Zaildar and Firni: What are they? Need DETAILED historical explanation

[vdhillon]

TOPIC: A thread for orientation with various terms and methodologies used for the land consolidation in the Jat heartland i.e. patwari, tehsildars, Haryana department of revenue and and consolidation, etc

Please SPECIFY the sources in your responses e.g. oral tradition, person experience based opinion, official/legal/govt definition with authentic and respected sources/references. Thanks.

Q1. Firni: is it the central thoroughfare of the village? or is it the outer periphery of the inhabited portion of the village? Or is it the outermost boundary of the village that encloses residential as well as farms of the villages?

Q2. And what exactly is "Laal Dora" in this context of land demarcation by the Patwari?


Q3. Zaildar: Origin of this term? is it pre-British? if so, exactly when did it commence? any authentic sources (in addition to British era gazettes of various districts, states and central govt)?

Q4: Panna vs Paala in terms of demarcation of land and demographics. I have heard ''urla paana" (this sector), parla paana (the other ward/sector), paala could refer to grouping of villages within a khap (group of related khap) i.e. sort of sub-khap.

Raam raam to all the old and new members.

Thanks.

@Moddeys: Apologies, if this is the incorrect forum. I had been away from JL for a long time and no longer familiar with current ways of JL. Please feel free to move the post.

[skharb]

Zaildar and Firni: What are they? Need DETAILED historical explanation with authentic and respected sources/references.

Firni: is it the central thoroughfare of the village? or is it the outer periphery of the inhabited portion of the village? Or is it the outermost boundary of the village that encloses residential as well as farms of the villages? And what exactly is "Laal Dora" in this context of land demarcation by the Patwari?


Zaildar: Origin of this term? is it pre-British? if so, exactly when did it commence? any authentic sources (in addition to British era gazettes of various districts, states and central govt)?

Raam raam to all the old and new members.

Thanks.

@Moddeys: Apologies, if this is the incorrect forum. I had been away from JL for a long time and no longer familiar with current ways of JL. Please feel free to move the post.

firni is the outmost boundary of laldora not the the outermost bounday of the village,because there is panchyati land present after laldora for further extension of village
population

Zaildar its not pre-british,it is elected by numberdars of same group of villages which may hold few villages (4 or 6 or 8)

it not any googled information rather its the knowledge from elder people of villages hence no authentic historical source .

[RKhatkar]

Zaildar and Firni: What are they? Need DETAILED historical explanation:
INTRODUCTION
जहां तक मेरी समझ है हरियाणा मे सन 1860 से पहले भूमि का कोई रिकर्ड नहीं था | लगभग 1850-60 के दसक मे ये रिकर्ड बने थे | उससे पहले गाँव की सारी जमीन मे खेती नहीं की जाती थी | जरूरत अनुसार गाँव के साथ लगती जमीन मे कास्त की जाती थी बाकी जमीन चरागाह ब्ंजड़ ही रहती थी | जब रिकर्ड बनाए गए तो गाँव की सीमाओ का निरधार्ण किसी मुखिया समकक्ष से करवाया गया जिस पर निसपक्षता का विसवास होता था | निरधार्ण के बाद गाँव के मोजीज आदमी फैसला करते थे की सारी भूमि का बटवारा जाती अनुसार परिवार अनुसार किस प्रकार किया जाए ओर तदानुसार भूमि का बटवारा कर दिया गया था | आजादी तक यह व्यवस्था जारी रही | आजादी से कुछ समय पहले ही Agrarian reforms लागू होने शरू हुए जिसमे कास्त कार की बटाई/हिस्सा, मलकीयत, हक इत्यादि को परिभासित किया गया | आगे चल कर भूमि सुधार व Agrarian सिस्टम को ओर सुधारा गया | स्टैंडर्ड एकड़ (किल्ला) हेक्टेयर आदि को मान्यता दी गयी | आज़ादी के बाद भूमि का सही वर्गिकरण किया गया जिसे मुररबा कहा गया | इसके अनुसार सारा रिकॉर्ड कील्ला मुररबा मे convert किया गया एवं जमीन की डोलाबंदी (boundary) की गयी | इस मुररबा बंदी मे पुराने सिस्टम की मुख्य रूपरेखा को कायम रखने की कोसिस की गयी जैसे खेवट, मलकीयत, भूमि की किस्म, रास्ते, तालाब, बंजर, बनी, चरागाह, शामलात (common village land) आदि |
जब भूमि की डोलबंदी की गयी उसमे हाजिर बस्ती को गैर मुमकिन आबादी कहा गया | जो भूमि उस समय आबादी मे आती थी उसे लाल रेखा द्वारा गोलबंद (encircle) किया गया इस लाल रेखा को लाल डोरा कहा जाता है | इस चक्र (लाल डोरा) के अंदर जो भूमि आती है उसे आबादी देह कहा जाता है ओर इसका कोई मलकीयत का रिकर्ड नहीं बनाया गया | इस लाल डोरे को सीधा व चकोर किया गया ताकि डोलबंदी से मेल खा सके ओर इस चकोर को रिंग रोड की तरह बनाया गया जिसे फिरनी कहते है | लाल डोरा व फिरनी के बीच की भूमि को शामलात/पाना/ठोला आदि की सांझी भूमि कहा गया |
बाकी विवरण बाद मे |
सधन्यवाद

[vdhillon]

Wow, interesting topic indeed. It has led to many more questions. Thanks for the effort Chaudhary @R.Khatkar saab. Hopefully, you can enlighten us on the definition and differentiation of few more interesting terms you mentioned, such as खेवट, मलकीयत, etc.

Q5. What exactly is खेवट (khewat) and how is it different from Malkiyat and/or Murrabba?

Q6. Does that mean all LAAL DORA are STRICTLY ... either SQUARE or RECTANGLE in shape?

Q7. When and why was the system of Zaildar (Revenue collecting Chief of larger-group of villages, a step above Lambardar) abolished, even while still continuing with the system of Lambardar (Revenue collecting Chief of usually a village ... sometimes more than one but smaller villages) till now?

Q8. Why was "Deh Abadi" called "Gair Mumkin" (Translated from Urdu: "Not Feasible"). I assume it was meant to say "not feasible to CULTIVATE" thus not feasible to generate REVENUE for the government in terms of LAND TAX? Am I right to assume so?

Q9. You mentioned no record of land ownership was maintained within inhabited part of the village land called DEH ABADI that is confined within LAAL DORA (red marker) (इस चक्र (लाल डोरा) के अंदर जो भूमि आती है उसे आबादी देह कहा जाता है ओर इसका कोई मलकीयत का रिकर्ड नहीं बनाया गया ), does that mean any FREE AND AVAILABLE land within DEH ABADI can be taken over by anyone who needs it e.g. anyone can make "nohra" (cow shed or outhouse), or build chabutra, etc? Or these days it has already been surveyed and mapped and any new construction must be approved by some authority e.g. Patwari?

Q10. DOes Patwari has any role in redrawing of land or division of land (e.g. among brothers) within laal dora? or Patwaris role excludes land within Laal Dora and he can only record the changes to land in SHAMLAT (common village land outside laal dora, and farm/revenue land of the village beyond SHAMLAT (common village land)?

Q11. What is the name of dora (boundary) that is drawn to demarcate the outermost boundary of the village i.e.
(a) inner most land being DEH SHAMLAT (inhabited part of the village marked as RECTANGLE with RED INK on the Maps),
(b) beyond that is SHAMLAT LAND (common village land),
(c) beyond which is the farm land attached to the village?
Are there other types of divisions?

PS: Dear readers, wherever I have made any statement, please do not take them as definitive/authoritative statements i.e. if you are novice to the subject then please refer to the replies of more enlightened members. I am merely trying to reconfirm my understanding while raising more questions. Hope readers too will enjoy this interesting topic about rustic roots yet still an important aspect of mundane life of Jat heartland. Enjoy! Cheers!

[skharb]

murabba also a unit of land measurment equal to 25 kille in british rule ..............lakin log murabba bandi ya istemal (chakbandi)word commen use karte they land consolidation ko ....

[vdhillon]

murabba also a unit of land measurment equal to 25 kille in british rule ..............lakin log murabba bandi ya istemal (chakbandi)word commen use karte they land consolidation ko ....

Q12. Thanks Kharab saab. I wonder what is the etymology of CHAK in Chakbandi? Did it come from the English word CHECK as in CHECKBOARD as farm/fields that had irregular boundaries in all kinds of shapes were converted to the standardized CHECK (SQUARE) of 1 acre each - my uninformed guesstimation only. Does it (term CHAK) in CHAKBANDI has another origin and meaning?

Apologies to all for the bombardment of the questions. To me, it only means, its an interesting topic that spawns off many more questions. Also means, when it comes to this, I am self-confessed "padha-likha unpad jat", I am sure there are plenty like me, and it will be useful for all of my ilk :) Thanks to all the respondents :) Dhanyavad chaudhariyo :)

[skharb]

Q12. Thanks Kharab saab. I wonder what is the etymology of CHAK in Chakbandi? Did it come from the English word CHECK as in CHECKBOARD as farm/fields that had irregular boundaries in all kinds of shapes were converted to the standardized CHECK (SQUARE) of 1 acre each - my uninformed guesstimation only. Does it (term CHAK) in CHAKBANDI has another origin and meaning?

Apologies to all for the bombardment of the questions. To me, it only means, its an interesting topic that spawns off many more questions. Also means, when it comes to this, I am self-confessed "padha-likha unpad jat", I am sure there are plenty like me, and it will be useful for all of my ilk :) Thanks to all the respondents :) Dhanyavad chaudhariyo :)
Dhillon sahab................itna pata h ki istemal k baad jo jamin alag alag thi gaon m familyes ki unki value govt n 25 pissa 50 paisse orr i ruppeya value karke jamin k hissab s
consolidate kar dey thee family wise orr acre measurment k hissab s..............chak orr check m fark ho sakta h not sure kuki revanue records per urdu heavy h ...........chak kisi tukde k liye bhi use ho sakta h land k .

[skharb]

Wow, interesting topic indeed. Q10. DOes Patwari has any role in redrawing of land or division of land (e.g. among brothers) within laal dora? or Patwaris role excludes land within Laal Dora and he can only record the changes to land in SHAMLAT (common village land outside laal dora, and farm/revenue land of the village beyond SHAMLAT (common village land)?
!
patwari ka samlat orr laldora m koi role nahi hota ye jamin tagdi(per person of family)orr land holding k hissab s batti jati h gaon m .

[vdhillon]

patwari ka samlat orr laldora m koi role nahi hota ye jamin tagdi(per person of family)orr land holding k hissab s batti jati h gaon m .

Re: Unused land within LAAL DORA (excluding common SHAMLAT land):
Taagdi (per person) is very different from 'in similar proportion of quantum of farm-land-holding"? who gets to decide i.e. final OFFICIAL/LEGAL authority? Lambardar?

What happens if someone makes a bigger claim or simply fence off unused land and starts using it e.g. encroach upon or usurp the common unused land WITHIN THE LAAL DORA. What happens in such scenarios?

EXAMPLE OF A SPECIFIC SCENARIO (this one is a real one and close to my heart, I intend to take some action in public interest, as well as raise awareness for others to emulate once I figure out how to do it):
A lot of villages have INDUS VALLEY ARCHAEOLOGY sites within LAAL DORA or SHAMLAT but being encroached by the villagers, due to ignorance, greed and so on, our heritage is sadly fast disappearing. It makes my heart bleed. We Jats are so big on empty bravado<1>, yet so apathetic of own heritage in our own backyard<2>.
How do we stop this vanishing heritage e.g. achaeological mounds dating abck to Indus valley Saraswati-vedic civilization? And legally who can act/prevent - patwari/sarpanch/lambardar/no-one/jis-ki-laatjhi-us-ki-bhains?

If its Laal Dora land NOT-notified by ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) or Haryana Department of Archaelogy, then who LEGALLY OWNS IT?



~~~~~~~~~~~
These are slightly off-topic but related, do not wish to derail or confused the thread, hence capturing my thoughts in the footnotes. Either we could discuss those later on, or we can have separate posts.

Footnote-1: We Jats are so big on empty bravado i.e. jaati-vadi and supremacist towards other castes, specially those that were not branded as not "martial races" by British, term "martial" has no scientific validity anyway. Ham bad hawa lewan se ke bhai ham jat yo sa, woh sa, bade turramkhan sa, etc etc. chahe ghar ke kuttey tk na poochtey hon.

Footnote-2:yet so apathetic of own heritage in our own backyard that we make little effort in
- researching from AUTHENTIC SOURCES (what little exists is recycled from the unscientific sources, thus carries little weight/respect in scientific methodology-based community and communities outside jat-samaj),
- preserving and translating it (specially into English so it becomes available to the wider globalized world, so that researchers of other potentially related communities (gypsies, gurjars, rajputs, scynthians, messageates, aryans, huns, etc) can link-up and put things in wider-context. I wonder how many PhD thesis has been written on JAT history, researched from Sarv-Khap records, records of varanasi pandas, british and govt acrchival records, etc. very little. We need to set-up chairs in the universities of Haryana specifically to research on these, with specific scholarships, and so on.
- protecting monuments and archaeological sites in our own villages e.g. gobar pathe s lugai on those historical sites, ya pher un pe kabza kar ke gher bana le s log. hurrrrrrr
- and so on.

Please do not misunderstand my post to be self-loathing, but it is intended for introspection to become (a) take pride in our heritage but we can do so without putting other communities down or without acting supremacist, we can be egalitarian (sab caste barabar) and (b) AWARENESS of our heritage in terms or preservation, further research, etc.

Readers: Please let me know her or in the private msg, if I am cramming too many things, with suggestions how to split topics/posts up. Thanks.

MODs: Please feel free to chop, merge, move, as you deem fit, but do not delete. Thanks.

[skharb]

Re: Unused land within LAAL DORA (excluding common SHAMLAT land):
Taagdi (per person) is very different from 'in similar proportion of quantum of farm-land-holding"? who gets to decide i.e. final OFFICIAL/LEGAL authority? Lambardar?

What happens if someone makes a bigger claim or simply fence off unused land and starts using it e.g. encroach upon or usurp the common unused land WITHIN THE LAAL DORA. What happens in such scenarios?
.
yes ...........panna wise laldorra/samlat land ka batwara hota h jisme tagri(male member)ki counting jarrori h kyki kuch non jat jinke pas agri. land nahi h unko bhi plot mil sake ya kum land holding h .......e.g ...20 sq yard for tagri + 10 sq yard for 1 acre land ..............ko total avilable land gaon ki h jo uss hissab s batwara ho jata h .panne k log commity bana kar sabko sath leker har tholla orr non jat faissla karte h rajamanddi s .
dispute aamtor p hota nahi h ...........lakin koi galat kabja kare too bhai chara /court /arr nahi too latthamlattha yahi rasta h :)

[vdhillon]

@
yes ...........panna wise laldorra/samlat land ka batwara hota h jisme tagri(male member)ki counting jarrori h kyki kuch non jat jinke pas agri. land nahi h unko bhi plot mil sake ya kum land holding h .......e.g ...20 sq yard for tagri + 10 sq yard for 1 acre land ..............

Wonderful, thanks for the effort kharab saab. i find it all very enlightening and interesting. An egalitarian and fair system indeed.



@
lakin koi galat kabja kare too bhai chara /court /arr nahi too latthamlattha yahi rasta h :)
lolz, jat laathamlattha hon ne tyar khade reh s... you made me smile :) cheers! have a great day ahead.