Page:Mughal Land Revenue System.djvu/27

 for the reason that they were mainly based upon the actual figures for ten years.

Dasturs:—Parganahs which followed the same code of revenue administration which are in themselves rare, as the Ain points out, were grouped together for the convenience of administration and a Dastur-ul Amal or "customary practice" was given for each group to facilitate smooth government.

Diwan:—Originally the designation of a minister at court, the term was extended to cover the duties of an immediate subordinate of a governor of the province. His office is chiefly one of a fiscal character. Under Akbar, the fiscal and the military powers of provincial authorities were vested in the Sipahsalar. But under the later Mughals segregation was made between the functions of the Subahdar, purely military, and those of the Diwan, purely financial.

Foujdar:—A divisional officer who was appointed to the charge of several parganahs. In conjunction with the Amilguzar, he manages the affairs of the district, and answers in a smaller degree to the Subahdar of the later times. Besides keeping order, his function is one of facilitating the speedy and the unruffled collection of revenue by the Amilguzar.

Challabakhsh:—It is a form of revenue collection, the modern equivalent of which is metayarship. It is the original Indian system where recourse was taken to the actual division of crops.

Ilahi Guz:—It is a unit of measurement which consisted, according to the standardization of Akbar, of