pertinent at this very day. No one can pretend to understand the origin of the Bengal Zamíndárí system who has not carefully studied this text-book on the subject. The diction is clear and perspicuous, in spite of the inevitable introduction of local phrases and terms; and in handsome language the Governor-General more than once acknowledged his obligations to the writer of these treatises, as they may fairly be termed, though he differed from Shore on more than one important point.
There has been, at various times, a good deal of discussion amongst able Anglo-Indian experts as to the precise position and rights of those whom in the Lower Provinces we have termed Zamíndárs. It is the opinion of some very competent authorities that these Zamíndárs were originally of various kinds. Sometimes they were mere agents nominated for short periods who had bid for the privilege of collecting and paying the Government dues. A very notable example of this class may be found in the Lives of the Lindsays. The Hon. Robert Lindsay, a servant of the East India Company, finding that one Gangá Govind, a native collector, was unequal to the collection of the revenue of the district of Sylhet, himself came forward and tendered for the right to collect, though he was opposed by the Council of Dacca. His offer was accepted by Warren Hastings, and in this way, aided by the monopoly of catching elephants and supplying the bázárs of Calcutta with oranges and
