on the land was also conditional on his reimbursing all arrears due and expenses incurred during default.

Moreover, before the days of the British Government land would not sell for more than two or three years' purchase and could not be mortgaged for more than half the gross yearly produce, whereas to-day the price realised for land varies from twenty-five to 100 or more times the assessment.

It should be noted, too, that it is laid down in the Land Revenue Code that "In revising assessments of land revenue regard shall be had to the value of land and, in the case of land used for the purposes of agriculture, to the profits of agriculture ; provided that if any improvement has been affected in any land during the currency of any previous settlement......by or at the cost of the holder thereof, increase in the value of such land, or in the profit of cultivating the same due to the said improvement, shall not be taken into account in fixing the revised

assessment.

A modification of the full survey tenure is known as the restricted tenure, which was introduced in 1901 and enables the Collector to grant the occupancy of land subject to the condition that the occupant must not alienate it without his permission.

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Sind.—In Sind the ordinary tenure is the full survey tenure already described. The assessment is fixed by the method of irrigational settlement" where assessment is based entirely on the mode of irrigation adopted which varies in different talukas and in different groups of villages. This has the merit of leaving it to the farmer to choose the best method of irrigation, season by season, according to the height of the river and the watersupply available. Under this system also the occupants are liable for the full assessment on each survey number when cultivated but the size of the numbers has been reduced so as to render it possible for each number to be cultivated with one pair of bullocks. The occupants are also permitted to retain their rights over all their lands when lying fallow but to prevent abuse of a privilege an assessment is charged at least once in five years. Practically assessment is now levied on cultivation only to the great benefit of the zamindars and of the revenue.

There are 55 talukas at present under Irrigational Settlements. In the desert of Thar Parkar (4 talukas) and in the extensive hilly tract of Karachi District adjoining Baluchistan special arrangements exist for levying a very light assessment, no fixed settlement having been made.

There are few tenant rights in existence in Sind. The smaller zamindars cultivate for themselves and the larger through yearly tenants who almost always pay the superior a proportion of the crop in cash for the privilege of cultivating, the zamindar being responsible for the assessment. The share paid varies from a quarter to a half according to the difficulty and expense of cultivating. The practice of leasing land on cash rent is slowly growing.

In the province of Sind Government have decided that the period of settlement should normally be twenty years except in areas where important projects are under consideration or which are particularly exposed to the vagaries of the river.

THE GUJARAT TALUKDARS ACT

In 1862 an Act was passed by the Government of Bombay for the amelioration of the condition of Talukdars in the Ahmedabad District and for their relief from debt. Under this Act Government can take over the management of the estate of any Talukdar whose debts or liabilities are equal to five times the average annual income derived by the Talukdar from his estates during the previous five years. The management of such estates is not to extend beyond the period of twenty years, and at the expiration of this period all debts to Government are to be considered as settled. Each Collector in Gujarat manages the talukdari estates in his district. While under management, steps are taken for the liquidation of the debts. Close attention is also devoted to the education of talukdars' children, and special schools and hostels have been established for the sons of the upper class talukdars.

In all there are 113 Talukdari estates in Ahmedabad district managed by the Collector and the Talukdari Settlement Officer.

The revenue demand including past arrears was Rs. 61 lakhs, out of which Rs. 44 lakhs were recovered.

The total rent of the estates under management including arrears of past years was Rs. 32 lakhs, out of which Rs. 24 lakhs were collected and Rs. 17,000 written off.

Fifteen Kumars were receiving education at the Talukdari Hostel at Dhandhuka at the end of the

year.

Efforts are being made to withdraw management from many more estates and to ensure that Talukdars have the same facilities for credit as other landowners.

SIND INCUMBERED ESTATES ACT

The Sind Incumbered Estates Act, of 1881, was passed by the Government of India in order to amend the law providing for the relief of Jagirdars and Zamindars in Sind and this Act was further amended in 1896. The management of such estates in Sind is undertaken upon an application by the landholders and a Special Officer designated "Manager, Sind Incumbered Estates" has been appointed to supervise the management of these estates under the control of the Commissioner in Sind. During the last six years there has been a steady decrease in the number of estates under management, the number in 1920-21 being 143 against 278 in 1911-12 and 292 in 1915-16. The estates are leased to outsiders or to estate owners, but generally to the owners whenever this is possible.

There were 125 estates under the Manager, Incumbered Estates in Sind, at the commencement of the year. Eleven new estates were taken under management and 17 were released, leaving 119 under management at the close of the year. The revenue was Rs. 7 lakhs.

THE COURT OF WARDS ACT

The Bombay Court of Wards Act was passed in 1905. Under this Act the Commissioners of Divisions are the Courts of Wards for the limits of their Divisions. With the sanction of Government, they assume superintendence of estates of landholders who on account of minority or physical or mental defect or infirmity are not qualified to manage the property and also on application by the landholders of estates that are heavily indebted. Suitable arrangements are also made for the education of minor wards.

survey

DEPARTMENT OF LAND RECORDS

The main function of the Department is to maintain all and classification records up-to-date, and for this purpose to carry out the necessary field operations preliminary to incorporating changes in these records. It has further to organise and carry out rural and city surveys on an extensive scale and maintain them in a state of usefulness. Special surveys for private individuals or bodies such as relate to Inam villages, etc., and surveys on behalf of other departments of Government are also frequently undertaken. The supervision of the preparation and maintenance of the Record of Rights, and the periodical inspections of boundary marks also fall within its scope.

Owing to continued financial stringency the usual field party grants were withheld during the financial year 1922-23, and the permanent men of these parties had to be detailed on Pôt-hissa, city survey, and other works paid for by fees.

ROUTINE MEASUREMENT WORK

Northern Division.-Seventeen cadastral and 6 district surveyors were employed throughout the year. They measured 10,704 new hissas and 1,425 survey numbers on private application and 809 survey numbers belonging to Government. The total cost of the establishment was Rs. 15,000 and the fees earned including Government work were Rs. 18,000.

Central Division. Forty-five cadastral and 7 district surveyors were employed throughout the year. They measured 15,355 new hissas and 6,409 survey numbers on private application and 884 hissas and 3,298 survey numbers belonging to Government. The total cost of the establishment was Rs. 46,645 and the fees earned including Government work amounted to Rs. 39,000.

Southern Division.--Twenty-three permanent and 25 temporary cadastral and 6 district surveyors were employed throughout the year. They measured 18,983 new hissas and 4,135 survey numbers on private application and 460 hissas and 2,788 survey numbers belonging to Government. The total cost of the establishment was Rs. 43,680 and the fees earned including Government work were Rs. 38,242.

H 559-4

During the past few years the work of measuring newly formed sub-divisions of survey numbers throughout the Presidency and of calculating the assessment on each of them has been in progress. The work has been completed in Gujarat and Thana and Ahmednagar Districts. It is in progress in other places and will take about three or four years more to complete.

These important measurements of the internal holdings in lump survey numbers are carried out by expert parties working under the vigilant supervision of able and competent officers. The results are much appreciated by the mass of small landholders whose rights of tenures would be otherwise inextricably confused. The Department has now made nearly 5 millions of these surveys in the Presidency proper.

Sind.--The work of Hyderabad re-survey was completed during the year. In all 19,508 properties were measured and enquiry made in respect of 18,894 properties.

The town survey work of Larkana has been commenced.

The total cost of the Land Records Department during the year amounted to just under a lakh of

rupees.

REVENUE SURVEYS

All important revenue survey work is done by the field parties; it is either (a) work done at the cost of Government, or (b) paid work, of which the cost is recoverable. Government work had everywhere to be suspended on account of financial stringency.

Northern Division.-Some important surveys were carried out during the year, viz., the completion of the survey of the Salun-Dakore road (Kaira) for the Public Works Department, the survey of the Rentlav-Palasna road (Surat) undertaken on behalf of the District Local Boards and of Piraman-Kapodra road (Broach), and the survey of lands acquired for new Kashela bridges and their approaches on the Tansa Main Quadrupling Line (Thana) for the Bombay municipality.

Central Division. The principal surveys carried out during the year were (1) the surveys of the Inam village in the Poona District for settlement purposes and of five Inam villages