276 THE AGRARIAN SYSTEM OF MOSLEM INDIA
ParGaNA. The Indian name for an aggregate of villages:
Came into official Moslem use in 14c., partially superseding
Qasba.
PaTTA (Pattd). Lease. The document given to a revenue-
payer, indicating the sum which he had to pay.
PaTwAri (Patwari). The village-accountant, a Hindi term
adopted from the outset in Moslem administration.
QaBOLIYAT. Written undertaking given for the payment of
revenue; the counterpart of a Patta.
QANGNGo. The pargana accountant and registrar. The position
certainly existed in the Hindu period, but the Hindi designa-
tion appears nowhere in the chronicles. The word Qaniin
in 13-14c. had not acquired the modern sense of “law,”
but denoted “custom” or “practice”; and Qaniingo must
be interpreted, not as “expounder of law,” but as “inter-
preter of custom,” i.e. it denotes the men to whom Moslem
administrators looked for information regarding the customs
of their Hindu subjects.
QARIYAT. A village, synonym of Deh.
QasBa (Qasba). The current meaning “town” has not been
found in the chronicles. The earliest writers used gasba
to denote -a pargana; from Afif onwards, pargana was
adopted as a Persian word. but gasba survived as an oc-
casional synonym.
QAzi (Qazi). An official in the Islamic system, with duties
mainly judicial, but also executive: there is no precise
English equivalent, but in the Mogul period the Qazi might
be described as the judicial assistant of the Governor.
QISMAT-1 GHALLA (. . . Ghalla). Division of grain. In 16¢.
a name for assessment by Sharing.
RABI (Rabi). In India. the winter; the crops grown in winter
and harvested in spring.
RAI. RAJA, RANA, RAo. Hindi terms denoting a King or Chief,
whether independent, or paving tribute or revenue to the
Moslem King.
RagaMi. A description applied to Akbar’s first Valuation. Its
precise significance is obscure, as explained in App. E.
RAY’. In 16¢c., denotes a schedule of crop-rates prepared for
assessment purposes, and showing the Demand in terms of
produce: opposed to Dastir, a schedule of cash assessment
rates. The word has survived locally in Benares in the
sense of “rent-rate.’’
