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locally as ‘ Chop * were for some years regarded as 
indisputable evidence of title, and the regulations 
of Sultan Mansur, at first, aimed only at supplying 
titles to those landowners who held no such deeds. 
For that purpose he appointed two ‘ Surveyors/ 
who dealt with the ecclesiastical parishes one by 
one, with the assistance of the district Headman, 
and the mosque officials. In cases of disputed 
ownership, the parties were referred first to the 
Courts; if there were no dispute, the new Land 
Office issued titles, and preserved a press copy. 
Later, a new form of grant was adopted, written 
on large size paper, a duplicate being filed in the 
office, and changes of ownership being endorsed on 
both copies. 
The idea of the system was sound, but the exe- 
cution was indifferent. The first difficulty was the 
lack of trained surveyors and accurate instruments. 
Sultan Mulut Merah, in the year A.H. 1299, (A.D. 
1881-1882) marked a standard “ Depa,” or Fathom, 
on a large bronze cannon, which still stands near 
the entrance to the Palace, and measuring rods were 
supposed to be tested by it. This standard fathom 
is 5 ft. 10 ins. in length, and is said to be the measure 
of the extended arms of the Sultan himself. One 
may suspect that some rods were tested, not by 
the standard, but by the measurer’s arms. There 
were no instruments to measure angles, so the 
survey was of the roughest, and the compilation 
of any map impossible. As there was then a tax 
on the crop, and not a fixed rent, based on the 
area, the inaccuracy of measurement did not affect 
revenue, but naturally the survey was of little use 
in boundary disputes. This defect has now been 
remedied. 
* Afel 
