1.1. CHAPTER II HISTORY

The Raja of Bishnupur, reduced to the state of an ordinary zamindar, was soon to lose what vestiges of former greatness he still retained. Already impoverished by the Maratha raids, the resources of the family were still further reduced by the famine of 1770, during which more than half of its estates relapsed into jungle. The earlier years of British administration intensified rather than relieved its difficulties. The Rajas insisted upon maintaining a military force which was no longer required under English rule and for the support of which their revenues were altogether inadequate. The new system protected them from Maratha raids and Muhammadan oppression, but, on the other hand, it sternly put down their own irregular exactions from the peasantry, enforced the punctual payment of land revenue, and realized arrears by sale of the hereditary estates. The Bishnupur family never recovered from the indigence to which it had been reduced by the famine of 1770, and its ruin was completed by family disputes, costly litigation, and a crushing revenue. As stated above, Damodar Singh had driven out Chaitanya Singh and possessed himself of the estate, but a military force sent by Government restored the fugitives. Afterwards, Damodar Singh was declared to be entitled to half of the Raj by the decision of an officer resident at Murshidabad; but the Raja appealed to the [Page 36] Governor-General, and in 1787 had a decree given in his favour, confirming him in possession and declaring Damodar Singh to be entitled only to maintenance, This decree was dated 1787, but in 1791 a now decision was notified by which the estate was again divided between the contending parties. Ruinous litigation ensued, and eventually a compromise was effected by which the Raja secured the bulk of the property.¹

But, in the meantime, the Raja had still further involved himself by engaging at the decennial settlement for the payment of a revenue of 4 lakhs of sicca rupees, a sum which he was utterly unable to pay. Between 1730 and 1745 the Raja had paid to the Muhammadan Government a revenue of Rs. 1,29,803, and this was reduced in consideration of the Maratha devastations to Rs. 1,11,803. In 1759 it had been raised again to its former standard, and in 1767 had been increased to Rs 1,61,044. We next find that in 1772 "under the auspices of a British Supervisor, the constitutional mode of settlement, by a regular hastabud, seems to have been adopted with considerable advantage in point of income, notwithstanding the ravages of the famine; and in 1773, the highest complete valuation of the whole territory, capable of realization, appears to have been ascertained thus progressively, and then fixed in gross at sicca rupees 4,51,750.

1.2. CHAPTER V AGRICULTURE

Agricultural conditions differ greatly in the east and west of the district. To the east the thanas of Indas and Kotalpur, and the north of the Sonamukhi thana, are a continuation of the wide-spread alluvial flats of the Burdwan and Hooghly districts, and are composed of rich recent alluvium. The rest of the district is, for the most part, undulating or hilly, and the soil is mainly an infertile laterite, found in a succession of rolling with uplands intervening hollows, along which the drainage runs oft to join the larger streams. Large tracts are still covered with hill, rock or jungle, or consist of arid upland ridges; and the lower slopes of these uplands and the depressions between them are practically the only lands on which a wet rice crop is grown.

The crops, as a rule, depend almost entirely on the monsoon rains, and though the quantity of rainfall is generally sufficient., crops are liable to fail more or loss when it is unseasonable or badly distributed, the greatest damage being caused by a failure of the rains in September and October, when a good supply of water is needed to mature the ripening rice crop. An ample and well distributed rainfall is especially necessary, because the country is undulating and the soil porous, thus helping rapid drainage and percolation, and because there are but few large works for the storage of rain water.

The distribution of rainfall most favourable to the aman or winter rice, which is the staple crop, is when premonitory showers fall in May or early in June. The rain in the latter half of June and in July should be heavy, and then should come an interval of comparatively fine weather, so as to permit of weeding operations being successfully carried on. The September rains should also be heavy, shading off into fine weather with showers in October. On the sufficiency of the rainfall in September more than in any other month, depends the character of the outturn of this crop. For the dus or bhadoi rice, showers in March and the antemonsoon showers of April are very necessary for the preparation of the land.

From April onwards rain is required at frequent intervals, but should not be copious or continuous. Autumn rice is generally sown in May or earlier, and consequently heavy rain at this time and in the month following is injurious to the sowing and successful germination of that crop. Scattered showers with intervals of sunshine, on the other hand, are very beneficial. The climatic conditions most suitable to the cultivation of the rabi or cold weather crops are when the monsoon rains cease early in October, after thoroughly moistening the ground, and are followed by a few showers during the remainder of that month and the first half of November. A little rain in December and also in January is requisite to enable the crops to attain their full growth.

Artificial irrigation is necessary in all parts of the district except in the east. The natural configuration of the country, which has an undulating surface intersected by numerous rivers and streams, renders the reservation of water easy enough by simply throwing embankments across the drainage lines or across small nullahs. Those embankments, which are called bandhs, are made at levels higher than the fields to be irrigated, and their main use is to prevent the monsoon rain draining away rapidly and to supply water to the crops in the lands below by slow percolation. There is ample room for the extension of this system. Irrigation from wells is also carried on in the upland area to a small extent, and from tanks in the alluvial flats to the east. Canal irrigation is entirely unknown, and would be impossible except perhaps in thanas Indas and Kotalpur and in the north of the Sonamukhi thana; elsewhere, the surface is broken up by low ridges, valleys and hills, which make any system of canal irrigation impracticable.

About a century ago the Bishnupur Raj made a simple but effective system of irrigation channels, called the Subhankari daura or khal, in the northern portion of the Sonamukhi thana to counteract the natural liability of that area to drought. The system consisted of several main and branch channels, fed by the monsoon, which irrigated about 80 square miles; but unfortunately many of the channels have long since silted up.

1.3. CHAPTER VI NATURAL CALAMITIES

The district is liable to famine owing to its dependence on the rice crop, and to the absence of a complete system of irrigation works to counteract the effects of a failure of the rains. The normal acreage of the rice crop is no less than 529,000 acres or 88 per cent. of the normal net cropped area, and winter rice alone occupies 507,000 areas or 84 per cent. Though a certain amount of artificial irrigation is carried on by means of tanks and of embankments thrown across the line of drainage, the greater part of the rice crop is dependant entirely upon the rainfall, and this must be not only sufficient, but also well distributed. A deficient or badly distributed rainfall is specially disastrous to rice, for the prospects of the early rice are seriously prejudiced by scanty rainfall at the beginning of the monsoon, while its premature termination is injurious to the winter rice crop. If there is a failure of both these crops, the people have little to subsist on except maize and inferior millet crops, until the harvesting of rabi crops in the latter part of March. The rabi crops again are grown on a comparatively small area, occupying only 10 per cent. of the normal net cropped area, and in a year of short rainfall they are deficient both in yield and area, owing to want of moisture at the time of sowing. The result is that if the rice crop fails completely, distress inevitably ensues.

1.4. CHAPTER X LAND REVENUE ADMINISTRATION

Before British rule was established, the whole of the district, as now constituted, with the exception of thanas Raipur and Khatra and of the western portion of the Bankura thana now included in the Chhatna outpost, was comprised within the territory of the Raja of Bishnupur, the descendant of a long line of independent or tributary chiefs. On the cession of Bankura, the Raja was reduced to the position of an ordinary land-holder. In 1788 a settlement of his estate was made with the then Raja, Chaitanya Singh, the land revenue payable being fixed at Rs. 3,86,708: a copy of the kabulliyat signed by Mr. (afterwards Sir) Arthur Hesilrige, dated Indas, the 4th August, 1788, is still preserved in the Collectorate at Bankura with ekrarnama signed in the Nagri character by the Raja. At the decennial settlement Chaitanya Singh engaged to pay 4 lakhs of rupees annually as land revenue; but this sum he was unable to pay, for his estate was impoverished by the famine of 1770, by the lawless state of the country, which had for many years past been overrun by banditti, and by costly litigation with a rival claimant. The result was that, soon after executing the agreement, the Raja failed to meet his engagements; and in default of payment of revenue, the Bishnupur pargana was split up into smaller estates, which were either sold or settled under separate engagements with the subordinate talukdars already in possession.