First. If the whole, or a portion, of the lands of a Zemindar, &c., who may not have agreed to the assessment proposed to him, or her, under the regulations above mentioned, and whose lands are, or may be, held k’has, or let in farm, shall be exposed to public sale, in one, or two, or more, lots, pursuant to the decree of a court of justice, such lands, if k’has, shall be disposed of at whatever assessment the Governor-General in Council may deem equitable, and the purchaser, or purchasers, of such lands, and his, or her, or their, lawful successors, or heirs, shall hold the land at the assessment at which they may be so purchased, FOR EVER.
If the lands, at the time of their being exposed for sale, shall be held in farm, and shall be put up in one, or two, or more, lots, they shall be disposed of under the following conditions. The purchaser, or purchasers, shall receive during the unexpired part of the term of the lease of the farmer, whatever such proprietor shall have been entitled to receive in virtue of his, or her, proprietary rights, on account of the lands so purchased, and such purchaser, or purchasers, shall engage to pay, at the expiration of the lease of the farmers, such assessment on account of the lands as Government may deem equitable. The sum to be received by the purchaser, or purchasers, during the unexpired part of the term of the lease of the farmer, and the jumma to be paid by such purchaser, or purchasers, after the expiration of the lease, shall be specified at the time of sale, and such purchaser, or purchasers, and his, or her, or their, heirs, and lawful successors, shall be allowed to hold the lands, at the assessment at which they may be so purchased, FOR EVER.
Second. If a Zemindar, &c., whose lands are, or may be, held k’has, or let in farm, shall transfer by private sale, gift, or otherwise, the whole, or a portion, of his, or her, lands, in one, or two, or more, lots, the person, or persons, to whom the lands may be so transferred, shall be entitled to receive from Government, (if the lands are held k’has,) or from the farmer, (if the lands are let in farm,) the mali-connah to which the former proprietor was entitled, on account of the lands so transferred. The purchaser, or purchasers, of such lands will stand in the same predicament as the Zemindars, &c., mentioned in the fourth article, whose lands are held k’has, or have been let in farm, in consequence of their refusing to pay the assessment required of them under the before mentioned regulations for the decennial settlement, and the declarations contained in that article are to be held applicable to them.
Third. In the event of a division being made in lands that are, or may become, the joint property of two, or more, persons, and which are, or may be, held k’has, or be let in farm, the proprietors of the several shares will stand in the same predicament, with regard to their respective shares, as the Zemindars, &c., specified in the fourth article, whose lands have been let in farm, or are held k’has, in consequence of their having refused to pay the assessment required of them under the before mentioned regulations of the decennial settlement, and the declarations contained in that article are to be considered applicable to them.
ARTICLE XI.
The Governor-General in Council avails himself of this opportunity to notify to the Zemindars, &c., as well as to all other description of persons, that it is his intention forthwith to establish Courts of Justice throughout the country, upon such principles as will put it out of the power of individuals to injure each other with impunity, and prevent the officers of Government from infringing the rights and property of any of the inhabitants of these provinces, by ensuring a speedy and impartial administration of justice in all cases whatever.
Dated at Fort-William, the 22nd day of March, 1793, corresponding with the 12th day of Cheyte, 1199, of the Bengal Æra, and the 9th day of Shabaun, 1207, Higeree.
In order to comprehend the foregoing more fully, it is proper to state, that when the mocurrery (or perpetual) system of revenue was originally proposed, the Governor-General in Council (Marquis Cornwallis) notified, that it would be tried, in the first instance, for ten years only; whence the term ‘decennial settlement.’ But, whether from an early conviction of its excellence, or that the Marquis felt anxious to ensure to the natives, and, as he apprehended, to the Company also, those immense benefits attendant upon a final adjustment of so momentous, and so extensive a concern, we see that, previous to his return to Europe, he rendered the settlement as permanent as human ability could effect. If report be true, the satisfaction he experienced, on concluding the settlement, was afterwards greatly diminished, when, on his re-appointment to India, he found that a thousand deceptions had been practised by the natives, notwithstanding every endeavor to frustrate such litigious or deceptive intentions; that the Company’s finances had been fettered very imprudently by that restriction which precluded Government from availing itself of growing resources; and that the ‘Zemindars, independent Talookdars, and other actual proprietors of land,’ so far from considering themselves to be under any obligation to the Company, raised their heads with no little insolence, and, in many instances, even complained that enough had not been conceded to them.
The most mortifying fact was, that full one-third of the landed property within the Company’s provinces had actually been under the hammer. This was an evil which spoke for itself, and which no gloss, no colors, could conceal. That, under such a government, property, to the amount of millions upon millions, should become thus exposed to transfer, was a reflection that could not fail to rankle in the mind of him, who had expected to see content, prosperity, and loyalty, teeming in every quarter! Never was the vanity of man more conspicuously displayed, or the mortification of disappointed zeal more grievously felt.
The abrogation of that incertitude, which not only subjected the land-holder to imposition, but the revenue to much defalcation, was assuredly a most serious consideration; but, in adopting those measures which might seem to have the most desirable tendency, it was necessary to have a full idea of the views and dispositions of the persons on whom the most essential benefits were to be conferred. A deficiency of experience, or of insight into their true character, could alone have led the Marquis into an error, from which the mode of extrication is, I believe, among the most pressing desiderata of the British government.