THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 135

judged largely by the results attained; and there were
obvious inducements to practise towards the peasants the
severity which characterised the general administration of
the time. Excessive severity would indeed defeat itself,
because it would drive the peasants off the land, as we shall
see later on; but we may reasonably infer that the peasants
in Reserved areas were ordinarily kept under strict discipline.
The basis of the revenue-Demand was now higher than
ander Akbar: his standard of one-third of the produce had
become the minimum, while more could be claimed, up to
2 maximum of one-half (H. 6, 16). Within these limits the
local officials were apparently allowed some discretion;
but, seeing that their primary duty was to increase the
revenue, we may infer that the actual Demand worked out
nearer the maximum than the minimum. In practice,
however, the arithmetical side of assessment was less prominent
 than in Akbar’s time, because the methods had been
changed.
The methods in force are described clearly in the preamble
»f the first farman. In some villages where the peasants
were poor, Sharing was practised, at rates adapted to the
local conditions, ‘one-half, one-third, two-fifths, or more,
or less”; but Group-assessment was the regular rule. At
the beginning of the year the assessor (Amin) fixed the total
sum to be paid by a village, or apparently on occasion by
an entire pargana, on a consideration of the available data,
including recent assessments, and the area to be cultivated
in that year; the village could refuse the assessment offered
by the Amin, in which case the revenue was taken from it
by either Measurement or Sharing, apparently at the discretion
 of the local officials; but, in the circumstances of
the period, we may reasonably infer that refusal was the
exception.
The Demand on the individual peasants was thus ordinarily
 left to be fixed by the headmen: and, as usual, we
find that, in the official view, “the burden of the strong”
tended to fall on the weak. The provincial Diwan was
therefore instructed (R. 6) to examine the distribution
itafrig) of the Demand in every village which he had occasion
 to visit. and to rectify any unfairness on the part of