PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS

AND THE STATE

AGRARIAN SOCIETY AND THE MUGHAL EMPIRE
(C. 16TH -17TH CENTURIES)
 INTRODUCTION
• During 16th and 17th c about 85% of the
population lived in villages.
• Both peasants and landed elites engaged in
agricultural production.
• Let to the relationship of cooperation,
competition and conflict among them.
• Income of Mughal states derived from
agricultural production.
• Agents of the state: revenue assessors(deal with tax),
collectors and record keepers.
• To ensure cultivation took place and State got
its share of taxes and control the rural area.
• There was a link between village and town
because crops were grown for sale, trade,
money and markets.
 PEASANTS AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

• Peasants in village performed multiple seasonal task

Tilling the soil,

sowing seeds,
harvesting crops.
• Rural India was not only characterized by settle peasants production
alone,
• Some lands were: dry land, hilly region and forest area which
were not cultivable.
SOURCES to know about Agrarian society:
Those who worked on the land - Peasants did not write about
themselves.
Our main source of information about the history of agrarian society of
16th-17th centuries are:
1) Chronicles and documents from Mughal court.
2) Revenue records of other regions which are away from the
Mughal capital.
3) Extensive record of East India Company.

Ø chronicles means record of series of event that occurred on a

chronological manner.
1 Chronicles like Ain-i-Akbari written by Abul Fazl (court historian
. of Akbar).
It recorded the arrangements made by the state
(i) to ensure cultivation.
(ii) to enable the collection of revenue by the agencies of the state
(iii) to regulate the relation between the state and the zamindars.

• Main Purpose of Ain was to:

I. Present a vision of Akbar’s empire where social harmony was provided by king.
II. Anyone who tries to revolt against the ruler of Mughal state are predestined to
fail.
III. All the information from Ain about the peasants remains a view from the top.
2 Records from different regions:
Ain can be supplemented or crosscheck with the descriptions collected from regions away
from the Mughal capital.
I. These provided detailed Revenue records from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan (17th
-18th c)

3 Extensive Record of East India Company:

I. It provide us with useful information of agriculture society in Eastern
India.
II. These sources records the conflict between peasants, zamindars and the
state.
III. They tells us the peasant’s perception and their expectation of fairness
from the state.
PEASANTS AND THEIR LAND
INDO-PERSIAN TERMS FOR PEASANT
• Raiyat (plural: raiya) or Muzarian.
• Kisan and Asami also denote the peasant.

• THERE WERE TWO KIND OF PEASANTS

SOURCES OF 17TH C)

• Khud Kashta Pahi Kashta

They were the Resident

of village and own land
They were the Non-Resident
cultivator, who belong to
some other village, but cultivated
elsewhere
(cultivate on other’s land on a contractual basis)
Reason for Pahi Kashta :
(i) Out of Choice, when they have to pay less tax in other areas.
(ii) Out of Compulsion, whenever they were forced by famine.
Ø North India (peasant possess) : average peasants possess more than pair of
bullocks and two plough. Most have less than this.
Ø Gujarat: peasants with six acres of land (affluent – “wealthy”)
Ø Bengal: 5 acres – an average peasant farm.
rich Asami owned 10 acres.
Cultivation was based on principle of individual ownership.
IRRIGATION AND TECHNOLOGY
THREE FACTORS FOR THE EXPANSION OF AGRICULTURE
I. The abundance of land
II. Available labour
III. Mobility of peasants.
BASIC STAPLE (CROPS) were the most cultivated
I. Rice, wheat or millets.
II. Areas which received more rainfall a year were rice producing zone.
Ø Monsoon remained the backbone of Indian agriculture, as they are even today.
Ø Some crops required additional water. Therefore, artificial system of irrigation were built.
Ø The state supported the Irrigation project. For example; in Northern India the state built new canals
(nahr) and repaired the old ones like the Shahnahr in Punjab by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
TECHNOLOGIES
Peasants used technologies that harnessed (make use) cattle energy. For example;
I. Wooden plough with iron tip. They were light and easy but did not dig deep.
II. A drill, pulled by a pair of giant oxen used to plant seed. But broadcasting of seed was most prevalent
method.
III. Hoeing and weeding were done simultaneously (narrow iron blade with small wooden handle)
 AN ABUNDANCE OF CROPS
A. TWO MAJOR CROPS (agriculture was organized around two season)
I. Kharif (autumn) rice, maize, bajra, soyabean and cotton) – sown in monsoon
II. Rabi (spring) wheat, barley, oats, pulses and mustards. – sown in winter
üThey produced a minimum of 2 crops a year (do-fasla) - if good rainfall then 3 crops a year.
B. According to Ain-i-Akbari
I. Mughal province of Agra: produced 39 varieties
II. Mughal province of Delhi: produced 43 over 2 season.
III. Mughal province of Bengal: 50 varieties of rice alone.
C. Jins-i-kamil (perfect crops)
I. Mughal state encouraged peasants to cultivate such crops (for more revenue purpose)
II. Cotton (Central India and Deccan plateau) and sugarcane (Bengal)
III. Cash crop: various oilseeds (mustard) and lentils.
D. During 17th century, new crops were introduced to India by foreigners.
I. Maize (makka)- Africa and Spain.
II. Vegetable like tomatoes, potatoes and chilies were introduced by the New World (America)
III. Fruits like Pineapple and papaya also introduced by the New world (America).
THE VILLAGE COMMUNITY
• Peasants were involved in agriculture production.
• Peasants held their lands in individual ownership.
• Same time they belonged to a collective village community.

THREE CONSTITUENTS OF VILLAGE COMMUNITY

1. The cultivator
2. The panchayat
3. The village headman (muqaddam or mandal)
 CASTE AND THE RURAL MILIEU (environment)
• There was caste distinction or inequalities which was seen in rural area. The
cultivators were heterogeneous group.
• Certain caste groups were assigned menial task and thus, they face poverty.
• Such group consisted of large population.
• Had very less resources, because of their caste.
• Much like the Dalit of modern India.
• Such distinction spread to other communities like Muslim, where menial
workers:
• like halalkhoran (scavengers) were housed outsides the villages.
• The mallahzadas (sons of boatmen) in Bihar were comparable to slaves.
• There was a direct connection between caste, poverty and social status
at the lower level of society.
• It was not the same case at the intermediate level.
• According to 17th century manual of Marwar:
I. Rajputs are mentioned as peasants, sharing the same place as Jats,
who were given lower status in caste hierarchy.
II. The Gauravas who cultivated in Uttar Pradesh, try to achieve
Rajput status.
III. Caste like Ahir, Gujars and Malis became higher status in caste
hierarchy because they were making lots of profit in cattle rearing
and horticulture.
IV. Caste like Sadgopa and Kaivartas acquired status of peasants in the
Eastern part of India. Even though they were pastoral and fishing.
 PANCHAYAT AND HEADMEN

vThe village panchayat was an assembly of elders, who were

important people with hereditary rights over their property.
vPanchayat was a heterogenous group where different or mixed-
caste were involved.
vAs it represent various castes and communities, the local
panchayats was an oligarchy (government run by only a few, often wealthy people).
vThe menial or agricultural workers were not represented here.
 Headman – its selection

v The Panchayat was led by a headman known as MUQADDAM

or MANDAL.
v The headman was chosen through the consensus of the village
elders, and that this choice had to be ratified by the zamindar.
v Headmen can stay in office as long as the village elders are
satisfied with his work. They could be removed anytime.
v The main duty of the Headman was to supervise the
preparation of village accounts with the help of an accountant
(patwari – one who make the revenue records).
 Sources and use of funds of Panchayat
ØThe panchayat gets its funds from the contribution of everyone in
the village for a common cause/purpose.
ØPanchayats used this money to entertain the revenue officials who
visited the village.

ØAlso, used the money for the welfare of the village whenever there
is a natural disaster.

ØFunds were also used to build canals and bund, which an

individual peasants could not afford.
 Roles/Duties OF PANCHAYAT
ØOne important function of the panchayat was to ensure that caste
boundaries among the various communities inhabiting the village were
upheld or maintained. (no inter caste marriage)

ØIn Eastern India, all marriages were held in the presence of the mandal.

ØThe duties of the village headman was to oversee/observe the conduct of

the villagers and to prevent any offence against their caste.

ØPanchayats had the authority to levy fines and inflict more serious forms
of punishment like expulsion from the community.
ØIt meant that a person forced to leave the village became an outcaste and lost his
right to practice his profession.
• Petition is a formal written request, typically one signed by
many people, appealing to authority for a particular
issue/cause
 Petitions Submitted to Panchayats
• Records from Western India (Rajasthan and Maharashtra) – petitions
were presented to panchayat complaining about
• high tax and
• unpaid labour by the upper caste or the officials of the state.
• These petition were made by the lowest level of the rural society.
• Mostly, petition were made collectively by a particular caste or
community who protest against the illegal demands by the upper
caste or elite group.
• It includes high tax demands during the times of difficulty and
natural disaster, when peasants had no income for themselves.
• Peasants considered the village panchayat as the court of appeal who
could provide justice to them.
 Jati Panchayat
• Other than village panchayat, each caste or jati in the village had
its own Jati panchayat. They were very powerful in the rural
society.
• In Rajasthan, Jati panchayat settled the disputes between
members of the different caste.

• They mediated land disputed and also look after whether the
marriages were practiced according to social norms.

• In most of the cases, the state respected the decisions of the Jati
panchayat, except in the matter of criminal justice.
 Decision of the Panchayat
• The various kind of decisions were taken by the panchayat
whenever there was conflict between lower-class and the state
official or zamindars.

• In the case of high revenue demand, the panchayat suggested to

compromise.

• In some cases, when the justice is not done, - peasants took

extreme forms of resistance (oppose) like deserting their village.

• This was an effective weapon in the hands of cultivators

 LIFE OF VILLAGE ARTISANS
v According to British Survey of Village and Marathi documents
mentions about 25 per cent of the total households in the villages
were artisans.
vThe difference between artisans and peasants in village society was
a fluid one; as many groups performed the tasks of both.
v Cultivators or their families would also participate in craft
production – such as dyeing,
v textile
printing,
vbaking and firing of pottery,
vmaking and repairing agricultural implements.
vDuring the process of agriculture, whenever there is a free time
between sowing-weeding-harvesting – cultivators engaged in
artisanal production.
vVillage artisans like - potters, blacksmiths, carpenters, even goldsmiths-
provided specialized services.
vIn return, the village people gave them a share of the harvest, or
an allotment of land, perhaps cultivable wastes, which was likely to
be decided by the panchayat.
vThese land became the artist’s miras or watan.
• Peasants and artisans had a mutually understanding system of payment
where they exchanged goods for services.
• For example, in Bengal, Zamindars paid blacksmiths, carpenters, and
goldsmiths for their work by paying them “a small daily allowance and
diet money”.
• This later came to be known as the jajmani system.
VILLAGE AS A “LITTLE REPUBLIC”
• Some British officials in the 19th century saw the village as a “little
republic”. Because villages were made up of brotherly relation of sharing
resources and labour in a collective.
• However, this was not a sign of rural egalitarianism/equality.
• There was individual ownership of assets and huge inequalities based on
caste and gender distinctions.
• A group of powerful individuals decided the affairs of the village,
exploited the weaker sections and had the authority to provide justice.
• Cash had become important means of trade. Artisans producing for the
export market received their wages in cash.
• French traveler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier found it remarkable that in “India
a village must be very small if it has not a moneychanger called a Shroff.
They acted as a banker.
 Women in Agrarian Society
ØWomen and men had to work together shoulder-shoulder in the field.
ØMen tilled and ploughed the land
ØWhile women sowed the seeds, weeded (unwanted grasses), threshed
(separate grain from crop), and winnowed the harvest (remove husk
from grain).
ØIn the medieval Indian agriculture, there was huge gender discrimination,
where women are supposed to take care of home and men were looking after
work outside. This was an outdated system and it was not possible anymore.
ØSomehow, biases related to women’s biological function did continue.
ØMenstruating women were not allowed to touch the plough or the potter’s
wheel in western India. They were not allowed to enter where betel-leaves
were grown in Bengal.
 Role of Women/Female Labour

ØThe artisanal work like spinning yarn, sifting and kneading clay
for pottery and embroidery were dependent on female labour.

ØAs the supply for commercial items increased, the demand for the
female labour also increased to produce it.

ØPeasant and artisan women worked not only in the fields, but also
went to work in the houses of their employer and also to the
market.
 Women as a Resource
• Women were considered an important resource in agrarian society
because they were child bearer in society, which dependent on labour.

• There was shortage of wives because of high morality rates among

women (malnutrition, pregnancies, death during childbirth).
• This led to the emergence of social customs in peasant and artisans
communities that were different from elite groups.
• Marriage in rural communities required the payment of bride-price
rather than dowry to bride’s family.
• Remarriage was considered legitimate both among divorced and
widowed women.
 Atrocities or Cruelty Towards Women
• Because of the importance of women as reproductive force – the fear of losing
control over them was great.
• According to the social norms, men are the head of the household. Therefore
women were kept under strict control by the male members of the society and the
community.
• They could inflict draconian punishment if they suspected infidelity (disloyalty)
of women.

• According to document from western India (Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra) –

women sent petitions to the village panchayat seeking justice.
• Wives protested against the infidelity (disloyalty) of their husbands or neglect of
the wife and children by the men.
• While men infidelity was not always punished.
• In most cases, when women petitioned to the panchayat, their names were
excluded from the record.
• The petitioner was referred to as the mother, sister or wife of the men
 Property Rights of Women
• Among the landed elite, the women had the right to inherit property.
• For example;
• In Punjab, even widow women also actively participated in rural market as
sellers of property inherited by them.
• The zamindaris were inherited by both Hindu and Muslim women, which
they were free to sell or mortgage.
• In 18th century, there were women zamindars in Bengal.
• one of the biggest and the most famous zamindars of Rajshahi (Bengal) was
a women.
Forest and Tribes. Beyond Settled Village
• Apart from intensively cultivated areas in northern and north-western India, dense
forest (Jangal) covered all over major parts of India. Almost about 40% of
India was covered by forest (Jangal)
• Those who lives in forest (forest-dweller) were called Jangli. Their livelihood
depends on gathering forest produce, hunting and shifting agriculture.
• These activities were depended on seasons.
• For example; Bhil tribe (Rajasthan)
• Spring was reserved for collecting forest produce,
• Summer for fishing,
• Monsoon for cultivation,
• Autumn and winter for hunting.
• For the state, the forest was a place of refuge or a safe place for troublemaker.
• Mughal emperor Babur once said, Jungle provided a good defence behind which
the people of the pargana became rebellious and pays no tax.
 Inroads into Forests
• Many entered the forest in different ways.
• The state required the elephants for the army. So the supply of
elephants as the peshkash (tribute/tax) was collected from forest people.
• According to Mughal political ideas, hunting was a way of connecting
to all its subjects whether rich or poor. Regular hunting would allow the
emperor to know the grievances and condition of its subjects.
• The lives of forest-dweller was badly effected by the external factors
like the spread of commercial agriculture (trade).
• Forest products like honey, beeswax and gum lac were in great
demand. Some of the items became very famous worldwide and
exported from India.
• Elephants from forest were also captured and sold.
• Barter system was also used while trading.

INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL FACTORS ON TRIBES:

• The lives of the forest-dweller also changed by the social factors.
• Tribes had their own chieftain, just like the headman in village community.
Many of the tribal chiefs had become zamindar and even kings.
• They had to build an army for this and therefore, people of their tribes
provided military service.
• For example, in Assam, the Ahom king had their Paiks, people who
provided military service in exchange for land.
• The capture of elephants was declared a royal monopoly by the Ahom kings.
 The Zamindars
• Zamindars in Mughal India did not practice agricultural production directly
but they were depended on it.
• These zamindars were landed elite, who enjoyed certain social and economic
privileges in rural society –
• Have higher status.
• Belongs to higher caste
• performed certain services (khidmat) for the state.
• Zamindars held extensive personal lands called – Milkiyat (property).
• Milkayat lands were cultivated for the personal use of zamindar, with the
help of hired labour or servants.
• Zamindars could sell and mortgage these land at their own will (wish).
 Power of Zamindar:
• Zamindars were powerful because –
• They often collect revenue on behalf of the state, for which they
were paid.
• They have control over military.
• They had fortress (qilachas or qila) and group of armies, which
consists of cavalry, infantry, and artillery.
• If we look at the zamindars in Mughal countryside as a pyramid then
it is a very narrow apex.
• Abu’l Fazl’s account tell us that upper-caste like Rajputs and Jats had
established their control in rural society.
• Also some intermediate castes as well as growing number of Muslim
zamindaris (after the coming of Muslims).
 Origin/Emergence of New Zamindars
• Many contemporary documents shows that some people become zamindaris
through military conquest.
• Many land of weaker people were controlled by military chiefs and it was way of
expanding a zamindari.
• These were possible only with the permission of the state/emperor.
• The slow process of zamindari consolidation also helped in the birth of new
zamindars. It involves colonization of new land:
a) By transfer of rights
b) By order of the state
c) Through purchase
• It also allowed lower-caste people to become zamindars after buying the
zamindari. As lands were sold and bought.
• Another factor/way was the consolidation of lineage based zamindaris. For
example:
• Rajputs and Jats adopted these strategies to maintain control (North India)
• Peasant-pastoralist like Sadgops created powerful zamindaris (central & southwest Bengal)
Relation between Zamindars and Peasants
• They helped in settling down cultivators by providing them with the
means of cultivation, including cash loans.
• Zamindars often established markets(haats) to which peasants also came
to sell their produce.
• The buying and selling of zamindaris developed the process of
monetization in the countryside. (medium of payment)
• Zamindars and peasants had a sense of reciprocity, paternalism and
patronage. For example;
• (i) Bhakti saints were against the oppression of people in the name caste and other
factor in society but they did not consider zamindar as oppressor of peasants. They
were against the revenue officials of the state.
• (ii) whenever zamindars had an issue with the state then the peasants would always
support the zamindars.
 Land Revenue System
ØThe main source of Mughal economy was depended on the revenue from the
land. Therefore, it was important for Mughal to create an administrative
body to control agricultural production and to collect revenue from the
empire.

ØIt included the office (daftar) of the diwan, who was responsible for looking
after financial system of the empire.
ØTherefore, the revenue officials and record keeper became important figure.
ØThe land revenue collection was consisted of two stages,
ØFirst was assessment of land
Ø secondly, actual collection of revenue
ØThe Jama was the amount assessed and Hasil was the amount
collected.
ØFor eg; Mughal emperor Akbar ordered that the revenue can be paid to
Amil Guzar (revenue collector), both in cash and kind.
ØThe main aim of the state in fixing revenue was to maximise its claim.
lands were measured
ØBoth cultivated and cultivable in the province. Ain mentions about such
lands during Akbar’s time. Even Emperor Aurangzeb ordered his
revenue official to prepare annual report of the numbers of cultivators in
each village.
q The Emperor Akbar classified the lands and fixed different revenue to
be paid by each. These are:

I. Polaj: - is a land which is annually cultivated for each crop in

succession and is never allowed to lie fallow.

II. Parauti: - is land left out of cultivation for a time to recover its
strength.

III. Chachar: - is land that has been kept fallow for three or four years.

IV. Banjar: - is land which is uncultivated for five years and more.
1) Kankut:- The word kan means grain and kut means to estimate
estimate. The crop should be cut and estimated in three lots, good,
middling and bad.

2) Batai or bhaoli :- The crops are reaped and stacked and divided by
agreement in the presence of the parties.

3) Khet-batai:- In which the fields are divided after they are sown.

4) Lang batai :- After cutting the grain, they form it in heaps and divide it
among themselves.

v AMIN:
Amin was an official responsible for ensuring that imperial regulations
were carried out in the provinces
THE MANSABDARI SYSTEM
• The Mughal administrative system had at its apex a military cum-
bureaucratic system (mansabdari,) which was responsible for
looking after the civil and military affairs of the state.

• Some mansabdars were paid:

• in cash (naqdi),
• the majority of them were paid through assignments of
revenue (jagirs) in different regions of the empire. They were
transferred periodically.
THE FLOW OF SILVER COIN INTO MUGHAL EMPIRE
• The Mughal Empire was one of the large empires in Asia among
other empires like, the Ming (China), Safavid (Iran) and Ottoman
(Turkey) empires that had managed to consolidate power and
resources during the 16th and 17th centuries.

• The political stability of all these empires helped develop a

networks of overland trade from China to the Mediterranean Sea.

• Voyages of discovery and the opening up of the New World

resulted in a massive expansion of Asia/India’s trade with
Europe.
• An expanding trade brought in huge amounts of silver bullion into
India to pay for goods procured from India.
• This was good for India because it did not have natural resources of
silver.

• As a result, between16th and17th centuries there was stability in the

availability of metal currency, particularly the silver rupya in India.

• This facilitated huge expansion of minting and circulating of silver

coins and circulation of money (trade & tax).

• Italian traveller, Giovanni Careri, who passed through India c. 1690,

provides an account about the way silver travelled across the globe to
reach India.
• It also gives us an idea of amounts of cash and commodity transactions
in seventeenth century India.
The Ain-I Akbari of Abu’l Fazl Allami

• Abu’l Fazl wrote Ain-I Akbari at the order of Mughal emperor Akbar
and it was completed in 1598.

• Akbar Nama is the history of Akbar’s rule and it consisted of three

books.

• The first two books provided the historical narrative and the third
book was called Ain-I Akbari which was organized as a collection of
imperial regulations and a geographical dictionary of the empire.
Importance of Ain-I Akbari
ØAin-I Akbari gives detail description of the court, administration and
army, the sources of revenue, physical structure of the provinces of
Akbar’s empire. It also about the literacy, cultural and religion of the
people.
ØIt gives the description of the various department of Akbar’s
government and detail descriptions of the various province (subas) of
the empire.
ØIt informed the emperor about the diversity that existed across his
empire.
ØIt had recorded information about the empire and the people of
India. Therefore, we can study this to understand India during 17th
century.
 The Five Books of Ain-I Akbari
• Ain-I Akbari consist of 5 books. The first three books describes the
administration.
1) Manzil Abadi, focus on the imperial household and its maintenance.

2) Sipah Abadi, focus on the civil and military of emperor. It also

includes biographies about the officials, scholars, poets and artists.

3) Mulk Abadi, focus on the empire’s economic condition, geography

and agriculture of all Mughal province (subas) and their administrative
division.

4) The fourth and fifth books focus on the religion, literary and culture
of India.
Authenticity of Ain-I Akbari

vAbu’l Fazl had carefully revised the book Ain five times for its
authenticity.
vFor example;
vOral testimonies were carefully examined before putting them as facts in
the chronicle.
vAll the numerical (number) data were written in words to minimize the
chance of error.

v12345623 = one crore twenty three lakhs forty five thousands six hundred twenty three.
Limitation of Ain-I Akbari
vHistorians have pointed out some limitation of Ain:

i. Many mistakes in calculation have been detected.

ii. The biased nature of the quantitative data.

iii. Data were not collected uniformly from all provinces of Mughal,
such as Bengal and Orissa.

iv. The detailed list of prices and wages provided by Ain-I Akbari
comes from the imperial capital of Agra. Therefore, this data is not
much relevant for the rest of the country.