11 
Land which had been more than five years out of cultivation, 
enjoyed still more favourable terms for the first four years. It is 
not explained in the Ayeen Akbery how the comparative fertility 
of fields were ascertained. It is probable that three classes were 
formed for each village, in consultation with the inhabitants; and 
the process would be greatly facilitated by another classification 
made by the villagers for their own use, which seems to have 
subsisted from time immemorial. By that distribution, all the 
land of each village is divided into a great many classes, according 
to its qualities ; as black mould, red mould, gravelly, black mould 
mixed with stones, etc.; other circumstances are also considered, 
such as command of water, vicinity to the village, etc.; and great 
pains are taken so to apportion the different descriptions among 
the cultivators, and to give equal advantages to all. 
The quantity of produce due to the government being settled, 
it was next to be commuted for a money payment. For this 
purpose, statements of prices current for the nineteen years 
preceding the survey, were called for from every town and village ; 
and the produce was turned into money according to the average 
of the rates shown in these statements. The commutation was 
occasionally reconsidered, with reference to the actual market 
prices ; and every husbandman was allowed to pay in kind, if he 
thought the money rate was fixed too high. The result of these 
measures was to reduce the amount of the public demand con- 
siderably, but to diminish the defalcation in realizing it; so that 
the profit to the state remained nearly the same, while the pressure 
on individuals was much lessened. 
The Ayeen Akbery, or the Institutes of Akber, was translated 
from the Persian by Francis Gladwin, and published at Calcutta, 
1783, in three volumes, and is now a scarce and dear book. It 
contains a Survey of the Kingdom, notices of Natural History, a 
complete account of the Civil and Military administration, and 
descends to the minutest details of the royal household—to the 
allowance of flesh per diem to the tame leopards, and the prices 
to be given for rubbers and curry-combs in the royal stables. 
From the Mint, and the Treasury, down to the fruit, perfumery, 
