64 THE AGRARIAN SYSTEM OF MOSLEM INDIA 
exist, but as indicating that at this period they did not 
present any serious administrative problem. The Moslem 
administration was concerned mainly with the problems 
presented by the Chiefs, who, within the area of their 
authority, stood between the peasants and the Government. 
The extent of country allowed to remain in their hands 
cannot be calculated, but it was certainly important. 
The policy adopted after the lapse of Alauddin’s regulations 
may be regarded as on the whole favourable to the Chiefs, 
and would make for stability so long as revenue was paid, 
and friendly relations were maintained with the local 
authorities; but obviously the individual Chief had no 
securitv as against a King sufficiently strong to oust him. 
Whether the peasants enjoyed in practice the security 
of tenure which is nowadays regarded as a primary condition 
of successful agriculture, is a question on which the records 
of the period throw no direct light. The episode of the 
River Country shows that they could be driven to abscond, 
put it stands by itself, and there is no hint of anything which 
could justly be described as ejectment. It is clear, however, 
that there was fertile land to spare, waiting for men with 
the resources needed to bring it under the plough; and, 
in such circumstances, the question of ejectment is of little 
practical interest, because the essence of good management 
is to keep the peasants at work, and help them to extend 
their holdings. Nor could the connected question of 
limitation of rent arise in such circumstances, since, on the 
assumption! that rent-paying tenants existed, they would be 
certain of a welcome elsewhere, and consequently would be 
in a position to resist unreasonable demands. The facts 
on record are too scanty for a precise description of the 
position of the peasantry as a whole, but what facts there 
are, are consistent with the existence of a fairly stable 
condition in normal times, the peasants of a village culti- 
vating more or less land according to their needs and re- 
sources, and treating their tenants, if there were any, well 
enough to keep them at work. Given reasonably good 
! The question of tenants living in the village but not included in the 
Brotherhood is discussed in Chapter VI. I have found no evidence to 
show whether such tenants existed in the fourteenth century