Land And Taxation System During The Mughal Age

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Although books abound on the broad topic of Mughal history, this fourth volume of The Collected Works of Professor B R Grover is unique since information contained herein relates specifically to the land and taxation system during the Medieval age-a subject area that had not been dealt with exclusively and extensively at the time when Prof. Grover published/presented some of these papers in the early 1960s. Moreover, this volume provides a new perspective on the various aspects of the economic history of Mughal India as Professor Grover's conclusions were based on highly objective and analytical study of the original Persian and other multi-lingual records scattered in different archives and libraries in India and abroad.

Professor B.R. Grover, former Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research, with an academic and administrative career spanning more than 55 years, has left an indelible mark as one of India's most eminent and dedicated historians. He has left behind a massive wealth of historical research based on original Persian, Urdu, Ottoman Turkish, Punjabi and English sources. Known for doing intensive research in the archives and libraries of India, several European countries and the United States of America, Professor Grover had carved out a distinct position for himself as a moving encyclopaedia of source material on agrarian history of the Mughals, especially the land revenue administration.

In this fourth volume of The Collected Works of Professor B. R. Grover, the editors have attempted to synthesize the writings of Professor Grover about the state of agriculture in different parts of India in the medieval period-a subject that ought to be of great interest to the scholars of medieval Indian history. Although books abound on the broad topic of Mughal history, this is a volume with a difference since information contained herein relates specifically to the land and taxation system during the medieval age. Moreover, this volume is highly methodical and objective as it is based on a thorough study and analysis of innumerable primary sources in various languages and, as such, provides a new perspective on the various aspects of the economic history of Mughal India.

Agrarian relations in medieval India, with special reference to socio- economic aspects as a theme of historical research, brought me in touch with Professor Baldev Raj Grover in the annual sessions of the Indian History Congress, if I remember right, from the year 1960 onwards. We used to compare our notes with each other on the various facets of the village communities in the Punjab and Maharashtra of medieval period. The formation of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) in 1973-74, of which he was the Director-cum-Member Secretary (1974- 1985) and later on its Chairman (1999-2001), brought us still closer and we became family friends. While I was associated with the ICHR right from its inception as one of its founding members (1974-1978) and later on as its chairman (1978- 1981), Professor Grover was of immense help to me in the administration of the Council. Since he was in the teaching profession, he was deeply involved in historical research, and published a number of papers on the agrarian history of the Punjab. These scattered papers are now being collected and published by his sisters for the benefit of students and teachers of medieval India.

**Contents and Sample Pages**