A History of Assam c15.31

c15.31

As a reward for his services, each pāik was allowed two puras (nearly three acres) of the best rice land free of rent. If personal service was not required, he paid two rupees instead. He was given land for his house and garden, for which he paid a poll or house-tax of one rupee, except in Darrang, where a hearth-tax of the same amount was levied upon each family using a separate cooking-place. Anyone clearing land, other than the above, was allowed to hold it on the payment of one to two rupees a pura, so long as it was not required, on a new census taking place, to provide the pāiks with their proper allotments.