The correct option is Augustus Cleveland.
Explanation
During the late 18th century, the British East India Company sought to extend settled agriculture to increase revenue. This expansion brought them into conflict with hill tribes, such as the Paharias of the Rajmahal Hills, who practiced shifting cultivation and frequently raided the settled plains. The British response evolved from military extermination to administrative pacification.
Historical Analysis:
- Augustus Cleveland (Correct): As the Collector of Bhagalpur in the early 1780s, Augustus Cleveland proposed and implemented a policy of "pacification". Under this policy, Paharia chiefs were offered an annual allowance. In exchange, they were required to maintain order within their localities and ensure their followers ceased raiding the plains. While some chiefs accepted, many Paharias viewed this as a loss of independence and withdrew further into the hills.
- Francis Buchanan: He was a physician and surveyor employed by the East India Company. He visited the Rajmahal Hills in the early 19th century (decades after Cleveland) and provided detailed accounts of the Paharias and the Santhals in his journals. He documented the conditions but did not initiate the pacification policy.
- Charles Cornwallis: Serving as Governor-General later (1786-1793), he is primarily associated with the Permanent Settlement of Bengal (1793) and administrative reforms, not the specific pacification of the Rajmahal hill tribes in the early 1780s.
- William Hodges: He was a British painter who traveled to India in the 1780s. While he visually documented the landscape and people, he held no administrative authority to propose policy.
Key Takeaway:
Augustus Cleveland is historically credited with the policy of pacification for the Paharias of the Rajmahal Hills, attempting to co-opt tribal chiefs into the colonial administration through allowances rather than brute force.