ABSTRACT
The first Mughal revenue ‘settlement’ was made in the reign of the Emperor Akbar by Raja Todar Mal in the year ad 1582. The revenue assessment was based on a proportion of the produce of the soil. Bengal proper consisted of nineteen large administrative divisions called Sarkars. The second revenue settlement was made in the year 1658 by Shah Shuja or Sultan Shuja, the Viceroy of Bengal in the year of the Emperor Aurangzeb’s accession. It is probable that Shah Shuja’s revenue roll was not a new settlement or assessment, but merely a clerical revision, including the alterations that had occurred since ad 1582. The revenue settlement of Murshid Quli Khan is important as being the last settlement prior to the British administration which purported to be based on a proportion of the produce or on the capability of the soil.
