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TMI Blog1927 (11) TMI 4X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ily from its founder, Kolhu Kunbi, including the Amgaon branch (under Pandoo) and the other branches, is given below. 4. Seventeen issues were framed by the trial Court, of which the following four only are material at this stage, viz., Issues Nos. 1, 2, 9 and 10 : (1) Was the Zamindari of Amgaon conferred on Pandoo by the Bhonsla Raja subject to the condition that it was to be impartible and to devolve on the eldest son, females having no right of succession, as alleged by the plaintiff, or was it conferred on Sonba (or Sona) without any condition being attached to the grant as alleged by the defendant (2) In the time of the Bhonsla Raj, whenever a Zamindari was granted, did the grant always carry with it the conditions mentioned in paragraph 5 of the plaint (i.e., impartibility and single succession) and also the incident of inalienability ? (9) Was devolution to Zamindari property governed by the rule of primogeniture in the family of Pandoo and Kolhu; if so, are the parties bound by the said custom ? (10) Is there a territorial custom to the effect that Zamindari property is impartible, inalienable and devolves by the rule of primogeniture as alleged by the plaintiff; if so ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... advent of British rule, any settlement or re-grant thereof by the British Government must, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, and unless inconsistent with the express terms of the new settlement, be presumed to continue the estate with its previous incidents of impartibility and succession by special custom. 8. As regards the first issue, the District Judge came to the conclusion that the estate of Amgaon was granted by the Bhonsla or Mahratta Government of Nagpur in favour of one Sonba (or Sona) without any condition attached to it as regards devolution, 9. On the second issue he found that the plaintiff had adduced no evidence in support of his allegation that in the time of the Bhonsla Raj, whenever a Zamindari was granted, the grant always carried with it the condition of succession by lineal primo-geniture and inalienability. He accordingly found against the defendant on both the first and second issue, 10. On the ninth issue, the plaintiff's case was that, in the Amgaon family itself, taking either Pandoo or Sonba to be the original grantee, there was a custom of succession by lineal primogeniture which had grown up, having been derived from the parent stock o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oners, in consequence of the method they adopted, did not record their findings on the issues specifically in the same way as the District Judge. They summarise their judgment as follows : The Amgaon Zamindari before the Thirty Years Settlement was of the nature of a raj and therefore impartible and subject to the rule of single succession, the other members of the family of the Zamindar of the moment being entitled to a suitable maintenance and not to any specific share in the income.... In addition, a custom had by that time grown up in the Amgaon family that the estate should be held as an estate of that nature and subject to those condition.... Nothing occurred at the Thirty Years' Settlement or has occurred t, since to alter the nature of the grant or to affect the validity of the family custom. 13. Their Lordships presume that by the first portion of their finding the Court of the Judicial Commissioner came to the conclusion that the Amgaon estate was from its nature a raj and therefore impartible. In that view, it was unnecessary for them to consider whether it was so also by virtue of a territorial custom (Issue No. 10). But inasmuch as they say that their "decis ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... status of the Zamindars of the Central Provinces which goes exhaustively into the whole question. 17. All these reports were freely referred to at the Bar, and their Lordships consider that, so far as they contain a historical narrative of the Zamindari of Amgaon as well as the other Zainindaris in the Central Provinces referred to therein, they are of great value, and probably the best available history thereof under the circumstances. 18. Before considering these reports, their Lordships think it necessary to note that the word "raj" by itself does not necessarily imply impartiality. The State of Nagpur itself, though undoubtedly a Raj, was not impartible, but was repeatedly divided, and when we consider that of these Zamindaris, more than a hundred in number, some existed from before the time of the Gond Rajas, viz., from the time of the Rajputs who preceded the Gonds, some were created by the Gond Rajas, and some by the Bhonsalas, who did not obtain the sovereignty of Nagpur till after 1750, it would follow that, as regards antiquity at least, there is very great difference between these estates, by whatever name they may have been called. 19. It may or may not be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nfers, the title of Zamindar for the first time on payment of a heavy nazar. 23. And further on : On the whole, the Zamindars of the Wainganga District present, from one point of view, a weaker aspect as Chiefs than the Zamindars of other classes.... They were situated nearer the seat of Government, and, being in a comparatively open and accessible country, they obtained less lenient terms than the Zamindara of Chhattisgarh, or the Chiefs of Sambalpur, or the hill Thakurs of Chhindwara. 24. With regard to Amgaon, it is stated in the same Appendix as follows : This originally formed part of the Kampta Estate, the second holder of which, Gondu Patel, brother of llama Patel, in the time of Raghoji I, apportioned Amgaon to his nephew, San Fatal. In A.D. 1819, Sau Patel was succeeded by his nephew, Tania Bapu, who died in 1838. After this the estate remained under Government management for four years, owing to a dispute about the succession, but in A.D. 1843 the late Raja of Nagpur continued the estate, which then for the first time was called a Zamindari, to an adopted son of Tania Bapu, named Chimna Patel. This individual died in A.D. 1862, and was succeeded by his son Raghoba, a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... se who were recognised to have proprietary rights unrestricted, such as the Zamindars of Balaghat and Bhandara. (b) With proprietary rights restricted, such as the Zamindars of Chanda, Bilaspur and Chhindwara. (c) Those whose proprietary rights were not yet recognised, e. g., Sambalpur. 30. There are passages here and there both in Sir Richard Jenkins' report and Sir Richard Temple's report which speak of all these Zamindaris indiscriminately as Chiefs or Chieftains, but on a complete perusal it becomes apparent that they are clearly and carefully distinguished, and when the origin of the Kampta Zamindari and the Amgaon Zamindari, of which the former is sometimes, but wrongly, said to be the parent, as given in these reports, is considered, it becomes fairly obvious that they are of both such comparatively modern origin (not earlier than 1796 and possibly as late as 1843 when they first obtained recognition as titular Zamindaria), and the circumstances under which they Lord came into existence and continued are such that they could not possibly be classed as appertaining to the category of sovereign or semi-sovereign Chiefs whose possessions were necessarily impartible. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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