820 



extent to which in the natural course of things strangers 

 had been introduced into the mirassi bodies will be seen 

 from the fact that, out of 62,048 mirassidars in the district, 

 17,149 were Brahmins, 43,442 were Sudras or Native Chris- 

 tians, and 1,457 were Muhammadans. That .the ryotwar 

 system brought into force in the beginning of the cen- 

 tury by Sir Thomas Munro hastened the decay of the 

 village communities does not, however, admit of doubt ; 

 for, as pointed out by Sir Henry Maine, in a state of society 

 where the rights of individual members are determined by 

 custom more or less vague, the question as to whom the 

 government makes responsible for the payment of its dues 

 practically determines what type the society and the tenure 

 of lands by its members shall assume. If the government, 

 for instance, makes the head of a village the person respon- 

 sible for its revenue, the interest of such head in the lands 

 becomes the predominant one, and other persons having 

 interests in the lands become his tenants unless the process 

 is arrested by positive legislation. Similarly, if the whole 

 body of proprietors in the village be made jointly responsible 

 for the government revenue, the natural evolution of indivi- 

 dual property is arrested. Again, if the government decides 

 to deal with each individual cultivator as regards the payment 

 of revenue, the tendency is to break up the village commu- 

 nities. The most potent cause, however, of the disintegration 

 of village communities was the establishment of orderly 

 government and internal tranquillity and the suppression of 

 external aggression. So long as there was lawlessness in 

 the country, the village communities were kept in a state of 

 cohesion for purposes of self-defence, the successful repulsion 

 of attacks from without which might otherwise sweep whole 

 communities away being of far greater importance than the 

 prevention of petty tyranny within the communities them- 

 selves. When the external blows by which these communities 

 are kept in a state of kinetic equilibrium are removed, 

 the internal rivalries and jealousies come into play, and the 

 result is that the inconveniences and injustices of common 

 holding of land are felt to be great hardships ; and the 

 improvements in production which a settled condition of 

 things brings about create a preference for individual hold- 

 ings. This transformation of common into individual pro- 

 perty is a most beneficial process, and one which is an 

 essential factor in the industrial progress of a country. 

 Similar considerations apply to the joint family system. Under 

 this system personal comforts, personal feelings and personal 

 advantage must be sacrificed by each member in the pursuit 



