II. PRE-REFORM INDIA

Introduction

Independence in 1947 is the overriding political factor in modern India's development and reform. Although the British era, and those that preceded it, contained many acts affecting the tenure status of the Indian owners, tenants, and workers, the current land reform program of India properly begins with 1948-1951. During this period, landmark legislation abolishing intermediary tenures, regulating tenancy, and limiting size of holding was passed in many states.

In some

Land reform in independent India is not easily tied to particular dates because land law is state law and progress varies among states. states separate acts and amendments were passed for different purposes--e.g., tenancy regulation, consolidation of holdings, zamindari abolition--and in other states comprehensive acts were passed. To add to the complexity, state boundaries have shifted since Independence, away from political units inherited from the British era and toward linguistic-cultural states. New states have been created and names of others have been changed. 1/ (See Map) The result, for example, is that the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra each contain three distinct areas and Mysore, five areas, based on the history of land reform legislation. 2/

1/ Generally the data in this report refer to states of the late 60's. Some states had boundary and name changes at different times, e.g., old Madras changed boundary to new Madras then new Madras became Tamil Nadu. For present status, therefore, read Tamil Nadu where Madras appears and translate similarly for other states.

2/ Maharashtra; former Bombay area,

Marathwada area, Vidarbha area;

Gujarat; former Bombay area, Saurashtra, Kutch; Mysore; former Mysore area, former Bombay area, South Kanara, Coorg, Hyderabad.

In addition to Independence, the context of land reform in India should include partition of pre-Independence India into present India and Pakistan. 1/ The consequences of an undivided India are unknown, but the hardships of dislocation, dispute over territory such as Kashmir, and utilization of scarce resources for national defense

are known.

The obstacles of caste, religion, and tradition are so well known as to require only mention. A trained civil service and educated upper class were substantial assets. However, attitudes of the populace have been conditioned by the Independence movement and the government, even if for the people, was still not of the people. Democracy and reforms were to be carried off at the same time, both under the severest economic handicaps.

1951.

"Pre reform" India is defined here as the period prior to about
the

An evaluation of/progress of land reform requires an understanding of conditions existing before that time. Following is a brief summary of the development of the Indian land tenure system.

Land Tenure Structure:

Development, Pre-Independence 2/

The basic characteristic of the early land tenure structure is to

be found in communal land ownership.

The essential feature of the land

1/ Nanavati and Anjaria point out that partition had the effect of leaving present India with 77 percent of the area, 81 percent of the people, but only 68 percent of the irrigated area of undivided India. Nanavati and Anjaria, p. 146.

2/ Historical works are referenced in the bibliography. Only quotations are cited to particular authors.

settlement was the village. The village itself was preceded by tribal
communes which did not recognize individual rights in land within the
clan. When the clan eventually outgrew the borders of kinship, the
village began to develop elements of individual interest in property,
chiefly with respect to the arable land. The degree and form of communal
interest varied: for example, in some cases, the right to cultivation
of a plot was heritable, whereas, other arrangements provided for the
rotation of cultivators on the land so that some operators would not
be disadvantaged by differences in grades of land.

Pre British era. During the Hindu period (approximately 1500 B.C. 1/ to 1200 A.D.), the land was not considered as property of the King,

but the property of village.

made to the King by the villages.

Payment of tax in kind was

The amount of the tax was usually

about one-sixth of the crop but at times went as high as one-fourth

for emergencies. Most noteworthy are the vestiges of the concept of joint or communal ownership that are found in the present-day tenure structure. It is through the medium of the village that it is possible to see

the close connection of the revenue system and the tenure system. The Indian State derived most of its revenue from the land and hence the

village became the agency of collection. During the Hindu period, the

1/ Fifteen hundred B.C. is the approximate date given to the Aryan invasion of India. The Dravids were driven mostly to the south where they formed isolated pockets that were subject to little influence from Delhi. It was in the Dravidian areas where tribal customs were more tightly preserved with a consequent effect on the tenure structure of the area.

village leader was directly responsible for the collection and payment of the King's share of the produce and for maintaining an equitable relationship between the cultivators; there were no intermediaries. Later it will be seen how this system gave rise to the layers of intermediaries between the cultivator and the State.

Wasteland, range, and meadow were in joint ownership and were managed through the village panchayat. The element of private property in land

was quite limited and there was a strong implication of stewardship in

the land. The Code of Manu provided for very severe fines for irresponsible

cultivation.

The village has remained important in the relationship between the Indian cultivator and his land. Despite its setbacks and alteration under the British, the village still preserves its primacy and recently has been the focus of several programs for economic development. 1/

It can be said that, in general, the Muslim rule had comparatively little influence on the status of proprietary rights in the land. The most notable changes were the increases in taxes and the more systematic treatment of assessments beginning with Sher Shah (1540-45) who introduced a method of land measurement and classification. The settlement

was made specifically in terms of the individual ryots (peasants) recognizing no interests between the government and the cultivator, even when the

revenue was collected through a village headman or zamindar.

1/ See M. S. Randhawa.

Longmans Ltd. Rev. ed. 1951.

Developing village India. Bombay, Orient Localization of economic development efforts is reflected in the Intensive Agricultural District Programme begun in the early 1960's and the Panchayati Raj (village democracy) concepts developed in the 1950's.