REVENUE SETTLEMENT

REVENUE SETTLEMENT

W hen the British Government established its sway, all over India, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari,  they decided to make a survey of the land, under the then Surveyor General  Everest, after whose name SAGAR MATHA, as locally called, was renamed Mt. Everest.

They found that a majority of the land belonged to no family and so the Government did not get any revenue. The village officers were asked to register  such land in the name of, whoever was ready to pay revenue.

It is said that ‘matempadam’, land adjacent to my ancestral home , thus became our property. after the officer, somehow, persuaded the ‘karanavar’  to accept it. This process is known as revenue settlement.

The Collector became the Officer responsible for collecting the revenue.

In Hindi, he is called Jiladheesh,  ‘king of the district’, which actually describes his functions.

Simultaneously, other surveys for minerals etc, followed . The process of counting heads, Census , also began later on.(it was for this purpose, that Mary and Joseph came all the way to Bethlehem ; the king wanted all people to come there, for the head count.}