Page:The Marquess Cornwallis and the Consolidation of British Rule.djvu/158

152 excluded from the claims of the Government, were still left exposed to the assessment of the Zamíndárs.

As the onus for proving his Lákhiráj, or rent-free title, was properly placed on the Ryot claiming it, many of these titles were challenged in the Courts of law, and, when found to be defective, were declared liable to assessment of rent. All over Bengal, however, there are still to be found examples of Devattar and Brahmattar, and other descriptions of land which have escaped the ordeal; and there is a sort of understanding amongst the community that Ryots who cultivate such lands for their fortunate possessors are entitled to sit at lower rents than the tenants of an ordinary Táluk or Jot. Warned by the excitement moved by such resumptions, the Indian Government, in all its later acquisitions of conquest or cession, has been more expeditious in the assertion of its rights. The enquiry has been made as soon as circumstances permitted, on well-considered principles, and with a leaning towards the intentions of the grantors. In some instances the grant has been prolonged for two and three generations, and then has been assessed at half-rates. There can be no doubt that in every province such grants, made by one dynasty, ruler, or Viceroy, were understood to be subject to the good-will and pleasure of the successor. The just and equitable policy is for the revenue department to overhaul all these alienations at the time when the regular settlement — whether Tálukdárí, village com-