A'in-i Akbarī - The Ain-i-Akbarī, Volume 2

Called in the language of the day Foṭadár². The treasury should be located near the residence of the governor and the situation should be such where it is not liable to injury. He should receive from the cultivator any kind of mohurs, rupees or copper that he may bring, and not demand any particular coin. He shall require no rebate on the august coinage of the realm but take merely the equivalent of the deficiency in coin-weight. Coinage of former reigns he shall accept as bullion. He shall keep the treasure in a strong room with the knowledge of the shiḳdár³ and the registrar, and count it every ēvening and cause a memorandum thereof to be signed by the Collector and compare the day-ledger with the registrar's account and authenticate it by his signature. On the door of the treasury as sealed by the Collector, he should place a lock of his own, and open it only with the cognisance of the Collector and registrar. He shall not receive any monies from the cultivator save with the knowledge of the Collector and registrar, and he shall grant a receipt for the same. He shall cause the patwári's signature to be affixed to the ledger known in Hindustan as bahi, so that discrepancy may be avoided. He shall consent to no disbursements without the voucher of the diwán,¹ and shall enter into no usurious transactions. If any expenditure should be necessary that admits of no delay, he may act under the authority of the registrar and shiḳdár and represent the case to government. The aforementioned duties, from those of the commander of the troops up to this point, are primarily under the direct cognisance of the sovereign authority and as no one individual can perform them, a deputy is appointed for each function and thus the necessary links in administration are strengthened.

Since the benefit and vigour of human action are referrible to bodily sustenance, so in proportion to its purity is the spirit strengthened; the body, were it otherwise, would grow corpulent and the spirit weak: the thoughts too under such a regimen, incline to refinement and actions to virtue. The seekers of felicity, sober in conduct, are before all things particularly careful in the matter of food and do not pollute their hands with every meat. To the simple in heart who fear God, labour is difficult and their means of living straitened. They have not that luminous insight which penetrating to the essence of things, dwells in repose, but through fear of the displeasure of God, are sunk in exhaustion of soul from the pangs of hunger. As for instance in the case of the man who possessed a few cows, his legitimate property, and subsisted on their milk. By the accident of fortune, it chanced that they were carried off, and he passed some days fasting. An active fellow after diligent pursuit brought them back, but he would not accept them and replied, “I know not whence those dumb animals have had food during these past few days.” In a short space this simple soul died. Many tales are told of such dull-witted creatures who have thus passed away. There are also avaricious worldlings who do not recognize the difference between other people's property and their own, and gratify themselves at the expense of their spiritual and temporal good. The ignorant and distraught in mind, making their own necessities an occasion of spoilation and seizure, prepare for themselves eternal punishment.

Simple, innocent-minded folk consider that there are no unappropriated waste lands and were they obtainable, it would be difficult to furnish the implements of cultivation, and if these could be had, the means of providing food which would enable them to labour, are not manifest. They can discover no mine to excavate, and if one were pointed out to them which had no owner, it would be extremely onerous to obtain a living therefrom. They are averse too, from the profession of arms, lest dear life be the exchange for base lucre. They withdraw themselves also from commerce for this reason that many ask a high price for their goods, conceal their deficiencies and praise them for qualities which are not in them, while they close their eyes to the evident excellencies of what they purchase and disparage it for faults it does not possess, preferring their own benefit to another's loss. And they disapprove also of those who are content to hold lawful the sequestration of the goods of rival sectaries, and they affirm that if the fautor of such pretension be discerning and wise, it will seem an occasion for additional anxiety rather than a sanction to retain the property of another; for how can the illicit seizure of what is another's be commendable on the score of a difference of faith? On the contrary, it is a suggestion of the evil one, a phantasy of the dreams of the avaricious and unfit for the ears of the good. At the present time His Majesty has placed a lamp upon the highway before all men, that they may distinguish the road from the pitfalls, and sink not into the slough of perdition, nor pass their dear lives in unprofitableness.

Since there is infinite diversity in the natures of men and distractions internal and external daily increase, and heavy-footed greed travels post haste, and light-headed rage breaks its rein, where friendship in this demon-haunted waste of dishonour is rare, and justice lost to view, there is, in sooth, no remedy for such a world of confusion but in autocracy, and this panacea in administration is attainable only in the majesty of just monarchs. If a house or a quarter cannot be administered without the sanctions of hope and fear of a sagacions ruler, how can the tumult of this world-nest of hornets be silenced save by the authority of a vicegerent of Almighty power? How, in such a case can the property, lives, honour, and religion of the people be protected, notwithstanding that some recluses have imagined that this can be supernaturally accomplished, but a well-ordered administration has never been effected without the aid of sovereign monarchs. That fiery wilderness of talismanic power, too, is haunted by spells and sorcerers, and storms of confusion from this sea of undiscernment have arisen and arise, and many souls, through simplicity and shortsightedness, in the turbulent billows of inexperience have been and are still ever engulfed, while those who by the light of wisdom and through the grace of acceptance have bridled their desires and garnered provisions for the long journey to come, have, in the cross-roads of distraction, become the reproach of high and low, for their folly, irreligion and unbelief. In that assembly of ignorance should a philosopher of experience enter, he must needs take up the fashion of fools and so escape from the contumely of the base.

It is evident that in all cultivated areas, the possessors of property are numerous, and they hold their lands by ancestral descent, but through malevolence and despite, their titles become obscured by the dust of uncertainty and the hand of firmness is no longer stretched above them. If the cultivator hold in awe the power of the Adorner of the universe and the Elixir of the living, and the merchant turn back from evil designing and reflect in his heart on the favour of the lord of the world, the depository of divine grace, his possessions would assuredly be approved of wisdom. Thus the virtue of property lies in the pledge of intention, and a just ruler, like a saltbed, makes clean the unclean, and the evil good. But without honest coadjutors, abundant accessories of state and a full treasury even he could effect nothing and the condition of subserviency and obedience would lack the bloom of discipline. Now the man of robust frame should, in the first place, choose the profession of arms and reflect on the assistance which he is capable of rendering, so as to regard his life as devoted to the task of preserving human society from dissolution. The means of sustenance are likewise as abundant to the labourer as forage for his cattle. But if a man is unequal to this, he should endeavour, in some way, to enter into the number of state servants. Thus the currency of the means of subsistence rests on a twofold basis, viz., the justice of sovereign monarchs and regard to the welfare of well-disposed dependents. The base materialist understands not the language of reason and never transcends the limits of bodily sense. This unfertile soil needs the water of the sword, not the limpid spring of demonstration. In the presence of the majesty of the prince, the proud and perverse of disposition sink into obscurity while the prosperity of the good who seek after justice is ever continuous.

Of a truth, whatever be the recompense of the guardianship over the four¹ priceless elements of the constitution, it is both meet and expedient and according to the Almighty will. To the watchmen over the house, the lord thereof appoints the guerdon, and to the watchmen of the universe, its shepherds.² If the whole of a man's possessions were spent for the protection of his honour, it would be but fitting if in gratitude he further pledged his whole credit, how much the more when it is a question of the guardianship of the four great elements of State polity? But just monarchs exact not more than is necessary to effect their purpose and stain not their hands with avarice; and hence it is that this principle varies, as has been stated, according to diversities of age and country. From this suggestive digression, it will be evident that whatever circumspect rulers exact from their subjects after due deliberation and to subserve the interests of justice and grant to their submissive dependents, has a perfect propriety and is universally in vogue. It is also clear that the maintenance of the soldier should be ampler and more choice. Next follow the cultivators and then other artisans. Ancient Greek¹ treatises affirm that professions are circumscribed to three classes, the Noble, the Base, and the Intermediate. The former refers to the mind and is, also, of not more than three kinds: the first concerns the pure intellect, as sagacity and capability of administration; the second, acquired knowledge, as composition or eloquence; the third personal courage, as military duty. The Base also is of three kinds; the first is opposed to the common weal of mankind, such as the hoarding of grain: the second is the contrary of any one virtue, as buffoonery; the third is such as the disposition is naturally averse from, as the trade of a barber, a tanner or a sweeper. The Intermediate comprises various callings and trades; some that are of necessity,² such as agriculture; others which could be dispensed with, as dyeing; others again simple, as carpentry and ironmongery; and some compound, as the manufacturing of scales or knives.³

From this exposition the distinguished character of the military profession is evident. In short, the noblest source of maintenance is to be found in a profession which is associated with just dealing, self-restraint and bravery and apart from evil doing and sensuality. The good regard three things as necessary in a profession—avoidance of tyranny, refraining from what is dishonourable, abstinence from all that is mean; by what is dishonourable, is meant buffoonery and the like low pursuits; by what is mean, is understood an inclination to base callings.⁶

When an appropriate means of maintenance is secured, it is a requisite condition of economy to husband a portion of one's means, provided that the household is not thereby straitened. The mendicant should not be turned away disappointed nor subjected to the reproof of covetousness and greed. The proper control of an estate is conditional on the expenditure being less than the income; it is permitted to indulge a little in commercial speculation and engage in remunerative undertakings, reserving a part in coin and valuables, a part in goods and wares, and somewhat invested in the speculations of others, and yet a portion in lands and immoveable estates, and a share may be entrusted to borrowers of credit, and expenditure regulated with circumspection, justice and modesty. Let such a one be frank in his commercial dealings and give no place in his heart to self-reproach. He should keep in view of his purpose, the will of God, not the hope of gratitude, the increase of reputation or the expectation of reward. He should also give freely to the needy whose destitution is unexposed. There is also a twofold manner of munificence which if exercised in just measure, is meritorious. Firstly, what is given in pure generosity or largesse such as a present and the like. This should be done quickly and secretly and without setting store on its amplitude or abundance, nor yet so as to cripple one's resources or exhaust them.

Secondly what is called for by occasional exigencies, either in procuring comforts or removing grievances, such as what is given to oppressors or to the profligate in order that person, property and honour may escape their injury. But in this he should use moderation. In procuring the conveniences of life, however, it is better that the bounty should be liberal.

People of the world in the matter of living are to be resolved into three classes. One class are fallen into such heedlessness that spiritual needs do not enter their comprehension, much less are practically considered. Another through their luminous fortune are so immersed in the consideration of essential truths that they give no thought to their means of sustenance. But those who seek the felicity to come, the circumspect in conduct, neglect not a just appreciation of life but make external conditions the instrument of interior well being in the hope of admission among those absorbed in divine love, and so attaining to the third degree of felicity, whence after traversing the arid waste of deliverance, they may repose in the second.¹

The dues of sovereignty have thus been set forth. The circulation of the means of sustenance, thus, is seen to rest on the justice of prudent monarchs and the integrity of conscientious dependents. And because the conditions of the royal state and prerogative vary in different countries, and soils are diverse in character, some producing abundantly with little labour, and others the reverse, and as inequalities exist also, through the remoteness or vicinity of water and cultivated tracts, the administration of each state must take these circumstances into consideration and fix its demands accordingly. Throughout the whole extent of Hindustan where at all times so many enlightened monarchs have reigned, one-sixth of the produce was exacted; in the Turkish empire, Irán and Turán a fifth, a sixth, and a tenth respectively. In ancient times a capitation tax was imposed called, khiráj. Kubád disapproved of this practice, and resolved that the revenue should be fixed upon arable land accurately surveyed. But his death occurred before he could accomplish his design. Noshirwán (his son) carried it to completion and made the jaríb of ten square reeds.² This was sixty royal yards square. One fourth of this was taken as a ḳafíz³ and valued at three dirhams,⁴ and the third part was fixed as the contribution due to the state. Ḳafíz is a measure, called also sáa' weighing eight raṭl,⁵ and, some say, more. The dirhem is equal in weight to one misḳál. When the Caliphate fell to Omar, at the suggestion of the learned, he adopted the plan of Noshirwán but through the vicissitudes of temporal conditions, he introduced some alterations which may be gathered from ancient volumes. In Turán and Irán from ages past, they have exacted a tenth, but the exactions have increased to more than a half which does not appear exorbitant to a despotic government. In Egypt they take for a

The ḳudán is a measure of land of 100 square reeds, each of which is equal to one báa'.¹ An Ibrahími is current for 40 kabirs and 14 kabírs is equal to a rupee of Akbar Sháh. In some parts of the Turkish empire, they exact from the husbandman 30 A´ḳchehs for every yoke of oxen. The Áḳcheh is a silver coin equal to 81 Ibrahímis. And from crown lands the demand is 42 A´ḳcheh, and from each soldier 21, besides which the governor of the Súbah takes 15 more. In some parts for each plough 20, and from each soldier 7 A´ḳcheh, while the Governor takes six. In others, the Sanjakbegi² receives 27 and the Súbashi (kotwál) twelve. Other systems are also given which obtain in that empire.

The Muḥammadans account conquered lands of 3 kinds; U'shri, Khiráji and Sulhíy. The first two are subdivided into five kinds and the last into two. U'shri, 1st, kind; the district of Tehámah which comprises Mecca, Ṭáif, Yemen, O'mán, Bahrayn.³ 2nd, kind; land of which the owner has voluntarily embraced that faith. 3rd, Lands which have been conquered and apportioned. 4th, Land on which an adherent of that faith has built a mosque or planted a vine or laid out a garden or fertilized it with rain water; otherwise other conditions apply. 5th, Waste land which has been brought into cultivation by permission of the owner. Khiráji 1st kind; Persia proper and Kirmán. 2nd, Land which a tributary subject has laid out as grounds round about his house. 3rd, Land which a Muslim has reclaimed and irrigates from a source constructed from the public revenues. 4th, Land which has been acquired by convention. 5th, Land cultivated by means of water that pays revenue. Ṣulhíy, Lands of the Bani Najrán and Bani Taghlib;¹ the details of these may be learnt from ancient documents. Likewise, in some treatises, land is regarded under three heads. 1st, Land cultivated by Muslims which they deem U'shr.² 2nd, Land of which the proprietors have accepted that faith. According to some, this is U'shri, and others say that it is U'shri or Khiráji, according to the determination of the Imám. 3rd, Land acquired by conquest, which some make U'shri and others khiráji, and others again affirm that its classification rests with the Imám. 4th, Land which those outside the faith retain on convention. This they call khiráji. Tribute paid by khiráji lands is of two kinds. 1. Muḳásamah (divided), is the 5th or 6th produce of the soil. 2. Wazífah³ which is settled according to the capability and convenience of the tributaries. Some call the whole produce of the revenue khiráj, and as the share of the producing body is in excess of their expenditure, the Zaḳát⁴ is taken from the amount under certain stipulations and this they call a tithe, but on each of these points there is much difference of opinion. The Caliph Omar, during his time, taxed those who were not of his faith at the rate of 48 dirhams for persons of condition, 24 for those of the middle class, and 12 for the lowest class. This was called the Jaziyah (capitation tax).

In every kingdom government taxes the property of the subject over and above the land revenue and this they call Tamqha.⁵ In Irán and Turán they collect the land tax from some, from others the Jihát and from others again the Sáir Jihát, while other cesses under the name of Wajúhát and Farúa'át are exacted. In short, what is imposed on cultivated lands by way of quit-rent is termed Mál. Imports on manufactures of respectable kinds are called Jihát, and the remainder Sáir¹ Jihát. Extra collections over and above the land tax if taken by revenue officers are Wajúhát; otherwise they are termed Furúa'át.

In every country such demands are troublesome and vexatious to the people. His Majesty in his wise statemanship and benevolence of rule carefully examined the subject and abolished all arbitrary taxation, disapproving that these oppressions should become established by custom. He first defined the gaz, the tenáb, and the bíghah and laid down their bases of measurement: after which he classed the lands according to their relative values in production and fixed the revenue accordingly.

Is a measure of length and a standard gauge. High and low refer to it, and it is the desire of the righteous and the unrighteous. Throughout Hindustan there were three such measures current, viz., long, middling and short. Each was divided into 24 equal parts and each part called Ṭassúj.² A Ṭassúj of the 1st kind was equal to 8 ordinary barley-corns placed together breadthways, and of the other two respectively, to 7 and 6 barley-corns. The long gaz was used for the measurement of cultivated lands, roads, distances, forts, reservoirs and mud walls. The middling was employed to measure buildings of stone and wood, bamboo-built houses, places of worship, wells and gardens, and the short gaz for cloth, arms, beds, seats of state, sedan chairs, palanquins, chairs, carts and the like.

In some other countries, although they reckon the gaz as consisting of 24 Ṭassúj, they make

Others reckon the gaz as 24 fingers, each finger equal to the breadth of 6 barley-corns, and each barley-corn equal in thickness to 6 hairs from the mane of a cob. In some ancient books they make the gaz equal to two spans and twice round the joint (girih) of the thumb, and they divided it into 16 girih and each girih was subdivided into 4 parts which they called 4 pahr, so that a pahr was the sixty-fourth part of a gaz.

In other ancient records the gaz is reckoned of seven kinds. 1st, The Gaz i Sauda (Gaz of traffic) consisting of 24 digits and two-thirds of a digit. Harún úr Rashíd of the House of 'Abbás took this measure from the hand of an Abyssinian slave who was one of his attendants: the Nilometer² of Egypt is on this measure, and houses and cloths are also measured by it. 2nd, Ziráa' i ḳasbah, (Reed-yard) called also A'ámah, and Daur, of 24 digits: this was introduced by Ibn Abi Laila.¹ 3rd, The Yúsufíyah, used by the provincial governors of Baghdad for the measurement of houses: it consisted of 25 digits. 4th, The short Háshimíyah, of 28 digits and a third. Bilál² the son of Abi Bardah introduced it: according to some it was Abu Músa Ash'ari his grandfather. 5th, The long Háshimíyah of 29 digits and two-thirds which Manṣúr the A'bbaside favoured. It is also called the Maliḳ and Ziyádíyah. Ziyád³ was the so-called son of Abú Sufiyán who used it to measure the lands in Arabian I'ráḳ. 6th, The Omaríyah of 31 digits. During his Caliphate, Omar carefully considered the long, short and middling gaz.⁴ He took the three kinds together and to one-third of the aggregate he added the height of the closed fist and the thumb erect. He closed both ends of the measure with tin and sent it to Ḥudaifah⁵ and Otḥmán⁶ -b-Hunaif which they used for the measurement of the villages in Arabian Iráḳ. 7th, The Mámuníyah of 70 digits less a third. Mamún brought it into use, and it was employed for measuring rivers, plains and road distances.

Some in former times reckoned the cloth-measure (gaz) to be seven times the fist, and the fist was equal to four fingers closed; according to others, one finger less. The survey gaz, according to some, was the same seven fists: others made it seven fists together with one finger (thumb?) erect added to the seventh fist. Others again added another finger to that fist; while some made it seven fists with one finger adjoined to each fist.

Sultan Sikander Lodi in Hindustán introduced another gaz of the breadth of 41 Iskandaris and a half. This was a copper coin mixed with silver. Humayún added a half and it was thus completed to 42. Its length was 32 digits. But some authors anterior to his time make mention of a similar measure. Sher Khán and Salím Khán,¹ under whom Hindustán was released from the custom of dividing the grain and its apportionment, in measuring land used this gaz. Till the thirty first-year of the Divine Era, although the Akbar Sháhi gaz of 46 fingers was used as a cloth-measure, the Iskandari gaz was used for cultivated lands and buildings. His Majesty in his wisdom, seeing that the variety of measures was a source of inconvenience to his subjects, and regarding it as subservient only to the dishonest, abolished them all and brought a medium gaz of 41 digits into general use. He named it the Iláhi gaz and it is employed by the public for all purposes.

His Majesty fixed for the jaríb the former reckoning in yards and chose the measurement of sixty square, but adopted the Iláhi gaz. The Tanáb (tent rope) was in Hindustán a measure of hempen rope twisted which became shorter or longer according to the dryness or moisture of the atmosphere. It would be left in the dew and thus fraudfully moistened. Oftentimes it would be employed in the early morning when it had got damp and had shrunk, and by the end of the day it had become dry and had lengthened. In the former case, the husbandmen suffered loss, in the latter the royal revenues were diminished. In the 19th year of the Divine era, the jaríb was made of bamboos joined by iron rings. Thus it is subject to no variation, and the relief to the public was felt everywhere while the hand of dishonest greed was shortened.

Is a name applied to the jaríb. It is a quantity of land 60 gaz long by 60 broad. Shonld there be any diminution in length or breadth or excess in either, it is brought into square measure and made to consist of 3600 square gaz.¹ They divide the bigha into 20 parts, each of which is called biswah, and this is divided again into 20 parts each of which is termed biswánsah. In measuring they reduce no further. No revenue is required from 9 biswánsah, but ten they account as one biswah. Some, however, subdivide the biswánsah into 20 parts, each of which they called taswánsah, which they again divide into 20 parts, calling each tapwánsah. This again they partition in 20 portions, and name them severally answánsah. A bigha as measured by the tanáb of hemp, was two biswah and 12 biswansah smaller in extent than the bígha measured by the tanáb of bamboo. This makes a difference of 10 bígha in a hundred. Although the tanáb of hemp was of 60 gaz, yet in the twisting it shrunk to 56. The Iláhi gaz was longer than the Iskandari by one biswah, 16 biswánsah, 13 taswánsah, 8 tapwánsah, and 4 answánsah. The difference between the two reduced the bígha by 14 biswah, 20 biswánsah, 13 taswánsah, 8 tapwánsah, and 4 answánsah. In one hundred bíghas the variation in the two measures amounted to 22 bíghas, 3 bíswah and 7 biswánsah.

When His Majesty had determined the gaz, the tanáb, and the bígha, in his profound sagacity he classified the lands and fixed a different revenue to be paid by each.

Polaj is land which is annually cultivated for each crop in succession and is never allowed to lie fallow.

Parauṭi is land left out of cultivation for a time that it may recover its strength.

Chachar is land that has lain fallow for three or four years.

Banjar is land uncultivated for five years and more.

Of the two first kinds of land, there are three classes, good, middling and bad. They add together the produce of each sort, and a third of this represents the medium produce, one-third part of which is exacted as the royal dues. The revenue levied by Sher Khán, which at the present day is represented in all provinces as the lowest rate of assessment, generally obtained, and for the convenience of the cultivators and the soldiery, the value was taken in ready money.

The revenue from musk melons, ajwáin (Ligusticum ajowan), onions and other greens not counted as produce, was ordered to be paid in ready money at the rates hereinafter mentioned.

As a consideration for watching the crops a quarter of a seer (per maund) is allowed in some places and in others more, as will be shown.

The revenue from indigo, poppy, pán, turmeric, pignut¹ (trapa bispinosa), hemp, kachálu (arum colocasia) pumpkin, hinna (Lawsonia inermis) cucumbers, bádrang (a species of cucumber) the egg-plant (solanum melongena), radishes, carrots, karelá (momordica charantia) kakúra,² tendas,³ and musk-melons, not counted as produce, was ordered to be paid in ready money at the rates hereafter mentioned.

Parauti land when cultivated, pays the same revenue as polaj.

His Majesty in his wisdom thus regulated the revenues in the above-mentioned favourable manner. He reduced the duty on manufactures from ten to five per cent. and two per cent. was divided between the patwari and the ḳánungo. The former is a writer employed on the part of the cultivator. He keeps an account of receipts and disbursements, and no village is without one. The latter is the refuge of the husbandman. There is one in every district. At the present time the share of the ḳánungo (one per cent.) is remitted and the three classes of them are paid by the State accordding to their rank. The salary of the first is fifty rupees: of the second, thirty; of the third, twenty; and they have an assignment for personal support equivalent thereto. It was the rule that the commissaries of the shiḳḳdar, karkun,¹ and Amin should receive daily 58 dáms as a perquisite, provided that in spring they did not measure less than 200, nor in autumn less than 250 bíghas. His Majesty whose heart is capacious as the ocean, abolished this custom and allowed only one dám for each bígha.

Many imposts, equal in amount to the income of Hindustán were remitted by His Majesty as a thank-offering to the Almighty. Among these were the following:

The capitation tax.
The port duties.
Tax² per head on gathering at places of worship.
A tax on each head of oxen.
A tax on each tree.
Presents.
Distraints.
A tax on the various classes of artificers.
Dárogha's fees.
Taḥsildár's fees.
Treasurer's fees.
Complimentary offerings on receiving a lease and the like.
Lodging charges.
Money bags.
Testing and exchanging money.
Market duties.

Sale of cattle; also on hemp, blankets, oil, raw hides, weighing, scaling; likewise butcher's dues, tanning, playing at dice,¹ passports, turbans,² hearth-money, fees on the purchase and sale of a house, on salt made from nitrous earth, on permission to reap the harvest, felt, manufacture of lime, spirituous liquors, brokerage, catching fish, the product of the tree A´l (Morinda citrifolia);³ in fine all those imposts which the natives of Hindustán include under the term Sair Jihát,⁴ were remitted.

When either from excessive rain or through an inundation, the land falls out of cultivation, the husbandmen are, at first, in considerable distress. In the first year, therefore, but two fifths of the produce is taken: in the second three-fifths; in the third,⁵ four-fifths and in the fifth, the ordinary revenue. According to differences of situation, the revenue is paid either in money or in kind. In the third year the charges of 5 per cent. and one dám for each bígha⁶ are added.

When through excessive inundations production has seriously diminished, the revenue is collected in the following proportions:

Note. I stands for inundated land, and R for that which has suffered from rain.

In the 4th year the charges of 5 per cent. and one dám for each bígha were collected and this is still in force.

In Banjar land for the 1st year, one or two sers are taken from each bígha; in the 2nd year, 5 sers; in the 3rd year, a sixth of the produce; in the 4th year, a fourth share together with one dám: in other years a third suffices. This varies somewhat during inundations. In all cases the husbandman may pay in money or kind as is most convenient. Banjar land at the foot of the hills and land subject to inundations in the districts of

Sanbal¹ and Bahráich, do not remain as banjar, for so much new soil is brought down with the overflow that it is richer and more productive than polaj. His Majesty, however, in his large munificence places it in the same class. It is in the option of the cultivator to pay in ready money or by kankút² or bhaoli.

Intelligent people have from time to time set themselves to record the prices current of the Empire, and after careful inquiry the valuation of grain was accepted on this basis.

The revenue rates for a bígha of polaj land were fixed as has been stated. From the 6th year of the Divine Era which runs with the Novilunar year 968 (A. D., 1560-1) and concluding with the 24th year of this reign, the statistics were collected and have been tabulated for reference after the most diligent investigation. The figures are entered under the heading of each year.

Note. In these tables D stands for dám and J for Jetal the 25th part of a dám which is the 40th part of a rupee.