CHAPTER-1

ECOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE

The present chapter seeks to study the parameters within which rural

production occured in the late eighteenth and early ninteenth century Bihar.

For this purpose the chapter will focus on the ecology, features of

agricultural production, and agricultural technology (viz., the irrigation

system) of the region in order to have a total picture of the agricultural

scenario within which the rural production occured and the relations of

production evolved in our period.

The Terrain

Lying in the lower and middle Ganga region, Bihar occupies some of

the most fertile lands. in India. The river Ganga flows right across it from

west to east dividing it in two unequal parts, the southern portion being

almost double the northern portion. The alluvial plain on both sides of the

Ganga has been formed by the silt carried by the river and its numerous

tributaries. The highlands of the Chotanagpur plateau is however very

different from the Ganga plain and has some of the oldest rocks in the

world. Bihar is thus divided into three natural divisions viz (i) the north

Ganga plain (ii) the south Ganga plain and (iii) the south Bihar

(Chotanagpur) plateau (which is not included in the present work).

17

The North Ga09 Plain

It extends from the base of terai in the north to the Ganga in the south

consisting of extremely fine alluvial soil of great depth. It spreads over the

whole of the Tirhut, Saran, Darbhanga and Kosi divisions and has a gentle

slope towards the south. The Ganga Flows from west to east and it is

jointed just above Patna by the Gandak draining from Nepal and further

upstream on the opposite bank by the Son from the south-west. Further west

the Ghaghra (Gogra) joins the Ganga from the north-west. Another

important tributary joining the ganga from Nepal much further east is Kosi. 1

The rivers deposited much fertile alluvial soil but, they were

capricious. On their best behaviour they flooded periodically and fertilised

large areas with their silt and at their worst they changed course without

warning and created havoc by immoderate flooding. The great Gandak

regularly created havoc until it was in some degree restrained by

embankments early in the nineteenth century. The normal flooding of the

Kosi helped to make the South-Western districts of Purnea very fertile, but it

was also a river known for destroying crops, stock and habitation over wide

areas.2

1. O.H.K. Spate et al., India, Pakistan and Ceylon : The Regior.s, (3rd ed.), p.565, Ram Oulndra Prasad, Bihar, New Delhi, 1983, pp.2-4.

2. J. Marshall, The New Cambridge History of India, II: Bengal: The British: 17ze British Bridgehead Eastern India 1740-1828, Cambridge, 1987, p.35.

18

Towards the north and north west in the East and West Champaran

districts the country begins to undulate and the broken hilly region starts.

This is known as Dun or Ramnagar Dun. This consists of a range of low

hills, north of which lies the Someshwar range. Below these hills and

extending southwards and eastwards were large grass lands watered by

numerous hill-streams, while in the background towards the Himalayas of

Nepal. The soil even at the foot of the hills has no rocky formation and

wherever water can be impounded, a rich crop can be produced. The hill

streams, however, played havoc by bringing down huge quantities of sand

and destroying cultivable lands. The hills contain large stretches of jungles,

though most of the forest areas of terai lie beyond the Nepal border, leaving

Bihar only a very thin strip in the east of Kosi. 3 During our perioo this part

of north Bihar had a frontier of expanding settlement. With lower rainfall

than most of Bengal, north Bihar was also prone to periodic droughts. In

Darbhanga, during the early years of British rule hardly a year passed

without some natural calamity. 4

The South Gan1:a Plain

The alluvial filling of the south of the Ganga is shallow and the

peninsular edge is ragged. Many groups of small hills rise up from the base

3. Ibid, pp.2-4.

4. Ibid, p.35 and L.S.S. 0. Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers: Darbhanga, Calcutta, 1907, p.70.

19

rock. One fifth of the area of Shahabad was occupied by the Kaimur hills.

The boundaries of these hills are irregular, and in some places are deeply

indented by narrow recesses or glens. These glens are surrounded by rocky

walls, with their base fringed with woods.5 The tract was densely wooded

in the nineteenth century and abounded with wild animals. 6 The table land

comprised of detached hills with little elevation and was easily accessible

even at the beginning of nineteenth century. The greater part of the space

~etween these smaller hills consisted of undulating lands. They were in

some places filled with rocks and stones and were unfit for cultivation but in

some places were cultivated with wheat, barley and mustard, and very often

a crop of bhadoi. Buchanan however noticed that these swell lands were

for the most part neglected, the chief attention of the highlanders being paid

to the cultivation of some very narrow valleys. These valleys contained

numerous springs of water, which made them very suited for rice

cultivation. 7 Southern Gaya, also had a number of ridges and spurs

projecting from the Chotanagpur plateau, as well as semi-datached ridges

and isolated peaks that rose abruptly from the level plain. These low ranges

5. Buchanan, Shahabad, Buchanan, F., An Account of the District of Purnea (1809-10) Patna, 1928 An Account of the District of Bhagalpur (1810-11), Patna, 1930 (hereafter Shahabad), p.8.

6. Hunter, p.180.

7. Buchanan, Shahbad ... p.ll.

20

struck northeastward until they reached the Ganga in Monghyr district. 8

The Barabar hills and the Rajagriha hills formed the two major clusters.

These hills were almost barren and conspicuous by their rakedness even at

the time of Buchanan's survey. Further south, however, the hills were

extensively forested. A considerable part of the south Ganga plain was

bhangar and the inundated areas were fewer than those of the north of

Ganga in Tirhut and Saran divisions. Being bounded by Chotanagpur

plateau in the South and Gangetic valley in the north, the south Ganga plain

had a marked slope from south to north roughly at the rate of one metre per

kilometre, which caused quick flow of water. South Bihar is composed

mostly of old alluvial type of soil which dries up very soon after the rains as

it had very little water retention property. Apart from the Ganga the

important rivers in the western side of south Bihar plateau are the Mohar

(near Jehanabad) Nonai (near Patna) Dardhe, the Son, Punpun and its

tributary Batane, Phalgu, Khuri and Sakri. In the eastern side of the region

there are rivers like Chandan (in Bhagalpur district), Brahmha and Gumai.

Most of these rivers are not perenial (except Son) and dry up after the rainy /h"e.;-1J

season. '/JCl(. T). LfL(11 1 M~L

w~ South Bihar neither had the natural fertility of north Bihar nor

suffered from its periodic disasters. The rivers flowing out of the

8. L.S.S.O. Malley, Bengal, Bihar, Orrisa &: Sikkim, pp.21-34.

THESIS 333.3095412

R2133 Ru

IIIII II II 11111111111111111 II Ill TH10565

Chotanagpur plateau inundated the land less than the rivers fed by the snows

of the Himalayas, which made it less fertile but at the same time saved it

from the devastation caused by immoderate flooding. Rather drought was a

bigger threat for the people of South Bihar. Largely spared flooding, the

people of South Bihar sought to protect themselves from drought through

artifical irrigation network known as ahar pyne system. 9 The Son and other

important rivers have traditionally been utilized for irrigation through a

complicated indigenous net work of Ahar Pyne system. Some Salient

Features of Agricultural Production

Agriculture in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Bihar was

finely tuned not only to the terrain but also to the seasons. The collective

wisdom of their fore - fathers spawned a cosmology which passed to the folk

lores prevalent in the peasant's world, and told the peasant when to grow

what and taught them the signs that foretold a good harvest or impending

drought/flood.

Auicultural Times, Seasons and Cultivation

The agricultural calendar in Bihar was a cunous m1x of solar and

lunar movements. The year was divided into 12 months. One month was

from one full moon to the next, the time taken by the moon to transit across

the 27 nakhats (Nakshatras) or asterisms of the Zodiac.

9. Ram Chandra Praran, Bihar, New Delhi, 1983, irrigution Atlas, vol. I Plate- 21 R.L. Sing, Regional Geograplry Nirmal Sengupta, The Indigenous Irrigation Organization in South Bihar, The India Economic and Social History Review, vol.XVIII, No.2.

22

Although the lunar month was followed, agricultural time was

contingent on solar movements, as it was the position of the sun which

shaped the seasons. The Zodiac was . divided into 27 Nakshatras

(nakhats). 10 The nakshatras were not of equal length. The sun took

between 308 to 336 hours to transit through a Nakshatra. Consequently the

nakshatras ranged from 13 to 16 days, there being approximately 2 1/4

nakshatras in each month. Every agricultural operation commenced in a

particular nakshatra and each nakshatra had its favourable weather and signs

which passed into folklore. 11

The year was popularly divided into three seasons : Garmi (hot

reason), beginning in the month of Phagun; Barkha (Monsoon), beginning in

the month of Asarh; and lara (cold reason) beginning in the month of

Kartik. 12 There were three harvests in the year : the bhadoi (harvested in

the month of Bhadon), the Aghani or Kharif (harvested in the month of

10. There were Utra Phaguni, Hathiya, Chitra, Swati, Bisakha, Anuradha, Jeshtha, Mu1, Purba Kharh, Utra Kharh, Sawan, Dhanishtha, Satbhikha, Purab Mirgsira, Aradra (or Adra), Punarbas, Pukh (or Chiraiya) Asres (or Aslekha) Maggha and Purba Phaguni.

11. Grierson, Bihar Peasant Life, Being a Discoursive Catalogue of the Surroundings of the Province, Calcutta, 1885. pp.

12. Grierson, Ibid., op.cit., p.274.

23

Aghan) and the Rahi. 13 The most important factor in monsoon agriculture

is rain, and agricultural operation depended on timely rainfall. Deficient

rainfall resulted in a deficient harvest and a year of monsoon failure was

consequently a year of famine/dearth. However, it was the distribution

rather than quantity of rain which determined the quality of harvest.

Cultivation started in Jeth in Rohini nakhat (solar asterism of Rohini),

when ploughing and sowing began. Rain in the preceeding month of

Baisakh was essential for these operations, especially since the soil was hard

and required repeated ploughing. Rains in the month of Baisakh therefore

forecasted a plentiful harvest, 14 as is evident in the following saying:

J aun barse Baisakha rau

Ek dhan men dobar chau

"If king Baisakh rain, every grain of paddy produce two of rice." 15

The Baisakh rain was followed by hot and dry weather, and then ideally it

should rain in the asterism of Rohini, when ploughing and sowing began.

13. Comptrolling council of Revenue at Patna, 4th June, 1771, Patna, Bihar State Archives, Patna. 16th July 1772, Patna (Letter to the President and member of the committee of Revenue at Fort Willian from the council). Board of Revenue-Grain, Letter dated, Bhagalpur, 29th oct. 1794, Board of Revenue - Grain, 15th Nov. 1799 (Letter dated, Shahabad, 5 Nov. 1799), ibid, 15th Nov. 1799 (Letter dated, Bhagalpur, 5 Nov. 1799), ibid, 29th Nov. 1799 (Letter dated Bhagalpur, 16 Nov. 1799) ibid, 29th Nov. 1799

--(Letter dated Tirhut, 18th-Nov. 1799) ibid, 10 Dec. 1799 (Letter from the collector of Behar, undated) ibid, 10 Dec. 1799 (Letter dated Tirhut, 2 Dec. 1799) Board of Revenue Proceedings, 22 Nov. 1799 (Letter dated Bhagalpur, 14 Nov. 1799).

14. Grierran, Bihar Peasant life ... , op.cit., p.274.

15. Ibid, p.274.

24

The rain of Mirgsira was not good and no sowing was done in that nakhat.

Ideally it should rain a little in Aradra (of Adra), which followed Mirgsira.

Mirgsira tobay Rohini Iabay aradra jay budbuday

Kahai Dale Sunu Bhillari, Kutta bhat na khay

"If Mirgsira is hot, Rohini rains, and Aradra gives a

few drops, Saith Dak, hear, 0 Bhillari (rice will be

so plentifull that) even dogs will turn up their noses at

it. n 16

Mirgsira was followed by Aradra. Aradra and Puharbas are the two mam

asterisms of the month of Akharh (June-July). This was the time for finishing

the preparation of the fields, as the proverb says -

Jekar banal akharwa (asarh) re

tekar baraho mas,

"Hi whose fields are ready in Akharh is ready also all

the year round. n 17

Aradra rain was crucial for the three main bhadri crops, viz, serha or sathi (60

day rice), Janera (maize) and marka Sathi was seldom ready in 60 days as its

name indicated unless the rain was very heavy as the proverb says :

16. Ibid, p.275.

17. Ibid, p.276.

25

Sehra Sathi Sat din

Jab deb barse rat din

Serha and Sathi takes 60 days if it rains night and

day.ts

However, it was supposed that if Sathi was sown in Aradra, crop would be

fourthful, as is evident in the proverb:

Adra mans je boe Sathi,

Dukh Ke mar nikala Iathi.

If you sow sixty-day rice in Aradra, You strike

distress with a club and drive it away. 19

Aghani rice too was sown in Aradra. the sowing of this crop was therefore

contingent on the Aradra rain. Thus the Aradra rain was almost as important as

those in the asterism of Hathia, as is indicated by the following proverb -

Adi na barse aradra, hast na barse nidan,

Kahahin Dak Sunu Bhillari bhae kisan pisan.

If Aradra does not rain at the commencement, and

Hathiya at its and, Saith Dak, hear, 0 Bhillari, the

cultivator is crushed.20

18. Ibid, p.248,

19. Ibid, p.276,

20. Ibid, p.276,

26

But on the contrary -

Charhat barse aradra, utrat barse hast,

Katek raja danre, rahe anand girhast.

If it rains when Aradra commences and when Hathiya

is ending, no matter how much rent may be

demanded, the householder is still happy. 21

If the ram in Aradra was late, the sowing of paddy was also delayed

accordingly. If the rains were late, paddy sowing went on as late as Punarbas or

even Pul<:Jil2 but the prospect of a good crop however faded as the rains were

delayed, for the asterism of Punarbas and the following asterism of pukh or

chiraiya were usually devoted to transplanting and not to sowing.23

Ardra dhan, punarbas paiya

Gel, kisan, je hoe, chiraiya.

"Paddy sowing in Aradra turns to plenty, in Punarbas

it has empty ears, and sown in Pukh (or Chiraiya) it

turns to nothing. 24

21. Ibid, p.276,

22. Ibid, p.276.

23. Ibid, p.276.

24. Ibid, p.277,

27

After Akharh came Sawan or Saon, when Bihar received the heaviest

rainfall. Pukh (or Chiraiya) and Asres (or Aslekha) were the two main asterisms

of the month of Sawan. Asres was followed by Maggha. In the last two

asterisms the rainfall is the heaviest, as is revealed by the proverb -

Je na bhare Asrekha Maggha,

Pher bhare Asrekha Maggha.

"That which is not filled up with water in Asres and

Maggha has no chance of being filled up till they

come again next year. "25

The south-west monsoon normally withdraws from Bihar in the second

half of the month of Asin or Kuar (in the first half of October). An important

feature of the retreating monsoon in Bihar is the invasion of tropical cyclones

originating in the Bay of Bengal. 26

However, the maximum frequency of the tropical cyclones in Bihar is

during September-November, especially during the asterism of Hathiya. 27 Rain

in Hathia, so essential for the maturing of paddy, was also crucial for the

moistening of the soil for the cultivation of rabi crops. Hathi rani as it was

25. Ibid, p.279.

26. Ram Chandra Prasad, Bihar ... op.cit, p.12.

27. Ibid, p.12.

28

popularly called was the symbol of prosperity, as the peasants' fate hinged on

the Hathia rain.

Adra gel tini gel, san, sathi, kapas;

Hathiya gel sabh gel, agil pachhil chas.

Want of rain in Aradra destroys three crops - hemp,

60 day rice and cotton, but by the want of rain in

Hathiya every thing is ruined, both what has been

sown and what will be sown.28

The proverb was proved to be true when this kind of a situation really

developed in 1799, when Hathiya rain failed. On 25th Oct. 1799 it was reported

from Shahabad, "in consequence of the deficiency of rain almost the whole of

the rice crop is lost and very little rubee is expected ... " By November it was

obvious that the "whole of the khareef crop" was lost and "in many places no

rubee crop can now be had. "29 In Bhagalpur, "the greater part of the Augunny

(Aghang) harvest" ... was "parched up extremely" and in same places "no more

than a fourth and in very few (places) as much as half of the usual produce can

be expected" 30 (and "that to the growing (of) rubby much injury is to be

28. Grierson, Bihar Peasant, pp.281-82.

29. WBSA -Grain, 5 Nov. 1799 (Letter from the collector of Shahabad, dated Shahabad, 25 Oct. 1799), ibid, 15 Nov. 1799 (Letter from the collector of Shahabad, dated, Shahabad, 5 Nov. 1799).

30. ibid, 15 Nov. 199, (Letter dated, Bhagalpur 5 Nov. 1799).

29

apprehended ... ")31 The hathia ram was necessary for the crucial second

flooding of the rice fields as well as for the sowing of rabi. The rice fields,

which were puddled with water at the time of transplantation, were drained in

the asterism of utra phalguni. The fields were allowed to dry for fifteen days,

and at the end of this time they were again flooded in the asterism of Hathia. It

was this practice of draining the rice fields, known as Nigar which made the

hathia rain so important for successful harvest. 32 The quantity of the hathiya

rain determined the quality of the harvest. If there was no rain in hathia the

harvest was poor, despite good rainfall in the aggregate.

Hathia was the largest nakht and lasted for 16 days. Hathia (meaning

elephant) was supposed to have 4 legs each made of iron, copper, silver and

gold respectively. Each leg lasted for 4 days and came in the above order. It

was rain in the last leg (i.e. gold), which gave a bumper crop. It was the

requirement of rain in the fourth leg of hathia, for a good havest which inspired

the following proverb, for chitra is the nakhat immediately following the fourth

leg of hathiya -

Hathiya barise, chitra menrray,

Ghar baise dhanha ririyay (or agray).

31. ibid, 29 Nov. 1799 (Letter dated Bhagalpur, 16 Nov. 1799).

32. Nimal Sengupta, The Idigenous Irrigation organization in South Bihar, The Indian Economic and Social History Review, vol.XVIII, No.2.

30

"If Hathiya rains, and (the clouds of) Chitra hover

about, the paddy-cultivator sits at home and utters

cries of joy [or stretches]. "33

However, hathiya rain, though very beneficial for paddy cultivation, was

harmful for certain crops as the following rhyme shows -

Hathiya barse tin hat ba, sakkar, sali, mas,

Hathiya barse tin jat ba, til, kodo, kapas.

"Rain in Hathiya produces three things - sugar-cane,

rice and pulse; and destroys three things - sesamum

(til), Kodo, and cotton. 34

Rabi crops were sown in the asterism of Chitra­

Adha chitra rai murai

Adha chitra jau kerai.

"In one-half of Citra sow mustard and radishes, and

in the other half barley and Pease. "35

Rain in Chitra however was not considered good as the sowing of rabi crops was

done in this asterism. It did little good to any crop other than rice -

Chitra barse mati mare,

33. Ibid, p.282.

34. Ibid, p.281.

35. Ibid, p.282,

31

Age bhai gerui ke kare.

"Rain in Chitra destroys the power of the soil and is

likely to produce blight. "36

Although rain in Chitra was considered very bad, any drop which fell in

the subsequent asterism of Swati were compared to pearls.

Eko pani jon barse swati,

Kurmin pahire sona pati.

"If a single shower comes in Swati it enriches people

so much, that even kurmi women get gold earrings to

wear". 37

It was widely believed by cultivators that formerly the rain used to stop in

Swati, which was very good for the crops, but it now ended in hathia. 38

However, it is not possible to say whether it reflected climatic change or it was

just the glorification of the past.

The rice fields were drained at the commencement of the Swati nakhat

and the winter rice and kharif crops were reaped in the month of Aghan (Nov. to

Dec.) -- broadcast rice in the first half and transplanted rice in the second. If the

hathia rain failed, the rahi crop was still sown in the hope of rain during the

36. Ibid, p.282.

37. Ibid, p.282.

38. Ibid, p.284.

32

asterism of Swati. If however the rabi crops were too late there was the danger

that they would not be strong enough to resist an early winter. Since barley was

generally sown late, in the asterism of bisakh, there was an increase in the

acreage under this crop or such occasions.

Rains in the month of Aghan was very good for the rabi crop, which

perhaps inspired the following rhyme -

Aghan je barse megh

Dhan o raja dhan odes.

"Happy are the king and people when it rams m

Aghan. n39

If the winter rains were delayed the prospect of the rabi worsened as was evident

from the following rhyme -

Aghan dobar, pus dyaurha,

Magh sawai, Phagun barse gharku ke jai.

"If it rains in Aghan, you will get double an average

crop; if in Paus, one and a half, if in Magh, one and

a quarter, but if in Phagun, then even (the seedlings

which you brought from) your house will be lost. "40

39. Ibid, p.284.

40. Ibid, p.284.

33

Any rain in the second half of the month of Paus (i.e. early January) was

bad as indicated in the following rhyme -

Pani barse adha pus,

Adha gehun adha bhus.

"Rain in the middle of Paus will give you half wheat

and half chafF1

Unlike rice, rabi crop did not require heavy and repeated rainfall.

Although the ahars and pynes and the rivers that fed them were dry at this time,

if the rains necessary for rabi failed, temporary wells were dug (especially in

South Bihar) in every available place, thereby saving some proportion of the

crop.42

The cropping pattern of rabi was complex and diversified. The harvest

was spread over 3 months (Magh, Phagun and Chait).

With the gathering of the rabi crop the agricultural cycle was over.

The Cropping Pattern

Agricultural production in Bihar seems to have been subsistence oriented.

The most important food crop in all the Bihar districts was rice. It formed the

staple food in most of Bihar, each area cultivating a different variety. Sat hi (or

San), or Serha, Pichar, Sukhdas, Basmati (very fine quality rice and meant only

for export) were, some of the varieties of rice cultivated in Bihar. 43

41. Ibid, p.284

42. Alok Sheel, The Evolution ... op.cit., p.121.

43. Please see Appendix-1.

34

Buchanan found that rice was the principal crop in Shahabad except on the

low banks of Ganges. But the neglect of irrigation had reduced the area of rice

cultivation as well as the produce. He estimated that half the district was

cultivated with rice. 44

In all the Bihar districts, next to rice the most important food crop was

wheat. 45 Wheat sown on the sandy land was much finer and was called

Dudhiya-Gehunj, while coarse grain which grew on clay was called

Desiya-Gehunj. Wheat and barley were often sown intermixed and reaped

together. The mixed crop was called Gujai. 46

After Barley wheat was the most important crop in all of Bihar. 47 It was

sown intermixed with wheat. In Bhagalpur, it was sown intermixed with pea and

the mixed crop was called Jaokerao. In the western parts of the district it was

one of the common food of the poor.48 Apart from these Mariya, maize, Kodo,

Janera, Kangi, Sama or Kheri were some of the important culmiferous crops in

Bihar.49

44. Buchanan, Shahabad in 1812-13, pp.148-159.

45. Please see Appendix- I.

46. Board of Revenue-Grain, Letter dated 17th Oct. 1794 from Y Burges Collector of Purnea to G.H. Barlow, Sub-Secretary to the Revenue Dept, Fort Wiiliam, Ibid, Letter dated Shahabad, 25 Nov. 1794, Buchanan, Behar ... p.496-497,

47. Please see Appendix-I.

48. Buchanan, F. An Account of the District of Behar and Patna (1811-12), 2 vols. Patna (hereafter Behar). 497, Shahabad p.232, F., An Account of the District of Purnea (1809-10) Patna (hereafter Purnea). 1928 An Account of the District of Bhagalpur (1810-11), Patna, 1930 (hereafter Bhagalpur). p.350, Martin, The History of Antiquity ... vol./1, Bhagalpur ... op.cit., p.203, WBSA -Grain, Letter dated, Shahabad, 25 Nov, 1794.

49. Buchanan, Behar ... pp.493-503.

35

The important varieties of pulses were Kesari, boot, Pea(dal), musur,

arahar, mung, mash kali (an important crop in Bhagulpur) and so on. 50

Oil seeds were widely cultivated in Gaya area and were a valuable article

of export. It was generally cultivated by the Koeris and depended on irrigation

from wells dug by the cultivators themselves. Mustard was the most

remunerative crop, and was sown on a good land near the village. The profits

from this in a dood year exceeded that of rice or wheat. 51

Sugarcane cultivation was spread over several parts of Bihar. 52 It was a

valuable crop with a large domestic market, but it was a difficult crop to raise.

The crop had to be grown on good high land which was easily irrigatable.

Generally land near the village was selected and the crop was carefully watered

from the wells. It took 18 months to mature. 53

Various kinds of vegetables like baygan, ncmus, onions, Karela,

radishes, garlic etc., were grown by Koeri cultivators. They also used to

cultivate species like lira, Dhaniya (coriander), Ajoyan and so on. The Koeri

cultivators were traditionally vegetable gardeners who also grew the usual crop

of rice along with the cash crops like poppy (especially in Bhagalpur) They

constituted a part of the well off peasantry in the Patna-Gaya region. Elsewhere

they were not so well off. Buchanan had very high opinion of their skill. 54

50. Ibid, WBSA, BRP, 19 April 1793 (Letter, dt. 24 April 1793), Letter from E Pale commercial Resident at Patna. Please See Appendix 1.

51. Buchanan, Behar .... pp. 503-504. Please see Appendix 1.

52. Please see Appendix-1.

53. Buchanan, Behar, p.506.

54. Buchanan, Behar ... 507-509. Please see Appendix 1.

36

Potato cultivation was introduced from Europe during this time. We find

some interesting report on the introduction of Potato cultivation in the Board of

Revenue Proceedings. Potato was cultivated extensively in Hajipur "owing to

the great consumption and demand of them in the city of Patna", but its

cultivation was not "extended to any other part of the district" .55 As the

cultivators were very indifferent to the cultivation of potato due to some

"commerical and religious reasons, the Government had to devise several

measures to induce them to its cultivation. Proposals were made to authorize

collectors to issue small advances of takavi on this account, and to publish offer

of certain rewards to those who cultivated the greatest quantity of land with

potato. Managers of khas mahals were asked to receive for two or three years a

certain quantity of potato in part of payment for the public revenue from such

areas where soil was favourable for its growth. Tax on lands fit for potato

cultivation was to be reduced to certain degree. Thus, it was with some strong

inducement that the cultivation of potato could be gradually extended to larger

areas of the districts of Behar, Tirhut, Purnea, Shahabad, Bhagalpur and some

other parts of Bihar during the early years of the nineteenth century. 56

55. WBSA, BRP, 22nd Jan 1802.

56. Purnea District Records, vol.lO. P.191 (Letter dated 27 Feb. 1802 from W.E. Rees, collector of Purnea to Board of Revenue). ·

37

Bihar also produced some cash crops like sugar, Cotton and tobacco. 57

Rahiya, Barsha and Bhujaru were the most common types of cotton produced in

Behar-Patna area. 58 Saran district also produced some inferrior quality cotton,

though the quantity was not very large. 59 In Saran district tobacco was also

cultivated by the opium Ryots. 60

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the production

organization of some cash crops like onion and indigo went through considerable

change, when it came under British control. Monopoly control over trade and

cultivation, extra economic coercion and the limited demand for opium put

pressure on the small peasant economy of Bihar. Similarly indigo cultivation

became an uneconomic task But peasants had to carry it on because they were

tied to the system of advances. The unremunerative prices and the extortion

practiced by the contractors put tremendous pressure on the indigo cultivators.

Even the cultivation of rice also was not totally free from outside control,

because it was beyond the means of the small peasant household to meet the cost

of cultivation and they had to brrow heavily from their richer counterparts. The

principal agency financing the cultivation of rice was "chiefly merchants of

various kinds" who were also rich peasants. Buchanan has observed that after

57. Please see Appendix-1.

58. Martin, Behar .... p.289.

59. WBSA, BRP, 26 Nov. 1789, vol. 81 (26 Nov. to 30 Nov. 1789), No.2, Letter from the collector of Sircar Saran.

60. Ibid.

38

the harvest the grain had to be surrendered to Beparis and Paika.rs, (as payment

of the loans) who used to supply it to the outside merchants. 61

In Patna Gaya region the rice crop meant for sale was financed by the

Grihastha beparis, the better off peasantry who were also involved in trade.

They used to lend money and seed to the poor peasants at a very high rate of

interest and collected both principal and interest at the harvest. 62

In Shahabad rice cultivation was being financed by the mahajans who

gave advances of money and grain to poor cultivators, being repaid entirely, in

grain at harvest. The rates of interest was extremely high. The rural

indebtedness was so extensive that Buchanan has observed that 'about a third of

the whole rent of the district (of Shahabad) is used to be paid by money

borrowed from them. 63

Irri2ation System

Irritation was very important for cultivation in most parts of Bihar (except

Purnea region) especially in South Bihar. 64 It was essential for carrying out

cultivation in drier months of the season. In Saran district & Tirhut region

though protected to some extent by the water-retaining capacity of the new

alluvial type of soil some kind of irrigation was required. (Here well irrigation

was practiced extensively).

61. See Chapter IV.

62. Buchanan, Patna Behar ... pp.682-693. For a detailed discussion see chapter IV.

63. Buchanan, Shahabad ..... p.430.

64. Patna - Gaya region, Shahabad, south of Monghyr and South of Bhagulpur.

39

As has been pointed out the districts of Patna, Gaya, Shahabad, south of

Monghyr and South of Bhagulpur, commonly known as South Bihar was

composed mostly of old alluvial type of soil which has very little water retaining

capacity and dried up very soon after the rains. The ground water level was

very low in South Bihar, except in those parts adjacent to the Ganga and wells

could be dug out only with great difficulty and finally the region had a distinct

slope from south to north which caused quick flow of water. In fact, the natural

conditions were so adverse that it was very important to have an irrigation

system to carry on cultivation in the drier parts of the year. 65 The place had

two major modes of irrigation system , which were peculiar to this region and

were known as ahars & Pynes.

Bordered by Chhotanagpur plateau in the South and Gangetic valley in the

north, south Bihar had a marked slope from south to north roughly at the rate of

one metre per kilometre. Using this slope an ahar was made by erecting an

embankment of a metre or two in height on the lower ground, generally the

north side. 66 Ahars with banks more than a mile long and irrigating more than

a thousand acres of land were not rare. But smaller ones were more common67

65. Grierson, G.A. Notes of Gaya dist, N. Sengupta, The Indegenous Irrigation ...... op. cit. pp.158-159.

66. Sengupta, The indigenous Irrigation Organization .... op.cit., p.159.

67. Martin, pp.193-294, Sengupta, The indigenous Irrigation Organization... op.cit., pp.160.

40

Ahars were constructed specially for rice cultivation. 68 and was also used for

the winter crop like wheat and barley. 69

The peasants had to pay for the use of the water, and only those whose

fields lay in the village where the ahar was situated had it free.

Pynes were systems devised for utilizing the water which flowed through

the numerous hilly rivers flowing from south to north intersecting the whole

country. Except in the rainy season these rivers remain almost dry but with the

advent of monsoon in mid June turns into swollen torrents following heavy

rainfall in the Chhotanagpur hills. But the slope of the region is so big, and the

beds of most of these rivers are so sandy that the water is rapidly carried through

the region or percolates down through the road, and soon the rivers become dry.

In order to prevent the waste of water in this manner numerous artificial

Channels called Pynes were made, that chanelled the water from points facing

the current of these rivers to the agricultural fields. 70 Pynes were of variable

size and length. A small Pyne irrigating a single village was called Khaspyne.

Some were as much as 10, 12 or 20 miles in length, and irrigated hundreds of

villages. Smaller channels taking off from the main Pyne were called Bhoklas,

while the smallest channels that led into the fields were known as Karhas71

However, the ahars & Pynes did not carry water throughout the year.

The majority of rivers in South Bihar too are not perennial in nature. Thus the

68. Martin pp.293-294

69. Buchanan, Patna, pp.533-534.

70. Sengupta, p.l60.

71. L.S.S.O' Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers, Gaya, pp.l27-128.

41

main objective of these works were "to retain a regular supply during the

occasional intervals of fair weather, that happen in the rainy reason, and to

provide for the want of water which happens when it ceases early"72 Beginning

with the rainy season those works carried water till about October. But as the

rains ceased and the rivers dried up, the water had to be led into Pyne by means

of training work known as derhiain or baluain. 73 For paddy cultivation the

most acute need of water was felt during the time of transplantation and during

the second flooding of the rice fields in the hathiya nakhat. 74 If rain failed

during this time, artificial irrigation was made use of. On such occassions (the

hathiya nakhat), intense activities were seen around the rivers. Training works

were vigourously pushed on at the heads of the Pynes to try and lead every drop

of water left in the beds of the rivers into the Pynes. Bandhs were also erected

at customary places to block up whatever water there was to give ahead into the

Pyne. 75 Since ahars and Pynes could not be used except for irrigation of the

whole of their command areas together, the peasants synchronized their

operation and undertook agricultural operation almost at the same time. This

was achieved by strictly following the agricultural calendar. The seed-beds are

sown during adra nakhat (June 20 to July 5), transplanted during the next

72. Martin, Behar & Shahabad, op.cit. p.293.

73. Ibid, pp.l27-128.

74. Sept. 26 to Oct. 7.

75. L.S.S.O' Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers, Gaya ... op.cit., pp.l27-128.

42

month (July 18 to Aug 15), Nigar or the draining of water from the field was

done during Utra Phaguni nakhat (Sept. 12 to 25) and after about 15 days the

fields were again flooded during Hathiya nakhat (Sept. 26 to Oct. 7) left as such

throughout ChitTa nakhat (Oct. 8 to 20), dried during swati nakhat (Oct. 21 to

Nov.3) and then harvested during Bishakha nakhat (Nov. 4 to 15). The need

for irrigation obviously occurs during the transplantation and during the second

flooding at the time of Hathiya nakhat and even if there is good rain during this

time a little artificial irrigation is actually practised. The late rains during

Hathiya is crucial also for the sowing of the rabi crops.76 Rabi crops were

sown in bed (pet) of ahar, called rubbi duba. 77

In case there is a failure of rain the cultivators exert their efforts to use up

the last bit of water left in ahars and Pynes, after irrigating the rice crop for

preparation of rabi fields for sowing.

The Pyne and ahar system was collectively known as gilandazi.

Extensive gilandazi works were described by Buchanan:

I now proceed to describe the river called Punpun

which from the number of canals that it supplies with

water for irrigation, is of vast importance to

agriculture. For this purpose, indeed, some of its

tributary streams would appear, since the time of

76. Sengupta, The Indigenous Irrigation Organisation .... op.cit.

77. L.S.S.O' Malley, Gaya ... op.cit., pp.l29-30.

43

Major Rennell' s survey, to have been entirely

diverted from its channel and have been so much

subdivided among the fields, that they can no longer

be traced to a junction. 78

The Phalgu was similarly exploited. In the dry season darns of clay were made

across it to turn the water upon the fields. In the rainy season the numerous

branches and canals received an immense torrent that rushed down the Phalgu

and dispersed it through the country so that it seldom overflowed. The Dhadhar

and Dhananjay were dry on the surface in the middle of December, but little

canals dug into the sand collected fine streams for watering the fields. The

Khuri and Sakri and their branches were subdivided into various channels which

gave a copious supply of water for cultivation.79

Social organization

This kind of an extensive ahar-Pyne net work involved several social

tasks peculiar to irrigation. There were a set of technical tasks relating to

planning, construction and maintenance of irrigation works and there existed a

set of relations necessary for the control and allocation of water among the users

for meeting the cost and labour required in carrying out the technical works, for

resolution of conflicts and so on.

78. Buchanan, Behar, vol.l., p.8.

79. Ibid, pp.26-35.

44

Buchanan has observed that the expenses of both making and repairing the

canals and reservoirs were born entirely by the zamindars. 80 The cost of

construction varied according to the size of Ahar, ranging between Rs. 25 and

Rs. 500/-. They needed to be maintained regularly. The zamindars employed

people to dig the canals and reservoirs. These people were called aseldars and

were paid by the land lords out of the rent, but more often the peasants were

called upon to work in the irrigation works without any significant remuneration.

It was begar or unpaid labour that the peasants had to perform in the traditional

set up. 81

Allocation of water within the villages was managed mostly by the

cultivators themselves. Allocation between the villages was a major source of

conflict, and was a source of concern for the zamindars, who had to appoint

people to regulate the allocation of water. 82

The peasantry had to pay for using the water from the Ahars at the rate of

8 anna per standard bigha, and only those people whose fields lay in the village

where the ahar was situated had it free. 83

Gyan Prakash has noted that the maintanance of such an important

component of agriculture, contrary to the theory of "oriental despotism," was

80. Buchanan, Behar, p.534.

81. Grierson, Notes on Gaya District, p.27.

82. Martin, Behar & Shahabad, Vol.l, p.294.

83. WBSA, BRP, Ist Feb. 1790, pp.29-32.

45

not the function of a centralized state. 84 Grierson's description of the

institutional arrangements surrounding the management of irrigation works

shows the existence of localized systems of maintenance centering on the

initiative of landlords and the labour of peasants and labourers. 85 To begin

with, there was the expense of actually digging the canals. Grierson estimated

that each mile cost roughly one thousand rupees. Although Grierson did not

explain how he arrived at this estimate, it would appear that most of it

represented investment in labourers. The settlement officer of Gaya felt that

such estimates tended to be excessive because a large proportion of the labour

for original works was provided free by peasants; the same applied to annual

maintenance. The channel and tank beds silted up rapidly because of sandy soil,

and consequently they had to be cleared every year or two. In addition, there

was the recurring expense of labour of small breaches. The labour for these jobs

was provided by cultivators under a system called Gaom, which specified that

each peasant household had to provide one person for each plough it owned to

the landlord's agent, who organized the maintenance and repair of irrigation

works. The peasant's labour was supplemented by the landlord's Kamias, who

were given wages in kind for their labour. Taking this into consideration, the

84. Karl A. Wittfogel, Oriental Despotism, New Haven, 1957); quoted in Gyan Prakash, Bonded Histories : Genealogies of Labour Servititude in Colonial India, Cambridge, 1990, p.24., Nirmal Sengupta, The Indigenous Irrigation Organization of South Bihar ... , op.cit, pp.l57-90.

85. Grierson, Notes ... op.cit., p.61.

46

settlement officer of Gaya estimated that the annual expenditure to the landlord

on the maintenance of irrigation works was about half a rupee per acre. But the

landlord's contribution to the maintenance of irrigation works was significant not

so much for the money he spent but for the organization of the labour of

peasants and his Kamias. 86

The ahar Pyne system of irrigation attained its highest development in

the Gaya district. In the course of his Bhagulpur trip, Buchanan was not much

impressed by these irrigation works. But as he proceeded further and reached

Gay a his critical attitude changed. 87

Buchanan found that in the Patna Gaya area, whenever the zamindars had

smaller holdings the conditions of irrigation was better. But when he resorted to

fanning out his estate to his creditors, known as Mostagir, a special category of

thikadars, irrigation tended to decay and as a result cultivation was affected. 88

In Shahbad area, Buchanan found that the ahar-Pyne system could be

extremely useful in increasing productivity by making cultivation more secure.

But here Buchanan found that the irrigation works were much neglected and was

in a decaying state. And this had an adverse effect in the rice cultivation of the

district. During the drought induced dearth of 1799 it was noted by J. Deane,

collector of Shahabad:

86. Gyan Prakash, Bonded Histories: ... op.cit., pp.24-32.

87. Buchanan, Behar, p.535.

88. Buchanan, Behar, p.569.

47

no rain has fallen; so that almost the whole of the

k:hreef is lost and in many places no rubee crop can

now be had. The entire khereef crop in this

neighbourhood might have been saved had the

reservoirs been a few feet deeper or the old tanks not

suffered to fill up. 89

Again in the same year, during the drought it was reported:

a small expense in clearing and deepening the

reservoirs and tanks and repairing the embankments, would have

saved the whole crop, which would have been fit for cutting in

about fifteen days move; in some places, an increase in the depth

of only three feet would have been sufficient. This mode of

preventing the calamity of famine... is not likely to be adopted by

the zamindars, without some interference on the part of the

government. 90

The district of Shahabad did not have an elaborate or extensive gilandazi works.

The land was flatter91 and the channels of the rivers were narrower. The Kao

which was about 500 yards wide in the middle of its course, was perhaps best

89. Grain, 15 Nov. 1799 (Letter from collector of Shahabad, 5 Nov. 1799), No.20.

90. BRP, 5 Nov. 1799 (Letter from the collector of Shahabad dated 25 Oct., 1799).

91. Buchanan, Shahabad ... op.cit., p.11.

48

suited for irrigation in the district but it had not been applied to this use. 92

Reservoirs however were constructed. Like Gaya, these were made along gentle

declivities, receiving water from above and collecting it for the supply of rice

fields below. The land between the reservoirs and the villages, which was

usually situated on the highest parts, was cultivated with crops which came to

maturity in spring.93 For Buchanan, some reasons responsible for the decay of

the irrigation system in the district the financial weakening of some zamindars,

who had "contracted to much debt" that they were not able to undertake those

works, and the partitioning of the estates a may a number of zamindars who had

shares in the same irrigation works as a result of which "the parties could not be

induced to unite even in repairing the reservoirs necessary to preserve both from

ruin" .94

He also pointed out that the Thikadari system has proved very

'destructive' in the districts of Shahabad as "in some large estates these men

(thikadars) have been entrusted with the keeping of the reservoirs in repair, and

as might have been expected, have always neglected this duty towards the end of

their leases, while on a renewal no steps were taken to recover the loss. The

Thikadar agreeing to give no more than the land would produce without

repair. "95

92. Ibid, pp.23-27.

93. Ibid, p.12.

94. Buchanan, Shahabad, pp.322-323, Martin, Shahabad report, p.537.

95. Buchanan, Shahabad, p.351.

49

The produce system fonned an indispensable .part of the social

organization of the irrigation system of south Bihar. 96 Non-monetization does

not fully explain this phenomenon because Bihar was no way lacking in the

development of a market and secondly, much of this produce rent was actually

paid in cash equivalent to the value of the zamindar' s share, under the peculiar

system of Danabandi. Actually the produce rent was meant to ensure that the

zamindars should not afford to neglect the irrigation works.

Wells were another source of irrigation which were widely used but

obviously on a smaller scale than the ahar Pyne system. It was more prevalent

in the districts of north Bihar especially and in Saran district it was extensively

used.

The wells were of two types - lndaras which were lined with bricks and

Kuyas which were not. the fonner were usually made by zamindars and the

latter by the cultivators themselves. 97

A great portion of winter crops, vegetables and sugar cane was watered

from wells. 98 The landlords assisted the Koeri cultivators, who grew

vegetables, sugarcane and other valuable crops by digging brick lined wells.

Vegetable gardens and fields occupied by sugarcane or wheat paid a higher rent

accordingly. 99

96. This point will be duscussed in greater detail in Appendix-2.

97. Buchanan, Behar & Patna, p.535, Martin, Shahabad, p.294.

98. Martin, Shahabad, p.29, Buchanan, Behar Patna, p.535, Buchanan, Shahabad, 320.

99. ibid.

50

Landlords in Patna Gaya area obtained a money rent from the areas

watered by wells where cash crops were grown. 100

The peasants often constructed Kutcha or temporary wells. the

construction cost varied according to the distance of the water level from the

surface. The construction of wells and the organization of irrigation from such

wells seemed to have been undertaken by the peasants working together. 101

Thus in the above pages we have tried to study the parameters within

which rural production occured in our period. The geography of the region with

its hills and rivers had a close bearing on the agrarian economy of Bihar. Lying

in the lower and middle Ganga region, Bihar occupies some of the most fertile

lands in India. River Ganga flows right across it from west to east dividing it in

two parts. To the north of the Ganga the plains are crossed by powerful rivers

such as the Gandak and the Kosi, which flow out of the Himalays. The rivers

deposited much fertile alluvial soil, but they were capricious as they changed

course without warming and created devastation by immoderate flooding.

However north Bihar was a fertile tract. Where it was effectively settled, heavy

crops could be produced North Bihar especially towards the north had a frontier

of expanding settlement. South Bihar did not have the northern tract's natural

fertility. The rivers flowing out of the Chotanagpur pleteau inundated the land

less than the rivers fed by the snows of the Himalayas, which made it less fertile

100. ibid.

101. ibid.

51

but at the same time saved it from the devastation caused by immoderate

flooding. Rather drought was a bigger threat for the people of South Bihar.

Largely spared flooding, the people of south Bihar sought to protect themselves

from qrought through antificial irrigation network known as ahar - pyne system,

which had attained a high stage of development in our period. A remarkable

feature of irrigation organisation in our period was the small peasant initiative in

constructing and maintaining the irrigation works. Agriculture in late eighteenth

and early nineteenth century Bihar was finely tuned not only to the terrain but

also to the seasons. The collective wisdom of their predicessors spawned a

cosmology which passed to the folk lores prevalent in the peasant's world, and

told the peasant when to grow what and taught them the signs that foretold a

good harvest or impending drought/flood.

52