The Gazetteers Department

Wardha and three other Central Provinces districts now in Maharashtra had Zamindari and Malguzari systems of land tenure. Under the Gond rulers the Patil of the village acted as the agent of Government for apportioning and collecting the revenue assessed on the village. All village lands were held on a yearly lease from the Patil. Neither Patil nor ryots were allowed hereditary rights. ' The Patil' wrote Sir R. Jenkins, ' is the agent of Government for apportioning and collecting the rent of his villages, for which his responsibility is absolute, and he possesses a subordinate and rather undefined magisterial and judicial authority. The remuneration for agency or responsibility, which is paid either in money or rent-free land besides certain trifling dues and privileges is commonly one-fourth of the Government share, subject to various deductions which reduce it to about one sixth. The office is held at the pleasure of Government, being neither hereditary nor saleable, and on the rejection or resignation of the incumbent no malikana is allowed. It is true that patels are frequently succeeded by their sons or other members of their family, not however, by virtue of any hereditary right, but by sufferance and a new appointment by Government and whoever the incumbent may be he is charged with the full exercise of all the duties and entitled to all the privileges of the office unencumbered with any interference or claims on the part of his predecessor or family. The ryots held their lands on yearly leases granted to them by the patel. None of them were entitled to cultivate the same fields in perpetuity, nor was it the practice to grant leases to them for more than one year. Over a limited area in Wardha which had been acquired by the Marathas not from the Gonds but from the Nizam, a somewhat different system prevailed, though the difference was more in theory than in practice. " [Central Provinces District Gazetteers. Wardha District, Vol. A., 1906, p-187.]

"The principles followed by the Nizams in the assessment of revenue were based on Todar Mal's system under which the whole culturable land was measured and a permanent assessment was made on it which amounted to a third of the estimated produce. However, revenue was remitted on any fields not cropped during any year. Revenue was also remitted in years of bad harvest depending upon the severity of the crop failures. Under the Nizam the difference in the system lay in that the office of the Patil was hereditary and saleable and if a patel was ousted for non-payment of revenue and a farmer appointed in his place, he possessed the right to resume his position as patel whenever he was able to discharge the duties of his office. The creation of hereditary office bearers was one of the chief characteristics of the Muhammedan System as opposed to that which the Marathas introduced.

The Marathas abandoned the principle of the Mughal System. Sir R. Jenkins wrote that " The statement of the area of each field which is inserted in the village papers, is now used to express the changes in its relative value, the proportional value of the field being increased or diminished by augmenting or deducting its area.

Under the Marathas (1749-1818) the demand was increased but the system as laid down by the Gonds continued, with some minor changes, more or less in the same way. Curiously a sort of permanent revenue demand seems to have been recognised called the Ain Jamabandi. It cannot be stated with certainty what this was but it appears it was the demand which the Marathas found existing at the time they took over the country from Gonds. It could be modified, however, at the annual settlements with the Patils according to the increase or decrease of cultivation. " [Central Provinces District Gazetteers, Wardha District, Vol. A., 1906, p.-187-88.]

During the period of the minority of the Bhosle Raja from 1818 to 1830 the management of the district was taken over by the British. During this period triennials were substituted for annual settlements. The yearly papers were tabulated and names were given to each field and each field was assessed with a separate sum. A policy of limiting the authority of the Patil over the ryot was inaugurated.

In 1830, the management was handed back to the Raja and remained with him until the district lapsed to the British in 1853. During this period, the policy inaugurated by the British was generally adhered to.

" On the escheat of this tract in 1853 summary settlements were concluded, and at the commencement of operations for the 30 years' settlement the revenue of Wardha and Nagpur was Rs. 11.56 lakhs. Orders for the 30 years' settlement were issued in 1860, but the preliminary survey began in Wardha from 1858. At its commencement the Wardha District still formed part of Nagpur and the settlement was begun by Mr. Ross, the Settlement Officer of Nagpur. In 1862, Wardha was constituted as a separate District and Mr. Bernard was appointed as Settlement Officer, being succeeded by Mr. Rivett-Carnac in 1864. The latter officer brought the settlement to a conclusion in 1866 and wrote the report. Mr. Mac George, the Deputy Commissioner of the District was also in charge of the settlement for some period. But after the first formation of the District and before the conclusion of the settlement a redistribution of territory took place between the Nagpur and Wardha Districts, while the settlements were conducted according to the areas as first constituted. The result is that Mr. Rivett-Carnac's Report and the statistics contained in it do not refer to the present Wardha District. The changes were roughly that the old Ashti pargana, parts of those of Kondhali and Keljhar, and the bulk of the old Girar pargana were transferred from Nagpur to Wardha and 122 villages of the Bela pargana from Wardha to Nagpur. The whole District was thus recast and gained considerably in size. The basis of the settlement was that 60 per cent of the assets were to be taken as the State demand, excluding apparently Siwai income which at any rate was not assessed. But the existing revenue absorbed so large a portion of the assets that a strict adherence even to this fraction would have entailed a reduction and in some cases the proportion taken was much larger. It was assumed that the work of assessment was undertaken more with the object of rectifying irregularities and of giving reduction where circumstances seemed to call loudly for it, than with the purpose of effecting an enhancement. The previous Maratha assesments had been high and in 1857, it had been reported that the cultivators had been emigrating in numbers from the District to the Berars. At the time of revision the general incidence of the revenue was not oppressive, but in many villages it was collected with difficulty and the instalments from some villages were habitually in arrears. The village papers apparently afforded no basis for effecting an assessment owing to the gross misstatements of the rental. Thus the rent rate of ordinary tenants worked out as nearly 29 per cent, smaller than the absolute occupancy, and 20 per cent, smaller than the occupancy rate. As a rule the proprietor's sir or home farm contained the more valuable lands of the village, yet it was valued in most villages at rates which were considerably below those paid by the three classes of ryots. In the Pohna and Hinganghat parganas Mr. Mac George held that the rent-rolls were fairly reliable except so far as the sir and muafi lands were concerned, but in the result they were as a rule not accepted as a basis for assessment. This was obtained by analysing the rent-rolls of several villages in each pargana and deducing a rent rate on each class of soil from the rents of holdings accepted as typical. These rates were then applied to the paragana generally. The result of the settlement was that the revenue remained practically unaltered. On the old area of the Wardha District, to which the settlement report refers, it was enhanced by a tenth per cent. Of 988 villages which came under settlement, a reduction of revenue was given in 219 and an enhancement imposed in 395 while in 374 villages no alteration was made. It was anticipated that a considerable rise would shortly occur in the rental, but the enhancement actually effected in rents was trifling, and it was stated that they were left to adjust themselves as much as possible. " [Central Provinces District Gazetteers, Wardha District Vol. A., 1906 pp.-194-96.]

Malguzari and Zamindari were the two predominant systems of tenures prevailing then. Proprietary rights were conferred on the revenue farmers, village patils and malguzars under the first of these systems. The malguzar was allowed to manage the village on payment of revenue to Government on leaving about one third of the gross rent as his remuneration.

Apart from the malguzari villages, there were certain estates managed by the zamindars and the Jagirdars since long, even prior to the Maratha conquests of 1740-55. These estates were of feudal nature and were continued as rewards or in return for military service etc. Unlike the malguzars, they had full proprietary rights in their estates. They paid only quit revenues to Government and had the right to divide or alienate their lands.

The inam tenure was also prevalent in some of the villages. Under the inam tenure, plots of land in khalsa villages were held by the recipients wholly or partially rent-free. They were either service or personal inams.

All proprietary rights in an estate, mahal, alienated village or alienated lands were abolished under the Madhya Pradesh Abolition of Proprietary Rights (Estates, Mahals and Alienated Lands) Act, 1950. The progressive land legislation in the post-independence era has done away with Malguzari, Zamindari and Jahagirdari Systems of land tenures and has substituted the Ryotwari System of Land Tenure.

Under the Ryotwari tenure the land revenue is fixed not upon an estate as a whole but on individual survey numbers or sub-divisions thereof. Land revenue rates are fixed according to the quality of the survey number, the average rainfall, kind of crops grown, water resources and location. Of the other tenures such as political inams, personal inams and service inams only the last mentioned remain in existence.

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