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under the Moghul empire stood at 26 crores 74 lakhs, and in 

 1665 at 24 crores 5 lakhs. In Aurangzeb's time the land 

 revenue was assessed at 34 crores of Rupees. In the case of 

 Bengal, it will be seen, that though the Government demand 

 is only about 4 as. per bigha, the rent actually paid by the 

 cultivating raiyat is seldom so low as 4 as., and it is often as 

 much as Rs. 3 or even Rs. 10 per bigha, and the average 

 rent of agricultural land in Bengal is about Re. r per bigha 

 or Rs. 3 per acre. To lay the blame, when famine or dis- 

 tress of any kind prevails in the country, on Government, 

 and to say the poverty of the people is due to over assess- 

 ment of land revenue, is absurd. Of course, the high rent 

 actually paid by cultivators in other than Government es- 

 tates, is due to the facilities at present existing for the 

 creation of intermediate proprietorship and tenures between 

 the Government and the actual cultivator. But this system 

 can be changed only at the sacrifice of the Permanent Settle- 

 ment to which Government is pledged in most parts of Bengal. 

 Besides it cannot be said Bengal suffers any more from 

 famine than other parts of India, or that the raiyats in per- 

 manently settled estates in Bengal are worse off than the 

 raiyats of the Central Provinces, for instance, though the 

 former pay the average rent of Rs. 3 per acre, while the 

 latter only 12 annas, per acre. The greater fertility and 

 the more settled rainfall of the Gangetic plain, make our pro- 

 vince more secure against famines, though the cultivator 

 is burdened with larger demands in the shape of rent by 

 their immediate landlords. 



