Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 4.5.10

4.5.10

' — The Timariots, Governors, and Revenue contractors, on their part reason in this manner : ' Why should the neglected state of this land create uneasiness in our minds? and why should we expend our own money and time to render it fruitful ? We may be deprived of it in a single moment, and our exertions would benefit neither ourselves nor our children. Let us draw from the soil all the money we can, though the peasant should starve or abscond, and we should leave it, when commanded to quit, a dreary wilderness.'