The memorial of the Battle of Buxar, constructed by the British to commemorate their victory at Katkauli in Buxar. Picture by Amit Verma

The people of Katkauli, a historic village in Buxar, continue to pay a toll on the line of a tax imposed by the British around 250 years ago for walking through private land.

Situated barely 6km from the district headquarters and about 140km from Patna, the minority-majority village of 600-odd people was witness to the 1764 Battle of Buxar fought between the East India Company’s army and the combined armies of Mir Qasim, the nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daulah, his counterpart of Awadh, and Mughal emperor Shah Alam II.

Immediately after the battle, Shah Alam II granted the diwani over Bengal right to the East India Company, allowing it to collect revenue. The British have left, but their legacy continues to haunt the villagers of Katkauli who have to cough up amounts beyond their means as paychungi, a version of the British tax system, for using private land as passages to reach the main thoroughfare in the village.

“There is no path that leads to the main road in the village. As a result, we have to walk through the land of other people. But that doesn’t come for free. Last year I paid Rs 2,000 to a landlord. This year won’t be any different,” said an octogenarian resident, who did not wish to be named fearing, that the landlord might not allow him to use the approach way.

The stretches that the villagers use meet a 10-ft-wide road leading to the area where the Battle of Buxar was fought. A victory memorial raised by the British bears testimony to the battle. Though the landlords denied the charge of imposing tax on villagers to use their land, they admit that there was no approach ways to the main road passing through the village.

Buxar deputy commissioner Kaushlendra Pathak told The Telegraph: “We have heard about some landlords imposing tax. We will soon organise a meeting with the villagers and are planning to acquire such land to resolve the problem for good.”

The government’s plan has, however, failed to reassure the villagers. They fear that if the government closes the gate near the memorial after acquiring the land where the fight had taken place, they would be left with no way to leave or enter Katkauli. “There should be roads for us,” Sahu said.