Note 22 — INTRODUCTION.

Under the Kings, 1403–1573.The period of the rule of the Áhmedábád kings (a.d. 1403–1573) contains two divisions, one lasting from a.d. 1403 to a.d. 1530, on the whole a time of strong government and of growing power and prosperity; the other the forty-three years from a.d. 1530 to the conquest of the province by the emperor Akbar in a.d. 1573, a time of disorder and misrule. In a.d. 1403 when Gujarát separated from Dehli the new king held but a narrow strip of plain. On the north were the independent chiefs of Sirohi and Jhálor, from whom he occasionally levied contributions. On the east the Rája of Ídar, another Rájput prince, was in possession of the western skirts of the hills and forests, and the rest of that tract was held by the mountain tribes of Bhils and Kolis. On the west the peninsula was in the hands of nine or ten Hindu tribes, probably tributary, but by no means obedient.22 In the midst of so unsettled and warlike a population, all the efforts of Muzaffar I., the founder of the dynasty, were spent in establishing his power. It was not until the reign of his successor Áhmed I. (a.d. 1412–1443) that steps were taken to settle the different classes of the people in positions of permanent order. About the year a.d. 1420 two important measures were introduced. Of these one assigned lands for the support of the troops, and the other recognised the rights of the superior class of Hindu landholders to a portion of the village lands they had formerly held. The effect of these changes was to establish order throughout the districts directly under the authority of the crown. And though, in the territories subject to feudatory chiefs, the presence of an armed force was still required to give effect to the king’s claims for tribute, his increasing power and wealth made efforts at independence more hopeless, and gradually secured the subjection of the greater number of his vassals. During the latter part of the fifteenth and the first quarter of the sixteenth century the power of the Áhmedábád kings was at its height. At that time their dominions included twenty-five divisions or sarkárs. Among nine of these namely Pátan, Áhmedábád, Sunth, Godhra, Chámpáner, Baroda, Broach, Nándod or Rájpípla, and Surat the central plain was distributed. In addition in the north were four divisions, Sirohi, Jhálor, Jodhpur, and Nágor now in south-west and central Rájputána; in the north-east two, Dúngarpur and Bánsváda, now in the extreme Introduction. Condition of Gujarát, a.d. 1297–1760. Under the Kings, 1403–1573. south of Rájputána; in the east and south-east three, Nandurbár now in Khándesh, Mulher or Báglán now in Násik, and Rám Nagar or Dharampur now in Surat; in the south four, Danda-Rájapuri or Janjira, Bombay, Bassein, and Daman now in the Konkan; in the west two, Sorath and Navánagar now in Káthiáváḍa; and Kachh in the north-west. Besides the revenues of these districts, tribute was received from the rulers of Ahmednagar, Burhánpur, Berár, Golkonda, and Bijápur, and customs dues from twenty-five ports on the western coast of India and from twenty-six foreign marts, some of them in India and others in the Persian Gulf and along the Arabian coast.23 The total revenue from these three sources is said in prosperous times to have amounted to a yearly sum of £11,460,000 (Rs. 11,46,00,000). Of this total amount the territorial revenue from the twenty-five districts yielded £5,840,000 (Rs. 5,84,00,000), or slightly more than one-half. Of the remaining £5,620,000 (Rs. 5,62,00,000) about one-fifth part was derived from the Dakhan tribute and the rest from customs-dues.24