Note 30 — INDEX
Reading edition
Bird’s History of Gujarát. Another detailed statement of the revenue of Gujarát given in the Mirăt-i-Áhmedi, apparently for the time when the author wrote (a.d. 1760) gives: Revenue from crown lands £2,107,518; tribute-paying divisions or sarkárs £12,700; Mahí Kántha tribute £178,741; Vátrak Kántha tribute £159,768; and Sábar Kántha tribute £121,151; in all £2,579,878: adding to this £20,000 for Kachh, £40,000 for Dungarpur, and £5000 for Sirohi, gives a grand total of £2,644,878. According to a statement given by Bird in a note at page 108 of his History, the revenue of Gujarát under Jehángir (a.d. 1605–1627) averaged £1,250,000; under Aurangzíb (a.d. 1658–1707) £1,519,622; and under Muhammad Sháh (a.d. 1719–1748) £1,218,360. In this passage the revenue under the emperor Akbar (a.d. 1556–1605) is given at £66,845. This total is taken from Gladwin’s Áin-i-Akbari. But at vol. II. page 73 of that work there would seem to be some miscalculation; for while the total number of dáms (1⁄40th of a rupee) is 43,68,02,301, the conversion into rupees is Rs. 10,96,123 instead of Rs. 1,09,20,057½. The corresponding returns given by Mr. Thomas (Rev. of the Mog. Emp. page 52) are under Akbar, a.d. 1594, £1,092,412; under Sháh Jahán, a.d. 1648, £1,325,000; and under Aurangzíb, a.d. 1658 £2,173,220, a.d. 1663–1666 £1,339,500, a.d. 1697 £2,330,500, and a.d. 1707 £1,519,623. The varieties in the currency employed in different parts of the accounts cause some confusion in calculating the Gujarát revenue. Under the Áhmedábád kings the accounts were kept in tánkás or 1⁄100 of rupees, while under the Mughals dáms or 1⁄45th of a rupee took the place of tánkás. The revenues from Surat Baroda Broach and other districts south of the Máhi were returned in changízis, a coin varying in value from something over ⅔rds of a rupee to slightly less than ½; the revenues from Rádhanpur and Morvi were entered in mahmúdis, a coin nearly identical in value with the changízi, while, as noticed above, the tribute and customs dues are returned in a gold currency, the tribute in huns of about 8s. (Rs. 4) and the customs in ibráhímís of 9s. (Rs. 4½). ↑