Fourth. The jumma of those Zemindars, &c., which is declared fixed, in the foregoing articles, is to be considered unconnected with, and exclusive of, any allowances which have been made to them in the adjustment of their jumma for keeping up tannahs, or police-establishments, and also of the produce of any lands which they may have been permitted to appropriate for the same purpose: and the Governor-General in Council reserves to himself the option of resuming the whole, or part, of such allowances, or produce of such lands, according as he may think proper, in consequence of his having exonerated the proprietors of land from the charge of keeping the peace, and appointed officers, on the part of Government, to superintend the police of the country.
The Governor-General in Council, however, declares that the allowances, or the produce of lands, which may be so resumed, will be appropriated to no other purpose but that of defraying the expence of the police, and that instructions will be sent to the collectors not to add such allowance, nor the produce of such lands, to the jumma of the proprietors of land, but to collect the amount from them separately.
Fifth. Nothing contained in this Proclamation shall be construed to render the lands of the several descriptions of disqualified proprietors, specified in the first article of the regulations, regarding disqualified land-holders, passed on the 15th day of July, 1791, liable to sale for any arrears which may accrue on the fixed jumma that has been, or may be, assessed upon their lands under the above mentioned regulations for the decennial settlement, provided that such arrears have accrued, or may accrue, during the time that they have been, or may be, dispossessed of the management of their lands under the said regulations of July the 15th, 1791.
It is to be understood, however, that, whenever all, or any, of the descriptions of disqualified land-holders specified in the first article of the last mentioned regulations, shall be permitted to assume, or to retain, the management of their lands, in consequence of the ground of their disqualification no longer existing, or of the Governor-General in Council dispensing with, altering, or abolishing, those regulations, the lands of such proprietors will be held responsible for the payment of the fixed jumma that has been, or may be, assessed thereon, from the time that the management may devolve upon them, in the same manner as the lands of all actual proprietors of land who are declared qualified for the management of their estates; and also of all actual proprietors who are unqualified for such management, by natural, or other, disabilities, but do not come within the description of unqualified land-holders specified in the first article of the regulations of July the 15th, 1791, are, and will be, held answerable for any arrears that are, or may become, due from them on the fixed jumma, which they, or any persons on their behalf, have engaged, or may engage, to pay under the above mentioned regulations, for the decennial settlement.
ARTICLE VIII.
That no doubt may be entertained whether proprietors of land are entitled, under the existing regulations, to dispose of their estates, without the previous sanction of Government, the Governor-General in Council notifies to the Zemindars, &c., that they are privileged to transfer to whomsoever they may think proper, by sale, gift, or otherwise, their proprietary rights in the whole, or any portion, of their respective estates, without applying to Government for its sanction to the transfer; and, that all such transfers will be held valid, provided they be conformable to the Mahomedan, or to the Hindu, Laws, [according as the religious persuasions of the parties to each transaction may render the validity of it determinable by the former, or the latter, code,] and that they be not repugnant to any regulations now in force, which may have been passed by the British administration, or to any regulations that they may enact hereafter.[[B]]
[B]. Here appears a wide field for innovation!
ARTICLE IX.
From the limitation of the public demand upon the lands, the net income, and, consequently, the value (independent of encrease obtainable by improvements) of any landed property, for the assessments on which a distinct engagement has been, or may be, entered into between Government and the proprietor, or that may be separately assessed, although included in one engagement with other estates belonging to the same proprietor, and which may be offered for public or private sale entire, will always be ascertainable by a comparison of the amount of the fixed jumma assessed upon it, (which, agreeably to the foregoing declarations, is to remain unalterable FOR EVER, to whomsoever the property may be transferred,) with the whole of its produce, allowing for the charges of management.
But it is also essential, that a notification should be made of the principles upon which the fixed assessment charged upon any such estate will be apportioned on the several divisions of it, in the event of the whole of it being transferred, by public or private sale, or otherwise, in two or more lots, or of a portion of it being transferred, in one, or two, or more lots, or of its being joint property, and a division of it being made amongst the proprietors; otherwise, from the want of a declared rule for estimating the proportion of the fixed jumma, with which the several shares would be chargeable in such cases, the real value of each share would be uncertain, and, consequently, the benefits expected to result, from fixing the public assessment upon the lands, would be but partially obtained.