India at the Akbar; An Economic Study (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1920 Excerpt: ... CHAPTER IV AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION I. Land Tenures Before we enter on an examination of the system of agriculture prevailing in India during the reign of Akbar, a few words must be said regarding the subject of land tenures. The terms on which land is held have everywhere an important bearing on the degree of success attained in its utilisa, tion, and there is a special reason for noticing the subject in 1 the case of India, because much of our knowledge of agriculture is derived from records relating to the assessment and collection of the land revenue, and the information which they supply cannot be fully appreciated unless we possess some idea of the conditions in which it was obtained. At the close of Akbar's reign, Indian tenures showed some development from the traditional system of the country, but no revolutionary changes had occurred, and the influence of the old ideas was still predominant. Traditionally there were two parties, and only two, to be taken into account; these parties were the ruler and the subject, and if a subject occupied land, he was required to pay a share of its gross produce to the ruler in return for the protection he was entitled to receive. It will be observed that under this system the question of ownership of land does not arise; the system is in fact antecedent to that process of disentangling the conception of private right from political allegiance which has made so much progress during the last century, but is not even now fully accomplished.1 Nor was the occupation of land necessarily a right in the juridical sense of the word: the king required revenue, and the cultivation of sufficient land to supply his needs might be regarded rather as a duty, and might in some cases be enforced by appropriate penalties. In most ...