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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
A JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH
VOLUME LIV-1925
THE REVENUES OF BOMBAY.
(An Early Statement.)
BY, 8. M. EDWARDES, C.S.I., C.V.o. A few months ago W. William Foster, C.I.E., of the India Office, sent me & transcript of an official statement of the Revenues of Bombay, at the time of its transfer to the East India Company in September, 1668. The statement was originally forwarded to Surat with a letter of October 6th, 1668, and was entered in the Surat register of letters received (now India Office Factory Records, Surat, Vol. 105, pp. 23, 24). In sending me the transcript, Mr. Foster suggested that as he had other problems to deal with, arising out of his researches into the Company's early records, I might work the statement into an article for the Indian Antiquary. He had himself made a cursory examination of the statement and added a few short notes on some of the doubtful items appearing in it, and these he has permitted me to use. He also advised me that, in his opinion, the scribe who copied the original account into the Surat register had made various errors, both in the headings and the figures. Some of these mistakes are obvious, and help to justify the view that, where the calculations do not work out correctly, he has miscopied or omitted figures.
A few weeks after I had received the statement from him, Mr. Foster informed me that he had discovered a duplicate copy of it in the India Office records (Factory Records, Miscell., Vol. 2, pp. 44, 45). In the latter, some of the words are spelt a little differently from the corresponding words in the original statement, and to these differences I have drawn attention in my notes. Subject to these remarks, I give hereunder the statement in full, with such explanations as oppear to me obvious or plausible. In one or two instances I am unable to solve the puzzles presented by the document, the unknown words used probably being indifferent Portuguese corruptions of vernacular terms, to which I have failed to obtain & clue. Perhaps some reader of the Indian Antiquary may be able to supplement my efforts in these. doubtful cases.
Yearely Savastalli or Rent Rowle of Bomoaim and Jurisdiction. Batteet muraes3 82.1.10 adolains* at X. 141 per mora amount to .. .. .. ..
X. 1,189. 2.57 Bandaring tribute which they pay .. ..
652. 2.30 Colouria, or fishermens tribute, comes to ..
x. 3,718. 0.65 Cooonutts 467,000 at Xs. 18 per mille amounts unto X. 8,406.0.0 An orta8 called Cherney .. .. .. x. 400.0.0
x. 8,806.00.00 The hill Vaulquessen 10, nett rents
X. 39.01.03
W
