The History of Bengal (Vol. I: Hindu Period; Vol. II: Muslim Period 1200–1757) v1.c19.s2.3

v1.c19.s2.3

Inscriptions further reveal that the villages usually consisted of certain well defined parts, viz., village settlement or habitat (vāstu), arable land (kshetra), and natural meadow-land (go-chara), which provided pasture for live-stock. The expression trina-pūti-go-chara-paryantah, mentioned in most of the Pāla and Sena land-grants, suggests that the pasture-ground produced various kinds of grass, and was usually located in a corner of the village or along the village boundaries. Apart from these, most of the villages also contained pits and canals (garta and nāla), which might have served the purpose of drainage, barren tracts (ushara), tanks, reservoirs and temples, besides cattle-tracks (go-patha or go-mārga) and ordinary roads and paths. A few villages are also stated to have been in possession of woodlands or jungles,² where the common folk probably went to gather their fire-wood and litter. It is thus clear that the various types of land, attached to the village, were not only distinguished and classified from the point of view of their usefulness to man, but were organised for exploitation according to certain systems and customary practices so as best to satisfy human needs.