the_process_of_land_redistriliution_in_a_rayaiaseema_village.pdf

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STAFF PAPER 4

The Process of Land Radistribution

in a Rayalaseeraa Village

V. s. PARTHASARATHY

INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGE

BANGALORE


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Copyright (c) by Institute for Social and Economic

Change 1975

Rs, 5-00

PEINTED IN INDIA

ay Kkiaatako PatiiJca Piivate Linitad aad Publiahad by Inati t i i+a for

Soaia) aa d Ea oaon ic Cl idBga, BaB^alota 56 00 40


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4/12

ANDHRA PRADESH

I Cuddapah District

Ptirom ToluK

Shnpalk

M O 31 M ** 128 M p l E S

MC t E , l i t c


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THE PROCESS OF LAND REDISTRIBUTION

IN A RAVALASEEM A VILLAGE


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P R E F A C E

This i s the fourth t i t l e in ISEC Staf f papers and has

been contr ibuted by Mr- V. S . P artha sarath y, a research

as s oc i a t e la th e S o c i o l o gy U n i t i n th e I n s t i tu te . T h e f ie ld

w or k oa w h i c h th e p ap e r w as b as e d w as u n d e r tak en b e for e

Mr . Par th as ar a th y jo i n e d th e I n s t itn te , b u t s u b s e q u e n t w ork

w as c om p l e te d w h e n i n th e I n s t itu te .

T h e au th or h as s u c c e e d e d i n u n e ar th i n g a r a th e r u n i q u e

s ys t e m o f l and ow e r s h i p an d op e r a t i on c u r r e n tl y p r e va l en t

in a v i l lage in Andhra Pradesh . Je int ow ner sh ip wi th land

jo in t ly ow ne d and in d iv id u a l ly o p er a ted but w ith th e c u l t i

va te d l an d c h an g i n g h an d s a t th e e n d o f e ve r y 12 ye ar s am i d

a sea o f pr ivate property in land ope rated ind iv idua l ly by

th e ir p r op r i e tor s or th e i r t e n an t s i s a s om e w h at a s to u n d

i ng p h e n o m e n o n . I t i s p e r h ap s n o m o r e th an a h i s tor i c a

c u r i os ity , b u t m ay p r ove o f i n t e r e st t o s tu d e n t s s e e k i n g n e w

p ath w a ys to lan d r e form .

ISFC has p leasure in making th i s s tudy avai lab le for a

wider publ ic .

V. K. R. V. Rao

D i r e c tor

I n s t i tu l c for S oc i a l an d E c on m i c C h an ge

Bangalore


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T H E P R O C E S S O F L A N D R E D I S T R I B U T I O N I N A

R A V A L A S E E M A V I L L A G E '

T h i s s t u d y a t t e m p t s t o d e s c r i b e a u n i q u e t y p e o f l a n d

t e n u r e p r e v a l e n t t o t h i s d a y i n S h r i p a l ’ c ,- a h a m l e t o f

P e d c la p a l le v i l la g e in t h e R a y a l a s e e m a r e g i o n o f A n d h r a

P r a d e s h . T h e f ie ld w o r k w a s c o n d u c t e d d u r i n g J a n u a ry -

M a r c h , 1 9 6 9 . * - '

T h e p e r i o d i c r e d i s t r ib u t i o n o f a r a b l e l an d w h i c h i s t h e m a i n f e a t u r e o f t h is t e n u r e s e e m s t o h a v e b e e n a n i n h e r i

t a n c e f r o m p r e - B r i t i s h t i m e s . It i s n o t k n o w n h o w w i d e s

p r e a d i t w a s i n t h e r e g i o n b u t w h a t i s c e r t a i n is t h a t it

n o w o b t a i n s o n l y i n S h r i p a l l e . H o w e v e r , it i s r e p o r t e d

t h a t i t w a s c u r r e n t i n a n e a r b y h a m l e t o f P u r a m t il l 1 9 6 2 .

It i s w e l l - k n o w n t h a t in p r e - B r i t i s h I n d i a , d i f f e r e n t t y p e s

o f l a n d t e n u r e s w e r e p r e v a l e n t i n d i ff e r en t r e g i o n s a n d e v e n

w i t h i n t h e r e g i o n , i t v a r i e d f r o m a r e a t o a r e a . A p e r u s a l

o f B a d e n - P o w e l l ' s c l a ss ic w o r k , T h e L a n d S y s t e m s o f B r i t is h

In d ia ( 1 K9 2) , w i ll g i v e e v i d e n c e o f t h i s f a c t. H o w e v e r , t h e

e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f P a x B r i t la n ic a i n t ro d u c e d s o m e s o r t o f

u n i f o r m i t y i n t h e t e n u r i a l s y s t e m s i n B r i t is h I n d i a , a l t h o u g h

s o m e o f t h e e a r l i e r s y s t e m s o f l a n d t e n u r e s , l ik e za m in d a r i ,

p a t t i d a r i , hhaichara,^ c o n t i n u e d t o e x i st . O f t h e d i ff e re n t

t en u r ia l s y s t e m s , t h e / y o / W f i r / sy s t e m i s t h e m o s t c o m m o n .

S i n c e I n d e p e n d e n c e in 19 47 , z a m in d a r i a n d inam s y s t e m s

h a v e b e e n a b o l i s h e d , a n d u n d e r t h e l a n d r e f o r m s t h a t a r e

b e i n g i n t r o d u c e d t h r o u g h o u t t h e c o u n t r y , t h e o l d s y s t e m s

o f d i v e r s e l a n d t e n u r e s w i l l b e r e p l a c e d e v e n t u iU l y b y a

s i n g l e s y s t e m . G i v e n t h i s o v e r a l l s i t u a t i o n , t h e f u t u r e o f

t h e t y p e o f l a n d t e n u r e , I a m d e s c r i b i n g i n t h i s s t u d y , is

a m a t t e r f o r s p e c u l a t i o n


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W hat makes the present s tudy in teres t ing is the fact

th at th is sys tem has survived not only the tenurial changes

b rought abo u t du ring the Brit ish times but also those occur-

ring durin g the postJndepen dence years. This is atte sted

by th e fact tha t the revenue of fi cial s o f C ud dapah D is t r ic t

were unaw are o f the existence of the periodic red is t r ibu-

tion of land in Shripalle a nd it was only accidentally dis-

covered by thern du ring the jam ab and i (annual checking o f

village accounts) in 1966,

I t may be poin ted out here that the present s tudy f its

in with similar studies con duct ed in o ther societies, Special

me nt ion may be made in th is contex t of Obeyesekere’s

study, L and Tenure in V il la ge C eylo n (1967), which

repo rts the existence of a similar tenure .

I I

Shripalle vil lagers did not know how this tenurial

system cam e ab ou t, and only said that i t was in existence

since t ime s immemorial . In 1805, Sir Thom as Mu nro, the

fam ous Bri t ish adm inis t ra tor , refe rred to the prevalence of

t h e visapadi sys tem o f land tenure in the Cud dapah province

in o ne of h is le t ters to the B oard of Revenue. He observed:

“ In all v i llages , the ryots are in the habi t o f

meet ing and debat ing upon the subject of rent ; but

there are ma ny villages in which they sett le amo ng

themselves th e exact propo rt ion of the whole rent

th at each individual is to pay, These are called visapadi

or sixteenth vil lage, fro m the land and ren t being divided

in to s ix teenth shares ; and they comprise a considerable

par t o f the Cuddapah province When the season o f

cultivation draws near, all the ryots of visapadi villages

assemble to regulate their several rents for the year .

The Pag oda is the place usually chosen for this purposcp

from the idea tha t i ts sanctity will rende r thei r engage


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m c n ts w i th e ac h o th e r th e m or e bi nd in g* T h e y as c e r ta in

th e a m o u n t o f th e agr ic u l tu r a l s toc k o f th e i n d iv i d u a l

an d o f th e w h o l e b od y , th e q u an t i t i e s o f th e l and to

th e c u l tu r e o f w h i c h it i s ad e q u ate an d th e y d i v i d e i t

a c c o r d i n g l y , g i v i n g t o e a ch m a n t h e p o r t i o n w h i c h h e

h as th e m e an s o f c u l t i va t i n g , an d f ix in g h is s h ar e o f th e

rent , and wh ether h i s share be one or tw o s ixteenth s

h e p ays th is p r op or t i on w h e th e r th e w h o l e r e nt o f th e

vi l lage be h igher or lower than las t yea r’ ’ (D is t r i c t

Gazet teer , 1967 ; 49 4 ’).

C . F . B r ac k e n b u r y h as th e fo l l ow i n g c om m e n ts on

th e visapadi system:

“ T h i s w o u l d s ee m t o p o i n t t o b a n d s o f c o l o n i s t s

or ig inal ly se t t l ing on the land in a sort o f agr icu ltural

p ar tn e r s h ip , an d d ou b t l e s s th e jo i n t i n t er e s t an d r e s p on s i

b i l i ty were re ta ined in later t ime s as a m eans o f res i s t

i n g an d o f b e ar i n g u p aga i n s t th e h e avy as s e s m e n t s imp osed . The qu es t ion o f property in the land and to

who m it be lo ngs can hardly be sa id to ar i se when

h o l d i n gs ar e i n t e r - c h an ge ab l e or s u b je ct t o r e d i s t ri b u t ion .

T h e r e a ll y i m p or tan t th i n g i s th e d i v i s i on o f th e p r od u c e

wh ich as far as the ryots are conc erne d under the

visapadi sy s tem was regulated by the contr ibut ion made

to th e c om m on s toc k . T h e S ta te , h ow e v e r , a l s o a s s e r te d

i ts r i gh t s t o a s h are , th e e x ten t o f w h i c h th e S ta te

i t s e l f d e t e r m i n e d ” (D is t r i c t Gaze t t eer . 19 15 : 147).

I t i s c l ear from these . s tatements that the per iod ical re

d i s t r i b u t i on o f lan d am on g th e l oc a l agr i c u l tu r i s t s w as a

f e a tur e o f th e visapadi s y s t e m . T h e S ta te a t th a t t i m e w as

only in lere .s ted in i ts share o f the reven ue and as long as

that was secured , it was ind i f ferent to what hap pened in

the v i l lage and d id not in terfere in i t s in ternal orga nisat ion .

B ut th e i n t r od u c t i on o f th e ryo tw ar i sys tem in many parts


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of India by the Brit ish in which each individual own er was

made responsible for paying the revenue on his land, seems

to have been responsib le for the d isappearanc e of the

visapadi system.

There is variation betw een the system tha t was found

in Shripalle and that described by M unr o and others. In

the former, the extent of land which is periodical ly redis-

tribu ted is only abou t 1/lOth of tha t am oun t available in the

vil lage. As agains t the annua l redis t r ibut ion described by

Brac kenbur y, the land in Shripalle is redistr ibuted once intwelve years. How ever, there seems to have been variation

fro m village to vil lage with regard to the interva l at which

land was redis t r ibuted . For ins tance, the Pura m hamlet

which I men tioned earlier had a sixyearly redistr ibution

system.

I l l

Shripal le , was one of the seven hamlets of Peddapal le

village.

Pedd apalle was well conn ecte d by roa d, being directly

l inked by bus to the d is t r ic t headquarters , C uddapah. The

neares t ra i lhead was Puram on the MadrasBorabay b road

gauge l ine, and was about four miles from Peddapalle.

According to the 1961 Census, the populatio n of Pedd a-

palle was 3,127, d is tr ibuted over se ve n ham lets . It c om -

prised Brahmins, K apus, Bal'jas, Vaishyas, Bhatrajus, Vis hwa

Brahm ins, Nayi Brahmins, Cliakalis , Bhainenis, Mu trach as,

Errakulas , Malas , Chris t ians and Musl ims. The Hari jans andMusl ims were the two nume rical ly s t rongest groups.

The cas te groups ment ioned above were d is t r ibuted in

the several hamlets which forme d pa rt of the main village.

It was interesting th at no K apu (Red di) family resided ia

the main vil lage, being distributed only in the ham lets The

absence of Ka pus in the main vil lage was attr ibu ted by


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the vil lagers to the curse of the local godde ss, w ho appeared in a dream to an ancestor o f the vil lage M unsiff (headman)

o f Peddapalle , and told him that no Kapu should reside

there.

The com pos it ion of castes varied from hamlet to hamlet .

(For the present purpose, s ince I am concentrating on

Shripal le only , I shal l not be going into the com posit ion

o f the other h am lets . ) Each h amlet had a s i zeable popu la

tion and appeared as a ful l -blow n vi i lace in i tsel f but for

revenue purposes the hamlets were treated as part o f the

main village-

The hamlet Shripa lle was a bou t a mile from the main

vi l lage in the north-east direction, and was connected to i t

by a cart track. There were a number of good houses

bui l t of Cuddapah ston e (a variety of black stone avai lable

in the vicinity o f Cuddapah and hence the name) and were

mostly owned by Kapus. There was a small temple to the deity

Rama in the hamlet which was used for hamlet meetings.

In addit ion, there were temples to Hariswam y and Krishna,

the latter b eing on the vil lage outskirts.

Shripa lle had a popu latio n o f 507 in 1969 and the break

dow n by caste is given in T able 1,

The aim o f this study is pe riodic land re-distribution

and the refo re, it is con cern ed only minimally with the struc

tural relations betwe en va rious castes in Shrjpalle-

Kapu and Malas were the preponderant groups in Shr i

palle. I ll terms o f eco no m ic and numerical posi tion, Kapus

dom inated the ham let and ow ned mos t of the land in it .

The Kapus were divided into two sub-castes . In the re

gion as a whole ,Peddaka nti , Mo tati , Ko dide and Pokanati

Kapus were numerous, but only M otati and Po ganati Kapus

were found in the hamlet . Motatis were an endogam ous

group but there seemed to be no restriction to Pokanatis


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g e t t in g m a r ri ed in t o a n y o t h e r s u b - d i v is i o n o f K a p u s , O f

t h e 2 6 K a p u h o u s e h o l d s , f o ur w e r e i m m i g r a n t s f r o m n e i g h

b o u r i n g v i l l a g e s .

T a b l e 1

Caste Traditional

calling

No. of

households

Population

Kapu Peasant 26 230

Mala Labourer 24 100

Mutracha Watchman 13 SS

Togata Weaver 6 33Yadava Cowherd 6 29

Mala Christian Labourer 3 13

Bhatraju Bard 2 12

Vaishya Trader 3 10

Balifa Trader 1 6

Muslim Itinerant Trader

and Labourer 1 6

Bajaka Washerman 1 5

Mangali Barber 1 5

Christian Labourer 1 3

88 507

K a p u s a n d Y a d a v a s w e r e t h e o n l y l a n d o w n e r s i n S h r i-

p a l l e , th e o t h e r c a s t e s b e i n g e i t h e r l a n d l e s s l a b o u re r s o r

d e p e n d e n t i n ot h er w a y s o n t h e d o m i n a n t c a s t e f o r l i v e li h o o d .

T h i s , o f c o u r s e , d i d n o t a p p l y t o t h e V a i s h y a s , w h o w e r e

t r a d e rs . T h e . s e rv i c in g c a s t e s , n a m e l y t h e B a r b e rs a n d W a s h e r

m e n , h a d j a j m a n i r e l a t i o n s h i p w it h t h e K a p u s w h i l e t h e

H a r i j a n s a n d M u t r a c h a s s u p p l ie d a g r i c u lt u r a l a s w e l l a s

d o m e s t ic s e rv a n t s. T h o u g h Y a d a v a s w e r e l a n d o w n e r s , t h ey

d i d n o t h a v e m u c h o f a s a y i n v i l l a g e a f f a ir s i n v i e w

o f t he ir n u m e r i ca l s iz e a n d w e a k e c o n o m i c p o s i t i o n .

G e n e r a l l y s p e a k i n g , K a p u s h a d a m o r e u r b a n s t y le o f

l if e t h a n t h e o t h e r c a s t e s, t h e b e t t e r - o f f K a p u s h a v i n g e l e c -

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