The Zanzindars, and Takavi Advances ,Vere
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!.29 8 JINO STATE. ] Large numbe rs of cattle also died owinO' to the scarcity of fodder. Prices ros~ Sers per rtlpee. Jow&r 7 as shown in the ma rgin. The fa mine of FAMINE. Bdjra 6 Samba t 1869-70 affected the State but 1812 A. D. Pulses and gram Wheat t 5 sli ghtly. Prices rose to 8 or 9 sers per, •••4 05 1881 1824 A. O. rup ee. The famine of Sambat lasted a sho rt time. Af ter scanty showers in the months of Jeth and Asarh there ,,,, ,-as no rain and the crops withe red, but the last year's stacks supported th e cattle . The leaves and Sers per rupee. Wheat, gram, pu lses 6 the bark of trees also helped. Wices Barley ... 7 stood as noted in the margin. In Sambat 1890 there was scarcity. The autumn rains of Samba t 1890 had failed entire ly and the two harvests produced hardly anything except on wel l-lands, but the loss of human life and cat tle appears to have been inconsiderable. Fodder was procurable at the rate of one maund per rupee; and grain was also to be had, but the cultivato rs 1!!37 A.O; suffered much. In Sambat 1894 the re was scarcity, but it was not severe. 1860-61 A:O. The fam in e of Sambat 1916-1 7 wa s more severe in the Bagar and Bangar trac ts of tahs il s Dadri and Jind respective ly, and the .p.2 ore.£ ... peo.£le begrt ..... .toemig rate. In Jeth Sambat 1916 a few shoVl 'ersfeIl and then no ram fell or a wh ol e year. In the beg inning of Jet h and Asarh Sambat J 917 there was rain, and grain wa s sown , but after that aga in no rain fell, and the crops al l drie d up. Bot h the barani harvests failed . Thousands of cattle perished, but some were ta ken to the hills to find pasturage there. The State remit ted six months' land revenue and granted takavi adva nces to the zanzindars of Dad ri tahsi l for the purc hase of oxen and seed . The land reven ue was suspe nd ed, and col lections in kind su~stituted for cash . The Sta te also distributed food to the Sers per ,·upee. h 'ddl f Jowar, bdjra and po or. In t e ml e 0 Jeth Sambat pulses •.• 5 191 8 the re was good rain, and the famine Whea t... ••• 8 began to disappear . Prices in this Gram and barley. .. 9 famine stood as s1 lOwn m. the margin. The fam ine of Sambat 1925 was very fatal to cattle and thousands perished . In Jeth and Asarh Sambat 1925 there were only one or two slight falls of rain, and though grain was sown, no further rain fell, so that the crops withered and the kharlf failed altogether, though rabf sowings were affected to some extent on irrigated lands. One-fifth of the revenue was remitted in Jind tahsil and takUvi advances were granted in Dadri. The land revenue collections wcre suspended throughout the State. Poor- Se,'s per rupee. houses wcre also opened. In Asauj Wheat '" 9 rain fe ll, and the famine disappeared. Gram and ba rl ey )0 Prices stood as noted in the margin. The famine of Sambat '934 was more disastrous than those of Sambat 1917 or 1925. In Sambat 1933 the yield was an average one, b~t in Sam bat 1934 the kharff crops failed entirely. Th ere "'as great loss of !lve-stock, as fodder was not procur abl e, or when obt ai nable, 7 or 8 pulis of jowar sold for a rupee . The State banks were allow ed to advance money on loan to the zanzindars, and takavi advanc es ,vere Wheat SC1 'S ft rup ee . mad e in the barc lni villages. In Sam- Gram, barley and bat 1935 rain fell , and the people began jO'illar ••• 14 to recover from th e effects of the famine. Pulses 9 d d Bdjra... ... 13 The prices stoo as note in the margin. The spring harves t of Sambat 1940 ,vas. a very ,Poor on:. The sum~er and winter rains of Sambat 1941 also faIled, and III the drIer tracts of Jmd apd Dadrf tahsJls there were no crops. The grass famine was acute, and ~9 9 rSTATE.] [P ART A. the cattle had to be dr iv en off to th e hil ls, whe nce many never return ed, CHAP . II Hi Se rs pe r r~J pee. an d the loss of bullo ck s and cows was Wheat ._ 8 very gre at . Th e poli cy of giving liberal Economic. Gram, barley, bcfj ra and suspensions was adopted by the State. FAMINE. jowar ..• Pulses Pric es stood as not ed in the margin. Th e effe cts of th e famin e of Sambat 19 53 were as se vere in ]f nd as in th e rest of th e Pun jab. Th e Darbar devot ed att ention to the reli ef of the fam ine-strick en popul ation, and was encouraged th ereto by th e Punjab Gov ernm ent in its lett er No. 35, date d 10th February 1896 . As usu al, almsgivin g had begun befo re it s receip t, and after it Rs. 27 ,500 were sanctioned for famine reli ef worl{ S, whi ch were started as follows :- ( (1) I .•• ~ (2) Metall ing of a road from the I station to the town of l ]ind. Meta llin g the road from the stati on to the town of Dadri. Build ing of the Jubilee Hospital and the Palace Kothf . Besides this relief, 7,000 Ipaunds of grain were given as takdvi to the zamtn- days. On the receipt of the lett er No. 73, dated 11th April 1896, with a draft of the Famine Code from the Punjab Government , Rs. 3,074, in addition to the sum allotted for public relief works, was gr ant ed as a reli ef fund. Fodder was very scarce, but there was no grec:t los s of cat tle, as they were taken to the trans-] umna tra cts and els ew her e.The pop ulation of the Ser s per -rupee. State suffer ed but littl e fr om starvation, 'jo'l1J ar. hd j,d, gram and the loss of life was insignificant. and barley 8 Pric es we re as noted in the margin. Wheat .., 7 In Asarh Sa;nbat 1954 th ere was rain, 18 97 A.D. and the kharH crops wer e sown, but swarms of locusts visited the State and damaged the crops to such an extent that not a green leaf was to be seen, . Se1S per rupe e. and the yi eld, o! ~he ~harif was v.ery 'jo wa1 and Mjra 12 scant y. The baranz rabl crops also faIl ed M.£n g and other puls es , for want of rain, but th ere wa s no los s of w~ndtgram 8 cattl e. Prices stood as not ed in the ea •.• 7 margin. In Sambat 1955 th ere was no 189911 ..0. good ra in and th e yield was onl y avera ge . Fodd er was barely sufficien t for a season; and th e eff ects of this and of th e recent famin e of Sambat 1953 had not disapp ear ed wh en the terr ibl e famin e of Sambat 1956 1899 A.D. devastat ed th e St ate. The kharlf fail ed altog ether and fodd er became very scarce . The cattle were dri ven to the hills and tr ans-Jumna tracts in search of fodder. Th e population of the area affected by the famine was 189,7°7 souls , and th e grain stores in the State had sunk very low owing to the previous famines . The construction of th e Ludhiana~ Dhuri-Jakhal Railway , however, gave mu ch relief to the starving people in tahsB Sangrnr. The Darbar sanctioned a sum of Rs. 50 ,000 for famine relief as follo ws :-to tahsfI Jind Rs . 15 ,000 , Sangrur Rs. 5,000, Dadri 1 The construction of the Southern Pun jab Railway also gave employment to the poer and famine.stricken. 300 JIND STATE. ] CHAP. II, H. Rs. 3°,000 , and th e fol lo win g reli ef work s were start ed :- Economic. In tahsil Jind Repair s of th e road s lea din g to Ram Rai, FAMINE. Zafarg arh and Julan a. In tahsil Dadri The town tank excav ation , and metalling the roads of the town. Brick kiln \vorks; repairs of th e road round the town; and a dhdb excava- tion. The reli e{ works in tah sil s Jind and Dadri were kept open for about two months, during which th e ave ra ge daily numb ers of persons employ ed were 665 and 1,321 resp ectiv ely . Th ese numbers wer e co nsid ered very small in comparison with th e n umb er of famin e-stricken people, and it was thought prop er to co llec t as many as v. -ould work at Sangrur, furnish- ing th em 'with prov is ion s for th e journey, and set th em to work on the construction of th e DhUri-Jakhal Ra ilway.