THE BENGAL INHERITANCE REGULATION, 1793

pro­ lding l.lnds ers of dents inter­ JI tlw rates, ovcrn­ tdica.­ ·em it 11 jo1ce 'innml police 12 oj ~ also pp•·ar ; t, the · them eport­ dccm 1g any . to be udicial 71 il!illlll '76~ (12 •ld Salt 1793 Ben. Rcg.ll] l NHERITANCl·, 33 BbNGAL REGULATION ll oF 1793 (THE BE 'I GAL INHERITANCE REGULATIO T' 1793 )1 (1st May, 1793) A Regulation for removing certain restrictions to the operation of the Hindu and ~luhammadan laws with regard to the inheritance of landed property subject to the payment of revenue to Government. • l. A custom, oria;inating in comiderations of financial conve- Preamble. nience, was e~tal>lt-.hcd in hese Pr·wiucr.s under the Native .Administration~. acc,>rding to which some of the most extensive zamindancs arc not liable to division. Upon the death of the proprietor of one of these estates it devolves entire t (J the eldest son or next heir of the deceased to the exclusion of all other sons or re lations. ' This custom is repugnant both to the Hindu and Muhamma­ dan laws, which annexed to primogeniture no exclusive right of succe, ion to bnded property, and con seq ucnlly subversive of the rights of those individuals who would be entitled to a share of the estiltes in question were the est.Lblished laws of inheritance allowed to operate with regard to them as well as all other estates. ~SHOH.f ' flTLI:. :-'1 his ~horttitl~ wa' p-iven by the Amendin~~; Act, 1897 (\'of J, 97), sinc-e t«:pl'aled. LQC,\L J~XfENT.-This regulaunn h:n heen declared, by noli cati .m und• r the Schtdulcd Di-trict Act, ISH (XI\ of 1871), ~!:cticn 3, to be in force 1n the Districts ol Co:ilp.tra ( excludin~ thr L:os~ ern Duan · and Sylhet· u '\outication :->;os. 12-IZ-J., d"tcd bt April U197 and l r;z.j, dated 3rd October 1819 in the ~1anual ol Loc I Rule-s and Order~. \'olum~ I , and Notilicallon No. 713-L., dated 27th St ptembcr 1937. SAVING.- I ho~ Rec:ulation dol'S not supcr~ede or efl'rct any established usage by which thr sure ·~·ion to l:!ndcd c·stalt s dr-volve~ upon inteatacy to a single heir suth<' Ben~al lnhrr itauoct' ~Cilulalion, 1800 (X of 1800), po,t, ' 34. lNUERil ANCE [1793: Ben. Reg.ll. It likewise t(•nds to prevent the general improvement of the country, from the proprietors of these large estates not having the means or bei ng unable l<.' bestow the attention, requisite for bring ing into cultivation the extensive trar.ts or waste land com­ prised in them. For the above reasons, and as the limitation of the public demand upon the estates of individuals as they now exist, and the rules prescribed for apportioning the amount of it, on the !>Cvc ral shares of any estates which mav be divided, obviate the ohjectiom and inconvenie nces that might have :uisen from such divisions when the public d emand wa~ lia ble lo a nnua l or freque nt varia­ tion, the Governor General ir1 Council has enacted the following rules : Descent or 2. * * 1 ifauy zarni ndar, indr.:pcndent talukd.tr or oth er actual l&nrled pro- p<>pril'tor tJf land shal l d ir without a will, o r without h.l\in~ peny after d r·clarcd by a writ ing, o r vrrbally, Lo who·11 and in what manner 1st July his or her landed p roperly is Lo devolve after h is o r her demise, 1794· and sh a ll leave two or mor r: heirs, who by th e ~1ubammud.:m or Hindu law (according as the part ies may be of t he former or latter persuasion) may be respectively entitled to succeed to a portion of the landed property of the d eceased , such persons sh a ll suceed to the shares to which they may be so entitled. Estate how held on death or actual pro­ prietor. Ben. Act VIII of 1876. 3 If any zamindar, independent talukdar or other actual proprietor of la nd sha ll clie * u without a will, o r without having decla red by a writiug or verbally, to whom and in what ma •. ncr his or her la ntlcd property n to d e volve after his or her demise, and shallledve two or mo re hei rs, who uy the ..\Iuharnmad a n or Hindu law (according as 1he parties may be of the former or latter persuasion) shall be: respectively entitled to su cceed to a portion of the la nded p ropert y of the deceased , under the rule coB taincd in (sertion 2)3 such persons shall be a t liberty, if they shall prefer so tloing, to hold the property as a joint undivided estates. If one or mo re, or all of the sharers, shall be d esirous of having separate pos,ession o l their respective shares, a division of the estate shall be made in the manner di rerte I in (the Estates Partition Act, l 876]1 , and such sharer or sharers shall have the separate possession of such share or sha 1 es accortl ingly. ---- -------------- lWords amJ fagurcs as to dates, which were repealed by the Repe.1ling Au, 1874 (XVI of 1874), are omitted. The wcrds aud figures "subsequent to the period specified in section 2~ which were repealed hy the Repealing Act, 1874 {XVI of !874), are omitted. ' ' J he word and figure "section 2" ins. 3 werr substituted for the words " that srction" by rhe Amending Act, 1891 lXII of 1891), {since repealed). • ThesP worth ancl figures in ~quare brackets, in s. 1, were substituted for the word and fi~ures ''Rebulation XXV, 1793," by the \mendin~ Act, 1891 (Xll uf 1891), smce rcpeakd. Ben. Act Vlll of 1876 has been rcpedled and re-en:tcted by the Estates Pat tit ion Act, LR97 (BI-n. Act V of 1897), but nei ther Ben. Act VIII of. 1 R76 nor Ben. Act V uf 1897 has been extended to Assam or any part thereof,