The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c22.4

v4.c22.4

The central sources of revenue were by comparison few in number; they may be classed as Commerce, Mint, Presents, Inheritance, Salt, Customs, Poll-tax, and Land. From time to time the state took an active part in commerce, but its operations were fiscally important only when they involved a monopoly of particular commodities; these monopolies ordinarily concerned munitions, such as lead or saltpetre, but occasionally other articles were affected, the most noteworthy case being the general monopoly of indigo created by Shāh Jahān in 1633, which, however, was quickly broken by the opposition of the foreign buyers. The working of the mints was commonly farmed, so that they must be regarded as a source of revenue; the yield is not recorded, but it cannot have been large so long as the prescribed standards of the currency were maintained.