ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>J&#256G&#298RDAR&#298</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="JG*RDAR*"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279J&#256G&#298RDAR&#298, a feudal system of political and revenue administration based on <i>j&#257g&#299r</i>, lit. fief or grant of land received from the sovereign or a vassal owing fealty and obedience to him. Sikhs who, after the fall of Sirhind in early 1764, started occupying territory, did not automatically take to the <i>j&#257g&#299rd&#257r&#299</i> system in vogue since the Sultanate and Mu<u>gh</u>al periods. Heads of various Sikh <i>misls</i> and lesser <i>sard&#257rs</i> or commanders had under them vast tracts of land, but their holdings were not <i>j&#257g&#299rs</i> in the sense that they were owed to no sovereign above them. As the legend on the coins first struck by the Sikhs in 1765 signifies, they considered themselves part of the collective body called the Panth -- Panth which derived its sovereignty from the Gur&#363 (and God) . According to anonymous author of a contemporary work, <i>Haq&#299qat-i-Bin&#257 wa Ur&#363j-i-Firq&#257-&#299 Sikkh&#257&#7749</i>, even he who had only two horses and acquired a single village as his own <i>j&#257g&#299r</i> did not owe allegiance to anyone else. Stray instances however are not lacking of the chiefs of Sikh <i>misls</i> giving <i>j&#257g&#299rs</i> to persons serving them in civil or military capacity, but <i>j&#257g&#299rd&#257r&#299</i> as a system of service <i>j&#257g&#299rs</i> or revenue-free land grants in lieu of salary for services became a distinctive feature of the Sikh revenue administration only under Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh (1780-1839). According to figures given by Henry T. Prinsep, <i>Origin of the Sikh Power in the Punjab and Political Life of Maharaja Ranjit Singh</i> (1834), over 42 per cent of the total revenue from land was alienated by the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 in favour of all kinds of <i>j&#257g&#299rd&#257rs</i>. Some of the <i>j&#257g&#299rd&#257rs</i> of the former chiefs were also taken into service and paid through <i>j&#257g&#299rs</i>. Most <i>j&#257g&#299rs</i>, other than some <i>dharm&#257rth j&#257g&#299rs</i> which were given in perpetuity, were temporary, usually for the lifetime of the grantees. The <i>j&#257g&#299rdar</i> was given the right to collect revenue either in cash or kind as it might suit the convenience of the cultivators. A fixed part of the revenue, normally 12.5 per cent was payable to the State. Judicial powers, both civil and criminal, were vested in the <i>j&#257g&#299rd&#257r</i>, but he could not interfere with traditional proprietory rights of the cultivators. Conditions of grant were laid down. For instance, in the case of military <i>j&#257g&#299rd&#257r</i>, the portions for personal service and for the maintenance of a specified number of horsemen were distinctly mentioned. Though one and the same person could be asked alternatively to perform civil or military duties, distinction between civil and military officers was generally clear. Thus while Avitabile was essentially a civil administrator, Ventura was a military commander. Instances were also there of a <i>j&#257g&#299r</i> granted to more than one person with their individual shares severally fixed. This was a legacy from the old <i>patt&#299d&#257r&#299</i> system.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Next in importance to service and subsistence <i>j&#257g&#299rs</i> were the <i>dharm&#257rth j&#257g&#299rs</i> or land grants for charitable purposes. These grants made both by the sovereign and the vassal chiefs, and even by subordinate <i>j&#257g&#299rd&#257rs</i>, were usually permanent. As a rule, a <i>j&#257g&#299rd&#257r</i> could make further grants of a permanent nature only if he held his own <i>j&#257g&#299r</i> permanently, which was rare, most <i>j&#257g&#299rs</i> being for a life-tenure. Most <i>dharm&#257rth</i> grants were therefore also for the grantees' life, but since the grants were normally attached to institutions of permanent nature, they were almost always renewed by succeeding rulers, chiefs and <i>j&#257g&#299rd&#257rs</i> and thus tended to be permanent. Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh as well as his predecessors, the <i>misl</i> chiefs, made liberal <i>dharam&#257rth</i> grants without discrimination on religious basis. Temples, mosques, <i>tak&#299&#257s, &#7693er&#257s, <u>kh</u>&#257naq&#257hs, ser&#257is</i> as well as <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i>, and Ud&#257s&#299s, faq&#299rs, Brahma&#7751s as well as Sikh saints were equally the beneficiaries.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The J&#257g&#299rdar&#299 system under the Sikh rule did not affect the basic system of land tenures. The bulk of the cultivators continued to be peasant proprietors of their holdings, paying land revenue direct to the State in case of <u>Kh</u>&#257lis&#257 lands and to the fief-holders in case of <i>j&#257g&#299rs</i>. Tenants were divided into two broad categories : <i>muz&#257ri'-&#257n-i-mustaqil</i> or <i>maur&#363s&#299</i> and <i>muz&#257ri-'&#257n-i-<u>gh</u>air-mustqil</i> or <i><u>gh</u>air-maur&#363s&#299</i>, the former preponderating. Those who brought forest land under cultivation were treated as <i>muzari'&#257n-i-maur&#363s&#299</i> or occupancy tenants and could not be ejected at will.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1">Banga, Indu, <i>Agrarian System of the Sikhs</i>. Delhi, 1978<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Har&#299 R&#257m Gupta<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>