Page:Mughal Land Revenue System.djvu/28

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forty-one fingers;[1] its corresponding equivalent in modern measurement varies from twenty-nine to thirty-four inches. The Ain traces the Guz to Sultan Sikandar Lodi and shows that Sher Shah used a Guz of thirty-two fingers for purposes of measurement.

Jagir:—Represents the assignment of lands by the sovereign to persons of distinctive merit and courtly subordinates. The system of granting Jagirs has difficulties of its own, but it was prevalent throughout mediæval India.

Alla-ud-din disapproved of the system of payment by Jagirs, while under Firuz Shah the grant of such was the rule. Akbar suppressed such grants except rarely for purposes of Seyurghal. Later on they were revived. The grant of a Mansab had the necessary accompaniment of a Jagir.

Kunkut:—The word is derived from Kun which signifies grain and Kat to conjecture. In other words, it means estimation of grain by conjecture. "Land is measured with the crops standing" and estimates are made by personal inspection. Revenue experts daily conversant with such a system can calculate with admirable exactitude. In case of doubt, the weighment of the grain derived from a certain plot of land containing good, middling and bad tracts in equal proportions was adopted in order to attain a comparative estimate.[2]

Karori is the designation given to the actual collector of revenue. The name was originally given to the collector of a stipulated division of land which was estimated to yield a crore of Dam (40 Dam=Re. 1) or

  1. Ain-i-Akbari, p. 243.
  2. Ibid., p. 262.