Early administration.

182. For some time before the Assignment of 1853 the important divisions for the purposes of land revenue were the pargana and the village. It is impossible to say when these were first established or which of them is the older. Clear traditions about the old system cannot now be obtained; contradictory statements are made in different parts. Apparently each pargana was for most purposes in charge of a Naib appointed by the Nizam's Government, while parganas were grouped, with greater or less fixity, into taluks under higher officers. For land revenue collection contracts were taken by maktedars, who secured payment largely with the help of the deshmukhs and deshpandyas, the hereditary officers of the pargana; but apparently the influence of the different officers varied greatly in different parts. Local sahukars were called in to give security for payment and to transfer the revenue, by means of hundi.s and other negotiable instruments, to Hyderabad. Within the village it was frequently a question of inducing unwilling cultivators to accept land, either by a show of force or by a promise of light assessments, or, very rarely, by takavi advances. In all parts of the District the difficulty was felt that cultivators were very liable to give up their land and thereby endanger the revenue; so that people sometimes say deshmukhs had to keep armed followers, Rajputs and Rohillas or other Muhammadans, simply to compel runaway cultivators to return. Security of tenure was an unknown idea, whether or not it had always been so, and no one cultivated his fields with very great care, but there was always plenty of land to be had. Definite traditions exist of representatives of the Bhonsla Rajas of Nagpur being stationed in certain villages and taking a greater or less share of the whole revenue.

District boundaries.

183. Under the organisation in force since 1853 the pargana has not been taken into account (though its limits are still remembered), but villages have been grouped into larger areas with the name of taluk, and taluks have been formed into Districts. Berar. was at first divided into two Districts, later into four, and by 1870 into six, but in 1905 it was again reduced to four. Akola seems to have been the headquarters of a District from the first, but the limits of the area subject to it have greatly varied. In 1870 it consisted of the taluks of Akola, Akot, Balapur, and Jalgaon, but in the same year Khamgaon taluk was created-largely by shifting eastward the boundaries of Balapur-and was included in Akola District. Basim similarly had at first only the two taluks of Basim and Pusad, but in 1875 Mangrul taluk was added, its villages being taken chiefly from Basim taluk but largely also from the Darwha taluk of the Wun District of the time. In 1905 Basim District was abolished; Akola District retained three of it6 own old taluks, Akola, Balapur, and Akot, and received three fresh ones, Murtizapur from Amraoti District, and Basim and Mangrul; Buldana District took Jalgaon and Khamgaon, and Yeotmal District received Pusad.

Taluk boundaries.

184. Taluk boundaries have also varied considerably. In 1853 Akola taluk contained 142 villages; in 1857 it received 12 from Balapur and gave one to Karanja (now-Murtizapur); in 1858 it gained 259 villages taken from Basim; in 1865 it received three more from Balapur and ten from East Berar but gave 25 to Karanja; in 1870 it lost 55, given to Balapur; in 1875 one went to Mangrul, and at some time it has received four more villages from Balapur and five from Murtizapur; it has now 354 villages. Akot taluk in 1853 contained 85 villages, in 1859 the Dahihanda pargana of 57 villages was added, in 1862 came Panaj and two other parganas with 74 villages which were only then made over by the Nizam, in 1865 Adgaon and Panchagawhan parganas with no villages, in 1866 seven villages from Jalgaon and Anjangaon (now Daryapur), and later five more from Jalgaon, while one village has been given to Jalgaon and 71 have been transferred to Daryapur; Akot has now 266 villages. Balapur had 304 villages in 1865; in 1866 three were transferred to Malkapur and four to Akola, in 1870 when Khamgaon taluk was formed Balapur gave it 148 villages but received 55 from Akola, so that it now contains 204 villages. Basim -taluk consisted in 1873 of 502 villages, but 156 villages were taken in 1875 to help in the formation of Mangrul taluk, 50 have been given to and 21 received from the Nizam's Dominions to simplify the Berar boundary, and n have gone into Pusad and 33 been received from it; so that the present total is 338 villages. Murtizapur taluk consisted in 1869 of 337 villages, but transfers have been made of two villages to Chandur taluk, two to Amraoti, one to Basim, and 16 to Akola, while two have been received from Daryapur; the total now being 318. Mangrul taluk was formed in 1875 by the transfer of 156 villages from Basim taluk, ten from Pusad, 86 from Darwha, and one from Akola, but in 1905 one (Dewalgawhan) was given to Pusad; the total now being 252. This account is incomplete, partly because the details of a complicated series of transfers are differently stated in different accounts, but is substantially right. It shows that numerous changes were made in the first 25 years after the Assignment, firstly to build up taluks and secondly to reduce them to manageable proportions, but that taluk boundaries have been almost constant for the last 30 or 40 years.

Early British administration.

185. When the British took over Berar the rates of assessment were high and uneven, especially as they had been raised in the last year or two, but exact statistics cannot be given. All the early accounts emphasize the untrustworthiness of the only available figures. Thus the Akot Settlement report of 1867 says, The nominal area under cultivation of the 228 villages under the Native Government amounted to nearly 210,000 acres, but on it being roughly measured in 1854-55 the actual area was ascertained to be about 154,000 acres, the assessment on the same being Rs. 2,82,000; and the collections Rs. 2,63,000.' The average rate in North Berar was Rs. 3 As. 12 per bigha, but in certain cases this ran up to Rs. 5 or Rs. 6, while for bagait land, irrigated merely by means of wells, it was sometimes Rs. 25. The Berar Gazetteer of 1870, p. 258, quotes,' The large taluk of Argaon used to be covered with gardens, and the hedges are still perfect, but the whole has become field (dry) cultivation; much of the arable land has fallen to jungle.' Mr. Bullock, whose name is still remembered in the District, reported in 1854 that jagir villages were the most prosperous and best cultivated, mainly because the tenants were well treat ed, though again the jagirdars had picked out the best villages. In 1854 land was divided into three classes and fixed rates of Rs. 2 As. 4, R. 1 As 14, and R. 1 As. 8 per bigha were introduced. At first one or two bad seasons occurred, but cultivation and revenue steadily and in most cases very rapidly expanded; Between 1853 and 1855 no families settled in Sirpur pargana, which contained 60 villages, and in Ansing pargana eight deserted villages were reinhabited. The Gazetteer of 1870, p. 259, shows that in Balapur taluk the occupied area of 299 villages in the 8 years 1855-1863 was returned as increasing from 228,000 acres to 292,000, while the revenue rose from Rs. 2,84,000 to Rs. 3,65,000; in Akola, for 395 villages, the area in the years 1858- 1868 rose from 175,000 acres to 241,000 and the revenue from Rs. 1,88,000 to Rs. 2,76,000; in Murtizapur, for 333 villages between 1861 and 1869, the occupied area increased from 202,000 acres to 241,000 and the revenue from Rs. 1,64,000 to Rs. 2,00,000. Again, when a proper survey was made it was found that in all taluks the occupied area had been much understated by village officers submitting false returns; so that the 242,000 acres reported for Akola taluk should really have been 340,000, and in Akot 280,000 acres were reported, but in fact there were 365,000. Cases of mis-statement in individual villages were very striking. Thus in Akola taluk the village officers of Borgaon had returned 5500 acres when there were really 8150, those of Donad Bujruk returned 240 instead of 770, and those of Jambrun 76 instead of 446. There had been great inequalities in the demand on account of the imperfect returns, so that in villages classed together under the new settlement the old rates had varied from As. 6 P. 6 to R. 1 As. 13 P. 7.

The ryotwari system.

186. The great change made by the British was that uncertainty and inequality were replaced by definteness and moderation; a tenure both fixed and equable was established, and the rights and liabilities of the cultivator were minutely defined. The great bulk of the District is khalsa land held on rayatwadi, ryotwari, tenure. According to this system Government deals, not with the head of the village, but with the individual holders of separate fields. The cultivator is given the right, firstly, to occupy his land permanently. Secondly, he may dispose of it in any way he likes; he may either cultivate it or leave it waste, keep, surrender, sell, or mortgage it; but no land newly given out by Government for cultivation after 1905 can be encumbered or alienated without the consent of the Deputy Commissioner. Thirdly, the assessment of a field will never be raised on account of improvements made by the cultivator, though the assessment of a village or group of villages may be raised at the end of a settlement period for general reasons. The great liability is simply that of paying the land revenue at which the field is assessed; the amount is absolutely definite and is only altered at intervals of 30 years; cesses however have also been imposed for special purposes. The only other important limitations are that-as the land is given only for cultivation-the tenant has no right to minerals and may not without special permission diminish its agricultural value by quarrying or building houses. For the fixing of the assessment all the land is divided permanently into fields of from 20 to 25 acres each. These are marked off from each other by a strip at the side, called dhura, being left uncultivated; the dhura is 4½ feet in width and is liable to assessment. Further, mounds of earth, warali, 10 feet in length and 5 in breadth, and stones, gota, patthar, 2½ feet in length, are placed according to a definite system at angles in the boundary. Certain tests are made to discover the depth and kind of soil and the presence or absence of important specified defects, and the field is permanently valued at so many annas (compared with standard land of 16 annas free from all defects). When a settlement is made a certain rate is fixed for the standard land of the village; the holder of each separate field pays an amount which holds the same proportion to the general rate as his land holds to land of standard quality (The use of the word ' standard' in this connection is somewhat technical; land altogether free from defects is so rare that a field classed at 12 annas would be considered good in any part of Berar.) The name of a single khatedar, registered occupant, is entered against each separate field in the revenue records, except in cases in which there happened to be more than one co-sharer when the original settlement was made. The khatedar is primarily responsible for the payment of the land revenue, but when he sells his field it is not necessary to get the name changed on the records; the actual occupant of the field would be responsible in the second resort, and in fact actually pays the assessment, but very frequently sees no reason to get the name of the khatedar changed. The settlement is revised every 30 years; all indications of improvement or decline in the economic position of the cultivating classes are taken into consideration; and the rates are raised or lowered accordingly.

The survey settlement.

187. The first settlement of this kind was made in the different taluks between 1864 and 1872, taking effect first in Balapur, and then in Akola, Akot, Murtizapur, Basim, and Mangrul. Major P. A. Elphinstone and Mr. R. R. Beynon shared the work, holding the post of Settlement Officer in turn but relying largely on each other's work. The rates imposed on land of standard quality varied in Basim and Mangrul taluks from As. 14 to R. 1-8, in Murtizapur from R. 1-4 to Rs. 2, in Balapur from R. 1-6 to Rs. 2, in Akola from R. 1-6 to Rs. 2-4, and in Akot from R. 1-12 to Rs. 2-4. Again, the commonest rates were, in Basim and Mangrul R. 1-1 in Murtizapur R. 1-10, in Balapur R. 1-13, in Akola Rs. 2, and in Akot Rs. 2-4. The rate for land irrigated by means of wells was usually from Rs. 3 to Rs. 4, but was in Akot taluk from Rs. 4 to Rs. 6. Land irrigated by channels from tanks was assessed at a maximum of Rs. 6, and rice land paid the same. Special rates applied to the very few villages under exceptional tenures. Land in much of the District falls so far short of the technical 'standard' quality that the rate actually levied was commonly from one-third to one-half of the maximum stated above.

The settlement period.

188. It is very difficult to get convincing figures about prices during the settlement period, as contradictory accounts come from equally authoritative sources. Many facts of economic importance are however clear. The prosperity of the District depends mainly upon cotton, and though the price obtained for this seems to have fallen yet through a more dependable and prolific kind being increasingly grown throughout the period the crop has constantly been very profitable. Communications have been greatly improved in every taluk, giving easier access to the railway and the great markets. Population increased considerably, the rise up to 1891 being 15 per cent. in Balapur taluk, from 21 to 25 in Akola, Akot, and Murtizapur, 34 in Mangrul, and 109 in Basim; though it fell again by a small fraction per cent. through famine in the decade 1891-1901. Wealth greatly accumulated; houses were better built and everywhere increased considerably in number, though the percentage of increase exceeded that of population in Balapur and Akola only -in Basim it was less than half as much but still 48 per cent. The number of plough bullocks, according to the imperfect returns available, increased only 4 per cent. in Akot taluk, where there had been little room for extension of cultivation, 11 in Balapur, 82 in Murtizapur, and from 32 to 57 elsewhere; though again the full effects of the famines were not known when the Settlement Reports were written. Cows and buffaloes increased from 36 to 109 per cent. everywhere except in Murtizapur taluk where a decrease of 33 per cent. occurred; no convincing explanation of this fall is given, but perhaps it is connected with the unusual increase reported for plough bullocks; sheep and goats increased everywhere. Any increase in stock is noteworthy because grazing land whether permanently set aside for the purpose of temporarily fallow, had considerably diminished. The number of horses and ponies fell off everywhere except in Akot and Akola, but this was probably through people being able to use carts more than before. Carts increased 17 per cent. in Akot, from 59 to 90 per cent. in Murtizapur, Balapur, and Akola, 149 per cent. in Mangrul, and 205 per cent. in Basim. Wells increased from 29 to 76 per cent. Cultivation in acres increased 1 per cent. in Akot, 3 in Murtizapur, 5 in Akola, 8 in Mangrul, and 14 in Basim. The smallness of the rise in the former taluks is due to the fact that there was scarcely any land to be taken up; thus only 100 acres were left in the whole of Akot (which contained nearly 300,000 acres altogether), and only 300 in Murtizapur, while Basim had less than 2000 left, and Mangrul less than 5000 (together with 5000 more from a resumed izara village which, though technically available for cultivation, was in fact to be made forest as soon as necessary formalities could be completed); almost invariably again the land left unoccupied is very light soil, which might hardly repay the labour spent on it except in good seasons; thus the average assessment of the unoccupied land in Mangrul was As. 4½ only, the lowest standard assessment being As. 14. Cultivation had extended till there was no valuable land left available. Again, the past revenue' had been collected with ease and regularity. In the three years immediately preceding the reports for Balapur and Akot taluks not a single case of distraint for non-payment of land revenue had occurred, while in Akola there had been an average of only six cases a year. For Murtizapur, Basim, and Mangrul, for which figures for six years are given, there had been an average of one case a year. No remissions had been made. The value of land had risen immensely, for at the beginning of the period it was in many parts valueless while at the end it was everywhere in demand and fetched a corresponding price. Thus there was good reason for an increase in the land revenue.

The revision settlement.

189. The question of the rate of increase had been to some extent cleared beforehand, for a revision settlement had just been made in various taluks of Buldana District which closely corresponded with those now forming Akola District; a considerable discussion had taken place with regard to Malkapur taluk. Major R. V. Garrett conducted revision settlement operations in Akola and Akot taluks and Mr. F. W. Francis conducted them in the other four taluks. The new rates came into force in the year 1896-1897 in Balapur taluk, the next year in Akola, the next in Akot, and the next (1900-1901) in Murtizapur; they were applied in Basim and Mangrul in the spring of 1904. The new maximum dry crop rate, the rate on land of standard quality, varied in Basim and Mangrul from R. 1-2 to R. 1-12; in Balapur, Akola, and Murtizapur from R. 1-14 to Rs. 2-10; and in Akot from R. 1-14 to Rs. 2-12. The rates for land irrigated by means of wells are determined by different principles according to whether the well was dug before or after the first settlement. In the former case the land is assessed at the maximum dry crop rate fixed for the village; in the latter at the rate which would have been fixed if there had been no well. The land revenue in the present year, 1908-1909, amounts to-khalsa villages, Rs. 24,79,189; jagir villages, Rs. 17,052; the Kamargaon Estate, Rs. 11,101; izara villages, Rs. 6291; and a palampat village Rs. 1645; total Rs. 25,15,278. The occupied area, exclusive of pot kharab, unculturable, land in the last year reported, 1907-1908, was 2,169,167 acres; on combining this with the total of the land revenue it appears that the average assessment per acre is in fact R. 1-2½.

Kinds of tenure.

190. All over Berar the ryotwari tenure which prevails in khalsa villages is the most common, but there are also a few jagir, izara, palampat, and inam villages (or fields in the last case); Akola District has inam fields but no inam villages; it contains however the Kamargaon estate held on a tenure different from any other in the Province. The following table gives the number of villages held by each form of tenure:-

Jagir tenure.

191. The District contains 56 jagir (Marathi jahagir) villages; their total assessment is Rs. 77,405, of which Government receives Rs. 16,232 and the jagirdars get Rs. 61,173. A jagirdar holds a whole village, sometimes making no payment whatever to Government, sometimes paying a fixed quit-rent, and sometimes a certain proportion (generally 40, 50, or 60 per cent.) of the ordinary assessment. The original survey of a jagir village is never revised except either at the request and cost of the jagirdar or for special reasons; the quit-rent or the proportion of revenue payable is also fixed permanently. The nominal assessment of all jagir villages is however revised every 30 years along with that of khalsa villages; the object is to fix the amount of cesses payable in jagirs held free or on a quit-rent and that of land revenue in the others. The jagirdar makes whatever arrangements he likes with his tenants, except that certain land in the possession of individual cultivators at the time the jagir was given has sometimes remained khalsa from the beginning. The history of the tenure is given in the Berar Gazetteer of 1870, pp. 101-102. A jagir could apparently only be created by the sovereign power; thus almost all the jagirs in Berar were given by either the Delhi Emperor or the Nizam; the Bhonslas gave none. Jagirs seem at first to have been given only for military service and for the maintenance of order in special neighbourhoods. They were given for life but might be continued from father to son; in a few cases they became practically hereditary, but even then carried an obligation of service and were theoretically liable to be resumed. The system gradually broke down, partly because the jagirdar often ceased to maintain any real force and partly because the Marathas took 60 per cent. of all revenue assigned to jagirdars within the areas under their control; in 1853 such purely military jagirs as remained were surrendered to Government. In course of time, however, other jagirs than purely military grants had been made. Revenues were assigned to civil officers for the maintenance of due state and dignity or were acquired by court influence without any substantial reason. They were not originally hereditary, but the grant was in fact sometimes continued to the heirs of the first holder; in this way many jagirs became practically hereditary without any condition remaining attached to them. These were all confirmed by the British Government. Some jagirs were also given to pious or venerable persons, saiyids, fakirs, pirzadas, and others, and were made hereditary in the original sanads or patents; these also were confirmed. In fact the great majority of jagirs in the District are grants of no very great value for the support of temples and tombs. The organisation of jagir villages has been assimilated to that of khalsa villages but, provided the work is properly done; appointments are made by the jagirdar instead of Government.

Izara tenure.

192. Izara villages number 20, all in Mangrul taluk; their total assessment is Rs. 12,582, of which Government receives one-half. They are held under the ' Waste Land Rules of 1865'; these formed a system according to which whole villages were leased out to individuals at a low rental for a period of 30 years or less, at the end of which time the lessee was given the option, provided he had brought one-third of the land under cultivation. of keeping the whole village in perpetuity on payment of one-half of a fair assessment. The object was to encourage cultivation, but in fact such liberal terms were unnecessary; the option of permanent possession was taken away in 1871. An izardar is for most purposes in almost exactly the same position as a jagirdar.

The Kamargaon Estate.

193. The Kamargaon Estate consists of 16 villages which formerly constituted the Kamargaon pargana. In 1859 the collection of the land revenue was leased out for ten years to a talukdar, according to the Hyderabad system. This was Mir Imam Ali Khan, a Risaldar in the Second Regiment of the Hyderabad Contingent Cavalry; he was a little later appointed. an Extra Assistant Commissioner in the Hyderabad Commission. Meanwhile his regiment was ordered on service against the rebels in Central India and he chose to accompany it at the risk of losing his civil appointment. He was the first man to reach the rebels' battery at the battle of Banda, but was killed in the fight. As a reward to his family it was decided to continue the grant of the pargana on more favourable terms than had at first been granted. Mir Akbar Ali Khan, uterine brother of the Risaldar, was therefore given the pargana for ten years, subject to full protection of the rights of the cultivators, at a rate which was expected to give him a net profit of Rs. 1200 a year;. and a permanent right of engaging for the revenue of the pargana was also granted. During the ten years the yield of the Estate doubled. In the settlement of 1871 the lease was renewed at an annual payment of Rs. 6000, but the assessment rates of cultivators were fixed; it was estimated that this would give the holder a net income of over Rs. 4000. At the end of the settlement period the rates-of assessment were raised again, part of the difference to take effect immediately and part at the end of 15 years; the result would be a total increase from Rs. 13,600 to Rs. 18,700. It was ordered that the holder should pay to Government Rs. 9000 from 1903 and Rs. 9500 from 1915, besides the former allowances to pargana officials and the emoluments always paid in

khalsa villages to village officers. In dealing with either village officers or cultivators he has almost exactly the rights which Government permits itself in the Patel and Patwari Law and the Berar Land Revenue Code. Thus he has a right to the produce of unoccupied land and to land left unclaimed but he is debarred from any arbitrary interference with existing rights; the Revenue Courts do not assist him in recovering rent from tenants.

Palampat tenure.

194. Kata, in Basim taluk, is the only palampat village in the District; its total assessment is Rs. 3200, of which Government receives Rs. 1645. This village was the subject of various interesting proceedings in which the holder repeatedly profited by long accidental delay and by mistranslation. The word palampat is said to mean a lease for protection or development. Kata was granted in 1837 by a lease signed by Raja Chandulal upon a fixed payment; the purpose of populating the village was recorded. Under the British Government careful calculations were made of the holder's profits, which included dues on produce, oil-presses, and marriages; these dues were abolished and it was ordered that after certain allowances had been made for village expenses and other matters Government should receive 60 per cent. and the palampatdar 40 per cent. of the ordinary assessment.

Inam tenure.

195. A large number of inam grants have been made in the District by different Governments; the holding usually consists of a very few fields and the purpose is generally to secure the maintenance of a temple or tomb. An inam is sometimes held free of assessment and sometimes on the payment of a fraction of the ordinary assessment. Muhammad Burhan, Bench Magistrate of Karanja, holds inam lands assessed at Rs. 92 given some years ago in recognition of services rendered by a relative during the Mutiny. The inam lands of the District amount altogether to 21,000 acres with an assessment of Rs. 31,000; the inamdars get Rs. 26,000 of this and Government gets Rs. 5000. Thus about 1 per cent. of the culturable land of the District has been given on inam; more than one-third of the whole is in Akot taluk, which has had an extraordinary number of well-known saints.

Cesses.

196. Nominally three cesses are levied throughout Berar, the jaglia and local cess, the school or education cess, and the road cess; in fact the first two are paid by cultivators in addition to their land revenue while the last is set aside by Government out of its receipts. The primary object of the jaglia and local cess is to provide jaglias, village watchmen; the surplus is made over to the District Board for employment on general local purposes; the names of the other cesses fully indicate their objects. In khalsa villages the cultivator pays one anna in the rupee for jaglia and local cess and a further quarter-anna for the school cess; Government pays 1 per cent. of the land revenue for the road cess. In jagir, izara, and palampat villages the holder may make his own arrangements, subject to the supervision of the Deputy Commissioner, for the provision of village watchmen, but must pay both school and road cess; the rate of payment is 1 per cent. for each cess.

Amount of cesses.

197. These cesses are all of more than 40 years standing, but only reached their present form in 1885. In the year 1907-1908 the jaglia and local cess realized Rs. 1,62,000, of which Rs. 87,000 were spent on the jaglia force and Rs. 75,000 transferred to the District Board. The school cess came to Rs. 42,000, a further Rs. 26,000 was contributed from Provincial funds, and altogether Rs. 83,000 were spent on education. The road cess amounted to Rs. 25,000 from Government and Rs. 1000 from alienated villages; the District Board spent Rs. 33,000 on roads. Further expenditure is made and controlled by the Provincial Government.