Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India c8.s3.25

c8.s3.25

On the allotment or transference of a jagir on the above lines, the allottee officer carried the royal *farman* to assume his charge. The *farman* bore the royal seal with the counter mark of the chief Wazir,[142] but by the time of Aurangzeb such *farmans* appear to have lost authority. For, when the allottee carried the letter of conferment, he was not given charge of the jagir until and unless a present or bribe was given to one already in possession of the land. Needless to say that the giver of the bribe collected the amount from the cultivator in course of time. As has been well said, the essence of imperialism is exploitation. It protects vested interests. The only interest that it does not protect is that of the masses, of the peasantry and the workers. To protect them can only mean to protect them against exploitation. Imperialism, of which the essence is exploitation, cannot afford such protection.