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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Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter I. Antecedents

Collection:: Economics Books

10 THE AGRARIAN SYSTEM OF MOSLEM INDIA the State’s claim on the peasants was assigned in this way. ! Grantees.—In the same way, the King’s share due from a specified area might be granted to any one of large classes of claimants, by way of pensions for past service, rewards for good conduct, or for literary or artistic achievement, maintenance of deserving individuals, or of religious, educational, or charitable endowments, and the like. The position of a grantee was similar to that of an assignee, and the distinction between the two classes was that an Assignment was conditional on future service, ‘while a Grant was not; but both classes were held during pleasure, in the literal meaning of the phrase, and either Grant or Assignment could be varied or summarily terminated by order of the Ruler. Farmers.—The idea underlying the method of farming the King’s share seems to have been that an officer ap- pointed to administer a province, or smaller area, could effect a great administrative simplification by undertaking to pay a fixed annual sum representing the net revenue of his charge, thus relieving the executive of all detailed financial responsibilities in regard to it. So stated, the method should not be condemned offhand in the case of a large kingdom, in times when communication was slow and liable to frequent interruption; but in Moslem India, as in other countries, it tended to attract speculators, and ad- ministration suffered through their efforts to make a profit in their short term of office. In practice then we must distinguish between the Governor-on farming-terms, chosen primarily for his character and abilities, and the speculative Farmer, chosen mainly or merely because his bid was the highest. Farms of all sizes might be given, trom a province, or group of provinces, down to a single village; and we must recognise that in certain circumstances various other renures tended to assume this form. From the purely fiscal standpoint, a Chief was a Farmer, holding for an indefinite term; and from the same standpoint headmen engaging for a village or pargana were also technically Farmers. Salaried assessors and collectors, again, might easily become

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