Mughal Administration c8.s4.13

c8.s4.13

“So long as the agent of the jagirdar or the *āmil* of the Crownlands does not give you a written requisition for military aid, do not attack any village in your jurisdiction. After you have received such a requisition [or rather complaint against a defaulting and refractory village], contrive to influence some of the leading men of the village who are the sources of the trouble and try to reform them, so that they may repent of their violence and lawless conduct and incline to the payment of revenue and the peaceful pursuit of agriculture. In case they reform themselves, take a deed of agreement [to such a course] from the amil. If they refuse to reform, then chastise the evil men of the village [i.e., the ringleaders], but do not molest the [ordinary] peasants. Guard the roads, cut the jungles, demolish the [illegal] forts, etc."