Shamsabad, Pakistan - Division of Jagir (estate)

Division of Jagir (estate)

The decision of Chief Court, Lahore of 19th April 1938 recorded the Awan family history in the following manner, “Allah Yar Khan, the common ancestor of the parties, was the sole proprietor of Shamasabad. On his death the affairs of the family were managed by his eldest son Ghulam Ahmad. About the year 1844 Ghulam Ahmad retired from the management of the estate and devoted himself to the study of the Quran, for which reason he began to be described as Hafiz.
Feroz Khan, though he was the youngest of the brothers, then took over the management of the estate, and both under the Sikh Rule and after the conquest of this part of the country by the British, he increased the family property considerably and acquired great influence locally. The British Government conferred a substantial jagir on him; and he was appointed the lambardar of Shamasabad and the zaildar of the ilaka. During the period that Feroz Khan was the head of the family, the abadi of Shamasabad was considerably extended; a new mohalla was formed by Feroz Khan and was named after him as Ferozpura. (It is in respect of certain rights in this mohalla that the present dispute has arisen). At the time of first settlement, dispute arose between Feroz Khan and Mohammad Nasim as to the shares in which they were to be entered as owners of the family landed property. This dispute was ultimately decided by the Chief Court (C. A. No. 369 of 1866) on 26 January 1867, it being held that Feroz Khan was entitled to one-half, and Ghulam Ahmad and Mohammad Nasim to one-fourth each. About the same time, it was settled by the executive authorities that the jagir shall be held by Feroz Khan alone. Feroz Khan died in 1867 and on his death a peculiar mode of succession was adopted: his eldest son Roshan Din was given one-half of the estate and his other seven sons divided remaining half among themselves in equal shares. The whole of the jagir was of course continued in the name of the eldest son Roshan Din alone, who was also appointed zaildar and lambardar in place of his father. Roshan Din died in 1893, leaving four sons: Mohammad Amin (defendant), Sher Mohammad, Mohammad Ahsan and Abdul Haq, who have appeared as witnesses in this case. On Roshan Din’s death one-half of his estate went to the eldest son Mohammad Amin and the remaining half was taken by the other three sons in equal shares. The jagir was continued in the name of Mohammad Amin alone and he succeeded his father as the zaildar and lambardar.

The Appellant in this case was Abdul Muqsit, the great-grandson of Mohammad Nasim. He was a gold medallist from the Aligarh University (India) from where he obtained B.A. and LLB. The descendant of Allah Yar Khan regretted privately this highly discriminatory division of jagir (estate) in 1867 but showed unity publicly. Awans used to have the institution of sirdari whereby the eldest son of a chief used to get an extra share. Since 1867 Nasim divided his portion of jagir (estate) equally among his descendants. Hafiz Ghulam Mohammad had no male descendant.

The affairs of Shamsabad were organised in an orderly manner by the descendants of Allah Yar Khan. The most notable personalities of his descendants were Malik Feroz Khan, Sir Malik Mohammad Amin Khan and Malik Mohammad Qasim. In 1915 the title of Khan Bahadur was conferred on Malik Amin Khan and powers of Honorary Magistrate 1st Class were held by him. His descendants are active in the political sector of Pakistan since its independence in 1947. The descendants of Mohammad Nasim and Feroz Khan are highly qualified professionals and are scattered in education, law, engineering, army, medicine, politics, and business in different sectors of life in Pakistan and abroad. Their professional details and family trees up to Mahr Majid are available in reference.