"تقرير عن إدارة رئاسة بومباي لسنة ١٨٨٢-١٨٨٣." [و‎‎٧‎١] (٤٩٨/١٥٠)

1882-83.) RELATIONS WITH TRIBUTARY STATES AND FRONTIER AFFAIRS. 87 Chap. I.
POLITICAL.
11 new post offices were opened, making a total of 44, and since the close of the year Tributary
4 others have been opened. 33 offices exchange mails daily and 15 alternately. A private p ost States '
company has started a tonga dak to run daily between Bhuj and Mandvi, which has been
subsidized by the Postal Department.
PALANPUR.
Area, 7,775 square miles ; Population (1881), 576, 478; Revenue about Rs.12,70,000.
The Political Superintendency of Palanpur is a collection of 13 states situated in the Pdlanpur.
extreme north of the Presidency, and bounded on the west by the Run of Cutch. It is for
the most part a sandy, treeless plain, except in the north and east, where the hills are covered
with dense jungle. The political connection with the State of Palanpur dates from 1809;
but in 1817 it was necessary on account of his mismanagement to coerce the Divan, and
Palanpur was assaulted and taken. A Political Superintendent was appointed, whose sanction
was required to all important expenditure, and a local levy of 150 horse and 100 foot was
raised; but in 1874, in consideration of the better management of the state, the financial
control was relaxed.
In 1819 the Nawab of Padhanpur applied for the help of the British Government to R&dhanpur.
drive out the Khosas and other marauders, to repel whose incursions he was powerless, and
after the country had been cleared he signed a treaty in 1820, agreeing to assist the Govern
ment in maintaining order and to pay a tribute, which was fixed at Its.17,000 a year; but in
1825 the tribute was foregone in consideration of the poverty of the state. The minor Minor States,
states of Palanpur had also agreed to pay a share of the expenses of the expedition against the
Khosas by whom they had been severely harassed, and also to pay a tribute, which was
foregone in 1825, as in the case of Radhanpur. Other agreements were then entered into by
which they bound themselves to maintain order and to surrender outlaws and criminals. The
country was at that period the haunt of freebooters, and the work of suppressing disorder has
been difficult and prolonged.
The Chiefs of Palanpur and Radhanpur are invested with full criminal and civil powers, Courts of Justice,
and even in matters of revenue are almost independent. Over them the Political Superintendent
exercises only a general supervision; but over the remaining 13 petty states, whose Chiefs are
much reduced owing to the excessive sub-division of their estates by the law of inheritance, it
was necessary to appoint karkuns, now called thanadars, six in number, who are invested with
power to try petty criminal suits and to decide civil suits up to Rs. 250 in value. There are,
besides, two Political Assistants who have higher powers, and the Political Superintendent who
is the highest executive and appellate authority ; but appeals in important cases lie to the Com
missioner N. D. In Palanpur and Radhanpur there are local Courts from whose decision a
final appeal lies to the Chief in person, and they follow codes of their own, based on the British-
Indian laws. The Thakor of Tharad has been appointed a Magistrate of the first class, and
has powers to decide civil suits up to Rs. 1,000 in value. The Rana of Vav has also been
invested with lesser civil and criminal powers and a few of the minor Chiefs have been invested
with powers suitable to their rank and intelligence.
A revenue survey has been in progress in Palanpur since 1878, and the Darbar proposes Survey,
to introduce the system as an experiment in a few villages, which might be extended if it
proves satisfactory. The land revenue is usually collected on the ^ bhagbatai” system by
which the Darbar share is limited from | to y of the produce, but in a few villages the tax is
levied on the plough at a fixed money rate.
The Rajputs form a large class among the people, and are chiefly landholders, which People,
may also be said of the Koli Thakurdars who have a strain of Rajput blood. The Ivunbis
are few in number, but the landlords make great efforts to induce these good husbandmen to settle
on their estates. The Kolis form the bulk of the population ; they are poor and much given
to cattle-stealing. The language generally spoken is Gujarati.
The Sarais of Rajputana, who had been assisting in certain robberies in that state, were Chief events,
driven into the Vav Taluka, where the Jodhpur force attacked them, killing and wounding 17
men and taking 15 prisoners and all their cattle. This invasion of his territory was resented
by the Rana of Vav, but after inquiry it was found that the commander of the Jodhpur troops
was acting in good faith, and the Darbfr agreed to grant a small charitable allowance to the
families of the men who had been killed. It was then arranged, with the consent of the
Chiefs, that the police of each state shall be allowed to cross the border in hot pursuit of
criminals, reporting immediately their movements to the nearest police station of the state
they enter, and make over the criminals apprehended to the police of that state for safe
custody, pending a formal demand for their surrender.
This state has an area of 3,150 square miles and a population of 236,461. The only son Pdlanpur.
and heir of the Chief died in September. The boundary disputes regarding two tillages were
settled, but Government did not approve of the decision respecting the village of Joita, and
suggested that, if the Chiefs of Palanpur and Danta could be induced to concur in an exchange,
it would be regarded as the most satisfactory solution of the difficulty. The boundaries ol two
other villages have been settled amicably by the two Chiefs; and in the case of Nandotri, which
was in dispute between Baroda and Palanpur, the jurisdiction has been awarded to the latter.