Acquisition,1756-1840.

THE earliest British possessions in the present district of Kolaba were the two villages of Dasgaon and Komala in Mahad, which, along with the fort of Bankot at the mouth of the Savitri, were ceded by the Peshwa in 1756. On the overthrow of the Peshwa's power in 1818, the lands of Sankshi that is POP, Rajpuri that is Roha and part of Mangaon, and Raygad including Mahad and the rest of Mangaon came into British possession. Between 1818 and 1840 several exchanges of villages took place between the British Government and the Alibag and Bhor chiefs. And in 1840, on the death without issue of Raghoji Angria, the Kolaba state, including Underi and Revdanda corresponding to the present Alibag and part of north-west Roha, and several groups of villages now in the Panvel and Karjat subdivisions of Thana lapsed to the British. [The details of these acquisitions are as follows: In 1756 the Peshwa ceded (Treaty, 12th October 1756) the villages of Dasgaon and Komala yielding a land rent of Rs. 1525 and 22 khandis of grain. In 1818, on the surrender of the Peshwa Bajirao (Articles of Surrender, 1st June 1818), the British Government took possession of the sub-divisions of Sankshi, Rajpuri, and Raygad, then forming the northern part of the south Konkan. In 1822, in exchange for other districts, Angria ceded (Treaty, 3rd June 1822) the half share of the Dalvi salt lands in the Underi sub-division, the villages of the Tungartan group, the villages and salt-lands of the Hamrapur group, the villages and salt lands of the Aurvalit group, and 14 villages of Digar in Vareri and a share of the customs of Karnala. In 1830, in exchange for other districts, the Pant Sachiv (Treaty, 12th April 1830) ceded his share of the Nagothna and Ashtami groups and of twelve villages in the Sai or Shi group now part of Panvel in Thana. In 1833, in exchange for other districts, Angria (Agreement, 31st December 1833) ceded the half village of Patansai, the village of Kandala, and his share of the Nagothna and Haveli groups. In 1840, on Angria's death, the Kolaba state, with a land rent of Rs. 2,04,837 and 11,603 khandis of grain, lapsed to the British Government. This territory was bounded on the north by the Bombay harbour, on the east by the Nagothna river and Sankshi and Rajpuri, on the south by the Revdanda river, and on the west by the sea.]

Changes,1818-1869.

After they came into the hands of the British in 1818, the three sub-divisions of Sankshi, Rajpuri, and Raygad formed the northern part of the south Konkan or Ratnagiri collectorate. In 1880, when Ratnagiri was reduced to a sub-collectorate and Thana raised to a principal collectorate, these three sub-divisions passed from Ratnagiri to Thana. In 1840 when the Kolaba state lapsed to the British Government, it was at first placed under an officer styled Political Superintendent. In 1844 the title of Superintendent was changed to Agent, and, under Act XVII. of 1844 the Kolaba state was embodied in the British territory and brought under the ordinary laws and regulations. Under the same Act, in October 1844, Aurvalit and parts of Tungartan, Karnala, Chimankhal, Vakrul, Durg, Haveli, and Antora were transferred to the Thana district. [Of these Aurvalit and portions of Karnala and Tungartan are in the present Panvel sub-division of Thana and the rot in Kolaba. In 1866 fourteen villages front Panvel and as many from Nasrapur now styled Karjat were transferred to the Sankshi or Pen sub-division of Kolaba.] In 1844-45 Sai was transferred to Thana, and Nagothna was made subordinate to Sankshi or Pen. Act VIII. of 1853 brought the lapsed state more effectually under the general rules of the British Administration, and, in the following year, a munsif's court was opened in Alibag.

In 1853 the Kolaba Agency, that is the Underi and Revdanda sub-divisions, were, with the three sub-divisions of Sankshi, Rajpuri, and Raygad and the six petty divisions of Nagothna, Tala, Nizampur, Groregaon, Birvadi, and Poladpur, formed into the sub-collectorate of Kolaba subordinate to Thana. In 1866 Sankshi was named Pen, Rajpuri was named Roha, Raygad was named Mahad, and Underi and Revdanda were united to form the sub-division of Alibag. In 1866-67 the Tala and Nizampur petty divisions of Rajpuri and the Goregaon petty division of Raygad were abolished, and the new sub-division of Mangaon was formed; and the petty divisions of Birvadi and Poladpur were included in the sub-division of Mahad. In 1869 Kolaba was raised to be a collectorate independent of Thana. It has at present (1882) five sub-divisions, Alibag with 204 villages, Pen with 156 and its petty division Nagothna with 70, Roha with 152, Mangaon with 231, and Mahad with 251, or a total of 1064 villages. Of the whole number of villages 500 are directly managed or Khalsa, 485 are managed through khots or hereditary revenue farmers, and seventy- nine are alienated or inam.

Staff, 1882.

The revenue administration is entrusted to a Collector, on a yearly pay of £2790 (Rs. 27,900). This officer, who is also Political Agent of the Janjira state, is chief magistrate, and executive head of the district. He is helped in his work of general supervision by a staff of two assistants, of whom one is a covenanted and the other an uncovenanted servant of Government. The sanctioned yearly salary of the covenanted assistant is £600 (Rs. 6000), and that of the uncovenanted assistant is £360 (Rs. 3600).

Of the five administrative sub-divisions four are generally entrusted to the covenanted assistant and one is kept by the Collector under his own direct supervision. The uncovenanted assistant as head-quarter or huzur deputy collector is entrusted with the charge of the treasury. The covenanted and uncovenanted assistants are also magistrates, and, under the presidency of the Collector, the covenanted assistant has the chief management of the different administrative bodies, local fund and municipal committees, within the limits of his revenue charge.

Sub-Divisional Officers.

Under the supervision of the Collector and his covenanted assistant, the revenue charge of each fiscal sub-division or taluka is placed in the hands of an officer styled mamlatdar. These functionaries who are also entrusted with magisterial powers have yearly salaries varying from £180 to £240 (Rs. 1800-Rs. 2400). One of the fiscal sub-divisions Pen contains a petty division, Nagothna, under a mahalkari, who except that he has no treasury to superintend, has the same revenue and magisterial. powers as a mamlatdar. The yearly pay of the Nagothna mahalkari is £72 (Rs. 720).

Village Officers.

Revenue and police charge in the 500 directly-managed or khalsa villages is entrusted to headmen or patils and accountants or kulkarnis and talatis, and in the 485 hereditarily farmed or khoti villages to headmen or patils and to hereditary farmers or khots. In khoti villages the headmen or patils perform police duties only, the khots collect the assessment from the landholders of their villages and are responsible for its payment. They also keep the village accounts and draw up statistics. Of the 1113 headmen, 691 are stipendiary and 422 hereditary. Of the stipendiary headmen forty peform revenue, 500 police, and 151 both revenue and police duties. Of the hereditary headmen, who are found only in Alibag and Pen and in four villages of Roha, fifty perform revenue, fifty-nine police, and 313 both revenue and police duties. The headmen's yearly emoluments, depending on the village revenue, vary from 6d. to £14 16s. (annas 4 - Rs. 148) and average about £1 12s. 9d. (Rs. 16-3). The total yearly charges under this head amount to £1803 (Rs. 18,030). They are paid entirely in cash. In directly managed villages, to keep the village accounts, draw up statistics, and help the village headmen, there is a body of 100 village accountants, fifteen of them kulkarnis or hereditary accountants and eighty-five talatis or stipendiary accountants. [Of the fifteen hereditary accountants fire are in Alibag and ten in Pen.] The charge or saza of each accountant includes from one to five villages, with a population of about 1928 and an average yearly revenue of about £464 (Rs. 4640). The yearly pay of the eighty-five stipendiary accountants varies from £7 4s. to £21 12s. (Rs. 72 - Rs. 216), and the yearly emoluments of the fifteen hereditary accountants vary from £6 to £18 (Rs. 60-Rs. 180). The total cost on account of these hundred village accountants amounts to £1872 (Rs. 18,720), of which £2 (Rs.20) are met by land-grants and £1870 (Rs. 18,700) are paid in cash. [The Kulkarni of Pen alone has a land-grant of 4³/10 acres assessed at £2 2s. 0¾d.  (Rs. 21-0-6) and liable to a  quit-rent of 1s. 7½d. (as. 13).]

Village Servants.

Village servants or Mhars are found in almost every village. In Alibag the landholders make them some slight return by the grant of a headload of the fresh cut crop or a winnowing basketful of grain. The Government allowance either in land or in grain is very small Over the whole district it amounts to only£9 12s. 7½d. (Rs. 96.5), of which 10s. 1½d. (Rs. 5-1) are met by land, grants and £9 2s. 6d. (Rs. 91¼) are paid in cash. [In Pen seventeen Mhars nave cash payments amounting to £9 2s. 6d. (Rs. 91-4) a year; and in Pen town the Mhars have 27/40 the of an acre assessed at 6s. 3¾d.(Rs. 3-2-6) and paying a quit-rent of 3d. (as. 2). The Mhars of Poladpur have recently, under Government Resolution 2577 of 19th April 1882, been put in possession of the lands formerly enjoyed by them and of which they were deprived in 1868. These lands measure 2³/100, acres and are assessed at 4s. 0¾d. (Rs. 2-0-6).]

The average yearly cost of village establishments may be thus summarised: Headmen £1803 (Rs. 18,030), accountants £1872 (Rs. 18,720), and servants about £10 (Rs. 100), making a total of £3685 (Rs. 36,850), equal to a charge of £3 14s. 10½d. (Rs. 37-7) a village or about five per cent of the entire land revenue of the district.

Tenures,1882.

Of the 1064 villages 985 are Government, and seventy-nine are alienated. The holders of alienated or inam villages enjoy the village rental and are left free to make what arrangements they please with their tenants. Of the 985 Government villages 500 are managed direct with the landholders, and 485 through revenue farmers or Khots.[

Kolaba Villages, 1882.

Of the five, part directly-managed part alienated villages, one in Alibag and two in Pen are managed by the inamdars, and the remaining two in Alibag are managed by the Hababi government. One partly directly-managed and partly khot-managed village in Pen is managed by the khot who is paid Rs. 14 a month for his management of the Government share. Seventeen partly alienated and partly Mot-managed villages, nine in Pen four in Roha and four in Mangeon, are managed by the khots who pay the proprietors the share due to them. Of the sixteen similar villages in Mahad, one is managed by the inamdar, eleven by the khots who hold the villages partly as khots partly as inamdars, and Tour are attached and managed by Government Mr, S. C. Chitnis, Huz. Dep, Collector, Kolaba. ] In villages managed direct with the landholders, the person in whose name the land is entered in the Government books is entitled to hold the land for the full period of the survey lease, subject to the yearly payment to Government of the survey rent. He can mortgage or sell the land and it is hereditary property. He is not liable to have his rent enhanced at any fresh survey on account of improvements made at his own cost or labour. Should he not cultivate his land himself, he is helped by the district revenue courts to recover the current year's rental from his tenant, if necessary by the attachment and sale of the tenant's property. In Pen and Alibag rents fall due in three instalments, on the 1st of January, on the 10th of February, and on the 1st of April. In other parts of the district rent collections are distributed over four instalments which fall due on the 15th of December, on the 1st of February, on the 15th of March, and on the 1st of May.

Inamdars.

The holders of alienated villages are Brahmans, Prabhus, Marathas, Muhammadans, and in some cases men of the barber or Nhavi caste. In most cases the owners do not live in and manage their villages. When an estate is shared by more than one family it is usually divided into leading shares, which are separately managed by the holders, though the shares do not often appear in the Government books. In a few cases the estate is left undivided and the co-sharers manage it in turn. Private estates are seldom sold but perhaps about one-third of the whole alienated land is mortgaged. There is no marked difference in the people or in the tillage of alienated and of neighbouring Government villages. In alienated or private villages the tenants generally pay the rent in kind. There are two grades of tenants in private villages permanent tenants and yearly tenants. In the nineteen private villages which have been surveyed, [Private villages are surveyed if the proprietor asks to have them surveyed.] the permanent tenants as a rule pay fixed rents; the rent paid, by yearly tenants depends on the individual agreement. It is generally paid in kind and represents from thirty-three to fifty per cent of the crop. In unsurveyed villages only a small number of permanent tenants pay fixed rents in kind or in cash. The commoner practice is to make a yearly inspection of the crop and to take a fixed share of the proceeds. This practice also applies to yearly tenants except those with whom special agreements are made, either with a view of encouraging them to cultivate waste or to exact as much as possible from needy tenants. In Alibag rice-land, the rent in kind varies from 240 to 1260 pounds the acre (two to ten and a half mans the bigha); in other sub-divisions, the highest rent is not more than 960 pounds the acre (eight mans the bigha). In the case of upland or varkas grains, nagli and vari, which are not produced in Alibag, the highest rate is 150 pounds the acre (one and a quarter man the bigha), once in four or five years when the field is fit for tillage. [A man is 96 pounds and a bigha is four-fifths of an acre.] Except in surveyed villages where they are on the survey assessment, the rents in private villages are generally about twenty-five per cent higher than the rents in neighbouring Government villages. On the other hand the rent is not fixed but varies with the crop. If a tenant offers to improve his land or dig a well the proprietor gives him some concession. But cases of this kind are not common enough to give rise to any rule or practice. As a rule the proprietor allows his tenant free grazing and lets him cut timber for house building and for field tools. If a tenant fails to pay his rent the Collector gives the proprietor the same help in recovering it as he gives a peasant proprietor whose tenant fails to pay. [The help consists in serving a notice upon the tenant to show cause why he refuses to pay, and, in case of his failure to show sufficient cause, to attach his property and take other legal measures detailed in the Land Revenue Code of 1879.] Few proprietors are moneylenders. [In addition to some details about khots and salt-waste, the whole of this information about alienated villages has been furnished by Mr. S. C. Chitnis, Huz. Dep. Collector, Kolaba.]

Khots.

Of the 485 khoti villages 478 are held by simple, and seven, three in Pen and four in Roha, by izafat of service khots. The izafat khots seem to represent the hereditary district revenue servants, the deshmukhs and deshpandes, to whom, in return for their services, the Musalman rulers granted rent-free villages. Under the Marathas the services of these officers were rewarded by a percentage on their collections, and, on paying the full rental, they were allowed to continue to hold their old service villages. These izafat khots are found only in the Pen and Roha sub-divisions. The ordinary Khots seem to represent village revenue farmers who had never proprietary, and who at first had not even hereditary, rights. [Details are given below, p. 172.] The ordinary khot is simply a farmer of revenue who executes a yearly agreement for the management of a certain village or villages. From long standing his rights have become hereditary, and he is allowed to sell or to mortgage them. He differs from an inamdar in having no proprietary right in the village, only the right to act as middleman in collecting the revenue.

In a khoti village there are two classes of land, dhara land which pays only the Government rent, and khotnisbat or khot's land which besides the Government rent, pays the khot a certain amount which is known as his phayda or profit, and which is his reward for managing the village. The dhara land is held by tenant-proprietors or dharekaris who have the full occupancy rights of a landholder in a directly-managed village. The revenue farmer's or khotnisbat land is held by a cultivator who is the khot's tenant. Till the introduction of the revenue survey the khot was allowed to settle with the holders of the khotnisbat land what amount of rent they should pay him, and he had the power of letting lands of this class to any one he pleased. The only check on his exactions was the fear that, if he demanded too much, the land might be left untitled, or that the revenue courts might refuse to help him in recovering his year's rental and force him to sue his tenant in the civil court. Under the survey the khot's demand has been limited to fifty per cent in addition to the Government demand. [In Nizampur the khot's profit in uplands was limited to thirty-three per cent. Bom. GOT. Set. XCVI. 364,367,370.] This additional sum is collected in cash or partly in cash and partly in kind; and, so long as the tenant continues to pay the Government rental and the khot's profit, he cannot be ousted. The khot holds his village on Condition of signing a yearly or a thirty years' lease. [The details of the leases differ in various parts of the district. The following gives a general idea of the form in use:

Lease of the village of Bhimgaon in the taluka of Roha to Bhaskar Narayan, Balaji Narayan, and other sharers in the khotship of the village. The village of Bhimgaon is given over to you in lease for a term of thirty years, beginning from A.D. 1860 (Fasli 1270) upon the following conditions: You are to pay yearly into the taluka treasury the sum of Rs. 3280, being the full survey assessment of the village. The amount is to be paid in four equal instalments which are due on the following dates, the first instalment of Rs. 500 on the 15th of December, the second instalment of Rs. 870 on the 1st of February, the third instalment of Rs. 1000 on the 15th of March, and the fourth instalment of Rs. 850 on the 1st of May. You shall give such security for the year's revenue as the Collector shall from time to time require of you. In case of your failing to discharge the whole or any part of these instalments by the dates on which they severally fall due, the amount due will be recovered by the attachment of the village and its sale upon the terms of this lease, or by the sale of your personal property, or that of your securities, or in any other way prescribed by the present Regulations or such other Regulations as may hereafter be enacted for the recovery of rent. One of you shall be annually appointed to the duty of collecting revenue from the cultivators, he alone being empowered to act in this manner. This office shall be filled by you severally in rotation, in the following order, in the first year 1360, Bhaskar Narayan, in the second year 1861, Balaji Narayan, and so on in rotation for the remaining years of the lease.

In the event of the death of any of the parties to this agreement during the period of the lease, the name of the eldest son or next of kin will be recorded as the owner of the share of the deceased; where there are two or more sons, the name of the eldest shall alone be entered. You are to collect revenue from dharekaris according to the terms of the survey settlement; and nothing in excess of that amount for all lands held in dhara, and registered as dhara in the settlement papers of the village. All transfers of land held on dhara tenure, whether by sale or inheritance, are to be effected strictly in the manner prescribed in the rules of the Joint Report that refer to transfers of land in Government villages. In the event of a dharekari relinquishing his land, or dying without heirs, such land will then be considered as part of the 'khotnisbat' land of the village, and made over to you on the conditions hereafter prescribed for lands of that tenure. The cultivators of the khotnisbat lands are to be recognised as the occupiers of the lands entered in their names in the settlement papers, and they shall not be ejected so long as they pay the stipulated rent except by rajinamas tendered by themselves. In case of the death of any such occupier, the land shall be entered in the name of the eldest son or next of kin of the deceased, but failing heirs it shall be competent to you to make arrangements for its cultivation, provided that the same be in accordance with the terms on which such lands may be let. You shall collect rent from the occupiers of khotnisbat lands, at rates not exceeding half as much again as the recorded survey assessment, two-thirds of such rent to be levied in grain, in the proportion of one man of grain to each rupee of the survey assessment, and the remaining third to be recovered in cash, phaski or measuring fee, or straw, and all other levies hitherto made are included under the rent specified in the foregoing clause, and the collection of any money or grain in excess of the stipulated rent will be punishable as an illegal exaction, under the Regulation to be provided for the future management of khot villages. You shall give the occupiers of khotnisbat land a receipt for all payments of rent, in the following form:

All payments are to be recorded on the dates on which they are received.

To this lease-form clauses are added enforcing the care of boundary-marks and explaining the rights and duties of the khot as regards trees and forests.

The following agreement on the part of the khot is inserted at the foot of the lease: We hereby agree to take the village of Bhimgaon in lease on the terms herein mentioned, and do severally and individually make ourselves responsible for the exact fulfilment of all the conditions) regarding the management of the village in the manner herein set forth. See Bom. Gov. Set XCVI. 233-235.] If he fails to sign the lease, his village is attached and managed by Government. Any profit that is made during this management is taken by Government and any loss is recovered from the khot before he is allowed again to manage his village. The khot pays the village rent in four instalments, on the 15th of December, on the 1st of February, on the 15th of March, and on the 1st of May; he collects from his tenants in khotnisbat land in two instalments at his pleasure. From the peasant proprietor or dharekari he is allowed to collect in advance of the dates on which the Government instalments fall due. [The khot's tenants pay the rents in grain and the khot's profit in money or otherwise as settled at the time of the survey settlement. They pay their assessment to the khot in two instalments, between the 1st and 15th December and between the 1st and 15th January. The dharekaris in khoti villages pay four equal instalments, on the 15th December, on the 1st February, on the 15th March, and on the 1st May. Mr. S. C. Chitnis, Huz. Dep, Collector, Kolaba.]

Of the 430 khots 383 are Hindus, forty-six are Musalmans, and one is a Beni-Israel. The Hindus are chiefly Brahmans and Prabhus; but there are a few Sonars, Shimpis, Gavlis, and Gujarat Vanis, and one or two Marathas, Kunbis, and Kolis.

Most of the khots are the representatives of the families who held the position of khots at the beginning of British rule. The khotship or interest in the village rental has in most families become greatly subdivided, and many of the members have left their villages and become accountants or taken to some other branch of Government service. Every year the shareholders choose one of their number to manage the village, and divide the profits according to the different shares in the khotship. Should the members fail to agree one of them is appointed by the Collector. The managing khot does the statistical and miscellaneous work which in other villages is done by the accountant. [Further details of the khoti settlement are given below, in the account of the introduction of the Revenue Survey into Nagothna and Nizampur.] A good number of the khots have fallen into debt and sold or mortgaged their estates to Brahmans, Shenvis, Gujars, Prabhus, Marathas, Shimpis, and Muhammadans. The chief causes of indebtedness are excessive marriage and other family charges, and the payment of Government dues in bad years or when there is a scarcity of tenants. There is no recorded instance of a khot's family dying out. Should such an event take place, the village would become directly-managed. This has happened in the case of some villages in Mangaon and Roha which the khots have given up through inability to manage them.

Besides their personal or khotnisbat land, the members of the khot's family generally hold much of the best land of the village as dharekaris, paying the Government rent and tilling it by yearly tenants or by labourers. The knot has generally a tiled brick-built upper-storied house and a good store of cattle, and in several cases a horse or a pony. Of the entire body of khots, about one-half combine moneylending with husbandry and revenue farming. Especially in Mangaon and Mahad the khots made considerable resistance to the introduction of the revenue survey, and for many years refused to sign the contracts. Most of their villages were managed by Government. But the opposition gradually broke down, and, except a few who have for private reasons failed to choose a representative, they all now manage their villages under the revenue survey rules. [The chief objections raised by the khots to the survey rates were that the rates of assessment were too heavy; that plots of land claimed by the khot were entered in the names of the tenants who held them at the time of the survey; and that the proposed share of the khot, annas 8 in the rupee in rice land and annas 5 in upland, was not enough. Government declined to alter the sanctioned rates of assessment or to enter in the khot's name holding which at the time of the survey had been entered in the tenant's name. They agreed that in rice lands the khot's share should be half a man of rice instead of annas 8 in the rupee of assessment and that in uplands the annas 5 in the rupee should either be raised to annas 12 or he changed into half a man of grain. At the time of the survey no distinction was drawn between customary and yearly tenants; all tenants found in possession of land at the time of the survey were entered in the revenue books.]

Shilotridars.

As in Thana the reclaiming of salt-waste for tillage is one of the most important branches of Kolalba agriculture. The word shilotridar or gap warden,coming from the Kanarese shilu split, seems to show that from the earliest times the reclaiming of land has been encouraged by specially favourable terms. The chief reclamations are along the banks of the Nagothna and Roha creeks. According to Major Jervis, much of this land was recovered at the beginning of the sixteenth century by the Nizamshahi or Ahmadnagar kings, who granted rising or istava leases with a rental, which beginning at one-fourth did not rise to the full amount till the fifth year. [Konkan, 87. Major Jervis held that the Nizamshahi kings were the first to grant special privileges for reclaiming land. But the same or similar privileges were in force in other parts of the Konkan, and seem to have been of very early origin. Thana Statistical Account, XIII. Part II. 544.] At a later period both the Angrias and the Peshwas showed great liberality in encouraging the reclamation of salt-waste, and in Pen, Alibag, and Roha, large areas of rice lands were won from the sea in the eighteenth century. [See p. 91. According to one account (Bom. Gov. Sel. XCVI. 125) the extensive tract of land known as the kharapat was all or nearly all reclaimed under the Peshwa's rule, when it was customary to give leases of from twenty to thirty years before the full assessment was demanded. But the practice of giving leases for reclaiming salt lands was much older, and it seems probable that much of the kharapat was reclaimed at a much earlier date See Bom. Gov. Sel. CXLIV. 3.]

Under the British the reclamation rules continued unchanged till the introduction of the survey in 1854. [Under the old reclamation rules, according to the cost of the reclamation and the risk of maintaining it, a stated period was guaranteed in an agreement called kaul, free of assessment, and a further period of gradually rising rates until the full rent was reached. If the work was not completed within the period allowed, the kaul was cancelled. Mr. S. C. Chitnis, Huz. Dep. Collector, Kolaba.] Inquiries then showed that some of the lands had been reclaimed from salt waste by individuals, and others by groups of small proprietors called kularags, and that the maintenance of the dams was in some cases entrusted to an individual, in other cases was carried out by a group of small holders, and in some instances by Government. For the repair of the dams or sluice gates a special levy of a man in every khandi was sanctioned, and was known as the shilotri man or the man set apart for keeping the gaps in repair.

Under the revenue survey, where, as in the Alibag sub-division, the shilotri man was due to Government, it was taken into account in fixing the assessment, and the special levy was remitted. In the case of such lands the yearly repairs are done by the cultivators and village authorities, the workers being rewarded by a draught of liquor. This arrangement also holds in the few salt reclaimed lands in Pen, where the shilotri right belongs to Government. In other reclaimed lands in Pen where the shilotri right belongs to private persons, the shilotri man is still paid to them, the survey having left their right and their responsibility untouched. [Mr. S. C, Chitnis, Huz. Dep. Collector, Kolaba.]

Since about 1862 special attention has been paid to the promotion of salt waste reclamation, and rules have been introduced under which salt wastes may be taken for tillage on the following terms: [Gov. Res. 6771, 2nd December 1875; and 3240, 27th June 1878.] The precise limits of the land are ascertained and stated in the agreement; no rent is levied for the first ten years; a rent of 6d. (4 annas) an acre is paid for the next twenty years on the whole area granted, whether reclaimed or not; at the end of thirty years from the date of agreement the land is assessed at the ordinary rice-crop rates. Any part found unfit for rice is assessed at the rates levied on similar land in the neighbourhood, provided that if rice or any other superior crop is grown, ordinary rice rates may be charged. The Collector decides what public roads are to be opened within the reclamation, and any land taken for a public road is to be free from assessment. Under pain of forfeiting the lease, the lessee is to bring one-half of the area under cultivation in live years, and the whole in ten years. If the lessee fails to use due diligence in the work, Government may take back the land and levy a fine of double the estimated income which the lessee has derived from the land during the period of his tenancy. The decision of what constitutes due diligence in carrying out the reclamation rests with Government.

In the Alibag sub-division in 1872-73 the total area of salt waste available for cultivation was 44,535 acres. Of this, up to 1880-81, 6496 acres have been brought under cultivation. Among these reclamation works the largest are: (1) at Mankula about' 400 acres reclaimed by Mr. Lakshman Narayan Bhagvat; (2) at Shahabad about 200 acres reclaimed by Mr. Bajaba Agharkar and Mr. Hari Janardan Dev; (3) in Nagaon about 150 acres reclaimed by Mr. Ramchandra Bapuji Dev; and (4) at Navkhar about 125 acres reclaimed by Mr. Fhanderav Baji Vaidya. In Pen, of a total area of about 4695 acres of reclaimable Land, about 2000 acres have been brought under cultivation during the last twenty-three years. In Roha the reclaimable area is about 800 acres, but none of it has been reclaimed. In Mahad and Mangaon there is no reclaimable salt marsh. As regards the process of reclaiming, the Thana reclamation details apply to the Kolaba district with this difference, that the reclaimers in Thana being wealthy, the outmost dams dividing the reclaimed lands from the salt water are made of stones and cement, while in Kolaba all are of earth. Some of the Alibag salt wastes have been included in the forest area. [Mr.S. C. Chitnis, Huz. Dep. Collector, January 1882.]