Remonstrantie 4.6

4.6

They dominated the neighbourhood of Bayana to such an extent that they ate up entire fields of indigo as far as the eye could reach, leaving nothing but the bare stalks, and this has kept the price of indigo very high. Again, in September of 1621, the rainfall was so excessive and continuous that the whole country was flooded; the indigo crop, which was so promising that the peasants were afraid there would not be merchants enough to buy it, was so thoroughly washed away that what survived would not yield 400 bales ; and consequently many men who were rich and had been concerned in sowing indigo all their lives, were reduced to such poverty, that even now nothing like so much indigo is sown as formerly. The yield of the indigo in the adjacent region known as Bayana used to be 4000 bales, but at present it is, at the outside, very little more than half that quantity. The true Bayana indigo, which is made near that town, does not amount to more than about 300 bales, but it is much superior to the produce of other neighbouring villages. This superiority is due to the brackish water in the wells near the town, for the use of sweet water makes the indigo hard and coarse. There may be two wells nearly close together, one brackish and the other sweet; and in that case plant worked with the brackish water will give indigo worth at least one rupee per maund more than plant cut from the same field, and worked with the sweet water.