The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c22.27

v4.c22.27

From these preliminary explanations we may turn to the history of the subject during the Mughul period. There is no formal description of the revenue system in force in northern India at the opening of the sixteenth century; but incidental notices in the chronicles show that under the Lodī dynasty the great bulk of the kingdom was held in assignment by the Afghān leaders who constituted its effective strength. They show also that in practice the assignees enjoyed a free hand in regard to assessment, as well as in the treatment of any minor chiefs whose lands lay within their assignments; and the only record of interference by the king is an order issued by Ibrāhīm Lodī prohibiting the assignees from taking revenue in cash, an order which appears to have been justified by the prevailing scarcity of silver currency. In the absence of any record of a change, it may be assumed that these arrangements persisted in their main lines under Bābur and Humāyūn, and the basis of Akbar's distinctive system is to be found in the reorganisation effected by Sher Shāh.