Big picture
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, about 85% of India's people lived in villages, and agriculture was the basis of the Mughal empire. Land revenue was the state's main source of income, so the empire built an elaborate system to measure land, assess crops and collect taxes.
This chapter looks at rural society from below (peasants, villages, women, forest dwellers) and from above (zamindars and the state), using mainly the *Ain-i Akbari*, along with other Mughal records and local documents.
Learning goals
Explain the Ain-i Akbari and other sources for agrarian history, and their limits.
Describe peasants, land and agricultural practices, including irrigation and crops.
Explain the village community, panchayat and caste.
Describe the role and position of women in agrarian society.
Explain the life of forest dwellers and their relations with the state.
Explain the position and power of zamindars.
Explain the Mughal land revenue system and the flow of silver.
Core ideas
1. Sources
The *Ain-i Akbari (Ain), written by Abu'l Fazl, Akbar's court historian, was completed in 1598 as the third part of the Akbarnama*. It records Akbar's government in detail: the court, administration, army, revenue, and the provinces' geography and customs.
It has five books (daftars): the first three cover the imperial household, the army and officials, and the revenue system, provincial statistics and land; the fourth and fifth cover religious, literary and cultural traditions, and Akbar's sayings.
Other sources: seventeenth- and eighteenth-century revenue records from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, and the extensive records of the East India Company.
2. Peasants and their land
The term used for peasants in Mughal sources was raiyat (plural riaya) or muzarian; also kisan or asami.
Seventeenth-century sources describe two kinds of peasants:
Type | Meaning |
|---|---|
Khud-kashta | Residents of the village who held land there |
Pahi-kashta | Non-resident cultivators who belonged to another village but cultivated land elsewhere, sometimes because of better terms or when driven by famine |
Peasants owned ploughs and cattle, and there was plenty of cultivable land; but some peasants had little land, and the average peasant had only a pair of bullocks and two ploughs in north India.
3. Irrigation and agriculture
Agriculture depended on the monsoon, but irrigation was used where possible. The state supported it: canals were dug or repaired (such as the Shahnahar in Punjab, repaired in Shah Jahan's reign). Technologies included the Persian wheel.
Two cropping seasons: kharif (autumn) and rabi (spring). Most areas grew at least two crops a year; some, with better irrigation, grew three.
Jins-i kamil ("perfect crops"), such as cotton and sugarcane, were cash crops that earned the state more revenue. Oilseeds and lentils were also grown for the market.
New crops came from other parts of the world: maize (from Africa and Spain), and from the New World tomatoes, potatoes and chillies, and fruits such as pineapple and papaya.
4. The village community
The village was a community of cultivators, with a panchayat and a headman, with castes and occupations.
Caste shaped village life: many groups were landless labourers; among peasants, some castes cultivated land. In some places, groups considered "low" in caste had risen in status through owning land.
The panchayat was an assembly of elders, usually important people with hereditary rights in property. It was headed by the muqaddam or mandal, chosen by consensus and approved by the zamindar.
Functions of the panchayat: maintaining village accounts with the help of the patwari (accountant); managing a common village fund used for paying officials who visited, for community welfare and for natural calamities; regulating caste behaviour and ensuring members followed caste norms; imposing fines and punishments, including expulsion from the community. Jati panchayats also regulated caste matters.
Petitions: documents from Rajasthan and Maharashtra show peasants and lower castes petitioning the panchayat about excessive taxes or demands.
Village artisans (potters, blacksmiths, carpenters, barbers) provided services and were paid in a share of the harvest or a piece of land (a relationship that colonial writers later called the jajmani system).
Little republics: nineteenth-century British officials described villages as "little republics", self-contained and equal. In reality there was inequality based on caste and property, and villages were linked to towns and markets through trade and money.
5. Women in agrarian society
Women and men worked together: men tilled and ploughed, while women sowed, weeded, threshed and winnowed. Women also spun yarn, made pottery and did embroidery.
Women as a valued resource: because of high mortality and the need for labour, women's reproductive role was valued, and in many rural communities a bride-price was paid to the bride's family, not dowry.
Rights: in some places, widows' remarriage was accepted among peasant and artisan communities. Documents from Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra show women petitioning the panchayat for justice, for example against husbands who neglected them or took another wife.
Property: Hindu and Muslim women inherited land in some regions; women from zamindar families sometimes held zamindaris, as in Bengal, and could sell or mortgage land.
6. Forests and tribes
Large areas were covered by forests, inhabited by people the state called jangli; this didn't mean they were "uncivilised", but that they lived by hunting, gathering and shifting agriculture.
Relations with the state: the state needed forest products and resources, including elephants for the army, and demanded tribute (peshkash) from forest chiefs. The Mughal emperors' shikar (hunt) was a way of travelling through the empire and hearing grievances.
Commercial agriculture and trade drew forest people into exchange: they sold honey, beeswax, gum lac and elephants. Some forest chiefs became zamindars or even kings.
7. Zamindars
Zamindars were landed proprietors who didn't cultivate land directly. They had a superior social status, often belonging to upper castes, and performed services (khidmat) for the state.
They held extensive personal lands called milkiyat, cultivated by hired labour, which they could sell, bequeath or mortgage.
Power: they could collect revenue on behalf of the state, for which they received compensation; and they controlled military resources: forts and armed contingents of cavalry, artillery and infantry.
Origins: many zamindars came from conquest and colonisation of new lands; some settled peasants on new land and gave them tools and credit.
Relations with peasants involved both exploitation and patronage: peasants often supported zamindars in rebellions against the state.
8. The land revenue system
Land revenue was the economic backbone of the empire, organised by the diwan's office.
Two stages: jama (the amount assessed) and hasil (the amount actually collected).
Zabt: a system of revenue assessment based on measuring land and fixing a cash rate per unit of land for each crop; Akbar's revenue minister Raja Todar Mal organised it.
Measurement: Akbar ordered the amil-guzar (revenue collector) to encourage payment in cash, while keeping the option of payment in kind; land was measured using a jarib of bamboo with iron rings.
Classification of land (as described in the Ain):
Category | Meaning |
|---|---|
Polaj | Land cultivated every year, never left fallow |
Parauti | Land left fallow for a time to recover its strength |
Chachar | Land left fallow for three or four years |
Banjar | Land left uncultivated for five years or more |
Different rates were fixed for each category and crop.
9. The flow of silver and the economy
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, trade grew between Asia and Europe. Large amounts of silver, much of it from mines in the Americas, flowed into India to pay for its goods, such as textiles and spices.
This allowed the expansion of cash payments, coinage (the silver rupee) and trade. Taxes could be collected in cash, which in turn pushed peasants towards producing for the market.
10. Limits of the Ain-i Akbari
Its numerical data aren't uniform: data for some provinces are not complete; for example, information on caste composition of zamindars is incomplete for some provinces.
Prices and wages are mostly from around the capital, Agra, and may not apply elsewhere.
It was written from the perspective of the imperial state, so it emphasises order and the state's view of society, saying little about the experiences of peasants.
Still, it is a remarkable attempt to collect detailed information about the empire.
A reliable approach to questions
For peasants, distinguish khud-kashta and pahi-kashta and describe agricultural practice.
For the panchayat, describe its composition, headman and functions.
For women, mention their work, bride-price, remarriage, petitions and inheritance.
For zamindars, explain milkiyat, revenue collection, military power and relations with peasants.
For revenue, explain jama, hasil, zabt and the four categories of land.
For sources, give the value and limits of the Ain-i Akbari.
Connections that matter
Through the eyes of travellers includes Bernier's mistaken view of Mughal land ownership.
Colonialism and the countryside shows how British rule transformed this agrarian society.
Kings and chronicles (Mughal courts) explains the imperial perspective of Abu'l Fazl.
Common mistakes
Swapping khud-kashta (residents) and pahi-kashta (non-residents).
Confusing jama (assessed) and hasil (collected).
Mixing up the categories of land, especially parauti and chachar.
Treating villages as self-sufficient "little republics".
Saying dowry was universal. Bride-price was common among peasants.
Revision checklist
I can explain the Ain-i Akbari and its limits.
I can describe peasants, irrigation, crops and new crops.
I can explain the village community and panchayat.
I can describe the position of women and forest dwellers.
I can explain the power of zamindars.
I can explain the land revenue system and the flow of silver.