Memoir on Thar and

of the Desert; I will therefore merely add, that should the principle now advocated meet
with your * approval, I would suggest that the land at present cultivated by some of the
most industrious of the Rajpoots of the Deepla district and Parkur, should be written over
to them to cultivate in perpetuity, at a quit-rent fixed for five years, corresponding in
amount to the average receipts of the past five years, exclusive of famines, in which
seasons I conceive nothing should be levied. The proposed means for measuring the
different fields and erecting land-marks, and other details, can, if requisite, be submitted
for your consideration hereafter.”
114. Towards the end of 1854, Mr. Frere, Commissioner in Sind, visited the Thurr and
Parkur districts, and sanctioned the introduction of a fixed assessment, in lieu of the
Battaee system above alluded to; in the meantime, before much progress had been made
in the measuring of the fields, I was forced to proceed to England on sick certificate. My
views on the subject, however, and the bases on which the revenue assessment was
proposed to be carried out, were recorded in a memorandum, dated Bombay, 30th April
1855, from which the following paragraphs are extracted:—
“1. The Commissioner in Sind has sanctioned the fields in the Thurr being
measured, with a view to a permanent assessment being fixed. It is intended that
the right of the owner of a field should be deemed indefeasible, so long as such
owner behaves himself as a good and loyal † subject ; and in fixing the assessment,
it should be borne in mind that the object is to confirm to the cultivator the right
to cultivate the land for a given annual sum of money, for say 10, 20, or 30 years,
during which time Government cannot increase the assessment, while the
cultivator may after any season throw up any land. In the event of a man having
several fields, and wishing only to cultivate one, he may throw up the remainder;
the cultivator thus becomes bound from year to year only : while the State is
bound to abide by its agreement for a term of years, it is advisable to give the
cultivator all the advantages of a long lease, without risks and liabilities
attendant thereon.
“2. A good deal of the land in the Thurr has been in the possession of its present
occupants for years past; my object in this case would be to endeavor to make
them look on it as their own; that Government merely desired to reserve to itself
the right of re-adjusting the assessment periodically, with a view to prevent the
cultivators from being over-taxed, or itself deprived of a reasonable share of the
produce, or its equivalent.
“3. Each cultivator desiring it should be furnished with a sunnud for each or all
of his fields, stating that they are his; describing their situation, size, bounds, and
* Commissioner in Sind, to whom the letter from which this is extracted was addressed.
† The somewhat unusual course of making fixedness of tenure in any way dependent on good behaviour, was had
recourse to from seeing the satisfactory result of the working of the system in the Vusaipotra and May tribes, and
amongst the Khosas who cultivate land rent-free, but with the understanding that misbehaviour will cause forfeiture of
the privilege.
<strong>Memoir</strong> on the Thurr and Parkur Districts of Sind. Copyright © www.panhwar.com
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