The land systems of British India : being a manual of the land-tenures and of the systems of land-revenue administration prevalent in the several provinces ; with maps

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Book I: GENERAL. Book II: BENGAL X

O;rford

AT THE CLARENDON PRESS

SUTVyMJ^l-A r /

PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS

TO

SIR DIETRICH BRANDIS, K.C.I.E., Ph.D., F.R.S.

iIJ^TK INSPeCTOR-GENERAL OF FORESTS TO THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA)

I DEDICATE THESE VOLUMES

AS A TRIBUTE OF PERSONAL FRIENDSHIP

AND OF ADMIRATION FOR AN OFFICIAL CAREER

WHICH, MARKED THROUGHOUT BY DEVOTION TO THE PUBLIC GOOD

HAS BORNE FRUIT IN LASTING BENEFITS

TO THE INDIAN EMPIRE

NOTICE

X:5^ 1882, the Government of India printed at Calcutta

a Manvxd of the Land -Tenures and Land-Revenue

Sy^ems of British India^ which was written by me under

the orders of Government. The edition was exhausted in

t^o or three years ; but as about that time great changes

in the law were under consideration, it was thought

desirable to await the passing of the Bengal Tenancy Act

(1885), the Oudh Rent Act (1886), and the Panjfib Land-

Revenue and Tenancy Acts (1887) — to say nothing of

minor enactments — before preparing a new edition.

When (in 1888-9) things seemed ripe for a new issue corrected and brought up to date, J found that so much had to be altered and added, and that such improvements might be made, especially in the chapters on Land- Tenures, that it would be better to write a new book. The present work is therefore independent of the original volume, except as regards a very few pages. It has also been illustrated by maps. In this form it is much larger, and may be less adapted for the purposes of some officials who have to pass an examination in Land-Revenue subjects : on the other hand, it will have become, I hope, much better suited to the needs of others ; and it is certainly more

VIU NOTICE.

complete as a general handbook of the Land-Systems of British India.

As regards Forest-Officers and others for whom the present work is too detailed, or contains too much on branches of Revenue work — such as Assessment — ^with which they are not practically concerned, it will be easy to meet their requirements by the subsequent issue of a ' Primer ' or Shorter Manual especially written for them.

Oxford:

Marthf 189a.

Table Of Contents

L. R. — Land-Revenue. S. « Settlement.

VOL. I.— GENEBAL, BENGAL.

BOOK L—GENEBAL.

Part II.— AjMER-MERVVTARA. I. — History of the Province

II. — ^The Tenure of Land ....

III. — The British Land System .

IV. — Administrative and L.-R, System

319-326

Part IIL-THE CENTRAL PROVINCES.

I. — The Old Settlements

II. — The New Settlements ....

III. — The Land-Tenures

IV. — The L.-R. Officers, their Business and Procedure

50^53 «

Part IV.— THE PANJAB

I. — The L.-R. Settlements II. — The Land Tenures

Sect. i. — General Considerations n.— The N.-W. Frontier Tract

532-608

609-726

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XUl

CHAP. PAGE

Sbct. in. — The Southern Biver Tract . . 657

IV. — The Central Districts . . , 665

V. — The Cis-Sutlej Districts . . . 677

VI.— The S.-E. Frontier (Delhi Districts) . 684

VII. — The Hill Districts .... 692

vni. — The Double Tenure . . . 697

IX. — ^Revenue-free Holdings • . . 698

X. — Tenants . • . . . 703 XI. — The Special Law and Local features

of the Haz^ra District . • . . 722 III. — The L.-R Officials, their Business and

VOL. III.

BOOK IV.— THE EAITATWAbI AND ALLIED SYSTEMS.

Part L— MADRAS.

I. — The Earlv System of L.-R Administratiok 1-50

IT. — The Modern Settlement System . . 51-83 rU. — The L.-R Officials, their Business and

Procedure 84-107

IV. — The Land-Tenures 108-194

Sect. i. — History of the Madras Village . . 109

, , II. — The Raiyat wdrl Tenure of the present day 128 ,, lu. — The Zamind^ and other Landlord

Tenures 130

„ IV. — ^The Tenures depending on L.-R. grant 139

„ V. — The Tenure of Waste Lands . . 141

„ VI. — Tenancies and Under-Tenancies „ vn. — South Canara .

„ vm. — Malabir .

.—The Nflgiri District

XIV

TABLE OP CONTENTS.

the Village

CHAP. Part II.— BOMBAY (AND SINDH).

I. — The Survey Settlement II. — The Land-Tenures

Sect. i. — Introtluctory . n. — Village Tenurea ni. — Modem legal definition of

Landholder's right IV. — Double Tenures V. — ' Alienated ' Lands .

VI. — Eights in Trees III. — The L.-R. Officers, their Business and

Procedure .... rV. — The Land-Tenures and S. "of Sindh n

PAGE

197-247

248-306

269 298

307-320 321-344

Part IIL— BEKAR.

I. — The Settlement

II, — The Land-Tenures

Sect. i. — Introductory

n. — Village Tenures .... m. — Tenure by Office ....

IV. — Tenure by Grant ....

III. — The L.-R Officers, their Business and Procedure

345-356 357-3«2

357 358 372 376

383-391

Part IV.— ASSAM.

I. — Introductory

II. — The Assam Valley or Assam Proper

(History, Land-Tenures, L.-R. Settlement)

III.— The Special Districts

Sect. i. — Goilpira

n. — Cachar .

ni. — Sylhet .

IV.— The Hill Districts

IV. — The L.-R Officers, their Business and

Procedure a

392-395

396-429

430-457 430

433 443 451

458-464

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XV

CHAP. Pabt v.— COORG. page

L— General History 465-468

II. — The Lakd-Tenures 469-479

III.— L.-R Administratiok 480-482

Part VI.- BURMA. I-— General Features op the Province . . 483-488

II. — The Land-Tenures . . . • . . 489-508

III. — The L.-R Settlement .... 509-526 IV. — The L.-R Officers, their Business and

V, — Upper Burma 534-544

VL — The Andaman and Nicobar Islands . . 545-548

INDEX OF SUBJECTS (English) . . . 549-587

INDEX OF SUBJECTS AND GLOSSARY OF

TERMS (Vernacular) .... 589-632

LIST OF MAPS, Etc.

VOL. L

IndU, fthowing the aequence of Territorial acquisition in a pocket, * India, showing the different systems of Land-Revenue

Settlement in a pocket

Table showing Surveyed and Assessed Area in 1886-87. to face page 375

Sketch map of Bengal ,, 389

Sketch map of the North- West Provinces and Oudh . to face page 3

^f Soils classified by Settlement officers . . . . „ 78

r< Tract as further classified by Settlement officers for ( purposes of assessment ,, 78

^ Sketch map of Central Provinces showing distribution

of area ,, 368

^ Panjib and surrounding countries . ,, 53a

^ Sketch map showing distribution of tribes in the Gujrat

district ,, 671

VOL. IIL

^Madras Presidency to face page 3

^'Bombay Presidency tt '97

<Assam „ 39a

^ Burma and adjacent countries » 483

ERRATA VOL. I

p. 15, 1. a6. Panjdb also, d^ also

P. 19, 1. 6. The closing bracket should be at the end of the sentence, just before the full stop.

P. 103. 1. 6 from the bottom, for for read from

P. 104, 1. I, fw has read have

P. I iO| 1. 9, fcfr is rtad are

P. 1 18, 1. 3, for for instance rtad possible

P. 17a, 1. 3, for and rtad or

P. 183, note (last line but one), for were rtad was

P. 197, 1. 90, for for rtad from

P. 33a, 1. II, ofter Malleson says tnaer^ (*) wM reference.

P. 301, 1. 11 1 for Sec. VIL read Sec. VL

P. 333 (heading of section), for Sec IX. read Sec VIII. and so on, to the end.

P. 407, $ B, should be headed Section II. The Procedure of tiu SnnjtMSHT.

P. 41a, 1. a9, for were read had been

P. 466, 1. I, for from read for

P. 55a, 1. 18, for it at all read it all

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EMPLOYED TO IKDICATE CSBTAIK WORKS FREQUEHTLT BEFERBED TO.

Full Titue.

Fifth Beport of the Select Committee of the Houae of Commons on the Affiuis of the East India Company (1812). This was reprinted at Madras in 1866 and 1883 (2 vols.)

Harington's Anal3rsis of the Bengal Kegulations, 182 1 (3 Yola). (I have used also a Reprint of the portion relating to the Revenue System, published at Calcutta, Oovemment Pliess, 1866)

A Memoir of Central India, including Malwa and adjoining Provinces, &c., by Major- Oeneral Sir John Malcolm, 1824. (Reprint from the 3rd Edition, a vols. Calcutta, Thacker & Spink, 1880) ....

Ann Ala and Antiquities of Rajasfhan, or the Central and Western Rajpoot States of India, by Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod, 1829. (Third Reprint 2 vols. Madras, Higginbotham, 1880)

The Present Land-Tax in India, &c (Lt-CoL) John Brigga (i voL London, Longmans, ««3o)

BbVERHKDIO AS

' Fifth Report*

^HaringtoOi'

Malcolm.'

Tod.'

^Briggs.'

VOL. I.

xvm

LIST OP ABBREVIATIONS.

'Kaye.'

. 'Baillie.'

'Markby.'

'PhHHps.'

Full Titlb. Referked to as

The Administration of the East India

Company. John William Kaye. (London,

R Bentley, 1853)

The Land Tax of India, by Neil B. K Baillie.

(London, Smith & Elder, 1873) .

Lectures on Indian Law, by W. Markby,

M.A., one of the Judges of the High Ck)urt.

(Calcutta, 1873)

The Law relating to the Land-Tenures of

Lower Bengal. Tagore Law Lectures,

1874-75, by Arthur Phillips. (Calcutta,

Report on the Land-Revenue System, Bengal,

Behar, and Orissa, 1882-83, submitted by

the Board to Government of Bengal, October 31st, 1883. (Calcutta, Secretariat Press) 'Report, 1883.' Landholding and the Relation of Landlord and Tenant in Various Countries, by

C. D. Field, LL.D. 2nd edition. (Calcutta,

Thacker and Spink, 1885) .

The Bengal Tenancy Act, VIII of 1885 (as

amended by Act VllI of 1886), with notes

and rulings, &c., by R F. Rampini and

M. Finucana and edition. (Calcutta, Thacker,

' Settlement Report ' (of various districts)

Field.'

BOOK /.

GENERAL.

-♦4-

ChaPTEB I. IirrBODUCTORY.

»J

II. The Provinces under the Government op India and how they were created.

III. The Indian Legislature and the Laws by

which India is governed.

., IV. A General View of the Land-Tenures of India.

., V. A General View op the Land-Kevenue Systems OF India.

1?

CHAPTER L

INTEODUCTOBY.

The student who approaches the subject of Indian Land-tenures, and of the systems under which the State levies a revenue from the land, has probably a vague idea that he is about to enter on a terra incognita or to plunge into some mysterious and unintelligible darkness. A few words of encouragement at the outset seem therefore desirable. I do not wish to pretend that the subject of land-tenure is free from di£Sculty, still less that it is impossible to be in doubt regarding many questions which have to be decided on a comparison of more or less fragmentary evidence, some of which is traditional and much of it matter of direct or indirect inference. Holt Mackenzie, an eminent authority on Revenue matters — he was Secretary to the first Revenue Commission which originated the Board of Revenue for the North- West Provinces — said that he had been all his life studying land-tenures without understanding them; and the older text-books abound with remarks to the same general effect. But it should be remembered that Holt Mackenzie lived and studied in the early years of the present century, when village-tenures were only just discovered, and when everybody's mind was filled with the one idea, that the only possible form of land-holding was by a landlord who let his lands to tenants at a stated rent. The early forms of property had not been

VOL. I. B considered. No Haxtbausen, Von Maurer, De Laveleye, H. S. Maine, or Seebohm, had yet arisen to set men think* ing and comparing and making use of the materials that were to be found in different countries. Sanskrit and Arabic literature and law were only beginning to be explored, and no one had found out anything about the history of the Aryan conquerors and colonizers of India ^, still less about the so-called Dravidian races which before the Aryan inroad had formed organized States in Central and Southern India, or about the Eolarian tribes whose remnants are still found in that part of Western Bengal called Chota (properly Chutiyd) N^gpur, in the 'Sant&l Parganas/ and in the Vindhyan Mountains which divide Upper and Central India.

Our sources of information have immensely multiplied since those days. Not only have we works whose chief value is that they suggest the right use of materials — tell us how to extract the pure metal from the crude ore of tradition and semi-mythical literature, and to read the meaning of ancient forms and customs, but we have for nearly every district in India valuable materials in the form of * Manuals ' (for the Madras districts) and the volumes known as * Settlement Reports ' in other Provinces. I may explain that when the Land Revenue Settlement operations of a district (or part of a district) are concluded, when rights have been recorded, and the interests of all classes in the land set down in due form, and when the assessment of the revenue on the field, the ' village ' or the estate (as the case may be), has been determined, — ^the Settlement officer gathers up the results of his work in a printed volume (in English) which contains the history of the district and all peculiarities of its locale^ its people and their land-tenures. In preparing this Manual I have studied some dozens of such reports. They are not indeed always easily obtained, nor are they light reading — especially to

^ I doubt whether Holt Macken- States of modem Hdjputdna. or

zie had known Col. Tod's Study of whether he knew of Col. Wilk s

the Aryan (Rajput) tribes whose Study of the Hindu State organiza-

last permanent home was in the tion as exemplified in MyBore.

cbap. I.]

INTEODUCTOBT.

those who have not official knowledge and experience^ — but many of them are storehouses of valuable information. At the beginning of the century no such aids were available, for one of the many misfortunes attaching to our first Settlements in Bengal and Madras (Permanent Settlements as they are called) was that no information about tenures and agricultural customs was recorded. 'The early writers ooold find in the celebrated ' Fifth Report on the afiairs of the East Indies/ presented to the House of Commons (1812, and since reprinted in Madras), a multitude of unarranged and rather confused details about the landholders in Bengal and North Madras called 'Zamlnddrs/ but that is alL And without enlarging on a subject which must be unintelligible till we come to our chapter on land-tenures, I will only say that the tenure of the * Zamf nd^r ' of Bengal represents a late — if not the latest — development in landinterest, and was the localized outcome of a dying and corrupt system of State management. The study of it threw no light on the real customary tenures of the country.

It is true that I have found a single report of 1796 describing the real natural tenures of the Benares districts : bat I have rarely seen it quoted; and all our early authorities, who are responsible for the dissemination of the idea that Indian land-tenures are unintelligible, appear only just to have heard of *viDage* tenures, and to have started with the idea, derived from Bengal, that all land must have sonie lavdlordy with tenants under him.

In studying, then, the land-tenures of India, we must be prepared for difficulties, and expect to find lacuiue which we cannot fill up or only supply conjecturaUy and provisionally ; but it would be exaggeration to go on saying that a fair amount of clear knowledge on the subject is

' Th«»rp are aliio Toliimcs of reprint* of special reports and papers known as * Heleetions from the Remr4a ' of the sereral OoTcmments.

Among the notable Settlement Reports I may instance as samples .bat there are many others almost equally valuable^ Elliott's Report on Hoshang^bdd (Central Provinces), Benett*8 on Qond^ (Oudh), Ibbetson on Kam^ (Panjab^, Roe on Multan (PanjAb), Logan on Malabar i^ Madras) , and Pedder*8 Bombay Reports.

B 2

4 LAND SYSTEMS OP BBITISH INDU. [chap. i.

unattainable^ with moderate study and a fair memory for facts.

And as to the systems under which the Land-Revenue is assessed and afterwards collected, there is no excuse for regarding their study as of excessive difficulty, when there is scarcely a province that has not its Land-Bevenue and Tenancy Acts and Regulations besides many hand-books and volumes of circular orders, and special Reports. In the aggregate, no doubt, these documents form an extensive and even a forbidding literature ; and they are often written so as to be puzzling to a beginner, or a non-official reader. A guide to them is necessary, and it is the express object of my present work to supply the need: whether the object has been in any degree satisfactorily attained, it will be for the reader to judge ; but I may explain, that I have endeavoured to give only the essential features of the Acts and orders, confining myself to what is really important and practical, while I have indicated in footnotes the sources whence a more detailed knowledge may be obtained.

May I be permitted also to add a word of general explanation as to my method. It may be said that subjects are treated in too positive or even dogmatic a manner. But in the first place, space is limited, and room could not be afibrded for many qualifying and apologetic paragraphs and for repeated drawbacks on the statements made. Moreover, a continued hesitancy, a suggestion of conflicting possibilities and an atmosphere of scepticism and uncei*tainty, is apt to be puzzling to a beginner ; and it is beginners and * outsiders * to the Revenue official circle that have been kept in mind. I have endeavoured to give my authorities, and to state as fact only what is fairly receivable as such : if any one thinks the facts lead to other

^ If by ' understanding * land- the more modest task of getting an

tenures we mean possessing a com- adequate knowledge of the facts as

plete theory of origin and growth, they are, or as they have become,

perhaps land-tenures will long re- then I see no reason for supposing

main ^ not understood.' But if we that we are or need be in any such

mean that we cannot accomplish position of difficulty.