Land and Society in North Bihar, India: Agrarian Relations
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LAND AND SOCIETY IN NORTH BIHAR, INDIA: AGRARIAN RELATIONS THE LATER NINETEENTH CENTURY B Y Bindeshwar Ram Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 1968 ProQuest Number: 11010491 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11010491 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Dedicated to Father CQN1EEIS Abstract i Preface and Acknowledgement ii-iii Maps: iv-v List of Tables vi List of Abbreviations vii INTRODUCTION: the Agrarian Society of North 1 Bihar in the Nineteenth Century Zamindars 23 Raiyats 73 Land Rent 130 Agricultural Labour 1 Conclusion 224 Footnotes Bibliography ABSTRACT The thesis discusses the origin and development of land ownership, tenancy and labour, and the pattern of economic organization, in North Bihar. These questions are considered both in terms of the relation between production and rural trade, and in regard to tenancy and other laws of British administration. The attempt is to make an ovei— all estimation of agrarian relations in the region. This includes the value of land, the rent system, the nature of the proprietary interest, and the social and economic gap between the upper and lower classes of the population. In particular, the intention is to describe the historical current in the structure of society, land tenure, production and subsistence. Did the condition of the lower classes as revealed in the courses worsen in relation to the condition of the agricultural community as a whole? Vas there a rise in population, and if so with what effect? What was the impact of tenancy legislation from the point of view of changes in the condition of the agricultural classes? How important was government policy generally In relation to the agrarian society of Bihar? The thesis concludes, among other things, that institutional factors and social and economic ideas were responsible for the devlopment and maintenance of the social hierarchy. The conditions of the lower classes worsened, as their rights were not increased. Government legislation at first ignored tenant rights too, but later improved the position of occupancy tenants. The internal market continued to be controlled by landed proprietors or local merchants, but their external interests, in towns and trade, increased their desire to control the village economy. PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Apart from an introduction and conclusion, this thesis is divided into four parts. The first part on Zamindars discusses: <i) dominant social classes and the formation of agrarian society in historical perspective, <ii) partition of estates, (iii) raiyati right by proprietors, (iv) zirat land; (v) management of zamindari estates; and (vi) intermediaries and tenure-holders. *J*he second, on Raiyats, deals with: (i) the evolution and growth of raiyats in historical perspective; (ii) the categorization of raiyats, status in land, society and tenancy law; (iii) the transfer of raiyati rights by zamindars; and (iv) raiyats and production relations. The third, on Land Rent considers: (i) customary practice of the extraction of surplus produce^ a historical dimension; (il> raiyati land, production, rent and tenancy law; (iii) the rental income of zamindars and the collection of rent by various elements of society; (iv) how rent was enhanced: methods and classes of tenants subjected to such enhancement; (v) abwabs (cesses); and (vi ) whether the rent increased in the late nineteenth century in North Bihar.The fourth, on agricultural labour, is divided into nine sections: (i) the historical genesis of labour, bondage slavery and its continuity; (ii) population and labour; (iii) labour and expansion of cultivation; (iv) " the paradox of labour scarcity; (v) government intervention and emigration; (vi) wages and the labour market; (vi) the late nineteenth century: rising demand and captive labour; (viii) Housing and health as indicators of poverty; (ix) trends and comparison. In persuing this researchmjfsupervisor, Dr. P. G. Robb, has done much to shape ray analysis, and clarify my arguments at various stages. 1 am grateful to him for all this during the course of my study. I am indebted to Professor A. R. Kulkarni e x — Chairman Indian Council of Historical Research, and Professor K. A. Ballhatchet, Head of the Deptartment of History^ SOAS, for their encouragement in completion of this work. My thanks are i i also due to Professor K. N. Chaudhuri for his advice at various stages during the course of my study. I am grateful to Professor Irfan Habib, Chairman, Indian Council of Historical Research, who has been kind to me in extending my leave. I thank Mr. R. C. Dogra, Principal Assistant Librarian, South Asia, SOAS and the staff of the library, for their cooperation and help. Anandi and Gyan have been very kind in sparing time in going through the typescript. I must thank them for their help. I also thank Mrs. Norma Qgermann who has typed my thesis. iii .u.-4uy.».4W?yw- ton « •. 9. CD LU cc a. CD CD CD ■O CO CC CD CO cc /cc J < ' UL v* u_ z cc < c . Cl . CC Century* of 20th beginning in the Districts Bihar: Sub-Divisions North and 00 CO V LIST OF TABLES 1) Percentage distribution of harvest (by area) in 1900 in P ^ North Bihar. 2 ) Table showing the growing number of estates between 1879 P ^ and 1900 in four districts of North Bihar, 3) Table showing average number of partition of estates per P annum between 1866 and 1896. 4) Table showing the caste-wije distribution of landholding, p12. J the size of the average holding, and the percentage of the caste population holding more than 2 acres based on the sample selected 100 villages of the Saran district* 5 > Table showing the figures for the whole district of Saran p\x‘a- extrapolated from the findings in the 100 villages above. It gives percentage o|[pure cultivating castes and of the cultivating and landless castes of the district's (Saran) populat i on? 6) Table showing the percentage of pure cultivators, p|X3 cultivating and landless labourers and other callings in the 100 villages of the Saran district- 7) Table showing variation of population in the North Bibar PI7*/ districts since 1872 to 1911. 8 ) Table showing the variation of extension of cultivation inPI7f the districts of Patna Division during 1872 - 1901. 9) Table showing population density and emigration in Bihar pli7 and United Provinces, 1901. 10) Table showing monthly wages of unskilled labourers, 1880 - 1894 in the major districts of Bengal, Bihar and If. P. supplying labourers. 11) Table showing monthly wages of skilled labourers in the px®o selected districts. 12) Table showing wages in cash and kind in various districts of North Bihar* 13) Table showing distribution of persons per acre in the districts of Patna Division in the late nineteenth ceniury/^'S vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Br. Mus. - British Museum B P P - Bengal Past and Present C I S - Contributionsto Indian Sociology CJE Cambridge Journal of Economics C S S H - Comparative Studies in Society and History An International Quarterly E J Economic Journal E P V - Economic and Political Veekly I E S H R - Indian Economic and Social History Review I H C P - Indian History Congress Proceedings I H R - Indian Historical Review I H R C - Indian Historical Records Commission I 0 L - Indian Office Library & Records J B R S - Journal of Bihar Research Society J I S - Journal of Inter-disciplinary History J 0 R S - Journal of American Oriental Society J P S - Journal of Peasant Studies M A S - Modern Asian Studies M S S - Manuscripts N D No Date N A No Author Rev. & Agr.- Revenue and Agriculture S S Social Scientist vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: the Agrarian Society of North Bihar in the 19th Century Empirical research on the nineteenth century economy and society in India has assumed much significance in recent decades. Study of the different regions within India is imperative. Varying features of geography, social organisation and custom create regional patterns and specific problems. North Bihar is one such region, where a highly developed agriculture and a hierarchy of producers have existed since very early times. Research on the nineteenth century depends largely on British documents and other records prepared during British rule. Oral evidence can depict a clearer picture of recent years, but in the nineteenth century the land system, fiscal policy and political organisation of the country were quite different. Hence my study is confined to the sources of the British period with which it deals. There is a considerable literature on the agrarian history of Bihar (a part of Bengal Presidency) in the nineteenth century. 1 Among some recent work, concerned with areas outside Bihar, there is evidence of new thinking about the changes in agrarian structure and other aspects of rural society:-.::. One book, that of Sugata Bose on agrarian Bengal, has called for a re-consideration of economic relations in society in eastern India as the basis for the exploitation of the lower orders by dominant social groups2. In this study I am also trying to trace the development of social classes and their relations with each other.