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FORGOTTEN HISTORY OF LAND SYTEM OF KARNATAKA

Prior to 1862-63. Government lands were held either on kandayam i.e., a fixed money assessment, or on batayi i.e., sharing the produce with the Government. The kandayam lands were held on annual leases or pattas but the assessment was seldom altered and hardly ever raised. Under the batayi system, the land was held direct from Government but the share of Government was paid in grain. The raiyats could.always convert their occupation of Batayi lands into that of the ordinary Kandayam tenure and every encouragement was afforded by Govern¬ment to their doing so. In Tnani Villages, lands were held either by tenants having full occupancy rights, i.e.. "Khadim tenants", or by tenants-at-will, who cultivated the land during the pleasure of the Inamdar paying him either a money rent previously agreed upon or a share of the produce. A hereditary right of occupation was attached to all Kandayam lands, and as long as the occupant paid the Government dues he had an absolute tenant right, so that, when the Government required any occupied land for a public purpose, they had to pay compensation fixed either by mutual consent or under the Mysore Land Acquisition Act VII of 1894 as amended from time to time.


For purpose? of assessment, all assessed lands in Mysore were closed either as Khuski (dry), tari (wet), or bagayat (garden). The first class is cultivated with dry crops, which are entirely dependent on the rain-fall., the second with rice, sugar-cane, or such other staple productions as reouire artificial irrigation ; and the third with cocoanut and areca-nut trees and other garden pro¬duce " Dhruva Pairu ". The land measures in Mysore at the time corresponded with the measures of capacity and depended on the area of land which could be sown with a given quantity of seed. The measures, therefore varied greatly on dry land measures approximately 64,000 square yards, while a kandi of wet or bagayat land measures 10,000 square yards. This mode of measure¬ment, however, afforded Incompetent or dishonest revenue officials plausible excuses for laxity of practice and fraud.

After much consideration and discussion, it was decided,in 1863 to introduce a regular system of survey and settlement into the State on the lines of that in force in Bombay, as this was found cheaper and more expedi¬tious than the systems obtaining in other States. The Survey and Settlement Department started work in 1863-64 with the following objects namely : —
(i) the regulation of the customary land tax so as to secure an adequate revenue to Government.
(ii) the progressive development of the agricultural resources of the country ; and
(iii) the -preservation of all proprietory and other rights connected with the soil.


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