Revenue Collection System in Gorkha Rule over Kumaon

History of Gorkha /Nepal Rule over Kumaun, Garhwal and Himachal (1790-1815) -39

  

   History of Uttarakhand (Garhwal, Kumaon and Haridwar) -558

                        By: Bhishma Kukreti (A History Research Student)

           From 1791to 1792, Jogamall was Subba or Governor of Kumaon for Nepal Kingdom. He initiated the revenue collection system in Kumaon for Gorkha. Jogamall decided tax for each village of Kumaon. Joshis those were on high position under Chand Kings came forward with enthusiasm for supporting Gorkha Rule and became Revenue Collectors for Gorkha Kingdom. Therefore, Gorkha Kingdom did not get any difficulty in collecting tax from remote villages too.

                  Three Types of Annual Tax on villagers

  There were three annual taxes for the villagers to pay-

1-Tax for each mature person

2-Tax for each Family

3-Tax for each Village

The tax was as under

1-One rupee as Manga Kar from each person

2-Two rupees as Ghar Pichhi Kar from a family

3-Each village had to pay tax with following headings-

A-Agriculture land – on each Twent Nali for rupees one

b-Subangi dastur – Rupees one

c-Mejmani Dastur- Two and Half Ana

The village head (Kamin) used to divide the tax on each family and used to collect tax accordingly from villagers. Village Haed or Kamin had responsibility for collecting tax from villagers and depositing revenue to State Officers.

There was other incidental tax too as-

Subeadr ji ka Kar

Doniya Kar

Ghiu Kar

Tan Kar

Manjhari Kar

Khini Khapini Kar

When GeebarnYudhvikram Shah was coronated the Gorkha regime levied a Tax as Najrana or Gift tax.

              Tax on Brahmins

 Initially, there was no tax on Brahmin for their land ownership. When in 1797, Bam Shah and Rudraveer Shah came to Kumaon as Gorkha Representative they levied a Land Tax –Kushahi Kar on Brahmins. In fact, that tax was levied to stop Brahmins going against Gorkha Rule. The tax was levied to those Brahmin who were taking part in politics. The tax was not collected from those Brahmins those were peaceful or were not against Gorkha. Those Brahmins found indulged in politics were levied tax for previous years too. Kaldhar and Brahma Nand Padhya were two Gorkha officers in Kumaon in 1797-98 for Revenue collection. They used to decide whom to tax Kushahi and whom not to levy.

*** History of Gorkha /Nepal Rule over Kumaun, Garhwal and Himachal (1790-1815) to be continued …. 40

Copyright@ Bhishma Kukreti Mumbai, India, bckukreti@gmail.com18/2/2015

History of Garhwal – Kumaon-Haridwar (Uttarakhand, India) to be continued… Part -559

(The History of Garhwal, Kumaon, Haridwar write up is aimed for general readers)

XX

                    Reference

Atkinson E.T., 1884, 1886 , Gazetteer of  Himalayan Districts …

Hamilton F.B. 1819, An Account of Kingdom of Nepal and the territories

Colnol Kirkpatrik 1811, An Account of Kingdom of Nepal

Dr S.P Dabral, Uttarakhand ka Itihas part 5, Veer Gatha Press, Dogadda

Bandana Rai, 2009 Gorkhas,: The Warrior Race

Krishna Rai Aryal, 1975, Monarchy in Making Nepal, Shanti Sadan, Giridhara, Nepal

I.R.Aryan and T.P. Dhungyal, 1975, A New History of Nepal , Voice of Nepal

L.K Pradhan, Thapa Politics:

Gorkhavansavali, Kashi, Bikram Samvat 2021 

Derek J. Waller, The Pundits: British Exploration of Tibet and Central Asia page 172-173

B D pande, Kumaon ka Itihas

Sharma , Nepal kin Aitihasik Rup Rekha

Chaudhari , Anglo  –Nepalese Relations

Pande, Vasudha , Compares Histriographical Traditions of Gorkha Rule in Nepal and Kumaon

Pradhan , Kumar, 1991, The Gorkha Conquests , Oxford University  Press

XX

History of Gorkha Rule in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh; History of Gorkha Rule in Pauri Garhwal, Udham Singh Nagar Kumaon, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh; History of Gorkha Rule in Chamoli Garhwal, Nainital Kumaon, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh; History of Gorkha Rule in Rudraprayag Garhwal, Almora Kumaon, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh;History of Gorkha Rule in Tehri Garhwal, Champawat Kumaon, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh; History of Gorkha Rule in Uttarkashi Garhwal, Bageshwar Kumaon, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh; History of Gorkha Rule in Dehradun Garhwal, Pithoragarh Kumaon, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh;

XXX

History Analysis of Revenue Collection System in Gorkha Rule over Kumaon; History Analysis of Revenue Collection System in Gorkha Rule over Udham Singh Nagar, Kumaon; History Analysis of Revenue Collection System in Gorkha Rule over Nainital, Kumaon; History Analysis of Revenue Collection System in Gorkha Rule over Almora, Kumaon; History Analysis of Revenue Collection System in Gorkha Rule over Champawat, Kumaon; History Analysis of Revenue Collection System in Gorkha Rule over Bageshwar, Kumaon; History Analysis of Revenue Collection System in Gorkha Rule over Dwarhat, Kumaon; History Analysis of Revenue Collection System in Gorkha Rule over Pithoragarh, Kumaon;