Final report of the second regular settlement of the Mianwali district

· 1908 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

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2maps of 23 villages have been enlarged by scale from 240 karams== 1” to 80

3karams=1", Of these, maps of 6 villages (covering atotal area of 258,321 acres)

4have been amended and brought up to date as regards the growing barani

5cultivation, With these enlarged maps, it will be possible todo the crop ingpec-

6tions properly. Complete re-measurement was avoided where possible and

7in cases where the 240 karams=1” maps were fairly accurate with regard to

8the position of the fields, it was deemed sufficient to enlarge the map and

9show the additional barani cultivation on it in the same way as is done ata

10quadrennial attestation. ‘These amended maps should serve all practical purposes

11for a long time if the barani cultivation is not extended further. If, however,

12it keeps on spreading as it; has done during the past few years, it will very

13soon be found that the fields plotted on the maps overlap one another while

14there will be plonty of epace left on the ground between them. When that

15stage ia roached in a village, it will be necessary for the Deputy Commissioner

16to have the village re-measured on the squaro system. In re-measuring the

17Thal villages the khatauni was not touched, all attestations made under the

18late Captain Crosthwaite being presumed as correct. The field book was also

19not amended except when it was absolutely necessary to do so. The ficlds

20previously measured were reproduced onthe new maps in exactly the same

21dimensions, all additional caltivation being shown in red and marked with separate

22field numbers on the system of quadrennial attestation. Tho most difficult

23part of the work was that of fixing in their proper places the barani fields

24which were plotted wrongly on the maps of 1898. This was done by Settlement

25Naib-Tahsildars after personal inspection of each such field and all disputes were

26decided by m» on the spot.

27The re-measurement of the riverain= tract of the Mianwali and Isa Khel

28tahsils was attended with many difficulties, “At, last Settlement measurements

29appear to have been confined to enltivated lands, ibe urea under the river

30and the unculturable sand having boen plotted on the field maps with reference

31to previous thakbast (village boundary) and other maps. During the past

3230 years almost all the lands cultivated at last Settlement were oroded by the

33river and the old beds of the streams silted up. In short the aspect of the

34whole tract was changed. Boundaries of villages were laid down from time to

35time in accordance with the Settlement maps, directions of linos projecting to-

36wards the river and the positions of trijunctions being fixed mostly by guess

37work. The result was that villago boundaries were established in wrong places

38and people took possession of land in places which differed vory considerably

39from those indicated on the Settloment maps. Moreover when the whole dis-

40tance from high bank to high bank was measured up on the square system, it

41was found that the Settloment maps could fit into the distance as little as the

42maps of individual fields and villages agreed with the limits of possession.

43Luckily, however, a condition was rocorded in the administration paper of

44every village in the kacha to tho effect that on land being thrown up by the

45river, possession must follow the Settlomont map and that possession taken up

46by co-sharers would have to be changed when a regular demarcation of bound-

47aries according to Settlement maps took place, till when all possession would

48be temporary. This ensbled a re-laying of the boundaries of all the riverain

49villages. But unfortunately all trijunctions erected at last Settlement had been

50washed away, and within a tract of some 50 by 14 miles there was not a single

51permanent mark with reference to which the boundaries could be laid down.

52The Revenue Survey of 1878 bad, howevor, followed on the measurements made

53at last settlement and all trijunctions were plotted on the survey 4’=1 milo

54sheets. Advantage was taken of this fact, and the whole of tho riverain tract

55being spread over with squares (each village or group of villages having its own

56baso line) the services of three traversers were borrowed from the Survey

57Department, and they were asked torun threo traverses one along each high

58bank and the third in the middle of the riverain tract connecting the three

59twaverses at several points. These traverses were run along the corners of

60squares and all the base line pillars were also taken up. On either high bank

61the traverses were linked on to pakka trijunctions and G. T. stations. All

62tiese details wero shown by the Survey Department on a tracing of the original

63survey sheets in the Head Office, Calcutta, Reductions of the Settlement thak-

64bast maps were made by pentagraph to 4”=1 mile scale. On comparing these