OF KAMAON. ' I69 



« 



the influence of their holders boundless in their several departments. The 

 Raja's authority was still further circumscribed by the corrupted state of 

 feudal tenure which existed here. The country was allotted in separate divi- 

 sions for the payment of troops, to the commander of which was entrusted 

 the civil administration of the lands assigned. The revenues of some districts 

 were originally reserved for defraying the expences of the court, but these had 

 been nearly absorbed by grants of the junior members of the royal family, to 

 the civil officers of government, and to the attendants of the court, all of 

 whom, from the highest to the lowest, were supported and remunerated in 

 land. A further alienation of the royal domains had taken place, in the 

 frequent donations to Brahmins and temples by successive Rajas, so that 

 with these numerous deductions, the actual amount of rents which reached 

 the treasury was extremely small. 



A portion of the most fertile land in the neighbourhood of the capita! 

 was retained for the exclusive supply of grain to the Raja, being cultivated 

 at his own expence, but the principal source of the ordinary revenue 

 of the sovereign, consisted in the frequent offerings presented by his 

 subjects at the several Hindu festivals, and on occasions of extraordi- 

 nary disbursement, such as the marriage of the reigning prince, or of his 

 son or daughter, a general impost was levied to defray them, from all 

 the assigned lands of the country. ' With all these aids, the sovereign was 

 ever poor, and during some of the latest reigns was frequently reduced 

 to absolute indigence and want : a fact confirmed to me by the present 

 Raja of Gerhxval. The sovereign had the undoubted prerogative of resum- 

 ing all grants of land of every description, but as this right could only 

 be enforced by the concurrence of the prevailing party in the state, its 

 exercise afforded him little personal advantage, the resumed lands imme- 

 diately passing to some one of the party in question as the price of its 

 assistance. 



Tt 



