The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c22.32

v4.c22.32

The historical importance of Sher Shāh’s methods lies in the fact that they formed the starting-point of the series of experiments in administration which marked the first half of Akbar’s reign. Much information regarding these experiments is furnished by the authorities, but they are in some respects incomplete, while their language is highly technical; particular statements divorced from their context may easily be misunderstood; and the account which follows, based on study of the authorities as a whole, differs substantially from much which has been written on the subject in the past. It deals in order, first, with the experiments in assessment made in the heart of the empire, from the Punjab to Bihār; next, with the practice in regard to assignments; and then with the working of the arrangements finally adopted for the empire as a whole.