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

THE 13tH AND 1l4ts CENTURIES 45 In any case, the reign of Ghiyasuddin was too short to establish a new tradition, and its main interest lies rather in the formulation of policy than in the results achieved. The soldier-king was interested, first of all, in the welfare of the troops, and, next to them, in the prosperity of the peasants. His ideal was that his peasants should maintain the existing cultivation, and should effect a steady, if gradual, extension as their resources increased; and he realised that progress in this direction depended very largely on the quality of the administration. Sudden and heavy enhancements were, in his judgment, disastrous: “when kingdoms are obviously ruined, it is due to the op- pressiveness of the revenue and the excessive royal demand; and ruin proceeds from destructive governors and officials.” Ghiyasuddin thus stands in the line of succession from Balban: his son was in a few years’ time to furnish a striking example of the danger of departing from his policy. 5. MUHAMMAD TUGHLAQ (1325-1351) Ghiyasuddin was succeeded by his son, Muhammad Tughlaq. The character and capacity of this King have been frequently discussed, and, since Ziya Barni is the principal contemporary authority for the reign,! the dis- cussion has necessarily involved the question of his im- partiality: on the one hand, Professor Dowson curtailed his translation of what he called ‘“a long strain of eulogy,” on the other hand, Mr. Ishwari Prasad writes of him as “bitterly prejudiced” against the King. The truth is, 1 take it, that the chronicler found himself confronted with a task which was beyond his capacity. He could under- stand, and depict, kings like Alauddin or Ghiyasuddin, strong, simple, men with obvious motives; but Muhammad was a more complex character. his conduct was a mass of ! Barni’'s account of this reign begins on p. 454; his estimates of the King are on pp. 496-7, 504. Dowson’s remark quoted in the text is on p. 235 of Elliot, iii; Mr. Ishwari Prasad’s criticisms are in Ch. X of his Medieval India, especially the notes on p. 238, 260. Ibn Batiita, the other contemporary authority, gives much interesting information re- garding some aspects of the reign, but he throws little light on the agrarian system.

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