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
