THE ZEMINDAR A PROPRIETOR. 99 property of the zemindar. He holds it by the law of the country on the tenure of paying a certain contribution to Government." And again," the inheritable quality of the lands is alone sufficient to prove that they are the property of the zemindars, talookdars, and others, to whom they have descended by a long course of inheritance." The larger zemindaries are moreover said to have descended by primogeniture, while the smaller ones were divided; a fact which has already been noticed, and which seems to point to the true origin of a zemindar of this class; that he either grew out of the rajah, or was originally an official whose office could only be conveniently exercised by a single individual. The Royroyan says:-" The zemindars of a middle and inferior rank, such as those of Mohummudameenpore, Surfrazpore, &c., and the talookdars and muzkoories at large hold their lands to this day solely by virtue of inheritance; whereas the superior zemindars, such as those of Burdwan, Nuddea, Dinagepore, &c., after succeeding to their zemindaries on the ground of inheritance, are accustomed to receive, on the payment of a nuzzeranah, peshcush, &c., a dewanny sunnud from Government. In former times the zemindars of Bishenpore, Pachete, Beerbhoom, and Roshunabad used to succeed, in the first instance, by the right of inheritance, and by the established practice of their respective families; and to solicit afterwards, as a matter of course, a confirmation from the ruling power."3 It is also stated that the express consent of Government was required for the succession of an adopted son.* LECTURE IV. 204611 LECTURE Struggle between opposing principles. The zemindar revenue con 100 STRUGGLE FOR HEREDITARY RIGHT. If there was the struggle which I have suggested between the hereditary principle of the Hindoo system and the anti-hereditary' principle of the Mahomedan, we can understand the Mahomedan Government insisting upon the recognition of its theory, that the zemindary was an office, by the acceptance of a sunnud, at least in the case of the principal zemindars: and it shows which was the stronger of the opposing principles from the first, that the smaller zemindars seem never to have in practice recognized the official theory, even to the extent of applying for a sunnud, No doubt, until the hereditary element was on the way to triumph, these hereditary claims could not be asserted; but whether originally incidents of the office, or derived from the general Hindoo system, these claims were so persistent that the opposing theories of the Mahomedans fell into decay, and the zemindar ultimately succeeded as by right of inheritance; only going through the form in some cases of receiving a sunnud and paying peshcush. The same result, of hereditary succession with formal recognition, might, it is true, equally follow in the case of an office becoming hereditary which was originally not so; but in this case there is some reason to think that the hereditary tendency of the office was derived from the Hindoo system; and it is difficult to explain otherwise the triumph of the hereditary principle in a system opposed to it. The zemindar thus became, in the way I have described, an hereditary and by a kind of usurpation, an hereditary officer, with a tractor, right to engage with the Government for the payment of revenue on the one hand; and on the other hand, with a right to collect the Government share of the produce, and to pay over to Government what had been engaged for after deducting his own emoluments.1 He was an hereditary officer, but still only an officer, and in theory was bound to account to the State for all he received; which was either to be paid over to the State, or to be appropriated in the authorized way for his allowances. But the zemindar afterwards still further encroached upon the rights of the State and the cultivators; and ultimately came to pay the State a fixed sum, which was very loosely estimated, and to appropriate the surplus, whether equivalent to the allowances or more. The change in fact was, that as the zemindar grew powerful, and the State fell into confusion, the assessment which he bound himself to pay to the State was not, as strictly as formerly, the whole revenue after deducting his authorized allowances. Besides, he was always attempting to exact more from the ryots for his own benefit. This appears to have been the general course of growth of the zemindar's influence and power. LECTURE IV. Most of the officers of revenue had, as I have already pointed out, a strong tendency to become zemindars. Thus Mr. Grant says that after the invasion of Nadir Shah in 1739, many jageerdars and farmers-general, and even enamdars, crories, desmookhs, and chowdhries got their hereditary right admitted, and were all considered zemindars in their districts; although they had strictly only a right to certain privileges and allowances of land by virtue of their offices.? The sunnud by which the office of zemindar was con- The sannud, ferred was, if the view I have suggested be well founded, 'Land Tenure by a Civilian, 73. Harington's Analysis, Vol. III, 340, 363. 144, 145. 2 Fifth Report, Vol. II, 156. Fifth Report, Vol. II, 12. Patton's Asiatic Monarchies, LECTURE intended to be the source of the zemindar's rights. It grew however to be a mere form; a recognition by the State of rights already existing and almost independent of it.1 The zemindar succeeded to his zemindary in later times as a matter of course, and simply by inheritance, sometimes taking a sunnud afterwards, and sometimes never taking one at all. The grant of a sunnud grew to be rare, and came to be applied for only when it became necessary to secure the advantage of recognition by the State as against other claimants: for instance, when a new line of zemindars had to be created on the expulsion or failure of the old line.3 For the zemindars were sometimes expelled as we shall see; and the State did not succumb before them all at once. It was by persistent encroachments in times of weakness and confusion that the zemindars gradually consolidated their power: until at last there grew to be such a gulf between their actual position and their theoretical rights that, according as one or the other was looked at, they could be made out to be absolute proprietors or mere officers,—two views of their position which were strenuously contended for by opposite parties at the time of the Permanent Settlement. The State however never theoretically abandoned its rights. It could insist upon the zemindar's taking a sunnud, and could refuse to recognize him otherwise: and probably, before the grant of sunnuds came to be a mere form, there was an intermediate stage in which the State still found its power to grant sunnuds of use as a check, although it was no longer able to make its grant effective in all cases. Fifth Report, Vol. I, 160. 2 Harington's Analysis, Vol. III, 337. LECTURE the sunnud. I shall now give some account of the nature of a sunnud and of the mode of obtaining it. On the death of a zemindar his heir wrote to the soubahdar at the head of Contents of the soubah or province, or to the dewan, royroyan or peshkar, informing him of the fact and praying for the protection of those officers. Having received encouragement from the authorities by the receipt of the usual marks of condolence, the applicant next presented an arzee or The arzee. petition, offering to pay the usual peshcush or present, and to pay the annual jumma or assessed revenue, together with the balances, and praying for a royal firman, and soubahdary and dewanny perwanneh for the zemindary.2 This petition also set out the details of the peshcush and assessment which it was proposed to pay. Upon receipt of this petition the subordinate revenue officers prepared an application to their superiors for directions, called furd- The furdsewal, which was endorsed on the sunnud; which up to this stage therefore consisted of the arzee or petition and the furd-sewal. The furd-sewal recited the presentation of the petition and asked for orders.3 If the application for a grant of the zemindary was acceded to the subordinates had orders to prepare a further document with full details called the furd-huckeekut, asking also for further directions The furdwith regard to taking a muchulka (obligatory deed) and cabooleut (counterpart) from the applicant, and preparing a perwanneh (requisition to the subordinates) thereupon.* The muchulka recited that the zemindary had been con- The muchulka. ferred upon the applicant on his agreeing to pay the 'Harington's Analysis, Vol. III, 275. 2 Ib., 281, 282. 3 Ib. Ib., 277, 286. Baillie's Land Tax, 80 (note). sewal. huckeekut. |