Gunth Land for Temple Employees in Garhwal

Temple Land and Temple Administration in British Garhwal-4

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                            British Administration in Garhwal   -94

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History of British Rule/Administration over Kumaun and Garhwal (1815-1947) -112

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            History of Uttarakhand (Garhwal, Kumaon and Haridwar) -949

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                              By: Bhishma Kukreti (History Student)

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                The balance land in Gunth villages was owned by temple employees as –Priest, store keeper (Bhandari), record keeper (Mehta), store keeper (Kothari), and dancers etc.  The Gunth owner (here Temple employees) either cultivated their land themselves or used to hire servants for the job. As soon as the temple employees became Hissedar or Khaykar on government records, they started leaving temple jobs.  A few temple employees were on jobs due to additional facilities only. In many cases, the woner of the Gunth land was the temple but the employee’s names were recorded on the Sirtan or Khaykar columns on land record (Khasra).

  As soon as the temple employees got ownership, Sirtani or Khaykari for such Gunth land of temples, they started misusing the rule. When an Almora money lender Kundan Lal Shah pleaded a degree for auction the Gunth land owned by temple priest (pujari) the assistant commoner offered the decision that it was possible to sell such land only when the buyer was ready for being the priest for  the temple. However, every buyer could not  be ‘pujari’ and decision was taken to Kumaon Commissioner Henry Ramsey. On 30^th June 1878, Ramsey offered the judgment that there could not be auction for Gunth land though owned by present or ex-temple employees. In 1880, Mahant of Lakshmi Narayn Math pledged the temple Gunth Land. Henry Ramsey offered decision that if the temple Gunth land  was allowed for auctioning or sales, no temple land  would be safe. Same way, a question came on the board that in case Temple Brahmin Sirtan or owner of temple land sells the land to aHarijan it would destroy the temple purity (Stowel, page 129-30).

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Copyright@ Bhishma Kukreti Mumbai, India, bckukreti@gmail.com 23/12/2016

History of Garhwal – Kumaon-Haridwar (Uttarakhand, India) to be continued… Part -948

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*** History of British Rule/Administration over British Garhwal (Pauri, Rudraprayag, and Chamoli1815-1947) to be continued in next chapter

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

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References  

 1-Shiv Prasad Dabral ‘Charan’, Uttarakhand ka Itihas, Part -7 Garhwal par British -Shasan, part -1, page- 269-278

2- Becket, Garhwal Settlement Report, page 13

3-Stowel, Manual 13, 27, 120, 127  

Xx

History of British Rule, Administration , Policies, Revenue system,  over Garhwal, Kumaon, Uttarakhand ; History of British Rule , Administration , Policies Revenue system  over Pauri Garhwal, Udham Singh Nagar Kumaon, Uttarakhand; History of British Rule, Administration, Policies ,Revenue system  over Chamoli Garhwal, Nainital Kumaon, Uttarakhand; History of British Rule, Administration, Policies ,Revenue system  over Rudraprayag Garhwal, Almora Kumaon, Uttarakhand; History of British Rule, Administration, Policies ,Revenue system  over Dehradun , Champawat Kumaon, Uttarakhand ; History of British Rule, Administration, Policies, ,Revenue system  over Bageshwar  Kumaon, Uttarakhand ;

History of British Rule, Administration, Policies, Revenue system over Haridwar, Pithoragarh Kumaon, Uttarakhand;