31 



'^ The system of management was formed on the sole principle 

 of extracting from the ryots the utmost possible amount of 

 present revenue. In adverse seasons all that could be taken of 

 the ryots was claimed on the .pftrt of the zemindar whose 

 •demand purposely exceeded the means of the ryots in ordinary 

 seasons. lu years of abundant produce, the deficiency of bad 

 seasons was made good, so that in either case the ryot was left 

 but the barest means of subsistence. . . . The Visabadi 

 kist, which remained the standard beriz, was itself immode- 

 rately heavy, exceeding the possible amount of ordinary collec- 

 tions and not likely to be equalled in extraordinarily favorable 

 times, by the over-rated value of the gross produce which itself 

 was also over-estimated. It served, however, for a never- 

 failing pretext for the demand of balances against those who, 

 by industry or any fortuitous circumstances, procured the means 

 of answering it in part, and was with this view continued." 

 He, however, adds : " Though a grievous and oppressive 

 dependence of the ryot characterized the management of zemin- 

 dars and proprietors, yet the pressing wants of the ryot were 

 in some degree seasonably supplied. Cultivation was com- 

 pulsory and maintained by seasonable advances, and though 

 the ryot was left little more than what was absolutely necessary 

 for his maintenance, some care was taken against the discour- 

 agement of agriculture by his distress." Sir Henry Mont- 

 gomery recommended the construction of the Goddvari anient, 

 and from 1^14 the condition of the district rapidly improved; 

 from that year the seasons began to improve ; French ships 

 flocked to Cocanada for cargoes of grain, and the large expen- 

 diture on public works afforded work to thousands of the 

 labouring classes. Sir "Walter Elliot's report on Guntiir shows 

 that the terrible famine of 18.^3 had utterly prostrated the 

 district, and the epidemic which broke out in the following 

 year and prevailed to such an extent that " a man in perfect 

 health was hardly to be seen anywhere," rendered the recovery 

 of the country impossible for a long series of years even under 

 the most favorable circumstances. In Nellore, the ryots had 

 become impoverished by the low prices of grain which ruled. 

 Indigo cultivation was tolerably remunerative, but sugarcane 

 cultivation had entirely ceased, owing to its inability to compete 

 with jaggery imported from the Ceded districts. The total 

 cropped area of the district had, however, risen from 244,319 

 acres in 1801 to 389,802 acres in 1850. Garden lands had 

 entirely ceased to, be cultivated owing to the increased pressure 

 of the assessment consequent on the fall in the prices of grain. 

 As r.»gards North Arcot, the Collector, Mr. Bourdillon, re- 

 ported : '.' The ryots are in worse condition than they were at 



