Nabha State, 1908
Contents |
Nabha State, 1908
Physical aspects
One of the Phulkian States, Punjab. Its total area is 966’ square miles ; and it consists of two distinct parts, of which the larger lies between 30° 8' and 30° 42' N. and 74° 50' and 76° 24' E., while the second, which forms the nizdmat of Bawal, lies in the extreme south-east of the Punjab and is distinct in all respects from the rest of the State. The main portion comprises twelve separate pieces of territory, scattered among the other two Phulkian States of Patiala and Jind, and contiguous with the British Districts of Feroze- pore and Ludhiana and the State of Maler Kotla on the north, and the District of Faridkot on the west. This portion is divided into two administrative districts or nizamats, which correspond with its natural divisions, the Amloh fiizdfnat lying in the fertile tract called the Pawadh, and the Phul nizdmat in the vast arid tract called the Jangal or waste. Bawal is geographically a part of the Rajputana desert. The State contains no important streams ; and the level plain over which its territories are scattered is broken, within the limits of the State, only by the shifting sandhills of PhQl and the low rocky eminences, outliers of the Aravalli system, which stud the south of Bawal.
The flora of Phul and Amloh is that of the Central Punjab, approaching in the south-west that of the desert. In Bawal it is the same as in the neighbouring States of Rajputana. The fauna is the same as in the Patiala plains and in jTnd. Statistics are not avail- able, but the rainfall is heaviest in Amloh and lightest in Bawal. The climate of Bawal and Phul is dry, hot, and healthy. Amloh, with its 1 These figures do not agree with the area given in Table III of the article on the Punjab and in the population table on p. 265 of this article, which is the area returned in 1901, the year of the latest Census. They are taken from more recent returns. soil of rich loam and high spring-level, is the least salubrious part of the State.
History
The earlier history of Nabha is that of the Phulkiax States, till it became a separate State in 1763. After the capture of the town of Sirhind by the confederate Sikhs in that year, the greater part of the old nnpenal province ot the same name was divided among the Phulkian houses ; and the country round Amloh fell to Hamir Singh, then chief of Nabha, who thus became its Raja. In 1774, however, Gajpat Singh, Raja of Jind, wrested Sangrur from his hands, and also took Amloh and Bhadson. The two last places were restored to the Raja of Nabha on the intervention of Patiala, but Sangrur has ever since remained a part of the Jlnd State. In 1776 the Phulkian Rajas combined to resist the attack of the Muhammadan governor of Hansi, who had been sent by the Delhi government to attack jTnd ; and after his defeat Rori fell to HamIr Singh as his share of the conquests. In 1783 HamIr Singh was suc- ceeded by his minor son Jaswant Singh, the Rani Desu, one of his widows, acting as regent till 1790. She recovered most of the territory which had been seized by Jind ; and after the death of Gajpat Singh in 1789 the feud between the two powers was forgotten, while in 1798 a common danger compelled them to unite with the other Sikh chiefs and prepare to resist the invasion of Zaman Shah Durrani. While so engaged at Lahore, intelligence reached the Phulkian Rajas that the adventurer George Thomas was besieging Jind, and they hurried back to its relief. In the fighting that ensued the Sikhs were utterly de- feated, and accused the Nabha chief of lukewarmness in the common cause ; and it is certain that he took no part in the struggle. In 1801, however, Nabha was included in the treaty with General Perron, by which, in return for the expulsion of Thomas from their territories, the Cis-Sutlej chiefs agreed to submit to the Marathas. In 1804 Jaswant Singh entered into friendly relations with Lord Lake ; and when Holkar halted at Nabha in 1805, on his way to Lahore, the Raja held to his engagement with the British and refused him assistance. ^Var, however, soon after broke out between the Rani of Patiala on the one hand and the Rajas of Nabha and Jind on the other. Jaswant Singh was defeated and joined the Raja of Jind in invoking the aid of Ranjit Singh, who in 1806 crossed the Sutlej and halted at Nabha. Here he did little to reconcile the contending powers, but proceeded to dismember the Muhammadan State of Maler Kotla, assigning to Jaswant Singh portions of the Kot Basia, Tahvandi, and Jagraon dependencies of that State, with part of Ghumgrana. In 1807-8 Ranjit Singh again made expeditions into the Cis-Sutlej States, and in 1808 Jaswant Singh received from him the principality of Khanna. But in spite of the grants thus made, the policy of Ranjit Singh excited the deep distrust of the chiefs, who in 1809 threw themselves upon the protection of the British Government, and- Ranjit .Singh desisted from all further attempts to extend his dominions south of the Sutlej. Jaswant Singh's ability had raised the State at this period to a high pitch of prosperity. It was well cultivated and the total revenue amounted to 1-5 lakhs. He was, however, involved in con- stant disputes with Patiala concerning the boundaries of the two States, and his last years were embittered by the rebellions of his son, who predeceased him. On his death in 1840 he was succeeded by his only surviving son, Deoindar Singh, a timid and vacillating man, who during the first Sikh War in 1845 sympathized with the Sikh invaders, his conduct in regard to carriage and supplies required from him in accordance with treaty being dilatory and suspicious in the extreme. After the batdes of Mudki and Ferozeshah, however, supplies were sent in abundance, and when the final victory of Sobraon was gained the whole resources of the State were placed at the disposal of the British Government. An official investigation was made into the conduct of the chief, with the result that he was deposed, but received a pension of Rs. 50,000 a year. Nearly a fourth of the territory was also confiscated, a part of it being bestowed upon the Patiala and Faridkot States in reward for their loyalty. His eldest son, Bharpur Singh, was placed in power in 1847. At the time of the Mutiny in 1857 this chief showed distinguished loyalty, and was rewarded by a grant of the territory which forms the present Bawal nizdmaf, then worth Rs. 1,06,000 per annum, on the usual condition of political and military service at any time of general danger. In addition, the sanad of 1S60 conferred on the Nabha Raja privileges similar to those con- ferred at the same time on the chiefs of Patiala and Jind. Bharpur Singh died in 1863, and was succeeded by his brother, Bhagwan Singh, who died without issue in 1S71. By the sanad granted in i860, it was provided that, in a case of failure of male heirs to any one of the three Phulkian houses, a successor should.be chosen from among the de- scendants of Phul by the two chiefs and the representative of the British Government ; and Hira Singh, the present Raja, was accord- ingly selected. He was born about 1843. The Raja is entitled to a salute of 15 guns, including 4 personal to the present chief.
Population
The State contains 4 towns and 488 villages. Its population at the last three enumerations was: (1881) 261,824, (1891) 282,756, and (1901) 297,949. It is divided into three nizamats: AMLOH and Bawal, with their head-quarters at the town from which each is named ; and Phul, with its head-quarters at Dhanaula. Nabha is the capital of the State.
The following table shows the chief statistics of population in 1901 ; —
More than 54 per cent, of the population are Hindus, only 26 per cent, being Sikhs, though Nabha ranks as one of the principal Sikh States of the Punjab. The Sikhs are mainly Jats by tribe, and are found mostly in the Phul nizdmaf, a tract which came under the influence of the great Sikh Gurus. Amloh contains a number of Sikhs of the Sultani sect, but the Jats of Bawal are for the most part orthodox Hindus, that tract lying closer to the great centres of Hin- duism. The speech of the great mass of the people is Punjabi, which is returned by three-fourths of them, but Hindustani is spoken in the Bawal nizdmat and by the educated classes generally.
The Jats or Jats of all religions exceed 31 per cent, of the popu- lation, the Sidhu tribe, to which the ruling family belongs, being especially important. The Rajputs and Ahirs also form considerable elements, but the latter are almost entirely confined to the Bawal nizdmat. About 58 per cent, of the total population are supported by agriculture. In 1901 only one native Christian was enumerated in the State, which contains no mission.
Agriculture
The Bawal nizamat differs as much from the rest of the State in agricultural conditions as it does in climate and other characteristics, and Amloh and Phul also differ from one another, but less widely. Amloh, owing to its damp climate, is naturally very fertile and well wooded. The soil is a rich loam, generally free from sand, and the spring-level is near the surface. The introduction of canal-irrigation has intensified the natural ten- dency of this tract to become waterlogged in seasons of heavy rainfall. Phul is, with the exception of one small tract, in somewhat marked contrast. The soil is sandy and the spring-level far below the surface. Consequently water was scarce until the introduction of canal-irrigation rendered a great extension of cultivation possible. Though sandy, the soil is fertile, and its power of absorbing moisture prevents water- logging. Naturally less well wooded than Amloh, the Phul nizdmat was formerly covered with scrub, which is now being cleared as cultiva- tion extends ; and indeed the whole tract is undergoing an agricultural revolution as the canals are developed. The Bawal nizdmaf, with its dry hot climate, is singularly destitute of streams, tanks, and trees, and depends for its cultivation on a scanty and precarious rainfall.
The main agricultural statistics for 1903-4 are given below, in square miles : —
Gram (190 square miles), wheat (97), pulses (94), bdjra (74), and barley (62) were the principal food-crops in 1903-4. The area under sugar-cane and cotton was 5 and 12 square miles respectively. The State anticipated the Government of the Punjab in imposing restric- tions on the alienation of agricultural land to non-agricultural classes. Cattle are not raised in large numbers, though there is some cattle- breeding in the Jangal. The fairs at Phul and Jaito are important centres for the sale of cattle raised in the Southern Punjab. The latter is held in March and is attended by about 25,000 people, and the former by 5,000. Fairs are also held at Amloh and Nabha ; and at Mahasar in the Bawal nizdinat a large fair takes place twice a year, at which animals worth Rs. 1,50,000 change hands. Few horses are now raised in the State, though the Jangal used to be famous for a powerful breed. Goats are more prized than sheep, as they supply milk ; they are mostly reared in Bawal. Camels are kept by the people for ploughing and the transport of grain in both Phul and Bawal, owing to the character of the country.
The State owns 3-168 per cent, of the Sirhind Canal; and the Abohar and Bhatinda branches irrigate a large part of the Phul nizdmat, while the Kotla branch supplies the rest of that iiizamat, and another irrigates a part of Amloh. The area irrigated varies inversely with the rainfall, the highest figures ever reached being 17,052 acres in Phul and 7,110 acres in Amloh. In Amloh the spring-level is high and well-irrigation is common, 26 per cent, of the cultivated area being irrigated in this way. In Phul, on the other hand, the spring-level is very low, and only 2 per cent, of the cultivated area is irrigated from wells. In Bawal, where there are no canals, 7 per cent, of the cultivated area is irrigated from wells. In 1903 the total number of wells in the State was 4,723, of which 3,385 were in Amloh. About 73 per cent, of the wells in Amloh are worked by means of the Persian wheel, which is unknown in the other nizamais.
Trade and communications
Stone is quarried in the Kanti and Behall hills in the Bawal nizdmat. Katikar is found in several places throughout the State, and saltpetre in a few scattered villages in the nizdmats of Phul and Amloh.
The chief industries are the manufacture of silver and gold orna- ments, and brass utensils for local needs. Earthen vessels and clay toys are exported to the neighbouring tracts. Lace or gota is manufactured at Nabha town and exported, Amloh has some reputation for its fabrics known as gabrun and susl, and of late the manufacture of iron goods has been carried on with success. Darls, or cotton carpets, are woven at Amloh and Nabha. The latter town possesses a cotton-ginning factory and a steam cotton-press, and Jaito a steam oil-mill, which employ 115, 40, and 22 persons respectively.
The State exports grain in large quantities. To facilitate this export markets have been established at a number of places, that at Jaito being the largest. Cotton is also exported, chiefly to Ambala.
Railway communications are good. The State is traversed by the main line and by the Rajpura-Bhatinda, Ludhiana-Dhuri-Jakhal, and Ferozepore-Bhatinda branches of the North-Western Railway, while the Rajputana-Malwa Railway crosses the Bawal nizdmat. The State contains 88 miles of metalled and 35 miles of unmetalled roads. Of the former, the principal connects Nabha town with Patiala (18 miles), with Kotla (18 miles), and with Khanna (24 miles).
The postal arrangements of the State are governed by the convention of 1885, which established a mutual exchange of all postal articles between the British Post Office and the State post. The ordinary British stamps, surcharged ' Nabha State ' and ' Nabha State service,' are supplied to the State at cost price. The Postal department is con- trolled by a postmaster-general.
Famine
The inhabitants of the State must have suffered from the famines which affected the adjoining tracts of Patiala and Jind, but the records afford no information except in regard to the scarcity of 1 899-1 900. Even m regard to that, few statistics are available. The distress, except in parts of Bawal, was not very severe, and it was largely to meet the needs of famine-stricken refugees from Bikaner and Hissar that measures of relief were undertaken. The maximum number of persons employed on works was about 3,000, and of persons in receipt of charitable relief about 2,000.
Administration
There is one Political Agent for the Phulkian States and Bahawal- pur, with head-quarters at Patiala. The Raja himself controls the administration. He is assisted by a council of three members, the Ijias-i-aiia, which also acts as a court of appeal from the orders of the heads of departments as well as from the courts of justice. The principal departmental officers are the Mir Miinshi, or foreign minister, who, in addition to the duties indi- cated by his title, controls the postal, canal, and education departments ; the Bakhshi, or commander-in-chief, who is responsible for the admin- istration of the army and police departments ; the Hakim-i-adalat-i- sadr, or head of the judicial department, who also possesses important powers as a court of appeal in civil and criminal cases ; and the Dlwan-i-mal sadr, whose special charge is revenue and finance, and who controls the ?iazims in their capacity as revenue officers. Each of the three nizamats is subdivided into ihdnas or police circles, which correspond generally to the old parganas. The nizamats are also tahsils, each being administered by a nazim, under whom is a tahsildar.
The principal court of original criminal jurisdiction in each nizamaf is that of the nazim, who can award sentences of imprisonment up to three years. Subordinate to the nazim are the iiaib-nazwis and the tahsildars, whose jurisdiction is limited to cases of trespass. Appeals from the orders of the nazims lie to the Add/at sadr, which in its original jurisdiction can inflict sentences of imprisonment up to five years, and from the Addlat sadr to the Ijlds-i-dlia of three judges. The highest court is the IJIds-t-Khds, in which the Raja presides, and which alone can inflict the severest penalties of the law. No regular appeal lies to this court, but the Raja exercises full powers of revision over the proceedings of the lower courts. Civil suits of a value not exceeding Rs. i,ooo are disposed of by a Munsif in each tiizdmat, from whose decisions an appeal lies to the )idzim. The nazim himself disposes of all sui-ts of a value exceeding Rs. i,ooo. The Addlat sadr hears appeals from his orders, and the Ijlds-i-dlia from those of the Addlat sadr. In revenue cases, appeals from the orders of the tahsil- ddrs lie to the nazim, and further appeals in revenue executive cases to the Dlwan, and in other cases to the Addlat sadr. A third appeal is allowed to the Ijlds-i-dlia from decisions of the Addlat sadr. A city magistrate, with the powers of a ndzif?i, disposes of civil and criminal work in the capital. The Indian Penal Code and Procedure Codes are in force, with certain modifications.
The land revenue alone and the total revenue of the State are shown below, in thousands of rupees : —
Apart from land revenue, the principal items in 1903-4 were cesses (Rs. 61,000), irrigation (1-3 lakhs), and excise (Rs. 51,000). The expenditure included public works (3-8 lakhs), army (1-9 lakhs), police (Rs. 86,000), and education (Rs. 10,000). The mint, whicli dates from a period prior to the establishment of British rule in the Punjab, is still used, but only on very special occasions, such as the accession of a Raja. The Nabha rupee is worth 15 annas.
It is doubtful whether Akbar's land revenue assessments were ever applied to the country which is now comprised in the main portion of the State. Bawal, however, was a pargana of the sarkdr of Rewari. The ancient system of levying the revenue in kind was in force in Nabha State up to i860, when a cash assessment was introduced in all the parganas except that of Lohat Baddi, in which it was not intro- duced till 1875. The first assessments were summary in character, but in 1873 the present Raja directed a regular settlement of the Amloh nizdmat to be carried out. This work was completed in 1878, the settlement operations being conducted according to the British Revenue Law of 1848 and the rules thereunder, and the assessment was fixed for a period of twenty years. In 1888 the settlement of the Bawal nizdmat was taken in hand and completed in 1892, that of the Phiil nizdffiat being commenced in 1891 and reaching its conclusion in 1901. These two latter settlements were conducted on the lines of the Punjab Revenue Law of 1887, the land being measured and the record-of-rights prepared as in a British District. The land revenue demand under the new settlements amounted in 1905-6 to 8-8 lakhs. The revenue rates for unirrigated land vary from a minimum of R. 0-8-5 i*^ Phul to a maximum of Rs. 2-10 for the best land in the same fiizdmat. For irrigated land, they vary from Rs. 2-2 in Bawal to Rs. 6-13-6 in PhCil.
Rent is paid either in cash or in kind. The share of the produce varies from one-quarter to one-half, and this system is common in Phul and Amloh. Cash rents are the rule in Bawal, ranging from 12 annas to nearly Rs. 7 per acre on unirrigated land, and from Rs. 5 to Rs, 17-8 on irrigated land.
The lease of the State distillery at Nabha is sold by auction, and the contractor arranges for the retail sale through his agents, who are not allowed to charge more than a certain price for each kind of liquor. The poppy is not grown in Nabha, but raw opium is imported from Malwa and the Hill States, and prepared for the market after impor- tation. The Phul preparations are well-known and command a large sale. Hemp drugs are imported from Hoshiarpur, but their export is prohibited. The licences for the retail vend of both are auctioned. The State receives an allotment of 35 chests of Malwa opium per annum, each chest containing 1-25 cwt. The State pays a special duty of Rs. 280 per chest for this opium, instead of the ordinary duty of Rs. 275 ; but it is credited back to the State by Government, with a view to secure the cordial co-operation of the State otificials in the suppression of smuggling. The import of opium into British territory from the Bawal nizamat is forbidden.
Nabha is the only town in the State that is administered as a muni- cipality, but octroi is levied in the markets established at Jaito, Phul, and Bahadur Singhwala.
The Public Works department is in charge of the Afsar-i-Tamlrat, subject to the general control of the Diwan. The principal public buildings are mentioned in the article on Nabha Town.
The army consists of a battalion of Imperial Service infantry, and a local force of 150 cavalry, 70 infantry, and 40 artillerymen with 10 serviceable guns.
The total strength of the police force is 838 officers and men, and the executive head of the force is styled Colonel of Police. The department is under the control of the Bakhshi. There are, in- addition, 533 village watchmen. The principal jail is at Nabha town. It is managed by a ddroga under the supervision of the city magis- trate, and has accommodation for 500 prisoners. The jail industries include carpet-weaving and paper-making. The jail at Bawal has accommodation for 100 prisoners.
The State contains thirteen public schools, all managed by a com- mittee of officials. The system dates from 1880, when the school at Nabha was raised to the middle standard. In 1885 its students first appeared in the Punjab University examination ; in 1888 it was raised to the status of a high school; and in 1893 to that of a college, to be reduced again five years later to that of a high school owing to lack of funds. Bawal has a middle school, and at Chotian an Anglo- vernacular school is maintained, to which none but sons of Sikhs are admitted without the Raja's permission. The total expenditure on education in 1903-4 Avas Rs. 10,000. In 1901 the percentage of the population able to read and write was 4-2 (7-4 males and o-i females), being higher than in any other State in the Province. The total number of persons under instruction rose from 396 in 1891 to 635 in 1903-4-
There are 8 dispensaries in the State, in addition to the hospital at the capital, which contains accommodation for 5 in-patients. In 1903-4 the number of cases treated was 68,673, of whom 1,914 were in-patients, and 1,791 operations were performed. In the same year, 525 persons were successfully vaccinated, or 1-76 per 1,000 of the population. The vaccination staff consists of a superintendent and three vaccinators, one for each nizdmat, first appointed in 18S2. accination is nowhere compulsory. The total expenditure on medical relief in 1903-4 was Rs. 9,600.
The first trigonometrical survey was made between 1847 and 1849, and maps were published on the i-inch and 2 -inch scales. A 4-inch map of the Cis-Sutlej States was published in 1863, and a revised edition in 1897. The i-inch maps prepared in 1847-9 were revised in 1886-92. There are no revenue survey maps.
[H. A. Rose, Fhulkidti States Gazetteer (in the press) ; L. H. Griffin, The Riljas of the Punjab (second edition, 1873).]
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.
