184 HISTORY OF AURANGZIB. [CHAP. IX. The more pro- Aurangzib shared the difficulty of other jagir- dars in the Deccan in having to keep up his normal contingent of troops on an income reduced to a fraction of his normal pay. His fiefs in Multan had been fertile and lucrative; those in the Deccan were estimat- ed to yield 17 lakhs less, and were, besides, liable to frequent and large arrears in collection. He rightly protested to his father, "If your Majesty wishes me to be honoured with a great viceroyalty, give me the means ductive jagirs of worthy of it." The Emperor ordered him to exchange his own sterile fiefs for more produc- tive ones in the hands of other jagirdars.* Aurangzib took care to leave the estates of his competent officers untouched, but appropriated the fiefs of lazy or minor officers who did not deserve considerate treatment. The Revenue Department was ordered by Shah Jahan to transfer to him good jagirs yielding Rs. 3,17,500 in place of desolate unproductive lands with the same nominal rent-roll. But the jagir- dars threatened with dispossession tried to in- the officers are transferred him. to authority; but the items when added together do not come up to the total stated.
- Adab, 19b, 25a, 173a. But when he was Governor of
Multan he had complained of his fiefs there being unproduc- tive! (See Adab, 172a). Digitized by Microsoft Ⓡ
