Retrospect of Mārwār History.
—Having thus rapidly sketched
the history of this interesting branch of the Rajput race, from
the destruction of their ancient seat of empire, Kanauj, and their
settlement in the Indian desert more than six centuries ago, to
the present day, it is impossible to quit the subject without a
reflection on the anomalous condition of their alliance with the
British Government, which can sanction the existence of such a
state of things as we have just described. It illustrates the
assertions made in an early part of this work,
[12] of the ill-defined
principles which guide all our treaties with the Rajputs, and
which, if not early remedied, will rapidly progress to a state of
things full of misery to them, and of inevitable danger to ourselves.
These “men of the soil,” as they emphatically designate
themselves, cling to it, and their ancient and well-defined privileges,
with an unconquerable pertinacity; in their endeavours
to preserve them, whole generations have been swept away, yet
has their strength increased in the very ratio of oppression.
Where are now the oppressors? the dynasties of Ghazni, of Ghor,
the Khiljis, the Lodis, the Pathans, the Timurs, and the demoralizing
Mahratta? The native Rajput has flourished amidst these
revolutions, and survived their fall; and but for the vices of
their internal sway, chiefly contracted from such association,
would have risen to power upon the ruin of their tyrants. But
internal dissension invited the spoiler; and herds of avaricious
Mahrattas and ferocious Pathans have reaped the harvest of their
folly. Yet all these faults were to be redeemed in their alliances
with a people whose peculiar boast was, that wisdom, justice, and
clemency were the corner-stones of their power: seeking nothing
from them beyond the means for their defence, and an adherence
to the virtues of order. How far the protecting power has
redeemed its pledge, in allowing years to pass away without some
attempt to remedy the anarchy we have described, the reader is
in a condition to judge. If it be said that we have tied up our
hands by leaving them free agents in their internal administration,
then let no offer of support be given to the head, for the
oppression of the vassal and his rights, co-equal with those of
the sovereign [161]; and if our mediation cannot be exerted, let
us withdraw altogether the checks upon the operation of their
own system of government, and leave them free agents in reality.
A wiser, more humane, and liberal policy would be, to impose
upon ourselves the task of understanding their political condition,
and to use our just influence for the restoration of their internal
prosperity, and with it the peace, present as well as prospective,
of an important part of our empire. The policy which such views
would suggest, is to support the opinion of the vast majority of
the Rathors, and to seize the first opportunity to lend at least
our sanction to an adoption, from the Idar branch, of Rathor
blood, not only uncontaminated, but heirs-presumptive to Jodha,
and exclude the parricidal line which will continue to bring misery
on the country. If, however, we apply only our own monarchical,
nay, despotic principles to this feudal society, and interfere but
to uphold a blind tyranny, which must drive these brave chiefs
to despair, it will be well to reflect and consider, from the acts we
have related, of what they are capable. Very different, indeed,
would be the deeds of proscribed Rajputs from those of vagabond
Pindaris, or desultory Mahrattas; and what a field for aggression
and retreat! Rumour asserts that they have already done
themselves justice; and that, driven to desperation, and with no
power to mediate, the dagger has reached the heart of Raja Man!
If this be true, it is a retribution which might have been expected;
it was the only alternative left to the oppressed chiefs to do themselves
justice. It is also said, that the ‘pretended’ son of Raja
Bhim is now on the
gaddi of Jodha. This is deeply to be lamented.
Raja Dhonkal will see only the party who espoused his pretensions,
and the Pokaran chief and faction will hold that place in
the councils of his sovereign, which of right belongs to the head
of his clan, the Champawat chief of Awa, an exile in Mewar.
[13]
Jealousy, feuds, and bloodshed will be the consequence, which
would at once be averted by an adoption from Idar. Were a
grand council of Rajputs to be convened, in order to adjust the
question, nine-tenths would decide as proposed; the danger of
interference would be neutralized, and peace and tranquillity
would be the boon bestowed upon thousands, and, what is of
some consequence, future danger to ourselves would be avoided
[162].
CHAPTER 16
Extent of Mārwār.
—The extreme breadth of Marwar lies
between two points in the parallel of the capital, namely, Girab,
west, and Shamgarh, on the Aravalli range, east. This line
measures two hundred and seventy British miles. The greatest
length, from the Sirohi frontier to the northern boundary, is
about two hundred and twenty miles.
[1] From the remote angle,
N.N.E., in the Didwana district, to the extremity of Sanchor,
S.W., the diagonal measurement is three hundred and fifty miles.
The limits of Marwar are, however, so very irregular, and present
so many salient angles and abutments into other States, that
without a trigonometrical process we cannot arrive at a correct
estimate of its superficial extent: a nicety not, indeed,
required.
Physical Features, Population.
—The most marked feature
that diversifies the face of Maru is the river Luni, which, rising
on her eastern frontier at Pushkar, and pursuing a westerly course,
nearly bisects the country, and forms the boundary between the
fertile and sterile lands of Maru. But although the tracts south
of this stream, between it and the Aravalli, are by far the richest
part of Marwar, it would be erroneous to describe all the northern
part as sterile. An ideal line, passing through Nagor and Jodhpur,
to Balotra, will mark the just distinction. South of this line will
lie the districts of Didwana, Nagor, Merta, Jodhpur, Pali, Sojat,
Godwar, Siwana, Jalor, Bhinmal, and Sanchor, most of which are
fertile and populous; and we may [163] assign a population of
eighty souls to the square mile. The space north of this line is
of a very different character, but this requires a subdivision; for
while the north-east portion, which includes a portion of Nagor,
the large towns of Phalodi, Pokaran, etc., may be calculated at
thirty, the remaining space to the south-west, as Gugadeo-ka-thal,
or ‘desert of Guga,’ Sheo, Barmer, Kotra, and Chhotan, can
scarcely be allowed ten. In round numbers, the population of
Marwar may be estimated at two millions of souls.
[2]Classes of Inhabitants.
—Of this amount, the following is the
classification of the tribes. The Jats constitute five-eighths, the
Rajputs two-eighths,
[3] while the remaining classes, sacerdotal,
[4] commercial,
and servile, make up the integral number. If this calculation
be near the truth, the Rajputs, men, women, and children,
will amount to five hundred thousand souls, which would admit
of fifty thousand men capable of bearing arms, especially when
we recollect that the Jats or Jāts are the industrious class.
The Rāthors.
—It is superfluous to expatiate on the peculiarities
of the Rathor character, which we have endeavoured to extract
from their own actions. It stands deservedly high in the scale
of the “Thirty-six Tribes,” and although debased by one besetting
sin (the use of opium), the Rathor is yet a noble animal, and
requires only some exciting cause to show that the spirit, which
set at defiance the resources of the empire in the zenith of its
prosperity, is dormant only, not extinct. The reign of the present
prince has done more, however, than even the arms of Aurangzeb,
to deteriorate the Rathors. Peace would recruit their thinned
ranks, but the mistrust sown in every house by unheard-of
duplicity, has greatly demoralized the national character, which
until lately stood higher than that of any of the circumjacent
tribes. A popular prince, until within these very few years,
could easily have collected a magnificent army,
ek bap ke bete,
‘the sons of one father,’ round the ‘
gaddi of Jodha’: in fact,
the
panchas hazar tarwar Rathoran, meaning the ‘fifty thousand
Rathor swords,’ is the proverbial phrase to denote the muster of
Maru, of which they estimated five thousand cavalry. This was
exclusive of the household and foreign troops supported on the
fiscal lands. The Rathor cavalry was the best in India. There
were several horse-fairs, especially those of Balotra and Pushkar
where the horses of [164] Cutch and Kathiawar, the Jungle, and
Multan, were brought in great numbers. Valuable horses were
also bred on the western frontier, on the Luni, those of Rardara
being in high estimation. But the events of the last twenty
years appear to have dried up every source of supply. The
breeding studs of Rardara, Cutch, and the Jungle are almost
extinct, and supplies from the west of the Indus are intercepted
by the Sikhs.
[5] The destruction of the predatory system, which
created a constant demand, appears to have lessened the supply.
So much for the general peace which the successes of Britain have
produced.
In periods of civil commotion, or when the safety of the State
was perilled, we hear of one clan (the Champawat) mustering four
thousand horse. But if ever so many of “the sons of Champa”
were congregated at one time, it is an extraordinary occurrence,
and far beyond the demand which the State has upon their
loyalty. To estimate what may be demanded of them, we have
only to divide the rent-roll by five hundred rupees, the qualification
for a cavalier in Maru, and to add, for each horse, two
foot-soldiers. A schedule of the greater feudal estates shall be
appended.
Soil, Agriculture, Products.
—The following is the classification
of the different heads of soil in Marwar: Bekal, Chikni, Pīla,
and Safed. The first (whose etymology I know not) pervades
the greater part of the country, being a light sand, having little
or no earthy admixture, and only fit to produce
bajra (millet),
mung,
moth (pulse),
til (sesamum), melons and
gawar.
[6] Chikni
(fat), a black earth, pervades the district of Didwana, Merta, Pali,
and several of the feudal lands in Godwar. Wheat and grain are
its products. The Pīla (yellow) is a sandy clay, chiefly about
Khinwasar
[7] and the capital, also Jalor and Balotra, and portions
of other districts. It is best adapted for barley, and that kind
of wheat called
pattagehun (the other is
kathagehun);
[8] also
tobacco, onions, and other vegetables: the staple millets are
seldom grown in this. The Safed (white) is almost pure silex,
and grows little or nothing, but after heavy falls of rain.
[9]The districts south of the Luni, as Pali, Sojat, and Godwar,
fertilized by the numerous petty streams flowing from the Aravalli,
produce abundantly every species of grain with the exception of
bajra, which thrives best in a sandy soil; and in Nagor and
Merta considerable quantities of the richer grains are raised by
irrigation from wells. The extensive western divisions of Jalor,
Sanchor, and Bhinmal, containing [165] five hundred and ten
towns and villages, which are Khalisa, or ‘fiscal land,’ possess
an excellent soil, with the advantage of the rills from Abu, and
the great southern barrier; but the demoralized government of
Raja Man never obtains from them one-third of their intrinsic
capability, while the encroachment of the Sahariyas, and other
robbers from the Sindi desert, encroach upon them often with
impunity. Wheat, barley, rice, juar (millet), mung (pulse), til
(sesamum), are the chief products of the richer lands; while
amidst the sandy tracts they are confined to bajra, mung, and til.
With good government, Marwar possesses abundance of means
to collect stores against the visitations which afflict these northern
regions: but prejudice steps in to aid the ravages of famine, and
although water is near the surface in all the southern districts,
the number of wells bears no proportion to those in Mewar. The
great district of Nagor, of five hundred and sixty towns and
villages, the appanage of the heirs-apparent of Maru, in spite of
physical difficulties, is, or has been made, an exception; and the
immense sheet of sandstone, on which a humid soil is embedded,
has been pierced throughout by the energies of ancient days, and
contains greater aids to agriculture than many more fertile tracts
in the country.
Natural Productions.
—Marwar can boast of some valuable
productions of her sterile plains, which make her an object of no
little importance in the most distant and more favoured regions
of India. The salt lakes of Pachbhadra, Didwana, and Sambhar,
are mines of wealth, and their produce is exported over the
greater part of Hindustan; while to the marble quarries of
Makrana (which gives its name to the mineral), on her eastern
frontier, all the splendid edifices of the imperial cities owe
their grandeur. The materials used in the palaces of Delhi,
Agra, their mosques, and tombs, have been conveyed from
Marwar.
[10] The quarries, until of late years, yielded a considerable
revenue; but the age for palace-building in these regions is no
more, and posterity will ask with surprise the sources of such
luxury. There are also limestone quarries near Jodhpur and
Nagor; and the concrete called
kankar is abundant in many of
the districts, and chiefly used for mortar. Tin and lead are
found at Sojat; alum about Pali, and iron is obtained from
Bhinmal and the districts adjoining Gujarat.
Manufactures.
—The manufactures of Marwar are of no great
importance in a commercial point of view. Abundance of coarse
cotton cloths, and blankets, are [166] manufactured from the
cotton and wool produced in the country, but they are chiefly
used there. Matchlocks, swords, and other warlike implements
are fabricated at the capital and at Pali; and at the latter place
they make boxes of iron, tinned, so as to resemble the tin boxes
of Europe. Iron platters for culinary purposes are in such great
demand as to keep the forges constantly going.
Commercial Marts.
—None of these States are without traffic;
each has her mart, or entrepôt; and while Mewar boasts of
Bhilwara, Bikaner of Churu, and Amber of Malpura (the city of
wealth), the Rathors claim Pali, which is not only the rival of the
places just mentioned, but may make pretensions to the title of
emporium of Rajputana. These pretensions we may the more
readily admit, when we recollect that nine-tenths of the bankers
and commercial men of India are natives of Marudes, and these
chiefly of the Jain faith. The laity of the Khadatara sect send
forth thousands to all parts of India, and the Oswals, so termed
from the town of Osian, near the Luni, estimate one hundred
thousand families whose occupation is commerce. All these
claim a Rajput descent, a fact entirely unknown to the European
enquirer into the peculiarities of Hindu manners. The wealth
acquired in foreign lands, from the Sutlej to the ocean, returns
chiefly to their native soil; but as neither primogeniture nor
majorats are sanctioned by the Jain lawgivers, an equal distribution
takes place amongst all the sons, though the youngest (as
amongst the Getae of Asia, and the Jutes of Kent), receives often
a double portion. This arises when the division takes place while
the parent is living, being the portion set apart for his own
support, which ultimately falls to the youngest, with whom he
probably resides. It would be erroneous to say this practice is
extensive; though sufficient instances exist to suppose it once
was a principle.
[11] The bare enumeration of the tribes following
commerce would fill a short chapter. A priest of the Jains [167]
(my own teacher), who had for a series of years devoted his
attention to form a catalogue, which then amounted to nearly
eighteen hundred classes, renounced the pursuit, on obtaining
from a brother priest, from a distant region, one hundred and
fifty new names to add to his list.
Pali was the entrepôt for the eastern and western regions,
where the productions of India, Kashmir, and China, were interchanged
for those of Europe, Africa, Persia, and Arabia. Caravans
(kitars), from the ports of Cutch and Gujarat, imported elephants’
teeth, copper, dates, gum-arabic, borax, coco-nuts, broadcloths,
silks, sandal-wood, camphor, dyes, drugs, oxide and sulphuret of
arsenic, spices, coffee, etc. In exchange, they exported chintzes,
dried fruits, jira,[12] asafoetida from Multan, sugar, opium (Kotah
and Malwa), silks and fine cloths, potash, shawls, dyed blankets,
arms, and salt of home manufacture.
Caravans.
—The route of the caravans was by Suigam,
[13] Sanchor,
Bhinmal, Jalor to Pali, and the guardians of the merchandise
were almost invariably Charans, a character held sacred by the
Rajput. The most desperate outlaw seldom dared to commit
any outrage on caravans under the safeguard of these men,
the bards of the Rajputs. If not strong enough to defend
their convoy with sword and shield, they would threaten
the robbers with the
chandni, or ‘self-immolation’;
[14] and
proceed by degrees from a gash in the flesh to a death-wound,
or if one victim was insufficient a whole body of women
and children was sacrificed (as in the case of the Bamaniya
Bhats), for whose blood the marauder is declared responsible
hereafter.
Decay of Commerce. The Opium Trade.
—Commerce has been
almost extinguished within these last twenty years; and paradoxical
as it may appear, there was tenfold more activity and
enterprise in the midst of that predatory warfare, which rendered
India one wide arena of conflict, than in these days of universal
pacification. The torpedo touch of monopoly has had more
effect on the Kitars than the spear of the desert Sahariya, or
Barwatia (outlaw) Rajput—against its benumbing qualities the
Charan’s dagger would fall innocuous; it sheds no blood, but
it dries up its channels. If the products of the salt-lakes of
Rajputana were preferred, even at Benares, to the sea-salt of
Bengal, high impost duties excluded it from the market. If the
opium of Malwa and Haraoti competed in the China market with
our Patna monopoly, again we intervened, not with high export
duties, which we were competent to impose, but by laying our
shackles upon it at the fountain-head. “Aut Caesar, aut nullus,”
is our maxim [168] in these regions; and in a country where our
Agents are established only to preserve political relations and
the faith of treaties, the basis of which is non-interference in the
internal arrangement of their affairs—albeit we have not a single
foot of land in sovereignty—we set forth our parwanas, as peremptory
as any Russian ukase, and command that no opium shall
leave these countries for the accustomed outlets, under pain of
confiscation. Some, relying on their skill in eluding our vigilance,
or tempted by the high price which these measures produce, or
perhaps reckoning upon our justice, and upon impunity if discovered,
tried new routes, until confiscation brought them to
submission.
We then put an arbitrary value upon the drug, and forced the
grower to come to us, and even take credit to ourselves for consulting
his interests. Even admitting that such price was a
remunerating one, founded upon an average of past years, still
it is not the less arbitrary. No allowance is made for plentiful
or bad seasons, when the drug, owing to a scarcity, will bear a
double price. Our legislation is for “all seasons and their change.”
But this virtual infraction of the faith of treaties is not confined
to the grower or retailer; it affects others in a variety of ways;
it injures our reputation and the welfare of those upon whom,
for benevolent purposes, we have forced our protection. The
transit duties levied on opium formed an item in the revenues of
the princes of Rajputana; but confiscation guards the passes
of the Aravalli and Gujarat, and unless the smuggler wrap up
his cargo in ample folds of deceit, the Rajput may go without
his amal-pani, the infusion of this poison, dearer to him than
life. It is in vain to urge that sufficient is allowed for home
consumption. Who is to be the judge of this? or who is so blind
as not to see that any latitude of this kind would defeat the
monopoly, which, impolitic in its origin, gave rise in its progress
to fraud, gambling, and neglect of more important agricultural
economy. But this policy must defeat itself: the excess of
quantity produced will diminish the value of the original (Patna)
monopoly, if its now deteriorated quality should fail to open the
eyes of the quick-sighted Chinese, and exclude it from the market
altogether.[15]
Fairs.
—There were two annual fairs in his country, Mundwa
and Balotra; the first chiefly for cattle. The merchandise of
various countries was exposed [169] and purchased by the merchants
of the adjoining States. It commenced with the month of
Magh, and lasted during six weeks. The other was also for cattle
of all kinds, horses, oxen, camels, and the merchandise enumerated
amongst the imports and exports of Pali. Persons from all parts
of India frequented them; but all these signs of prosperity are
vanishing.
[16]Administration of Justice.
—The administration of justice is
now very lax in these communities; but at no time were the
customary criminal laws of Rajputana sanguinary, except in
respect to political crimes, which were very summarily dealt
with when practicable. In these feudal associations, however,
such crimes are esteemed individual offences, and the whole power
of the government is concentrated to punish them; but when
they are committed against the community, justice is tempered
with mercy, if not benumbed by apathy. In cases even of
murder, it is satisfied with fine, corporal punishment, imprisonment,
confiscation, or banishment. Inferior crimes, such as
larcenies, were punished by fine and imprisonment, and, when
practicable, restitution; or, in case of inability to pay, corporal
punishment and confinement. But under the present lax system,
when this impoverished government has to feed criminals, it
may be supposed that their prisons are not overstocked. Since
Raja Bijai Singh’s death, the judgment-seat has been vacant.
His memory is held in high esteem for the administration of
justice, though he carried clemency to excess. He never confirmed
a sentence of death; and there is a saying of the criminals,
yet extant, more demonstrative of his humanity than of good
policy: “When at large we cannot even get
rabri (porridge),
but in prison we eat
laddu (sweetmeat).” Here, as at Jaipur,
confined criminals are maintained by individual charity; and
it is a well-known fact, that at the latter place, but for the
humanity of the mercantile classes, especially those of the Jain
persuasion, they might starve. Perhaps it is the knowledge of
this circumstance, which holds back the hand of the government,
or its agents, who may apply to their own uses the prison-fare.
When once confined, the criminals are little thought of, and
neglect answers all the ends of cruelty. They have, however,
a source of consolation unknown to those who have passed “the
bridge of sighs,” or become inmates of the oubliettes of more
civilized regions. That fortitude and resignation which religion
alone can bestow on the one is obtained through superstition
by the other; and the prayers of the prison are poured forth for
one of those visitations of Providence [170], which, in humbling
the proud, prompts acts of mercy to others in order to ensure
it to themselves.
[17] The celestial phenomena of eclipses, whether
of the sun or moon, although predicted by the Pandits, who for
ages have possessed the most approved theory for calculation,
are yet looked upon with religious awe by the mass, and as “foreboding
change to princes.” Accordingly, when darkness dims
the beams of Surya or Chandra, the face of the prisoner of Maru
is lighted up with smiles; his deliverance is at hand, and he may
join the crowd to hoot and yell, and frighten the monster Rahu
[18]
from his hold of the “silver-moon.”
[19] The birth of a son to the
prince, and a new reign, are events likewise joyful to him.
Trial by Ordeal.
—The trial by
sagun, literally ‘oath of purgation,’
or ordeal, still exists, and is occasionally had recourse to
in Maru, as in other parts of Rajputana; and, if fallen into
desuetude, it is not that these judgments of God (as they were
styled in the days of European barbarism) are less relied on, but
that society is so unhinged that even these appeals to chance
find no subjects for practice, excepting by Zalim Singh; and he
to the last carried on his antipathy to the Dakins (witches) of
Haraoti, who were always submitted to the process by ‘water.’
Trial by ordeal is of very ancient date in India: it was by ‘fire’
that Rama proved the purity of Sita, after her abduction by
Ravana, and in the same manner as practised by one of our
Saxon kings, by making her walk over a red-hot ploughshare.
[20]
Besides the two most common tests, by fire and water, there is
a third, that of washing the hands in boiling oil. It should be
stated, that, in all cases, not only the selection but the appeal
to any of these ordeals is the voluntary act of the litigants, and
chiefly after the Panchayats, or courts
ofof arbitration, have
failed. Where justice is denied, or bribery shuts the door, the
sufferer will dare his adversary to the
sagun, or submission to the
judgment of God; and the solemnity of the appeal carries such
weight, that it brings redress of itself, though cases do occur
where the challenge is accepted, and the author has conversed
with individuals who have witnessed the operation of each of
the ordeals.
[21]Panchayats.
—The Panchayats arbitrate in civil cases. From
these courts of equity, there is an appeal to the Raja; but as
unanimity is required in the judges, and a fee or fine must be paid
by the appellant, ere his case can come before the prince [171],
litigation is checked. The constitution of this court is simple.
The plaintiff lays his case before the Hakim of the district, or
the Patel of the village where he resides. The plaintiff and
defendant have the right of naming the villages (two, each), from
whence the members of the Panchayat are to be drawn. Information
is accordingly sent to the Patels of the villages specified, who,
with their respective Patwaris (Registers), meet at the Atai or
‘village-court.’ Witnesses are summoned and examined on oath,
the most common of which is the
gaddi-ki-an, ‘allegiance to the
throne,’ resembling the ancient adjuration of the Scythians as
recorded by Herodotus.
[22] This oath is, however, more restricted
to Rajputs; the other classes have various forms based upon
their religious notions. When the proceedings are finished, and
judgment is given, the Hakim puts his seal thereto, and carries
it into effect, or prepares it for appeal. It is affirmed that, in
the good times of Rajputana, these simple tribunals answered
every purpose.
Fiscal Revenues.
—The fiscal revenues of Marwar are derived
from various sources; the principal are—
- 1. The Khalisa, or ‘crown-lands.’
- 2. The salt lakes.
- 3. Transit and impost duties.
- 4. Miscellaneous taxes, termed Hasil.
The entire amount of personal revenue of the princes of Marwar
does not at present exceed ten lakhs of rupees (£100,000 sterling),
though in the reign of Bijai Singh half a century ago, they yielded
full sixteen lakhs, one-half of which arose from the salt lakes alone.
The aggregate revenue of the feudal lands is estimated as high
as fifty lakhs, or £500,000. It may be doubted whether at present
they yield half this sum.[23] The feudal contingents are estimated
at five thousand horse, besides foot, the qualification being one
cavalier and two foot-soldiers for every thousand rupees of
income.[24] This low estimate is to keep up the nominal value of
estates, notwithstanding their great deterioration; for a ‘knight’s
fee’ of Marwar was formerly estimated at five hundred rupees.
The sum of ten lakhs, mentioned as the gross income of the
prince, is what is actually realized by the treasury, for there are
many public servants provided for out of the crown-lands, whose
estates are not included.
Methods of Revenue Collection.
—The revenues are collected
from the ryots in kind. A corn-rent, the only one recognized in
ancient India, and termed Batai, or ‘division,’ is apportioned
equally [172] between the prince and the husbandman: a deviation
from the more lenient practice of former times, which gave
one-fourth, or one-sixth to the sovereign. Besides this, the
cultivator has to pay the expense of guarding the crops, and also
those who attend the process of division. An assessment of two
rupees is made on every ten maunds,
[25] which more than covers
the salaries paid to the Shahnas (watchmen), and Kanwaris,
[26] and
leaves a surplus divided by the Patel and village register (Patwari).
A cart-load of
karbi (the stalks of
juar and
bajra) is exacted from
every cultivator as fodder for the prince’s cattle; but this is
commuted for a rupee, except in seasons of scarcity, when it is
stored up. The other officers, as the Patwaris and Patels, are
paid out of the respective shares of the farmer and the crown,
namely, one-fourth of a ser each, from every maund of produce,
or an eightieth part of the gross amount. The cultivators of
the Pattawats or feudal chiefs are much better off than those of
the Khalisa: from them only two-fifths are exacted; and in lieu
of all other taxes and charges, a land-tax of twelve rupees is
levied on every hundred bighas of land cultivated. The cultivators
repay this mild assessment by attachment to the chiefs.
Poll Tax.
—Anga is a poll-tax (from anga, ‘the body’) of one
rupee, levied on adults of either sex throughout Marwar.
Cattle Tax.
—Ghasmali is a graduated tax on cattle, or, as the
term imports, the right of pasture. A sheep or goat is estimated
at one anna (one-sixteenth of a rupee); a buffalo eight annas,
or half a rupee; and each camel, three rupees.
Door Tax.
—Kewari is a tax on doors (kewar), and is considered
peculiarly oppressive. It was first imposed by Bijai
Singh, when, towards the latter end of his reign, his chiefs rebelled,
and retired in a body to Pali to concert schemes for deposing
him. Thither he fruitlessly followed in order to pacify them,
and on his return found the gates (kewar) of his capital shut in
his face, and Bhim Singh placed upon the gaddi. To supply the
pecuniary exigencies consequent upon this embarrassing situation,
he appealed to his subjects, and proposed a ‘benevolence,’ in aid
of his necessities, of three rupees for each house, giving it a
denomination from the cause whence it originated. Whether
employed as a punishment of those who aided his antagonist, or
as a convenient expedient of finance, he converted this temporary
contribution into a permanent tax, which continued until the
necessities of the confederacy against the [173] present prince,
Raja Man, and the usurpation of the fiscal lands by the Pathans,
made him raise it to ten rupees on each house. It is, however,
not equally levied; the number of houses in each township being
calculated, it is laid on according to the means of the occupants,
and the poor man may pay two rupees, while the wealthy pays
twenty. The feudal lands are not exempted, except in cases of
special favour.
Sāīr.
—In estimating the amount of the sair, or imposts of
Marwar, it must be borne in mind that the schedule appended
represents what they have been, and perhaps might again be,
rather than what they now are. These duties are subject to
fluctuation in all countries, but how much more in those exposed
to so many visitations from predatory foes, civil strife, and
famine! There is no reason to doubt that, in the “good old
times” of Maru, the amount, as taken from old records, may have
been realized:—
| Jodhpur |
Rs. 76,000 |
| Nagor |
75,000 |
| Didwana |
10,000 |
| Parbatsar |
44,000 |
| Merta |
11,000 |
| Kolia |
5,000 |
| Jalor |
25,000 |
| Pali |
75,000 |
| Jasol and Balotra fairs |
41,000 |
| Bhinmal |
21,000 |
| Sanchor |
6,000 |
| Phalodi |
41,000 |
| |
|
| Total |
430,000 |
The Danis, or collectors of the customs, have monthly salaries
at the large towns, while the numerous petty agents are paid
by a percentage on the sums collected. The sair, or imposts,
include all those on grain, whether of foreign importation, or the
home-grown, in transit from one district to another.
The revenue arising from the produce of the salt lakes has
deteriorated with the land and commercial revenues; and,
though affected by political causes, is yet the most certain branch
of income. The following schedule exhibits what has been derived
from this lucrative source of wealth [174]:—
| Pachbhadra |
Rs. 200,000 |
| Phalodi |
100,000 |
| Didwana |
115,000 |
| Sambhar |
200,000 |
| Nawa |
100,000 |
| Total |
715,000 |