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Bankim Chandra contends in this connexion -that the laws of inheritance are nowhere just. The Hindu Law is better in this respect than the European and the Islamic Law, the Shariat, is better than the Hindu Law.

Mill also strongly supported the equality of men and women. We also refer to Bankim Chandra's discussion of the apostles of equality by emphasizing what he thinks to be the fundamental truth about equality. When we say that men and women are equal we do not mean that there are no differences between human beings in respect of intelligence, physical strength and other natural endowments. It is also true that these differences would inevitably lead to some social inequalities. But over and above the natural differences and consequent social and economic differences, there are other differences created by inequitous political and social systems. These unnatural inequalities are harmful for mankind and they can be removed only by reforming the political cand economic systems. Bankim Chandra concludes by saying that as a result of unjust laws of inheritance, one prospers as a rich landowner and another born in a poor peasant family suffers injustices through no fault of hers. The rich landowner should realize that the poor peasant is his equal and his brother. The poor has aright to the property which the rich enjoys alone.

We have so long been discussing the views of Bankim expressed in the first two chapters of the book entitled Equality. Of the three other chapters, the fifth and the last are concerned with the equality of men and women and we shall be discussing it later on. The chapters HI and IV contain truncated versions of two articles published in Banga-Darshan concerning the pitiable conditions of Bengal peasantry. These articles also contain Bankim Chandra's economic doctrines. When he decided not to reprint the book, Equality, he included the original articles on "Bengal's Peasant" as a set in his book, Vividha Piabandha [Miscellaneous Essays). It would be reasonable to ignore the chapters III and IV of Equality and concentrate on the set of articles of Bengal's Peasants as published in Miscellaneous Essays, because he endorsed these doctrines in a qualified form even in the late stage of his life.

In a prefatory note to this set of essays in his collection, Miscellaneous Essays, Bankim Chandra says that those essays contain certain economic views which he no longer considers accurate. But he adds that it is very difficult to decide in economics which views are true and which false. That is why he did not revise those views while reprinting the essays.

About the general views on the conditions of the peasantry he says that in spite of some improvements in these conditions since the publication of these articles, the situation is still very bad and in this connexion claims some personal credit for bringing these conditions out in the open so that a general awareness led to some attempt at the amelioration of these appalling conditions.

Bankim Chandra begins by referring to the economic improvement of India during the British rule. By removing the fear of external attack and internal anarchy, the British have brought about an increase in population and development of agriculture. Permanent settlement has brought a larger amount of land under cultivation. The expansion of agriculture has resulted in greater wealth being produced. Trade with England is the second reason why there has been agricultural development and greater wealth. Import from England has to be balanced by agricultural export. Owing to increase in prices and the abovementioned two reasons agricultural income in India has gone up by three or four times since the introduction of permanent settlement.

But who have benefitted from this vastly augmented income? A large amount is appropriated by Government as revenue. From 1793 to 1870 land revenue has increased from 2.90 crores to 3.50 crores. Government's share increases also through excise and customs duties on the agricultural produce.

Since there is now a greater internal and external trade on agricultural products, the rich middlemen and traders also skim off a substantial part of this wealth. But in the opinion of Bankim Chandra the largest part is appropriated by the land-owners and virtually nothing is left for the peasants.

The peasants have no right to the land he tills. The landowners have increased the rates three-fold, four-fold or even ten-fold since the introduction of the permanent settlement. The peasants have either to pay this increase or be evicted. Bankim concludes that the peasants who constitute 999 persons out of 1000 have not profited at all from the increase in agricultural wealth. Everything has been misappropriated by the foreign rulers, the landlords, the traders and the moneylenders. Bankim Chandra repeatedly says that he should not be counted as an enemy of the landlords, who are regarded as the crown of the Bengali Society. He has taken up his pen against them on behalf of the destitute peasants because these peasants are absolutely dumb and are unable to give expression to their grievances and sufferings. The publication o! Banga-Darshan would be useless unless it stands up for the cause of the downtrodden and Strives for the lessening of human suffering.

The second essay of the set "Bengal's Peasants" entitled "Landlord" contains one of the most vivid and searing portrayals in Bengali language of the oppression that the peasants were subjected to as a result of permanent settlement.

After meeting the expenses of farming the agricultural produce raised by the farmers was not enough to meet all their needs. But if the landlords had left them alone after realising fair rent for the land then their conditions would not have been so pitiable. But the hopeless peasants were swindled and cheated, detained and mercilessly beaten up and persecuted and exploited in every possible way. Bankim Chandra illustrates the ways of exploitation with consummate artistry. The Government worsened the burden on the peasants when they taxed the landowners; the additional taxes levied for the construction of roads or hospitals were ultimately realised from the peasants.

Bankim Chandra concludes this essay by saying that not all landlords are oppressors. They should mount relendess pressure on the tyrannical ones to bring about a seachange in agrarian relations in our countryside.

The third essay called "Natural Law" contains Bankim's detailed analysis of the cause of the poverty of the peasants. Here-he acknowledges his debt to the thoughts of Henry Thomas Buckle (1821-1862) the English historian. India was one of the earliest countries to develop advanced civilisation because India was warm and fertile. The people of a warm country require less meat than the people of a cold country and depending on farm produce can more easily acquire an agricultural surplus as wealth. Meat eating hunters have a much greater problem in the acquisition of suprplus  wealth.

The agricultural surplus created a division in society, one class living on the labours of the other class. Those who did not have to do manual labour could develop their intellect and they gradually acquired the dominant position in society. They appropriated the profits, rents and interests while the peasants got only the wages.

Bankim Chandra argues that the agricultural surplus wealth created a leisured class, namely the Brahmins, who being spared manual labour created the advanced civilization and culture of the ancient India. The knowledge of the Brahmins benefited the peasants and a part of the agricultural product was paid to them as reward.

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