1 ”,
2 te
3 The priestly castes
4 Were respected,
5 And all religious in-
6 stitutions maintained,
7 Universal content-
8 ment,
9 The agricultural
10 classes,
11 Reduced taxation on
12 land,
13 Security to culti-
14 vators,
15 Introduction of
16 gigantic schemes of
17 public works.
18 Their effect on the
19 poorer classes.
20 The trading classes.
21 General prosperity.
22 The external face of
23 the country changed
24 by public works.
25 Improvements in
26 towns.
27 Important State
28 measures introduced,
29 Sri Sat guru) APPR) Ripa Ppoow, the elaboration efithe revenue sxatem,
30 576 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
31 for, but the office bearers of the court, chamberlains, mace-bearers, sooth-
32 sayers, physicians, savants, musicians and men-in-waiting, were all inscribed
33 on the pension rolls of the British State, according to the statistics furnished
34 by Raj&é Dina Nath from the records of the late Darbar. Thus, the
35 multitude which surrounded the throne of Ranjit Singh and his successors,
36 enjoyed substantial comfort under the English rule.
37 Nor were the priestly castes and religious classes of the old regime
38 neglected. They had every reason to be contented and happy under their
39 new masters. The Sikh holy places were respected; Mahomedan religious
40 and national institutions: were maintained, and a large portion of the endow-
41 ments allowed by the Sikh Government to the shrines of Dera Naénak,
42 Amritsar, Téran-Tdéran and Anandpur, was allowed to be retained by them.
43 All religious characters, even mendicant friars and village ascetics, were
44 liberally treated and allowed to retain their grants of land, Gratified with
45 the treatment thus shown them, they blessed their English rulers, and their
46 indirect influence on the mass of the population was enlisted on the side of
47 the Government. :
48 Not less thankful for the protection afforded them were the agricultural
49 classes, who had been ground with oppression by the tax-collectors and
50 kdvddys of the old regime. The influence of chaudhrés, a species of local
51 chiefs or leading resident gentry, who, under the Sikhs, aided in collecting
52 the revenue and exacting forced labour (begér) from the villagemen, and
53 enjoyed many privileges and immunities, was greatly reduced. Many of
54 their just privileges were maintained to them; their legitimate position as
55 representatives of the brotherhood was strengthened and defined, but their
56 undue influence over the village communities was curtailed. The tenures
57 of the village co-parcenary bodies were adjusted and their rights recorded.
58 The change from the appraisement of the standing crop, or division of the
59 garnered grain, to a regular money taxation, protected the peasant proprietors
60 from Government interference and from the frauds of their more intriguing
61 brethren, and gave a value to landed property previously unknown, whilst
62 the harsher consequences of cash payments were averted by reduced taxa-
63 tion. The rights of the cultivators and the return for their labour, became
64 more secure. The working classes, including day-labourers and artisans,
65 prospered beyond all precedent, owing to the progress of cantonments and
66 gigantic public works. The poorer classes were greatly benefited by the
67 extraordinary cheapness of provisions, and the commercial and trading classes
68 throve beyond expectation. In short, from the hardy yeoman and the sturdy
69 peasant to the thrifty trader and the enterprising capitalist, all rose in
70 robust prosperity, to become the casting and reliable bulwarks of the power
71 which had extended protection to them.
72 - But, irrespective of the framework of society, the external face of the
73 country also changed rapidly owing to the advance of vast public works, both
74 for communication and for irrigation; fine cantonments everywhere sprang
75 up and public buildings, both civil and military, added to the beauty of the
76 country. This alteration of circumstances was not less apparent in towns
77 than in the country. The aspect of the streets was, perhaps, less gay and
78 brilliant than heretofore, but the improvements in drainage, in street con-
79 servancy, in the laying out of bazars, proved to the commonest observer that
80 an era of solid comfort and cleanliness had commenced,
81 Other important State measures adopted were the crusade against
82 dacoity, the suppression of thuggi, the movement against infanticide, the
83 tracking of criminals, the economic and hygienic reformation of the jails,
84 Field