The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c16.s4: Appendix D: Mahṣūl-i-Mu‘āmalatī

The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehlī c16.s4

Language: English

Appendix D: Mahṣūl-i-Mu‘āmalatī

c16.s4.3

" از محصول معاملتی که رعایا از دل و جان به کراهت و مشقتی و شدتی ادا نمایند کفایت کردند " .

c16.s4.4

(Baranī, p. 574.) (Agrarian System of Moslem India, p 231.)

Moreland translates it as: " And a reduction was made in the mahṣūl-i-mu‘āmalatī so that the peasants may pay willingly without difficulty or severity." In a footnote he adds that he has not found any parallel passage to indicate the meaning of mahṣūl-i-mu‘āmalatī. "From the context," he goes on to say, " it appears to denote some impost on the peasants, different from the kharāj or revenue, but its nature is a matter of conjecture." Moreland has been led away by the fact that this term has been used only once by Baranī. D. A., p. 36 uses the phrase māl-i-mu‘āmalatī which is obviously a synonym. The context makes it quite clear that kūfī is referring to kharāj. On p. 34 the same authority uses mu‘āmalat for the administration of affairs connected with kharāj. The sentence, therefore, simply means that the officers "limited themselves to a demand which the peasants might pay willingly without any hardship or difficulty." The following parallel passage in Inshā-i-Māhrū (Letter XXX) confirms this opinion :—

c16.s4.6

" خراج که قدیم الایام بود ، و در طبایع کافی رعایا و عامه برایا منطبع است و موجب تخریب نیست ' آن اختیار کنند " .

c16.s4.7

Translation: Adopt the kharāj which is traditional and has come down from old days, to which the cultivators and the people are accustomed and which will not lead to a decrease in cultivation.

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Tārīkh-i Fīrūzshāhī — Shams-i Sirāj ʿAfīf