The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.403

v3.c20.403

The extent of the enhancement is uncertain. The statement that the demand was increased ten-fold and twenty-fold is almost certainly hyperbolical, and the statements of Firishta, who says that it was increased three-fold and four-fold, and of Budaunī, who says that it was doubled, are probably nearer the truth; but whatever the extent of the enhancement may have been the cultivators were unable to meet the demand, and abandoned their holdings and took to brigandage, so that the treasury suffered and the guilty went unpunished. The reprisals ordered by the king converted one of the richest and most fertile provinces of the kingdom into the seat of a war between the royal troops and the inhabitants.