392
NOTES TO THE APPENDIX.
portion of the fovereign. Sacontala, Act V. p. It ianow known that what the fovereign receives from landvaries greatly in different parts of the country, and isregulated by the fertility or barrennefs of the foil, thenature of the climate , the abundance or fcarcity of water,and many other obvious circumftances. By the accountgiven of it, I fhould imagine that, in fome diftrids, ithas been railed beyond its due proportion. One circum-ftance with refpedt to the adminiftration of revenue inBengal merits notice, as it redounds to the honor of theEmperor Akber, the wifdom of whofe government I haveoften had occafion to celebrate. A general and regularaffeflment of revenue in Bengal was formed in his reign.All the lands were then valued, and the rent of eachinhabitant and of each village afcertained. A regulargradation of accounts was eftablifhed. The rents of thedifferent inhabitants who lived in one neighbourhood beingcollected together, formed the account of a village, therents of feveral villages being next colleded into oneview, formed the accounts of a larger portion of land.The aggregate of thefe accounts exhibited the rent of adiftrid, and the fum total of the rents of all the diftridsin Bengal formed the account of the revenue of thewhole province. From the reign of Akber to the govern-ment of Jaffeer Ali Cawn, A. D. 17?-', the annualamount of tevenue, and the modes of levying it, con-tinued with little variation. But in order to raife thefum which he had ftipulated to pay on his elevation, hedeparted from the wife arrangements of Akber ; manynew modes of affeflment were introduced , and exadionsmultiplied.