CHAPTER 28- Emergency Land-Lease Decree.

May 1538, Dharanikota Kingdom.

Tenali.

It was a sunny day with few clouds in the sky. As it was the middle of the summer, the temperature in the Indian subcontinent could reach the 40C's. But in the farms surrounding Tenali, people were out working to complete the harvest.

Such was the case for nearly all the small farmers in the region. The harvest season coincided with the scorching heat of the summer sun and made life all the more difficult. But the workers had to work, to keep on living. They might miss the early monsoon winds if the harvest was not completed and the next crop was not planted.

Without any meteorological data assisting them, the farmers of the 16th century simply could not plan that far into the future to maximize the profits of their crops. They had to go based on established traditions and hope that it would work.

This was one of the reasons, harvest festivals are so prevalent all over the world. They generally happen during the harvest season, as they signify the end of a successful harvest and give hope to the next one.

Yadhaiah was the owner of that particular plot of land. It was inherited to him from his father and he got that from his. He was currently supervising the workers who were collecting the last of the rice crops using sickles. 

He was not that privileged to completely hire workers to do his job. These workers were only there to assist him, as he worked the fields himself. But as this was the last acre, he decided he could afford a break that day. 

After confirming that the workers were doing their jobs, he looked at the surrounding fields. Most of his fields were harvested, but the crops on the land surrounding him were left untouched. The Rice crops were dry and ready for harvesting. The indigo plants at the beginning of the neighboring field appeared wilted, and unfit for harvest.

'It's a pity, how it all turned out for them.' Yadhaiah thought as he continued to analyze the fields. The owner of these crops was the brother of Tenali's mayor. Well, ex-mayor now. After the brutal campaign done by the new king, the mayor's whole family was eliminated.

He remembered what happened that week, very clearly. The soldiers came in the evening and ambushed the whole family. Most of the big families were joint families, so they were able to get most of them at the same time. By mid-night, the buildings belonging to the mayor were looted and went up on fire.

The very next morning, everyone was called to the town square, and the surviving adults were executed in front of the crowd. Nobody questioned what happened to the women and children of that family, just like they didn't question the burnt bones they found in the cleanup of that house.

Yadhaiah did not want to think about the morality of the whole situation. Such cases were supposed to be common, or so they say. Nearly the same thing happened when the Vijayanagaris took over from the Gajapathis, all those years ago.

The main problem that was in his mind was about his farms. The small irrigation canal that supplied water to his land, was going through the neighboring lands. If they were not properly maintained, his crops may not get sufficient water from the river if there was not enough rain, and may also drown if the rains were too much.

"Krisnaiah, keep an eye on the labors. Regarding what to do about the canals, I will go and ask at the town hall," he said to his brother and turned to leave.

"Also ask them about these farmlands. If it is for sale, we can at least try to make a bid for it." His brother answered back and carried on with his work.

It took some time for Yadhaiah to walk to the town and go into the town hall, but he did it without much effort. It was common for them to go to the town for anything that crops up. Inside the town hall, he was surprised to find many people waiting in the lobby.

He sat down in an empty seat, and asked the man next to him " Why is the hall so rushed now? Did something happen?"

"I don't know, but it looks like something is about to happen. A messenger from the capital came on a horse an hour ago. I think he delivered the message, but the office stopped accepting people since then. I guess that it is a message from the King's court." the man explained what he knew about the situation. The messenger must have traveled for at least a day from the capital, and after delivering the message he left for the next big town.

Thinking of the soldier/messenger, Yadhaiah shuddered. The cavalry soldiers were generally employed in delivering messages throughout the kingdom, and even though this particular soldier was not the one from that day, he still felt fear. 

But before he had a chance to properly express it, the curtains of the office opened and out walked a few assistants. One of them began to write on the blackboard next to the door, while the other went to the announcement band with the message.

Yadhaiah did not know how to read, so he followed the assistant who went outside to listen to the announcement. It was how the announcements and decrees were usually handled in their kingdom.

For those who knew how to read, the educated minority, the full announcement would be written down in the town hall, and for the uneducated majority, the announcers would go street to street to announce the message. The number of times they announce it depends on the severity of the message.

Yadhaiah left the town hall with the small crowd and waited for the announcement to start. The announcers came out of their small shed after a few minutes, fully equipped with their gear. 

Two people were hitting the drums to attract people's attention, while the third one was announcing the message by shouting out as loud as possible. The three usually interchanged the roles when one of them was tired.

'DHUM!' 'DHUM!' 'DHUM!'

"ATTENTION EVERYONE!!! NEWS FROM THE CAPITAL!!! NEWS FROM THE CAPITAL!!! ATTENTION EVERYONE!!!" The announcer screamed, getting as many people to pay attention to him as possible. Everyone also quieted down and listened, as they might miss the announcement if they were distracted.

'DHUM!' 'DHUM!' 'DHUM!'

"BY THE BLESSING OF HIS MAJESTY, RUDRA DEVA, THE KINGDOM IS ISSUING NEW LAND LEASES!!! THE KINGDOM IS ISSUING NEW LAND LEASES!!! ALL SMALL TO MEDIUM FARMERS ARE ELIGIBLE!!! ALL SMALL TO MEDIUM FARMERS ARE ELIGIBLE!!!" The message continued, and Yadhaiah paid close attention to every word.

He was sure that this was related to the large lands owned by the now-dead influential families. Those provided a lot of revenue to the treasury and no one can ignore them for long.

Even if he can't purchase them, getting access to his neighbor's land will prove a boon to him. Yadhaiah is sure that there will be many clauses added to this as there was no free meal in this world, but it will provide ample opportunity for their family. 

'DHUM!' 'DHUM!' 'DHUM!'

"REGISTER AT THE TOWN HALL TO AVAIL THE OPPORTUNITY!!! REGISTER AT THE TOWN HALL TO AVAIL THE OPPORTUNITY!!!" the message finally ended, and the announcement band moved forward, repeating the message from the start. 

He and the small crowd gathered there immediately turned and rushed back into the town hall, eager to be the first to know more about the announcement. The attendants inside will inform them more about this. 

"Get into a line! Get into a line! Everyone will get their chance!" an attendant screamed, at the gathered crowd, and they obediently followed him. 

After waiting for those in front of him, it was finally Yadhaiah's turn. He went into the room of the town's land management officer(Tehsildar) and took a seat in front of him. The man was short and oily, but if he was in that position surely he was qualified for it. 

"Welcome, I take it you want to know more about this scheme?" The officer asked Yadhaiah, who was quick to give an affirmation." Excellent. I assume you are already a landowner? I remember seeing you before."

"Yes, sir. You were the one who transferred my father's property into mine and my brother's name, after his death. My name is Yadhaiah, and my brother is Krisnaiah." he informed the officer and gave him a slip on which the address of his land was written.

The officer took the slip, and after a brief search, found the relevant documents about his land. He studied it for a bit and looked back at Yadhaiah " You, my friend, are eligible for the new land-lease decree. Your previous taxation shows you maintain your land well, and you are a neighbor to one of the many available properties. But there are several conditions you must satisfy first." 

"Explain them please." Yadhaiah supplied, prompting the officer to continue.

"As you know, the previous owners of the land are currently 'unavailable'. So to get the land, you have to harvest the produce of that land. We will not provide any financial aid for that, but you will get to keep, 30% of the harvest for yourself, this season." The officer said with a tone as if he was doing him a favor.

"But I thought you were renting out the land? We have to do the work, and you get to keep the produce?" Yadhaiah asked, not knowing how to feel about the whole thing. 

"That's where you are wrong my friend. This crop technically belongs to the kingdom. After completion of the harvest, you get to keep the land for two seasons or 1 whole year. You will pay the same land taxes and agriculture tax as a full land owner, during this time, and no additional rent is required for this short duration." The officer read off the palm leaf, where a copy of the original announcement was written.

This seems more in line with what Yadhaiah expected. He did not know why the kingdom was not directly selling the land to them, but maybe it had something to do with giving these lands to the king's associates. That is what usually happens. 

"How much should I pay as a Bribe?" Yadhaiah asked the officer frankly. Bribes were common for these officers, and he may lose out on this deal if he refused to pay.

The officer suddenly appeared cautious and quickly looked around confirming that nobody was listening. He then leaned forward and angrily whispered to Yadhaiah " Don't say those things out loud, you idiot. The new Justice advisor seems to have ears everywhere. I am being cautious and not risking it for now." 

Despite what the officer said, Yadhaiah doubted him. These people's duty was to suck the common man dry. How can one man stop all of that? This is only a temporary situation and they will find a new way to take bribes soon. 

After that, the process went quickly. Yadhaiah leased the land of his now-dead neighbor, granting his family access to those crops. His canal problem was also solved albeit temporarily. He now had to hire more workers to harvest the crops on those lands before they were unrecoverable. 

Similar situations happened all over the Kingdom of Dharanikota. Many small and medium-class farmers, gained access to new farmland over the next few weeks as the news spread around the kingdom. 

Some were surprised the king didn't gift these lands to his loyalists, while some wondered whether their fate would be similar to that of those families if they grew too big. But it was still a positive overall, and people were grateful for this new opportunity.

While some of the crops were too far gone to save, this emergency decree, prevented the kingdom from going into a famine.