Administrative System of the Marathas c27.s4: 1. Classification of Lands
Administrative System of the Marathas c27.s4
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1. Classification of Lands
c27.s4.1
The Muhammadan theories of revenue had been enunciated by the Arab theologians long before the conquest of India, and the Hindu principles had been laid down by old law-givers like Manu centuries before the birth of the Prophet of Mecca. The growth of these two sets of Revenue theories without and within India had therefore been altogether independent of each other. Yet they sometimes happened to be so similar that their interaction on each other had the same effect as the union of two similar Mendalian gametes. This happened with regard to the principles governing the classification of land in particular. We have already seen how Kautilya and the author of the Shukranitisara recognised the distinction between dry and irrigated land and the method of irrigation as a determining factor in assessment. The Marathas variously classified their land according to fertility, the nature of the crops, and the method of irrigation. This principle of classification was recognised by Musulman theologians also.
c27.s4.2
"Al-Mawardi discusses as follows the factors which determine the tax-bearing capacity of land. The person who assesses the *kharaj* on a piece of land should consider the capacity of land, which varies according to three factors, each factor affecting the amount of *kharaj* more or less. One of the factors pertaining to the land itself is the quality of the land by virtue of which the crop grown on it is rich, or the defect which causes the produce to be small. The second factor relates to the kind of crop, since grains and fruits vary in price, some fetching a higher price than the others, and the *kharaj* must therefore be assessed accordingly. The third factor pertains to the method of irrigation, for the crop that has been irrigated with water carried on the back of beasts or raised by a water-wheel, cannot stand the same rate of *kharaj* which could be charged on land watered by running water or rain."¹
c27.s4.3
¹ Aghnides, p. 381.
c27.s4.4
The Muhammadan rulers in India did not always strictly follow the financial theories of Muhammadan theologians. Thus in Akbar's classification of land we find that more attention was paid to the state of cultivation than to the factors enumerated by Al-Mawardi² although the *polaj* and *porauti* lands were divided into three classes,—good, middling and bad.
c27.s4.5
² Jarrett, Ain-i Akbari, Vol. II, p. 63.
c27.s4.6
But Akbar permitted special rates for some special crops as Abul Fazl informs us; "The revenue from indigo, poppy, pan, turmeric, pignut (*Trapa biopinosa*), hemp, kachalu (*Arum colocasia*), pumpkin, pinna (*Lawsonia mermis*), cucumbers, badrang (a species of cucumber), the egg plant (*Solanum melongena*), radishes, carrots, karela (*Momordica charantia*), kakura, tendas and muskmelons, not counted as produce, was ordered to be paid in ready money at the rates hereafter mentioned."³ Murshid Quli Khan, during his Dewanship of the Deccan, not only "distinguished arable land from rocky soils and water-courses," but also recognised "the method of irrigation as a determining factor in assessment." "Where the crop depended on rainfall, the State took one half of it. Where agriculture depended on well irrigation the share of the State was one-third in the case of grain, and from ¼ to ⅛ in the case of grape, sugar-cane, anise, plantain, pea-wort, and other special and high priced crops requiring laborious watering and length of culture. Where the field was irrigated from canals (pat) the proportion of the revenue to the crop varied, being sometimes higher and sometimes lower than in lands irrigated from wells."⁴
c27.s4.7
³ Jarrett, Ain-i-Akbari, Vol. II, p. 65. ⁴ Jadunath Sarkar, Aurangzib, Vol. I, pp. 192-193.
c27.s4.8
In Murshid Quli's system we come across almost all the characteristics of the Maratha practice. The arable land is distinguished from rocky soils and the different methods of irrigation are taken into consideration The Muhammadan system, however, did not in these respects make any new contribution to the evolution of the Maratha system. But a special rate for "special and high priced crops requiring laborious watering and length of culture" was the new feature introduced by the Muhammadans. In fact the Marathas went a step further; they did more for the cultivation of palms, jack trees, and Undani trees than what Murshid did for grapes, sugarcane, anise, plantain and pea-wort, and they continued the Musulman practice with regard to sugar-cane plantations.