Royal Commission on Agriculture in India (Linlithgow Commission)

Evidence submitted to the Royal Commission on Agriculture in India, 1927, and files relating to work of the Commission

The Royal Commission on Agriculture in India was appointed by His Majesty's Command on 23 April 1926, to examine and report on the conditions of agriculture and rural economy in British India and to make recommendations for the improvement of agriculture and the promotion of the welfare and prosperity of the rural population. The Commission consisted of the Marquess of Linlithgow (Chairman), Sir Henry Staveley Lawrence, Sir Thomas Middleton, Rai Bahadur Sir Lala Ganga Ram, Sir James MacKenna, Hubert Calvert, Raja Sri Krishna Chandra Gajapathi Narayana Deo Garu, Nagendra Nath Gangulee, Lodhi Karim Hyder and Balkrishna Sitaram Kamat. It assembled at Simla, India, for the first time on 11 October 1926. The Commissioners began by revising their questionnaire which was sent to all those who were to be examined as witnesses and to those likely to give information of interest to the Commission. It was also distributed by Local Governments and published widely in the Indian Press. The Commission received 783 replies to the questionnaire. Of those who replied, 395 gave oral evidence of which 178 were officials of the Government of India or of provincial governments and the rest were non-official witnesses. The Commission undertook two tours of India from 11 October 1926 to 1 April 1927 and from 24 October to 10 December 1927. On its first tour the Commission took evidence at Simla from the heads of the departments of the Government of India concerned with agriculture. It then visited Poona, Bombay, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Coonoor, Madras, Calcutta, Shillong, Jorhat, Dacca, Pusa, Raipur, Nagpur, Hoshangabad, Lucknow, Benares, Cawnpore, Agra, Delhi, Hissar, Lahore, Lyallpur, Sukkur and Peshawar. After its first visit to India, the Commission reassembled in London on 17 May 1927 to examine representatives of trading and manufacturing interests, agricultural and veterinary experts, and retired officials from India. It also examined witnesses at Cambridge and Rothamsted, and visited the Agricultural Show at Bath and the Royal Show at Newport. On its second visit to India and Burma, the Commission took evidence at Karachi, Patna, Rangoon and Mandalay, and also visited Mahlaing, Myingyan, Magwe and Allanmyo in Burma, and the Imperial Forest Research Institute at Dehra Dun. It concluded its tour at Delhi, where it took evidence from the last witnesses before retiring to Mahableshwar to write its Report, which was signed on 14 April 1928.

Unrestricted

Interim reports 1 to 12 of the Royal Commission on Agriculture in India can be found in the Parliamentary Papers at IOR/V/4/SESSION 1927 VOL 8. Interim reports 13 to 16, and the abridged and final reports can also be found in the Parliamentary Papers at IOR/V/4/SESSION 1928 VOL 8. The thirteen volumes of evidence and the appendix are at IOR/V/26/500/1-17. Further papers in the India Office Records relating to the Royal Commission on Agriculture in India are in the Economic Department Collections at IOR/L/E/9/1-6, the Economic Department Annual Files at IOR/L/E/7/1424 Files 7298 (iii), (iv), (vi) and (viii), the Private Office Papers at IOR/L/PO/1/18, and the Information Department Records at IOR/L/I/1/26. Reports showing the progress made in giving effect to the recommendations of the Royal Commission are at IOR/V/25/500/223. Reports on the progress made during the years 1936 to 1939 in giving effect to the recommendations of the Royal Commission which concern Burma are in the Burma Office Collections at IOR/M/6/80. The written and oral evidence of U Sein, Manager of the Burma Provincial Co-operative Bank Ltd, Mandalay, extracted from Vol.XII Evidence taken in Burma, is in the Burma Office Annual Files at IOR/M/3/166. In the India Office Private Papers, the Papers of Sir Roger Thomas contain a copy of the Abridged Report at Mss Eur F235/428 and Vol.XI of the Evidence at Mss Eur F235/465. Another copy of the Abridged Report can be found in the Papers of John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon, at Mss Eur F77/263. Copies of important correspondence for Lord Birkenhead, Secretary of State for India, can be found at Mss Eur D703/35. The signatures and seals of members of the Royal Commission are in Mss Eur C350. The evidence given by Brayne, Deputy Commissioner Gurgaon, before the Royal Commission on Agriculture in India, including a copy of Gurgaon Development by F.L. Brayne (Delhi, 1927) is in the Papers of Frank Lugard Brayne at Mss Eur F152/29.

Report of the Royal Commission on Agriculture in India (London: HMSO, 1928). The Royal Commission's sixteen interim reports were also published by HMSO in 1927 and 1928.