Bengal revenue authorities were opposed to the arrangement. In 1827 the Board reported that the canoongoes had effected but little towards the main object of their appointment, and that their action met with systematic and determined opposition from the landholders, who in most cases failed to appoint putwaries, or, when they did appoint them, refused to pay their allowances, dismissed them without warning, and did not allow them access to their real records. The Board of Revenue themselves persistently opposed the whole system, and though the Government of India never conceded the point, they managed by passive resistance to defeat all action until canoongoes dropped out everywhere but in Orissa, and putwaries were discouraged, and as far as possible extinguished.

As a result of the policy of non-interference in Bengal, there were no tehsildars or other native revenue officers in the interior of districts, and up to the present year there were no revenue establishments whatever out of the Collector's office.

The record of all rights, which was required by the old system, is now being partially supplied by the returns submitted under the Road Cess Act, which is already to a great extent a register of tenures in Bengal. Efforts are also being made to revivify the putwaries. The Supreme Government has lately consented to the organization of the Orissa canoongoes at some increase of expense to the State, and the whole of Orissa is now parcelled out into canoongoe jurisdictions, while the putwaries are being regularly registered and recognized. In Behar the putwari has retained more vitality as a village institution, and the policy of the last two years has done much to strengthen his position. On all lands which come under settlement, on all Government estates and Wards' estates, efforts are being made to record the functions and emoluments of the putwaries, and to reconstitute them on their former footing. In the new Sub-divisional establishments which have been recently sanctioned, and are described in another chapter of this report, one of the officers is called canoongoe to make the system so far correspond with the old system. The best endeavours of Government are now being directed to making a commencement towards rescuing these territories from their present want of system, and to afford the ryots necessary protection.

The security of the Government revenue depends at present upon the operation of the Sale Law. The Security of the revenue. average annual number of sales of whole estates during the last ten years has been 686, giving an average annual proportion of sales to estates of 312 per cent. only, and the proportion of sales caused by bond fide inability to meet the Government demand is even much smaller than this. Under the Sale Law of 1859 shareholders and sub-holders were permitted under certain conditions to obtain separate registry so as to protect themselves from the effect of sale due to the default of others, but advantage has not been taken of these provisions to the extent that was expected.

Wards' estates.

According to the provisions of the old Regulations, the Government originally undertook the management of the estates of minors or incapable proprietors with the object of securing its own revenue, but it is now notorious that Government interference on this score is unnecessary, and

revenue officers, who now take charge of these estates, have hitherto made it their principal business to extricate a Ward's estate from any difficulties into which it may have fallen, and to hand it over to its owner, not only relieved of all embarrassments, but with a large accumulated balance as well. There are now 104 Wards' estates under management, and some of them have very large rentals. It seemed to the present Lieutenant-Governor that if we were to undertake the management of these estates, we ought to reform in one way as well as in another; that the gratuitous labour of Government officers and the authority of Government should not be given solely to increase the rents; and that if we managed the estate at all, we should make it, as far as possible, the model of what a well-managed estate ought to be -a model not only in respect of the strict exaction of the rights of a landlord, but also in regard to the performance of the duties of a landlord. The services of the Board of Revenue and of the Commissioners and Collectors, to whose supervision the improvements to the estates are mainly due, are given without any cost whatever to the estates under management, and the Government stewardship would be discharged none the less faithfully if we spent some of the surplus revenues of rich estates in improving the condition of the people, and of making Wards' estates models for the imitation of all landlords in the surrounding districts. His Honor has accordingly desired that for the future the settlements of Wards' estates should be made as nearly as the circumstances will permit on the same principles as the settlement of Government estates; that instead of being leased to mercenary rentfarmers, the lands should, as far as possible, be settled with residents, with the ryots, or with their representatives, and that the general wellbeing of all parties should be studied in the management of these estates. At the permanent settlement Government, by abdicating its position as exclusive possessor of the soil, and contenting itself with a permanent rent-charge on the land, escaped thenceforward all the labour and risks attendant upon detailed mofussil management. The zemindars of Bengal Proper were not slow to follow the example set them, and immediately began to dispose of their zemindaries in a similar manner. Permanent under-tenures, known as patni tenures, were created in large numbers, and extensive tracts were leased out on long terms. By the year 1819 permanent alienations of the kind described had been so extensively effected, that they were formally legalized by Regulation VIII of that year, and means afforded to the zemindar of recovering arrears of rent from his patnidars, almost identical with those by which the demands of Government were enforced against himself. The practice of granting such under-tenures has steadily continued, until at the present day, with the patni and subordinate tenures in Bengal Proper and the farming system of Behar, but a small proportion of the whole permanently-settled area remains in the direct possession of the zemindars. In these alienations the zemindars have made far better terms for themselves than the Government was able to make for itself in 1793. It has rarely happened that a patni, or even a lease for a term of years, has been given otherwise than on payment of a bonus, which has discounted the contingency of many years'

Subordinate tenures.

increased rents. It is a system by which, in its adoption by the zemindars, their posterity suffers, because it is clear that if the bonus were not exacted a higher rental could be permanently obtained from the land. This consideration has not, however, had much practical weight with the landholders. And if a gradual accession to the wealth and influence of sub-proprietors be a desirable thing in the interest of the community, the selfishness of the landholding class is not in this instance of it a subject for regret.

The process of subinfeudation described above has not terminated with the patnidars and izaradars. Lower gradations of sub-tenures under them, called dar-patnies and dar-izaras, and even further subordinate tenures, have been created in great numbers. And not unfrequently, especially where particular lands are required for the growth of special crops, such as indigo, superior holders have taken under-tenures from their own tenants. These tenures and under-tenures often comprise defined tracts of land; but a common practice has been to sublet certain aliquot shares of the whole superior tenure, the consequence of which is that the tenants in any particular village of an estate now very usually pay their rents to two, or many more than two, different masters, so many annas in the rupee to each. It must be added that in many cases where an estate or tenure has been sublet, the lessor has reserved certain portions, generally those immediately contiguous to his residence, in his own possession. These he may cultivate by keeping ryots upon them, or, especially if he be a European indigo-planter, by hired labour.

All the under-tenures in Bengal have not, however, been created since the permanent settlement in the manner above described. Dependent taluks, ganties, howalas, and other similar fixed and transferable under-tenures, existed before the settlement. Their permanent character was practically recognized at the time of the settlement, and has at any rate since been confirmed by lapse of time.

In addition to all these tenures, the country is dotted over with small plots of land held revenue-free, the large majority of them having been granted by former Governments, or zemindars under those Governments, as religious endowments,-grants which have since been recognized and confirmed by the English Government.

Rent of under-tenures.

The general provisions of the Regulations of 1793 were in favour of the tenant. The theory of the permanent settlement was to give to all under-holders, down to the ryots, the same security of tenure as against the zemindars which the zemindar had as against the Government. Sub-holders of talooks and other divisions under the zemindars were recognized and protected in their holding, subject to the payment of the established dues. As respects the ryots, the main provisions were these all extra cesses and exactions were abolished, and the zemindars were required to specify in writing the original rent payable by each ryot at the pergunnah at established rates. If any dispute arose regarding the rates to be so entered, the question was to be "determined in the civil court of the zillah in which the lands were situated, according to the rates established in the pergunnah for lands of the same description and quality as those respecting which the dispute arose." It was further provided that no zemindar should have power

to cancel the leases except on the ground that they had been obtained by collusion at rates below the established rates, and that the resident ryots should always be entitled to renew pottahs at these rates. In fact fixity of tenure and fixity of rent-rates were secured to the ryots by law. It has already been pointed out that provision was made for canoongoes and putwaris, an object of whose appointment was declared to be "to prevent oppression of the persons paying rent." On behalf of the ryots it was a record of rights only that was wanting. The status that was designed for the tenantry was, however, much impaired, and in great part destroyed by the great powers subsequently given to the zemindars under the old huftum (seventh) and punjum (fifth) regulations, with a view to enable them to realize their rents. Under the huftum process (Regulation VII of 1799) the person of the ryot could be seized in default; under the punjum process (Regulation V of 1812) his property could be distrained, and in either case the proceedings commenced by what has been described as a strong presumption, equivalent to a knock-down blow against the ryot. The whole rent law was rescinded by Act X of 1859. The law of 1859 reduced the powers exercised by the zemindars themselves, while it increased the grounds of enhancement and afforded the remedy of a summary process before Deputy Collectors, who were, however, often very insufficiently qualified. Rent-suits are now transferred to the civil courts; they are better tried, and the rights of the ryots are more respected than they were; but, on the other hand, there are now good grounds of complaint, that there is difficulty in quickly realizing undisputed rents by legal process. In Assam and Cachar, in the Himalayan slopes to the north of Bengal, in the terai at the foot of the Himalayas, on the uplands behind Chittagong, and in the Soonderbuns or jungle tract between the cultivated districts of the Gangetic delta and the Bay of Bengal, there are large uncultivated wastes which belong to Government. So far as they are not to a small extent occupied by aboriginal tribes and scattered settlers, these lands have in past years been leased and sold and granted to settlers in one of two methods, viz. either in accordance with the sale rules, known as the fee-simple, or Lord Canning's rules of 1861, or in accordance with the practice sanctioned by Government, which allowed collectors of certain districts a discretion in giving cultivation leases of certain waste lands.

Waste lands.

Lord Canning's well-known minute of the 17th October 1861 laid down three main principles on which grants of waste lands were to be made in future. These were first, that "in any case of application for such lands they shall be granted in perpetuity as a heritable and transferable property, subject to no enhancement of land revenue assessment;" second, that "all prospective land revenue will be redeemable at the grantee's option by a payment in full when the grant is made, or, at the grantee's option, a sum may be paid as earnest at the rate of 10 per cent., leaving the unpaid portion of the price of the grant, which will then be under hypothecation until the price is paid in full;" and third, that "there shall be no condition obliging the grantee to cultivate or clear any specific portion after grant within any specific time." The minimum price for the fee simple was paid at Rs. 2-8 or 5

L

shillings per acre, so that by paying 10 per cent. of this, or 6d. per acre, a title was obtained. Moreover, many large tracts were obtained by speculation in anticipation of measurement for a merely nominal payment. A despatch from the Secretary of State subsequently required, in addition to these provisions, that grants should be surveyed before sale, and that all sales should be by auction to the highest bidders above a fixed upset price.

There are besides these the following sets of waste land rules which have been at different times sanctioned for the whole or parts of Bengal:Rules for the grant of waste lands in the Soonderbuns, issued in 1863.

Rules for the grant of waste lands in Darjeeling, dated 1859. Rules for the sale of waste lands in the Assam and Dacca divisions.

The old Assam waste land lease rules of 1854.

The new Assam settlement rules which leave a wide discretion as to the terms in which waste land shall be leased to ryots. It is unfortunately the case that in granting waste lands under the above rules many abuses have been allowed to occur. There was a great rush upon tea planting; speculators bought upon credit Government wastes wherever they could get them, and Government officers were so far carried away by the mania that they relaxed the rules as to surveying wastes before they were sold, and in other particulars. It followed that large areas of wastes were sold to jobbers, who transferred them at a profit, or threw them up if they could not do that; while in many cases cultivated lands, not regularly settled, were sold as "Government waste lands" over the heads of the occupiers. In other cases lands beyond the British border; in others again, valuable forest lands, were sold under the waste land rules. Before Sir George Campbell came to Bengal, attention had been directed to this matter, and in Chittagong especially mistakes had been recognized. There had in more than one instance been risk of grave disturbance with frontier tribes on account of ill-judged sales of waste land in the occupation of border people. To prevent complications the LieutenantGovernor has published ad interim rules which have received sanction, and orders have been passed that no more land shall be sold revenuefree in perpetuity without the previous sanction of the Government of India, excepting any such small plots not exceeding 10 acres in extent as may be required for buildings or gardens. The whole question is now under the consideration of the Supreme Government.

The provinces of Orissa and Assam present peculiar features of land tenure which are explained below. One or two of the districts also, such as Sylhet and Chittagong, and the districts in the Cooch Behar division, are exceptional in their land system.

The province of Orissa was conquered by the Moguls about the year

SPECIAL ACCOUNT OF ORISSA.

1580, and from that time the long strip of cultivated land which lies between the western mountain tracts and the sea-board marshes, and from which the conquerors derived their revenue, became known as the

Historical and geographical notice.