110 Report on the District of Azimgurh. [Feb. 



hood, they are accustomed to under-let their Seer; but not if they are 

 themselves of the class of cultivators, and have no other means of oc- 

 cupation. In some instances each person pays the bach,h upon his 

 Seer, whether it be cultivated or not ; but in general he only pays 

 upon what has been actually cultivated. The former custom is usual 

 when the proprietor is at liberty to under-let his Seer. 



75th. The managing proprietor, or Lumberdar of each Puttee, 

 sometimes receives a fixed sum, or pecuniary allowance. This is the 

 case in Sithwul, which has just been mentioned. Each manager 

 there gets 25 Rupees, which is charged to the village expenses. In- 

 stances of this are at present rare, because the other unauthorized 

 advantages possessed by the proprietor have generally caused the office 

 to be much an object of desire ; now that the situation has become 

 elective, and held only at the pleasure of the community, it is probable 

 that it will more frequently be remunerated by money payments. 



76th. Generally the Zemindars are not allowed to extend their 

 Seer without the consent of the community, but where there is much 

 culturable waste land attached to the village, or cultivators are scarce, 

 the rules on this head are little attended to. 



77th. In all villages or estates held by communities, exertions 

 have been made in the present settlement to specify and place on 

 record the several peculiarities and incidents of the tenure, which 

 have been referred to above. The members of the community have 

 been called upon voluntarily to define these in a joint deed, executed 

 by as many members of the body as could conveniently be brought 

 together. The points alluded to in these deeds, are the mode in 

 which the profits of the estate are to be divided, and the rules re- 

 garding the enjoyment of the Sayer, the cultivation of waste land, the 

 management of Seer land, the rights, privileges, power and tenure of 

 Lumberdars, or managing proprietors. As far as practicable, whenever 

 a desire to that effect has been expressed, the non-proprietary cultiva- 

 tors and the waste land have been divided amongst the several 

 sharers or families of sharers, so that whilst the joint responsibility is 

 maintained, there still exists the greatest encouragement for the im- 

 provement of each several share. 



78th. I have thus attempted to describe the principal sort of pro- 

 prietary tenures ; but before proceeding to any other branch of the sub- 

 ject, would briefly notice the topographical distribution of property 

 which prevails in different parts of this district, and mention the 

 mode in which the settlement proceedings bear in this respect on the 

 state of property. 



79th. The simplest form of an estate is, where an individual, 



