History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c38.s1.1

v3.c38.s1.1

Immediately after his second enthronement, Aurangzib took two measures which had become pressing necessities. During the War of Succession the civil administration had broken down in most parts of the empire. Everywhere the strong were oppressing the weak and filling the country with disorder and tumult; the cultivators lost the fruits of their labour through robbery by the powerful or the ravages of war. In short, the economic ruin of many parts of Northern India was complete, and grain was selling at famine prices. The evil was aggravated by the inland transit duties; at every ford, ferry, hill pass or provincial boundary, toll of one-tenth of the value of the goods was taken on the passing merchandise as wages for guarding the roads. This system opened a wide door to oppression and unauthorized exaction, so that in popular speech a road-guard (*rahdar*) came to be called a road-brigand (*rahzan*). In the larger towns, like Agra, Delhi, Lahor and Burhanpur, a duty (called *pandari*) was levied on all articles of food and drink brought from outside for sale. In the crownlands alone the road-police tax (*rahdari*) yielded 25 lakhs of Rupees a year, and if we add to this the collection made in the tracts under the jagirdars and zamindars, and the perquisites of the office underlings, we shall not be far wrong in putting the total loss of the merchants under this head at a crore of Rupees, or one-twentyfifth of the gross land revenue of the State.