Letter from Colonel Sir Lewis Pelly, Baroda to His Lordship Lord Northbrook, Viceroy of India [‎2r] (3/10)

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this total outlay, nearly forty lacs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees were disbursed on marriage presents to His
Highness's Queen {iiot Luxmeebhai) and others, and these forty lacs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees will
have to be met from His Highness's private purse; thus leaving a State
outlay of about 130 lacs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees against an income of 111 lacs—deficit nineteen lacs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees .
Eor the present year,—and supposing the cultivators to cease from their
present passive resistance,—the revenue, inclusive of sayer and tribute, is
estimated, after reduction in the land revenue demand, at one crore Equivalent to ten million, or one hundred lakhs. Used especially in connection with money (rupees). of rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. .
The items, of which the above outlay of 130 lacs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees is composed, are remark
able. The military and police expenditure amounts to about forty lacs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees , i. <?., to
about gths the estimated total revenue of the current year.
The cost of administration has hitherto been very small. But this item will
be heavier in the current year, owing to the introduction of our officials and
to general increase in salaries.
It appears that no State debt has been incurred; that is to say, the State
has not raised a loan. The question arises—where did the money come from
to meet last year's deficit of nineteen lacs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees ?
I am not as yet in a position to give a complete answer to this question.
But from what I learn, the extra outlay was avoided by the accident of the
Sirdars Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. refusing to receive their stipends, &c., which aggregated, say, twelve lacs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees ,
and which sum is now ready to be paid virtually from His Highness's purse.
REVENUE.
The main origin of the present revenue difficulties is, in my opinion, to
be found among the consequences of the rebellion in the United States. The
Baroda territories include much of the richest soil in Guzerat, and one of its
staples, if not the main staple, is cotton. When the price of cotton rapidly
rose from 2 or 3 pence to 2 shillings the pound, rents rose also—the breadth of
land brought under cotton was widely extended, while the ground under other
crops was proportionately reduced in area. Hence the food of the people was
increased in price, and the rents on miscellaneous crops rose. As a general result,
the cultivators were enabled to pay an extraordinarily high land revenue. It