A History of Agriculture in India v2.c85.s6.2

v2.c85.s6.2

Pelsaert, who was in Agra during the rule of Jahangir, observed: 'The land would give a plentiful, or even an extraordinary, yield if the peasants were not so cruelly and pitilessly oppressed; for villages which, owing to some small shortage of produce, are unable to pay the full amount of the revenue-farm, are made prize, so to speak, by their masters or governors, and wives and children sold on the pretext of a charge of rebellion. Some peasants abscond to escape their tyranny, and take refuge with rajas who are in rebellion, and consequently the fields lie empty and unsown, and grow into wildernesses. Such oppression is exceedingly prevalent in this country.'²