Page 38 - Muzaffargarh Gazzetteer

granted as ‘Taswigh’, i.e. life interest of the grantee, was also appropriated
as private property.
6. The peasants were recognized as owners. Land paying kharaj and Ushr
was regarded the property of the tax payers who were allowed to sell such
land according to the edicts of Feroze Shah Tughlaq. The right of purchase
and sale was thus recognized which enabled the tax farmers to appropriate
large estates, particularly in bad years.
7. In this period, Rais came to be recognized as Zamindars and Ranas as
independent chieftains. Muqaddams and Khuts also enjoyed greater
concessions in this period.
8. Mauryan administration was essentially a confederation. The chiefs were
always considered real rulers. The Sultan accordingly became a mythical
figure particularly to the residents of this district which enabled the chiefs to
appropriate rights in lands and become the landlords. This is exactly what
happened in case of Nawabs of Seetpur, Nawabs of Mankera, Nawabs of Kot
Addu and Nawabs of Multan.
The chiefs, like Sultan, held private property other than state property.
Likewise men in authority held similar private properties. Some holy persons
were allowed to dig canals and were given similar rights in the areas
developed and irrigated by them.

All these factors and rise of local governments led to the establishment of
different classes of assignees, landlords, peasants and the tenants thereby
disturbing normal village communities. Quasi political-cum-agricultural
basis determined the pattern of land tenure. The system was not yet tested
as means of exacting tax except a proportionate share of the state.

Had the simple mechanism of growth of land tenure continued, the system
would have been Bhai-chara in real sense, but the disturbance in evolution
through land revenue policies created chaos in village tenure on account of
the rise of a class of tax farmers, assignees and feudal lords. The settlements,
sometimes with the individual, sometimes with the agents further added to
the complexity of the tenure. The district was yet to see another class of
colonizers under Diwan Sawan Mal who forced the Muslims landed
aristocracy either to flee or to accept Labana Sikhs as colonists of special
status. He crippled the powers of the Muslim landlords so much so that they
came to be recognized as Ala-Malik and the real ownership passed in the
hands of the colonists known as Adna-Malik. The land revenue was assessed
so high that it reduced the purchasing powers of the Muslim peasantry and
they were obliged to sell the land to Multani Hindu businessmen.

The British Period, from 1857 to 1947
The British based their land revenue policy on the preconceived notions that
the land revenue was the first concern of the state as it gave definite and easy
income, and thus needed to be ensured. And for ensuring the land revenue,
group settlement with joint responsibility was considered the best method.

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