INTBODTJCTION.
1
it became of very great importance the taluqdar or ndzim put them aside and collected direct from the individual cultivators. Then their sir lands, as they were called, either paid very low rates in comparison with other It was not uncomtenants or remained altogether unassessed. mon for the superior landlord when he took over the village management to set apart a certain area, either at no rent at all or at a fixed low rent, in favour of the community, but it was more usual to extend the privilege to all the lands they held themselves whether the area was great or small. The general position of these village communities was not a bad one. They had no absolute right to the control of the whole village, but they were generally allowed it from motives of convenience, and the hold which their high caste and residence on the spot gave them over the other cultivators, put great diffiThey very culties in the way of interference against their will. relinquish a control frequently, however, did willingly consent to and in assessment, heavy which made them responsible for a manage the vilto taluqdar strong enough other cases the was whether either case, them. In himself without consulting lage their dispossession of the whole village was against or with their consent, they always retained their low- rented sir and usually the cash nankar. Other circumstances combined to render their position tolerable. When the assessment became too high they In a year or two the ndzim was changed. There was defaulted. no continuity of Government, and their default became a forgotten and undemanded arrear ; or if things came to the worst, they could retire to a neighbouring jungle, burn the crops and house of any one who attempted to cultivate, and leave the ndzim the alternative of re-admitting them at a reduced demand, and with arrears wiped off, or of deriving no income at all from their village. third course still more frequently adopted was for them to ofi^er their village to a powerful taluqdar, whose interest would induce him to assess them moderately, join their force with his in resisting the demands of the Lucknow officials, and secure a low revenue payment for the whole estate. Besides the means at their command for resisting exactions, the profits of their villages were supplemented from other sources. Very large numbers found employ in the Company's armies, and not only -relieved the pressure on the soil, but remitted their savings to add to the wealth of the community. Still more were engaged in the large forces which the unsettled position of every taluqdar •compelled him to maintain, and not a few drew pay from the King of Oudh. All these causes contributed to make them as a
lump revenue payment, but
when
A
