No. 9.— 1856-8.] district of nuwabakalAwiya, 



159 



Formerly this used in part to be paid in kind (dmanai) y but 

 this gave rise to so much deception and loss, that the plan 

 has long since been abandoned. At present the great majority 

 of the tax is collected by the commutation system. According 

 to this, the average annual produce of each piece of land 

 being estimated, the cultivator redeems that portion of it which 

 would fall to Government. It is to be observed, that the rate 

 of redemption is fixed very low, it being considered that the 

 loss thus occurring is more than counterbalanced by the ease of 

 collection, the fixity of revenue, and the checking of deception. 

 In this opinion I entirely concur, and believe the commutation 

 system to be eminently advantageous, both to the rulers and the 

 ruled. The whole process is as follows : — 



The headmen send in lists of the lands, giving the extent 

 and probable produce of each share ; these lists then may be 

 compared with those of former years, so as to expose any fraud, 

 and are then entered in large register-books ; additional 

 columns, shewing the tithe, in grain and in money, being added. 

 There is then drawn out a set of tickets, forming in fact, a copy 

 of the register ; each ticket containing a memorandum as to the 

 amount due on each share. After this is prepared, the Assis- 

 tant Agent proceeds to some appointed village ; the people 

 assemble ; those of a certain village are called forward ; the first 

 name is read, the peasant comes forward, signs the register, and 

 receives the memorandum shewing what he has to pay, and as 

 the matter proceeds, complaints as to over-estimation, &c, are 

 frequently heard at once, and the requisite alterations made. 

 After all this is done, another set of receipts, corresponding to 

 the entries in the registers, is filled up ; each such receipt is 

 given by the headman to the person whose name is inscribed on 

 it, when he pays the tax due by him. In this way the peasant 

 knows beforehand what he has to give annually, and he cannot 

 be called on by the Korala to pay twice over, as used formerly to 

 occur not unfrequently. The headmen, when they bring revenue 

 to the Kachche'ri, give in lists of those from whom they have 

 received it, and thus, if a headman dies or is dismissed, there is 

 no difficulty in discovering who is and who is not in arrear. 



