Lawa
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Lawa
Estate or thakurat in Rajputana. Though its area is but 19 square miles, it is important from the fact of its being a separate chiefship under the protection of the British Government and inde- pendent of any Native State. It lies between 26° 18' and 26° 25' N. and 75° 31' and 75° 36' E., being surrounded by Jaipur territory on all sides except the east, where it borders on Tonk ; it is about 45 miles south-west of Jaipur city and 20 miles north-west of Tonk city.
The lands comprising the estate formerly belonged to Jaipur, and in 1772 were granted mjdgir to Nahar Singh, a member of the ruling family. Subsequently Lawa and other Jaipur territory in its vicinity fell under the domination of the Marathas, represented by the Pindari leader Amir Khan, and in 181 7 became part of the State of Tonk then founded. For many years there was constant fighting, arising from the desire of the Tonk Darbar to reduce the sturdy Thakurs of Lawa to greater submission than they had been accustomed to yield ; and in 1865 a force dispatched from Tonk unsuccessfully laid siege to Lawa, losing 300 men in killed and wounded. The Nawab of Tonk, Muham- mad All Khan, continued to harass his feudatory, and affairs reached a climax when the Thakur's uncle and his fourteen followers were treacherously murdered at Tonk in 1867. It was fully proved that this crime was perpetrated with the knowledge, and at the instigation, of the Tonk chief; and a proclamation issued to the people by order of the Governor-General announced the deposition of the Nawab and the succession of his son. * Lawa,' it went on to say, ' will now become a separate chiefship, and will so remain for ever under the protection of the British Government.' In 1868 Lawa was placed under the political supervision of the Resident at Jaipur. The tribute of Rs. 3,000 (local currency), formerly paid to Tonk, became payable to the British Government ; but the latter, in consequence of the indebtedness of the estate, held its claim in abeyance till 1883, when the tribute was reduced to the nominal sum of Rs. 225 a year. In 1879 the Thakur agreed to suppress the manufacture of salt, and to abolish all taxes and transit duties on every article except gdnja, spirits, opium, or other intoxicating drugs ; as compensation for these concessions, he receives from Government annually Rs. 700 and 10 maunds of salt.
The Thakurs of Lawa belong to the Naruka sept of the Kachwaha Rajputs. The present Thakur, Mangal Singh, was born in 1873, and succeeded to the estate in May, 1892. He is a Rao Bahadur, and holds the title of Raja as a personal distinction.
The population of the estate, which consists of one large village and five attached hamlets, was 2,682 in 1881, 3,360 in 1891, and 2,671 in 1901 ; the decrease since 1891 was mainly due to the famine of 1899-1900. At the last Census Hindus numbered 2,350, or about 88 per cent, of the population, Muhammadans i6r, and Jains 160. One-third of the people are engaged in agriculture, and the area ordinarily cultivated is about 8,000 acres, of which one-eighth is irrigated. Irrigation is from wells, which number 150, and from tanks, of which there are 7. The land revenue, amounting to about Rs. 10,000, is for the most part collected in kind, the chief taking one- third of the produce as his share. The normal revenue and expenditure of the estate are approximately Rs. 11,000. The Thakur disposes of all petty criminal and civil cases ; but in serious or important cases, which are very rare, the preliminary inquiry is made by him, and the record is then submitted to the Resident at Jaipur for final decision.
