1845.] the oivners, and occupants of the soil in Bengal, fyc. 535 



describe the external boundaries of the land, and mention the rent 

 to be paid by the tenant ; but documents of this sort will generally 

 be found to bear dates antecedent to that of the Decennial Settlement; 

 since then the practice of giving moccurreree leases, except for special 

 purposes such as the erection of buildings, &c, has fallen very much 

 into disuse; where the grants have been made for specific purposes 

 at fair rates, they are not liable to enhancement as long as the lands 

 continue to be used for the purposes specified in the leases. These 

 points are specified very clearly in Sect. 27, Reg. XII. 1841. 



The right to cancel a moccurreree tenure does not convey any title 

 to oust the moccurrereedar, but merely to assess his land at the dis- 

 cretion of the purchaser, who still retains his right of tenancy. (Vide 

 Sudder Dewany Adawlut, vol. 1, 174.) It must be borne in mind, 

 that the date of the Permanent Settlement is that on which each par- 

 ticular settlement received confirmation from competent authority. 

 Although in the majority of cases this occurred on the same day 

 with reference to properties situated in the same tract of country, 

 yet enquiry on this point is always necessary inasmuch as there are 

 many exceptions to the rate. 



JSerick Mowroosee. Fixed rates to which a title is established by 

 inheritance. Although the term Meeras is commonly employed to 

 denominate tenures at a fixed rent, yet taken by itself it conveys a 

 title of very uncertain value, the heritage must consist of something to 

 be inherited. If this be a lease guaranteed to the descendants of the 

 lessee, the tenures should be more properly considered under the head 

 of Moccurreree, if it be a prescriptive title it should be considered 

 under that head ; it is possible that there may be an attempt to 

 found a title on the fact of a series of undisturbed successions, the 

 evidence to this, if not that of documents in the hands of the claimant 

 must be obtained from the public records, or those of the zemindar ; 

 or it may be oral evidence assisted by tradition, but so many diffi- 

 culties lie in the way of this sort of proof, that a Meeras will generally, 

 as before remarked, prove a poor tenure unless supported by docu- 

 ments or prescription. 



Nerick-i-kudeem. Fixed rates to which a title is established by pre- 

 scription. The nobleman, under whose auspices the Permanent Settle- 

 ment was completed, recorded the following observation on the right 



4 D 



