CENSUS OF INDIA 1961 VOLUME XX-PART VI-No. 25 HIMACHAL PRADESH A V iZlage Survey of BIR lVlandi Sadar TehsiJ, Mandi District llbvestigation and Draft Guidance and Final Draft by by DHARAM PAL KAPUR RIKHI RAM SHARMA ASSISTANT SUPERINTEND]]NT OF CENSUS OPERATIONS Editor RAM CHANDRA PAL SINGH of the Indian Administrative Service SUPERINTENDENT OF CENSUS OPERATIONS, HDIACHAL PRAD}1SH BIR NOTt ONAL MAP II II II "\1 II \\ ========~===~=====___ t -- -:::: ===,~\"", .......... ... .__ ..... ~ .... ij;Gl ..... ~ ...... L..:J ' ... ' ..... ~~:"o. '",~ ,,~ -, ,,~":-,. ...... ',.... -• -iii 'I., ''I.','I., "'I., A ..-. ''I. ....... \\-- \\ \\ \' ........ II ..... - ,'I. ...... ~ .11 - _ ...... _ II ....... '1 Ii -- " ....... - - ...... f.1_ _ - -_~): -~ • r' ,==:::::---_ --",,,:::~~- " • _ "::"".av:" ~ ....:--~;:.==="'~- - :,r ...... ....... ,,''/'' - "f " ..... '" 11..- • '," - "I' ..... " I:' " - ... "'"" ,"'., /7 -- • _.,. - 1/ " "'M .-. I, II "'\,~., ,"'" "'rl • II " \.''!if' ':' " -• '/II II" • II II ..., II -• II - II '''4(11 ,'", "'-~'" - II .. , • • .......f "'06 --"H, - II ....,,, ".'" "wl - II -''', II ' '-40\'" ... ...... ,,\,,1 - .''''''' II "II II NALLAH ...... , .................................__ --1 II 11 FOOT PATH ..........................====::::: I. II PANCHAYAT GHAR .................. ~ II - II PIUMA~Y SCHOO!,. .................. .. Ii II 'TEMPLE ........................ :::-:. -n II SH·OP............................. .. "II II 80WLI, .............................. II II RAJpUT........................ " "Iii II HE51 .................................: II ....... II C ..... 'hiAR ........ ............. .. II • II (i) - CONTENTS PAGE FOREWORD -... .... .... (i-ii) PREFACE •• ,1 ... ' (iii) I. THE VILLAGE 1 Introduction-History-Market-Communication Flora-Fauna­ Residential Pattern-Cremation Ground-Source of Water Supply­ , Physical Aspects-Climate H. THE PEOPLE 6 Population-Languages~~ouse Type-Household Goods-Dress­ Ornaments-Utensils-Fdo't1: 'and, Drinks-Birth, Marriage and Death Customs HI. ECONOMY .... ' IL·· :!_,. 22 Economic Resources- Non Workers - Income-Expenditure-In­ debtedness-Agriculture-Agricultural Implements-Pest and Diseases -Organisation of Man Power-Animal Husbandry-Household Indus­ tries-Co-operative Societies and Panchayats lV. SOCIAL AND C~LTURAL LIFE 40 I ~tion Comparison with 1961-Age and Sex Wise Distribution Birth and Death-Family Structure-Inheritance of Property-Un­ touchability-Status of Women-Temples-Fairs and Festivals-Com­ mon BeliefiS and Superstitions-Witch Craft-Education-Medical / V. CONCLUSION 51 APPENDICES 52 Appendix I-Extract from Forest Working Plan for Mandi State Forests Appendix II-Rainfall Record of Mandi. Appendix III-Extract from Linguistic Survey of India. LB(N)6SCOHP-2,a) FOREWORD Apart from laying the foundations of .A brief account of the tests of selection demography in this subcontinent a hundred Will ~elp to explain. A minimum of thirty­ years of the Indian Census has al~o produced five VIllages was to be chosen with great care· 'elaborate and scholarly accounts of the to ~epresent adequately geographical, occu­ variegated phenomena of Indian life sorne­ p~tI~mal and eyen ethnic diversity, of this tir:nes .with no statistics attached, but usually mInImUm of thIrty-five, the distribution was, with Ju.st ~nough statistics to give empirical to be as follows: underpInnIng to their conclusions'. In a country, largely illiterate, where statistical (a) At least eight villages were to be so or numerical comprehension of even such a selected that each of them would contaIn. simple thing as age was liable to be inaccu­ one. dominant c?mmunity with one predomI­ rate, an understanding of the social struc­ natIng occupation, e.g., fishermen, forest ture. was essential. It was more necessary to workers, jhum cultivators, potters, weaver:>, attam a broad understanding of what was salt-maker~, quar!y: workers etc. A village happening around oneself than to wrap one­ should have a mInImUm popUlation of 400. the optimum being between 500 and 700. ' self .up in 'st~tistic.al ingenuity', or 'mathe­ matICal mampulatIOn'. This explains why (b) At least seven villages were to be of the Indian Census came to be interested in numerically prominent Scheduled Tribe::; of 'many by-paths' and 'nearly every branch of t~e State. Each village could represent a par­ scholarship, from anthropology and sociology tIcular tribe. The minimum population to geography and religion'. should be 400, the optimum being between 500 and '700. In the last few decades the Census has increasingly turned its efforts to the presen­ (c) The third group of villages should tation of village statistics. This suits the each be of fair size, of an old and settled cha­ temper of the times as well as our polit;cal racter and contain variegated occupations and and economic structure. For even as we have be, if possible, multi-ethnic in composition. a great deal of centralization on the one hand By fair size was meant a population of 500-- and decentralization on the other, my 700. persons or more. The village ~hou]_d colleagues thought it would be a welcome? maInly depend on agriculture and be suffi­ continuation of the Census tradition. to try ciently away from the major !'-ources of to invest the dry bones of village statistics modern communication such as the district: with flesh and blood accounts of social administrative headquarters and business structure and social change. It was accord­ centres. It should be roughly a day's journey ingly decided to select a few villages ill) from above places. The villages were to be every State for special study, where per­ selected with an eye to variation in terms sonal observation would be brought to bear of size, proximity to ,Pity and other means on the interpretation of statistics to find (Jut of modern communication, nearness to hills, how much of a village was static and yet jungles and major rivers. Thus there was to changing and how fast the winds of change be a regional distribution throu~hout the were blowing and from where, State of this category of villages. If however, a particular district contained significant J:tandomness of selection was, therefore, ecological variations within its area, more eschewed. There was no intention to build than one village in the district might be up ~ picture for the whole State in quanti­ selected to study the special adjw:tments to tative terms on the basis of villages select­ thel1l. ed statistically at random. The selection was avowedly purposive; the object being as It is a unique feature of these VIllage sur­ much to find out what was happening and veys that they rapidly outgrew their original how fast to those villages which had fewer terms of reference, as my colleagues warm­ reasons to choose change and more to ed up to their work. This proved for them remain lodged in the past as to discover how an absorbing voyage of discovery and their the more 'normal' types of villages werc' infectious enthusiasm compelled me to en­ changing. They were to be primarily type large the inquiry's scope again and again. studies which, by virtue of their number It was just as well-eautLously to ff'el one's and distribution, would also give the reader way about at first and then venture further a 'feel' of what was going on and some kind afield, and although it accounts to some of a map of the country. extent for a certain unawareness in the (i) (ii) 'quality and coverage of the monographs, it their attention to this field and the import­ served to compensate the purely honorary ance of tracing social change through a num­ and extra,mural rigours of the task. For, ber of well-devised statistical tables was the Survey, along with its many '3.ncillaries once again recognised. This itself presupposed like the survey of fairs and festivals, of small a fresh survey of villages already done; but and rural industry and others, was an it was worth the trouble in view of the possi­ 'extra', over and above the crushing load of bilities that a close analysis of statistics the 1961 Census. offered, and also because the 'consanguinity' schedule remained to be canvassed. By November 1961~ however, more was expected It might be of interest to recount bricf1y of these surveys than ever before. There was the stages by which the Survey enlarged its dissatisfaction on the one hand with too many scope. At the first Census Conference in Sep­ general statements and Ii growing desire on tember, 1959 the Survey set itself the task the other to draw conclusions from sta­ of what might be called a record in situ of tistics, to regard social and economic material traits, like settlement patterns of data as interrelated processes, and finally the village; house types; diet; dn'ss; orna­ to examine the social and economic processes ments and foot-wear; furniture and storing set in motion through land reforms and vessels; common means of transport of goods other laws, legislative and admin.l.strat.:ve and passengers; domestication of animals m.easures, technological and cultural change. and birds; markets attended; w\)fship of Fmally, a study camp was organised in the deities; festivals and fairs. There were to last week of December, 1961 wh '~n the whole be recordings, of course, of cultural and field was carefully gone through OVEr again social traits and occupational mobility. Thh; and a programme worked out clos~ly !mit­ was followed up in March, ~960 by two speci­ ting the various aims of the Survey togeti'.f'r. men schedules, one for each houselwld, The Social Studies