The Oudh Estates Act, 1869

THE OUDH ESTATE’S ACT, 1869

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Section 2 — Interpretation – clause. II

Section 7 — Heirlooms. III

Section 10 — None but persons named in lists to be deemed Taluqdárs or Grantees. IV

Section 13 — Restriction as to donees and legatees. V

Section 18 — Gifts to religious or charitable uses. VI

Section 20 — Bequests to religious and charitable uses. VII

THE OUDH ESTATE’S ACT, 1869 ___________ ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS ___________ Preamble. II.— Rights and liabilities of Taluqdárs and Grantees. Taluqdárs to have heritable and transferable rights in their estates. Rights and liabilities of persons named in second schedule. Saving of certain redemption-suits. III.— Lists of Taluqdárs and Grantees.

SECTIONS.

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Section 28 — Continuance of annuities. IX

Maintenance of surviving relatives of Taluqdárs and Grantees. Grandparents, parents, and senior widows. Unmarried daughters, widows of sons and brothers and inferior widows. Muhammadan Taluqdárs and Grantees empowered to adopt. Alteration of rules of intestate succession in cases of Taluqdárs and Grantees named in list 3 or list 5. Reverter to ordinary law of succession.

THE OUDH ESTATES ACT, 1869.

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Section 1 — Short title, Extent of Act

1 OF 1869. _________ PASSED BY THE GOVERNOR GENERAL OF INDIA IN COUNCIL. (Received the assent of the Governor General on the 12th January 1869). __________ An Act to define the rights of Taluqdárs and others in certain estates in Oudh, and to regulate the succession thereto. Preamble.—WHEREAS, after the re-occupation of Oudh by the British Government in the year 1858, the proprietary right in divers estates in that province was, under certain conditions, conferred by the British Government upon certain Taluqdárs and others; and whereas doubts may arise as to the nature of the rights of the said Taluqdárs and others in such estates, and as to the course of succession thereto; and whereas it is expedient to prevent such doubts, and to regulate such course, and to provide for such other matters connected therewith as are hereinafter mentioned; It is hereby enacted as follows:— I.— Preliminary. Short title, Extent of Act.—This Act may be cited as “The Oudh Estates’ Act, 1869,” and shall extent only to the estates hereinafter referred to. Interpretation–clause.—In this Act, unless there be something repugnant in the subject or context— “Transfer.”—“Transfer” means an alienation inter vivos; “Will”.—“Will” means the legal declaration of the intentions of the testator with respect to his property affected by this Act, which he desires to be carried into effect after his death ; “Codicil”.—“Codicil” means an instrument made in relation to a Will, and explaining, altering, or adding to its dispositions: It is considered as forming an additional part of the Will; “Signed.”—“Signed” applies to the affixing of a mark ; “Registered.”—“Registered” means registered according to the provisions of the rules relating to the registration of assurances for the time being in force in Oudh ; “Minor.” “Minority.”—“Minor” means any person who shall not have completed the age of eighteen years, and “minority” means the status of such person ; “Taluqdár.”—“Taluqdár” means any person whose name is entered in the first of the lists mentioned in section eight ; “Grantee.”—“Grantee” means any person upon whom the proprietary right in an estate has been conferred by a special grant of the British Government, and whose name is entered in the fifth or sixth of the lists mentioned in section eight ;

“Estate.”—“Estate” means the taluqa or immoveable property acquired or held by a Taluqdár or

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Section 3 — Taluqdárs to have heritable and transferable rights in their estates

Section 4 — Rights and liabilities of persons named in second schedule

Section 5 — Grantees’ rights and liabilities

Section 6 — Saving of certain redemption–suits

“Estate.”—“Estate” means the taluqa or immoveable property acquired or held by a Taluqdár or Grantee in the manner mentioned in section three, section four, or section five, or the immoveable property conferred by a special grant of the British Government upon a Grantee ; “Heir.” “Legatee.”—“Heir” means a person who inherits property otherwise than as a widow, under the special provisions of this Act ; and “legatee” means a person to whom property is bequeathed under the same provisions ; Words expressing relationship.—Words expressing relationship denote only legitimate relatives, but apply to children in the womb who are afterwards born alive. II.—Rights and liabilities of Taluqdárs and Grantees. Taluqdárs to have heritable and transferable rights in their estates.—Every Taluqdár with whom a summary settlement of the Government revenue was made between the first day of April 1858 and the tenth day of October 1859, or to whom, before the passing of this Act and subsequently to the first day of April 1858, a Taluqdári sanad has been granted, shall be deemed to have thereby acquired a permanent, heritable and transferable right in the estate comprising the villages and lands named in the list attached to the agreement or kabuliyat executed by such Taluqdár when such settlement was made, or which may have been or may be decreed to him by the Court of an officer engaged in making the first regular settlement of the provinces of Oudh, such decree not having been appealed from within the time limited for appealing against it, or, if appealed from, having been affirmed, Subject to certain conditions.—subject to all the conditions affecting the Taluqdár contained in the orders passed by the Governor General of India on the tenth and nineteenth days of October 1859 and re-published in the first schedule hereto annexed, and subject also to all the conditions contained in the sanad under which the estate is held. Rights and liabilities of persons named in second schedule.—Every person whose lands the proclamation issued in Oudh in the month of March 1858 by order of the Governor General of India specially exempted from confiscation, and whose names are contained in the second schedule hereto annexed, shall be deemed to possess in the lands for which such person executed a kabuliyat between the first day of April 1858 and the first day of April 1860 the same right and title which he would have possessed thereto if he had acquired the same in the manner mentioned in section three; and he shall be deemed to hold the same subject to all the conditions affecting Taluqdárs which are referred to in the said section, and to be a Taluqdár for all the purposes of this Act. Grantees’ rights and liabilities.—Every Grantee shall possess the same rights and be subject to the same conditions in respect of the estate comprised in his grant as a Taluqdár possesses and is subject to, under section three, in respect of his estate. Saving of certain redemption–suits.—Nothing in sections three, four and five, or in the said orders, or in any sanad, shall be deemed to bar a suit for redemption, (a) where the instrument of mortgage was executed on or after the thirteenth day of February 1844 and fixed no term within which the property comprised therein might be redeemed, or (b) where the instrument of mortgage fixed a term within which the property comprised therein might be redeemed, and such term did not expire before the thirteenth day of February 1856.

7. Heirlooms.—If a Taluqdár or Grantee, or any heir or legatee of a Taluqdár or Grantee, desire that

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Section 8 — Preparation of lists of Taluqdárs and Grantees

Section 9 — Publication of lists

Heirlooms.—If a Taluqdár or Grantee, or any heir or legatee of a Taluqdár or Grantee, desire that any elephants, jewels, arms or other articles of moveable property belonging to him shall devolve along with his estate, he shall take an inventory of such articles. Such inventory shall be signed by him and deposited in the office of the Deputy Commissioner of the District wherein such estate or the greater part thereof is situate; and thereupon such of the said articles as shall not have been transferred shall (so far as may be possible) be used and enjoyed by the person who, under or by virtue of this Act, is for the time being in actual possession or in receipt of the rents and profits of the said estate or the greater part thereof, otherwise than as mortgagee or lessee. III.—Lists of Taluqdárs and Grantees. Preparation of lists of Taluqdárs and Grantees.—Within six months after the passing of this Act, the Chief Commissioner of Oudh, subject to such instructions as he may receive from the Governor General of India in Council, shall cause to be prepared six lists, namely :— First.—A list of all persons who are to be considered Taluqdárs within the meaning of this Act ; Second.—A list of the Taluqdárs whose estates, according to the custom of the family on and before the thirteenth day of February 1856, ordinarily devolved upon a single heir ; Third.—A list of the Taluqdárs, not included in the second of such lists, to whom sanads or grants have been or may be given or made by the British Government up to the date fixed for the closing of such lists, declaring that the succession to the estates comprised in such sanads or grants shall thereafter be regulated by the rule of primogeniture; Fourth.—A list of the Taluqdárs to whom the provisions of section twenty-three are applicable ; Fifth.—A list of the Grantees to whom sanads or grants have been or may be given or made by the British Government, up to the date fixed for the closing of such list, declaring that the succession to the estates comprised in such sanads or grants shall thereafter be regulated by the rule of primogeniture ; Sixth.—A list of the Grantees to whom the provisions of section twenty-three are applicable. Publication of lists.—When the lists mentioned in section eight shall have been approved by the Chief Commissioner of Oudh, they shall be published in the Gazette of India. After such publication, the first and second of the said lists shall not, except in the manner provided by section thirty or section thirty-one, as the case may be, be liable to any alteration in respect of any names entered therein.

12. Rule against perpetuity.—No transfer or bequest under this Act shall be valid whereby

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Section 11 — Taluqdárs and Grantees may transfer and bequeath

Section 12 — Rule against perpetuity

Section 14 — Transfers and bequest to Taluqdárs or heirs

Section 15 — Transfers and bequests to persons out of line of succession

IV.—Powers of Taluqdárs and Grantees to transfer and bequeath. Persons who are deaf or dumb or blind are not thereby incapacitated for making a transfer or bequest under this Act, if they are able to know what they do by it. One who is ordinarily insane may make a transfer or bequest under this Act during an interval in which he is of sound mind. No person can make a transfer or bequest under this Act while he is in such a state of mind, whether from drunkenness, or from illness, or from any other cause, that he does not know what he is doing. Rule against perpetuity.—No transfer or bequest under this Act shall be valid whereby the vesting of the thing transferred or bequeathed may be delayed beyond the life-time of one or more persons living at the decease of the transferee or testator and the minority of some person who shall be in existence at the expiration of that period, and to whom, if he attains full age, the thing transferred or bequeathed is to belong. Transfers and bequest to Taluqdárs or heirs.—If any Taluqdár or Grantee shall heretofore have transferred or bequeathed, or if any Taluqdár or Grantee, or his heir or legatee, shall hereafter transfer or bequeath, the whole or any portion of his estate to another Taluqdár or Grantee, or to such younger son as is referred to in section thirteen, clause two, or to a person who would have succeeded according to the provisions of this Act to the estate or to a portion thereof if the transferor or testator had died without having made the transfer and intestate, the transferee or legatee and his heirs and legatees shall have the same rights and powers in regard to the property to which he or they may have become entitled under or by virtue of such transfer or bequest, and shall hold the same subject to the same conditions and to the same rules of succession as the transferor or testator.

19. Sections of Succession Act applied to wills of Taluqdárs.—Sections 49, 50, 51, 54, 55,

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Section 16 — Transfers to be in writing, signed and attested

Section 17 — Further requisites to validity of gifts inter vivos

Section 19 — Sections of Succession Act applied to wills of Taluqdárs

Section 21 — ‘Son,’ ‘descendants,’ ‘daughter,’ ‘brother,’ ‘widow,’ ‘defined

Section 22 — Special rules of succession to intestate Taluqdárs and Grantees

legatee shall hereafter transfer or bequeath to any person not being a Taluqdár or Grantee the whole or any portion of his estate, and such person would not have succeeded according to the provisions of this Act to the estate or to a portion thereof if the transferor or testator had died without having made the transfer and intestate, the transfer of and succession to the property so transferred or bequeathed shall be regulated by the rules which would have governed the transfer of and succession to such property if the transferee or legatee had bought the same from a person not being a Taluqdár or Grantee. Transfers to be in writing, signed and attested.—No transfer of any estate, or of any portion thereof, or of any interest therein, made by a Taluqdár or Grantee or by his heir or legatee under the provisions of this Act, shall be valid unless made by an instrument in writing signed by the transferor and attested by two or more witnesses. Sections of Succession Act applied to wills of Taluqdárs.—Sections 49, 50, 51, 54, 55, and 57 to 77 (both inclusive), and sections 82, 83, 85, and 88 to 98 (both inclusive) of the Indian Succession Act (No. X of 1865), shall apply to all wills and codicils made by any Taluqdár or Grantee, or by his heir or legatee, under the provisions of this Act, for the purpose of bequeathing to any person his estate, or any portion thereof, or any interest therein: Provided that marriage shall not revoke any such will or codicil : Provided also that nothing herein contained shall affect wills made before the passing of this Act. In applying the said sections to wills and codicils made under this Act, all words hereinbefore defined, and occurring in such sections, shall (unless there be something repugnant in the subject or context) be deemed to have the same meaning as this Act has attached to such words respectively. Special rules of succession to intestate Taluqdárs and Grantees.—If any Taluqdár or Grantee whose name shall be inserted in the second, third, or fifth of the lists mentioned in section eight, or his heir or legatee, shall die intestate as to his estate, such estate shall descend as follows, viz :—

(l).—To the eldest son of such Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, and his male lineal

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(l).—To the eldest son of such Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, and his male lineal descendants, subject to the same conditions and in the same manner as the estate was held by the deceased; (2).—Or if such eldest son of such Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, shall have died in his life-time, leaving male lineal descendants, then to the eldest and every other son of such eldest son successively, according to their respective seniorities, and their respective male lineal descendants, subject as aforesaid; (3).—Or if such eldest son of such Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, shall have died in his life-time without leaving male lineal descendants, then to the second and every other son of the aid Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, successively, according to their respective seniorities, and their respective male lineal descendants, subject as aforesaid; (4).—Or in default of such son or descendants, then to such son (if any) of a daughter of such Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, as has been treated by him in all respects as his own son, and to the male lineal descendants of such son, subject as aforesaid; (5).—Or in default of such son or descendants, then to such person as the said Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, shall have adopted by a writing executed and attested in manner required in case of a will and registered, subject as aforesaid; (6).—Or in default of such adopted son, then to the eldest and every other brother of such Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, successively, according to their respective seniorities, and their respective male lineal descendants, subject as aforesaid; (7).—Or in default of any such brother, then to the widow of the deceased Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee; or, if there be more widows than one, to the widow first married to such Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, for her life-time only; (8).—And upon the death of such widow, then to such son as the said widow shall, with the consent in writing of her deceased husband, have adopted by a writing executed and attested in manner required in case of a will and registered, subject as aforesaid; (9).—Or on the death of such first married widow and in default of a son adopted by her with such consent and in such manner as aforesaid, then to the other widow, if any, of such Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, next in order of marriage, for her life, and on the death of such other widow, to a son adopted by her with such consent and in such manner as aforesaid; or in default of such adopted son, then to the other surviving widows according to their respective seniorities as widows, for their respective lives, and on their respective deaths, to the sons so adopted by them respectively, and to the male lineal descendants of such sons respectively, subject as aforesaid; (10).—Or in default of any such widow or of any son so adopted by her, or of any such descendant, then to the male lineal descendants, not being najib-ul-tarfain, of such Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, successively, according to their respective seniorities and their respective male lineal descendant, whether najib-ul-tarfain or not; (11).—Or in default of any such descendant, then to such persons as would have been entitled to succeed to the estate under the ordinary law to which persons of the religion and tribe of such Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, are subject. Nothing contained in the former part of this section shall be construed to limit the power of alienation conferred by section eleven.

23. General rule of succession to intestate Taluqdárs and Grantees.—Except in the cases provided

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Section 23 — General rule of succession to intestate Taluqdárs and Grantees

Section 24 — Maintenance of surviving relatives of Taluqdárs and Grantees

Section 25 — Grandparents, parents, and senior widows

Section 26 — Brothers and minor sons

Section 27 — Unmarried daughters, widows of sons and brothers and inferior widows

General rule of succession to intestate Taluqdárs and Grantees.—Except in the cases provided for by section twenty-two, the succession to all property left by Taluqdárs and Grantees, and their heirs and legatees, dying intestate, shall be regulated by the ordinary law to which members of the intestate's tribe and religion are subject. Maintenance of surviving relatives of Taluqdárs and Grantees.—When any Taluqdár or Grantee, or his heir or legatee, dies leaving him surviving such relatives as are hereinafter mentioned, the person for the time being in the possession of his estate or the rents and profits thereof shall be liable to pay to each of such relatives during his or her life, or for such other period as is hereinafter mentioned, by twelve equal monthly payments, an annuity in accordance with the custom of the country not exceeding such amount as is hereinafter mentioned : Provided that such relative was at the date of the death of the deceased living together with him: Provided also that such relative is and continues to be without any other adequate means of maintenance. If any part of such estate shall have been transferred or bequeathed by the deceased, the person for the time being in possession of such part, or of the rents and profits thereof, shall be liable to pay proportionate parts of the said annuities during the continuance thereof respectively. Grandparents, parents, and senior widows.—In the case of the grandparents, parents, and senior widows of the deceased, the maximum amount of the annuity shall be as follows :— (a.) where the annual revenue payable to Government in respect of the estate is or exceeds 1,50,000 rupees ⸻a sum not exceeding 6,000 rupees : (b.) where such revenue is or exceeds 100,000 rupees, but is less than 1,50,000 rupees ⸻ a sum not exceeding 2,400 rupees : (c.) where such revenue is or exceeds 50,000 rupees, but is less than 100,000 rupees ⸻ a sum not exceeding 1,200 rupees : (d.) where such revenue is or exceeds 25,000 rupees, but is less than 50,000 rupees ⸻ a sum not exceeding 600 rupees : (e.) where such revenue is or exceeds 15,000 rupees, but is less than 25,000 rupees ⸻ a sum not exceeding 360 rupees : (f.) where such revenue is or exceeds 7,000 rupees, but is less than 15,000 rupees ⸻ a sum not exceeding 240 rupees ; and (g.) where such revenue is less than 7,000 rupees ⸻ a sum not exceeding 180 rupees. Junior widows.—In the case of a junior widow of the deceased, the maximum amount of the annuity shall be one-half of the maximum amount to which a senior widow of the deceased would be entitled under the former part of this section. Brothers and minor sons.—In the case of brothers and minor sons of the deceased, the maximum amount of the annuity shall be a sum not more than 1,200 rupees.

IX.—Miscellaneous.

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Section 29 — Muhammadan Taluqdárs and Grantees empowered to adopt

Section 30 — Alteration of rules of intestate succession in cases of Taluqdárs and Grantees named in list 3 or list 5

Section 31 — Reverter to ordinary law of succession

Section 32 — Saving of rights of creditors

Section 33 — Awards as to compensation and maintenance

(b) in the case of a daughter or widow, till she voluntarily leaves the household of the heir or legatee of the deceased, or would, according to the custom of the country, cease to be entitled to maintenance, and (c) in all other cases, till the annuitant dies. Muhammadan Taluqdárs and Grantees empowered to adopt.—Every Muhammadan Taluqdár, Grantee, heir or legatee, and every widow of a Muhammadan Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, with the consent in writing of her deceased husband, shall, for the purposes of this Act, have power to adopt a son whenever, if he or she were a Hindu, he or she might adopt a son. Such, power shall be exercisable only by writing executed and attested in manner required by section nineteen in case of a will and registered. Alteration of rules of intestate succession in cases of Taluqdárs and Grantees named in list 3 or list 5.—Any Taluqdár or Grantee whose name has been entered in the third or fifth of the lists mentioned in section eight, or his heir or legatee, may, at any time hereafter, present to the Chief Commissioner of Oudh a declaration in writing, executed and registered in the manner required by this Act for the execution and registration of an instrument of gift, that he is desirous that the succession to his estate shall, in case of his intestacy, cease to be regulated in the manner described in section twenty-two, and that it shall in future be regulated by the ordinary law to which members of his tribe and religion are subject. On receiving such declaration, the said Chief Commissioner shall cause to be inserted the name of such Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, in the fourth or sixth (as the case may be) of the lists mentioned in section eight, and shall cause a note thereof to be made in the proper place in the third or fifth (as the case may be) of the said lists, and the succession to such estate shall thenceforward, in case of intestacy, be regulated in the manner provided by section twenty-three. Reverter to ordinary law of succession.—Any Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, may, at any time hereafter, present to the Chief Commissioner of Oudh a declaration in writing, executed and registered in the manner required by this Act for the execution and registration of instruments of gift, that he is desirous that his estate should in future be held subject to the ordinary law of succession to which members of his tribe and religion are subject.

SCHEDULES.

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FIRST SCHEDULE. (See section 3.) I. BEADON, ESQ., Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department, to th C.J. WINGFIELD, ESQ., Chief Commissioner of Oudh, (No. 1377, dated the 15th July.—I AM directed by the Governor General in Council to acknowledge the receipt of your Secretary's letters noted in the margin, relative to the Taluqdárí settlement of Oudh. His Excellency in Council, agreeing with you as to the expediency of removing all doubts as to the intention of the Government to maintain the Taluqdárs in possession of the taluqas for which they have been permitted to engage, is pleased to declare that every Taluqdár with whom a summary settlement has been made since the re-occupation of the province, has thereby acquired a permanent hereditary and transferable proprietary right, viz., in the taluqa for which he has engaged, including the perpetual privilege of engaging with the Government for the revenue of the taluqa. This right is, however, conceded, subject to any measure which the Government may think proper to take for the purpose of protecting the inferior Zamíndárs and village occupants from extortion, and of upholding their rights in the soil in subordination to the Taluqdárs.

4. The meaning of this is that, when a regular settlement of the province is made, wherever it is found

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The meaning of this is that, when a regular settlement of the province is made, wherever it is found that Zamíndárs or other persons have held an interest in the soil intermediate between the ryot and the Taluqdár, the amount or proportion payable by the intermediate holder to the Taluqdár, and the net jama finally payable by the Taluqdár to the Government, will be fixed and recorded after careful and detailed survey and inquiry into each case, and will remain unchanged during the currency of the settlement, the Taluqdár being, of course, free to improve his income and the value of his property by the reclamation of waste lands (unless in cases where usage has given the liberty of reclamation to the Zamindar), and by other measures of which he will receive the full benefit at the end of the settlement. Where leases (pattás) are given to the subordinate Zamíndárs, they will be given by the Taluqdár, not by the Government. This being the position in which the Taluqdárs will be placed, they cannot, with any show of reason, complain if the Government takes effectual steps to re-establish and maintain in subordination to them the former rights, as those existed in 1855, of other persons whose connexion with the soil is in many cases more intimate and more ancient than theirs; and it is obvious that the only effectual protection which the Government can extend to these inferior holders, is to define and record their rights and to limit the demand of the Taluqdár as against such person during the currency of the settlement to the amount fixed by the Government as the basis of its own revenue demand. What the duration of the settlement shall be, and what proportion of the rent shall be allowed in each case to Zamíndárs and Taluqdárs, are questions to be determined at the time of settlement. The Governor General agrees in your observation that it is a bad principle to create two classes of recognized proprietors in one estate, and it is likely to lead to the alienation of a larger proportion of the land revenue than if there were only one such class. But whilst the taluqdárí tenure, notwithstanding this drawback, is about to be recognized and re-established, because it is consonant with the feelings and traditions of the whole people of Oudh, the zamíndári tenure intermediate between the tenures of the Taluqdár and the ryot is not a new creation, and it is a tenure which, in the opinion of the Governor General, must be protected. ____________

SECOND SCHEDULE

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SECOND SCHEDULE (See section 4.) (1).— Dig-Bijay Singh, Rájá of Balrámpúr. (2). — Rao Hardeo Bakhsh Singh, of Katíari. (3). — Káshí Parshád, Taluqdár of Sisséndi. (4). — Jhabba Singh, Zamíndár of Gopál Khéra. (5). — Chandan Lál, Zamíndár of Moraon (Baiswára).