A History of Agriculture in India v2.c54.s2: Land Revenue Cesses and Taxes

A History of Agriculture in India v2.c54.s2

Language: English

Land Revenue Cesses and Taxes

v2.c54.s2.1

'The ordinary revenue which the Arab rulers were entitled to collect from the provinces committed to them was derived from the land-tax, and from the capitation-tax upon those who had not embraced the Muhammadan religion; but there were many miscellaneous cesses besides, which, in the aggregate, yielded large returns.

v2.c54.s2.2

'The land-tax was usually rated at two-fifths of the produce of wheat and barley, if the fields were watered by public canals; three-tenths, if irrigated by wheels or other artificial means; and one-fourth, if altogether unirrigated. If arable land was left uncultivated, it seems to have paid one dirham per jarib, and one-tenth of the probable produce. Of dates, grapes and garden produce, one-third was taken, either in kind or money; and one-fifth (khums) of the yield of wines, fishing, pearls, and generally of any product not derived from cultivation, was to be delivered in kind, or paid in value, even before the expenses had been defrayed.

v2.c54.s2.3

'These taxes were according to the original institutes of 'Umar, when he assessed the Sawad, or cultivated lands of 'Irak; but, in course of time, they were everywhere greatly enhanced, even to one-half of the produce of the land, or rather according to the ability of the people to pay. In short, the rates above mentioned were merely a nominal value put upon the land; for the collection of the revenues was, in many instances, left to rapacious farmers, who covered their contracts and benefited themselves besides, at the expense of the cultivators.

v2.c54.s2.4

'Besides this ordinary land-tax, we read, in the Chach-nama, of other burdens laid upon Sindian cultivators, which seem to have been independent of the former: such as the baj, and the 'ushari. Other extraordinary conditions were occasionally imposed on some of the tribes. The Jats dwelling beyond the river Aral were compelled to bring a dog on each occasion of paying their respects, besides being branded upon the hand.

v2.c54.s2.5

'Sumptuary laws, moreover, were established, and enforced with great stringency. Certain tribes were prohibited from wearing fine linen, from riding on horses, and from covering their heads and feet. If they committed theft, their women and children were burnt to death. Others had to protect caravans, and to furnish guides to Muhammadans.

v2.c54.s2.6

'The natives were also enjoined, in conformity with an old law of 'Umar's, to feed every Muhammadan traveller for three days and nights.'

v2.c54.s2.7

In early stages it was a social oppression which prompted some Hindus to embrace Islam. Later on the motive was purely economic. 'All the unconverted tribes were, without exception, liable to the capitation-tax (jizya), which, as it was a religious as well as a political duty to collect, was always exacted with rigour and punctuality, and frequently with insult,' state Dowson and Elliot.

v2.c54.s2.8

'According to the original ordinance of 'Umar, those persons who were of any persuasion non-Muhammadan were called Zimmis, or those under protection, and were assessed with a toleration, or poll-tax, at the following rates. A person in easy circumstances had to pay 48 dirhams a year, one of moderate means 24 dirhams, and one in an inferior station, or who derived his subsistence from manual labour, 12 dirhams. Women, children and persons unable to work paid nothing. But a century had not elapsed when 'Umar the Second, considering these rates too moderate, calculated what a man could gain during the year, and what he could subsist on, and claimed all the rest, amounting to four or five dinars, about two pounds, a year.

v2.c54.s2.9

'As the tax ceased upon any one's becoming a Moslem—when he was enfranchised from his dependence, and was invested with the privileges of a citizen and companion—its severe enforcement was often found more efficacious than argument or persuasion in inducing the victims to offer themselves as converts to the faith.'² This explains large-scale conversions of Hindus to Islam in Sind and Western Punjab.

v2.c54.s2.10

² Elliot and Dowson. *The History of India*..., Vol. I, pp. 87, 90, 474-478

Linked texts (1)

Chachnāma — ʿAlī b. Ḥāmid al-Kūfī