58 SOCIAL SCIENTIST 10. Generally in the Batai system the division of grains was made on the threshing floor. The other two methods of Batai are Khet Batai and Lang Batai. Under the former a certain measured area of the cultivated field was taken, the produce of which was assumed to represent the state's share of the entire holding; under the Lang Batai system the peasant divided the grain into many heaps as there were shares and the revenue officials took the heap that he liked. Baden-Powell, Land System of British India, Vol. I, Delhi 1967, pp. 274-75. But^the system of Batai applied to Kashmir appears dissimilar from these systems of Batai. Under it, the estimate Of production was made when the grain was in heaps, after threshing as in regular Batai. The crop was harvested by the peasants and collected in stocks (gunnies) each consisting of certain number of Kharwars. After the amount of each man's produce was determined by the kardar with the help of the shiqdar, the govt. demand was ascertained. H. M. Lawrence, op. cit., Section C,28 January 1848, file nos. 33-44, Jammu Archives, Ibid. 11. Ibid. 12. Ibid. 13. Ibid. The market rates were determined by the state. 14. Ibid. But this system of assessment was applied to the Sarkasht land. However, on Paikasht and Navabadee (i.e. newly cultivated) lands the rates of assessment were slightly lower. See Ramju Dhar, op. cit., f. 7a. Both rabi and kharif crops were assessed in the same manner. No separate method was adopted for cash crops like cotton, tobacco, oilseeds, etc. 15. There was a deficit of 5 lakhs of rupees in the state revenue in 1851 itself, Maharaja Gulab Singh advised Dewan Jowala Sahai and Mian Ranbir Singh, his son to whom revenue administratian had been entrusted, to make a remission of three to four thousand rupees so that this concession could ensure the collection of some revenue. Mirza, Akhbarat, (Persian) Research Department Library, Srinagar; Vol. IV, f. 114. See also IbidVoi. V, f. 8. Akhbarat is a huge collection containing reports sent by Mirza Saif-ud-Din, the news writer of the British government at the court of Maharaja Gulab Singh. He used to send these reports to the British authorisies at Lahore. It provides detailed information on the socio-economic aspects of Kashmir's history from 1846-1856. 16. Ibid., Vol. V, f. 8. The assigning of revenue to the military is a clear indication of the fact that force was used to realise revenue. Bven so the collection remained pitiful. 17. Pandits and Peer's were charged only one Irak. A Wingate, op. cit., pp. 54-55. 18. Majmui-Report of Jammu-Kashmir-va-Tibet, pp. 30-33. 19. Dewan Kripa Ram, Majmu-i- Report 1872-73, Jammu Archives, pp. 18-20. A Wingate, op. cit., p. 55. S.N. Kaul, Kashmir Economics, p. 59. 20. Lawrence, Valley, p. 403. See also Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladakh, p. 108. 21. A Wingate, op. cit., p. 55. 22. Ibid., pp. 54-56; Lawrence, Valley, pp 446-47. 23. It was an assessment made directly with each peasant (Assami). S.N. Kaul, op. cit., pp 55-59. The assami-war-khewat has been wrongly termed by A. Wingate as a village cash assessment, it was the assessment of an individual's holdings. 24. The collection was made on the kharwar of 16 traks and after that the whole quantity was converted into 15 Irak kharwars. The 15 Irak kharwar was called Kaccha Kharwar and was used for all crops, which included cotton, oilseeds, saffron and other crops, if any. A. Wingate, op. cit., pp 54-55. 25. Ibid. 26^ A Wingate, op. cit., pp. 54-55. From the given table it becomes clear that the rates of assesment varied from crop to crop. For sarson, the rate including trakee was one half. For paddy it was more than one half. 27. Ibid. 28. W.R. Lawrence, Report on the position of cultivating classes in Kashmir, Foreign