A History of Assam c15.30

c15.30

The *khels* were distributed amongst the high nobles in the manner already described, and each official had a certain number of *pāiks* assigned to him in lieu of pay. As the Ahom kings came more and more under the influence of Hindu priests, large numbers of *pāiks* were removed from their *khels* and assigned for the support of temples or of Brāhmans. Some paiks purchased exemption from service. In no other way could a man escape from the control of the officers of his khel, whose jurisdiction was personal and not local. In the course of time, as the members of a khel became dispersed in different part of the country, this system grew most complicated and inconvenient, but it was still in vogue at the time of the British occupation, except in Kāmrup where a system of collecting revenue according to local divisions, called parganas, had been introduced by the Muhammadans.