68 FIXITY OF TENURE 



land in the village were recorded as in permanent 

 occupation of their holdings, and their rents were 

 fixed by the settlement officer on the understanding 

 that they were not to be enhanced during the term 

 of settlement. By the passing of Act X. of 1859, pro- 

 vision was made for the first time for the separation 

 of the two classes of tenants, according as they had, 

 or had not, cultivated their lands continuously for the 

 space of twelve years, and for the enhancements of 

 the rents of occupancy tenants on certain specified 

 grounds by a decree of the rent court. 



tt #f ♦ ♦ % 



1 In 1873 an amended Rent Act was passed, which 

 prescribed stricter rules for the decision of enhance- 

 ments suits, and created a new class of "privileged" 

 tenants — viz., those who had been proprietary culti- 

 vators but had lost their proprietary rights by sale or 

 otherwise, though still remaining on the land as culti- 

 vators. The number of tenants at fixed rates in the 

 permanently settled districts has not yet been re- 

 corded. The occupancy-tenants hold 41 per cent, and 

 the tenants-at-will 31 per cent, of the cultivated land, 

 the balance being tilled by the proprietors themselves. 

 It is estimated that the former class number about 

 1,500,000 and the latter about 1,200,000, the average 

 area cultivated by each tenant being 4*8 and 4 acres 

 respectively. 



' In Oudh, where the great landowners (or taluk- 

 dars) were more powerful and masterful in former 

 times, it has been decided that occupancy rights were 

 altogether unknown at the time of annexation, and the 

 bulk of the cultivators hold as tenants-at-will. Occu- 

 pancy rights have, however, been conceded as a com- 

 promise to those who were formerly proprietors, and 

 had not been altogether deprived of their rights by 

 the talukdars. There are in Oudh nearly two million 

 tenants, holding 3*1 acres apiece on an average. . . . J 



' Although the intention of the legislation of recent 



