62 THE AGRARIAN SYSTEM OF MOSLEM INDIA
7. SUMMARY
The death of Firiz marked the end of an epoch. "In the
course of a few years the kingdom broke up, and during the
first half of the fifteenth century there was no longer a
single predominant Moslem power in India. The Deccan
and Khandesh, Gujarat and Malwa, Bengal and Jaunpur,
had become independent kingdoms; Lahore and Delhi
were sometimes at variance; and for the time being there
was no opportunity for the revenue administrator to make
his mark on the institutions of the country as a whole.
Before leaving the fourteenth century, it may be well to
attempt a summary of the features of the agrarian system
as it had developed under the Khalji and Tughlaq dynasties.
The King’s share of the peasant’s produce was fixed by
Alauddin at one-half; the figure during other reigns is not
recorded, but was probably less, rather than more. As
regards the method of its assessment, there were two
currents of opinion, one of which favoured reliance on the
area sown, while the other looked at the produce reaped.
Individual kings chose one method or the other, and
doubtless their orders were carried out in the country which
they administered directly; but the larger area was con-
trolled by Governors, sometimes holding in farm, or by
Chiefs retaining their internal jurisdiction, and it would
be rash to infer absolute uniformity of practice throughout
the kingdom. The more probable view is that the different
methods of assessment persisted side by side, gaining or
losing ground in accordance with circumstances, but neither
yielding entirely to the other; and the existence of Assign-
ments must be regarded as a factor working strongly in
favour of local diversity, because it involved the appearance
of a large number of persons more intent on collecting their
ues than on the maintenance of any particular method of
assessment. The form in which the Demand was ordinarily
made on the peasants is not recorded in so many words,
but the fact that Alauddin, for special reasons, ordered col-
lections in some areas to be made in grain shows that cash
payments were, at any rate, common, though in this matter,
