Settlement report of the Karnal district, 1909

· 1912 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

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2The rise in price is noteworthy ; even the Naili has partaken in it

3though to a less extent than the other circles. The Punjabi purchaser generally

4looks to get 6 per cent, or more, but if we take 5 per cent, as the rate and take

5the prices of the quinquennium ending with 1905, we find by Sir James

6Wilson’s formula that the investor must estimate the profit from land to be,

7from 5 to 6 times its assessment in the Nardak, Bangar and Bangar Pehowa

8circles, and from 3 to 4 times its assessment in the Powadh, Andarwar and

9Naili circles.

1070. The small Andarwar and Powadh circles have always been agricul¬

11tural rather than pastoral circles, and in

12c»ttie oud grazing land. these the numbers of live-stock have

13fallen off somewhat since settlement. In the Bangar Pehowa circles, too, the

14income from live-stock is of secondary importance, but the numbers have in¬

15creased, and the annual income is estimated at Us. 11,000. The remaining three

16circles formed originally a great grazing ground, and the Naili still remains so,

17with cultivation a secondary consideration. In that circle the number of horned

18cattle has increased, and is equal to the number of population. The annual

19profit is estimated at Rs. 31,000. In the Nardak and Bangar where much

20grazing land has been brought under the plough since settlement, the number

21of cows has diminished while the number of stall-fed buffaloes and of plough

22bullocks has increased ; the profits from stock in these circles, however, are

23•till considerable, and are estimated at Rs. 53,000 per annum in each circle.

24In the Nardak the culturable waste still remaining is more than double the

25area remaining in the Bangar, and I therefore proposed to put an assessment

26on the waste in the former, but not in the latter circle.

2777. Of miscellaneous income there is little or none except in the Powadh

28circle where military service is readily

29taken by the Jat Sikh population. The

30southern portion of the tahsil has benefited considerably by the construction

31during the term of settlement of the Southern Punjab Railway which runs

32along its south-west border, besides being connected with Kaithal town by a

33branch line. In the remainder of the tahsil there has been no improvement in

34communications since last settlement, and the Naili circle, in particular, is very

35badly off for roads.

3678. The work of framing an estimate of the income to the owners from

37. „ their cultivated land was attended with

38Half net anata estimate. ,, , , ,,,

39special difficulty because so much of the

40land is cultivated by the owners themselves. Taking the Nardak and Bangar

41circles together, -rath of the cultivation is in the hands of tenants-at-will

42paying rents in kind, and only -/ # -th is held by tenants paying cash rents. In

43the remainder of the tahsil 5 th is in the hands of tenants of the former

44class, but only e^-th is held on cash rents.

45Miscellaneous income. Communications.

46To take the half net assets estimate by kind rents first. The rates of

47yield applied to the cycle areas were for canal-irrigated cane, cotton and wheat,

48moderate, being 24, 7 and 12 maunds, respectively. These were the governing

49crops on canal-irrigated land. The rates of 4 maunds an acre for jowar and from

506 to 8 maunds per acre of unirrigated rice were low. Fodder and straw were

51neglected in calculating the owner’s share of the produce—liberal treatment in

52a tract where cattle are a valuable asset. An allowance of 10 per cent, was

53made for payments to menials from the common heap, and the landlords’ share

54of the produce remaining was ^th everywhere except in the Powadh,

55where it was £rd. All canal charges aro paid by the tenant except in

56the Powadh where the owner pays $rd, and so it is only there that thev come

57into the calculation The scale of commutation prices was frameu three

58years ago on a consideration of the prices recorded up to 1903-04, and was low,

59judged by the rates that had ruled since that year ; it was the same, however, as

60had been used in the assessment of the Karnal and Panipat tahsils, except that

61outside the Nardak and the Bangar wheat was valued at 29 annas a maund (as

62in Thanesar), instead of 31 annas.