1

CHAPTER- I

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Colonialism is a practice of domination, which involves the

subjection of one people to another. One of the difficulties in defining

colonialism is that it is difficult to distinguish it from imperialism.

Frequently the two concepts are treated as synonyms. Like colonialism,

imperialism also involves political and economic control over a

dependent territory. Turning to the etymology of the two terms,

however provides some suggestion about how they differ. The term

colony comes from the Latin word colonus, meaning farmer. This root

reminds us that the practice of colonialism usually involved the

transfer of population to a new territory, where the new arrivals lived

as permanent settlers while maintaining political allegiance to their

country of origin. Imperialism, on the other hand, comes from the Latin

term imperium, meaning to command. 1

Colonialism created a social structure leading to the growth and

flowering of the parasitic classes in the economy. This provided an

instrumentality for the external exploitation by imperialism.2 The

advent of the colonial rule disrupted the indigenous economy and

substituted it for new social structure, characterized by de-

industrialization, de-urbanization, collapse of traditional mercantile

capital and pauperization of vast section of rural and urban classes in

which, recurrent and intense famines became inevitable.3

1 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/colonialism. 2 Mridula Mukherjee, Colonialising Agriculture: The Myth of Punjab Exceptionalism, Sage, 2005 3 Irfan Habib, “Colonialization of Indian Economy, 1757-1900”, and “Studying a Colonial

Economy- Without Perceiving Colonialism”, in Essay in Indian History: Towards a Marxist

Perception, Tulika, New Delhi, 1995, pp. 296-366.

2

The historical phenomenon of colonialism is one that stretches

around the globe and across time, including such di sparate people as

the Hittites, the Incas and the British. European colonialism or

imperialism began in the 15th

centuries, England, France and Holland

established their own overseas empire, in direct competition with each

other.4

Colonialism is the establishment, exploitation, maintance,

acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from

another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims

sovereignty over the colony, and the social structure, government and

economics of the colony are changed by colonizers from the

metropole.5

In a series of newspapers articles published in the 1850s in the

New York Daily Tribune, Marx specially discussed the impact of

British colonialism in India. His analysis was consistent discussed with

his general theory of political and economic change. He described

India as an essentially feudal society experiencing the painful process

of modernization. According to Marx, however, Indian “feudalism”

was a distinctive from because, he believed (incorre ctly) that

agricultural land in India was owned communally. Marx used the

concept of “Oriental despotism” to describe to a specific type of class

domination that used the mechanism of the state and taxation in order

to extract resources from the peasantry.6 Marx‟s discussion of British

rule in India has three dimensions: an account of the progressive

character of foreign rule, a critique of the human suffering involved,

and a concluding argument that British rule must be temporary if the

4 en.wikipedia.org/History_of_Colonialism, 5 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/colonialism 6 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/colonialism.

3

progressive potential it unleashed is to be realized.7

Colonial rule had great impact on the region of the Punjab. The

Punjab was annexed by the East India Company in 1849. When the

Britishers came to this region, they did not so merely as traders.

Instead, they came, to quote K. W. Jones with „mature Imperial

consciousness‟,8 which indeed determined their policies in the newly

acquired province. About a hundred years earlier when the British East

India Company henceforth the Company conquered Bengal, it

represented an important extension of the system of mercantilism under

which the upper most object of the Company had been to collect more

and more wealth by expending trade and by direct pillage and loot on

the strength of control of state power. With the beginning of the

nineteenth century, however, the British industrial bourgeoisie

gradually hegemonies the society and the politics in England and this

led to an important shift in the nature of the British rule in India. In the

new conditions, the underlying objective of the colonial state was to

consolidate its rule in different parts of the country not only to enlarge

the volume of trade, but also to have an access to raw materials

necessary for production on industrial goods in England.

BRITISH AGRARIAN POLICY

Keeping in view this aspect, the British government gradually

„converted the Punjab into an agrarian appendix of the British

metropolis.9 Large amount of capital were invested by the government

in building canal irrigation system in West Punjab which brought new

7 Ibid. 8 K.W.Jones, Arya Dharma: Hindu Consciousness in the Nineteenth Century Punjab, New Delhi,

1976, p 76 9 Bhagwan Josh, Communist Movement in Punjab, Delhi, 1979, p 2

4

areas under cultivation, and greatly increased agrarian production.10

In

this region of canal colonies, agriculture was actually transformed into

a capitalist venture where production was geared to the market, and

was not merely an activity pursued for the purpose of subsistence. A

major part of the agricultural produce was transported through the

newly established railway system from the Punjab to port cities for

export to the overseas market. This included export of grains and raw

cotton to Britain in large quantities which naturally made this province

particularly important for the metropolis.11

Agrarian policy of the British government was not uniform in all

Indian provinces, it was changed with the passage of time and as well

as specific regions. The aim of the policy was suppression and

exploitation of the colonial people. The first stage of suppression

shifted towards exploitation in the second stage. Several factors were

responsible for this shift, for example, the very geographical conditions

of the area, potentialities for agriculture, colonial needs, nature of

peasantry, colonial understanding of land-rights and political hold over

the territory an others.

It is generally understood that the time of colonialism divided in

three broad phases which all related to one another to exploitation of

Indian resources. The first stage was (1757-1813) as a colonial trader.

The second stage was (1813-60) as state power and government

revenue and third stage was (after 1860) when they invested capital in

many fields like railways, irrigation, plantation and many other areas

to compete with global market. Colonial agrarian policy was not as

significant in the first phase as during the latter two. Growing interest

10 Imran Ali, The Punjab Under Imperialism 1885-1947, New Delhi, 1989, p 11 Punjab Census Report, 1921, part I, p 20

5

in the revenue of the newly controlled areas from 1765 onwards and

the colonial „needs‟ to increase those revenues, brought them into

action in the agrarian world of India.

British agrarian policy was moulded basically by a combination

of changing and sometimes conflicting proportions of greed for more

revenues, producing recurrent tendencies towards over-assessment and

desire to encourage certain types of agricultural production for export.

The need to win over or retain political allies, administrative

convenience, and changing ideological assumptions also played a

certain role at times.12

British colonization of India constantly

negotiated a difficult balance between two contradictory political-

economic objectives. One objective made British administrators try to

extract the maximum land revenue from Indian agriculture with the

minimum transformation in agrarian production and labour systems.

This aim led to the “development of economic underdevelopment in

India”. The other objective required a revolutionary alteration in Indian

labour and production systems through massive capital investment so

that increased industrial and agricultural productivity would enrich the

Raj. This goal under-wrote the economic development of India.13

Another objective was that India should supply raw materials to Britain

and purchase British manufactured goods. In 1840 a Select Committee

was well pleased to Report to Parliament that the East India Company,

“has…. succeeded in converting India into a country exporting raw

produce”. This conversion however, did not depend on the radical

transformation of India‟s agricultural production and labour.14

12 Bipan Chandra, Modern India, NCERT, Delhi, 2005, 32. 13 Richard G. Fox, Lions of the Punjab: Culture in Making, Archives Press, New Delhi, 1990, p 15-

16. 14 Ibid., p 16

6

By 1765, the Company had established itself not only as traders

with political control but also as revenue collectors wi th responsibility

of administering justice in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, through the grant

of Diwani.15

In fact, a dual system had emerged in the administration of

Bengal. The system was called as „responsibilities without powers and

powers without responsibilities‟. As the Diwan, the Company directly

collected its revenues through the right to nominate the Deputy

Subahdar, and controlled the Nizamat or the police and judicial

powers.16

Since the grant of Diwani, the major concern of the East

India Company‟s administration in India was to collect as much

revenue as possible. From the total revenue, the percentage of land

revenue was 72 in 1771-72 in Bengal.17

In the time of Warren Hastings (1772-85), the Company

consolidated its hold on the agrarian sphere by removing deputies and

organizing the direct collection of revenue through their own agents

and collectors. A five year settlement of revenue was introduced by

Hastings. He also re-introduced the Ijara system in which the revenue

was collected through a bidding system.18

To tackle this problem the

Company separated revenue administration from general

administration, because revenue was the chief source of income for the

government and of fundamental importance to them.

In 1789, decennial settlement of revenue was introduced by

Cornwallis (1786-93). He solved the problem by introducing that it did

15 The term Diwani is derived from the word Diwan. The diwan under the Mughals was a provincial

officer entrusted with the duty of the collecting the revenue and administering civil justice. Hence,

Dewani meant the right to collect revenue and administer justice in civil cases. See, S.L. Suri, A

Constitutional History of India, S. Nagin and Co., 4th Edition, Delhi, 1971, p 13. 16 Names of Deputy Subahdar were Raza Khan and Shitab Rai. Vincent Smith, Oxford History of

India, OUP, New Delhi, 1958, p 476-77. 17 R.C.Dutt, Economic History of India, under Early British Rule, 5th Impression, Routledge and

Kegan, London, 1956. P ix 18 Vincent Smith, Oxford History of India, OUP, New Delhi, 1958, p 501-03.

7

not matter, who the revenue collector was since British concern was

mainly the acquisition of the total land revenue. Under the terms of

this settlement, they (landlords) had henceforth to make a fixed

payment to the government of the East India Company. The total

amount was registered as 268 lakhs. While British rule created in some

parts of the country large scale landed ownership, in other parts, it

sustained individual peasant proprietorship. Permanent settlement led

to an absentee landlordism and a hereditary position of tax collector

emerged. Till 1859, the Zamindars were revenue collectors and

peasants were considered tax payee. In this arrangement, the

Zamindars were pocketing more revenues and surplus than the actual

land revenue as required by the government.19

This second experiment

was known as Ryotwari. Under this system, the individual cultivator

was made responsible for the payment of revenue of the land he tilled.

It was Sir Thomas Munro who advocated this system. He initiated it

when he was the Governor of Madras, in 1820 in the major part of that

province. This system was subsequently extended to a number of other

provinces like Bombay, Sind, Berar, Madras, Assam and some other

areas.

The third experiment was the Mahalwari system, which was a

modified version of the Zamindari settlement introduced in the Ganga

valley, the North-West Province, parts of central India, and the Punjab

province. The revenue settlement was to be made village by village or

estate (Mahal) by agreement with the land-lords or heads of the

families who collectively claimed to be the land-lords of the village or

the estate. According to a rough estimate in 1928-29 about 19 percent

of the cultivable land in India was under Zamindari settlement, 29

19 Vincent Smith, Oxford History of India, OUP, New Delhi, 1958, p 536

8

percent under Mahalwari settlement and 52 percent under Ryatwari

system.20

In the socio-economic sphere, the British grappled with multiple

rights in land which varied region to region. In an attempt to simplify

these overlapping rights, they followed a policy of social leveling in

agrarian society. They created three broad categories - zamindars,

peasants and tenants. British policy thus, made an attempt to

standardize the existing land rights, sometimes at the cost of the rights

of certain groups, in the quest of making a more homogenous society.21

In the early 19th

century, the State‟s main target was to bring the

maximum cultivable waste under cultivation. Consequently, there was

a sharp decline in the fortunes of the extensive nomadic and pastoral

economy of the plain in the early nineteenth century.22

From the second half of the eighteenth century, the British used

their control over India to promote their own interest.23

The objective

of the colonial policy was to acquire monopoly over trade and control

over resources. Its main aim was to transform India into a consumer of

British manufactures and a supplier of raw material. As John Sullivan,

President of Board of Revenue, admitted: “Our system acts very much

like a sponge, drawing up all the good things from the bank of the

Ganges, and squeezing them down the banks of the Thames.”24

The British brought about a tremendous transformation in India‟s

agricultural economy. This effort was not with a view to improving

Indian agriculture, to increase production and ensure the welfare and

20 Sekhar Bandyobadhyay, From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India, Orient Longman,

Delhi 2004, p 82- 95 21 C.A. Bayly, The New Cambridge History of India, Vol. II, Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1987, p

142-43 22 Ibid., p 142 23 Bipan Chandra, et. al., Freedom Struggle, NBT, New Delhi, 1972, p 3 24 Bipan Chandra, Modern India, 2005, p 73

9

prosperity of the Indian agriculturist, but to obtain for themselves, in

the form of land revenue, all surplus available in agriculture and to

force Indian agriculture to play its assigned role in the colonial

economy. Old relationships and institutions were destroyed and new

ones were created. These new features did not always represent a

change towards modernization or a positive direction.25

Under British rule, land revenue was of outstanding importance

not only because it occupied a very special position as a source of

revenue to the government, but also because of the part played by it in

the general administration of the country.26

For land revenue, the

colonial authorities established a separate administration also. Finance

Commissioner was the head of the revenue administrative structure.

The Deputy Collector was head of the land revenue organization in the

district. Provinces were divided into districts and districts were

grouped into divisions and each was placed under a Commissioner.

Districts were further divided into Tahsils, in each of which was a

Tahsildar with an assistant or Naib Tahsildar. Tahsils were formed

into a sub division and put in special charge of resident Extra Assistant

or Sub Divisional Officer. Headman of the village was responsible for

the payment of revenue. Patwari was the village accountant. Villages

were grouped into Zails over each of which was appointed a Zaildars.

About twenty of the zails or circles were under the charge of a

Qanungo.27

Land revenue was consistently increased 1858. It stood at 4.2

million pounds in 1800-01 and had risen, mainly by increase of

25 Bipan Chandra, op.cit., 1972, p 17 26 Vera Anstay, The Economic Development of India, IV edition, Longman Green and Company,

London, 1962, p 374 27 H.K. Trevaskis, The Punjab of To-Day, Civil and Miltary Gazette, Lahore, 1931, pp 63-65, 149-

52.

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territories but also by increased assessments, to 15.3 million pounds in

1857-8, when the Crown took over. Under the Crown, the total land

revenue rose to 17.5 million pounds by 1900-01 and 20 million pounds

by 1911-12. In 1936-37, the figure was 23.9 million pounds.28

The rigidity of the collection of land tax further paralyzed

agriculture, prevented savings, and kept the tiller of the soil in a state

of poverty and indebtedness.29

Accordingly to the Indian leaders, the

following were the disastrous and depressing effects of the land

revenue system on agriculture; firstly the high pitch of land

assessment, secondly, heavy assessment increased the intensity and

frequencies of famines by producing general resourcelessness in the

country side. Thirdly, constant revisions of assessment, short

settlements, uncertainly about the „grounds‟ of enhancement, fresh

appraisal of individual plots, leading to taxation of the cultivators

improvements, all tended to make a tenure uncertain and combined

with high assessment, took away from the cultivator all possibility to

save, to exert himself to effect permanent improvement in land and to

increase agriculture productivity. Fourthly, high pitch of revenue

discouraged, fifth, enhancement of land revenue by the government to

the Zamindars and other superior holders to increased rental s to an

even greater extent than the enhancement of revenue and thus to

further oppress the actual tillers of the soil. Sixthly, in the absence of a

large-scale increase in agriculture production the high assessment.30

Equipped with great economic and political power, the company

played a dual role in this respect. It played, first, a destructive role by

impoverishing the people and weakening the society, destroying

28 R.P. Dutt, India Today, People‟s Publishing House, Bombay, 1949, p 211-12, (Reprint, originally

published in 1947). 29 R.C.Dutt, Economic History of India, p xi. 30 Bipan Chandra, Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism, p 405-07.

11

thereby the indigenous industries and business.31

Secondly, it played a

regenerative role by bringing science and technology, improved means

of transport and communications, anglicized system of education, and

new social and political ideas which gave new direction to the societal

fabric of India. 32

The policy of commercialization of agr iculture, adversely

affected the agriculturist. The agriculturists now produced for the

Indian as well as world market. He became thereby subject to all the

vicissitudes of the ever erratic market.33

Under the new system, the

peasant produced mainly for the market, which, with the steady

improvement of means of transport and expanding operations of

trading capital under the British rule, became available to him..34

„The

commercialization of agriculture had progressed most in those tracts

where the crops were largely grown for export out of the country. This

was particularly so in Burma rice area, the Punjab wheat area, the jute

area of Eastern Bengal and the Khandesh, Gujrat and Berar cotton

tracts.‟35

To increase the land revenue, the colonial authorities tried to

bring the maximum land under cultivation. Now the common lands

could be measured by the extent of the forests, and uncultivable wastes

available for cultivation. Therefore, the total area in land use was 391

31 Bipan Chandra, Ibid., and also see, R.C. Dutt, The Economic History of India under early British

Rule, London, 1901; Dadabhai Naoroji, Poverty and Un-British Rule in India; G. Subarmaniyam

Iyer, Some Economic Aspects of British Rule in India, Bombay, 1903; Bipan Chandra, The Rise

and Growth of Economic Nationalism in India, Delhi, 1966; A.R. Desai, Social Background of

Indian Nationalism, Bombay, 1948. 32 Karl Marx, with his usual perception, highlighted in a series of writings the destructive and

regenerative role of the British rule during the company period. For details see, Karl Marx,

Articles on India, Delhi, 1940; Karl Marx and F. Engels, on Colonialism, Moscow, 1963;

V.I.Pavlov, Historical Premises for India‟s Transition to capitalism, Moscow, 1979; V.N. Datta,

Presidential Address, IHC Proceedings, 42nd Session, Bodh Gaya, 1981; Chattar Singh, Social and

Economic Change in Haryana, NBO, Delhi 2004. 33 A.R. Desai, Social Background of Indian Nationalism, Popular Prakashan, Bombay, 5th edition,

1980, p 59. 34 Ibid, p 43. 35 D.R.Gadgil, The Industrial Evolution of India in recent Times, 1933, p 154

12

million acres in 1885, which increased to 521 million acres (+ 33

percent) in 1938.36

In order to increase the produce from the land and consequently,

the land revenue, the British also improved the irrigation facilities. In

1820, they re-opened the Western Jumna Canal in North West

Province. They also initiated irrigation schemes in Delhi and Tanjore.

In 1842, operations were commenced between Kankhal and Hardwar,

and though stopped for a time on account of various doubts that had

risen with respect to the results of the canal; they were resumed sho rtly

after, permission being given to spend 2 lakhs of rupees annually. The

Godavri Works were begun in 1847, and by 1853 of Krishna Anicut.

This was followed by other canals like the Lower Ganga, the Agra, and

the Betwa Canals in United Provices, the Sirhind Canal in Punjab,

Muthra canal in Bombay and the Periyar canal in south India.37

The agrarian policy of the government with regard to agricultural

improvement other than irrigation remained almost non-existent for a

long time, except for a few experimental farms and some paltry taccavi

loans from the 1870s. The Co-operative Credit Society Act of 1904

introduced a new element in this sphere. It was generally considered

that the co-operatives were a means of combating rural problems and

would increased produce and create increased availability of raw

material and exporting material.38

The co-operative societies increased

because these were fulfilling the economic interest of the British.

Consequently, the number of co-operative societies increased

tremendously. Between 1914 and 1946 the numbers of societies

36 Tirthankar Roy, The Economic History of India, 1857-1947, OUP, London, 2000, p 102-03 37 M.S. Randhawa, A History of Agriculture in India, 98-101; C.B. Mamoria, Agricultural Problem

of India, p 185 38 C.B. Mamoria, Agricultural Problems of India, Kitab Mahal, Allahbad, 1976, p 556-57; (Reprint,

originally published in 1953).

13

increased by 890 percent while the membership increased only by only

9 percent and the working capital increased by 33 percent.39

The co-

operative movement, though it was seen as gradually developing i nto a

„powerful engine for the proper and early revival of the old corporate

life of the villages and restore their vitality, and to keep, as the Royal

Commission on Agriculture, 1928, said „the best hope of rural India.‟

The co-operative however, had rather limited success.40

The effect of British agrarian policies further intensified for

peasantry due to famines and the money-lending system. The small

farmers went into the grip of indebtedness. The „greatest evil‟ that

arose out of the British policies with regard to Indian agricultural

economy was the emergence of the money-lender as an influential

economic and political force in the country. The moneylender could

even manipulate the judicial system and the administrative machinery

to his advantage.41

PUNJAB

The literal meaning of the Persian term panj-ab is „five-waters‟.

Punj means five, and Pb means waters, i. e. the region of five rivers. It

was meant to signify the land of five rivers. But it was not meant to be

taken literally.42

The Punjab, since long, has been of great historical

39 Table 1.1

Year No. of Societies No. of Members Working Capital

1914-15 17327 824469 122292

1921-22 52182 1974290 311225

1929-30 104187 4181904 895178

1938-39 122000 5300000.7 10700000.10

1943-44 156000 7600000.9 14600000.63

1945-46 172000 910000.6 16400000.00

Source : Ibid ; 556-57; and see also, B.S. Saini, Social and Economic History of the Punjab,

1901-39, Ess-Ess, New Delhi, 1975, p 231-59 40 Ibid., pp 239-59

41 Bipan Chandra, et. al, Freedom Struggle, p 18-19 42 Imperial Gazetteer of India (I.G.O.I), Provincial Series, Punjab. Vol. I, Mehra Offset press

(reprint), New Delhi, 1991, p 97

14

and strategically significance. Situated in the north west of India,43

this

province was gateway for the invaders from the north western side

countries. It was necessary for the invaders to pass through this region

to hold the regions of the capital of India. Therefore, from political and

strategically point of view, the Punjab remained an important and

integral part of the country.44

Moreover at the same time, the economy

of the Punjab, particularly of agriculture, was also an attractive feature

for those who desired for holding a state-power in India.45

The Punjab formed a part of the civilization called the Indus

culture in the third millennium B. C. when its cities and towns were

located close to the rivers, particularly in their lower courses.46

The

city of Harappa which flourished as a major urban centre for about 500

years was situated then on the left bank of the river Ravi, about a

hundred miles lower than Lahore at present.47

The change in the broad pattern of human sett lement in the

Punjab was a result of political as well as technological changes. At the

time of the Aryans influx into India in the second millennium B. C.,

the Indus culture was on decline. At the time of Alexander‟s invasion

during the fourth century B. C. the kingdom of Ambhi was situated in

the upper Sindh Sagar Doab, and King Puru (Poras) was ruling over a

kingdom in the adjoining Chaj Doab.48

For nearly a thousand years after the fall of the Mauryan Empire,

the Punjab remained politically isolated from the Ganges plains.49

In

43 Ambala District Gazetteer, 1883-84, p 1 44 Settlement Report of the Gurdaspur District, 1856, p 1 45 J. S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab, Delhi, 2002. P 1 46 Surender Pal Singh, Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the Neighboring State, Ph.D Thesis, Kurukshetra

University, Kurukshetra, 2004, p 14 47 I.O.G.I.., Provincial Series, Punjab, Vol. I, p 17 48 Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, Vol. I, London, 1981, p 126 49 Ibid.

15

the first century B. C., the Kushanas under Kanishka established a

large empire which covered the whole of the Punjab, but extended

more towards central Asia. In the fifth century, the Huns established

their power in the Punjab. In the seventh century Harsha ruled over the

eastern Punjab up to the river Beas.50

From the eleventh century the Punjab became once again a part

of large empires when Mahmood of Ghazni annexed it to his dominions

in Afghanistan and central Asia. During the fourteenth century, much

of the Punjab was a part of the large empire established by the Khalji,

Turks and maintained by the Tughluqs. The western Doabs, however,

had come under the influence of the Mongol successors of Chingiz

Khan before Timur, the acknowledged ancestor of the Mughal

emperors, invaded India. Meanwhile, Babur had occupied Afghanistan

as a successor of Timur, and was keen to expend his dominions in the

direction of India.51

He occupied the Punjab in the early 1520‟s before

he defeated Ibrahim Lodhi in the battle of Panipat in 1526. Akbar

defeated Hemu in the second battle of Panipat in 1556.52

For over two centuries, the Punjab was to remain an integral part

of the Mughal empire in India. In January 1739, Nadir Shah entered the

province of Lahore and defeated its Mughal governor, Zakariya Khan,

who was allowed to hold on to his office after paying two million

rupees.53

Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded India seven times. He had tried

to finish the „Khalsa‟,54

but he couldn‟t get success. He defeated

Marathas in the third battle of Panipat in 1761.

50 J.S.Grewal, op.cit., p 2 51 N.K. Sinha, Ranjit Singh, (Reprint), Vol. II, Calcutta, 1960, p 1 52 I.G.O.I., Provincial Series, Punjab, Vol. I, p 19 53 Lepel Griffin, Ruler of India: Ranjit Singh, London, 1905, p 9 54 Sikh People

16

In 1799, a process of unification was started by Ranjit Singh

virtually to establish an empire during the first quarter of the

nineteenth century.55

He made use of an efficient army raised and

trained more or less like the army of the Company. He was the first

ruler who established and organized a „Sikh State‟ in very challenging

and crucial situations.56

Within ten years of Ranjit Singh‟s death in 1839, his empire was

taken over by the British who had already establ ished their direct or

indirect political control over the rest of the subcontinent. At Lahore, a

tussle for power at the top had brought in factious nobility, and the

increasing struggle for power brought in the Khalsa army; the growing

instability eventually brought in the British who were half inclined to

annex the Punjab for reasons which had little to do with its internal

affairs.57

After the hard-fought battle of the Sutlej in 1845-46, the army

and the territory of the boy king Dalip Singh were cut to s ize to make

the Punjab more manageable. Lahore was garrisoned by British troops

and a British adviser was given to the Lahore Darbar. The final

annexation of the Punjab was only a matter of time which came in

March 1849.58

The Punjab under British rule as a administrative unit was much

larger. The territory which remained in the province most of the time

extended from the Sulaiman Range in the west, which separated it from

Afghanistan, to the western bank of river Jamuna in the east, and had a

long boundary with the North-Western Provinces.59

Rajputana and

55 For details, see Surender Pal Singh, op.cit. 56 Sita Ram Kohli, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Allahabad, 1965, p 11 57 J.S. Grewal, op.cit., p 99 58 I.O.G.I., Provincial Series, Punjab, Vol. I, p 34 59 H. A. Rose, A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province,

Vol. I, Language Department, Punjab, Patiala, 1970 (reprint), p 4

17

Sindh adjoined its southern boundary: while on the north and north -

east was the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which upto 1877 remained

under the control of the Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab. The

territory of the Punjab stretched up to and beyond the peaks of the

central Himalayas and embraced the valleys of Lahaul and Spiti.60

The Punjab included two categories of territory: one that

belonging to the British Crown and second was that in possession of

the thirty six feudatory chiefs of the province, almost all of whom paid

tribute in some form or the other, and were subject to a more or less

stringent control exercised by the Punjab Government. The areas of

these native states varied in size from principally to principally.61

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

There are number of writings on the Punjab during the British

rule. The literature available on rural society in the Punjab is not

sufficient. There are some works available on the colonial power and

its socio-economic impact on the people of the Punjab, but these works

did not discuss directly the whole rural society. These works indicated

only the British economic policy and its impact on the people. Some

historians and economists have paid attention towards the study of

social and economic changes in the rural areas of the Punjab.

From the first category, we may take up R. P. Dutt in India

Today, (1947) talks of the over pressure on agriculture, stagnation and

deterioration of agricultural activities, the British capitalist policy, and

neglect of development, low level of production but again it is a

picture of India as a whole and does not provide detail for an overall

60 James Douie, The Punjab North-West Frontier Province and Kashmir, Seema Publication, Lahore,

1974 (reprint), pp 1-7 61 H. A. Rose, op.cit., and Gazetteer of the Punjab Provincial Series, Vol. I, 1888-89, p 2

18

study. Ian Talbot in Punjab and the Raj, 1849-1947, (1984), refers to

the Punjab and its people, the Unionist party and the Punjab politics,

the British desertion of their allies, but he focuses on the political

relations and there are only some minor references to agriculture in the

region. Richard G. Fox in his book namely Lions of the Punjab:

Culture in the making, (1985), primarily a social anthropologist, shows

how the capitalist world system penetrated the economy of the Punjab

and how it led to the emergence of a class of petty commodity

producers. He discusses colonization and its socio-economic results

namely migration and the emergence of wage labour but does not take

up a study of agriculture as much. Sumit Sarkar‟s Modern India (2001)

which focuses on political developments from 1857-1947 and refers to

commercialization of agriculture, production and some legislation, but

India as a whole and rather briefly, since it is not the main theme.

In the second category, are books like D. R. Gadgil, Industrial

Evolution of India, 1860-1939, in which few chapters on

„agriculturists‟ in four phases are taken up, 1860-69, 1880-95, 1895-

1914 and 1914-39. It also to agriculture. He is taking up some aspects

of agriculture, agrarian standard of living, growth of cotton cultivation,

agricultural produce, price of crops, poverty and debt, land tenures,

effect of famines, agricultural improvements, communication, limited

government action and legislation, agricultural statistics and brief

reference to Punjab, United Province, Central Provence and Bombay.

Bipin Chandra, in his book, Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism,

(1977) refers to the main aspects of agriculture like British policy,

transformation, and legislation as part of the theme, but cover the

period 1880-1905 only. G. S. Chhabra book Social and Economic

History of the Punjab, 1849-1901, (1962) which analyses, the

19

resources of the Punjab, people, their life and manners, education,

industries, communication, trade, the financial system and general

prosperity. In chapter on agriculture he discussed the land revenue

system, indebtedness, uneconomic holding, but he covers only the

period between 1849-1901.

B. S. Saini in his work Social and Economic History of the

Punjab, 1901-39., (1975) begins with an account of the natural

resources, and then moves on to give information of the social

institution, industry, trade, co-operative movement, agriculture and

irrigation, indebtedness, communication and finance. By and large,

both the works on the Punjab region uncritically reproduce government

sources, and give a general view of the social and economic conditions

of the Punjab, but barely touch upon the agriculture of the south -east

region.

In the third category, we may look at S. S. Thorburn in his work

‘Musslmans and Money-Lenders’ discussed how land of small farmers

trapped in the hands of „money-lenders‟ in western Punjab and its

impact on society. C. B. Mamoria‟s Agricultural Problem of India

(1976) which gives some information regarding irrigation, mechanism

of agriculture, agriculture marketing in India and rural unemployment.

The work is not concerned with the Punjab, but India as a whole, and

emphasizes on the post partition period. Geogre Blyn‟s, Agricultural

Trends in India, 1891-1947; Output, Availability and Productity

(1966), analyses agricultural trends in India for the period 1891-1947.

He takes up eighteen crops and shows how increased agriculture

production, especially in the Punjab, was the outcome extensive

cultivation and how the development of irrigation and introduction of

new varieties resulted in an increased yield. The work focuses on a

20

particular aspect of agriculture and once again, has an all-India

context. H. Calvert, in his book, Wealth and Welfare of the Punjab:

Being Some Studies in Punjab Rural Economics (1936), takes up

development of the region and show how the construction of canals,

communications and irrigation, stimulated production, increased trade

and brought into existence a wealthy professional class. He presents

some inter-related aspects of agricultural development but not a

complete analysis to underline the situation of the Punjab. The work

focuses largely on central and western Punjab and leaves out the south-

eastern tract from any detailed discussion. From the point of the

present work therefore, there are several limitation of this work.

M. L. Darling, in his work, The Punjab Peasant in Prosperity

and Debt (1934), studies the nature, extent and causes of agricultural

debt, and the specific condition of different regions. He highlights

agricultural development, underlining what he calls „close connection

between prosperity and debt‟ in situations where „peasants live in

primitive or backward conditions‟. He regards indebtedness for

unproductive purpose as evil, and in some other situations holds

prosperity as the cause of debt while laying stress on the „increasing

expropriation of the peasant proprietor by the moneylender‟. He tends

to overlook the exploitative nature of British rule itself. Darling also

focuses on the central and the western part of the Punjab in his work

and rarely discusses the south-east tract. In his second work, Wisdom

and Waste in Punjab Villages, he gives some description of the south-

east region but largely concentrates on the rest of the Punjab.

More recently, Himadri Banerjee in Agrarian Society of the

Punjab, 1849-1901 (1982), gives an account of the agrarian society at

the outset of British rule and traces the change in the social framework

21

of the agriculturists. He discusses the programme of land settlement,

commercialization of agriculture, canalization and colonization, the

growing predominance of money lenders and the changing relationship

between peasant group and kamins. The work however, does not go

beyond 1901 and concentrates on the central and western Punjab in its

details, generally leaving out the south eastern areas or providing brief

information o them. In a work on Irrigation, Agriculture and the Raj:

Punjab (1997), M. M. Islam, a Bangladeshi scholar, has made a detail

study of irrigation by canals and the other sources, including their

financial aspects. He refers however, to cash crops only cotton,

sugarcane and oilseeds. Furthermore, his work is limited to irrigation

and cropping pattern, with no account of the agriculture in south -east

Punjab. Imran Ali in Punjab Under Imperialism, 1885-1947 (1989)

describes canalization and colonialization of the Punjab in some detail

with no references to the south-east Punjab except in a few table.

In Chattar Singh‟s book, Social and Economic Change in

Haryana (2004) deals with factors of social change, social and

occupational mobility, changing social relations in rural society,

factors of economic change, changing agrarian relations, British

experiments in Haryana and emerging new life style, based on archival

source material, it is a pioneering research work. However, the

limitations of this work are that agricultural production and system of

agriculture remain untouched. After all, the period, taken by the author

was only the 19th

century. In a recent publication, Mridula Mukherjee,

in Colonializing Agriculture: The myth of Punjab Except ionalism,

deals with the peasantry in four chapters as (i) peasants as tax payers,

(ii) peasants as debtors, (iii) peasants in the market, (iv) peasant as

classes. She also highlights capital accumulation and investment in the

22

Punjab and eastern India. By a comparison of both regions, the author

revels that the basic colonial policy was the same. This pioneering

research work however, raises important issue about the British

agrarian policies.

In the fourth category, K. C. Yadav, in his book, Haryana: Itihas

Evam Sanskriti: 1803-1966 (1982), refers to economic development,

indebtedness, Punjab Land Alienation Act, Unionist Party, and

provides information on social and cultural spheres of the south eastern

region, which can be informative for the present wor k. He does not

however, take up a detailed discussion on agriculture. Rajpal Singh,

Agriculture Production in Haryana: 1901-66, (1995), which focus on

the agriculture production of Haryana but does not talk about

irrigation, agricultural technology or agrarian society. The period

studies in the 20th

century only had it provides limited information.

Prem Chowdhry on “Custom in a Peasant Economy: Women in

Colonial Haryana”. In this article, Prem Chowdhry discusses dominant

caste and peasant ethos, socio-economic conditions: their significance

for women, and colonial view of women of the south-eastern part of

the Punjab province. In her second article, on „Advantages of

Backwardness: Colonial Policy and Agriculture in Haryana ‟, Prem

Chowdhry highlights the agrarian policy of British rule in Haryana.

Animal Husbandry and recruitment policy is also discussed. However,

she does not touch cultivated area, production, and agrarian life of the

south-east Punjab. Though important and useful in their respective

themes, these works are limited to studying one specific aspects of the

agrarian scene in the south-eastern tract during the colonial period.

Nevertheless, they contribute significantly to the study of social and

economic aspects in Haryana region.

23

GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITION

Geographically, the province composed of four distinct zones:

the Himalayan, the submontane, the salt range and the plains. The

district of Kangra and Shimla formed s part of the Himalayan zone, the

scanty population of which was scattered in tiny hamlets, perched on

the hill sides and surrounded by small patches of terraced cultivation.62

The crops depend on rainfall which was abundant enough to meet the

agricultural requirements throughout the year. The population, mainly

rural, supplemented the yield of its land by the produce of numerous

flocks of sheep and goats, and by handicrafts which kept them

occupied during a part of the long winter nights. The people belonged

to such diverse ethnic groups as the Rajputs (Thakurs, Rathis, Rawats,

Kanets and Ghirths), Brahmins and Dogis or menials of the hills.63

They professed Hinduism and spoke Hindi. Their migration was

confined only to the neighboring monuments and low hills. The low

pressure of population coupled with sufficient means of subsistence

made the tract secure from famine.64

The belt skirting the base of the hills, including the low outlying

range of the Shiwaliks was referred to as the sub-montane region. It

included the four northern tehsils of Ambala, the district of

Hoshiarpur, the three northern tehsils of Gurdaspur, the tehsils of

Zaffarwal and Sialkot in the district of Sialkot and the northern portion

of the district of Gujarat. This area received sufficient rainfall and was

traversed by numerous streams flowing downwards from the

neighboring hills. The population was mainly agricultural, through a

few pastoral groups were found in the hilly tracts. The region could

62 G.S. Chhabra, Social and Economic History of Punjab, 1849-1901, Jullundhur, 1962, p 17 63 For details, see District Gazetteers of the Punjab. 64 Census Report of the Punjab (henceforth CRP), 1881, Vol. I, pp. 2-3 and p 7

24

boast of only one urban centre Sialkot. Trade and manufacture were

insignificant. The people differed little in race, religion or language

from the neighboring inhabiting the plains. A fertile land and ample

rainfall contributed to make the region free from famine.65

The salt range included the districts of Peshawar, Kohat, Hazara,

Rawalpindi, Jhelum and Bannu. The mountainous tract of Hazara,

Kohat and eastern Rawalpindi received abundant rainfall as compared

to the Peshawar valley and the districts of Rawalpindi, Jhelum and

Bannu where it was deficient. The population, which was composed of

Pathans, Rajputs, Awans, Gakhars and Khattars was entirely Muslim.

They spoke Pasthu and Punjabi. Scanty rainfall, inferior cultivation and

lack of irrigation made the region liable to famine during unfavorable

seasons.66

The remaining part of the Punjab consisted of considerable

plains. A meridian, which passed through the city of Lahore, divided

this wide expanse into two very dissimilar tracts known as the eastern

and western plains. To begin with the eastern plains, in the north of the

eastern plains were the two southern tehsils of Ambala, the district of

Ludhania, Jullundur and Amritsar and also non-submountainous parts

of the districts of Sialkot and Gurdaspur.67

The eastern part of the eastern plains included the districts of

Delhi, Gurgaon and Karnal with the exception of the Kaitha l and

Rewari tehsils of Karnal and Gurgaon, and Gohana and Sampla tehsils

of the Rohtak district. The tract enjoyed moderate rainfall, besides a

large irrigated area. It had several large towns.68

This and the central

65 CRP, 1868, p 7 66 Ibid. 67 G.S. Chhabra, op.cit., p 31 68 CRP, 1868, p 3

25

portion constituted those parts of the Punjab where famine was most

dreaded. The occupation of the people was both agriculture and

pastoralism.69

The central portion of the eastern plains included the

Kaithal thesils of the district of Karnal, three northern tehsils of the

district of Ferozepur and the two eastern tehsils of the district of

Lahore.70

The population of the eastern plains was composed of diverse

ethnic groups including Jats, Rajputs, Kamoohs, Rors, Tagas, Gujjars,

Ahirs, Meos, Khanzadahs, Bishnois, Sainis, Arains, Dogras, Mahtams,

Sansis, Bawarias, Baniyas, Khatris and Aroras. Hindus were

preponderant in the north, east and south of the eastern plains, the

Muslims in the north, west and north-west and the Sikhs in the central

and west. Hindi was spoken in the east and south-east, Rajputana

dialectsin the south-west and Punjabi in the remaining part of the

eastern plains. The region included such big cities as Delhi, Amritsar

and Lahore, besides several large towns, where a brisk trade was

carried out.71

The vast expanse of land lying to the west of the Lahore

meridian was known as the western plains. It included the districts of

Multan, Jhang Montgomery, Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera

Ismail Khan, Shahpur, Gujranwala, and greater part of Gujrat and

western tehsils of the district of Lahore. The rainfall in this region was

entirely inadequate so that the cultivation was chiefly confined to the

immediate precincts of the rivers.72

The inhabitants composed entirely of Muslims, who belong to

69 Ibid. 70 CRP, 1881, Vol. I, p 3 71 Ibid, pp 3-4 72 Ibid.

26

such ethnic groups as Biloch, Jats Rajputs Gujjars and Sayyids. Among

the Sayyids were found such diverse clans as the Daudpotra, Jaya,

Watu, Dogar Mahtam, Kharral, Kathia, Siyal, Khokhar, Tiwana, Jhabal

and Khulna. The trans-Indus Pathans and a certain proportion of the

Blich Spoke Pasthu and Biluchi. In the district of Dera Ghazi Khan,

Muzaffargarh and Multan‟s people spoke Jatki, a language holding an

intermediate position between Punjabi and Sindhi, while Punjabi was

prevalent in the remaining area.73

This was the situation of the Punjab prior to the introduction of

significant changes under the British rule. But with the consolidation

of the new system of control, these existing condition underwent a

tremendous transformation in the rural society, which, in turn, merely

added to its vulnerability to the onslaught and occurrences of serve

famine74

that engulfed larger area then before. To make this point clear,

in the following paragraph, an attempt is being made, to study the

impact of colonialism in terms of climate, soil, forests, rivers,

irrigation, villages, towns, migration, agriculture, industry, trade and

transport.

Barring the hilly portion of the submontane region and the

scanty arid tract of the south-east Punjab was in the main a vast

alluvial plains with rich soils, which, however, were deficient in

humus.75

The soil of the riverain tracts contained much alluvial and

generally a ploughing or two gave a splendid harvest. But the major

defect here was that the quality of this land was both varied and

variable, and very often a productive land in one year became a sandy

waste in the next due to action of the floods.

73 I.G.O.I., Provincial Series, Punjab, Vol. I, p 47 74 Ibid. 75 Royal Commission on Agriculture in India, Abridged Report, 1928, Vol. VIII (Evidence), pp 17,72

27

The flora falls naturally into four primary divisions: the

Himalayas, the Submontane Belt from the Jamua to Ravi, the Plains

proper, and the Salt Range on both sides of the Indus with connected

country in the north-west of the province.76

The Punjab plains which

formed the greater portion of the province and were in the western

basin of the Indo-Gangetic plains. The eastern boundary of the plains

coincided with the watershed between the flat basin of the Indus and

the Ganges system and that boundary was the western bank of the river

Jamuna.77

The plains of the Punjab, as shown in the map, spread between

70-80 east longitude and 27-34 north latitude.78

Barring the hilly

portions of the submontane region and the scanty arid tract of the

south-east, the Punjab was in the main a vast alluvial plain with rich

soils, which, however, were deficient in humus.79

The soil of the riverain tracts contained much alluvial and

generally a ploughing or two gave a splendid harvest. But the major

defect here was that the quality of this land was both varied and

variable, and very often a productive land in one year became a sandy

waste in the next due to action of the floods.

Forests play a useful part in the economy of man and of

nature. The direct uses of forests are that (i) they render the climate

more equitable, increase the relative humidity of the air, reduce

evaporation and tend to increase the precipitation of the moisture, (ii)

they store the rain water in the soil and prevent its too rapid surface

76 The Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. XX, p 252 77 Gazetteer of the Punjab Provincial Series, Vol. I, 1888-89, p 27 78 Ibid, p 2 79 Royal Commission on Agriculture in India, Abridged Report, 1928, Vol VIII (Evidence), pp 17-72.

28

flow, and that (iii) they increase the fertility of the soil,80

as they help

to form rich vegetable mould even from mineral soils.81

In the Punjab,

the direct usefulness of forests was chiefly due to the produce from

them and the large amount of grazing which they provided. They also

supplied fire-wood, timber and the necessary raw-materials for a few

industries such as bhabbar grass for paper-making, tanning materials

such as barks and a few fruits, resin, turpentine, etc. besides providing

employment to a large number of people like woodcutters, sawyers,

carters, carriers, craftsmen and many other deriving substance directly

from the products of the forests.82

Forests play a useful part in the economy of man and of nature.

The direct uses of forests are that (i) they render the climate more

equitable, increase the relative humidity of the air, reduce evaporation

and tend to increase the precipitation of the moisture, (ii) they store the

rain water in the soil and prevent its too rapid surface flow, and that

(iii) and they increase the fertility of the soils,83

as they help to form

rich vegetable mould even from mineral soils.84

In the Punjab, the

direct usefulness of forests was chiefly due to the produce fro m them

and the large amount of grazing which they provided. They also

supplied fire-wood, timber and the necessary raw-materials for a few

industries such as bhabbar grass for paper making, tanning materials

such as barks and a few fruits, resin, turpentine, etc. besides providing

employment to a large number of people like woodcutters, sawyers,

carts, carriers, rafts men and many other deriving substance directly

80 Royal Commission on Agriculture in India, Abridged Report, 1928, Vol VIII (Evidence), pp 17-72. 81 Ibid. 82 Statistical Abstract of British India, 1930–40, New Delhi, 1941, pp 570-581 83 Ibid. 84 Ibid.

29

from the products of the forests.85

WATER RESOURCES

The geography of the Punjab gave birth to several rivers of

great importance for navigation and irrigation purposes. Of the two

great river system of India, the Ganga and the Indus, the later flows

over the soils of the Punjab. The source of the Indus or Sindhu in

Sanskrit, which was one of the mightiest rivers of the world, lies in the

Mansarover Lake in Tibet, near Mount Kailash. It receives many

tributaries during its course to the sea. The main tributaries are the

Kabul and the Zeba on the west and Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the

Beas and the Sutlej in the east. These rivers divided the Punjab into six

doabs; the Sindh Sagar, the Rachna, the Bist, the Chaj, the Bari, and

the Satlej-Jamuna divide. These rivers had also served as

administration boundaries. Broadly speaking, the Indus formed the

western boundary and the Jamuna the eastern of the British Punjab

under study.

The building of canals for irrigation is quite an old phenomenon.

In the distant past, Feroze Shah Tughlaq (A.D. 1351-88) constructed

five canals of varying lengths and importance in the Punjab. During the

Mughal rule, new canals were added86

while the use of Persian wheels

became quite common.87

Under Ranjit Singh‟s rule, the districts of

Multan and Muzaffargarh witnessed the construction of a new canal by

Sawan Mal. A similar attempt was made for the construction of wells

in the tract known as the Doabs (the districts of Jullundur and

Hoshiarpur), Riarki (the district of Amritsar), and Darap (the district of

85 Statistical Abstract of British India, 1930-40, New Delhi, 1941, pp 570-581 86 Irfan Habib, The Agrarian System of the Mughal India, Bombay, 1963, pp 31-34 87 Irfan Habib, “Jats of the Punjab and Sindh”, in Harbans Singh and N. Gerald Barrier (ed.), Essays

in Honour of Dr. Ganda Singh, Patiala, 1976, pp 97-98

30

Sialkot and a part of the district of Gujranwala.88

During the British

period a major breakthrough in irrigation was made who dag up a good

network of canals in the western Punjab. Loans were raised for the

enterprise from the money market of London and the investment

proved highly profitable.89

The area irrigated by canals in 1868-69 was

1.37 million acres.90

The perennial canals constructed by the British were (i) the

Western Jamuna Canal, opened in 1820 and remodeled in 1873, for

irrigating the districts of Karnal, Delhi, Hissar and parts of Ambala;

(ii) the upper Bari Doab Canal was taken off at Madhopur from river

Ravi, opened in 1859, for irrigating the districts of Gurdaspur,

Amritsar and Lahore.91

SOCIAL LIFE

Natural resources are essential but more important for the people

who utilize them. Therefore, it is the number of inhabitants, which are

crucial to the socio-economic transformation of a given area. In 1855,

the population of the British Punjab was 12.7 million; in 1868, it was

17.6 million; and in 1901, including North-West Frontier Province, it

was 22 million, which after its separation from the Punjab, decreased

to 20 million.92

Of the total population at least 56 per cent were supported by

agriculture. Next in importance was the artisan section of the

community, which numbers 48, 98,080, or 19.8 per cent of the

88 Gurdit Singh, “Irrigation in the Punjab during the Maharaja‟s Time”, in Teja Singh and Ganda

Singh (ed.), Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s First Death Centenary Memorial, Patiala, 1939, p 148 89 Master Hari Singh, Agrarian Scene in British Punjab, Vol. I, New Delhi, 1983, p XII 90 CRP, 1868, p 82 91 Ibid. 92 Report on the Census taken on the 1st January 1855 of the population of the Punjab Territories,

paras 10-11 & 13, pp 9-10 and p 13-14, Report on the Census of the Punjab 1868, para, 28, p 7,

Report on the Census of India, 1901, Vol. XVII, part I, p 48

31

population. Of these, cotton-weaving, spinning supports 10,12,314, and

leather-workers 7,42,034, while potter number2,69,869, carpenters

2,63,717, and iron-workers 1,64,814.93

The making of tools and

implements supports 1,35,786, and building 1,21,153, goldsmith

number 1,20,755 and tailors 1,08,963, but the figures for these smaller

groups were subject to several qualification. In spite of the caste

system, the division of the labour had not been pushed very far in the

Punjab. The carpenter was often an ironsmith, the shopkeeper a money-

lender, the agriculturist a trader and so on.94

The staple food consists of the grain grown in the locality.

Well-to-do people eat wheat and rice, while the ordinary peasant‟s

food consists chiefly of wheat, barley and gram in summer and maize

in winter. Peasants were especially fond of curds, buttermilk, and green

mustard (sarson) as relishes with bread. In the camel-breeding tract

camel‟s was also drunk.95

The dress of the people was of the simplest kind and, in the

plains, made entirely of cotton cloth. A turban, a lion-cloth, a loose

warp, thrown round the body like a plaid, and in the cold season, a vest

or jacket of some kind, were the usual garments. Rajput women, Hindu

as well as Muhammadan, wear the trouser, and Gujars the petticoat

while many Sikhs and Hindu Jat women wear both.96

The ordinary peasant‟s house was not uncomfortable, through

hardly attractive. Built of mud, with a flat roof and rarely decorated, it

was cooler in summer and warmer in winter than a house of br ick or

stone. The furniture of an ordinary house was cheap and simple,

93 I.O.G.I., Provincial Series, Punjab, Vol. I, New Delhi, 1991, p 53 94 Ibid 95 For details, see District Gazetteers of the Punjab. 96 Ibid.

32

comprising a few string beds, stools, boxes, spinning wheels, and

cooking utensils, with a grain-receptacle of mud.97

The principal Hindu festivals were the Basant Panchmi, Holi,

Baisakhi, Salono, Janmashtmi, Dushara and Diwali.98

Instead of the

Holi, Sikhs observed a kindred festival called Hola Mohalla, celebrate

the day after Guru Nanak‟s birthday. Guru‟s Parave or Prakasho Utsav

was also celebrated.99

The main festivals of the Muhammadan, those

celebrated in the Punjab were Id-ul-Fitr, Id-ul-Zuha, Muharram, Bara

Wafat, Juma-ul-wida and Shab-i-barat.100

ECONOMIC LIFE

The economy of the Punjab was based on agriculture and agro-

based products, besides the cottage industries both in urban and rural

areas. However the agriculture was the base of the economy. There

were two main harvests, the rabi or hari (spring) sown in October-

November and reaped in April-May and the kharif or sawani (autumn)

sown from June to August and reaped from early September to the end

of December. The kharif harvest was followed by the rabi sowings,

while the rabi was often succeeded by an extra crop known as zaid

rabi, mainly of tobacco and the like in month of June.101

The kharif

crop included rice, jowar, bajra, millet and maize, while the rabi

included wheat, barley and oats. With the development of canal

irrigation the wheat crop assumed great importance. Since most of the

agriculture remained dependent on rainfall, it was the failure of kharif

harvest which always resulted in draught and famine. Though the

97 For details, see Settlement Reports of the Punjab. 98 I.G.O.I., Provincial Series, Punjab, Vol. I. p 54 99 For details, see District Gazetteers of the Punjab. 100 For details, see Settlement Reports of the Punjab. 101 A. Latifi, The Industrial Punjab, Lahore, 1911, pp XII-XIV

33

failure of kharif harvest by itself did not cause for famine, but famine

always did come and go with the kharif.102

That is to say, the kharif

might fail owing to insufficient rains at the sowing time, but failure of

rain in the latter half of the monsoon season adversely affected both

the ripening of kharif crops as well as the sowing of the rabi crops. In

the same way, famine went with the kharif because these late autumn

blessed the country with two crops at once.

The British government laid emphasis on the cultivation of

wheat, cotton and sugarcane which were meant to be exported to the

British markets. This process, known as the commercialization of

agriculture, however, brought little benefit of the peasants of the

Punjab,103

in fact, peasantry became poorer than before and to the

extent that some of them even got alienated from their small

landholdings permanently and other were reduced to the position of

share-cropping. It happened due to a number of reasons which included

the heavy, regular and untimely demand of land revenue, its changed

mode of payment from kind to cash, increased cash demand for

growing commercial crops and various water-cesses.

In order to meet his demand for cash, the cultivators was

forced to borrow from the village money-lender (commonly known as

shahukar, shah or bania) in the absence of alternate agency of credit

and, was left at the mercy of the shahukar who always extracted

exorbitant interest at the time of harvest through his machinations. The

shahukar also managed to compel the farmer to sell their produce at a

low price and took away almost everything except a few months‟ stoke

102 Punjab Famine Report, 1878-79, Vol. I, pp 25-26 103 Himadri Banerjee, Agrarian Society of the Punjab, 1849-1901,, New Delhi,1982, p 67. For details

of benefits of commercialization of agriculture in canal colonies, see Imran Ali, Punjab Under

Imperialism, 1885-1947, Oxford, 1989, p 28

34

meant for the sheer survival of the victim and his family. In many

cases the shahukar financed the cultivation of commercial crops and

carried away the harvest from the threshing floor itself. In this way, the

dependency of the cultivators on shahukar increased greatly under the

British system. The years of drought or famine multiplied his woes.

Consequently, the cultivators were not able to respond to the market

stimulus and in their cases commercialization of agriculture merely

increased their indebtedness.104

In the canal colonies, the big landlords were generally absentee,

who had rented out their lands to small farmers. The landlords and the

shahukar who got lands from the poor peasants in return for lending

them money had no interest for the improvement of agriculture. Rather

they rented out such lands to the tenants. The condition of tenants was

equally miserable because of the exchange pattern of the share in the

output of the produce.105

The deficiency in mineral resources, the plain topography and

fertile soils kept Punjab from ages an agricultural region. On the other

hand, this deficiency in mineral resources coupled with the disturbed

frontier location has always been a great hindrance to the growth and

development of industries. Even during the British rule the Punjab

remained a base for those agricultural products which used to from the

raw materials for the industries and bakeries of British and Europe.

Broadly speaking agriculture, industry, trade and transport formed the

major components of the economy of the Punjab under the British

rule.106

The household industry was quite flourishing in the pre-British

Punjab. The important manufactures were included the weaving, paper

104 Himadri Banerjee, op.cit., p 68 105 Ibid. 106 G. S. Chhabra, op.cit., p 124

35

making, leather-tanning and shoe making. In the rural areas the

demand came from both household and agricultural sectors. But shortly

after the establishment of the British rule the local industrial products

began to languish.107

The decline was not compensated by the growth

of large-scale factories because it was thought inevitable that India

should remain predominantly agricultural, whilst the British

government wished to avoid active encouragement of industries that

(like the cotton mill industry) competed with powerful English

interests and increased state expenditure.108

The hand-spinning and hand-weaving of cotton declined

considerably in the Punjab because „indiscriminate import and use of

European made cloth had brought about the ruin of the weavers‟.109

The

woolen hand loom industry, which had its centers at Ludhiana, Dera

Gazi Khan, Bhera, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Panipat, Nurpur and Kulu

was also declining because of the cheap imported woolen goods and

those manufactured at Dhariwal in the district of Gurdaspur.110

Silk

weaving also steadily losing ground to the growing competitions, for

want of efficient organization, inadequate resources of the average

weaver and his outdated methods of production.

Moreover, the demand for silk cloth was limited as it was as

article of luxury and was adversely affected by the change in fashion

with the growing taste for European calicoes.111

Tanning and leather

industry also could not stand against the better tanned leather prepared

by modern techniques both in other provinces of India and abroad.112

107 Indian Irrigation commission report, 1916-18, p 72 108 Vera Anstey, The Economic Development of India, London, 1929, p 210 109 The Paisa Akhbar (Lahore), 15 March, 1901, 110 CRP, 1911, Vol. XIV, p. 500; Punjab Administration Report, 1901-02, p 117. Indian Tariff Board

(Woolen Textile), Vol. II, 1935, p 308 111 CRP, 1911, Vol. XIV, p 501 112 Latifi, op.cit., p 108

36

The only industries that could develop in these unfavorable

circumstances were the cotton mill at Delhi (1889), the woolen mill at

Dhariwal (1882) and the bottle making at Jhelum in 1892.113

Thus, it

has rightly been remarked “that the indigenous industrial structure

suffered a serious set-back under the British rule while any organized

factory system could not develop in the state of Punjab. The

government initiated certain measures to give impetus to the

development of industries but in totality, it failed to bring out any large

scale industrial system.”114

As a consequence, this declining trend in

the indigenous industrial system not only uprooted the traditional

artisan class but also posed question of their survival. In this situation

they were forced either to work as agricultural labourers in the villages

thereby adding pressure on agriculture, or to search for job in big

towns where some agro-based industries were coming up.115

But on the whole, the circumstances created by the non-

availability of work and the non profitability of agriculture put

pressure on the Punjabi population to migration on large scale to other

parts of India and abroad in search of work avenues in the beginning of

the 20th

century.

At the time of annexation, the Punjab had no surplus

agricultural produce to export and the transportation was poor.116

Under

the British rule, the extension of irrigation and the consequent

development of agriculture, as well as the rapid growth in the

communication network gave impetus to trade in agricultural products

and created new opportunities for entrepreneurial activity. Market and

113 Ibid, p. 50 and p. 282, Punjab Administration Report (henceforth PAR), 1901-02, p 119 114 Neeladri Bhattacharya, op.cit., pp 593-607 115 Imran Ali, op.cit., p 43 116 I.G.O.I., Provincial Series, Punjab, Vol. I, 1908, p 156

37

towns situated at a convenient distances along the railway lines or on

the main roads provided collection and distribution points, from where

these commodities were exported to Europe of other parts of the Indian

subcontinent.

Modern means of transportation and communication were

lacking in the pre-British Punjab because the roads had been neglected

after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and railways had not arrived

as yet. Political, military, and commercial considerations forced the

British to develop a network of railways, roads, navigation and

telegraphic facilities on an urgent basis. Soon after annexation,

macadamized roads were introduced for the first time in the Punjab.117

The early metalled roads were laid down mainly to serve „military

purpose‟. Subsequently, however the increasing mileage converted

these roads of the province.118

In 1873-74, the length of metalled roads

was 1,036 miles. The first railway line was opened in 1862 between

Amritsar and Lahore. It was twenty-three miles in length.119

In 1865,

Lahore was further linked with Multan and the other route was

extended up to Muzaffargarh in 1870. By the beginning of the 20th

century, Punjab had a wide network of railway lines, crisscrossing the

whole region, ferry agricultural produce is the part of Karachi as well

as the army troops within the North India.

The opening of railways brought about a significant

transformation in the rural economy of the Punjab. It stimulated the

commercialization of agriculture and encouraged the cultivation of a

number of valuable crops such as wheat, sugarcane and cotton. It

brought a faster movement of various agricultural commodities at

117 K. M. Sarkar, The Grand Truck Road in the Punjab, Patiala, p 10 118 Ibid, p 12 119 I.G.O.I., Provincial Series, Punjab, p 89

38

lower transportation cost from one part of the province to another.120

In

addition, it assured an easy access to previously inaccessible areas. All

important fertile tracts were directly or indirectly brought into closer

contact with Karachi, offering newer avenues to traders for the export

of various agricultural commodities to the outside world. Every railway

stationed linked by roads through which agricultural produce was

brought from adjoining tracts. The agents of the exporting firms

arranged to buy the produce as it reached these stations. Thus the

Punjab was converted into an agrarian appendix and was incorporated

into the system of capitalist world market.121

The Punjab also became crucial for the imperial system of

control because the British army made its home in this province after

1880. The British government was dependent on the army which it

needed not only to defend the frontiers, but also to maintain its

authority within the empire. In Punjab, large number of persons

belonging to the peasantry began to join military service, and soon

their number swelled. Before the outbreak of the First World War, the

soldiers from Punjab constituted three-fifth of the total army in India.

The recruitment was made in maximum number from particular

sections of Punjab society which were supposed to be imbued with

strong martial traditions‟. Ian Talbot has observed that actually the

British policy of drawing recruits from Punjab was based on „sound

pragmatic grounds‟ but it was „consciously enshrined in the mythology

of martial caste theory‟ which maintained that „ethnic origins and

racial characteristics of the main groups of Punjabi recruits particularly

fitted them for military service.122

120 Chattar Singh, Social and Economic Changes in Haryana, Delhi, 2004, pp 83-84 121 Ibid. 122 Ian Talbot, Punjab and the Raj, New Delhi, 1988, P 43

39

In order to ensure regular supply of manpower for recruitment,

the government considered it essential to maintain its dominant holds

over the rural society. Any attempt to disturb its hegemony was

perceived by the British officials as „seditious‟ activity which needed

to be ruthlessly suppressed.123

Already in this province, since the

beginning of colonial rule, a distinct ideology described as „Punjab

School Ideology‟ was developed which „emphasized firm paternal rule

by an elite of self-confident administrators who conceived their duty as

that of bringing order and prosperity to a contented peasant society.

Apart from paternalism, it also embodied the necessary of taking firm

action against the people if they ever tried to pose a challenge to the

authority of British rule. This framework of colonial ideology was best

reflected in the status of Lord Lawrance built in Lahore with sward in

one hand and pen in other. The inscription engraved on the statue

mentioned, „Will you be governed by the sword or the pen‟? 124

The

application of repressive methods whenever necessary constituted a

major element of administration in Punjab.

The colonial state tried to strengthen its grip on rural society in

Punjab by making an „informal alliance‟ with rich landed classes which

held dominant influence over the local rural societies through social

and economic ties. The landlord who were described as „natural

leaders‟ by the British officials, willingly acted as intermediaries

between the state and the rural masses. This section of society, by and

large, remained loyal to the government. The latter also nurtured and

deepened their loyalty by extending patronage to them. But a

significant step by which the government intended to win over the rural

123 K.L.Tuteja, Jallianwala Bagh: A Critical Juncture in the Indian National Movement, in Social

Scientist, Vol. 25, Nos 1-2, Jan-Feb 1997, p 29 124 Ibid.

40

masses was the Land Alienation Act (1900). The new legislation

disallowed permanent alienation of land owned by the agriculturist

castes to the non-agriculturists moneylenders which included persons

belonging to Khatri, Arora and Bania castes. Later Michael O‟Dwyer,

who harbored strong prejudices against the urban middle classes,

granted agriculturists a „preferential right of recruitment in the

government service‟.125

This attitude of favoring agriculturists became

further evident when the Montagu-Chelmsford Report recommended

higher representation for in the Punjab Legislative Council.126

Of course, the logic behind the pro-agriculturist policy followed

by the British in Punjab underwent a change at the later stages of its

rule. In the earlier phase, as stated above, the government through this

policy endeavored to maintain its hold over rural society in order to

ensure regular export of agrarian products needed for the metropolis,

and also to ensure the supply of manpower for the army. But, when the

anti-imperialist forces started gaining strength after the t urn of the

century, the government realized that an ideology which projected

agriculturists against non-agriculturists could also be an effective

device to frustrate the attempts made by the nationalists to bring unity

of all Indians their rule in this province.127

The population of the Punjab in 1901 was 24,367,113 (of whom

4,424,398 were in the Native States), or 8.4 per cent of the whole

population of the Indian Empire.128

The increase in the population of

the province during the period 1901 to 1941 was 40.8 per cent as the

following figures showing population for the successive decennial

125 Ian Talbot, op. cit., p 57 126 Virender Singh, Dyarchy in Punjab, New Delhi, 1991, ch. II 127 For this view, see Prem Chaudhary, Punjab politics: The Role of Sir Chhotu Ram, New Delhi,

1984. 128 Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1908, Vol. XX, p 245

41

censuses would show:-

Table 1.2129

Population of the Punjab during 1901 to 1941

Adjusted

figure

1901 1911 1921 1931 1941

British

territory

19942715 19579046 20685478 23580852 28418819

Punjab

states

4424398 4212794 4416036 4910005 5891042

Total 24367113 23791840 25101514 28490857 34309861

It is obvious that the rate of growth of population was uneven

and irregular. The cause of this excessive fluctuation, in striking

contrast to the study rate experienced in most of the western countries,

was a tendency towards a rapid rate of increase checked by the

operation of positive checks such a poverty and disease. Thus during

the period 1891-1901 the population increased 9.1 per cent, but during

the next decade the population declined by 2.2 percent. The principal

cause of the decrease was the appearance of recurring epidemics of

plague during the early years of the decades, the total numbers of

deaths caused being over two million in the British territory alone.130

In

spite of the epidemic of influenza in 1918, which directly caused about

a million deaths, and the heavy casualties suffered by Punjabi soldiers

in First World War, the rate of increase of population during 1911-2

1was as much as 5.5 per cent.131

The decades 1921-31and 1931-41 were

free from any epidemic disease and were, therefore, very favorable for

growth in numbers. The rate of increase during these two decades was

13.5 per cent and 20.4 per cent, respectively.

129 Census of India, 1931, XVII, p 158; Census of India, 1941, Vol. VI, pp 8-16 130 Ibid, 1911, XIV, pp 41-42 131 Ibid, 1921, XV, p 60-62

42

DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION:-

According to the 1941 Census the density of population over the

whole of the Punjab was 248 to the square mile as against 178 in 1901;

174 in 1911; 184 in 1921 and 208 in 1931.132

The density was made up

of several densities, varying in 1941 from 54 in the Chamba State to

899 in the district of Amritsar. Generally it varied everywhere in

accordance with the agricultural resources. The district of Lyallpur

affords an important and most striking instance in this respect. In that

district only 15 persons to the square mile were found in 1891, but with

the extension of canal irrigation cultivators flocked to it from other

parts of the Province, raising the density to 272 in 1911 and to 368 in

1931.133

In a similar manner, other canal colonies were also fast

growing in density of population. Apart from these, other important

factors, which exercised any considerable influence on the density,

were the climate the growth of industrial and trading centers, the

facilities of means of transportation and marketing.134

Distribution of population according to major communities- The

proportion of the major communities per 10,000 of population is shown

below:

Table 1.3

The Proportion of Major Communities in Punjab135

Community 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941

Muslims 4,961 5,107 5,105 5,340 5,322

Hindus 4,127 3,579 3,506 3,018 2,911

Sikhs 863 1,211 1,238 1,429 1,491

Christians 27 82 133 148 149

132 Ibid, 1941, VI, p 17 133 Census of India, 1911, XIV, p 31 134 Census of India, 1911, XIV, p 31 135 Ibid, 1941,Vol. VI, pp 46-47

43

Above table shows that the populations of the Hindus in the

Punjab between 1901 to 1941 were decreased. But the population of

other communities was continuously increased. The population of the

Sikhs was increasing at a greater rate than the rest of the population.

The Muslims showed an increasing in their numbers at each census

except that of 1921, when a decrease of 2 per 10,000 of the population

took place among them.136

The decreased in the number of the Hindus,

on the other hand, requires careful examination. Pandit Hari Krishan

Kaul in his report on the 1911 Census enumerated the causes, which, in

his opinion were responsible for a smaller rate of growth among the

Hindus as compared with other religions. He laid particular stress on

(i) restriction of fecundity of enforced widowhood, (ii) evil effects of

child marriage on prolificness, (iii) loss of vitality in consequence of

the occupation and habits of the Hindus in towns and, (iv) the

difference of food.137

In the opinion of the Superintendent-in-charge of the 1931

Census Khan Ahmed Hasan Khan, “so far as the natural increase is

concerned, Hindus were almost as „progressive‟ as the other

communities in the Province.”138

The first cause of diminution among

the Hindus was the changed instructions issued in the 1911 Census

about the definition of Sikhism. Prior to that year only those persons

were recorded as Sikhs who, according to the tenets of the tenth Guru,

Gobind Singh, grew long hair and abstained from smoking, but since

then any one was recorded as Sikh who returned himself as such

whether or not he practiced those tenets.139

The second cause was the

136 Ibid, 1921, XV, p 174. The actual increase in the number of the Muslims, however, was 67,966

during the period 1911-21. 137 Census of India, 1911, XIV, pp 99-103 138 Census of India, 1931, XVII, p 300 139 Census of India, 1921, XV, p 114

44

absorption of the many members of the low castes, who adopted

Sikhism in order to “escape the inferiority complex.” Thus between

1901 and 1931 whereas Hindu scavengers decreased from 9,34,553 to

3,68,224 the Sikh scavengers increased from 21,673 to 1,57,341. Apart

from the lower classes a large number of conversions to Sikhism were

taking place from amongst the Hindu agricultural castes. Thus the

Hindu Jats decreased from 15,39,574 in 1901 to 9,92,309 in1931,

while Sikh Jats increased form 15,39,574 to 21,33,152 during the same

period. Conversation to Sikhism among the Hindu Rajput and Saini

castes were also heavy.140

It was possible to give an adequate

explanation of this movement except that Sikhism was often accepted

for economic reason, the expenses at social ceremonies and rites

among the Sikh being less than those of the Hindus.141

The Punjab was divided in three sub-regions, because of the

geographical condition. One was central Punjab, second was western

Punjab and third was south-east Punjab. The social and economic

condition of these was different. South-east and western Punjab (before

canal colonies) was arid zone and their land was depend on the rain but

the central Punjab was a fertile land due to the irrigation facilities. So,

the difference seen in the every aspects of the life of these people. The

population was dense in the central Punjab than the other two region.

140 Census of India, 1931, XVII, p 308 141 District Gazetteer, Attock, 1930, p 125