Modes of Collecting Rents.

—There are two methods of levying the revenues of the crown on every description of corn—kankut and batai, for on sugar-cane, poppy, oil, hemp, tobacco, cotton, indigo, and garden stuffs, a money payment is fixed, varying from two to six rupees per bigha. The kankut[48] is a conjectural assessment of the standing crop, by the united judgement of the officers of government, the Patel, the Patwari, or registrar, and the owner of the field. The accuracy with which an accustomed eye will determine the quantity of grain on a given surface is surprising: but should the owner deem the estimate overrated, he can insist on batai, or division of the corn after it is threshed; the most ancient and only infallible mode by which the dues either of the government or the husbandman can be ascertained. In the batai system the share of the government varies from one-third to two-fifths of the spring harvest, as wheat and barley; and sometimes even half, which is the invariable proportion of the autumnal crops. In either case, kankut or batai, when the shares are appropriated, those of the crown may be commuted to a money payment at the average rate of the market. The kut is the most liable to corruption. The ryot bribes the collector, who will underrate the crop; and when he betrays his duty, the shahnah, or watchman, is not likely to be honest: and as the makai, or Indian corn, the grand autumnal crop of Mewar, is eaten green, the crown may be defrauded of half its dues. The system is one of uncertainty, from which eventually the ryot derives no advantage, though it [503] fosters the cupidity of patels and collectors; but there was a barar, or tax, introduced to make up for this deficiency, which was in proportion to the quantity cultivated, and its amount at the mercy of the officers. Thus the ryot went to work with a mill-stone round his neck; instead of the exhilarating reflection that every hour’s additional labour was his own, he saw merely the advantage of these harpies, and contented himself with raising a scanty subsistence in a slovenly and indolent manner, by which he forfeited the ancient reputation of the Jat cultivator of Mewar.

Improvement in the Condition of the People.

—Notwithstanding these and various other drawbacks to the prosperity of the country, in an impoverished court, avaricious and corrupt officers, discontented Patels, and bad seasons, yet the final report in May 1822 could not but be gratifying when contrasted with that of February 1818. In order to ascertain the progressive improvement, a census had been made at the end of 1821, of the three central fiscal districts[49] watered by the Berach and Banas. As a specimen of the whole, we may take the tappa or subdivision of Sahara. Of its twenty-seven villages, six were inhabited in 1818, the number of families being three hundred and sixty-nine, three-fourths of whom belonged to the resumed town of Amli. In 1821 nine hundred and twenty-six families were reported, and every village of the twenty-seven was occupied, so that population had almost trebled. The number of ploughs was more than trebled, and cultivation quadrupled; and though this, from the causes described, was not above one-third of what real industry might have effected, the contrast was abundantly cheering. The same ratio of prosperity applied to the entire crown demesne of Mewar. By the recovery of Kumbhalmer, Raepur, Rajnagar, and Sadri-Kanera from the Mahrattas; of Jahazpur from Kotah; of the usurpations of the nobles; together with the resumption of all the estates of the females of his family, a task at once difficult and delicate;[50] and by the subjugation of the mountain districts of Merwara, a thousand towns and villages were united to form the fiscal demesne of the Rana, composing twenty-four districts of various magnitudes, divided, as in ancient times, and with the primitive [504] appellations, into portions tantamount to the tithings and hundreds of England, the division from time immemorial amongst the Hindus.[51] From these and the commercial duties[52] a revenue was derived sufficient for the comforts, and even the dignities of the prince and his court, and promising an annual increase in the ratio of good government: but profusion scattered all that industry and ingenuity could collect; the artificial wants of the prince perpetuated the real necessities of the peasant, and this, it is to be feared, will continue till the present generation shall sleep with their forefathers.
Abstract of the Fiscal Revenues of Mewar in the years
1818-19-20-21-22.
 
Spring harvest of 1818 Rs. 40,000    
” 1819 451,281    
” 1820 659,100    
” 1821 1,018,478    
” 1822 936,640 { The active superintendence of the British Agent being almost entirely withdrawn.
Abstract of Commercial Duties included in the above.
In 1818 Nominal    
1819 Rs. 96,683    
1820 165,108    
1821 220,000    
1822 217,000 { Farmed for three years, from 1822, for 750,000 rupees, which was assigned by the Rana for the liquidation of tribute fallen in arrear.

Mines and Minerals.

—There are sources of wealth in Mewar yet untouched, and to which her princes owe much of their power. The tin mines of Jawara and Dariba alone, little more than half a century ago, yielded above three lakhs annually;[53] besides rich copper mines in various parts. From such, beyond a doubt, much of the wealth of Mewar was extracted, but the miners are now dead, and the mines filled with water. An attempt was made to work them, but it was so unprofitable that the design was soon abandoned.

Nothing will better exemplify the progress of prosperity than the comparative population of some of the chief towns before, and after, four years of peace:

  No. of houses in 1818. No. of houses in 1822.
Udaipur   3,500     10,000  
Bhilwara   not one     2,700  
Pur   200     1,200  
Mandal   80     400  
Gosunda   60     350 [505]  

The Feudal Lands.

—The feudal lands, which were then double the fiscal, did not exhibit the like improvement, the merchant and cultivator residing thereon not having the same certainty of reaping the fruits of their industry; still great amelioration took place, and few were so blind as not to see their account in it.[54] The earnestness with which many requested the Agent to back their expressed intentions with his guarantee to their communities of the same measure of justice and protection as the fiscal tenants enjoyed was proof that they well understood the benefits of reciprocal confidence; but this could not be tendered without danger. Before the Agent left the country he greatly withdrew from active interference, it being his constant, as it was his last impressive lesson, that they should rely upon themselves if they desired to retain a shadow of independence. To give an idea of the improved police, insurance which has been described as amounting to eight per cent in a space of twenty-five miles became almost nominal, or one-fourth of a rupee per cent from one frontier to the other. It would, however, have been quite Utopian to have expected that the lawless tribes would remain in that stupid subordination which the unexampled state of society imposed for a time (as described in the opening of these transactions), when they found that real restraints did not follow imaginary terrors. Had the wild tribes been under the sole influence of British power, nothing would have been so simple as effectually, not only to control, but to conciliate and improve them; for it is a mortifying truth, that the more remote from civilization, the more tractable and easy was the object to manage, more especially the Bhil.[55] But these children of nature were incorporated in the demesnes of the feudal chiefs, who when they found our system did not extend to perpetual control, returned to their old habits of oppression: this provoked retaliation, which to subdue requires more power than the Rana yet possesses, and, in the anomalous state of our alliances, will always be an embarrassing task to whosoever may exercise political control.

In conclusion, it is to be hoped that the years of oppression that have swept the land will be held in remembrance by the protecting power, and that neither petulance nor indolence will lessen the benevolence which restored life to Mewar, or mar the picture of comparative happiness it created.

The Sixteen chief Nobles of Mewar, their Titles, Names, Clans, Tribes, Estates,
number of Villages in each, and their Value.
Titles. Names. Clan. Tribe. Estate. Number of Villages. Value, A.D. 1760. Remarks
Raj Chandan Singh Jhala Jhala Sadri 127 100,000 } These estates are all diminished one-half in nominal amount; and their revenues still more.
Rao Partap Singh Chauhan Chauhan Bedia 80 100,000
Rao Mohkam Singh Chauhan Chauhan Kotharia 65 80,000
Rawat Padma Singh Chondawat Sesodia Salumbar 85 84,000 Would realize this if cultivated.
Thakur Zorawar Singh Rathor Mertia Ghanerao 100 100,000 This chief ceases to be one of the 16 since the Rana lost the province of Godwar.
Rao Keshodas —— Pramar Bijolia 40 45,000 Would realize this if cultivated.
Rawat Gokuldas Sangawat Sesodia Deogarh 125 80,000 Would realize more if cultivated.
Rawat Maha Singh Meghawat Sesodia Begun 150 200,000 This includes usurpations—now seized by Sindhia. The estate would realize 70,000 if cultivated.
Raj Kalyan Singh Jhala Jhala Delwara 125 100,000 Would realize two-thirds if cultivated.
Rawat Salim Singh Jagawat Jagawat Amet 60 60,000 Do.,     do.
Raj Chhattar Sal Jhala Jhala Gogunda 50 50,000 Would realize this if cultivated.
Rawat Fateh Singh Sarangdevot Sesodia Kanor 50 95,000 Would realize half if cultivated.
Maharaja Zorawar Singh Saktawat Sesodia Bhindar 64 64,000 Would realize this if cultivated.
Thakur Jeth Singh Mertia Rathor Badnor 80 80,000 Do.,           do.
Rawat Salim Singh Saktawat Sesodia Bansi 40 40,000 } These chiefs have lost all influence and half their their estates.
Rao Surajmall Singh Chauhan Chauhan Parsoli 40 40,000
Rawat Kesari Singh Kishanawat Sesodia Bhainsror 60 60,000 } These chiefs have taken rank on the depression of the above—they never appear at court on the same day.
Rawat Jawan Singh Kishanawat Sesodia Kurabar 35 35,000

Note.—The inferior grades possessed estates to a still larger amount, conjointly yielding a revenue of thirty lakhs of rupees; and as each thousand rupees of estate furnished on emergency three horses completely equipped, the feudal interest could supply nine thousand horse besides foot, of which they make little account. [Accounts of the present condition of these nobles will be found in Erskine ii. A. under the headings of their estates.]

1. See Appendix, No. VIII., for treaty with the Rana.

2. Commanded by Major-General Sir R. Donkin, K.C.B.

3. The author had the honour to be selected by the Marquess of Hastings to represent him at the Rana’s court, with the title of ‘Political Agent to the Western Rajput States.’ During the campaign of 1817-18 he was placed as the point of communication to the various divisions of the northern army; at the same time being intrusted with the negotiations with Holkar (previous to the rupture), and with those of Kotah and Bundi. He concluded the treaty with the latter State en route to Udaipur, where, as at the latter, there were only the benefits of moral and political existence to confer.

4. The author had passed through Bhilwara in May 1806, when it was comparatively flourishing. On this occasion (Feb. 1818) it was entirely deserted. It excited a smile, in the midst of regrets, to observe the practical wit of some of the soldiers, who had supplied the naked representative of Adinath with an apron—not of leaves, but scarlet cloth.

5. The Agent had seen him when a boy, at a meeting already described; but he could scarcely have hoped to find in one, to the formation of whose character the times had been so unfavourable, such a specimen as this descendant of Partap.

6. A description of the city and valley will be more appropriate elsewhere.

7. See p. 508.

8. The escort consisted of two companies of foot, each of one hundred men, with half a troop of cavalry. The gentlemen attached to the mission were Captain Waugh (who was secretary and commandant of the escort), with Lieutenant Carey as his subaltern. Dr. Duncan was the medical officer.

9. [Modes in music.]

10. The buckler is the tray in which gifts are presented by the Rajputs.

11. If we dare compare the moral economy of an entire people to the physical economy of the individual, we should liken this period in the history of Mewar to intermittent pulsation of the heart—a pause in moral as in physical existence; a consciousness thereof, inertly awaiting the propelling power to restore healthful action to a state of languid repose; or what the Rajput would better comprehend, his own condition when the opiate stimulant begins to dissipate, and mind and body are alike abandoned to helpless imbecility. Who has lived out of the circle of mere vegetation, and not experienced this temporary deprivation of moral vitality? for no other simile would suit the painful pause in the sympathies of the inhabitants of this once fertile region, where experience could point out but one page in their annals, one period in their history, when the clangour of the war trumpet was suspended, or the sword shut up in its scabbard. The portals of Janus at Rome were closed but twice in a period of seven hundred years; and in exactly the same time from the conquest by Shihabu-d-din to the great pacification, but twice can we record peace in Mewar—the reign of Numa has its type in Shah Jahan, while the more appropriate reign of Augustus belongs to Britain. Are we to wonder then that a chilling void now occupied (if the solecism is admissible) the place of interminable action? when the mind was released from the anxiety of daily, hourly, devising schemes of preservation, to one of perfect security—that enervating calm, in which, to use their own homely phrase, Bher aur bakri ekhi thali se piye, ‘The wolf and the goat drank from the same vessel.’ [Another, and more usual form is—Āj kal, sher bakrī ek ghāt pāni pitē hain, ‘Nowadays the tiger and the goat drink from the same stream.’] But this unruffled torpidity had its limit: the Agrarian laws of Mewar were but mentioned, and the national pulse instantly rose.

12. Or rather, who makes the monogrammatic signet Sahi (‘correct’) to all deeds, grants, etc.

13. [Properly Sūratnavīs, ‘statement-writer.’]

14. The Salumbar chief had his deputy, who resided at court for this sole duty, for which he held a village. See p. 235.

15. Niyao, Daftar, Taksala, Silah, Gaddi, Gahna, Kapra-bandar, Ghora, Rasora, Nakkar-khana, Jaleb, Rawala.

16. [Sāwan sudi tīj, third of the bright half of the month Sāwan (July to August), a festival celebrated throughout North India.]

17. [About 45 miles north of Udaipur city.]

18. In the Personal Narrative.

19. Although Bhilwara has not attained that high prosperity my enthusiasm anticipated, yet the philanthropic Heber records that in 1825 (three years after I had left the country) it exhibited “a greater appearance of trade, industry, and moderate but widely diffused wealth and comfort, than he had witnessed since he left DelhiDelhi” [Diary, ed. 1861, ii. 56 f.]. The record of the sentiments of the inhabitants towards me, as conveyed by the bishop, was gratifying, though their expression could excite no surprise in any one acquainted with the characters and sensibilities of these people. [The author’s anticipation of the prosperity of this town have not been completely realized; but it is still an important centre of trade, noted for the manufacture of cooking utensils, and possessing a ginning factory and a cotton-press (Erskine ii. A. 97 f.).]

20. A literal translation of this curious piece of Hindu legislation will be found at the end of the Appendix. If not drawn up with all the dignity of the legal enactments of the great governments of the West, it has an important advantage in conciseness; the articles cannot be misinterpreted, and require no lawyer to expound them.

21. "Kampani Sahib ke namak ke zor se“ is a common phrase of our native soldiery; and ”Dohai! Kampani ki!" is an invocation or appeal against injustice; but I never heard this watchword so powerfully applied as when a Sub. with the Resident’s escort in 1812. One of our men, a noble young Rajput about nineteen years of age, and six feet high, had been sent with an elephant to forage in the wilds of Narwar. A band of at least fifty predatory horsemen assailed him, and demanded the surrender of the elephant, which he met by pointing his musket and giving them defiance. Beset on all sides, he fired, was cut down, and left for dead, in which state he was found, and brought to camp upon a litter. One sabre-cut had opened the back entirely across, exposing the action of the viscera, and his arms and wrists were barbarously hacked: yet he was firm, collected, and even cheerful; and to a kind reproach for his rashness, he said, "What would you have said, Captain Sahib, had I surrendered the Company’s musket (Kampani ki banduq) without fighting?" From their temperate habits, the wound in the back did well; but the severed nerves of the wrists brought on a lockjaw of which he died. The Company have thousands who would alike die for their banduq. It were wise to cherish such feelings.

22. [An instance of the practice of ‘sitting dharna’ to enforce a claim (Yule-Burnell, Hobson-Jobson, 2nd ed. 315 f.).]

23. See p. 380.

24. See p. 514 and note.

25. It will fill up the picture of the times to relate the revenge. When Jamshid, the infamous lieutenant of the infamous Amir Khan, established his headquarters at Udaipur, which he daily devastated, Sardar Singh, then in power, was seized and confined as a hostage for the payment of thirty thousand rupees demanded of the Rana. The surviving brothers of the murdered minister Somji ‘purchased their foe’ with the sum demanded, and anticipated his clansmen, who were on the point of effecting his liberation. The same sun shone on the head of Sardar, which was placed as a signal of revenge over the gateway of Rampiyari’s palace. I had the anecdotes from the minister Siyahal, one of the actors in these tragedies, and a relative of the brothers, who were all swept away by the dagger. A similar fate often seemed to him, though a brave man, inevitable during these resumptions; which impression, added to the Rana’s known inconstancy of favour, robbed him of half his energies.

26. Nearly twelve months after this, my public duty called me to Nimbahera en route to Kotah. The castle of Hamira was within an hour’s ride, and at night he was reported as having arrived to visit me, when I appointed the next day to receive him. Early next morning, according to custom, I took my ride, with four of Skinner’s Horse, and galloped past him, stretched with his followers on the ground not far from my camp, towards his fort. He came to me after breakfast, called me his greatest friend, “swore by his dagger he was my Rajput,” and that he would be in future obedient and loyal; but this, I fear, can never be.

27. Literally faith (dharma) to his lord (swami).

28. Paper of relinquishment.

29. The dūb grass [[Cynodon dactylon] flourishes in all seasons, and most in the intense heats; it is not only amara or ‘immortal,’ but akshay, ‘not to be eradicated’; and its tenacity to the soil deserves the distinction.

30. From bap, ‘father,’ and the termination of, or belonging to, and by which clans are distinguished; as Karansot, ‘descended of Karan’; Mansinghgot, ‘descended of Mansingh.’ It is curious enough that the mountain clans of Albania, and other Greeks, have the same distinguishing termination, and the Mainote of Greece and the Mairot of Rajputana alike signify mountaineer, or ‘of the mountain,’ maina in Albanian; mairu or meru in Sanskrit. [The words have no connexion.]

31. Laws, ix. 44.

32. [“When he [the king] has gained victory, let him duly worship the gods and honour righteous Brāhmanas, let him grant exemptions, and let him cause promises of safety to be proclaimed. But having fully ascertained the wishes of all the (conquered), let him place then a relation of (the vanquished ruler on the throne), and let him impose his conditions. Let him make authoritative the lawful customs of the inhabitants, just as they are stated to be” (Manu, Laws, vii. 201 f., trans. Bühler, Sacred Books of the East, xxv. 248 f.).]

33. [“Let him [the king] cause his annual revenue in his kingdom to be collected by trusty (officials), let him obey the sacred law (in his transactions with) the people, and behave as a father to all men” (Manu, Laws, vii. 80). “Not to turn back in battle, to protect the people, to honour the Brāhmanas, is the best means for a king to secure happiness” (ib. vii. 88). “From the people let him (the king) learn (the theory) of the (various) trades and professions” (ib. vii. 43). “But (he who is given) to these vices (loses) even his life” (ib. vii. 46), trans. Bühler, Sacred Books of the East, xxv.]

34. Cani, ‘land,’ and atchi, ‘heritage’: Report, p. 289.—I should be inclined to imagine the atchi, like the ot and awat, Rajput terminations, implying clanship. [Tamil kāniyātchi, ‘that which is held in free and hereditary property’; kāni, ‘land,’ ātchi, ‘inheritance’ (Wilson, Glossary, s.v.; Madras Manual of Administration, iii. 58).]

35. See p. 195.

36. See p. 195.

37. See Sketch of Feudal System, p. 170.

38. Nahrwala of D’Anville; the Balhara sovereignty of the Arabian travellers of the eighth and ninth centuries. I visited the remains of this city on my last journey, and from original authorities shall give an account of this ancient emporium of commerce and literature.

39. Salvamenta of the European system.

40. The author has to acknowledge with regret that he was the cause of the Mina proprietors not re-obtaining their bapota: this arose, partly from ignorance at the time, partly from the individual claimants being dead, and more than all, from the representation that the intended sale originated in a bribe to Sadaram the governor, which, however, was not the case.

41. Claims to the bapota appear to be maintainable if not alienated longer than one hundred and one years; and undisturbed possession (no matter how obtained) for the same period appears to confer this right. The miras of Khandesh appears to have been on the same footing. See Mr. Elphinstone’s Report, October 25, 1819, ed. 1872, p. 17 f., quoted in BG, xii. 266. [The word mīrās means ‘inherited estate,’ the right of disposal of which rests with the holder. The Jāts certainly did not bring the custom to Kent.]

42. The sawmy begum of the peninsula in Fifth Report, pp. 356-57; correctly swami bhoga, ‘lord’s rent,’ in Sanskrit.

43. Manu, Laws, ix. 52-54, on the Servile Classes. [Bühler’s version differs, but the meaning is practically the same as that of the text.]

44. Patel.

45. Patel barar.

46. The Gharginti barar, and Kharlakar, or wood and forage, explained in the Feudal System.

47. In copper-plate grants dug from the ruins of the ancient Ujjain (presented to the Royal Asiatic Society), the prince’s patents (patta) conferring gifts are addressed to the Patta-silas and Ryots. I never heard an etymology of this word, but imagine it to be from patta, ‘grant,’ or ‘patent,’ and sila, which means a nail, or sharp instrument; [? sila, the stone on which the grant is engraved]; metaphorically, that which binds or unites these patents; all, however, having pati, or chief, as the basis (see Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. i. p. 237). [Pati, ‘chief,’ has no connexion with patta, ‘a grant,’ the latter being the origin of patel. For the position of the Patel see Baden-Powell, The Indian Village Community, 10 ff.; Malcolm, Memoir of Central India, 2nd ed. ii. 14 ff.]

48. [Kan, ‘grain,’ kūt, ‘valuation,’ batāi from batānā, ‘to divide.’]

49. Mui, Barak, and Kapasan.

50. To effect this, indispensable alike for unity of government and the establishment of a police, the individual statements of their holders were taken for the revenues they had derived from them, and money payments three times the amount were adjudged to them. They were gainers by this arrangement, and were soon loaded with jewels and ornaments, but the numerous train of harpies who cheated them and abused the poor ryot were eternally at work to defeat all such beneficial schemes; and the counteraction of the intrigues was painful and disgusting.

51. Manu [Laws, vii. 119] ordains the division into tens, hundreds, and thousands.

52. Farmed for the ensuing three years, from 1822, for seven lakhs of rupees.

53. In S. 1816, Jawara yielded Rs. 222,000 and Dariba Rs. 80,000. The tin of these mines contains a portion of silver. [What the Author calls the tin mines are probably the lead and zinc mines at Jāwar, 16 miles south of Udaipur city. They seem now to be exhausted, and search might be made for other untouched pockets of ore. Those at Darība, which formerly yielded a considerable revenue, have long been closed (Erskine ii, A. 53).]

54. There are between two and three thousand towns, villages, and hamlets, besides the fiscal land of Mewar; but the tribute of the British Government is derived only from the fiscal; it would have been impossible to collect from the feudal lands, which are burthened with service, and form the army of the State.