The English reader is perhaps unaware that every
Bengal landowner is required to pay revenue to Government four times
a year, vis., on the 28th January, March, June and September. Any one
failing to do so before sunset on these dates becomes a defaulter,
and his estate is put up to auction in order to satisfy the demand,
however small it may be. Property worth many thousands of rupees
has often been sold for arrears of eight annas (a shilling) or even
less. The near approach of these kist (rent) days is of course a
period of great anxiety to landlords; some of whom are forced to
borrow the necessary amount on the security of their wives' ornaments.
On March 28th, 18--, Ramani Babu had to pay about Rs. 10,000 as land
revenue; but his ryots' crops had failed, owing to want of rain, and
by the end of February he had been able to realise only Rs. 1,000,
the greater portion by threats of force. The Indian peasant's lot is
not a happy one. He depends solely on the produce of the soil, which
yields little or nothing if the annual rains should fail, or there be
an excess of moisture. Millions of cultivators never know what it is to
have a good, solid meal. In order to meet the landlord's demands they
have recourse to a Mahajan (moneylender) whose exactions leave them a
slender margin for subsistence.
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