256 DERA GHAZI KHAN DISTRICT
of the District treasury. Dera Ghazi Khan town is the head-quarters
of an Executive Engineer of the Canal department.
The Deputy-Commissioner as District Magistrate is responsible for
criminal work, and has powers under the Frontier Crimes Regulation.
Civil judicial work is under a District Judge. Both officers are super-
vised by the Divisional Judge of the Multan Civil Division, who is also
Sessions Judge. There are two Munsifs, one at head-quarters and the
other at Fazilpur during the winter and at Rajanpur during the
summer. The predominant form of crime is cattle-theft, and murders
due to tribal enmity and quarrels about women are frequent.
From 1819, when Ranjit Singh seized the Derajat, until 1830, Dera
Ghazi Khan was farmed to the Nawab of Bahawalpur for a sum of
5 lakhs. Diwan Sawan Mal ruled from 1832 to 1844, and the District
prospered. The land revenue was taken in kind., and was generally
a quarter of the gross produce. On annexation in 1849, General van
Cortlandt, the Deputy-Commissioner, made a summary settlement,
based on the full share of produce taken by the Sikhs, commuted
into cash. A fall in prices followed, and the settlement soon broke
down. Two other summary settlements were found necessary before
the assessment reached a reasonably low pitch. The regular settle-
ment was made between 1869 and 1874. The fixed assessment system
was to be applied, and a demand of 4a lakhs was sanctioned. In the
revised settlement of 1893-7 fluctuating assessments were introduced
in the more uncertain tracts, and a demand of nearly 5 lakhs was
imposed. The rates ranged from R. o-a-4 to Rs. 1-g-5 on `wet' land;
and ,from 4 pies to R. 0-5-7 on `dry' land. In 1903-4 the land
revenue and cesses amounted to 6-4 lakhs. The average size of a
proprietary holding is 5-7 acres.
The collections of land revenue alone and of total revenue are shown
below, in thousands of rupees:--
1 Land revenue.
Total revenue.
880-1. -' ...Ig9o_1. 1900-1. 1903_.4.
370 3.78 4,44 4,70
494 _ 5? . 7,50. 7,86
The District contains five municipalities: D1SRA GHAz1 KHAN, JAM-
PUR, RAJANPUR, DAJAL, and MITHANKOT. Outside these, local affairs
are managed by the District board. Its income, derived mainly from a
local rate, was Rs. 59,700 in 1903-4. The expenditure was Rs. 66,300,
education being the largest item.
The regular police force consists of 550 of all ranks, including
89 municipal police. The Superintendent is usually assisted by 4
inspectors. The village watchmen number 381. There are 18
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