The agrarian system of Moslem India

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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 II. The 13th and 14th centuries

Collection:: Economics Books

40 THE AGRARIAN SYSTEM OF MOSLEM INDIA the reign was characterised by vigorous, direct adminis- tration, and not by such expedients as F arming or Assign- ment. 4. GHIYASUDDIN TUGHLAQ (1320-1325) Alauddin’s system did not survive its creator! His son and successor, Qutbuddin, a charming and popular lad, devoted himself entirely to pleasure. He formulated no agrarian policy of his own, but his father’s minute regulations were allowed to lapse in their entirety. The revenue- Demand was reduced, but in what manner is not recorded ; the work of the Revenue Ministry fell into disorder; specu- lative Farmers appeared; Grants and Assignments were made lavishly; and the capital, following the king’s example, indulged in a period of debauchery, during which the ad- ministration went to pieces. Qutbuddin was eventually murdered by a favourite, who ascended the throne and exterminated the royal family; but the favourite and his adherents were in turn exterminated by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, a Frontier veteran who, in the absence of any other candidate, became king with general consent. Ghiyasuddin reorganised the revenue administration of the kingdom. The proportion of produce which he claimed is uncertain, and the point is discussed later on ; he dis- carded Measurement in favour of Sharing; and he restored the Chiefs to something like the position they had lost. His reasons for changing the method of assessment are indicated in the phrase, “he relieved the peasants from the innovations and apportionments of crop-failure,” a phrase which is cryptic as it stands, but which can be interpreted from the later history of assessment by Measurement. Under this method, the peasant’s liability depended on the area sown, and consequently he was, in theory, bound to pay the full Demand even though the crop might be an entire failure. In practice, however, such a rule could not ! Barni (pp. 381 ff.) is again the only contemporary authority for the reigns of Qutbuddin and Ghiyasuddin. It is clear that he was a great admirer of the latter's reforms, but his account is extremely crabbed and unsystematic; from the style, I judge it to be a compilation, from notes or from memory, of phrases which he had heard directly from the King. A transiation will be found in Appendix C.

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