levying tolls on boats mooring by the river side. Such a lease was granted for the bank of the Ganges at Bhagwángolá, but the practice has now been put down.

SERVICE TENURES or chákrán lands are still very common in Murshidábád District. They are rent-free, inasmuch as they do not pay any rent to the zamindárs; but they must be carefully distinguished from revenue-free tenures (Class IV.), which are exempt from the Government revenue. 'The most numerous of the chákrán lands are those known as páikán, which are assigned for the support of the village police. The old village community has so entirely decayed, that it is now difficult to find any other class of public servants holding rent-free lands, except the kotwáls and, very rarely, the mandals or head-men also. It is by no means uncommon, however, to find private servants, i.e. the servants of particular families of landowners, holding service grants of rent-free land. In this case, as in others, the zamindár has come forward to assume the collective body of rights which the village has lost. Not long ago it must have been the general custom for landholding families to pay for almost all kinds of service by grants of land in perpetuity. The services have now in many cases ceased to be performed, or even demanded, but the lands remain rent-free. The family priest was often thus paid; so was the family barber, the potter who furnished crockery, and the drummer who beat the tom-tom at the Durga pujá, the naubat-players who supplied music on festal occasions, the sellers of vegetables and plantain-leaves, the flower sellers, the modeller in clay, and the painter by whose aid Durga is annually enshrined in the halls of her votaries; all these, together with palanquinbearers, fishermen, sweepers in ordinary and sweepers extraordinary, used to be, and often still are, paid in land for their services or their goods. The chákrán lands are most numerous in the western half of the District, in tracts which once formed parts of the ancient zamíndáris of Bírbhúm, Rájsháhí, and Fathisinh.'

(4) REVENUE-FREE ESTATES.-This class of tenures is largely represented in Murshidábád District, but it possesses few features which are not common to the rest of Bengal. The total number of lákhiráj or revenue-free estates on the District Register is 482; but of these, many, of course, are extremely small. Both the large and the small ones are to be found most abundantly in parganá Asadnagar, the Fiscal Division which contains the greater part of the city of Murshidábád. The Nawáb is himself the largest lákhiráj

holder in the District. His ramnahs or deer parks, which come under this category, are very extensive; and he owns, besides, several large revenue-free mahals. Of these, one is valued at £400 per annum, another at £218, and a third contains 1000 acres. The Deputy - Collector states that there are but few rent-free holdings of which the traditional origin, dating within the past one hundred years or so, does not survive in the holder's family.'

Somewhat apart from the revenue-free estates proper, come the áimás or quit-rent tenures. These are charitable grants for Muhammadan uses; and though they do pay revenue, its amount is always small and often only nominal. Aimás are very capricious in their distribution, and in Murshidábád abound in parganá Fathisinh, which lies to the south-west of the District. Their precise number has not been ascertained, but the Deputy-Collector believes that the total for the District may be put at about 700. Of these, by far the majority are to be found in the parganá already mentioned, as may be inferred from the following calculations that have been made by the Deputy-Collector. It must be premised that áimás are always of extremely small area, and that they appear for the most part among the revenue-paying estates on the roll of the District. That roll contains 2973 estates, including sharers with separate accounts, of which total 947, or one-third, lie in parganá Fathisinh. Again, of these 947, only 56 pay more than £10 per annum as Government revenue. It may fairly be assumed that the greater number of the remaining 891 are áimás paying less than £1 a year. According to a second principle of calculation, the same result may be thus reached. The total area of the District is 2578 square miles, and the average area of a (road cess) estate is 86 of a square mile. The area of parganá Fathisinh is 216.86 square miles, so that the average area of an estate in that parganá is only 23 of a square mile. A single estate, or rather two halves of a single estate, paying about £9000 of revenue, occupies a very considerable portion of Fathisinh. The precise area of this estate is not known, but it is clear that the average size of an áimá must be below one-fourth, and possibly below one-eighth of the average size of all estates in the District.'-'Why the áimás should be so plentiful in this part of the District does not appear. The grantees are usually resident Musalmáns; but there is no reason to suppose that the grants were made directly by the Muhammadan Governor of Murshidábád. The estate of Fathisinh is one of the oldest in the

District, and so far back as its history can be traced, it has almost always been in the possession of a Hindu family. It is known also, as a matter of fact, that the áimás have been created by the Hindu zamíndárs. It can only be inferred that they owe their origin to fear rather than to favour.'

The Collector reported in 1870 that there was no ground for supposing that most of the land of the District had passed out of the hands of the sadr zamíndár into those of intermediate holders.' It would appear, however, from the later and more definite information that has been embodied in the foregoing description of land tenures, that good grounds do exist for assuming that the zamindárs of Murshidábád have to a great extent lost the direct hold over their own estates.

THE RATES OF RENT paid in Murshidábád District may be said to depend for the most part upon certain local classifications. These distinctions are based, partly upon the productive qualities of the soil, and partly upon the agricultural uses to which the lands are devoted. With reference to their degrees of fertility, lands are arranged in three classes :-(1) Awál, or first class; (2) doem, or second class; and (3) siyem, or third class. The average rent paid for these several classes of land varies in different parts of the District. The first class pays from Rs. 2 to Rs. 4 per bighá, or from 125. to 24s. an acre; the second class from Rs. 1. 4 to Rs. 1. 12 per bighá, or from 7s. 6d. to Ios. 6d. an acre; and the third class from R. o. 5 to R. 1. o per bighá, or from 1s. 10дd. to 6s. an acre. There is also a species of land, known as káin chál, which is generally considered to be even superior to the áwál, or first class. It borders on water, whence it can be easily irrigated, and rents at above Rs. 3 per bighá, or 18s. an acre. According to the uses to which lands are put, they are divided into at least twenty classes :-(1) Bástu, or homestead land; (2) udbástu, or land adjoining the homestead; (3) dhakal bástu, or that which is one degree further removed from the homestead; (4) choan-bástu, or abandoned homestead land; (5) bágát, or orchards and gardens; (6) báns, or bamboo land; (7) sáli, or rice land; (8) soná, or land for cold-weather crops; (9) áwál ikuri, a hollow between two eminences, which sometimes contains water; (10) saribati or khámár, the ground where grain is threshed and stored; (11) doem-dálí, eminences bordering on ekurismatiál, which are liable to be flooded; (12) kuchi, or another kind of lands which bear cold-weather crops; (13) táti, or land which is

dried up and waste, but capable of being again cultivated; (14) jol, or hollows; (15) jaláhári, or smaller hollows; (16) báli, or sand; (17) ghás-dángá, or pasture land; (18) náik-patit, or waste lands which are cultivable; (19) shárigári, or spots where manure and filth are deposited; (20) pukhur, the site of tanks. Finally, crop-bearing lands are again classified according to the crops they bear. Concerning these it is only necessary to state, that fields which have once borne an exhausting crop, such as áman rice or wheat, can bear no second crop that year. Fields which produce áus rice generally yield a second crop of pulses, gram, etc., which are known as cháitáli or spring crops. Lands which produce perennial crops, such as mulberry and pán leaves, are of course incapable of bearing any other.

The following rates of rent prevailing in different parganás are extracted from lists furnished by the Collector in 1870. They show the rates prevailing before the year 1859, taken from the kánungo settlements, as compared with those that have been fixed by the Revenue Courts since Act x. of 1859 came into force.

Parganá Náwánagar, before 1859 :-Bástu, Rs. 2. 8. o per bighá, or 15s. an acre; udbástu, Rs. 1. 4. o per bighá, or 7s. 6d. an acre; high land, second class, Rs. o. 14. o per bighá, or 5s. 3d. an acre; high land, third class, Rs. o. 12. o per bighá, or 4s. 6d. an acre. Since Act x. of 1859:-Bástu, Rs. 8 per bighá, or 48s. an acre; udbástu, Rs. 4 per bighá, or 24s. an acre; high land, second class, Rs. 1. 6. 9 per bighá, or 8s. 6d. an acre; high land, third class, Rs. 1. 2. 0 per bighá, or 6s. 9d. an acre. Parganá Dháwá, before 1859-Middling land, from Rs. 2. 2. 0 to Rs. 2. 10. 0 per bighá, or from 12s. 9d. to 15s. 9d. an acre; high land, second class, Rs. 1. 5. o per bighá, or 7s. 10d. an acre. Since Act x. of 1859:Middling land, Rs. 3. 13. o per bighá, or 22s. 10d. an acre; high land, second class, Rs. 1. 14. o per bighá, or 11s. 3d. an acre. Parganá Murárípur, before 1859 :—Bástu, Rs. 7. 8. o per bighá, or 45s. an acre; udbástu, Rs. 3. 12. o per bighá, or 22s. 6d. an acre; rice land, Rs. I per bighá, or 6s. an acre. Since Act x. of 1859:Bástu, Rs. 5 per bighá, or 30s. an acre; udbástu, Rs. 2. 8. o per bighá, or 15s. an acre; rice land, from Rs. o. 6. 6 to Rs. o. 11. O per bighá, or from 2s. 5d. to 4s. id. an acre. Parganá Patkábári, before 1859-Bástu, Rs. 7. 8. o per bighá, or 45s. an acre; udbástu, Rs. 3. 12 per bighá, or 225. 6d. an acre; garden, from Rs. 2. 8. o to Rs. 5 per bighá, or from 15s. to 30s. an acre; mulberry, Rs. 1 per

an acre.

bighá, or 6s. an acre; pulses, Rs. 0. 12. o per bighá, or 4s. 6d. an acre. Since Act x. of 1859-Bástu, Rs. 6. 4. o per bighá, or 37s. 6d. an acre; udbástu, Rs. 3. 4. 3 per bighá, or 19s. 7d. an acre; garden, from Rs. 2. 8. o to Rs. 5 per bighá, or from 15s. to 30s. an acre; mulberry, Rs. o. 12. o per bighá, or 4s. 6d. an acre; pulses, Rs. o. 12. 0 per bighá, or 4s. 6d. an acre. Parganá Ahmadnagar, before 1859:-Bástu, from Rs. 7. 7. 0 to Rs. 10. 10. o per bighá, or from 44s. 8d. to 63s. 9d. an acre; udbástu, Rs. 3. 3. 0 per bighá, or 19s. 2d. an acre; mulberry, Rs. 3. 3. o per bighá, or 19s. 2d. an acre; garden, Rs. 2. 8. o per bighá, or 15s. an acre. Since Act x. of 1859-Bástu, Rs. 5. 2. o per bighá, or 30s. 9d. an acre; udbástu, Rs. 2. 9.0 per bighá, or 15s. 4d. an acre; mulberry in homestead land, Rs. 3 per bighá, or 18s. an acre; mulberry in village land, Rs. 2. 2 per bighá, or 12s. 9d. an acre; mulberry in the field, Rs. 1. 4 per bighá, or 7s. 6d. an acre; garden, Rs. 6 per bighá, or 36s. an acre. Parganá Rájsháhí, before 1859 :-Bástu, Rs. 5 per bighá, or 30s. an acre; udbástu, Rs. 2. 8 per bighá, or 15s. an acre; garden, Rs. 1 per bighá, or 6s. an acre; high land, Rs. 1. 4 per bighá, or 7s. 6d. Since Act x. of 1859:-Bástu, Rs. 5 per bighá, or 30s. an acre; udbástu, Rs. 2. 8 per bighá, or 15s. an acre; garden, from Rs. 5 to Rs. 7. 8 per bighá, or from 30s. to 45s. an acre; high land, Rs. 2 per bighá, or 12s. an acre. Parganá Kumar Pratáp, before 1859-Bástu, Rs. 5 per bighá, or 30s. an acre; udbástu, Rs. 2. 8 per bighá, or 15s. an acre; bamboo, Rs. 1. 9 per bighá, or 9s. 4d. an acre; pulse, oil-seeds, etc., first class, Rs. o. 10. 6 per bighá, or 4s. an acre; pulse, oil-seeds, etc., second class, Rs. o. 8. 6 per bighá, or 35. 3d. an acre; pulse, oil-seeds, etc., third class, Rs. 0. 5. 10 per bighá, or 2s. 2d. an acre; sandy land, Rs. 0. 3. o per bighá, or Is. 2d. an acre. Since Act x. of 1859 :-Bástu, Rs. 16. 4 per bighá, or 97s. 6d. an acre; udbástu, Rs. 8. 10 per bighá, or 51s. 9d. an acre; grass land, Rs. o. 6. 6 per bighá, or 2s. 5d. an acre; high land, second class, Rs. 3. 4 per bighá, or 19s. 6d. an acre; high land, third class, Rs. 1. 10 per bighá, or 9s. 9d. an acre; first-rate middling land, Rs. 4. 1 per bighá, or 24s. 4d. an acre. Parganá Kásipur, before 1859:-Bástu, Rs. 5. 4 per bighá, or 31s. 6d. an acre; udbástu, Rs. 2. 10 per bighá, or 15s. 9d. an acre; garden, from Rs. 2. 8 to Rs. 5 per bighá, or from 15s. to 30s. an acre; high land, Rs. o. 6. o per bighá, or 2s. 3d. an acre. Since Act x. of 1859:-Bástu, Rs. 5 per bighá, or 30s. an acre; udbástu, Rs. 2. 8. o per bighá, or 15s. an acre; garden, from Rs. 1. 4. 0 to Rs. 5 per