he sixth, seventh, and eighth
wives were Muhammadans.

In the matter of domestic legislation Akbar paid considerable
attention to the mode of collecting revenue. He found existing a
system devised by Sher Shah, the prince who had defeated and expelled
his father. The principles upon which this system was based were (1)
the correct measurement of the land; (2) the ascertaining the average
production of a block of land per bigha;[4] (3) the settlement of the
proportion of that amount to be paid to the Government by each; (4)
the fixing of the equivalent in money for the settled amount in kind.
Akbar proposed rather to develop this principle than to interfere
with it. {186} With this object he established a uniform standard to
supersede the differing standards theretofore employed.

[Footnote 4: A bigha is a portion of land measuring in the North-west
Provinces nearly five-eighths of an acre. In Bengal, it is not quite
one-third of an acre.]

'This laudable regulation,' we are told in the Ain, 'removed the rust
of uncertainty from the minds of collectors, and relieved the subject
from a variety of oppressions, whilst the income became larger, and
the State flourished.' Akbar likewise caused to be adopted improved
instruments of mensuration, and with these he made a new settlement
of the lands capable of cultivation within the empire. We are told in
the Ain that he was in the habit of taking from each bigha of land
ten sers (about twenty pounds) of grain as a royalty. This was at a
later period commuted into a money payment. In each district he had
store-houses erected to supply animals, the property of the State,
with food; to furnish cultivators with grain for sowing purposes; to
have at hand a provision in case of famine; and to feed the poor.
These store-houses were placed in charge of men specially selected
for their trustworthy qualities.

The land was in the earlier part of the reign divided into three
classes according to its fertility, and the assessment was fixed on
the average production of three bighas, one from each division. The
cultivator might, however, if dissatisfied with the average, insist
on the valuation of his own crop. Five classifications of land were
likewise made to ensure equality of payment in proportion to the
quality of the land and its immunity from accidents, such as
inundation. Other regulations were {187} carefully formed to
discriminate between the several varieties of soil, all havi