Page 55 - Muzaffargarh Gazzetteer

British Revenue System
The revenue system of Diwan Sawan Mal was given up at the time of the
annexation of the district to the British rule. All the aforementioned taxes,
cesses and fees were abolished. The main feature of the British settlement
policy which the Punjab, including Muzaffargarh, received from Agra and
Oudh were:
(a) A proper field survey with the results embodied in a map and field register.
(b) A full inquiry into the rights and liabilities of all persons having an interest
in the soil, and the record of these rights and liabilities in payment registers.
(c) A moderate assessment based more on general considerations than on
attempt to deduce the demand from an exact calculation of the landlord’s net
assets and the share thereof, claimable by the Government.

HISTORY OF SETTLEMENTS
As regards the history of settlements in the district, 3 summary and 3 regular
assessments, i.e. 1870-78, 1900-05, and 1921-24 have taken place. Another
settlement was initiated in 1958 but it remained limited to Tehsil Kot Addu
only. The details are as follows:

Summary Settlements
Three summary settlements were made in the district after annexation and
before the start of the first regular settlement, which was conducted in the
year 1880. The first summary settlement was based on the average
collections of the Diwan Sawan Mal’s regime. Although new demand was less
than what Sawn Mal had taken, it still proved to be more than the cultivators
could pay in good and bad seasons alike, and in the later summary
settlement it was considerably reduced: for example, in 1850 the demand in
Layyah was fixed at Rs. 128,496; in 1853 was reduced to Rs. 122,793; and
in 1862 to Rs. 95,763. Inspite of all these reductions, the demand of the
summary settlement was considered as awkward, because, although the
demand was low, the method of assessment was wrong. As a result, thereof
most of the estates were abandoned by their owners and numerous
Government rakhs were formed in the district.

First Regular Settlement
The defects found in the summary settlement were removed in the first
regular settlement. During this settlement, all lands were measured up and
a correct field map was prepared for every village. The tehsils were divided
into various assessment circles with reference to the sources of irrigation,
the system of agriculture and other circumstances. The riverain tracts
including the Bet Sind and Bet Chenab circles together with the Chahi Sailab
circles were placed in a fluctuating system of assessment, whereby the
cultivated areas were measured annually and assessed to a rate per acre
fixed for each village. Besides the revision of the Rakhs, demarcation

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