Sher Shah did all that he could to add to his resources. Some of the money came from the Central Revenues and the other from the Local Revenues. Heirless property came to the Government. Jizya also brought a lot of money. Commerce, mint, presents, salt, customs, Khams and Land Revenues were other resources of income. All Nobles were required to make presents to the king. However, the main source of income was the Land Revenue.

Revenue Administration :

Sher Shah changed the system of assessment of land revenue and also introduced some improvements in the methods of its collection. He aimed at introducing a system of Land Revenue where the cultivator was asked to pay primarily in kind one-third of the expected produce of the crop from the land under cultivation. Land was measured and the same was recorded against every cultivator. The unit of measurement was the yard of Sikandar Lodi, 32 digits long.

An average of the produce for a Bigha for every crop was struck by taking the produce of the best, the middling and worst land for every crop. A per Bigha schedule of rates in kind was prepared for every crop and the cultivator was required to pay according to the area he had under various crops. Every season the among of the area under each crop was entered in the records for every cultivator against his name.

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The area was supposed to be measured every season, but it is possible that the original measurement prepared at the time of the introduction of the system, served the purpose later on also. The records of the holdings of every cultivator were detailed and showed not only the entire area cultivated by him, but also its sub-divisions. Later on, it was considered enough to record the sub-units under cultivation, and their area could be copied from the earlier records.

It is rightly pointed out that Sher Shah wanted to introduce such a system throughout his empire, but the measurement of land and preparation of primary records for every cultivator must have taken a lot of time and it is possible that Sher Shah was not able to introduce the system throughout his empire during the brief period of his reign.

The result must have been that the old system continued at other places and the State continued to claim one-third of the actual produce and not the estimated and expected produce of every cultivator. Sometimes, the demand was fixed according to the local custom.

In the case of Multan, the State claimed only one-fourth of the produce. Sher Shah might have liked to collect some of the land revenue in cash, but there is no definite information on this point. It is possible that the State demand was fixed by the current market rates of the commodities produced by the cultivator.

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The Land Revenue was collected by the village Headman who charged 5 per cent of his labour. Another 5 per cent seems to have been collected for the expenses incurred on visiting public servants. Remissions in Land Revenue were made in case the crops were damaged, particularly when the Royal Armies were on the march, or while they were camping. The amount of revenue collected depended upon the area under cultivation and the types of the crops cultivated. If more area was brought under cultivation, more money went into the exchequer of the state.

Likewise, if more valuable crops were sown, the share of the state increased. The result was that the state encouraged the cultivators to bring more and more land under their cultivation. It also persuaded them to cultivate more valuable crops so that the share of the state many increase.

Loans were given to the cultivators without interest. The revenue officials gave to the village headman the demand slips indicating what every cultivator had to pay. It appears that all the headmen did their best to collect all the money due from the cultivators, as it was mandatory on them to pay into the exchequer the among due from the villagers under their control. The cultivators were given receipts for the money paid by them, so that there may not be double payment. A Patwari kept the accounts for one or more villages on behalf of the cultivators.

The Pargana was the main unit for revenue collection. It consisted of a large number of villages. The Shiqdar was responsible for the collection of land revenue. He had one clerk to help him to keep local records in the local language. Another clerk prepared the records in Persian for submission to the capitaLThe Shiqdar was responsible for sending to the Centre all the revenue collected, whether in cash or in kind according to the orders. There is also a mention of an Amir or a Collector-in-Chief who was at the head of the revenue establishment.

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Sher Shah gave instructions that leniency was to be shown at the time of assessment, but not at the time of collection of revenue. The obvious object of this order was to check corruption among the officials. Sher Shah had to passed ordered that while the army was on the move, it was not to destroy the crops of the peasants. If any damage was done to the crops, the Government was to pay compensation.

The great merit of the reforms of Sher Shah in the field of revenue administration was that he introduced a permanent schedule of rates and also defined the mutual rights and obligations of the peasants of the State through Patta and Qabuliyat. He adopted measurements as the normal measures of assessment and adjusted the interest of all the parties concerned in a harmonious manner. His guiding motto was justice to all.

Reference may be made to some of the defects of the revenue system. The share of the Government was fixed at one-third of the average produce of the three kinds of land, viz., good, middling and bad. The result was that the bad land was over-charged and the good land was undercharged. It is possible that his inequality might have adjusted itself “by variations in the crops grown.”

Moreover, the share of the Government was rather high. As the settlement was made for one year only, a lot of inconvenience must have been caused to the cultivators. The corruption among the officials of the Revenue Department must have added to the troubles of the people. The Jagirdari system was also another defect in the system.

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According to Dr. R.P. Tripathi, “Sher Shah’s sytem of revenue assessment suffered from two defects. In the first place, the cultivators of middling of bad lands had to proportionately less. Secondly, the settlement of the cash value of the share of the Government depended on correct information, proper enquiry and prompt report to and instruction from the Central Government. Such a procedure was dilatory and not quite dependable. It was likely to hold up the worked of collection and thereby cause great inconvenience, annoyance and disadvantage to the revenue collectors and cultivators.

According to Moreland, “The historical importance of Sher Shah’s methods lies in the fact that they formed the starting-point of the series of experiments in administration which marked the first half of Akbar’s Reign.'” Justice

Sher Shah is very famous for giving justice to all concerned. No person could escape punishment on account of his status. The courts presided over by the Qazi and Mir Adl tried civil cases. The Hindus settled their disputes in their Panchayats. However in criminal cases, everybody was subject to the law of the state.

The criminal law of that time was very hard and punishments were severe. The object of punishment was not to reform the criminal but to set an example so that the others may not do the same. Sher Shah gave severe punishment in the case of Government officials an other persons of high status. There is a story regarding the high standard of justice given by Sher Shah.

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One of his nephews threw a betel leaf at the wife of a goldsmith who was taking her bath at the enclosure of her house. The matter was brought to the notice of Sher Shah and he ordered that the wife of his nephew should be asked to start her bath in the same way and the goldsmith be allowed to throw a betel leaf at her.

In another case, the Governor of Malwa, Shujaat Khan withheld a part of the Jagirs of 2,000 soldiers. Although Shujaat Khan restored the Jagirs, he was punished by the Emperor. So great was the reputation of Sher Shah as a just ruler that a merchant could travel and sleep in the desert without fear of being robbed.