The East India Vade-Mecum, Volume 2 (of 2) / or, complete guide to gentlemen intended for the civil, military, or naval service of the East India Company.

by Thomas Williamson

The Governor-General in Council has, accordingly, prescribed the following rules for apportioning the fixed assessment in the several cases above mentioned; but, as Government might sustain a considerable loss of revenue by disproportionate lots of the assessment, were the apportioning of it, in any of the cases above specified, left to the proprietors, he requires, that all such transfers, or divisions, as may be made by the private act of the parties themselves, be notified to the collector of the revenue of that zillah in which the lands may be situated, or to such other officer as Government may, in future, prescribe, in order that the fixed jumma assessed upon the whole estate maybe apportioned on the several shares, in the manner hereafter directed; and that the names of the proprietors of each share, and the jumma charged thereon, may be entered upon the public registers; and that separate engagements, for the payment of the jumma assessed upon each share, may be executed by the proprietors, who will thenceforward be considered as actual proprietors of land.

And the Governor-General in Council declares, that, if the parties to such transfers or divisions shall omit to notify them to the collector of the revenue of the zillah, or such other officer as may be hereafter prescribed, for the purposes before mentioned, the whole of such estate will be held responsible to Government for the discharge of the fixed jumma assessed upon it, in the same manner as if no such transfer or division had taken place.

The Governor-General in Council thinks it necessary further to notify, in elucidation of the declarations contained in this article, (which are conformable to the principles of the existing regulations,) that if any Zemindar, &c., shall dispose of a portion of his, or her, lands, as a dependent Talook, the jumma which may be stipulated to be paid by the dependent Talook, will not be entered upon the records of Government, nor will the transfer exempt such lands from being answerable, in common with the remainder of the estate, for the payment of the public revenue assessed upon the whole of it, in the event of the proprietor, or his, or her, successors, falling in arrear from any cause whatever; nor will it be allowed, in any case, to affect the rights, or claims, of Government, any more than if it had never taken place.

First. In the event of the whole of the lands of a Zemindar, &c., with, or on behalf of, whom a settlement has been, or may be, concluded under the regulations above mentioned, being exposed to public sale, by the order of the Governor-General in Council, for the discharge of arrears of assessment, or in consequence of the decision of a court of justice, in two or more lots, the assessment upon each lot shall be fixed at an amount which shall bear the same proportion to its actual produce, as the fixed assessment upon the whole of the lands sold may bear to their actual produce. This produce shall be ascertained in the mode that is, or may be, prescribed by the existing regulations, or such other regulations as the Governor-General in Council may, hereafter, adopt; and the purchaser, or purchasers, of such lands, and his, or their, heirs, and lawful successors, shall hold them at the jumma at which they may be so purchased, FOR EVER.

Second. When a portion of the lands of a Zemindar, &c., with, or on behalf of, whom a settlement has been, or may be, concluded under the above regulations, shall be exposed to public sale, by order of the Governor-General in Council, for the liquidation of arrears of assessment, or pursuant to the decision of a court of justice, the assessment upon such lands, if disposed of in one lot, shall be fixed at an amount which shall bear the same proportion to their actual produce, as the fixed assessment upon the whole of the lands of such proprietors, including those disposed of, may bear to the whole of their actual produce.

If the lands sold shall be disposed of in two, or more, lots, the assessment upon each lot shall be fixed at an amount which shall bear the same proportion to its actual produce, as the fixed assessment upon the whole of the lands of such proprietor, including those sold, may bear to the amount of their actual produce. The actual produce of the whole of the lands of such proprietor, whether the portion of them which may be sold be disposed of in one, or in two, or in more, lots, shall be ascertained in the mode that is, or may be, prescribed by the existing regulations, or such other regulations as the Governor-General in Council may hereafter enact, and the purchaser, or purchasers, of such lands, and his, or her, or their, heirs, and successors, will be allowed to hold them at the jumma at which they may be so purchased, FOR EVER; and the remainder of the public jumma, which will consequently be payable by the former proprietor of the whole estate, on account of the portion of it that may be left in his, or her, possession, will continue unalterable FOR EVER.

Third. When a Zemindar, &c., with, or on behalf of, whom a settlement has, or may be, made, shall transfer the whole of his, or her, estate, in two, or more, distinct portions, to two, or more, persons, or a portion thereof to one person, or to two, or more, persons in joint property, by private sale, gift, or otherwise, the assessment upon each distinct portion of such estate, so transferred, shall be fixed at an amount which shall bear the same proportion to its actual produce, as the assessment on the whole estate of the transferring proprietor, of which the whole, or a portion, nay be so transferred, may bear to the whole of its actual produce. This produce shall be ascertained in the mode that is, or may be, prescribed by the existing regulations, or such other regulations as Government may hereafter adopt; and the person, or persons, to whom such lands may be transferred, and his, or her, or their, heirs, and lawful successors, shall hold them at the jumma at which they were so transferred, FOR EVER; and (where only a portion of such estate shall be transferred) the remainder of the public jumma, which will consequently be payable by the former proprietor of the whole estate, on account of the lands that may remain in his, or her, possession, shall be continued unalterable FOR EVER.

Fourth. Whenever a division shall be made of lands, the settlement of which has been, or may be, concluded with, or on behalf of, the proprietor, or proprietors, and that are, or may become, the joint property of two, or more, persons, the assessment upon each share shall be fixed at an amount which shall bear the same proportion to its actual produce, as the fixed jumma, assessed upon the whole of the estate divided, may bear to the whole of its actual produce. This produce shall be ascertained in the mode that is, or may be, prescribed by the existing regulations, or such other regulations as the Governor-General in Council may hereafter adopt; and the sharers, and their heirs, and lawful successors, shall hold their respective shares, at the jumma at which they may be assessed, FOR EVER.

ARTICLE X.

The following rules are prescribed respecting the adjustment of the assessment on the lands of Zemindars, &c., whose farms are, or may be, held k’has, or let in farm, in the event of their being disposed of by public sale, or transferred by any private act of the proprietor, or of their being joint property, and a division of them taking place among the proprietors.