DOI article:
Chakravarty-Kaul, Minoti: The commons in nineteenth-century Punjab
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49004#0048
40
M. CHAKRAVARTY-KAUL
order to obtain grazing free of charge in the
naili village. In return, the naili cattle which
had to be driven away during the floods
sought refuge in the upland villages (Douie:
para 7; Famine Pros 1885).
The pattern described for Karnal is impor-
tant as the Nardak was a predominantly pas-
toral area with the long distance grazing tract
being an important supplement to the banjar
kadim or village commons. Here, the impact
of canal irrigation and demarcation of villages
resulted in the disappearance of village com-
mon lands.
Zone II
The Dry Tract, also like the Delhi region, had
two extreme situations. The first was of set-
tled communities near the banks of the Sutlej
and the Ghaggar rivers; the second, Hissar
and Sirsa had large tracts of waste where no-
madic pastoralists (Singh 1988, 333-334) eked
out an existence near ponds and hollows. The
instability of the river systems like that of the
Ghaggar would not support anything but
short-fallow rain-fed cultivation. The dryness
was healthy for pastoral activity. Hissar was
famous for its cattle.3 The Government had
set up a Cattle Farm in Hissar early in the
nineteenth century.
In the extensive wastes cultivation was in
detached fields at a distance of several miles
near a pond or hollow. The intervening waste
in a discontinuous system of arable served the
function of the long fallow. If fields were cul-
tivated intermittently, the stubble provided
the grazing in short fallow. This interchange
of fallows would last so long as the grass in
the waste and the water in the hollows was
available. But whenever the grass coverage
was exhausted the pastoralist would move.
This system of nomadic pastoralism was
disturbed by two events. One, the British fi-
nalised the boundaries of the district between
1828 and 1838 and two, they set up colonies
of settlers in the waste. These conversions of
parts of the long-range waste to the arable
were considered “an encroachment on the
customary grazing ground” (Sirsa SR
1874-83, 311) of the nomads. This caused fric-
tion. The reduction of such long range waste
left only one option, - sedentarisation,
which, as M.B. Rowton argues is a normal
aspect of nomadism (Rowton in Singh 1988,
338).
The process of sedentarisation was has-
tened by early colonization of Sirsa by the
British. But the settled villages had large in-
termediate waste areas between them. There-
fore, pastoral activity continued to depend on
customary inter-regional movements. Com-
mensurate with that, cultivation continued in
villages which were far apart. The British had
to formalize some of these arrangements
whereby herders and graziers moved to Bha-
walpur villages and the grazing grounds of
Bikaner.
In districts like Sirsa and Hissar (Ogilvie,
Pros 1885: section VI), large extensive areas
were formerly given over to long distance
grazing in contrast to the limited and
bounded grazing which emerged subsequent
to the British settlements. The grazing pat-
tern in these districts had to follow the line of
rainfall and drainage channels alternating
with the long distance grazing wastes in the
open with those in the riverine areas, and no-
madism was a necessity.
Pastoral districts like Sirsa, Hissar and
parts of Rohtak and Ferozepur had to depend
essentially on long distance fallows. There
were common lands in villages in some parts,
but they were not sufficient. Besides the arid-
ity of the area was not conducive to the re-
generation of grass unless the tract was irri-
gated. Hence, in the early part of the nine-
teenth century, the long distance grazing
wastes played a crucial part in the pastoral
economy of the area.
In ordinary times the proprietor “preferred
M. CHAKRAVARTY-KAUL
order to obtain grazing free of charge in the
naili village. In return, the naili cattle which
had to be driven away during the floods
sought refuge in the upland villages (Douie:
para 7; Famine Pros 1885).
The pattern described for Karnal is impor-
tant as the Nardak was a predominantly pas-
toral area with the long distance grazing tract
being an important supplement to the banjar
kadim or village commons. Here, the impact
of canal irrigation and demarcation of villages
resulted in the disappearance of village com-
mon lands.
Zone II
The Dry Tract, also like the Delhi region, had
two extreme situations. The first was of set-
tled communities near the banks of the Sutlej
and the Ghaggar rivers; the second, Hissar
and Sirsa had large tracts of waste where no-
madic pastoralists (Singh 1988, 333-334) eked
out an existence near ponds and hollows. The
instability of the river systems like that of the
Ghaggar would not support anything but
short-fallow rain-fed cultivation. The dryness
was healthy for pastoral activity. Hissar was
famous for its cattle.3 The Government had
set up a Cattle Farm in Hissar early in the
nineteenth century.
In the extensive wastes cultivation was in
detached fields at a distance of several miles
near a pond or hollow. The intervening waste
in a discontinuous system of arable served the
function of the long fallow. If fields were cul-
tivated intermittently, the stubble provided
the grazing in short fallow. This interchange
of fallows would last so long as the grass in
the waste and the water in the hollows was
available. But whenever the grass coverage
was exhausted the pastoralist would move.
This system of nomadic pastoralism was
disturbed by two events. One, the British fi-
nalised the boundaries of the district between
1828 and 1838 and two, they set up colonies
of settlers in the waste. These conversions of
parts of the long-range waste to the arable
were considered “an encroachment on the
customary grazing ground” (Sirsa SR
1874-83, 311) of the nomads. This caused fric-
tion. The reduction of such long range waste
left only one option, - sedentarisation,
which, as M.B. Rowton argues is a normal
aspect of nomadism (Rowton in Singh 1988,
338).
The process of sedentarisation was has-
tened by early colonization of Sirsa by the
British. But the settled villages had large in-
termediate waste areas between them. There-
fore, pastoral activity continued to depend on
customary inter-regional movements. Com-
mensurate with that, cultivation continued in
villages which were far apart. The British had
to formalize some of these arrangements
whereby herders and graziers moved to Bha-
walpur villages and the grazing grounds of
Bikaner.
In districts like Sirsa and Hissar (Ogilvie,
Pros 1885: section VI), large extensive areas
were formerly given over to long distance
grazing in contrast to the limited and
bounded grazing which emerged subsequent
to the British settlements. The grazing pat-
tern in these districts had to follow the line of
rainfall and drainage channels alternating
with the long distance grazing wastes in the
open with those in the riverine areas, and no-
madism was a necessity.
Pastoral districts like Sirsa, Hissar and
parts of Rohtak and Ferozepur had to depend
essentially on long distance fallows. There
were common lands in villages in some parts,
but they were not sufficient. Besides the arid-
ity of the area was not conducive to the re-
generation of grass unless the tract was irri-
gated. Hence, in the early part of the nine-
teenth century, the long distance grazing
wastes played a crucial part in the pastoral
economy of the area.
In ordinary times the proprietor “preferred