Note 28 — INTRODUCTION.

The thirty-eight years between the defeat of king Bahádur by the emperor Humáyún in a.d. 1535 and the annexation of Gujarát by Akbar in a.d. 1573 was a time of confusion. Abroad, the superiority of Gujarát over the neighbouring powers was lost, and the limits of the kingdom shrank; at home, after the attempted confiscation (a.d. 1545) of their shares in village lands the disaffection of the superior landowners became general, and the court, beyond the narrow limits of the crown domains, ceased to exercise substantial control over Introduction. Condition of Gujarát, a.d. 1297–1760. either its chief nobles or the more turbulent classes. In spite of these forty years of disorder, the province retained so much of its former prosperity, that the boast of the local historians that in a.d. 1573 Gujarát was in every respect allowed to be the finest country in Hindustán is supported by the details shortly afterwards (a.d. 1590) given by Abul Fazl in the Áin-i-Akbari. The high road from Pátan to Baroda was throughout its length of 150 miles (100 kos) lined on both sides with mango trees; the fields were bounded with hedges; and such was the abundance of mango and other fruit trees that the whole country seemed a garden. The people were well housed in dwellings with walls of brick and mortar and with tiled roofs; many of them rode in carriages drawn by oxen; the province was famous for its painters, carvers, inlayers, and other craftsmen.28