The agrarian system of Moslem India

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 1804119261

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-188010

Document type:: Monograph

Author:: Moreland, William Harrison http://d-nb.info/gnd/172263670

Title:: The agrarian system of Moslem India

Edition:: 2. ed. Reissue (d. Ausg. Cambridge) 1929; [Reprint]

Place of publication:: Delhi

Publisher:: Oriental Books, Munshiram Manoharlal

Year of publication:: 1968

Scope:: XVII, 296 S.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter VII. The outlying regions

Collection:: Economics Books

182 THE AGRARIAN SYSTEM OF MOSLEM INDIA whether the assessment was made with the headmen, or with farmers not belonging to the village, is a question on which I have found too little evidence for a confident de- cision, and it is possible that both these alternatives may be covered by the term. The first definite landmark in the agrarian history of this portion of the country is the system of assessment introduced by Malik Ambar in Ahmadnagar, at the time when he was struggling to maintain the independence of part of that kingdom against Jahangir. The evidence of traditions which survived into the British period shows that the changes then made were important, but I have failed to determine their precise nature. I have found no con- temporary account, while the descriptions! given by Grant Duff and Robertson, which appear to be the foundations of all that has been written on the subject, are somewhat obscure, and differ in points which must be regarded as essential. Grant Duff's concise account was based prin- cipally on certain Maratha MSS., which are not now identifiable, but which can scarcely be contemporary sources; according to it, Malik Ambar abolished Farming, and substituted a collection of ‘“a moderate proportion of the actual produce in kind, which, after the experience of several seasons, was commuted for a payment in money settled annually according to the cultivation.” A footnote adds that his authorities showed the State’s claim as two- fifths of the produce, while tradition put the money-com- mutation equal to about one-third. According to this account, the sequence of assessment methods was, first Farming, then Sharing in kind, then Measurement at cash- rates, or something very like it. Robertson's description was based on traditions collected by him in the district of Poona; but he was obsessed by James Grant’s erroneous account? of Todar Mal’s system, which he supposed had been imitated by Malik Ambar, and his efforts to make tradition square with what he believed Todar Mal to have done involved him in a good deal of 1 For Grant Duff, see his History of the Mahrattas, i. 95 (edition of 1826). Robertson’s Report is given in Selection of Papers from the Records of the E. I. House, Vol. IV (1826), pp. 397 ff. 2 Grant's account is discussed in the next section.

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