The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province, and Kashmir Part 13

~Financial Relations with Government of India.~--Local governments exercise their financial powers in strict subordination to the Government of India, which alone can borrow, and which requires the submission for its sanction of the annual provincial budgets. To ensure a reasonable amount of decentralization the Supreme Government has made financial contracts with the provinces under which they receive definite shares of the receipts, and are responsible for definite shares of the expenditure, under particular heads. The existing contract dates only from 1911-12 (see Table V).

~Income and Expenditure.~--Excluding income from railways, post offices, telegraphs, salt, and sales of excise opium, which are wholly imperial, the revenue of the Panjab in 1911-12 was 5,057,000 (Rs. 758,56,000), of which the provincial share was 2,662,200 (Rs. 399,33,000), to which have to be added 251,800 (Rs. 37,77,000) on account of a.s.signments made by the Government of India to the province. This brought up the total to 2,914,000 (Rs. 437,10,000). The expenditure was 2,691,933 (Rs.

403,79,000). This does not include 983,000 spent from loan funds on irrigation works, chiefly the great Triple Project. The large expenditure on railways is imperial. Of the gross income more than three-fourths is derived from the land (Land Revenue, 46 p.c., Irrigation, chiefly ca.n.a.l water rates, 29 p.c., and Forests, 1-3/4 p.c.). The balance consists of Excise 8-1/2 p.c., Stamps, 7 p.c., Income Tax over 2 p.c., and other heads 5-3/4 p.c.

~Land Revenue.~--Certain items are included under the Land Revenue head which are no part of the a.s.sessment of the land. The real land revenue of the Panjab is about 2,000,000 and falls roughly at the rate of eighteen pence per cultivated acre (Table II). It is not a land tax, but an extremely moderate quit rent. In India the ruler has always taken a share of the produce of the land from the persons in whom he recognised a permanent right to occupy it or arrange for its tillage. The t.i.tle of the Raja to his share and the right of the occupier to hold the land he tilled and pa.s.s it on to his children both formed part of the customary law of the country. Under Indian rule the Raja's share was often collected in kind, and the proportion of the crop taken left the tiller of the soil little or nothing beyond what was needed for the bare support of himself and his family. What the British Government did was to commute the share in kind into a cash demand and gradually to limit its amount to a reasonable figure. The need of moderation was not learned without painful experience, but the Panjab was fortunate in this that, except as regards the Delhi territory, the lesson had been learned and a reasonable system evolved in the United Provinces before the officers it sent to the Panjab began the regular a.s.sessments of the districts of the new province. A land revenue settlement is usually made for a term of 20 or 30 years. Since 1860 the limit of the government demand has been fixed at one-half of the rental, but this figure is very rarely approached in practice. Between a quarter and a third would be nearer the mark. A large part of the land is tilled by the owners, and the rent of the whole has to be calculated from the data for the part, often not more than a third or two-fifths of the whole, cultivated by tenants at will. The calculation is complicated by the fact that kind rents consisting of a share of the crop are in most places commoner than cash rents and are increasing in favour. The determination of the cash value of the rent where the crop is shared is a very difficult task.

There is a large margin for error, but there can be no doubt that the net result has almost always been undervaluation. It is probable that the share of the produce of the fields which the land revenue absorbs rarely exceeds one-seventh and is more often one-tenth or less. A clear proof of the general moderation of Panjab a.s.sessments is furnished by the fact that in the three years ending 1910-11 the recorded prices in sales amounted to more than Rs. 125 per rupee of land revenue of the land sold, which may be taken as implying a belief on the part of purchasers that the landlord's rent is not double, but five or six times the land revenue a.s.sessment, for a man would hardly pay Rs. 125 unless he expected to get at least six or seven rupees annual profit.

~Fluctuating a.s.sessments.~--The old native plan of taking a share of the crop, though it offered great opportunity for dishonesty on both sides, had at least the merit of roughly adjusting the demand to the character of the seasons. It was slowly realized that there were parts of the province where the harvests were so precarious that even a very moderate fixed cash a.s.sessment was unsuitable. Various systems of fluctuating cash a.s.sessment have therefore been introduced, and one-fourth of the total demand is now of this character, the proportion having been greatly increased by the adoption of the fluctuating principle in the new ca.n.a.l colonies.

~Suspensions and Remissions.~--Where fixity is retained the strain in bad seasons is lessened by a free use of suspensions, and, if the amounts of which the collection has been deferred acc.u.mulate owing to a succession of bad seasons, resort is had to remission.

~Irrigation Income and Expenditure.~--In a normal year in the Panjab over one-fourth of the total crops is matured by the help of Government Ca.n.a.ls, and this proportion will soon be largely increased. In 1911-12 the income from ca.n.a.ls amounted to 1,474,000, and the working expenses to 984,000, leaving a surplus of 490,000. Nearly the whole of the income is derived from water rates, which represent the price paid by the cultivator for irrigation provided by State expenditure. The rates vary for different crops and on different ca.n.a.ls. The average incidence may be roughly put at Rs. 4 or a little over five shillings per acre. In calculating the profit on ca.n.a.ls allowance is made for land revenue dependent on irrigation, amounting to nearly 400,000.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 83. Skeleton District Map of Panjab.]

CHAPTER XXV

PANJaB DISTRICTS AND DELHI

~Districts and Divisions.~--The Panjab now consists of 28 districts grouped in five divisions. In descriptions of districts and states boundaries, railways, and roads, which appear on the face of the inset maps, are omitted. Details regarding cultivation and crops will be found in Tables II, III and IV, and information as to places of note in Chapter x.x.x. The revenue figures of Panjab districts in this chapter relate to the year 1911-12.

~Delhi Enclave.~--On the transfer of the capital of India to Delhi part of the area of the old district of that name comprising 337 estates was removed from the jurisdiction of the Panjab Government and brought under the immediate authority of the Government of India (Act No. XIII of 1912). The remainder of the district was divided between Rohtak and Gurgaon, and the headquarters of the Delhi division were transferred to Ambala.

The area of the new province is only 528 square miles, and the population including that of the City is estimated at 396,997. The cultivated area is 340 square miles, more than half of which is cultivated by the owners themselves. The princ.i.p.al agricultural tribe is the Hindu Jats, who are hard-working and thrifty peasant farmers. The land revenue is Rs. 4,00,203 (26,680). The above figures only relate to the part of the enclave formerly included in the Panjab[8]. The head of the administration has the t.i.tle of Chief Commissioner.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 84. Delhi Enclave.]

[Sidenote: Area, 14,832 sq. m.

Cultd area, 10,650 sq. m.

Pop. 3,704,608; 68 p.c. H.[9]

Land Rev.

Rs. 66,99,136 = 446,609.]

~The Ambala division~--includes four of the five districts of the South-Eastern Plains, the submontane district of Ambala, and the hill district of Simla. It is with the exception of Lah.o.r.e the smallest division, but it ranks first in cultivated area and third in population.

It is twice the size of Wales and has twice its population. The Commissioner is in political charge of the hill state of Sirmur and of five petty states in the plains.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 85. Hissar with portions of Phulkian States etc.]

[Sidenote: Area, 5213 sq. m.

Cultd area, 4201 sq.m.

Pop. 804,809; 67 p.c. H.

Land Rev.

Rs. 9,76,749 = 67,117.]

~Hissar District.~--Hissar is the south-western district of the division and has a long common boundary with Bikaner. It is divided into five _tahsils_, Hissar, Hansi, Bhiwani, Fatehabad, and Sirsa. There are four natural divisions, Nali, Bagar, Rohi, and Hariana. The overflow of the Ghagar, which runs through the north of the district, has transformed the lands on either bank into hard intractable clay, which yields nothing to the husbandman without copious floods. This is the Nali. The Bagar is a region of rolling sand stretching along the Bikaner border from Sirsa to Bhiwani. In Sirsa to the east of the Bagar is a plain of very light reddish loam known as the Rohi, partly watered by the Sirhind Ca.n.a.l. South of the Ghagar the loam in the east of the district is firmer, and well adapted to irrigation, which much of it obtains from branches of the Western Jamna Ca.n.a.l. This tract is known as Hariana, and has given its name to a famous breed of cattle. The Government cattle farm at Hissar covers an area of 65 square miles. North of the Fatehabad _tahsil_ and surrounded by villages belonging to the Phulkian States is an island of British territory called Budhlada. It belongs to the Jangal Des, and has the characteristic drought-resisting sandy loam and sand of that tract. Much of Budhlada is watered by the Sirhind Ca.n.a.l. Of the total area of the district only about 9 p.c. is irrigated. The water level is so far from the surface that well irrigation is usually impossible, and the source of irrigation is ca.n.a.ls.

Hissar suffered severely from the disorders which followed on the collapse of the Moghal Empire and its ruin was consummated by the terrible famine of 1783. The starving people died or fled and for years the country lay desolate. It pa.s.sed into the hands of the British 20 years later, but for another 20 years our hold on this outlying territory was loose and ineffective. In 1857 the troops at Hansi, Hissar, and Sirsa rose and killed all the Europeans who fell into their hands. The Muhammadan tribes followed their example, and for a time British authority ceased to exist. The district was part of the Delhi territory transferred to the Panjab in 1858.

The rainfall is scanty, averaging 15 inches, and extremely capricious.

No other district suffers so much from famine as Hissar. The crops are extraordinarily insecure, with a large surplus in a good season and practically nothing when the rains fail badly. They consist mainly of the cheap pulses and millets. With such fluctuating harvests it is impossible to collect the revenues with any regularity, and large sums have to be suspended in bad seasons.

Such industries as exist are mostly in Hansi and Bhiwani, where there are mills for ginning and pressing cotton. Cotton cloths tastefully embroidered with silk, known as _phulkaris_, are a well-known local product.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 86.]

[Sidenote: Area, 2248 sq. m.

Cultd area, 1815 sq. m.

Pop. 714,834.

Land Rev.

Rs. 16,66,364 = 111,091.]

~Rohtak~--became a British possession in 1803, but it was not till after the Mutiny that it was brought wholly under direct British administration. The old district consisted of the three _tahsils_ of Rohtak, Gohana, and Jhajar, but on the breaking up of the Delhi district the Sonepat _tahsil_ was added.

Rohtak is practically a purely agricultural tract with large villages, but no towns of any importance. By far the most important agricultural tribe is the Hindu Jats. They are strong-bodied st.u.r.dy farmers, who keep fine oxen and splendid buffaloes, and live in large and well organized village communities. 37 p.c. of the cultivation is protected by ca.n.a.l and well irrigation, the former being by far the more important. The district consists mainly of a plain of good loam soil. There have been great ca.n.a.l extensions in this plain, which under irrigation is very fertile, yielding excellent wheat, cotton, and cane. There is a rich belt of well irrigation in the Jamna valley, and in the south of the district there are parts where wells can be profitably worked. Belts of uneven sandy land are found especially in the west and south. The dry cultivation is most precarious, for the rainfall is extremely variable.

In the old district it averages 20 inches. But averages in a tract like Rohtak mean very little. The chief crops are the two millets and gram.

[Sidenote: Area, 2264 sq.m.

Cultd Area, 1701 sq. m.

Pop. 729,167.

Land Rev.

Rs. 15,98,333 = 106,556.]

~Gurgaon~ contains six _tahsils_, Rewari, Gurgaon, Nuh, Firozpur, Palwal, and Ballabgarh. The southern part of the district projects into Rajputana, and in its physical and racial characteristics really belongs to that region.

Rewari is the only town of any importance. It has a large trade with Rajputana. Apart from this the interests of the district are agricultural. In Gurgaon the Jamna valley is for the most part narrow and very poor. The plain above it in the Palwal _tahsil_ has a fertile loam soil and is irrigated by the Agra Ca.n.a.l. The Hindu Jats of this part of the district are good cultivators. The rest of Gurgaon consists mostly of sand and sandy loam and low bare hills. In Rewari the skill and industry of the Hindu Ahirs have produced wonderful results considering that many of the wells are salt and much of the land very sandy. The lazy and thriftless Meos of the southern part of the district are a great contrast to the Ahirs. They are Muhammadans.

About a quarter of the area is protected by irrigation from wells, the Agra Ca.n.a.l, and embankments or "_bands_," which catch and hold up the hill drainages. Owing to the depth and saltness of many of the wells the cultivation dependent on them is far from secure, and the "_band_"

irrigation is most precarious. The large dry area is subject to extensive and complete crop failures. The average rainfall over a series of years is 24 inches, but its irregularities from year to year are extreme. The district is a poor one, and for its resources bears the heaviest a.s.sessment in the Panjab. It requires the most careful revenue management. There are brine wells at Sultanpur, but the demand for the salt extracted is now very small.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 87.]

[Sidenote: Area, 3153 sq. m.

Cultd area, 1744 sq. m.

Pop. 799,787; 70 p.c. H.

Land Rev.

Rs. 12,92,620 =86,175.]

~Karnal~ is midway in size between Rohtak and Hissar. One-third of the cultivation is now protected by irrigation, two-fifths of the irrigation being from wells and three-fifths from the Western Jamna Ca.n.a.l. There are four _tahsils_, Thanesar, Karnal, Kaithal, and Panipat. The peasantry consists mostly of hardworking Hindu Jats, but there are also many Hindu and Muhammadan Rajput villages. The chief towns are Panipat, Karnal, and Kaithal.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Fig. 88._]

The district falls broadly into two divisions, the boundary between them being the southern limit of the floods of the Sarusti in years of heavy rainfall. The marked features of the northern division is the effect which the floods of torrents of intermittent flow, the Sarusti, Markanda, Umla, and Ghagar have on agriculture. Some tracts are included like the Andarwar and the outlying villages of the Powadh[10] in Kaithal which are fortunately unaffected by inundation, and have good well irrigation. The country between the Umla and Markanda in Thanesar gets rich silt deposits and is generally fertile. The Kaithal Naili is the tract affected by the overflow of the Sarusti, Umla, and Ghagar. It is a wretched fever-stricken region where a short lived race of weakly people reap precarious harvests. The southern division is on the whole a much better country. It includes the whole of Karnal and Panipat, the south of Kaithal, and a small tract in the extreme east of the Thanesar _tahsil_. North of Karnal the Jamna valley or Khadir is unhealthy and has in many parts a poor soil. South of Karnal it is much better in every respect. Above the Khadir is the Bangar, a plain of good loam.

North of Karnal its cultivation is protected by wells and the people are in fair circ.u.mstances. South of that town it is watered by the Western Jamna Ca.n.a.l. Another slight rise brings one to the Nardak of the Karnal and Kaithal _tahsils_. Till the excavation of the Sirsa branch of the Western Jamna Ca.n.a.l and of the Nardak Distributary much of the Nardak was covered with _dhak_ jangal, and the cultivation was of the most precarious nature, for in this part of the district the rainfall is both scanty and capricious, and well cultivation is only possible in the north. The introduction of ca.n.a.l irrigation has effected an enormous change. Wheat and gram are the great crops.