A History of Agriculture in India v2.c87.s6: Rakhi System
A History of Agriculture in India v2.c87.s6
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Rakhi System
v2.c87.s6.1
Chaos prevailed in the Punjab in the middle of the eighteenth century. Trade was disrupted by the plundering bands, and life and property were unsafe. The Khalsa were the only organized force in this chaos. As a price for protection against robbers, the villagers, who accepted the protection of the Dal Khalsa, paid one-fifth of their income twice a year, at the end of each harvest, in May and October. This system was called *Rakhi* or price for protection. In a short time large slices of the territory in four Doabs of the Punjab were taken under their protection by the Dal Khalsa.
v2.c87.s6.2
In the areas under the *Rakhi* system, raids of bandits were prevented, disputes settled and rough and ready justice meted out. Thus the Sikhs took over the police functions of the State. "The people got relief and respite, and the Sikhs got an opportunity to prove that they meant to rule. Politically, the *Rakhi* system made them saviours of the people; economically it assured them of regular legal income; and militarily, it put their organization on sound footing. In terms of guerilla strategy, it meant an onslaught on the stable image of the Mughal empire and the staying power of the Afghan occupation forces."⁵
v2.c87.s6.3
⁵ Arjan Das Malik, *An Indian Guerilla War, the Sikh Peoples' War, 1699-1768*, p. 78