S - E D C D M (1849-1901) : Abida Kausar Chuadhary Humaira Arif Dasti

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Abida Kausar Chuadhary

Humaira Arif Dasti

SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN COLONIAL


DISTRICT MULTAN (1849-1901)

The study focuses on the SOCIO ECONOMIC


DEVELOPMENT and the impact of colonial rule on the locality
of the Multan district of the British Punjab between the years of
(1849-1901) It will provide original empirical insights into the
processes of development brought by British rule. It will ask
such questions as were some areas left behind by the changes in
trading patterns and the establishment of a new communication
network?

The Multan region [provides an excellent vantage point


from which to assess the socio-economic and cultural changes
arising colonial rule. The district possessed a number of unique
features which impacted on the general changes which the
British brought to this along with other regions of the Punjab.
These included new systems of irrigation, improved
communications and changes in land revenue administration.
The interplay between local society and the colonial state forms
the focus of this study. It draws on a range of official and non-
official records.

INTRODUCTION
The Punjab, the land of five rivers, was a key centre of
power in colonial India. It was both the ‘bread basket’ and
‘sword arm’ of the British Raj’ The province’s agricultural
wealth increased because of large scale irrigation schemes of the
19th century known as the canal colony development1 In the
Multan district , with the completion of Sidhnai Canal ,there was
a large scale movement of population as in other west Punjab
261
262 [J.R.S.P., Vol. 51, No. 1, January – June, 2014]

irrigated areas. The rapid flow of migration was from the densely
populated central district towards Chenab canal colonies due to
major problems of fragmentations of holding ,increasing rate of
indebtedness and limited availability of cultivable waste.2 Canal
colony migrants’ regular remittance gave a fillip of seasonal
employment.3

British rule benefited the landowning classes of the


Punjab. The commercial elites also profited from the new
opportunities for trade. A key British aim was to balance
economic changes with the need of political stability.4 The
agricultural wealth, strategic and military importance of this
province increased its political significance. As mentioned
above, the British constructed the world’s, largest irrigation
system in the Punjab, leading to twenty six million acres being
watered by canals and transforming this region’s’ arid waste land
into the one of the richest farming areas in Asia.5 The British not
only gained from the export of cash crops but from rising
amounts of land revenue as the value of land increased.6

The Multan region was economically transformed


through the Sidhnai canal colony development and became not
only the chief wheat and cotton market of South Punjab but one
of the largest in the world. This region not only became a symbol
of economic development but it also became a military recruiting
area for the colonial army, and its proximity with North western
frontier gave it strategic significance because of which Multan
emerged as an important cantonment city. The British army
recruitment gave warrior tribes of the region an opportunity to
keep up their military way of life. More over the system of
communication, railways and roads developed by the British
enhanced its commercial value and it became a big market for
raw material products. So the region entered in a new a phase of
political and economic history.

SOCIO- ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT


Yet while the British sought to bring stability to the
Punjab and maintain the power of the traditional landholders, the
economic effects of their rule threatened its underpinnings. This
Socio-Economic Development in Colonial District Multan (1849-1901)263

was because the commercialization of agriculture and the


establishment of private landownership rights made possible
land transfers on a large scale. These were compounded by the
regular assessments of land revenue which were carried out
much more effectively than in the pre-colonial period. They
constituted a further pressure on increasingly indebted
landowners who saw their land being mortgaged to the
commercial money lending casts.

After the British annexation of the Punjab, the colonial


state made radical changes which redefined power relations in
the rural areas. The first thing was the settlement of land between
state and peasant.7 It had two purposes. The assessment of the
land revenue extracted from the peasantry and the farming of the
records of rights. Under this policy, the land was made into
private property and there were independent proprietors who
could own land. This measure made sale and mortgage of land
easier. A wide scale transfer of land by sale and mortgages set in
thereafter.8

The British land revenue system caused anxiety among


the zamindars that refused to accept fixed assessment .It
therefore contributed to the accelerating rate of land alienation.
As the land became a valuable commodity, a new trading and
money lending class emerged from outside the agricultural
community.9 They further squeezed the entire system of money
lending. Accordingly to which the mortgager who did not
redeem his land in a specific time alienated it to the Sahukar.
Thorburn, the settlement officer of Bannu District reported that
the land owing Muslim tribes of the western districts including
Multan were generally indebted due to the fixed assessment.
Many experienced officials advocated that the assessment
especially in the riverain tract of the province, to be made
flexible.10

The payment of land revenue had also a role in the


depletion of zamindars’ stakes after the harvest. Consequently
they were forced to sell their produce at unfavorable prices and
borrowed cash from money lenders to pay off revenue.11
264 [J.R.S.P., Vol. 51, No. 1, January – June, 2014]

Introduction of private property was one aspect of development


colonial capitalism in the Punjab. The cultivation of Egyptian
wheat, cotton, Tobacco, marigold turnips and clovers was
another step towards export commodity production. All these
developments linked the Punjab’s rural economy with the world
market.12 The emphasis increasingly shifted towards market
cultivation which became an essential feature of rural
production.13

A new credit group emerged who were connected with


trade in agricultural commodities. They advanced credits to buy
seeds at exorbitant rates of returns. Their actual aim was to get
hold of crops in case of nonpayment of debt. Their twin role as
village grain dealers and money lenders gave them the ability to
impose harsh terms on cultivators.14 Money lenders was far more
active in the areas of fertile lands, where the agricultural produce
could be easily sold. It was much easier for the money lender to
dictate his terms and conditions to the debtor zamindars. This
domination of the village grain dealer cum money lender
continued in the 1870s. It was estimated that 80% of the owners,
20% of the occupancy tenants and 10% of the tenant-at-will were
indebted15, as a result of these processes of agricultural
commercialization.

Economic changes by developing irrigation.


British rule in the Punjab was accompanied by important
economic changes. These included urbanization, the
commercialization of agriculture and massive improvements in
the existing infrastructure. The latter accompanied the
agricultural development of the province which soon became
known as the granary of India. The Mughals had brought
irrigation, but British rule modernized this and established vast
canal systems. Large areas of the West Punjab became part of
what was known as the canal colony development in which
previously barren wastelands were watered by the harnessing of
the river systems.

The British were well aware of the irrigation potential of


Punjab, however after annexation a few years were taken up in
Socio-Economic Development in Colonial District Multan (1849-1901)265

the political and economic settlement of Punjab and then the


revolt, in 1857, by the sepoys of the Bengal Army questioned the
very continuity of British rule.. It was not until the 1860s that
they British again had the peace of mind to devote to irrigation
projects in the Punjab. The British also saw this as a way of
rewarding the influential Punjabis who had been so instrumental
in helping them recover Delhi and maintain their rule.

Soon after the annexation of the Punjab, the area under


cultivation began to increase enormously .This was one major
reason why the British economic policy remained focused on
lands in the Punjab. Colonial policy privileged the Punjab’s
agrarian development at the expense of industrial development.
In the absence of Industrial development, Zamindars as well as
other investors had good opportunity to invest their capital in
agriculture lands leading to an accelerating growth of bankers
and money lenders.16 This was an era of capitalist economy. The
first major canal the Lower Bari Doab canal was opened in 1861.
It irrigated the densely populated districts of Amritsar and
Lahore. The lower Jhelum and Chenab canal system were
opened in the 1880s. These canals transformed Jhang, Lyallpur,
Multan and Shahpur into thriving Canal colony regions.17

The whole area was divided into plots of land with


market places, towns and villages and railways traversing the
town.18 The British developed standard layouts of villages called
Chaks and the small market towns known as Mandi Towns.
These were based on the gridiron pattern as opposed to the
traditional meandering streets call the Labyrinthine pattern. The
new pattern was deemed as being modern and more scientific
and the old was decried as being illogical, impractical and
unplanned. A brief analysis shows that the old was not illogical,
impractical and unplanned. In the extreme weather of Punjab a
meandering streets has at a times spots of shade and sun so that a
person walking through the streets would not have a uniform
onslaught of heat or cold wind. These spots of shade kept the
microclimate cooler in summer and warmer in winter and thus
more comfortable for the pedestrians. The streets of the new
planned village or town were inhospitable to a person trying to
266 [J.R.S.P., Vol. 51, No. 1, January – June, 2014]

walk from one end to another especially during the hot summer
weather when the whole street would be uniformly subject to the
heat of the sun with no shade. The British planners were always
very hesitant to find anything good in the traditional ways of life
and as a part of cultural domination made it a point to rub in the
backwardness of Indian building style.

The British had many objectives in establishing the


flourishing Canal Colonies. Primarily it was decided to relieve
the pressure of population in the crowded districts of central
Punjab.19 As a result of canal colonies and colonization, a large
majority of the local population migrated towards other regions
which changed the economy and culture in its entirety. In most
of the South-eastern and South-western districts of the Punjab,
rural inhabitants moved to the lands protected by canals and free
from the dread of famine and droughts.(31) Here the insecurity
of harvest prompted them to move to other tracts. The cultivation
in the western districts had previously depended on capricious
rainfall, often below 5 inches to fertile areas.20

The canal colony development coincided with the


British decision to make the Punjab the main area of military
recruitment.21 The British announced a policy of lucrative land
grants for ex-servicemen especially among the Sikh Jats. This
was an incentive for enlistment in army. In this regard, large
areas of Bari Doab Canal Colony were granted to ex-army
personnel. Hence canal colonies contributed in no small measure
to the British imperial military efforts. Since the major portion of
soldiers in the army came from Punjab, colonization scheme
shifted towards military grantees with the outbreak of World
War 1.22

Servicemen were rewarded with plots of land in the


irrigated areas. Land was also given to proprietors who were
prepared to supply horses and mules to the army. Some of the
largest areas of stud farms were in the Shahpur district. For this
purpose over 200.000 acres had been given to the Shahpur
District.23
Socio-Economic Development in Colonial District Multan (1849-1901)267

Much of the colonist population came from Jat tribes


who migrated from the congested central Punjab districts. The
British trusted people from these districts more than the natives
of doabs, whose somewhat independent stance made their
unquestioned loyalty suspicious. The reason stated for not
distributing lands to the pastoral people was they were not used
to agriculture and therefore would be unproductive cultivators.
This assumption was unproven. Given that before the agriculture
revolution all humanity was in the stage of food gathering who,
when given the opportunity became excellent cultivators, the
argument of ascribing agriculture to some genetic combination in
human is ludicrous. It was simply a politically motivated
decision.

The recipient population joined in support of the British


for their own interests and made the policy successful. It is this
tradition of the land owing classes of Punjab to join and support
the Establishment, as they see their economic interests linked
with the goodwill of the bureaucracy, civil or military, which has
determined the political outlook of their earlier generations and
continues till today. The recipients of land were carefully chosen
and defined, social development was not the objective and
industry was discouraged. This resulted in a solidification of the
existing social structure leaving very little room for change and
development.

Despite the prosperity of the canal colony areas, they did


not escape the problems of indebtedness. Indeed according to the
colonial expert on the Punjab peasantry, Sir Malcolm Darling,
there was a connection between debt and prosperity. In the
presence of abundance of capital, borrowing was uncontrolled
since money provided a good security against the credit and
resultantly rural credit was perpetually increased24 in the canal
irrigated and prosperous districts.. Abundance of capital diverted
people towards investment which eventually caused debt25
paradoxically, freedom from debt could be caused by prosperity
as well as poverty. In the latter case debt did not exist because of
sheer poverty. One predominant factor in borrowing money was
the quality of security offered which spoke of the status of
268 [J.R.S.P., Vol. 51, No. 1, January – June, 2014]

debtor. Here his impoverished status had curtailed the worth of


the credit. In the case of the larger proprietor, freedom from debt
was an evidence of his prosperity.

The inquiry of 1873 revealed that the most heavily


mortgaged districts were the most prosperous which meant debt
followed credit. In Jhang District not a single village was
mortgaged because cultivation was uncertain.26 In the Western
Districts of the Punjab, money lenders were extremely unpopular
among their Muslim clients and mostly referred to as “Kirars”.
Besides these Sahukars, agriculturist money lenders who were
actually rich zamindars and had capital to employ in money
lending, created a space for themselves in the rural credit
relations. They provided credit with a sole object to occupy their
land and in this way were harsher than the Sahukars.27

By the second half of the 19th century, large scale


resumption of mortgages became a permanent feature. One
common reason was that they failed to come out of permanent
indebtedness. Another reason was right to alienate through law
courts enabled creditors to acquire land.28 Hence the
improvement in canal irrigation, commercialization of
agriculture, the soaring prices of land turned in to a profitable
commodity. Its immediate impact was that the Punjabi
zamindars were deprived of their ancestral land holdings and
professional money lenders were the new owners of land. The
British authorities expressed their concern over the unrest among
rural landed classes and insisted upon placing a check on the
credits operations of money lenders.29

The British believed that a contented peasantry was


imperative for stable imperial rule. They defended and extended
the property right to tenants and small land holders followed by
rising prices of agricultural property.30 The main determinants
behind these measures were two –free capitalist economy and
the incentives to remain loyal to the government and its
continued support to the British.31 Through the development of
capitalism and cultural technologies of rule, the British wished to
improve the conditions of peasant class but in fact played havoc
Socio-Economic Development in Colonial District Multan (1849-1901)269

with their social and economic status. Here again the focus was
to preserve their imperial authority Bernard Cohn explicates it by
stating: “culture, the most obvious and brutal modes of conquest
that first established power on foreign shore. The cultural effects
of colonialism have too often been ignored or displaced into the
inevitable logic of modernization and world capitalism.
Colonialism was itself a project of control.32

The late nineteenth century crisis of indebtedness among


Punjabi landholders precipitated the passage of the Alienation of
Land act in 1900. Sir Denzil Ibbetson, the author of the Punjab
Census report 1881 maintained, “as long as they are loyal to and
contented with their rulers the internal peace of the country is
secure and the professional agitator powerless. And most of all
the loyalty and contentment of the sturdy yeoman from whose
ranks we draw our native soldiers, the safe foundation upon
which our rule can rest secure.33

The Act aimed at permitting the permanent alienation of


the land between members of agriculture tribes while sale by
agriculturist to non- agriculturist tribes were virtually prohibited.
The maximum period of usafructure mortgage was fixed at
twenty years. The aim of legislation was to curb the growing
influence of money lenders. The act divided the population into
agriculturist and non-agriculturist tribes.34 The impact and
effectiveness of the act can be observed in the light of colonial
policy toward the enactment of this act. The large scale
alienation of land was perceived as a threat to rural stability and
the imperial ideology which was tied to the tribal settlement. The
fear of rural revolt was a big worry for the state.35 Money lenders
were conceived by the British as men who were not linked to the
tribal rural society. Tribe itself was not a symbol of land but in a
bid to prevent the land passing into the hands of men outside the
agriculturist tribe the British preserved the tribal configuration
land which defined and legitimized the power of rural elite.
Through the land alienation act the structure of rural power was
safeguarded in which land was of central importance.36
270 [J.R.S.P., Vol. 51, No. 1, January – June, 2014]

The control of land through an Act had extended a


message that landholding was legitimate only in certain hands. In
other words the government had established the distinctive
political status of land holding class.37 One top British official
provided the critique, H.J.Maynard wrote; “Government had
conveyed the impression that it regards itself as patron of the
zamindar, and it identifies political advantage with his
contentment and well being of the whole mass of its subjects.38

The British believed that legislation would raise the


value of agricultural land and would stop the transfer of land
from cultivators to urban financiers. But this control was
transitory and new type of mortgage ‘Benami’ was introduced.39
The act created a new class of agriculturist moneylenders who
had conducted their business on harsher terms. They reduced the
peasant to a state where he had to surrender his land. Large land
holders gained ownership of land and landless cultivators were
reduced to the status of tenants. The Land Alienation Act did not
alleviate poverty and debt was on the rise, besides agriculturists
were entangled in heavy fee and taxes of government. The act
ousted prominent Hindus from, agricultural tribal status and
extended patronage to leading Muslim land holders of the
Punjab, and gave the entire scenario communal overtones.40

The Act divided Hindus and Muslims along communal


lines, it bred antagonism and the government was accused of
fostering “divide and rule policy” .The British had attached
greater significance to the tribal loyalty than to religious
solidarity in the rural society, the colonial political control was
based on the communal cooperation among people of different
faiths. So any element of religious self awareness among Punjab
s’ villagers would strike at colonial control. The British state
strengthened communal cooperation in the rural society to their
alliance with the landowners and to facilitate their social and
political control. Any attempt to foment communal dissention
might uproot that very agricultural ideology of the imperial
power.41 The changes brought by the Act were concentrated in
the central Punjab and canal colonies. In much of western
Socio-Economic Development in Colonial District Multan (1849-1901)271

Punjab, the Sahukars continued to be the dominant credit


agency.

COLONIAL MULTAN DISTRICT


The district was the most important and central unit in
the British administrative structure. All the policies were devised
and enforced there.42 As we have already noted the Punjab was a
non regulation province. Here the head of district had
discretionary powers.43 Under the British rule, Multan was under
the control of the Commissioner of the Multan division, who was
stationed at Multan. The ordinary head quarters staff of the
district consisted of a Deputy Commissioner, a judicial assistant
commissioner an extra assistant each tahsil was in the charge of
a tehsildar and his assistant (naib tehsildar), in the re-
organization of 1884, the Multan Commissioner was abolished,
and the district was transferred to the control of Lahore. In 1901,
however concurrently with the formation of the N.W.F.P.
Province the Commissionership of Multan was re-constituted.
The ordinary headquarters civil staff of the district consisted of a
commissioner, a deputy a deputy commissioner, who was also
the Magistrate of the district, collector and Registrar.44

In Multan as in other Punjab districts, local


administration was composed of Lambardars, Zaildars, and
Tehsildars to monitor the administrative structure and to avoid
distress among peasants.45 Economic reforms were extensively
initiated. Trade was liberalized, several projects of employment
were undertaken to direct the energies of people to constructive
work and to wean them from agitation and violence and to
convert the martial and hostile tribes into industrious subjects.

The Multan district was a Muslim majority area of


population. It was also primarily an agricultural district. The
Muslim agricultural population of the Multan district comprised
of tribes of Jats and Rajputs. Rajputs stood higher socially than
Jats. Qureshis and Syeds had migrated from outside India.
Consequently, Rajput tribes sometimes claimed Arab ancestry in
order to enhance their standing.46 Social relations were poorly
developed among the agricultural classes. Compact village
272 [J.R.S.P., Vol. 51, No. 1, January – June, 2014]

communities were rare. Instead, most cultivators clustered


around wells in small hamlets that constituted little introverted
islands. People of diverse tribes were mixed together for
historical reasons. Numerous invasions, with Mongol inroads in
the thirteen century. A.D had broken up many Jat and Rajput
tribes. As a result of this, large quantities of wasteland had been
brought under cultivation by contractors, who had recruited
heterogeneous bands of colonists.47

Small elite was at the top of Muslim society. Pathans


and Baluchis belonged as warrior elite and Sayyids and Qureshis
represented the religious elite. These groups held large areas of
land. Out of 1,375,747 acres held by Muslims at the time of the
second regular settlement of Multan (1874-1880) ,Sayyids and
Qureshis, who comprised less than 5% of the Muslim
population, controlled 213,548 acres or almost 16%. Pathans and
Baluchis, roughly 6% of the Muslims, held 124,135 acres or
almost 9 %.48

SOCIO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN RURAL


COLONIAL MULTAN
The district was essentially agrarian in a sense that lands
and cattle were the main source of livelihood. Agriculture was
mostly dependent on rainfall which was scanty and capricious
thus making the availability of water crucial to the economic
well- being of the district.

Canal colony irrigation came later to the district than


elsewhere in West Punjab, but the completion of the Sidhnai
Canal had the same consequences of raising agricultural
prosperity and encouraging immigration to the district. There
was a rapid flow of migration from the densely populated
Central districts towards the Chenab canal colonies due to major
problems of fragmentation of holding, increasing rate of
indebtedness and limited availability of cultural waste .49 The
colonies provided wealth for other areas through their settlers’
remittances and also employed large numbers of seasonal
labourers.50
Socio-Economic Development in Colonial District Multan (1849-1901)273

A sad aspect of this agricultural development was that


the indigenous inhabitants hardly benefited from this project.
They became alien in their own homelands and were not allowed
to participate in the new agrarian enterprise.51 Diversion of water
from Sutlej .Ravi and Chenab also affected the functioning of
inundation canals at their downwards streams. this led to failure
of sailab cultivation.52

In a quest to transform rural Multani society, the British


wanted to create villages which were superior in comfort and
civilization.53 The colonists enjoyed security. The harvest may
fail everywhere but in the colonies, fields would always be sown
and there was something to take to market.54

In the non-irrigated areas of the Multan district, the


agricultural prospects were not compatible with the colonial
ideology which believed, investment must yield economic
benefits. The village communities remained contented with their
economic and social status. According to Professor Mukharjee,
this contentment was largely based on ignorance of a thing
better. (You need to reference this statement) In the colonies
men started thinking how life could be improved, they had
declined the rude conditions of the past.55

The British boom in the prices of agricultural products


and lands and their impact on the Multan district was explicit.
This was because of the extension of cultivation. The extended
cultivation went to tenants at will or landlords, thus the area
under the occupancy of the tenants was reduced.56 They paid
revenue with malikana in cash or kind. The batai rate of 1/3 was
still in practice. Some landlords even exacted1/2 of it.57 Rent rate
of each village depended on custom and relations between
landlords and tenants. In some villages landlords provided seeds
in proportion to the share of revenue paid by the tenants. In the
Thal area, tenants at times had to pay only land revenue and
gained nothing cut of their crops owing to difficulty of thal
wells. In the district, wells had to be sunk quite often and
cultivators had to face drought and the atrocities of the money
lenders. Despite that his capital came handy for the cultivators.
274 [J.R.S.P., Vol. 51, No. 1, January – June, 2014]

(58) Prior to the settlement there was no fixed land revenue. The
British fixed a certain amount of revenue which was difficult to
pay for the small landholders of the district .

There was a marked rise in the wages of labor in the


district between1895 and 190159 the reason was the increased
demand for labor in the irrigation and railway works throughout
the province. Another reason was the increased demand for labor
in the irrigation and railway works throughout the province.
Wages also rose because of the shortages of labor due to
migration of canal colonies. Moreover there were no large labor
centers in the district. 60 The construction of railways provided an
easy means of export for the surplus of the district, which largely
increased the prices of the produce.61 Railways, in addition to
their military purposes, were expanded to carry the produce to
markets (mandis) and thence to Britain. This led to development
of Karachi as a significant port for the produce from Punjab.
Punjab became the granary to India and Empire and especially
during the First World War Punjab exported for men and food.

In the Sidhnai Colonies in the Multan district as in other


canal colony areas of West Punjab, especially large areas were
earmarked for retired and serving military officers and land
allocation became a regular means of rewarding loyalty. The
army then was still dependent on good horses for cavalry and as
such great importance was given to improving their quality
through better breeding. Special land was allocated to those who
could prove their possession of good mares breeding. These
ghori- pal allotments continued even after the mechanization of
the army.

Along with the commercialization of agriculture, which


was encouraged by the Sidhnai development, indebtedness
increased in Multan as in other West Punjab districts. Under the
Land Improvement and Agriculture Loans Act, fairly large
amounts had been advanced for loans for the agriculturists. In
this regard, few agriculture banks and cooperative societies were
set up in the district. These societies were well managed and
gained in popularity.62 In fact the large land holders in the
Socio-Economic Development in Colonial District Multan (1849-1901)275

district were generally well-off Muslims .However small land


holders had to seek cash from moneylenders for occasional
failure of crops or to deposit revenue.63

At times landholders had to purchase cattle from Sindhi


traders on credit, and the loan had to be retired with compounded
interest. In the district the ordinary land owner like it was the
case in other districts too, had a tendency towards extravagance
on marriage, betrothal and other ceremonies. Most of all he was
also inclined to squander money in litigation to carry an old feud
to satisfy his pride, as a result he was heavily indebted.

There were other reasons of indebtedness too, which


were beyond human control. In the district there was usually two
or three successive years of drought which caused enormous loss
of cattle. The cultivators had to buy cattle and seeds before the
agricultural operations began. The advances made by
“Agriculture Loan Act” were not enough and the cultivator had
either to borrow to steal64 usually in the district of western
Punjab, There was dearth of impulse to thrift. Good markets
were not available which caused glut. Without the competition of
large number of purchases, the cultivators failed to get fair price
for their produce and became entangled in the web of the bania.65
Who was able to take advantage of seasonal climatic difficulties
and cattle mortality.66

The money lenders took advantage of the plight of


zamindars and earned big profits by “storing up grain” and
raising the prices. In the worse cases, debtors were forced to
alienate land to money lenders who manipulated the terms and
conditions to their own advantage.67

A critical analysis of the different village surveys in the


Punjab revealed that the fixed and inelastic land revenue had also
put zamindars in an extremely difficult situation. The small
fragmented holdings, failure of crops, rising debt and rigid
system of collection of land revenue, exacerbated the zamindars’
problems. They were forced to sell their produce at an
uneconomic price.68
276 [J.R.S.P., Vol. 51, No. 1, January – June, 2014]

In Multan district, the Land Alienation act 1900 had


effectively restricted the sales and mortgages to moneylenders.
The types of mortgages permitted by the Act were gradually
being adopted. In the Multan district there were quite a number
of zamindars who had capital to purchase land or acquire it by
mortgage. So the lands were as freely redeemed as mortgages to
moneylenders.69 The market was always available for the
transferable land. In earlier days the value of land had
increasingly risen and in advancing money on mortgage, the
sahukar went up to the sale price. After the passing of Alienation
act, there was an artificial rise in the prices but on the whole the
Act could not reduce the price of land.70

The government tried to improve the landholders’ access


to credit through a number of measures including the Land
Improvement Loans Act 1883 and the Agriculture Loans Act of
1884, However their effects on the availability of credit were
nominal71. The Government next encouraged the growth of
cooperative societies in the Punjab through its 1904 legislation.
The aim was to promote the growth of credit societies and to
encourage peasants to turn to other alternatives other than money
lenders.72 Norman G Barrier has mentioned two reasons why the
credit societies failed to gain a strong foot hold: First, the former
landlords joined the societies to secure loans on favorable terms
and mismanaged entire system. Leaders were untrained, and
accounts were mismanaged. The second reason was that peasants
of Muslim districts feared that cooperatives were to provide
financial assistance to rich landlords only. Official control over
these societies especially in backward areas was not firm. Money
was embezzled and heavy arrears of payments liquidated the
societies.73

In Multan district during the British period, the


cooperative movement passed through different stages. Hindu
and Sikh money lenders realized that the success of the credit
agencies would mean their displacement. The progress of
movement was slow and only four societies could be registered
till 1918.74 During the second stage between 1919 -29, 469
societies of different kinds were set up which eventually
Socio-Economic Development in Colonial District Multan (1849-1901)277

improved the social and economic conditions of the masses. The


period saw the birth of the Central Cooperative Bank which
could alone cater for the economic needs of the district. The
period of expansion of credit societies in the district was
followed by economic depression. The prices fell and recovery
of loans became quite difficult. Most of the loans were advanced
without essential investigation consequently there were major
setbacks in the recovery of loans.

The village sahukar called “Lala ji” or “Gandhari ji “


carried on his three main functions in the districts ----- supplying
usurious loans, marketing produce and distributing goods needed
for daily requirements of people. Due to increasing illiteracy and
effective canvassing of cooperative movements, non- Muslim
money lenders continued to charge exorbitant rates of interest
and did not even hesitate to exact produce of land, residential
houses and even cattle. Another reason for the failure of
cooperatives which was common in Multan and other districts of
the Punjab, was that the transaction between money lenders and
debtors were in kind, whereas cooperative societies used to deal
in cash. People did not want to estrange themselves from
moneylenders. They wanted to keep an option open where a
Cooperative could not meet their needs; they eventually had to
fall back on moneylenders.75

To expose cooperation, a modern economic venture to


the peasantry of the districts who was living under medieval
conditions was a real hazard. The predominantly un-business
like environment easily deadened all efforts for self reliance and
thrift.

Conclusion
This research has examined both British administration
in the Punjab and the major socio-economic changes brought by
colonial rule. Agriculture was affected by the introduction of
commercial cash crops and private land ownership as well as by
the fixed land revenue demands of the state. While there was
growing prosperity, especially as a result of the impact of canals
and railways, there was a growing problem of rural indebtedness.
278 [J.R.S.P., Vol. 51, No. 1, January – June, 2014]

This strengthened the power of the money lending community.


The fear that the alienation of land to this community would
undermine stability in a province of immense importance to
imperial interests resulted in the major legislation of the 1900
Alienation of Land Act.

While historians have reflected on the province-wide


impacts of colonial irrigation and military recruitment policies,
little has been written about this at the district level. This
research has shown how the above changes operated within
Multani society. Not all communities benefited from the colonial
impact. Traditional pastoralists did not, as elsewhere in West
Punjab share in the canal colony development. Land was granted
to those communities who were supporters of the colonial state
whether as a result of military service or by dint of their ability
through local influence as landholders to police rural society.
Also as in other areas of West Punjab, the new commercial
opportunities in the Mandi towns were monopolized by members
of the Arora and Khatri castes. Socio-economic development
patterns in Multan as elsewhere in West Punjab thus laid the
basis for both collaboration with the colonial state and for
increased communal tensions.

Key Words: Colonial, Sidhnai, Multan, irrigation, economic,


development

Notes and References

1 Ian Talbot, Punjab and the Raj,(1849-1947),Delhi,


Monahar,1988,p,10
2 Malcolm Darling, The Punjab Peasant in prosperity and
debt,4thedition, London, Oxford University press, 1947,p.,116
3 Pervaiz Dandal and Saud-ul-Hassan, Punjab Ka Ibtadai
Batawain Daur-Abadkari or Nehri Nau Abadian , Punjab
No.Lahore, Fiction House, 2004
4 Ibid.,p.,11
5 Ibid.,pp.,38-39
Socio-Economic Development in Colonial District Multan (1849-1901)279
6 J.S.Grewal, Agrarian Production and colonial Policy in
Punjab, Delhi, Monahar,1988,p.,29
7 Multan District revenue report,1901-1902,Lahore,1902,p.,20
8 Himadri,Bannerjee, Agrarian society of the Punjab,1849-
1901,Delhi, Monahar,1982,p.,105
9 Ibid.,p.,86
10 Tahir Kamran, The land alienation and British Paternalism of
the Punjabi land lords, Journal of research society of
Pakistan , Vol, xxv, Lahore,2000,pp.,25-26
11 Ibid, p.25
12 Prior to the annexation of the Punjab in 1849, transfer of land
by mortgages or sale was limited by two factors…the laws of
pre-emption or communal land holding and the low sale value
of agriculture property. Punjabis of each religious community
and geographical area valued local customs restricting and
sale to out siders.Punchayat guarded the sale of land to person
outside the community, especially in the western there were
strong sentiments against this step. The British removed these
cheques upon the sale of land to outsiders and non
agriculturists. British distributed the land, gave proprietary
rights to the tenants which soared the value of land. Along
with the extension of roads and railways, the sale and
mortgage value of land. Along with the extension of roads ad
railways, the sale and mortgage of land was rising. Now the
agriculturist was hopeful about some profit beyond his
experiences because of the low revenue assessment.
13 Tahir Kamran, the land alienation, p.28
14 Ibid, p.29
15 Himadari Bannerjee, Agrarian society of the punjab,.p.,87
16 Ibid, p., 115
17 J.S Grewal, Agrariran production and colonial policy in the
Punjab,p.,293
18 Ian Talbot, Punjab and Raj, p.89
19 Ibid, p. 40
20 Malcom Darling, The Punjab Peasent,p.,116
280 [J.R.S.P., Vol. 51, No. 1, January – June, 2014]
21 Pervaiz Danal and Saud- ul-Husain,Punjab ka Ibtadi Bartanwi
Daur…,p.,16
22 Himadree Baneer Jee,Agrarian society of the Punjab,p.,27
23 Imran Ali,Five punjabi centuries,Delhi, Monahar, 1997,p.,343
24 David Gilmartin, Empire and Islam, London, I.B.Tauris &
Co.,1988,P.,25
25 Malcom Darling, The Punjab Peasent, p.,130
26 Mustafa Kamal, colonial political economy, Karachi, Oxford
university press,1998, p.,169
27 Ibid, p.,120
28 Himadari Banner Jee, Agriarian Society of the punjab,p.,114
29 Ibid, p.,163
30 Darling,The Punjab Peasent, p.,24
31 Himadri Banner Jee,Agrarian society of the Punjab, p.,113
32 Ibid, p., 119
33 Irfan Habib, Indian economy,1858-1914,Delhi, Aligarh
Historian Society,2006, p.,72
34 Tahir Kamran,Land Alientation…,p.,29
35 Mustafa Kamal, Colonial political economy,p.,165
36 Bernard Cohn,Colonialism and its form of knowledge,Delhi,
Oxford University Press,1997, p.,xi
37 Norman, G.,Barrier, The Punjab Alientation of Land and bill
of 1900, London. Oxford University Press,1966., p.,37-38
38 Muridula Mukharjee, Colonizing Agiculure, the myth of
Punjabi exceptionalism, New Delhi, Sage publication, 2005,
p.,169
39 David Gilmartin, Empire and Islam, p.,28
40 Ibid., 31
41 Ibid,p.,86
42 Gazetter of Multan District, 1901-1902,Lahore,1902, p.,115
43 Mustafa Kamal, Colonial political economy, p.,161
Socio-Economic Development in Colonial District Multan (1849-1901)281
44 In the non regulation provinces, the official was given
considerable discretion in the conduct of administration. The
defining element of the non regulation provinces was the
union of all powers, executive, magistrate and collector,
subject to the appellate and supervision jurisdiction in all
branches of work.
45 Multan district gazetteer, 1901-1902,pp.,77-78
46 Ibid, pp., 32-33
47 Mooltan gazetteer, 1883-84.,pp.,50-51,statistical table, vii
48 Himadari Banner jee, Agrarian society of the Punjab, p.,28
49 Ian Talbot, Punjab and Raj, pp.,39-40
50 Malcom Darling, The Punjab Peasant, p., 31
51 Ibid,p.,28
52 Ian Talbot,Punjab and Raj, pp.,39-40
53 Himadri Banner Jee, Agraian society…,p.,31
54 Sailab land receives moisture from the river.
55 Ian Talbot, Punjab and Raj, p., 40
56 Imran Ali, Five Punjabi Centuries, p.,352
57 Gazetteer Mianwalli,1915, p.,46
58 Ian Talbot,’ The Punjab under Colonialism, order and
transformation in British India, Journal of punjab
studies,vol,14,(2007),pp,5-6
59 Gazetteer of Multan district,1901-1902,p.,126
60 Ibid, p.,27
61 Thorborn, Settlement report of Multan district 1902,cited in
Darling,p.,20
62 Gazetteer of Multan district, 1901-1902,p., 20
63 Ibid,p.,132
63 Revenue report of Multan district, 1902,p.,20
64 Assessment report of Indus Valley ,1902,p.,112
65 Multan district gazetteer,1901-1902,p.,113
282 [J.R.S.P., Vol. 51, No. 1, January – June, 2014]
66 Darling,The Punjab Peasant, p.,106
67 Muridula Mukhar jee, Colonisation agriculture,p.,178
68 Maynard,cited in Gilmartin,p.,33
69 Gilmartin,Empire and Islam,p.,33
70 Tahir Kamran,p.,50
71 Talbot,Punjab and Raj,pp.,66-77
72 Third revenue settlement report,1901,p.,30
73 Gazetteer Multan District 1884-85,p.115
74 Mukarjee,pp.,181-182
75 Ibid,p.79

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