INDEBTEDNESS OF THE LAND-IIOLDIXG CLASSES. 17 



When the land has been transferred by mortgage, the sowkar al- 

 most invariably commences by leaving the debtor 

 Mortgage tenants. 



in occupation as tenant, and a form or mortgage 



exists in which the profits of the land really are all that is mortgaged, 

 as the tenant is left in possession without any transfer or acknowledg- 

 ment of the mortgagee's right, so long as he delivers the produce 

 yearly. On a failure of the debtor to deliver the produce the mort- 

 gagee usually obtains possession. Sometimes the produce of the land 

 is made to represent the interest of the loan, but more usually a specific 

 rate of interest is cited in the mortgage bond. The debtor holds as 

 tenant on every variety of terms and conditions. Often these are 

 reduced to writing : either a lease or a deed of partnership (as the 

 vernacular name runs) or a simple contract, where a rent in money is 

 stipulated. Often it will be found that the rent is adjusted 

 to cover the interest agreed on in the mortgage bond. As the 

 amount of capital in the mortgage bond is usually more than the 

 value of the land at 12 per cent, interest, and as the rate of interest in 

 the bond is usually at least 18 percent., it follows that the land will 

 not yield the required sum, and thus the mortgagee constantly receives 

 the full actual rent of the land, and in addition exacts bonds for the 

 yearly deficit. Often the rent is settled in kind and the rates are 

 mainly determined by the power of the mortgagee to screw his tenant. 

 One mortgagor tenant in his statement used the following words : 

 "I cultivate the land, but I have no right to take for my use any of- 

 the produce of the field. " Doubtless, under the hardest conditions, 

 the tenant does take something as was admitted by another ryot, who 

 was bound to hand over the entire produce of a field to his sowkar ; on 

 the other hand, much land is held by mortgagor tenants in Poona at 

 the usual rental terms, namely, half of gross produce of dry-crop and 

 one-third of irrigated lands ; the mortgagee paying the assessment, and 

 seed and expenses being shared in the proportion of their respective 

 interests in the crop. In Ahmednagar the sowkar has more power over 

 his debtor and trusts him less, and regular contracts as to rent are not so 

 usual, but the tenant is expected to pay the assessment and expenses and 

 hand over the rest of the produce. One regular contract is in evidence 

 under which the mortgagor tenant had to pay the assessment and half 

 the crop of irrigated land. Considering the expenses of such cultiva- 

 tion this means tenancy with insufficient wages. On the other hand, 

 a mortgagor tenant, whose bond was backed by a good security, got 



3 



