388 TERAI. Chap. XVII. 



and the condition of the upper classes is greatly changed. 

 Under the Mogul rule, the country was farmed out to 

 Zemindars, some of whom assumed the title of Rajah : 

 they collected the revenue for the Sovereign, retaining by 

 law ten per cent, on all that was realized : there was no 

 intermediate class, the peasant paying directly to the 

 Zemindar, and he into the royal treasury. Latterly the 

 Zemindars have become farmers under the Company's 

 rule ; and in the adjudication of their claims, Lord 

 Cornwallis (then Governor- General) made great sacrifices 

 in their favour, levying only a small tribute in proportion 

 to their often great revenues, in the hope that they would 

 be induced to devote their energies, and some of their 

 means, to the improvement of the condition of the 

 peasantry. This expectation was not realized : the 

 younger Zemindars especially, subject to no restraint 

 (except from aggressions on their neighbours), fell into 

 slothful habits, and the collecting of the revenue became a 

 trading speculation, entrusted to " middle men." The 

 Zemindar selects a number, who again are at liberty to 

 collect through the medium of several sub-renting classes. 

 Hence the peasant suffers, and except a generally futile 

 appeal to the Rajah, he has no redress. The law secures 

 him tenure as long as he can pay his rent, and to do this 

 he has recourse to the usurer ; borrowing in spring (at 

 50, and oftener 100 per cent.) the seed, plough, and 

 bullocks : he reaps in autumn, and what is then not 

 required for his own use, is sold to pay off part of his 

 original debt, the rest standing over till the next season ; 

 and thus it continues to accumulate, till, overwhelmed with 

 difficulties, he is ejected, or flees to a neighbouring dis- 

 trict. The Zemindar enjoys the same right of tenure as 

 the peasant : the amount of impost laid on his property 



