CHAPTER- I

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Colonialism is a practice of domination, which involves the

subjection of one people to another. One of the difficulties in defining
colonialism is that it is difficult to distinguish it from imperialism.
Frequently the two concepts are treated as synonyms. Like colonialism,
imperialism also involves political and economic control over a
dependent territory. Turning to the etymology of the two terms,
however provides some suggestion about how they differ. The term
colony comes from the Latin word colonus, meaning farmer. This root
reminds us that the practice of colonialism usually involved the
transfer of population to a new territory, where the new arrivals lived
as permanent settlers while maintaining political allegian ce to their
country of origin. Imperialism, on the other hand, comes from the Latin
1
term imperium, meaning to command.

Colonialism created a social structure leading to the growth and

flowering of the parasitic classes in the economy. This provided an
instrumentality for the external exploitation by imperialism. 2 The
advent of the colonial rule disrupted the indigenous economy and
substituted it for new social structure, characterized by de-
industrialization, de-urbanization, collapse of traditional mercantile
capital and pauperization of vast section of rural and urban classes in
which, recurrent and intense famines became inevitable. 3

1
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/colonialism.
2
Mridula Mukherjee, Colonialising Agriculture: The Myth of Punjab Exceptionalism, Sage, 2005
3
Irfan Habib, Colonialization of Indian Economy, 1757-1900, and Studying a Colonial
Economy- Without Perceiving Colonialism, in Essay in Indian History: Towards a Marxist
Perception, Tulika, New Delhi, 1995, pp. 296-366.

1
 The historical phenomenon of colonialism is one that stretches
around the globe and across time, including such di sparate people as
the Hittites, the Incas and the British. European colonialism or
imperialism began in the 15 th centuries, England, France and Holland
established their own overseas empire, in direct competition with each
other. 4

Colonialism is the establishment, exploitation, maintance,

acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from
another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims
sovereignty over the colony, and the social structure, government and
economics of the colony are changed by colonizers from the
metropole. 5

In a series of newspapers articles published in the 1850s in the

New York Daily Tribune, Marx specially discussed the impact of
British colonialism in India. His analysis was consistent discussed with
his general theory of political and economic change. He described
India as an essentially feudal society experiencing the painful process
of modernization. According to Marx, however, Indian feudalism
was a distinctive from because, he believed (incorre ctly) that
agricultural land in India was owned communally. Marx used the
concept of Oriental despotism to describe to a specific type of class
domination that used the mechanism of the state and taxation in order
to extract resources from the peasantry. 6 Marxs discussion of British
rule in India has three dimensions: an account of the progressive
character of foreign rule, a critique of the human suffering involved,
and a concluding argument that British rule must be temporary if the

4
en.wikipedia.org/History_of_Colonialism,
5
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/colonialism
6
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/colonialism.

2
progressive potential it unleashed is to be realized. 7

Colonial rule had great impact on the region of the Punjab. The
Punjab was annexed by the East India Company in 1849. When the
Britishers came to this region, they did not so merely as traders.
Instead, they came, to quote K. W. Jones with mature Imperial
consciousness, 8 which indeed determined their policies in the newly
acquired province. About a hundred years earlier when the British East
India Company henceforth the Company conquered Bengal, it
represented an important extension of the system of mercantilism under
which the upper most object of the Company had been to collect more
and more wealth by expending trade and by direct pillage and loot on
the strength of control of state power. With the beginning of the
nineteenth century, however, the British industrial bourgeoisie
gradually hegemonies the society and the politics in England and this
led to an important shift in the nature of the British rule in India. In the
new conditions, the underlying objective of the colonial state was to
consolidate its rule in different parts of the country not only to enlarge
the volume of trade, but also to have an access to raw materials
necessary for production on industrial goods in England.

BRITISH AGRARIAN POLICY

Keeping in view this aspect, the British government gradually

converted the Punjab into an agrarian appendix of the British
metropolis. 9 Large amount of capital were invested by the government
in building canal irrigation system in West Punjab which brought new

7
Ibid.
8
K.W.Jones, Arya Dharma: Hindu Consciousness in the Nineteenth Century Punjab, New Delhi,
1976, p 76
9
Bhagwan Josh, Communist Movement in Punjab, Delhi, 1979, p 2

3
areas under cultivation, and greatly increased agrarian production. 10 In
this region of canal colonies, agriculture was actually transformed into
a capitalist venture where production was geared to the market, and
was not merely an activity pursued for the purpose of subsistence. A
major part of the agricultural produce was transported through the
newly established railway system from the Punjab to port cities for
export to the overseas market. This included export of grains and raw
cotton to Britain in large quantities which naturally made this province
particularly important for the metropolis. 11

Agrarian policy of the British government was not uniform in all

Indian provinces, it was changed with the passage of time and as well
as specific regions. The aim of the policy was suppression and
exploitation of the colonial people. The first stage of suppression
shifted towards exploitation in the second stage. Several factors were
responsible for this shift, for example, the very geographical conditions
of the area, potentialities for agriculture, colonial needs, nature of
peasantry, colonial understanding of land-rights and political hold over
the territory an others.

It is generally understood that the time of colonialism divided in

three broad phases which all related to one another to exploitation of
Indian resources. The first stage was (1757-1813) as a colonial trader.
The second stage was (1813-60) as state power and government
revenue and third stage was (after 1860) when they invested capital in
many fields like railways, irrigation, plantation and many other areas
to compete with global market. Colonial agrarian policy was not as
significant in the first phase as during the latter two. Growing interest

10
Imran Ali, The Punjab Under Imperialism 1885-1947, New Delhi, 1989, p
11
Punjab Census Report, 1921, part I, p 20

4
in the revenue of the newly controlled areas from 1765 o nwards and
the colonial needs to increase those revenues, brought them into
action in the agrarian world of India.
British agrarian policy was moulded basically by a combination
of changing and sometimes conflicting proportions of greed for more
revenues, producing recurrent tendencies towards over-assessment and
desire to encourage certain types of agricultural production for export.
The need to win over or retain political allies, admin istrative
convenience, and changing ideological assumptions also played a
certain role at times. 12 British colonization of India constantly
negotiated a difficult balance between two contradictory political-
economic objectives. One objective made British administrators try to
extract the maximum land revenue from Indian agriculture with the
minimum transformation in agrarian production and labour systems.
This aim led to the development of economic underdevelopment in
India. The other objective required a revolutionary alteration in Indian
labour and production systems through massive capital investment so
that increased industrial and agricultural productivity would enrich the
Raj. This goal under-wrote the economic development of India. 13
Another objective was that India should supply raw materials to Britain
and purchase British manufactured goods. In 1840 a Select Committee
was well pleased to Report to Parliament that the East India Company,
has. succeeded in converting India into a country exporting raw
produce. This conversion however, did not depend on the radical
transformation of Indias agricultural production and labour. 14

12
Bipan Chandra, Modern India, NCERT, Delhi, 2005, 32.
13
Richard G. Fox, Lions of the Punjab: Culture in Making, Archives Press, New Delhi, 1990, p 15-
16.
14
Ibid., p 16

5
 By 1765, the Company had established itself not only as traders
with political control but also as revenue collectors wi th responsibility
of administering justice in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, through the grant
of Diwani. 15 In fact, a dual system had emerged in the administration of
Bengal. The system was called as responsibilities without powers and
powers without responsibilities. As the Diwan, the Company directly
collected its revenues through the right to nominate the Deputy
Subahdar, and controlled the Nizamat or the police and judicial
powers. 16 Since the grant of Diwani, the major concern of the East
India Companys administration in India was to collect as much
revenue as possible. From the total revenue, the percentage of land
revenue was 72 in 1771-72 in Bengal. 17
In the time of Warren Hastings (1772-85), the Company
consolidated its hold on the agrarian sphere by removing deputies and
organizing the direct collection of revenue through their own agents
and collectors. A five year settlement of revenue was introduced by
Hastings. He also re-introduced the Ijara system in which the revenue
was collected through a bidding system. 18 To tackle this problem the
Company separated revenue administration from general
administration, because revenue was the chief source of income for the
government and of fundamental importance to them.
In 1789, decennial settlement of reven ue was introduced by
Cornwallis (1786-93). He solved the problem by introducing that it did

15
The term Diwani is derived from the word Diwan. The diwan under the Mughals was a provincial
officer entrusted with the duty of the collecting the revenue and administering civil justice. Hence,
Dewani meant the right to collect revenue and administer justice in civil cases. See, S.L. Suri, A
Constitutional History of India, S. Nagin and Co., 4th Edition, Delhi, 1971, p 13.
16
Names of Deputy Subahdar were Raza Khan and Shitab Rai. Vincent Smith, Oxford History of
India, OUP, New Delhi, 1958, p 476-77.
17
R.C.Dutt, Economic History of India, under Early British Rule, 5th Impression, Routledge and
Kegan, London, 1956. P ix
18
Vincent Smith, Oxford History of India, OUP, New Delhi, 1958, p 501-03.

6
not matter, who the revenue collector was since British concern was
mainly the acquisition of the total land revenue. Under the terms of
this settlement, they (landlords) had henceforth to make a fixed
payment to the government of the East India Company. The total
amount was registered as 268 lakhs. While British rule created in some
parts of the country large scale landed ownership, in other parts, it
sustained individual peasant proprietorship. Permanent settlement led
to an absentee landlordism and a hereditary position of tax collector
emerged. Till 1859, the Zamindars were revenue collectors and
peasants were considered tax payee. In this arrangement, the
Zamindars were pocketing more revenues and surplus than the actual
land revenue as required by the government. 19 This second experiment
was known as Ryotwari. Under this system, the individual cultivator
was made responsible for the payment of revenue of the land he tilled.
It was Sir Thomas Munro who advocated this system. He initiated it
when he was the Governor of Madras, in 1820 in the major part of that
province. This system was subsequently extended to a number of other
provinces like Bombay, Sind, Berar, Ma dras, Assam and some other
areas.
The third experiment was the Mahalwari system, which was a
modified version of the Zamindari settlement introduced in the Ganga
valley, the North-West Province, parts of central India, and the Punjab
province. The revenue settlement was to be made village by village or
estate (Mahal) by agreement with the land-lords or heads of the
families who collectively claimed to be the land-lords of the village or
the estate. According to a rough estimate in 1928-29 about 19 percent
of the cultivable land in India was under Zamindari settlement, 29

19
Vincent Smith, Oxford History of India, OUP, New Delhi, 1958, p 536

7
percent under Mahalwari settlement and 52 percent under Ryatwari
system. 20
In the socio-economic sphere, the British grappled with multiple
rights in land which varied region to region. In an attempt to simplify
these overlapping rights, they followed a policy of social leveling in
agrarian society. They created three broad categories - zamindars,
peasants and tenants. British policy thus, made an attempt to
standardize the existing land rights, sometimes at the cost of the rights
of certain groups, in the quest of making a more homogenous society. 21
In the early 19 th century, the States main target was to bring the
maximum cultivable waste under cultivation. Consequently, there was
a sharp decline in the fortunes of the extensive nomadic and pastoral
economy of the plain in the early nineteenth century. 22
From the second half of the eighteenth century, the British used
their control over India to promote their own interest. 23 The objective
of the colonial policy was to acquire monopoly over trade and control
over resources. Its main aim was to transform India into a consumer of
British manufactures and a supplier of raw material. As John Sullivan,
President of Board of Revenue, admitted: Our system acts very much
like a sponge, drawing up all the good things from the bank of the
Ganges, and squeezing them down the banks of the Thames. 24
The British brought about a tremendous transformation in Indias
agricultural economy. This effort was not with a view to improving
Indian agriculture, to increase production and ensure the welfare and

20
Sekhar Bandyobadhyay, From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India, Orient Longman,
Delhi 2004, p 82- 95
21
C.A. Bayly, The New Cambridge History of India, Vol. II, Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1987, p
142-43
22
Ibid., p 142
23
Bipan Chandra, et. al., Freedom Struggle, NBT, New Delhi, 1972, p 3
24
Bipan Chandra, Modern India, 2005, p 73

8
prosperity of the Indian agriculturist, but to obtain for themselves, in
the form of land revenue, all surplus available in agriculture and to
force Indian agriculture to play its assigned role in the colonial
economy. Old relationships and institutions were destroyed and new
ones were created. These new features did not always represent a
change towards modernization or a positive direction. 25
Under British rule, land revenue was of outstanding importance
not only because it occupied a very special position as a source of
revenue to the government, but also because of the part played by it in
the general administration of the country. 26 For land revenue, the
colonial authorities established a separate administration also. Finance
Commissioner was the head of the revenue administrative structure.
The Deputy Collector was head of the land revenue organization in the
district. Provinces were divided into districts and districts were
grouped into divisions and each was placed under a Commissioner.
Districts were further divided into Tahsils, in each of which was a
Tahsildar with an assistant or Naib Tahsildar. Tahsils were formed
into a sub division and put in special charge of resident Extra Assistant
or Sub Divisional Officer. Headman of the village was responsible for
the payment of revenue. Patwari was the village accountant. Villages
were grouped into Zails over each of which was appointed a Zaildars.
About twenty of the zails or circles were under the charge of a
Qanungo. 27
Land revenue was consistently increased 1858. It stood at 4.2
million pounds in 1800-01 and had risen, mainly by increase of

25
Bipan Chandra, op.cit., 1972, p 17
26
Vera Anstay, The Economic Development of India, IV edition, Longman Green and Company,
London, 1962, p 374
27
H.K. Trevaskis, The Punjab of To-Day, Civil and Miltary Gazette, Lahore, 1931, pp 63-65, 149-
52.

9
territories but also by increased assessments, to 15.3 million pounds in
1857-8, when the Crown took over. Under the Crown, the total land
revenue rose to 17.5 million pounds by 1900-01 and 20 million pounds
by 1911-12. In 1936-37, the figure was 23.9 million pounds. 28
The rigidity of the collection of land tax further paralyzed
agriculture, prevented savings, and kept the tiller of the soil in a state
of poverty and indebtedness. 29 Accordingly to the Indian leaders, the
following were the disastrous and depressing effects of the land
revenue system on agriculture; firstly the high pitch of land
assessment, secondly, heavy assessment increased the intensity and
frequencies of famines by producing general resourcelessness in the
country side. Thirdly, constant revisions of assessment, short
settlements, uncertainly about the grounds of enhancement, fresh
appraisal of individual plots, leading to taxation of the cultivators
improvements, all tended to make a tenure uncertain and combined
with high assessment, took away from the cultivator all possibility to
save, to exert himself to effect permanent improvement in land and to
increase agriculture productivity. Fourthly, high pitch of revenue
discouraged, fifth, enhancement of land revenue by the government to
the Zamindars and other superior holders to increased rental s to an
even greater extent than the enhancement of revenue and thus to
further oppress the actual tillers of the soil. Sixthly, in the absence of a
large-scale increase in agriculture production the high assessment. 30
Equipped with great economic and political power, the company
played a dual role in this respect. It played, first, a destructive role by
impoverishing the people and weakening the society, destroying
28
R.P. Dutt, India Today, Peoples Publishing House, Bombay, 1949, p 211-12, (Reprint, originally
published in 1947).
29
R.C.Dutt, Economic History of India, p xi.
30
Bipan Chandra, Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism, p 405-07.

10
thereby the indigenous industries and business. 31 Secondly, it played a
regenerative role by bringing science and technology, improved means
of transport and communications, anglicized system of education, and
new social and political ideas which gave new direction to the societal
32
fabric of India.
The policy of commercialization of agr iculture, adversely
affected the agriculturist. The agriculturists now produced for the
Indian as well as world market. He became thereby subject to all the
vicissitudes of the ever erratic market. 33 Under the new system, the
peasant produced mainly for the market, which, with the steady
improvement of means of transport and expanding operations of
trading capital under the British rule, became available to him.. 34 The
commercialization of agriculture had progressed most in those tracts
where the crops were largely grown for export out of the country. This
was particularly so in Burma rice area, the Punjab wheat area, the jute
area of Eastern Bengal and the Khandesh, Gujrat and Berar cotton
tracts. 35 To increase the land revenue, the colonial authorities trie d to
bring the maximum land under cultivation. Now the common lands
could be measured by the extent of the forests, and uncultivable wastes
available for cultivation. Therefore, the total area in land use was 391

31
Bipan Chandra, Ibid., and also see, R.C. Dutt, The Economic History of India under early British
Rule, London, 1901; Dadabhai Naoroji, Poverty and Un-British Rule in India; G. Subarmaniyam
Iyer, Some Economic Aspects of British Rule in India, Bombay, 1903; Bipan Chandra, The Rise
and Growth of Economic Nationalism in India, Delhi, 1966; A.R. Desai, Social Background of
Indian Nationalism, Bombay, 1948.
32
Karl Marx, with his usual perception, highlighted in a series of writings the destructive and
regenerative role of the British rule during the company period. For details see, Karl Marx,
Articles on India, Delhi, 1940; Karl Marx and F. Engels, on Colonialism, Moscow, 1963;
V.I.Pavlov, Historical Premises for Indias Transition to capitalism, Moscow, 1979; V.N. Datta,
Presidential Address, IHC Proceedings, 42nd Session, Bodh Gaya, 1981; Chattar Singh, Social and
Economic Change in Haryana, NBO, Delhi 2004.
33
A.R. Desai, Social Background of Indian Nationalism, Popular Prakashan, Bombay, 5th edition,
1980, p 59.
34
Ibid, p 43.
35
D.R.Gadgil, The Industrial Evolution of India in recent Times, 1933, p 154

11
million acres in 1885, which increased to 521 million acres (+ 33
percent) in 1938. 36
In order to increase the produce from the land and consequently,
the land revenue, the British also improved the irrigation facilities. In
1820, they re-opened the Western Jumna Canal in North West
Province. They also initiated irrigation schemes in Delhi and Tanjore.
In 1842, operations were commenced between Kankhal and Hardwar,
and though stopped for a time on account of various doubts that had
risen with respect to the results of the canal; they were resumed sho rtly
after, permission being given to spend 2 lakhs of rupees annually. The
Godavri Works were begun in 1847, and by 1853 of Krishna Anicut.
This was followed by other canals like the Lower Ganga, the Agra, and
the Betwa Canals in United Provices, the Sirhind Canal in Punjab,
Muthra canal in Bombay and the Periyar canal in south India. 37
The agrarian policy of the government with regard to agricultural
improvement other than irrigation remained almost non -existent for a
long time, except for a few experime ntal farms and some paltry taccavi
loans from the 1870s. The Co-operative Credit Society Act of 1904
introduced a new element in this sphere. It was generally considered
that the co-operatives were a means of combating rural problems and
would increased produce and create increased availability of raw
material and exporting material. 38 The co-operative societies increased
because these were fulfilling the economic interest of the British.
Consequently, the number of co-operative societies increased
tremendously. Between 1914 and 1946 the numbers of societies

36
Tirthankar Roy, The Economic History of India, 1857-1947, OUP, London, 2000, p 102-03
37
M.S. Randhawa, A History of Agriculture in India, 98-101; C.B. Mamoria, Agricultural Problem
of India, p 185
38
C.B. Mamoria, Agricultural Problems of India, Kitab Mahal, Allahbad, 1976, p 556-57; (Reprint,
originally published in 1953).

12
increased by 890 percent while the membership increased only by only
9 percent and the working capital increased by 33 percent. 39 The co-
operative movement, though it was seen as gradually developing i nto a
powerful engine for the proper and early revival of the old corporate
life of the villages and restore their vitality, and to keep, as the Royal
Commission on Agriculture, 1928, said the best hope of rural India.
The co-operative however, had rather limited success. 40
The effect of British agrarian policies further intensified for
peasantry due to famines and the money-lending system. The small
farmers went into the grip of indebtedness. The greatest evil that
arose out of the British policies with regard to Indian agricultural
economy was the emergence of the money-lender as an influential
economic and political force in the country. The moneylender could
even manipulate the judicial system and the administrative machinery
to his advantage. 41

PUNJAB

The literal meaning of the Persian term panj-ab is five-waters.

Punj means five, and Pb means waters, i. e. the region of five rivers. It
was meant to signify the land of five rivers. But it was not meant to be
taken literally. 42 The Punjab, since long, has been of great historical

39
Table 1.1
Year No. of Societies No. of Members Working Capital
1914-15 17327 824469 122292
1921-22 52182 1974290 311225
1929-30 104187 4181904 895178
1938-39 122000 5300000.7 10700000.10
1943-44 156000 7600000.9 14600000.63
1945-46 172000 910000.6 16400000.00
Source : Ibid ; 556-57; and see also, B.S. Saini, Social and Economic History of the Punjab,
1901-39, Ess-Ess, New Delhi, 1975, p 231-59
40
Ibid., pp 239-59
41
Bipan Chandra, et. al, Freedom Struggle, p 18-19
42
Imperial Gazetteer of India (I.G.O.I), Provincial Series, Punjab. Vol. I, Mehra Offset press
(reprint), New Delhi, 1991, p 97

13
and strategically significance. Situated in the north west of India, 43 this
province was gateway for the invaders from the north western side
countries. It was necessary for the invaders to pass through this region
to hold the regions of the capital of India. Therefore, from political and
strategically point of view, the Punjab remained an important and
integral part of the country. 44 Moreover at the same time, the economy
of the Punjab, particularly of agriculture, was also an attractive feature
for those who desired for holding a state-power in India. 45

The Punjab formed a part of the civilization called the Indus

culture in the third millennium B. C. when its cities and towns were
located close to the rivers, particularly in their lower courses. 46 The
city of Harappa which flourished as a major urban centre for about 500
years was situated then on the left bank of the river Ravi, about a
hundred miles lower than Lahore at present. 47

The change in the broad pattern of human settlement in the

Punjab was a result of political as well as technological changes. At the
time of the Aryans influx into India in the second millennium B. C.,
the Indus culture was on decline. At the time of Alexanders invasion
during the fourth century B. C. the kingdom of Ambhi was situated in
the upper Sindh Sagar Doab, and King Puru (Poras) was ruling over a
kingdom in the adjoining Chaj Doab. 48

For nearly a thousand years after the fall of the Mauryan Empire,
the Punjab remained politically isolated from the Ganges plains. 49 In

43
Ambala District Gazetteer, 1883-84, p 1
44
Settlement Report of the Gurdaspur District, 1856, p 1
45
J. S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab, Delhi, 2002. P 1
46
Surender Pal Singh, Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the Neighboring State, Ph.D Thesis, Kurukshetra
University, Kurukshetra, 2004, p 14
47
I.O.G.I.., Provincial Series, Punjab, Vol. I, p 17
48
Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, Vol. I, London, 1981, p 126
49
Ibid.

14
the first century B. C., the Kushanas under Kanishka established a
large empire which covered the whole of the Punjab, but extended
more towards central Asia. In the fifth century, the Huns established
their power in the Punjab. In the seventh century Harsha ruled over the
eastern Punjab up to the river Beas. 50

From the eleventh century the Punjab became once again a part
of large empires when Mahmood of Ghazni annexed it to his dominions
in Afghanistan and central Asia. During the fourteenth century, much
of the Punjab was a part of the large empire established by the Khalji,
Turks and maintained by the Tughluqs. The western Doabs, however,
had come under the influence of the Mongol successors of Chingiz
Khan before Timur, the acknowledged ancestor of the Mughal
emperors, invaded India. Meanwhile, Babur had occupied Afghanistan
as a successor of Timur, and was keen to expend his dominions in the
direction of India. 51 He occupied the Punjab in the early 1520s before
he defeated Ibrahim Lodhi in the battle of Panipat in 1526. Akbar
defeated Hemu in the second battle of Panipat in 1556. 52

For over two centuries, the Punjab was to remain an integral part
of the Mughal empire in India. In January 1739, Nadir Shah entered the
province of Lahore and defeated its Mughal governor, Zakariya Khan,
who was allowed to hold on to his office after paying two million
rupees. 53 Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded India seven times. He had tried
to finish the Khalsa, 54 but he couldnt get success. He defeated
Marathas in the third battle of Panipat in 1761.

50
J.S.Grewal, op.cit., p 2
51
N.K. Sinha, Ranjit Singh, (Reprint), Vol. II, Calcutta, 1960, p 1
52
I.G.O.I., Provincial Series, Punjab, Vol. I, p 19
53
Lepel Griffin, Ruler of India: Ranjit Singh, London, 1905, p 9
54
Sikh People

15
 In 1799, a process of unification was started by Ranjit Singh
virtually to establish an empire during the first quarter of the
nineteenth century. 55 He made use of an efficient army raised and
trained more or less like the army of the Company. He was the first
ruler who established and organized a Sikh State in very challenging
and crucial situations. 56

Within ten years of Ranjit Singhs death in 1839, his empire was
taken over by the British who had already established their direct or
indirect political control over the rest of the subcontinent. At Lahore, a
tussle for power at the top had brought in factious nobility, and the
increasing struggle for power brought in the Khalsa army; the growing
instability eventually brought in the British who were half inclined to
annex the Punjab for reasons which had little to do with its internal
affairs. 57 After the hard-fought battle of the Sutlej in 1845-46, the army
and the territory of the boy king Dalip Singh were cut to s ize to make
the Punjab more manageable. Lahore was garrisoned by British troops
and a British adviser was given to the Lahore Darbar. The final
annexation of the Punjab was only a matter of time which came in
March 1849. 58

The Punjab under British rule as a administrative unit was much

larger. The territory which remained in the province most of the time
extended from the Sulaiman Range in the west, which separated it from
Afghanistan, to the western bank of river Jamuna in the east, and had a
long boundary with the North-Western Provinces. 59 Rajputana and

55
For details, see Surender Pal Singh, op.cit.
56
Sita Ram Kohli, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Allahabad, 1965, p 11
57
J.S. Grewal, op.cit., p 99
58
I.O.G.I., Provincial Series, Punjab, Vol. I, p 34
59
H. A. Rose, A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province,
Vol. I, Language Department, Punjab, Patiala, 1970 (reprint), p 4

16
Sindh adjoined its southern boundary: while on the north and north -
east was the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which upto 1877 remained
under the control of the Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab. The
territory of the Punjab stretched up to and beyond the peaks of the
central Himalayas and embraced the valleys of Lahaul and Spiti. 60

The Punjab included two categories of territory: one that

belonging to the British Crown and second was that in possession of
the thirty six feudatory chiefs of the province, almost all of whom paid
tribute in some form or the other, and were subject to a more or less
stringent control exercised by the Punjab Government. The areas of
these native states varied in size from principally t o principally. 61

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

There are number of writings on the Punjab during the British

rule. The literature available on rural society in the Punjab is not
sufficient. There are some works available on the colonial power and
its socio-economic impact on the people of the Punjab, but these works
did not discuss directly the whole rural society. These works indicated
only the British economic policy and its impact on the people. Some
historians and economists have paid attention towards the study of
social and economic changes in the rural areas of the Punjab.

From the first category, we may take up R. P. Dutt in India

Today, (1947) talks of the over pressure on agriculture, stagnation and
deterioration of agricultural activities, the British capitalist policy, and
neglect of development, low level of production but again it is a
picture of India as a whole and does not provide detail for an overall

60
James Douie, The Punjab North-West Frontier Province and Kashmir, Seema Publication, Lahore,
1974 (reprint), pp 1-7
61
H. A. Rose, op.cit., and Gazetteer of the Punjab Provincial Series, Vol. I, 1888-89, p 2

17
study. Ian Talbot in Punjab and the Raj, 1849-1947, (1984), refers to
the Punjab and its people, the Unionist party and the Punjab politics,
the British desertion of their allies, but he focuses on the political
relations and there are only some minor references to agriculture in the
region. Richard G. Fox in his book namely Lions of the Punjab:
Culture in the making, (1985), primarily a social anthropologist, shows
how the capitalist world system penetrated the economy of the Punjab
and how it led to the emergence of a class of petty commodity
producers. He discusses colonization and its socio-economic results
namely migration and the emergence of wage labour but does not take
up a study of agriculture as much. Sumit Sarkars Modern India (2001)
which focuses on political developments from 1857-1947 and refers to
commercialization of agriculture, production and some legislation, but
India as a whole and rather briefly, since it is not the main theme.

In the second category, are books like D. R. Gadgil, Industrial

Evolution of India, 1860-1939, in which few chapters on
agriculturists in four phases are taken up, 1860-69, 1880-95, 1895-
1914 and 1914-39. It also to agriculture. He is taking up some aspects
of agriculture, agrarian standard of living, growth of cotton cultivation,
agricultural produce, price of crops, poverty and debt, land tenures,
effect of famines, agricultural improvements, communication, limited
government action and legislation, agricultural statistics and brief
reference to Punjab, United Province, Central Provence and Bombay.
Bipin Chandra, in his book, Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism,
(1977) refers to the main aspects of agriculture like British policy,
transformation, and legislation as part of the theme, but cover the
period 1880-1905 only. G. S. Chhabra book Social and Economic
History of the Punjab, 1849-1901, (1962) which analyses, the

18
resources of the Punjab, people, their life and manners, education,
industries, communication, trade, the financial system and general
prosperity. In chapter on agriculture he discussed the land revenue
system, indebtedness, uneconomic holding, but he covers only the
period between 1849-1901.

B. S. Saini in his work Social and Economic History of the

Punjab, 1901-39., (1975) begins with an account of the natural
resources, and then moves on to give information of the social
institution, industry, trade, co-operative movement, agriculture and
irrigation, indebtedness, communication and finance. By and large,
both the works on the Punjab region uncritically reproduce government
sources, and give a general view of the social and economic conditions
of the Punjab, but barely touch upon the agriculture of the south -east
region.

In the third category, we may look at S. S. Thorburn in his work

Musslmans and Money-Lenders discussed how land of small farmers
trapped in the hands of money-lenders in western Punjab and its
impact on society. C. B. Mamorias Agricultural Problem of India
(1976) which gives some information regarding irrigation, mechanism
of agriculture, agriculture marketing in India and rural unemployment.
The work is not concerned with the Punjab, but India as a whole, and
emphasizes on the post partition period. Geogre Blyns, Agricultural
Trends in India, 1891-1947; Output, Availability and Productity
(1966), analyses agricultural trends in India for the period 1891 -1947.
He takes up eighteen crops and shows how increased agriculture
production, especially in the Punjab, was the outcome extensive
cultivation and how the development of irrigation and introduction of
new varieties resulted in an increased yield. The work focuses on a

19
particular aspect of agriculture and once again, has an all-India
context. H. Calvert, in his book, Wealth and Welfare of the Punjab:
Being Some Studies in Punjab Rural Economics (1936), takes up
development of the region and show how the construction of ca nals,
communications and irrigation, stimulated production, increased trade
and brought into existence a wealthy professional class. He presents
some inter-related aspects of agricultural development but not a
complete analysis to underline the situation of the Punjab. The work
focuses largely on central and western Punjab and leaves out the south-
eastern tract from any detailed discussion. From the point of the
present work therefore, there are several limitation of this work.

M. L. Darling, in his work, The Punjab Peasant in Prosperity

and Debt (1934), studies the nature, extent and causes of agricultural
debt, and the specific condition of different regions. He highlights
agricultural development, underlining what he calls close connection
between prosperity and debt in situations where peasants live in
primitive or backward conditions. He regards indebtedness for
unproductive purpose as evil, and in some other situations holds
prosperity as the cause of debt while laying stress on the increasing
expropriation of the peasant proprietor by the moneylender. He tends
to overlook the exploitative nature of British rule itself. Darling also
focuses on the central and the western part of the Punjab in his work
and rarely discusses the south-east tract. In his second work, Wisdom
and Waste in Punjab Villages, he gives some description of the south-
east region but largely concentrates on the rest of the Punjab.

More recently, Himadri Banerjee in Agrarian Society of the

Punjab, 1849-1901 (1982), gives an account of the agrarian society at
the outset of British rule and traces the change in the social framework

20
of the agriculturists. He discusses the programme of land settlement,
commercialization of agriculture, canalization and colonization, the
growing predominance of money lenders and the changing relationship
between peasant group and kamins. The work however, does not go
beyond 1901 and concentrates on the central and western Punjab in its
details, generally leaving out the south eastern areas or providing brief
information o them. In a work on Irrigation, Agriculture and the Raj:
Punjab (1997), M. M. Islam, a Bangladeshi scholar, has made a detail
study of irrigation by canals and the other sources, including their
financial aspects. He refers however, to cash crops only cotton,
sugarcane and oilseeds. Furthermore, his work is limited to irrigation
and cropping pattern, with no account of the agriculture in south -east
Punjab. Imran Ali in Punjab Under Imperialism, 1885-1947 (1989)
describes canalization and colonialization of the Punjab in some detail
with no references to the south-east Punjab except in a few table.

In Chattar Singhs book, Social and Economic Change in

Haryana (2004) deals with factors of social change, social and
occupational mobility, changing social relations in rural society,
factors of economic change, changing agrarian relations, British
experiments in Haryana and emerging new life style, based on archival
source material, it is a pioneering research work. However, the
limitations of this work are that agricultural production and system of
agriculture remain untouched. After all, the period, taken by the author
was only the 19 th century. In a recent publication, Mridula Mukherjee,
in Colonializing Agriculture: The myth of Punjab Exceptionalism,
deals with the peasantry in four chapters as (i) peasants as tax payers,
(ii) peasants as debtors, (iii) peasants in the market, (iv) peasant as
classes. She also highlights capital accumulation and investment in the

21
Punjab and eastern India. By a comparison of both regions, the author
revels that the basic colonial policy was the same. This pioneering
research work however, raises important issue about the British
agrarian policies.

In the fourth category, K. C. Yadav, in his book, Haryana: Itihas

Evam Sanskriti: 1803-1966 (1982), refers to economic development,
indebtedness, Punjab Land Alienation Act, Unionist Party, and
provides information on social and cultural spheres of the south eastern
region, which can be informative for the present wor k. He does not
however, take up a detailed discussion on agriculture. Rajpal Singh,
Agriculture Production in Haryana: 1901-66, (1995), which focus on
the agriculture production of Haryana but does not talk about
irrigation, agricultural technology or agra rian society. The period
studies in the 20 th century only had it provides limited information.
Prem Chowdhry on Custom in a Peasant Economy: Women in
Colonial Haryana. In this article, Prem Chowdhry discusses dominant
caste and peasant ethos, socio-economic conditions: their significance
for women, and colonial view of women of the south-eastern part of
the Punjab province. In her second article, on Advantages of
Backwardness: Colonial Policy and Agriculture in Haryana , Prem
Chowdhry highlights the agrarian policy of British rule in Haryana.
Animal Husbandry and recruitment policy is also discussed. However,
she does not touch cultivated area, production, and agrarian life of the
south-east Punjab. Though important and useful in their respective
themes, these works are limited to studying one specific aspects of the
agrarian scene in the south-eastern tract during the colonial period.
Nevertheless, they contribute significantly to the study of social and
economic aspects in Haryana region.

22
GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITION

Geographically, the province composed of four distinct zones:

the Himalayan, the submontane, the salt range and the plains. The
district of Kangra and Shimla formed s part of the Himalayan zone, the
scanty population of which was scattered in tiny hamlets, perched on
the hill sides and surrounded by small patches of terraced cultivation. 62
The crops depend on rainfall which was abundant enough to meet the
agricultural requirements throughout the year. The population, mainly
rural, supplemented the yield of its land by the produce of numerous
flocks of sheep and goats, and by handicrafts which kept them
occupied during a part of the long winter nights. The people belonged
to such diverse ethnic groups as the Rajputs (Thakurs, Rathis, Rawats,
Kanets and Ghirths), Brahmins and Dogis or menials of the hills. 63
They professed Hinduism and spoke Hindi. Their migration was
confined only to the neighboring monuments and low hills. The low
pressure of population coupled with sufficient means of subsistence
made the tract secure from famine. 64

The belt skirting the base of the hills, including the low outlying
range of the Shiwaliks was referred to as the sub -montane region. It
included the four northern tehsils of Ambala, the district of
Hoshiarpur, the three northern tehsils of Gurdaspur, the tehsils of
Zaffarwal and Sialkot in the district of Sialkot and the northern portion
of the district of Gujarat. This area received sufficient rainfall and was
traversed by numerous streams flowing downwards from the
neighboring hills. The population was mainly agricultural, through a
few pastoral groups were found in the hilly tracts. The region could

62
G.S. Chhabra, Social and Economic History of Punjab, 1849-1901, Jullundhur, 1962, p 17
63
For details, see District Gazetteers of the Punjab.
64
Census Report of the Punjab (henceforth CRP), 1881, Vol. I, pp. 2-3 and p 7

23
boast of only one urban centre Sialkot. Trade and manufacture were
insignificant. The people differed little in race, r eligion or language
from the neighboring inhabiting the plains. A fertile land and ample
rainfall contributed to make the region free from famine. 65

The salt range included the districts of Peshawar, Kohat, Hazara,

Rawalpindi, Jhelum and Bannu. The mountainous tract of Hazara,
Kohat and eastern Rawalpindi received abundant rainfall as compared
to the Peshawar valley and the districts of Rawalpindi, Jhelum and
Bannu where it was deficient. The population, which was composed of
Pathans, Rajputs, Awans, Gakhars and Khattars was entirely Muslim.
They spoke Pasthu and Punjabi. Scanty rainfall, inferior cultivation and
lack of irrigation made the region liable to famine during unfavorable
seasons. 66

The remaining part of the Punjab consisted of considerable

plains. A meridian, which passed through the city of Lahore, divided
this wide expanse into two very dissimilar tracts known as the eastern
and western plains. To begin with the eastern plains, in the north of the
eastern plains were the two southern tehsils of Ambala, the district of
Ludhania, Jullundur and Amritsar and also non-submountainous parts
of the districts of Sialkot and Gurdaspur. 67

The eastern part of the eastern plains included the districts of

Delhi, Gurgaon and Karnal with the exception of the Kaitha l and
Rewari tehsils of Karnal and Gurgaon, and Gohana and Sampla tehsils
of the Rohtak district. The tract enjoyed moderate rainfall, besides a
large irrigated area. It had several large towns. 68 This and the central

65
CRP, 1868, p 7
66
Ibid.
67
G.S. Chhabra, op.cit., p 31
68
CRP, 1868, p 3

24
portion constituted those parts of the Punjab where famine was most
dreaded. The occupation of the people was both agriculture and
pastoralism. 69 The central portion of the eastern plains included the
Kaithal thesils of the district of Karnal, three northern tehsils of the
district of Ferozepur and the two eastern tehsils of the district of
Lahore. 70

The population of the eastern plains was composed of diverse

ethnic groups including Jats, Rajputs, Kamoohs, Rors, Tagas, Gujjars,
Ahirs, Meos, Khanzadahs, Bishnois, Sainis, Arains, Dogras, Mahtams,
Sansis, Bawarias, Baniyas, Khatris and Aroras. Hindus were
preponderant in the north, east and south of the eastern plains, the
Muslims in the north, west and north-west and the Sikhs in the central
and west. Hindi was spoken in the east and south-east, Rajputana
dialectsin the south-west and Punjabi in the remaining part of the
eastern plains. The region included such big cities as Delhi, Amritsar
and Lahore, besides several large towns, where a brisk trade was
carried out. 71

The vast expanse of land lying to the west of the Lahore

meridian was known as the western plains. It included the districts of
Multan, Jhang Montgomery, Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera
Ismail Khan, Shahpur, Gujranwala, and greater part of Gujrat and
western tehsils of the district of Lahore. The rainfall in this region was
entirely inadequate so that the cultivation was chiefly confined to the
immediate precincts of the rivers. 72

The inhabitants composed entirely of Muslims, who belong to

69
Ibid.
70
CRP, 1881, Vol. I, p 3
71
Ibid, pp 3-4
72
Ibid.

25
such ethnic groups as Biloch, Jats Rajputs Gujjars and Sayyids. Among
the Sayyids were found such diverse clans as the Daudpotra, Jaya,
Watu, Dogar Mahtam, Kharral, Kathia, Siyal, Khokhar, Tiwana, Jhabal
and Khulna. The trans-Indus Pathans and a certain proportion of the
Blich Spoke Pasthu and Biluchi. In the district of Dera Ghazi Khan,
Muzaffargarh and Multans people spoke Jatki, a language holding an
intermediate position between Punjabi and Sindhi, while Punjabi was
prevalent in the remaining area. 73

This was the situation of the Punjab prior to the introduction of

significant changes under the British rule. But with the consolidation
of the new system of control, these existing condition underwent a
tremendous transformation in the rural society, which, in turn, merely
added to its vulnerability to the onslaught and occurrences of serve
famine 74 that engulfed larger area then before. To make this point clear,
in the following paragraph, an attempt is being made, to study the
impact of colonialism in terms of climate, soil, forests, rivers,
irrigation, villages, towns, migration, agriculture, industry, trade and
transport.

Barring the hilly portion of the submontane region and the

scanty arid tract of the south-east Punjab was in the main a vast
alluvial plains with rich soils, which, however, were deficient in
humus. 75 The soil of the riverain tracts contained much alluvial and
generally a ploughing or two gave a splendid harvest. But the major
defect here was that the quality of this land was both varied and
variable, and very often a productive lan d in one year became a sandy
waste in the next due to action of the floods.

73
I.G.O.I., Provincial Series, Punjab, Vol. I, p 47
74
Ibid.
75
Royal Commission on Agriculture in India, Abridged Report, 1928, Vol. VIII (Evidence), pp 17,72

26
 The flora falls naturally into four primary divisions: the
Himalayas, the Submontane Belt from the Jamua to Ravi, the Plains
proper, and the Salt Range on both sides of the Indus w ith connected
country in the north-west of the province. 76 The Punjab plains which
formed the greater portion of the province and were in the western
basin of the Indo-Gangetic plains. The eastern boundary of the plains
coincided with the watershed between the flat basin of the Indus and
the Ganges system and that boundary was the western bank of the river
Jamuna. 77

The plains of the Punjab, as shown in the map, spread between

70-80 east longitude and 27-34 north latitude. 78 Barring the hilly
portions of the submontane region and the scanty arid tract of the
south-east, the Punjab was in the main a vast alluvial plain with rich
soils, which, however, were deficient in humus. 79

The soil of the riverain tracts contained much alluvial and

generally a ploughing or two gave a splendid harvest. But the major
defect here was that the quality of this land was both varied and
variable, and very often a productive land in one year became a sandy
waste in the next due to action of the floods.

Forests play a useful part in the economy of man and of

nature. The direct uses of forests are that (i) they render the climate
more equitable, increase the relative humidity of the air, reduce
evaporation and tend to increase the precipitation of the moisture, (ii)
they store the rain water in the soil and prevent its too rapid surface

76
The Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. XX, p 252
77
Gazetteer of the Punjab Provincial Series, Vol. I, 1888-89, p 27
78
Ibid, p 2
79
Royal Commission on Agriculture in India, Abridged Report, 1928, Vol VIII (Evidence), pp 17-72.

27
flow, and that (iii) they increase the fertility of the soil, 80 as they help
to form rich vegetable mould even from mineral soils. 81 In the Punjab,
the direct usefulness of forests was chiefly due to the produce from
them and the large amount of grazing which they provided. They also
supplied fire-wood, timber and the necessary raw-materials for a few
industries such as bhabbar grass for paper-making, tanning materials
such as barks and a few fruits, resin, turpentine, etc. besides providing
employment to a large number of people like woodcutters, sawyers,
carters, carriers, craftsmen and many other deriving substance directly
from the products of the forests. 82

Forests play a useful part in the economy of man and of nature.

The direct uses of forests are that (i) they render the climate more
equitable, increase the relative humidity of the air, reduce evaporation
and tend to increase the precipitation of the moisture, (ii) they store the
rain water in the soil and prevent its too rapid surface flow, and that
(iii) and they increase the fertility of the soils, 83 as they help to form
rich vegetable mould even from mineral soils. 84 In the Punjab, the
direct usefulness of forests was chiefly due to the produce fro m them
and the large amount of grazing which they provided. They also
supplied fire-wood, timber and the necessary raw-materials for a few
industries such as bhabbar grass for paper making, tanning materials
such as barks and a few fruits, resin, turpentine, etc. besides providing
employment to a large number of people like woodcutters, sawyers,
carts, carriers, rafts men and many other deriving substance directly

80
Royal Commission on Agriculture in India, Abridged Report, 1928, Vol VIII (Evidence), pp 17-72.
81
Ibid.
82
Statistical Abstract of British India, 193040, New Delhi, 1941, pp 570-581
83
Ibid.
84
Ibid.

28
from the products of the forests. 85

WATER RESOURCES

The geography of the Punjab gave birth to several rivers of

great importance for navigation and irrigation purposes. Of the two
great river system of India, the Ganga and the Indus, the later flows
over the soils of the Punjab. The source of the Indus or Sindhu in
Sanskrit, which was one of the mightiest rivers of the world, lies in the
Mansarover Lake in Tibet, near Mount Kailash. It receives many
tributaries during its course to the sea. The main tributaries are the
Kabul and the Zeba on the west and Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the
Beas and the Sutlej in the east. These rivers divided the Punjab into six
doabs; the Sindh Sagar, the Rachna, the Bist, the Chaj, the Bari, and
the Satlej-Jamuna divide. These rivers had also served as
administration boundaries. Broadly speaking, the Indus formed the
western boundary and the Jamuna the eastern of the British Punjab
under study.

The building of canals for irrigation is quite an old phenomenon.

In the distant past, Feroze Shah Tughlaq (A.D. 1351 -88) constructed
five canals of varying lengths and importa nce in the Punjab. During the
Mughal rule, new canals were added 86 while the use of Persian wheels
became quite common. 87 Under Ranjit Singhs rule, the districts of
Multan and Muzaffargarh witnessed the construction of a new canal by
Sawan Mal. A similar attempt was made for the construction of wells
in the tract known as the Doabs (the districts of Jullundur and
Hoshiarpur), Riarki (the district of Amritsar), and Darap (the district of

85
Statistical Abstract of British India, 1930-40, New Delhi, 1941, pp 570-581
86
Irfan Habib, The Agrarian System of the Mughal India, Bombay, 1963, pp 31-34
87
Irfan Habib, Jats of the Punjab and Sindh, in Harbans Singh and N. Gerald Barrier (ed.), Essays
in Honour of Dr. Ganda Singh, Patiala, 1976, pp 97-98

29
Sialkot and a part of the district of Gujranwala. 88 During the British
period a major breakthrough in irrigation was made who dag up a good
network of canals in the western Punjab. Loans were raised for the
enterprise from the money market of London and the investment
proved highly profitable. 89 The area irrigated by canals in 1868-69 was
1.37 million acres. 90

The perennial canals constructed by the British were (i) the

Western Jamuna Canal, opened in 1820 and remodeled in 1873, for
irrigating the districts of Karnal, Delhi, Hissar and parts of Ambala;
(ii) the upper Bari Doab Canal was taken off at Madhopur from river
Ravi, opened in 1859, for irrigating the districts of Gurdaspur,
Amritsar and Lahore. 91

SOCIAL LIFE

Natural resources are essential but more important for the people
who utilize them. Therefore, it is the number of inhabitants, which are
crucial to the socio-economic transformation of a given area. In 1855,
the population of the British Punjab was 12.7 million; in 1868, it was
17.6 million; and in 1901, including North-West Frontier Province, it
was 22 million, which after its separation from the Punjab, decreased
to 20 million. 92

Of the total population at least 56 per cent were supported by

agriculture. Next in importance was the artisan section of the
community, which numbers 48, 98,080, or 19.8 per cent of the

88
Gurdit Singh, Irrigation in the Punjab during the Maharajas Time, in Teja Singh and Ganda
Singh (ed.), Maharaja Ranjit Singhs First Death Centenary Memorial, Patiala, 1939, p 148
89
Master Hari Singh, Agrarian Scene in British Punjab, Vol. I, New Delhi, 1983, p XII
90
CRP, 1868, p 82
91
Ibid.
92
Report on the Census taken on the 1st January 1855 of the population of the Punjab Territories,
paras 10-11 & 13, pp 9-10 and p 13-14, Report on the Census of the Punjab 1868, para, 28, p 7,
Report on the Census of India, 1901, Vol. XVII, part I, p 48

30
population. Of these, cotton-weaving, spinning supports 10,12,314, and
leather-workers 7,42,034, while potter number2,69,869, carpenters
2,63,717, and iron-workers 1,64,814. 93 The making of tools and
implements supports 1,35,786, and building 1,21,153, goldsmit h
number 1,20,755 and tailors 1,08,963, but the figures for these smaller
groups were subject to several qualification. In spite of the caste
system, the division of the labour had not been pushed very far in the
Punjab. The carpenter was often an ironsmith, the shopkeeper a money-
lender, the agriculturist a trader and so on. 94

The staple food consists of the grain grown in the locality.

Well-to-do people eat wheat and rice, while the ordinary peasants
food consists chiefly of wheat, barley and gram in summer and maize
in winter. Peasants were especially fond of curds, buttermilk, and green
mustard (sarson) as relishes with bread. In the camel-breeding tract
camels was also drunk. 95

The dress of the people was of the simplest kind and, in the
plains, made entirely of cotton cloth. A turban, a lion-cloth, a loose
warp, thrown round the body like a plaid, and in the cold season, a vest
or jacket of some kind, were the usual garments. Rajput women, Hindu
as well as Muhammadan, wear the trouser, and Gujars th e petticoat
while many Sikhs and Hindu Jat women wear both. 96

The ordinary peasants house was not uncomfortable, through

hardly attractive. Built of mud, with a flat roof and rarely decorated, it
was cooler in summer and warmer in winter than a house of br ick or
stone. The furniture of an ordinary house was cheap and simple,

93
I.O.G.I., Provincial Series, Punjab, Vol. I, New Delhi, 1991, p 53
94
Ibid
95
For details, see District Gazetteers of the Punjab.
96
Ibid.

31
comprising a few string beds, stools, boxes, spinning wheels, and
cooking utensils, with a grain-receptacle of mud. 97

The principal Hindu festivals were the Basant Panchmi, Holi,

Baisakhi, Salono, Janmashtmi, Dushara and Diwali. 98 Instead of the
Holi, Sikhs observed a kindred festival called Hola Mohalla, celebrate
the day after Guru Nanaks birthday. Gurus Parave or Prakasho Utsav
was also celebrated. 99 The main festivals of the Muhammadan, those
celebrated in the Punjab were Id-ul-Fitr, Id-ul-Zuha, Muharram, Bara
Wafat, Juma-ul-wida and Shab-i-barat. 100

ECONOMIC LIFE

The economy of the Punjab was based on agriculture and agro -

based products, besides the cottage industries both in urban and rural
areas. However the agriculture was the base of the economy. There
were two main harvests, the rabi or hari (spring) sown in October-
November and reaped in April-May and the kharif or sawani (autumn)
sown from June to August and reaped from early Sep tember to the end
of December. The kharif harvest was followed by the rabi sowings,
while the rabi was often succeeded by an extra crop known as zaid
rabi, mainly of tobacco and the like in month of June. 101 The kharif
crop included rice, jowar, bajra, millet and maize, while the rabi
included wheat, barley and oats. With the development of canal
irrigation the wheat crop assumed great importance. Since most of the
agriculture remained dependent on rainfall, it was the failure of kharif
harvest which always resulted in draught and famine. Though the

97
For details, see Settlement Reports of the Punjab.
98
I.G.O.I., Provincial Series, Punjab, Vol. I. p 54
99
For details, see District Gazetteers of the Punjab.
100
For details, see Settlement Reports of the Punjab.
101
A. Latifi, The Industrial Punjab, Lahore, 1911, pp XII-XIV

32
failure of kharif harvest by itself did not cause for famine, but famine
always did come and go with the kharif. 102 That is to say, the kharif
might fail owing to insufficient rains at the sowing time, but failure of
rain in the latter half of the monsoon season adversely affected both
the ripening of kharif crops as well as the sowing of the rabi crops. In
the same way, famine went with the kharif because these late autumn
blessed the country with two crops at once.

The British government laid emphasis on the cultivation of

wheat, cotton and sugarcane which were meant to be exported to the
British markets. This process, known as the commercialization of
agriculture, however, brought little benefit of the peasants of the
Punjab, 103 in fact, peasantry became poorer than before and to the
extent that some of them even got alienated from their small
landholdings permanently and other were reduced to the position of
share-cropping. It happened due to a number of reasons whi ch included
the heavy, regular and untimely demand of land revenue, its changed
mode of payment from kind to cash, increased cash demand for
growing commercial crops and various water-cesses.

In order to meet his demand for cash, the cultivators was

forced to borrow from the village money -lender (commonly known as
shahukar, shah or bania) in the absence of alternate agency of credit
and, was left at the mercy of the shahukar who always extracted
exorbitant interest at the time of harvest through his machinations. The
shahukar also managed to compel the farmer to sell their produce at a
low price and took away almost everything except a few months stoke

102
Punjab Famine Report, 1878-79, Vol. I, pp 25-26
103
Himadri Banerjee, Agrarian Society of the Punjab, 1849-1901,, New Delhi,1982, p 67. For details
of benefits of commercialization of agriculture in canal colonies, see Imran Ali, Punjab Under
Imperialism, 1885-1947, Oxford, 1989, p 28

33
meant for the sheer survival of the victim and his family. In many
cases the shahukar financed the cultivation of commercial crops and
carried away the harvest from the threshing floor itself. In this way, the
dependency of the cultivators on shahukar increased greatly under the
British system. The years of drought or famine multiplied his woes.
Consequently, the cultivators were not able to respond to the market
stimulus and in their cases commercialization of agriculture merely
increased their indebtedness. 104

In the canal colonies, the big landlords were generally absentee,

who had rented out their lands to small farmers. The landlords and the
shahukar who got lands from the poor peasants in return for lending
them money had no interest for the improvement of agriculture. Rather
they rented out such lands to the tenants. The condition of tenants was
equally miserable because of the exchange pattern of the share in the
output of the produce. 105

The deficiency in mineral resources, the plain topography and

fertile soils kept Punjab from ages an agricultural region. On the other
hand, this deficiency in mineral resources coupled with the disturbed
frontier location has always been a great hindrance to the growth and
development of industries. Even during the British rule the Punjab
remained a base for those agricultural products which used to from the
raw materials for the industries and bakeries of British and Europe.
Broadly speaking agriculture, industry, trade and transport formed the
major components of the economy of the Punjab under the British
rule. 106 The household industry was quite flourishing in the pre -British
Punjab. The important manufactures were included the weaving, paper

104
Himadri Banerjee, op.cit., p 68
105
Ibid.
106
G. S. Chhabra, op.cit., p 124

34
making, leather-tanning and shoe making. In the rural areas the
demand came from both household and agricultural sectors. But shortly
after the establishment of the British rule the local industrial products
began to languish. 107 The decline was not compensated by the growth
of large-scale factories because it was thought inevitable that India
should remain predominantly agricultural, whilst the British
government wished to avoid active encouragement of industries that
(like the cotton mill industry) competed with powerful English
interests and increased state expenditure. 108

The hand-spinning and hand-weaving of cotton declined

considerably in the Punjab because indiscriminate import and use of
European made cloth had brought about the ruin of the weavers. 109 The
woolen hand loom industry, which had its centers at Ludhiana, Dera
Gazi Khan, Bhera, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Panipat, Nurpur and Kulu
was also declining because of the cheap imported woolen goods and
those manufactured at Dhariwal in the district of Gurdaspur. 110 Silk
weaving also steadily losing ground to the growing competitions, for
want of efficient organization, inadequate resources of the average
weaver and his outdated methods of production.

Moreover, the demand for silk cloth was limited as it was as

article of luxury and was adversely affected by the change in fashion
with the growing taste for European calicoes. 111 Tanning and leather
industry also could not stand against the better tanned leather prepared
by modern techniques both in other provinces of India and abroad. 112

107
Indian Irrigation commission report, 1916-18, p 72
108
Vera Anstey, The Economic Development of India, London, 1929, p 210
109
The Paisa Akhbar (Lahore), 15 March, 1901,
110
CRP, 1911, Vol. XIV, p. 500; Punjab Administration Report, 1901-02, p 117. Indian Tariff Board
(Woolen Textile), Vol. II, 1935, p 308
111
CRP, 1911, Vol. XIV, p 501
112
Latifi, op.cit., p 108

35
 The only industries that could develop in these unfavorable
circumstances were the cotton mill at Delhi (1889), the woolen mill at
Dhariwal (1882) and the bottle making at Jhelum in 1892. 113 Thus, it
has rightly been remarked that the indigenous industrial structure
suffered a serious set-back under the British rule while any organized
factory system could not develop in the state of Punjab. The
government initiated certain measures to give impetus to the
development of industries but in totality, it failed to bring out any large
scale industrial system. 114 As a consequence, this declining trend in
the indigenous industrial system not only uprooted the traditional
artisan class but also posed question of their survival. In this situation
they were forced either to work as agricultural labourers in the villages
thereby adding pressure on agriculture, or to search for job in big
towns where some agro-based industries were coming up. 115

But on the whole, the circumstances created by the non -

availability of work and the non profitability of agriculture put
pressure on the Punjabi population to migration on large scale to other
parts of India and abroad in search of work a venues in the beginning of
the 20 th century.

At the time of annexation, the Punjab had no surplus

agricultural produce to export and the transportation was poor. 116 Under
the British rule, the extension of irrigation and the consequent
development of agriculture, as well as the rapid growth in the
communication network gave impetus to trade in agricultural products
and created new opportunities for entrepreneurial activity. Market and

113
Ibid, p. 50 and p. 282, Punjab Administration Report (henceforth PAR), 1901-02, p 119
114
Neeladri Bhattacharya, op.cit., pp 593-607
115
Imran Ali, op.cit., p 43
116
I.G.O.I., Provincial Series, Punjab, Vol. I, 1908, p 156

36
towns situated at a convenient distances along the railway lines or on
the main roads provided collection and distribution points, from where
these commodities were exported to Europe of other parts of the Indian
subcontinent.

Modern means of transportation and communication were

lacking in the pre-British Punjab because the roads had been neglected
after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and railways had not arrived
as yet. Political, military, and commercial considerations forced the
British to develop a network of railways, roads, navigation and
telegraphic facilities on an urgent basis. Soon after annexation,
macadamized roads were introduced for the first time in the Punjab. 117
The early metalled roads were laid down mainly to serve military
purpose. Subsequently, however the increasing mileage converted
these roads of the province. 118 In 1873-74, the length of metalled roads
was 1,036 miles. The first railway line was opened in 1862 between
Amritsar and Lahore. It was twenty-three miles in length. 119 In 1865,
Lahore was further linked with Multan and the other route was
extended up to Muzaffargarh in 1870. By the beginning of the 20 th
century, Punjab had a wide network of railway lines, crisscrossing the
whole region, ferry agricultural produce is the part of Karachi as well
as the army troops within the North India.

The opening of railways brought about a significant

transformation in the rural economy of the Punjab. It stimulated the
commercialization of agriculture and encouraged the cultivation of a
number of valuable crops such as wheat, sugarcane and cotton. It
brought a faster movement of various agricultural commodities at

117
K. M. Sarkar, The Grand Truck Road in the Punjab, Patiala, p 10
118
Ibid, p 12
119
I.G.O.I., Provincial Series, Punjab, p 89

37
lower transportation cost from one part of the province to another. 120 In
addition, it assured an easy access to previously inaccessible areas. All
important fertile tracts were directly or indirectly brought into closer
contact with Karachi, offering newer avenues to traders for the export
of various agricultural commodities to the outside world. Every railway
stationed linked by roads through which agricultural produce was
brought from adjoining tracts. The agents of the exporting firms
arranged to buy the produce as it reached these stations. Thus the
Punjab was converted into an agrarian appendix and was incorporated
into the system of capitalist world market. 121

The Punjab also became crucial for the imperial system of

control because the British army made its home in this province after
1880. The British government was dependent on the army which it
needed not only to defend the frontiers, but also to maintain its
authority within the empire. In Punjab, large number of persons
belonging to the peasantry began to join military service, and soon
their number swelled. Before the outbreak of the First World War, the
soldiers from Punjab constituted three-fifth of the total army in India.
The recruitment was made in maximum number from particular
sections of Punjab society which were supposed to be imbued with
strong martial traditions. Ian Talbot has observed that actually the
British policy of drawing recruits from Punjab was based on sound
pragmatic grounds but it was consciously enshrined in the mythology
of martial caste theory which maintained that ethnic origins and
racial characteristics of the main groups of Punjabi recruits particularly
fitted them for military service. 122

120
Chattar Singh, Social and Economic Changes in Haryana, Delhi, 2004, pp 83-84
121
Ibid.
122
Ian Talbot, Punjab and the Raj, New Delhi, 1988, P 43

38
 In order to ensure regular supply of manpower for recruitment,
the government considered it essential to maintain its dominant holds
over the rural society. Any attempt to disturb its hegemony was
perceived by the British officials as seditious activity which needed
to be ruthlessly suppressed. 123 Already in this province, since the
beginning of colonial rule, a distinct ideology described as Punjab
School Ideology was developed which emphasized firm paternal rule
by an elite of self-confident administrators who concei ved their duty as
that of bringing order and prosperity to a contented peasant society.
Apart from paternalism, it also embodied the necessary of taking firm
action against the people if they ever tried to pose a challenge to the
authority of British rule. This framework of colonial ideology was best
reflected in the status of Lord Lawrance built in Lahore with sward in
one hand and pen in other. The inscription engraved on the statue
124
mentioned, Will you be governed by the sword or the pen? The
application of repressive methods whenever necessary constituted a
major element of administration in Punjab.

The colonial state tried to strengthen its grip on rural society in

Punjab by making an informal alliance with rich landed classes which
held dominant influence over the local rural societies through social
and economic ties. The landlord who were described as natural
leaders by the British officials, willingly acted as intermediaries
between the state and the rural masses. This section of society, by and
large, remained loyal to the government. The latter also nurtured and
deepened their loyalty by extending patronage to them. But a
significant step by which the government intended to win over the rural

123
K.L.Tuteja, Jallianwala Bagh: A Critical Juncture in the Indian National Movement, in Social
Scientist, Vol. 25, Nos 1-2, Jan-Feb 1997, p 29
124
Ibid.

39
masses was the Land Alienation Act (1900). The new legislation
disallowed permanent alienation of land owned by the agriculturist
castes to the non-agriculturists moneylenders which included persons
belonging to Khatri, Arora and Bania castes. Later Michael ODwyer,
who harbored strong prejudices against the urban middle classes,
granted agriculturists a preferential right of recruitment in the
government service. 125 This attitude of favoring agriculturists became
further evident when the Montagu-Chelmsford Report recommended
higher representation for in the Punjab Legislative Council. 126

Of course, the logic behind the pro-agriculturist policy followed

by the British in Punjab underwent a change at the later stages of its
rule. In the earlier phase, as stated above, the government through this
policy endeavored to maintain its hold over rural society in order to
ensure regular export of agrarian products needed for the metropolis,
and also to ensure the supply of manpower for the army. But, when the
anti-imperialist forces started gaining strength after the t urn of the
century, the government realized that an ideology which projected
agriculturists against non-agriculturists could also be an effective
device to frustrate the attempts made by the nationalists to bring unity
of all Indians their rule in this pro vince. 127

The population of the Punjab in 1901 was 24,367,113 (of whom

4,424,398 were in the Native States), or 8.4 per cent of the whole
population of the Indian Empire. 128 The increase in the population of
the province during the period 1901 to 1941 was 40.8 per cent as the
following figures showing population for the successive decennial

125
Ian Talbot, op. cit., p 57
126
Virender Singh, Dyarchy in Punjab, New Delhi, 1991, ch. II
127
For this view, see Prem Chaudhary, Punjab politics: The Role of Sir Chhotu Ram, New Delhi,
1984.
128
Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1908, Vol. XX, p 245

40
censuses would show:-

Table 1.2 129

Population of the Punjab during 1901 to 1941
Adjusted 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941
figure
British 19942715 19579046 20685478 23580852 28418819
territory
Punjab 4424398 4212794 4416036 4910005 5891042
states
Total 24367113 23791840 25101514 28490857 34309861

It is obvious that the rate of growth of population was uneven

and irregular. The cause of this excessive fluctuation, in striking
contrast to the study rate experienced in most of the western countries,
was a tendency towards a rapid rate of increase checked by the
operation of positive checks such a poverty and disease. Thus during
the period 1891-1901 the population increased 9.1 per cent, but during
the next decade the population declined by 2.2 percent. The principal
cause of the decrease was the appearance of recurring epidemics of
plague during the early years of the decades, the total numbers of
deaths caused being over two million in the British territory alone. 130 In
spite of the epidemic of influenza in 1918, which directly caused about
a million deaths, and the heavy casualties suffered by Punjabi soldiers
in First World War, the rate of increase of population during 1911-2
1was as much as 5.5 per cent. 131 The decades 1921-31and 1931-41 were
free from any epidemic disease and were, therefore, very favorable for
growth in numbers. The rate of increase during these two decades was
13.5 per cent and 20.4 per cent, respectively.

129
Census of India, 1931, XVII, p 158; Census of India, 1941, Vol. VI, pp 8-16
130
Ibid, 1911, XIV, pp 41-42
131
Ibid, 1921, XV, p 60-62

41
DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION:-

According to the 1941 Census the density of population over the

whole of the Punjab was 248 to the square mile as against 178 in 1901;
174 in 1911; 184 in 1921 and 208 in 1931. 132 The density was made up
of several densities, varying in 1941 from 54 in the Chamba State to
899 in the district of Amritsar. Generally it varied everywhere in
accordance with the agricultural resources. The district of Lyallpur
affords an important and most striking instance in this respect. In that
district only 15 persons to the square mile were found in 1891, but with
the extension of canal irrigation cultivators flocked to it from other
parts of the Province, raising the density to 272 in 1911 and to 368 in
1931. 133 In a similar manner, other canal colonies were also fast
growing in density of population. Apart from these, other important
factors, which exercised any considerable influence on the density,
were the climate the growth of industrial and trading centers, the
facilities of means of transportation and marketing. 134

Distribution of population according to major communities- The

proportion of the major communities per 10,000 of population is shown
below:

Table 1.3
The Proportion of Major Communities in Punjab 135
Community 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941
Muslims 4,961 5,107 5,105 5,340 5,322
Hindus 4,127 3,579 3,506 3,018 2,911
Sikhs 863 1,211 1,238 1,429 1,491
Christians 27 82 133 148 149

132
Ibid, 1941, VI, p 17
133
Census of India, 1911, XIV, p 31
134
Census of India, 1911, XIV, p 31
135
Ibid, 1941,Vol. VI, pp 46-47

42
 Above table shows that the populations of the Hindus in the
Punjab between 1901 to 1941 were decreased. But the population of
other communities was continuously increased. The population of the
Sikhs was increasing at a greater rate than the rest of the population.
The Muslims showed an increasing in their numbers at each census
except that of 1921, when a decrease of 2 per 10,000 of the population
took place among them. 136 The decreased in the number of the Hindus,
on the other hand, requires careful examination. Pandit Hari Krishan
Kaul in his report on the 1911 Census enumerated the causes, which, in
his opinion were responsible for a smaller rate of growth among the
Hindus as compared with other religions. He laid particular stress on
(i) restriction of fecundity of enforced widowhood, (ii) evil effects of
child marriage on prolificness, (iii) loss of vitality in consequence of
the occupation and habits of the Hindus in towns and, (iv) the
difference of food. 137

In the opinion of the Superintendent-in-charge of the 1931

Census Khan Ahmed Hasan Khan, so far as the natural increase is
concerned, Hindus were almost as progressive as the other
communities in the Province. 138 The first cause of diminution among
the Hindus was the changed instructions issued in the 1911 Census
about the definition of Sikhism. Prior to that year only those persons
were recorded as Sikhs who, according to the tenets of the tenth Guru,
Gobind Singh, grew long hair and abstained from smoking, but since
then any one was recorded as Sikh who returned himself as such
whether or not he practiced those tenets. 139 The second cause was the

136
Ibid, 1921, XV, p 174. The actual increase in the number of the Muslims, however, was 67,966
during the period 1911-21.
137
Census of India, 1911, XIV, pp 99-103
138
Census of India, 1931, XVII, p 300
139
Census of India, 1921, XV, p 114

43
absorption of the many members of the low castes, who adopted
Sikhism in order to escape the inferiority complex. Thus between
1901 and 1931 whereas Hindu scavengers decreased from 9,34,553 to
3,68,224 the Sikh scavengers increased from 21,673 to 1,57, 341. Apart
from the lower classes a large number of conversions to Sikhism were
taking place from amongst the Hindu agricultural castes. Thus the
Hindu Jats decreased from 15,39,574 in 1901 to 9,92,309 in1931,
while Sikh Jats increased form 15,39,574 to 21,33,152 during the same
period. Conversation to Sikhism among the Hindu Rajput and Saini
castes were also heavy. 140 It was possible to give an adequate
explanation of this movement except that Sikhism was often accepted
for economic reason, the expenses at social ceremonies and rites
among the Sikh being less than those of the Hindus. 141

The Punjab was divided in three sub-regions, because of the

geographical condition. One was central Punjab, second was western
Punjab and third was south-east Punjab. The social and economic
condition of these was different. South-east and western Punjab (before
canal colonies) was arid zone and their land was depend on the rain but
the central Punjab was a fertile land due to the irrigation facilities. So,
the difference seen in the every aspects of the life of these people. The
population was dense in the central Punjab than the other two region.

140
Census of India, 1931, XVII, p 308
141
District Gazetteer, Attock, 1930, p 125

44