The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India c11.s7.4

c11.s7.4

The artisans and craftsmen in the permanent service of the monarch and the principal *Omarahs* were a little better off than the casual wage earners. They tended to preserve the arts for they were paid more and regularly. Akbar sanctioned the following daily wages for workers and artisans-2 *dams* (copper coins, 1/ 40 of *Rupia*) for ordinary labourers, 3 to 4 *dams* for superior labourers, 3 to 7 *dams* for carpenters and 5 to 7 *dams* for builders. According to Moreland carpenters and builders got, in Akbars days, equivalent to about one rupee per day on the average, and they were rather better off than the modern workmen of the United Provinces, if not Punjab in the early years of the twentieth century. But there are many buts. It is not certain if the workmen got full sanctioned rates. Then for the slightest mistake they were heavily fined. If a horse lost condition, the fines came down to the water carriers and sweepers employed in the stable. When an elephant died through neglect, the attendants (some of whom drew less than three rupees a month) had to pay the price of the animal.¹⁴⁹ During the process of investigation and imposition of punishment some money had to be paid to middlemen and Mughal officers. Naturally, such artisans and workers can never become rich, and he feels it no trifling matter if he have the means of satisfying the cravings of hunger and of covering his body with the coarsest raiment.¹⁵⁰