434 



On (he Stalisfics of Dulchttn. 



[April 



ment, grain to Ramooses, HaviUiar, Gos;\wees, and Mecras tax, lax for 

 sugar, Src. : other taxes wliioh originally fell upon trades })POj)le, such as 

 those for skins, shoes, wool, blankets, and oil, are no longer derived from 

 their legitimate sources, but fall upon the cultivator. Milch cattle, 

 fowls, mango frees, and pumpkin beds respectively continue to supply the 

 means to pay the taxes for Ghee, thickened sour milk, fowls, and fruits. 

 Some of tlie Puttees involve 1 personal labour, such as those for grass 

 cut and furnished gratis to government, for firewood, for dinner plates 

 coinposed of leaves sewn together, for monsoon great coals made of wick- 

 er work and leaves, and for slicks to pound rice with. The U:ibta 

 INIahr, spoken of under " tc^nnres," is in lieu of ])cr8onal services. 

 Some of them in their name indicate their prdfcssedly tcnnporary cha- 

 racter, such as the Eksalee, or for one year, andyet they have been ])cr- 

 pctuated. The Shadee or marriage cess at Angur, Tcrgunnah INIohol, 

 and Ashtee Pergunnah Oondurgaon, amounted to nearly 12 per cent, of 

 the whole revenue of the towns, and could only have been for a passing 

 event. The Wurgut at Wangee and Ashtee, which was raised by the 

 village authorities for village expenses, is one of these unjustifiable 

 taxes. At Ashtee, the scene of the battle of Ashtee and capture of the 

 Sattarah princes, in 1818, the Wurgut was M05 rupees, in a revenue of 

 6386 rupees, or 22 per cent. ; of this sum government took i)00 rupees, 

 leaving 505 rupees to the villagers for their expenses. This Puttee at 

 the town of Kurjut, Pergunnah Kurreli Wullet, is 6 annas per rupee, or 

 3/2 per cent, on the land and Sahyer assessmcnls, and Burgoojur or tax 

 on betel gardens. At Rawgaon, the Wurgut ainoimted to \Al annas per 

 rupee on the land assessments and taxes, or more than 90 per cent. The 

 Kaateh Mornawul, or pecuniary punishment, inflicted on a village for a 

 Mamlehdar's running thorns into his feet on perambulating its lands^ 

 should have had some limits in its duration. The Puttees for sturdy 

 Gosawees, Havildars, Ramooses, Naikwarees, should have ceased when 

 there were no longer Gosawees to beg with arms in their hands, or Ha- 

 vildars, Naiks, and Ramooses to exercise respectively certain functions. 



The fractional apportioning the above taxes to the cultivators, involv- 

 ing also the compound operation of providing reduced shares for thepri- 

 vileged classes, the fractional deductions, in a certain ratio in case of 

 remissions, the fluctuating amount of tlie individual shares dependent 

 on the fixed commutation cesses, being yearly divisible amongst 

 a variable number of cultivators, the mutable character of the See- 

 rusteh Butta, which necessarily changes with the yearly varying 

 total assessments of the village, and which Seerusteh Butta is 

 not determinable until all other assessments be fixed, combine great 



