The author, a British civil servant after retirement decided to examine old land and revenue records, resulting in this work, which was published in 1929. Starting in the thirteenth century, the book gives a historical context to the changing land use and revenue practices in India. Moreland also examines the role of religious laws and the influence of successive regimes and rulers on the development of agrarian practices?as?well?as?on?the?lives?and?work?of?India’s?peasantry.
There are nine very useful appendices. They are:
(1) Indo-Persian Terms for Land-Revenue (2) Provincial Governors in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries (3) Some Fourteenth-Century Passages (4) Assessment by Nasaq (5) Ain-i Dahsala (6) Legends of Todar Mal (7) The Agrarian Statistics in the Ain (8) Glossary (9) List of Authorities
Preface VII
Introduction XI
Chapter 1 Antecedents 14
Chapter II The Thirteen and Fourteenth Centuries 21
Chapter III The Sayyid and Afghan Dynasties 66
Chapter IV The Reign of Akbar (1556-1605) 79
Chapter V The Seventeenth Century 124
Chapter VI The Last Phase in Northern India 157
Chapter VII The Outlying Region 180
Chapter VIII Conclusion 201
Appendices 209
Index 285
W.H. Moreland spent twenty-five years in North-Western Provinces. For twelve years he was Director, Land Records and Agriculture. He wrote extensively on the economic history of Mughal India. Among others his other books are: India at the Death of Akbar; From Akbar to Aurangzeb; and Relations of Golconda in the Early Seventeenth Century.