. Susruta, Sushrutasamhita, Ed. Acharya Yadavji Trikamji. Kalpastahna 3/21. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Surbharati, 1987, p. 76.

Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India  55 Tarkavachaspati, Taranatha. Vachaspatyam. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Office, 2002, Khanda 6, p. 4926. The Atharva-Veda Described: With a Classified Selection of Hymns. The Gazetteer, op. cit., Vol. IV, p. 380 (quoting Mayne J.D.—Hindu Law and Usage). Madras, 1900, p. 7–8. Tod, James. Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, 3 vols. London: Oxford University Press, 1920. Tripathi, Brahmanand. Ashtanghridaya of Srimadvagbhata; Reprint edition, Uttarsthana 35/38 & 35/55, Vishapratishedha adhyay. Delhi: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Pratishthan, 2009, p. 1148, 1150. Tripathi, Brahmanand. Ashtanghridaya of Srimadvagbhata; Reprint edition, Uttarsthana 35/38, Vishapratishedha adhyay. Delhi: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Pratishthan, 2009, p. 1148. Tripathi, Brahmanand. Ashtanghridaya of Srimadvagbhata; Reprint edition, Uttarsthana 36/75-76, Sarpavishapratishedha adhyay. Delhi: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Pratishthan, 2009, p. 1162. Tripathi, Brahmanand. Ashtanghridaya of Srimadvagbhata; Reprint edition, Uttarsthana 36/79, Sarpavishapratishedhaadhyay. Delhi: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Pratishthan, 2009, p. 1162 Trumpp, Ernest, Ed. The Adi Granth, or the Holy Scriptures of the Sikhs. London: William Allen, 1877, p. 53, 59, 106, 129. Vaidya Shastri, Pt. Lalchand. Ashtangasangraha; 1st edition, Uttarsthana 42/5-7, Sarpavishapratishedh Adhyay. Nagpur: Shree Baidyanath Ayurved Bhavan Private Ltd, 1988, p. 676. Vaidya Shastri, Pt. Lalchand. Ashtangasangraha; 1st edition, Uttarsthana 42/8-9, Sarpavishapratishedh adhyay. Nagpur: Shree Baidyanath Ayurved Bhavan Private Ltd, 1988, p. 676. Vaidya Shastri, Pt. Lalchand. Ashtangasangraha; 1st edition, Uttarsthana 42/9-10, Sarpavishapratishedh adhyay. Nagpur: Shree Baidyanath Ayurved Bhavan Private Ltd, 1988, p. 676. Vaidya Shastri, Pt. Lalchand. Ashtangasangraha; 1st edition, Uttarsthana 42/11, Sarpavishapratishedh adhyay. Nagpur: Shree Baidyanath Ayurved Bhavan Private Ltd, 1988, p. 676. Vaidya Shastri, Pt. Lalchand. Ashtangasangraha; 1st edition, Uttarsthana 42/13-14, Sarpavishapratishedh adhyay. Nagpur: Shree Baidyanath Ayurved Bhavan Private Ltd, 1988, p. 678. Vaidya Shastri, Pt. Lalchand. Ashtangasangraha; 1st edition, Uttarsthana 42/19-20, Sarpavishapratishedh adhyay. Nagpur: Shree Baidyanath Ayurved Bhavan Private Ltd, 1988, p. 679–680. Vaidya Shastri, Pt. Lalchand. Ashtangasangraha; 1st edition, Uttarsthana 42/48-49, Sarpavishapratishedh adhyay. Nagpur: Shree Baidyanath Ayurved Bhavan Private Ltd, 1988, p. 684–685. Vaidya Shastri, Pt. Lalchand. Ashtangasangraha; 1st edition, Uttarsthana 42/50-51, Sarpavishapratishedh adhyay. Nagpur: Shree Baidyanath Ayurved Bhavan Private Ltd, 1988, p. 685. Vaidya Shastri, Pt. Lalchand. Ashtangasangraha; 1st edition, Uttarsthana 42/66-67, Sarpavishapratishedh adhyay. Nagpur: Shree Baidyanath Ayurved Bhavan Private Ltd, 1988, p. 687.

56  Visha, crime, and punishment in ancient India Vaidya Shastri, Pt. Lalchand. Ashtangasangraha; 1st edition, Uttarsthana 48/1-5, Vishopyogi adhyay. Nagpur: Shree Baidyanath Ayurved Bhavan Private Ltd, 1988, p. 785. Vidyalankar, Acharya Atridev. Ayurved ka Brihat Itihas. Uttar Pradesh: Hindu Samiti, 1976, p. 76. Vidyalankar, Acharya Atridev. Ayurved ka Brihat Itihas. Uttar Pradesh: Hindu Samiti, 1976, p. 79. Vidyalankar, Acharya Atridev. Ayurved ka Brihat Itihas. Uttar Pradesh: Hindu Samiti, 1976, p. 112. Vidyalankar, Acharya Atridev. Ayurved ka Brihat Itihas. Uttar Pradesh: Hindu Samiti, 1976, p. 123. Waddell, L. A. Lyon’s Medical Jurisprudence for India, 5th edition. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink, 1914, p. 414.

2

Crime and crime detection in the Western world

While discussing the history and development of forensic science in British India, why is it necessary to understand the emergence of forensic science in the Western world? This in-depth question made me realize the importance of understanding the scientificity of this splendid science in a more comprehensive manner.

Evolution of criminal investigation and forensic science in the West “Forensic science” has been defined as the application of scientific or technical practices for the recognition, collection, analysis, and interpretation of evidence for criminal and civil law or regulatory issues (National Commission on Forensic Science, 2015). Forensic science encompasses a broad range of disciplines, each with its own set of technologies and practices. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) divides these disciplines into 12 categories: general toxicology; firearms and tool marks; questioned documents; trace evidence (such as hair and fibre analysis); controlled substances; biological/serology screening (including DNA analysis); fire debris/arson analysis; impression evidence; blood pattern evidence; crime scene investigation; medico-legal death investigation; and digital evidence (National Institute of Justice, 2006). Historical records reveal that forensic science has been used primarily in two stages of the criminal justice process: (1) to find out the victim of a crime and (2) to put the defendant on trial and convict the defendant beyond a rational uncertainty. In recent years, forensic science, particularly DNA analysis, has also come into the limelight for challenging past convictions. Importantly, the investigative and prosecutorial phases involve different standards for the use of forensic science and other detection tools. Thus examinations and information may come from both well-established science and investigative approaches. In the trial stage, forensic science must meet a higher standard. In this regard, the Federal Rules of Evidence require that expert testimony be based, among other things, on “reliable principles and methods” that have been “reliably applied” to the facts of the case (Fed.R.Evid.702). The Supreme Court has stated that judges must determine “whether the reasoning or methodology underlying the testimony is scientifically valid” (Dabert and Merrell, 1993). This is the zone

58  Crime and crime detection in the West where legal standards meet scientific standards. Judges’ decisions about the admissibility of scientific evidence depend solely on legal standards; they are exclusively the province of the courts. However, an overlapping subject of the judges’ investigation is scientific legality. It is the responsibility of the scientific community to provide direction with regard to scientific legality by using scientific principles. The process of intersection among legal and scientific standards is timely because it has become gradually clear in recent years that a lack of rigour in the assessment of the scientific validity of forensic evidence is not just a hypothetical problem but a real and significant drawback in the judicial system. Keeping this background in mind, the author tried to focus on a broader spectrum of the historical development of forensic science in various Western countries of the world. The Western history in this regard is quite impressive and has a distinct chronological order. We may now discuss briefly the landmarks of the beginning of forensic science in the West from the primitive era. The earliest roots of forensic science as we know it can be found in ancient Greek and Roman society. Throughout history, when we try to understand the historical origin of human society, it has been found that both science and law developed side by side with the development of society. In the written records of early societies like Egypt, Sumer, Babylon, India, and China, dating back to 4000–3000 BC, we not only come to know about their early habitat, society, and social life but also the different problems related to law and medicine. Chinese materia medica,1 dated to 3000 BC, provides information about the use of poison. We are also able to know that the oldest code of law written by Hammurabi2 – king of Babylon from 1792 BC to 1750 BC – dealt with the practice of medicine, civil and criminal responsibility, the liability of the medical practitioner, criminal malpractice, etc. Imhotep, the Grand Vizir, Chief Justice and Chief Physician to King Zoser of Egypt, was the first medico-legal expert. In ancient Egypt, the practice of medicine was subject to legal provisions. In about 300 BC, the Rabbis of Rabbinical Court, responsible for implementing the Jewish Law, sought the aid of medical experts in the administration of justice. In course of time, both Greek and Roman medical men worked together on the expansion of forensic medicine. The clay tablets of ancient Babylon ignited the lamp of forensic science in 2300 BC, exhibiting forensic information from the finger and palm prints on them which were used to legitimate business transaction of export/import. Picture writing of hand with ridge patterns on cliff in Nova Scotia,3 tablets recording business transactions in Babylon to clay seals of ancient Chinese origin, were found. The use of fingerprint in ancient civilizations, such as Indus Valley civilization and Egyptian civilization, apparently reflects that the sustenance of business life had been dependent to a great extent on identification through forensics and a legal value had been imbedded to such usage. Evidence of fingerprint was also viewed on the walls of Egyptian tombs and on Minoan, Greek, and Chinese pottery, and also on bricks and tiles from ancient Babylon and Rome. References from the age of the Babylonian king Hammurabi indicate that law officials used to take the fingerprints of people who had been arrested.

Crime and crime detection in the West  59 History considers Archimedes (287–212 BC), the man behind the exclamation “Eureka”, the father of forensic science. He was excited with joy when he observed that a crown was not made of gold (as it was falsely claimed) by studying its density and buoyancy. Chinese records indicated that, during China’s Qin Dynasty4 (221–206  BC), officials took handprints, footprints as well as fingerprints as evidence from crime scenes. Pliny, the Elder, AD 23–79, dealt in his treatise with suspended animation, sudden and natural earths, suicide, etc. Justinean Code5 (AD 529–564) prescribed the regulation of medical practice and the imposition of penalties for malpractice. In China, around AD 300, handprints were treated as testimonial evidence in trials for theft. In AD 650, the Chinese historian Kia Kung-Yen expounded that fingerprints could be used as an instrument of authentication (in Persian: Gavaahi-e Sanad). After the initiation of silk and paper in China, when any legal deeds were made between two persons, they could give their handprints on the document. By AD 702, Japan had embraced the Chinese practice of sealing contracts with fingerprints. For instance, we may consider the historical canvas of world’s most famous pharaoh, the boy king Tutankhamun, whose death had mystified the world till recently. He was just 19 years old at the time of his death, in 1323 BC. Another event that was a turning point in history was the assassination of Julius Caesar. There were 23 brutal stabbing wounds on the lifeless body of Caesar; each associate of Caesar could be identified as being responsible for one or more wounds. A post-mortem was performed secretly by his physician to determine the fatal wound. His physician was able to find that among the 23 wounds suffered by Caesar at the hands of his friends, followers, supporters, and associates, only one was fatal. The person who inflicted that fatal stab on Caesar has gone down in history as the “murderer of Caesar”. Forensics delivers unknown pieces of knowledge from known facts. The derivation of the fact is made possible by a methodology known in the later days as “forensic science” or “forensics”. The first instance of forensic application leading to a full-fledged crime scene investigation was recorded in a Chinese book titled Hsi Duan Yu6 (The Washing Away of Wrongs), by the writer Song Ci (Sung Tzu), in AD 1248. The crime scene investigation was performed by studying the nature of the wound, matching a weapon to the type of the wound, and the application of medical knowledge. The 14th-century Persian book Jaamehol-Tawarikh (Universal History), attributed to Khajeh Rashiduddin Fazlollah Hamadani (1247–1318), included procedural remarks on the practice of human identification from fingerprints. In China, in the 13th century, a manual was prescribed for the examination of injuries caused by different weapons, and investigation of death from asphyxia and other causes. Inquest was made obligatory in cases of sudden death. In 1609, a French army surgeon, Ambroise Paré, studied the effects of violent death on internal organs and documented the pathological reports. Similar efforts were made by two Italian surgeons, Fortunato Fidelis and Paolo Zacchia. They reported the changes in anatomical structure after the onset of a disease. In 1684, Dr. Nehemiah Grew published a research paper on friction ridge skin observations in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.

60  Crime and crime detection in the West Dutch anatomist Govard Bidloo’s 1685 book Anatomy of the Human Body also described friction ridge skin details. Marcello Malpighi, an anatomy professor at the University of Bologna, observed and recorded fingerprint ridges, spirals, and loops in his treatise in 1686. His study was honoured by naming a layer of skin after his name, as “Malphigi layer”.7 The first record of physical matching, leading to the successful murder conviction of John Toms in England, was reported in 1784. A number of developments in forensic science took place in the 18th century in England, France, Italy, and other European countries. In the early part of the 19th century, Mathieu Orfila, the father of modern toxicology, established methods of scientific chemical analysis of poisons in Paris which are in use even today. Systematic photography for criminal identification began for the first time in 1854–1859 in San Francisco in the United States. In 1863, Professor Paul-Jean Coulier of Val-de-Grâce in Paris observed that fingerprints could also be enlarged on paper by iodine fuming. He also devised a process for preserving or fixing such developed impressions and predicted the potential for identifying suspects’ fingerprints by matching the two with the help of a magnifying glass. After observing the fingerprint impression on prehistoric pottery, Dr. Henry Faulds, the British Surgeon-Superintendent of Tsukiji Hospital in Tokyo, Japan, started his scientific research on “skin furrows” in 1870. However, a scientific system of personal identification was first invented by Alphonse Bertillon of France. To distinguish one individual from another, he developed anthropometry, a systemic procedure of taking a series of body measurements in 1879. With the discovery of photography, he was the first to utilize it in criminal investigation. In 1818, he began to take standard pictures of all French criminals and file them in the Bureau of Identification in Paris. This new scientific invention recognized him as the father of criminal investigation. To prevent forgery, Gilbert Thompson of the U.S. Geological Survey in New Mexico used his own thumb print on a document in 1882. This is the first-known use of fingerprints as signature authentication in the United States. Along with identification, authentication added another legal dimension. In 1883, Mark Twain8 (Samuel L. Clemens) published Life on the Mississippi, in which a murderer is captured by the use of fingerprint identification. In a later book, Pudd’nhead Wilson and Those Extraordinary Twins, there is a dramatic court trial on fingerprint identification. Sir Francis Galton, a British anthropologist, scientist, and cousin of Charles Darwin, began his observations of fingerprints as a means of identification in the 1880s. He assisted in the process of legal acceptance of fingerprinting as court evidence. In his book Fingerprints, he elucidated the types of fingerprint patterns and classified them into eight broad categories that ultimately culminated in fingerprint nomenclature and also established the individuality and permanence of fingerprints. For matching the classes of fingerprints with human nature, the system later on became the base for the study of prediction. This system was improved upon by London Police Commissioner Sir Edward R Henry.9 The Coroner’s Act, passed in 1884, specified a coroner’s role in determining the cause of sudden, violent, and unnatural death. Mark Twain’s famous novel Pudd’nhead Wilson, published in 1894,

Crime and crime detection in the West  61 defines a coroner’s role as presented by coroner’s jury. In the same year, French physician Fodéré published A Treatise on Forensic Medicine and Public Health. German medical expert Johann Peter Frank published The Complete System of Police Medicine. Juan Vucetich, an anthropologist and police official, documented a workable system of fingerprint identification, named dactyloscopy, in 1892. Even before the invention of dactyloscopy, the Bertillon system of identification was developed by French criminologist Alphonse Bertillon in 1888 and adopted in Chicago in the United States. Using measurements of parts of the body, Alphonse Bertillon, a clerk in the Prefecture of Police of Paris, devised a system of classification, known as the Bertillon system. The system was fully developed into anthropometry,10 which connects the measures of physical features and dimensions of certain bones that remain unchanged in an adult. From 1888, he used anthropometry as the primary means of identification. Later he included fingerprints as a tool for identification. The Scheffer case of 1902 was the first case investigated using the Bertillon system of identification, which led to the arrest and conviction of the murderer based on fingerprint evidence found on a fractured glass showcase after a theft in a dentist’s apartment, where the dentist’s employee was found dead. Also, it had been proven that the fingerprints had been made after the showcase was broken. One year later, Bertillon developed a method of obtaining fingerprints off smooth surfaces and took a further step in the advancement of dactyloscopy. In 1901 Karl Landsteiner11 categorized blood into three groups. Inspired by Landsteiner, Dr. Leone Lattes of Italy worked out a comparatively uncomplicated process for determining the blood group of desiccated bloodstains which was accepted without any delay for criminal investigation. In 1910, under Edmond Locard, a police laboratory was established in Lyons. Sometime later, he founded the Institute of Criminalistics at the University of Lyons. The famous principle of exchange, which forms the foundation of forensic examination of physical evidence, was promulgated by him. In the 20th century, there was no stopping the forensic timeline. It was the time when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) became popular. The FBI initiated its Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) with the first computerized scans. During the post–World War I period, Locard’s success in the application of scientific methods in criminal investigation served as an impetus for the formation of police laboratories in Berlin, Vienna, Sweden, Finland, and Holland. This was followed by the formation of a forensic laboratory in Los Angeles Police Department in the United States in 1923. In 1932, the FBI organized a national laboratory, which offered forensic services to all the law enforcement agencies in the United States by establishing Metropolitan Forensic Sciences Laboratory at Scotland Yard in 1935. Lastly, it can be said that after World War II there was a sudden spurt in crime rate due to the large-scale availability of firearms. Further, as mobility documentation was organized, white collar crime proliferated. Western countries had to mobilize scientific aids to combat the growing menace (Siegel, 2019).

62  Crime and crime detection in the West

History of crime and criminal investigation in China, Rome, Egypt, England, America, and Latin America Beginning of forensic science in China China is one of the oldest civilizations in the world, with a written history of more than 4,000 years. Like other long-standing civilizations, China has a long legal tradition. The ancient classic book Shang Shu, which is a compilation of ancient documents by Confucius and other Confucian scholars, recorded that the ancient Chinese used the word “crime” and “penalty” as far back as 2200 BC. Shang Shu also recorded that five penalties – tattooing, disfigurement, castration, mutilation, and death – were included in “Yu Xing”, the law of Xia Dynasty (2100–1600 BC). Archaeological evidence shows that the Chinese developed and administered codified law and justice as far back as 300 BC. The central concepts of imperial law and justice were the Confucian concept of moral code and the legalist school’s concept of law (Liu, 2005). However, the fundamental question which had haunted the author since the beginning of this book was how different kinds of forensic practitioners – whether coroners, literati authors of forensic treatises, pathologists, or medico-legal scientists – represented their inquiry to make claims of knowledge. This is an important question because it relates to the ways in which forensic examiners elevate themselves and their knowledge within a technical activity that has often been characterized by ambiguous boundaries between experts and non-experts. In exploring this question, the present endeavour focuses on practical conditions as crucial for the construction of knowledge and expertise. By “practical conditions”, the author means the ways in which the specificity of forensic practice – that is, as an activity embodied in specific actors encountering specific bodies and things in specific times and places – shaped the process of making knowledge with epistemological claims that often transcended the particular. (A focus on the practical construction of scientific knowledge has informed much work in science and technology studies and history of science in recent decades.) Some works that have been instrumental in formulating the significance of “practice” in this study include Latour 1987, Pickering and Bachman 2009, Lenoir 1997, and Scheid 2002. Without question, the field of forensic science has come a very long way since its recorded beginnings in the 700s, when the Chinese used fingerprints to establish the identity of documents and clay sculptures. The new area of forensic science is directly related to legal issues, where science, technology, and crimesolving meet. The basis of this scientific endeavour is the Theory of Transfer, which proposes that when two objects meet, some proof of that meeting can later be found and verified. In the years prior to 1800, some significant advances were made. The difference between drowning and strangulation was documented in the book Hsi Duan Yu (The Washing Away of Wrongs), published in China in 1248. It is probably the first documented application of medical knowledge to solve a crime. The first treatise on systematic document examination was published in France in 1609. Then in 1784, one of the first reported utilization of physical matching was when an Englishman accused of murder was convicted based on

Crime and crime detection in the West  63 the scraped edge of a newspaper in his pistol that equivalent a piece remaining in his pocket. It was always the corpse of a traveller, an urban dweller, an indigent person, or a victim of homicide that became an object of forensic examination. People died in places that were far away from the county seat, the imperial capital, or the medico-legal laboratory. Forensic regimes centred on these locations needed a way to transmit reliable information over a long distance and to establish control over local activities. Moreover, the time that passed between the death and the initiation of a police investigation or forensic examination could lead to changes in the body. Corpses undergoing decomposition could change colour, shift form, and disperse into smaller pieces that could decay away and disappear. Decomposition could cause forensic signs to become ​quest​ionab​le and make the examination extremely unpleasant. In a practical sense, producing forensic knowledge required that one engage with these challenges and, to some extent, overcome them. In abstract terms, this was a process that had to accomplish the “detachment of objects from their natural environment and their installation in a new phenomenal field defined by social agents”, to quote Karin Knorr Cetina’s characterization of one effect of modern laboratory sciences (Knorr, 1999). The legal system of the Qing Empire12 relied on the ability to make a dead body an object of reliable and lasting knowledge in the context of a judicial process that was widely extended in space and time. In the routine procedures for documenting a wound, a corpse played an important role in creating a representation of the dead body that could be utilized throughout the handling of a case, despite the decomposition of the evidence itself. The process of review or appeal, which might require an examination of the remains at a point far removed from the death, presented the Qing state with the challenges of preserving decomposed or skeletonized remains. In such cases, an examination of bones could reveal signs that had long disappeared from decomposed flesh. Such cases were expected to be conducted by the coroners. Both of these technologies for mitigating the effects of post-mortem transformation – the bureaucratic case file and practices of skeletal examination – were adopted by the Republican judiciary and integrated into the forensic practice of procurators and coroners. Medico-legal experts had physical control over the dead body because of their access to laboratories – dedicated, physical spaces in which dead bodies and other objects could be stored, analyzed, manipulated, and experimented upon. The Research Institute of Legal Medicine, for example, had facilities for chemical testing, anatomic-pathological investigation, microscopy, photography, X-ray, and animal testing. These procedures could be carried out according to the timeframe established by pathologists and medico-legal scientists. Procurators and coroners, by contrast, do not seem to have had lasting access to dead bodies, which would be buried as soon as possible, beyond the initial inquest or subsequent examinations. The spatial and temporal advantages of a laboratory also provided medicolegal experts with the possibility of “testing” coroners’ forensic methods under controlled conditions. Lin Ji used this strategy to conduct experiments on the silver needle test for poisoning, a procedure included in Hsi Duan Yu, as a way

64  Crime and crime detection in the West of delegitimizing this technique and arguing for the necessity of medico-legal expertise in poisoning cases. Yet, the fact that the few medico-legal laboratories that did exist were concentrated in urban areas, far removed from the geographically dispersed “local” contexts in which most homicide cases occurred, meant that examining evidence in a laboratory required a broader network of actors that could literally bring a piece of physical evidence out of the local circumstances in which it was discovered and into the laboratory for testing. This is an important aspect of the complex relationship between what occurs inside a laboratory and how these activities are communicated to, legitimated by, or otherwise engage society beyond its walls. This general question has been an important focus in the critical work on the history of laboratories and laboratory science. Thus, a crucial question arises as to how particular deaths shifted from being “cases” handled by local officials (police, procurators, county magistrates, or coroners) to those handled by medico-legal scientists. As Stefan Timmermans notes in his study of medical examiners in contemporary United States, forensic scientists in early 20th-century China relied on a process of “triaging”, carried out by the police, legal officials, and coroners (who were subsequently characterized by the medico-legal discipline as “non-experts” in forensics) who decided which evidence would be sent to the laboratory; (Timmermans, 2006). The important question, then, is how this evidence acquired new meanings as “things” exclusively knowable by science that could bolster the medico-legal profession’s claims that it was indispensable to Chinese law. From such a perspective, the complex professional ecology in which forensic practice took place is more than simply a “context”. Rather, it involved a crucial set of decisions and actions that made medico-legal science practicable in the first place. However, the 19th and 20th centuries saw a revolution in Chinese forensic science, when traditional techniques were replaced by new methods from the West. Beginning of forensic science in Rome Early 19th-century Europe can be demarcated as the site of modern practice of forensic science. However, there are examples of three seemingly modern techniques that were used to solve crimes in ancient Rome before that. However, it is important to mention that several techniques which are used in the present day are not significantly different from the ones used by the Romans. Several modern forensic science methods, such as toxicology, fingerprint analysis, and ballistics, were used in the Enlightenment era, the Age of Reason.13 In the 19th century, this scientific motivation diffused into other parts of the world to solve different serious cases, like the Jack the Ripper case in England and the Parker-Webster murder case in the United States, where new forensic techniques were employed to solve the crime. In such a wave, the term “forensics” became extensively used, related to the Latin word forum, as the Romans would present lawful charges in the public square. There were ample historical examples that the ancient Romans used scientific methods for criminal investigation, like bloodstain pattern analysis, footprints and drag marks, and dental markers in figuring, though they did not

Crime and crime detection in the West  65 have a scientific explanation for these methods. In a bloody legal case recorded by the Roman jurist Quintilian or one of his students in the early 2nd century AD, a blind son was accused of piercing his father in his sleep in order to get his inheritance. The case was titled “Paries Palmatus” or “The Wall of Handprints”. Purportedly, the blind man took his sword from his room, walked across the house in the dead of night, entered his father and stepmother’s bedroom, and stabbed his father once, killing him instantly, without waking up his stepmother, who found her husband dead in bed when she woke up. A trail of bloody handprints led from the parents’ room back to the blind son’s room, and his blood-covered sword was found as well. Quintilian’s proposed defence, however, is that the stepmother did it, upset because she would lose out on the father’s fortune to his blind son – so she framed the blind man using his own father’s blood: It was the stepmother, yes, the stepmother who set this up with her sure sight; it was she who, with her right hand, had brought the poor man’s blood there and made the imprint of her hand on the wall intermittently! The wall bears the imprints of one palm, has them at intervals, with empty space in the middle, and everywhere the palm print is intact; a blind man, on the other hand, would have dragged his hands along the wall. At the end of the 19th century, modern bloodstain pattern analysis in forensic science was initiated. In 1895, Dr.  Eduard Piotrowski, of the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Poland, published a paper on the shape and direction of bloodstains following head wounds. While scientifically performed, Piotrowski’s experiments were not exactly ethical, having been done on live rabbits. But what Quintilian described was “transfer stain” which results from a body part coming in contact with fresh blood, then leaving a print somewhere else. Quintilian explained how the stepmother’s grab on the hilt of the sword protected her palm from getting blood on it. It was also proved that someone had created the prints on the blank space of the wall, suggesting that the person who killed the father had also created the prints on wall. These types of crime cases are produced in the court even today. In spite of the absence of modern knowledge about blood – specifically, the properties and classification of blood – the Romans were efficient in bloodstain pattern analysis and reconstruction. The Roman historian Tacitus, in 2nd century AD, wrote in his Annals that Apronia, the wife of Plautius Silvanus, was thrown by him out of a window due to unknown reasons. When Lucius Apronius was called upon before the emperor, by his father-in-law, he replied inarticulately, signifying that he was in a deep sleep and therefore knew nothing. His wife had committed suicide to exterminate herself. After this verbal confession, Tiberius went to the house and inspected the chamber without any delay. He observed that there were specific marks of her struggling and of her aggressive ejection. After this inspection, judges were appointed, and the matter was reported to the Senate. Urgulania, the grandmother of Silvanus, sent her grandson a dagger. This was thought equivalent to a hint from the emperor, because of the known intimacy between Augusta and Urgulania. The blamed tried the steel in vain, and then cut his own veins. After some time Numantina, his former wife, was accused of having caused her husband’s lunacy by supernatural chants and medicines. However,

66  Crime and crime detection in the West she was set free (Tacitus, Annals, 4.22; translation by Church & Brodribb 1876). Thus, as in the example of the Wall of Handprints, the story related by Tacitus comprised an element of forensic pattern matching which is very much common today. Comparisons of footprints, fibres, bite marks, and tire tracks in a homicide case are also prepared by pattern matching. Though there are many techniques to judge the matching consequences, juries generally preferred CSI-sounding methods like fibre and hair analysis. It has been estimated by the Innocence Project that a significant percentage of the crime cases in the United States are often dismissed due to improper proof. Forensic Bureau of Investigation in the 2015 reported that in case of pattern matching and hair analysis, they preferred proper examination. The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology released a report in 2016 calling for more research into forensic science techniques to evaluate their dependability and legitimacy, specifically in the sphere of pattern matching. However, the National Commission on Forensic Science, which was established in 2013 and took on the task of assessing these methods, was shuttered in April of 2017 at the behest of then Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Another story of ancient forensics is related to the imperial family and one Lollia Paulina, a wealthy, gorgeous woman who was Caligula’s third wife for a short period. After Caligula’s death, the new emperor, Claudius, began to court Paulina; at the same time he was also interested in Agrippina, who was his niece and Caligula’s younger sister. However, Agrippina had no intention of having Lollia Paulina hanging around, even though she ultimately wedded Claudius and became the empress. Agrippina planned to remove Paulina, and she used a way that many ancient Romans followed. She blamed Paulina of witchcraft. Paulina got no trial – her property was taken away, she was exiled from Italy, and was forced to commit suicide. Of course, Agrippina couldn’t leave it at that, not knowing for sure whether or not Paulina was gone for good. In the early 3rd century AD, this incident was written by Historian Cassius Dio: Indeed, Agrippina even devastated some of the leading women out of covetousness; thus she killed Lollia Paulina since she had been the wife of Gaius Caligula and had cherished some hope of becoming Claudius’ wife. As Agrippina did not recognize the woman’s head when it was brought to her, she opened the mouth with her own hand and inspected/reconnoitred the teeth, which had certain peculiarities (Cassius Dio, Historia Romana, Book LX, 32.4; translation by Earnest Cary 1914). Bite mark analysis is another issue-plagued forensic technique, explained thoroughly by Radley Balko and others, that has been recently widely discredited. But forensic odontology or forensic dentistry has firmer scientific grounds to stand on. Dental evidence can reveal age at death as well as post-mortem x-rays that can be compared to known x-rays taken during life, if the goal is to figure out the identity of an unknown skull or jaw. Dental pattern is a unique character of an individual. For this reason, when we adjoin cavities, root canals, crowns, and other dental appliances to the mix, forensic odontology can be an economical and very consistent method of recognizing the departed. Like our present-day dentistry, it was also present in the Roman day, although it was not as modish as

Crime and crime detection in the West  67 in the present day. However, evidence of false teeth was also found in those days. The earliest forensic techniques of bloodstain analysis, pattern recognition, and odontology may date back two millennia. In spite of such an ancient past, they didn’t necessarily improve in dependability and precision over the years. Pattern detection includes a wide range of techniques, including bite marks, fibres and hair, and footprints, and tire marks. Nowadays, it is not easy to identify a true victim and so also to wrongfully condemn someone. Bloodstains and odontology, on the other hand, have benefitted from a more scientific approach dating back to the Enlightenment. It is evident that Romans were familiar with forensic techniques even in those days, though it was not infallible. Historical evidences authenticated that Romans were familiar with forensic techniques even in those days. In the same vein, it has to be mentioned that the present-day forensic research in Rome requires more scientific advancements to pave its validity in a more rigid manner. In the era of the 21st century, forensic scientists are doing remarkable work in the field of science and law, but they require more financial support to assist the legal system in a more scientific way. Beginning of forensic science in Egypt The Egyptian civilization dates back to 3000 BC and performed the first instance of an “autopsy”.14 They performed the religious practice of the removal and examination of internal organs of humans after their death. Thus, they are the earliest civilization to perform an autopsy. Before the application of forensic science, forensic medicine was applied for civil and criminal identification. Generally, the law restricted the acts of the medical man in ancient Egypt. Stab wounds were differentiated in the 17th century BC. The Egyptians had a thorough knowledge of poisons. There is evidence that priests made determinations regarding the cause of death and whether it was natural (Oliver, 1932). The practices of Egyptian medical practitioners ranged from embalming to faith healing to surgery and autopsy. The use of autopsy came through the extensive embalming practices of the Egyptians, as an embalmer likely examined the body for the cause of death. Surgery also evolved from knowledge of basic anatomy and Egyptian embalming practices. In modern Egypt, a genuine advancement in and attention to medicine in general goes back to Mohammed Ali Pasha, the founder of Egypt’s modern renaissance, who established the School of Medicine in Abi Zaabal in 1820 and recruited foreign doctors, such as Dr. Clot Beck, who organized the School of Medicine and worked as a senior doctor and surgeon in the Egyptian army. He started forensic education in the School of Medicine as part of the internal medicine syllabus. The first class of Egyptian doctors graduated from the school in 1832, and in the same year the first Egyptian mission of 12 doctors was sent to France (Ahmed, 1985). In 1862, Khedive Ismail delegated Dr.  Ibrahim Pasha Hassan to France and Austria to specialize in forensic medicine and returned to teach the subject as an independent science in the School of Medicine of Eini Palace. Then, doctors Nolan and Hamilton and Sir Sydney Smith continued their work with the establishment of the Egyptian university when the School of Medicine was transferred

68  Crime and crime detection in the West to the Faculty of Medicine. A special seat for forensic medicine was established under the supervision of Dr. Sir Sydney Smith for 11 years, until he returned to Edinburgh University. When Dr. Sydney was appointed as Professor of Forensic Medicine at Glasgow University, he followed Dr. Glaister, who continued to occupy this title until 1932. The first Forensic Medicine Department was established in 1890 by the General Prosecutor within the National Appellate Court, Bab Al-Khalq, in Cairo. Three forensic medicine doctors worked within this department led by the Public Health Department. The Forensic Medicine Act was enacted in November 1920, by the Minister of Justice, Mr. Ahmad Khashaba, who controlled the work of the Forensic Medicine Department in Cairo. This department was equipped with autonomous Chemical Laboratories under the chairmanship of Sir Sydney Smith. Sir Smith also served as Forensic Medicine Lecturer of the Faculty of Medicine of Al Eini Palace (Faculty of Medicine of Cairo University). On May 6, 1931, a decision was made by the Council of Ministers to separate the Forensic Department from the General Prosecutor’s Office and transfer the department to the Forensic Medicine Authority. In course of time, the quantity of forensic medicine doctors rose from 16 to 22, and the chief senior doctor was Mr. Mahmoud Beck Maher. The Forensic Medicine Authority was affiliated with the Ministry of Justice in 1932. The senior forensic medicine physician worked as Forensic Medicine Authority Chairman and administered the other supplementary divisions (chemical analysis, bacteriological, and pathology analysis labs) and their main offices in all governorates, e.g. Cairo, Alexandria, Asyut (established in 1922), and Tanta (established in 1930). Subsequently, other offices were established all over the country until the number reached 11 in 1952 and 17 in 1964 (Davies, 2003). Forensic Medicine Authority was assisted by the Egyptian Ministry of Justice. They provided with essential assurances and backings that helped the head forensic medical doctor and his co-workers employ the most excellent doctors, pharmacists, chemists, technicians, and photographers, and each member was named an “expert”. Many received scholarships in their specialties abroad to fortify their experiences from national work and research. This qualified the Forensic Medicine Authority to employ forensic doctors as well as their colleagues in different fields of forensic sciences (chemicals, pathological, and microbiological lab analysis) and forgery research, criminal photography, and photographic drawings. All these specialties encompassed the Forensic Medicine Administration and intended to be a scientific institute for forensic medicine in the Middle East. It had a well-known international reputation and position, and the staff members had good experience due to the relatively high number and diversity of cases (Forensic Medicine Authority, Cairo–Egypt. Annual Statistics. Chief Forensic Medicine Office, 2000e, 2009). Crime scene investigations are performed mainly by crime scene experts of the Ministry of Interior. Sometimes, the staff members of the Ministry of Interior Criminal Laboratories substantiated the Forensic Medicine Authority reference labs, e.g. the forensic chemistry laboratory, for security reasons. In Egypt, the Forensic Medical Examiner does not have any direct relationship with police officers or investigators

Crime and crime detection in the West  69 except when sharing a crime scene examination of highly selected cases. Teams from the Ministry of Interior (represented by police officers and crime scene experts) and the Ministry of Justice (represented by forensic medical examiners) received orders and requests from the general attorney or judges in courts in case of criminal investigations and maintained the chain of custody in case of evidence delivery between the attorney and the Forensic Medicine Authority experts (Davies, 2003). Forensic Medicine Authority in Egypt, along with all forensic medical examiners, mainly worked only for the Egyptian Ministry of Justice. They were not permitted to work in any other medical jobs, either independently or in conjunction with other parties. Moreover, they provided the complete chain of evidence and secrecy when dealing with clinical forensic cases and reported only to general attorneys or judges in courts. Forensic medical examiners were only paid by the Ministry of Justice and were very well-paid compared to doctors in other specialties. For expert witnesses in courts, payments depended upon the nature and requests of each case (whether civilian or criminal case) and the length of the study period, particularly in cases of compensation for damages in accidents and malpractice cases. Payment was estimated by a panel of judges, according to the ministerial rules and regulations (Forensic Medicine Authority, Cairo–Egypt. Regulations and Job Description of Forensic Medical Examiner. Chief Forensic Medicine Office, 1999). The origin of forensic science in Egypt can be traced back 6,000 years to include the work of Imhotep (2667–2648 BC), physician to Pharaoh Zoser. Currently, the practice of the forensic sciences in Egypt is the responsibility of three governmental bodies – the Egyptian Medicolegal Authority of the Ministry of Justice, the Departments of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology of the Egyptian universities and Ministry of Higher Education, and the General Administration for Criminal Evidence Investigations of the Ministry of Interior. Information is presented on history, arrangement, employment, guidance, manpower, farm duties, workload, and financial support. Beginning of forensic science in England The development of forensic science and police science in England can be traced back to the 19th century. The elite practice of forensic medicine evolved into the laboratory-based sciences of special pathology and Home Office toxicological analysis by the 1900s. In the 1930s, in court, specifically in the civil courts, all other sciences or medicines except the elite medical model of forensic science as an aid to police investigations were eliminated from the connotation of the new term “forensic science” and possibly also from the remote older and wider “forensic medicine”. The creation of the forensic science service was an attempt in part to salvage medicine and to finally give it an institutionalized footing. The roots of criminal investigation can be traced back to England in the 18th century, a period marked by significant social, political, and economic changes. These modifications were significant to the growth of the first modern detective force, the Bow Street Runners. In addition, London was the territory of the first police reformer, Robert Peel. Both of these factors contributed to the subsequent

70  Crime and crime detection in the West development of police organizations and criminal investigation in the United States. Forensic science is an interdisciplinary science whose roots lie in diverse disciplines like geology, physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics, to study substantial proof related to crime. If it is suspected that a person has died from poisoning, for example, a toxicologist, who specializes in identifying poisons and their physiological effects on humans and animals, can assist in the investigation. Several other disciplines like botany, forensic pathology, entomology, and archaeology, and their experts may also present supportive information to criminal investigators. Over hundreds of years many people have made contributions to the fields of criminal investigation and forensic science. To recognize all of them is beyond the scope of this chapter. This present section presents a brief history of criminal investigation and forensic science. Many documents have discussed these intertwined topics, but the space that can be committed to them here is inadequate. Sufficient broad perspectives and supporting details, however, are included. During the 18th century, two events, an agricultural revolution and an industrial revolution, began a process of change. These two revolutions intensely exaggerated the police services, which were distributed and examinations carried out. In 1730, advanced agricultural methods, such as the beginning of “Charles Townshend’s crop rotation system”15 and “Jethro Tull’s four-bladed plow”, enhanced England’s agricultural productivity. Improvements in agriculture were essential preconditions to the Industrial Revolution in the second half of the 18th century, because they freed people from farm work for city jobs. As the population of England’s cities grew, slums also expanded, crime increased, and disorders became more frequent. Due to rapid increase of crime, public required more governmental assistance to prevent those crimes. In 1748, Henry Fielding became Chief Magistrate of Bow Street and set out to make better the administration of justice. In 1750, he established a small group of volunteer, non-uniformed homeowners to “take thieves” known as the “Bow Street Runners”. These Londoners hurried to the scenes of reported crimes and began investigations, thus becoming the first modern detective force. In 1752, for arresting the convicted persons who were missing, Fielding began publishing The Covent Garden Journal and circulated it for public awareness. On his death in 1754, Henry Fielding was succeeded by his blind half-brother, John Fielding, who carried on with Henry’s ideas for another 25 years. Under John Fielding, Bow Street became a clearinghouse for information on crime. At least four of the Bow Street Runners were no longer volunteers by 1785 but paid government detectives. Due to politico-philosophical clash, England’s Parliament repeatedly rejected proposals for a centralized professional police force for London in 1816, 1818, and again in 1822. One group argued that such a force was a direct threat to personal liberty. The other group, composed of reformers such as Jeremy Bentham and Patrick Colquhoun, argued that the absence, rather than the presence, of social control was a greater danger to personal liberty. Ultimately, the Parliament passed the Metropolitan Police Act16 in 1829. It was only possible due to the tremendous initiatives of Sir Robert Peel. This helped form a metropolitan police force for

Crime and crime detection in the West  71 London. Police headquarters became known as “Scotland Yard”, as the building had previously housed Scottish royalty. Police constables were referred to as “Bobbies”, a play on Peel’s first name. Because French citizens were acquainted with the oppression under centralized police, the British public was suspicious of, and at times even hostile to, the new force. During the first three years of operations, for a high standards set for the police force, there were 5,000 dismissals and 6,000 forced acquiescence from the force. This was clear evidence to the public that police administrators required officers to conform to higher norms of conduct. Within a few years, the London Metropolitan Police had won a reputation for fairness, and it became the international model for professional policing. Despite the growing popularity of the uniformed Bobbies, however, there was fear that the use of “police spies” – detectives in plain clothes – would reduce civil liberties. In the years immediately following 1829, some Metropolitan Police constables were temporarily relieved from patrolling in uniform to investigate crimes on their beats. The public felt uncomfortable, so the objective of distinction between the use of uniformed constables to prevent crime and the use of plain clothes detectives for investigation and surveillance became clear. In 1833, Sergeant Popay was dismissed. The parliamentary investigation found that he had penetrated a radical group, obtained a leadership position, and disputed for the use of violence. A regular detective branch was opened at Scotland Yard, in 1842, overriding the Bow Street force. Initially, the detective force was limited to no more than 16 investigators, and because of a distrust of “clandestine methods”, operations were restricted. The phrase “forensic science” was given official blessing in 1936 in the Home Office publication “Scientific Aids to Criminal Investigation: Forensic Science Circulars No, 1, March 1936”. Page one announced a series of “forensic science circulars” and promised “forensic science notes and circulation to forensic science laboratories”. The most significant marker of the development of forensic science as a separate cluster of sciences with an emerging group identity was the foundation of the Forensic Science Society in 1959 (and then its journal in 1960) primarily aimed at those scientists concerned with the laboratories. Forensic science, including police science, was included under forensic medicine, before the term “forensic science” was coined, in 1935. The emergence of the term “forensic science” in the 1930s was accompanied by no firm guidelines as to whether it included forensic medicine or not, or whether forensic medicine included forensic science. The American Academy of Sciences at its foundation in Chicago in 1950 grouped a number of sciences under “forensic sciences” (plural) and adopted the following sections: forensic pathology, forensic psychiatry, forensic toxicology, forensic immunology, jurisprudence, police science, and questioned documents. With the passage of time, technological advancements have made forensic investigation a lot easier than it used to be earlier. Despite such advancement, super brain power is needed to analyze what could have happened at a crime scene. Whatever may be the scientific and medical advancements, the human factor always plays a crucial role in any crime scene.

72  Crime and crime detection in the West Beginning of forensic science in America The history of forensic investigation began with the history of forensic pathology in America. In other words, forensic science can be identified as a broader field of forensic pathology. Forensic pathology is “the application of forensic science and pathology to the investigation of death” (Praholow, 2010). In 1533, the examination of conjoined twins in Santo Domingo (in what is currently Dominican Republic) was the first recorded autopsy in North America. The basic intention of the autopsy was not to find out if there were two souls or one. The target was not to establish the cause of death. Many pioneers of medicine accentuated the importance of the autopsy in medical education during the 20th century. One such pioneer was Sir William Osler (1849–1919), who was enthusiastically engaged with autopsies. After completing his education in Canada and Europe, Osler taught at McGill University and worked at the Montreal General Hospital. He wrote the book The Principles and Practice of Medicine (1892) based on his autopsy work at the hospital (William et al., 2004). In 1870, due to advancement of technology, microscopes became available to medical students. The first complete crime laboratory was built in Los Angeles in 1923, which was influenced by Locard’s laboratory. For an easy availability of forensic science, the Federal Bureau of Investigation17 organized a laboratory in 1932. For the first time in the United States, these types of activities made forensic sciences available nationwide. The formation of forensic laboratories at local and state levels became a model. With the passage of time, for a wider applicability, many sophisticated analytical techniques and instruments from medicine and industry were integrated into forensic laboratories. The forensic pathologist was typically the leader of the forensic team and often the only full-time physician. Consultants working part-time in forensics also played an important role in the forensic team. The initiation of the forensic investigation system in America can be sketched back to the English coroner system. The existence of an English coroner’s office dates back to the year 1925, but normal description is found in the Articles of Eyre (1194). Coroners were not physicians. The duties of the coroner included an investigation over violent deaths, sudden and/or unexpected deaths, suspicious deaths, and cases in which a physician is not in presence at the time of death. The training of the coroner ranged from absolutely none to one to two weeks. With this basic training, the coroner made decisions regarding the reason and mode of death. These might have significant criminal and civil consequences. Until the late 19th century, the coroner system in England didn’t spread throughout the country. In 1877, a law was enacted requiring an inquest to be conducted whenever the coroner had reasonable cause to suspect violent or unnatural death or when the cause of death was unknown. Therefore, a broad spectrum investigative agency concerned with all deaths was developed by the coroner system. Records of medico-legal cases in the colonies started from 1635, which was possible because the early colonists brought the coroner system with them. In the 17th century, a separate discipline of forensic medicine began to emerge. During the 19th century,

Crime and crime detection in the West  73 the practice of pathology practised in America was influenced by Virchow and the German School of Pathology. In Maryland, USA, in 1665, the first medicolegal application of an autopsy occurred. The attendance of a physician in cases of violent death became necessary after the enactment of the “Code of Public General Laws” in Maryland, in 1860. A physician as sole coroner in Baltimore was appointed and authorized by the Maryland Legislature, in 1868. A city ordinance authorized the Board of Health to appoint two physicians in Baltimore in 1890. They were assigned to perform all autopsies requested by the coroner or the state’s attorney of the city of Baltimore (Brock, 1994). In 1877, the first medical examiner system was introduced in Massachusetts. Due to the controversies surrounding the coroner’s system, the Commonwealth adopted a statewide system requiring that the coroner be replaced by a physician known as a medical examiner. For proper implementation, the state was divided into sectors and each sector had a physician medical examiner to decide the reason and mode of death. In 1945, the Massachusetts law was amended to give discretionary power of performing autopsies to the medical examiner (Wright, 2005). The medical examiner system in effect today was created in New York City. The coroner’s office was eliminated in New York City in 1915. A medical examiner system was created with a designated pathologist as the chief medical examiner (forensic pathology was not available at the time; it became a subspecialty in 1959). A major role of the medical examiner system was to investigate deaths resulting from criminal violence, casualties, and suicide. The medical examiner was given the authority to make judgements as to the requirement of an autopsy and was given a laboratory for his use. Due to these innovations, some scholars regard this office as the first authentic medical examiner’s office. Dr. Charles Norris, the first chief medical examiner, appointed for New York City in 1918, made significant contributions to forensic medicine research and service development. The medical examiner’s office was expanded in New York City under Dr. Milton Helpern, the third chief medical examiner. Today, in the United States, most medical examiner systems have adopted the New York concept. On the other hand, some newer systems require the chief medical examiner to be a forensic pathologist. The first statewide medical examiner’s system was also established in Maryland in 1939. The chief medical examiner was recruited by a specially assigned commission composed of professors of pathology from two medical schools, the executive officer of the State and Baltimore City Health Departments, and the superintendent of the State Police. So it was evident that the appointment process was no longer a political process. However, during the 19th century, outlaws posed serious problems in newly settled areas, as the American frontier moved westward. Due to this, mining camps and cattle towns experienced more violence than other areas. The movement west had shifted men and women far from the institutions which had served them previously. Law enforcement agencies and criminal courts made only minor strides in protecting the vast areas under their jurisdictions. Certainly, it was in these areas that criminals could straightforwardly conceal and witnesses could frequently shift away, making

74  Crime and crime detection in the West recognition and trepidation of criminals a disappointing task. Inspired by the lead of London’s police force, the first professional police forces were established in different states of the United States, namely, in Boston in 1837, New York in 1844, and Philadelphia in 1854. Almost all major US cities had municipal police departments by the 1870s. Like England, criminal examination by public law enforcement was observed as politically harmful. It mainly favoured only those who could pay. However, violence, crime, and associate activities resulted in the collapse of social order in small communities, due to the rapid growth of cities. Growing occurrences of mob aggression between Protestants and Catholics, expanded police duties for immigrants and Native Americans, and abolitionists and pro-slavery groups were perhaps the most critical stimulants. Scottish immigrant Allan Pinkerton established the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in 1850, which was the first detective organization in the United States. The organizational structure of this agency was adopted later by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The Pinkerton Agency was invited by communities to tackle cases that local law enforcement officers were incapable of examining due to incompetency. Several innovations in crime detection were offered by the Pinkerton field of criminal investigation. Like Europe, early practitioners of forensic anthropology in the United States, such as anatomists and medical specialists, were drawn into case work. Such an instance was Jeffries Wyman (1814–1874). Hersey Professor of Anatomy at Harvard and first curator of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology in 1866, Wyman’s work on human remains recuperated in an astounding murder examination at Harvard (Stewart, 1979). Due to loan repayment, Harvard faculty member John W. Webster murdered Dr. George Parkman, a physician and wealthy donor to the university who ran a loan business. After killing Parkman, Webster took away some body parts, and burnt them in the furnace in his laboratory. To identify the burned remains, and demonstrate that they were consistent with those parts removed from the body, Wyman was called in. Forensic anthropology was initiated by Thomas Dwight in America who first wrote articles and essays on human skeletal identification, and he was bestowed the title “Father of American Forensic Anthropology”. Dwight was trained in anatomy and taught at Harvard, where he held the Parkman Professorship of Anatomy. He taught at the medical school where Parkman was killed in the laboratory. This laboratory was built on the land contributed by Parkman. Dwight was the first American anatomist to conduct research related to forensic anthropology. A series of important articles were published by Dwight, after winning a prize for an essay on the medico-legal identification of the human skeleton in 1878. Dwight’s articles mainly highlighted the issues of estimation of sex, age at death, and stature. George A. Dorsey (1868–1931) was the first anthropologically trained professional to become involved in forensic matters. Like Wyman, and being a Harvard doctorate, Dorsey performed some research on archeologically recovered human remains. He contributed to at least one highprofile forensic case. After joining the faculty at the Field Columbian Museum in Chicago in 1896, Dorsey was involved in the examination of a Chicago sausage

Crime and crime detection in the West  75 producer, who was accused of killing his wife and tried to destroy the remains by cooking them in a vat at the factory (Ubelaker and George, 1999). Very little pieces were recovered. Dorsey felt it necessary to trace the missing body of the adult female. His evidence was severely criticized by other experts. After this incidence, Dorsey did not contribute further to forensic anthropology. The formation of the physical anthropology section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) was a key development in the history of forensic anthropology in 1972. In such a premier organization of forensic science, Ellis R. Kerley (1924– 1998) and his 14 colleagues agreed to start the entry class of the new section of physical anthropology (Ubelaker, 2001). After this initiation, forensic anthropologists could assemble to produce their research and casework at an annual meeting. For publishing research reports, the Association’s Journal of Forensic Sciences was created. In such a consequence, membership in the section grew rapidly and had reached more than 260 members by 2004. In the beginning, previous incidents of forensic anthropology were used as an apparatus in forensic medicine, which was performed by anatomists and physicians. Along with the inauguration and development of physical anthropology different specializations of all field of forensic science gradually emerged. Perhaps the single-most noteworthy growth in criminal investigation in the United States was the foundation of the FBI in 1924. In 1907, as the Justice Department’s Bureau of Investigation, the FBI originally had very few errands. However, the bureau gained much notoriety when new federal laws governing interstate transportation of stolen automobiles were passed. John Edgar Hoover, the bureau’s newly named director, announced in 1924 that he would strive to eliminate corruption and get the agency out of politics. In doing so, he hoisted the experience of agent personnel, condensed the number of agents nationwide, and shut down some field offices. Today, the FBI is one of many federal investigative agencies that have made great strides in professionalizing the field of criminal investigation. Beginning of forensic science in Latin America In Europe, at the end of the 19th century, forensic sciences and criminalistics18 experienced a great development with the birth of the Bertillon system of criminal investigation and fingerprints, among others. These new innovations reached Latin America through Argentina. Mexico was one of the other countries that helped in the development of the forensic sciences in Latin America in the late 20th century. Crime and justice was not in a consolidated manner throughout Latin America till the beginning of the 20th century. For the consolidation of democracy and for sustainable development in Latin America, judicial reform has long been seen as a prerequisite. Towards the last decade of the 20th century, most countries in this region consisted of scrawny, politically exposed, and unproductive judicial institutions. However, some of them were able to hold administrative power in appropriate balance for undertaking basic human and civil rights, and creating a favourable environment for economic growth, especially foreign and domestic investment, and providing basic protection to the citizens. They

76  Crime and crime detection in the West suffered due to archaic criminal codes, poorly organized and underfunded courts, inadequate training and compensation of judges, judicial officials, and police, legal procedures that minimized transparency, and often-dilapidated prison conditions. In appreciation of these troubles and with the encouragement and support of the intercontinental community, many countries in the region commenced programmes and projects to modernize their judicial systems and institutions for crime identification and criminal investigation. These endeavours ranged from constitutional reform and the implementation of new criminal and civil codes, to structural change in the administration of justice, to far less motivated proposals for technical developments aimed at making systems accessible. The reform process over the past 40 years has gone through various stages, from mechanistic adjustments during the 1960s, aimed at improving the delivery of judicial services, to systematic approaches in subsequent decades. The most recent and most deliberated wave of modifications began in the mid-1990s on the heels of the consolidation of official democracy throughout the hemisphere. During this phase, nearly $1 billion in financial support was borrowed from the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), non-governmental institutions, and individual donor nations, including the US Agency for International Development (USAID) made serious efforts for restructuring the organization of justice and Judicial Reform in Latin America. These initiatives were intended to be longstanding missions whose goals had to be met within a decade or so, so many are still in advancement. The outcomes of the decade-long legal reform process in Latin America were neither understandable nor easily calculated. The historical consequences of the development of forensic science in different countries of the world reveal that the developmental consequence of the forensic science of each country is unique depending on the socioeconomic and sociohistorical contexts. It is evident that forensic science is that piece without which the puzzle of a criminal investigation is incomplete. Criminals can never be convicted without the scientific application of forensic science. Although law enforcement agencies and detectives are involved in the gathering of evidence, be it physical or digital, only forensic science deals with the investigation of those facts permissible in the court of law. Thus in a world devoid of forensic science, murderers, thieves, drug traffickers, and robbers would be roaming scot-free. A miscellaneous pool of forensic scientists and forensic tools are employed in the exploration of a criminal act. Also of note are forensic pathologists, who are experts at investigating the cause of death by performing autopsies. An autopsy helps in establishing the grounds and the method of death through the assessment of body fluids and tissues. Forensic scientists investigate physical proof (fingerprints, blood, hair, etc.) gathered from the crime scene to recognize suspects. Moreover forensic professionals use image alteration tools to investigate criminals who have been escaping from the law for a long time. This device would enable them to digitally age a photograph to recognize how any person would appear on ageing. The entire discussion has tried to focus a wider horizon of the development of forensic science in different countries of the world in different time perspectives. Now the

Crime and crime detection in the West  77 author feels it essential to depict the history of crime detection in the backdrop of India. The following chapters will comprehensively portray how the initiation of scientific measures and the establishment of forensic institutions brought a paradigm shift in criminal identification in British India.

Notes 1 Chinese materia medica – In China sources and applications of medicinal materials are commonly known as material medica. It is an important part of China’s cultural heritage; these various materia medica texts represent centuries of accumulated wisdom in combating disease and preserving health.  2 Hammurabi – Hammurabi was the sixth king of the Amorite First Dynasty of Babylon. According to his own inscriptions, letters, and administrative documents from his reign, he sought to improve the lives of those who lived under his rule. He is best known in the modern day for his code of laws known as the Code of Hammurabi, which was used to regulate Mesopotamian society. 3 Nova Scotia – Nova Scotia is Canada’s second smallest province and is located on the southeastern coast of the country. The province includes Cape Breton, a large island northeast of the mainland. The name Nova Scotia is Latin for “New Scotland”, reflecting the origins of some of the early settlers.  4 Qin Dynasty – The Qin Dynasty was the first dynasty of Imperial China established by Shi Huangdi. The time period of this dynasty was 221–206 BC. Huangdi’s early reign focused on consolidating his power and appealing to the lower classes through initiatives such as building projects and construction of roads and canals, which made trade and travel easier and provided employment. His major achievements were the Grand Canal, his enormous tomb guarded by the terracotta warriors and the Great Wall of China. 5 Justinian Code – The Justinian Code is a collection of Roman laws and legal principles enacted by the Roman Emperor Justinian in AD 528–529. The major aim was to clarify and update the old Roman laws, eradicate inconsistencies, and speed up legal processes. 6 Hsi Duan Yu – The Chinese book Hsi Duan Yu (The Washing Away of Wrongs), which appeared in 1248, provided the first association of medicine and law. The book offered useful advice, such as distinguishing drowning (water in the lungs) and strangulation (pressure marks on the throat and damaged cartilage in the neck) from death by natural causes.  7 Malphigi Layer – Malphigi, Marcello, an Italian Botanist, was the first person to use magnification techniques to study the ridge detail and pore structure of human skin. He is considered one of the early pioneers of fingerprints even though he focused neither on their potential to identify individuals nor their value in criminal investigations. In honour of his work, a portion of skin anatomy was named after him. The Malpighian layer, sometimes called the stratum malpighii, is found in the outer layer of skin and refers to the combined basal and pickle cell layers. 8 Mark Twain – Mark Twain, whose real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was born on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri. He was the celebrated American author of several novels, including two major classics of American literature. These were The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He was also a riverboat pilot, journalist, lecturer, entrepreneur, and inventor.  9 Sir Edward R Henry – Sir Edward Henry was appointed an assistant magistrate collector in the Indian Civil Service in 1873, and became Inspector General of Police at Bengal in 1891. At that time Bertillon age was the mode of identification of criminals. He visited Galton during 1893, and, having gained firsthand knowledge of the current work on finger printing, he introduced it as an additional aid to identification, when he returned to India.

78  Crime and crime detection in the West 10 Anthropometry – Anthropometry is the science of obtaining systematic measurements of the human body. Anthropometry first developed in the 19th  century as a method employed by physical anthropologists for the study of human variation and evolution in both living and extinct populations. In particular, such anthropometric measurements have been used historically as a means to associate racial, cultural, and psychological attributes with physical properties. Alphonse Bertillon is credited as the father of anthropometrics based on his classification system known as the “anthropometric system”. This system was used to identify unknown individuals and repeat offenders. The use of this anthropometric system was subsequently termed “Bertillonage” and spread rapidly throughout the world during the late 1800s and early 1900s. 11 Karl Landsteiner – Karl Landsteiner was an Austrian American immunologist and pathologist. He was the winner of Noble Prize for his discovery of the ABO system and major blood groups. This discovery has made blood transfusion a routine medical practice. 12 Qing Empire – The Qing Dynasty was the last imperial dynasty in China. It was founded as a federation of non-Chinese tribes under the leadership of the Manchus who originally lived in the northeast, a region later called Manchuria. The Manchus profited from the disintegration of the central government of the Ming Empire to conquer China. They established a political system that successfully used Chinese values to administer a multi-ethnic empire. 13 Age of Reason – The Age of Reason was also known as the Age of Enlightenment. It was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. European politics, philosophy, science and communications were radically reoriented during the course of the “long 18th century” (1685–1815) as part of a movement referred to by its participants as the Age of Reason, or simply the Enlightenment. 14 Autopsy – An autopsy is the examination of the body of a dead person. An autopsy may be restricted to a specific organ or region of the body. Autopsies are performed to determine the cause of death, for legal purposes, and for education and research. 15 Charles Townshend’s Crop Rotation System – Charles Townshend was an English statesman who served as the Secretary of State for a decade. He was born on April 18, 1674, at Raynham Hall, Norfolk, England. He is best known for his British Agricultural Revolution. In the centuries before the start of the Agricultural Revolution, European farmers practised a form of farming in which they planted the same crop in the same field every year. This caused them to have to not plant anything in the field every few years in order to avoid destroying the quality of the soil. However, Charles Townshend identified a way to improve farming practices and thus produce more food.  16 Metropolitan Police Act – Sir Robert Peel, the Home Secretary, dealt with the London’s policing problem and then Metropolitan Police Act of 1829 was introduced as a centralized and unified system of police in England. The Act constituted a revolution in traditional methods of law enforcement. 17 Federal Bureau of Investigation – Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the principal investigative agency of the federal government of the United States. The FBI originated from a force of Special Agents created in 1908 by Attorney General Charles Bonaparte during the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) enforces federal law, and investigates a variety of criminal activity including terrorism, cybercrime, white collar crimes, public corruption, civil rights violations, and other major crimes. 18 Criminalistics – Criminalistics is a discipline which operates under forensic science. It is the branch of science which deals with, identification, collection, recognition, individualization and interpretation of physical evidence. Criminalistics is also known as an applied science.

Crime and crime detection in the West  79

References Articles Oliver, J. R. “Legal Medicine in Europe and America”. American Bar Association Journal, 18 (1932): 405. Ubelaker, H. Douglas. “Contributions of Ellis R. Kerley to Forensic Anthropology”. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 46 (2001): 773–76.

Books Ahmed, Rizwan. History of Forensic Medicine. Cairo: Center of Legal Studies, Ministry of Justice, 1985, p. 25–29. Brock, H. Crawford Catherine. “Forensic Medicine in Early Colonial Maryland, 1633– 83”. In Legal Medicine in History, edited by Clark M., Crawford, 25–44. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Davies, Walter William. The Codes of Hammurabi and Moses. Cincinnati: Kessinger Publishing, January 2003, p. 7–23. Dwight, Thomas. The Identification of the Human Skeleton. A Medico-Legal Study. Washington: David Clapp & Son Printers, 1878, p. 36–40. Knorr, K Cetina. Epistemic Cultures: How the Sciences Make Knowledge. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999, p. 1–8. Latour, Bruno. Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1987, p. 4–29. Lenoir, Timothy. Instituting Science: The Cultural Production of Scientific Disciplines. California: Stanford University Press, 1997, p. 22–45. Liu, Jianhong. “Crime and Criminal Justice in China”. In Encyclopedia of Criminology, Vol. I, edited by Richard A. Wright, 172–76. New York: Routledge, 2005. Pickering, Robert and David Bachman. The Use of Forensic Anthropology. New York: CRC Press, 2009, p. 1–6. Praholow, Joseph, and Byard W. Roger. Atlas of Forensic Pathology. New York: Humana Press, 2010, p. 35. Scheid, Volker. Chinese Medicine in Contemporary China: Plurality and Synthesis. Science and Cultural Theory series, Durham: Duke University Press, 2002, p. 1–9. Siegel, Jay Pekka Saukko. Encyclopedia of Forensic Science. Pennsylvania: Elsevier, 2019, p. 11–1359. Stewart, Dale Thomas. “Forensic Anthropology”. In The Uses of Anthropology, edited by Goldschmidt, W. Virginia, USA: Special Publication of the American Anthropology Association, no. 11. Washington, D.C. American Anthropological association, 1979, p. 59–71. Timmermans, Stefan. Postmortem : How Medical Examiners Expalin Suspicious Deaths. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006, pp.1–19. Ubelaker, H. Douglas, and George A. Dorsey. “Forensic Anthropology and Medicine”. In American National Biography, edited by Garraty, J. A., and Carnes, M. C., Vol. 6, 3–12. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. William, J. Tilstone, Kathleen A. Savage, and Leigh A. Clark. Encyclopedia of Forensic Science: An Encyclopedia of History, Methods, and Techniques. Santa Barbara: ABCCLIO, Inc., 2004, p. 1–35. Wright, K. Ronald. “The Role of the Forensic Pathologist”. In Forensic Science: An Introduction to Scientific and Investigative Techniques, edited by James, S. H., and Nordby, J. J., 15–26, Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2005.

80  Crime and crime detection in the West Web sources consulted Definition of “forensic science” as provided by the National Commission on Forensic Science in its Views Document, “Defining Forensic Science and Related Terms”. http:// www​.justice​.gov​/ncfs​/file​/786571/. Retrieved on May 7 2019. See: National Institute of Justice. Status and Needs of Forensic Science Service Providers: A Report to Congress. 2006. http:​/​/www​​.ojp.​​usdoj​​.gov/​​nij​/p​​ubs​-s​​um​/21​​​3420.​​htm/ Retrieved on July 21 2019. Forensic Medicine in China: Its History to the Present Day, First Published January 1, 1987 Research Article Find in PubMed, https​:/​/do​​i​.org​​/10​.1​​177​/0​​02580​​24870​​​27001​​02/ Retrieved on August 11 2019. Forensic Science in Egypt https​:/​/ww​​w​.res​​earch​​gate.​​net​/p​​ublic​​ation​​/2827​​13069​​_The_​​Pract​​ice​_o​​f​_For​​ensic​​_Scie​​nce​ _i​​n​_Egy​​pt​_A_​​​Story​​_of​_P​​ionee​​ring/​. Retrieved on August 30 2019. http:​/​/www​​.mnsu​​.edu/​​emuse​​um​/pr​​ehist​​ory​/e​​gypt/​​daily​​life/​​medic​​​ine​.h​​tml/. Retrieved on August 25 2019. Forensic Science in Rome https​:/​/ww​​w​.for​​bes​.c​​om​/si​​tes​/k​​risti​​nakil​​lgrov​​e​/201​​8​/11/​​28​/th​​ese​-t​​hree-​​foren​​sic​-s​​cienc​​e​ -tec​​hniqu​​​es​-fr​​om​-an​​cient​​-rome​/. Retrieved on September 1 2019. Forensic Science in England https​:/​/if ​​fl ab.​​org​/h​​istor​​y​-of-​​foren​​sic​-s​​​cienc​​e/. Retrieved on September 3 2019. https​:/​/ar​​chive​​shub.​​jisc.​​ac​.uk​​/feat​​ures/​​foren​​sics.​​​shtml​/. Retrieved on September 10 2019. Forensic Science in America http:​/​/www​​.sant​​oshra​​ut​.co​​m​/for​​ensic​​/fore​​nsich​​isto​ry​ ​​ .htm​/. Retrieved on September 15 2019. https​:/​/ww​​w​.ncj​​rs​.go​​v​/pdf​​fi les​​1​/nij​​/gran​​ts​​/22​​8091/​. Retrieved on September 30 2019. Forensic Science in Latin America https​:/​/ww​​w​.ish​​inews​​.com/​​advan​​cing-​​foren​​sic​-s​​cienc​​e​-in-​​lati​n​​-amer​​ica/. Retrieved on September 26 2019. https​:/​/ww​​w​.ish​​inews​​.com/​​advan​​cing-​​foren​​sic​-s​​cienc​​e​-in-​​lati​n​​-amer​​ica/. Retrieved on September 30 2019. Forensic Medicine Authority, Cairo–Egypt. Annual statistics. Chief Forensic Medicine Office; 2000–2009. Forensic Medicine Authority, Cairo–Egypt. Regulations and job description of forensic medical examiner. Chief Forensic Medicine Office, 1999. William, Daubert and Merrell Dow. Supreme Court of the United States March 30, 1993, June 28, 1993, Decided No. 92-102.

3

Beginning of scientific measures for criminal identification in British India

Why scientific measures for criminal identification? What sociohistorical and sociopolitical circumstances compelled the British to introduce scientific measures for criminal identification in British India? These questions unveil the discussion in this chapter. The second half of the 18th century and the opening years of the 19th century revealed a great crisis in the cultural and intellectual spheres in British India. It was a century of Western influence and reaction. The undaunted storm of Western culture came to India with unimaginable severity; it shook the very basis of the Indian social life and tried to engulf the entire social scenario. It was a century of spiritual uncertainty and unrest, consequent upon the advent of new ideas and ideals. Some strove for social reforms, others for social conversion, some had blind faith, and others became unbelievers. Keeping this perspective in mind, the present chapter tries to highlight that sociohistorical unrest which acted as a major catalytic agent for initiating forensic science as a major tool of the Empire to investigate crime in British India. Besides, for a holistic understanding, the chapter also includes colonial perceptions of crime and criminal justice reforms for crime investigation in mid-19th century British India. It is expected that the discussion will provide a clear perspective about the initiation of forensic science in British India.

British Raj and the Indian society: Social unrest in India between 1757 and 1857 The East India Company was established in 1600 in England for trade. The East India Company1 reached the western coast of India at Surat in 1608 and established an industrial house. Other European countries, such as the Portuguese and the French, had also come to India in this period for the purpose of doing trade with India. Initially, they came as traders, but gradually they became administrators. The process of establishing itself as a political power is said to have begun for the British with its victory under Robert Clive in the Battle of Plassey2 in 1757 over Siraj-udDaula, the Nawab of Bengal. After the war, the East India Company initiated its administrative control over India. Several changes occurred in the administrative policy towards India between 1757 and 1857, but concurrently it also endorsed its

82  Scientific measures for criminal identification industry and took its profits to Britain (Alavi, 2008). British rule differed from other alien rule in India in many ways. Other conquerors in India, like the Turks, Afghans, and Mughals, had come to this country and subjugated this land to their own religious seal. But none of them had sought to leave a far-reaching and lasting influence on Indian life. But British rule had brought about radical changes in industry, science, literature, technology, institutions, beliefs, and social values. This paved the way for the unification of the country as was never done in the past. The English rulers never wanted to maintain an intimate contact with the Indian people because of their superiority complex. They did not consider the Indians any better than slaves. So they were in no way ready to share administrative powers with Indian people. Unlike any previous conquest, the British conquest signified a profound spiritual disturbance in the social and cultural life of India. With the impact of the West, a new awareness of value and society was ushered in by the latter half of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century (Shastri, 1973). British rule generated significant changes in the traditional economic and social systems in India which had retained a remarkable degree of continuity over time. The new economic forces introduced during British rule gradually eroded the traditional division of labour based on caste. The concept of caste gradually dissociated itself from the concept of traditional occupation. Each caste started looking after its own interests. The traditionally underprivileged class put forward claims to higher social status and demanded concessions from the British government. Thus, slowly but steadily the ideological basis of the traditional Hindu society came under a severe challenge during British rule. Thus the latter part of the 18th century and early years of the 19th century witnessed alarmingly how the materialistic conception of life under the aggressive civilization of the West gradually caught the Indian society in its iron grip. People began to critically probe into the accepted age-old beliefs and social customs. English education unsettled people’s minds, raised controversies, and thereby upset the balance of the entire social system. To put it in a nutshell, specifically the first quarter of the 19th century presented a picture of complete chaos and confusion in the social and cultural life of people (Cultural Heritage of India, 1962). The crisis faced by the Indian tradition and culture was all-embracing in nature, extending to every sphere of human life. Under such a circumstance, the East India Company also faced several types of social turmoil, which not only hampered their administration but also compelled them to make a series of legal reforms to maintain proper administration. The centre of administration was in urban areas, so they could control urban people easily, but it was not possible and not so easy to control the rural masses. Different kinds of social chaos rooted in rural areas drastically shattered their administration. To control these social unrests the Company people made a series of significant efforts which made the masses more virulent. Indeed, since the beginning of the 19th century a series of actions were taken to address social instability. For example in 1803, Lord Wellesley banned the religious custom of child sacrifice at Sagar Island in the Bay of Bengal (Hutchins, 1973). Another less visible social practice of female infanticide continued unabated in northern and western India, where landowning high-caste

Scientific measures for criminal identification  83 families practising hypergamy3 found it difficult to find suitable grooms for their daughters or pay high amounts of dowry and resorted to clandestine killing of female children at the time of birth. For a while, government authorities tried to convince them but after 1830 pressurized them to abstain from the practice, with insignificant effect. This legal ban was halted in 1857 and kept on hold until 1870, when finally the Female Infanticide Act was passed by the viceroy’s council. But neglect of female children was not prevented by the law (Gupta, 1997). Another achievement of Lord Bentinck was the prohibition of sati or the self-immolation of widows on the funeral pyres of their dead husbands. It was a social practice prevalent in India since ancient times. But research findings reveal that this practice was always very much an exception rather than the rule in Hindu life (Bandopadhyay, 1995). During British rule in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, this practice was revived on a wider scale in areas which experienced the highest rate of development under British administration, specifically in the capital of Calcutta and the rural neighbourhood surrounding it. Here it became popular not only among the upper caste but also among the peasant families of lower and intermediary castes, who achieved social mobility and then sought to legitimize their new status by imitating their caste superiors (Bandopadhyay, 1995). Ultimately, in 1829 by a government directive, Governor-General Bentinck prohibited the practice of sati. However, this prohibition could not be upturned by a Hindu petition from the anti-abolitionist Dharma Sabha to the Privy Council in 1830. But, although incidents of sati declined, gradually after the regulation, the idea and the myth of sati persisted in popular culture. In the same vein, even more ineffective was the other reform movement of the mid-19th century: widow remarriage. This practice was vehemently opposed by the upper-caste Hindu society. The main protagonist was Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar4 and his predecessor, Raja Ram Mohan Roy.5 But this was also legalized by the Hindu Widow’s Remarriage Act of 1856, making it a socially acceptable practice. Another consequence of British rule was gang dacoity and robbery. The British conquest of the Deccan and Central India by the beginning of the 19th century created the reformist urge to establish pax Britannica in those unsettled territories. In such a contour, the Indian chiefs and generals created a complicated proposition by contracting job opportunities, which in turn enhanced the rate of crime, particularly robbery by roving armed gangs. To this was added the official distrust of the wandering monastic orders, which challenged the British ideal of a settled taxpaying peasant community. Hence, all these peripatetic groups were stereotyped into a colonial construct called thuggee, who were believed to have been members of a “fraternity” traditionally involved in robbery and ritual killings in the name of religion. The anti-campaign of thuggees was started in the year 1830 in assertion of the same humanitarian mission of British paramountcy championed by Lord Bentinck. The Thuggee Act XXX of 1836 and the Thuggee Department simply aimed at policing and prosecuting gangs seen as perpetuating a crime in the name of religion. But really, it was a difficult task for the administration. In 1839 Sir William Sleeman, the architect of the campaign, claimed that thuggee as an organized system had

84  Scientific measures for criminal identification been exterminated. In reality what happened was that he realized the difficulty of prosecuting various groups of peripatetic mendicants on the charge of thuggee. He therefore preferred to try more flexible strategies for policing such communities (Arnold, 1988). Legalistic reforms were even more ineffective against less visible or less organized social customs that remained part of peoples’ everyday culture for centuries. An ideal example of this was the abolition of slavery. The agrarian relations in India were complex, marked by numerous structures of labour dependencies. In this connection, agricultural labourers became indebted to their landlords in various ways owing to caste hierarchy, traditions, and monetary obligation. The Government of India was instructed by the Charter Act of 18336 to eradicate slavery, and continuous parliamentary pressure compelled its legal abolition (Hardiman, 1988). However, another major reason for social disorder was the revenue reforms of the Company’s government in the late 18th and early 19th centuries which affected and altered Indian rural society to a great extent. When the elites of the Indian society were busy with initiating religious and social reforms to change their society according to the moralistic critique of the West, the rural peasants and tribals were responding to the imposition of colonial rule in an entirely different way. In contrast to the urban intelligentsia, who were the chief beneficiaries of colonial rule, the response of the traditional elite and the peasantry who were losing out as a result of colonial impositions was that of resistance and defiance, resulting in a series of unsuccessful attempts at restoring the old order. The peasants spontaneously resisted British rule. In such an endeavour, the instance of the Rangpur rising of 1783 in the northern districts of Bengal was a perfect illustration of such opposition. Another similar peasant movement of the 1840s and 1850s where religion played an important role was the Moplah uprising in the Malabar region of South India. Besides, a series of incidents occurred in Malabar throughout the 19th century which registered the protest of the rural poor against acts of oppression and exploitation (Dhanagare, 1991). Another dimension of this protest against government administration was that different religious movements took place in different parts of India. From 1760s until the middle of the 1800s, sporadic incidents took place between the Sanyasi-Fakirs and armed forces of the East India Company in a wide region of Bengal and Bihar and the number of participants rose up to 50,000 at the height of insurgency. Mention can be made of Tariqah-Muhammadiya under the leadership of Titu Mir and the Faraizi movement7 that developed among the peasants of eastern Bengal under the leadership of Haji Shariatullah. All these movements and unrest conditions upset the administration (Sen, 1972). However, from the 1820s things began to change as army reforms were initiated to introduce a more universalized military culture. Several reforms were made during the 1820s and 1830s to institute rigid control over army administration. As a consequence of these reforms, both caste privileges and financial benefits were restricted, which continued up to the 1840s. These incidents indirectly became a backdrop for the 1857 mutiny. Ultimately, the year 1857 witnessed the cataclysmic effects of revolts in different parts of central and northern India which collapsed the administration until

Scientific measures for criminal identification  85 the spring of 1858. The revolts witnessed an extraordinary amount of violence being unleashed on both sides. The Company rulers’ meticulously constructed monopoly of violence was met with an equal amount of counter-violence by their subjects. In this regard, the Kanpur massacre of June 27, 1857, was an act of transgression, where the indigenous violence of the colonized broke the monopoly of the violence of the colonizers. The revolt ended the rule of the East India Company, as after its pacification in 1858 by an act of parliament, the Indian empire was totally taken over by the British Crown. Different forms of revolt and regression started cropping up in different parts of the country from the late 18th to the mid 19th century. The reason behind those agitations were known to the Company rulers very well. The 1857 rebellion was nothing but a long-drawn process of fundamental social and economic changes that made the peasant communities more and more virulent against the administration (Mukherjee, 1998). Due to these revolts, reforms, and revolutions against the Company, the government made the administration collapse (Bandopadhyay, 2004). As a result of this, ultimately when the Crown was taken over by the British, they drastically altered the legal system by changing the Indian Penal Code along with Criminal Procedure Code and Police Regulation Act. Ultimately, for peaceful administration and to suppress all the agitations under colonial supremacy, crime identification and criminal investigation became the major emphasis of the British Raj. Finally, for scientific superiority they introduced “forensic science” as a scientific tool of the Empire to reestablish the colonial hegemony in a more rigid manner. Now it is imperative to explain what the colonial perception of crime was and what kind of acts or activities came under the heading of criminal activities as demarcated by the British. The following section will discuss this in a detailed manner.

Colonial perception of crime Mark Brown in his article Ethnology and Colonial Administration in Nineteenth century British India: The question of Native Crime and Criminality demonstrated that the evolution of more detailed information on crime and criminals was slow, but it also mirrored in important ways the contours of ethnographic thinking as that science emerged and was shaped and reshaped from the early nineteenth century onwards. (Brown, 2003, pp.209) Besides the concept of forensic science, it is crucial to understand the perception of crime by the colonial rulers. How did they identify a person as criminal or what were the causes of criminality? In keeping with Western legal tradition, the British chose to pass laws in order to define who was a criminal and how they should be treated. Due to social and cultural differences, no similarities existed between the British and the Indian perception of the concept of crime or criminals. However, the word crime is derived from the Latin root cernō, meaning “I decide, I give judgment”. Originally, the Latin word crīmen meant “charge” or “cry of distress”. However, the word “crime” owes its genesis to the Ancient Greek word krima (κρίμα), from which the Latin cognate derives, which is synonymous with the Sanskrit word

86  Scientific measures for criminal identification Krama, meaning social order. Thus the word “crime” is applied to those acts that go against social order and are worthy of serious condemnation (Huda, 1765). Sir William Blackstone in his “Commentaries on Law of England” defined crime “as an act committed or omitted in violation of Public Law forbidding or commanding it” (Blackstone, 1765). Since there is no satisfactory definition of crime, the Indian Penal Code, 1860, uses the word offence in place of crime. Section 40 of the IPC defines offence as an act punishable by the Code. An offence can take place in two ways, either by commission of an act or by omission of an act. When a crime is committed, any member of the public can institute proceedings against the person accused of the offence (The Indian Penal Code, 1860). While describing the colonial perception about crime in the book Terror, Crime and Punishment: Order and Disorder in Early Colonial Bengal 1800– 1860 the author described that the attempt of the colonial administrators to brand some of the Indian castes, classes and tribes as criminal, does not bear scrutiny. Any number of official documents may be cited to show that in colonial India the relation between economic condition and crime was very close. The colonial perception of criminal communities was a typical European way of looking at India. (Chakrabarti, 2009, pp. 171–172) In search of the historical definition of crime from different historical records, the present author tried to understand what the colonial rulers and their regulations perceived as crime. The study revealed that colonial India promoted a scientific construction of criminality, where a section of the colonized were identified and constructed as “criminals” in the colony through the conflation of law, crime, and new racial sciences. The attempts at a scientific construction of crime in India were a result of the technological environment in early modern England which sought to identify criminals with scientific accuracy (Pavlich, 2009). The British colonial state in India, as part of establishing key sites of law and order, constructed certain tribes, groups, castes, and individuals as “criminals”. These definitions of the term came to play a prominent role in the imperial criminal justice policies in India. This type of construction of criminality in the colonies also portrayed the stereotypical sense of the West, who depicted the indigenous in the East as criminals, robbers, rebels, docile Hindus, fanatic Muslims, untrustworthy Arabs, etc. This nomenclature was invented to describe those groups that reacted against the colonial invasion and was an important tool in de-legitimizing local uprisings. Studies on native criminality in colonial India have focused on the mid or late 19th century with special reference to the ways in and reasons for which the native tribes, peasants, and other groups were labelled as “criminals” by the colonial state. Native criminality is often regarded as the only means left for livelihood. By categorizing and labelling certain sections of the indigenous population in India as criminals and bandits, the colonial state attempted to sustain Western identity and racial superiority. The non-Western, savage heathen was viewed as opposite to the Western subject. In India, this designation did not only influence the colonial masters but

Scientific measures for criminal identification  87 also allowed the higher castes to identify with their colonial masters, thus placing the “criminal” tribes and castes outside the notion of modernity and progress. Therefore, it may not be an overstatement to say that it is difficult to define what the historical definition of crime in colonial India was. The colonial rulers who codified the criminality of Indians had all kinds of prejudices against the people whom they ruled. There was hardly any scope to accommodate the Indian perception in the colonial jurisprudence regarding crime and criminality. The legal perception of crime and criminality in colonial India was essentially a colonial construction. It can be said that the administrative discourse in colonial India sought to classify lower castes in the caste hierarchy and aboriginal tribes as criminals. Colonial administrative and metropolitan ideas and practices were thus used to classify these groups as “criminals” (Kumar, 2004). To identify these crimes and criminality, the power of the regime was rhetorically constructed through the language of legality (Mukherjee, 2003). As a consequence, to address the scientific truth and trust at the intersection of law, science, and medicine, the colonial rulers introduced scientific investigations in British India, whose basic purpose was to address the key anxieties of the colonial rulers, e.g. fake and false evidences, perjury, murder, dacoity, forgery, fabricated evidence, and false statements, and to detect true victims using scientific methods. To fulfil this new venture, different forensic institutions, which will be described in the next chapter, were established in different parts of colonial India (specifically in colonial Bengal) since 1849 until the early part of the 20th century. Now the present author feels the need to describe briefly the criminal justice reforms and the colonial discourse in the late-18th- to mid-19th-century British India.

Criminal justice reforms and the colonial discourse in the late-18th- to mid-19th-century British India Upamanyu Pablo Mukherjee in Crime and Empire – The Colony in Nineteenth Century Fictions of Crime demonstrates that in 1826, the British Parliament passed a Bill to regulate the appointment of juries in India and bring the management of the affairs of the company in line with that of Europe. Two years later, another Bill was passed for improving the administration of Indian Criminal Justice. (Mukherjee, 2003, pp.96) The East India Company ratified a series of administrative and legal intrusions when the political and administrative Crown of the Indian subcontinent was finally taken over by them. The most important of this was the management of the criminal justice system (Subramanian, 2013). The author tries to explore the circumstances that instigated the British government to create new rules and subsequent penal reforms in British India. In the latter half of the 18th century, the East India Company imposed an effective administrative and legal structure to establish Company Raj in India in a radical manner (Metcalf, 1995). The legal system followed neither the European legal structure nor the Indian legal system

88  Scientific measures for criminal identification comprehensively. Rather, Islamic criminal law governed the existing criminal justice system (CJS). The first initiative was taken by Warren Hastings8 in 1772 to change the judicial administration but not the substantive criminal law (Mishra, 1962). It is noteworthy that there was a hindrance to the execution of the expected reform in the criminal law because of the notion of the “cloudy title” (i.e. any form of claim which has been outstanding or any other obstacle, such as unclear deed of property or legal issues not yet solved, which does not allow a person control over anything till it is clear of such encumbrance) of the Company (Tiwari, 2014). The “cloudy title” of the Company to the Nizamat made it slow in altering the criminal law (Rankin, 1946). On the one hand, Islamic law governed the administration of criminal justice, while on the other hand, penal law was based on criminal law. Constitutionally, the British were unable to change it overnight. The British administration intentionally tried to control the entire legal system in such a manner that Muslim judicial officials were subordinated to British judges. The British governance thought that the major defect of the Islamic criminal law was the incapacity of the courts to implement capital sentences. Unlike British law, Islamic criminal law possessed few capital offences. Moreover, there were so many defences available that convictions for such capital offences were difficult to obtain (Peters, 2005). According to the British, in Islamic law, there were a number of inconsistent features, principles, and rules which could not be accepted by an organized government. As a result, the British felt it necessary to interfere with the Islamic criminal law. With the passage of time, the imperial administration restructured the Islamic criminal law. In the sphere of criminal law, the British government initiated disincentive punishments for some malicious crimes such as gang robbery, dacoity, and other socially disorganized activities which afflicted the social norms to a great extent. During the reign of Lord Cornwallis in 1790, the colonial government endorsed some of the replacement of Islamic criminal law. The process of reformation continued till 1860, when the Penal Code (PC) finally replaced the Islamic criminal law. Lord Cornwallis instigated the Regulation of the Government of Bengal to Amend Islamic Law of Crimes. Certain changes were introduced in the criminal law during 1790–1793. Some regulations were enacted on April 13, 1792, specifically on unidentified murder cases. Subsequent modifications were introduced, e.g. Regulation IX of 1793 altered the law of evidence and Regulation XIV of 1797 substituted imprisonment for blood money (as in the case of unintentional murder). Regulation granted relief to the persons who were in prison on account of their inability to pay blood money (Cohn, 2002). Other severe instances were the incidents of robbery, dacoity, and burglary. All these were unbridled in early-19th-century British India. Suitable legislations to control social unrest were passed in late 1803. Regulation 1803 abolished the conditions of robbery and Regulation IX of 1808 was implemented to check dacoity. In order to check crimes of burglary, Regulation I of 1811 provided necessary amendments. By Regulation XVII of 1817, the law relating to adultery was rationalized and modified. In 1826, the British Parliament passed a bill to regulate the appointment

Scientific measures for criminal identification  89 of juries in India and its management in the European line (A Bill to Regulate the Appointment of Juries in East India, Parliamentary papers, I, 1826, pp.93). Further in 1828, another bill was passed for improving the administration of Indian Criminal Justice (A Bill for Improving the Administration of Criminal Justice in India, Parliamentary Papers, 1828, pp.46). However, the Islamic criminal law continued till 1832, but the changing sociohistorical circumstances compelled the British Parliament to apply Islamic criminal law in the Indian subcontinent further (Malik, 1999). However, through this judicial reform the Company gained confidence, which in turn helped them extend their territorial domination in the subcontinent. The Company launched sustained campaigns against criminal communities like thuggee. In 1821, new policing began in earnest in India with the inception of the anti-thuggee campaign. Throughout the next decades, a number of legislations were passed to implement new policing techniques in India. The Thuggee and Dacoity Suppression Acts, 1836, was passed in British India (Taylor, 1843). A series of legal acts were enacted to punish criminals like thuggee and dacoits. in the New Monthly Magazine, 1833, Philip Meadows Taylor in his article On the Thugs wrote that the thugs as a perfectly distinct class of persons who subsist almost entirely upon the produce of murders they are in the habit of committing. (Taylor, 1833, pp.227) The abolition of thuggee was a great success for the Company’s government. In such an endeavour the Company felt it mandatory to change the Indian Penal Code to establish their supremacy. Four law commissioners, of whom Lord Macaulay was the chief, prepared the draft Penal Code and submitted to the Governor-General in Counsel on October 14, 1837. On April 26, 1845, it was sent to a Commission for modification and necessary revision. This Commission submitted two reports, dated November 5, 1846, and June 24, 1847. Here it is important to note that since the 1840s crime increased not because of the brutality of Islamic criminal law but owing to the annoyance of the Indian people with British supremacy, which caused a series of anti-British activities all over the subcontinent. In the mid-19th century, a major rebellion began against the British East India Company: the Rebellion of 1857 (Pati, 2010). After the cataclysmic effect of the 1857 rebellion, the British took over the Crown and reformed the Indian Penal Code (IPC), specifically for administration and the judicial sector, including criminal justice system, permanently. The penal reform took 12 years or more for revision and was passed into law on October 6, 1860. The revised IPC was enacted in the year 1861, but it was different from the bill prepared by the law commissioner. This historical moment witnessed the amendment of three criminal laws, the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, and the New Police Regulation. The first two laws gave the colonial administration a new silhouette. The last one was very significant considering the earlier experience of the utter failure of the police force in controlling dreadful crimes and establishing an effective order under the Company Raj (Chan, Wright and

90  Scientific measures for criminal identification Yeo, 2011). After taking over the Crown permanently to control the colonial subjects more systematically and vigorously, along with legal reforms and regulations, the imperial rulers introduced forensic science as a new scientific tool of supremacy in the subcontinent.

Enactment of Indian Penal Code 1860, Criminal Procedure Code, and the New Police Regulation Indian Penal Code 1860 The British East India Company, in 1765, acquired authority over the department of finance of Bengal, and gradually extended its control over the other branches of the government. One of these was the administration of criminal justice. Bengal, being a part of the Mughal Empire, was mainly governed by Islamic criminal law as far as penal law was concerned. Constitutionally, the British could not change that. The British judges restructured the entire judiciary system in such a way that the Muslim judicial officials became subordinated to the British. Moreover, since they regarded Islamic criminal law as inconsistent and too lenient, they began to remedy those doctrines that they regarded as obstacles to the maintenance of law and order and as repugnant to natural justice. The main objection of the British to Islamic criminal law as administered in India was that it restricted the power of the courts to enforce capital sentences. Under Islamic criminal law, as compared to contemporary British law, there were relatively few capital offences and, in addition, there were so many defences available that conviction for such capital offences was difficult to obtain (Rudolph, 2005). According to the British, the Islamic law of crimes was not adequate to suppress crime in society. There were a number of inconsistent features, principles, and rules therein which no civilized government could suffer for long. For example, immoral intercourse (zina) between a woman and a married man was in all cases punishable by death, whether violence was used or not, but punishment is barred by the existence of any doubt on the question of right or by any conception in the mind of the accused that the woman is lawful to him and by his alleging such idea as his excuse (Kulshreshtha, 2007). Referring to the defective state of law, Stephen observed: “The Islamic criminal law was open to every kind of objection. It was occasionally cruel. It was frequently technical and it often mitigated the extravagant harshness of its provisions by rules of evidence which particularly excluded the possibility of carrying them into effect” (Stephen, 2007). The concept of crimes and criminal acts in the then existing law was found lacking on several counts by Rankin. On homicide, Rankin wrote, “The Islamic criminal law of homicide, if taken as a whole, was very complicated, technical and obscure” (Rankin, 1946). Mittal quotes Rankin’s words (Mittal, 1985) while Jain attempts to extend: “The primitive character of the criminal law prevailing in Bengal at the time could not better be appreciated than by a survey of the Muslim Law of murder” (Jain, 1993). In Islamic law, in the case of murder, the heirs of the murdered man could claim qisas, i.e. the heirs had the right to inflict the same injury on the wrongdoer as had been inflicted on the victim. Instead of claiming qisas, the heirs could also

Scientific measures for criminal identification  91 compound the murder by accepting diyat9 (blood money) from the murderer, or they could even pardon the murderer. Warren Hastings criticized this law as a law of barbarous construction and contrary to the first principle of civil society, by which a state acquires an interest in every member which composes it and a right in his security (Jain, 1993, p.367). Again the defects of punishments under Islamic law were taken up to show that they were severe and cruel. Jain, again, following Rankin, adds: “The Islamic criminal law sanctioned the terrible punishment of mutilation which meant slow, cruel and lingering death to the unfortunate person who had to undergo the punishment, for he could not adopt any honest means of livelihood” (Jain, Supra note 12, p.370). But it is impossible to prove that mutilation was more inhuman than imprisonment. Here it is important to note that punishments in Islam are not for revenge but for reformation, and must not exceed the extent of the offence. If it is to be deterrent, punishment must also be exemplary. Allah Almighty says in the Holy Quran: “And as for the man who steals and the woman, who steals, cut off their hands in retribution of their offence as an exemplary punishment from Allah. And Allah is Mighty, Wise” (Al-Quran, 5: 39). However, to understand the value of punishment, it would be useful to understand the background of the society which Islam aims to establish. Knowledge of the fiscal guarantee which an Islamic economic system offers to every citizen of the country is also necessary. As far as the structure of society is concerned, Islam believes in simple living, truth, uprightness, and self-discipline from absurdities of life and irrational customs. As far as Muslims are concerned, devotion and purity of heart and sight are important, and moral teachings in Islam delineate the different compulsions of humans. In light of these, if the residents of a country are truly Muslims, the thought of thieving should be inconceivable. Despite that, if anybody steals to satisfy his greed, he should be given exemplary punishment because it is better to be severe to one and save a thousand than to be indulgent to all and ruin many. He certainly is a good surgeon who does not hesitate to amputate a rotten limb to save the whole body (Mandiwala, 2018). T. K. Banerjee has pointed out that “with exceptions crime under Islamic law was considered to be a wrong done to the injured party not an offence against the state and punishment was regarded as the private right of the aggrieved party”. At the same time he has acknowledged that “in some respects, undoubtedly, the Islamic criminal law was superior to the English criminal law of that period which was still rude and crude, and far from perfect. English law would hang a man for stealing trivial things, but in Bengal a thief could never be capitally punished” (Banerjee, 1963). Dr. Aspinal also compared Islamic criminal law with the English law more favourably when he observed that “In prescribing the severest punishments for crimes against the person, it was in advance of the English criminal law of the eighteenth century which punished offences against property with much greater severity” (Aspinal, 1993). He observed further: “And when the occasional barbarity of Islamic punishment is emphasized, one should remember, first, that the administration of the law was more humane than the law itself; and, secondly, that there were still in England over 160 offences punishable with death” (Aspinal, 1993, p.62). At that time the British thought that it was necessary

92  Scientific measures for criminal identification for them to interfere with the Islamic criminal law because some of the principles of the law of homicide were manifestly unjust and absurd and the means provided for giving effect to their sanctions were insufficient. Though the British administrator allowed the Islamic law of crimes to remain in force for quite some time, they subjected it to radical reforms so as to rid it of its archaic features. British officials were baffled by the leniency of Islamic criminal law and by the loopholes that often precluded the infliction of what they saw as adequate punishment for serious criminals. Application of unchanged Islamic criminal law, they considered, stood in the way of maintaining law and order. On the other hand, they were reluctant to allow siyasat (exemplary punishment) sentences, which they regarded as arbitrary and opposed to the notion of the rule of law. The British, then, saw no other way than to gradually modify strict Islamic criminal law, by putting it through British notions of justice and law and order. In the process of criminal law the government also introduced deterrent punishments for some virulent crimes (gang robbery, dacoity, etc.) afflicting the society. The process of repealing and amending the Islamic criminal law, and supplementing the same with some new approach to criminal law, through government enacted Regulations, started in earnest from the time of Lord Cornwallis in 1790. Without any objection this process continued till 1860, when the Penal Code (PC) finally replaced the Islamic criminal law. Since the pre-Company criminal law was considered by some English and Indian writers as complex, illogical, and barbaric, the new Regulations, by implication, were to them simple, logical, and humane. But Fisch first pointed out that the Company’s reform in fact led to a more severe criminal justice system through the enlargement of acts qualified as crimes and strict imposition of punishments, including longer terms of imprisonment, transportation, and death (Fisch, 1983). To reveal official reasoning at various levels, Fisch examines the replies that were made to successive inquiries – in 1789–1790, in 1801–1802, and in 1813. It seems that most British officials objected to mutilation. Many officials described it as cruel and barbarous. Fisch concedes that the British at the time thought such reasoning was humane. He is at pains to argue that it would be impossible to get evidence that mutilation was more brutal than imprisonment. The case against mutilation – then and now – could rather be seen as resting not on logic but on sensitivity to another’s physical pain. This seems indeed to be the view of most of the officials who replied to these inquiries (Fisch, 1983, p.129). Fisch also establishes that severity and deterrence were dominating considerations in a variety of instances. By contrast, he stresses the mildness of Islamic law (Fisch, 1983, p.125). He could perhaps have paid more attention to the views of Muhammad Reza Khan, Naib Nazim of Bengal, for much of this period, who looked back with nostalgia at the days when the Muslim administration was unaffected by foreign influence. The exacting of fines had never been a means of exempting the guilty from punishment; on the contrary every degree of severity and torture had been and still was inflicted upon them as enjoined by the Laws of God. Muhammad Reza Khan submitted this warning to the Company’s administration in Bengal in 1769 (Khan, 1969). Thus Fisch clearly undermined the views against Islamic

Scientific measures for criminal identification  93 criminal law. When the British took control of revenue collection in Bengal in the latter half of the 18th century, they also began to exercise more control over the judicial authority in the areas under their domination. Asaf A. A. Fyzee, a 20thcentury Indian legal scholar, has described the transformation of Islamic law in India under British colonialism. In the earlier days of British rule, the influence of Islamic law, pure and simple, was felt everywhere. Originally, the Company had merely the right to collect revenue. The administration of justice, civil and criminal, remained as it had been under the Islamic law. The law officers were mostly Muslims; criminal law was Islamic; in civil matters, Islamic law was applied to Muslims and Hindu law to Hindus in accordance with the opinion of the pundits attached to the courts (Asaf, 1931). Unfortunately, the laws were changed by the British administrators step by step until Islamic law with regard to evidence and criminal law was replaced with codified law in the 1860s. In civil matters, too, the influence of Islamic law was increasingly restricted through legislation and the introduction of principles drawn from equity and the common law of England. Thus the system known as “Mohammedan law” in India was modified by English law, both common and statutory, and equity, in various social and cultural conditions of the subcontinent (Asaf, 1931). It is well known that the Company took over the administration of civil justice after assuming the authority of Dewan of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa in 1765. A well-organized structure of judicial system, i.e. civil courts and criminal courts, existed at the time of the Company’s acquisition of Dewani rights.10 It appears that the Company took over the Dewani of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa with a highly developed law as well as legal system. It was said earlier that initially the colonial authority did not interfere with the “native” laws. According to Derret, there were three rationales behind the Company’s observance to the indigenous laws: (a) when Hastings’s Plan of 1772 was adopted it was the time of French Revolution11 and “all Europe was accustomed to a confusion of local laws”; (b) for Hastings, and the administrator, and even to the lawyers of the generation, the application of a separate set of laws derived from religion was not an easy task; and (c) the colonial power just adhered to the Portuguese policy to leave the judicial administration to the “natives” themselves (Derret, 1963). However, from Hastings’s time the British colonial power started taking an interest in the native’s administration of justice system as a number of intellectuals’ studies of the native system and a new set of cadre of civil servants came into being by this time (Hamilton, 1791; Jones, 1792; Henry, 1858). Two events, it appears, had affected the administration of Islamic law in British India a great deal during the 19th century: the replacement of existing Islamic law through direct legislation in the Western sense and removal of the native law officers from the court. English legal doctrines, it appears, came to replace the existing Islamic law in India as a direct consequence of codification of law. Moreover, codification of law contributed to the confinement of Islamic law to questions related only to family relations and statuses, which too stopped after the development of a new branch of law classified as personal law. Besides, the removal in 1864 of native judicial officers who had been attached to the court

94  Scientific measures for criminal identification to provide explanation on religious doctrines contributed to the establishment of absolute control over the judicial administration by the British colonial authority. As a result the English judges became the sole interpreters of the religious laws in India (Rahman, 2019). Unlike criminal law, it is pertinent to mention, a reservation had been maintained on the application of “native” religious laws, from Hastings’s Plan of 1772 to the entire period of the British regulations in India. In spite of Hasting’s Plan of 1772 for application of “native” religious laws in British India, basically the colonial authority tried to establish a legal system founded on the English ideology which would support their policy in India in the long run. Especially, the event of withdrawal of the “native” law officers from the courts under the guise of re-organization of the courts brought an occasion for the British judges to interpret Islamic law independently. These “semi-autonomous judges” of British India relied mostly on the translations of some traditional texts, i.e. Hedaya, Fatawa-e-Alamgiri, to resolve disputes involving interpretation of Sharia instead of applying the Islamic law from its historical and philosophical perspective (Rahman, 2019). Besides, the colonial authority sought to codify the “native’s” religious laws on the grounds, allegedly, that the languages of the religious texts of the two religions (Muslim and Hindu) were unknown to the colonial authority. The colonial authority was unable to codify native laws not only for the unknown language of the religious texts but also lack of faith on the native law officers. These two factors were the major hindrances for the British rulers. For example, in the words of Sir William Jones:12 If we give judgment only from the opinions of the native lawyers and scholars, we can never be sure, that we have not been deceived by them. It would be absurd and unjust to pass an indiscriminate censure on so considerable a body of men, but my experience justifies me in declaring that I could not with an easy conscience concur in a decision merely on the written opinion of native lawyers, in any case in which they could have the remotest interest in misleading the court. (Yang, 2007) It is not astonishing that the maulavis were unreliable. British allegations of discrepancy raised partly from genuine questions of truthfulness may have been linked to a low official salary. More significantly, doubts arose owing to the multiplicity of opinions that any legal question might generate. Islamic legal theories had always offered flexibility for judicial discretion in applying Sharia principles. Operating with their own preconceptions, British judges seemed unable to accept that there might be genuine differences of opinion on a point of law. When maulavis13 did disagree, their opinions often simply reflected the inherent inadequacies of the British text-based approach (Anderson, 1993). In reality, it might not be true. It may raise a question as to whether it was a trick of the British to remove the maulavis from the courts. Because when the maulavis gave their fatwa inconsistent with the British notion, they were accused of taking bribe or the British judges thought that they did not give an accurate opinion on a point of law.

Scientific measures for criminal identification  95 The British judges removed the maulavis deliberately from the courts because at one time they desired to be the only interpreters of the law of the courts. The question arose as to whether the Company could alter the criminal law then in force in India when the East India Company acquired the Dewani rights. The first interference with the Islamic criminal law came in 1772 when Warren Hastings changed the existing law regarding dacoity to suppress the robbers and dacoits. On the other hand, Warren Hastings plan was prepared when he took over the Governorship of Bengal in 1772. Hastings, explaining the plan for better governance of Bengal to the court of directors of the Company, stated that it would establish the Company’s system of governance on “a most equitable, solid and permanent footing”. The preface to the Regulation 1772 marked that the peace of the country had been very much troubled by bands of dacoits, who not only polluted the high roads but often plundered whole villages, burnt houses, and killed the inhabitants; these outlaws had eluded every attempt of the government at detecting and bringing them to justice. Warren Hastings also pointed out in his letter, “The Islamic criminal law often obliges the Sovereign to interpose and to prevent the guilty from escaping with impunity and to strike at the root of such disorders as the law may not reach”. It had therefore become the indispensable duty of the government to try the most rigorous means to punish the dacoits. Apart from this change, Warren Hastings left the Islamic criminal law untouched in 1772. In spite of his predilections in favour of the indigenous laws, Warren Hastings was convinced of the need to reform the Islamic criminal law in certain respects. He formulated three proposals for its modification in 1773. The first one was that the purpose, not the nature, of the weapon used be made the test of wilful murder. If the plan of the murderer could be proved clearly, no merit should be made with respect to the weapon by which the crime was conducted. The murderer should suffer death, and the fine should be abetted. Secondly, Warren Hastings suggested closing down the advantages granted by the Islamic criminal law to the sons or the nearest of kin to pardon the murderers of their parents or relatives. Thirdly, he advocated the abolition of the rule which required the children, or the nearest of kin, of the deceased to execute the sentence passed on the murderer of their parents or kinsmen. Fourthly, the fine imposed for murder should be proportionate not only to the nature of the crime but both to the nature and to the degree of the crime, as well as to the substance and means of the criminal. Warren Hastings submitted his proposal to the council for consideration and approval. The council took no decision thereon as it regarded it a very fragile matter to change the established law; therefore, it thought that no rapid action should be taken in this regard. However, there was a difference which was maintained between the Dewani (land related) and the Nizamat (crime related). The council was hesitant on the question as to whether it should interfere in any way in the law of crimes and seek to modify it. In spite of Warren Hastings’ strong advocacy and pleading in favour of the proposed changes, no conclusion was made on the matter and nothing further seems to have happened in this regard for the rest of his tenure as the Governor-General. So Hastings’ proposals for reform were not heeded

96  Scientific measures for criminal identification because, as expressed by Rankin, “The cloudy title of the Company to the Nizamat made it slow to alter the criminal law”. In 1786, Lord Cornwallis came to Bengal as Governor-General. Before his appointment, he had acted as the Commanderin-Chief of the British army in the American War of Independence. Enlisted with vast military and administrative experience, Cornwallis in every aspect built on the foundations of his predecessors, and especially Hastings. From 1772 to 1790, no special effort was made to change the Islamic criminal law. Cornwallis observed that the legal machinery suffered from much mystification, multiplicity of practice, and ambiguity of jurisdiction. His reforms were aimed at removing these defects. Cornwallis concentrated his attention on removing two main defects, namely (a) gross defects of Islamic criminal law and (b) defects in the constitution of the courts (Aspinall, 1931). Cornwallis initiated the first systematic attempt to modify the Islamic law of crimes in1790 by a Regulation of the Government of Bengal. During 1790–1793 Cornwallis introduced certain changes in the criminal law. However, a rule was framed for the guidance of Muslim law officers. In December 1790 it was decided that all trials of murder were to be assisted by the intention of the murderer, either apparent or moderately inferable, and not by the manner or appliance of perpetration (Aspinall, 1931). In Islamic criminal law there are five categories of illegal murder: Qatl-i-amd (wilful murder consisting of murderer’s will, voluntary act, and use of mortal weapon), Qatl-i-sibhiamd (wilful murder, but the instrument used is not considered to endanger life), Qatl-i-khata (erroneous murder), Qatl-i-sibhi-khata (involuntary murder), and Qatl-bit-tasabbur (accidental murder). In distinguishing Qatl-i-amd from Qatli-sibhi-amd, Imam Abu Hanifa had laid emphasis on the weapon used and consequently the weapon became the ultimate and sole criterion for determining the category of homicide committed. On the other hand, notable imams, such as Abu Yusuf, Imam Muhammad, and Shafie, advocated for the more rational doctrine that it was the intention and not the method to commit the murder that was relevant, and that if the intention to commit murder was proved, no distinction should then be drawn on the artificial basis of the method employed for the purpose. This distinction on the commentaries was relied upon by Lord Cornwallis in justifying amendments to rules concerning wilful murder. In Cornwallis’s celebrated Minutes of the December 1, 1790, he is quoted as stating: It need therefore be further observed that we have greater encouragement that for this alteration from the consideration that Islamic law itself is not entirely settled upon the most important distinction; for although the Doctor Abu Hanifah’s opinion I wish to see corrected; yet his immediate disciples and successors, Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad, gave a very different judgment; contending and laying down that the intention, and not the mode or instrument should be considered … Shafie … makes the intent the criterion, and so reasonable and well grounded has his last opinion been found, that both Islamic and our own have from time to time availed themselves of it toward capital punishment against such offenders. (Malik, 1998)

Scientific measures for criminal identification  97 Moreover, the will of the successor or the kindred of the departed were not to be applicable in case of murder, in the grant of pardon or in the demand of compensation money as a price of blood. So the abolition of the right of the heirs of the murdered to pardon the murderer was another notable change. This change was expressed in the following words: If the answer of the law officer declares the prisoner as guilty of wilful murder (Qatle-i-amd), the judge, without making any reference to heir or heirs of the slain, is to require the law officer to declare the punishment to which the prisoner convicted would be liable according to the Islamic criminal law, supposing all the heirs of the slain entitled to prosecute the prisoner for qisas have attended and prosecuted him … and have demanded qisas [This change was brought about by Regulation IV of 1797]. (Rahman, 2012) Imprisonment was earlier substituted for diyat or blood money for non-wilful murder. Again, the usual punishment of amputation of limbs was replaced by temporary hard labour or fine and imprisonment according to circumstances of the case. The Governor-General-in-Council resolved on October 10, 1791, that the punishment of mutilation should not be inflicted on any criminal in the future; thereafter, all criminals sentenced by the courts to lose two limbs should, instead of being made to suffer such punishment, be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for 14 years, and the criminal sentenced to lose one limb should instead be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for seven years (Resolution in the proceedings of the Governor-General-in-Council, dated October 10, 1791). A few further modifications were introduced in the criminal law of homicide on April 13, 1792; the Governor-General-in-Council laid down the following few propositions. Firstly, in case of murder, refusal by the relations of the deceased to prosecute the offenders was no longer considered a bar to the trial and condemnation of the offenders. If the heirs refused to prosecute, the Circuit Courts were to proceed with the trial in the same manner as if the slain had no heir, and the Muslim law officers attached to the courts had to give the fatwa on the assumption that the heirs had been the prosecutors and were present at the trial. Secondly, it was laid down that the same rule would apply to all cases of murder wherein it was known that the slain had an heir who was legally entitled to claim qisas, who would neither appear after the lapse of reasonable time nor communicate his intention through his legal representative or otherwise to pardon the offender. In none of these two cases was the sentence to be passed by the trial court. The record of the trial was to be sent to the Sadar Nizamat Adalat, which was to pass the sentence on the supposition that the heir was the prosecutor, that he was present at the trial, and that he demanded qisas. Thus, one more step was taken away from private justice towards public justice. Regulation IX, 1793, amended the law of evidence by providing that the religious persuasions of witnesses shall not be considered a bar to the conviction or condemnation of a prisoner. In that case the law officers of the court had to declare their fatwa

98  Scientific measures for criminal identification based on the supposition that the witness had been of Muslim persuasion. Thus non-Muslims could give testimony against Muslims in criminal cases, which was not permitted thus far according to the Islamic law of evidence. On May 1, 1793, the Cornwallis Code – a body of 48 enactments – was passed. Regulations IX of 1793 in effect restated the enactments which provided for the modification of Islamic criminal law during the last three years. Thus it laid down the general principles on which the administration of criminal justice was to proceed. Regulation IV in 1797 explained and restated some confusion existing on certain points on the law of homicide. The purpose of the Regulation was to do away finally with all operation of the will of the heirs in case of murder. The Regulation laid down that a prisoner convicted of wilful murder was to be punished without any reference to the heirs of the person killed supposing (a) all the heirs of the person slain entitled to prosecute the prisoner for qisas had attended and prosecuted him, and had demanded qisas; (b) all heirs were at an age competent to demand qisas; and (c) and that they had all demanded qisas. Another innovation made at the time was to substitute imprisonment for blood money (diyat). In cases where under Islamic law, a person convicted of homicide was liable to pay blood money (as in the case of unintentional murder), the circuit court was to compute the fine to imprisonment for such period as it considered adequate for the offence. In any case which was not provided by the Regulations, the court was compelled to give justice to adhere to the Islamic criminal law. Even the same incidence occurred in favour of the prisoner; the court was to counsel a pardon, or lessening of the punishment by order of the Governor-General-in-Council. Regulation XIV of 1797 granted relief to the persons who were in prison on account of their inability to pay blood money. A large number of persons condemned to pay diyat had been lodged in prisons for an indefinite period as they were unable to pay the money involved. The Sadar Nizamat Adalat was empowered to grant relief to these prisoners, considering in each case the establishment of justice. Penalties were to be enforced not for the betterment of private parties but for the use of the government. In such cases, a definite term of imprisonment in lieu of fine was to be fixed so that after the expiry of the term, the prisoners were discharged even if they did not pay the fine. The same Regulation prescribed severe punishment for the offence of perjury as this offence had very much increased at the time. In aggravated cases of perjury, a perpetual stigma could be inflicted on the criminal through imprinting (branding) on the forehead in addition to the existing penalties of corporal punishment, imprisonment, and exposure. The process of introducing reforms in the Islamic criminal law continued till 1832 when the application of Islamic law as a general law was totally abolished, although finally the Indian Penal Code was enacted in 1860 and the Muftis (law officer) continued to function as native judicial officers till 1864. Various piecemeal reforms were introduced from 1799 to 1832 in the Islamic criminal law: Regulation VIII of 1799 provided a sentence of capital punishment in certain cases which were considered as justifiable under the Islamic criminal law. No longer was any murder to be justifiable and in all cases of murder, the offenders were to be punished with death.

Scientific measures for criminal identification  99 The Regulation laid down that in those cases where the executioner was asserted not liable to qisas exclusively on the grounds of the prisoner being the father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, or any other predecessor of the person slain or one of the successors of the person slain being the child, grandchild, other inheritors of the convict, or the slain having been the slave of the prisoner, the prisoner was to be destined to death. The law of homicide was further reformed by Regulation VIII of 1801 by drawing a distinction between an involuntary homicide in the prosecution of a lawful intention, e.g. shooting at a mark and accidentally killing a man, and a voluntary homicide in the prosecution of an unlawful and murderous intention, e.g. shooting to kill one man but instead killing another. The Regulation laid down that a person convicted of having deliberately and maliciously intended to murder one individual, and having in the prosecution of such intention accidentally killed another individual, was to be liable to suffer death because of his murderous intention and actual homicide. In case of involuntary homicide in the prosecution of a lawful intention the rule of Islamic law imposing a fine was to continue. Also, in cases where a person unlawfully and maliciously intended to wound, maim, or otherwise inflict corporal injury to one individual, but caused the injury to another accidentally in the prosecution of his intention, would be punished in the same manner as if the injury was caused to the person whom he wanted to injure. The practice of infanticide and its abatement was declared equivalent to murder and was made punishable with death penalty. Even an attempt was punishable. In Bengal, there prevailed the abominable practice of infanticide by throwing children into water. The government found, after an investigation, that there was no religious basis for such a practice and it was indulged into partly for economic reasons and partly from a blind belief in its efficacy as a stimulant to the fertility of the mother. Regulation VI of 1802, therefore, abolished the criminal and inhuman practice of sacrificing children and declared infanticide punishable as wilful murder liable to a sentence of death. Regulation III of 1803 provided that in case a person was liable to discretionary punishment under the Islamic criminal law, the fatwa of the law officer was merely to declare the same in general terms, stating the grounds on which the prisoner was subject to discretionary punishment, and the punishment, short of death, was to be proposed by the judge of Circuit or by the Sadar Nizamat Adalat. It was provided that no punishment was to be inflicted only on suspicion. If in a particular case the evidence fell short of legal requisite for hadd or qisas, but was, nevertheless, sufficient to convict the prisoner on strong presumptive proof or violent presumption, the judge was to sentence the accused to full punishment as if he had been convicted based on full legal evidence. In all other serious cases where no penalty was prescribed by any regulation, or provided for by Islamic law, the maximum punishment was to be 39 stripes and imprisonment with hard labour for seven years. When this degree of punishment appeared to be insufficient, the Sadar Nizamat Adalat, on reference to it, was authorized to inflict a higher punishment short of death. Robbery was another recurrent offence which had become rampant in Bengal at the time on a large scale. Suitable legislation to deal with it was passed only as late as 1803. Regulation LIII of 1803 abolished the conditions

100  Scientific measures for criminal identification of robbery. It also abolished the necessity of evidence of any special kind. In all cases murder committed in the prosecution of robbery, or aiding or abetting the same or being accessory thereto the offenders, was to be punished with a death sentence. For habitual and notorious robbers, in consideration of circumstances, the Sadar Nizamat Adalat was empowered to inflict capital sentence. In simple robbery a punishment of seven years was given. Dacoity was another major problem to be checked by law and punishment. Regulation IX of 1808 provided that notorious dacoits were liable to imprisonment or transportation for life. Laws were made more stringent to check dacoity. In order to check crimes of burglary, the existing Regulations were modified. Regulation I of 1811 provided for the punishment of imprisonment of banishment for 14 years and to corporal punishment of 39 stripes for the offence of burglary between sunset and sunrise. Similarly, punishment was laid down for other types of attempts to commit burglary. By Regulation XVII of 1817, the law relating to adultery was rationalized and modified. The offence of adultery fell under the category of hadd, and was punishable with stoning or scourging and needed four eye-witnesses for convicting a person of the offence. The law of evidence was so technical that it made conviction of a person for the offence almost impossible. The Regulation in question laid down that conviction for the offence of adultery could be based on confession, credible testimony, or circumstantial evidence. The maximum punishment to be inflicted for the offence was fixed at 39 stripes and imprisonment with labour for up to seven years. Married women were not to be prosecuted on such charges, save by their husbands. However, the concepts of zina (adultery) in Islam and adultery in British perception are not the same. Islam judges adultery as one of the most dreadful of all social crimes and looks upon the chastity of a man or a woman as one of his or her most valuable possessions. For the founding of the kingdom of God, Islam strappingly criticizes this most fatal of all social crimes, which if not confirmed and suppressed, can bring about total breakdown and devastation of society. The Holy Quran seeks to close all those avenues through which this evil can find its way among people and severely punishes the act of adultery and condemns the guilty parties as social pariahs. Other important Regulations were passed to stop slave trade in the country, to provide safeguards to females to prohibit beggary, to punish for affrays with homicide. The use of corah (whipping) as an instrument of punishment in the execution of sentences of any criminal court was prohibited by section 4 of Regulation XII of 1825 and it substituted the use of rattan (caning) in its place. By section 3 corporal punishments were totally forbidden for female convicts. The same Regulation further restricted the number of cases in which reference to Sadar Nizamat Adalat was necessary. Similarly, various other Regulations were passed in order to check other types of criminal activities (Kulshreshtha, supra note 8, p.267). By Regulation XVII of 1829, a great social reform was introduced amongst the Hindus with the abolition of sati. The custom of sati, or burning alive of Hindu widows, was declared to be illegal and was made punishable in the same way as culpable homicide. Even persons guilty of aiding and abetting sati were to be punished by fine or imprisonment or both.

Scientific measures for criminal identification  101 The Regulation declared that the sati was “revolting to the feelings of human nature” and was in violation of the paramount dictates of justice and humanity (Majumdar, 1965). The provisions made by the Regulations from time to time were like patchwork on the Islamic criminal law. Commenting on the state of criminal law, Stephen observed, “Objectionable in all respects” as this system was, it was considered necessary to make it the foundation of the criminal law administered by the Company’s courts, though its grosser features were removed in some cases by Regulations, in others by decisions of the Sadar courts and in others by circulars and orders of various kinds. It became necessary in many instances besides correcting the law to supply its defects and for this purpose all sorts of expedients were devised, the law of England, instructions from the government, general ideas of justice, analogies, in short almost anything which occurred to those by whom the system was administered was resorted to for that purpose. The result was a hopelessly confused, feeble, indeterminate system of which no one could make anything at all. Regulation VI of 1832 marks the end of the Islamic criminal law as a general law applicable to all persons, although Penal Code was made in 1860 and Muslim ulema continued to function as law officers in the courts till 1864. According to the British, the Islamic criminal law was an archaic and primitive system and it could not have been practicable to keep it in operation for a hundred years without being reformed extensively. Crime was rampant in the society; there was an acute law and order problem in the country; with the classical Islamic criminal law these problems could not be met effectively. It is worth mentioning that crime increased at the time not because of the shortcomings of Islamic criminal law but owing to discontentment of the Indian people against British rule. Due to the disagreeable impact on the political, economic, and social spheres, Indian people reacted against British authority. This led to a series of anti-British activities throughout the country. Crimes such as dacoity and robbery by the natives increased as a result of such reaction towards the British (Waliullah, 1967). The Penal Code was drafted by the first Law Commission under the presidency of Lord Macaulay14 and three commissioners named, Macleod, Anderson, and Millet. In 1834 the Commission was formed to explore the command, authority, and regulations of the courts and police institution. Elucidating the task before the Commission, Lord Macaulay observed, I believe that no country ever stood so much in need a code of law as India and I believe also that there never was a country in which they want might be so easily supplied. Our principle is simply this – uniformity when you can have it; diversity when you must have it; but in all cases, certainty. (Skuy, 1998) In preparing the Penal Code the British drew not only from the English and the Indian laws and regulations, but also from Livingstone’s Louisiana Code and the Code of Napoleon. The Indian Penal Code was drafted and put forwarded to the Commission in 1837. Another Commission evaluated the Code in 1847. The

102  Scientific measures for criminal identification Code was consequently revised, but it was only after the two Law Members of the Governor-General of India in Council redrafted the Code which was submitted to the Legislative Council in 1856. It finally came into force after receiving the Governor-General’s assent on October 6, 1860. While posterity hailed Macaulay’s code as a work of genius, many criticized it. An example of such criticism by Rankin may be of interest. He said, The Penal Code is one of the much praised Acts of Indian Legislature and in spite of its many defects has served its purpose fairly well. Its sentences can hardly be said to be other than monstrous. No civilized country today imposes such heavy sentences as does the Penal Code. Heavy sentences have long gone out of fashion in England and the odour of sanctity and perfection attaching to the Penal Code should not deter indigenous legislatures to thoroughly revise the sentences and bring them into conformity with modern civilized standards. (Ratanlal and Dhirajlal, 2004) The draft of the Penal Code, when it was circulated for opinion, evoked a good deal of opposition and many eminent judges and the advocates were against it. “The saying in East Bengal is”, said Sir C. P. Ilbert, “that every little herd boy carries a red umbrella under one arm and a copy of Penal Code with the other”. To date we do not know of any objection raised by the Muslim jurists of those days when Penal Code was enacted in 1860. Throughout history, Muslim jurists have been very keen with regard to Sharia law and have availed themselves of every opportunity to raise their voice if any step was taken against Sharia law by any quarter of the society or the ruler. Thus it remains a query for us to know as to what kept them from raising any objection to the implementation of the Penal Code. However, the Penal Code showed many similarities in perception as well as practice to Islamic criminal law of tazir. It was frequently asserted that the basis of the Penal Code, 1860, was Islamic criminal law, devoid of some of the rules of qisas and diyat. The British introduced a new system of law and justice in India. A hierarchy of civil and criminal courts was established. The common people could not access the law courts easily. Justice became a costly affair. The laws were codified and efforts were made to establish the “Rule of Law” in India. This only assisted the British in taking pleasure in their capricious power and in stripping the Indians of their rights and autonomy.

Criminal Procedure Code after 1857 The present criminal procedure in India was not a sudden creation. It has been developed as the consequence of a moderate and continuous process and bears the imprints of different times of Indian history. Under the sturdy gaze of the Muslim law generated in India, the correctional law that prevailed in India was the Hindu criminal law, which was arranged and very much differentiated. Old Smriti authors propounded four techniques for discipline, to be specific, by delicate

Scientific measures for criminal identification  103 exhortation, by extreme criticism, by fine, and by beating, and proclaimed that these disciplines might be incurred independently according to the offence. These disciplines fill four primary needs in particular, to meet the inclination of the individual influenced, for reprisal or striking back, as obstruction and preventive measures, and for renewal or reclamation of the shrewdness of the individual. Certain classes of individuals were exempted from discipline under the antiquated criminal law. The following stage saw the rise in Mohammedan criminal law after some time, which impacted and realized measures that formed the basis of criminal framework in India. The Mohammedan criminal law gave emphasis to the Quran, which is acknowledged to be of splendid cause and was the main fountain of Muslim law. Consequently, the instructions of the Muslim law (called Sunna) were instituted from the oral edicts, activities, and preferences of the Prophet, which moulded the optional source. Hidaya (set down general principles) and Fatawa-i-Alamgiri (gathering of case laws) clarified criminal law. Offences under the Mohammedan law were for the most part ordered into four principle classifications. (i) Qisas or Retaliation: This connected to offences against a man, e.g. wilful executing, grave damage, and so forth. (ii) Diya: In specific cases, where striking back wasn’t permitted, the harmed party had the privilege to demand blood cash, which was called diya (Ilbert, 2007). (iii) Hadd: In instances of hadd, the law recommended and settled punishments for specific offences. Disciplines under hadd were given in offences like zina (illicit intercourse), drinking wine, burglary, a rip-off, and so on. (iv) Tazir: Tazir implied optional discipline. The conditions of conviction in case of tazir were not as strict as those for cases under hadd. In spite of the fact that specific expansive principles of Mohammedan criminal law were set down, they were not sure and uniform in genuine practice as they were clashing, confounding, and inconsistent. The acquired deformity was in its origination and characterization of wrongdoings into three classifications, as violations against God, against the state, and against people. The shortcoming of Mohammedan law was adequate to urge numerous people to commit murder. The law of diya or blood cash was inefficient in preventing crime. There was no difference between a tort and a wrongdoing and between a murder and manslaughter. The Mohammedan law as expressed above experienced numerous imperfections, seeing which the English executives enforced changes to shape, hold back, and alter the Muslim law. Warren Hastings remarkably reprimanded this law and attempted to present modifications in different structures. To manage the hardware of equity in Bengal, Warren Hastings arranged plans and presented changes in 1772, 1774, and 1780. Master Cornwallis’ changes were presented on December 3, 1790, which included changes from multiple points of view that enhanced the criminal law framework. He presented the significance of intention in perpetrating a wrongdoing, rather than the weapon with which the wrongdoing was committed. Not just this, the choices of the government must be classified and distributed in Indian languages. The process of presenting changes to Mohammedan criminal law proceeded till 1832, when the law was completely annulled. Direction VI of 1832 assumed a vital

104  Scientific measures for criminal identification part in moulding the future course of criminal law in India. It facilitated the judges of Nizamat Adalat to refuse fact and furthermore non-Muslims who were under assessment would not like to be taken an attempt or violate the Mohammedan law. A definitive specialist to choose cases was only given to the directing officer. After 1832, the jury framework, as it won in England, was presented in India. This framework was profoundly scrutinized as a disappointment, as the judge was biased and selected only the individuals who concurred with him. So as to handle the inadequate condition of enactment, the British Parliament passed the Charter Act, 1833. A noteworthy change was that the Governor-General of Bengal was made the Governor-General for India, who had control over all the regions of British India. The power of the administrations of Bombay and Madras was cancelled. The Act likewise accommodated the arrangement of a Fourth Member, as a Law Member to the chamber of Governor-General. In 1934, the first Law Commission of India was formed under the initiative of Lord Macaulay, which assumed the task of setting up a Penal Code for India. It crafted the Penal Code, assumed control for two years, and submitted its last report on December 31, 1837; however it was not quickly acknowledged by the administration but rather was viewed as the biggest and memorable commitment of the Commission. The government workers scrutinized “the astuteness of ordering a law which declined to draw solely upon any one arrangement of law, picking rather either to get from a few, or to depend on conceptual hypotheses of statute”. Such protests, combined with the renunciation of Macaulay in 1838 and other new arrangements in the Indian organization, represent the deferral in the code’s selection. Additionally, ensuing organizations looked for and in some cases affected their own adjustments to the Code. For at least 22 years, the Code stayed as a draft and experienced minutely watchful and expanding amendments by members of the Legislative Council. At long last, the Indian Penal Code was passed into law on October 6, 1860, as an Act of XLV of 1860, and was converted into all the composed dialects of India. The Penal Code experienced consequent changes by Whitley Strokes. The case law material on the arrangements and editorials of the Penal Code was duplicated. The Constitution ensured essential rights and order principles of the state to the subjects. There was additionally quick development in the car business which changed the monetary and political standpoint of the general population. It is critical to take note that from 1860 to 1980 the Indian Penal Code was altered by one means or another 58 times. With the headways in advancement in Indian conditions, new arrangements were made in the Penal Code (Guenther, 2004). Judgements of moving, detainment, penalty, discrepancy in discipline, level of unlawful activity, cancellation or continuation of the death penalty, and so on and so forth were some of the issues, including important choices and cautious thought by authorities. Courtrooms attempted cases under a methodology that looked like the Anglo-American example. The apparatus for aversion and discipline through the criminal court framework lay with the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1973, which came into force on April 1, 1974, supplanting a code dating from 1898. The code incorporated arrangements to speed up the legal

Scientific measures for criminal identification  105 procedure, increase effectiveness, forestall manhandling, and give legitimate help to poor people. The essential structure of the criminal equity framework, in any case, was left unaltered. Other than the Indian Penal Code, 1860, numerous different statutes have been ordered to control different sorts of wrongdoings, outstandingly desk violations, violations against women and youngsters, financial offences and offences against national honesty, fear mongering, and digital violations. Constitutional certifications secured the blamed, as did different arrangements epitomized in the 1973 code. Treatment of those captured under extraordinary security enactment were excluded from these standards in any case. Furthermore, more often, the execution of these standards changes generally in view of the class and social foundation of the charged. Most of the time, cops need to secure a warrant from a justice before founding ventures and seizing proof. People arrested must be instructed concerning the charges made against them, and must be produced before an officer within 24 hours of capture. The officer has the alternative of discharging the charged on safeguard. Amid trial a respondent is secured against self-implication, and just admission given before a judge are legitimately substantial. Criminal cases normally happen in open trial, in spite of the fact that in constrained conditions shut trials happen. Techniques exist for bid to higher courts. India has an incorporated and generally autonomous court framework. At the peak there is Supreme Court, which has unique, investigative, and warning power. Beneath it are 18 High Courts that manage the states and association regions. The High Courts have supervisory power over every single subordinate court under their purview. All in all, these include a few locale courts headed by region justices, who thus have a few subordinate officers under their watch. The Code of Criminal Procedure set up three arrangements of officers for the subordinate criminal courts. The principal comprises officials and judges whose obligations incorporate issuing warrants, prompting the police, and deciding appropriate strategies to manage open brutality. The second comprises legal justices, who are basically trial judges. Third, trivial criminal cases are settled in panchayats (Pervin, 2016).

Indian Police Act of 1861 The law and order situation at the close of Mughal Empire was characterized by anarchy and confusion (Sanger, 1964). In 1612, the British came to India as merchants. The leading association was the East India Company. Initially, the British existence was maritime and profit-making in character (Arnold, 1986). The Company officials functioned with the collaboration of local rulers. Since early 19th century, the Mughal Empire started disintegrating. The native rulers emerged at various nook and corner of the country. Infighting among the native rulers and prevalence of greed and corruption among the ruling class and several other factors paved the way for the conversion of the Company administration into a full-fledged colonial state. Till the middle of the 19th century, there was no satisfactory police system (Griffiths, 1971). This was mainly due to inexperience

106  Scientific measures for criminal identification and a lack of knowledge about the country of the British people. Until 1792, policing was not taken away from the zamindars. Cornwallis came to India as Governor-General of the East India Company. He abolished zamindari system of maintaining law and appointed thanedars, who were now made responsible for the maintenance of law and order. He introduced a number of reform measures. However, his restructurings exhibited a lack of faith in the inhabitants of the land and their institutions. After the annexation of Sind (presently in Pakistan) to the British Indian Empire in 1843, Sir Charles Napier was made responsible for the administration of this crime-ridden and difficult area. He comprehended that only under a reputed organization, the police could act properly and construct the expected results. He restructured the entire native police system on the basis of a colonial model of police, namely Royal Irish Constabulary. His coordination was based on two basic principles: first, the police must be fully differentiated from the military, and second, they must act as a separate body, supporting collectors in discharging the tasks for law and order, but under their officers (Griffiths, 1971). Napier’s system created the post of the Inspector General of Police, who was responsible for the administration of the force throughout the territory. He was responsible for law and order for the entire territory (Bayley, 1971). There were superintendents in each district. The system soon spread to other parts of the country under the control of the East India Company. Napier regarded his force as military in form. The main principles of the model were not altered even by the Police Commission of 1860, which designed the present police force of India. The events of 1857 necessitated an instrument to control the vast lands at an economical cost. After facing a real menace of losing authority in 1857, the British rulers decided to ensure whole suzerainty and control of all challenges to their power (Arnold, 1986). In August 1860, a Police Commission was assigned with the aim of making the police a competent apparatus for the anticipation and detection of crime. Nevertheless, an internal government memo to the Police Commission did not mask the real objectives for the new police force. The Commission was told to bear in mind the following, “functions of a police are either protective and repressive or detective and that the line which separates the protective and repressive functions of a civil force from functions purely military, may not always be very clear” (Imperial Gazetteer of India, Part IV, reprint 1909, p. 380). The Indian police system, designed in 1860, was, therefore, a sharp contrast to the British Bobby, who was a celebrated symbol of democratic policing throughout the world. The primary objectives were to meet the exigencies of trade and Company profit. Accordingly, the importance was on order continuation, on keeping the business routes secure, and guaranteed that the exploitation of resources could continue unimpeded. However, in addition to the objectives of controlling the vast lands and subjugating the people, there were imperialistic and racist considerations too for the British rulers. The formation of the British police system was based on the formation developed by the Mughals in the 17th century. The new model incorporated many features of the Mughal system, and officials such as Daroga, Kotwal, and Faujdar found their place in the reorganized British system (Woodruff,

Scientific measures for criminal identification  107 1954). The Indian Police Act (IPA) of 1861 imposed a uniform police system on the entire country. The Act established organized police forces under various provincial governments. Within the provinces the police were to be recruited, trained, disciplined, and controlled by British officers. Ultimately, the IPA Act introduced Indian police (IP), a superior police service. It was envisaged to reduce the District Magistrate of his duties to maintain control over the local police and make it more proficient. Thus, police power became organized, ordered, and well-managed. The Act instituted a system of policing in India which is still in force. It may be noted that the Act brought uniformity in administration with the district police placed under the supervision and control of the District Magistrate. The Police Act was implemented throughout the country. However, the general conditions of crime control remained unsatisfactory due to various reasons, the prominent one being the prevalence of poverty and famines, adverse conditions, and shortage of force. The Government of India established the Second All India Police Commission in 1902. The Commission recommended major structural changes as appointment of new Dy. IG and Dy. SP posts, constitution of Railway Police Force, division of provinces into ranges, and constitution of armed force at district level. The recommendations were implemented, but they were against Indianization (Hooja, 1961). Despite the dissent of the Maharaja of Darbhanga, the only Indian member of the team, the Commission’s recommendations were accepted by the Government of India (Beghum, 1996). Another important development during this period was the setting up of Islinton Commission (1912) and Lee Commission (1924). The recommendations of these commissions led to substantial Indianization of the senior rank of the Police Force. By Islinton Commission, meritorious Indians were accommodated at senior level. Later in the year 1919, 33% of IPS quota was fixed for Indians. With Lee Commission (in 1924), the quota was raised to 50% (Beghum, 1996). Gradually, a development was also seen at the subordinate level. Thus, before the independence of the country, a system had been established which the posterity could improve upon (Raghavan, 1989).

Beginning of crime identification practices and institutionalization of crime identification as a new colonial discourse in colonial India After 1857 rebellion, the control of East India Company territories in India transferred to the British Crown. The Government of India Act 1858 empowered the British Crown to take over the governance of all territories from the East India Company. The Act also vested the control to employ the Governor-General in the British Crown. The Indian High Courts Act and the Indian Councils Act were passed in 1861 by the British Parliament. These acts empowered Her Majesty to issue Letters Patent establishing High Courts in three presidency towns. The The Indian High Court Acts provided for the closing down of the Supreme Courts of Judicature and the Sadar Diwani Adalats and the establishment of the High Courts of Judicature in their place in the three presidency towns. Until the

108  Scientific measures for criminal identification establishment of the Federal Court of India under the Government of India Act of 1935, the Chartered High Courts continued as the highest courts in India. By virtue of section 16 (a), power was set aside for Her Majesty to represent similar High Courts in other territories, which were not within the local jurisdiction of any of the proposed High Courts of the three presidencies, namely, Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras. The Indian Councils Act authorized the Governor-General to construct local legislatures in various provinces through the exercise of this power. Before 1882, there was no uniform law of criminal procedure for the whole of India. There were different Acts, mostly elementary in nature, to guide the process of the courts in the previous provinces and the presidency towns. Those applying to the presidency towns were first consolidated by the Criminal Procedure Supreme Courts Act, 1852, which in the course of time gave way to the High Court Criminal Procedure Act, 1865. The Acts of procedure applying to the provinces were replaced by the general Criminal Procedure Code, 1861. This Code was replaced by the Code of 1872. It was the Criminal Procedure Code of 1882 which gave for the first time a uniform law of procedure for the whole of India. The Act of 1882 was supplanted by the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898. The Code of 1898 was amended many times, the most important being those passed in 1923 and 1955 (Ratanlal and Dhirajlal, 2004). The Code of 1898 remained in force till 1973, when a new Code of Criminal Procedure of 1973 replaced it. However, the crucial period in this endeavour was the year 1861. This year witnessed three criminal laws which began to operate from that year. These three laws were Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, and the New Police Regulation. The first two laws gave the colonial criminal administration a new shape which was qualitatively different from what it had been before. The last one was very significant considering the earlier experience of colonial rulers who had witnessed the utter failure of the police force in controlling heinous crimes and establishing an effective order as desired by the administrative authority. By all these regulations, therefore, the colonial notion of effectiveness in controlling and ordering the interior manifested itself more systematically and vigorously. After initiating all these legal reforms, the British administration also introduced forensic science for criminal identification. For scientific investigations different forensic institutions were established in different parts of India starting from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century for scientific certainty. Initially, criminals were identified through mug shots. Mug shots were police photographs of a person after arrest for a crime. The law enforcement agencies compelled the criminals to make a photographic record which would be used as an aid in identification by investigators, crime victims, and the public at large. However, photographing criminals began in the 1840s, shortly after the invention of photography. French criminologist Alphonse Bertillon standardized the mug shot photography process of criminal identification in 1888 into what is commonplace today. The mug shot standard is a two-part image combining a photograph from the front with a side view. The photographs are typically taken against a simple background in order to not distract from the facial image. Often the convicted person holds a placard with their name, booking ID, and other recognizing information. Although

Scientific measures for criminal identification  109 mug shots were helpful in aiding police with criminal detection, they alone could not absolutely prove someone’s identity. At the end of the 19th century, two important systems of identification emerged which law enforcers hoped would be capable of proving identity beyond a shadow of a doubt – the Bertillon method and fingerprinting. These methods not only had an insightful effect on the future of criminal recognition but also influenced the history of mug shots. Of course, these were not the only methods of criminal identification that were explored during the 19th century; rather other scientific methods of criminal identifications were established even in the early 20th century. In such a way, the colonial rulers finally established their scientific supremacy to control crime and maintain a peaceful administration within their colonial jurisdiction. The present author has tried to explore the institutionalization of crime identification as a new colonial discourse in British India in the following chapter in a comprehensive manner.

Notes 1 East India Company – At the dawn of the 17th century, the Indian subcontinent was known as the “East Indies”, the home of spices, fabrics, and luxury goods prized by wealthy Europeans, a land of seemingly endless potential. In 1600, a group of English businessmen asked Queen Elizabeth I for a royal charter that would let them voyage to the East Indies on behalf of the Crown in exchange for a monopoly on trade. The merchants put up nearly 70,000 pounds of their own money to finance the venture, and the East India Company was born. 2 Battle of Plassey – Battle of Plassey was a major turning point in modern Indian history that led to the consolidation of British rule in India. This battle was fought between the East India Company headed by Robert Clive and the Nawab of Bengal (Siraj-UdDaulah) and his French Troop, fought in northeastern India on June 23, 1757. This battle is often termed as the “decisive event” which became the source of ultimate rule of the British in India.  3 Hypergamy – Hypergamy is when a man marries a woman of a lower social status, or the woman marries “up”, which elevates her position in society. This has been the most common form of marriage in most cultures. However, arranged marriages between members of equal class were also a common trend. 4 Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar – Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was born Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay, on September 26, 1820, in a Bengali Brahmin family in Birsingha village in the Midnapore District of West Bengal. He was a Sanskrit scholar, writer, educator, and philanthropist, and is known for his work on social emancipation and women upliftment. 5 Raja Ram Mohan Roy – Raja Ram Mohan Roy was born on May 22, 1772, in an orthodox Brahman family in Radhanagar in the then Bengal. Ram Mohan Roy was given the title of “Raja” by the Mughal emperor of Delhi, Akbar II. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the father of modern India’s Renaissance and a tireless social reformer who inaugurated the age of enlightenment and liberal reformist modernization in India. 6 The Charter Act of 1833 – Charter Act of 1833 was the outcome of the Industrial Revolution in England, which envisaged that Indian had to function as a market for English mass production on the basis of laissez faire. Thus the Charter Act of 1833 was institutionalized on basis of liberal concept. This was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that gave East India Company the right to rule India for another 20 years. The Act legalized the British colonization of India and the territorial possessions of the Company were held “in trust for his majesty” for the service of Government of India.

110  Scientific measures for criminal identification 7 Faraizi movement – The Faraizi movement was a movement led by Haji Shariatullah in Eastern Bengal to give up un-Islamic practices and act as a true Muslim. 8 Warren Hastings – Warren Hastings became the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal) in 1772 and the first Governor-General of Bengal in 1774 till he resigned in 1785. He started his career as a writer (clerk) in the East India Company at Calcutta in 1750. In 1758, he became the British resident at Murshidabad, the capital of Bengal, after Mir Jafar was installed as the Nawab after the Battle of Plassey. During his term, the first Anglo-Maratha war and the second Anglo-Mysore war were fought. The Regulating Act of 1773 was passed during his tenure. He supported Sir William Jones in the formation of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1785. 9 Diyat – In Islamic law diyat is the financial compensation paid to the victim of a victim in the cases of murder, bodily harm, or property damage. The Quran specifically highlights the principle of retaliation and compensation in cases where one Muslim kills another Muslim. Diyat as a generally accepted form of punishment has existed throughout the centuries. It originates from pre-Islamic practice as an alternative for revenge. Diyat gives a chance for the victim’s family to pardon the offender and accept a monetary form of compensation as a substitute for equal punishment. 10 Dewani Rights – Mughal emperor Shah Alam II granted the diwani of Bengal, the right to collect the land revenue, to the East India Company in 1765. Based on the terms of the agreement, Alam granted the East India Company diwani to collect taxes on behalf of the emperor from the eastern province of Bengal-Bihar-Orissa. These rights allowed the Company to collect revenue directly from the people of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. 11 French Revolution – The French Revolution was one of the most dramatic social upheavals in history. The upheaval was caused by widespread discontent with the French monarchy and the poor economic policies of King  Louis XVI, who met his death by guillotine, as did his wife Marie Antoinette. The French Revolution lasted for ten years, from 1789 to 1799. The result of the French Revolution was the end of the monarchy in France. King Louis XVI was executed in 1793. The revolution ended when Napoleon Bonaparte took power in November 1799.  12 Sir William Jones – Sir William Jones was born in London in 1746. He was an English philologist, orientalist, and jurist. When he was a judge of the high court at Calcutta, he became a student of ancient India and founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784. He is best known for his famous proposition that many languages sprang from a common source. His scholarship helped to generate widespread interest in Eastern history, language, and culture, and it led to new directions in linguistic research. 13 Maulavi – Maulavi is an Islamic religious title given to Muslim religious scholars. The word Maulavi is derived from the Arabic word mawla, which has several meanings, including “lord”. 14 Lord Macaulay – Lord Macaulay was born in the year 1800 at Leicestershire. He was an English historian, peer, politician, and poet. He was an active opponent of slavery, a supporter of education and equality in India, and instrumental in parliamentary reform to increase representation of cities that had become unrepresented relative to rural areas during the rapid industrial growth. He played a major role in the introduction of English and Western concepts to education in India and published his argument on the subject in the “Macaulay’s Minute” in 1835.

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4

Development of forensic institutions in colonial India

The application of science to solving mysteries and crime is known by two different names. One is forensic science; the other is criminalistics. The term criminalistics is obviously derived from the word crime. A crime is technically described as an offence against a person or society (Kaye, 1995). Inman and Rudin (Inman and Rudin, 2001) state that the term criminalistics is derived from the German word Kriminalistic, coined in the late 1800s, probably by Hans Gross, in an attempt to describe better the emerging discipline of police science. Webster’s Dictionary (1996) defines criminalistics as “the scientific study and evaluation of physical evidence in the commission of crimes / the science dealing with the detection of crime and the apprehension of criminals”. The term forensic science, on the other hand, is derived from the Latin word forensic, meaning forum, public, or marketplace. In the ancient Roman Empire, the Senate used to conduct its meetings in a public place called the forum. Anyone who wanted could listen to the great debates of the day and watch the government in action. Since the term forensic means forum, in the broadest sense, forensic science can be defined as the method of science applied to public matters. By this definition, forensic science does not necessarily have to do with crime, but the term has evolved in modern times to refer to the application of science to court or criminal matters. Most forensic scientists work in the criminal area of the justice system, although civil cases are also an important component of forensic science (Siegel, 2010). Literature related to forensic science existed even before than its practice. A few references footprints can be seen in the Holy Bible. Thirukurral, an ancient Tamil poetry, says in chapter xxxvi and couplet 355 (2, 355, translated by G. U. Pope), “Whatever thing, of whatsoever kind it be, This wisdom’s part in each the very thing to see” (Pope, 1886). Kautilya’s Arthasastra has detailed reference to various patterns of papillary lines. The old Chinese book His Duan Yu (The Washing Away of Wrongs) written in 1248 contains a description of how to distinguish drowning from strangulation. This was the first documentation of the application of medical knowledge to solve crime. Mathiew Orfila, a Spanish toxicologist and chemist, who became Professor of Forensic Chemistry at the University of Paris in 1813, published “Traite des Poisons Tires des Regnes Mineral, Vegetal et Animal, ou Toxicologie General”. He is considered the father of modern toxicology. However, forensic sciences in its present form evolved during the end of the 18th century. The end of the 18th

116  Forensic institutions in colonial India century marked the beginnings of modern chemistry. This opened the way for the birth of toxicology. The most illustrious figure in the history of toxicology was probably M. J. B. Orfila (1787–1853). Between 1840 and 1947, the British Indian state created institutions for the scientific detection of crime. India’s new experts in toxicology, blood stains, handwriting analysis, and explosives were supposed to cut through the perjury and forgery of “mendacious natives” to extract objective scientific truth in the service of a neutral vision of justice. However, the new forensic science invited increasingly complicated and conflicting answers to the questions, “what is truth?” and “what is justice?” This study reveals that a system initially structured along the faultlines of racial difference expanded into a site of competing conceptions of truth and justice among men of science and of law, both British and Indian. 

Institutionalization of criminal identification in British India Figure 4.1 shows a map of the establishment of forensic institutions in different parts of British India. Chemical examiner’s laboratory – Since the late 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century, death by poison was a common phenomenon which threw a new challenge to the law enforcement agencies of the colonial rulers. It was a hard task to detect or isolate different categories of poison

Figure 4.1  Map showing the establishment of forensic institutions in different parts of British India.

Forensic institutions in colonial India  117 which caused a number of deaths. To overcome this, a new venture was visualized by the British and chemical examiner’s laboratories was established in British India to render independent scientific service to the criminal justice administrative system. The first chemical examiner’s laboratory in India came into existence in Madras on October 30, 1849. The chemical examiner’s laboratory catered to the needs of the judiciary in the prosecution of crimes. The first chemical examiner in Madras was a surgeon, P. Thomas Ray. After realizing the importance of this venture, similar laboratories were established in Calcutta in the year 1853 and subsequently in Agra (1864) and Bombay (1870). All of these laboratories maintained a network across British India (Nanda and Tewari, 2001).

From Surgeon T. Ray To Captain I. Maitland Superintendent, Government Carriage Manufactory, Madras. Sir, In answer to your letter as per No.286 dated 20th October 1849 may I have the honour to inform you that I do not think it possible by any chemical process to ascertain the relative physical properties of wood of different kinds. Their hardness and tenacity can only be measured by mechanical means and it must depend in a way upon the ultimate ................. and return herewith the samples of wood sent and remain. Yours Obedient servant, P. Thomas Ray Surgeon (Chemical Examiner) Madras 30th October 1849 Source: Tamil Nadu Forensic Science Department, Tamil Nadu

Content of the first chemical examiner’s report All the chemical examiner’s laboratories were equipped to conduct toxicological analysis on samples of human and animal organs, bloodstains, excreta, soil, food, stomach contents, clothing, bedding, weapons, food, drugs, various excisable materials, and cooking utensils. These scientific reports helped the criminal justice system a lot and simultaneously created a new discourse on poisoning, serology, bacteriology, drug adulteration, chemical warfare, and explosives in the British Empire. In the course of time, all these laboratories provided judicial support to the neighbouring states and union territories (Report of the Chemical Examiner to Government, Punjab, for the year 1879 (Lahore: Government Civil Secretariat Press, 1880), 17-18 (IOR/V/24/418) (BL)).

118  Forensic institutions in colonial India Anthropometric Bureau From the mid-19th century onwards and even after the establishment of the chemical examiner’s laboratories in different parts of India, criminal identification posed a challenge to the British administration. Different types of crimes, like dacoity, burglary, thievery, and even murder, became very common phenomena, which harassed the administration in different ways. In spite of the invention of photography (1826), the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) very often faced the common problem of true criminal identification because in most cases the criminals changed their appearance after crime. Most of the time, CID police had to deal with a number of persons who were dangerous habitual criminals but treated as first offenders because they hid their original names and those of their antecedents. After committing crime, they used to escape either by railway communication or by steamer services. Against such a backdrop, the necessity to devise some means for identifying the more dangerous criminals drew the Inspector General’s attention, which in turn led to the introduction of “anthropometric system” for the purpose of true criminal identification. Like other countries of the world, India also adapted Alphonse Bertillon’s anthropometric system in 1878 (Bengal Police: Criminal Identification by Means of Anthropometry, IOR/L/PJ/6/416, File 436: 1895, British Library, London). Alphonse Bertillon started his career as a clerk in the Paris Police. Here, appalled by the state of record-keeping and the lack of reliable criminal identification systems, he developed a system he hoped would solve both problems in 1879. Bertillon’s solution was a series of anthropometric measurements of unalterable parts of the body using specially designed callipers, gauges, and rulers. Prisoners underwent 11 precise measurements, such as height, head length, head breadth, arm span, sitting height, left middle finger length, left little finger length, left foot length, right ear length, and cheek width. These measurements were organized into a complex indexing system using specially trained clerks. When unable to recognize someone, clerks would find their way through the filing system by probing smaller and smaller subcategories of the measurements and produce “anthropometric cards” of all the people who matched the measurements. Because the odds of two people having exactly the same 11 measurements were low, a process of elimination based on facial description could be applied to the smallest number of people possible. At first, Bertillon insisted that these descriptive cards contain only precise, detailed descriptions of criminals using standardized terms which he called a portrait parlé. Bertillon was not impressed by the supposed objectivity of the photographs, and sought to replace the mug shot with a systematized language as the medium of police communication and surveillance. He soon realized the impossibility of his task, however, and reluctantly decided to start using mug shots to supplement his system. He insisted that mug shots be taken in a standardized, scientific manner by police, which suited the preciseness of the rest of his system and reflected a professional, objective police point of view. Bertillon thought that

Forensic institutions in colonial India  119 someday ears might be used as an exceptional detection point much like fingerprints, and maintained a second mug shot in profile as well. At the end of the 19th century in Europe, Bertillon’s system was more popular than fingerprinting. But it was too intricate and undependable to be maintained. Ultimately, it was completely substituted with fingerprinting all over the world. However, even today, we remember Bertillon’s influence on the mug shot, which gave it a unique look. Everywhere, mug shots began to be taken according to his specifications, including in New Zealand, which started taking standardized mug shots facing front and in profile in 1904. But according to need and situation, the Bengal Police made some modifications in the number of measurements of body parts. Instead of 11 measurements, they used six measurements (length of head, width of head, length of left middle finger, length of left forearm, length of left foot, and height), along with the impression of the ball of the left thumb and a more prominent permanent marker, which under the earlier French system had not been taken. The instructions of district superintendents of Bengal Police regarding anthropometric measurements are given below. Bengal Police: Criminal identification by means of Anthropometry Copy of Instruction Pamphlet IOR/L/PJ/6/416 File 436:1895, Judicial and Public Papers 1896 Bengal Police: Circular No.6 From E.R. Henry, ESQ, I.C.S Inspector General of Police, L.P. To All District Superintendent of Police Through Magistrate and Deputy Commissioners   Dated Calcutta the 31st July 1894. The following summary of the instructions which have from time to time issued for the working of the anthropometric system as applied to the identification of old offenders is now published for general information. E.R. Henry Inspector General of Police, L.P.

Ultimately, the Secretary to the Government of India in his letter no. 263, dated May 10, 1892, officially instructed H. J. S. Cotton, the Chief Secretary of Bengal and also other provinces, to introduce Bertillon System of Anthropometry for identification of habitual criminals and offenders (Proceedings – September, Nos. 87-90, Home Department, Police Branch, Simla Records, National Archives of India, New Delhi). Finally, for maintaining anthropometric records of habitual criminals and offenders, an Anthropometric Bureau was established at Writer’s Building, Calcutta, in the year 1892 (Report on Anthropometric measurement

120  Forensic institutions in colonial India System for the Identification of Old Offenders, Judicial Department, Police File. P3-R/18,1-3 No. 48-51, 1896, West Bengal State Archives). Finger Print Bureau Sir William Herschel was one of the first to advocate the use of fingerprinting in the identification of criminal suspects. While working for the Indian Civil Service, he began to use thumbprints on documents as a security measure to prevent the then-rampant repudiation of signatures in 1858. In 1877 at Hooghly (near Calcutta) he instituted the use of fingerprints on contracts and deeds and he registered government pensioners’ fingerprints to prevent the collection of money by relatives after a pensioner’s death. Herschel also fingerprinted prisoners upon sentencing to prevent various frauds that were attempted in order to avoid serving a prison sentence. (Grover and Tyagi, 2014, pp.1) Even after official application of the anthropometric system of criminal identification, some incidents occurred where the anthropometric system could not help in criminal identification. Two cases of professional robbery by poisoning were reported within a couple of days in the Darbhanga District of Bihar. The detective police entrusted with the enquiry came to the conclusion that the culprit in both the cases was the same person. This was not the only incident; many other similar cases were reported in different parts of India. In such a context, to prevent this occurrence, the British Government, specifically Edward Richard Henry, the Inspector General of Police, felt the necessity to invent some identifying marks which were inimitable (Letter to the Chief Secretary, Government of Bengal from E. R. Henry, Inspector General of Police, Judicial Department, File P 3-R/18 1, 1896, West Bengal State Archives). Sir Edward Henry was appointed as an assistant magistrate collector in the Indian Civil Service in 1873 and became Inspector General of Police at Bengal in 1891. He went to Galton in 1893 and learned on finger printing. When he returned to India he felt the necessity to use this unique identification as an additional aid to criminal identification. He proposed to incorporate thumb impression in the record slips including anthropometric data to eliminate vague identification of criminals. (Polson, 1951, pp.690) For this purpose a committee was formed and finally a resolution was passed by the Governor General in Council, dated June 12, 1897, where it was directed that fingerprinting will be introduced throughout British India as the official mode of criminal identification. This was a remarkable milestone in the application of science to identifying the truth. In 1897, the world’s first fingerprint bureau was established in Writers’ Building, Calcutta, known as Bengal Fingerprint Bureau (Chatterjee, 1953). The main aim of this bureau was to standardize the methods of recording, detecting, classifying, developing, and preserving fingerprints (Figure 4.2). 

Forensic institutions in colonial India  121

Figure 4.2  Instruments used for analyzing fingerprints in British India.

For this purpose two police Sub-Inspectors, namely Khan Bahadur Azizul Haque and Rai Bahadur Hem Chandra Bose, were appointed to work in the advancement of the science of fingerprinting. Though it was named after their supervisor, Sir Edward Richard Henry, in reality Henry’s System of Fingerprint Classification was actually worked out by them. Azizul Haque developed a mathematical formula which helped Edward Henry sort ten-digit fingerprint forms into a pigeon hole cabinet system based on fingerprint patterns (File IOR/L/PJ/6/1752). The other Sub-Inspector, Hem Chandra Bose, developed an extended system of subclassification of fingerprints, a telegraphic code for fingerprint impression (published in the form of a book Hints on Finger-Prints with a Telegraphic Code for Finger Impressions in 1916) and also a system of single-digit classification (Bose, Rai Bahadur, Hem Chandra, File 1891–1898, Police Fingerprint Expert in India History, Calcutta Fingerprint Bureau, Mss Eur F161/ 230: 1896, India Office Library, London). Finally, in the year 1899, the British Government declared a special act which replaced Bertillon’s system of anthropometry and established the proficiency of fingerprints in identifying criminals. Explosive Department Despite changing the Indian Penal Code and also the entire legal system, the British administration could not rule the dynasty peacefully. There was a significant gap between the criminal law in the books and types of criminal activities in the society, what Elizabeth Kolsky in her book Colonial Justice in British India: White Violence and the Rule of Law (2010) described as “a place of lawlessness at the centre of law’s empire” (pp. 35). Several new types of crimes were reported, among which was the use of explosives, like the introduction of nitro-compounds

122  Forensic institutions in colonial India which caused several blasts and explosions in different parts of the country. Some of the explosions that rocked and ravaged many parts of the country were the explosions of two magazines at Nari Gorge and Kach on the Sind-Peshin Railway1 in 1888, explosion of a magazine at Shelabagh on the Sind-Peshin Railway in 1890, explosion of a magazine at Antop Hill, Bombay, in 1891, and explosion of a magazine at Syriam, Rangoon, in 1896 (Explosive Act, vide Government of India, Home Department, Notification No. 1747 (Public) dated August 11, 1899, Appendix – I, Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organization Archive, Pune). The Indian Explosive Act was promulgated and came into force on February 26, 1884, with a view to providing comprehensive regulations regarding manufacturing, keeping, sale, conveyance, and importation of explosives throughout British India (The Indian Explosive Act,2 1884, IOR/L/PJ/6/121, File 621: March 11, 1884, India Office Record, British Library, London). When several explosions occurred despite this act, several committees were formed for critical inspection. The British Government decided to appoint the Superintendents of the gun powder factory in Ishapur and Kirkee as the Chief Inspectors of Explosives for their respective areas on the recommendation of Sir Vivian Majendie, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Explosives, United Kingdom. When the aforementioned arrangement was not found to be satisfactory, the government finally decided to appoint the first Chief Inspector of Explosives as an independent authority and Major C. A. Myspratt Williams took charge as the Chief Inspector of Explosives on September 9, 1898, with his headquarters at Nagpur (First Annual Report, Department of Explosives, 1900). Initially, the Chief Inspector of Explosives was assisted by the Superintendent and the Assistant Superintendent of the Ordnance Factories at Ishapur and Kirkee. Later, for better functioning, five more offices at Calcutta, Bombay, Agra, Madras, and Gwalior, and three suboffices in Shivkashi, Gomia, and Asansol were established (Nanda and Tewari, 2001). All these offices tried to form a network and develop competence to provide scientific clues with respect to explosives as well as the possible causes of explosions. Their expertise helped in crime investigation related to explosions and for evolving various provisions under the Explosives & Petroleum Act. All these departments made necessary instructions for handling explosive materials, which helped the police officers in criminal investigations. For a comprehensive understanding, the first annual report of the Explosive Department published from Simla is given in the next section.

First Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Explosives, India Simla, April 21, 1900 In my capacity as Chief Inspector of Explosives, I have the honor to submit herewith a report of the work of my Department for the year ending 31 March 1900. As an introductory to the first Report, I think it will not be out of place to detail shortly the circumstances leading up to the establishment of the appointment of a Chief Inspector of Explosives with the Government

Forensic institutions in colonial India  123 of India. Explosives in India did not attract much attention till after the introduction of nitro-compounds into the country, to one of which class, viz., blasting gelatine, the following explosions have been attributed, viz:• • • • •

Explosion of two magazines at Adenin 1898. Explosion of two magazines at Nari Gorge and Kach on the SindPeshin Railway in 1888. Explosion of a magazine at Shelabagh on the Sind-Peshin Railway in 1890. Explosion of a magazine at AntopHill, Bombay in 1891. Explosion of a magazine at Syriam, Rangoon, in 1896.

A Committee in India drew up a report on the AntopHill Explosion, which was forwarded to the late Sir Vivian Majendie, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Explosives, for opinion, and I believe I am right in stating that his remarks concerning the necessity of inspection and testing of nitro-compounds decided the government of India to appoint in 1894 the Superintendents of the Gunpowder factories at Ishapur and Kirkee, in addition to their other duties, Chief Inspectors of Explosives under the Indian Explosives Act (IV of 1884) for the Lower Provinces of Bengal and Bombay, respectively, and the Assistant Superintendents of these Factories were at the same time made Inspectors of Explosives under them. Subsequently in 1896 the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent of the Kirkee Factory were appointed respectively, Chief Inspector and Inspector of Explosives in Madras as well as in the Bombay Presidency. About the same time the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent of the Ishapur Factory were ordered to carry out the same duties as regards Assam, and the Ordnance Officer at Rangoon was appointed Inspector of Explosives in RangoonTown and the Hanthawaddy District. As, however, these arrangements were not found entirely satisfactory, a Chief Inspector of Explosives with the Government of India was appointed and took up his duties on the 5th September 1898. The duties laid down for him were to carry on the regular systematic examination of all the important magazines, to investigate and report on the causes of explosions and to give expert advice in all matters connected with the administration of the Explosives Act and Rules were settled at the same time that the Superintendents and Assistant Superintendents of the two Factories and the Ordnance Officer, Rangoon, should still continue in their appointments as advisers to their respective Local Governments in the matter of explosives, but that they should in addition cooperate with the Chief Inspector of Explosives with the Government of India, render him any assistance he might require, and should furnish him with copies of reports of all inspections may be them or their Assistants, and they were permitted to refer to him direct at any

124  Forensic institutions in colonial India time with regard to any technical questions on which they might desire his opinion or advice. In 1899, owing to the manufacture of black gunpowder practically ceasing in India, due to the introduction of cordite, it was decided to close the Kirkee Gunpowder Factory on the 1 April 1900. It was also ascertained that the Assistant Superintendent would, in all probability, be removed from Ishapure. These causes necessitated a complete alteration in the arrangements for carrying on the work of inspection of explosives, etc. Consequently the Government of India decided to appoint an Assistant to the Chief Inspector of Explosives with the Government of India and to put all the explosives work in the hands of these two officers, doing away with the Provincial Inspectors of Explosives. Honorary Captain J. Bartlett of the Indian Ordnance Department was appointed Inspector of Explosives from 1 January 1900 and joined his appointment on the 3 January, 1900. His duties only consist of Inspection work, and he submits his reports on inspections to the Chief Inspector of Explosives direct, who takes necessary action on them. Captain Bartlett accompanied me on one of my tours to gain the necessary experience for carrying out his inspections during the year 19001901. As regards general work, this Report treats of the proceedings of this Department from the date of its establishment on 5 September 1898 till the 31 March 1900; but as regards inspection work, it only deals with the period from 1st April 1899 to 31 March 1900. The reason for this apparent discrepancy is due to the fact that I was appointed Chief Inspector of Explosives towards the end of the year, and in the cold weather, immediately succeeding my appointment, I carried out a short inspection tour, of which I gave a brief summary in my letter no. 51-C.I.E., dated 22 April 1899, touching only on this tour and on several points to which I had been directed to give my attention while on tour, and to give my opinion afterwards on the same. During the year 1899, 103 licenses were granted in India under Rule 17 of the Rules to regulate the manufacture, possession and sale of explosives. Owing to the fact that in some cases a number of license-holders store their explosives in the same magazine the number of the magazines is considerably less than the number of licenses issued, and amounts to 77 as compared with 73 in 1898. In addition there are 9 large firework godowns. These godowns are all in Bombay Town, and according to rule should be magazines. The Bombay Government have given the owners of these godowns a year to provide themselves with magazines in a more suitable locality. In addition to the licenses mentioned above, there is one granted under Rule 12 for a Roburite Factory at Karachi, but the building of this factory has not been completed yet. A statement showing the location of magazines and also the number of licenses granted in each Presidency or Province is given in Appendices A and B.

Forensic institutions in colonial India  125 During the year 6 magazines were inspected 3 times, 23 twice and 43 once. From the above it will be seen that altogether 107 inspections were made and 72 out of the 77 magazines visited. Of the 5 not visited, 3 were abandoned during the year, and the other 2 were small magazines in very out of the way places, and I was unable to get them inspected last year, but I have issued orders for their inspection early this year. Of those inspections, I carried out 52 myself, which included all the more important magazine in the country, and I also visited some of the firework godowns. My Assistant made 7 inspections and the remaining 48 inspections were carried out by the Provincial Inspectors of Explosives. Owing to the absence of Assistant Superintendents from the Gunpowder Factories for a considerable part of the year, less inspection was carried out by the Provincial Inspectors than would otherwise have been done, as they could not leave their respective factories for any length of time. After each inspection a report on the same was sent to the District Magistrate concerned, pointing out all irregularities that required to be corrected and making any necessary suggestions. In June 1899 the Government of India gave orders that stipendiary Magistrates or Police Officers not below the rank of Inspectors were to carry out certain periodical inspections of minor magazines, that is, of magazines containing less than 4,000 lbs, gunpowder or the equivalent, estimating 1 lb, of nitro-compounds as equal to 2 lbs. Gunpowder – vide Home Department letters Nos. 1353-55 (Public), dated 26th June 1899, and prescribed a special form of Inspection Report, which will be found in Appendix C. Up till the 31 March I received reports of 17 of these non-expert inspections of ;which 14 were carried out by the Sub-Divisional Officer, Raneeganj, one by the Sub-Divisional Officer, Govbindpur, one by the Deputy Magistrate, Ranchi, and one by the Assistant Magistrate of Vizianagram. I am glad to be able to state that, since the system of inspections has been started, the magazines have improved very considerably, and a large number of them are now in very good order. Magazine holders have generally shown themselves very willing to accept and carry out recommendations, which in many cases, have entailed a good deal of expense, and I have found my work made much pleasanter in consequence. The physical condition of all the explosives in magazines, during the past year was found to be good, and none of the samples taken at inspections have failed to pass the necessary tests which are carried out by the Chemical Examiners to the Governments of Madras, Bengal, and Burma, the Chemical Analyser to the Government of Bombay and the Testing Officer at Karachi. The stock is now all of comparatively recent date. The only old stock of blasting gelatine, about 10 years old and about 1,000  lbs. in quantity was destroyed by me in February 1899, as I considered it to be in a dangerous condition; this was referred to in my letter No. 51-C.I.E., dated 22 April 1899. No accidents have been reported to me, but I have heard unofficially of accidents occurring in the handling of

126  Forensic institutions in colonial India dynamite and fireworks. I should be glad if reports of all accidents in India in the storage, handling and transport of explosives and inflammable oils or substances, with full details as regards loss of life and cause of accident, etc., could be furnished to me for compilation in my Annual Report, as is done in the Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Inspector of Explosives, England. No prosecutions under the Explosives Act have been reported to me. It would be as well that any that occur should be compiled in my Annual Report for information and I would therefore ask that I may be always informed of any prosecutions and their results. I should be glad also if it could be arranged for me to obtain particulars of all imports of each kind of explosives into this country as these statistics certainly should be given in my Report, as is done in England. The following figures of the import of dynamite and all other explosives (excluding gunpowder) were obtained from the Director General of Statistics:-



1894-95 1895-96 1896-97 1897-98 1898-99

365 321 361 578 572

tons Tons Tons Tons Tons



To give some idea of the work with which this Department has been concerned, some of the more important items are given below: a. A large number of the rules both for the manufacture, possession and sale of explosives and also for the transport and importation of explosives have been amended, and several fresh rules introduced. Additions and amendments have also been made to a number of the rules to regulate the transport and importation of explosives at the important ports in India. Further amendments to these latter rules are still under consideration. b. Special powers as regards search, seizure and destruction of explosives have been obtained for Inspectors of Explosives – vide Government of India, Home Department, Notification Nos. 660 and 888 (Public), dated 23rd March 1899 and 27th March 1900, Appendices D and E. c. The question of raising the heat test for dynamite and the time test for blasting gelatine has been under consideration, and finally settled in the negative. d. The introduction of a table of distances to be kept clear round explosives magazines in India has been under discussion, and is about to be introduced. This table is given in Appendix F.

Forensic institutions in colonial India  127 e. Specific rules for the packing of detonators have been issued – vide Government of India, Home Department, Notification no. 2399(Public), dated 18 October 1899, Appendix G. f. A special rule has been introduced under which blasting gelatine and its kindred gelatinous nitro-compounds cannot be kept in any magazine in British. India after the expiry of 3 years from the date of its importation, unless specially sanctioned by an Inspector of Explosives for further periods of 8 months. This rule decided the question which had been discussed previously as to whether blasting gelatine should be allowed in the country at all. Another idea also of under-water storage of this explosive was dismissed as impracticable. The question as to the prohibition ;of certain ingredients in fireworks has been taken up, and is still under the consideration of the Government of India, as also are the general rules as regards fire works. g. The dangerous proximity of some brick kilns to two large dynamite magazines of Messrs. Gillanders, Arbuthnot and Co. at Bally, near Calcutta, was brought to notice. Messrs. Gillanders, Arbuthnot & Co. have consequently been informed by the Bengal Government that they must remove their stock of dynamite elsewhere; but, in order to give them time to provide other magazines, they have been granted a continuing license for one year for a very much reduced quantity of dynamite, to be stored under special precautions. Acetylene gas was declared by the Government of India to be an explosive under certain conditions, and in that state its manufacture, possession and sale, transport or importation is forbidden – vide Government of India, Home Department, Notification No.1670(Public), dated 9th August 1898, Appendix. h. Subsequently at this Department’s recommendation a further notification was issued, declaring that acetylene gas in admixture with oil gas under certain conditions shall not be deemed to be an explosive under the Explosives Act, vide Government of India, Home Department, Notification No.1747(Public), dated 11th August 1899, Appendix I. The Petroleum Act (VIII of 1899) received the assent of the Governor General in Council on the 17th February 1899, and this Department was frequently consulted with regard to it. Carbide of calcium was brought under the Petroleum Act (VIII of 1899), and general rules issued regarding it – vide Government of India, Home Department, Notification No.1118(Public), dated 11th August 1899, Appendix J. Local Governments are now drawing up suitable local restrictive rules, which will in course of time pass through this Department for opinion. The question of raising the flash test of kerosene was referred to this Department before the matter was settled in England, and it was recommended that no rise should be made. This

128  Forensic institutions in colonial India Department was also consulted about the question of the carriage of kerosene by native passenger vessels. This matter is still under consideration. Rules were drawn up for the installation of a liquid fuel depot at Aden. Alterations have been introduced with regard to the packing of concentrated mineral acids for purposes of transit by railway. i. Requests have been received asking for relaxation in the packing of chlorate of potash, but could not be recommended by this Department. Rules to be observed in private magazines have been drawn up by this Department – vide Appendix K, and have been issued to each magazine-holder. j. Plans of magazine have been supplied to firms or individuals requiring them, and a standard plan is under preparation by this Department so that all future magazines will be of one pattern. Arrangements have been made by which all licenses, before being granted will pass through this Department for examination. This Department has been consulted frequently, demy-officially, by Government Departments and officials, and also by firms and private individuals, about explosives, inflammable oils and substances, and chemicals. In conclusion, I gladly take this opportunity of placing on record my indebtedness to the Provincial Chief Inspectors and Inspectors of Explosives for the able and willing assistance they have been given me during their association with me in the explosive work. In this connection I would especially mention the name of Captain D. M. Bahington, B.A., late Chief Inspector of Explosives, Bombay and Madras Presidencies. Source: The Indian Explosive Act, 1884, IOR/L/PJ/6/121, File 621: March 11, 1884, India Office Record, British Library, London

Handwriting Department From the late 19th to the beginning of the 20th century several nationalistic movements created hindrance to the smooth running of the British administration. To resist these freedom movements the British administration took strong measures. But the most difficult task was to decipher the nationalistic secret documents3 related to independence movements. In such a situation, the British administration felt the necessity to establish a handwriting department which will help their administration to work out on nationalistic secret documents. For this purpose, the post of Government Handwriting Expert of Bengal was created in the year 1904 and Mr. C. R. Hardless, Superintendent in Account General’s Office, was appointed to this position (Government Examiner of Questioned Documents, IOR/L/PJ/6/1994, File: 218, India Office Records, British Library, London).

Forensic institutions in colonial India  129

Appointment Letter of Mr. C. R. Hardless Employment of Mr. C. R. Hardless, an Expert in Handwriting for One Year in the CID Department: IOR/L/PJ/6/728, File No. 2039, June 22, 1905, Judicial India Office, London No.391st September 1905 To his Excellency the Right Honourable the Governor General of India in Council My Lord, Having considered in Council the letter of your Excellency’s Government in the Finance Department, No.229, dated the 22 June last, I approve your action in sanctioning, as an experimental measure, the employment of Mr. C. R. Hardless as an expert in handwriting for a period of one year from the 6 February 1905. In any event of any proposal being made hereafter for the creation of a permanent appointment of this nature, it should be accompanied by a report from the Director of the Criminal Intelligence Department showing in full detail the exact nature of the work which the expert is called upon to perform, and the opinion which the director entertaining as to its value.

Two years later, this office was shifted to Shimla under the Director of the Criminal Intelligence Department (Retaining the Service of Mr. C. R. Hardless, IOR/L/ PJ/6/760, File 1330, April 19, 1906, India Office Records, British Library, London). During his tenure, the work of Mr. Hardless can be divided into three categories, namely (a) finding evidence with the help of handwriting produced in courts, (b) opinions furnished to police officers in connection with the investigation of criminal offences, and (c) opinions furnished to other officers of the government in connection with the departmental enquiries (Retaining the Service of Mr. C. R. Hardless, IOR/L/ PJ/6/760, File 1330, April 19, 1906, Enclosures of Dispatch No. 121 of 1906, India Office Records, British Library, London). In the course of time, Mr. C. R. Hardless was replaced by a police officer from Bengal Criminal Intelligence Department, Mr. F. Brewester. His responsibility was to examine the government’s questionable documents (Maintenance Order of Mr. F. Brewester, File No. F.142/30 – Judicial, Government of India, Home Department, Simla, June 5, 1930, India Office Records, British Library, London). In a moment when swadeshi fragrances were blooming in the air, this department reached its highest peak. As a consequence, this branch of science was applied in many other cases, including criminal and civil court cases. After Mr. F. Brewester, Mr. R. Stott from the Military Accounts Department took over charge in the year 1925 (though he was appointed in the year 1920). During World War II, this department of science took over the responsibility of secret censorship, including the revealing of invisible writing and training of military personnel. In the year 1944, Mr. V. O. J. Hodgson was appointed for this job and continued up to the end of British rule in India. However, during World War II, the activities

130  Forensic institutions in colonial India of this department gained momentum in investigating bribery and corruption in transactions with the War and Supply Department of India. For this purpose the Special Police Establishment Act was enacted in the year 1941, which came into force in 1946. In this way this department laid its foundation for scientific enquiry in crime investigation. Serology Department In 1901 the Austrian American immunologist and pathologist Karl Landsteiner discovered human blood groups. Even after that, in British India, crime investigators were unable to identify any red spots in the crime scene, be it human blood or animal blood. To meet this requirement and realizing the importance of forensic serology, the Serology4 Department was established in the 3 Kyd Street of Calcutta in the year 1912, which was renamed as the Imperial Serologists Department on March 1, 1916. Dr. E. H. Hankin was appointed as Imperial Serologist. Later on, it was renamed as the Department of Serologist & Chemical Examiner to the Government of India (Proceedings of the Department of Imperial Serology, Assistant Surgeon employed in the Serology Department, Financial Department, Medical, K. W. File No. 3-C/13, May 22–25, 1913, West Bengal State Archives, West Bengal). Since its inception, this institute worked in the field of forensic serology. Initially, blood group was not identified. Initially, blood group was not analyzed by the department; rather if any red spot was found in any crime scene that was analyzed to confirm whether it was human blood or not. The most important thing was the examination, which was done through chemical methods, not through any immunological process. Medico-legal exhibits were received from different forensic science laboratories of the country. After serological analysis of the exhibits, reports were prepared and sent to the concerned authorities. In addition to this, analyses of cases of paternity dispute and illegitimacy were also done in this institute. For criminal investigation, medico-legal cases from different state forensic laboratories like Raipur, Jalpaiguri, Bihar, and Assam were received and analyzed in this institute. The origins of these exhibits were analyzed from stained materials like clothes, weapons, tissues, hair, saliva, semen, soil, and different body fluids. However, along with these activities, VD (venereal disease) serology was one of the oldest and important sections of this institute. Since its inception, diagnosis sections of veneral diseases5 were created not only for the mere diagnosis but also for internal quality control of the VDRL antigen6 and standardization of VDRL antigen produced in the antigen production section. Even today this section is recognized as an authentic antigen for non-specific serological test for diagnosis of STI (sexually transmitted infections) (First Annual Report of the Institute of Serology, Govt. of India, 1913).

Forensic institutions in colonial India  131 Medico-legal Work and Imperial Serological Department Lieutenant Colonel S. D. S. Greval, Indian Medical Service, Imperial Serologist to the Government of India In this work chemistry and serology are exercised in the service of law. It is undertaken by four chemical examiners, viz., 1) Chemical Examiner, Bengal, Calcutta, for Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, Chemical Examiner, United Provinces, Agra, for United Provinces and Central Provinces, 2) Chemical Examiner, Punjab, Lahore/Murree, for the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, 3) Chemical Examiner, Madras, for Madras Presidency; two Chemical Analyzers, viz., (i) Chemical Analyzer, Bombay, for Bombay Presidency, (ii) Chemical Analyzer, Karachi, for Sind, and one Imperial Serologist, Calcutta, for the whole of India (and also Burma). The chemical examiners and analyzers were experts in procedures which go much beyond the limits of chemistry, such as toxicology, microscopy, photography and examination under ultra violet and infrared lights. They established the presence of organic and inorganic poisons in food, fodder and viscera; detected blood on clothing, weapons, and objects in connection with deeds of violence, maiming of animals, and allied offences; determined the nature of explosives used or intended to be used for illegal purposes; examined animal tissue and fabric microscopically; traced the origin of ink on faded documents and examined the latter under ultra violet light; and tested samples for the excise, customs, and other important departments of the state, in the course of their essential work. In their spare time they taught the police scientific methods of detecting crime. Foot Print Section Since the end of the 19th century, the British administration felt the necessity to identify footprint available in the crime scene. Though it was true that in certain parts of India, professional trackers used to track down criminals, those trackers were entirely illiterate and unable to apply scientific ways of investigation properly. In Rajputana they were known as Khojis7 and in Gujarat as Pogis,8 specifically in the dry or arid areas, where the “Khoj” or tracking was reported in different parts of British India. The term Khoj means “search”. In British India, there were several instances where instead of fingerprints, footprints were available at the crime scene. For scientific investigation of footprints, G. W. Gayer, Inspector General of Police, published a manual Footprint: As an Aid to the Detection of

132  Forensic institutions in colonial India Crime for the Police and Magistracy in the year 1909 with lithographic plates of footprints. Ultimately, in the year 1915, a Footprint section was formed under the CID Department of Bengal. The basic objective of this section was to provide scientific clue by analyzing footprint for criminal investigation. Note Forgery From the last quarter of the 19th century, issues of forgery of currency notes and bank notes created a lot of problems for the British administration. For this reason much before the foundation of the Note Forgery Department, the British administration was very much concerned with passing a new bill regarding forgery of currency notes. The paper in this regard is as follows: Papers related to the Bill to Amend the Law Relating to the Forgery of Currency Notes and Bank Notes: IOR/ L/ PJ/ 6/ 499, File – 75, December 22, 1898 From Chief Commissioner Ajmere Merwara To Secretary to Government of India Legislative Department No.4C. C-690 dated 27th November 1898. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter no.1439 dated September 1898 forwarding copies of a Bill to amend the law relating to the forgery of currency notes and bank notes together with the statement of objects and reasons. In reply I have the honour to state; after a reference to the local revenue and judicial authorities that I am aware of no objection to the provisions of the Bill which seem appropriate and well calculated to give effect to the objects in view. A. Martindale

Currency is a medium of exchange and store of value. In the initial phases of social organization, people used to barter their own produce in exchange for others’ products (cloth in exchange for corn, meat in exchange for cloth, timber in exchange for meat, grains in exchange for labour power, etc.). Over time, as a ruler–people type of hierarchical social system developed, a system of rent emerged. The ruler thereafter introduced currency to legitimize exchanges and to seek rent in terms of the currency disbursed and officially recognized by them. In the initial years currency was in terms of precious metal (mohor, guinea, precious stones, silver, etc.), which had intrinsic value. So the currency could well be exchanged in market for their value. But over time, the rulers found that the currency needs were far in excess of their own capacity to disburse precious metals,

Forensic institutions in colonial India  133 so they started the system of “token currency” – seals, coins, hand notes. These did not have any intrinsic value and they could not be exchanged in market for their value unless guaranteed by the sovereign ruler that the person exchanging the currency “would pay the bearer of the currency equivalent value in gold”. Thus common people knew that they could go to the sovereign and exchange the seal/coin/ note for gold if need be. Later the guarantee was in the form of silver, i.e. “would pay the bearer of the currency equivalent value in silver”. As European countries started to colonize and expand their trade and commerce, banks were formed to take over the task of issuing notes, now called banknotes. These banknotes were issued in the name of the Monarch in case of the British. Now what purpose did the banknote serve? They were the medium of exchange for the common people. They were also a store of value, with the guarantee from the Monarch that the note will be exchanged for an equivalent value of silver when asked for at the bank. They also served as a check on legitimate economic activities – the government could now know the total level of economic activities in the country, bank credit, savings, etc. People had to do some worthwhile activity to earn money (notes) and could not buy anything unless they also produced something (either commodities or labour power). Taxes could be accepted in currency notes. What are the general problems of forged notes? Any government maintains a ratio between the amount of precious metal it holds in stock and the total value of currency notes it has issued. Thus each rupee/pound/dollar is backed by a quantum (mass) of silver held by the central bank as a custodian on behalf of the government. Suppose this mass is m. Now if forged currency notes are in circulation, practically the value of currency in circulation increases, so the per currency value of precious metal or m decreases, unknowing to the government. This is, however, felt by the common people as there are now some people who hold currency note without doing any legitimate productive activity, thereby devaluing the currency. So people lose faith on the currency. Also, the people who are introducing the currency can now purchase anything of any value up to any amount without contributing anything in exchange. This gives these “forgers” and their accomplices undue power and control over the economy and society. They can pay anyone any amount to do anything (even against the sitting government; history is full of such examples where the governments in Latin America and Africa have been toppled from outside by financing revolution to pay militants and mercenaries; a large part of those currencies were forged). In the late 19th century, a subject that was forced to the attention of the British Government was the cases of forged currency. Instances of forged currencies had become more frequent and several cases were reported where forged currency notes were reproduced apparently with fraudulent intent by means of photography. But under Indian law, currency notes were not protected from such forgery. It was discussed at the government level that Indian law cannot be allowed to remain in its present unsatisfactory state and it should be revised on the lines of the English Forgery Law.9 Consequently, the Secretary of Government of India Legislative Department in his letter dated September 26, 1898, proposed to amend the Law relating to the Forgery of Currency Notes and Bank Notes. Finally, the law was enacted and known as the Currency Notes

134  Forensic institutions in colonial India Forgery Act, 1898 (Proceedings September Nos. 54–57, Home Department, 1898, Finance and Commerce Department, National Archives of India, New Delhi). Even after that in the early 20th century India witnessed a historical disaster which changed the rank and file of not only the Indian society but also the world. World War I was one of the greatest watershed of 20th-century geopolitical history which plunged the global economy to its lowest ebb. It led to the fall of four great imperial dynasties, namely Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey. In India, the war created a new economic and political situation which led to a huge increase in defence expenditure, financed by war loans and increasing taxes, customs duties and high income tax. Through the war years, prices increased – doubling between 1913 and 1918 – leading to extreme economic hardships for the common people. As a consequence of this great economic depression, common people were unable to mitigate their daily necessities in a peaceful manner. Both poverty and hunger compelled them to choose the path of corruption and antisocial means of livelihood. Even after the enactment of Currency Note Forgery Act of 1898, as an easy means of earning, note forgery became a common source of livelihood for the masses. From such a socioeconomic and sociopolitical perspective, investigating the crime of note forgery and subsequent identification of the criminals involved in these activities became a major task for the British Raj. To resist such a crime, which devalued the price of money, the British Government took a strong step finally in the year 1917. What about 1917? In addition to all the points mentioned above, during World War I, the British were wary of Germans using forged notes to flood the market across the empire and destabilize the economy. The use of forged notes to buy weapons and pay mercenaries and revolutionaries was also suspected. This needed to be checked. Second, because of the war, the price of silver was already very high and climbing. When Germans bombed the Bombay harbour during the war, people suddenly started to lose faith in the empire and its currency. Obviously, if the British lost, their currencies would be worthless in the new regime. There was a run on the currency – people flooded the banks to invoke the sovereign guarantee and exchange currency notes for silver. This created a run on the metal – the stock of silver with the central bank was depleted (remember only m proportion of the currency in circulation value is stored as precious metal). Britain had to borrow from US and purchase silver to honour the sovereign guarantee and pay in silver to people who wanted to exchange. The government was cautious regarding the authenticity of currency note so as to avoid giving out precious silver against forged note. This culminated in the establishment of “Note Forgery Section” in 1917 to detect forged notes presented for exchange and to prevent circulation of forged currency in the economy (to prevent the destabilization of the economy and deter chances of a counter-revolution). Finally, the British established the “Note Forgery Section” under the Criminal Investigation Department, Government of Bengal. The basic objective of this

Forensic institutions in colonial India  135 department was to identify forged currency notes and create awareness among the common people on how to identify fake currency. Moreover, government mints and security printing departments at Nasik tried to detect the cases of forged currency notes in their own laboratories, which helped the British administration in criminal identification of forged currency notes immensely. Ballistic Department In the Indian context there has been a lot of doubt regarding the earliest reference to gunpowder and fire arms. Sukra Niti first mentioned about firearms in ancient India. Though there is a lot of controversy on the date of Sukra Niti, it would suffice to say that Sukra and his Laws were taken with respect in Mahabharata and hence his treatise on law, kingship and weaponry was before Mahabharata times. It is said that Brahma wrote the law in one lakh verses and Sukra condensed it into 2,200 verses. According to the book “Tools of War – History of Weapons in Ancient India (Ramsey, 2016)” the Gunpowder and Firearms have one of the oldest documented series (Web source: https​:/​/gy​​anpro​​.com/​​blog/​​ the​-h​​istor​​y​-of-​​ex​plo​​sives​; retrieved on 25 September 2019). It evidently shows that ancient Indians mastered the art of making explosives. All the information and description were penned down in Sanskrit. The two popular manuscripts of Vishampayana, namely Sukraniti10 and Nitiprakashika, give solid proof for the existence of gunpowder in ancient times. In Sukraniti the author Sukracharya described gunpowder as agni-curna. The ingredients used for agni-curna was abundantly found in India. But according to inventory records, the Chinese have been credited for the making of gunpowder. But these ancient records written in Sanskrit have proved that Indians invented gunpowder and firearms before the Chinese. Saltpetre, charcoal, and sulphur are the main ingredients used for making gunpowder and the abundant availability of Saltpetre in the Ganges valley made it easy for them to prepare gunpowder. Shloka: Angarasyaiva gandhasya suvarcilavanasya ca | Silaya haritalasya tatha sisamalasya ca || Hingulasya tatha kantarajasah karpurasya ca | Jatornilyasca saralaniryasya tathaiva ca || Saman​yauna​dhika​irams​airag​nicur​nanya​nekas​ah | Meaning: Explosives are prepared in different ways by mixing in varying proportions fire, charcoal, sulphur, red arsenic, potassium nitrate, lead oxide. Yellow arsenic, steel powder, vermilion, lac, camphor, turpentine, and gum. Source: Sukra-nitih, Chapter 4, Section 7, Shlokah 194-196 Sukracaryah (8th century AD) The second abundantly used ingredient in making gunpowder was sulphur. It was abundantly found in the Sindh region. It was named sulphur because of its characteristic odour and is known as gandha or gandhake in Sanskrit. Sulphur is available in a variety of colours, like blue, red, white, or yellow. These colours depict the quality of the sulphur. Charcoal is the third vital ingredient in gunpowder

136  Forensic institutions in colonial India preparation. Charcoal from different trees has different usage. According to Sukraniti the best-suited charcoal for gunpowder is arka, gigantic swallow wort. Other than that akanda (milkweed) and tesira-sija (triangular spurge) grown in Bengal was also used widely. Recipe for gunpowder Gunpowder is a mixture of five parts of saltpetre, one part of sulphur, and one part of charcoal. Here, the wood from arka, snuhi, and various other plants are considered for making charcoal. This charcoal is finely powdered and mixed with the remaining powdered materials. Some of the juices from plants are mixed with this powdered mixture till it gets a paste-like consistency. It is then dried in the sun and the hardened paste is again grounded into a fine powder. Sometimes there may be slight changes in the ingredients used, but the process remains the same. Use of fireworks was in vogue ever since the Vedic period. Gunpowder was the main ingredient in fireworks. Sukraniti’s statement about gunpowder, Nitiprakasika of Vaisampayana, and quotations from Rajalakshminarayanahrdaya all serve as solid proof for the fact that explosives and its making were very well known to ancient Indians. The earliest use and spread of firearms,11 i.e. cannon, in the ancient Indian subcontinent can probably be traced to the second half of the 15th century. Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire in India, had also much to contribute to the spread of firearms in India. However, gunpowder technology is believed to have arrived in India by the mid-14th century. It is believed that it was introduced much earlier by the Mongols, who in the mid-13th century had conquered both China and some borderlands of India. No gun control law existed in India before 1857. Weapons of any calibre could be owned by any Indian. After the 1857 Revolt, Lord Lytton became the Viceroy of India in 1858. The Indian Arms Act of 1878 was enacted during Lord Lytton’s time. After the enactment of this act, no Indian could manufacture, sell, possess, or carry firearms. According to this law, any Indian wishing to own a gun had to possess a licence for it. An unlicensed gun was punishable with a fine and imprisonment of up to three years. In such a way, the British controlled the possession of guns during the days of the Raj. In 1877 the Indian Arms Act was promulgated and it remained in force till 1947. Since the beginning of the 20th century, several national movements started whose main aim was to free the country from the shackles of the British Raj. These national movements became more intensified after World War I and specifically before the start of World War II. During this war period, the application of firearms increased. Most of the unlicensed firearms were either locally made or easily available in the local market. Even the cartridges used in these firearms were mostly unlicensed. This overall sociopolitical turmoil compelled the British administration to establish a ballistic department for controlling the misuse of firearms. As a result, in the year 1930, a Ballistic Laboratory was established under the Calcutta Police Department and a fire arm expert was appointed, whose activities helped the administration in the criminal investigation. So it is evident that within a span of 80 years, the colonial

Forensic institutions in colonial India  137 administration established different forensic institutions in different parts of India for identifying crimes and criminals. Now it is imperative to have a comprehensive historical discussion about an inimitable mark of identity, i.e. history of the science of fingerprinting in India.

Notes 1 Sind-Peshin Railway – The Sind-Peshin State Railway was a broad gauge (BG) line that ran up to the border with Afghanistan. In 1886 the southern section of the SindPeshin State Railway was combined with the Kandahar State railway and other railways to form the North-Western State railway. 2 Indian Explosive Act – The Indian Explosives Act was promulgated and came into force on February 26, 1884. After a series of explosions in the magazines storing blasting gelatines, which rocked and ravaged many parts of the area, the most serious ones at Nari Gorge and Kach in 1888 and Antop Hill, Bombay, India, the government made rules to licence the manufacture, possession, use, sale, transport, import, and export of explosives and the Indian Explosive Act came into force. 3 Nationalistic secret documents – It means the documents prepared by the swadeshi freedom fighters which were mainly used for agitation against the British rulers, basically the blue print of their plan of action. 4 Serology – Serology  is the scientific study of serum and other body fluids. In practice, the term usually refers to the diagnostic identification of antibodies in the serum. Forensic serology often provides the indisputable piece of evidence that places a suspect at the scene of a crime and ultimately puts them behind bars. 5 Veneral disease – Venereal disease is a disease that is contracted and transmitted by sexual contact, caused by microorganisms that survive on the skin or mucus membranes. A contagious disease such as gonorrhoea or syphilis is typically acquired in sexual intercourse. 6 VDRL antigen – The venereal disease research laboratory (VDRL) test is designed to assess whether someone has been infected with syphilis or any sexually transmitted infection. The VDRL test doesn’t look for the bacteria that cause syphilis. Instead, it checks for the antibodies one’s body makes in response to antigens produced by cells damaged by the bacteria. 7 Khojis – A khoji, commonly found in Rajasthan, is trained to track people from their footprints on sand and he uses his uncanny ability to identify a person by his or her style of walking. It is a strenuous job that requires a high level of intelligence, and the ability to calculate the weight of a person and track him from the different footprints that are left behind on the desert sand. 8 Pogis – Pogis are commonly found in Gujarat, and are trained to track people from their footprints. 9 English Forgery Law – Forgery means the making of a false document to be used in the place of the original document. The English Forgery Law was implemented to punish those criminals who attempted forgery of wills and other testamentary documents, deeds, bonds and banknotes, which, if done with the intent to defraud, attracts a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. 10 Sukra Niti – Sukracharya was not just a great scholar but an intelligent man. His teachings, popularly known as Sukra Niti, are relevant even today. Sukracharya considered politics as an aspect of ethics. He called it moral science or Niti Shastra, which he considered as the basis of virtue, wealth, enjoyment, and salvation. He was of the view that with the help of science a ruler can conquer his enemies and can win a friend. He also told that Niti Shastra can help a man to fulfil his desires and interests, which could help him achieve happiness in life.

138  Forensic institutions in colonial India 11 Firearms – A small  arms  weapon, such as a rifle or pistol, from which a projectile is fired by gunpowder. The first battle of Panipath, in India, was fought between the invading forces of Babur and the Lodi Empire, where gunpowder, firearms, and field artillery were used for the first time in India

References Books Chatterjee, Salil Kumar, Finger, Palm and Sole Prints. Calcutta: KOSA Publishers, 1953, p. 7–13. Elliot, Miers Henry. History of India as Told by Its Own Historians, Vol. VI, Appendix A. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014, p. 455–482. Inman, Keith, and Nora Rudin. Principles and Practice of Criminalistics: The Profession of Forensic Science. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2001, p. 13–21. Kaye, H. Brian. Science and the Detective – Selected Reading in Forensic Science. New York: VCH Verlagsgesellschaft, 1995, p. 3–9. Nanda, B. B. and R. K. Tewari. Forensic Science in India: A Vision for the Twenty –first Century. New Delhi: Select Publishers, 2001, p. 5–26. Pope, G. U. The Holy Bible. Thirukurral, an ancient Tamil poetry, says in chapter xxxvi and couplet 355(2, 355), 1886. In J. John Jeyasekar and P. Saravanan. Innovations in Measuring and Evaluating Scientific Information. Pennsylvania: IGI Global, 2018, p. 127. Siegel, A. Jay, and K. Kathy Mikovits. Forensic Science: The Basics. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2010, p. 7.

Shelf marks IOR – stands for archival sources from India Office Records of the Asia Pacific and Africa Collections, British Library, London. NAI – stands for archival sources from National Archives of India, New Delhi, India. WBSA – stands for archival sources from West Bengal State Archives, West Bengal, India. Alphonse Bertillon’s anthropometric system in 1878 (Bengal Police: Criminal Identification by Means of Anthropometry, IOR/L/PJ/6/416, File 436: 1895, British Library, London). Azizul Haque’s 10 digit fingerprint forms into a ‘pigeon hole’ cabinet system based on fingerprint patterns File IOR/L/PJ/6/1752, British Library, London. Bose, Rai Bahadur, Hem Chandra, File 1891–1898, Police Fingerprint Expert in India History, Calcutta Fingerprint Bureau, Mss Eur F161/ 230:1896, IOR, British Library, London. Employment of Mr. C.R. Hardless, an Expert in Handwriting for One Year in the CID Department: IOR/L/PJ/6/728, File No. 2039, June 22, 1905, British Library, London. Government Examiner of Questioned Documents, IOR/L/PJ/6/1994, File:218, India Office Records, British Library, London. Government’s questioned documents (Maintenance Order of Mr. F Brewester, File No. F.142/30 – Judicial, Government of India, Home Department, Simla, June 5, 1930, India Office Records, British Library, London).

Forensic institutions in colonial India  139 Letter to the Chief Secretary, Government of Bengal from E.R Henry, Inspector General of Police, Judicial Department, File P 3-R/18 1, 1896, WBSA, India. Papers related to the Bill to Amend the Law Relating to the Forgery of Currency Notes and Bank Notes: IOR/ L/ PJ/ 6/ 499, File – 75, December 22, 1898, British Library, London. Proceedings of the Department of Imperial Serology, Assistant Surgeon employed in the Serology Department, Financial Department, Medical, K.W. File No. 3-C/13, May 22–25, 1913, WBSA, WB, India. Report of the Chemical Examiner to Government, Punjab, for the year 1879 (Lahore: Government Civil Secretariat Press, 1880), 17–18 .IOR/V/24/418. British Library, London. Report on Anthropometric measurement System for the Identification of Old Offenders, Judicial Department, Police File. P3-R/18,1–3 48–51, 1896, WBSA, India. Retaining the Service of Mr. C R Hardless, IOR/L/PJ/6/760, File 1330, April 19, 1906, India Office Records, British Library, London. The Indian Explosive Act, 1884, IOR/L/PJ/6/121, File 621: March 11, 1884, India Office Record, British Library, London.

5

Forensic science in India, with special reference to the origin of fingerprints

The present chapter deals with the origin and application of fingerprint as a major tool of forensic science. The present attempt has included fingerprint and special emphasis has been given to it because different historical records reveal that since ancient times fingerprinting was interwoven with the Indian civilization. In the Indian context the history of fingerprinting began long before its use in criminal investigation. It is evident from the ancient texts that in ancient India both palm and fingerprints were used mainly for astrological purposes. They were not used in legal contracts or criminal investigation. During British rule, Sir William Herschel1 was one of the first to advocate the use of fingerprinting in the identification of criminal suspects. In 1858, when William Herschel started to work for the Indian Civil Service, he began to utilize thumbprints on documents as a safety measure to prohibit the then rampant repudiation of signatures. In 1877 in Hooghly (near Calcutta) he instituted the use of fingerprints on contracts and deeds and registered government pensioners’ fingerprints to prevent the collection of money by relatives after a pensioner’s death. Prisoners upon sentencing were also fingerprinted to avoid various frauds that were used in order to shun serving a prison sentence (Grover and Tyagi, 2014, pp.1). Therefore, it is evident from the discussion that during British rule even after the use of anthropometric measurements for criminal identification, criminals escaped in many ways. Finally, the application of this inimitable mark of identity drastically altered the crime investigation and criminal identification scenario in British India. For this reason the author feels it necessary to discuss a comprehensive account of fingerprint science in India and the present chapter attempts to portray this in its entirety.

History of Indian science of hand reading in ancient India The history of fingerprinting began long before its use in criminal proceedings. The earliest known written references to palm reading in world literature are found in two writings in the ancient Vedic literature of India: “The Laws of Manu”2 (Charles, 1913) and in the “Vasishtha Rules”3 (Atreya, 1993) – which includes a list of rules given to guide the ascetic in the correct way to lead a religious life. How did the “idea of palm reading” originate? Or how did the practice of palm reading start?

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  141 First of all, world literature started around 3000  BC (written on clay tablets). Around that time an Indian Sanskrit text, titled “Sariraka Shastra”, was published which includes Vedic stanzas that describe how “Hasta SamudrikaShastra”4 (Sen, 1960) (translated as “body knowledge of the hand”) progressed in the early days of humankind. An Indian palmist (V. A. K Ayer) translated the text and published it in 1960 under the title: Sariraka Sastra – Indian Science of Hand Reading Based on Kartikeyan System. In ancient India some texts called Naadi were written by a Rishi called Agastya who predicted the past, present, and future lives of all humans from their thumb prints. Naadi palm reading was based on thumb impressions (right for men and left for women). This ancient system of astrology was called Naadi astrology (Dhingra, 2018). Like modern fingerprint patterns, Samudra Shastra also described 12 different fingerprint patterns. Samudra Shastra basically dealt with the future predictions of a person. Each and every ridge characters predicted the future of a person.

Number of Seep (Arches) Fingers With

Sankha (Loops)

Chakra (Whorls)

One

Poor

Clever and intelligent

Two

Lazy

Intelligent but not strong willed Detached and saintly

Three Four

Yogi Living with poverty Lucky

Dull Struggle to rise

Higher order thinking Successful

Extravagant

Struggles to achieve in life Infamous

Leading a happy life

Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten

Popular and respected

Intelligent

Poor

Arrogant and non-cooperative Not a good person Traveller Knowledgeable and inquisitive Inquisitive Interested in poetry and music Wealthy and courageous

Wealthy through fraud Knowledgeable and interested in yoga Aristocrat but humble Very lucky and popular

Source: Sodhi, G S and Jasjeet Kaur. Indian Civilization and the Science of Fingerprinting. New Delhi: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India,2013, p.14.

Character of a person using fingerprint patterns The above table depicts that Samudra Shastra tried to forecast the detailed future of a person based on the seep, sankha, and chakra present on his or her fingers. But it is very difficult to say how at that time ridge characters were described in such a detailed manner. It is evident from the ancient texts that in ancient India

142  Forensic science and fingerprints in India both palm and fingerprints were used mainly for astrological purposes. They were not used in contracts or criminal investigation.

Use of handprint as an official document in the Mughal period But during the medieval period, specifically in the Mughal period, a common practice among rulers was to sign the routine documents and put their handprints on official documents (farman). Mughal farmans5 were as majestic as the Ashokan edicts or the Balban’s theory of Kingship; it is an expression of the magnificence of the Mughal era. This finds expression in the luxurious package, like the texture of the paper, the embellishments therein, and the structure of the entire farman. One finds admirable colour schemes in farmans, an exquisite marvel of aesthetics. Some farmans were on a plain gold base, others on mustard and dark brown surface, still others with crimson tulips and also a blue base with a wave motif (Farsi Farmano Ke Prakash me Mughal Kaleen Bharat Awam Rajput Shashak, Vol. II. Eds. Mahander Khadgawat, Hindi Tr. Shuja Ud Din Khan Naqshbandi, Rajasthan State Archives, Govt. Of Rajasthan, Bikaner. 2010. pp. 163, 207. See farman New No. 142/ Old No. 145, Undated, R.S.A.B.; farman New No. 146/ Old No. 125, 11 Shawal 1068/2 June 1658, R.S.A.B.; farman New No. 169/ Old No. 161, Undated, R.S.A.B.). These documents were written in the typical ornamental elegance of Persian and the addressees were mentioned both explicitly and implicitly with a hyperbolic range of praises. The document represented the prestige and status of the emperor, and the farman sometimes served an honour given to the addressee. It was accompanied by a luxurious robe of honour according to the varied season of the empire. Farman was accordingly received with due respect and dignity (Ahmad Khan, 2005). There was a prescribed gate in medieval cities named Delhi Darwaza, an auspicious place where farman was accepted by the addressee. During the Mughal period major cities like Aurangabad, Ahmadabad, and Hyderabad had a separate gate called Delhi Darwaza for receiving Mughal farman (Sharma, 2009). From an entry in siyah huzur (daily dairy of imperial court) we gather that “after one pahar (9 am) the prince (Aurangzeb) rode out to receive the imperial farman and the public and private audience was postponed” (Hazur, 1950). Thus, it was a mark of prestige that the emperor addressed a prince, noble, or official by a farman. Farman is of supreme legal significance. This imperial order was entered in records like dastak (permit) and siyah huzur (Mohiuddin, 1971). At times nishan granted mansab (rank) to a noble, but it assumed legal status only after farman was issued for the same by the emperor. Farman thus carries ultimate legal status which supersedes other documents like nishans, akhbarat (newsletters), yaddashts (memorandum), etc. It promulgates law and is quoted thus as an imperial order. Administrative machinery was governed by the emperor and his authority was ubiquitous. For example, in AD 1637, the joint forces of Shah Jahan and Adil Khan, under the command of Khan Zaman Bahadur, invaded the camp of Shahuji Bhosle, the ruler of Poona

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  143 (in the present-day Maharashtra). Shahuji was defeated by the joint army, and bound to accept the terms of peace. As a consequence of this incidence, Shahuji wrote repeatedly to the Khan Bahadur in the most modest strain, promising to pay faithfulness to the crown. He at the same time solicited a written treaty stamped with the impression of his hand (Sodhi and Kaur, 2003). This is an example of the nobility’s use of palm prints in India to demonstrate the authenticity of authorship when writing an important document. Initially, it was recorded that fingerprints on important documents were used in China. Whereas, in the Indian context the use was restricted to the royal family. Another example can be seen from Jamie Byrom and Michael Riley’s book The Mughal Empire 1526-1707, where it was mentioned that Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb’s handprint on farman confirmed that the royal order genuinely came from him, which was guided by Islamic law. He insisted that his opponents face trial. It proves that any opponent had a realistic chance of being found not guilty (Byrom and Riley, 2017). However, another type of farman named qualnama was specifically used for political purpose. The qaulnama is a farman that carries a promise or assurance over certain significant political matter. Qaul was a word of honour in Persian language. Hence qaulnama is a word of honour from the emperor himself. It bore the royal signature and impression of hand (panja). This is the highest and rarest honour. We have information pertinent to qaulnama given to Adil Shah of Bijapur by Shahjahan. Fortunately, we also have a qaulnama addressed to Ajit Singh, Raja of Jodhpur, by Aurangzeb, which says, “I have sent panja. It is my word of honour (as assurance for protection)”. Thus, the structure of qualnama essentially embodies four things – (i) the signature of emperor, (ii) the main order, and (iii) the royal panja (iv) the uzuk seal. The qaulnama was connected to ahadnama though both were concerned separately. Qaulnama bore the impression of emperor’s right-hand palm with saffron and sandalwood colour and there were a pair of lines on the connected issue in the emperor’s own handwriting. The picture of the handprint of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb is given in Figure 5.1. Farman of the Emperor Aurangzeb 1661-62 Mughal dynasty Ink, color, and gold on paper H: 110.0 W 47.5cm.,India The farman dated to Aurangzeb’s fourth regnal year, corresponding to A.H. 1072/A.D. 1661-62 is written in clear and legible nast’liq and consists of fourteen lines of text. It begins with an elegant “bismillah” written in gold thuluth at the top. Aurangzeb’s tugrha or signature giving his name and titles appears below the “bismillah”, and a round seal is placed to its right. The seal bears the date of Aurangzeb’s coronation, A.H. 1069/A.D. 1658-59 and includes the emperor’s name in the center surrounded by smaller medallions giving his lineage, beginning with Timur. The farman, written on A.H. 25th Jumadi II of 1072/A.D. 15 February 1662, addressed to Jasvant Singh, the Raj of Marwar, in response to a petition (arzdasht) he had sent to Aurangzeb earlier that month (A.H. 8 Jumadi II/A.D. 29 January) from Aurangabad. In the present decree, Aurangzeb orders Jasvant Singh to remain in Aurangabad and gather and organize his troops, which included muskateers. (The purpose

144  Forensic science and fingerprints in India

Figure 5.1  Specimen of Aurangzeb’s panja sent to Ajit Singh.

of this order is not clear from the text.) In addition to its subtle aesthetic qualities, the decree is of considerable historical interest. Jasvant Singh played an important role in the Mughal war of succession that broke out between Shah Jahan’s sons, Dara Shikoh, Shah Shuja, Murad Bakhsh, and Aurangzeb, following the emperor’s illness in 1657. Fighting on Dara’s side, Jasvant Singh’s

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  145 forces were badly beaten by Aurangzeb in 1658. Following his defeat, the raja changed sides and joined Aurangzeb. This allegiance, however, did not prevent him from committing treachery and attacking Aurangzeb’s forces at Khajuha in 1659. Jasvant Singh changed sides again and offered to join forces with Dara to rescue Shah Jahan, who had been imprisoned in Agra. At this point, Aurangzeb intervened and promised to forgive Jasvant Singh and honor him with a high post. If he decided to refuse his offer, however, he would be subject to severe retribution. The emperor continued to show favors to Jasvant Singh until his death in 1678 a fact also confirmed by the farman. Following the raja’s death, Aurangzeb seized the foremost Hindu state or Marwar and placed it under Mughal rule. This farman is the earliest of the published ones and is the first acquisition of its kind for the Sacler Gallery. Source: Rare Book Society of India, https​:/​/ww​​w​ .rar​​ebook​​socie​​tyofi​​ndia.​​org​/p​​ostDe​​t​ail.​​php​?i​d In 1768, Ghulam Shah kalhora, ruler of Sind, settled on the location of ancient Nirun-Kot and founded Hyderabad. The city was named for the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law ‘Ali’, who was also known as “Hyder”. A slab of stone bearing his handprints and footprints sits in the centre of Hyderabad (Schellinger and Salkin, 1996). But it is evident from all the texts and farmans that they were mainly used for royal purposes and specifically for political, administrative, judicial, and military purposes. Still then, it was not used for the purpose of crime identification. However, the scientific beginning of either handprint or fingerprint began in the British period. The following paragraphs of the present study will highlight the scientific use of fingerprint as a means of crime detection. Journey from anthropometry to fingerprint Alphonse Bertillon was a French policeman who introduced the science of identifying a person based on his/her anatomical features in the 19th century. He first attempted to recognize repeat offenders. Today’s Bertillon system was named after him, as he prepared a set of tools for this purpose. These tools were used to measure certain anatomical traits of a person, including 11 different body measurements such as the height, length, and breadth of the head, the width of cheeks, the length of different fingers, the length of forearms, etc. Bertillon devised an identification method that found great response around the world, once it had overcome resistance in France. More sophisticated technology began to be used to identify criminal records more convincingly; criminal records had included photographic portraits since 1870. This newer advanced technology gradually replaced previously used machinery which was limited to “signalements” (physical descriptions). In this method basically physical description was recorded, including age, height, skin colour, scars, tattoos, and other “distinguishing marks”. After the introduction of photography, a major shift thus occurred in identification processes. However, affordability became an issue when it was applied in classifying the cards, which still had to be situated in alphabetical order.

146  Forensic science and fingerprints in India In such a context, Bertillon initiated a new classification method which was based on the body measurements of the criminals. Due to his close association with physical anthropology and social statistics (especially the work of Paul Broca and Adolphe Quételet), he looked for a new way to categorize measurements of the human body Known as the “anthropometric system”, or “judicial anthropometry”, the Bertillon method was grounded on two basic premises: that the human bone structure is almost absolutely fixed from the age of 20 and that dimensions vary enormously between people. It was observed by Bertillon that every adult male possesses a kind of identification code, marked on his body. This technique for ascertaining a person’s identity began with a series of millimetrically precise body measurements (height; breadth; height of the bust; length and width of the head; height and width of the right ear; and length of the foot, the middle finger, and the left forearm); results were divided into three categories: small, medium, and large. These data were written on index cards, which were then classified into distinct categories, following an order that reduced the number of cards until there was a box containing only a dozen. The system also included data from morphological and physiognomic observations. The notation of “distinguishing marks” (tattoos and scars); and, lastly, frontal and profile “metric photography”6, another Bertillon technique that was to have a long life in the police world. To realize the significance of this fact, it is necessary first to understand the importance of a system of identification in the problem of crime detection. Today’s intelligent police actions principally depend on criminal files. Detectives and magistrates alike must be familiar with the criminal inclination of specific individuals. They must be acquainted with proper knowledge of the past evidence of those whom they apprehend or suspect. However, all these records were stored only by names. No such inimitable means was followed to identify the criminals; rather they were identified only by names. For these reasons, in most cases, any convicted person can keep himself in disguise, as a result of which in most cases the entire process became nullified. Basically, the total system depends on the efficiency of the police. They specifically identified the convicted person by name but in such a manner that he can never escape from the police. Through this process, criminals were identified in a separate manner which demarcated them from the other peoples. In such a context, a necessity was felt to find out a means to identify a true criminal and so that an innocent can get relief from law. However, the administration had no other alternative; they had to depend solely on narratives and photographs. When some critical situation arose, failure of the method was realized again. In many instances, criminals altered their appearance and escaped from the police. The necessity for a more convincing method became apparent. Time went on, but no such solution was found. In such a situation, Bertillon proclaimed an exact method of identification by means of measurement in 1883. In such an endeavour, the whole world became obligated to Bertillon. The new invention of Bertillon was accepted by all the Enlightened countries, like England, Germany, Austria, Russia, Switzerland, and many states in the United States. All the legal administration of these countries started to apply this newly invented system in their criminal identification on a scientific basis. As

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  147 a result of this, Bertillon became a distinctive mark of modern police administration. However, Bertillon was not done yet. He continuously tried to invent more convincing methods for true identification. As an advancement, he added more subcategorization, such as descriptive photography (portrait parle), and a method of grouping colours and characteristic marks, for more effective identification of criminals. One major drawback of his method was that it could not be effectively applied to women or children. Only adolescent and mature men came under this system; even aged persons were exempted. Children before full physical adulthood were evidently removed, while a woman’s hair created some measurement-related problems, which became a major hindrance to correct measurement. Realizing this, Bertillon admitted the same in his writings. Further constraints were the structure and application of the instruments. Due to the heavy structure, the instruments were not easy to handle. All these consequences made these instruments redundant. However, another crucial distinction made the whole process more cumbersome. When any measurement was taken by two persons, there would be some marginal error which could not be eradicated. As a result of this, very often problems of marginal error were recorded. When measurements were taken with a fair degree of accuracy then the margin of mistake was not so delicate to the system. To achieve such accuracy, special training was required but was not available in all the provinces of India. Such training was provided only in America. In the Indian situation, the scenario was completely different. People’s perception was completely vague in this regard. Mostly, in southern and mid-western cities, the Bertillon system was considered an obsession rather than a systematic method of recognition. As a result of this type of perception, measuring a prisoner was considered ridiculous. With police professionals measuring criminals without any awareness of where to put the instruments, the results arrived at were ridiculous and erroneous, and there was every probability of wrong identification. However, a system must be evaluated by its utilization rather than its misuse. Despite so many attempts by Bertillon to make it more scientific and accurate, even in Europe, where the system was referred with dignity, it was often reported that the system was inaccurate and erred frequently. As a result, the expected result was never achieved. The major drawback of this system was that it was not suitable for common use and required expert assistance. Bertillon was never in favour of such a mentality. For this reason, Bertillon’s system gradually lost its name and fame due to its shortcomings. With the passage of time, the more authentic and easier system of dactyloscopy came into vogue. Ultimately, the pathbreaking work of Sir William Herschel and Sir Francis Galton7 led to a more practicable method for police purposes. A new method of identification was introduced by Sir Edward Henry, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Force of London. The system was introduced at Scotland Yard in 1901, after an initial trial by the English authorities in India. Within a short spell of time, the scientificity of this system attracted the police authorities and it gradually became popular in different countries of Europe and in the United States and the rest of the world.

148  Forensic science and fingerprints in India It is worth mentioning that the Henry system of classifying fingerprints is still the most extensively used method of criminal identification. The uniqueness of this system was its simplicity. The basic requirement to take fingerprints was a piece of tin and some printer’s ink. Any kind of person, whether illiterate or educated, could perform the task within half an hour’s time. There was no stipulated guideline regarding whether the fingerprints were absolute or impressions were properly taken with efficiency. Owing to its simplicity, authenticity, and scientific superiority, this system became quickly established. For its uniqueness, the fingerprint method was accepted by the legal administration for identifying criminals. By this method, the police could easily detect the victim through marks which he leaves in the crime scene. Therefore, this system was readily acceptable for two purposes: it could help the police arrest persons with a previous criminal record; secondly, it was useful in determining the perpetrator of a particular crime before any arrest was made, where his fingerprints can be compared with the records available at the headquarters. Due to this infallible feature, fingerprint was accepted by police departments all over the country. Despite its uniqueness, this system was criticized due to its simpler application methodology (Fosdick, 1915). Sir William Herschel and the promotion of the use of fingerprinting Here the author has attempted to explore how fingerprint was promoted as a scientific resource for crime detection by Sir William Herschel. The following letter wrote by Francis Galton to the public initiated Sir William Herschel as the pioneer for this systematic and scientific application (Galton 1892). Dear reader, My name is Sir Francis Galton9 and I am a well-known scientist. I have ventured into various fields like geography or mathematics. I have also contributed significantly to the field of fingerprinting. Today it is my pleasure to introduce you to a dear colleague and friend of mine who is also a pioneer in the field of fingerprinting: William James Herschel. He was born in 1833 in Slough, England, and from an early age on he was fascinated by other cultures and countries. Therefore, it was not surprising that, at the age of 20, Herschel went to India to work as an official for the British East India Company. Over the course of his employment in India he negotiated many contracts with local Indian businessmen. Each time an agreement was not taken seriously, he was frustrated. So in order to intimidate his business partners, Herschel prompted them, from 1858 onwards, to sign contracts with a print of their palm. With his new signature method the local businessmen were much more likely to respect the agreement than they would have been with a simple written signature. Moreover, many Indians were illiterate and this method helped them to comprehend the binding nature of a contract. Over time Herschel discovered that he did not even have to take a whole palm print but that fingerprints of the middle and the index

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  149 finger sufficed for his particular purpose. As he repeatedly took fingerprints of the same people over a longer period of time, Herschel found out that these fingerprints did not change with age. Based on his vast collection of different fingerprints, he also assumed that fingerprints were unique to its holder and therefore could be used as a method of identification. He could not scientifically prove his assumption. I, however, was able to do so later. Although my dear friend William Herschel did not investigate fingerprinting on a scientific level, he is rightly credited with being the first European to discover the value of fingerprints and to make systematic use of them. Thus, it was a great honor for me that I was granted access to his vast collection of fingerprints for research purposes. Without his pioneer work I would doubtlessly have never been able to complete my scientific studies of fingerprints. Yours faithfully, Sir Francis Galton William James Herschel was born in Slough on January 9, 1833, as the grandson of astronomer William Herschel and the son of John Herschel, also an astronomer. His father asked him to choose a career other than astronomy, so he joined the East India Company, and in 1853 was posted to Bengal. Following the Indian Mutiny of 1858, Herschel became a member of the Indian Civil Service, and was posted to Jungipoor. In July 1858 he drew up a contract with a local man, Mr. Konai, for the supply of road-making materials. In order to prevent Konai from denying his signature at a later date, Herschel made him put a handprint on the document. Documents of Contract for 2,000 Maunds of Road Metalling Between W.J. Herschel and Rajyadhar Konai in Konai’s Handwriting: Taken from the Personal Diary of William J Herschel (Figure 5.2) It happened in 1858, I was starting the first bit of road metalling at Jungipoor, and invited tenders for a supply of “ghooting” (a good binding material for light roads). A native named Rajyadhar Konai, of the village of Nista, came to terms with me, and my desire drew up our agreement in his own hand, in true commercial style. He was about to sign it in the usual way, at the upper right hand corner, when I stopped him in order to read it myself; and it then occurred to me to try an experiment by taking the stamp of his hand, by way of signature instead of writing. There was nothing very original about that, as an idea. However, that may be, I was only wishing to frighten Konai out of all thought of repudiating his signature hereafter. He, of course, had never dreamt of such an attestation, but fell in readily enough. I dabbed his palm and fingers over with the home made oil ink used for my official seal, and pressed the whole hand on the back of the contract, and we studied it together, with a good deal of chaff about palmistry, comparing his palm with mine on another impression. I was so pleased with the experiment that, having to make a second contract with Konai, I made him attest it in the same way. One of these

150  Forensic science and fingerprints in India

Figure 5.2  Handprint of Rajyadhar Konai.

contracts I gave to Sir Francis Galton for his celebrated paper read before the Royal Society, November 1890 to which body he presented it; the other lies before me now. Trials with my own fingers soon showed the advantage of using them instead of the whole hand for the purpose then in view, i.e. for securing a signature which the writer would obviously hesitate to disown … The very possibility of such a “sanction” to use of a fingerprint does not drawn

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  151 upon me till after long experience and even then it became no more than a personal conviction for many years more. The decisiveness of a fingerprint is now one of the most powerful aids to justice. Our possession of it derived from the impression of Konai’s hand in 1858. In such an endeavour, very soon Herschel realized that instead of handprints, only fingers were needed to be used. Through his experiments, he came to realize that person’s fingerprints do not change over time. He suggested to the Governor of Bengal that fingerprints must be used on legal documents, in order to prevent impersonation and the repudiation of contracts, but this suggestion was not accepted. Herschel was appointed Magistrate of Hooghly in 1877. He introduced the taking of pensioners’ fingerprints, as a result of which their pensions could not be accumulated by a fraud. He also started to take fingerprints of criminals, so that their jail sentences could not be conceded out by an appointed impostor. In 1880, Herschel published a letter in Nature, explaining his experiences with fingerprinting when he returned to England in 1878. Before his death, he published an elaborated description of his work, entitled The Origin of Fingerprinting, in the year 1916. Although he extended the technique of fingerprinting, Herschel only ever used it as a governmental instrument. He did not realize that it could be used to catch criminals – it was Francis Galton and Edward Henry, building on the foundations that Herschel had laid, that turned fingerprinting into a tool for fighting crime. With this continuation, the present author has tried to mention a significant reference which historically showed the authenticity of the fingerprint as a mark of identity. The paper “The Origin of Finger-Printing” was published in the famous journal Nature volume 98, 1916, pp. 268, where it was written that when Sir Francis Galton issued “Finger-Print Directories” in 1895 he inscribed the volume to Sir William J. Herschel, in the following words: “I do myself the pleasure of dedicating this book to you, in recognition of your initiative in employing finger-prints as official signatures, nearly forty years ago, and in grateful remembrance of the invaluable help you freely gave me when I began to study them”. Sir William Herschel told the story of how our modern system of identification by means of fingerprints was born in the magistrates’ court at Jungipoor, on the upper reaches of Hooghly. In his dedication to Sir Edward Henry, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir William Herschel wrote: “I am offering you this old story of the beginnings of fingerprinting, by way of expressing my warm and continuous admiration of those masterly developments of its original applications, whereby, first in Bengal and the Transvaal, and then in England, you have fashioned a weapon of penetrating certainty for the sterner needs of justice”. Controversy of Sir William Herschel and Dr. Henry Faulds In the history of any scientific development, there would have been several individuals working independently of one another who played equally important roles in that scientific endeavour. The historical invention of fingerprint science was

152  Forensic science and fingerprints in India not an exception to that phenomenon. This resulted in some degree of controversy as to who should receive the credit for the invention. The disagreement which arose very often was, who was the first to use this method? William Herschel or Henry Faulds? Henry Faulds was a renowned scientist who officially announced his confidences about the potential of using fingerprints. On June 1, 1843, Faulds was born in Scotland and grew up in a small town called Beith. In spite of his humble attempt, he may be considered as one of the pioneers in fingerprinting. After studying mathematics and logic at Glasgow University, he was determined to pursue medicine at Anderson College even after four years. Even being a doctor, his aspiration was to work as a medical missionary. Initially, he began his missionary work in India, but after an incongruity with the superintendent, he quit his job one year later. In 1874 Faulds moved to Tokyo, Japan. There he started his career as a medical missionary. In the year 1875, he established Tsukiji Hospital. There he invented various techniques to prevent typhoid and lectured on surgical complications. In course of his profession, he became confident in Japanese and taught at the local university. He also established the Tokyo Institute for the Blind, which exists even today. Faulds build up a system of raised script to allow unsighted people to read. This script was a forerunner of the modern-day Braille system8. While in Japan, Faulds discovered fingerprints on ancient pottery. The fingerprints, left by their impressions, mesmerized him, and Faulds began his widespread research. His research included many experiments to reveal the unique permanence of fingerprints. In such experimentation Faulds even ventured to remove his own fingerprints with emery paper and chemicals. However, it was determined that they just grew back in the same pattern. Faulds performed a study on “skin furrows” and envisaged its forensic application. He even forecasted that fingerprints would one day be transmitted by photo telegraphy, which could be the precursor to the modern-day automated fingerprint identification systems (AFIS systems). A pair of incidents encouraged Faulds to expand fingerprint identification for criminals. A thief climbed a wall near his house and left sooty fingerprints on its whitewashed surface. When a suspect was arrested by the police, Faulds requested that the suspect’s fingerprints be obtained. He observed that the fingerprints he collected from the suspect did not match those on the wall. Then he advised the police that they had apprehended the wrong person. Another suspect was taken into custody. This time the suspect’s prints matched, and he confessed to the crime. This was the first recorded occasion when both innocence and guilt were proven by the use of fingerprints. These two consecutive incidents created a sense of self-assurance and firmness in Faulds which compelled him to carry on with his beliefs and studies. In October 1880 Faulds became the first person to publicly suggest fingerprints as a method of identification when he published an article in the Nature magazine. In his scientific observation he proposed two important observations: “(i) When bloody finger-marks or impressions on clay, glass etc., exist, they may guide to the scientific identification of criminals, and (ii) A common slate or smooth board of any kind, or a sheet of tin, spread over very thinly and evenly

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  153 with printer’s ink, is all that is required to take fingerprints”. This was the first recorded suggestion that fingerprints could be used to locate criminals, and how it might be done. Faulds not only recognized the importance of fingerprints as a means of identification, but devised a method of classification as well. Moreover, he pointed out that fingerprints do not change all through one’s life. He forwarded an explanation of his classification system and a sample of the forms he had designed for recording inked impressions to Sir Charles Darwin9. Darwin, in advanced age and ill health, informed Faulds that he could be of no assistance to him but promised to pass the materials on to his cousin, Francis Galton. However, Fauld’s wife’s illness compelled him to return back to England in 1886. During his stay in England, he tried to interest Scotland Yard10 in the uniqueness and utility of his system and also motivated them to use it. Scotland Yard declined his offer but later regretted the decision. In spite of his convivial effort, until 1901, the British administration was not ready to use it by discarding the Bertillon’s system. In the meantime the discovery of the use of fingerprints for criminal identifications was often credited to others, such as William Herschel, William Henry, and Galton. However, the contribution of Faulds did not get any acknowledgement in the field of fingerprint and he passed away in 1930. Many days later, it was revealed how much Fauld had contributed in the field of fingerprint research. Besides, William Herschel was also demanding to break into the field of fingerprinting. He was born in 1833 and started his fingerprint research in 1858. But his interest in fingerprint research started sometime earlier. In India, he came as a British Chief Administration Officer in the Hooghly District in Bengal in the year 1850. In the course of time he was recognized as being the first European to identify the significance of fingerprints for identifying criminals. In July 1858, when he was working with the local people, he got a chance to work with a local businessman named Rajyadhar Konai. He convinced him to give his handprint on the back of their contract. Herschel stated that he did this to “frighten him out of all thought of repudiating his signature”. The businessman was impressed with Herschel’s business skills. This success inspired Herschel to make palm prints mandatory in all contracts. Initially, the impression of palm print was used not as an identity of any person but to restrict locals from trying to deny contracts. This achievement motivated Herschel in such a way that he started to collect memento fingerprints from all contracts and also from his friends and relatives. He started scientific analysis about each impression and observed that each and every impression was unique and did not change over time. Finally, he came to the conclusion that this inimitable identity could be used to confirm or challenge someone’s identity. In spite of his tremendous effort, his scientific observation was not executed until 1877–1878. Ultimately, he was successful in his effort and his findings were introduced for official purposes. After this implementation he got a scope to use it more convincingly. Government pensioners who visited his office to “sign” for their monthly payments had to provide their fingerprints. Even during transactions at the registry of deeds, landowners gave their fingerprint impressions to validate

154  Forensic science and fingerprints in India their operations. Besides, convicts were compelled to give their fingerprint impressions in their jail warrants, so that they could not use things from outside in prison. Similarly, he started another venture which got him recognition in the field of science. Fauld published his paper on fingerprints in the prestigious Nature journal. Herschel made a rejoinder with an allege that since 1860, he had been using fingerprints as a means to recognize criminals in jails. In 1880, Herschel published his scientific article in Nature magazine, titled “Skin Furrows of the Hand”. Herschel, however, had been using fingerprints in bar code form and became unsuccessful in pointing out the probable scientific and forensic use. In spite of his scientific rivalry, ultimately after 1917, he realized that Faulds had been the first person to advocate public use of fingerprints for forensic purpose. This noble man passed away in 1918. Before his death he finally admitted that Faulds was indeed the first to ascertain the potential use of fingerprints for identification. Though there are several other personalities who recognized the scientific use of fingerprint before Herschel, but still we remember Herschel as one of the inventors in this endeavour. The Bengal fingerprint bureau – world’s first finger bureau The Council of the Governor-General of India approved a committee on June 12, 1897. This committee approved the scientific utility of fingerprint and mandated its use for the classification of criminal records. To support this endeavour, the Calcutta Anthropometric Bureau became the world’s first fingerprint bureau. Two Indian Sub-Inspector were working in this bureau, namely Azizul Haque and Hem Chandra Bose. These two personalities were the experts who were credited (at the end of their lives) with the primary development of the Henry system of fingerprint classification (named for their supervisor, Edward Richard Henry). Even today in English-speaking countries, the Henry classification system is in use. Sir Edward Richard Henry, the Police Chief of the then South Bengal, developed the method of indexing and classifying fingerprints in 1897, in Calcutta. Finally, the Anthropometric Bureau shifted to the administrative building of Calcutta, the Writers’ Buildings, where the institution changed its name to the “Finger Print Bureau”. This was believed to be the first fingerprint bureau in the world. Since then, the fingerprinting technique has been adopted by police across the globe as a method of identifying criminals. First case of conviction on the basis of fingerprint – the case of Kangali Charan In 1890 Sir Francis Galton took up the study of fingerprints. He established the foundation of the science of fingerprint and proved without a shadow of doubt the individuality or uniqueness and permanence of fingerprint as a scientific method of identification with the help of materials collected by Sir William Herschel and Special Sub-Registrar Sri Ramgati Banerjee of Hooghly District. Galton propounded a new method of his own for describing and indexing the fingerprints,

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  155 which made it somewhat possible to search for a single thumb print from a large collection of thumb prints. Instead of Bertillon’s anthropometric measurement, this system proved so satisfactory in 1896 that an application was made to the Government of India for the appointment of a committee to report upon the system. A committee was formed consisting of Mr. C. Strahan, R. E. Surveyor General of India, Mr. Alex Pedler, F.R.S, Principal Presidency College, Calcutta, examined both the anthropometric method and Henry’s system of classification of fingerprints. Finally, the committee recommended the adoption of the fingerprint system as a means of identification of habitual criminals instead of the anthropometric system in March 1897. Then the first fingerprint bureau of the world was officially established in Writer’s Building, Calcutta, in June 1897. The police also used fingerprints for the detection of crime during this time. The noted case of Emperor vs. Kangali Charan is given below: Hridaynath Ghosh, manager of a tea garden, belonging to Kataguri Tea Estate. Ltd., on the Bhutan Frontier in the district of Jalpaiguri, State of Bengal, was found dead in the bedroom of his bungalow on the morning of 16 August 1897. He was brutally murdered and was robbed. The contents of wooden boxes in the room were disarranged. His iron safe was rifled of cash. The currency notes of Rs.100/- denomination were not removed. The previous night, he had seen looking up the safe. A kukri knife was found in the room which had apparently been used for the infliction of the manager’s wounds. During investigation it transpired that some months before this crime on 21 January 1897, one Rajan Singh native of Birbhum district, hundred miles away from Jalpaiguri, who had been in the employment of Hirdaynath Ghose, was convicted of theft of money from the deceased’s safe. Rajan was convicted to six months R.I. by the Court of sessions judge, Jalpaiguri. Rajan changed his name as Kangali after his release from jail on 5 July 1897 due to remission and grace on account of Diamond Jubilee of Victoria, Queen Empress. Thereafter he was seen in the fairs and markets near about the tea garden. No one saw him near the bunglow. It was transpired that Kangali told his prison mates that he would have his revenge upon the manager. Before his release from jail his right thumb print was taken. He and other persons were severally suspected of the murder and theft, and some of these as acting in concert for the purpose. The investigating officer found a Bengalee almanac in one of the wooden boxes in the bed room. On the Bengalee almanac paper cover two brown smudges as if of dried blood were found. So these were sent to the Central Office. Henry scrutinized this with a magnifying glass and saw that one of the smudges was identical with the right thumb impression of Ranjan alias Kangali. On 9 September 1897, Kangali was arrested from his own house, hundreds miles away from Jalpaiguri. He was charged for theft with murder and sent for trial in the court of sessions. Kangali pleaded not guilty to both the charges. The court sessions Judge was Ashamuddin Ahamed of Rangpur, a barrister and member of Inner Temple. He sat with

156  Forensic science and fingerprints in India two Indian assessors. On 25 May 1898 Kangali was acquitted of murder but convicted of theft charge and sentenced to two years imprisonment. Indian Law did not then allow of the evidence of the finger print expert. Hence no such evidence was tendered in the trial. Kangali appealed against his conviction and sentence as unjust. The appeal judges Kenealy and Henderson upheld the sentence. This case alone was sufficient to convince the legislature the utility of finger print expert’s evidence (Figure 5.3). Fingerprint – fundamental principle, patterns, functions of finger ridges and minutiae patterns Principles First Principle: A fingerprint is an individual characteristic. Each finger has its own indistinguishable ridge characteristics. It supports to clarify why the term “fingerprint” has been exposed to be alike. Therefore no fingerprints are the same. Throughout science this principle is used, and will hold up until one opposing illustration is found. As it is unfeasible to verify each fingerprint on every person living, or who were deceased and those yet to be born. In the absence of conflicting evidence this will persist as an elementary principle. Second Principle: Any individual’s fingerprint cannot change throughout his lifetime. Third Principle: We can systematically categorize fingerprints because each fingerprint has its own general ridge patterns, which make it feasible to systematically classify.

Figure 5.3  Finger print of Kangali Charan.

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  157 Patterns The patterns on the thumb and fingers were first discussed at length by Purkinje in 1823, in a University Thesis or Commentatio. The one and only inimitable and infallible marks of identification in human is fingerprint. The scientific study of fingerprint as a means of identification is called dactylography. Finger ridges are present on the epidermal layer of skin. The depression between two ridges is called a furrow. These ridges and furrows ultimately make a curved pattern on the fingertips called the fingerprint pattern. In each pattern, ridges run parallel to each other and parallel ridge flow interrupted by seven types of irregularity. In an arch pattern, ridges enter and exit on the same sides. It has two distinct types: (1) plain arches and (2) tented arches (Figure 5.4). While Plain arches demonstrate a wave-like pattern, tented arches exhibit a pointed barb at the centre of the arch. Arches do not have type line, deltas, or cores. Loops: Ridges enter from one side and exit from a different side (Figure 5.5). It can be classified into mainly two types: 1. Loop opening toward little finger: Ulnar loop (As the ulna is the medial bone). 2. Loop opening towards thumb: Radial loop (As the radius is the lateral bone). All loops must have one delta and type lines. The core is the centre of the loop.

Figure 5.4  Finger Print Pattern – Arch.

158  Forensic science and fingerprints in India

Figure 5.5  Finger Print Pattern – Loop.

Whorls: It consists of circles or a mixture of pattern types. It has four major types: (1) plain, (2) central pocket, (3) double loop and (4) accidental (Figure 5.6). Plain whorls must have at least one ridge that makes a complete circuit and an imaginary line from one delta to the other must touch a whorl ridge. Central pocket whorls must have at least one ridge that makes a complete circuit and an imaginary line from one delta to the other cannot touch a whorl ridge. Double loop is two loops combined to make one whorl. Any other types not in the three categories are called accidentals (generally, they have a whorl type pattern). The interrupted points are local ridge characteristics which occur at either a ridge bifurcation or a ridge ending known as minutiae. This combination of minutiae makes each fingerprint unique and identical even in the case of identical twins. However, finger ridges have specific contours and exhibit three fingerprint patterns which are arch, loops and whorls. Among these three, the most common pattern are loops (60–65%), next is whorl (25–30%), followed by the arch pattern (about 5%), which is uncommon among Indians. There are about 80 ridge characteristics found in a fingerprint and at least one-tenth of these can establish the identity of a person (Chatterjee, 1953; Cummins & Midlo, 1961). However, the classification into arches, loops, and whorls is based on the degree of curvature of the ridges, and enables almost any pattern to be sorted under one or other of those three heads. There are a few ambiguous patterns, and others which are nondescript, but the former are uncommon and the latter rare; as these exceptions

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  159

Figure 5.6  Finger Print Pattern – Whorl.

give little real inconvenience, the classification works easily and well. Arches are formed when the ridges run from one side to the other of the bulb of the digit without making any backward turn or twist. In the case of loops, there is no twist, only a single backward turn. In whorls, in any case, there must be one complete circle. However, if there is any turn it will be taken into consideration to include all the duplex spirals. The chief theoretical objection to this threefold system of classification lies in the existence of certain compound patterns. The most common of these are whorls enclosed within loops. There are as many loops as whorls which have to be reduced to a fourth class. Purposes of finger ridges In males epidermal ridges have an average width of 0.48 millimetres and in females it is 0.43 millimetres. Finger ridges thus execute two purposes: i) They amplify security of contact with articles. The ridges are marked with small holes, called sweat pores, through which perspiration is emanated. The perspiration acts as a lubricant and ensures firmness of grip. ii) They enhance the sense of touch. When a finger comes into contact with an uneven surface, the epidermal ridges amplify the vibrations caused due to

160  Forensic science and fingerprints in India friction and transmit the signal to sensory nerves involved in texture perception, increasing the sense of touch. For this reason, epidermal ridges are also called friction ridges. Minutiae patterns In any individual, his or her fingerprint shows his or her unique dissimilar pattern of ridges and valleys on the finger exterior. A ridge is described as a single curved segment. On the other hand, a valley is the area between two contiguous ridges. So the shadowy areas of the fingerprint are called ridges. The white area that is present between them is known as valleys. Minutiae points are the most important characteristics of a fingerprint image. Minutiae points are used in the matching of fingerprints. These minutiae points are also applied to settle on the exceptionality of a fingerprint image. Depending on the fingerprint scanner resolution and the placement of finger on the sensor, a good quality fingerprint image can exhibit 25–80 minutiae. How can we define minutiae? Minutiae can be described as the points where the ridge lines end or split. Therefore, the minutiae points are the local ridge discontinuities and can be of different types. These types are: ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ··

Ridge ending is the point where the ridge ends suddenly. Ridge bifurcation is the point where a single ridge branches out into two or more ridges. Ridge dots are very small ridges. Ridge islands are slightly longer than dots and occupy a middle space between two diverging ridges. Ponds or lakes are the empty space between two diverging ridges. Spurs is a notch protruding from a ridge. Bridges are the small ridges that join two longer adjacent ridges. Crossovers are formed when two ridges cross each other.

Ridge endings and ridge bifurcations are the most commonly used minutiae types since all other types of minutiae are based on a combination of these two types. Compared to other fingerprint features, the minutiae point features are distinct enough to distinguish between fingerprints robustly. Fingerprint demonstration using minutiae feature decreases the composite matter of fingerprint identification to a matter of point pattern matching. Previous use of fingerprints and methods of printing The importance of scientific application of impressions of the hand or fingers as sign manuals will probably be found in every country of significance. But the significance attached to them differs according to sociopolitical and sociohistorical importance. It is important that when they are properly made, they are

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  161 incomparably the surest and unchanging of all forms of signature. Another importance attached to an impression resembles that when a chief compresses his hand tarnished with blood or grime upon a clean surface, an impression left is to some degree characteristic of him. It may be that of a broad thickset hand, or of a long slender one; it may be bulky or small; it may even demonstrate lines matching the principal creases of the palm. Such hand prints have been made and repeated in many semi-civilized nations, as formerly by the sovereign of Japan. Though mere smudges, they serve in a slight degree to individualize the signer, while they are more or less clothed with the superstitious attributes of personal contact. No higher form of fingerprinting than this has ever existed in any barbarous or semi-civilized nation. The ridges dealt with distinctive features. Minute scrutiny was necessary when finger impressions were made in wax, and utilized as seals to deeds. So it is evident from the text that before the advent of Henry’s fingerprint classification system, no account has yet been found of trials in any of their courts of law, about disputed signatures. A good instance of their small real value may be seen in the Trans. China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Part 1, 1847, published at Hong-Kong, which contains a paper on “Land Tenure in China”, by T. Meadows Taylor, with a deed concerning a sale of land, in facsimile, and its translation: this ends, “The mother and the son, the sellers, have in the presence of all the parties, received the price of the land in full, amounting to sixty-four taels and five mace, in perfect dollars weighed in scales” (Galton, 1892). The native clerks of Bengal officially accepted tipsahi for illiterate persons, who would dip their finger into the ink-pot and touch the document. The tipsahi was not supposed to individualize the signer. It was simply a personal observance executed in the presence of witnesses. Many impressions of fingers were found on ancient pottery, as on Roman tiles. The Latin word palmatus refers to impressions in soft clay, such as a mark upon a wall, stamped by a blow with the palm. Potters of various nations used nail-marks sumptuously which existed on Assyrian bricks as signatures. Some important studies may also be illustrated as an occasional instance, e.g. that of Mr.  Fauld (Nature, xxii. p. 605, October 28, 1880), who seems to have taken great pains, and that of Mr. Tabor, an eminent photographer of San Francisco who noticed the lineation of a print that he had accidentally made with his own inked finger upon a blotting paper, and experimented further. He finally recommended the technique of fingerprints for the identification of the Chinese, which had been a complexity and was giving an enormous amount of difficulty at that particular time. But his proposal dropped through. Again, Mr. Gilbert Thompson, an American geologist, when on government duty in 1882 in the wild parts of New Mexico, paid the members of his party by order of the camp. To protect against forgery he signed his name crosswise and made an impression with his finger upon the order, after first pressing it on his office pad. Sir William Herschel made one of the two original “Contracts” in Bengali, dated 1858, which suggested to his mind the idea of using this method of identification.

162  Forensic science and fingerprints in India It was so difficult to obtain credence to the signatures of the natives. He deliberately thought about the use of the signature of the hand itself. Herschel’s basic intention was to frighten the natives who made the wrong and afterwards denied the act. However, the impression proved so good that Sir J.V. Herschel became encouraged that the same method might be further made use of. He finally initiated the use of fingerprints in several departments at Hooghly in 1877. From 17 years’ knowledge of the value of the proof, the government also accepted it. A brief explanation of his work was given by him in Nature, xxiii. p. 23, November 25, 1880. He pointed out that he had been taking finger marks as sign manuals for more than 20 years and had commenced them for practical purposes in several ways in India with noticeable benefit. They made attempts to reject signatures quite fruitless. Fingerprints were taken of pensioners to prevent their impersonation by others after their death. They were used in the office for Registration of Deeds and in gaols, where each prisoner had to sign with his finger. By contrasting the fingerprints of persons then living, with their prints taken 20 years before, he believed that he had proved that the lapse of at least that period made no significant change sufficient to affect the utility of the plan. He submitted a report in 1877 in semi-official form to the Inspector General of Gaols, asking to be allowed to extend the process. But no result followed. In 1881, at the request of the Governor of the gaol at Greenwich (Sydney), he sent a description of the method. But no further steps appear to have been taken there. If the use of fingerprints ever becomes of general importance, Sir William Herschel must be regarded as the first who devised a feasible method for regular use, which afterwards was officially adopted. Methods of indexing of fingerprints The aim of this section is to show how to make really good and permanent impressions of the fingers. One example of the ease of making good but not permanent impressions is by pressing the bulb of a finger against well-polished glass, or against the high-polished blade of a razor. The finger must be very slightly oiled; if it is moist, dry it with a handkerchief before oiling. Then force down the bulb of the finger on the glass or razor, as the case may be, and a beautiful impression will be left. The hardness of the glass or steel prevents its surface from rising into the furrows under the pressure of the ridges, while the layer of oil which covers the underneath of the furrows is too thin to attain down to the glass or steel; accordingly the ridges alone are printed. There is no capillary or other action to spread the oil, so the impression remains distinct. Both moist and not oily finger gives a similar mark, but it soon disappears. There are two diametrically opposed methods of printing, each being the complement of the other. The technique used in normal printing is to ink the foretelling surfaces only, leaving the dejected parts spotless. The other technique used in printing from engraved plates is to ink the whole exterior, and then to clean the ink from the projecting parts, leaving the depressions only filled with it. Either of these two courses can be adopted in taking fingerprints, but not the two together,

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  163 for when they are combined in equal degrees the result would be a plain black blot. The ink used may be either printer’s ink or water colour, but for producing the best work, rapidly and on a large scale, the method of printer’s ink seems in every respect preferable. However, water colour suffices for some reasons, and as there is so much expediency in a pad soaked with dye, such as is frequently used for hand stamps, and which is always ready for use, many may prefer it. The processes with printer’s ink will be described first. In the fingers of very young children, and of some ladies whose hands are rarely submitted to rough usage, the ridges are exceptionally faint; their crests hardly rise above the furrows, yet it is the crests only that are to be inked. Accordingly, the layer of ink on the slab or pad on which the finger is compressed for the function of blackening it must be very slender. Its thickness must be less than half the elevation of the ridges, for when the finger is pressed down the crests displace the ink immediately below them, and drive it upwards into the furrows, which would otherwise be choked with it. The best ink for fingerprinting is not the best for ordinary printing. It is important to a commercial printer that his ink should dry rapidly on the paper, and he does not want a particularly thin layer of it. Consequently, he prefers ink that comprises various drying materials, such as litharge, which easily part with their oxygen. In fingerprints this quick freshening is avoidable and the drying materials do harm by making the ink too inflexible The most helpful ink for our reason is made of any pure “drying” oil (or oil that oxidizes rapidly), combined with lampblack and nothing else. Now it is important to describe the printing apparatus. Laboratory apparatus consists of (a) slab, (b) roller, (c) bottle of benzole (parafin, turpentine, or solution of washing soda), (d) a funnel, with blotting paper to act as a filter, (e) printer’s ink, (f) rags and duster, (g) a small glass dish, and (h) cards to print on. The method of printing at the laboratory is to squeeze a drop or so of ink on to the slab, and to work it thoroughly with the roller until a thin and smooth layer is stretch, just as is performed by printers, from one of whom a trainee might well acquire a session. The width of the layer of ink is experimented from time to time by taking the print of a finger and contrasting its clarity and blackness with that of a normal print, hung up close at hand for the reason. If too much ink is put on the slab, the print will be smudged and a new print will have to be taken. But this fault should be checked. Very little ink should be put on at first, and more added little by little, until the required result is attained. The right hand of the subject, which should be quite reflexive, is taken by the operator, and the bulbs of his four fingers are laid smooth on the inked slab and pressed gently but firmly on it by the flattened hand of the operator. Then the inked fingers are laid flat upon the upper part of the right-hand side of the card and pushed down quietly and decisively, just as earlier, by the flattened hand of the operator. This completes the process for one set of prints of the four fingers of the right hand. Then the bulb of the thumb is slightly rolled on the inked slab, and again on the lower part of the card, which gives a more extended but not quite so sharp impression. Each of the four fingers of the same hand, in succession, is similarly rolled and impressed. This completes the process for the second set of

164  Forensic science and fingerprints in India prints of the digits of the right hand. Then the left hand is treated in the same way. Generally, this is performed two times, one time above with a simple dab and once underneath with a turn over impression after the four fingers is impressed two times. Each thumb is impressed only one time, as the thumbs are more difficult to print from than fingers. It takes a few minutes, two and a half to three minutes, to obtain the 18 impressions that are completed on each card. Classification system of fingerprints by Sir Edward Richard Henry Different scholars developed more than 50 finger pattern types of classification systems, which are utilized in different countries and in different organizations. The classification invented by Galton, Henry, and Vucetich was the most convincing for finding out of the criminals from the crime scene. This type of classification is also known as the ten digit classification system developed by Edward Henry. In developing this classification he experimented with Herschel’s fingerprint system. He then visited Galton and later developed his own classification system. The classification of fingerprints is based on certain essential structures like arch, loops, whorl, and composite which are alternatives of the basic structure along with their allotment example of occurrence on the finger. Some of the secondary factors which are of importance in this classification include the direction of the slope of the ridge, the distance between the right and the left delta and the core, etc. In India, during the 19th century, Sir Edward Richard Henry was a high-ranking official (IGP) of Bengal. He was responsible for the government payroll, and paying the natives who worked on the roads and railways. When Henry took over the position, there was a high rate of fraud cases. Some individuals would argue for two or more paychecks under diverse names. If a worker died, his family would often conceal the body and keep on claiming his salary for years. In 1897, Sir Edward Henry unravelled the fingerprint-indexing issue with an inventive explanation. Scotland Yard adopted the Henry system in 1901and after that the system was approved by practically every country in the world (with minor regional variations). But before indexing, it was realized by Henry, Haque, and Bose that criminal records were to be rationalized on the foundation of a mathematical formula. They described this mathematical formula in the following manner. The mathematical formula was invented by Azizul Haque, but in the main report the main credit goes to Richard Henry. The ten fingers are grouped into five pairs. The right hand (R) is placed left with palm down, while the left hand (L) is placed right with palm up. Loops, including arches, are written as L and Whorl is written as W. The pairs are arranged in the following pattern: Pair I

II

III

IV

V

Right index Right thumb

Right ring Right middle

Left thumb Right little

Left middle Left index

Left little Left ring

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  165 In the first pair, consisting of right index and right thumb, there are four possibilities: (i) Right index is L, right thumb is W (ii) Right index is W, right thumb is L (iii) Both are L (iv) Both are W The other pairs will also exhibit the same four possibilities. Therefore, the total number of possibilities is 4× 4 × 4 × 4 × 4 = 1024. When 32 is square rooted we get 1024, i.e. 32 × 32 = 1024. The criminal record room has 32 cabinets (numbered 1 to 32) and each cabinet contains 32 files (numbered 1 to 32). Whorls occurring in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th pairs are accorded a value of 16, 8, 4, 2, and 1, respectively. Loops (including arches) are assigned a value of zero, irrespective of the pair in which they occur. We now take the example of a convict whose right thumb, right ring, left middle, left index, and left ring fingers have whorl patterns (W), and the remaining have loop patterns (L). The filing formula may be worked out as follows. Pair

I

II

III

IV

V

Arrangement Numerical value Add Further add

L/W 0/16 10/19 1/1 11/20

W/L 8/0

L/L 0/0

W/W 2/2

L/W 0/1

The fingerprints of this person would be found in the 11th file of the 20th cabinet. Source: Huq, Azizul, f 1897, Khan Bahadur, Mss Eur F 161/185, 1898, vii. Contribution of two Indian pioneers – Azizul Haque and Hem Chandra Bose A short account of Azizul Haque’s service in the Bengal Police Azizul Haque joined the police department as Subinspector in 1892 and was attached to the special branch of the office of the Inspector General of Police, Bengal. The fingerprint system of identification, though engaging the attention of scientific experts in England, was still at its infancy, and Sir E. R. Henry, who was then Inspector General of Police, Bengal, preferred the anthropometrical system, which was also in an experimental stage, as a method of establishing the identity of an offender. The difficulty in both systems was the absence of a convenient method of classifying records. Azizul Haque began to experiment on classifying based on the anthropometrical method and worked out a classification which reduced the field of search by fixing the limits under each sub-head of measurement.

166  Forensic science and fingerprints in India Sir E. R. Henry, in paragraph 6 of his Letter No. 1732 of February 25, 1893 to the Government of Bengal, a copy of which was forwarded to the Government of India with the Bengal Govt., Letter No 1786 – J, dated April 10, 1893, observed on this preliminary work: “These limits have been very carefully worked out by Subinspector Azizul Haque under the superintendence of Mr. Knyvett, Personal Assistant and much credit is due to them for having solved this difficult problem”. On account of inherent defects in the anthropometrical system, Sir E. R. Henry was sceptical about his being able to produce any workable system. Azizul Haque was then allowed to start research work upon a method of classifying fingerprints. After months of experimenting, he evolved his primary classification which convinced Sir E. R. Henry that the problem of providing an effective method of classifying fingerprints could be solved. Thereafter the secondary and other classifications were evolved and the Khan Bahadur played an important part in their conception. As a result of these researches Sir E. R. Henry finally decided in favour of the fingerprint system as against the anthropometric method. In his Letter No. 2471 dated March 13, 1897, Sir E. R. Henry wrote to the Bengal Government, “it is possible to substitute with gain of power and saving of expenses labour and time a system of identification by finger impressions only, not supplemented by measurements”. In March 1897, at the request of Sir E. R. Henry and with the sanction of the Government of India, a committee of experts met in Calcutta to test scientifically the anthropometrical and fingerprint systems. The Khan Bahadur was put to all possible tests by the committee and their report reproduced at Page 95 of Sir E.R. Henry’s book Classification of Finger Print declared this system to be superior to the anthropometric method. Azizul Haque worked in the Bengal Finger Print Bureau up to 1899. He was given a promotion to the rank of Inspector in 1895. He left the FPB (Finger Print Bureau) to gain district experience to qualify for further promotion. There is no doubt that the Khan Bahadur achieved one of the greatest scientific successes in connection with police work in modern times and his work has been of world importance and value. The local government recognized his services by the award of the Khan Sahib in 1913 and in 1924 he was made a Khan Bahadur. Although he officiated as a Deputy Superintendent of Police in 1913 he failed to make good in ordinary police work and was not promoted to that post until a short time before his retirement. It has been represented repeatedly by the senior officers of the police department that the meritorious work performed by the Khan Bahadur has never been adequately rewarded. The Khan Bahadur’s invention was of worldwide importance as it has been adopted by the majority of the civilized nations of the world. Source: J.D. Siftson, Esqr, C.I.E, I.C.S Offg, Chief Secretary to Government dated 18th June 1925, File No. 112/25 Police Branch, National Archives of India, New Delhi. Documents on Rai Bahadur Hemchandra Bose Rai Bahadur Hemchandra Bose joined the Bengal police as a Sub-Inspector in 1895 and headed the list in the final fingerprint examination in the training school.

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  167 He was specially selected by Sir E. R. Henry for employment in what was then known as the “Anthropometry Bureau” which subsequently developed into the Finger Print Bureau and with which he had been associated prior to his retirement. He was appointed to the charge of Bureau and then was promoted to the rank of Inspector in 1904 and was later appointed to be Honorary Deputy Superintendent in 1917 in which post he was eventually confirmed. He retired from service on July 1, 1928. Rai Bahadur received the early training in the fingerprint system direct from Sir E. R. Henry, whom he accompanied to various provinces in India for the purpose of establishing the Finger Print Bureau. During his long service in the Bengal Bureau he acquired knowledge of the science and introduced various improvements in the methods of sub-classifying finger impressions, of which the following deserve special mention: (i) the method of comparing imperfect impressions containing only a few marked ridges; ii) the sub-classification by the numerical method; iii) the method of estimating the probability of fixing identity by the ridge characteristics; iv) the sub-classification of the accidental types; v) the improved system of indexing; vi) the introduction of a telegraphic code11 for finger impressions (single and ten digit impression); and vii) the classification system for a single digit impression. The above improvements were the outcome of the keen interest taken by the Rai Bahadur in his work and the vast experience he had acquired through subsequent research. His discussion on the classification of imperfect impressions is a useful study which has not only placed the experts on a secure footing but also helped the courts of justice in coming to a decision in doubtful cases. By means of his telegraphic code for finger impressions (a similar code was subsequently adopted by Scotland Yard and Continental Bureau) searches can be made in the bureau on receipt of a telegram without the presence of the finger impression slips. It is to be observed that the preparation of this code was a work involving arduous labour. The classification of the “accidental types” greatly facilitated the recording and search of slips containing this type of impressions. The numerical method of classifying the impressions has reduced the time and labour required for the work to a minimum, besides rendering the recording of the slips much more accurate. The utility of the system of classifying single digit impression is obvious as it answers to all the conventional standards of proof held by experts as essential for identification. The system has been put to a practical test in the Finger Print Bureau and has been found to be a masterpiece of fingerprint work by many European experts and a reference was made in the official Journal of the International Police Commission of Europe, 1925. Sir E. R. Henry, who was requested by the IG of Police, Bengal, to record his opinion about the Rai Bahadur’s contribution to the science of fingerprint system, made the following remark:

168  Forensic science and fingerprints in India the Bengal Police originated the system of identification of Finger Prints, a system which has been adopted by all police forces throughout the world and which on the experience of its working through a period of over 30 years is by general consent admitted to be one of great importance to all engaged in the investigation of crime. Rai Bahadur Hemchandra Bose has devoted the whole of his official life to perfecting the methods by which search is facilitated and as his labours have contributed materially to the success achieved, he is entitled to great credit. Hem Chandra Bose’s services were recognized in 1916 by the award of the title of “Rai Sahib” and in 1925 he was made a Rai Bahadur. The Governor on Council was of the opinion that the valuable work done by him should receive more practical recognition than the bestowal of a title and that the most suitable reward would be the grant of an honorarium. In 1926, the Government of India sanctioned an honorarium of Rs. 5,000 to Khan Bahadur Azizul Haque, a retired Deputy Superintendent of Police, in recognition of the services rendered by him in connection with the system of classifying fingerprints. It was understood that Khan Bahadur was associated with this work only for a period of about five years when the system was in its infancy. Rai Bahadur, on the other hand, been ungrudging in placing on record in his books the result of his long experience which has contributed much to the advancement of the science. The Governor in Council considered that an honorarium of Rs. 10,000 might appropriately be granted to him by the Government of India. In making this recommendation His Excellency in Council was influenced by the consideration that the officer rendered exceptional service to police administration generally not only in India as a whole but elsewhere. Any honorarium granted in recognition of his services should therefore be charged to Central Revenues. Rai Bahadur maintained his reputation at the Bengal Finger Print Bureau (BFPB), which he always regarded as the parent of all other Finger Print Bureau throughout the world. His single print classification is of immense value from the point of view of the detection of a crime in which only the prints of one or two fingers have been left by the criminal. The Bengal Bureau had been classifying fingerprints by this method. This step resulted from the murder of Major Tufnell some years ago in the Punjab Mail, for in that case, the print of only one or two fingers of the murderer was found on a dispatch box. Hem Chandra Bose published his code in 1916 and it was used in the Bengal Bureau from 1917. Bose’s contributions in connection with single digit identification and telegraphic code were of immense importance and both of them were useful all over India. Source: Rai Bahadur Hem Chandra Bose, File 14/29, Police Branch, Home Department, 1929, National Archives of India, New Delhi

Single digit classification system and telegraphic code system – contribution of Hem Chandra Bose Single digit impressions assist the police in detecting the identity of a criminal on the basis of a single chance fingerprint found at the scene of crime. Henry’s classification system was used successfully for over one hundred years in virtually

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  169 every county in the world. However, it does have an important limitation. It can only be used when the pattern types of all ten digits are known. It is impossible that a criminal would leave all ten prints at a crime scene. To overcome this practical problem, in India, Hem Chandra Bose revised the formula and transformed the classification formula based on single digit impression. In Scotland, Chief Inspector Charles Stockley Collins, Finger Print Department, New Scotland Yard, attempted for single digit classification in 1920, but the process of filling up of single digit index card was very cumbersome. As a result, this process was not taken into consideration. Fingerprint experts Harry Battley and Superintendent Fredrick Cherrill of the Scotland Yard were most successful for this invention. Their system was elegant and ingenious, but required extensive training. They corrected the drawbacks of Collins’s method and finally developed a new method. In 1930 Battley published his book Single Finger Prints. But here lies a dilemma. Battley thought that he was the first who published a book on single digit classification. But before his publication, in the year 1927, Hem Chandra Bose’s book Finger Print Companion was published by Gaudiya Printing Works, Calcutta. Even the authenticity of this incidence was written by Special Branch CID, Calcutta, to P. C. Bamford, Deputy Director of Intelligence Bureau (Reference: PJGG/3/10/11, Churchill Archive Centre, Cambridge University). Hem Chandra Bose’s earlier book Hints on Finger Prints with a Telegraphic Code for Finger Impressions was very much appreciated, and a demand was raised for further publication. As a result, Bose amalgamated his new discovery with the earlier one and published Hints on Finger Prints with a Telegraphic Code for Finger Impressions. Bose’s contribution was appreciated not only in India but also all over the world. The issue of International Public Safety, September 30, 1925, highlighted Hem Chandra Bose’s contribution on single print classification method. For his unique knowledge and new contribution in the field of science, the Government of India rewarded him by sanctioning an honorarium for his great contribution in the field of fingerprint science. Another contribution of Hem Chandra Bose was the invention of the telegraphic code system. For sending crime records from one crime record office to another, Hem Chandra Bose invented a new system which was known as the telegraphic code system. He also published a book entitled Hints on Fingerprints with a Telegraphic Code for Finger Impressions in the year 1916. Probably this book was the first book on telegraphic code system for fingerprints and in the course of time this system was adopted by the Scotland Yard. But it was very unfortunate for Bose that Scotland Yard never acknowledged the contribution of Hem Chandra Bose. Basically, Bose had emphasized it because in the course of his work he realized that telegraphic code system was the only way to avoid delay. In many instances, crime was identified in one place and sending the fingerprints of the offender to another place through the post was a time-consuming process. As a result, it took a long time to make a decision about the victim. To avoid such delay Bose described a method which was not only accepted in the colonial Bureau but also in the Scotland Yard. After publishing the book, Bose tried to solicit the patronage of the colonial rulers for his book. But despite having such importance, the

170  Forensic science and fingerprints in India Home Department, Government of India, denied it any patronage. Though the Government of Bengal included this book in the list of “Works of Utility”, it was not fully patronized by the government. An Englishman, Sir Charles Collins, Detective Superintendent, Scotland Yard, realized the utility of this book. Charles Collins also published a book on Telegraphic Code System in the year 1921. He mentioned in his book that though he had thought about this code system seven years before Bose’s publication, as it was not published, Bose can be acknowledged as the originator of this system. Therefore it may not be an overstatement that the Indians were very much accustomed to this telegraphic code system much before the English Crime Office. This was the irony in the colonial period, that in spite of being the true originator of such a brilliant invention, the inventor was not recognized by the colonial rulers on account of him being an Indian, and specifically a Bengali. Haque, Bose, and Edward Richard Henry controversy Azizul Haque (also Azizul Hacque, Khan Bahadur Qazi Azizul Huq, Quazi Syed Azizul Haque 1872–1935) was a police officer of British India who worked with Edward Richard Henry to develop the Henry classification system of fingerprints. Haque apparently presented the mathematical foundation for the system. In 1872, in the village of Paigramkasba, Fultala, Azizul Haque was born in the Khulna division of Bengal, currently in Bangladesh. When he was still very young, his parents died in a boat accident. According to his family history, Haque left his family home at age 12, as a result of an “altercation” with his older brother, and went to Calcutta, where he befriended a family. That family was “impressed” with his mathematical efficiency and helped him obtain a formal education. Edward Henry recruited Haque as a police Subinspector to work on the fingerprint project at the recommendation of the Principal of Presidency College, Calcutta, where Haque studied mathematics and science. Haque started his career in Bengal Police Service. When Azizul became established, he visited his brother, from whom he was disconnected. When Haque came to his parental family, his brother became overjoyed and quickly organized Haque to marry his cousin. After that, Haque joined the Bihar Police. At that time Bihar was disconnected from the Bengal Presidency. Then Richard Henry appointed Haque to be involved in his fingerprint project. This was a part of the Calcutta Police service in British India. Haque was a student of mathematics at Presidency College, Calcutta. In 1892, the then Principal of the college was requested by Edward Henry for a strong statistics student. In this connection, the Principal recommended Azizul for this purpose. In Edward’s “fingerprint project” Haque was appointed as a police Subinspector. At first he was instructed to institute the anthropometric system in Bengal. The anthropometric system, which was originally recommended by Francis Galton, was inefficient in terms of its useful application. He soon began to work on a classification system of his own, borrowing elements of Galton’s system. He invented a mathematical formula of sorting slips in 1,024 pigeonholes in 32 columns and 32 rows based

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  171 on fingerprint patterns. Its use required no mathematics and no measurements. By 1897, Haque had collected seven thousand fingerprint sets in his cabinet. His methods of further sub-classification were simple, easier to learn, and less prone to error than Galton’s system. In comparison with anthropometric cards Haque’s fingerprint sets were more accurate. This system was scientifically more accurate. Generally, in the registration of a criminal, the available card took an hour under the anthropometric system. Haque’s classification of fingerprints took only five minutes to identify the victim. Edward Henry was delighted with Haque’s performance. He requested the colonial government to organize a committee to appraise the system for extensive use. The committee reported that fingerprints were superior to anthropometry for the following reasons: (1) in the simplicity of working, (2) in the cost of apparatus, (3) all skilled work is transferred to a central or classification office, (4) in the rapidity with which the process can be worked, and (5) in the certainty of results. Later on, Henry began to tell that it was he who had come up with the fingerprint classification system in a sudden flash of inspiration on a train. At the time he had no option to keep a record because he had no facility to note it down. As an alternative, he noted his inventions on his shirt cuff. This false statement spread to England. In such a clever way he concealed the success of Haque and Galton. Galton had taken Faulds’ ideas; Haque took some of Galton’s; and now Henry described the new classification system as his own. Although Faulds, Galton, and Haque were the original contributors to the method of fingerprint classification, it was named after Richard Henry. The telegraphic code system for fingerprints was invented by Hem Chandra Bose, another Indian police officer who was jointly involved with Haque and Henry. Initially, the government did not openly acknowledge the contributions of the two Indian police officers to the development of fingerprint classification, recognizing and honouring Henry instead. Later in England, the classification system was named as Henry classification system and is still currently widely used in the world. But years later, when Haque requested recognition and compensation from the British government for his contribution to fingerprint classification work, Henry did publicly acknowledge Haque’s contribution. He also confessed the truth about Bose’s contribution during his award giving. However, another conversation between Michael Harling and Brit Fancy, the great-great-granddaughter of Azizul Haque, regarding Haque, Bose, and Henry’s controversy is mentioned in the next section. One of the most fascinating realities was the disclosure of Sir Henry’s account of how he developed the Henry system of classification. Initially, he asserted that he was the originator of this system. He even mentioned that he got the idea during his train journey across India. He mentioned that he had no paper to prove his spark of brilliance. He wrote that at the time, he had to make notes on his shirtsleeve. With the passage of time, he realized his faults and ultimately revealed that it was his Indian assistants who actually invented the formula. Without their assistance, it would not have been possible to do anything at the time. Who were those assistants? How did they do it? How did they realize about not getting recognition for their work?

172  Forensic science and fingerprints in India Were they ever credited with inventing the system? Here I am mentioning a correspondence between Michael Harling, NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services, 1996, writer of Origins of the New York State Bureau of Identification and Brit Fancy, with the great-great-granddaughter of Azizul Haque, who invented the Henry system. Needless to say, she described the story in detail, as given in the next section. The Henry system was not Henry’s alone My parents moved from Bangladesh to the states when they got married. I was born in Oklahoma and we later moved to St. Louis. I majored in history in college so I have a general interest in the past. But in looking into my family history I was frustrated at the lack of written records from my homeland and was unable to find much of anything out about my ancestors. Then one day, about five years ago, my grandmother said to me, “I know something about one of your ancestors”, and proceeded to tell me about Azizul Haque. From that bit of information, I got in touch with two professors, a husband and wife team of researchers in India, by the name of Sodhi. They are fingerprint forensics scholars and they travel around the world to give lectures on fingerprint history. They are huge fans of Azizul Haque and his partner, Hem Chandra Bose, and are on a quest to try to get the name of the Henry System of Classification officially changed to the Henry-Haque-Bose System. The Sodhis have done extensive research in India and through the government archives and have found copies of letters my great-great-grandfather wrote to the British in Calcutta, explaining that he and Bose were the ones who worked out the system. The records show that, eventually, Henry did concede, admitting that Haque and Bose had, in fact, created the fingerprint system. Azizul Haque received a modest monetary settlement and some property, but by the time he received it, he was quite old and ill. The letters are heartbreaking to read, as Azizul is reduced to groveling to the British government and Mr. Henry for some recognition. He died shortly after getting the land, and his large family – including twenty children – moved away, probably during the Partition. Brit Fancy also helped to gain some recognition for Haque and Bose. She wrote to UK Fingerprint Society and the UK Fingerprint Society is remembering Haque and Bose by setting up an award in their honor. “The Fingerprint Society Azizul Haque and Hem Chandra Bose Prize” is an award given out to students and professionals who come up with an innovative idea in forensic identification. It took over hundred years, the dedication of a pair of researchers and the surprising discovery of an unknown celebrity in her family tree by a tenacious history major, but Henry’s assistants have finally received at least some recognition. The discussion reveals that since the ancient period the handprint had been used mainly for astrological purpose. But during the medieval period, the handprint

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  173 was used as a mark of individual identification, specifically for official and administrative work. During British rule fingerprint science was used as a major tool of forensic science in criminal investigations. As a major tool of the empire, the application of fingerprint gained its importance due to two features: their persistence and their uniqueness. During the colonial period, fingerprint was officially declared as the only tool of crime identification which can be used easily. It also confirmed the identification of the true victim. With the passage of time the nature of crime has changed and so also the tools of crime identification. With the help of newer scientific technology, crime identification process had made its way from being body based to laboratory based to sophisticated technology based.

Notes 1 Sir William Herschel – Sir William James Herschel  is considered one of the first Europeans to recognize the value of fingerprints for identification purposes. He began using fingerprints and handprints, instead of signatures, in his work as a magistrate in colonial India in the 1850s and 1860s. He later collaborated with scientist Francis Galton, whose work led to establishing the first fingerprint classification system, implemented by Scotland Yard in 1901. 2 Laws of Manu – Manusmriti, translated as “The Laws of Manu” or “The Institutions of Manu”, is the most important and authoritative Hindu Law Book, Dharmashastra, which served as a foundational work on Hindu law and jurisprudence in ancient India at least 1,500 years. Until the modern times, it was the standard reference for adjudicating civil and criminal cases by both the rulers who patronized Vedic faith and the people who practiced Hinduism. 3 Vasishtha Rules – Ancient Sanskrit word “Vashisht” literally means most excellent. Vashisht also refers to best or most prosperous. Vasishtha is a revered sage in the Hindu traditions, and like other revered sages, numerous treatises composed in ancient and medieval era are reverentially named after him. Vashistha rules represent our association and identification with the world. The fact that it is described as being a dream means that whatever is in it has to be false. Nothing in a dream can be true. Waking up from that dream is the ultimate goal, self-realization. 4 Hasta Samudrika Shastra – In the Vedic tradition, hand analysis falls in the category of Samudrika Shastra, a Sanskrit term that translates roughly as “knowledge of [body] features”. This tradition assumes that every natural or acquired bodily mark encodes its owner’s psychology and destiny. Elevation, depression, elongation, diminution, and other marks become relevant. Marks found on the human hand, however, form a specialized study known within the Vedic tradition as Hasta Samudrika Shastra. Hasta Samudrika Shastra thus serves as a sanctioned collection of ancient rules for hand analysis. Its doctrine describes the art of knowing both character and fortune from the hand. 5 Mughal Farmans – In historical as well as administrative and political usage the term “farman” often denotes a royal or governmental decree, that is, a public and legislative document promulgated in the name of the ruler or another person holding elements of sovereignty. The Mughals used to treat these farman as constitutional and judicial orders. The farman provided foundation for the legitimacy of the government orders of the Mughal period. 6 Metric Photography – Metrical photography is defined as the art and science of obtaining reliable measurements by means of photography. The accepted scientific word, having the same meaning as metrical photography, is photogrammetry; “photogram”

174  Forensic science and fingerprints in India meaning photograph and “metry” meaning measurement. Therefore, photogrammetry is the science of photographic measurement. 7 Sir Francis Galton – Sir Francis Galton, born in 1822, was an explorer, anthropologist, and eugenicist known for his pioneering studies of human intelligence. He was the first to show scientifically how fingerprints could be used to identify individuals. Beginning in the 1880s, Galton (a cousin of Charles Darwin) studied fingerprints to seek out hereditary traits. 8 Braille System – A system of raised-dot writing devised by a young Frenchman named Louis Braille in 1821 for blind persons, in which each letter is represented as a raised pattern that can be read by touching with the fingers. 9 Sir Charles Darwin – Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809, in Shrewsbury. He was a naturalist who developed and proposed a theory about evolution. Darwin’s “Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection” ties together all of the life sciences and explains where living things came from and how they adapt. 10 Scotland Yard – Scotland Yard, since 1829, has been chiefly known as the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, a force first instituted in that year, under the auspices of Sir Robert Peel in Greater London. The responsibility of organizing the new police force was placed on Colonel Charles Rowan and Richard Mayne, who occupied a private house at 4 Whitehall Place, the back of which opened onto a courtyard: the Great Scotland Yard. The Yard’s name was inspired by its site, a medieval palace which housed Scottish royalty on their visits to London. 11 Telegraphic Code – A conventional coding system accepted in telegraphy, in which each letter or sign is represented by its own combination of pulses of electric current. An elementary unit is the shortest possible unit; all other units are composed of such elements. The number of elementary units used to denote each symbol in a telegraphic code may be different for different signs or it may be the same for all sign (uniform code). Hem Chandra Bose, an Indian police officer, who worked with Azizul Haque and William Richard Henry, subsequently contributed to the development of the telegraphic code system for fingerprints.

References Articles Fosdick, B. Raymond. “Passing of the Bertillon System of Identification”. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 6, 3, 4 (1915): 363–369. Grover, Nivedita and Isha Tyagi. “Development of Forensic Science and Criminal Prosecution-India”. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 4 (2014): 1–7. Sodhi, Singh Gurvinder, and Kaur, Jasjeet. “Indian Civilization and the Science of Fingerprinting”. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 2, 2 (2003): 126–136.

Book Atreya, Lal Bhikhan. Vasishtha Rules: The Vision and the Way of Vasishtha. Madras: Indian Heritage Trust, 1993, p. 23–29. Byrom, Jamie, and Riley Michael. The Mughal Empire 1526–1707. Oxford: Hodder Education Group, 2017, p. 17–21. Chatterjee, Kumar Salil. Finger, Palm and Sole Prints. Calcutta: KOSA Publishers, 1953, p. 7–13.

Forensic science and fingerprints in India  175 Cummins, Harold, and Midlo Charles. Finger Prints, Palms and Soles – An Introduction to Dermatoglyphics. New York: Dover Publications, 1961, p. 11–19. Fazl, Abul (Eds.). Ain-i-Akbari. Aligarh: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Sir Syed Academy, 2005, p.154. Galton, Francis. Finger Prints – The Classic 1892 Treatise. London: Macmillan and Co., 1892, p.15.​ Herbermann, Charles (Ed.). The Laws of Manu. New York: Appleton Company, 1913, p. 6–19. Mohiuddin, Momin. The Chancellery and The Persian Epistolography under the Mughals: From Babur to Shah Jahan (1526–1658). Calcutta: Iran Society, 1971, p. 45, 47. Ramsey, Syed. Tools of War – History of Weapons in Ancient Times. New Delhi: Vij Books India Pvt. Ltd., 2016, p.51. Schellinger, E. Paul, and Robert M. Salkin. International Dictionary of Historical Places, Vol. 5. London: Routledge: Asia and Oceania, 1996, p. 13. Sen, Chandra K. Hasta Samudrika Shastra – The Indian Science of Hand Reading. Bombay: D B Tabapobevala Sons & Co Private Limited, 1960, p. 11–21. Sodhi, Singh Gurvinder, and Kaur Jasjeet. Indian Civilization and the Science of Fingerprinting. New Delhi: Publication Division – Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, 2013, p. 13–14.

Web Sources Dhingra, Kris. Naadi Astrology – Opening the Leaf to Your Future. https​:/​/m.​​delhi​​plane​​t​ .com​​/arti​​cle​/n​​adi​-a​​​strol​​ogy, Retrieved on June 28 2019.

Unpublished PhD/Post Doctoral Dissertation Hazur, Siyah. Jamadi ul-Awal 1053/ 5 August 1643 A.D; Selected Documents of Shahjahan’s Reign, Unpublished PhD Dissertation, 1950, p. 115. Sharma, Monika. An Explorative Study of Gujarati Sources on Mughal Gujarat. Suratni Mukhatsir Haqiqat, Gujarati Source, Cf. Unpublished Post Doctoral Report, 2009, p. 52.

6

Conclusion

The historiography of South Asian criminology reveals that the inception of criminology1 in South Asia was quite different as compared to the way it was established in the Western world. Here the British hegemony played a central role in the transformation of the criminal justice system to meet the colonial end and also the challenges before the imperial rulers. The historiography of South Asian legal history depicts the methods of crime detection and criminal identification; techniques of scientific detection and surveillance were nothing but a reflection of the Western model. In this methodological application, the basic motivation was very much linked to the imperial political supremacy. Here colonial scientific superiority clashed with the traditional thought process and life experiences of the common people. The ideology of crime detection or the birth of criminology in South Asia not only symbolizes the formation of a scientific knowledge base but also a binary conflict between the colonizing and the colonized. This scientific domination emerged over time, reacted to problems of governance, and was reflected in various institutional contexts. In such a turmoil, the entire discourse raises a critical question: what was the British policy for crime detection in South Asia in general, and specifically how was the governance in India (Brown, 2014)? This urges us to look back to our ancient governance and successive changes through time and place. The classical Indian tradition had a different conception of both rule and law compared to modern Western tradition. While the constraining power of legality is central to modern Western tradition, in India it is moral authority which is at the core of the rule of law (Lingat, 1973). In ancient India, law was characterized not by legality but by moral right and responsibility, what is called “dharma”. Dharma denotes the totality of duties which is incumbent on individuals. Dharma, or the path of duty or righteous conduct, is at the core of thinking about rule of law in Indian tradition. But the rule of dharma is confined not only to the psychic realm but also to the effort of overcoming passion and generating appropriate psychic motivation. For its effective implementation, the rule of dharma also needed an appropriate social and institutional arrangement (Derrett, 1968), and Manusmriti, or Laws of Manu, was an important guiding principle in traditional Indian society. Thus, observing the long historical terrain of the ancient legal tradition in India it reveals that classical Indian society was governed by dharma in a righteous way to create a new ground for the realization

Conclusion  177 of human dignity. This dharma-governed rule of law constructs a sense of legal equality among individuals irrespective of caste, class, religion, and gender for maintaining a peaceful way of life. The classical law of India, transformed through the passage of time, continued for many centuries, until Muslims began their rule in India and established Islamic law. The system which the Muslim invaders imported was fundamentally similar to that of the Hindus. Both in Hindu and Muslim law, the power of the law rested not on the will of those who were governed by it but on celestial exposure, on the one hand “The Koran and the Sunna”, and on the other hand, on the “Vedas and Smriti” (Sarda and Akhtar,2017). After colonial invasion, a major transition in law occurred in Indian society. The initial period was a period of reciprocal inspection, when the colonial governance did not want to put a foreign rule on the Indian soil. Gradually, by means of their administrative intelligence, the imperial rulers replaced the indigenous law with modern law (Ramanujan, 1989). However, after the cataclysmic effect of 1857 rebellion,2 the imperial rulers established a series of forensic institutions which altered the detection of crime in India and South Asia in general (Pati, 2010). Different newly developed scientific technology and expertise in chemical examination, anthropometry, fingerprinting, serology, handwriting, footprint, forgery, and ballistics drastically altered crime detection by eye witness and forced confession. The imperial supremacy grounded this new scientific certainty not only to remove the “unreliable confession of the country people” in the courtroom but also to deliberately impose their colonial mission of extorting truth and justice for more convincing governance. The present monograph History of Forensic Science in India is an innovative discourse on colonial India which not only portrays our ancient legal governance and crime identification but also sketches colonial perceptions of crime and establishing scientific justice for governing a lawless society like India. While I was working on The History of Forensic Science in India I started pondering when the police started using tape to mark out and protect the crime scene. Though I have studied so many things on the history of forensic science both in India and in other parts of the world, I realized that the history of crime scene investigation as a technique has not been seriously studied. In fact, this will open up a rich vein of questions about forensic theory and practice which ultimately make it a full-fledged discipline. Focused on the investigation pattern of crime, especially murder in the last half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries, it traces the evolution and interaction between the centuries’ two principal regimes for producing forensic evidence. The first was a body-centred forensic, associated with the medical jurisprudence of the body or autopsy of a dead body. The second was the forensic of things, which focused on the analysis of trace evidence (hair, blood, fingerprint, footprint, handwriting, bullet, etc.) collected from the crime scene. The study reveals that in the shifting landscape of crime investigation during the late 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries crime investigation technology was nothing but a historical interplay between the two abovementioned models. However, these two models were centring around mainly four areas – the autopsy/chemical examination, the laboratory, the crime

178 Conclusion scene, and the courtroom transcripts. The basic thrust of this technological shift mainly focused on how crime enquiry technology shifted from a primarily medical and autopsy-based interest to laboratory technology over evidence at the crime scene. Now it is the author’s endeavour to highlight how this technological shift made this science a full-fledged discipline within a span of 80 years. In the first half of the 19th century, the East India Company came to India and acquired immense knowledge from the reports and write-ups on trade and commerce, socioeconomic and religious practices and various other matters (Salahuddin, 1965). Such knowledge became useful in formulating policies on education, social reform, land revenue, etc., but had very little to do with security. Since armed force was the foundation of British rule, intimidation of security, both internal and external, was largely taken care of by it. After 1857, the government realized that India could not be ruled by violence alone. When the Wahabi movement3 broke out in the 1860s, followed by the Hindu revivalist movement, the government was worried about a possible connection between religious revivalism and political unrest. In the meantime, while dealing with the Wahabis, the concept of “sedition” was introduced in criminal jurisprudence by adding Section 124A to the Indian Penal Code (Pandey, 2015). When one Wahabi convict assassinated Viceroy Mayo in the Andaman jail in 1872, Viceroy Northbrook (1872–1876) felt the need for “a detective police for political purposes” and asked the Thugee and Dacoity Department to handle the same (James, 2009). But Northbrook’s experiment failed to provide any positive results. In spite of Lytton’s advice to the local government, adoption of the experiment of setting up a “Special Branch” in Punjab, in 1876, was not followed. Viceroy Ripon (1880–1884) had a consensual approach to the problems of administration. “We cannot now rely on military force alone; policy as well as justice ought to prompt our endeavor to govern more and more by means of, and in accordance with, the growing public opinion, which is beginning to show itself throughout the country” (Dhingra, 2005). Ripon recommended an alternative method by which the government could keep track of public opinion in India. The unlawful advancement of intellect can be seen in the British policy of controlling thuggee and the “Go Forward” policy of Lord Bentinck which was beneficial to Sleeman, as compared to “Do Nothing Policy” of Lord Amherst. In 1826, additional charge was given to Sleeman4 to tackle and coordinate thuggee crimes over a large area (Wagner, 2007). Sleeman’s report greatly impressed Bentinck. Sleeman tried to reach the roots of the thuggee tree and cut it. More than half a century ago the Frazer Commission had recommended a number register for the police station, as a part of police records of the criminals. For controlling thuggees5 and dacoits, Sleeman created a new methodology for keeping records based on history sheets, gang history sheets, village crime note books, conviction register, etc. To intimate his activities to the government, Sleeman sent a report to Curween Smith, agent to Governor-General at Sagar in 1829. After Sleeman’s report, the government proposed the need for a more competent police establishment, and the formation of outposts along roads (Sleeman, 1844). Bentinck accepted the recommendations, ordering liberal rewards to informers and branding convicted thugs on their back

Conclusion  179 in August 1830. O. W. Steer, Assistant to the Magistrate of Etawah, suggested the practice of employing spies as an extraordinary measure to deal with extraordinary criminals like thuggees. Spying was acknowledged by the government and was mentioned as a necessity in police work, as suggested by Steer. The expenditure for the payment of spies was listed under the heading “Secret Service”. This initiative impressed Bentinck and instilled him to make a master plan. For the eventual demolition of the alliance of thugs infesting central India, Sleeman prepared a blue print, which was known as the “Plan”. Following such an incredible effort on the part of Sleeman, Bentinck without any delay planned to create a separate department with Sleeman as its first Superintendent. The most important venture in this regard was the implementation of Act of 1836, which helped in generating confidence even for association with the thug gangs (Singha, 1993). This legal initiative was implemented in all the British provinces. In such a contour, two activities of Sleeman made the situation more convincing. The first one was the completion of the genealogical table by removing discrepancies on crosschecking with police and the second was the checking of revenue records. With the application of such a brilliant plan, Sleeman became successful in tracing the entire hereditary tree of the thugs. In such an endeavour, he came to know about the secret code language of the thuggees. From that point, he decided to record all these codes for administrative benefit. Then he started his second project and completed it within a very short span of time. He published his book Ramaseeana (Sleeman, 1836), which was an innovative document on the secret language of the thugs. This book was mainly used by the government investigating officers whose responsibility was to investigate the thugs in public places. This work of Sleeman was a brilliant success in controlling thuggees all over India. After Sleeman’s success, the government planned to create a post of General Superintendent and Sleeman was chosen for that post. His work was to coordinate the records of over a dozen offices of superintendents, working all over the country on thuggees. After that, Sleeman was promoted as Major with Headquarters at Jabbalpur, to focus solely on thuggee operations. Sleeman’s venture was really appreciated by the government, and successive initiatives were taken by the central authority to collect and disseminate this venture to all field officers. In such a way, Sleeman became an important figure in British history. This unique effort in the course of time gave birth to the foundation of the present Intelligence Bureau, as a constitutional body, as per VIIth schedule of the Indian Constitution. In 1887, both Thugee and Dacoity Department had come to an end, and a small cell for a “Special Branch” was established. Subsequently, the Frazer Commission in the year 1904 recommended the formation of a Central Criminal Intelligence Department, under an IG. The department maintained an administrative liaison with the provincial Criminal Investigation Department. The major function of this department was to collect, assemble, and disseminate information, with honest and amiable cooperation of the Centre and the provinces, without taking away the responsibilities of the local government. In due course, the word “criminal” was erased from the title of the department and thereafter the immense intelligence collected was no longer linked to criminal activities alone.

180 Conclusion Despite this, the establishment of intelligence-gathering institutions was essential for the smooth functioning of state affairs. To restrain political unrest against the British, administrative sanction with the Secret Dispatch No.11 dated March 25, 1887, by the Secretary of State on the subject of “collection of secret and political intelligence in India” was issued even after the formation of the Indian National Congress. After consulting with the Governors and top officials of the presidencies, Viceroy Dufferin (1884–1888) wrote to the Secretary of State: “I desire to utilize the services of the Police force in Native States at the disposal of Political Officers, for collection of intelligence on political, social and religious movements”. Dufferin provided the details of his scheme. Instead of forming a large detective staff he proposed to work through the local government. He imposed upon them the responsibility of collecting such intelligence which was necessary for their own purpose and of reporting to the Government of India. At the headquarters of the Government of India and the local government, he desired to employ special agencies of the lowest possible strength, consistent with the work of collecting and recording intelligence received. Dufferin’s secret dispatch thus broadly divided the responsibilities of the proposed Central and the Provincial Special Branches. This also laid down the roles of the central and the local government, with regard to the central and the local outfits. The local government ultimately controlled the Provincial Special Branches, but it was mandatory on their part to intimate all relevant intelligence with the Central Special Branch (Reshi and Diwbedi, 2015). To restrict the expenditure, Dufferin proposed to utilize the office and the manpower of the Thugee and Dacoity Department as a launching pad. The General Superintendent of the Department was entrusted with the supervision of the newly constituted “Special Branch”. The government allocated Rs. 46,800 per annum for the same. Dufferin selected D. McCracken, an officer of the Punjab Cadre, to head the Central Special Branch, who would be called upon to be present at the headquarters of the government at Calcutta or Shimla. While the General Superintendent of the Thugee Department was on tour, D. McCracken was entrusted the responsibilities and confidentialities of the Special Branch. Though the headquarters would be in Shimla, the Chief of the Special Branch was to remain present in Calcutta, when required. On December 23, 1887, the premier intelligence organization of the sub-continent officially came into existence. After that, the Secretary of State approved the proposal for improving the means of obtaining secret and political intelligence. However, the setting up of an association for collection of secret political intelligence may be briefly touched upon here. In the accounts of the Crimean War (1856), the annexation of Oudh, and the First War of Indian independence, 1857, there are references to spies who were recruited and used rampantly by the regiments and administrative officers (Baumgart, 1999). On November 15, 1887, when Dufferin wrote to Lord Cross, he emphasised the secrecy of the communications, as “it would not do for the native press to get it into their heads, that we were about to establish a Third Section after the Russian pattern”. The dispatch dated March 25, 1887, of Lord Cross, Secretary of State, on “the collection of secret and political intelligence in India”, recommended that the birth of the Congress, specially its second

Conclusion  181 well-attended session in Calcutta, in 1886, did not go overlooked in London and recommended the formation of an institution for collection of “secret political intelligence”. Ultimately, the proposal approved for the Central Special Branch and the Provincial Special Branches. In response to the new political development, the intelligence organization came into force in 1887.

From Special Branch to intelligence Bureau McCracken, stationed in Shimla along with the staff of the Thugee Department, failed to produce much intelligence, except for a few important reports, because of the very nature of information collection. The Provincial Special Branches (SBs) were attached to the offices of either the Inspector General of Police or the Chief Secretary of the province. The staff was meagre and was so incompetent in intelligence collection that the Government of Bengal described its Special Branch as “a farce”. In the Bombay Presidency, however, on account of political murders and Tilak’s prosecution for sedition in 1897–1898, the Special Branch became less active. To address the proliferation of secret societies in Western India and Bengal, at the turn of the century, the Special Branches increased the staff strength and improved the techniques of intelligence collection. The Police Commission (1901–1902) under Andrew Fraser recommended the setting up of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in each province, under a Deputy Inspector, General of Police, for “collecting and distributing information regarding organized crime and to assist in investigation of crimes when they are of special character” (Popplewell 1995), as well as to gather and disseminate information acquired from the Provincial CID. To rectify the loopholes of provincial autonomy, the Government of India intervened. It abolished the Thugee Department and merged the Central Special Branch with the proposed Central CID, renaming it as Central Criminal Intelligence Department (CCID). The power of supervision over the Provincial CIDs was scrapped on grounds of provincial autonomy. Its power of investigation of cases was greatly circumscribed, and it was tasked “to collect and communicate information with regard to special forms of crime, some of which have been rendered more difficult for suppression, by the recent expansion of railways and the increased use of Post Offices and the Telegraph by the natives” (Reshi and Dwivedi, 2015). Under this head, the Department could organize and supervise operations directed against criminal tribes, organized dacoits working over large areas, wandering gangs of criminals, note forgers, coiners, and professional prisoners, etc. Besides, “collecting and testing intelligence upon matters, including social, religious and political movements, not necessarily of criminal nature, should also be the duty of the Central Criminal Intelligence Department” (Morshead 1910). While the Government of India sought to make it a department for criminal intelligence and, marginally, to gather political intelligence, the home government made political intelligence its primary responsibility. The Secretary of the State fragmented the power of inquiry of certain criminal cases conferred on the Central Intelligence, on grounds of provincial autonomy. Further, in

182 Conclusion the perspective of the political unrest, the Central Intelligence aimed to collect political intelligence from several provinces. In his Dispatch No.70, dated April 22, 1904, the Secretary of State declared that provincial sovereignty had been working satisfactorily, and therefore, nothing should be done to perturb it. He warned that he “would not regard with approval of any attempt to share for the Supreme Government by means of an establishment, working under their direct order, the duty of investigating crime”. Thus, the Central Criminal Intelligence Department was left with the responsibility of “collecting and testing intelligence upon matters including social, religious and political movements, not necessarily of criminal nature” (Stevenson-Moore 1905). The Secretary of State, through his well-judged intervention, made it fundamentally an organization for gathering of political intelligence, while Curzon’s governance wanted to make it a central authority, for controlling the activities of the provincial police forces. The name suggested by the Government of India, however, remained unaltered, though the term “criminal” in the nomenclature evidently became anomalous. Harold A. Stuart, ICS, Inspector General of Police, Madras Presidency, was appointed as Director of the Central Criminal Intelligence (CCI) and McCracken joined as Deputy Director on April, 19, 1904. The Secretary of State declined to communalize the Department by appointing one Hindu and one Muslim Assistant Director and the existing staff of the Thugee Department was absorbed in the DCI. Though, Home Secretary Risley stated that the DCI “would be located at the headquarters of the Government of India”. But the headquarters of the Department remained in Shimla. Later, according to the Government of India Act, 1919, the changed name was first indicated in section 40(2), which, enjoined that the Intelligence Bureau, should keep the government posted on matters relating to the security of the Indian Empire (Mitra, 1921). Even before the Act came into force in 1921, the name was changed to Intelligence Bureau in 1920.

Provincial Special Branches Provincial Special Branches were ignored till the anti-Partition swadeshi movement6 which broke out in 1905. After that the underground terrorist activities Bengal Presidency came to light (Sen, 1997). In 1906, when the Special Branches were made a part of the Provincial CIDs under one DIG in April, the Criminal Investigation Department7 (CID) was set up both in Bengal and in other provinces. However, with the increase in the workload of the Special Branches and due to growing political unrest in the big provinces, the Special Branches were delinked from the CID. Bengal’s Special Branch had a faster growth, both in size and in the quality of intelligence output, due to clamorous political movement, both surface and underground. In such a circumstance, in September 1907, Stevenson-Moore, Director, Criminal Intelligence Department, envisaged in his report that the Bengalis “had no capacity for violence”. In this context, the discovery of arms and explosives in Muraripukur Garden at Calcutta and the arrest of Aurobindo Ghose, along with 40 educated youth, compelled them to change their ideas. Home Secretary Harold Stuart wrote, “the revolutionary

Conclusion  183 movement gained its influence and strength and ultimately became a serious menace to law and order” (Bayly, 2001). But the government thought an efficient secret service was essential to prevent any widespread disturbance in the province. The Provincial Special Branches improved their collection and processing of intelligence in the face of growing terrorist activities. Although the central and provincial intelligence worked together, time and again the Central Intelligence worked as an umbrella agency for the Provincial Branches. Between 1908 and 1916, there was a spate of dacoities and assassination of CID officers with lower intelligence level in Bengal, leading to a crisis of morale and efficiency, as the Indian officer declined to work in these organizations. Both Home Member Reginald Craddock and Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) Charles Cleveland were seriously concerned and extended full support to the Indian officers “who have been murdered, ostracized and threatened”. Reginald Craddock expressed similar concerns and condemned the terrorists for “murdering informers and Criminal Investigation Department’s officers”. With the moral support and material assistance of the Central Intelligence under the inspiring leadership of Charles Tegart, DIG of the Intelligence Branch, the morale and efficiency of the organization was restored. On December 23, 1912, Viceroy Hardinge narrowly escaped death in a Delhi bomb attack. The existence of any secret society in North India was totally unknown to intelligence organizations. The Central Intelligence and its Director, Cleveland, came under brutal attack for failing to prevent the development. As normal investigation failed to produce any result, a special team was formed under David Petrie, with Intelligence and CID officers from Punjab, UP, Bengal, Bombay, and the Central Provinces. When this team also failed to show any positive result, even after ten months, the Viceroy’s Executive Council passed a formal vote of censure on Cleveland. For lending English and French detectives, Harcourt Butler advised Cleveland to consult Sir Edward Henry, Commissioner, Metropolitan Police, London. However, Henry mentioned about constraints of geography and language in providing foreign detectives (Gupta, 1974). Instead of that he advised them to rely on the local detective talent in India, who were superior to the English detectives. It was really uncomfortable that one of the most comprehensive investigations ever launched in India failed to trace the culprit. Then, after about 14 months, Denham of the Special Team and Tegart of Bengal Intelligence succeeded in identifying the revolutionary group from the remnants of the bombs which exploded from different provinces, like Sylhet, Calcutta, Lahore, and Delhi. Another printed revolutionary leaflet was found in Calcutta and circulated in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. All the offenders were brought to book, except Rash Behari Bose, who could not be captured (Gupta, 1979). Thereafter, the Secret Service grant of the DCI was doubled from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 100,000. The government decided to enact a new legislation (the Rowlatt Act) to take the place of the Defense of India Act, 1915, which lapsed after the World War due to persistent prodding by the Central Intelligence and the Intelligence Branch of Bengal. The Rowlatt Committee was assisted by two intelligence officers, namely J. C. Ker, Personal Assistant to the Director of Central Criminal Intelligence, and Charles Tegart,

184 Conclusion DIG of Bengal Intelligence Branch, from the preliminary stage of their investigation to the drafting of the bill. The report and the bill evidently reflected the attitude of the police and the intelligence to the terrorist movement in the country. But, by 1919, public resentment was so strong against repressive measures that the government had to permanently shelve the Act. The intelligence failed to gauge the depth of public resentment and the magnitude of the protest, which eventually resulted in the Jallianwala Bagh8 Massacre in April 1919. The government appreciated the usefulness of the intelligence agencies in containing revolutionary terrorism, especially in Bengal. For that they readily sanctioned the creation of District Intelligence Branches in every district of Bengal in 1917. The intention was to bring all important localities and endemic areas under the intelligence scanner. The agency fine-tuned their tradecraft by adopting a still more rigorous system of recruitment and screening of the sources and keeping them under deep cover. Armed with wide knowledge about the terrorists and their outfits, they acquired the ability to influence the groups and even create a split in the groups (Griffith, 1971). To assist the government in formulating the policy towards the revolutionary movement in particular, and the political movement in general, different agencies emerged as the most authoritative apparatus against the underground movement. A Scientific Section was set up under the CID in Bengal in 1936. Several facilities were created for examination of the bullets, cartridge cases, firearms, etc., used in committing crime. In the same vein, many other states also created scientific sections in their CID, where examinations on fingerprints, footprints, firearms, and questioned documents were also carried out.

Change in the functioning and autonomy Till the early 1930s, the intelligence agency of the British in India was merely a compiling and collating agency, rather than an independent channel of intelligence. To collect intelligence, the idea of the Central Intelligence agency was to send agents and spies to the provinces. As a matter of fact, there was homogeneity in the functioning of the Centre and the provinces. The Provincial Special Branches performed almost as subsidiary offices of the Central Intelligence (Kumar and Verma, 2009). There was no other alternative for a substitute system of intelligence collection by the Central Intelligence. At such a juncture, the introduction of the federal system became a distinct possibility in response to political agitation. However, a serious problem arose in controlling both the Intelligence Bureau and the Provincial Special Branches. To restate the issues of their status and control, the Government of India prepared a “White Paper” in the early 1930s. The first issue was that the existing set up of the Intelligence Bureau was functionally inadequate and structurally unsound in a federal system for effectively handling subversive movements, such as terrorism and communism. One of its limitations was its total dependence on the Provincial Special Branches for intelligence collection, which was badly affected by provincial autonomy. A system of intelligence collection, directly under the Bureau, was

Conclusion  185 necessary. According to the Secretary of State, “The authority in the last resort, responsible for the maintenance of the internal security. The Secretary of State as the mouthpiece of the Imperial Parliament, operating through the instrumentality of the Governor General”. In fact, the British Government was reluctant to admit the circumstances in which an Indian diplomat would be vested with the definitive accountability of safety and security of the country. Under no situations, therefore, would a foundation like the Intelligence Bureau and matters like inner safety be assigned to a person who was not unswervingly accountable to the British Crown. Then it was settled that the Governor-General should control the Intelligence Bureau. The proposition was to generate a distinct set-up for intellect collection, unswervingly under the Intelligence Bureau (IB). Later in the third annual conference in 1932, the Inspectors General of Police at Shimla, from May 23 to 26, it was suggested that the IB be situated directly under the control of the Governor-General. Indian Police Service officers as intelligence officers in the provinces should be employed under IB’s direct control (Yang, 1985). These officers were to be allocated as Central Intelligence Officers (CIO) and the units in the provinces should be known as “Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau” (SIB). On June 30, 1933, in a high-level meeting at Shimla, a decision was made that the Governor-General should have at his disposal a system of aptitude collection throughout India, along with a bureau for processing such intelligence. The requirement for IB’s own intellect collection arrangement was distinguished and advocated. The proposal was hesitantly approved by the Secretary of State, in anticipation of the results of considerations of the Joint Select Committee of Parliament, under the Chairmanship of Lord Linlithgow. However, the suggestions of the Joint Committee on the Intelligence Bureau and the Provincial Special Branches need to be highlighted. To start with, the Committee was much associated with the fortification of the individuality of the informers, in case the Bureau and the Special Branches came under the command of the Indian ministers. They proposed that “the records of any such intelligence department should be defended from even the slightest danger of leakage”. To prevent the possibility of the Indian ministers coming to know the names of such agents, the Committee suggested that “the appliances and lessons of the government should purposely necessitate them to give directions that no proof relating to intelligence affecting terrorism, should be related to anyone other than one or two persons, who are directly dealing with them”. Secondly, the Committee was of the opinion that no sufficient rationale was provided for placing the Special Branch of the province under the Governor. Instead, they suggested that the Governor be authorized to take charge of the department, if, according to him, the harmony and equanimity of the territory was endangered, by obvious or confidential performances of persons who intended to defeat the government. Thirdly, the Committee was dissatisfied with the recommendations that the IB should be under the restricted control of the Governor-General and that the Provincial Special Branches should be guarded by the IB. However, there should be close contact between the two departments, but putting the provincial aptitude

186 Conclusion units under the Intelligence Bureau will tend “to break up the organic unity of the regional police force”. Fourthly, on the question of limited restriction of the Governor-General over the IB the Committee assured that the IB “should, under the new constitution, be allocated one of the Governor-General’s reserved departments, as part of its normal activities”. The Committee, however, hoped that “the change in the form of Government, whether in the centre or in the provinces, should not involve any change in the relationship, which at present exists between the Intelligence Bureau and the Provincial Intelligence departments”. Ultimately, the Government of India Act, 1935, legitimately sanctioned the suggestions. The Intelligence Bureau continued, by and large, under the direct control of the Governor-General. However, the Home Department of the Federal Government remained its immediate controlling authority. The fear among IB officers, both at the centre and in the provinces, was that when the Provincial Special Branches would come under the Indian Home Ministers, classified information about the non-cooperation and civil disobedience movements, as well as some records of terrorist activities, might be leaked, resulting in the exposure of sources, jeopardizing the safety of the agents and informers. Thus, the credibility of the entire organization would be destroyed. Many significant secret and top secret files, relating to the Non-cooperation and Civil Disobedience confrontations, were delivered to the office of CIO of the Intelligence Bureau, which was statutorily secured from ministerial interference, or to the Governor’s secretariat, either for demolition or for relocating them to a more secure place. The provincial governments frequently complained of being spied on by the Central Intelligence. Due to the outbreak of World War II, control over the intelligence organizations remained a controversial concern. In such a context, ministerial authority, under the Defence of India Act,9 over the intelligence organizations was lessened. Again, on the eve of independence there was great mystification about the susceptible records of the IB. Eventually, many records were destroyed, especially those relating to the uniqueness of the sources and informers. Many sensitive files were moved to England. From many files, which are still in Intelligence Bureau records, relevant papers have been removed, with a note in the note sheet. So the foregoing discussion reveals that during the colonial period forensic science was in full swing. The application was not restricted to crime investigation; rather, it was also used for other sociopolitical purposes, such as tracing the secret messages among members of revolutionary movements, specifically in Bengal. It is worth mentioning that the span of 100 years from the mid-19th to mid-20th century witnessed the making of a full-fledged discipline to which the label “forensic science” could be reasonably attached. After independence, different initiatives were taken by both the state and the central government to make it an official tool of crime investigation and subsequently it was also included in the university curriculum (Jena, 2017). The following discussion will give a glimpse of this development of forensic science in 20th-century India. In the year 1952, the first state forensic science laboratory in India was established in Calcutta. This laboratory became fully

Conclusion  187 operational in the year 1953. The medico-legal section of the Chemical Examiner’s Laboratory also shifted to this laboratory. A small unit of Physics was established during the year 1955, under the West Bengal State Forensic Science Laboratory, which dealt with various physical examinations of demonstrates encountered in crime investigation. The Physics unit developed into a full-fledged Physics Section during the year 1957. Both the Footprint and the Note Forgery Sections of Criminal Investigation Department were transferred to this laboratory in the same year. The General Chemistry Section of the Chemical Examiner’s Laboratory was also transferred to this laboratory the following year. In this way, the first multidisciplinary forensic science laboratory came into existence in the country. In Shimla, in 1907, the first Central Finger Bureau came into force on the recommendation of the Royal Police Commission. This organization was abolished in 1922. The Central Finger Print Bureau (CFPB) again became operative in 1955 in Delhi under the administrative control of Intelligence Bureau (IB). The major role played by CFPB was to coordinate the activities of State Finger Print Bureaus (SFPBs) in locating interstate criminals. The CFPB was transferred to Calcutta in August 1956, and remained under the administrative control of IB (Investigation Bureau). In September 1973, it shifted to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). In 1986, the administrative control of the CFPB again shifted to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and again transferred to New Delhi. The Central Detective Training School (CTDS), Calcutta, a reputed detective training school in India, was founded in 1956 and was located (in the same premises) with the CFPB, Calcutta. The aim of establishing such a school was to impart training in the scientific investigation of crimes, like terrorism, drug abuse, explosion, violence against women, road accidents, and enforcement of traffic laws (Peterson and Sommers, 2010). In 1957, the first Central Forensic Science Laboratory10 (CFSL) came into existence. This laboratory was developed based on four basic disciplines, namely forensic physics, forensic chemistry, forensic biology, and forensic ballistics. With regard to nuclear methods of criminal investigation, the Neutron Activation Analysis Unit of CFSL, Calcutta, was formed in 1970 at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay. In 1965, the second Central Forensic Laboratory came into existence in Hyderabad. CFSL, Hyderabad, initially set up analytical facilities in the disciplines of forensic physics, forensic chemistry, and forensic biology. The Central Forensic Science Laboratory was established in Lahore in the year 1933. After that, it was shifted to Chandigarh in 1961. In the course of time, many full-fledged forensic science laboratories were founded in various states of India. Both CTDS and CFSL were established in the same premises under the control of the Intelligence Bureau. This whole set up came to be known as the Central Forensic Institute (CFI), Calcutta. A post of Commandant was created in 1958 to look upon the overall functioning of all these establishments. The Central Detective Training School, Hyderabad, was set up in 1964, with the same pattern as the CDTS, Calcutta, and later in Chandigarh too. The major aim was to train the operational police personnel in modern scientific techniques of crime investigation in order to improve their professional standard and skill. The

188 Conclusion Union Government, in 1959, appointed two committees in order to establish new forensic science laboratories and to improve the existing ones for the study and application of Forensic Medicine. These committees were the Central Forensic Science Advisory Committee and the Central Medico-Legal Advisory Committee (CMLAC). The CMLAC was to advise both the state and central governments on medico-legal procedures and practices. The CMLAC ceased to exist, whereas the Central Forensic Science Advisory Committee was renamed as the Standing Committee on Forensic Science (SCFS) in 1972, which exists even today under the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D).11 In 1960, the Indian Academy of Forensic Sciences12 (IAFS) was established. Initially, a biennial scientific journal was published by the academy which served as a platform for the exchange of ideas in forensic science with other international bodies. The IAFS’s role was also to conduct annual scientific meetings and help in holding seminars in forensic science. This later on developed into the establishment of the Neutron Activation Analysis Unit (NAAU) to fulfil the forensic needs in the country. In 1950, the question of introducing criminology and forensic science as a course of study at the university level was taken up by the Vice-Chancellors of various universities. But it was not successful. This matter was also put forward in various meetings of the Central Advisory Committee on Forensic Science. The matter was again discussed when a deputation headed by Shri Khusro Faramurz Rustomji met the Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) in August 1961. Dharamnath Prasad Kohli, then Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, took up the matter again in 1967. Due to these bold steps, Dr. Daulat Singh Kothari, then Chairman of the UGC, set up a high-level committee to advise the commission on the steps to be taken for the introduction of criminology and forensic sciences in university education. With the passage of time these universities, in Madras, Patiala, and Sagar, began both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in forensic science. It was later suggested that an initiative under the central government must be established in Delhi. The Committee recommended two courses, master’s degree in criminology and master’s degree in forensic science, to be introduced in this institute. Diploma courses were also introduced for in-service personnel. The institute also developed as a centre for research in criminology and forensic science and acts as a storehouse of updated information in these fields (Gover and Tyagi, 2014). The main aim of this institute was to develop into a truly academic institution affiliated with a university. In this respect, the Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science was founded in Delhi in 1971. Initially, it started giving training to in-service personnel and conducted research in criminology and forensic science. It was laid down that the institute should possess two distinct faculties, the Faculty of Criminology and the Faculty of Forensic Science. Both must have renowned teachers and researchers with well-known background and field experience. In 1972, Dr. V. K. Street, a renowned forensic scientist from the Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Edinburgh, UK, visited various Indian forensic science institutes, at the invitation of the Government of India. He submitted his report to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

Conclusion  189 Dr. V. K. Street strongly recommended the creation of the post of Chief Forensic Scientist, in the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Standing Committee on Forensic Science in 1973 also recommended the creation of the post of Chief Forensic Scientist. Ultimately, the recommendation was recognized in 1983, and the post of the Forensic Science Directorate was created in BPR&D. The then Scientific Advisory Committee to the cabinet (SACC) in 1983 was led by an expert committee chaired by Prof. Man Mohan Sharma, FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society). He suggested that the laboratories in Delhi, Calcutta, and Hyderabad be developed as S&T institutions, functioning independently with a complete set of modern equipment and dedicated manpower. In view of this pursuance, the Government of India declared the forensic science institutions at the central government level as science and technology institutions. On the basis of the observations of the Expert Group of the SACC, BPR&D prepared a master plan for restructuring each CFSL of the BPR&D into 15 scientific divisions. In the first stage, the three central Forensic Science Laboratories at Calcutta, Hyderabad, and Chandigarh were remodelled into six scientific divisions, namely, biology, ballistics, chemistry, explosive, physics, and toxicology. In a similar fashion, the offices of the Government Examiners of Questioned Documents in Shimla, Calcutta, and Hyderabad were put on a solid basis in terms of manpower. During the mid1990s, it came into focus that most of the states established their own forensic science laboratories, so the role of CFSLs in providing forensic analytical support to different states lost its importance. Hence, the utility of three GFSLs at the national level was questioned. In 1997, the process of defining the role of the CFSLs of BPR&D de novo took place. The existence of three central forensic science laboratories under the BPR&D was justified on two accounts: First, the laboratories should represent symbols of quality and high standards for the state laboratories. They should not only reflect higher standards in quality of analytical processes and reporting accuracy but also be the store house of standards and benchmarks against which the performances of all the state FSLs could be judged. In the process of accreditation, the BPR&D should therefore have strong bases, not only of its own CFSLs/ GEQD but also of all the state FSLs. Second, forensic science is one of the most dynamic sciences; hence CFSLs must provide R&D support to this particular field of science. Innovative technologies must be developed in all disciplines for the fight against crime. A newer strategy was set up to bring about a paradigm change in the structure of the three BPR&D CFSLs and to bring about a new focused mandate of R&D and specialized training. The three laboratories must be subject specific and must develop as “centres of excellence” for R&D, providing specialized training in the designated fields. In 1998, the three CFSLs were developed with an aim to generate new focused attention on R&D activities in the sphere of forensic science. These laboratories also undertook crime case examination in all the branches of forensic science. In 1998, in order to mitigate the rising demands of providing advanced technology to the process of crime investigation, BPR&D set up the first forensic DNA typing13 facility at CFSL, Calcutta. This great achievement led to press-worthy advancement in

190 Conclusion forensic biology in the country. The DNA typing unit at CFSL, Calcutta, possessed the most up-to-date techniques of DNA typing, namely methods based on polymerize chain reactions, HLA DQ Alpha and poly-marker techniques, and locus-specific restricted fragment length polymorphism techniques. After being functional, many crime cases relating to murder, rape, rape and murder, paternity disputes, organ transplant, exchange of babies in hospitals, etc., were referred to this laboratory. The DNA typing facility has been further modernized to conduct “short” tandem repeat sequence based DNA typing. In a nutshell, the accomplishment of this state-of-the-art technique symbolizes significant progression in the forensic biology in the country. To sum up, the present treatise has taken into account the fact that the basis of forensic science in India has its root in the Chemical Examiner’s Laboratory, where the cause of crime used to be traced by dissecting the dead body and examining its viscera. In the later period, crime identification was made by anthropometric measurements. Subsequently, fingerprint identification came into practice and the remaining which came into use were mostly laboratory based (Tewari and Ravikumar, 2000). The present monograph thematically proposes this paradigm shift as a scientific shift from “body to laboratory”. Through this proposition, the present study tries to highlight how changing sociohistorical and sociopolitical circumstances changed the social scenario and broadly the concept of crime, which greatly altered the perspective on criminal motivation. As a result, the forensic institutions were transformed into the Intelligence Bureau which later on became the authority of crime control by provincial autonomy. This means that crime identification has been considered to be an integral part of a parallel administrative system. In such a contour, present-day India tries to establish scientificity in legal perspectives with certainty. As a result of this, the emphasis on the use of forensic technologies in criminal inquiry and trials has been increased. The commissions appointed for reforms of criminal justice have reiterated that the inclusion of technology in crime detection can help the system to function efficiently. Relevant laws have been amended from time to time to make way for the use of forensic technologies in crime investigation and trial. Yet, it may be said that there are existent flaws in the laws which need to be addressed. For this reason, courts are also unenthusiastic about depending on scientific proofs due to their limiting approach. Sometimes, certain intrinsic shortcomings in the verification as submitted in courts prevent them from relying on it completely. The major thrust of the criminal justice system is to offer fair justice. Undeniably, forensic evidence is more genuine than eye witness accounts. Forensic science, being scientific evidence, is a godsend for the criminal justice system. We have to overcome the existing flaws to step forward. We must learn from the past that we should strengthen our thinking towards resolving the scientific deficiencies existing within forensic evidence while providing a solid basis for new pioneering technologies in the forensic science domain. At the same time, we need to make certain that the law enforcement and exploratory communities once again distinguish and use forensic science to its full potential as a holistic problem-solving tool (Foucault, 1977).

Conclusion  191 Finally, it can be said that historical research and epistemological reflection can make a constructive contribution towards progression and theoretical understanding of this age-old science to a great extent. To ascertain the new criminal justice system more realistically, British rulers initiated forensic science as a new scientific weapon of criminal justice. The ideology behind this scientific supremacy was the colonial mission to pave the way for Western scientific thought of criminal identification more rigidly in the colonial state. It was the intention of the British rulers that this emerging science not only initiated an obvious, consistent, and irrefutable message in the courtroom, but also reasonably grounded the colonial superiority. In such an endeavour, the institutionalization of crime investigation came as a new colonial discourse and establishment of different forensic institutions in different presidencies can be placed at this juncture. The enactment of different legal acts was of great importance in not only creating a new vista in the measure of true criminal identification for scientific certainty but also in drastically altering the concept of crime. In conclusion, it is worth mentioning that the span of 100 years from the mid-19th to mid-20th century witnessed the making of a career to which the marker “forensic science” could judiciously be attached. In the present century, this domain is one of the most vivacious and fast-growing sections of global science which provides justice to the teeming millions so far as the challenge of global crime is concerned. Further research, analytical understanding, and thorough discussion would be able to provide deep insights into this historical science in its entirety. The present monograph concludes with the hope of contributing to future research and relevant developmental programmes in the arena of history of science in the days to come.

Notes 1 Criminology – It is a specific branch of sociology which deals with the study of crime from social perspective. Criminologists cover a wide range of areas in crime detection, specifically the nature, causes, impact, and prevention of crime on human society at large. 2 1857 Rebellion – The 1857 rebellion was the first war of Independence in British India. Though it spread to different parts of India, it was not a successful venture against the British. Initially, it was started by the Sepoy Mangal Pandey in Meerut. Later, it became extend to Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, and Lucknow. 3 Wahabi movement – The Wahabi movement was basically an Islamic revivalist movement whose objective was to criticize any change to original Islam and to return it to its true spirit. Basically, this movement was named after Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab’ who started this movement in the 18th century in Najd, Central Arabia. The movement was vigorous since the 1830s, but in the wake of the 1857 revolt, it turned into armed confrontation, a jihad against the British. 4 Sleeman – The original name of Sleeman was Sir Willam Henry Sleeman. Sleeman joined as a cadet in the East India Company’s Bengal Army in 1808. In course of time, Sleeman became the Assistant of the Governor-General’s agent, for collecting land revenues and administering justice. In 1830, Sleeman was appointed to campaign against the thuggee, and in 1835 he was appointed Superintendent of the Thuggee Department. Ultimately, he played a major role in controlling the thuggee.

192 Conclusion 5 Thuggee – Thuggee was categorized as a band of professional robbers and murders. During East India Company administration, they became a major hindrance to the management. They were rampant in northern and central India. They attacked virulently upon travellers and after snatching all precious materials, they strangulated the person. The imperial authority strongly controlled them. 6 Jallianwala Bagh – Jallianwala Bagh is located in Amritsar, Punjab. Historically, the area is famous because of the incident of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. On April 13, 1919, Brigadier General Dyer ordered troops of the British Indian Army to fire their riffles into a crowd of unarmed Indian civilians. 7 Swadeshi movement – Basically, this movement was a part of India’s independence movement which contributed to the growth of Indian nationalism. It was started in 1905 to protest the partition of Bengal. The major emphasis of this movement was to use swadeshi goods and boycott British products. 8 Criminal Investigation Department – In 1902, the Indian Police Commission suggested the formation of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in every province. The Government of India accepted the proposal of the Commission on March 21, 1905. After that, instruction was issued to start CID department in every province by 1907. Under Mr. C. W. C Plowden, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) came into existence on April 1, 1906, in Bengal.  9 Defence of India Act – The Defence of India Act, 1915, was enacted by the GovernorGeneral of India in 1915. This act is also known as the Defence of India Regulations Act. The basic intention of this act was to curtail the revolutionary activities of the nationalists after World War I. 10 Central Forensic Science Laboratory – In 1957, the first  Central Forensic Science Laboratory was established in Calcutta. At the initial stage, four basic disciplines, viz. forensic physics, forensic chemistry, forensic biology, and forensic ballistics, were the major concern. It is a wing of the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, which fulfilled the forensic requirements of the people in the country. 11 Indian Academy of Forensic Science – In the year 1960, the  Indian Academy of Forensic Sciences (IAFS) was established. This premier institute initiated with a biennial scientific journal, for exchanging scientific ideas in forensic science with the other international agencies. This academy organized annual scientific meetings/seminars in forensic science. 12 BPR&D – In the year 1970, the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D) was established. Since its inception, the basic aim of this bureau was to identify the needs and problems of the police in the country. For a better development, it promotes appropriate technology in police work. 13 DNA Typing – The renowned geneticist Sir Alec Jeffreys, Professor at the University of Leicester, UK, initiated Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) based identity testing. DNA typing is basically a laboratory based method which identifies normal variations in DNA. It is very often used to establish identity, parentage, family relationship, and appropriate matches for transplantation of organs and tissues.

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Subject Index

A Academy of Forensic Science 75, 188 Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray 18 Agada tantra 10, 17–7, 28–9 Alphonse Bertillon 7, 20, 60–1, 78, 108–18, 145, 198 Ancient xiii, xiv, 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10–1, 15–9, 20, 27–9, 30–3, 37, 42–6, 49, 50, 58, 62, 64, 66–7, 83, 85, 110, 115, 135, 140–41, 145, 152, 161, 172–73, 176–77 Anthropology x, xii, 8, 74–5, 146 Anthropometric Bureau 17, 118–19, 154 Anthropometry 16, 60–1, 78, 118–19, 121, 145–46, 167, 171–77 Arch 141, 157–58, 159, 164–65 Archimedes 6, 19, 20, 59 Atharva Veda 10, 20–9 Autopsies 4, 6, 72–3, 76–8 Autopsy 6, 30, 36, 50, 67, 72–3, 76, 78, 177–78, Ayurveda 10, 20, 27, 29, 30, 37, 49, 50 Aziz ul Haque 18, 121, 154, 164–65, 166, 168, 170–72, 174 B Bacteriological 68 Ballistic x, 7, 17, 135–36 Ballistics 8, 64, 177, 187, 189, 192 Bank notes 132–33, 139, 196 Battle of Plassey 81, 109–10 Bertillon method 109, 146 Bengal Fingerprint Bureau 154 Bhavamishra 31 Bow Street Runners 69, 70 BPR&D 188–89, 192 British xiv, 7, 12–9, 20–1, 51, 57, 60, 71, 77–8, 81–9, 90, 92–6, 101–02–09, 110, 116–18, 120–22, 128–29, 130, 132 33, 135–37, 140, 145, 148, 153, 170,

171–73, 176, 178–79, 180, 184–85, 191–92 British India xiii, xiv, 12–3, 15–9, 57, 77, 81, 85, 87–9, 93–4, 104, 109, 116–17, 120, 121–22, 127, 130–31, 140, 170, 191 British Parliament 87–9, 104, 107 British Raj 18, 51, 81, 85, 134, 136 C Caraka 10, 30, 32–4, 37 Central criminal intelligence 179, 181–83 CFSL 187, 189, 190 Charter Act 84, 104, 109 Chemical examiner 17, 116–18, 125, 130–31, 139, 187, 190, 196 Chinese 2, 6, 23, 42, 50, 51, 58–9, 62, 64, 77–9, 115, 135, 161 Chinese pottery 58 Civilization xii, 1, 3, 4, 5, 15, 17, 22, 27, 30, 58, 62, 67, 82, 140, 141, 174, 175 Classification of fingerprint 121, 155, 164, 171 Clay tablet 58, 141 Company Raj xiv, 87, 89, Coroner’s Act 60 Courtroom xiii, 8, 104, 177–78, 191 Crime 57, 59, 61–2, 64–6, 68–9, 70, 71–2, 74–9, 81, 83–9, 90–2, 95–6, 100–01, 103, 106–09, 111–13, 115–18, 121–22, 130–32, 134, 137, 140, 145–46, 148, 151–52, 155, 164, 168–70, 173, 176–78, 182, 184, 186–87, 190–91 Crime detection xiii, xiv, 16–7, 27, 45, 49, 74, 77, 145–46, 148, 176–77, 190–91 Criminal 1, 3–9, 10, 11–7, 19, 20, 27, 30, 43, 47–9, 57–8, 60, 62, 64, 67–9, 70, 73–7, 81, 85–9, 90–9, 100, 101–05, 108–09, 115, 116–19, 120–21, 129–32, 135, 137, 140, 142, 146–48, 151,

202 Subject Index 153–55, 164–65, 168–69, 171–73, 176, 179, 181–83, 187, 190–92 Criminal Investigation Department 118, 134, 179, 181–83, 187, 192 Criminal justice 6, 8, 10, 11–3, 15, 17, 19, 47, 49, 57, 81, 86–9, 90, 98, 117, 172, 176, 191 Criminal justice system 6, 10, 12–3, 15, 19, 47, 49, 87–8, 117, 176, 190, 191 Criminal procedure code xiv, 17, 85, 89, 90, 102, 108 Criminal Tribe 87, 181, Criminalistics 61, 75, 78, 115 CSI effect 6, 19 Currency 132–35, 155 D Dacoity 14, 83, 87–9, 92, 95, 100, 101, 118, 178, 179–80 Dactyloscopy 61 Dandaniti 10 Darwin 60, 153, 174 Defence of India Act 186, 192 Dewani of Bengal 93 Dharma 8, 9, 43, 45, 83, 176–77 Diyat 91, 97–8, 110 DNA Analysis 4, 7, 57 E East India Company 81–2, 84–5, 87, 89, 90, 95, 105, 106–07, 109–10, 148–49, 178, 191–92 Edward Richard Henry 18, 120–21, 154, 164, 170 Egypt 17, 58, 62, 67–9 Explosive Act 122, 128, 137 Explosive department 17, 121–22 F Federal Bureau of Investigation 61, 72, 74, 78 Fingerprint pattern 60, 121, 141, 157–58, 171 Finger Print Bureau x, 16, 120, 154, 166–68, 187 Fingerprint xii, 3, 4, 6–8, 15–8, 58–9, 60– 1, 64, 75–7, 109, 119–21, 131, 137, 140, 141–6, 148–49, 150, 151–59, 160–63, 167–69, 170–74, 177, 184, 190 Fingerprint Identification System 61, 152 Foot print 131 Forensic 2–4, 6–8, 10, 13, 15–9, 29, 30, 32, 45, 49, 57–9, 60, 61–9, 70, 72–6, 78,

81, 108, 115–16, 130, 137, 140, 152, 154, 172–73, 177, 186, 187–89, 190, 191–92 Forensic medicine 2, 8, 15, 32, 58, 61, 67–9, 73, 75, 188 Forensic science 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 13, 15–9, 49, 57–9, 60, 61–2, 66–7, 69, 70, 71–2, 75–6, 78, 81, 85, 90, 108, 115–16, 130, 140, 173, 177, 186, 188–89, 190, 191–92 Forensic toxicology 10, 30, 32, 71 Forum xiii, 2, 3, 10, 64, 115 G Greeks 6 Gun powder 122 H Hammurabi 58, 77 Hanafi law 12, 20 Hand reading 140–41 Handprint 3, 17, 59, 65, 142–43, 145, 149, 150–51, 153, 172–73 Handwriting 17, 116, 128–29, 143, 149, 177 Hastasamudrika shastra 141 Hem Chandra Bose 18, 121, 154, 165, 168–69, 171, 174 Henry Faulds 60, 151–52 Hindu Law 48, 51, 93, 173 Homicide 12, 63, 64, 66, 90, 92, 96–9, 100 I Imperial rulers xiv, 90, 176–77 Indexing of fingerprints 162 Indian Criminal Law 12 Indian Evidence Act 12, 21 Indian Explosive Act 122, 128, 137 Indian penal Code xiii, xiv, 12, 85–6, 89, 90, 98, 101, 104–05, 108, 121, 178 Indian Police Act 105, 107 Indus Valley Civilization 58 Institutionalization xiii, xiv, 17, 107, 109, 116, 191 Intelligence Bureau 169, 179, 181–82, 184–87, 190 Investigation xiii, xiv, 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12–9, 27, 30, 57–8, 60, 61–3, 66, 69, 70, 71–2, 74–7, 81, 85, 87, 99, 108, 118, 122, 129–30, 132, 140, 142, 155, 168, 173, 177, 181–84, 186–88, 190–91 Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar 83, 109

Subject Index  203 J Jallianwala Bagh 184, 192 Jangama visa 32 Judicial reform 75–6, 89 Jurisprudence 18, 27, 47, 50, 71, 87, 173, 177–78 Justice 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11–3, 15, 17, 19, 42, 44–5, 49, 57–8, 62, 68–9, 70, 75–6, 81, 86–9, 90, 92–3, 95, 98, 101, 105, 115–16, 117, 121, 151, 167, 172, 176–78, 190–91 K Kautilya’s Arthasastra 9, 17, 20, 27, 33, 45, 115, Khojis 131, 137 L Latin America 15, 17, 62, 75, 76, 133 Legal medicine 30, 63 Locard Exchange Theory 7, 20 Loop 60, 92, 141, 157–59, 164–65, 181 M Mahavisha 31, 33 Malpighian layer 77 Manu Smriti 9, 44 Mathieu Orfila 60 Maulavis 94–5 Medico legal laboratory 63 Metropolitan Police Act 70, 78 Minutiae 156, 158, 160 Mitakashara 44 Mughal farman 142, 173 Mughal ruler 33, 51 Mughals 82, 106, 173 Murder 1, 6, 7, 9, 12, 43–4, 48, 59, 60–1, 64, 74, 76, 87–9, 91, 96–9, 100, 110, 118, 155–56, 177, 181, 183, 190, 192 Muslim criminal law 12, 47, 49 Mythology 27–8, 33 N NAAU 188 New Police Regulation Act 107 Nizamat Adalat 97–9, 100, 104 Note forgery 17, 132, 134, 187 P Palm print 58, 65, 143, 148, 153 Panja 143–44 Pathologist 2, 62–3, 72, 78, 130 Pathology 4, 6, 8, 68–9, 70, 71–3 Penalty 47–8, 62, 99

Penny press 1, 19 Photography 7, 8, 20, 60, 68, 108, 118, 131, 133, 145, 146, 147, 173 Physical anthropology 75, 146 Physical evidence 3, 61, 64, 78, 115 Pogis 131, 137 Poison maiden 33 Poisoners 10, 29 Presidency towns 107, 108 Prisoner 7, 9, 97–9, 118, 120, 140, 147, 162, 181, Privy Council 83 Provinces 107–08, 119, 123, 131, 147, 167, 179, 182–86 Provincial special branches 180–86 Punishment 4, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 27–8, 30, 33, 42–3, 48, 86, 88, 90, 91–2, 96–9, 100, 103, 110 Puranas 8 Q Quran 11, 47–8, 51, 91, 100, 103, 110 R R&D 189 Rasasastra 30–1 Ridge 58–9, 60, 77, 141, 156–59, 160, 161–63, 167 Robbery 14, 42–3, 83, 88, 92, 100–01, 120 Roman Empire 3, 115 Romans 6, 64–7 S SAAC 189 Samhitas 30–1 Sariraka shastra 141 Scientific tool of empire 19 Scotland Yard 6, 61, 71, 153, 164, 167, 169–70, 173–74 Serology 17, 57, 117, 130–31, 137, 177 Shariah 11, 20 Sherlock Holmes 5, 7, 20 Single Digit Classification 121, 168–69 Siraj-ud-Daula 81, 109 Skeletal examination 63 Sleeman 83, 178–79, 191 Society xii, 4, 5, 8, 9, 14–9, 27, 30, 42, 48, 58, 64, 77, 81–2, 84, 91–2, 101–02, 109–10, 115, 121, 133–34, 176–77, 189 South Asian Criminology 176 Special Branch 165, 169, 178–79, 180, 181–82, 184–86 Susruta 10, 20, 30, 31, 33–5

204 Subject Index T Telegraphic Code 121, 167, 169, 170, 174 Thuggee Act 83 Tipsahi 161 Toxicology 4, 8, 10, 17, 27–9, 30, 32–3, 49, 57, 60, 64, 69, 71, 116, 131, 189 Tribals 84 Tridosas 35 Tutankhamun 59 V Vagbhata 10, 29, 31, 34–5, 39 Vedas 8, 43, 50, 177 Visa 31 Vishkanya 35

W Wahabi movement 178, 191 Warren Hastings 88, 91, 95, 103, 110 Whorl 141, 158–59, 164–65 William Herschel 120, 140, 147–49, 151–54, 161–62, 173 Witchcraft 1, 5, 19, 66 World War I 61, 134, 136, 192 X X-Ray 63, 66 Z Zamindars 106