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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 8, p. 245.

ADMINISTRA TION 245 Rampur Hat (2). The criminal courts are those of the Sessions Judge, the District Magistrate, and the above-mentioned magistrates. Formerly the head-quarters of wandering bands of banditti, Birbham is now one of the quietest Districts in Bengal. Crime is light, but dacoities are not infrequent, a local gang of Muhammadans being responsible for twenty-three dacoities between 1896 and 1904. The land revenue demand in 1903-4 was ro-o9 lakhs, payable by 1,o6o estates. With the exception of five small estates paying a total revenue of Rs. 2,ooo, the whole of the District is permanently settled. The incidence is only Rs. 1-7-5 per cultivated acre, or less than half that prevailing in the neighbouring District of Burdwan. The ghdtwdli rent-free tenures which formerly existed in this District were resumed by Government in 1901. They are described in the article on BANKURA DISTRICT. Ordinary rice lands are rented at from Rs. 3 to Rs. 9 per acre, and sugar-cane lands at Rs. 9 and upwards, while as much as Rs. 15 is paid for good vegetable lands and -Rs. 8o for plots on which betel-leaf (Piper Belle) is grown. The ryots frequently sublet their holdings for a share in the produce. Collections on account of land revenue and of total revenue (principal heads only) are shown below, in thousands of rupees :- 1880-r. 18go-i. 1900-1. 903-4- Land revenue 8,03 10,21 10,09 10,08 Total revenue . 11,31 14,48 16,4,5, 17,07 Outside the municipalities of SfJRI and Rt1MPUR HAT, local affairs are managed by the District board, to which subdivisional local boards are subordinate. The income of the District board in 1903-4 was Rs. 1,33,000, of which Rs. 76,ooo was derived from rates; and the expenditure was Rs. 1;40,000, of which Rs. 83,000 was spent on public works. The District contains 9 police stations and 5 outposts. The force subordinate to the District Superintendent in 1903 consisted of 2 in- spectors, 27 sub-inspectors, 13 head constables, and 235 constables; in addition to which there was a rural police of 236 dafaddrs and 3,144 chauh7ddrs. The cost of the regular force was Rs. 68,ooo, and there was one policeman to every ii square miles and to every 5,674 persons. The District jail at SJRI has accommodation for 290 prisoners, and a subsidiary jail at Râmpur Hat for 18. In 19oir the proportion of literate persons was 7•7 per cent. (15•3 males and o•4 females). The total number of pupils under instruction increased from about 12,000 in 1881 to 24,043 in 1892-3 and to 27,303 in rgoo-r.. In 1903-4, 27,2ro boys and 1,557 girls were at school, being respectively 40•7 and 2•2 per cent. of the children of school-going