Mughal Administration c9.s6: § 7. The amin and the qanungo.
Mughal Administration c9.s6
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- English
§ 7. The amin and the qanungo.
c9.s6.1
*Āmin* literally means an umpire or arbitrator, a trustee for others. The essence of his office was to be an impartial umpire between the State demanding revenue and the individual ryots paying it.
c9.s6.2
The *Manual of the Duties of Officers* (63—65) gives us the following information about the *āmin* and his work :—
c9.s6.3
''The *āmin* should know the regulations (*zābita*) well, and be an honest and expert man, well-versed in the quality (good or bad) of every affair. He should make the assessment (*mushakhkhas*) according to the rules and let none steal Government money.
c9.s6.4
''The *āmin*'s work is to cause the kingdom to be cultivated. Before the commencement of the season of cultivation, he should take from the *qānungo*es the preceding ten years' papers of the revenue assessment and area of the villages, ride to the villages in company with the kroris, chaudhuris, *qānungo*es and zamindars, inquire into the condition of the villages, as regards their [culturable] area and the actual number of ploughs, compare the area given in the papers of the qanungo with the real area, and if the two do not agree call upon the qanungo to explain the excess (in the case of excess), and censure the headmen (in the case of shortage), saying ‘Why did the qanungo give a false return and why did the headmen tell lies?
c9.s6.5
“Then inquire whether the existing ploughs are sufficient for the cultivators of the village. If not, then grant taqāvi (agricultural loans), proportioned to the area of the culturable soil of the village, for the purchase of oxen and seeds, taking bonds* from the headmen for the recovery of the loan with the first instalment of the [next] year’s revenue, and indemnity-bonds (muchilka) from the kroris that they would realize the loan with the first instalment of the [next] year.”
c9.s6.6
The sanad appointing an āmin runs thus: “Do your work with honesty and truthfulness. Exert yourself to perpetuate the cultivation and increase the habitation. You will be held responsible for the portion of the collected revenue deposited with the fotahdar which he keeps in his hands in arrear (i.e., without paying it into the treasury). Urge the krori to collect the revenue according to his own assessment and deposit it with the fotahdar. Give temporary receipts (chithā) for the money that the ryots pay to the fotahdar, under your seal and the fotahdar's signature, and at the time of payment of revenue in full (bebāqi) make up the account according to this chithā. Do not collect any ābwāb like bālā dasti and tahsildāri, as all these have been forbidden by the Emperor. Warn the chaudhuris and qānungoes not to exact any such cess."
c9.s6.7
∗ These bonds (tamassuk) were to be endorsed by the chaudhuri as security, sealed by the qazi, and attested by the qanungo and zamindar.
c9.s6.8
The papers which the āmin and the krori had to submit to the Diwan's office are enumerated in Z. 34a and D. 89a, those that they had to keep, in 4 6a and b.
c9.s6.9
The QĀNUNGO, as the name implies, was a walking dictionary of the prevailing rules and practices (qānun), and a store-house of information as to procedure, precedents, land history of the past, etc. The Ain (ii. 66) styles him "the refuge of the husbandman." [See also Ain, ii. 47n.]
c9.s6.10
They were 'village revenue-officers who recorded all circumstances within their sphere which concerned landed property and the realisation of the revenue, keeping registers of the value, tenure, extent, and transfers of lands, assisting in the measurement and survey of the lands, reporting deaths and successions of revenue-payers, and explaining, when required, local practices and public regulations ; they were paid by rent-free lands and various allowances and perquisites." (Wilson, 260.)
c9.s6.11
The Manual (148-149) instructs a new qānungo thus: "The Emperor's business goes on in reliance on your papers. To your office belong the papers of division (taqsim) comparison (muāzana) etc......... Keep two copies of the records,—one in your house and the other in your office (in charge of your gumashtah) so that one at least may be saved in case of fire or flood."