KONGRE BİLDİRİLERİ
the centre failed to hold them. It is from a recurrent cycle of unity-disunity through a millennium that
we have decoded the conglomerate nature of these governments. From this history of centralizationdecentralization we can also assess the comparative advantages of oral vs. documented records and
their application at the local, provincial and central records as utilized by corporate/conglomerate
states of South Asia.
(Endnotes)
1 The word mirasi is derived from mias [inheritance], bhand is used today for entertainers in Punjab who have an earthy sense of humour; both
terms are associated with some kind of lyricism. Albiruni’s India, tr. ed. E.dward C. Sachau, volumes I&II, Low price, Delhi, 2003, vol. I, p.
19, mentions the oral tradition of South Asia a millennium ago: the ‘books are composed’ in various metres so that insertions cannot be made
as would be possible in prose, they only considered the memorised version reliable.
2 Randall William Law, Inter-Regional Interaction and Urbanism in the Ancient Indus Valley: A Geological Provenience Study of Harappa’s
Rock and Mineral Assemblage, unpublished Ph. D. thesis, 2008, fig. 2.4.
3 I. H. Qureshi, Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli, Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, Lahore, 1944, p. 207 has equated Kautilya’s gopa with
laterday patwari. See Kautilya, The Arthashastra, ed. & tr., L. N. Rangarajan, Penguin books, 1987, p. 222f, p. 229ff, 431ff. Kautilya may have
been a minister in the first conglomerate state of South Asia.
4 Muhammad Nazim, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna, CUP, Cambridge, 1931, p. 132. Original sources report that assessment of land revenue took
place before the assignment of collection to the Amils. This property could take the form of free hold [milk or inam], usufruct [iqta], Khiraj
land or tributary states or tribes etc and was assessed on separate scales.
5 Farameen of the Mughal period are quite common but some documents of the Sultanate period are also available; n. 12 infra.
6 Chapters on status of lands in Islamic jurisprudence [14], bringing uncultivated land under plough [15], taxing pastures [16] and the
maintainence of registers [17] Al-Mawardi, Al Ahkam-us-sultaniya, Urdu tr. Maulvi Syed Muhammad Ibrahim, Qanuni kutb khana, Lahore,
ND, p.255ff, set the tone of policy but do not cover all cases encoutered in South Asia. Thus additions and variations are seen in the times of
Ala-ud-din Khalji and Muhammad bin Tughluq etc as discussed infra.
7 K. S. Lal, St udies in Medieval Indian History, Ranjit publishers, Delhi, 1966, p. 190.
8 A. B. M. Habibullah, Foundation of Muslim Rule in India, Central Book Depot, Allahabad, 1961, p. 254. For another, but similar construction,
see Muhammad Aziz Ahmad, Early Turkish Empire of Delhi, Muhammad Ashraf, Lahore, 1949, p. 350.
9 A. B. M. Habibullah, Foundation of Muslim Rule in India, Central Book Depot, Allahabad, 1961, p. 280ff.
10 See Khurram Qadir, “Implications of the Distinctive Features of the Ghorid Chain of command,” Journal of History and Culture, Vol. XXII,
No. 1, Jan-June, 2001, pp.1-14.
11 The evidence of Minhaj-us-Siraj, Tabqaat-i-Nasiri, ed. Persian text, Muhammad Abdullah Chagatai, Nauras, Lahore, 1952, is ample proof
of the struggle on the part of the sultan to enforce his right to assign Iqtas and with greater success under Nasir-ud-din. Zia-ud-din Barani,
Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, original text, ed. Syed Ahmed Khan, Calcutta, 1862, p. 287 ff, Urdu tr. S. Moin-ul-Haq, Makazi Urdu Board, Lahore, 1969,
claims that the policy of centralization only bore fruit under Balban. An interpretation of the evidence [indicating the achievement of Nasirud-din which set the stage for Balban’s policies] may be seen in Khurram Qadir, “Nasir al-Din Mahmud: A Reappraisal”, Journal of Pakistan
Historical Society, Vol.LVI, No.4, October-December 2008
12 U. N. Day, Administrartive System of Delhi Sultanate, Kitab Mahal, Allahabad, 1959, p. 79.
13 Occasionally however, a farman comes to light illustrating form and content of sultanate period records. A. B. M. Habibullah, Foundation of
Muslim Rule in India, Central Book Depot, Allahabad, 1961, p. 367 gives the gist of a Farman of the Ghori period. In addition, original sources
mention several such endowments, especially for ulama and mashaikh.
14 Haji Abdul Hamid Muharrir Ghaznavi, Dastur-ul-albab fi ilm-il-Hisab, part I, tr. Sheikh Abdur Rashid, Reprint from Medieval Indian
Quarterly, Vol. 1, Nos. 3-4. Is a document contemporary with the period of Muhammad bin Tughluq. It provides a list of heads of taxation and
other vital information on fiscal management etc. as well but our prime concern here is vide p. 18ff.
15 Fakhr-i-Mudabbir, [Fakhr-ud-din Mubarakshah], Tarikh-i-Fakhr-ud-din Mubarak Shah, ed. E. Denison Ross, London, 1927.
16 Minhaj-us-Siraj Jurjani, Tabqaat-i-Nasiri, Vol. I, tr. Urdu, Ghulam Rasul Mehr, Markazi Urdu Board, Lahore, 1975, p.858, Persian text ed.
Muhammad Abdullah Chughtai, Kitab Khana Nauras, Lahore, 1952, p.131, takes note of the extraordinary event of revenues received from
Lakhnauti. Barani also notes the recurrent independence of the region.
17 Minhaj-us-Siraj Jurjani, Tabqaat-i-Nasiri, Vol. I, tr. Urdu, Ghulam Rasul Mehr, Markazi Urdu Board, Lahore, 1975, p.842, Persian text ed.
Muhammad Abdullah Chughtai, Kitab Khana Nauras, Lahore, 1952, p.118, the allocation of a village to Minhaj.
18 Zia-ud-din Barani, Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, original text, ed. Syed Ahmed Khan, Calcutta, 1862, p. 287 ff, Urdu tr. S. Moin-ul-Haq, Makazi
Urdu Board, Lahore, 1969, p.421 ff and K. S. Lal, History of the Khaljis, Indian press, Allahabad, 1950, 241 ff.
19 The term masahat is easy to translate as measurement but wafa-i-biswah has not been decoded [neither Qureshi, op. cit, p.106 in discussin
administration, nor Moin-ul-Haq, the Urdu translator of Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, op.cit. p. 421 has given its meaning] ; the options are: for quantity
or quality of land/its productivity, or accommodation of local customs, or surplus after adjustment of the communal exchange of goods and
services to allow the villiges to retain their self-sufficient internal economy [which we have discussed later in the paper. In my view the last
interpretation is the most likely as local traditions were given considerable importance. Since Ala-ud-din’s demand is given at 50%, which
is exhorbitant, and there was not protest of the kind that Muhammad bin Tughluq faced a quarter century later, it seems likely that local
adjustments had been made before and the demand of 50% was from the surplus of the village, i.e. the balance of the landlord’s share. The
fact that Barani mentions the Patwari, text, p. 288, also a traditional local official at the lowest layer of management is of critical importance;
his office was institutionalized under successive central governments, it relates to maintenance of land records and demarkation of land for
transfer. In the context of agricultural lands this title may derive from maintainace of sequence of water distribution by shifting the blocking
plank from one channel to another. Abul Fazal, Ain-i-Akbari, tr. Maulvi Muhammad Fida Ali, Sang-i-Meel, Lahore, n.d. p. 581 uses the word
biswa to apportion a half share to the Chaudhry and p. 606 states it as a measure of land such that 20 biswah equal one biga; this seems to be
too small as share for the Chaudhry unless it means that one biswah worth of output for every biga would go to the Chaudhury; this explanation
could also be applied to the term ‘wafa-i-biswah’.
20 Barani, text, p. 288, gives the list of places but more significant is the fact that the earlier differentiation according to category was
abandoned bringing the Khut down to the level of the common farmer and the farmer in direct contact with the state.
21 Barani, text, p. 251, Urdu tr., p.376f, the chief raja escaped to Deccan; the Sultan has to become the direct regional overlord.
22 Barani, text, p. 429f, Urdu tr., p. 614f. Apparently the quality of administration had deteriorated even under Ala-ud-din after the death of
126
Tapu ve Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü
Qaini; further deterioration took place under Ala-ud-din’s successors. Tax farmers were exploiting the people, they overcharged them and
disregarded damage to crops due to climatic conditions etc. Tughluq’s prime concern was to increase the land under cultivation; he kept a
linient policy toward state functionaries and farmers, using moral suation to attain his purpose.
23 For further details see: Haji Abdul Hamid Muharrir Ghaznavi, Dastur-ul-albab fi ilm-il-Hisab, part I, tr. Sheikh Abdur Rashid, Reprin t from
Medieval Indian Quarterly, Vol. 1, Nos. 3-4, p. 18ff.
24 Which included Gujrat, Malwa, Deogir, Taling, Kampila, Dhor Samdar, Mabar, Tirhut and Lakhnauti, Satgaon, Sunargaon.
25 Khan-i-jahan Maqbool, the famous vazir of Firoz shah bin Rajab was appointed to the post of Naib-vazir of Gujrat, see Zia-ud-din Barani,
Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, original text, ed. Syed Ahmed Khan, Calcutta, 1862, p. 507, Urdu tr. S. Moin-ul-Haq, Makazi Urdu Board, Lahore, 1969,
p.718.
26 The office of Amir kohi was an old and established institution but Muhammad used it for developing uncultivated land, see, Agha Mahdi
Husain, Rise and Fall of Muhammad bin Tughluq, Luzac, London, 1938, p.220, and Zia-ud-din Barani, Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, original text, ed.
Syed Ahmed Khan, Calcutta, 1862, p. 498f, Urdu tr. S. Moin-ul-Haq, Makazi Urdu Board, Lahore, 1969, p.707f; the Amiran-i-Sadah were also
an established military group whose employment for tax collection proved effective initially but had desasterous consequences. Ibid, passim.
27 Ibn Battuta, Ajaib-ul-Asfar, Urdu tr. Khan Bahadur Maulvi Muhammad Hussain, NIHCR, Islamabad, 1983, p. 140, in order to alleviate the
condition of the people of Delhi, a locally organized census of Delhi was conducted in which the Qazi and Faqih of the town were assigned
to list each and every house in all the muhallas of Delhi and issue a standard quantity of grain per head irrespective of age and station for six
months at a time.
28 Abul Fazal, Ain-i-Akbari, tr. Maulvi Muhammad Fida Ali, Sang-i-Meel, Lahore, n.d. [1979?], p. 605, compiled around 1590.
29 Zaheer-ud-din Babar, Babur-nama, tr. Eng. A. S. Beveridge, Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi, 1998, p.521 gives his revenue from newly
conquered regions, in his second year as king, down to the last half tanka [as in the case of Sarwar], mostly these were core areas of the Delhi
Sultanate in Bharat.
30 We have used the data from an Urdu translation and will give page numbers from vol I, part 2 in runnig text to obviate the need for several
notes on the same source which occur more or less in sequence. See: Abul Fazal, Ain-i-Akbari, tr. Maulvi Muhammad Fida Ali, Sang-i-Meel,
Lahore, n.d. [1979?]
31 I. H. Qureshi, Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli, Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, Lahore, 1944, p. 140 & n.
32 This is the name printed in the Urdu translation. I have not been able to verify if the province of Allahabad was a renaming of this old name
or if this was another division or the same division with a different centre.
33 Abul Fazal, Ain-i-Akbari, tr. Maulvi Muhammad Fida Ali, Sang-i-Meel, Lahore, n.d. [1979?], p. 1118, the kos was standardized at 100
tunabain, each tunab being 50 yards of standard ‘Ilahi’ measure.
34 See Barani and Battuta for famine in the reign of Muhammad bin Tughluq and the location of Swargdwara. Also Khurram Qadir, “Public
Opinion in pre-Modern Times Muhammad Jauna Bin Tughluq: The Genesis of Zalim Sultan”, Historicus, LIX, No. 1, Jan-March 2011, pp.
7-62, p.33.
35 This led to a series in which the defense of the empire got delegated via the Rajputs and Afghans to the Marhattas and finally devolved upon
the British who disregarded local conventions, contested Mughal sovereignty and in due course of time reduced them to the level of pensioners
of the East India Company.
36 These were units that could not be maintained as princely states but the land owner was too powerful to ignore or subsume. The lumbardar
[probably a corruption of alam-bardar = flag carrier for the village contingent of the so called martial races was a kind of headman who had the
privilege of interfacing with the colonial authorities.
37 This came into vogue primarily due to milk and inam lands where holdings could be small enough for an individual and his retainers; mostly
these were Muslim land owners who had directly undertaken the enterprise of agriculture.
38 “A Summary of the law of land and mortgages registration in the British Empire and foreign countries: with an appendix containing the
land transfer act 1875, the land transfer bill 1895, and law of inheritence amendment bill 1895”, p.79, digitized by Microsoft Corporation in
cooperation with Cornell University Libraries, 2007. http://archive.org/details/cu31924021640630
39 Albiruni’s India, tr. ed. E.dward C. Sachau, volumes I&II, Low price, Delhi, 2003, vol. I, p. 19, mentions that not only is there a social
segregation in food and living but also in knowledge, beliefs and values, see, loc. cit. , p. 39 and passim.
40 While a person may not transcend the caste structure, there was no serfdome in South Asia. A person could wander off from the native village
to become a mendicant; the entire village could do so as a protest against unacceptable changes in convention as was the case in Muhammad
bin Tughluq’s reign, thereby enforcing their collective will on the most assertive of rulers without any use of force. See Barani, 473/671 [text/
tr.], Yahya bin Ahmed Sirhindi, Tarikh Mubarik Shahi, Urdu Science Board, Lahore, 1986, p. 185f and Ibn Battuta, op. cit. passim.
Arşiv Dairesi Başkanlığı
127