10 THE AGRARIAN SYSTEM OF MOSLEM INDIA
the State’s claim on the peasants was assigned in this
way. !
Grantees.—In the same way, the King’s share due from
a specified area might be granted to any one of large classes
of claimants, by way of pensions for past service, rewards
for good conduct, or for literary or artistic achievement,
maintenance of deserving individuals, or of religious,
educational, or charitable endowments, and the like. The
position of a grantee was similar to that of an assignee,
and the distinction between the two classes was that an
Assignment was conditional on future service, ‘while a
Grant was not; but both classes were held during pleasure,
in the literal meaning of the phrase, and either Grant or
Assignment could be varied or summarily terminated by
order of the Ruler.
Farmers.—The idea underlying the method of farming
the King’s share seems to have been that an officer ap-
pointed to administer a province, or smaller area, could
effect a great administrative simplification by undertaking
to pay a fixed annual sum representing the net revenue of
his charge, thus relieving the executive of all detailed
financial responsibilities in regard to it. So stated, the
method should not be condemned offhand in the case of a
large kingdom, in times when communication was slow and
liable to frequent interruption; but in Moslem India, as in
other countries, it tended to attract speculators, and ad-
ministration suffered through their efforts to make a profit
in their short term of office. In practice then we must
distinguish between the Governor-on farming-terms, chosen
primarily for his character and abilities, and the speculative
Farmer, chosen mainly or merely because his bid was the
highest.
Farms of all sizes might be given, trom a province, or
group of provinces, down to a single village; and we must
recognise that in certain circumstances various other
renures tended to assume this form. From the purely fiscal
standpoint, a Chief was a Farmer, holding for an indefinite
term; and from the same standpoint headmen engaging
for a village or pargana were also technically Farmers.
Salaried assessors and collectors, again, might easily become
