Moreover the
Emperor was fortunate in having at the head of the finance department
a prudent, energetic, perfectly honorable and incorruptible man, the
Hindu Todar Mal, who without possessing the title of vizier or
minister of state had assumed all the functions of such an office.
It is easily understood that many of the higher tax officials did not
grasp the sudden break of a new day but continued to oppress and
impoverish the peasants in the traditional way, but the system
established by Akbar succeeded admirably and soon brought all such
transgressions to light. Todar Mal held a firm rein, and by throwing
hundreds of these faithless officers into prison and by making ample
use of bastinado and torture, spread abroad such a wholesome terror
that Akbar's reforms were soon victorious.
How essential it was to exercise the strictest control over men
occupying the highest positions may be seen by the example of the
feudal nobility whose members bore the title "Jagirdar." Such a
Jagirdar had to provide a contingent of men and horses for the
imperial army corresponding to the size of the estate which was given
him in fief. Now it had been a universal custom for the Jagirdars to
provide themselves with fewer soldiers and horses on a military
expedition than at the regular muster.
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