Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c5.s4.t2.19

c5.s4.t2.19

Sikandar Lodi made the position unmistakably clear to the successor of a famous Afghan noble, the *Masnad-i-Ali*, named Zain-ud-din. ‘Let Zain-ud-din understand’ so reads the royal *farman* ‘that the assignments are conferred on him in a purely personal capacity and not as a relation of the late *Masnad-i-Ali*’. For the son of the late noble, the monarch assigned a cash allowance and for the wife a piece of land as a *patta*, that is, subject to renewal and sanction every year. The same conditions applied to the grant of the cash allowance.¹ Thus, in its normally strong condition the State was very reluctant to forgo its rights of resuming the *Aqta* lands, or even religious and charitable *waqfs* (endowments). A weak monarch, however, found it convenient not to interfere with the arrangements of his predecessor. A succession of weak monarchs or a weak dynasty gave to the continued possession of an *Aqta* a certain amount of sanctity and resemblance to private property. The power of ensuring the descent of an honour or a revenue-assignment from the father to the son shows rather the weakness of the central government than the recognition of right of occupancy or right of private possession on the part of the Sultanate.²