The Revenue System
The revenue system varies in
different localities .All lands are held in communal shares and belong to their
owners by ancestral right . There are no obligations of revenue payment
attaching to the ownership of land , beyond that of paying one-tenth of the
produce , ushsr which is laid down by Mahomedan Law . Where revenue is paid in
this country , it is [except in portions
of Bajour where one-seventh of the pro-
The payment of ushar is not universal
. Many tribes such as the Utman Khel , and most of the Upper and Lowe Swat
tribes on the left bank of the Swat river , and the Sam Ranizai , do not pay
ushar to any one . Some , but very few , however , do pay it , when a local
Khan is powerful enough to be able to extort it . The tribes of Dir and the
Swat tribes on the right bank of the Swat river pay ushar to the Khan of Dir ,
or to the local Khans to whom the Dir ruler may have assigned any particular
tract of country .
In the case of the Swat tribes on the
right bank of the Swat river , in order to avoid the necessity for the presence
of Dir revenue collectors [muhasils ] , an agreement has been entered into
between the Nawab of Dir and tribes whereby they pay a fixed sum of money
yearly through their own Khans to the Nawab in lieu of ushar .
In Bajour ushar is taken by the Khan of
Nawagai , or minor Khans to whom he may assign the revenues of a district ,
such as the Khans of Khar , Jhar , Pashat and others , from such portions of
each tribes as the Khans may from time to time have under their control .
For lands occupied by the fakir classes
,i.e, cultivating tenants or dependants , rent in kind is given to the land
owner , calculated on some fixed fraction of the produce varying in each
locality . Village artisans , such as blacksmiths , armed retainers [mallatars ] and others hold land as tenants
free of rent in return for service .
