Page 37 - Muzaffargarh Gazzetteer

Summas and Rajput went on incessantly and did not affect the pattern of
land tenure as the considerations for security rather than suitability for
agriculture were more important. It is generally believed that the
individuals/tribes hardly thought of appropriating the soil as their property
in the present sense.

The Sultanate Period, from 1200 to 1812
This phase covers the entire Sultanate period up to the rise of Diwan Sawan
Mal. Although the art of agriculture had sufficiently progressed but the idea
of property as belonging to one individual did not find favour till the advent
of Sultanate. The concept of mine and thine, however, had taken shape long
ago probably under the direct impact of a system of granting the produce of
defined area of land in return of services to the state. The land revenue was
assessed on the users of the land either directly or through the agent
appointed by the state. These agents were neither hereditary nor they enjoyed
any right as owners, except that they managed to appropriate the land when
central authority weakened. This period is characterized with the growth of
land tenure from simpler form to complex. Simple Bhai-chara villages evolved
due to tribal division of the areas were infested with state grantees. Number
of Zamindari and Pati-dari villages also came into existence. This took place
due to the following reasons:

1. The system of "Kankoot" and measurement created a gulf between the
cultivators and the state and gave rise to a class of middlemen either as tax
farmers or agents who later on usurped the right of ownership.
2. The class of hereditary assignees and landed aristocracy was created by
the Muslim rulers. Hussain Khan was granted Rangpur area in jagir by
Aurangzeb; Muzaffar Khan was granted a jagir by Taimur Shah who in turn
appointed Pathans as assignees and introduced them as feudal lords in this
district; Balochs were given grant along the Indus by Malik Sohrab; Jaskanis
were granted jagir by Ahmad Shah; Hafiz Dost Muhammad was granted jagir
by Ranjit Singh; and Sanjranis were granted Munda-Shergarh territory by
the Nawabs of Mankera. Thus jagirs were granted by Emperor of Delhi, by
rulers of Kabul and the rulers of Sindh. Jagirdars were absentee landlords
and had “Kakims” as their Kardars (workers). These Jagirdars and Kakims
became owners in the disturbed state following the collapse of Mughal
Empire.
3. The nobles were granted land as Aqta-dars who subsequently claimed
themselves as hereditary landlords.

4. Un-inhabited areas were assigned to the exploiters who undertook to
populate them. Such assignees were charged nominal revenue and became
owners thereafter.
5. Pious grants as ‘Milk’ (literally meant lands granted in perpetuity) given to
Makhdums, Qureshis and Syeds became the property of the grantees and
were inherited by the forefathers of the present heirs. In certain cases, land

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