Page 57 - Muzaffargarh Gazzetteer

of the estate, which in a large one could be as many as seven; rates were then
determined for each class, and, with their help, the revenue was distributed
over the holdings. Wells, which had been sunk after the previous settlement,
were given remission of the difference between the nahri and chahi-nahri
rates up to a period of 20 years; a similar remission was to be granted to the
land of wells falling out of use. A water-advantage-rate of 10 annas (102
Paisa) an acre was to be imposed on all lands not nahri at settlement to which
subsequently canal water might have been given. Date palms and mangoes
were separately assessed, as was also the village waste land.
Assessment of Insecure Estates
The canal-irrigated estates of the Alipur Tehsil which Mr. O’ Brien had placed
under fixed assessment were assessed by Hari Kishan Kaul as though they
had been riverain estates on account of their insecure canal supply. He
maintained fixed assessment only on the lands immediately surrounding the
town of Alipur, Jatoi and Shehr Sultan. With the exception of this very small
area, the whole of the Alipur Tehsil and the insecure portions of the Chenab
and Indus circles of Muzaffargarh, together with the Indus circle of Kot Addu,
were assessed in the same way. In place of the old soil-rates, crop rates were
framed. The garden crops with wheat, cotton, cane and indigo being grouped
in one class; the inferior food-grains and fodder in the second; and the very
inferior grain, samuka, was placed in the third class. Since, however, it was
found that some wells and holdings were superior to others in the same
estate, and it was estimated that chahi-nahri and chahi-sailab crops were
better than those of the same kinds to which wells water was not given, in
addition to the crop-rates, a fixed sum was placed on each well; the wells in
each estate being graded according to the area irrigated and the quality of
the crop grown. New wells were given a remission of this fixed well
assessment up to 20 years, and rules were framed for the grant of
proportionate relief to old wells repaired and brought into use. Palms and
grazing land were separately assessed.
In the Kachha and Pacca riverain circles of the Tehsil Layyah the system was
rather different since no fixed well assessment was imposed, and the crops
were classified into three classes: the inferior-food grains and oil seeds being
separated from the fodders. Since, however, the Settlement Officer found a
difference in the productivity of different wells, except in the most insecure
estates, the wells were graded and on the first-class crops of the better, that
is to say, in practice, on the wheat, special rates of 2,4,6 and 8 annas
(12,25,37 and 50 paisa) an acre were imposed according to the class of well.
Old Demand
Under these methods of assessment, the revenue of the tehsils fluctuated
considerably from year to year, with on the whole an upward tendency, as
the periods of remission of new wells expired and canal irrigation was
extended. In 1924-25, the last year of the old settlement, the assessment
excluding malikana and date revenue, was as follows:

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