1844.] Political Events in the Carnatic, from 1564 to 1687. 587 



17. These districts were subdivided, or gather the former arrange- 

 ment was preserved of samoots, or mahals; mouza, or established 

 villages ; and majara, hamlets or dependencies, under a system orga- 

 nized and managed by a new class or colony of Marhatta Bramins, who 

 attended the Mogul chiefs, and whose descendants still officiate in the 

 financial departments throughout the Carnatic. From a descendant of 

 one of their chiefs, several notices of this system were obtained at 

 Serah in 1801. 



18. The above 7 purgunnahs appear under the latter arrangement 

 of Asoph Jah, to be then subdivided in 55* mahals, assessed at a 

 stipulated revenue or cudanee, collected under the immediate ma- 

 nagement of the imperial officers ; but it is probable, that this subdivi- 

 sion existed also at this time (1704,) and on examination of the names 

 registered in the general Dufter of Deckan, there is reason to suppose, 

 that both the Patan and Mogul arrangements were generally regulated 

 by the ancient subdivisions of the country, as far as was consistent 

 with their general plan of reducing the conquered states to the form 

 of provinces, subdivided into lesser, convenient portions named circars, 

 taroofs, samools, mahals, mouzas, &c, and probably founded on the 

 arrangements of dasums, samas, naads, purgunnahs, habilies, grams, 

 Sfc. §c. that prevailed among the Hindoos from early times. t 



19. The revenue of these organized provinces was realized by offi- 

 cers specially appointed for that purpose in the department of the 

 exchequer, (deewannee kkalsa,) but the Moguls appear very early to 

 have introduced the practice of ceding considerable tracts of the best 

 lands to the munsubdars, to support certain bodies of forces maintain- 

 ed agreeable to their respective ranks and titles ; which were original- 

 ly conferred according to the strength of their quotas though at the 

 time we are speaking of, strict musters were permitted to be dispensed 

 with. The circumstances of the times, when the conquest was effect- 

 ed by armies composed in a great measure of a militia thus maintain- 

 ed, and perhaps allowed to increase beyond the just proportion of 



* See Appendix No. 6, containing the list of the mahals, extracted from the Dufter, 

 and collated with that, of the Hakeekut, &c. 



f These divisions and provincial arrangements are particularly detailed in the 

 manner illustrative of the History of the Carnatic under the Balal dynasty; in the 

 liam Raja Cheritra; in the Bangalore Memoir, &c. &c. ; and the complete lists of the 

 56 dasuins are obtained from all quarters of the Peninsula in different languages. 



4L 



