176 POLICY FOE WESTEKN INDIA 



which has taken place in Japan during the past 

 generation. Such an assumption is probably not at 

 variance with the opinions of most educated Indians, 

 though views of sober moderation seldom find ex- 

 pression in the war-cries and catchwords of political 

 parties. 



Before considering any future policy it will be 

 desirable to take a brief review of the agricultural 

 policy of the past century. So far as western India 

 is concerned three characteristics of early British 

 policy with regard to the land may be noted. In the 

 first place no attempt was made to develop agriculture 

 by assigning blocks of land to individuals for exploi- 

 tation by foreign capital and foreigu enterprise. In 

 some parts of India where there were large areas of 

 unreclaimed waste, such as Assam and parts of the 

 United Provinces, grants of land were made to English 

 zemindars during the early part of the last century 

 for purposes of reclamation ; but this practice was 

 never a plank in the policy of the British Government 

 in India in the same sense that it formerly was of the 

 Dutch in Java and still is of the Japanese in Formosa. 

 In Bihar and Lower Bengal also Englishmen acquired 

 rights over considerable areas of land by private treaty 

 with the zemindars for the development of the indigo 

 business. They erected factories and arranged to 

 grow and handle the crop on commercial lines. In 

 the year 1877 it was estimated that in the single 

 district of Tirhut the annual outlay of the indigo 

 factories amounted to Ks.30 lakhs, apart from capital 



