A History of Agriculture in India v2.c55.s9.11

v2.c55.s9.11

Zia-ud-din Barni, the Moslem historian, thus details these measures. ‘After the promulgation of these interdicts, the Sultan requested the wise men to supply some rules and regulations for grinding down the Hindus, and for depriving them of that wealth and property which fosters disaffection and rebellion. There was to be one rule for the payment of tribute applicable to all, from the *khuta* to the *balahar* (peasant), and the heaviest tribute was not to fall upon the poorest. The Hindu was to be so reduced as to be left unable to keep a horse to ride on, to carry arms, to wear fine clothes, or to enjoy any of the luxuries of life. To effect these important objects of government two regulations were made. The first was that all cultivation, whether on a small or large scale, was to be carried on by measurement at a certain rate for every *biswa*. Half of the produce was to be paid without any diminution, and this rule was to apply to *khutas* and *balahars*, without the slightest distinction. The *khutas* were also to be deprived of all their peculiar privileges. The second related to buffaloes, goats, and other animals from which milk is obtained. A tax for pasturage, at a fixed rate, was to be levied, and was to be demanded for every inhabited house, so that no animal, however wretched, could escape the tax. Heavier burdens were not to be placed upon the poor, but the rules as to the payment of the tribute were to apply equally to rich and poor. Collectors, clerks, and other officers employed in revenue matters who took bribes and acted dishonestly were all dismissed. Sharaf Kai, *naib wazir-i-mamalik*, an accomplished scribe and a most honest and intelligent man, who had no rival either in capacity or integrity, exerted himself strenuously for some years in enforcing these regulations in all the villages and towns. . . . They were so strictly carried out that the *chaudharis* and *khuts* and *mukaddims* were not able to ride on horseback, to find weapons, to get fine clothes, or to indulge in betel. The same rules for the collection of the tribute applied to all alike, and the people were brought to such a state of obedience that one revenue officer would string twenty *khuts*, *mukaddims*, or *chaudharis* together by the neck, and enforce payment by blows. No Hindu could hold up his head, and in their houses no sign of gold or silver, *tankas* or *jitals*, or of any superfluity was to be seen. These things, which nourish insubordination and rebellion, were no longer to be found. Driven by destitution, the wives of the *khuts* and *mukaddims* went and served for hire in the houses of the Musulmans. Sharaf Kai, *naib-wazir*, so rigorously enforced his demands and exactions against the collectors and other revenue officers, and such investigations were made that every single *jital* against their names was ascertained from the books of the *patwaris* (village accountants). Blows, confinement in the stock, imprisonment and chains, were all employed to enforce payment. There was no chance of a single *tanka* being taken dishonestly, or as bribery, from a Hindu or Musulman. The revenue collectors and officers were so coerced and checked that for five hundred or a thousand *tankas* they were imprisoned and kept in chains for years. Men looked upon revenue officers as something worse than fever. Clerkship was a great crime, and no man would give his daughter to a clerk. Death was deemed preferable to revenue employment. Oft times fiscal officers fell into prison, and had to endure blows and stripes.’⁴