A History of Assam c23.55

c23.55

In the hill districts, save in a few exceptional tracts, such as the plains mauzas of the Gāro hills, there is no land revenue settlement properly so called, and the assessment is on the houses, and not on the land. The usual rate of house-tax is two rupees, but it rises to three rupees in some tracts, while in the Lushai hills it is only one rupee per house. The hill tribes generally cultivate on the *jhum* system, *i.e.*, they burn down part of the forest, the ashes of which make a valuable manure, and then dibble in various kinds of seeds all mixed together. After one or two years, cultivation becomes impossible on account of the choking weeds that spring up; the villagers then move on to a new clearance, and the deserted fields remain unfit for cultivation until, after the lapse of some years, fresh forest growth has killed out the weeds. Each village thus needs a far larger area for its crops than is under cultivation in any particular year, and serious disputes have been known to occur regarding land that to all appearance is a neglected and useless jungle. Very similar conditions exist in some of the more remote tracts of the plains districts, such as the North Cachar sub-division and the Mikir hills tract in Nowgong.