188 THE AGRARIAN SYSTEM OF MOSLEM INDIA

later history of this region, the bulk of which came under
the rule of Asaf Jah, and is now comprised in the Hyderabad
State: but Farming is said! to have been the rule throughout
the eighteenth century, and to have continued until its
abolition by Sir Salar Jang in, or shortly after, the year
1853.
For the remaining kingdon, Bijapur, 1 have found scarcely
any information. A few chance entries in Dutch records
show that Farming existed in the seventeenth century, but
they do not suffice even for such a general description as
has been given for Golconda, and by the end of that century
the bulk of the country had passed to the Marathas. In
the absence of contemporary records, it is useless to speculate
as to the details of its agrarian system during the period
of Moslem rule.
The agrarian position in the final southward extension
of Moslem rule can be traced in the Regulations issued by
Tipt Sultan in the year 1785 for a portion of his kingdom of
Mysore. I have failed to find the Persian text of these
regulations, but the extant translation? preserves many of
the technical terms, and justifies the following description.
Peasants in this region held their land (rule 3) on one of two
tenures, either Contract, or Sharing; in the latter case, the
State claimed half the produce, and apparently this tenure
was preferred, because collectors were ordered to see that
the proportion of land under it was maintained. Stress
was laid on the peasants’ duty to cultivate (2), and on the
improvement of cropping (4); and advances or other concessions
 (2, I5-I8, 21, 26-28) were authorised to secure
these objects, while headmen were to be flogged (9) for
default. Stress was laid also (34-36) on the construction
and maintenance of irrigation-works and other improvements:
 and, speaking generally, the regulations embody
the traditional policy, under which the peasants were to
be kept under strict discipline, and encouraged, or compelled,
 to make the best use of their land. It was the
collector's duty to attract peasants when the numbers were

¥ Imperial Gazetleey, xiii. 280.
2 British India Analysed, pp. 1 ff. The book is anonymous, but is
catalogued in the British Museum under the name Greville