Service Lands.The second class of superior landholders were those whose title was based on a Musalmán grant. Such grants were either assignments of large tracts of land to the viceroy, district-governors, and nobles, to support the dignity of their position and maintain a contingent of troops, or they were allotments on a smaller scale granted in reward for some special service. Land granted with these objects was called jágír, and the holder of the land jágírdár. In theory, on the death of the original grantee, such possessions were strictly resumable; in practice they tended to become hereditary. No regular payments were required from holders of jágírs. Only under the name of peshkash occasional contributions were demanded. These occasional contributions generally consisted of such presents as a horse, an elephant, or some other article of value. They had more of the nature of a freewill offering than of an enforced tribute. Under the Musalmáns contributions of this kind were the only payments exacted from proprietors of the jágírdár class. But the Maráthás, in addition to contributions, imposed on jágírdárs a regular tribute, similar to that paid by the representatives of the original class of superior Hindu landholders.
Under Musalmán rule great part of Gujarát was always in the hands of jágírdárs. So powerful were they that on two occasions under the Áhmedábád kings, in a.d. 1554 and a.d. 1572, the leading
Introduction.
Condition of Gujarát, a.d. 1297–1760. nobles distributed among themselves the entire area of the kingdom.[18] Again, during the eighteenth century, when Mughal rule was on the decline, the jágírdárs by degrees won for themselves positions of almost complete independence.[19]
Condition of Gujarát, a.d. 1297–1760.The changes in the extent of territory and in the form of administration illustrate the effect of the government on the condition of the people during the different periods of Musalmán rule. The following summary of the leading characteristics of each of the main divisions of the four-and-a-half centuries of Musalmán ascendancy may serve as an introduction to the detailed narrative of events.
Under the Early Viceroys, 1297–1403.On conquering Gujarát in a.d. 1297 the Musalmáns found the country in disorder. The last kings of Aṇahilapur or Pátan, suffering under the defects of an incomplete title, held even their crown lands with no firmness of grasp, and had allowed the outlying territory to slip almost entirely from their control. Several of the larger and more distant rulers had resumed their independence. The Bhíls and Kolis of the hills, forests, and rough river banks were in revolt. And stranger chiefs, driven south by the Musalmán conquests in Upper India, had robbed the central power of much territory.[20] The records of the early Musalmán governors (a.d. 1297–1391) show suspicion on the side of the Dehli court and disloyalty on the part of more than one viceroy, much confusion throughout the province, and little in the way of government beyond the exercise of military force. At the same time, in spite of wars and rebellions, the country, in parts at least, seems to
Introduction.
Condition of Gujarát, a.d. 1297–1760. have been well cultivated, and trade and manufactures to have been flourishing.[21]
Under the Kings, 1403–1573.The period of the rule of the Áhmedábád kings (a.d. 1403–1573) contains two divisions, one lasting from a.d. 1403 to a.d. 1530, on the whole a time of strong government and of growing power and prosperity; the other the forty-three years from a.d. 1530 to the conquest of the province by the emperor Akbar in a.d. 1573, a time of disorder and misrule. In a.d. 1403 when Gujarát separated from Dehli the new king held but a narrow strip of plain. On the north were the independent chiefs of Sirohi and Jhálor, from whom he occasionally levied contributions. On the east the Rája of Ídar, another Rájput prince, was in possession of the western skirts of the hills and forests, and the rest of that tract was held by the mountain tribes of Bhils and Kolis. On the west the peninsula was in the hands of nine or ten Hindu tribes, probably tributary, but by no means obedient.[22] In the midst of so unsettled and warlike a population, all the efforts of Muzaffar I., the founder of the dynasty, were spent in establishing his power. It was not until the reign of his successor Áhmed I. (a.d. 1412–1443) that steps were taken to settle the different classes of the people in positions of permanent order. About the year a.d. 1420 two important measures were introduced. Of these one assigned lands for the support of the troops, and the other recognised the rights of the superior class of Hindu landholders to a portion of the village lands they had formerly held. The effect of these changes was to establish order throughout the districts directly under the authority of the crown. And though, in the territories subject to feudatory chiefs, the presence of an armed force was still required to give effect to the king’s claims for tribute, his increasing power and wealth made efforts at independence more hopeless, and gradually secured the subjection of the greater number of his vassals. During the latter part of the fifteenth and the first quarter of the sixteenth century the power of the Áhmedábád kings was at its height. At that time their dominions included twenty-five divisions or sarkárs. Among nine of these namely Pátan, Áhmedábád, Sunth, Godhra, Chámpáner, Baroda, Broach, Nándod or Rájpípla, and Surat the central plain was distributed. In addition in the north were four divisions, Sirohi, Jhálor, Jodhpur, and Nágor now in south-west and central Rájputána; in the north-east two, Dúngarpur and Bánsváda, now in the extreme
Introduction.
Condition of Gujarát, a.d. 1297–1760.
Under the Kings, 1403–1573. south of Rájputána; in the east and south-east three, Nandurbár now in Khándesh, Mulher or Báglán now in Násik, and Rám Nagar or Dharampur now in Surat; in the south four, Danda-Rájapuri or Janjira, Bombay, Bassein, and Daman now in the Konkan; in the west two, Sorath and Navánagar now in Káthiáváḍa; and Kachh in the north-west. Besides the revenues of these districts, tribute was received from the rulers of Ahmednagar, Burhánpur, Berár, Golkonda, and Bijápur, and customs dues from twenty-five ports on the western coast of India and from twenty-six foreign marts, some of them in India and others in the Persian Gulf and along the Arabian coast.[23] The total revenue from these three sources is said in prosperous times to have amounted to a yearly sum of £11,460,000 (Rs. 11,46,00,000). Of this total amount the territorial revenue from the twenty-five districts yielded £5,840,000 (Rs. 5,84,00,000), or slightly more than one-half. Of the remaining £5,620,000 (Rs. 5,62,00,000) about one-fifth part was derived from the Dakhan tribute and the rest from customs-dues.[24]
The buildings at Áhmedábád, and the ruins of Chámpáner and Mehmúdábád, prove how much wealth was at the command of the sovereign and his nobles, while the accounts of travellers seem to show that the private expenditure of the rulers was not greater than the kingdom was well able to bear. The Portuguese traveller Duarte Barbosa, who was in Gujarát between a.d. 1511 and a.d. 1514, found the capital Chámpáner a great city, in a very fertile country of abundant provisions, with many cows sheep and goats and plenty of fruit, so that it was full of all things.[25] Áhmedábád was still larger, very rich and well
Introduction.
Condition of Gujarát, a.d. 1297–1760.
Under the Kings, 1403–1573. supplied, embellished with good streets and squares, with houses of stone and cement. It was not from the interior districts of the province that the Áhmedábád kings derived the chief part of their wealth, but from those lying along the coast, which were enriched by manufactures and commerce.[26] So it was that along the shores of the gulf of Cambay and southward as far as Bombay the limit of the Gujarát kingdom, besides many small sea-ports, Barbosa chooses out for special mention twelve ‘towns of commerce, very rich and of great trade.’ Among these was Diu, off the south coast of Káthiáváḍa, yielding so large a revenue to the king as to be ‘a marvel and amazement.’ And chief of all Cambay, in a goodly, fertile, and pretty country full of abundant provisions; with rich merchants and men of great prosperity; with craftsmen and mechanics of subtle workmanship in cotton, silk, ivory, silver, and precious stones; the people well dressed, leading luxurious lives, much given to pleasure and amusement.[27]
The thirty-eight years between the defeat of king Bahádur by the emperor Humáyún in a.d. 1535 and the annexation of Gujarát by Akbar in a.d. 1573 was a time of confusion. Abroad, the superiority of Gujarát over the neighbouring powers was lost, and the limits of the kingdom shrank; at home, after the attempted confiscation (a.d. 1545) of their shares in village lands the disaffection of the superior landowners became general, and the court, beyond the narrow limits of the crown domains, ceased to exercise substantial control over
Introduction.
Condition of Gujarát, a.d. 1297–1760. either its chief nobles or the more turbulent classes. In spite of these forty years of disorder, the province retained so much of its former prosperity, that the boast of the local historians that in a.d. 1573 Gujarát was in every respect allowed to be the finest country in Hindustán is supported by the details shortly afterwards (a.d. 1590) given by Abul Fazl in the Áin-i-Akbari. The high road from Pátan to Baroda was throughout its length of 150 miles (100 kos) lined on both sides with mango trees; the fields were bounded with hedges; and such was the abundance of mango and other fruit trees that the whole country seemed a garden. The people were well housed in dwellings with walls of brick and mortar and with tiled roofs; many of them rode in carriages drawn by oxen; the province was famous for its painters, carvers, inlayers, and other craftsmen.[28]
Under the Mughals, 1573–1760.Like the period of the rule of the Áhmedábád kings, the period of Mughal rule contains two divisions, a time of good government lasting from a.d. 1573 to a.d. 1700, and a time of disorder from a.d. 1700 to a.d. 1760. Under the arrangements introduced by the emperor Akbar in a.d. 1583, the area of the province was considerably curtailed. Of its twenty-five districts nine were restored to the states from which the vigour of the Áhmedábád kings had wrested them; Jálor and Jodhpur were transferred to Rájputána; Nágor to Ajmír; Mulher and Nandurbár to Khándesh; Bombay, Bassein, and Daman were allowed to remain under the Portuguese; and Danda-Rájapuri (Jinjira) was made over to the Nizámsháhi (a.d. 1490–1595) rulers of the Dakhan Ahmednagar. Of the remaining sixteen, Sirohi, Dungarpur, and Bánsváda now in Rájputána, Kachh, Sûnth in Rewa Kántha, and Rámnagar (Dharampur) in Surat were, on the payment of tribute, allowed to continue in the hands of their Hindu rulers. The ten remaining districts were administered directly by imperial officers. But as the revenues of the district of Surat had been separately assigned to its revenue officer or mutasaddi, only nine districts with 184 sub-divisions or parganáhs were entered in the collections from the viceroy of Gujarát. These nine districts were in continental Gujarát, Pátan with seventeen sub-divisions, Áhmedábád with thirty-three, Godhra with eleven, Chámpáner with thirteen, Baroda with four, Broach with fourteen, and Rájpipla (Nándod) with twelve. In the peninsula were Sorath with sixty-two and Navánagar with seventeen sub-divisions. This lessening of area seems to have been accompanied by even more than a corresponding reduction in the state demand. Instead of £5,840,050 (Rs. 5,84,00,500), the revenue recovered in a.d. 1571, two years before the province was annexed, under the arrangement introduced by the emperor Akbar, the total amount, including the receipts from Surat and the tribute of the six feudatory
Introduction.
Condition of Gujarát, a.d. 1297–1760.
Under the Mughals, 1573–1760. districts, is returned at £1,999,113 (Rs. 1,99,91,130) or little more than one-third part of what was formerly collected.[29]
According to the Mirăt-i-Áhmedi this revenue of £1,999,113 (Rs. 1,99,91,130) continued to be realised as late as the reign of Muhammad Sháh (a.d. 1719–1748). But within the next twelve years (a.d. 1748–1762) the whole revenue had fallen to £1,235,000 (Rs. 1,23,50,000). Of £1,999,113 (Rs. 1,99,91,130), the total amount levied by Akbar on the annexation of the province, £520,501 (Rs. 52,05,010), or a little more than a quarter, were set apart for imperial use and royal expense; £55,000 (Rs. 5,50,000) were assigned for the support of the viceroy and the personal estates of the nobles, and the remainder was settled for the pay of other officers of rank and court officials. Nearly £30,000 (Rs. 3,00,000) were given away as rewards and pensions to religious orders and establishments.[30]
Introduction.
Condition of Gujarát, a.d. 1297–1760.
Under the Mughals, 1573–1760. Besides lightening the state demand the emperor Akbar introduced three improvements: (1) The survey of the land; (2) The payment of the headmen or mukaddams of government villages; and (3) The restoration to small superior landholders of the share they formerly enjoyed in the lands of government villages. The survey which was entrusted to Rája Todar Mal, the revenue minister of the empire, was completed in a.d. 1575. The operations were confined to a small portion of the whole area of the province. Besides the six tributary districts which were unaffected by the measure, Godhra in the east, the western peninsula, and a large portion of the central strip of directly governed lands were excluded, so that of the 184 sub-divisions only 64 were surveyed. In a.d. 1575, of 7,261,849 acres (12,360,594 bighás), the whole area measured, 4,920,818 acres (8,374,498 bighás) or about two-thirds were found to be fit for cultivation, and the remainder was waste. In those parts of the directly governed districts where the land was not measured the existing method of determining the government share of the produce either by selecting a portion of the field while the crop was still standing, or by dividing the grain heap at harvest time, was continued. In surveyed districts the amount paid was determined by the area and character of the land under cultivation. Payment was made either in grain or in money, according to the instructions issued to the revenue-collectors, ‘that when it would not prove oppressive the value of the grain should be taken in ready money at the market price.’[31] The chief change in the revenue management was that, instead of each year calculating the government share from the character of the crop, an uniform demand was fixed to run for a term of ten years.