Peasants, Famine and the State in Colonial Western India

Peasants, Famine and the State in Colonial Western India

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Peasants, Famine and the State in Colonial Western India David Hall-Matthews

David Hall-Matthews 2005 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2005 978-1-4039-4902-8 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in 2005 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-52538-6 ISBN 978-0-230-51051-7 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230510517 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hall-Matthews, David (David Nicolas John) 1967 Peasants, Famine and the State in Colonial Western India / David Hall-Matthews. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Famines India Ahmednagar (District) 2. Peasantry India Ahmednagar (District) 3. Agriculture Economic aspects India Ahmednagar (District) 4. Farmers India Ahmednagar (District) Social conditions. 5. India History British occupation, 1765 1947. I. Title. HC440.F3H35 2005 363.8 0954 79 dc22 2004061722 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05

For Mum, Dad and Shruti with much love and thanks

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Contents List of Tables List of Abbreviations Glossary Acknowledgements Maps ix xi xii xiv xvi Introduction 1 1 Landholding, Peasant Production and Rainfall 19 Introduction 19 The agrarian structure of Ahmednagar district 22 Distribution and fluctuation of land ownership 24 Extent of cultivation and peasant farming strategies 30 Livestock 35 Levels of production 36 Rainfall and drought 39 The impact of the famine crisis 44 Government agendas for rural development 48 Conclusion 56 2 Market Opportunities, Risks and Failures 57 Introduction 57 Cotton production for export 59 Knock-on benefits of the cotton boom 61 The degree of integration of Ahmednagar with external markets 64 Transport and communication infrastructure 70 Peasant poverty and rational caution 78 Free trade during the famine 82 Conclusion 88 3 Rural Moneylending, Credit Legislation and Peasant Protest 92 Introduction 92 The extent and causes of agricultural indebtedness 93 vii

viii Contents The nature of rural lending 95 Credit legislation and British self-criticism 97 Land transfers from peasants to moneylenders 100 The Deccan riots 104 The Deccan Agriculturists Relief Act 107 The nexus of colonial revenue with peasant indebtedness 111 State credit schemes 114 A proposed agricultural bank in Ahmednagar 123 Conclusion 126 4 Land Revenue Rigidity, Revisions and Non-remission 128 Introduction 128 The importance of land revenue 129 The history of the Bombay ryotwari assessment 134 Difficulties in meeting the land revenue demand 138 Calculation of the revised revenue settlement 143 Revenue revisions in Ahmednagar district 150 Land revenue collection during and after the famine crisis 157 Conclusion 167 5 Peasants and Relief Labour 168 Introduction 168 British relief criteria 170 Relief costs 174 The nature of relief 179 Tests of eligibility for relief 184 Responses to famine policy by ryots and individual officers 195 Mortality 204 Conclusion 208 Conclusion 212 Notes 222 Bibliography 257 Index 264

List of Tables 1.1 Sizes of occupancies (acres) in annual jamabandi reports and 1884 Ahmadnagar Gazetteer 26 1.2 Average holding sizes by district, 1876 27 1.3 Take-ups and resignations of government land (acres), 1872 82 29 1.4 Total cultivation (acres), Ahmednagar district, 1869 83 31 1.5 Livestock totals, Ahmednagar district, 1871 81 36 1.6 Extent of cultivation (acres) and production (maunds) of key crops, 1871 83 37 1.7 Average yields (maunds and seers) per acre cultivated, 1874 75 38 1.8 Range of average annual rainfall measurements (inches), 1869 82 40 1.9 Rainfall figures as a percentage of monthly average, Eastern Deccan, 1876 77 43 2.1 Cotton production, Southern Division, Bombay Presidency, 1869 70 60 2.2 Annual average jowar prices, Ahmednagar city 64 2.3 Annual average prices for bajri and jowar in Ahmednagar, Poona and Bombay markets, 1873 74 and 1877 78 (rupees, annas and pice per maund) 65 2.4 Net stamp receipts (rupees), 1861 72 69 2.5 Ahmednagar stamp receipts (rupees), 1871 81 70 2.6 Cart totals in Ahmednagar district, 1876 80 74 2.7 Ahmednagar famine retail prices (rupees, annas and pice per standard maund) 83 3.1 Total government loans, Ahmednagar district, 1877 82 (rupees) 120 4.1 Incidence of land revenue as a percentage of produce value, Deccan, 1830 75 131 4.2 Sanctions for revenue arrears, Ahmednagar, 1873 82 142 4.3 Land revenue remission, suspension and collection, Ahmednagar district, 1867 83 158 4.4 Anticipated land revenue losses due to the 1876 78 famine, Bombay Presidency 160 5.1 Estimated scale of the 1876 78 famine 171 5.2 Famine balance sheet, Bombay Presidency 177 ix

x List of Tables 5.3 PWD relief wages payable in Bombay Presidency, December 1876 189 5.4 Average market rates for unskilled labour, Ahmednagar, 1869 78 189 5.5 Famine relief wages and rations, Bombay Famine Code (1885) 194 5.6 Offences and convictions, Ahmednagar district, 1874 78 199 5.7 Migration between British India and the Nizam s Dominions during the 1876 78 famine 201 5.8 Monthly statement of registered deaths, Ahmednagar district, 1876 77 206 5.9 Mortality by age group and gender, Ahmednagar district, 1876 77 207 5.10 Mortality per thousand of population, Bombay Presidency, 1877 207 5.11 Rural population of Ahmednagar (village returns), 1872 81 208

List of Abbreviations AARA Annual Administration Reports, Ahmednagar CD Central Division (of Bombay Presidency) DRCR Deccan Riots Commission Report EPW Economic and Political Weekly FCR Famine Commission Report GOB Government of Bombay GOI Government of India GRABP General Report on the Administration of the Bombay Presidency HRAD Government of India, Home, Revenue and Agriculture Department IESHR Indian Economic and Social History Review LRSB Land Revenue and Settlements Branch MAS Modern Asian Studies MSA Maharashtra State Archives, Bombay NAI National Archives of India, New Delhi ND Northern Division (of Bombay Presidency) NNR Compilations of Native Newspaper Reports, Bombay Presidency OIOC Oriental and India Office Collections, British Library PSS Poona Sarvajanik Sabha PWD Public Works Department (Government of Bombay) RACD Government of India, Revenue, Agriculture and Commerce Department RAD Government of India, Revenue and Agriculture Department RB Revenue Branch RD Revenue Department (Government of Bombay) SD Southern Division (of Bombay Presidency) SOSI Secretary of State for India xi

Glossary Anna Annewari Bagayet Bajri Bandhara Bania Bhil Brahmin Candy Dacoit Deshmukh Dharmsala Dharna Dufterdar Durbar Fellah Ghat Gram Inam Jagirdar Jamabandi Jerayet Jowar Kharif Kharpadra Khyri Koli Kulkarni Kunbi Lakh Mamlatdar Manuti Maratha Marwari Maund Mhar Mofussil unit of currency; sixteen to the rupee system for estimating the relative yield of crops irrigated land spiked millet, a cheap foodgrain communal dam grain trader member of tribal ethnic group high caste Hindu, part of the traditional social elite unit of measurement for raw cotton; 784 bales bandit landholder of high social status; village representative roadside rest lodge fast before an adversary to demand repayment of a debt village clerk courtly assembly and celebration Egyptian peasant hill type of pulse, a medium quality foodgrain land granted at concessional revenue rates holder of an assignment of land revenue land revenue levy and collection in a given year unirrigated land type of sorghum, a cheap foodgrain main annual harvest crop-destroying insect foodgrain disease member of tribal ethnic group village accountant peasant member of majority ethnic group in the Bombay Deccan one hundred thousand revenue official responsible for a taluka interest charge calculated in grain member of majority ethnic group in Maharashtra, of which Kunbis are part member of ethnic group associated with moneylending unit of measurement for grain; 80 seers member of low caste interior; area away from town or headquarters xii

Glossary xiii Munsif Nizam Nulla Octroi Panchayat Parsi Patel Pice Pot kharab Rabi Rajadharma Ramosi Ryot Ryotwari Sarvajanik Sabha Seer Sowcar Takavi Taluka Vadhi didhi Vyaj Zemindar Zemindari subordinate civil judge prince drain or stream levy on carriage of goods village council member of ethnic group in Bombay village leader units of currency; 12 to the anna uncultivable land winter harvest Hindu concept of moral rule member of tribal ethnic group peasant land revenue system taxing landholders individually people s association unit of measurement for grain; just over two pounds local moneylender, usually Marwari government loan for agricultural improvement sub-division of a district system for calculating interest in grain, at 50 per cent of the original loan interest charge calculated in money large landlord land revenue system in which zemindars pay a fixed sum to be recouped from their tenants

Acknowledgements I have greatly appreciated discussions and advice given by many people while researching and writing this book, including David Arnold, Jairus Banaji, Ondine Barrow, Judith Brown, Bob Currie, Lucia da Corta, Anna Lou de Havenon, Alex de Waal, Tom Downing, Jean Drèze, Mark Duffield, Nandini Gooptu, Sumit Guha, David Hardiman, John Harriss, Barbara Harriss-White, Douglas Haynes, Jaya Henry, David Keen, Jocelyn Kynch, Bishnu Mohapatra, Kenneth Parmasad, Peter Robb, Tirthankar Roy, Richard Symonds, Megan Vaughan and David Washbrook. Amrita Rangasami must take special credit for inspiring my interest in famine in India. I am grateful for the support of colleagues at the University of Leeds notably Duncan McCargo, Ruth Pearson, Quentin Outram, Gordon Crawford, Morris Szeftel, Ray Bush, Kevin Theakston, Sarah Bracking, Felia Allum and Michael Connors. My research was generously supported by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Staff at the Indian Institute Library in the Bodleian, Oriental and India Office Collections in the British Library, National Archives of India, Maharashtra State Archives, Central Secretariat Library, Ratan Tata Library, Jawaharlal Nehru University Library, Nehru Memorial Library, Gokhale Institute for Politics and Economics Library and the Ahmednagar Collector s Office Record Room have all been very helpful and efficient. An earlier version of Chapter 2 of this book was originally published in the Indian Economic and Social History Review, Volume 36, number 3, The Indian Economic and Social History Association, New Delhi, 1999. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the kind permission of the copyright holders and the publishers, Sage Publications India Private Limited, New Delhi, to whom I am obliged. Many friends have made the task more enjoyable. I am indebted to Rieko Karatani, Hartmut Mayer, Chris Borg and Bhisham Singh. Thanks, too, to Hemendra Singh, Puvvala Prasad, Vijay and Madhu Sharma, Kirsty Milward, Raul Velasquez, Prashant Kidambi, Javed Abidi, Sanjay Barbora, Deepkanta Chowdhury, Jon Wilson, Brigid Bloom, Ben Dowson, Nicola MacNiven, Tim and Ann Chevassut, Sam Hood, Jo Morrison, Nick Alp, Chris Amis, Nicolas de Torrente, Edmund and Sarah Conybeare, Shane Doyle, Nayanika Mookherjee, Lalita Iyer, xiv

Acknowledgements xv Hamish Badenoch, Melissa Eveleigh, Isabelle Noel, Pavan Kapoor and Ramesh, Madhur, Kriti and Ashish Kapila. My family have given endless love and support, without which I could not have managed. My greatest love and gratitude is owed to Shruti, whose encouragement has been unstinting. Thank you for exhortation and inspiration, but above all for being you.

xvi Prantij Ahmedabad KAIRA Kaira Matar AHMEDABAD Baroda BROACH Broach Mandvi Olpad Surat Bardoli SURAT PANCHMAHALS Tapti Dohad WEST R. KHANDESH Dhulia Narmada R. EAST Jalgaon KHANDESH Pachora NASIK Nasik THANA Pravara R Kopargaon Belapur Thana AHMEDNAGAR Godavari R. BOMBAY KOLABA POONA Poona Ahmednagar Saswad Supa Baramati Malegaon Nira R. Barsi Satara SHOLAPUR Presidency and Indian State boundaries District boundaries RATNAGIRI SATARA Islampur Kolhapur KOLHAPUR Sholapur Bhima R. BIJAPUR 0 100 MILES Goa Krishna BELGAUM Belgaum Dharwar Hubli Gadag DHARWAR KANARA R. Tungabhadra R. Part of Bombay Presidency showing district boundaries

xvii to Manmad NASIK KOPARGAON THANA AKOLA SANGAMNER RAHURI NEWASA NIZAM S DOMINIONS SHEOGAON AHMEDNAGAR NAGAR PARNER AHMEDNAGAR POONA SHRIGONDA KARJAT JAMKHED 10 0 10 20 30 from Dhond SHOLAPUR Ahmednagar District, showing divisions of talukas Source: Ahmadnagar Gazetteer, 1884