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 II. The 13th and 14th centuries

Collection:: Economics Books

34 THE AGRARIAN SYSTEM OF MOSLEM INDIA that their object was realised. As the result of some years’ continuous effort, the Chiefs, and the headmen of parganas and villages, were impoverished and subdued; there was no sign of gold or silver in the houses of the “Hindus”; the Chiefs were unable to obtain horses or weapons; and their wives were even driven by poverty to take service in Moslem houses. We may suspect some rhetorical exaggeration in the language of the chronicle; but the success of the King’s policy seems to be established by the fact that, six years after its adoption, his kingdom was at peace, and he was able to detach strong armies for his long-meditated project of the conquest of the Deccan. Nor is there any record of serious internal revolt during the remainder of his reign; and we may fairly accept the inference that, for the time being, the Chiefs were set aside, and the Administration was brought into direct relations with the peasants through- out a large part of the kingdom. The extent of country over which these regulations operated is not entirely clear. The chronicler gives (p. 288) a long list ot provinces, but, as commonly happens with such lists, some of the names are corrupt; and. in the absence of any definitive text, there is no certainty that others may not have dropped out in the course of copying. Taking the list as it stands, we learn that the regulations were applied by degrees to Delhi, the River Country, and the rest of the Doab. To the East, Rohilkhand was included, but not Awadh or Bihdr; to the South, portions of Malwa and Rajputana were included, but not Gujarat; while on the West, all the Punjab provinces are indicated with the exception of Multin. So summarised, the list inspires some confidence, because it covers the centre of the kingdom and omits the outlying provinces; but, as I have just said, the possibility remains that some of the omissions may be the work of copyists. Even, however, if the list has not been accidentally cwurtailed, it represents a very large adminis- trative achievement on the part of the Deputy-Minister, Sharaf Qai, to whose efficiency the chronicler pays a glowing tribute. The establishment of direct relations with the peasants sver this large area must necessarily have involved a rapid

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