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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 18, p. 91.

ADMINISTRATION 91 opening of the Deoband branch canal in i88o has further protected an important tract. The District is divided into four tahsils and seventeen parganas. The normal District staff includes, besides the Col- Administration. lector, four Assistants with full powers, one of whom is a Covenanted Civilian, when available, the rest being Deputy- Collectors recruited in India. There are two Munsifs in the District,.which is included in the jurisdiction of the Subordinate Judge of Saharanpur and in the Civil and Session judgeship of the same place. Muzaffarnagar has a bad reputation for murders and cattle-theft, while gang dacoities are not uncommon. The Gujars are particularly turbulent, and the Bauriyas and gipsy tribes-such as Sansiyas, Kanjars, and Nats-are respon- sible for many thefts and burglaries. Infanticide was formerly very prevalent, but is not suspected now. The District was acquired in 1803, and at first part was included in Saharanpur District, and part administered by the Resident at Delhi. In 1824 the present District was formed by creating a sub-collectorship at Muzaffarnagar, which became a separate District in 1826. The early settlements thus formed part of those for SAHARANPUR. Quinquennial settlements were made in 1825 and 1830, the latter being extended till 1840. Operations for the first regular settlement began with measure- ments in 1836 and 1838, when the soil was classified into circles and average rent-rates were obtained to form the basis of assessment. The rent-rates were really calculated from valuations of produce and the method of division of that produce, as rent was generally paid in kind, and in many villages where the tenure was bhaiydchdrd there were no rents, as the co-sharers cultivated practically the whole area. The total demand was r 1 . 2 lakhs, calculated at two-thirds of the rental ' assets,' and the settlement lasted twenty years. War, famine, and pestilence swept over the District before the next settlement operations began in 1860, and the new revenue at half `assets' remained at 11•2 lakhs. In this settlement rent rates were calculated on an average of the rates paid in previous years. Inquiries were made with a view to making a permanent settlement, which was not granted, and the assessment was raised in various tracts in 1870 when it was found inadequate. The last settlement was completed in 1892 for thirty years, and the revenue was fixed at 15-1 lakhs, rising to 15.6 lakhs. The assessment was based on recorded rents, corrected where necessary; but the area for which rents were not paid was as high as 47-5 per cent. of the total, chiefly owing to the large proprietary cultivation. . The revenue amounted to 48 per cent. of the assessable assets.' The incidence varied from Rs. 1-3 to Rs. 3-6 per acre, the average being Rs. 2-6. VOL. XVIII. G