ABSTRACT
James Grant’s main object was to prove that Bengal was greatly under-assessed, while Sir John Shore attempted to show that the assessment was as high as it could be. Before proceeding to the great controversy, it is necessary to allude to an important discussion, the subject of which is contained in Grant’s Political Survey of the Northern Circars, published on December 20, 1784. Grant opens with a violent attack on the revenue policy that had been pursued since 1765; the administration had been a failure owing to the chicanery that had been practised in order to keep the officers of the Company in a state of complete ignorance. Grant accordingly recommended that settlement should be made of the Dewani lands at the full assets of the year 1765 as given by him, i.e. the highest Mughal assessment.
