Remonstrantie 11: [10.] THE PRODUCTIVITY AND YIELD OF THE LAND.
Jahangir's India (Moreland, Geyl) 11
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[10.] THE PRODUCTIVITY AND YIELD OF THE LAND.
11.1
The land would give a plentiful, or even an extraordinary yield, if the peasants were not so cruelly and pitilessly oppressed; for villages which, owing to some small shortage of produce, are unable to pay the full amount of the revenue-farm, are made prize, so to speak, by their masters or governors, and wives and children sold, on the pretext of a charge of rebellion. Some peasants abscond to escape their tyranny, and take refuge with rajas who are in rebellion, and consequently the fields lie empty and unsown, and grow into wildernesses. Such oppression is exceedingly prevalent in this country.
11.2
The year is here divided into three seasons. In April, May and June the heat is intolerable, and men can scarcely breathe. More than that, hot winds blow continuously, as stifling as if they came straight from the furnace of hell. The air is filled with the dust raised by violent whirlwinds from the sandy soil, making day like the darkest night that human eyes have seen or that can be grasped by the imagination. Thus, in the afternoon of 15th June, 1624, I watched a travado of dust coming up gradually, which so hid the sky and the sun that for two hours people could not tell if the world was at an end, for the darkness and the fury of the wind could not have been exceeded. Then the storm disappeared gradually, as it had come, and the sun shone again. The months of June, July, August, September, and October are reckoned as the rainy season, during which it sometimes rains steadily. The days are still very hot, but the rain brings a pleasant and refreshing coolness. In November, December, January, February and March it is tolerably cool, and the climate is pleasant. From April to June the fields lie hard and dry, unfit for ploughing or sowing owing to the heat. When the ground has been moistened by a few days' rain, they begin to sow indigo, rice, various kinds of food-grains eaten by the poor, such as jowar, bajra, kangni, various pulses for cattle-food, such as moth, mung, orb, urd, and a seed from which oil is extracted.
11.3
When all these are off the land, they plough and sow again, for there are two harvests; that is to say, in December and January, they sow wheat and barley, various pulses such as chana, masur, matar, and sarson and alsi (from which oil is extracted). Large numbers of wells have to be dug in order to irrigate the soil, for at this time it is beginning to lose its productive power. Provided the rains are seasonable, and the cold is not excessive, there is a year of plenty, not merely of food, but in the trade in all sorts of commodities. Such vegetables as the thin, sandy soil can produce — turnips, various beans, beetroot, salads, potherbs — grow here in abundance, as in Holland. Trees are plentiful round the city, but very scarce in the open country; even four or five trees usually mark the site of a village. Firewood is consequently very dear, and is sold by weight, 60 lb. for from 12 to 18 pice (or 5 stivers), making a serious annual expense for a large household. The poor burn cow-dung, mixed with straw and dried in the sun, which is also sold, as peat is sold in Holland. Fruit trees are still scarcer, because the ground is salty, and all fruit comes from Kandahar or Kabul — no apples, pears, quinces, pomegranates, melons, almonds, dates, raisins, filberts, pistachios, and many other kinds. Great and wealthy amateurs have planted in their gardens Persian vines which bear seedless grapes, but the fruit does not ripen properly in one year out of three.
11.4
Oranges are plentiful in December, January and February, and are obtainable also in June and July; they are very large, especially in the neighbourhood of Bayana. Lemons can be had in large quantities. The other fruits have too little taste, and are thought too little of, to be worth mentioning.
11.5
The supply of meat, such as we have in Holland, is ample, but it is cheaper than with us. There are sheep, goats, fowls, geese, ducks, deer and other game; and the supply is so large that it is little valued, and prices are low. Oxen and cows are not slaughtered, as they have to work while they are young, doing everything that is done by horses in Holland; and besides, their slaughter is strictly forbidden by the King on pain of death, though buffaloes may be freely killed. The King maintains this rule to please the Hindu rajas and banians, who regard the cow as one of the most veritable gods or sacred things. They also occasionally obtain by bribery a general order from the King, or from the Governor of a particular city, that no one shall catch any fish for several days, or for as long a period as they can secure; and, occasionally, that for some days no meat of any description, whether goat, sheep, or buffalo, shall be sold in the market. Such orders are extremely inconvenient for ordinary people, but the rich slaughter daily in their own houses. This would be a desirable country if men might indulge their hunger or appetite as they do in our cold lands; but the excessive heat makes a man powerless, takes away his desire for food, and limits him to water-drinking, which weakens or debilitates his body. But as this discussion is irrelevant, I shall close it, and turn to —