History often remembers the British Raj for its laws, irrigation works and railways. Yet colonial rule in Sindh also depended on practices that burdened rural people.

Many grew from the ryotwari revenue system. Colonial officers Thomas Munro and Alexander Read first introduced it in Madras at the end of the 18th century, before it became widespread with Munro’s appointment as the governor of Madras Presidency in 1820. The Bombay Presidency later adopted a modified version, based on the Wingate–Goldsmid surveys that set fixed per-acre tax rates and which Sindh also followed.

Under ryotwari, revenue officials dealt directly with cultivators over land and revenue. Officials regularly surveyed land, marked boundaries, classified soils, managed water, assessed crops, verified records and collected revenue. These duties kept them touring the countryside for long periods.

A Handbook for Revenue Officers of the Bombay Presidency, 1884, states that district collectors toured for 120 days each year and visited every taluka [administrative subdivision] in their district, while assistant and deputy collectors spent up to 210 days in the field.

Long before Independence, Sindh’s villages quietly financed the colonial administration’s travelling camps — through free food, forced payments and unpaid labour. A 1919 inquiry exposed the system, but it never really went away

Long before Independence, Sindh’s villages quietly financed the colonial administration’s travelling camps — through free food, forced payments and unpaid labour. A 1919 inquiry exposed the system, but it never really went away

These tours required large travelling camps. Senior and middle-ranking officers travelled with 20-40 labourers, besides clerks, peons, cooks, water carriers, dhobis [washermen] and camel drivers. Commissioners and judges travelled with even larger establishments, requiring 80-100 men, apart from their personal attendants.

The touring system had three weaknesses from the start: inadequate funding; low salaries for tapedars [village-level land revenue officials], supervisors and peons; and too few staff and labourers to run tours and camps.

THE TRIAD OF RURAL EXACTION

To fill this gap, the administration relied on three rural exactions: rasai [free provisions], lapo [compelled payments], and chherr [forced unpaid........

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