Gazetteer Of The Muzaffargarh District 1883-84

· 1884 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

1Gaspter III, E.

2Village Com-

3munities and

4Tenures.

5Lehha mukhhi

6moi tgages.

7Area of holdings.

8Farm servants and

9labourers.

10[Punjab Gazetthar,

11A) CHAP, IIl-—-THE PEOPLE,

12shall cultivate the land, he agrees to pay a small share of the produce

13to the mortgagor. This share is called vduwtn lichh or khuttt, ‘The use

14of lichh, to mean interest, and the practice of valwtfn lichh, are devices

15of Muhammadans to evade the charge of the receiving interest, and

16are now in vogue among Hind&s as well.

17Lekhd mukkhé is the name of a kind of usufructuary mortgage in

18use. A debtor makes over his land to a creditor until the debt is

19paid from the produce of the land, or the debtor retains the cultivation

20and agrees to pay the proprietor’s share tothe creditor. In both cases

21the creditor charges the interest of the debt and expenses against the

22debtor, and credits him with the produce of the land or with the

23proprietor’s share, until the debt is liquidated.

24An Extra Assistant Commissioner, long resident in the district,

25considers that a holding of 50 acres of average land would put its

26proprictor in fairly easy circumstances. Anything larger mould go to

27make him wealthy above the average. A holding of 10 acres would

28be looked upon as a very small holding for a proprietor. Tenant

29holdings are sometimes as much as 25 acres, but, asa rule, are below

30that amount. The same authority considers the “ possessor of at

31“estate of 15 acres about as well off as a petty trader making Rs, 8

32“per month.”

33Farm servants, here called rdiak, are usually hired by the year,

34t. é., from the ed aes of Harh to the end of Jeth. They are some-

35times hired by the half-year. Besides the usual farm work, if the

36master bo responsible for supplying labour on the canals, the servant

37is sent to do the work. The wages of a farm labourer consist of four

38artse—

39Khddh, or diet ... From 1 to 14 maund per month.

40EPRION, concverseere Cash at 8 annas per month.

41BYTE sevaecsveres A present at sowing and harvest.

42CC arr A present of from 24 to 3 maunds in a Jump.

43Clothes are sometimes given. The rdéhak also gets fodder for one

44animal, and ashare in the greens cooked for the master’s family. He

45accompanies the family on pilgrimages and gets fed going and return-

46ing. The pay ofa rdhak cannot be less than Rs, 7 or 8 a month.

47Reaping is usually done by labourers, hired temporarily. They get

48one sheaf in every forty as their wages, Cotton 1s picked by women

49and children, who get a share of what they pick as their wages,

50Winnowers are hired, and recoive one-foitieth of the grain as wages,

51Indigo is churned by hired labourers, who get from Rs. 8 to 10 per

52mouth.

53The persons employed as farm servants do not belong to any

54particular class ; where there isa family of several sons, some will

55stay at home and cultivate the family land, while the others go out

56as farm servants. People of all castes become labourers. Many of the

57“ proprietors ” and “ tenants ” are also field labourers ; “ sweepers,”

58“ washermen ” and “ weavers ” also supply a number of field labourers,

59Tt cannot be said that field labourers are in a condition distinctly

60inferior to that of the poorer agriculturists who cultivate holdings of

61their owu; those hired by the year or by the half-year are paid

62mouthly, and have no need of an account with a village trader. The

63poorer agriculturista often go out as field labourers merely to get rid