Begar system in Himachal Pradesh
The system of begar had been prevalent in erstwhile Shimla and Punjab Hill States of H.P. since time immemorial. Begar means forced labour or employing anyone without remuneration. When the British established their control over India, this system prevailed in the states as well as British India. However, there was a major difference in the begar system of Shimla and Punjab Hill States. In British India, the people supplied beasts of burden, carts and labourers, etc. to the governing power. However, in the case of Shimla and Punjab Hill States, the demand extended to the compulsory service of the subjects to their chiefs or the Government. The compulsory service rendered was of several kinds. First, there was the road begar or compulsory porterage on the roads. Secondly, the land owners and the house-olders had to render many kinds of service to the chief and the Jagirdars.
Nature of Begar :
Before the advent of British power in the hill states, goods of the chief were conveyed by the subjects from one village to another, until they reached destination. This was in accordance with the begar system. Originally, it was a personal obligation, but later on it came to be definitely associated with the possession of land. The obligation of begar was part and parcel of revenue system. It represented the ruler's claim to personal service. It was obligatory to every household to supply an able bodied man to labour for the state. The begar system well suited to the contemporary agricultural society where financial condition of the people was not sound and opportunities of the people to earn cash wages from outside labour were not adequate. Due to the economic unsoundness, the ruler could not realise revenue and other miscellaneous dues in cash, which was essential for his own maintenance and smooth working of the administration. It was due to this reason that the ruler had to levy nominal revenue in cash and the rest in the form of the labour in lieu of cash from his subjects. Human labour was the only alternative to carry on administration and therefore, became popular. The begar or forced labour was the heaviest and most important of the miscellaneous dues which the agricultural population had to provide. Without it, the states customary ceremonies, i.e. marriage, funerals etc. could not be performed.
Begar under British Government :
The British government, after becoming the paramount power vis-a-vis the hill rulers gave recognition to the begar system. While re-instating the hill chiefs in their possessions, they were asked to furnish a quota of begaris in proportion to the revenue they raised from their territories. In addition, the Company's army and individual officials made use of begar system and drew upon such labour while passing through the hilly area. Under the British government, the burden of the begar system increased in the Shimla Hill States during the construction of Shimla- Tibet road and the growth of Shimla as a hill station. While defining the nature of begar, S.E.Stokes has mentioned, "begar was the system by which the transportation of each state was carried on. It was not from stage to stage as at present, but from one village to the next." The state materials and the luggage of the officials were carried from one village to another until they reached their destination. Though unpaid this system imposed little hardship, not only because there was not much to carry, but because only the begar of the state and its official was carried on.
Social and Economic Implications of Begar System:
In early times, begar was an important aspect of the socio-economic life of hill people. It was an integral part of the social structure and hill economy of the area. It was closely connected with hierarchy in social order; and land, labour and living in economy. It appears that the begar system was well suited to the needs and conditions of the hill states and the circumstances of an agricultural society with low productivity and underdeveloped cash economy, where cash currency was limited and the resources of the people were inadequate.
Social Implications of begar:
In the hills, wheeled conveyances were not in existence. Therefore, for ordinary purposes, for instance, for the transport, of state officials baggage, or for conveying timber and grass for state palace, human labour alone was available. As a necessity, the custom had grown up and had the sanction of great antiquity to the extent that all classes who cultivated the soil were bound to give up, as a condition of tenure, a portion of labour for the exigencies of state or government. This practice had become so inveterate that even artisans and other classes not connected with the soil were obliged to devote a portion of their time to the public service. Under the system as it obtained with the passage of time, the rich and strong escaped, the poor and the weak had to bear a double burden. Brahmans some certain classes of Rajputs, state and village officials and influential, and respectable men of lower grade were exempted from the begar. The rich bania families secured commutation of begar into cash. The burden fell mainly on the people of the lower classes and low caste people such as Koli, Chamar, Rehr, Bahri, Lohar etc.
Brothers were compelled to live together and the independent character of hill woman constrained them to have a wife in common, for the sake of their domestic peace, since the hill woman was not ready to tolerate a rival in her house. Thus, another implication of begar system was that it became one of the causes for the rise of polyandry. It enabled a family of brothers to get the full benefit of several sources of livelihood and protect the wife in the dangerous country when the husband was away. Polyandry was directly encouragd by the state through penalties expected on partition.
The begar system was also the cause of corruption such as bribe in the society. In families where there was only adult male, if he did not want to render begar on his turn, he could get exemption by bribing Patwari or Lambardar.
One implication of the begar system was that it fostered the habits of idleness. The object of the beggar was to do as little as possible because he had to receive nothing for the work and one could not blame him for his work. Thus, the state got nothing and apart from economic wastage, the effects were demoralizing to all concerned. Due to the age old practice of beth, bethus and his family members were made to believe that there is nothing wrong, it was due to their bad luck, they could not own the land, and therefore, they could not do anything against it. Besides this, the philosophy of "karma” was backed by the religious percepts and was accpeted by both rich and poor, high and low castes. None could challenge the system because of support of religion and society.
Economic Implications of Begar System:
The begar system was an important and integral part of the economic system of the hill states. The whole economic life of the hill states seems to be dependent on this system. It affected adversely the small peasants. The zamindars were not affected so adversely because they generally sent their bethu and other substitutes instead. It fell heavily on the poor people. When it was imperative for them to work in their own fields during the crop season, they had to go for rendering begar. When the people had no opportunity to earn money from outside labour, the begar system suited well because they had a lot of time to work as a begari. But as soon as the opportunities to earn money from outside labour increased it created for them a great financial loss. With the rise in the rates for casual labour, a month spent without payment means a considerable loss, which was often more than the amount of the monthly earnings. It interferred seriously with a man taking quasi-permanent labour. Thus, in a household containing two able bodied men, one would easily go on to some forest work in Bushahr and Chamba. But as soon as the second brother was called upon to do his period of athwara begar. the first had to come to home and he could rarely afford to go to the forest work.
Artisans-goldsmiths, blacksmiths, carpenters and shopkeepers,etc. were all liable to begar if they possessed land, although usually they supplied substitutes. The artisans usually made articles for the chief or Darbar during thexr begar period. It increased the economic resources of the hill states.
Abolition of Begar
Samuel Evan Stokes was an American missionary and came to the Shimla hills in 1904. He was a great phillanthropist and reformer. The miserable plight of begari made him the staunch critic of begar system. Satyanand Stokes felt that Kotgarh eminently suited to be a place for launching agitation against such an obnoxious and inequitous system as forced labour on the roads. Besides being an important stage on the HindustanTibet road between Shimla and Rampur and being directly governed by the British government, it was surrounded by many hill states. Further, here the people were more educated; some of them were men of sufficient public spirit and they were keen to bring about a better state of affairs. On Stoke's initiative, they formed an informal vigilance committee. They sent a representation to A.C.E.Elliot, Superintendent, Hill States, for doubling the wages of the begar coolies. Elliot was quite sympathetic to the suggestion. As a result of these efforts within two years, the rates were doubled.
In Mandi, the system of pala begar was abolished with effect from January 1, 1917, the only casual forms of begar was retained. Compensation was given to private persons entitled to the services of begaris,- the supply of firewood was undertaken by the Forest Department, the number of subordinate state servants was increased in order to replace the begaris whose work had been of permanent character and arrangement were made to obtain casual labour.