History of Gujarát: Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Volume I, Part I.Campbell, James M.
History
History of Gujarát: Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Volume I, Part I.
Campbell, James M.
Gujarat (India) -- History
[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. [698] 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
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 Káthiáváda; 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
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