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The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c16.s9: Appendix I: Charā’ī and Karhī

The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehlī c16.s9

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Appendix I: Charā’ī and Karhī

c16.s9.2

VARIOUS scholars have read karhī as gharī and called it a house tax. The word karhī occurs in Baranī on p. 288; Blochmann and Fuller suggest that the word گری after سکونت in the following passage should be read کرھی:

c16.s9.3

"دویم آنکه از گاو میش یا گوسپند هر چه شیر آور بود چراثی بستانند و چراثی تعیین شد و از پس هر خانه سکونت گری طلب نمایند تا هیچ غیتی و شتر گری درستدن خراج نماند و بار اقویا بر ضعفا ننهند و اقویا و ضعفا را در دادن خراج یک حکم باشد"

c16.s9.4

(Baranī, p. 287.)

c16.s9.5

گری is obviously a mistake; کرھی sounds more convincing. But it is difficult to agree with the suggestion that کرھی (karhī) was a house tax. It is mostly used with charā’ī and seems to be in some way connected with it. (Vide Baranī, p. 288; Sīrat-i-Fīrūzshāhī; Futūḥāt-i-Fīrūzshāhī.) Besides, the parallel passages in Ṭabaqāt-i-Akbarī (i, p. 153) and Firishta (i, p. 191) do not mention karhī. It may be argued that ‘Afīf mentions a house tax called mustaghil; but this was limited to the capital and was rent, not a tax. Besides the context makes it clear that charā’ī, karhī and kharāj are closely related. I think that کرھی comes from کره which means fresh butter; گری itself means a shed for cattle. The omission of this word from parallel passages in later authorities makes it probable that karhī and charā’ī were identical; if they were two different imposts, charā’ī was levied for the use of land paying kharāj for pasturing animals and karhī was a tax on the increase in cattle and would correspond to the ancient Hindu tax of an exactly similar nature. It is not impossible that the word was pronounced as *kurrahī*, *kurrah* being a colt or a calf. The fact that it was to be levied from every dwelling place should cause no difficulty, for the context shows that the measure was intended to avoid group assessment which enabled the influential chiefs to escape payment by an unjust distribution. Of course the same area could not pay both *charā'i* and *kharāj*.

c16.s9.6

We hear of *charā'i* under the Mughuls but *karhī* does not find mention; this confirms the opinion that *charā'i* and *karhī* were identical. D. A. (p. 34) uses the Arabic form *marā'i* for the Hindi *charā'i*. Like various other authorities it does not mention *karhī*. Is it possible that ignorant scribes have caused the confusion by transcribing کرھی as گری or مراعی ?

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