A´I´N 19.
ON SAYU´RGHA´LS.*

His Majesty, in his care for the nation, confers benefits on people of various classes; and in the higher wisdom which God has conferred upon him, he considers doing so an act of divine worship.

His Majesty, from his desire to promote rank distinctions, confers lands and subsistence allowances on the following four classes of men, first, on enquirers after wisdom, who have withdrawn from all worldly occupation, and make no difference between night and daytime in searching after true knowledge; secondly, on such as toil and practise self-denial, and while engaged in the struggle with the selfish passions of human nature, have renounced the society of men; thirdly, on such as are weak and poor, and have no strength for enquiry; fourthly, on honorable men of gentle birth who from want of knowledge, are unable to provide for themselves by taking up a trade.

Subsistence allowances, paid in cash, are called Wazífah; lands conferred are called Milk, or Madad i ma'ásh. In this way, krors are given away, and yet the grants are daily increasing in number.

As the circumstances of men have to be enquired into, before grants are made, and their petitions must be considered in fairness, an experienced man of correct intentions is employed for this office. He ought to be at peace with every party, and must be kind towards the people at large in word and action. Such an officer is called Çadr. The Qází and the Mír 'Adl are under his orders. He is assisted in his important duties by a clerk, who has to look after the financial business, and is now-a-days styled Díwán i Sa'ádat.

His Majesty, in his mercy, orders his servants to introduce to him such as are worthy of grants, and a large number receive the assistance they desire.

When His Majesty commenced to enquire into this department, it was discovered that the former Çadrs had been guilty of bribery and dishonest practices. He therefore appointed, at the recommendation of near friends, Shaikh 'Abdunnabí to this important office. The lands which were then held by Afgháns and Chaudrís, were taken away, and became domain lands (khalsah),* whilst all others that held grants were referred to the Shaikh who enquired into, and certified, their grants. After some time it was reported that those who held grants, had not the lands in one and the same place, whereby the weak whose grounds lay near kháliçah lands or near the jágírs of Mançabdárs, were exposed to vexations, and were encroached upon by unprincipled men. His Majesty then ordered that they should get lands on one spot, which they might choose. This order proved beneficial for both parties. The officers of the government, on receiving this order, told off certain villages for this purpose: those who were weak were protected, and the encroachments of the unprincipled were put a stop to.

But when Time, according to his custom, commenced to tear the veil of secrets, rumours also regarding this Çadr ['Abdunnabí] came to the ears of His Majesty. An order was therefore given that all those who held more than five hundred bíg'hahs should lay their farmáns personally before His Majesty, and in default, should lose their lands. As, however, the practices of these grant-holders did not come up to the wise counsels of His Majesty, the order was passed, that the excess of all lands above one hundred bíg'hahs, if left unspecified in the farmáns, should be reduced to two-fifths of it, three-fifths of the excess being annexed to the domain lands. I´rání and Túrání women alone were excepted from this rule.

As it was reported that impudent, avaricious people used to leave their old grounds, and take possession of new places, it was ordered that every one who should leave his place, should lose one-fourth of his lands and receive a new grant.

Again, when His Majesty discovered that the Qázís were in the habit of taking bribes from the grant-holders, he resolved, with the view of obtaining God's favour, to place no further reliance on these men [the Qázis], who wear a turban as a sign of respectability, but are bad at heart, and who wear long sleeves, but fall short in sense. He examined into the whole matter, and dis­missed all Qázís, except those who had been appointed during the Çadrship of Sulṭán Khwájah. The I´rání and Túrání women also were convicted of fraud, and the order was passed that every excess of land above one hundred bíg'hahs held by them, should be enquired into, whether it was correctly held or not.

During the Çadrship of 'Azaduddaulah [Mír Fathullah of Shíráz] the following order was given:—If any one held a Sayúrghál together with a partner, and the farmán contained no reference to the share possessed by each partner, the Çadr should, in the event of one of the partners dying, proceed without further enquiry to a division, the share of the deceased partner lapsing to the Crown and remaining domain land, till the heirs should personally apply to His Majesty. The new Çadr was at the same time prevented from granting, without previous reference to His Majesty, more than fifteen bíg'hahs.

On account of the general peace and security in the empire, the grant-holders commenced to lay out their lands in gardens, and thereby derived so much profit, that it tempted the greediness of the Government officers, who had certain notions of how much was sufficient for Sayúrghál-holders, to demand revenue taxes; but this displeased His Majesty, who commanded that such profits should not be interfered with.

Again, when it was found out that holders of one hundred bíg'hahs and even less were guilty of bribery, the order was given that Mír Çadr Jahán should bring these people before His Majesty; and afterwards it was determined that the Çadr with the concurrence of the writer of this work should either increase or decrease the grants. The rule now followed is this, that all Sayúrghál land should consist of one-half of tilled land, and of one-half of land capable of cultivation; if the latter half be not so [i. e., if the whole be tilled land], one-fourth of the whole should be taken away and a new grant be issued for the remainder.

The revenue derived from each bíg'hah varies in the several districts, but is never less than one rupee.

His Majesty, with the view of teaching wisdom and promoting true piety, pays much attention to this department, and appoints disinterested men as Çadrs of districts and Çadr of the realm.