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It is almost completely forgotten today, but there was a time when a giant wall made of thorny bushes and dead vegetation snaked its way for some 4000 km throughout India - from Kohat in NWFP to Sonepur in Odisha. This was the Customs Line, better known as the Great Hedge
The Hedge originated in British attempts to keep salt manufactured in the rest of India out of Bengal Presidency. Bengal charged a tax on salt at the rate of Rs 3.25 per 40 kg as opposed to less than Rs 2 elsewhere.
Considering the importance of salt, there was a thriving black market with salt made in Madras and Bombay being smuggled across to Bengal. So around 1830, the Brits started putting up giant thorny walls of bushes - upto 15 ft high - to curb this movement.
An entire department was created to enforce this tax. Income was around 9 million rupees a year in 1850 while expenditure was about a million. All trade passed through designated gates where staff checked every bag. Those who have read Premchand's Namak ka Daroga would know.
AO Hume, who founded the Congress, made the Hedge 'live' by replacing dead bushes with Karonda, Babool and Prickly Pear. However, its days were numbered. As the Railways grew and trade boomed, the Hedge became obsolete and was abandoned in 1880. Salt tax was rationalised all over
By depriving Bengal of an essential food ingredient, the Hedge promoted deficiency diseases and may have killed thousands. It also created a unique ecosystem by preventing movement of some animals and encouraging others.
One of its legacies is the Indian Salt Service - the smallest of the Central Services of the Union Govt. It only has 11 posts and is headed by the Salt Commissioner, who sits in Jaipur - close to the Sambhar Lake - one of our largest sources of salt.
Just to be clear - the Salt Service may have originated to man the Inland Customs Line, but it's mandate today is very different. It promotes and manages salt extraction. All kinds of salt, including rock salt, are at 0% GST today.
Those who wish to learn more about the Great Hedge of India can try Roy Moxham's book of the same name. Reports on revenue and enforcement are available in scanned copies at the website of the Digital South Asia Library, University of Chicago.
Worth adding - The abandonment of the Hedge did not mean that salt was not taxed. Instead of a Customs barrier, it was now taxed at the point of manufacture at the rate of Rs 2.5 per 40 kg. Hence the Dandi March! The salt duty was finally abolished when Pt Nehru became interim PM
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