Native Officialdom In Western India

MAPS

Map highlighting the Bombay Presidency of the British in India.

Map showing the boundaries of the three States: Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa, and the geographic location of the present Khanapur Taluka, Belgaum District.

Present Khanapur Taluka Map

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF ANNEXURES

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 2. AN ILLUSTRATIVE FAMILY

CHAPTER 3. ABOUT THE PLACE OF ABODE

CHAPTER 4. ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS

CHAPTER 5. LOCAL REVENUE OFFICERS

CHAPTER 6. BRITISH ADMINISTRATION

CHAPTER 7. JUDICIARY IN THE DISTRICT

CHAPTER 8. CERTAIN LEGAL ISSUES

CHAPTER 9. CONCLUDING OPINION

ANNEXURE I

ANNEXURE II

ANNEXURE III

ANNEXURE IV

ANNEXURE V

ANNEXURE VI

ANNEXURE VII

ANNEXURE VIII

BIBLIOGRAPHY

SELECT GLOSSARY

LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS

AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY

FOREWORD

Despite our usual complaints in India about our lackadaisical way of handling academic matters, with little critical or methodological rigour about presenting our views and findings, the argumentative Indian of the Nobel laureate Amartya Sen (2006) was not exaggerating the native ability of the common Indian to discourse brilliantly and with self-confidence about his culture, history or identity.

Amartya Sen may have been more familiar with his Bengali tradition, but closer to me is the Konkan tradition covering the States of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. All of them have produced magnificent and multifaceted exponents of wisdom since distant times. The book I am presenting here is a good example of what I have been trying to say. Its author, Abhijit Sirdesai, goes beyond his academic and professional arena of legal counsel. He moves with confidence in the field of Maratha historiography, and explores a legal document from his family archive to trace the fortunes and misfortunes of the traditional Maratha leaders, including his ancestors, under the British rule.

It was with great pleasure that I respond to Abhijit Sirdesai’s request to write this Foreword. It took me back to my own cherished past as a postgraduate and doctoral student of the University of Pune. It was my privilege to receive a couple of awards in 1972, namely the Shreemant Narayanrao Babasaheb Ghorpade of Ichalkaranji Prize, and the Ganesh Chimnaji Vad Prize, for the best performance in the subjects of Maratha history.

Following my Ph.D. and as a lecturer in the History Department of the University of Pune in the 70s and 80s, I had the privilege of teaching the history of the Marathas, and the opportunity of knowing personally a few stalwarts of Maratha historiography, such as G.H. Khare, A.G. Pawar, P.M. Joshi, V.T. Gune, A.R. Kulkarni, K.N. Chitnis, some of whom were my teachers and mentors, and are quoted in this book.

This book focuses upon the Watandari system and its importance for the traditional local administration in the Maratha country. It was a system that ensured the continuity with the past under the changing rulers over centuries, and it shaped the social, economic and political responses of the population in Western India, including my homeland of Goa. A variation of the same socio-economic model prevailed in pre-colonial and colonial Goa, and has been the subject of my historical research over past four decades or so.

It is my sincere wish that Abhijit Sirdesai’s book will continue and enhance the tradition set and enriched by V.K. Rajwade, who was a pioneer in the use of private papers, particularly those of the sarkar families in the Maratha region. Though little known outside India, he was a contemporary of Leopold von Ranke and went far beyond him in laying the ground rules for modern historiography.

Dr Teotonio R. de Souza

Retired Head and Chair, Department of History, Universidade Lusófona, Lisboa http://bit.ly/1YRrT9Z

Lisboa, 27th April 2016

PORTUGAL

[About Dr Teotonio R. de Souza:

A Goan historian and founder-director of the Xavier Centre of Historical Research (Goa) 1979-1994; PhD Guide in History (Goa University (1986-1994); Retired as Head of the Department of History (Universidade Lusófona, Lisboa, 1999-2014; Fellow of the Academia Portuguesa de História (1983- ) and Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa (2000- ); Fortnightly columnist to the Goan daily Herald since 2008 and OpEd columnist for The Goan since 2012].

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PREFACE

While reading Campbell’s Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency (1884), some 8 to 10 years ago, I came across several socio-economic aspects of the society that accumulated morsels of the contents of this volume in my mind. It stands as the vernal equinox of this venture, I must say. Since, some qualities of the Marathas mentioned therein were intriguing, I felt compelled to look into the details about their lives as much as possible. Those details gave an insight into the affairs of the indigenous people or the natives who served the foreign sovereigns like the Mohammedan rulers, the Portuguese and the British overlords. As this is an attempt to trace the system run by the natives, this volume is named Native Officialdom in Western India.

Though this volume is not covering the topic for the first time, I, on my part, realized that several aspects of this topic needed an indepth study. However, I could not venture into its details immediately, until the case papers about my family came up for scrutiny. The one picked up for the study tended to mirror sociological aspects along with the inherent legal ones. Apart from expressing several interesting aspects of public and private life of the people involved, it recorded the statements of a variety of folks representing different sections of the society. Therefore, it is an important source that evokes the socio-economic history of the region i.e., Bombay-Karnatak.

The chapter ‘About the Place of Abode’ defines the territorial limits to which this study pertains. The revenue or the administrative system presented in this book prevailed throughout the Deccan, including Bombay-Karnatak and Goa. The Southern Maharashtra and Northern Karnataka was understood as the Bombay-Karnatak during the British rule. More accurately, the Bombay Presidency of the British should be assumed for this. Therefore, the contents of the book relate to Western India. Apart from the Bombay-Karnatak region, we do find the prevalence of this system in other States, such as Telangana, Chhattisgad and present Gujarat.

The aforementioned chapter further gives away some historical references to the town that, probably, are unknown to the public in general. This is strictly in the context of the source document. Readers will certainly appreciate the references to the first-hand information about the town recorded by the British officer, Thomas Marshall, and the information from Campbell’s Gazetteer (1884). The one from the Gazetteer (1884) relates to the coming of the railways in the region.

The basic source or the foundational document, used to highlight the subject matter, relates to the Yadav-Sardesai family of Khanapur. It was a conscious inclusion on the pretext of being suitable for the study; readers shall find further elaboration on this in the chapter titled ‘An Illustrative Family.’ The said chapter focuses on the origin of the family, its supposed relation to the Yadavas who ruled over Goa and the Deccan, the deities worshipped by them, etc. All these factors tend to highlight the prominence of the family in the region, which had a direct nexus to the administrative posts they held. The information included in this chapter was available in, somewhat, ready-made form. It is a literal manifestation of the legacy, to which I and the other family members inherit today as Sirdesais; the term Sirdesai is also spelt as Sardesai, and, the later widely preferred version is used in this volume. The other term so spelt is Desai which is the same as Desayee; words referring to a particular class, community or institutions are used in plural and the initial letters are capitalised.

The document, we scrutinize, is about a hundred and fifty years old. It is from the Sirdesai family’s historical record preserved by Late Shrimant Hambirrao Nageshrao Sirdesai, my grand-uncle, the Khatedar of the family. Not merely Hambirrao, but his nephew, Shrimant Udaysing Dattajirao Sirdesai, my father, had a penchant for the family history. Undeniably, their knowledge about the family history (especially of my father) was helpful in bringing out this volume. The family history discussed in this volume, however, is not the complete history of the family. I have simply pieced together some of the facts that give an insight about the family’s background. Clearly, a further research is necessary to present an exhaustive account of the family’s historical background. I believe this volume will be one of the handy sources to accomplish the same.

The Sirdesai family is well-known locally chiefly because of the contributions of its members, such as Nilkanthrao Bhagawantrao Sirdesai, who participated in the social activities. Notably, Late Shrimant Dattajirao Balawantrao Sirdesai, my grandfather, took part in the Sara Bandi (no tax) movement with others, hailing from several villages in Khanapur taluka. The Sara Bandi movement was the protest against the decision of the State Reorganisation Commission in 1956 that put the Marathi speaking border area in the newly formed Mysore State (now Karnataka), instead of Maharashtra. For voluntarily submitting to arrest or participating in the Jail Bharo Andolan, as a mode of protest, my grandfather and others were sentenced to jail for nine months at Visapur in Maharashtra. They were the members of the first batch of protestors from Khanapur town to be sentenced to jail. Almost a decade after this, Shrimant Nilkanthrao Bhagawantrao Sirdesai spearheaded the border dispute movement in Khanapur with other leaders.

Elected thrice as the member of the legislative assembly, Nilkanthrao Sirdesai became a renowned and distinguished leader and served the people honestly. He also founded a sugar factory in Khanapur. The family members, thereafter, continued the social work as the legacy and often participated in the social activities in Khanapur. Besides, the family members, such as Konherrao Sirdesai, Baburao Bhujangrao, Nageshrao Vishwasrao, Yashwantrao Raojirao, etc., were the renowned personalities in the past. Gopalrao Narsingrao and Konherrao Ghanashamrao from the junior branch were also among the notable personalities in the society.

Coming to the source document, it is not a kind of document possessed by my family alone. Numerous Desai or Sardesai families in Western India possess similar legal documents. Though secondary in importance when compared with the original copies of the letters, Yadis, Sanads, Mahzars, etc., of the earlier period that shed light on the historicity of a particular family, the documents pertaining to the family disputes filed in the Courts of law during the colonial era are still the valuable sources and must be preserved. My father’s insistence on preserving and probing such documents and other records is laudable. Besides, the participation of my cousins -Pravinsing Shankarrao Sirdesai and others- in the performance of the customary rituals relating to the family has contributed to preserve the remains of the past.

Next, the chapter: ‘British Administration,’ sheds light on the initial moves of the British in the district, and elaborates the nature of their administrative actions in the newly acquired territories. Here one shall come across some details about the establishment of the Inam Commission and the Rayatwari system in the region. It is dealt at length because it pertains to the estates of the native chiefs and was crucial in shifting the balance of power from the intermediate landlords to the British government. With the coming of the British, the indigenous form of governance was shattered and a wave of renaissance made way. This occurred chiefly in the Nineteenth Century, and hence, it was the Century of a new beginning. It led to the breeding of a society, based on the principles of equity, to establish Loksatta or the democratic rule in the subcontinent. Lastly, the chapter ‘Certain Legal Issues’ discusses laws and regulations made by the British and their impact on the native rulers.

The revenue system, which we took up for discussion, has its roots in the administrative divisions made by the governments earlier than that of the British. This entails the study of the territorial divisions of the Marathas and the rulers before them. The chapter ‘Administrative Divisions,’ is dedicated to bring forth the territorial divisions of the region. It highlights the nomenclature and the territorial extents of the units. It is here that one shall find the description of the divisions like Prants, Subhas, etc. This chapter ends with some description about the divisions made by the British, especially, in the region specific to our study.

The establishment of the British rule and the administration in the region paved way to the establishment of the judicial bodies. The chapter ‘Judiciary in the District’ deals with this and provides an insight into the procedural aspects and the adjudication by the courts; it also leaves a plenty of scope to compare the Western judicial system with the indigenous model.

Like this, the thought of knowing the society, or the surroundings, has boiled down to produce this volume. While, I did not attempt to present the study into a stereotyped research paper format, yet the characteristic resemblance is there. The source document was my guide-in-chief throughout the writing journey. All the topics discussed in the current volume revolve around it.

This volume may be useful for supplemental reading for the student community as it covers a part of the syllabus of the post-graduate studies in history of some universities in India. I would like to note that, the study of the Maratha history is incomplete without the understanding of the role played by the native officers discussed in this volume. Besides, the legal fraternity dealing with the issues and laws relating to the immovable property may find the contents of the book useful. Apart from history, law and to some extent geography, the present study has a compelling relevance to anthropology and ethnography as the other disciplines. Therefore, this is an interdisciplinary study portraying a broader picture of a section of the society.

Next, owing to the inavailability of the documents relevant to my study, I had to rely on the works of several authors in order to present the topics with accurate details. Some of the annexures to the present volume are borrowed from the works of a few notable researchers and historians. They were referred to for the sake of clarity and are appropriately cited. It is but possible that the study presented here is incomplete or lacking in several respects. It may seem as if it is a collection of facts. In my opinion this book is an attempt made to point in the direction of the research area that is least traversed. The extent to which I am able to expound the topics is clear from the book, but its intellectual reach and success is, undoubtedly, for the readers to judge. I, thus, leave it to the readers to assess, judge and decide the worth of my efforts that provided me an opportunity to do a little service to the branch of humanities and social sciences.

Lastly, I hope that the readers find the topic interesting, the contents informative and the narrative agreeable. What more can one expect?

Abhijit U. Sirdesai.

Sirdesai Wada, Khanapur

March 17, 2016

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This is the occurrence that temporarily arrests my literary aspirations, whereby, my randomly made notes are making way to the press to be moulded in the form of a book. While it took a period of about five years for panning-out, now has the time approached to express my gratitude to those who voluntarily participated in its accomplishment.

Constant encouragement from the family members, notably, my brothers: Niranjansing Sirdesai and Gururajsing, who seemd equally interested in the subject-matter of this book, made this possible. Had they made up their minds for a write-up before, there would have been hardly any reason left for me to publish this. With their help, support and cooperation, I am able to present this handy volume, which, I honestly believe, might cater to their curio first and the rest of the readership, later. A mere thanks will fall short, to express the unending gratitude I feel. Hence, I shall not thank them, even if the formality so demands, as I wish to remain indebted forever.

Next, I am highly indebted to Dr. Teotonio R. de Souza, historian and founder director of Xavier Centre for Historical Research Goa, for doing a tedious job of reviewing the manuscript, when he had just recovered from an eye surgery. He gave valuable inputs and suggestions for improving the manuscript. Another person who did a similar job was my father, Udaysing D. Sirdesai. I benefited the most from their suggestions. Also, it