PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE
Red fonts – important topics / details
Yellow highlights – PYQs / important questions
1. Peasants and agricultural productions
- The village was the basic unit of agricultural society.
- Peasants performed essential tasks: tilling soil, sowing seeds, and harvesting crops.
- They contributed labour to producing goods like sugar and oil.
Q. Our major source for the agrarian history of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries are
chronicles and documents from the Mughal court. Elucidate the statement.
Sources of Information on Agrarian Society
- Ain-i Akbari: Written by Abu’l Fazl, this detailed Mughal chronicle described state
arrangements for agriculture, revenue collection, and relationships with zamindars.
- The Ain-i Akbari presents a top-down view of agrarian society, emphasizing state
control and harmony under Akbar’s rule.
- Regional Revenue Records: Documents from Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan offer
additional insights.
- Regional records highlight local conflicts and peasant expectations of fairness.
- East India Company Records: These provide valuable descriptions of agrarian relations in
eastern India.
- Common terms for peasants included raiyat, muzarian, kisan, and asami.
Q. What were the two categories of peasants in the 17th century Mughal period? Discuss.
- Two main peasant types: Khud-kashta (resident cultivators) and Pahi-kashta (non-resident
cultivators, often moving for better terms or out of necessity).
Q. Describe the condition of an average peasant of North India during the 17th century.
Q. How was land an indicator of prosperity of any peasant? Explain with examples.
- Typical peasants had limited resources, often no more than a pair of bullocks and two
ploughs.
- Landholdings: Varied by region; for instance, in Gujarat, six acres indicated affluence, while
in Bengal, five acres was average, and ten acres meant wealth.
- Land Transactions: Peasant lands were treated as property and could be bought and sold.
Agricultural Practices and Technology
Q. Explain the technology used by the peasants for cultivation during the Mughal period.
Q. Explain the method of irrigation and technology used by the peasants during the
Mughal period.
Factors Influencing Agriculture:
- Availability of land, labour, and the mobility of peasants.
- Staple crops varied with rainfall, with rice in high-rainfall areas, followed by wheat and
millets.
Irrigation and State Support:
- Monsoon rains were crucial, but some crops required additional water.
- The state supported irrigation projects, such as canal construction and maintenance.
Tools and Techniques:
- Wooden Plough: Light and easy to assemble, with an iron tip for preserving soil moisture.
- Seed Planting: Mostly by broadcasting, but drills were also used.
- Hoeing and Weeding: Performed with a narrow iron blade.
Diversity and Specialisation in Crops
Q. Explain seasonal cycles of agriculture during the 16th and 17th centuries. Also, clarify
that different types of crops were grown.
Q. Subsistence and commercial production were closely intertwined in an average
peasant’s holding. Substantiate.
- Agriculture was organized around two main seasons: Kharif (autumn) and Rabi (spring).
- Many regions produced at least two crops a year, with some areas yielding three.
- Examples from Ain-i Akbari: Agra produced 39 crop varieties and Delhi 43; Bengal
was notable for 50 types of rice.
- While staple crops dominated, agriculture was not solely for subsistence.
- Jins-i Kamil (Perfect Crops): High-revenue crops like cotton and sugarcane were
encouraged.
- Cash Crops: Included oilseeds and lentils, integrated into peasant holdings alongside staple
crops.
Q. During the seventeenth century several new crops from different parts of the world
reached the Indian subcontinent. Justify the statement.
- The 17th century saw the arrival of new crops from other parts of the world.
- Maize, Vegetables, and Fruits: Maize, introduced via Africa and Spain, became significant,
as did new vegetables (tomatoes, potatoes, chillies) and fruits (pineapple, papaya).
2. The village community
- The village community consisted of three main groups: cultivators, the panchayat (village
council), and the village headman (muqaddam or mandal).
Q. Deep inequities on the basis of caste and other caste-like distinctions meant that the
cultivators were a highly heterogeneous group. Explain.
- Cultivators were a heterogeneous group with deep inequities based on caste.
- A significant portion of the population worked as menials or agricultural laborers,
often confined to poverty by their caste.
- Certain caste groups were relegated to menial tasks.
- Distinctions based on caste permeated other communities too.
- For example, menials in Muslim communities and groups like the
halalkhoran (scavengers) were marginalised.
Panchayats and Headmen
Q. Explain the composition of village panchayat.
Q. How were the panchayats formed during the 16th and 17th centuries? Explain its role.
Village Panchayat:
- The panchayat was an assembly of village elders, typically from families with hereditary
property rights.
- In mixed-caste villages, the panchayat was a diverse body.
- Lower-caste menial workers were often excluded.
Q. Examine the ways in which panchayats and village headmen regulated Mughal rural
society.
Role of the Headman:
- The village headman (muqaddam or mandal) was chosen by village elders, often with the
approval of the zamindar.
- Headmen supervised village accounts with the assistance of the panchayat’s accountant
(patwari).
- The headman’s tenure depended on maintaining the confidence of the village elders.
Q. How did the panchayat use the funds available to it?
Q. Explain the sources of revenue of village panchayats during the Mughal period.
Panchayat Funding and Functions:
Q. What was the common financial pool of the panchayat? What was its importance?
- Panchayat funds came from individual contributions to a common pool.
- These funds were used for community welfare.
- Entertaining revenue officials,
- addressing natural calamities,
- and constructing infrastructure like canals and bunds.
- Panchayats maintained caste boundaries and upheld social norms, overseeing marriages
and other community conduct.
Q. “One important function of the panchayat was to ensure that caste boundaries among
the various communities inhabiting the village were upheld.” Throw light on the
statement.
Q. How did jati panchayats yield considerable power in several societies in the Mughal
period? Clarify.
Q. What were jati panchayats? What were their functions?
Judicial and Social Authority:
- Panchayats could levy fines and enforce punishments, including expulsion from the
community.
- Jati panchayats (caste councils) had significant power, arbitrating disputes, and managing
caste-specific issues.
- They often acted as courts of appeal, addressing grievances against higher castes or state
officials.
Q. Explain the role of village artisans in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Q. Discuss the mutual relationship between rural artisans and peasants during the 16th and
17th centuries.
- Village society included a substantial number of artisans, sometimes up to 25% of
households.
- Many artisans also engaged in agriculture, and peasants often participated in craft
production during off-peak agricultural times.
- Artisans provided specialised services and were compensated in various ways, often
through a share of the harvest or land allotments.
- In Maharashtra, artisans' lands became hereditary holdings (miras or watan).
- Remuneration systems were often negotiated directly between artisans and peasant
households, frequently involving goods rather than cash.
Q. Describe the condition of agrarian women in the Mughal and rural society.
Q. Examine the status and role played by the women in the agrarian society during the Mughal
period.
Q. Explain the role of women in economic activities during the Mughal period.
3. Women in agrarian society
- Men and women worked together in the fields.
Men - ploughing and tilling,
Women - sowing, weeding, threshing, and winnowing the harvest.
- Production relied on the labour and resources of the entire household.
- A strict gender segregation between the home (for women) and the world (for men) was
impractical in this context.
- Despite the integral role of women in production, biases related to their biological
functions persisted.
- In western India, menstruating women were prohibited from touching the plough
or the potter's wheel, and in Bengal, they were not allowed in betel-leaf groves.
- Women were crucial in artisanal production, engaging in activities like spinning yarn, sifting,
kneading clay for pottery, and embroidery.
- Women were valued as child bearers.
- However, high mortality rates among women due to malnutrition, frequent pregnancies, and
childbirth complications led to a shortage of wives.
- This resulted in social customs such as bride-price (paid by the groom’s family) rather than
dowry, and the acceptance of remarriage for divorced and widowed women.
Q. “The importance attached to women as a reproductive force also meant that the fear of losing
control over them was great.” In the light of this statement, comment on the treatment of women
in the Mughal period (16th – 17th centuries).
Q. “Wives protested against the infidelity of their husbands or the neglect of the wife and children
by the male head of the household, the grihasthi.” Comment.
- The household was traditionally headed by a male, and there was a significant fear of losing
control over women, who were kept under strict supervision by male family and community
members.
- Infidelity suspected among women could lead to severe punishments.
- Women in western India (Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra) frequently petitioned village
panchayats for justice, addressing issues like the infidelity of husbands or neglect by the male
head of the household.
- While male infidelity was often overlooked, community and state authorities intervened to
ensure the family was properly cared for.
Inheritance and Property Rights:
Q. One of the biggest and most famous of the eighteenth-century zamindaris, that of Rajshahi, had
a woman at the helm. With reference to the statement, explain the participation of women in
economic activities.
Q. Social customs in peasant and artisan communities were distinct from those prevalent among
elite groups. Elucidate the statement.
- Women, particularly among the landed gentry, had rights to inherit property and participated
actively in the rural land market.
- In Punjab, women, including widows, were involved in selling inherited property, and Hindu and
Muslim women could inherit zamindaris (large landholdings).
- Some of the most notable zamindaris, like that of Rajshahi in eighteenth-century Bengal, were
managed by women, highlighting their significant economic role.
4. Forests and tribes
Q. Write a note on the life of forest dwellers during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Q. What is meant by jangli in the context of Mughal period? How was forest seen by the state?
Q. Describe the life led by the forest dwellers during the Mughal era in the 16th and 17th
centuries.
Forest Dwellers – The Jangli:
- The term "jangli" was used to describe forest inhabitants, derived from the word "jangal"
for forest. This label did not imply a lack of civilisation but rather denoted those who relied
on the forest.
- Forest communities engaged in activities like gathering forest produce, hunting, and shifting
agriculture.
- For example, the Bhils collected forest products in spring, fished in summer, farmed during
the monsoons, and hunted in autumn and winter.
- Mobility was a distinctive feature of these tribes.
- Forest people were often levied with peshkash (tributes).
- Forest products like honey, beeswax, and gum lac became valuable trade commodities.
Q. Why were the chiefs of forest dwellers, during the Mughal period, required to build an
army? How did they get military service?
- Like village communities, forest tribes had chieftains who sometimes transitioned into
zamindars (landlords) or even kings.
- To sustain their status, these leaders needed armies.
- Tribes in regions like Sind had formidable armies, and the Ahom kings of Assam maintained
paiks, who provided military service in return for land.
5. The zamindars
Q. What were the sources of power and high social position of zamindars in the Mughal India?
Q. “If we visualize social relations in the Mughal countryside as a pyramid, zamindars clearly
constituted its very narrow apex.” Justify.
Landed Proprietorship and Milkiyat:
Q. “The zamindars were landed proprietors who also enjoyed certain social and economic
privileges by virtue of their superior status in rural society”. Substantiate the statement.
- Zamindars were owners of extensive personal lands termed "milkiyat."
- These lands were cultivated for the zamindar's private use, often with the help of hired
labor or servants.
Q. “Revenue was the economic mainstay of the Mughal Empire”. Explain the statement in
the context of agriculture and trade.
- A crucial aspect of zamindar power was their role in revenue collection.
- They often collected taxes on behalf of the state, for which they were compensated.
- Many zamindars maintained private armies.
- Zamindars were instrumental in promoting agricultural expansion by providing settlers with
the means of cultivation, including cash loans.
- They also played a role in the monetisation of the rural economy by engaging in the buying
and selling of zamindaris and establishing markets (haats).
Zamindars and Peasant Relations
Q. What was the main feature of the relationship between the zamindars and the peasants
during the Mughal period. Give arguments to support the statement.
Q. “Although there can be little doubt that zamindars were an exploitative class, their
relationship with the peasantry had an element of reciprocity, paternalism and patronage.”
Justify the statement.
- Despite their exploitative role, zamindars maintained a relationship with the peasantry
characterised by reciprocity, paternalism, and patronage.
- They often provided essential support to the peasants.
- This complex relationship is reflected in the views of bhakti saints, who, while condemning
caste oppression, did not typically single out zamindars as oppressors.
- During the numerous agrarian uprisings in north India in the seventeenth century,
zamindars frequently found support among the peasantry in their struggles against the state.
6. Land revenue system
- The diwan was responsible for overseeing the fiscal policies of the empire.
- The state appointed various officials, including the amil-guzar (revenue collector), who were
tasked with collecting revenue and maintaining detailed records.
Q. Define jama and hasil.
Jama and Hasil:
- The two main stages: assessment and collection. The assessed revenue was termed "jama,"
while "hasil" referred to the actual amount collected.
7. The flow of silver
Q. Describe the results of India’s overseas trade under the Mughals.
Q. Write a note on India’s overseas trade under the Mughals.
Q. Mention two factors that brought stability in the silver during the 16th and 17th centuries.
- Vibrant networks of overland trade from China to the Mediterranean Sea.
- Massive expansion of Asia’s trade with Europe, particularly India’s trade.
- A large part of the silver bullion gravitated towards India.
- The period between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries saw remarkable stability in the
availability of metal currency, particularly the silver rupya in India.
8. The Ain-i-Akbari of Abul Faz’l Allami
Q. What aspects of Mughal period are highlighted by Abu’l Fazl’s Ain-i-Akbari?
Q. Explain why the Ain-i-Akbari remains an extraordinary document of its time even today?
Q. Describe how the chronicle Ain-i-Akbari is the major source to understand the agrarian
history of 16th and 17th centuries.
Q. Mention main purposes of the Ain-i-Akbari. Why is Ain said to be of skewed nature?
- The Ain-i Akbari was a large historical and administrative project of classification by Abu’l
Fazl, ordered by Emperor Akbar.
- It was completed in 1598, in the forty-second regnal year of Akbar, after five revisions.
- The Ain-i Akbari was part of a larger history project called Akbar Nama, which comprised
three books.
- The first two books of Akbar Nama provided a historical narrative.
Q. The Ain-i Akbari, the third book, was organised as a compendium of imperial regulations
and a gazetteer of the empire. Explain.
- The Ain-i Akbari, the third book, was a compendium of imperial regulations and a
gazetteer of the empire.
- The Ain gives detailed accounts of the organisation of the court, administration, army,
sources of revenue, physical layout of the provinces, and the literary, cultural, and religious
traditions of the people.
- It includes descriptions of various departments of Akbar’s government and intricate
quantitative information of the provinces.
- Represents a view from the centre of the empire.
- The Ain consists of five books (daftars):
Q. What does the third part of the Ain, manzil-abadi /sipah-abadi/mulk abadi deal with?
1. The first book, manzil-abadi, concerns the imperial household and its maintenance.
2. The second book, sipah-abadi, covers the military and civil administration and the
establishment of servants, including notices and biographical sketches of imperial officials.
3. The third book, mulk-abadi, deals with the fiscal side of the empire and provides
quantitative information on revenue rates, including a detailed "Account of the Twelve
Provinces" with geographic, topographic, and economic profiles.
4. The fourth and fifth books deal with the religious, literary, and cultural traditions of the
people of India and contain a collection of Akbar’s sayings.
- The Ain was revised five times.
- Cross-checked and verified oral testimonies.
- Numeric data in the quantitative sections were reproduced in words to minimize
transcription errors.
Q. Examine the importance and limitations of the Ain-i-Akbari as a source of Akbar’s reign.
- Historians have found errors in totalling, attributed to simple slips of arithmetic or
transcription by assistants, but these do not detract from the overall quantitative accuracy.
- The quantitative data is somewhat skewed, with uneven data collection from all provinces.
- Detailed caste composition data for zamindars is missing for Bengal and Orissa.
- Fiscal data is rich, but information on prices and wages is less documented, mainly
derived from areas around the imperial capital of Agra.
Q. “In spite of the limitations, the Ain remains an extraordinary document of its times.” Justify
the statement.