Question

Examine Bernier’s description of Crown ownership of land and lack of private property during Mughal India.

Answer 1

Bernier's description of land ownership of Mughals:

1. According to Bernier, private property did not exist in Mughal India.
2. He was an advocate of private property.
3. Crown ownership, in his opinion, was detrimental to the people and the state.
4. He believed that all of the land belonged to the Mughal monarchs.
5. The state and society suffered greatly as a result.
6. The landowners were unable to transfer the property to their offspring due to crown ownership.
7. Long-term investments in the maintenance and growth of production were opposed by them.
8. Agriculture had been uniformly destroyed as a result.
9. The concept of oriental despotism, which holds that all land in Asia (the Orient or the East) belonged to the king and that private property did not exist, was developed by the French philosopher Montesquieu using this story. According to this theory, rulers in Asia had complete control over their subjects, who were kept in poverty and subjugation.