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104 MYSORE In 1866, an Inúm Commission was formed for the purpose of inquiring into the rent-free holdings, the inimdirs receiving fresh grants, which specify the amount of quit-rent where such is payable. In 1880-81, the Inám Commission closed its inquiries. The number of inám lands confirmed were 57,888, of which 57,726 were enfranchised and 162 unenfranchised ; of whole villages there were 2095 confirmed ; 11,302 inum lands were resumed for invalidity of tenure; and 4658 cases were 'struck off' as neither identifiable nor enjoyed. The total cost of the Commission to the close of 1880-81 amounted to £95,358, while the total addition to the revenue during the same period was £85,432. In the Malnád, although for administrative purposes there are nominal villages, the agriculturists do not live in communities, but each rent-payer has his own farm, and his own labourers, who were formerly serfs. The absence of any organization like that of the Ayagár or Bira Baloti (the 12 village officials), which prevailed in the plain Districts, of course threw all authority into the hands of the pátel or farmer, who, so long as he paid the Government demand on his farm, was practically omnipotent, except when crimes of a grave nature took place within his jurisdiction. In the wilder part of the country, the head-men received from the State grants of rent-free land in recognition of their feudal status. The rural slavery which mainly upheld this system was abolished by orders of the Government of India ; but it does not seem to have been of a specially oppressive kind, the pátels, as a rule, treating their serfs rather as menial servants than as slaves. The Malnád farms comprise, besides rice lands and areca-nut gardens, a certain proportion of wood for timber and fuel, and grazing ground for cattle, the woods in some instances being extensive forests called kúns, in which are grown coffee, pepper-vines, and other products. Sivappa Nayak of Keladi, who ruled over the Nagar country in the middle of the 17th century, fixed the Government share of the produce at one-third, taking as the basis of his valuation the quantity of seed required to sow a definite area of land, called locally the viziuari (from bijú, a seed). The total assessment, called the shist, seems to have been equitable; but his successors, and notably Haidar Ali, added various extra charges called patti, amounting to one-third more, which bore heavily on the landholder. The new settlement is rectifying this injustice. The only other tenure of importance is land granted for coffee cultivation, on certain specified conditions as to the plantation of a fixed number of plants every year, and the payment of an excise'at i rupee (2 s.) per cwt. Such grants have virtually been issued under the guarantee of the British Government, and are therefore as valid as