^{page 390 note 1} The Emperor Baber, in his Memoirs, describes several agricultural practices, especially the mode of irrigation, which exactly correspond with the means now in use.

The event here related occurred shortly after the destruction of the Rholat Raj by Shér Khan.

^{page 393 note 1} “The great Earl Warenne, in a subsequent reign, when he was questioned concerning his right to the lands which he possessed, drew his sword, which he produced as his title, adding, that William the Bastard did not conquer the kingdom himself; but that the Barons, and his ancestor among the rest, were joint adventurers in the enterprize.” Hume, Appendix, ii. p. 101. With the exception of drawing the sword, I have received an exactly similar reply from a jagirdar of Palamow.

^{page 393 note 2} The sunnuds or grants, now in possession of these tenants in oapite, are all of a date mucb later than the time of Raja Bhugwunt Roy, and bear the signatures of his successors. These deeds generally fix the jiimma payable to the chief zemindar at one-fourth (chauthai) of the gross produce; but it is not certainly ascertainable whether the first invader took any jumma for these fiefs or not. Perhaps, as inheritance became customary, and military attendance less necessary, the Raja insisted upon their paying a jumma, or a kind of quit-rent, though the irrevocability of this tax in India renders it more probable, that it was demanded from the first.

^{page 395 note 1} The following passage in Hume seems actually to describe zemindary customs in the jungle tracts of Hindustan: “The tenants in the king's demesne lands were at that time obliged to supply gratis the court with provisions, and to furnish carriages on the same hard terms when the king made a progress, as he did frequently, into any of the counties. These exactions were so grievous, and levied in so licentious a manner, that the farmers when they heard of the approach of the court, often deserted their houses, as if an enemy had invaded the country, and sheltered their persons and families in the woods, from the insults of the king's retinue.”

^{page 395 note 2} This custom in the pergunnahs of Chota Nagpore, &c, surrounding Pahtmow, is carried to an enormous extent.

^{page 395 note 3} The family poet or bhat, or bad-ferosh, is a conspicuous member of the train.

^{page 396 note 1} Fields so reserved by the landlord are called khudkasht, and this is the simple origin of the term.

^{page 396 note 2} Not to appear neglectful in minntice, I will specify the general population and some of the peculiar customs of villages in Palamow. Of the inhabitants the following may be called village authorities, but are only complete in the larger Bastis*:

Jet Ryot; this is a person selected by the landlord as the most intelligent and honest of the cultivators; as no written accounts are kept in any part of the pergunnah, this person attends upon the zemindar's agent when he makes the annual settlement; he points out the different fields and their tenants; names the industrious and the careless; advises their remuneration or ejectment; and during the

* For similar customs in Mysore, see Buchanan, ch. 5.

current year, sees that all engagements are performed by the ryots. For these services his head is bound with a turban by the landlord on his appointment, and perhaps he receives 2 or 3 rupees as a present annually. The post is one of honor not of right, and depends entirely upon ability.

Brahman; this person propitiates the appropriate deities at the seasons of sowing; for this he gets a few begahs rent-free from the proprietor; and for ceremonies in families he has a right to take 10 seers from the rice crops of every cultivator when heaped in the granary.

Pahon; this person (not a Hindú) is the priest of the local gods, or the unquiet spirits of those whose death has been accidental; to each of whom he offers sacrificetwice or thrice in the year, at fixed times; he is also the recorder of the villageboundaries, an office which is hereditary, the knowledge descending to him from his fathers; for these services perhaps he holds a few begahs of spring land, and obtains 10 seers of grain from each ryot annually.

The Chokeedar and Goreyt (the watchman and messenger) are generally the same individual, and receives five seers of rice in each character, from each asamee or ryot, and 2 or 3 begahs from the malik or proprietor.

The Barber and Midwife, being generally one person, has a right to 10 seers from the heap of each ryot for his personal services.

The Carpenter and Ironmonger, for repairing ploughs and tools of husbandry, receives at an average 1 maund or 20 seers from each cultivating tenant.

These persons compose the village establishment, which, as no written accounts of any kind are kept, does not include any officer similar to the patwari of other parts. Documents of sale and mortgage and farming leases are the only deeds drawn up in writing, besides the sunnud of the fief.

Residents, if not ashraf (or men of higher classes) pay a trifling house rent to the proprietor. Ryots are exempted from this, and are entitled to a few biswahs, as garden round their houses. When they remove to another village they may take away their chappars or roofs, unless in debt.

Wood, grass, water, and fish, are free to all.

Pasture is abundant and also free.

Rents are paid in cash; but payments amongst the peasantry are made in kind.

^{page 397 note 1} I might add all the zemindaries of the Jungle Mehals, but do not, as I have leas acquaintance with their customs.

^{page 397 note 2} Excepting that of Sirgooja, which did not come within those arrangements.

* The jagirdars receive these rents.

^{page 398 note 1} The local divisions here are called pergunnahs, chuklas, and tuppahs, also gadies.

^{page 399 note 1} He holds the executive without the power of punishing.

^{page 399 note 2} Palamow paid 5,000 rupees to the Moghuls—12,182 to the British Government.

^{page 400 note 1} It may here be mentioned, that the Rajas gave away several villages without any jumma being attached to them, chiefly to Brahmans; these rent-free tenures were found, in 1814, to comprise above one-fifth of the pergunnah.

^{page 400 note 2} See the above work, p. 30.

^{page 401 note 1} Hamilton.

^{page 402 note 1} The Raja's capital. As the Ayin Akbari was compiled 250 years after the conquest, it cannot be determined whether this change was gradual or immediate.

^{page 402 note 2} Akbari, Ayin, (translated) vol. ii. p. 287.Google Scholar

There is some confusion in the Ayin Akbari regarding these settlements: v. i. p. 292, it is written, “The husbandman has his choice to pay revenue either in ready money, or by kunkoot, or by bhowlee;” and in the instructions to the Amil (p. 304), occurs this passage. If in the “same place some want to engage by measurement, and others desire to pay from an estimate of the crops, such contrary proposals shall not be accepted;” and immediately afterwards, “Let him (the collector) not be covetous of receiving money only, but likewise take grain.” And the modes of dividing the crop are then enumerated. Now if the revenue was collected by any mode in kind, whence came the registered fixed rate and the fixed settlement for ten years? Though the instructions may be applicable to the time of measurement and investigation, still they appear contradictory. The Taksim fixed jumma, however, must have beeu prepared as stated in the text. See Akbari, Ayin, v. i. p. 294.Google Scholar

^{page 403 note 1} The name occurs in the Ayin Akbari, though not in the sections relating to the settlements; whenever it does occur, it is in the sense of a landholder. See v. i. pages 299, 187, and v. ii. page 16.

^{page 403 note 2} In the Ayin Akbari, to the rent-roll of the land-taxes, the military force that every Sirkar is capable of furnishing is subjoined; as in Tirhoot 700 cavalry and 80,000 infantry. These forces are called (v. i. p. 187), the zemindari troops, a sufficient proof of the existence of the zemindars, and indeed of their character.

^{page 404 note 1} The author of “Observations on the Law and Constitution of India” has extracted from the Ayin Akbari many an argument in favour of the property of the cultivators, but he could not find one in favour of the official character of the zemindars. He appears to have misapprehended the evidence afforded by that work on this question. To make a just and fair assessment, Torul Mul measured the actual lands, ascertained the produce, and of course in all inquiries came only in contact with the cultivators. Into the question of proprietary right he never enters, leaving this to be decided by the courts or customs of the country.

^{page 404 note 2} The subdivision of lands by inheritance, exists to a surprising extent in Tirhoot, and in consequence the file of suits in the Civil Court is more than a single judge can keep clear. The criminal calendars, at the same time, afforded abundant proofs of the jealousy occasioned by the relative terms of malik and ryot. Joint estates, from mismanagement, frequently come to the hammer; and the disinclination of the old maliks to become ryots to the new purchaser, leads to almost daily breaches of the peace. The interpretation of ryot as a tenant, is here of much older date than the Regulations of Lord Cornwallis.

^{page 405 note 1} See Reg. II. 1822.

^{page 405 note 2} Ferishta.

^{page 405 note 3} For these four, See Ayin Akbari, v. ii.

^{page 406 note 1} Hamilton.