how did the farmers of Punjab benefit from the British efforts
Answers
Answer:
farmers were benefitted from Green revolution , high yielding variety of seeds , new jobs were created in all the sectors , new machines came such as combines tractors etc
Answer:
Explanation:
The Punjab Canal Colonies is the name given to parts of western Punjab which were brought under cultivation through the construction of canals and agricultural colonisation during the British Raj. Between 1885 and 1940, nine canal colonies were created in the inter-fluvial tracts east of the Beas and Sutlej and west of the Jhelum rivers. The Punjab underwent an agricultural revolution as arid subsistence production was replaced by the commercialised production of huge amounts of wheat, cotton and sugar.[1] In total, over one million Punjabis settled in the new colonies, relieving demographic pressures in central PunjabIn 1849, the East India Company defeated the Sikh Empire and annexed the Punjab. The new regime, rather than replacing remnants of the previous ruling elites, used them as intermediaries between the government and the wider population.[3] From the outset of annexation, the new provincial government believed that if a paternal district officer ruled with an iron hand, protecting his flock from outside threats - whether a moneylender or political agitator - the landowning cultivators would loyally support the British government.[4] In the following years, British officials began surveying the land and undertook revenue settlements in each district. In order to finance new administration of the province, the local government needed to increase revenues. The primary method of doing so was to encourage the commercialisation of agriculture. In addition they encouraged individualisation in property rights, which was a marked shift from the collective ownership by village communities and certain other complex forms of property that had existed in the pre-British period.[3]
In the 19th century, the vast majority of the population was settled in the fertile regions of central and eastern Punjab. In the western Punjab rainfall was too low for large scale agriculture and resulting in large tracts of barren land.[3] Most of this land had been assigned as Crown land and lay unused.[5] In the 1880s the Punjab administration of Charles Umpherston Aitchison began the process of engineering a vast irrigation scheme in the mostly uninhabited wastelands. The two stated motives for the project were:[6]
To relieve the pressure of population upon the land in those districts of the Province where the agricultural population has already reached or is fast approaching the limit which the land available to agriculture can support and to colonise the area in question with well-to-do yeomen of the best class of agriculturists, who will cultivate their own holdings with the aid of their families and the usual menials, but as much as possible without the aid of tenants, and will constitute healthy agricultural communities of the best Punjab type.
The government hoped to "create villages of a type superior in comfort and civilisation to anything which had previously existed in the Punjab",[7] which in turn would increase productivity.[8] This increased productivity would then boost revenues for the government. To finance this ambitious project, capital was raised through the sale of governmental bonds in Britain, offering investors the chance to benefit from the interest charges remitted by the provincial government.[9]
Colonies
Sidhnai Colony
The Sidhnai Colony was located in the district of Multan. It was primarily settled between 1886–88, when 176,702 acres were allocated to 2,705 settlers.[10] The minimum size of grants was fixed at 50 acres, and grantees were required to build wells to harvest Rabi crops. Peasant grantees were preferred as the government felt self-cultivators would prevents the influx of sub-tenants and labourers from neighbouring regions.[11] Furthermore, the government were attracted by the idea of creating a strong self-supporting peasantry, believing it necessary for agricultural progress and maintaining political stability.[12]
Although an amount of land was reserved for Multani locals, preference was given for grantees from central Punjab, namely the districts of Lahore, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jullunder and Ferozepur. This stemmed from a belief from British officials that central Punjabis were the most skilled and efficient agriculturists in the region.[13] The first settlers were Sikh Jatts from Amritsar.[14] Following the success of the initial grantees, and the proven profitability of the venture, colony land started to become highly sought after.[citation needed]