Francois Bernier, a Frenchman, was a doctor, political philosopher and historian. Like many others, he came to the Mughal Empire in search of opportunities. Bernier travelled to several parts of the country and wrote account of what he saw, frequently comparing what he saw in India with the situation in Europe.

The question of land ownership or landed property : (i) According to Bernier, one of the fundamental differences between Mughal India and Europe was the lack of private property in land in the former. He was a firm believer in the virtues of private property, and saw crown ownership of land as being harmful for both the state and its people.

As an extension of this, Bernier described Indian society as consisting of undifferentiated masses of impoverished people, subjugated by a small minority of a very rich and powerful ruling class.

(ii) Bernier’s descriptions influenced Western theorists from the eighteenth century onwards. The French philosopher Montesquieu, for instance, used this account to develop the idea of oriental despotism, according to which rulers in Asia (the Orient or the East) enjoyed absolute authority over their subjects, who were keptin conditions of subjugation and poverty, arguing that all land belonged to the king and that private property was non-existent.

As in the case of the question of landownership, Bernier was drawing an oversimplified picture. There were all kinds of towns : manufacturing towns, trading towns, port towng sacred centres, pilgrimage towns etc.