[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Dark Ages](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages) › [General histories](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general) › [Ṣaḥīḥ al-akhbār](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.sahih-al-akhbar) › [Sahihu-l Akhbar, of Sarup Chand (Elliot & Dowson, extracts)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.sahih-al-akhbar~en-elliot) › 1 # Shahih al-akhbar 1 Sahíhu-l Akhbár, of Sarúp Chand (Elliot & Dowson, extracts) 1 - **Language:** English ### [1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.sahih-al-akhbar~en-elliot.1) Persons appointed by a Raja as tahsildars, or revenue collectors of two or three parganas, were called chaudharis. The superior class of byoparis, or tradesmen, were called mahajans, or banjaras; and among the sarrafs, or bankers, those who were wealthier than the generality of their profession were entitled sahs, and those who were wealthiest were called seths. The heads of all classes of trades and professions were termed chaudharis. From the time of the establishment of the Emperors' power in India, those persons who paid revenue to the Government were called zamindars. According to some writers, those who were held responsible to Government for the revenue of several villages or a pargana were called zimmaddrs, which word afterwards was corrupted into zaminddr. However, in the time of the Emperor Akbar, all old mdlguzdrs were put down in the Government records as zammddrs or ta'allukddrs. The office of chaudhari was at the disposal of the governors, and any person on whom it was conferred by them was designated a chaudhari. No person had a hereditary right to this office. The term ta'allukddr is peculiar to Bengal, and is not known elsewhere. In the time of the Emperors, any person who had been from of old a proprietor of several parganas was designated a zaminddr, and the proprietors of one or two villages were written down in the records as ta'allukddrs. When a pargana first began to be brought under cultivation and inhabited, those who by their own labour cut down the forest in a tract of land, and populated it, were distinguished by the title of ta'allukddr jangal buri; and formerly, amongst the higher class of raiyats, those who paid to the Government a revenue of 500 rupees, or beyond it up to 1000 rupees, or those who, like patwdris, collected the revenue of one or two villages, or two or four small circuits, were considered by the Government as holding the office of a revenue collector, and were termed ta'allukddrs. During the reigns of the former Emperors nothing like a durable settlement of land revenue was made for a period of 370 years, because in those days their rule was not firmly established in the country. In the time of Akbar, all the districts, large and small, were easily occupied and measured. The land was methodically divided, and the revenue of each portion paid. Each division, whether large or small, was called a ta'alluka, and its proprietor a ta'allukddr. If in one pargana the names of several persons were entered in the Government record as ta'allukddrs, they were called taksimi ta'allukddrs, or mazkuri taallukddrs. From the time of Farrukh Siyar, affairs were mismanaged in all the provinces, and no control was maintained over the Government officials, or the zaminddrs. All classes of Government officers were addicted to extortion and corruption, and the whole former system of regularity and order was subverted. --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.sahih-al-akhbar~en-elliot.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.sahih-al-akhbar~en-elliot.1) · Pramāṇa