Mahesh Contested Claims

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http://ier.sagepub.comReviewSocial History

Indian Economic &

DOI: 10.1177/0019464606043004042006; 43; 487Indian Economic Social History Review

Mahesh Sharma(New documents from Chamba)

Contested claims: Land, ritual and the Jogis of Charpatnath

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Land, ritual and the Jogis of Charpatnath /487

Contested claims: Land, ritual

and the Jogis of Charpatnath

(New documents from Chamba)

Mahesh Sharma

Panjab University, Chandigarh

Visiting Faculty, University of North Florida

The article grapples with the period of transition from native to colonial rule. It comprehends

the crisis of political-economy in transition by contextualising certain civil cases and petitions

to understand how people exploited the ambiguity between power and authoritybetween the

ideology of tradition and the method of colonial institutionsto elevate their social and

economic status. While the colonial institutions could empower individuals and groups

economically, only traditional authority could legitimise their revision in social status. The

strategy employed by the Jogis of Chamba in Himachal Pradesh, who petitioned the Raja

while simultaneously exploring the legal framework and the land settlement regime of their

British masters, indicates their comprehension of the system in transition. The institutional

framework of the latter empowered them, while the nominal authority of the Raja was invoked

to claim social status. This strategy, of social mobility and empowerment, undergirds the

transformation in the agrarianscape, and contextualises the ascendance of religious orders/

leaders who cut across caste and sectarian boundaries at the time when the state was in the

process of transition.

Immediately after colonial rule was asserted in Kangra (301542 to 325 N and

75 to 7745 E), the purohit-priests corporation of the Jwalamukhi shrine

consisting of 22 familiespetitioned the new administration, contesting and

asserting their rights to donations made by the royal family, besides the gold

donated to the temple by pilgrims. The petition was perhaps motivated by the fact

that the Katoch rulers, followed by the Sikhs, had appropriated the donations to

the temple as state property. The only exceptions to this rule were the personal

offerings of pilgrims, and donations made by the royal family to individual priests.

Colonial rule, however, did not appropriate any share of the donations, leaving it

The Indian Economic and Social History Review, 43, 4 (2006)

SAGE New Delhi/Thousand Oaks/LondonDOI: 10.1177/001946460604300404


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488 / MAHESH SHARMA

to be distributed among the corporate body of priests serving the shrine. These

now included the bhojaki priests, who offered temple services and were inferior

in status and ritual hierarchy to thepurohits. Thepurohitcorporate alleged that the

bhojaki priests had already appropriated a considerable amount of gold (two goldcanopies worth Rs 1,600 and 66 tolas799 gmsof gold) offered to the temple.1

Thepurohitcorporation petitioned for the undivided share of the donations that

came to the shrine. They went further and demanded as their share the donations

in precious metals and cash, which previously was the right of the pre-colonial

state. In challenging the old ratio of division of the donations, the petitioners

assumed that the colonial regime would not appropriate the share of the state as

was past practiceor, it certainly wanted to ensure that it did not claim any such

prerogative.Such petitions were common at the stage of transition from one regime to an-

other, made perhaps with an assumption that the new masters would be particularly

ignorant of the customs and customary forms of local knowledge. On the other

hand, the colonial state sought to control the lives of individuals without neces-

sarily sharing their values.2 While such a control defined the distinctive and

peculiar cultural relationship between the state and society, it also exacerbated

tensions and affected communal politics. Gilmartin, for instance, illustrates such

a relationship of control and tension as an impact of the colonial structure on theconception of community and its politics among Muslims of Panjab.3 Yet, the

leaders of the community exploited these instruments of control to leverage their

status and economically empower themselves. It has been well-documented that

the Brahminical priests and the monastic orders manipulated both the new instru-

ments of land settlement and the judicial process to assert ownershipappropriating

land by claiming power and status in connivance with local zamindars. In the

Balakrupi shrine of Tika Har in Kangra, for instance, the Brahminical priests

appropriated prime land by geographically distancing the low-caste servitors of

the shrine. Consequent to the sanskritisation of the peasant deity and the emergence

of the shrine as an economically vibrant centre, genealogies and myth were mani-

pulated to ritually exclude the low-caste priests from the temple. That such an as-

sertion of power was legally legitimised undergirds the mechanism through which

the agencies of the state connived with ambitious upper-caste leaders.4

This article is a study of the priests of one north Indian shrine in Chamba, an

erstwhile princely state and now a district in Himachal Pradesh, bordering thestate of Jammu and Kashmir in the northwest and Panjab in the southwest. It pre-

sents civil court documents that elaborate on the processes by which one group

claimed superior ritual status and the ways in which its efforts at economic domin-

ance were contested by others within the sectarian community. These documents

1 Document no III, in Goswamy, Documents from Three Pahari Temples, pp. 25657.2 Doyle,Empire, as quoted by Gilmartin,Empire and Islam.3 Gilmartin,Empire and Islam.4 Sharma, Marginalisation and Appropriation, pp. 7391; also The Realm of Faith, pp. 10015.


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are a testimony to the attempt made by the ritually low-caste Jogis of Charpat in

Chamba to claim ritual leadership and economic advantage by subtly invoking

the authority of the Raja and manipulating the power of the colonial structures

present in the instruments of land settlement and judicial process. In the changingcontext of colonial governance, however, the instruments that allowed for economic

betterment and possible upward mobility were open to other members of the

sectarian community as well. The competition for these advantages underscored

prevailing tensions within the religious community and its conception of religious

leadership.

The Context

According to the medieval vamsavali-genealogy of the Chamba rulers, Charpatnath

is closely associated with the formation of the state in the tenth century.5 The

Charpatnath shrine is linked with Charpat, who is mentioned in the Buddhist

Siddhacharya tradition, and somewhat more elaborately in the Kanphata or Nath

tradition as an alchemist or a rasesvara Siddha, the disciple of Goraksanath. These

traditions assume that Charpat visited the Himalayan state of Chamba sometime

in antiquity to look for herbs in his quest for immortality.6 There is, however, no

mention of Charpat in the numerous charters issued by Chamba rulers, other thanin the geneology that ends abruptly in 1640. Though there is no evidence about the

portal of Charpatnath, the Jogi priests received the first grant in 1783. According

to the tanqih no. 522 provided along with the genealogical table to prove inheri-

tance in the first regular land settlement of Chamba, the Jogi priests claimed Saroha

gotra-lineage and Jogi caste.7 As a caste group, the Jogis accepted matrimony as

a basis of succession. But the ascetic Jogis differed from them insofar as they re-

fused to abide by the norms of householders, and the succession to the seat of the

preceptor was decided by an election within the fraternity. A successor was chosen

from the group ofchelas or ascetic-pupils, who were all defined by a [fictive]

kinship term, gur-bhais or sectarian-brothers, descendants of a common guru.8

5 For details, see Sharma, State Formation and Cultural Complex, pp. 387431.6 Charpati or Charpat finds mention in all standard works on medieval mysticism and the Nath

cult, on Gorakhnath and hagiographic literature surrounding him. It is difficult to date him based onthis literature. In Chamba the oral tradition of the genealogy (its crediblity notwithstanding) ascribes

a tenth-century provenance to him. It is speculated that Charpat existed in the thirteenth century,

when some tantric influences were discernable on a singular sculpture of Siddha recovered from

Chamba. Bhamboolnath, Sri Charpat Satkam; Yadav, Vajrayani Siddha Sarhyada; Tucci,

Animadversiones Indicae, and TibetanPainted Scrolls; Singh, Gorakhnath and Medieval Hindu

Mysticism; Dwivedi,Nath Sampradaya; and recently, White, The Alchemical Body.7 The shajra-nasab or the genealogical table was attached to the copy of succession to prove

inheritance in the misl-haqiyah register of the revenue village, mohal, Chamba vide Khata No. 892/

khatauni no. 1323 in the process of the final settlement of Chamba in 1957.8 The sacred kinship tie as the basis of organisation and succession amongst medieval mystic sects

has been elucidated by Gold, TheLord as Guru, and Clans and Lineage Among the Sants.


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490 / MAHESH SHARMA

It may also be noted that the suffix Nath after the name of Jogis implied that they

were adherents of the Nath-Siddha ascetics, a hatha-yogic sect created by merging

12 Shaivite hatha-yogic sects by Goraksanath. In this case, the members owed

allegiance to Charpatnath. It is doubtful if the shrine was terribly prosperous orcentral in the consideration of the Chamba state. Renewal charters provided the

shrine with some customary cesses (mange the muafi), along with a fixed annuity

in cash. It also received offerings made by devotees (both in cash and kind) along

with contributions made by the royal household on ceremonial and other ritualistic

occasions.

The tradition of Jogis cut across and fused the narrow sectarian lines between

the Kaula tradition bordering the state of Jammu, and the Nath-Siddha tradition

popular in Panjab. It was particularly popular in the peripheral areas of the Chambastate. The construction ofmarhis (hutment) of the Jogis in the pastoral and agrarian

ruralscape in the border areas of Jammu and Panjab, particularly in Churah (largely

the contested area bordering Jammu and Kashmir), underscores the significance

of these cultural outposts in creating a constituency that was drawn into the politico-

religious orbit of the state. These centres were the cultural embodiments of local

identities that the state itself protected, much like the Deotas (area-specific god-

lings) of Simla and Kulu districts. The Jogis of Charpat derived their power by

functioning as hinge-figures that linked these cultural outposts on the peripherywith the state. Indeed, by abandoning ascetic practices the Jogis lost some of their

charisma, and dropped in the caste hierarchy. Yet, by claiming matrimonial ties

with the spectrum of professional castes dotting the rural periphery of the Chamba

state, the Jogis influenced a vast, albeit fluid, religious constituency bonded by

kinship ties. This is evident from the number of Jogis, heads of such marhis, mak-

ing annual tribute to the Charpat Jogis in both cash and kind, and accepting their

sectarian superior status.9 Such a constituency was politically manipulated, even

if it remained on the margins of the larger political and social formations in the

neighbourhood. For instance, the people of Churah oscillated between Chamba

and the Jammu Hill States that patronised the dominant Kaula sectarians, so much

so that the treaty signed in 1781 between Brij Raj Dev of Jammu and Raj Singh of

Chamba made a particular point of mentioning the religious constituency of the

Kaula Dharma in the territory of Churah. They were to be patronised by Jammu,

even though political control over them was ceded to Chamba.10 The relations

amongst the Jogis were not always tension-free, and in the early 1920s the pre-eminence of the Charpat Jogis was challenged because some of their practices

were outside the purview of Jogi rituals.

9 Account sheets of the Charpat shrine in the possession of the Mahant at Chamba, particularly

between 1850 and 1950.10 Sharma, State Formation and Cultural Complex, pp. 387431; Rose, A Glossary, pp. 320,

566, 57172, 626. For patronage to Kaula practitioners, see the 1781 agreement between Raja Brij

Raj of Jammu and Raj Singh of Chamba, C25, Vogel, Catalogue of the Bhuri Singh Museum,p. 70.

For a general discussion on Kaula practices, see the second part of Dyczkowski, The Canon of the

Saivagama.




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It may be of some interest to observe that the advocates of a sanskritic civilisa-

tion loathed the social and ritual practices of the Jogis, shrouded as they were in

mystery.11 Amongst their detractors in this pre-1920s civilisational discourse

were also the colonial rulers, who had little sympathy for their practices. Buckdespised them as meat-eaters and wine-drinkers,12 while Omen dubbed them as

peripatetic, hypocrites and cheats;13 Maclagan revealed their murderous pro-

clivity,14 and Crooke cited data from Mullalys report on Madras to classify them

as a criminal tribe.15 They were portrayed as being among those who hovered on

the margins of society, eroding its social and cultural order. Yet the fact that they

effectively controlled the agrarian-pastoral mindset comes across forcefully. It

was their charismatic control over their constituency that catapulted these marginal

groups in the consideration of the state until they became one of the elements that[re-]introduced the sacred in the construction of the royal genealogy of the Chamba

rulers.

The Documents

The documents presented have legal concerns and are addressed to the Raja of

Chamba, in his personal capacity as a rulerfrom whom grants of rights could be

extracted or validatedas well as the chief juridical arbiter. At this time, thecriminal and civil courts were located in the capital town, Chamba, presided over

by Judges with first class magisterial powers appointed by the Raja.16 There

was, nevertheless, a definitive magisterial hierarchy defining the extent of juridical

power vested in a particular court. For instance, the Chamba State Gazetteer of

1904 mentions Lala Karam Chand and Jai Dyal as the Judges of Small Cause

Courts with their power to fine not exceeding Rs 50, who adjudicated petty crim-

inal cases carrying sentences of not more than three months. The third class magis-

trate also carrying the functions of Munsif, who was the chief revenue officer as

well, and he could inflict fines up to Rs 500. He was superseded, in the judicial

hierarchy, by the second class Magistrate and Munsif, who in turn were superseded

by the Principal Judicial Officer carrying the functions and power of second class

Magistrate and Munsif. Capital punishment could be inflicted only by the Raja,

subject to confirmation by the Commissioner of Lahore.17 The cases were tried in

11

The adherence or departure from sanskritic texts and rituals sometimes works as a pointer to thepurity of a practice or belief. The debate about auspicious, pious, purity, pollution, unity and

diversity has its moorings in the discourse that revolves around non-sanskritic practices. Recently

Ursula M. Sharma tried to locate the linkages between different cultural levels of religious tradition

and activity in the Kangra hills to the consistent application of the rules of purity and pollution,

The Problems of Village Hinduism, p. 21.12 Buck, Faiths, Fairs and Festivals of India, p. 129.13 Oman, The Mystics, Ascetics and Saints,pp. 18384.14 Punjab Census Report, 1891, p. 266.15 Crooke, Popular Religion and Folklore, Vol. II, p. 105.16Chamba State Gazetteer, pp. 262, 267.17Ibid., pp. 26667.




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492 / MAHESH SHARMA

the Chamba state according to the Indian Penal Code, which enforced both the

Codes of Criminal and Civil Procedure.18 There was, however, also a provision of

personal law that accorded primacy to the customary. But the conception of custom-

ary in turn became a category of social analysis, which was appropriated by theBritish to underscore the legitimacy of their institutions and their claim to power

through imperial linkages, and not the authority of tradition or the Raja. A wedge

was, thus, created between the authority wielded by the Raja, legitimised by trad-

ition and the colonial state, and power, the function of colonial institutions, forced

on Chamba.

The legal documents presented here are in the collection of the Mahant of the

portal of Charpatnath in Chamba, and I transcribed them at a fortunate moment

when they were made accessible to me. I am also responsible for the translationsof the documents presented in the Appendix. The original documents are in Urdu,

the language used for all official purposes relating to governance. They scrupu-

lously detail the date, numbers, witnesses, evidence and the charges in each case.

Details of this nature were quite novel and stand as a marked contrast to the docu-

ments of the 1850s, before colonial institutions were enforced in Chamba.

Despite the impact of colonial jurisprudence, the final court of appeal was

presided over by the Raja himself, who styled himself as The Chief Judicial Officer

of the Riyasat of Chamba, the final court of justice. The article presents threecategories of documents (see Appendix): petitions, notices and court cases. All of

these documents were formulated in the 1920s and 1940s, except for two revenue

documents which date to the 1960safter Chamba ceased to be a royal state and

became one of the districts of the modern state of Himachal Pradesh in the Republic

of India.

These documents are a window into the relationship between the individual

and the state, trapped in the duality of traditional native rule and colonial imperial

structures. The legal system supported this duality and, as Washbrook argues,it sustained the traditional while encouraging free market relations.19 The land

settlement regime was an instrument that recognised the politico-religious element

in the making of landed relationships, securing thereby local bonds of dominance

and subordination. Concurrently, it also created a class of ownership that could

trade in land as a commodity. The commoditisation of land enhanced the traditional

association of prestige, honour and power with land. However, instead of the

Raja distributing such honour, individuals now competed to safeguard and enhance

their prestige by manipulating the marketability of their assets. These documentsprovide a glimpse into the mechanism through which a change in status was ac-

hieved by manipulating the land settlement regime and the judicial process. How-

ever, efforts at improving economic circumstances in a social and political world

that straddled two contrasting regimens of authority were never exclusionary;

there are other documents that claim that ritual and social status could only be

authorised by the Rajathe bearer and protector of tradition.

18 Chamba State Gazetteer,p. 267.19 Washbrook, Law, State and Agrarian Society, pp. 63554.




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Problematic Rights: Ritual Performance and Religious Cess

In 1913, the civil court of Chamba decided an interesting case involving the rights

to donations in a ritual performance by contesting Jogis. Apparently the Jogis ofCharpati performed ritual ceremonies in Chamba. The rights to perform these

ceremonies had earlier belonged only to the family of the Jogis of Thitholi, and

they took the Charpati Jogis to court. The court upheld the hereditary rights of a

family to the performance of ritual ceremonies in the area, but also decreed that the

claim to donations was an inalienable right of an individual as wages (Appendix 1;

Document I). While the court upheld the livelihood and wages secured by the

Charpati Jogis, it did notice how their efforts to perform rituals in Chamba aug-

mented their prestige within the local community and challenged the hereditaryrights of Jogi Thitholi.

Clearly, these developments had generated considerable strife and tension within

the sectarian community of the Jogis, leading to the litigation. In an effort to ar-

rest the disturbance caused by the Charpati Jogis, the court upheld the hereditary

rights of the contesting Thitholi Jogis. In its judgements the court noted:20

Our considered view is that the right over the donations made at the nawala ...is that of the respondent (Charpati Jogi) because he went there on invitation

and performed the nawala rituals as is customary. However, henceforth this

shall not be his right and none shall interfere in the performance of the nawala

rituals in the town except the appellant (Thitholi) because we have come to

know that the appellant has been earning through the performance of the nawala

rituals in the township.

The lawsuit came up again in a different incarnation in 1915 and 1925, and itseems that litigation over ritual rights and jurisdiction between the contestants

was noxious during these years as well. In this case the geographical rights of the

two rivals was delineated.21

... the respondent has been instructed not to appropriate the right of the appellant.

The respondent has earned this (particular) nawala, it is therefore, rightfully

his. However, if he does so in the future, the appellant is empowered to sue him

on the count of contempt of court (dawah fazaha).

20 Copy of the Final Orders of the Highest Court of His Highness (Nakal Hukum Tajvij Faisla

Aakhir UjjalasaJanab) Sriman Raja Sahib Bahadur,RiyasatChamba, 1913, in Thitholi, son of Situ,

caste Jogi, resident of pargana Bhattiyat. Plaintiff (Muddai aalaha) versus (banam) Madho, son of

Shyama, caste Jogi, resident of Chamba respondent.21 Copy of the Final Orders of the Court of the Chief Judicial Officer Sahib,RiyasatChamba Civil

suit (Mukadma Diwani), Appeal No. 65, 1925, in Thitholi, son of Situ, caste Jogi, resident of Mohalla

Drubhi, Chamba town, Appellant, Versus Madho, son of Shyama, caste Jogi, resident of Chamba;

and Nanaku, son of Maffal, caste Khatri, resident of Chamba town, respondents.




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494 / MAHESH SHARMA

The contesting Jogi Thitholi could perform the Nawala ritual, the bone of con-

tention, in the Chamba town only, and other Jogis, including the Jogis of Charpat,

were free to perform these rituals elsewhere (Appendix 1; Document II). Apart

from the question of the rights of an individual to a ritual performance from a par-ticular performer, the case also brings into sharp focus the role of caste and sectarian

practices vis--vis individual priests (non-brahmanic priests) and their rights. It

upholds the prerogative of the community over that of an individual; of hereditary

rights over individual rights; of cultural continuity over change. The judge also

observed that:

From investigation (tehkikat-i-hal) it is evident that the respondent, Madho, has

been performing the nawala ritual and has not committed any crime in doingso. We have ascertained this from the people of the town and caste members.

We have ascertained that within the township it is indeed the right of the ap-

pellant but outside the town any one can call any person for performance. 22

The judge apparently asked whether the Jogis of Charpat, or for that matter

other Jogis as well, could legitimately perform the nawala ritual. According to

the earlier documents available in the collection of the Mahant, the state only re-

quired the Jogis of Charpat to ritually worship Mahakali (Badrakali ofvamsavali),for which it provided them a grant ofMangani-muafi on every harvest, or a tax free

grant in kind from various maintenance grants.23 They also received fixed amounts

of food-grains and provisions as maintenance every month, together with a fixed

share from the proceeds of temples such as Champavati (Mahisamardini) and

Laksmi-Narayana in Chamba.24 It is important to note that the Jogis of all the

marhis contributed fixed tribute at the end of each harvest in grain, livestock, for-

est produce and cash to the Charpat Jogis. Thus, within their sectarian confines,

Jogis accepted the ritual leadership of the Mahants of Charpat. What they refused

to accept was the ritual role of an individual outside the confines of their sectarian

practice. The performance ofNawala, for example, had little to do with the sectar-

ian practice of the Jogis; it was a popular cultural-religious offering to Siva that

was widely prevalent in the region and cut across the sectarian divide. Within the

confines of Nath-Siddha sectarian rituals, neither the Charpat Jogis nor the contest-

ing Jogis could perform such rituals as nawala.

The nawala is an offering made to Siva in his local form as Dhudu, and the ritualperformer entered into a trance, possessed, as it were, by Dhudu. The trance was

considered an auspicious moment, and was accompanied by a ritual sacrifice of a

ram or a goat. This was also a part of the feast given by the family conducting the

22Ibid.23 The grants made to the Jogis of Charpat by Raj Singh, Ajit Singh, Charhat Singh and Sri Singh,

all rulers of Chamba, explicitly state this. The grant deeds are in the collection of the Mahant of

Charpat in Chamba.24 The account sheets of the portal of Charpat for 188095 provide graphic details of the proceeds

made over to the shrine.




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ritual to all the other participants/devotees. While the performer was in a trance,

the devotees took the opportunity to ask him personal questions regarding present

and future maladies. In return they made sumptuous offerings. The ritual was ex-

tremely popular in the Chamba state and obviously lucrative for the ritual per-former. In areas like Brahmaur and Churah, the ritually low-caste specialists like

Sippis and Halis performed the ritual. It may be pointed out that the householder

Jogis, too, belonged to the ritually low castes. Thus, it was not just the Jogis who

tried to appropriate rights to this ritual performance, but other castes who were

involved as well. Soothsayers who had a track record of approximate predictions

along with performance precision were in great demand. And these individuals

cut across sectarian and caste boundaries. The Jogis could not compete effectively,

and they therefore tried to win an exclusive right to the performance of theserituals through litigation. It may be surmised that by upholding the ritual rights

of the contesting Thitholi Jogis in Chamba township, the decision of the court not

only complicated the aspirations of the Charpat Mahants to play a leadership in

the community, it also closed opportunities for other performers to perform this

ritual within the circumference of the Chamba township.

Meanwhile, in 1922, Madho Chari, son of Jogi Shyama, who was the priest of

the portal of Charpat, also petitioned the Raja of Chamba to grant him the right to

collect one takka per house from the subjects of the state as a sectarian due(religious cess?). He claimed that his ancestors had been authorised to collect this

cess by Maharaja Jit Singh (17941808), and that he had personally collected the

amount for a while. Interestingly, he uses the word company to describe himself

as a collector of this cess. His petition appealed to the Raja for a restoration of his

right to this cess, since people had stopped paying it (Appendix 2). Both these

cases, seeking enhanced ritual status and its authorisation by the defunct Raja,

came up almost simultaneously. It seems that this was a well thought-out strategy

by the priest of the shrine, Jogi Madho Chari, perhaps to deflect attention from

the challenge to his ritual leadership by Thitholi.

The Jogi of Charpat, Madho Chari, was also an official of the Chamba state, as

is evident from his title Chari. This was not an exceptional instance where a

professional title was used as a caste [sur]name. In fact, the genealogy attached to

the revenue records of the Charpat Jogis specifies Jogi as caste name and Siroha

as gotra (clan), a fact also stated in all documents and charters pertaining to these

Jogis. But no one before Madho Chari had used the title as surname.25

Char wasone of the old administrative offices in Chamba, who was at one time perhaps an

administrator of apargana with judicial powers to inflict fines or imprisonment.

By 1904, however, the European Superintendents had withdrawn these powers.

The Chari now was only responsible for making preliminary investigations in

civil and criminal cases and apprehending criminals for trial. Subsequently, the

office of Chari was reduced to carrying the orders of the central authority, and

25 The documents in the Charpat Mahants collection attest to this fact. His son, Baijanath, the

successor Mahant, whom I interviewed in 1992, also confirmed it.




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496 / MAHESH SHARMA

organising forced labour (providing coolies) for European travellers.26 They re-

ceived no salary for their office, but collected certain emoluments called rakm

over and above the revenue demand, forming a separate charge of cash and kind

on the malguzaror taxpayer. Of the total rakm, each officer paid a fixed sum tothe state as a customary tax or bachh. The state in return provided them with food,

free of charge.27 Apparently, 1904 was a tough year and the priest, who combined

his experience of revenue and judicial procedure, sought to augment his income

by performing sacred rituals. He went further and claimed rights to a religious

cess, which he legitimised by invoking an earlier grant.

The grant that Madho Chari was citing was the one made by Ajit Singh to the

Jogis of Charpat, which, interestingly enough, made no such concession. It offered

only an annuity of Rs 25, which was also granted by his successor Charhat Singh(180844) and Sri Singh (184470).28 In other words, no grant to collect religious

cess was ever made by the Raja to the Jogis of Charpat. Madho Charis was a

novel claim. Not surprisingly, the Raja of Chamba, a nominal ruler under the larger

jurisdiction of the European Superintendents, dismissed the plea and noted per-

functorily: ... we cannot force any one to contribute one takka. It is the personal

pleasure of a person to make such a contribution (see Appendix).

Economic Empowerment: Tenancy, Eviction and Landownership

The Jogis of Charpat were extremely active in the pursuit of their interests through

the first two decades of the twentieth century. As we have already seen, they tried to

arrogate for themselves a superior ritual status as exclusive performers of popular

rituals in the township of Chamba, and they tried to seize special rights and pre-

rogatives as claimants of a religious cess from the subjects of the state. Additionally,

they also litigated to appropriate land at various places from professional andritually low-caste cultivator-tenants. In fact, Madho Jogi obtained ex-party decrees

in his favour along with costs of Rs 10 from two low-caste tenants: a nai or barber

of Pihurapargana in 1925 (case no. 438 & 439, both filed in 1923 and awarded in

1924), and a widow of a fellow Jogi from Sarol in 1943 (case no. 200). All three

ex-party decisions were significant, as the tenants could ill-afford the cost of litiga-

tion and its wherewithal.

That it happened in 192325 confirms that it was a part of a wider strategy of

the Jogis of Charpat to attain social and economic empowerment. This coincided

with the changes made by the colonial Superintendents in the titular arrangement

of land in the Chamba region to leverage tax collection along the lines of the

mahalbandi settlement (demarcation of revenue estates) in Panjab. These changes

26Chamba State Gazetteer, p. 268.27Ibid.,p. 265.28 Both the charters are in takri script and Chambiali dialect, in possession of Charpatnaths portal

in Chamba. The late Jogi Baijanath allowed me access to these and other charters in his collection.




12/25


confirmed the dominance of the local magnates, both secular and religious, and

placed them within a bureaucratic hierarchy where the colonial administration

could deal with them more comfortably. As in Panjab, land was also central to the

conception of honour, status and brotherhood (biradari) in Chamba.29

The owner-ship of land provided both control over material resources and social status.

In 1874 Col. Blair Reid started the measurements of the cultivated area, account-

ing for the revenue to be paid according to possession. The old system of levying

cash or kind payments (bacch or sal) biannually at the end of each harvest was

also partly replaced by one of cash payments. Formal revenue rates were fixed

in 1891 at Rs 4 per acre on irrigated and Rs 2 per acre on non-irrigated lands.30

The settlement was resisted, and as peasant unrest spread in the 1920s in Kangra,

the fertile area of Bhattiyat was affected. The fixed revenue, enhanced to Rs 7.50in 191011, was beyond the means of occupant-cultivators or owners of marginal

acreage. In many cases the tillers reclaimed the land from owners on a long-term

basis, standing as surety for the future payment of revenue. In fact, it was an ac-

cepted practice in Chamba, even by 1910, to cede the land on a long-term basis on

surety of revenue payment by the occupant-tenants. Occasionally a rupee or two

was demanded as rent to assert ownership rights (haq malikana), a customary

usage also upheld/imposed by the Court whenever such disputes came forth.

31

The way in which protracted revenue receipts, occupant status (kabiz) and the

judicial process were put to the advantage of the Jogis underwrites the unusual

dexterity of Madho Chari.

It may be pointed out that the ritually low-caste Jogis became a landed caste

through the display of such enterprise. Thus, when the first regular settlement of

Chamba was initiated in 195158, the Jogis (populated throughout the erstwhile

Chamba state) had a titular claim over 4, 494 bighas of land (one acre was about

five standard bighas of land), about 0.07 per cent of the total area in the Chambastate. Out of this, 3,466 bighas were cultivated, which was about 0.7 per cent of

the total cultivated area in Chamba.32 These land ownership estimates were be-

sides their claims as kashtkars or tenants, the actual tillers of soil. Was it coin-

cidental, then, that the family of Thitholi, who contested the ritual leadership of

the Charpat Jogisto whom they paid tribute in kind and cash at the end of each

harvestbelonged to Bhattiyat pargana?

After the death of Madho Chari his son Baijanath became the priest of Charpat

and followed his father in further developing his interests in the lands under his

cultivation. This is clarified from the two documents cited below (I and II), which

belong to the first regular settlement of 195158. The scant and ill-prepared nature

of the earlier record made the issue of settling rights and titles (tankihat-i-haqiyah)

29 For Panjab, see Fox, Kin, Clan, Raja and Rule.30 Negi, Settlement Report of the Chamba, no. 30, p. 13.31 Chamba State Gazetteer,p. 231.32 Negi, Settlement Report of the Chamba, table no. 14, p. 11.




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498 / MAHESH SHARMA

particularly arduous during the settlement process when 48,565 issues were set-

tled.33 Since the previous record was treated as a record of a summary settlement,

mutation procedures were necessitated, and 27,690 mutation cases were settled.34

These developments are the general context in which the Jogis of Charpat fur-thered their claims on land. In the land settlement records, the cultivators, in this

case Charpat Jogi Baijanath, are shown as having murusi or transferable rights,

perhaps since 1874 when the first limited settlement was executed. Prior to the

first settlement, their rights over the land were non-transferable occupancy or

ghair-murusi. A permanent interest of cultivators was created over the land they

tilled by manipulating this title. Revenue was fixed at the rate of Rs 18.75, which

was revised in 1890 and 191112 to Rs 3 per acre and further to Rs 7.50 per hec-

tare. Interestingly, the land that the Jogis thus received, as in the two cases producedbelow, for example, was further sublet while retaining the status of occupant-

tenant as khudkastor self-tiller. This was to obviate any further alienation of land

from non-tilling owners (absent landlords) to cultivators, as is evident from both

cases.35

I: Mauza Bhanauta36 Pargana Udaipur

Village Kuthala, Khasra No. 626, Khewat68

Owner: Vastu son of Gopalu. Murusi or transferred to Baijanath son of MadhoChari,caste Jogi, Saroha, resident of Chamba.

Kashtkaror cultivator: Ramu son of Naranjanu, caste Dreha, residents of Deh.

Tenancy, non-ownership/based on sharecropping, galla-batai,37 to the tune of ,

fourth of the productivity.

Area: 59five kanal and nine marla, awwal barani, or non-irrigated rain-fed

land of top order.

Cropping:

11101955 Maize 59 i.e. in the entire area

351956 Uncultivated 59 i.e. one crop a year

2111956 Maize 59

33 Notification by the chief commissioner, E.P. Moon, whereas it appears that no proper records-

of-rights exist for any estate in the whole of Chamba district, Himachal Pradesh, it is hereby directed,

under section 32 (1) and (2) of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, as applied to Himachal Pradesh that

records-of-rights for all estates of the said district be made. Vide no. R. 38-29/48, dated 17 Jan.1951, Simla4. Notification for re-assessment of land revenue of Chamba under section 49(2) of the

Punjab Land Revenue Act, vide no. R. 38-29/48, dated 17 Jan. 1951, Simla4. See also Negi, Settlement

Report of the Chamba, no. 48, p. 18.34 Negi, Settlement Report of the Chamba, no. 72, p. 20.35 Also, for general information, Sandhu, First Regular Settlement of Dalhausi.36 The receipts of Baijanath, the Jogi of Charpatnath, based on the Jamabandi or Settlement Records

of 196465.37 Also called bahisa-nisfi as well as gharh. In revenue terms this meant collection of rent in kind

at the rate of half the produce. First Regular Settlement of Chamba District,p. 63. Obviously, there

was variance in local practices or arrangements, as indicated in the rent, demanded to the tune of a

quarter of the produce in this particular case.




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551957 Uncultivated 59

13101957 Mash 29

1341958 Uncultivated 300

11101958 Mash 29Uncultivated 300

Revenue Khewat 68

Mamala or Rent Rs 3.68

Sawai (fourth) Rs 9.00

Mizan or Cess Rs 4.68

Khewat 115

Khatauni 181

II: Owner: Madhav Neel Kanth transferred to Kashtkaror the cultivator, Baijanath,

son of Madho Chari, caste Nath.

Tenants: Ramu, son of Niranjanu of village Deh, non-transferable or ghair murusi.

Tenancy on share-cropping at the rate of fourth of the productivity.

Khita 8

Area 99 or nine kanal and nine marla out of which 53 is paddy irrigated and 43

is rain fed.Revenue Rs 10.36

Maala or rent Rs 8.28

Cess Rs 2.06

Khasra No. 166

Area 59 rain-fed, five Kanal

Rent Rs 2.49

Cess Rs 2.49

The differential rents realised in the first case and the type of soil-irrigation

classifications appearing in the revenue records of the second had a bearing,

ultimately, on the revenue assessed. This was intrinsic to the land settlement pro-

cedure, whose agenda was to classify cultivated land based on broad soil-type and

irrigation facilities.38

38 Thus, dhani-i-awal was the irrigated land producing generally two crops (the kharif crop usually

being paddy) and climatically fully suitable for paddy cultivation. The second category of irrigated

land (dhani-i-doem) was also irrigated and paddy producing, but due to inadequate irrigation facilities

or unsuitable climate, as in the miland belt (majaith), had lower productivity. Similarly, dhani-i-

soem or third quality produced only one crop of paddy. There were, however, other irrigated lands

where rice was not the main kharif crop, following a similar tripartite classification as kulahu-i-awal,

doem and soem. In the rain-dependant or non-irrigated typology there was a similar triplet: barani-i-

awal, doem and soem. The first category of rain-dependent land was situated sufficiently near the

abadi or habitation and could, as a consequence, be sufficiently manured, thus producing two crops

a year with the kharif crop being paddy. Uncultivated land was categorised as banjar jaded, that

which was under cultivation but left fallow for less than five years; banjarqadim, fallow for more




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500 / MAHESH SHARMA

The second part of the revenue documents cited above refer to the apportioning

of the produce between the owner and the tenant. For the most part of Chambas

recorded history, the produce-rent arrangement between the owner and tenant

was popular, though by the turn of the twentieth century cash-rent was alsogaining ascendancy. The most general form of produce-rent was gahr, which con-

sisted of an equal division of every kind of produce raised by the tenant, one of

which was set aside as rent due to the owner. There were inevitable allegations re-

garding pilferage in this arrangement, and the yield was a constant subject of dis-

pute. Hence, a small adjustment in the arrangement was made, called mudda, where

the landowner received a fixed amount of produce irrespective of a good or bad

harvest.39 In the case of Charpat Jogis the galla-batai or sharecropping, in one case,

was fixed at the fourth of the productivity.Both cases illustrate the modus operandi of the Jogis of Charpat, the ways in

which they established their claims over these lands, and the terms under which

they were further subleased. The Jogis of Charpat first became absentia cultivators

and later landowners. For this they had to evict their tenant. Interestingly, we

have the notices issued by Jogi Bijanath to his tenant for these two lands, accusing

him of not making over his share and fixing a date after which:40

It would be in your best interest that you pay my share of bothRabi and Kharifcrops for the year 1967 within a week. Otherwise I shall be forced to demand

rent (crop share) at the prevailing market price for both crops and file a land-

eviction suit in court, with costsas court fee, charges of lawyer, etcagainst

you for which you alone shall be responsible (see Appendix).

The Jogi also threatened that: You have no right to not to pay the galla-batai or

the share fixed on the basis of share-cropping41 (Appendix 3; Documents 2 and 3).

In both the documents he gave the tenant, the same person renting lands at two

different places, a week to transport his share. He was careful to register the notices

that he sent to his tenants, creating, thereby, a significant body of legal evidence

which fortified his legal claims. The intent of the Jogis was successful, and the

poor cultivators were evicted.

Eviction was necessary to achieve single ownership. The Jogis themselves had

been transferred the land from the original owners on the plea that they were

hereditary occupant-cultivators. However, the Jogis taking the issue to court was an

than five years; challa, uncultivated but a private grassland; bani, uncultivated but used to grow

fodder leaves; ban, for grazing and forested produce; and gahr/trkkarused as meadows and forests.

Settlement Report of Chamba, no. 8, I&II, pp. 68.39Chamba State Gazetteer, p. 230.40 Notice against Ramu, son of Rajanu, caste Dareha, of village Bhatala in pargana Udaipur,

district of Chamba, 27 Dec. 1967.41 Notice against Ramu, son of Naranjanu, caste Danehi, of village Shehnauta inpargana Udaipur,

district of Chamba, 26 Dec. 1967.




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unexceptional event for the time; land litigation was especially high during the

period of transition after the merger of Chamba in the Indian union in 1948. Between

1951 and 1963, about 21,801 disputes were addressed, of which 1,220 muafi or tax-

exempted cases were settled between 195759 along with 183 revisions.42

The transitions in land arrangements, leading to the creation of proprietary

rights, eviction and appropriation of land, may be seen in the context of larger

institutional changes occurring in this period. In pre-independence Chamba, the

Raja was the theoretical owner of all landcultivated and uncultivatedfrom

whom all rights originated subject to his over-lordship and pleasure. With the

introduction of the new settlement regime after 1874, even though the formalisation

of private ownership increased, the inherent over-lordship of the ruler was never

totally absent.43

However, with the merger of the state with the union of India, themalguzars were recognised as proprietors.44 The malguzars or peasant-proprietors

were those landholders who were responsible for the payment of the state de-

mand. This arrangement, however, did not confer upon them full ownership rights.

Besides, there was also a category ofadna-maliks or inferior-owners, who were

accorded full proprietary rights in the settlement. The kashtkars, the actual tillers,

were legally recognised tenants, who could acquire ownership under certain

conditions: one of these was by proving their hereditary succession over land as

tillers over generations. Thus the legality between occupancy tenants and non-occupancy tenants acquire significance, particularly in the context of eviction

and ownership disputes, as in the case of the Jogis of Charpat.45

Conclusion: Authority and Power

Within this debate, the Jogis position is interesting. As the legates of Charpat,

they enjoyed a strong correspondence with the state process, recognised by the

royal genealogy-vamsavali. They received grants, even if restrictive in nature, as

well as a share from the major shrines of Chamba and from the royal family for

conducting specific rituals. Yet, as householder Jogis, who abdicated the vow of

celibacy and could never be in the same league as renouncers, they occupied low

ritual status in the caste hierarchy. Oscillating between a perceived status and

their actual status, the Jogis tried to use the state apparatus to improve their social

and ritual standing. As Parry informs us for Kangra, the authority of the Raja was

crucial in legitimising a change in the status order.46

The 1924 District Gazetteerof Kangra also confirms that the Raja used his powers to manipulate the caste

hierarchy.47 We need to place the efforts of the Jogis within a larger perspective.

42 Settlement Report of the Chamba, no. 136, p. 40.43Ibid., nos 15, 16, p. 11.44 Communication of the Chief Commissioner to all Deputy Commissioners R-98-3/48, dated

28 Aug. 1948.45 Settlement Report of the Chamba, no. 73, pp. 2223.46 Parry, The Koli Dilemma, p. 99.47Punjab District Gazetteer, Part A: 192425, Kangra District, p. 152.




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502 / MAHESH SHARMA

Their appeal to the Raja for rights to a religious cess, and a claim to the right

to perform and collect donations from specific rituals, their efforts at economic

empowerment by appropriation of land rights, are merely a part of this larger

phenomenon.Jogis, like the Purohits of Jwalamukhi, were quick to appreciate the transform-

ation in the functioning of the state and tried to elevate their status by exploiting

the ambiguity between power and authority, between the ideology of tradition

and the method of colonial institutions. That they appealed to the Raja while

simultaneously exploring the legal framework and the land settlement regime

indicates their comprehension of the system in transition.48 The institutional frame-

work empowered their claims while the authority of the Raja, even if nominal,

was sought to legitimise their social rights. That they were only partially successfulin their strategy of social, ritual and economic empowerment is a different story.

The case of the Charpat Jogis of Chamba clarifies the dilemma of choices faced

by dominant subordinates and their creative efforts to rework past hierarchies

during the transition from a local-autonomous rule to the systems of colonial

rule. It enumerates how a person with an insight into the working of the system

could twist it to create a contested niche of localised power. It also establishes

that while the colonial institutions could provide economical benefits, only the

traditional authority of the subordinate Raja could legitimise revisions in socialstatus. This explains the strategy of the Jogis to petition the Raja for religious

48 This could be realised in the changing nature of governance in Chamba and the consequent

subordinate position of the Raja. On 22 Dec. 1862, Maj. Blair Reid was appointed the Superintendent

of Chamba, and undertook to streamline the administration. The regular army, consisting mostly of

Purbia and Pathan soldiers, was disbanded. A Public Works Department under European supervision

was organised, new lines of communication, particularly roads, were surveyed and constructed, thus

linking Chamba to the Panjab plains. Telegraph and Post Offices were set up, and initiatives in edu-cation taken. The most significant was the organisation of the forest department to exploit the timber

and produce of Himalayan forests. An initiative in reorganising land settlement was undertaken, par-

ticularly to asses and collect revenue. The police force was strengthened and the judiciary was reorgan-

ised. Though the Raja was the titular head, his authority was nominal and subject to colonial scrutiny.

Dalhousie became the colonial hill station with its cantonment at Balun, while a detachment of the

British regiment was stationed at Banikhet during summers. (Kanwar, Essays on Urban Patterns,

p. 132.) The increased presence of colonial jurisdiction in the Chamba region communicated the

message of the Rajas subordination. The roads, bazaars, elementary education, hospital, forest exploit-

ation not only added to the awareness among peopleof resources, markets and the world beyond

but also placed the power of the Raja in perspective to larger forces sweeping the area. The reorganisation

of revenue and the land settlement regime, particularly in Bhattiyat, was resisted. There was a peasant

agitation in 1895. The erosion of the Rajas authority was also evident in the renewal grants of the

Jogis. While there are successive renewals of the first grant, with some modifications, there is no

grant renewed or made after the 1860s. The tenor of annual offerings by the Raja changes. As an

administrative head, he only orders thepargana officials to help the Jogis in undertaking an annual

pilgrimage to Manimahesh, culminating in the sacred dip. Only a nominal fee is provided by the state,

along with portage. People are requested to provide customary dues and victuals during the seven

days of journey from Chamba and back. For a detailed account see Hutchison and Vogel,History of

the Panjab Hill States, Vol. I, pp. 32939; also, Chamba State Gazetteer.




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cess, while simultaneously writing eviction notices and appropriating landed titles,

manipulating settlement procedures, and initiating litigation to claim outright

ownership. The Jogis adroit perception that the state was governed by the written

word led them to seize records and rules of precedence to consolidate their su-perior rights as functionaries ministering to their rural agrarian-pastoral consti-

tuency, with claims to sectarian leadership as well. Notices were registered, landed

titles and rights (tankihat-i-haq) were manipulated by constructing genealogies

(shajra-nasab in the misl-haqiyah in the first settlement) to bolster their claim.

These documents also created a body of evidence and referents on which social

and ritual status as well as the rights of ritual performance and land titles/ownership

was hereafter contested. That historical reference and past precedent was highly

respected in the civil courts explains the efforts of the Jogis to claim rights to areligious cess, even when such claims were patently fraudulent. Similarly, the

purohit-priests of Jwalamukhi cited precedence in their petitions to colonial rulers

in their efforts to safeguard (and enlarge!) their share in temple donations, denying

their competitors any rights to a share in the collection. Finally, the strategy of the

Jogis of Charpat substantiates the functional nuances of the state: where authority

was separated from power and the Raja from the colonial Superintendents. In the

efforts of the Jogis petitions to the Raja for status elevation and the manipulatingof colonial institutions for economic empowerment lie the dimensions of the larger

changes in the agrarianscape of Chamba. The ascendance of religious orders/

leaders cutting across caste and sectarian boundaries needs to be placed in this

context. While these processes clarify the popular comprehension of the layered

roles of the autonomous princely states and their colonial masters in the society

and economy of the region, it also asserts the power of traditional symbols avail-

able to aspirants looking for wide-ranging advantages during a period of consid-

erable flux.

Appendix 1Rights to Ritual Performance and Donation

Document I: Appeal against Encroachment of Nawala Rights No. 1

Copy of the Final Orders of the Highest Court of His Highness (Nakal Hukum Tajvij

Faisla Aakhir UjjalasJanab) Sriman Raja Sahib Bahadur, RiyasatChamba

Civil suit (Mukadma Diwani) Appeal No. 71. Number of witnesses (Goshwaran) 15

The date of filing the case (Tarikh Majruh) 24 Savan 1970 (1913)

The date of passing orders (Tarikh Faisla) 15 Magh 1970 (1913)

Plaintiff (Muddai aalah), Thitholi, valdSitu, caste Jogi, resident of pargana Bhattiyat,

versus (banam) Madho, son of Shyama, caste Jogi, resident of Chamba: respondent.

Appeal against the orders passed by the court of honourable Lala Karam Singh Sahib,

against the amount of decree awarded Rs Four hundred.




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504 / MAHESH SHARMA

Translation

Today this appeal was taken up in the presence of the litigants and the point of contention

is such that Raghubir Hawariya had organised the nawala ceremony at his home. For the

rituals of the nawala he called the appellant, who instead of going himself deputed some

other person. Raghubir did not get the nawala rituals performed from this person (the re-

placement); instead, he called the respondent who later performed the rituals as is cus-

tomary and appropriated the collection, monetary as well as in kind (chartar), as his service

prerogative (haq al Khidmat). That donation has become the point of contention and

the litigants are quarrelling over it. The appellant contends that this is his prerogative while

the respondent counters that he has right over the wages that he earned. Our considered

view is that the right over the donations made at the nawala organised by Raghubir is that

of the respondent because he went there on invitation and performed the nawala rituals asis customary. However, henceforth this shall not be his right and that none shall interfere

in the performance of the nawala rituals in the town except the appellant, because we have

come to know that the appellant has been earning through the performance of the nawala

rituals in the township. According to the orders passed on 23 Poh, 54 (1878 AD), civil suit

(appeal diwani) 1365, and based on the witness of one Dalip (of village) Diyor, the appellant

has been earning through performance of the nawala rites for the populace. Therefore, the

respondent has been instructed not to appropriate the right of the appellant. The respondent

has earned this (particular) nawala, it is, therefore, rightfully his. However, if he does so

in the future, the appellant is empowered to sue him on the count of contempt of court

(dawah fazah). This decree has been duly obtained from the court of his lordship and is

certified as true.

Order

Ordered that this appeal is dismissed and the costs of the court to be borne by the plaintiff.

Reverse

Substantiation and summons to be ascertained by the department of revenue. Dated, 15

Magh 1970 (1913)

Signed in English Sri Maharaja Sahib Bahadur

COURT OF THE CHIEF JUDICIAL OFFICER

The Seal of the Chamba State

CHAMBA STATE

Certified that this is the true copy of the original. The orders have been passed on Indian

Penal Code act (dafa) 76 of the Evidence Act of 1872/49 on the application 10 Vaisakh 82/

diary no. 11 Vaisakh 82/preparation 14 Vaisakh 82/Charges 332/fine Rs 5/outside the records

Rs 1 and 8 Anna/orders 12 Vaisakh 82/copy made by Jind Pal/date of witness 14 Vaisakh

82/warrant issued by Jaid Pal

Signed: Sohan Singh

49 Indian Penal Code was in force, both the Codes of Criminal as well as the Civil Procedure.

Chamba State Gazetteer, p. 267.




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Document II: Appeal against Encroachment of Nawala Rights No. 2

Copy of the Final Orders of the Court of the Chief Judicial Officer Sahib,RiyasatChamba

Civil suit (Mukadma Diwani) Appeal No. 65; No. of witnesses (Goshwara) 387

The date of filing the case (Tarikh Majruh) 20 Jeth 1982 (1925)

The date of passing orders (Tarikh Faisla) 12 Savan 1982 (1925)

Thitholi, son of Situ, caste Jogi, resident of Mohalla Drubhi, Chamba town, Appellant

Versus

Madho, son of Shyama, caste Jogi, resident of Chamba; and Nanaku, son of Maffal, caste

Khatri, resident of Chamba town, respondents.

Appeal against the orders passed by the court of Lala Baldev Ram Sahib, against the

decree awarded Rs Eight hundred as damages (harzana) against nawala report no. 1.

Translation

(Legal Document in Urdu)

This appeal has been filed by Mister Thitholi, appellant, against the orders passed by the

court of Lala Baldev Ram Sahib, and damages in Vaisakha 1982, in this court. In that

order, the honourable court had dismissed the petition with a decree of damages for nawala

rituals, as earlier. We have seen the copy of the order of the appellant and the case in de-tail, and found that the honourable court did not establish any issues of title (tanqih, the

issue of title in the first regular settlementtanqihat) and dismissed the case on the evidence

of one witness only. Therefore, the court on 11 Har 1982 (1925 AD) took cognisance of this

fact and demanded utmost caution and in conformity with the rules (hastjavat) desired a

report be filed on this situation. The applicant also forwarded for perusal an earlier decision

of Lala Karam Singh, son of Mokha, 20 Bhado 72 (1915), in which the appellant has been

awarded the rights against the same defendant. Now the detailed report has also been filed

and the evidence of the litigants and witnesses has been completed. As per the report filed

the right of the appellant to perform the nawala rituals rests within the periphery of the

township of Chamba, and this has also been upheld by various courts, but he enjoys no

such status, nor has he any grant of right to this effect, outside the boundaries of the town.

The decree referred to against the main respondent, Madho, is for performance ofnawala

rites within the boundaries of Chamba town. From investigation (tehkikathal) it is evident

that the respondent, Madho, has been performing the nawala ritual and has not committed

any crime in doing so. We have ascertained this from the people of the town and caste

members. We have ascertained that within the township it is indeed the right of the appellant,

but outside the town any one can call any person for performance.

Reverse

The particular nawala in question in this case took place at Sarol, which is two and a half

miles away from the town. The respondent was called to perform nawala at the personal

pleasure of the master. Therefore, the appellant cannot demand damages (harzana). The

court is empowered (adalatmukhtiyar) to dismiss the petition and has ordered against the

submission of the applicant, and ordered the court to make him abide by the decision (amal

daramad). The order was stated in front of the contestants. The orders were signed on

12 Savan 1982 (1925 AD).distribution.

2006 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorizedby mahesh sharma on February 2, 2007http://ier.sagepub.comDownloaded from


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506 / MAHESH SHARMA

Signed in English by the Chief Judicial Officer Sahib Bahadur.

COURT OF THE CHIEF JUDICIAL OFFICER

The Seal of the Chamba State

CHAMBA STATE

Certified that this is the true copy of the original. The orders have been passed on dafa 76

of the Evidence Act of 1872/on the application 12 Katik 1982/diary no. 12 Katik 1982/

preparation 17 Katik 1982/Charges 484/fine Rs 5/outside the records Rs 1 and 5 Anna/

orders 17 Katik 1982/copy made by ....

Appendix 2The Right to Collecting Religious Cess

Translation


Your Highness

Humbly submitted that the appellant is the priest of the portal of Charpatnath. The appellant

is fortunate to have received a grant-patta from the times of Sri Maharaja Jit Singh Sahib.According to this grant the plaintiff is entitled to collect one takka per house from the

entire state of Chamba. The ancestors (literally, fathergrandfather) of the appellant col-

lected from the subjects of the state a takka per house and the present company (the present

Jogi establishment?) too collected the same for some time. Now, for some time the subjects

of the state refuse to contribute this takka and say that there is no order from the state-

government (sarkar) to such effect. I am, therefore, forwarding this application through

proper channel (ba-zariya). You are requested to enquire and do justice by ordering [sub-

jects] to contribute a takka per house, as was customary, and also renew the grant-patta.

This is a fair request. Justice, however, is the prerogative of the state. Date, 24 Savan 1982

(1925 AD).

Plaintiff: Madho, son of Shyama, caste Jogi

Signed in Takri: Madho

Order

The orders passed in the presence of all that we cannot force any one to contribute one

takka. It is the personal pleasure of a person to make such a contribution. We have nothing

to do with this. The request is dismissed and returned to the plaintiff. Dated 26 Savan 1982

(1925 AD).

Signed in English: Ram Singh.

Appendix 3Land: Ownership, Eviction and Notices

Note: Of the three decrees cited below, the first is by the last appellate civil court (muqadma

diwani) at Chamba, and the other two from the circuit courts of wizarat at Bhattiyat.distribution.



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Document I: Eviction Decrees in Favour of Madho Jogi

3.1.1. Ex-party (aiktarfa) digree (decree) in favour of Madho Jogi, son of Shyama, resident

of Chamba town, in case no. 439 against Jawhar, son of Mamaluk, caste Nai (of barber

occupation) resident ofpargana Piyora (Pihur) from revenue court in Bhattiyat, riyasatChamba. The case filed on 14 Kartika 1980 (1923 AD) and awarded on 29 Jyestha 1981

(1924 AD), as an ex-party decree with Rs 10 as cost.


of Chamba town, in case no. 438 against Byajo, son of Haria, caste Nai (of barber

occupation) resident ofpargana Piyora (Pihur) from revenue court in Bhattiyat, riyasat

Chamba. The case filed on 14 Kartika 1980 (1923) and awarded on 29 Jyestha 1981

(1924), as an ex-party decree with Rs 10 as cost.


of Chamba town, in case no. 200 in year 2000 (1943) against Jayanti, widow of Jogi,

resident of Sarol in diwani court. Awarded on 12 Magh 2000 (1943).

Document II: Notice Threatening Land Eviction No. 1

Translation


Original Notice

Notice against Ramu, son of Rajanu, caste Dareha, of village Bhatala inpargana Udaipur,

district of Chamba. You are notified through this notice that you are my tenants and till for

me the land which is 9 bigha and 9 biswa in area vide khata no. 115/181 in Mahal Bhanauta

pargana Udaipur in district of Chamba, but you have not remitted to date my share (literally

rent) both forRabi and Kharifharvests for the year 1967 despite constant reminders. Few

days back on summoning and complaining you had promised that I should visit you with

labour and carry my share of crops. However, when I reached with labour at your place

you refused to give me my share. On your refusal I had to come empty handed and withoutany purpose pay Rs 15 to the labour. It would be in your best interest that you pay my

share of bothRabi and Kharifcrops for the year 1967 within a week. Otherwise I shall be

forced to demand rent (crop share) at the prevailing market price for both crops and file a

land-eviction suit in court, with costsas court fee, charges of lawyer, etcagainst you

for which you alone shall be responsible. The copy of the notice has been kept. Notice

sent on 27 December 1967.

The notice sent by Baijanath of Jogi caste

Resident of Chamba town.

Document III: Notice Threatening Land Eviction No. 2

Translation


Registered Notice Date: 26 December 1967

Time one week

Notice against Ramu, son of Naranjanu, caste Danehi, of village Shehunta in pargana

Udaipur, district of Chamba. You are notified through this notice that you are my tenantsdistribution.



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and till for me the land which is 9 bigha and 9 biswa in area, vide khata no. 146 inMahal50

Busehra pargana Udaipur in district of Chamba, but you have not remitted to date my

share (galla) both forRabi and Kharifharvests for the year 1967 despite constant reminders.

A few days back on summoning and complaining you had promised that I should visit you

with labour and carry my share of crops. However, when I reached with labour at your

place you refused to give me my share. On your refusal I had to come away empty handed

and without any purpose pay Rs 15 to the labour. It would be in your best interest that you

pay my share of bothRabi and Kharifcrops for the year 1967 within a week. Otherwise,

I shall be forced to file a land-eviction suit along with tenancy rights in court, with costs

as court fee, charges of lawyer, etcagainst you for which you alone shall be responsible.

You have no right to not to pay the galla-batai or the share fixed on the basis of share-

cropping. The copy of the notice has been kept. Words do not come cheap.

The notice sent by Baijanath, son of Madho, of Jogi caste

Resident of Chamba town

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Mahesh Contested Claims

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Transcript of Mahesh Contested Claims