Bombay Deccan and Karnatak

ECONOMIC LIFE I N THE

BOMBAY DECCAN (1818-1939)

By the same author:

EcoNOMIC HISTORY OF THE BOMBAY

DECCAN AND KARNATAK (1818-1868) THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION (1818-1826)

A HISTORY OF BRITISH DIPLOMACY AT THE COURT OF THE PESHWAS (1786-1818) THE LAST PHASE (1815-1818) THE AFTERMATH (1818-1826)

Nap :f

BOMBAY DECCAN - 1

ECONOMIC LIFE IN THE

BOMBAY DECCAN

by R. D. C H OKS E Y

ASIA PUBLISHING HOUSE BOMBAY CALCUTTA

March, 1955

Copyright Reserved

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X 10

_NTED BY G. G. P"TH"'Ut "T THE POPULAR PRESS I.OM.' LTD . BOMBAV 7. AND PUBLIS"'ED BV P. S. JAYASINGHE. "SIA PUBLISHING t-tOU5E. BOMBAY'

But a bold peasantrv, their country's pride, When once destroyed, can never be supplied.

-Goldsmith

'" '" Let not ambition mock their useful toil, Their homely joys and destiny obscure; Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile The short and simple annnis of the poor.

-Gray

PREFACE

IT IS a decade since the author of this work had written an Economic History of the first fifty years of British rule in

the Bombay Deccan and Karnatak. The present work is the fulfilment of an old desire to bring the Economic History of the Bombay Deccan up to date. The approach to the study of Lhe subject as presented here varies from his early work. The author is grateful for this new approach to Prof. Andrus' Burmese Econcnnic Life. The plan of that work appealed so much to the author that he felt that a very readable account of a similar nature could be given of the Bombay Deccan after patient research. It took some years to gather the material that fonns the subject matter of the present work; and this book is the reward of that labour.

The labour in gathering the material was not so exacting as that required for the earlier study. Reports, printed and in manuscript, with statistical information regarding all mat-ters after 1850 and, especially after 1880, are readily available, subject, of course, to the limitations found by a student of Economic History. There can be no sweeping generalisations in Economic History because no great uniformity in economic development can be expected. This is especially the case with the earlier account of the economic development of the Bom-bay Deccan. Sufficiency of economic facts, is, as a rule, rarely possible, and one has often to avoid the strong temptation to assume that certain conditions were prevalent everywhere. Not much reliance can be placed on the statistical informa-tion. Yet no account dealing with economic development can neglect them. Even European scholars are chary of statistical information and feel it is advisable to compare statistics obtained from different sources before drawing any conclu-sions on their basis. The author of this work has experienced, on several occasions, that such comparison of statistical infor-mation has often shown the differ~nce in the figures given on the same subject by different authorities. But these

PREFACE

obstacles to absolute statements should not be an excuse for the condonation of vagueness.

So far no justice has been done to the study of the Econo-mic History of India. The author thinks that it is too stupend-ous a task for a single individual. He, therefore, feels that the be!'>t approach to the study of this neglected branch of history is a regional one. The aim of the present work is to give the reader an account of the economic conditions prevailing in the Bombay Deccan from the time of the British occupa-tion of the Peshwa's Dominions in 1818 to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. This work is to be more than a mere outline and shall, at the same time, not be too abstruse to be of use to the student who is approaching the subject for the first time. The work has its limitations, partly due to the author's humble ability, and partly the limitations on his knowledge placed by the material available for building up this account. Yet, every effort ha!'; been made by the author to avail himself of all material1ikely to throw sufficient light on all the main trends of economic development through-out the hundred and twenty years of British rule in the Bombay Deccan. He considers an honest effort his best reward.

The author desires to express to certain institutions, officials and friends, his thanks for the help given in the pre-paration of this work. Thanks are due to the Director of Land Records, Poona, and the Revenue authorities in Bombay for the permission granted to study all the records at their offices. He is also grateful for the facilities given by the library of the Servants of India Society, that of the College of Agriculture and the permission granted to refer to some old works and census reports in the keeping of the Peshwa Daftal'. This work also owes a debt to the immense number of records and books made available by the Director of Local Authorities.

The Trustees of the Tata and A. H. Wadia Trusts by their munificent aid in making the publication of this work possible have, once again, placed the author under a lasting

x

PREFACE

obligation. He has always tasted of their generosity for which he is ever grateful.

Among the friends who have contributed to making the publication of this 'Work possible are Mr. C. P. Wadia and Prof. R. D. Choksey. Without Mr. C. P. Wadia's generous aid this book could not have been printed. Prof. R. D. Choksey has these many yeat"s been associated with the publication of nearly all my works. I have no words to express my gratitude to these gentlemen. Grateful acknowledgement is aiso due to Prof. P. N. Driver for having so kindly procured for me valuable repOrts in the keeping of the library of the

~ollege of Agriculture. To Prof D. R. Gadgil, M.A., M.Litt., (Cantab.), the author owes his early inspiration and guidance in the study of this subject and wishes to express his thanks.

The author wishes to continue a regional study of the economic developments in the Bombay Province during the British rule. It is with this purpose that he has already undertaken a similar study of the Bombay Konkan and wishes tg give his time and labour, in the future, to the Bombay Karnatak and Gujer&t. The accomplishment of this scheme will give the student of Economic History some insight into the varied problems ()f economic development of this part of Western India.

17th February 1955 R. D. CHOKSEY

xi

CONTENTS Chapter Page

Preface ix

1: Geographic Background 1

II: Economic History (1818-1875) 13

III; The People 36

IV: Agriculture 57

V: Irrigation 76

VI: Agricultural Relations . 91

VII: Forests 113

VIII: Rural Uplift 126

IX: Bombay Deccan (1875-1939) 137 X: Domestic Commerce 160

XI: Industries 171

XII: Transport 193

XIII: Finance and Banking 204

XIV: Economic Conditions under the British Rule 213 Index 225

xiii

MAPS AND CHARTS

Map of Bombay Deccan

Page

Frontispiece

Map Showing Average Annual Distribution of Rainfall in Bom-bay Presidency 4

Chart Showing the Fluctuations in the Price of Jowari and Bajri at Sholapur from 1821 to 1875 . . 30

Map Showing District Area and Population, 1941 48

Map Showing

Distribution of Bajri, 1941 58 Distribution of Jowar, 1941 58

Distribution of Wheat, 1941 62

Distribution of Cotton, 1941 63

Distribution of Sugarcane, 1941 67

Map Showing Irrigation Works in the Bombay Deccan 86

Map Showing Distribution of Industrial Labour, 1941 173

Map Showing Roads and Commu-nications 192

xv

CHAPTER I

GEOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND

THE Bombay Deccan, exclusive of Khandesh, comprises the districts of Poona, Ahmednagar, Nasik, Sholapur and Satara. It has an extension of nearly 40,000 square miles and it is three-quarters of the size of England. This territory is separated from the long and narrow western coastal strip called the Konkan by a range of mountains, the Sahyadris. The Sahyadris, popularly called the Western Ghats, are a chain of mountains that extend over a distance of 500 miles from north to south, throwing off their spurs On either side which lose themselves in the Bombay Konkan on one side and the Bombay Deccan on the other. The whole of the Sahyadri tract from the Girna hills to the Goa border may be included in this region. In the north it is locally known as the Dangs and in the south it is frequently described as the Dongri region. The transitional strip on its eastern flank is known as the Maval. When viewed from the low level of the Konkan the range appears a mighty wall of rock 2,000 to 3,000 feet high surmounted by isolated peaks to a further height of 1,000 to 1,500 feet. The entire landscape below the Sahyadris is a series of ridges and villages intersected by streams running in very deep beds. From the crest of the Sahyadris one sees a succession of billowy ranges and the green patches of tillage in the valleys which give the country an air of picturesqueness.

To the north of the Bombay Deccan stretching nearly 60 miles along the Tapti and varying in width from 70 to 90 miles, Khandesh forms an upland basin, the most northerly section of the Deccan tableland. An upland basin, draining into the Tapti with a gentle westerly slope, Khandesh includes the most varied tracts of the country, wild hills and forests, rich gardens and groves, stretches of barren plains and low rolling rocky hills. The land forms of the Tapti valley deter-

1

ECONOMIC LIFE IN THE BOMBAY DECCAN

mine the human geography of the region. It covers a total area of 10,000 square miles.

Geographically, therefore, we are to deal with the plateau of the Bombay Deccan extending from the foot of the Sahyadris eastwards to the Nizam's Dominions and losing itself south-wards into what is called the Southern Maratha Country. To the north lies the Khandesh basin drained by the Tapti and her tributaries and bounded by the Satpuras on the north. On the . west and east its limits are somewhat indistinct. Though Khandesh is usually included in the Bombay Deccan, geography does not so wholeheartedly support the claim. In physical features it appears in its rich soil a continuation of Gujerat, and in its business activity it thrives on commercial crops. The Khandesh agriculturist has cultural affinity with Gujerat.

The Bumbay Deccan 85 it leaves the shadow of the Western Ghats becomes a "scantily watered tract. . for the most part all almost treeless plain, sloping from the rock-bound Ghat edge towards the level fields of Berar and Hyderabad. The hills arrest the progress of the south-west monsoon and the land thus left unwatered yields to much labour a bare measure of subsistence."

It is in the hilly region that the source of the great rivers Godavari, Bhima, and Krishna lies. These mighty rivers and their tributaries run towards the east. It is their basin that forms the hOllle of the Bombay Deccan. But none of these rivers are of any great help to the economic life of the people. This is so bec'ause these rivers originating in the Sahyadris flow through deep and narrow gorges. Moreover, their water supply is not ('onstant. During the rains they are in torrential floods and are of little value for either irrigation or for com-munication, while during the long summer months the beds of these rivers at many a village are completely dried, and untold hardship due to water scarcity is felt.

It is in these hilly regions, which is the source of. the rivers, that lie the valleys which yield an abundant harvest of sugarcane, the chief money-crop of the Deccan farmer. The

2


districts of N asik, Poona, Ahmednagar, Satara and Sholapur lie within the basin of the Godavari, Bhima and Krishna. The region near the Ghats receives ample rainfall, and in certain parts an average which is perhaps the highest in India. Yet as the landscape recedes into a plain, parts of every district of the Bombay Deccan, especially the eastern parts of Poona and Nasik and the entire district of Ahmednagar and Sholapur are in constant fear of the spectre of famine. On the other hand, the western part of the Deccan near the Ghats, as already stated, is a region of heavy rainfall and rice is ~rown in terrac-ed fields all over it. Igatpuri in Nasik district, Lonavla and Khandala in Poona district, Mahableshwar in Satara and Akola in Ahmednagar have rainfall above 150 inches nearly every year. While these regions have more than their share of rain-fall, a few lroles away from the Ghats, for instance in Indapur and Baram with a sub-region in Khandesh district.

(2) The Desk which is the Eastern Bombay Deccan. The MavaL tract comprises the leeward slope of the Ghats,

extending 3:) to 60 miles. It is just below the crest of the Sahyadris and therefore does not come under the rain shadow. Though in certain tracts the rainfall is very heavy, the average annual rainfall does not exceed 50 inches. Generally the area receives rai.nfall from June to October. Khandesh receives its supply from the south-west monsoons that yearly rush up the Tapti valley. Like the Maval tract its annual rainfall comes to just about 35 inches.

The strip of land adjacent to the Maval and lying parallel

3

.'

0'0 " fa \

, 1~

MAP SHOWING AVERAGE ANNUAl. DISTRIBUTION

OF RAINFALL IN BOI"IBAV PRESIDENCY.

REFEREHCES 8~- l5 Inchrs ~ ~ . _~ c:=:J Z5 10 30 .,-- _______ c::::J 30 10 40 po ______ --C:::J 40 to 50 ,, ________ c:::J SO 10 75 'r ___ ~ ____ c=J 7510 (00 ,, _________ c::J lDOto 140 .. _________ c=J .IIJJo"e /41J ,. ______ -r=J Pli/t:es "I Sfvdy_. ______ ~

'lIeALi O~ MI~S 1: Z; 4t ',a 1,0 .,0 Ii ... a to

It IU ....


to it, called the Deah, is the second rainfall division. It in-cludes the eastern portion of all the districts of the Bombay Deccan. The monsoon winds that blow over this tract are dry and the rainfal1 is very poor, ranging from 20 to 30 inches. The deficiency of rainfall has been partly removed by irriga-tion but the thirst of the fields remains unsatisfied.

The Mat;al tract therefore lies within the bounds of the districts ot Nasik, Poona, Satara and a small portion of Ahmednagar. Sholapur and a greater portion of Ahmed-nagar lie beyond the reach of the Ghats and with the eastern parts of Poor la, Nasik, and Satara comprise the Desh.

Average Rainfall in the Maval and Desh talukas of Poona, Satara and Nasik

(From comparative statement compiled in the Irrigation Department)

-_-----

Average District Taluka Station Years Rainfall

Inches Cents ------ .------ -.- ------- --- ---

Poona Haveli Poona (Maval) (Civil

Hospital) 1853-86 27 14 -------_-.

Indapur Indapur (Desh) (Mamlatdar's

Kacheri) 1862-86 18 85 ---~--~--.

- -_-_-------------

Satara Satara Sa tara (Maval) (Civil

Hospital) 1867-86 40 01 --------- ---_--

Man (Desh) Gondoli 1869-86 19 92

--_._------ ---_._"

Nasik Nasik Nasik (Maval) (Civil

Hospital) 1861-86 29 02 --.~ --------

Malegaon Malegaon , , \ ~ (Desh) Observatory 1861-86 23 01

5

ECONOMIC LIFE IN mE BOMBAY DECCAN

For nearly the same number of years the average rainfall recorded at Ahmednagar was 23.71 inches, and at Dhulia in Khandesh it was 22.15 inches.

We may now examine the history of rainfall in the Bombay Deccan and Khandesh for every five years from 1887 to 1938:

Years Districts

Poona Sholapur 'Nagar Nasik Satara Khan-desh

Ina. ets. Ins. Cts. Ina. Cts. Ins. ets. Ins. Cts. Ins. Ct .

1887-88 38 46 42 16 24 39 33 35 49 18 40 33 1892-93 45 19 39 28 42 06 35 04 43 47 27 28 1897-98 37 18 20 42 18 23 28 46 46 61 3Q 84 1902-03 31 12 30 41 30 31 30 30 37 45 ~1 91 1907-08 37 21 21 84 14 86 28 25 44 30 15 41 1912-13 14 93 9 55 5 74 20 58 42 25 8 90 1917-18 18 64 19 84 20 72 21 20 25 76 16 19 1922-23 13 47 12 05 8 67 15 47 27 65 16 03 1927-28 18 60 18 71 17 71 26 53 37 18 17 66 1932-33 20 30 17 86 19 94 29 94 47 05 18 15 1937-38 24 76 14 45 17 48 32 28 26 13 15 12

Most of the statistics are taken from Report of the Department oj Land Records ami A,l/r;(l1 /111 rr. Much reliance cannot be placed on the figures before 1900.

No SOurce of economic life plays so vital a part as rainfall . in the Bombay Deccan. The entire economy of the region depends upon a normall'ainfall every year. And no part of India is pei'haps left so much to the caprice and vagaries of the weather as the Bombay Deccan. The prosperity of the year and the price level depend on a normal rainfall. This dependence on rainfall has made irrigation a crying need. Lack of any attention to the possibilities of exploiting the Deccan rivers for the purposes of reservoirs and canals has been the bane of the British rule.m Western India. It is true that the physical features of the Bombay Deccan are not help-ful to large schemes of irrigation, and if undertaken calI forth large financial outlay, but to neglect their possibility is

6

GEOGRAPHIC BACKGROlJN1)

to submit th~ country to the mercy of an uncertain rainfall. The necessity of irrigation on an increasing scale must be con-sidered a pr.im~ necessity in promoting th~ agricultural pros-perity 01' the Bombay Deccan. The development of irrigation will therefore need special treatment separately.

There has been a growing feeling of late years that the rainfall continues to decrease in the Bombay Deccan. From the statistics of the yearly rainfall, districts like Poona, Shola-pur and Ahmednagar show a distinct fall in the quantity 01 rain from about 1910-11. There are very few years which compare with the years prior to 1910 when the rainfall aver-aged nearly every year in Poona about 30 inches, Ahmed-nagar 20 inches and Sholapur about 25 inches. Satara and Khandesh appear to have maintained a fairly even fall over many years. Only after 1922-23 is there a very obvious de-crease in rainfall at Satara; but Khandesh and Nasik with the exception of years of general scarcity, when rainfall failed nearly everywhere, show a constant average from 1886. The rainfall statistics as shown for a period of every five years will convince the reader that after 1912-13, which appears to be a year of all-round scarcity, the average rainfall all over the Bombay Deccan seems to have lessened very perceptibly.

Perhaps the most satisfactory explanation for this de-crease in rainfall is the gradual extinction of our forests. It is true that the Bombay Deccan cannot boast of large forest reserves. The number of forests are few and those only in the Ghat region. Yet the preservatlon of these and the plan-ting of still more trees will not only attract a larger quan-tity of rainfall but help us to solve our growing problem of soil erosion. Rainfall is of vital importance to the Eastern Deccan or what is known as the Desk. Its entire economy is dependent on a normal fall of rain, and a normal fall of late years especially is a rarity. Ahmednagar and Sholapul' districts have gained a reputation as famine areas of the Bom-bay Deccan. Development of irrigation, and efforts to utilise the heavy rains in the Ghat region ought to receive all our attention.

7

ECONOI4IC LIFE IN THE BOMBAY DECCAN

It is clear that the hill ranges of the Bombay Deccan haw a certain common pattern in spite of local variations. In their economic importance they playa subsidiary role to the agri-cultural basins of the plateau. A major area is under grazing. POpulation is thin and is dominated by the pastoral class. The climate due to heavy fall of rain is malarious and at cer-tain times of the year extremely unhealthy.

As we leave the region of the Ghats and enter the basin of the rivers we find thc country roughly divided by the spurs that shoot forth from the Ghats. Geographically the entire Bombay Deccan and Khandesh can be divided into (1) the Tapti basin; (2) the Godavari basin; (3) the Bhima basin and (4) the upper Krishna basin. The whole of this region is a dry tract owing to its position as rain shadow area. Economic development of the Bombay Deccan, exclusive of Khandesh, which lies in the bosom of the Tapti, is accordingly confined, in the main, to three major areas drained by the Godavari, Bhima and Krishna.

Nasik and parts of Ahmednagar are drained by the Godavari. The Bhima which passes through the Poona dis-trict is a tributary of the Krishna and lies in the heart of the Bombay Deccan. The Krishna has for itself a distinct geo-graphical region. Taking its source waters from Mahablesh-war the river flows due south and develops a valley course of over 200 miles passing through the Satara. district. Sholapur lies in the basin of the Bhima with its feeders the Nira and the Man on the right, the Sina on the left and Bhogavati on the north. Large parts of Khandesh owe their prosperity to the Tapti.

We may now very briefly survey the agricultural pros-perily of these river valleys. Beginning with the Krishna in the south, we find agricultural production intense and diversi-fied, both on account of adequate rainfall and rich black soil. Of the variety of crops in the valley, commercial crops of tobacco and sugarcane are of greater importance. These are closely followed by chillies, oilseeds and cotton. This region

8


owing to adequate rainfall and rich soil is considered the richest agricultural tract of Western India.

In the basin of the Bhima with a poor average rainfall varying between 19 to 28 inches, bajri is grown as the major crop. On the east we have jowari. The distribution of cot .. ton, wheat and oilseeds indicates thf> influence of commerce. There is intensive farming in sugarcane, fruits and vegetable cultivation in the central and western parts. Canal irr.igation is a special feature of the region. The Bhima basin is pro-bably the best developed tract of such areas. T t is based on a favourable gradient and steadier water supply from the Ghats. And hence extensive use is being made of irrigated area for ... ugarcane cultivation. The south-western half of the basin is m.ore populous on account of stable agriculture intensified by irrigation. The best examples of this prosperity are Satara and Poona. The north-eastern part of the basin is at the mercy of the monsoon and offers a sharp contrast to the garden nrea of the south-west.

In the basin of the Godavari lies the Nasik district. Here, agricultural production is almost the same as in the Bhima Valley except in the extension of bajri and wheat. Cotton is a secondary crop and is grown only in the eastern talukas. Sugar aided by canal irrigation is a major crop, and grape culti~ vation is a famous industry. A black soil region forms a part (If the exlensive zone of the Godavari basin and is mainly given to wheat cultivation.

Khandesh differs in many respects from the Bombay Dec-can in spite of its linguistic affinity. The focus of human acti-vity in the district is the Tapti. Khandesh belongs to the Tapti drainage and is separated from Central India by the Satpuras, and from the Bombay Deccan by the Satmala hills. Commercially, Khandesh occupies an important situation. It occupies an important midway position between two regions of high commercial and agricultural development; the Central and Northern India and the west coast of Bombay State.

The richest half of the district is not the immediate banks of the Tapti, but the intermediate plain known for its black

9

ECONOMIC LIFE IN 'l1IE BOMBAY DECCAN

cotton soil. The Tapti discourages population concentration due to its bad topography which prevents irrigation and inten sive cultivation. It is, therefore, along the central black soil belt that the population, large villages and thriving towns mark the landscape. These are well connected by roads and railways. Similar activity is found among the villages in the south near the Satmala ranges. Here the lands are well irri. gated with denser settlements marked by such towns as Jam ner and Parola.

The famous cotton zone of Khandesh lies along the black soil plain. On the immediate banks of the Tapti, which is a region of medium rainfall, crops such as mmet, oilseeds and pulses are grown. It is cotton that dominates the agricul-tural economy. Cotton cultivation explains the economic prosperity of the region. It is also responsible for the high urban development of Eastern Khandesh. To the south-west of Eastern Khandesh there is a change in agri-cultural production. Here the river Girna, a tributary, adds to the productivity of the region. Malegaon is the centre of all human activity. In Western Khandesh the rainfall is heavy and agriculture is limited only to the riverine areas. Forests and unhealthy climate affect its development and pros-perity. Dairying is an important industry owing to good supply of fodder. The region is thinly populated, and in spite of the Tapti Valley Railway it has little commercial im-portance.

Rainfall and the Sahyadri influence the climate of the Bombay Deccan considerably. The huge barrier chain of thick forest vegetation and heavy rainfall marks a zone with a very moist, chilly, unhealthy and malarious climate during the monsoon. From June to the end of September a considerable part of this region is uninhabitable. Even during the other months of the year it is thinly populated with very limited agriculture in the valleys. The climate then varies as it leaves the Ghats. After the region of heavy rainfall, as the landscape passes into the river valleys, the temperature in what may be called the transition tract, becomes dry and in-

10


vi go rating. The temperature is kept down by cool winds and at many places the climate is extremely moderate throughout the year. The best examples are Poona and Nasik where there are no extremes of heat or cold. At Satara the climate is not uniform all over the district. In the east the heat is considerable, but near the Ghats it is much more moderate, being tempered by the sea-breeze. During the south-west monsoon the fresh westerly breeze makes the climate agree-able. In Ahmednagar and Sholapur, though the climate on the whole is genial, the hot season begins late in February and continues till May and from that date till the monsoon breaks the weather gets sultry and oppressive. The hot season in these districts is really severe in comparison with Poona, Nasik and Satara. The reason is the distance from the Ghats, and a major part of the districts lie in the zone which is the Desh or the Eastern Deccan tract. During the monsoon the climate is temperate and pleasant.

Maximum and Minimum Temperature every five years commencing with 1885 to 1940

Location 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 1910 1915 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940

Poona Max. 106 108 109 108 109 106 107 104 107 107 108 106 Min. 43 46 45 48 43 45 45 45 39 39 35 40

Ahmednagar Max. . . 107 106 110 105 109 110 107 106 106 108 Min. 39 47 42 43 44 45 37 40 43 43

Sholapur Max. 109 112 109 110 111 109 110 108 108 109 109 111 Min. 50 48 56 48 47 51 53 46 48 52 51

Malegaon Max. 107 .. 111 111 112 108 114 109 112 110 109 110 Min. 43 42 41 38 40 42 40 36 38 33 41

The climate in Khandesh varies. In West Khandesh it is generally fair, though in places near the forests it is unhealthy,

11


damp and malariou. In the East the climate is on the whole healthy, though intensely hot, especially north of the Tapti; in the hot season. There is a tendency to malaria after the cessation of the monsoon, especially near the Satpuras. The dimate on the whole compares unfavourably with the Bomhay Deccan.

Poona has the most temperate climate and Malegaon iIi East Khandesh has extremes. The geographical situation of Poona near the Gh8ts and in the rain shadow accounts for the pleasant climate. Alunednagar, though slightly hotter in summer, appears as pleasant as Poona from November to January. Sholapur in East Deccan has a very hot summer and so has Malegaon. But Malegaon enjoys a cooler wintel' than Sholapur. Sholapur which is the fal'therest from the Ghats has perhaps the worst climate in the BombAY Deccan.'"

The temperature statistics are from the Meteorological Qffice. Poona. There are no observatories in places other than those mentioned and hence their data can be of little importance. . :

12

CHAPTER II

ECONOMIC HISTORY (1818-1875)

THE system of land tenure in the Bombay Deccan is called Rayatwari as distinguished from the Zamindari system of

Bengal and Bihar Ol:" the village community system of the Punjab. It is analogous to that of Madras, inasmuch as it proceeds on the general plan-a survey of the land and its division into individual holdings and a revenue rate fixed by the Government on each assessed field. Under the Rayatwari system the settlement is made by Government with indivi-dual occupants who are themselves landholders not tenants. In adopting this system, the East India Company followed in the footsteps of the previous rulers, namely, the Marathas, and systematised on a fairly scientific basis. The system adopted by the Peshwas was based on that of Malik Amber, the Abyssinian Subah of the Adil Shahi dynasty. It was Malik Amber's system of land revenue that Todar Mal intro-duced into the Moghul Empire in the days of Emperor Akbar. The basis of assessment of Todar Mal's system was "the divi-sion of soils into three classes by a system of classification." The average produce of each class was then ascertained and the average of those amounts struck; one-third of this total was then taken and the result converted into a money rate on the average of 19 years' prices and fixed as the standard of assessment. At the outset this assessment was made an-nually, but on account of the difficulty of obtaining the annual record of prices, was in the end fixed for a term of ten years.

Very little reliable information is available as to the sys-tem adopted by the various rulers before Akbar's time. But if we go back to the period of Manu we find that he lays down the following dictum regarding the share of the State in the proceeds of land:

"As the leech, calf and the bee take their food, so must

13


the King draw from his kingdom moderate taxes. A one-fifth part of (the increment of) cattle and gold is taken by the King and the one-eighth, one-twelfth or one-sixth part of the crop" though "a Kshatriya King, who in time of war takes even the one-fourth part of the crops, is free from blame if he protects his subjects to the best of his ahility."

The share thus taken was called Rajbhoj or the share of the State in the crop collected at harvest time on the village threshing floor.

In all these systems a lump sum was levied from the vil-lages, the headman whereof distributed the amount so agreed upon over the holdings of individual cultivators. In the time of Nana Fadnavis, the district organisation consisted of main divisions under the charge of the Mamlatdars and smaller ones under the charge of Kamavidars. They were men of position and influence and were retained over long periods in one district. As a result they were able to get a thorough knowledge of their people and were careful not to press the rayat too hard. This system came to an end in the time of Peshwa Bajirao II, who introduced the system of farming land revenue in its stead. When the East India Company took over from the Peshwas, they decidE:d to give up the farming !=ystem and went back to the system of Nana Fadnavis. The income derived from the then existing farming system had, however, to be adopted as the basis of assessment. Mr. Elphinstone, the first Commissioner of the Deccan, laid down the leading principles of revenue administration in the follow-ing terms, namely, that they were "to abolish farming, but otherwise to maintain the native system; to levy the revenue according to the actual cultivation; to make the assessment light; to impose no new taxes, and to do away with none, unless obviously unjust; and above all to make no innovations," The individual officers were given wide discretion as to the actual measures to be adopted within the above limitations,

Under the new system of rayatwari land revenue ad. ministration intrQ(jy.c~d by Mr. Elphinstone there were to be no changes oip. the~~ist'~ system of land revenue except in

, .. ~ .,' (.t -,,~ ... . :~ 14

+- '1 .,

. . ,-~: I! \.'. '. ." '.I "', " .#". ...",'''_."

'"...:;:.,.",'.: ~ \, .. ~.' .P .'; ..... .i ....... ~~.~~

ECONOMIC HISTORY (1818_1815)

so far as might be necessary for the reformation of abuses and low assessments. It seems, however, that in practice the principle laid down by the Chief Commissioner about low assessments was not carried out and that as a result thereof it was found after a few years' experience that "the revenue was less secure, the people less respectable and perhaps in-telligent, the servants less to be depended upon and private rights not more certain and secure than when the Province first came under the Com.pany's Government."

Thi.s result has been attributed to various factors. Scarcity in rainfall ruined many a season and conditions were worsened by low prices, increasing burden on land, un-employment by change in government, mounting land revenue, competition with foreign goods and increased in-debtedness of the ray at-all these familiar features of an eco-nomic depression were experienced in a very acute form. The chief sufferers were the agriculturists. Owing to the pernicious system of farming introduced in the times of Bajirao II, there was an absence of correct accounts of income derived from land and consequently, no accurate knowledge could be obtained of the amount paid by the cultivators as land revenue. As the country was suffering alternately under commotion and rapacity, the amounts of collection were regulated by the power of the farmer to enforce them on the one hand and the means of the rayat to evade them on the other. The only documents forthcoming were general accounts of the assess-ment imposed in the years preceding the conquest (called tale bands and patraks), generally exhibiting little more than the total sums imposed on villages or pargannas, without speci-fying the details regarding fields, or names of their owners and cultivators. As these amounts were recovered during a period of exaction and oppression, the estimate of the resources based on these figures proved too high. Moreover, as there was an extraordinary variety of land measures and methods of assessment,1{I any assessment on such basis was bound to

ECONOMIC un: IN THE BOMl3A Y DECCAN

be faulty. As the full amount of the assessment could not be recovered, it was found necessary to introduce a system of annual remissions. One of the results of this system was that the subordinate officers tried to show a better land revenue on paper, although the actual receipts were much lower than , the paper figures. In the words of Mr. Wingate "the District and Village officers have been accustomed to use every expedient whether of persuasion or intimidatioI1 to prev~nt land being thrown out of cultivation and this with little Or no regard to the means of the cultivator who, upon sustaining any reverse. has been obliged to retain, the same quantity of land under cultivation and to pay the same revenue when no longer abIt' to raise the same quantity of produce."

By 1827 it was found that it was impossible for the revenue officers to carryon the work of fixing the assessment in addition to their various departmental dutie~. Besides the entire economy of the Bombay Deccan was very adversely affected by a soaring land revenue and progressive poverty. It was then considered necessary to appoint a spedal officer and the choice fell on Mr. Pt'ingle, the Assistant Coll~ctor of Poona, who was placed on special duty to devise a sy~tem of survey and settlemp.nt for the Poona and the surrounding districts. The main purpose of the Bombay Regulation No. XVIII of 1827 was to have the various methods of fixing the assessment brought under one system, and it was for this purpose that Mr. Pringle was appointed special settlement officer.

The system introduced by Mr. Pringle conliisted of (1) a ~urvey of all the cultivable lands field by field; and (2) an assessment of every field so measured. This se~ond operation, namely, the field assessment, was based on the theory that the relative capacity of different classes of soils to bear the assess-ment was in proportion to their average net proquce; thc;t term meaning the surplus of the gross produce remaining after de-ducting the cost of the cultivation. To arrive tit the net pro-duce he divided the soil into classes, ascertain~d the average gross produce of each class, tried to discover the average cost of producing this amount and then deducted the second from

16


the first. Theoretically, this system ought to have worked satisfactorily. Unfortunately, however, the system was a failure, the main causes of which were:

(1) the impossibility of proper supervision over the very large body of subordinates serving under Pringle;

(2) the extremely intricate nature of the inquiries at-tempted;

(3) the failure to realise that what was essentially needed was a large reduction of the assessments;

(4) the occurrence of a series of famine years, which put the finishing touch to the fate of this unfortunate experi-ment.

But the worst drawback of the experiment was that owing to the difficulties in assessing the average gross produce of each class and the average cost of production, the system resulted in an uneven and very heavy assessment.

After an experience of a few years Government found that the condition of the revenue administration was going from bad to worse and that all attempts to work out Pringle's sys-tem had failed, and being satisfied that it could not be made the basis of any revision they directed that the whole operation should be commenced de novo. In 1836, they appointed Mr. Goldsmid of the Civil Service and Lieutenant Wingate of the Engineers to commence operations in Mohul and Mndha of the old Poona district. The system introduced by them, as modified from time to time, is the system now in force and the credit for introducing it belongs to those two officers. The general principles, laid down in what was entitled the Joint Report, after stating that it ought to be the policy of the Gov-ernment to lay down a moderate and equal assessment, leav-ing a portion of the rent with the proprietor or holder, were:

(1) the settlement to be confirmed for thirty years; (2) security against increase of demand on any account

whatever, during the term of settlement; (3) the consequent accruement of all benefits arising from

improvements to those who make them; (4) limitation of joint responsibility to few cases where

17 2


fields are held in common, or have been sub-divided by co-parceners;

(5) recognition of property in the soil; (6) perfect freedom of management with regard to rent

from sub-tenants, and sale, secured to its owners; (7) facilities for effecting sale or transfer of land afforded

by the apportionment of the assessment on fields or such limited portions of land, as would, in the circumstances of the proprietors of this country, be naturally made the sub-ject of such transfer; and

(8) collection of the assessm.ent from cultivated land only) and thus permitting the rayat to contract and extend the sphere of his labours according to the mean.c;; at his imme-diate command-a privilege of immense importance in a country where the capital of the agriculturists is not only small in itself but subject to great fluctuation from the effect of variation in the seasons.

The work of survey and settlement which began in 1836 extended from taluka to taluka till nearly the whole of the Bombay Deccan and Khandesh were given the benefit of the new survey settlement by 1880. The introduction of this system resulted in better collections of land revenue because the former rates were considerably lowered, more land was brought under cultivation and with the outbreak of the Ameri-can Civil War in 1860, there was an increasing demand in Eng-land for Indian cotton, and Khandesh especially reaped a rich harvest. A period of temporary prosperity spanned the years 1850 to 1866 ending the earlier economic depression. This prosperity followed in the wake of the new survey settlement and gave the impression that all the credit for the economic revival must be laid at the door of the new land policy. The administrators quite lost sight of the many deeply~rooted causes of past distress which were sure to augment the disease the moment this temporary relief had ende-d. No sooner had the American Civil War ended and American cotton recaptured the market than the temporary dawn of economic progress suddenly came to an end. The rayat with his burden of past

18


debts groaned under his yoke as of old. The sawcar lorded the village economy and the rayat was his serf. "The period from 1836 to 1866 was exceptionally prosperous," writes Keatinge, "and the people lived not only on their produce but on their capital. The cycle of prosperity culminated in the period of the American War. There is every reason to be-lieve that during this time the ryots cleared off part of their debts, but at the same time they learnt more expensive habits of living. When bad !leasons commenced in 1867 and prices fell rapidly in 1870 the burden of debt was severely felt; and the failure to pay the interest brought the debtors into court."

The Regulations of 1827 which provided the first regular procedure for civil justice contained important prOVlSIons which aimed at checking the abuses of moneylending. The cattle and implements necessary for the business of an agri-culturist were exempted from seizure for debt; the rate of interest was restricted to 12% per annum. It was hoped that light assessment imposed by the new survey would stimulate production and enable the cultivator to free himself from debt. This was somewhat realised by a period of favourable seasons, rising prices and the American War. But the curse of the Deccan rayat continued-indebtedness. This far from becoming less prevalent, increased considerably, as inquiries made in 1843 and 1852 proved. It was found that the Usury Law of 1827 had been quite inoperative. Even Nana Fadnavis had tried a similar experiment in 1776 to limit the rate of interest at 10,/(1, but it had proved ineffective.

The proprietary right in his land which the rayat ac-quired under Wingate's settlement tended to give land an ex-change value, and to add to the credit of the cultivator. The latter fell a victim to the insidious ease with which he could raise money on the security of his land, and failed to foresee the inevitable day of settlement. In former times when lands were abandoned it was due to some calamity such as war or famine, and not to the owner's choice; for he was deeply at-tached to his land. The idea of being ousted from his land by a moneylender was new to him; and the action of a civil

19


court which would strictly enforce the contract came as a sur~ prise. The passing of the Civil Procedure Code in 1859 swept away the discretion which the courts had possessed under the Regulations of 1827 in enforcing decrees and left it to the decree-holder to select his form of process. It abolished the exemption of the rayat's necessary cattle and implements from .seizure for debt, and regulated the process of imprisonment so as to make it a most effective instrument for bringing pressure to bear on the debtor. The passing of the Limitation Act in the same year substituted a period of three years for twelve for bringing a suit for the recovery of money lent, thus put-ting an end to the old-fashioned long-running accounts, and necessitating a renewal of bonds at exorbitant rates every two or three years.

We may now finally review the economic situation prior to the incident known as the Deccan riots of 1875. In 1850 the first period of economic depression came to an end and a period of revival followed. Inflated prices and a boom trade in cot-ton are the hallmark of the fifteen years from 1850 to 1866. It was during the same period that the railway works were commenced and a great number of labourers were employed, and a great amount of money was spent among the rayats. And it was about the same time that a series o very extensive public works were commenced in Poona and the neighbour-hood, which gave employment to those who needed it, and added to the money floating about the country. From 1866, the tide of prosperity began to ebb. In 1866-67, the country suffered from. severe drought, and in 1867-68 there was also a partial failure of crops. From 1870-71, the expenditure on public works was greatly reduced, and in that year, prices, which had maintained themselves for some time after the cessation of the American War, began to fall steadily, till in 1875 an amount of grain could be bought for four annas which a rupee could hardly have purchased five years before. From 1867 the settlement of land revenue, made thirty years before, began to fall in, and the revision which took place in some of the disturbed talukas resulted in a considerable increase of

20


Government assessment. The population in the meantime had been increasing steadily, and its pressure on land was much greater than it had been when the first settlements were made, and that in a part of the country where, considering the nature of the soil, the holding::; are small, the average area per head of agricultural population ranging from 3 to 9 acres. All these circumstances contributed to contract the rayat'_s means, while it is possible they did not contract in the same proportion the more costly mode of living which high prices had justified. Again their debts began to accumulate, and they commenced mortgaging their lands more deeply than before.

As the rayats began to become once more deeply involved, the sawcars began to press upon them. The result was that the mass of the people again became quasi-slaves having to surrender all their produce to the sawcar, and receiving from him only enough grain to live on, as well as small sums of money which served to increase their debts. In some places, the sawcars had recourse to civil courts, and began to sell up the lands, which, as they were the only capitalists in the coun-try, as well as for other reasons, were bought up by themselves for a mere song. These reverses naturally engendered dis-content in the minds of the rayats, and discontent gradually ripened into hatred.

With the Civil Procedure C"de and the Limitation Act the number of suits for debts in the Court of the Poona dis-trict doubled between 1867 and 1873; and applications for exe-cution of decrees increased from 12,502 in 1868 to 28,894 in 1873. The fall in prices led to the rapid contraction of cultiva-tion, only the best lands being retained, and these found their way, by sale or mortgage, into the hands of the moneylenders. The rayats were brought with startling rapidity to the brink of ruin, and the result was the outbreak of 1875.

The Deccan riots consisted of a series of preconcerted attacks and outrages on village sawcars in the districts of Poona, Satara, Ahmednagar and Sholapur. A commission was appointed to report on the riots and the causes which under-

21


lay the outbreak. The Deccan riots gave Government an op-portunity to take stock of the economic situation in the Bom-bay Deccan. With the appointment of a commission and their report, which eventually shaped the Deccan Agricul-turists' Relief Act, we may close the problem of land settle-ment for the present.

Mr. Elphinstone's testimony bears evidence that though the village government on the advent of the British was per-haps not compatible with a good form of administration, it was an excellent remedy for the imperfection of a bad one. The village in the Bombay Deccan was a self-constituted co-operation, strengthened and perpetuated by the hereditary succession of its office-bearers. The village community was of a most primitive origin and was coeval with the village itself. Every village had a number of humble artificers as its manner of life required. Every village consisted of two prinCipal classes of inhabitants-the cultivators and the office-bearers. The villages had not possessed any stipulated or definable rights, but all its usages and interests which were not prejudicial to Government, were tacitly allowed and sel-dom interfered with. All internal disputes were left to the judgment of the village panchayats, an institution with an old tradition much respected even by the British. Mr. Elphin-stone had shown the utmost anxiety to maintain the panchayat, with a few innovations. The system of watch and ward was so good that "on the whole murder and robbery, attended with violence . . , .' was very rare,"

The village was well served by ~ body of twelve individuals term.ed the "Bara Bullontee". They were the patel, kulkarni, sutar, lohar, chambar, khumbar, nehwi, purit, joshi, guru, sonar and mahar. The patel and kulkarni were included in the zamindar class, and were, by their position in the revenue hierarchy the most respected officers of the village administra-tion. The one was village headman and the other village accountant. They supplied the link between the rayat and his overlord. Under the former Government it was the patel that represented the villagers before the Government for all pur-

22


poses. Under the Maratha polity, or perhaps even long be-fore their rule, the village officers were paid a remuneration in kind from the village fields by the rayats. There was a stipulated amount of grain that each village official was to re-ceive at harvest according to the service he rendered the vil-lage community. A tolerable amount of latitude was also permitted the villagers and their officials in the use of the revenues collected from the village. The land tax was fIxed by the patel with the ajd of the Government officials after sur-vey and inspe('tion. Such an administration gave the villagers not only a share in the control of the village economy but made the villRge officials their obedient servants.

Mr. Elphinstone and his co-workers on coming into power showed a scrupulous regard for old institutions. Under the first Commissioner and his successor the village economy and administration were practically left untouched. But their successors soon developed a belief that administrative and financial independence so far enjoyed by the villagers should now be controlled by the district authorities. To achieve this purpose they set about the unhappy task of separating the cultivator and the official. The officials who had so far receiv-ed their remuneration at the hands of the villagers, which was termed a "huck", were told that such a practice was pernici-ous to the wellbeing of the community, and must, therefore. be given up. In return for these "hucks", the Government was to pay a stipulated amount regulated into a percentage all the actual revenue collected in the village. The free hand the villagers had in utilising the revenues of the village for certain purposes such as maintenance of the temple, reli-gious festivals, occasional amusements and nuzzurs to Govern-ment officers was considerably controlled. Thus was the vil-lage economy and its administration made a subject of direct control by the district Collectors. Time was to reveal how such control undermined these ancient self-governing insti-tutions and crippled their ability to develop. The self-help and initiative that marked their earlier conduct was lost, and pious wishes like village schools, public buildings, the plant-

23


ing and care of trees and other objects of public utility conti-nued to be a dream. Quite considerable energy and time was given by Wingate and his successors to settle the scale of remuneration for the patel and the kulkarni. Meanwhile tht> other members of the village hierarchy were cruelly neglected. The patel and the kulkarni as servants of the foreign Govern-ment ceased to receive the respect and regard they formerly enjoyed. While their new masters were learning by experi-ence, the villages went the way of ruin, till only in recent times the Government woke to the consciousness of their error and set about to rebuild a lost world. With efforts for the recon-struction of the village economy. we shall deal with later.

Enough has already been stated in support of a ruined eco-nomy that marked the earlier British land administration. Agriculture in the Bombay Deccan, as elsewhere in India, is the mainstay of its people. There was hardly any industrial activity worth the name. The sleepy, quiet market towns were the centres of large trade in grain. Some of these weekly markets were centres for the disposal of cottage products which invariably took the shape of coarse cotton cloth. This cot-tage industry was the main financial support of the rayat in years of scarcity. It not only supplied his needs for clothing but his surplus was converted into ready means to procure the other necessities of life. A meagre supply of jowari and bajri constituted his daily meal, his cotton loom gave him the necessary clothes, his simple hut the protection against in-clement weather, and these accompanied by the simple social amusements of his village was all the world he knew.

In such a paradise of contentment, as only those who know no ambition can enjoy, their crept in forces, from an in-conceivable distance, brought to his simple home by his new masters-the upheaval wrought by the Industrial Revolution. British ambitions turned to capture Indian markets by 1824 for their ever-growing cotton industry. With large supplies of raw cotton from India, the steel giants of England's indus-trial world soon flooded our markets with millions of yards of cheap machine-made cotton cloth. Raw cotton became an im-

24

ECONOMIC lUSTORY (1818-1815)

portant commercial crop in India; but indigenous cotton cloth lost its market in the country. The Deccan rayat came in for his share of the misery. His cotton industry came to an end and with it his hope of overcoming the years of scarcity by his hand loom industry. Foreign competition had ruined his meagre industrial strength. He was now thrown on the mercy of his land which was subject to the vagaries of the monsoon. His only means of livelihood was overburdened agriculture.

With no mineral resources, the Bombay Deccan is, even now, no home for large industry. Towns, therefore, in this part of the country were few, and of commercial importance only on account of the situation enjoyed, the means of com-munication and few manufactures. The brass and copper ware of Poona, and the silk industry at Nasik, supplied not only the needs of the home but were known to find a place in quite a number of towns upcountry. On the advent of the British these industries were quite vigorous and active. Most of them were pursued by certain castes; and profession was a matter of birth and not aptitude or ability for trade.

In 1818 Mr. Elphinstone estimated the population of the conquered territories, i.e. including the Southern Maratha Country, to be about 40,00,000; Mr. Chaplin, who succeeded Mr. Elphinstone, placed the figure, exclusive of Kolhapur, at 37,51,353; and Col. Sykes, in his evidence before the Parlia-mentary Committee in 1832 estimated the population at about 32,85,985. The fall of about five lakhs was attributed to disease and famine testified to by the conditions caused by the early economic depression under the British rule. The Marathas contributed about 69 to 741% of the whole popula-tion. The remainder consisted of Muslims, Brahmins, Rajputs and others. The Brahmins, like the Muslims, varied in percentage from district to district. They were usually found in Poona and Satara. The Muslims had their majority in Dharwar. Most of the rayats were Marathas, while the Brahmins centred in towns, pursued professions and consti-tuted the intelligentsia of the Hindu community. The Muslims were economically poor, most of them pursued a

25 UAS LIBRARY GKVK

111111111111111111111111111111

2806


profession and were intellectually backward. By profession they were either dyers or weavers. Members of several other professions constituted castes by themselves, and carried on their trade from father to son.

In 1854 an estimate of the population had been made, but it was not until 1872 that the first enumeration was attempted. Its accuracy is extremely doubtful. It was the first organised effort and the procedure was not so well known as it is at the present day.

Population in each of the distriots of the Bombay Deccan as given by the Census of 1872

-----------Area -in--P~pul~tio--;{by----- --Districts square Census of 21st Density per

Miles Feb. 1872 square Mile ~~-------- :------ -------Khandesh 10,162 10,28,642 101.22

Nasik 8,140.20 7,34,386 90.22 Ahmednagar 6.647 7,73,938 116.43 Poona 5,099 9,07,235 177.92 Satara 5,378 11,16,050 207.52 Sholapur 3,925.11 6,62,986 168.91 Total 39,351.31 52,23,237

----------~ The average size of each district would be just over 6,000

square miles; Khandesh, Nasik and Ahme


above the average; whilst Poona, Satara and Sholapur are all below it.

In 1874 die following towns of the Bombay Deccan had a population of over 10,000:

District

Khandesh

Towns

Dhulia Chopra Parola Dharangaum Erandole

Population

12,489 13,699 12,235 11,087 11,071

-----------_._--------------

Nasik

Ahmednagar

Poona

Satara

Sho]apur

Nasik Yeola Sinnar

Ahmednagar

Poona .Junnar

Satara Kurar Wai Tasgaun

Sholapur Pandhurpur Barsi

22,436 17,461 10,044

32,841

90,436 10,289

24,484 11,410 11,062 10,528

53,403 16,275 18,560

"'Letter from the Sanitary Commissioner to the Government of Bombay. No. A/98 dated the 5th February, 1874.

Turning to the question of hired labour and wages, prior to the British rule, slaves existed in the Deccan. Their num-ber was not very great, and for the most part they seemed to have worked as domestic servants rather than as field labourers. Subsequently, a system of labour mortgage was


common in the Deccan, by which a labourer agreed, in return for an advance of money, to serve another man for a period of years. Many of the Deshmukhs, Deshpandes, Patels and richer landholders engaged labour in this way. Col. Sykes gives an interesting account of the conditions of hired labour in the Deccan immediately after British rule was established. The custom then was to pay for daily labour in money when grain was dear, and in grain when grain was cheap. The day labourer, in fact, got no advantage from the prosperity around him. His wages remained in good and bad yeats alike at the bare minimum which enabled him to subsist. For some time later the wages of hired field labour showed little tendency to increase beyond a bare subsistence rate; and up to about 1850 the current rate for daily field work remained at from one to two annas. From about 1850 a steady rise occurred in the rate of money wages, owing mainly to the demand for labour which occurred in connection with the construction of rail-ways, roads and other public works, but connected also with the high prices that were current from 1863-69, and the general prosperity which resulted therefrom. This period of prosperity (1850-1865), even in agriculture, has been already noted. The high price of grain, however, during this period, prevented the labourer' from deriving much real advantage from the increased money wages.

When prices fell in 1870, the labourer was in a much stronger position than he had previously been. Economic forces had brought about the principle of contract with labour. Wages at any given time were then regulated on a basis of demand and supply, and no longer fell of necessity when the price of grain fell.

Between 1830 and 1872 a great increase occurred in the population of the Deccan. Col. Sykes had given the popula-tion in 1832 as 3'2,85,985 while the census of 1872 shows the figure at 52,23,237 souls. This reveals an increase of more than nineteen lakhs in 42 years. During the first part of this period till 1850 there was nothing noteworthy to stimulate any demand for this increased supply of labour. The sur-

28


plus found a livelihood by bringing new lands under the plough. But after 1850, the demand for labour to construct various works of public utility made itself felt; and the open-ing of large irrigation works in the Deccan between 1865 and 1885 brought an additional area of over 1,00,000 acres under irrigation, and so added to the permanent demand for labour. Meantime, in 1873, the first mill in the Deccan (Khandesh) started work and created a demand for labour for industries organised on a capitalistic basis, while the question of labour emigration from the Deccan commenced with the growth. of industrialisation in Bombay. Since then the demand for labour has steadily increased.

When the Peshwas were in power, there was little export trade from the Deccan, and such trade as existed was ham-pered by the levy of transit duties. But the Peshwa's Court at Poona, and his troops quartered in various parts of the Deccan, offered a good market for the produce of favourably situated places. Besides, the contributions, tributes, fees and fines brought much wealth to the Deccan. With the advent of British rule, wealth from these sources no longer flowed into the Deccan; the Court ceased to exist, and the troops were disbanded. Simultaneously with these changes a large exten-sion of cultivation took place. The result was that the supply of agricultural produce increased and the local demand fell off,

, while there were no facilities for export. This produced the disastrous fall in the prices of agricultural produce by 1825. In March, 1825, after three years of poor harvest, bajri was selling in Poona district at 11 local seers per rupee, and jowari at 13 local seers per rupee. The rains of 1825 were very good, which caused the prices to fall 200 to 300 per cent; and by December, 1825, bajri was selling at 21 seers per rupee, and jowari at 40 seers per rupee. With large stocks of grain on hand, and no means of export, land again went out of culti-vation, and distress prevailed. In 1833-34 prices went up rapidly owing to a famine, and for the next thirty years were subject to violent local fluctuations as the result of a good or bad season; but on the whole they kept very low. Throughout

29

16

Z4

32

40

48

:;6

III 72 .0 -l

80

88 CIi

III 96

;:I 104 p:

... 112

A 120 Q)

..., 128 10

O! 136

144

152

160

168

176

184

192

-

-

-

CHART SIiOWING THE rLUCTUATIONS IN THE PRlcr Or JOWARI & BA.JRI AT SHOlAPUR FROM 1821 TO 1875.

1ft 1.D .... ~"'IIft- ""0 " ~_~~ ~~~~Qo_~~ ~b~~~o-NN~N~N N~ ~~ ~~m:~ I~" ., ~ ~ ~~~ ~~~.~~w~~ ~~~ ~ ~-~--~~~-I~-~~_I~~-~~ -

--~~ ~- ~~~---~~~~!--!~-~~-~~--- ~ - -

"-

I -

--

- " -

~

, 1\

-

-

-

-

-

- 1

--" \,

-I ,

II J

I

Ii -

-

t

-

_"OWARI ____ BAt,/RI


the latter half of the nineteenth century communications were steadily developed, and in this way new markets were opened to the Deccan cultivators. A steady export of cotton and wheat commenced, and later received a great stimulus during the period of the American Civil War.

The price graph gives as accurately as can be ascertained the price of jowari and bajri for the years 1821 to 1875 at Sholapur, a large grain market in the Deccan. It shows what a steadying effect the railways had on prices. The years 1821, 1825, 1854, and 1862 were years of scarcity, and the year 1833 was a year of famine. The high prices which ruled from 1864 to 1867 were due to the American War. Up to 1860 there were enormous fluctuations in prices depending on the nature of the season in the neighbourhood. In 1860 the railway to Sholapur was opened, and surplus grain found a ready ex-port. Fluctuations then became less marked; and the average rate which had previously stood at about 100 lb. to the rupee now found a level of about 50 lb. to the rupee. During the period 1860 to 1885 trade was not fully organised, but was being steadily developed.

Under the Marathas communications appear to have been neglected. The majority of roads were fair weather tracks. Malet, giving evidence before the Select Parliamentary Com. mittee, stated that the Princes of India, particularly the Marathas, did not hold commerce in estimation, and gave but little encouragement to it. Neither trade nor economic necessities in those days required good means of communica-tions. The primitive conditions of trade, and the self-sufficient economy of the towns and villages, did not call fol' good communications which are of the utmost importance to commercialised communities.

Under the British, the development of communications in the Bombay Deccan, was at first, the result of military necessity rather than trade. It was some years later the Company turned its attention to the development of roads for purposes of trade. Having linked up the military canton-ments, attention was given to roads leading over the Ghats

31

ECONOMIC UFE IN THE BOMBAY DECCAN

to the Bombay Konkan. These roads were to open an easier passage for the internal products to the coast. No connected history of the development of communications during these early years is possible. Sporadic efforts now and again at road construction, or plans for new ones as the necessity arose, is all the evidence we have. Most of the roads till 1820 were constructed. for the facility and comfort of military trans-port.

The necessity of good roads was strongly stressed on the introduction of the new survey. Even the Court of Directors in 1849 wrote to the authorities in the Bombay Deccan, that the improvement of land revenue greatly depended on the facilities afforded by ready means of conununications. The new survey rate could only be fixed at a higher level than formerly if there were good roads giving an easy approach to markets. Improving means of communications meant in-creasing the chances of higher assessment at the next survey settlement. Secondly, with the introduction of money crops like cotton, sugarcane, etc., especially the former, the Company was in a position to realise the vital necessity of good com-munications between the Bombay Deccan and the coast. Thirdly, the extreme rise and fall in prices could be stopped. if communications would open up an easy approach to neigh-bouring markets. And, finally, the question of scarcity in time of famine would he greatly alleviated by the facility afforded to easy transport of grain from areas of abundance to those of scarcity. No factor has contributed so much to lessen the horrors of famine as easy means of transport over well-made roads. These are some of the factors that contributed to the progress of road development in the Bombay Deccan after the introduction of the new survey settlement.

It was not till the June of 1857 that Government sanc-tioned the laying out of railway in the territories under re-view. The Government resolution recommended the orga-nisation of a railway establishment for the duty of splitting up fields, altering survey registers, etc., along the Sholapur~ Poona and Nasik lines of railway.

32

ECONOMIC HISTORY (1818..1875)

Work on railway construction in the Bombay Deccan began ahout 1850. In Sholapur during the four years 1856 to 1860 a line was extended to Mohol and a southward branch was begun in 1865. From Diksal in Sholapur the line passed on to Poona and crossed over from Khandala on the crest of the Sahyadris iuto the Bombay Konkan. The line from Khandala to Poona was opened to traffic in 1858 and the same year saw its extension from Poona to Diksal. The railway enters Nasik at the south-west corner near Igat-puri. and within the district limits has a length of about 110 miles. The portion from Igatpuri to Nasik was opened for traffic in 1861, and the rest in the October of the same year. The Dhond-Manmad railway, connecting Manmad in Nasik district with Dhond in Poona, was surveyed in 1868 but no progress was made till 1876. The entire scheme cost Rs. 1.35 crores. The line was opened for traffic in 1878. Railway building began in Khandesh in 1852, and lines opened for traffic between 1861 and 1865. The two branches of the G.I.P. Railway, constructed in 1858 and 1861, touched the northern and southern borders of the Ahmednagar district. The Dhond-Manmad railway crosses the district from north to south.

The years revealed the importance of railways for the export and import trade of these districts. The most im-portant and immediate effect was the increased competition by throwing open the local trade as it were to the whole of India, almost defeating combinations to keep up the prices of grain or other articles of local use. The best example is the history of prices in Sholapur as shown by the graph. The railways had a steadying influence on prices. The merchants complained that though trade increased profits had fallen. Cheap grain could now be brought to the Deccan markets in times of scarcity from other parts of India. Famine had lost its sting.

Turning to the progress of education in the Bombay Deccan. the average numbers instructed in the Poona district under the Maratha administration, were about one in twenty-

3

ECONOMIC LD"E IN THE BOMBAY DECCAN

five. And the proportion which the number of schools actually bore to the number of villages was about one to eighteen. The total number of boys in the villages, where there were schools, was about 10,000, of whom about 2,000 attended schools. Of these more than half were Brahmins, about two-fifths of the remaining were cultivators, one-fifth Weavers and gold-smiths, one-fifth Marwaris, Gujaratis, Ba~ias, and Guzars and the remaining a miscellaneous lot consisting of tailors, oilsellers, pedlars, Muslims, etc. Education in towns was better looked after. There were in Poona 53 Marathi schools, 61 in Ahmednagar, 198 in Khandesh and ISO in the Karnatak. Education was mostly of a religious nature and the teachers Were moreover left. to public charity. Mr. Chaplin in submit-ting these returns on education in the Bombay Deccan came to the conclusion that as far as the masses were concerned, the state of education was at a low ebb, and the remunera-tion to teachers extremely inadequate.

Both Mr. Elphinstone and Mr. Chaplin were very anxious to continue the native schools and improve the lot of the teachers. Mr. Elphinstone's activity in this branch of British administra-tion, when he became the Govemor of Bombay, needs no comment. Mr. Chaplin, as his successor in the Deccan, cal-culated a sacrifice of about 50,000 rupees as state-aid to educa-tion in the Deccan. Both he and Mr. Elphinstone were also very anxious to promote education in the villages.

These efforts were somewhat crowned with success in the early years but gradually village education became a thing of the past, and the Bombay Deccan, as the whole of India, drift-ed into a listless policy, chequered here and there by flashes of efforts in the direction of schools in towns, Universities in large Presidencies, technical institutions and a few Art schools to prop up the fading interest in Indian arts and crafts. Not much was added from the point of view of the masses to the spread of education since the days of Mr. Chaplin. It is

-For a detailed description of Mr. Chaplin's efforts see The After-math, R. D. Choksey, pp. 109 to 119.

ECONOMIC HISTORY (1818.1875)

true that foreign rule brought India into contact with western culture. But how many were affected? The number of persons per thousand able to read and write in the Bombay Presidency in 1907 was 116 among the males and 9 among the females. If this can be said of the Presidency you may well imagine what may be said of the Bombay Dec-can which is only a small part of it. The blessings of English education fell to the lot of a few, while the masses remained cruelly neglected. We shall be able to note the progress of literacy in the Bombay Deccan when we examine the Census Reports of 1931 and 1941.

'~The Imperial Gaselller Vol. IV.

35

CHAPTER III

THE PEOPLE

THE Census Report of 1872 stated that in point of size the Bombay Deccan, inclusive of the Karnatak, which em-

braces the three districts of Belgaum, Dharwsl" and. Bijapur, is almost as large as Denmark and Belgium, and the Nether-lands and Switzerland all put together. Its population was more than that of both New York and Pennsylvania-the two largest States of America. It could compare in area in square miles, population and density per square mile to the American States of Wisconsin, Alabama, Iowa, Illinois and Michigan. Illinois had the highest density of population in square miles as compared with the four other States and it was only 45.84 as compared to the 146.97 of the Bombay Deccan and Karnatak. While the American States have a homogene-ous population without communal problems, such is not the case in the Bombay Deccan. Though more than 80% of the people are Hindus with a common language, religion and cul-ture, quite a number of other communities have made this part of the Deccan the land of their adoption. It is the curse of this territory, as of the whole of India, that at times sharp differences raise bitter issues. Even among the Hindus there are sharp differences of opinion between the Marathas and the Brahmins though there is much in common between them in history and culture.

We have already noted the fluctuations in population till 1832. Mr. Elphinstone had estimated the population at 40 lakhs which under his successor in 1821 had fallen to 37 lakhs. Col. Sykes had shown a further fall of about five lakhs by 1832. But none of these figures are reliable. Even those of ]872, when the first and earliest effort at a correct census was made, were found to be faulty in 1881. By the census of 1872 the population in the Bombay Deccan was 52,23,237. Within

38

THE PEOPLE

forty years the population had risen by 19,37,252 over that of 1832. Since none of these figures are reliable, no confidence can be placed in the conclusions drawn from them. Their claim to approximate truth is based only upon their fluctua-tions synchronising very closely with the periods of depression through which the Bombay Deccan passed during the years 1818 to 1872. The rise and fall in population tallies very closely with the rise and fall in the economic life of the times.

The table below and that overleaf give the rise and fall in the population of the Bombay Deccan as recorded in the census reports from 1872 to 1941.

Population of the Bombay Deccan (1872-1941)

Year Total Population

1872 52,23,237 1881 53,15,123 1891 62,02,531 1901 59,44,447 1911 63,87,064 1921 60,59,114 1931 71,93,113 1941 81,97,393

During 1891-1901 the population decreased by two lakhs; during 1901-1911 it increased by four lakhs and dUring.1911-1921 it again diminished by three lakhs. This decrease was the result of two severe famines which swept away a large number of people, while occurrence of plague kept down the rate of increase during 1901-1911. But the worst famines swept the land at the close of the nineteenth and the dawn of the twentieth century. The only two decades of progress in the growth of population are the opening and closing de-cades of the period. The decade 1881-1891 closes with a sur-plus of 8,87,000, and the decade 1921-1931 also shows a sur-plus of 11,33,999 at the close. In spite of the changing for-

37

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38

THE PEOPLE

tunes in population over the years 1881-1931, the Bombay Deccan at the end of that period shows a rise of over 18,77,000.

The two worst decades are 1891-1901 and 1911-1921. A passage from the Census Report of 1901 will give us an idea of the depression that set in during the last few years of the nineteenth century.

"The spectacle of misery, bravely borne, presented by a population that has lost in a period of 10 years no less than 3,000,000 souls, is one which is impossible to contemplate unmoved. . . . In less fertile plains of the Deccan, sturdy Marathas have clung to their ancestral holdings, lying baked and sterile in the pitiless glare of a cloudless sky, until their debilitated frames were weakened beyond the hope of reconsti-tution, when they quietly passed from the scene of their toil. Respectable families, too proud to accept State charity, have suffered and died in the saddened isolation of their deserted villages. The ravages of an irrepressible and mysterious epi. demic have swept away thousands in all conditions of life, of every age, and in every part of the Presidency, leaving widows to lament their husbands, husbands deprived of their wives, children on a sudden orphans, and parents lamenting the loss of their offspring. Few sadder or more distressing sights -could be conceived, no more eloquent testimony borne to the sorrow brought to many a peaceful home, than the spectacle of small children, sole survivors of a large family, drifting from the scenes of their troubles to the house of some distant relative or caste acquaintance."

This passage is an eloquent testimony to the scenes of dire misery that swept the entire Bombay Presidency after 1896 reaching a climax by 1901.

Since the autumn of 1896, the entire Bombay Deccan suffered from a succession of bad seasons. In fact, Ahmed-nagar had almost been under famine conditions for the whole of the period. The decrease in population in the Bombay Deccan at the census of 1901 was as follows:

This refers to the entire population of the Presidency.

39

ECONOMIC LIFE IN 'I1IE BOMBAY DECCAN

District Population Population Decrease in in 1891 in 1901 Population -------_-

-------

Khandesh 14,34,802 14,27,382 - 7,420 Ahmednagar 8,88,755 8,37,695 -51,060 Nasik 8,34,496 8,16,504 -26,992 Poona 10,67,800 9,95,330 -72,470 Satara 12,25,989 11,46,559 -79,430 Sholapur 7,50,689 7,20,977 -29,712

---------

Total 62,02,531 59,44,447

The total loss in population amounts to 2,67,104. Nasik and Sholapur in the Bombay Deccan were the least hit. With a foreign population of one-seventh, recruited nutinly from the Nizam's territories, Sholapur had advanced 407

THE PEOPLE

rains of 1901 again failed for the third year in succession, and consequent on the extraordinary natural conditions, rats and locusts made their appearance; prices, however, ruled lower, so distrt!ss was less acute. The monsoon of 1902 was again erratic but redeemed itself by good late rains. Though 1903 was fair, the rain again came late. The next two years 1904 and 1905 were again lean years. In 1906 the rains were ex-cellent, and if they had only kept on a bit longer would have given bumper crops. In 1907 the rainfall was again scanty and in 1908 was also below normal, while in 1909 the precipitation was generally favourable, though it did not continue long enough. The monsoon of 1910, though pretty good, affected the rice crop of the Konkan and the cotton crop of Gujerat adversely. In fact, the one distinguishing feature of the rain-fall during the ten years had been a complete failure to break in time and to continue sufficiently long to enable the late crop to get a fair start.

In spite of these unfavourable seasons, the districts made a fair progress in all directions, especially in population.

Population in the Bombay Deccan, 1911

District Population Population Increase in in 1901 in 1911 Population ------

Khandesh 14,27,382 16,15,609 +1,88,227 Ahmednagar 8,37,695 9,45,305 +1,07,610 Nasik 8,16,504 9,05,030 + 88,526 Poona 9,95,330 10,71,512 + 77,182 Satara 11,46,559 10,81,278 65,281 Sholapur 7,20,977 7,68,330 + 47,353

Total 59,44,447 63,87,064

In Khandesh with its fertile soil made available to culti-vators by the Tapti Valley Railway the population had grown by 24%,. Nasik, Poona, Ahmednagar and Sholapur, in spite of rather lean years, had increased considerably, and Satara

41


alone, with a loss from plague of 161/0, showed a drop on the figures of 1901. The series of short harvests had its effects in sending the Deccani in search of work and it was quite usual to come across villages in the hot weather nearly denuded of adult males, these having gone to Bombay or to big engineer-ing undertakings on the railways and irrigation projects. The storage works on the headwaters of the Godavari river were still to be completed, and it was expected that both Nasik and Ahmednagar would benefit considerably from them by the next census.

We may now briefly review the situation till 1911. In 1876-77 came a severe famine in the Deccan and Karnatak, and in spite of it the population showed an increase of nearly a lakh in 1881, which goes to prove that there must have been large omissions from the census of 1872. In 1891 after a period of exceptional freedom from widespread calamity the population was found to have increased by 10.5% or more than eight lakhs. The census of 1901 was taken under cir-cumstances of exceptional difficulty in the famine in Gujerat and at the height of a plague epidemic in Bombay city. The numbers returned on the 1st March 1901 showed an actual loss of more than two lakhs of persons. This, in spite of plague, had been recovered by 1911 and the population was jnst a shade more numerous than in 1891.

Population in the Bombay Deccan, 1921

District Population Population Decrease in in 1911 in 1921 Population

Khandesh 16,15,609 17,17,684 -+- 1,02,075 Ahmednagar 9,45,305 7,31,552 - 2,13,753 Nasik 9,05,030 8,32,576 72,454 Poona 10,71,512 10,09,033 62,479 Satara 10,81,278 10,26,259 55,038 Sholapur 7,68,330 7,42,010 26,320 Total 63,87,064 60,59,114

42

THE PEOPLE

Plague carried off 2,58,000 souls in the period , 911-21 and influenza 4,47,057 in the six months of September 1918 to February 1919. Khandesh continued to progress. Ahmed-nagar showed the greatest decline, while the other districts shared the loss evenly. (See table on opposite page.)

Rainfall, on the whole, continued to decline till 1912-13, a year of scarcity. Sholapur, Ahmednagar and Khandesh suffered the most. But the severest trial was the famine of 1918-19 and the influenza epidemic that broke out shortly after the end of the first World War. The following table gives the loss by influenza in each of the districts of the Bombay Deccan.

Table showing deaths by influenza in 1918

Districts Losses by influenza

Khandesh 1,12,453 Ahmednagar 63,552 Nasik 70,881 Poona 58,342 Satara 74,273 Sholapur 67,556

Total 4,47,057

The famine of 1918-19 spread all over the Bombay Dec-can. In each district the rain failed:

District

Khandesh Ahmednagar Nasik Poona Satara Sholapur

Rainfall Ins. cts.

7.92 6.85

10.92 6.64

10.27 8.61

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THE PEOPLE

The situation was made more distressing by a rise in prices by 1917. (See table opposite.)

There was a general failure of crops in 1918-19 allover India supervening the depletion of stocks during the War, and the exhausted condition of Railways forced prices up to towering heights, ranging from 25 to 100'lr, above the un-precedented prices of 1917-18. But for wheat and rice from Australia and Burma, a large part of the population of the Bombay Presidency would have died of starvation. Thus a crisis was averted by Govemment control of transport and distribution accompanied by grain shops opened by public bodies.

The decade 1911-1921 includes the period of the first World War. The Bombay Deccan, like every other part of the country, came in for its share of war economy. During the two years before the war the prices of foodgrains were from 25 to 507(1 above normal. Along with this rise in food-grains there was a more than corresponding rise in prices of milk, ghee and oil. The demand for labour exceeded the supply. This affected the farmer adversely. We Ieam that he had to pay five annas a day for only weeding his field. Hence the high prices, the raised standard of comfort and a fall in the supply of labour due to the inroads of plague raised the price of labour to an unprecedented height. There was considerable emigration of labour during the war years to Bombay and elsewhere.

Once again the good season of 1914-15 was reflected in the steadiness and moderation of the prices of foodgrains. And the following year gave a good harvest with steadier prices. Foreign articles alone owing to the war maintained their high prices. This situation continued till 1917, when all of a sudden, the effects of the war were felt. The prices of all necessaries of life rose to an extent "never dreamt of before" and never reached in the worst of famines. A world shortage of supplies was one factor, and previously almost unknown difficulties of transport another. These difficulties helped greedy merchants to raise prices far beyond the limits

45


justified by legitimate causes. For ~xample the great and sud-den rise in the price of kerosene oil at one time threatened to darken most homes and many of the smaller towns entirely; timely cont

Bombay Deccan and Karnatak

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