Mathura A Gazetteer-2

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MATHURA A GAZETTEER,
edited and compiled by, D.L. DRAKE-BROCKMAN [1911]

AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE

CULTIVATED AREA
The agricultural development of the district appears to have attained a high level from the earliest introduction of British rule. There were differences no doubt between the tracts on either side of the Jumna. Everywhere villages owned by Jat husbandmen showed better cultivation than those possessed by others. But in spite of the exactions of farmers, the rapacity of amils, and the unsettled state of the country, the proportion of cultivated land appears to have been high from the beginning. As early as 1808 the collector of Aligarh, within whose jurisdiction the trans-Jumna tahsils fell, reported that the lands were generally in a good state of cultivation, and in a letter dated September 29th, 1807, Mr. Ross, settlement officer of the Agra district, expressed similar views regarding the parganas on the west of the river. " The district is in general well cultivated," he wrote, " and no very great further improvement can, I think, be expected either from cultivation being extended, or from the introduction of the cultivation of more valuable articles than what are already produced. The population is by no means deficient, and the zamindars for the most part neither want resources nor seem to be deficient in experience." Forty years later, in a printed memoir prepared in 1847-48, the area of cultivation was returned at 556,812 acres or 66 per cent. of a total area of 846,121 acres for the entire district as then con stituted. The census returns of 1853 give the total as 733,362 acres, representing 71 per cent. of the total area of the district, including pargana Jalesar, but excluding 84 villages afterwards transferred to Muttra from Agra; and Mr. Alexander, who furnished the returns, estimated that cultivation had risen by 9 per cent. over his district in the five years that had elapsed since 1847. Both these returns, however, are useless for the purpose of further comparison on account of subsequent resump tions of rent-free lands. At the last settlement, which concluded in 1879, the recorded area of cultivation for land assessed to revenue only, was 649,293 acres or 83.5 of the total area. For purposes of comparison, the settlement officer was obliged to fall back on the measurements recorded between the years 1848 and 1850 at the revision of records. Complete statistics for all villages were not available; but the settlement officer found that a very noticeable increase had taken place in all tahsils, ranging from as much as 27 per cent. in Muttra to as little as 5 per cent. in. pargana Sahpau. The variations, therefore, in the rate of progress were large. The increase was unmistakably greater in the cis-Jumna parganas in the earlier years, but rapid improvement during the last few years preceding the settlement was a feature common to both tracts. At that time Sadabad had the highest proportion of cultivated area, amounting to 86.8 per cent., followed by Chhata and Mahaban with over 83 per cent., while Muttra and Mat slightly exceeded 79 per cent. In this area, however, was included a considerable amount of fallow land, which was assessed to revenue by the settlement officer; and, high as the proportion is, even after this adjustment has been made, it is still possible to say that the area under the plough has improved. Individual years whenever good seasons have prevailed have witnessed a large expansion of cultivation. This was notable between 1902 and 1904, when over 735,000 acres were actually under crops. The quinquennial average from 1903 to 1907 shows a total of 711,875 acres or 77 per cent. of the entire area of the district under the plough. When allowance has been made for a recurrence of bad seasons, this probably represents the normal cultivated area of the district. The proportions of cultivated to total area have not varied in the different tahsils from what they were at last settlement, though the actual percentages are changed by the exclusion of all fallow land. Sadabad is still the highest developed tahsil with 84.6 per cent. of its total area under crops, and it is followed, as before, by Mahaban with 79.56 per cent. and Chhata with 78.48 per cent. Next comes Mat, 74.32 per cent., and lowest in the scale is Muttra, 71.96 per cent.

CLTURABLE LAND
It may now be fairly asserted that the limits of profitable cultivation. in the district have been practically reached. At the last settlement the culturable area measured 64,081 acres of old waste and 7,472 acres of new fallow over the whole dis trict, excluding the 84 villages transferred from Farah. This was distinct from the barren area mentioned in the last chapter. The largest extent of culturable land out of cultivation was in the old pargana of Nohjhil, and the least in Sadabad. At the present time, excluding groves, culturable waste and new fallow, there are on an average 87,999 acres of old fallow, forming 9.51 per cent. of the total area of the district, which have presumably been under cultivation at some time or other. The proportion as before is largest in Mat tahsil, where it aggregates 12.87 per cent. and is smallest in Sadabad, where it does not exceed 4.20 per cent., the other tahsils holding an intermediate position. The pre-eminence of Sadabad in this respect is explicable from the fact that this tahsil contains a very insignificant amount of khadar. It is in the tracts which have the largest river frontage that the largest proportion of culturable waste and fallow land is found. Cultivation in this land is precarious not only because so much of the soil is poor but also because the Jumna valley is liable to be cut away by the river. In the uplands the area of culturable fallow is nowhere large, and consists of patches isolated amidst cultivation. The whole area has shown little tendency to decrease in spite of the fact that in the last five years irrigation has been developed by the opening of the Mat branch of the canal, and it may be assumed that little or none of it is likely to come under the plough.

CULTIVATION
The system of cultivation in the district presents no un common features. Taken as a whole it is not of the highest order, though different tracts show very different degrees of excellence. The well-wooded, fertile and thickly populated country between Aligarh on the east and the left bank of the Jumna exhibits the high class crops and the careful tillage that betoken the presence of the Jat cultivator. West of the Jumna the less energetic Rajput predominates and, with the exception of northern Chhata, cultivation is often marked by a degree of slovenliness practically unknown east of the river. The difference in cultivation between the two tracts can be attributed partly to other causes than those arising froth the individuality of the cultivators. The trans-Jumna parganas long possessed an advantage over those beyond the river in the abundance and quality of the water-supply which gave them immunity from the worst effects of drought. They had also a denser population, and were less exposed in earlier days to the inroads of Jats and Marathas. There are many signs, however, that, since the introduction of canal irrigation, a more indus trious spirit has spread among even the most indolent castes. Scarcity of population formerly retarded the development of western Muttra. But the returns is of last census show that the population has lately increased in that tract. Since the famines of 1896 and 1899, moreover, the trans-Jumna tract has begun to suffer from a short supply and the brackish nature of the water in the wells, even more than the cis-Jumna tract, Mahaban having been the worst affected tahsil; so that the natural supe riority between the two portions of the district has to some extent been obliterated.

HARVESTS
The harvests are known as the kharif or autumn, rabi or spring, and zaid or additional harvest. The last is of little importance; its extent varies according to the nature of the season, but normally it does not cover more than 3,275 acres, the bulk of which is found in Muttra tahsil. The crops grown in the zaid harvest are chiefly melons and vegetables, which are raised for the most part in the neighbourhood of Muttra city and along the Jumna. About 500 acres of chena or sawan are usually sown increasing in a famine year sometimes to over 2,000 acres. Of the two main harvests, the kharif is the more impor tant, at least so far as the area sown is concerned. At last set tlement, out of a total cultivated area of 711,163 acres, it occupied 414,950 acres or 58.4 per cent. compared with 316,189 acres or 44.5 per cent. sown in the rabi. In recent years the area under both harvests has increased proportionally; and from 1903 to 1907 the kharif has on an average covered 448,368 acres or 62.9 per cent. of the total cultivation; while the rabi has occupied 334,699 acres or 47 per cent. The disproportion between the kharif and the rabi is most marked in the western tahsils and least marked in Mat, while Sadabad and Mahaban hold a position between the two.

DOFASLI
These figures serve to show that a considerable area bears more than one crop in the year, but the practice of double cropping is not followed to the same extent in Muttra as in other more fertile districts. There has, however, been a large increase during the last thirty years. At settlement the dofasli area was returned at only 30,344 acres or 4.3 per cent. of the cultivation, but shortly afterwards the increase was very rapid. From 1885 to 1888 the annual average was 61,913 acres or 9.9 per cent., and for the following decade 71,655 acres or 10.3 per cent. The highest figure ever recorded was in the year 1897-98, when no less than 107,728 acres bore two crops in the year. During the last five years there has been a slight improvement and the average has been 74,469 acres or 10.46 per cent. of the net cultivation. The figures for the different tahsils exhibit no very striking differences, but Mat holds the premier place with an average of 13,772 acres or 13 per cent.; and Sadabad comes last with 8,389 acres or 8.61 per cent. In Muttra and Chhata tahsils, in both of which the double cropped area exceeds 10 per cent., canal irrigation has been going on for many years and there is little likelihood of an increase. In Mat and Mahaban, where the canal has only been recently introduced, there appears to have been an improvement in the area during the last few years. Only a portion of Sadabad at present receives the benefit of irrigation, but the eastern half will soon come under the influence of the Hathras branch which is now under construction.

KHARIF CROPS
The chief kharif staples are the millets known as bajra and juar, and cotton, these three, sown either by themselves or in combination with arhar, occupying on an average over 85 per cent. of the entire area cultivated in this harvest.*(Appendix,tableV1) From 1903 to 1907 bajra alone or in combination covered on an average 59,373 acres or 13.24 per cent, of the kharif. It is chiefly grown on lighter soils, and consequently the proportion is much higher in Sadabad tahsil than elsewhere. It amounts to 19.67 per cent. in this tahsil. It is lowest in Mat and there only reaches 9.49 per cent. Since last settlement the area under bajra has increased by nearly half as much again, the increase ap parently being common to all tahsils. In about two-thirds of the area bajra is sown by itself; but, whereas in Chhata it is only intermixed with other crops in a very small area, the proportion rises to over one-half in Sadabad. The areas under bajra alone and bajra intermixed with other crops are very nearly equally divided in Mahaban.

JUAR
The average area under juar, alone or mixed, is 175,702 acres or 39.18 per cent. of the kharif. The figure rises to 43.72 per cent. in Muttra, exceeds 38 per cent, in Chhata and Mahaban, and falls to 34.44 per cent. in Sadabad. This crop requires as a rule good soil, but little care or trouble; and, though the proportion sown with it has remained substantially unchanged since last settlement, it appears to have increased in popularity in the tahsils east of the Jumna. At that time its prevalence in Muttra and Chhata was regarded as one of the surest proofs of the carelessness of the cultivation in the cis-Jumna tract. Juar, like bajra, is usually mixed with arhar; but, besides being grown as a food-grain, several varieties are sown for fodder only. The area sown alone is normally about 22 per cent. less than the area in which it is sown inter-mixed with other crops; but, whereas in Muttra the proportions are very nearly equally divided, in Chhata it is nearly all grown alone, and in Mahaban and Sadabad it is practically always mixed.

COTTON
The most valuable autumn crop is cotton, which is largely grown in all parts of the district. For the five years ending in 1907 an average of 149,004 acres or 33.23 per cent. of the kharif has been devoted to this crop, the amount varying from 36.41 per cent. in Chhata to 28.32 per cent, in Mat. At last settlement cotton covered over 15 per cent. of the kharif area, the extent ranging from 26 per cent. in Sahpau to only 10 per cent, in Muttra and Nohjhil. The crop had then begun to decline in popularity, and the decrease in the area of cultivation was regarded by the settlement officer as indicating increased use of English-made cloth, This explanation is hardly satisfactory as since then a considerable increase has taken place in the cultivated area owing to the facilities afforded by the extension of canal irrigation. Cultivators are now able to sow a large area of cotton by using canal water before the bursting of the monsoon rains; and of this advantage they avail themselves freely. The area sown varies greatly from year to year. Cotton is sometimes grown alone and sometimes intermixed with arhar. Normally about one-third of the total area sown is sown with cotton alone. It is very rare to find arhar sown by itself. During the last five years not more than 50 acres on an average have been recorded.

OTHER KHARIF CROPS
The other kharif crops are of little importance. Maize covers an average of 11,007 acres or 2.45 per cent. of the har vest; and of this over one-third is found in Mat tahsil. Moth is found on an average in 9,379 acres, forming 2.09 per cent. of the kharif. Of more importance are the fodder crops guar and khurti. The latter is grown more to the east of the Jumna and the former to the west. For the five years from 1903 to 907 these two crops covered an average of 33,891 acres or 7.55 per cent. of the harvest. Sugarcane occupied only 1,121 acres at last settlement and, in spite of the extension of canal irrigation, its cultivation has not increased to any extent. The quinquennial average only amounts to 2,088 acres. Indigo has declined: not more than 1,329 acres, for the most part in Muttra and Chhata, are planted with this crop. The rest of the harvest is made up of the small pulses urd and mung, covering some 2,000 acres annually, the bulk of which are in Mat, a few acres of oilseeds, sanai, condiments and spices. Some 1,500 acres are usually occupied by garden crops of various kinds. Rice is practically unknown, but a few acres are occasionally planted with it in Mat and Mahaban.

RABI CROPS
Mixed crops, which are generally considered a sign of in ferior husbandry, form a distinctive feature of the spring harvest in Muttra, as in many other districts.*(Appendix,tableV1) The area under pure wheat, the most valuable of the rabi staples, is comparatively small, for the average amount calculated on the returns of 1903 to 1907 is 81,574 acres or 24.37 per cent: of the harvest. The proportion, however, varies greatly in different parts. In Sadabad it amounts to as much as 35.42 per cent; the tahsil next in order is Mat with only 26.11 per cent., and in Chhata the propor tion falls as low as 17.77 per cent. These relative proportions do not appear to have substantially altered since settlement, for at that time also Sadabad held the first and Chhata the lowest place. Wheat is an expensive crop to raise: it needs careful manuring and a considerable amount of labour and irrigation. Consequently, the area devoted to the crop is greatest in that portion of the district where Jats predominate.

GRAM
The area under gram averages 54,114 acres or 16.88 per cent. of the rabi harvest. This figure excludes a small area of 1,750 acres, which is generally sown with gram and peas inter-mixed. The local distribution of this crop is uneven, and the bulk of it is grown in the cis-Jumna tahsils, in which the settle ment officer noted a less advanced standard of cultivation. In Muttra tahsil the area devoted to gram amounts to as much as 27.36 per cent. of the whole harvest. In Chhata it is 25.55 per cent. Nowhere east of the Jumna does it exceed 6.09 per cent; and in Sadabad it touches the low proportion of 2.72 per cent. The crop is seldom irrigated, and is too well known to need description.

MIXED CROPS
The various combinations known as gujai, or wheat and barley, gauchani, or wheat and gram, and bejhar, a mixture of wheat, barley, gram and peas, occupy on an average 179,330 acres or 53.57 per cent. of the spring harvest. A large quantity of barley is grown alone, the average being some 51,500 acres annually, and the area seems to have increased since last settlement, especially in Muttra and Chhata. It is raised on the lighter lands in every tahsil, and 108,500 acres of barley and gram intermixed are found, chiefly in Chhata, Mat and Mahaban. Barley, alone or in combination with gram, thus occupies an average of 160,097 acres or 47.83 per cent. of the spring harvest, ranging from 56 per cent. in Mahaban to 36.57 per cent. in Muttra. The combinations called gujai and gauchani together occupy on an average 19,233 acres or 5.74 per cent. of the rabi over the whole district, and are found in large areas in Sadabad, where the proportion is as high as 10.94 per cent: in Chhata it is only 3.95 per cent. In this respect the cis-Jumna tracts are considerably behind those east of the river. Generally it may be said that wheat, barley and bejhar prevail as rabi staples on the east, and wheat, gram and bejhar on the west of the Jumna.

OTHER CROPS
The other rabi crops are unimportant. Peas have already been noticed, and masur or lentils are almost unknown. About 2,400 acres are annually devoted to potatoes, turnips, carrots and other vegetable crops. They are principally grown in Mat, Mahaban and Sadabad. Of the non-food crops sown, oilseeds, cover the largest area. This amounts to 13,065 acres and they are to a certain extent also mixed with wheat and barley. The varieties known as sarson or mustard, lahi or rape, and alsi or linseed are little grown alone, but a not inconsiderable area is devoted to them in the wheat and barley fields. There is no culti vation of opium in the district, and that of dyes has now practi cally disappeared. Some 700 acres are usually devoted to tobacco, over one-third of which appears to belong to Mahaban; and a few sores sown with condiments, spices, miscellaneous non-food crops, and oats complete the total of the rabi crop statement.