1873.] 
319 
Rajendralala Mitra— Two Copper-plate Inscriptions. 
this is not common. At the time of Gfovindacliandra, the share was, I 
believe, a tenth, as I tind in the inscription No. 1 the word blidga - 
kutaka-das'a , which means the share ( bliaga ) for a plough-share ( KutaZca) to 
be das'a “ten” the “ten” meaning either ten hundredths or one tenth. 
The ordinary practice of calculating by fractions of the rupee or sixteenths 
has, I imagine, not been adopted here, as the very next word bandha vins'ati 
twenty or a twentieth for mortgages, would in that case mean twentysix- 
teenths, which would be absurd. One-twentieth or twenty-hundredths—• 
most probably the former was the rate of cess for mortgages. But what¬ 
ever the rate the right was clearly limited to rent, and did not extend to 
actual possession. 
The second right of the zemindar is named Bhoga , literally meaning 
enjoyment, but most probably intended to imply usufruct, as in the current 
terms BJwgabandhak , Bhogaldbh, Bhogddhikdr, Bhogasanad , &c., a mort¬ 
gage is meant in which the article pledged is permitted to be used in lieu 
of interest. It might mean the actual possession and enjoyment of the 
land, but that cannot be the object intended by the conveyancer, for in 
that case he would not have described it as> “ payable,” and enjoined the 
inhabitants or ryots to “ render it.” The condition of payment, or rendering, 
implies that the land was left in the possession of the ryots, and the donee 
was still to have some enjoyment of it. This could be effected by al¬ 
lowing the landlord to have the right of using it when the land was left 
fallow, either as field for grazing his cattle, or taking the grass from the 
field after the cultivator’s crop had been removed from it. A right of 
this description is enjoyed in the North-Western Provinces to this day ; and 
a case once came up in appeal to the High Court of Calcutta from Behar in 
which the zemindar claimed the right of taking grass from the field of his 
ryot, after the ryot had removed his crop. This is indicated in a passage in 
the Vivdda Chintdmam where it is stated that “ the produce of seeds thrown 
from one field into another by a storm or a deluge, is enjoyed by the 
proprietor of the field,”* i. e., the produce resulting without the interven¬ 
tion of the ryot is due to the zemindar, even during the currency of a lease, 
unless otherwise provided for in the lease. 
The next is Kara , i. e., rent proper or revenue, in which a fixed amount, 
whether payable in money or kind, has to bo rendered for the use of land 
irrespective of the actual produce at any given time. The standard for 
fixing the rate was doubtless the produce, but when the rate was once fixed, 
the produce was no longer taken into consideration. 
The next is Bravani kara , or a toll on quadrivials, i. e., a toll at turn¬ 
pikes, it being very unlikely that a traveller was called upon to pay a toll 
at every cross road. The translator of the Delhi College copper-plate 
* Prasannakumar Tagore’s edition, p. 131. 
42 
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