106 



Government assessment of land as being more in the nature 

 of a tax than a rent. 



46. The subjoined statement shows the 

 Growth of land reve- average land revenue for decennial periods 

 ^'^^' since the beginning of the century : 



Millions Ex. 



Average of 10 years ending 1809-10 ... 3"74 



Do. do. 1819-20 ... 3-74 



Do. do. 1829-30 ... 3*68 



Do. do. 1839-40 ... 3-16 



Do. ^o. 1849-50 ... 3-43 



Do. do. 1859-60 ... 3-66 



Do. do. 1869-70 ... 4-16 



Do. do. 1879-80 ... 4'39 



Do. do. 1889-90 ... 4-81 



1889-90 5-03 



The figures for the first three decades include the proceeds 

 of the moturpha taxes and of the revenue from the tobacco 

 monopoly. Kurnool having been annexed to British terri- 

 tory in 1838, the revenue of that district is not included in 

 the figures of the years previous to 1838. North Canara, on 

 the other hand, was transferred to Bombay in 1862, and the 

 revenue of this district is included in the figures given for 

 the previous years. Making allowances for these circum- 

 stances, it will be seen that during the first 20 years of the 

 century the revenue was nearly 3f millions Ex, when lands 

 were rack-rented, that it then began to decline and fell to 

 3*16 millions in the decade ending 1839-40 owing to the 

 severe agricultural depression which then prevailed, that it 

 took another 20 years to rise to the level at which it was at 

 the beginning of the centm'y, and that since 1859-60 it has 

 been rapidly rising, the increase amounting to 1*15 million Rx 

 or 31 '5 per cent. The rise in the revenue may be due to (1) 

 the extension of the area under cultivation, (2) the extension 

 of the area under irrigation, and (3) the increase in the rates 

 of assessment imposed by the settlement department with re- 

 ference to the increase in the prices of agricultural produce. 

 The following remarks will show to what extent the increase 

 is due to each of the above causes. 



The land revenue consists of two portions, one practically 

 permanent and not liable to enhancement, and the other 

 fluctuating. The first head comprises the peshcush on per- 

 manently-settled estates, and the quit-rents on inam villages 

 and on inam lands found interspersed with ryotwar lands 

 in ryotwar villages. The permanently-settled estates or 

 zemindaris cover an area of 43,000 square miles or nearly 



