=Land Revenue Collections.=—Up to this period of his life, having been immersed in the troubled sea of political intrigue, the Protector had no better knowledge of the systems of revenue and landed economy than other Rangra[10.7.1] chieftains; and he followed the immemorial usage termed _lattha_ and _batai_,[10.7.2] or rent in kind by weight or measure, in proportion to the value of the soil or of the product. The regent soon found the disadvantages of this system, which afforded opportunity for oppression on the part of the collectors, and fraud on that of the tenant, both detrimental to the government, and serving only to enrich that vulture, the Patel. When this rapacious yet indispensable medium between the peasant and ruler leagued with the collectors—and there was no control to exaction beyond the conscience of this constituted attorney of each township, either for the assessment or collection—and when, as we have so often stated, the regent cared not for the means so that the supplies were abundant, nothing but ruin could ensue to the ryot. Having made himself master of the complicated details of the _batai_, and sifted every act of chicanery by the most inquisitorial process, he convoked all the Patels of the country, and took their depositions as to the extent of each pateli, their modes of collection, their credit, character, and individual means; and being thus enabled to form a rough computation of the size and revenues of each, he recommenced his tour, made a _chakbandi_, or measurement of the lands of each township, and classified them, according to soil and fertility, as _piwal_, or irrigated; _gorma_, or good soil, but dependent on the heavens; and _mormi_, including pasturage and mountain-tracts. He then, having formed an average from the accounts of many years, instituted a fixed money-rent, and declared that the _batai_ system, or that of payment in kind, was at an end. But even in this he showed severity; for he reduced the _jarib_,[10.7.3] or standard measure, by a third, and added a fourth to his averages. Doubtless he argued that the profit which the Patels looked forward to would admit of this increase, and determined that his vigilance should be more than a match for their ingenuity.