Chapter SATIN to SAYER of S by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

amount in the Accounts credited as Land Revenue in Bengal seems to have included both Sayer and Abkarry down to the Accts. presented to Parliament in 1796. In the “Abstract Statement of Receipts and Disbursements of the Bengal Government” for 1793–94, the “Collections under head of Syer and Abkarry” amount to Rs. 10,98,256. In the Accounts, printed in 1799, for 1794–5 to 1796–7, the “Land and Sayer Revenues” are given, but Abkari is not mentioned. Among the Receipts and Disbursements for 1800–1 appears “Syer Collections, including Abkaree, 7,81,925.”

These forms appear to have remained in force down to 1833. In the accounts presented in 1834, from 1828–9, to 1831–2, with Estimate for 1832–3, Land Revenue is given separately, and next to it Syer and Abkaree Revenue. Except that the spelling was altered back to Sayer and Abkarry, this remained till 1856. In 1857 the accounts for 1854–5 showed in separate lines,—

Land Revenue,

Excise Duties, in Calcutta,

Sayer Revenue, Abkarry ditto.

In the accounts for 1861–2 it became—

Land Revenue,

Sayer and Miscellaneous,

Abkaree, and in those for 1863–4 Sayer vanished altogether.

The term Sayer has been in use in Madras and Bombay as well as in Bengal. From the former we give an example under 1802; from the latter we have not met with a suitable quotation.

The following entries in the Bengal accounts for 1858–59 will exemplify the application of Sayer in the more recent times of its maintenance:—
Under Bengal, Behar and Orissa:

Sale of Trees and Sunken Boats

Rs.

555

0

0

Under Pegu and Martaban Provinces:

Fisheries	Rs.	1,22,874	0	2
Tax on Birds’ nests(q.v.)		7,449	0	0
Tax on Salt		43,061	3	10
Fees for fruits and gardens		7,287	9	1
Tax on Bees’ wax		1,179	8	0
Do. Collections		8,050	0	0
Sale of Government Timbers, &c.		4,19,141	12	8
		6,09,043	1	9

Under the same:

Sale proceeds of unclaimed and confiscated Timbers,	Rs.	146	11	10
Net Salvage on Drift Timbers		2,247	10	0
		2,394	5	10

c. 1580.—“Saîr az Gangapat o atraf-i-Hindowi waghaira …” i.e. “Sayer from the Ganges … and the Hindu districts, &c. … 170,800 dams.”—Ain-i-Akbari, orig. i. 395, in detailed Revenues of Sirkar Jannatabad or Gaur; [ed. Jarrett, ii. 131].

1751.—“I have heard that Ramkissen Seat who lives in Calcutta has carried goods to that place without paying the Muxidavad Syre chowkey (choky) duties.”—Letter from Nawab to Prest. Ft. William, in Long, 25.

1788.—“Sairjat—All kinds of taxation besides the land-rent. Sairs.—Any place or office appointed for the collection of duties or customs.”—The Indian Vocabulary, 112.

1790.—“Without entering into a discussion of privileges founded on Custom, and of which it is easier to ascertain the abuse than the origin, I shall briefly remark on the Collections of Sayer, that while they remain in the hands of the Zemindars, every effort to free the internal Commerce from the baneful effects of their vexatious impositions must necessarily prove abortive.” —Minute by the Hon. C. Stuart, dd. Feb. 10, quoted by Lord Cornwallis in his Minute of July 18.

„“The Board last day very humanely and politically recommended unanimously the abolition of the Sayr.

“The statement of Mr. Mercer from Burdwan makes all the Sayr (consisting of a strange medley of articles taxable, not omitting even Hermaphrodites) amount only to 58,000 Rupees. …”—Minute by Mr. Law of the Bd. of Revenue, forwarded by the Board, July 12.

1792.—“The Jumma on which a settlement for 10 years has been made is about (current Rupees) 3,01,00,000 … which is 9,35,691 Rupees less than the Average Collections of the three preceding Years. On this Jumma, the Estimate for 1791–2 is formed, and the Sayer Duties, and some other extra Collections, formerly included in the Land Revenue, being abolished, accounts for the Difference. …”—Heads of Mr. Dundas’s Speech on the Finances of the E.I. Company, June 5, 1792.

1793.—“A Regulation for re-enacting with alterations and modifications, the Rules passed by the Governor General in Council on 11th June and 28th July, 1790, and subsequent dates, for the resumption and abolition of Sayer, or internal Duties and Taxes throughout Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa,” &c. “Passed by the Governor General in Council on the 1st May, 1793. …”—Title of Regulation, XXVII. of 1793.

1802.—“The Government having reserved to itself the entire exercise of its discretion in continuing or abolishing, temporarily or permanently, the articles of revenue included according to the custom and practice of the country, under the several heads of salt and saltpetre—of the sayer or duties by sea or land—of the abkarry …—of the excise …—of all takes personal and professional, as well as those derived from markets, fairs and bazaars—of lakhiraj (see LACKERAGE) lands. … The permanent land-tax shall be made exclusively of the said articles now recited.”—Madras Regulation, XXV. § iv.

1817.—“Besides the land-revenue, some other duties were levied