Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 4.3.4

4.3.4

This salary is increased by the money that the Omrah retains out of every man's pay, and by what accrues from his false returns of the horses he is supposed to provide : all which renders the Omrah's income very considerable, particularly when he is so fortunate as to have some good Jah-ghirs, or suitable lands, assigned to him for the payment of his salary : for I perceived that the Omrah under whom I served, a Penge-Hazary, or lord of five thousand, whose quota was fixed at five hundred horses, had yet a balance over after the payment of all expenses, of nearly five thousand crowns a month, although, like all those who have no Jah-ghirs, he was a Nagdy, that is to say, one who drew his pay in cash from the treasury. Notwithstanding these large incomes, I was acquainted with very few wealthy Omrahs; on the contrary, most of them are in embarrassed circumstances, and deeply in debt ; not that they are ruined, like the nobility of other countries, by the extravagance of their table, but by the costly presents made to the King at certain annual festivals, and by their large establishments of wives, servants, camels, and horses.