1839] 



On the Statistics of Dnlchm, 



417 



ber of taxable persons in the Sahyer branch than in Kliandesh, averages 

 a payment per head of liitle more than one-third of what the shopkeep- 

 ers, trades, and BuUoteh pay in Khandesh ; and the tolerable uniformi- 

 ty in the individual averages of the collectorates of Poona, Dharwar, and 

 Khandesh, proves that their Sahyer taxes are raised equitably. I have 

 to notice, that in village papers there is a want of uniformity in the 

 classification ojf the extra cesses, sometimss arti^des being pla;^ed un- 

 der the heads of Sahyer which bear upon the land, an 1 others again be- 

 ing classed with the land which are money commutations for labour. 



From the definite character of the elements in the preceding table, 

 great con'idenje may be placed in the correctness of d.^du^tions ftom it. 

 The numbers of taxable persons in 1827-28 were supplied to me by the 

 collectors, and the amount paid is extracted from their Jummabundy set- 

 tlements for that year. 



Customs. — The customs vary considerably in the different collector- 

 ates; those of Poona, being above 12 percent, of its whole revenue, 

 may be looked upon as high, but their mignitude manifests a favoura- 

 ble commercial industry. Contrary to expectation, Dharwar, which has 

 indications of internal comparative prosperity, has the lowest revenue 

 from customs, with a greater population, a greater revenue, and falling 

 lighter upon the people than in any of the other cullectorates, and with 

 more than ten times the number of manufacturers* to be found in Poo- 

 na and Khan lesh, nevertheless shows a commercial return 52 per cent, 

 less than that of Poona, and even 25| per cent, below the exhausted 

 province of Khandesh. It seems anomalous that the proportional per- 

 centage of the customs on the whole revenue in Ahmednuggur and 

 Khandesh should be identical, the population of the former being 23.75 

 per cent, greater than that of the latter, while a parity seems to exist in 

 the wants and export resources of the people of both. 



Expenses. — I have put into juxtaposition some of the items of ex- 

 pense in the collectorates, and their rate percent, on the gross revenue ; 

 but the want of a systematic classification of charges under common 

 heads throughout the collectorates, renders a rigid comparison, item 

 for item, unattainable. The information is extracted from the Jumma- 

 bundy returns of the collectors for l<S27-'28. A government form for 

 this paper for common adoption would render the multitudinous details 

 involved in it more available for comparison by inspection than in the 



* Thirteen thousand and forty-five weavers. 



