Peasants, Zamindars and the State

The premier primary historical source for Mughal agrarian society is the Ain-i-Akbari ("Institutes of Akbar"), completed in 1598 by Akbar's court historian and confidant, Abu'l Fazl:

• The Ain forms the third volume of the grand imperial history, the Akbarnama. It is a comprehensive administrative and statistical gazetteer detailing royal court etiquette, military organization, provincial geography, revenue statistics, crop yields, and Hindu philosophy.
• Structure of the Ain (5 Books / Daftars):
  1. Manzil-abadi: The imperial royal household, harem, mint, and kitchen.
  2. Sipah-abadi: Military and civil administration, mansabdars, and imperial stipends.
  3. Mulk-abadi: The crucial agrarian section containing fiscal revenue tables, crop rates, and quantitative surveys of all 12 imperial provinces (Subas).
  4. Fourth & Fifth Books: Religious, philosophical, and literary traditions of India, concluding with sayings of Emperor Akbar.
• Historiographical Limitations: The Ain is heavily focused on the imperial center and northern provinces, glossing over distant regions like Bengal and the Deccan; calculations contain minor arithmetic transcription errors; and it reflects a top-down royal court ideology.

A. Types of Peasants (Raiyat / Asami):

• 1. Khud-kashta: Resident peasant cultivators who lived in the village where their ancestral land was located. They owned their farming bullocks, plows, and seed.
• 2. Pahi-kashta: Non-resident migrant peasant cultivators who traveled to farm land in other villages on a contractual tenant basis, either by choice (better tax terms) or compelled by famine.
• Land Abundance & Labor Mobility: Land in 16th-century India was vast and abundant, while labor was relatively scarce. If a local lord or tax collector became tyrannical, peasants simply abandoned their fields, packed their bullocks, and migrated to uncleared forest lands!

B. Agricultural Crops & "Jins-i-Kamil":

• Farming followed two major annual cycles: Kharif (autumn harvest, rain-fed) and Rabi (spring harvest, winter crops). In fertile zones, peasants harvested three crops a year!
• Jins-i-Kamil ("Perfect Crops"): The Mughal state actively encouraged the cultivation of high-value commercial cash crops because they yielded substantially higher cash revenue taxes:
  • Cotton: Grown across the black soil of Gujarat and the Deccan.
  • Sugarcane: Grown across Bengal and the Gangetic basin.
  • New Crops from the New World: European trade introduced crops from the Americas—Tobacco (arrived in Akbar's court c. 1604), Maize (corn), Chilies, Tomatoes, and Potatoes.

A. The Village Community (The Triad):

The Mughal village functioned as a semi-autonomous corporate republic resting upon three pillars:

1. The Cultivators: Peasants of varying caste and economic statuses.
2. The Village Panchayat & Headman (Muqaddam / Mandal): An assembly of village elders representing major caste lineages. Chosen with the consent of village elders and ratified by the local *zamindar*. The headman maintained village accounts (audited by the village accountant, the *patwari*) and collected tax quotas. The panchayat enforced strict caste boundaries and could levy fines or expel wrongdoers from the village.
3. Village Artisans & Jajmani System: Blacksmiths, carpenters, potters, and barbers provided specialized services to farming households in exchange for a fixed customary share of each harvest (remuneration in kind).

B. The Zamindars (Landed Gentry):

Hereditary landed intermediaries who occupied an elevated social position:

• They held extensive private personal agricultural estates known as Milkiyat, cultivated by hired farm laborers or debt-bonded serfs.
• They collected land revenue from peasants on behalf of the Mughal state, retaining a fixed percentage (approx. 10%–25%) as their collection commission.
• Military Might: Most zamindars lived in fortified stone or mud fortresses (qilas) and commanded private armed contingents of cavalry, matchlock infantry, and artillery (the Ain-i-Akbari estimates total zamindar troops across the empire at 4.4 million armed men!).

A. The Zabt Revenue System (Raja Todar Mal):

Land revenue (mal) was the economic lifeblood of the Mughal Empire:

• Dahsala System (1580): Akbar and Todar Mal surveyed crop yields and market price data over a ten-year period (1570–1580). One-third of the average 10-year yield was fixed as the state's tax share, converted into cash schedules (Dastur) for each region.
• Classification of Land based on Cultivation:
  • 1. Polaj: Land cultivated continuously every year without being left fallow; highest tax.
  • 2. Parauti: Land left fallow temporarily for 1–2 years to recover natural fertility.
  • 3. Chachar: Land left fallow for 3–4 years; taxed at concessional rates upon reploughing.
  • 4. Banjar: Uncultivated, virgin, or waste land unplanted for 5 or more years.
• Jama vs Hasil:
  • Jama: The assessed, estimated taxable revenue demand calculated on paper.
  • Hasil: The actual, realized cash revenue successfully collected and deposited into the treasury.

B. The Forest Frontiers (Jangli Tribes):

Nearly 40% of the subcontinent was covered by dense forests inhabited by tribal pastoralists and hunter-gatherers termed Jangli:

• Forests provided raw materials vital for imperial defense and trade: wild war elephants, timber for boats and gun carriages, beeswax, honey, and lac (used for sealing wax and dyes exported to Europe).
• Tribal chieftains frequently paid their annual tribute to the Mughal Emperor in the form of trained war elephants.