1840.] Account ojKhyrpoor and the Fortress of Bukur. 1099 



water. The rate is usually a third and fourth of the produce of wet land, 

 and a fifth of irrigated land. They frequently alter the amount of the cess 

 in kind in Moghulee from caprice rather than the failure or productiveness 

 of the crops ; this was not usual with the Moghul and Afghan sovereigns. 



Land in Khyrpoor is classed under three heads, — Bosee or Belo* PuJco 

 or Pirjain,\ and Nohur. The Bosee lies on the banks of rivers and 

 canals, or it is flooded annually by the Indus, and requires no aid from the 

 water wheel. The Puko is at a distance from water, and requires to be 

 irrigated. Nohur, or waste land, is taxed at different rates, according to the 

 obstacles it presents to agriculture. In the district of Rosee, Meer Roostum 

 takes one-fifth of the produce the first year, and levies the full cess the 

 season following. Meer Mooreed Hydur, who has a manor in the same 

 district, taxes waste land the first year it is tilled one rupee the jureb, the 

 second year two rupees, and so on, increasing one rupee yearly till the 

 assessment reaches its maximum. In parts of Khyrpoor where there is an 

 uncertain supply of water, crops are valued when ripe by a government 

 officer, who levies according to the productiveness of the harvest. The 

 landholder sometimes gathers the crops without the officer, but if he 

 removes a sheaf before the prince has taken his portion, he is fined double 

 the amount of his assessment. The value of land is extremely low. Wet 

 land in the district of Sukhur is worth seven and eight rupees a jureb, and 

 dry land four and five rupees. A landholder of my acquaintance paid 300 

 rupees, eight years ago, for thirty jurebs of land, but it is worth more than 

 the average, from its proximity to the Indus, and town of Sukhur, where 

 there is a better market for produce than the interior of the country. 

 Garden land on the banks of streams, sells at from twenty to fifty rupees 

 the jureb, according to the number and description of trees it contains. 

 The mango yields the best return. The government, however, leave only 

 a sixteenth of the produce of gardens to the proprietor, and the only fruits 

 exempt from cess, are the Hubsora (Cordia myxa), the Plantain, and 

 Jummo (Eugenia jambos.) 



The revenues and town duties are frequently farmed out by the year 

 to Izardars, who appoint collectors on a fixed salary, one to every large 

 village, and one to a circle of small ones. In Sukhur the monthly stipend 

 of these functionaries varies from 5 to 30 rupees. The Izardars, or 

 farmers, are either Moosulmans or Hindoos (Bhattees,) and are compelled 

 to fulfil their engagements, and well beaten if they withhold payment. 

 As the settlements are seldom for more than a year, they cannot, like 

 he revenue farmer in some parts of British India, make their profits in a 



* Pers. Silabee. f Khooshkdako. 



