144 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I. 



SuBSECT. 5. Of the present State of Agriculture in Hindustan. 



890. The climate and seasons of this extensive region are considerably diversified by 

 difference of latitude and local situation ; nevertheless, throughout the wide regions of 

 Hindustan there is some similarity of climate. Although in Thibet the winter nearly 

 corresponds with that of Switzerland and other parts of Europe, in tlie whole extent of 

 Hindustan, except in Cashmere, there can hardly be said to be a vestige of winter, except 

 the thick fogs similar to those of our November ; and excessive rains, or excessive heats, 

 form the chief varieties of the year. 



891. The surface of the country is much diversified; but there are no mountains of 

 any very great height ; the ghauts not being estimated at above three thousand feet. The 

 vast extent of Hindustan consists chiefly of large plains, fertilised by numerous rivers and 

 streams, and interspersed with a few ranges of hills. The periodical rains and intense 

 heats produce a luxuriance of vegetation almost unknown to any other countiy on the 

 globe ; and the variety and richness of the vegetable creation delight the eye of every spec- 

 tator. Bengal is a low, flat country, like Lower Egypt, watered and fertilised by the 

 Ganges, as the latter country is by the Nile ; and, like the Nile, the Ganges forms an 

 immense delta before it falls into the sea. The interior of the country is so flat, that the 

 water runs only at the rate of three miles an hour ; and the ground rises from the sea 

 towards the interior, at not more than four inches in a mile. 



892. The soil varies, ])ut is in most places light and rich : that of Bengal is a stratum 

 of black vegetable mould, rich and loamy, extending to the depth of six feet, and in 

 some places fourteen, and even twenty feet ; lying on a deep sand, and interspersed with 

 shells and rotten wood, which indicate the land to have been overflowed, and to have been 

 formed of materials deposited by the rivers. It is easily cultivated without manure, and 

 bad harvests seldom occur. In this country they have two harvests; one in April, called 

 the " little harvest," which consists of the smaller grains, as millet; and the second, called 

 the " grand harvest," is only of rice. 



893. Landed property in Hindustan, as in all the countries of Asia, is held to be the 

 absolute right of the king. The Hindu laws declare the king to be the lord and pro- 

 prietor of the soil. All proprietors, therefore, paid a quitrent or military services to the 

 king or rajah, except some few, to whom it would appear absolute grants were made. 

 In general, the tenure was military ; but some lands were appropriated to the church and 

 to charitable purposes, and in many places commons were attached to villages as in Europe. 

 Lands in Hindustan, and in Bengal more especially, are very much divided, and culti- 

 vated in small portions by the ryots, or peasants, who pay rent to subordinate proprietors, 

 who hold of others who hold of the rajah. The actual cultivators have hardly any secure 

 leases ; they are allowed a certain portion of the crop for the maintenance of their families 

 and their cattle ; but they are not entrusted with the seed, which is furnished by the 

 proprietor or superior holder. The ryot, or cultivator, is universally poor ; his house, 

 clothing, and implements of every kind, do not amount to the value of a pound sterling ; 

 and he is considered as a sort of appendage to the land, and sold along with it, like his 

 cattle. So little attention is paid to any agreement made with him, that in a good season, 

 Dr. Tennant informs us, the zemindar, or superior holder, raises his demands to a fourth 

 more than the rent agreed on. Custom has rendered this evil so common, that the 

 miserable ryot lias no more idea of obtaining redress from it than from the ravages of the 

 elements. Since Bengal was conquered by the British, the government is, properly 

 speaking, the proprietor of all the lands ; and Tennant accordingly observes, that " nine 

 tenths of all the rent of Bengal and the provinces constitute the revenue of the company, 

 who are, in room of the Mogul emperor, the true proprietors of the soil." {Recr. ii. 184.) 



894. The agrictdtural products of Hindustan are very 

 various. Rice, wheat, and maize are the common grains ; 

 but barley, peas, a species of tare or cytisus called dohl, and 

 millet, are also cultivated. Next to them the cotton plant 

 and the sugar-cane are most extensively grown. To these 

 may be added, indigo, silk, hemp, poppy for opium, palma 

 Christi, sesamum, mustard ; the cocoa-nut, which supplies 

 a manufacture of cordage, and also a liquor called toddy; 

 guavas, plantains, bananas, pompelos, limes, oranges, and a 

 great variety of other fruits, besides what are cultivated in 

 gardens, where the settlers have all the vegetables of Eu- 

 ropean horticulture. The potato has been introduced, and 

 though it does not attain the same size as in Europe, is yet of 

 good quality. It is not disliked by the natives, but cannot 

 be brought to market at so low a price as rice. 



895. The sugar-cane {Saccharum qfficinhrurn) (Jig.US.) is cultivated 

 in low grounds that may be flooded. The ground being cleaned and pulverised by one or two years 



