INDIA. 



79 



particularly to inclose it with mud-walls, and plant it 

 with productive trees, and erect the necessary buildings 

 upon it ; and the proprietor, in consideration of those 

 improvements, Brant* a lease for a certain number of 

 however, is generally extended it" the te- 



has fulfilled his contract. The building* and plan- 

 tations are so far the property of the tenant that he can 

 Vage them. There is also a simple lease, when 

 the rent i annual or for a definite term. The general 



of hnd is 20 year's purchase. As the Hindoo 

 law reqnires that property - -(.-end to all the 



children of a family, and admits adoption, it is 



nt that land would be, in the course of time, divi- 

 ded and subdivided into portions no- worth possessing, 

 were not some measure adopted to elude the law. Ac- 

 cordingly, it is the general practice through the Penin- 

 sula to preserve the original property nominally entire 

 a* long as possible, by letting it stand in the names of 

 those who nave the 'greatest shares in it. They ma- 

 nage it for the rest, ech receiving his portion of the 

 rrai:: <. The various tenures which we have 



t in the greatest purity in the southern 

 e Peninsula, itu.itcd below the Ghauts, 

 .iHed ; and it is on this account, as 

 _ the mort genuine view of the tenure of land- 

 ed property among the Hindoo*, that we have dwelt 

 thus long on the state of landed property in Canara 

 and Malabar. There is no evidence in the history of 

 the Hindoo*, from he reign of their 6rt princes till 

 the downfall of the Hindoo sovereignty, that any of 

 tl'.- in !.! right* which have been I llimiSiaU il and de- 

 scribed, were ever, in the smallest degree, impaired or 

 ever questioned. 



Besides, however, these tenures in thU part of India, 

 which, it will be obaerved, are entirely exempt from 

 the claims or controul of emindar. there were lands 

 held by Polygars, who, in many respect*, resemble the 

 leenrnder* of the Northern Cirrar*. The Polygan' 

 territory, as it is called, is tituatrd principally between 

 the 10th and 11th degree* of latitude, and is bounded 

 on the east bv Tanjore ami the sea. and on the we** by 

 Uindigvl. the origin of the proprietary tight* and 

 power of the Polygar* may be traced to the 

 ses which produced the eniiiMier* of the Northern 

 ("irears. They were in fact military chieftains, who 

 obtained their power'and landed propaity by force, and 

 preserved it by the number* and strength of their vas- 

 als. Of tli<-e there were, in the Polygar countries of 

 Mysore, three description* : the first consisted of those 

 who were paid entirely in money ; the second, of those 

 wbo poise* <l J lands on service- tenure, bat who, being 



also fanners of other IsjBflS; seldoatt regarded their er- 



. -f _ . -.^K . . t _ -*- * * 



vicr-i*ji'M su IK SUIBUB msHnnivficv , inv liiifxi tmcnvp* 



cultivation of their service* land*. These vassals were 

 called peon*: ami the common allowance of a common 

 peon was a field valued at the rent of 6 pagodas. The 

 heed peon, wbo could bring in IO, 5O, or 100 nimmnii 

 peon*, had a piece of land of trom 9 to 84 [isgeilae 

 rent 



In lhf Tinnevelly dirtrict, there are three kind* of 

 tenure, viz. village*, of which theabsolete ututnialary 

 right is chiefly held by Hr.hn.in. . v.lUges, of which 

 the absolute proprietary right i chiefly held by soodra 

 inhabitants ; and ti , h having gone 



to waste, soodra inhabitants were invited to occupy 



i nominally vested in the Brahmins, in fact be- 

 leaf to all the inhabitants oftbe village ; and no trans- 



fer is rated that is not approved and sanctioned by every Statistics. 

 one of them. At stated periods, a new division of these 'v' 

 lands take place by a kind of lottery ; the object of 

 w hich seems to be, in the first place, to prevent any 

 proprietor's right being established to any particular 

 spot ; and, secondly, to afford every inhabitant the 

 chance of occupying the fertile as well as the less fer- 

 tile parts of the land. The villages under the second 

 kind of tenure, resemble those under the n><t, except 

 that in the former, the influence of the Brahmin pre- 

 dominates, who will not permit the soodra to interfere 

 in his village. The last kind of tenure comprise* all 

 those lands which the inhabitants are not considered at 

 liberty to sell ; they form a large proportion of the dis- 

 trict, and are generally occupied by the soodras. The 

 land of each individual is fixed, there being no new 

 distribution of it at any time. Each Ryot cultivates his 

 own land as long as he possesses the means ; if these 

 fail him, he mortgage* hi* right of cultivation till he 

 regains the means. When the supply of water is defi- 

 cient, all the inhabitants assemble, and having deter- 

 mined the extent of land that may be cultivated, ac- 

 cording to the quantity of water in the tanks, &c. ap- 

 portion it out to each, with reference to the extent of 

 lam! he holds. 



In Tanjore, there are also three descriptions- of te- In Tanjore. 

 nure ; first, individual possession ; when villages belong 

 to a single individual, who either cultivate* them him- 

 self l>y his slaves, or entrusts them to labourers, who 

 receive part of the produce a* their wages. The se- 

 cond description relates to lands possessed by two or 

 more individuals, each *>f whom ha* the same rights 

 in hi* individual h*re, as those who hold under tin- 

 Am tenure, have in entire villages. The third tenure 

 is posse mion in copartnery. under which the partners 

 may cultivate their share* themselves, cultivate tin- 

 whole jointly, employ labourers, or commit their ma- 

 nagement to one of themselves. In all these cases, the 

 project i* divided in proportion to the shares held. 



We have thus given a rapid sketch of the various C aau>A 

 tenures by which landed property i* held in most parts om.ar 

 idostan : they are all comprised under the term land*. 



of hereditary peeatMicn. There 

 are ether land*, however, denominated COM and comar 

 land*. The fasjur are very extensive in some parts of 

 India, consisting of rach lands, as having been neglected, 

 or entirely depopulated, in conseamuci of the oppres. 

 of the collectors, are under the immediate super- 

 it. The comar lands are also 

 i i their consist of uch, as having no na- 

 are cultivated by contract ; the semindar 

 to the cultivator the nuceasap capital, and 

 receiving an equal share of the crap, as well as interest 

 for the money advanced. 



the act of perpetual settlement, as it is called, Act of per. 

 the East India Company not only confirmed the zeinin- pctual et- 

 dars in their proprietary right to the land, on condition tlcment. 

 of paying the value of a certain part of the produce, 

 but they also fixed the rent to be paid in kind by the 

 Hyots. In no other respect have they interfered with 

 the landed tenure of India. 



In the preceding illustrations, the rent of land has Rents of 

 been stated generally to be a certain part of the pro- land*. 

 dace, paid either in kind or in money. In those parts 

 of Hindostan where agriculture flourishes most, the 

 average rent of wheat land, calculated by the stipulated 

 portion of the average produce, taken at an average 

 price, i* about 1 9*. the English acre. The rent of sandy 

 loani*, which can be irrigated with little trouble or e*. 



