Rise and Glory History of Halari Visa Oshwals

Author(s): Rati Dodhia
Publisher: Rati Dodhia

Page 90

CHAPTER 14
LIFE IN HALAR
The Oshwal families who came with Jam Rawal from Cutchh separated into two groups. Most of the Oshwals who were farmers at first settled in and around Khambhalia, the original capital, later spreading eastwards towards Jamnagar. The majority of them settled down in villages located between the two cities Khambhalia and Jamnagar. In the beginning they were in few villages but as time passed the number of villages increased to 52. Most of the people, who lived in villages, as they had done in Cutchh, were landowners who farmed their own family properties. Some worked as hired hands or laborers and continued speaking the Cutchhi language as their mother tongue. The farmers lived in villages. A few settled down in towns and cities and started businesses. They stopped speaking the Cutchhi language and instead adopted Gujarati as their mother tongue.
As it was the custom in Cutchh, a village council (panchayat) of five members was formed in villages with a sizeable population. One was appointed a headman (pate) who represented the village to the government and also acted as government representative. In addition there were three regional councils (moti panchayat) with their seats in village of Kansumara, Danta and Dabasang headed by a nat patel (mota patel). The regional council was also made up of five members, one appointed as the senior head (mota patel) and the remaining four as the advisers. The ruler of Navanagar periodically met with the representatives of villagers, which were patels at which time they would air their grievances. The patel was responsible for revenue collection. The councils acted as the courts of law and made decisions on any social, personal or religious problems, taking opinions from the