History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c12.202

c12.202

“The Sultan invented out of his own original mind many devices to promote agriculture. A device calculated to improve agriculture was called an *aslūb*. If these abstract *aslūbs* had become realities, and if the people had not considered them impossible, there is no doubt that the world would have been filled with good things owing to agricultural prosperity. Money would have flowed into the coffers of the state, and the army would have become large enough to conquer the habitable globe. A special department was created for the promotion of agriculture which was named the *Diwan-i-Amir Kohi* with a staff of officers to carry on its work. An area of 30 *krohs* was farmed on condition that there will not remain in it even a *bālisht* of uncultivated land. The crops were to be changed, barley was to be grown instead of wheat, sugar-cane instead of barley and grapes and dates in place of sugar-cane. A hundred *shiqdars* were appointed, but they turned out greedy, dishonest and thoughtless persons. They promised to give three lakhs of *bighas* of cultivated land and to furnish one thousand horsemen after three years and executed *khats* or agreements. They also took upon themselves the responsibility of cultivating waste lands. They received from the state horses with embroidered saddles and cloaks of precious cloth together with rich rewards. For every three lakhs of *bighas* of cultivated land which they promised to show they received fifty thousand *tankahs* in cash as an advance from the state. But they squandered the money on personal needs and failed to cultivate the allotted area. In this way the Sultan gave away seventy lakhs of *tankahs* as *Sondhār* or advance of which not even a hundredth or thousandth part was realised.⁸⁷ The avaricious *Shiqdārs*