RYOTWARI SETTLEMENTS AND PEASANT RESISTANCE 37 ascertained'.16 It also concurred with Cockburn, when he stated in a letter, that'. . . it is my intention to make a settlement with each ryot for the rent he shall pay for the land he may cultivate'.17 The Board of Revenue therefore instructed him to survey the lands under his charge and to fix the rent.18 In the settlement of fasli 1213, therefore, 'the rent of every cultivated field' had been 'ascertained* and 'the amount of payment fixed by patta .. . given to each individual paying revenue direct to Government.'19 But this ryotwari settlement was of a cruder kind compared with the ryotwari introduced by Munro in the ceded districts, because initially Cockburn did not undertake the survey before fixing the rent. It was only in the second half of the year 1804 that he began a proper survey of the district. 'In order to secure cultivators from undefined or immoderate exaction, it is not necessary to measure the country'20 he wrote to the Board. However, in June 1804 he declared, in order to rectify errors in the rent and to 'discover' encroachments made on the Government lands by 'irregular alienations and unauthorized privileges', a 'survey of the country as conducing to the benefit of cultivators and the stability of revenue'.21 For this purpose he asked the Board of Revenue to sanction an amount of SP. 6060/2 As the Board had already asked him on 28 May 1803, 13 June 1803 and 4 May 1804, he decided to commence the survey. On 4 May 1804 the Board of Revenue had asked him to introduce, in the Northern Division of Arcot, the system of 'regulating the assessment of the lands by an actual survey' which was earlier established in Baramahal and Balaghaut regions of the area under his charge.23 The settlement of (land) revenues made by Cockburn for fasli 1213 amounted to SP. 904321-14-4, being an increase of SP. 35597-23-56 above the preceding fasli of 121224 (after excluding certain items). If the season had not been 'unfavourable', preventing ryots from 'cultivating lands to the extent for which they had engaged (agreed)', the above increase would have been much greater.25 In spite of the decrease in the extent of cultivation in fasli 1213 relative to fasli 1212 we note an increase in revenue. This was achieved because of the resumption of several inam lands, rusums and mirasis of several classes and castes in this region26 and also due to the result of investigation made into the lands just assessed, the 'discovery' of productive land not registered by the karnams, the so-called 'truer' ascertainment of the produce and the 'profits' enjoyed by the renters of villages.27 The above details show that there was 'over-assessment'28 under the ryotwari system in the Northern Division of Arcot. It was because of this a remission was later (in 1818) recommended by Grames.29 Since Cockburn considered that the revenues were not 'sufficiently ascertained' in 1211 and 1212 (tenure of Stratton), the assessment was raised in faslies 1213 and 1214.30 But subsequently, it was found that all the settlements were 'founded on exaggerated views of me^ns of the ryots131 and that the local authorities (collectors) were 'too sanguine' in their original estimates of the capability of the country.32