Condition of farmers in Rajasthan before independence.

The state of Rajasthan came into existence on 30 March 1949. Earlier it was a union composed of several princely states of Rajputana. The condition of the farmers in Rajasthan was bad. The farmers of the Rajasthan were exploited and oppressed by the Jagirdars during British Raj. They were deprived of fundamental rights. They were given inhuman treatment when the Jagirdars did not get cesses known as “lag”(tax) or “begar”(forced work) in time, they were given hard punishments and their crop used to be destroyed. The farmers were tenants of the land and their condition was deplorable under the exploitation of landlords called Jajirdars, Zamindars and Bishwedars etc. The tenant had no right over the land cultivated by him. He was only the tiller of the soil, but was under the whimsical mercy of those landlords.

But the farmers as a class were awakening under the leadership of Thakur Deshraj and there was turmoil of the tiller demanding, “Land to tiller”. Thakur Deshraj united farmers of Rajasthan under the banner of Jat Mahasabha. He led the movement of nonpayment of cesses to Jagirdars in 1000 villages of district Jhunjhunu. He organized successful mass rallies of farmers of Sikar and Jhunjhunu districts in Shekhawati region of Rajasthan. This hostile state of affairs led the newly formed state government to take immediate steps to reconcile the situation. The pressure of protection of the tenants was so immense that the government had to take immediate steps and with this aim “The Rajasthan Protection of Tenants Ordinance, 1949” was promulgated to meet the burning need of the time. Thus Thakur Deshraj was an instrument of change in the abolition of Jagirdars in Rajasthan.