The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c11.82

c11.82

¹ Baranī, p. 429. The words are "محدثات و قسمات بود و نابود". Moreland, p. 227 translates محدثات as 'innovations'; there was no innovation in the rule of measurement, which was older than Muslim rule in India. Sirat-i-Firūzshāhī, p. 124, uses محدثات for taxes. The meaning which suits the text better is given by D.A., p. 36 which defines محدث as anything charged on agriculture beyond the customary demand or with severity. This applies admirably to 'Alā-u'd-dīn Khaljī's demand. قسمات (qismāt) is obviously the same as تقسيمات (taqsīmāt) in Ā'in-i-dahsālah (Ā'in-i-Akbarī, I, p. 347) which Moreland (p. 244) identifies with schedules. قسمات بود و نابود, therefore, should be taken to mean 'schedules of yield' or, more accurately, 'statements of the actual produce.' These would be necessary only when concession is made for partial failure or an unexpectedly low yield.