Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 10 (2nd edition).pdf/520



508 OUDH. intersect the Province. The length of made roads in Oudh in 1884 was 5241 miles, and of railways 377 miles. Administration.—- The land revenue demand under the government of the late king rose within the last ten years of his rule from £1,399,000 to £2,702,000 a year. In spite of this enormous nominal increase, however, the amount actually realized fell in the same period from £1,318,000 to £1,063,000. Practically speaking, no other taxes of any importance existed. When the British authorities took over the Province, a rough assessment was made reaching a little over £1,000,000. Officers were shortly afterwards appointed to settle the land revenue for thirty years on a more scientific basis; and at the conclusion of their revision, the net amount stood at about £1,500,000. This sum includes the revenue from 1908 square miles of estates in Oudh granted on a permanent assessment as a reward to their owners for loyal services during the Mutiny. Besides the land revenue (of which £1,405,048 was collected in 1883-84), the chief remaining taxes include the excise on spirits, which yielded £73,000 in 1876, and £114,603 in 1882–83; and the stamps on securities, etc., which brought in £93,000 in 1876, and £120,723 in 1882-83. Miscellaneous sources of revenue, which do not come under the head of taxation, produce about £65,000 more, the principal items being Government forests, £28,000, and post-office, £16,000. The imperial treasury also draws an income from two other sources, which, however, do not appear in the accounts of this Province. The Oudh peasantry must contribute at least £200,000 annually to the proceeds of the salt-tax; while the profit on the Government opium monopoly must amount to £500,000 more. Classifying these receipts under their proper headings, it may be said that actual taxation, including land, salt, excise, and stamps yields altogether about £1,865,000 annually; while Government monopolies, which involve no drain on the country, make up about £600,000 more. The pressure of the land revenue assessment upon the cultivated acre in Oudh was 3s. 6d. in 1883-84. The total cost of civil administration amounts to £ 565,000, leaving a surplus of £1,900,000, or over 75 per cent. of the gross receipts. Local taxation in rates, cesses, octroi, and ferry dues, yields a further income of £375,000. In 1882–83, the demand for local cesses was £36,669, and for local rates, £65,925. The administration in Oudh belongs to the general non-regulation type, under which a single officer unites fiscal and judicial functions, original and appellate. The Province contains 12 Districts, each under a Deputy Commissioner. These 12 Districts, again, comprise 37 talsils or Sub-divisions. The Chief-Commissionership is now united with the Governorship of the North-Western Provinces; but the two offices remain distinct, though held by a single person.