A History of Agriculture in India v2.c74.s8.1

v2.c74.s8.1

The *muqaddam* and the *patwari* were the two principal village functionaries. The *muqaddam* was responsible for collection of land revenue. For that work, he was paid a commission, which was about 2.5 per cent of the total revenue collected. The *muqaddam's* jurisdiction over the village was not purely financial. He was held answerable for any crime committed within or near his village. Finally, the *muqaddam* possessed the right of alloting the land of the village to such as wished to till it. This right was implicitly recognized by the authorities when they entrusted the task of settling new villages to *muqaddams*. In any village not utterly ruined by the burden of land revenue, the position of the *muqaddam* was a profitable one.