GENERAL VIEW. REVENUE. 13 



Revenue division of lands : Government, Zemin- CHAP. 



clary, and Inam. The Village joint-rent system will short- _ 



ly be abolished, and there will then remain but two leading 15 

 distinctions of tenure : viz., the Zemindary and Byotwary. 

 A large extent of land, amounting to nearly one-fourth of 

 the assessed area, is held as Inam ; in other words, it is wholly 

 or partially free from assessment. The origin of these lands 

 is not unlike that of Zemindary lands. Certain fields have 

 been given to individuals at various times, as rewards for 

 services, or as funds for the support of pagodas, choultries 

 (or resting places for travellers), and other charitable pur- 

 poses ; or from motives which were merely personal. It is 

 believed that many of these lands were only given for life, 

 but have been appropriated by the family ; and that other 

 Inams have been improperly created, or annexed. Accord- 

 ingly, an Inam Commission has been set on foot to deter- 

 mine the rights of holders of Inams, and to fix a very mo- 

 derate assessment, redeemable at wills where those rights 

 are found to be invalid. This matter, however, is only of 

 consequence so far as it serves to explain the nature of Inam 

 lands.* 



Nature and extent of the Cotton soils of India, 10 



The principal Cotton soil of India is known as Black land, ?c!fdda! 

 which is of various depths. Thus in Cuddapah it is found ter, ut/u- 

 to extend to twenty or thirty feet, and generally rests, M. t>? ' 

 either on kunkur or lime, or else on sand. In Madura it is from collector of 

 four or five feet to fifteen feet in depth, and rests in many i e tter, u n<h 

 places upon rocks of black and white marbles and granite, M. s. 

 and also upon masses of gravel. In Tinnevelly again we collector 

 are told that the Black soil varies in depth from two to five veiiy's let- 

 feet ; and in Coimbatore it is described as being from three NOV. JBJS. 



iVl.O. 



^ 



* The average rate of Government assessment of such lands as those upon 

 which Cotton is generally cultivated, varies very considerably in each Dis- 

 trict. Thus in Bellary the average is about Is. 3|d. per acre, whilst in Vi- 

 zagapatam it is nearly 8s. per acre. A statement exhibiting the average 

 rate in each District will be found in the Appendix. 



