THE OUTLYING REGIONS 195 
According to Grant, the history of the 
Bengal was as follows. 
(x) About the year 1582, the revenue-Demand on the 
peasants was fixed in detail by Todar Mal at figures repre- 
senting one-fourth of the average produce. This set the 
standard of Demand; and collections were made according 
to it by zamindars, who were annual contracting farmers, 
with stated allowances by way of commission, and small 
estates, their entire legitimate receipts never exceeding 
ten per cent. of the Demand. 
(2) This Demand was revised by Shih Shuja in 1658, 
but its basis was not altered; some accrued increases (of 
unexplained nature) were incorporated in the figures, and 
also the Demand on territory annexed by conquest, or 
transferred to Bengal from other provinces. 
(3) A similar revision of the Demand was made by 
Murshid Quli, or Jafar Khan in 1722. 
(4) Thenceforward, successive levies were made on the 
zamindars in the form of cesses, the basic Demand re- 
maining unchanged. 
If this account is true, then the position which we know 
existed in the “three Towns” about the year 1700 was 
almost typical of the general position in Bengal from 1582 
to 1722, that is to say, the State’s Demand for revenue was 
almost unchanged, the recorded increases representing 
mainly territorial adjustments. Excluding these, the un- 
explained enhancements were 15% per cent. in the 76 years 
between 1582 and 1658, and a further 13} per cent. in the 
next 64 years. If then Grant’s figures represent the De- 
mand, the enhancement made was almost negligible; and 
[ gather from his obscure explanation that he understood 
it to be local, not general, particular areas having been re- 
assessed for special reasons, so that the bulk of the province 
would have been paying a fixed Demand, increased only 
by any exactions made surreptitiously in excess of the 
authoritative figures. 
Whether Grant's presentation is correct is a question 
which I cannot answer with certainty. A definite verdict 
would have to be based on independent study of his authori- 
ties, the volumes of old Persian accounts and other documents 
assessment of