avar forces, and the internal government of factories trading stations1. But this defect was remedied

CHAPTER I.

THE EARLY SYSTEM OF REVENUE ADMINISTRATION.

SECT. I.-INTRODUCTORY.

THE Land-Revenue Administration of MADRAS, distinct in form as it now is, was begun under conditions very similar to those which attended the commencement of Revenue Administration in BENGAL. In both territories the East India Company's staff was fitted for trade and commerce rather than for the government of districts and the control of revenue-assessments. Although Madras had its 'President and Council' (afterwards called 'Governor and Council'), and its array of 'writers,' 'factors,' 'junior merchants,' and 'senior merchants'; and although they had for their own protection military forces, and soon were obliged to plunge into the troubled sea of local politics, to engage in wars and negotiate treaties, they were quite unprepared to take the responsibility of the regular government of a populous and not unfertile country, to supervise the administration of justice, and to settle the Land-Revenue and control its collection.

The legal powers which the representatives of the Company possessed under the first Charters, were conferred with the sole view of providing for the control of the military and naval forces, and the internal government of factories and trading stations1. But this defect was remedied

For an excellent account, in detail, of the gradual growth of forts and factories in Madras, beginning with the Settlement at Masulipatam in 1611, Fort St. George (Madras)

in 1639, and the grant of sites and villages which preceded what I may call territorial acquisition, see Macleane, vol. i, pages 162-170. (History).

before any large portion of territory was acquired. The change was gradual, and its steps have been indicated in the opening chapters of this work. When at length circumstances compelled the Madras government to undertake direct administrative duties in the territories granted to it, the trading organization had to give place to a new one, and the titles and grades of officers sent out to manage the new districts, were naturally adopted from the system already working in Bengal. The 'Board of Revenue,' the Provincial Councils,' and afterwards the 'Collector,' were titles of office already familiar; and it was at first supposed by the central authorities that a Permanent Settlement of the Land-Revenue made with Zamíndárs, could be carried out in Madras as it had been in Bengal. But when after some years of tentative measures, this idea was formally carried into practice, a short experience showed that Madras and Bengal were widely different, and that except as regards a portion of the north country to which the Mughal rule had extended the Zamíndárí system, a totally different method of Settlement and revenue administration would have to be developed. For it was not possible to find a system ready formulated only time and the trial of different plans, with many failures and disappointments, could ultimately solve the problem of how to manage the Land-Revenue.

As in the life of the individual there is often some one period-some salient event-not perhaps thought much of at the time, which profoundly influences the whole course of the man's after-life, so it may be with governments. And it cannot be doubted that the acquisition, as British territory, of the country called (by its later Muhammadan rulers) the Báramahál or 'twelve revenue estates,' now included in the Salem (Sélam) district, was such a crucial event in the revenue history of Madras. For the circumstances under which that district came under a British Revenue Settlement were such that they necessitated, or gave rise to, a hitherto novel method of treatment.

The experience gained in this Settlement (under Col. READ and Capt. afterwards (Sir Thomas) MUNRO) pro

foundly influenced not only the future revenue history of the Presidency itself, but also, more or less indirectly, that of all the British Provinces of India outside Bengal. This remark is none the less true that the Báramahál Settlement did not at first prove a success, and that both in principle and detail, the system, as first conceived, needed large modification.

In tracing the progress of the Madras Land-Revenue System, it will be advisable in the first place to review the general course of acquisition, by which the Madras districts became British, and next to describe, in a brief and general manner, the various stages of the history of the early revenue management. Commencing with the Settlement (above alluded to) in the Báramahál (1792-98), which was soon followed by those of Coimbatore (1799), the Ceded Districts (1800), and the Carnatic Districts (1801), we shall see how the first raiyatwárí system, or rather systems, were overthrown for a time by an attempt to make a general Zamíndárí Settlement (1801-1808); how on the failure of that attempt, a proposal for village Settlements' (in the sense of granting leases for the whole village, to a renter, a headman, or a joint-body of inhabitants) was tried with various success for a few years; and how, in the end, a raiyatwárí assessment was finally ordered (1812-18) 1.

Having so far described the general course of events, I shall return to notice somewhat more in detail, some of the principles which Read and Munro adopted in their Settlements. These matters will be found not devoid of interest; and they are important, as showing the stages of evolution by which the modern system of Madras has been worked out. In thus dealing with Salem (and also with a cognate Settlement that of the Ceded Districts-which came under Munro's charge, 1801-1807), I shall illustrate the position by some extracts from minutes and letters showing how MUNRO developed the principles with which a commence

I may now assume that the reader is familiar with the term 'raiyatwari' as indicating a system where each field or holding is dealt

with separately, and where the holder is free to pay the revenue and keep the field, or free himself by giving it up, as he pleases.