๐ Class 12 History – Chapter 8
๐พ Peasants, Zamindars and the States (NCERT / CBSE)
✳️ Rural Society in 16th – 17th Century India
- ๐ฅ About 85% people lived in villages.
- ๐ฑ Agriculture = main occupation of peasants (เคिเคธाเคจ) & zamindars (เคเคฎींเคฆाเคฐ).
- ๐ค Relationship between them: cooperation, competition & conflict.
✳️ Sources of Agrarian Society & Mughal Empire
- ๐ Our knowledge of agriculture comes from Mughal court chronicles & documents.
- ๐ก Village = basic unit of agrarian society → peasants engaged in ploughing, sowing, harvesting.
- ⏳ Major sources = 16th & 17th century records.
✳️ Agriculture & the Mughal Empire
- ๐พ Agriculture = main source of revenue for Mughals.
- ๐ Hence, revenue assessors, collectors & record keepers tried to control rural society.
✳️ Ain-i-Akbari ๐
- ๐ Written by Abul Fazl in Akbar’s court.
- ๐ฏ Aim = Blueprint of Mughal Empire & strong ruling class.
- ๐ Structure → 5 books (daftars):
- ๐ 1st – 3rd → Administration of Akbar’s reign.
- ๐ 4th – 5th → Religious, literary & cultural traditions + Akbar’s "Shubh Kahan" (auspicious sayings).
- ๐ Despite limitations, Ain-i-Akbari = extraordinary document for that period.
✳️ Other Sources
- ๐ Records from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan (17th–18th C.) → details of govt. income.
- ๐ East India Company documents → useful for Eastern India agriculture.
✳️ Peasants, Land & Agriculture
- ๐ Persian sources use words: Raiyat / Mujarian = peasants.
- ๐จ๐พ Two categories of peasants:
- ๐ Avg. North Indian peasant owned 1 pair of oxen + 2 ploughs (or less).
- ๐ Land = personal property, could be bought & sold.
- ๐ Population growth → Despite famines/epidemics, +50 million (33%) in 200 years.
- ⚠️ Caste restrictions → Some castes forced into low-status work, remained poor.
๐ง Irrigation and Technique
- According to Baburnama, India had plenty of land suitable for cultivation, but no running water system (เคฌเคนเคคा เคชाเคจी).
- Autumn crops were produced only by rainwater, and surprisingly, spring crops also grew without rainfall.
- Small trees were watered using buckets ๐ชฃ or rahat (Persian wheel – เคฐเคนเค).
- In regions like Lahore and Dipalpur (present-day Pakistan), irrigation was done through rahat.
๐ฑ Plenty of Crops
- Farmers usually produced two crops a year, and where rainfall/irrigation was sufficient, even three crops annually ๐พ๐พ๐พ.
- Great variety of crops:
- Agra province → 39 varieties ๐ฟ
- Delhi province → 43 varieties ๐ฝ
- Bengal → 50 varieties of rice ๐
- Cash crops (เคจเคเคฆी เคซเคธเคฒें): Cotton, sugar, oilseeds (mustard), and pulses.
- Best crops were called Jins-e-Kamil (เคถ्เคฐेเคท्เค เคซเคธเคฒें).
- The Mughal state encouraged such crops because they generated higher revenue (เค เคงिเค เคเคฐ เคเคฏ).
- New crops in the 17th century:
- Maize ๐ฝ (via Africa & Pakistan) → Main crop of Western India.
- Vegetables like tomato ๐ , potato ๐ฅ, chili ๐ถ️ from the New World.
- Fruits like pineapple ๐, papaya ๐ฅญ also introduced.
๐ฌ Spread of Tobacco
- First reached the Deccan region and then spread to North India (early 17th century).
- Ain-i-Akbari does not mention tobacco among North Indian crops.
- Akbar and nobles first saw tobacco in 1604 CE.
- Smoking habit (in hookah/hubble-bubble – เคนुเค्เคा) spread quickly.
- Emperor Jahangir even tried to ban tobacco ๐ซ, but it failed.
- By the late 17th century, tobacco became a major crop, trade, and consumption item.
๐ก Panchayat and Mukhiya
- Panchayat (เค्เคฐाเคฎ เคธเคญा): Assembly of elders (landholders with ancestral rights).
- In multi-caste villages, panchayats represented different communities (เคธเคฎुเคฆाเคฏ) but excluded landless laborers.
- The headman was called muqaddam/mandal (เคฎुเคिเคฏा), chosen by village elders and approved by the zamindar.
- Headman remained until he enjoyed the elders’ confidence, otherwise could be removed.
- Duties of the headman:
- Supervise village accounts ๐ with help of patwari (เคฒेเคाเคाเคฐ).
- Manage income & expenditure of the village.
- Panchayat treasury (เคธाเคฎूเคนिเค เคोเคท) was used for:
- Village expenses
- Supporting tax officers during their visits.
- Major role: Ensuring all communities lived within caste norms (เคाเคคीเคฏ เคฎเคฐ्เคฏाเคฆा).
๐พ Rural Society in Mughal India
๐บ Rural Artisans
- ๐จ๐ญ Around 25% households in villages belonged to artisans.
- ๐จ Artisans like potters, blacksmiths, carpenters, barbers, and goldsmiths provided services to villagers.
- ๐พ In return, villagers paid them through part of the crop or piece of land (เค़เคฎीเคจ).
- ⚖️ Payment was often decided by the Panchayat (village council). In Maharashtra, artisans got hereditary rights on such land.
- ๐ Sometimes, direct exchange of goods & services (เคตเคธ्เคคु-เคตिเคจिเคฎเคฏ) took place between artisans and peasants.
๐ฉ๐พ Social & Economic Status of Women
- ๐ฑ Men ploughed while women sowed, weeded, harvested & processed crops.
- ๐งต Women were engaged in spinning yarn, pottery work, embroidery, kneading clay.
- ๐ฌ Women worked in fields, markets, and even at employers’ homes when required.
- ๐ In many communities, bride price (เคฆुเคฒ्เคนเคจ เคฎूเคฒ्เคฏ) was given instead of dowry.
- ♻️ Remarriage allowed for widows & divorcees.
- ๐ก Women had inheritance rights (เคเคค्เคคเคฐाเคงिเคाเคฐ เคा เค เคงिเคाเคฐ) in property.
๐ณ Jungle and Clan
- ๐ Contemporary works used the word ‘wild’ (เคंเคเคฒी) not as uncivilized, but for people living by forest produce, hunting & shifting cultivation.
- ๐ Example: Collecting forest products in spring, fishing in summer, cultivation in monsoon, hunting in autumn & winter.
- ๐ก️ Babur described forests as shelters (เคเคถ्เคฐเคฏเคธ्เคฅเคฒ) for rebels who resisted paying taxes.
- ๐ Forest dwellers often had to supply elephants & other resources to the state.
๐ Zamindars and Their Power
- ๐ก Zamindars were landowners with special social & economic privileges.
- ⚖️ High caste status & services to the state increased their importance.
- ๐พ Zamindars had large personal estates (เคฎिเคฒ्เคी เคเคฎीเคจ) cultivated by labourers; they could sell, mortgage, or transfer these lands.
- ๐ฐ They collected taxes on behalf of the state and received financial rewards.
- ⚔️ Many zamindars had their own forts & military resources (cavalry, artillery, infantry).
- ๐ According to Ain-i-Akbari:
- ๐ 3,84,558 horsemen
- ๐ช 42,77,057 foot soldiers
- ๐ 1,863 elephants
- ๐ฅ 4,260 cannons
- ⛵ 4,500 boats
๐ Land Revenue System & Economy (Mughal Era)
❇️ Land Revenue System (เคญूเคฎि เคฐाเคเคธ्เคต เคต्เคฏเคตเคธ्เคฅा)
๐น Land revenue system had two main phases:
1️⃣ Tax Assessment (เคเคฐ เคจिเคฐ्เคงाเคฐเคฃ)
2️⃣ Actual Recovery (เคตाเคธ्เคคเคตिเค เคตเคธूเคฒी)
๐น Deposit = prescribed amount (เคจिเคถ्เคिเคค เคฐเคเคฎ)
Received = actual amount recovered (เคตाเคธ्เคคเคตिเค เคตเคธूเคฒी เคเค เคฐเคเคฎ)
๐น State always tried to keep maximum share of revenue, but due to local conditions, actual recovery was often less.
๐น Both ploughed land (เคुเคคाเค เคी เคเค เคญूเคฎि) and cultivable land (เคेเคคी เคฏोเค्เคฏ เคญूเคฎि) were measured.
๐น During Akbar’s reign, Abul Fazl compiled detailed land records in Ain-i Akbari.
Measurement of land continued even during later emperors.
๐น In 1665 AD, Aurangzeb instructed revenue officials to maintain annual record of cultivators in each village.
➡️ But large areas (especially forest regions ๐ณ) remained unmeasured.
๐ Important Terms (เคฎเคนเคค्เคตเคชूเคฐ्เคฃ เคถเคฌ्เคฆाเคตเคฒी)
1️⃣ Amil (เคเคฎिเคฒ) → Revenue officer ensuring state rules in provinces.
2️⃣ Polaj (เคชोเคฒเค) → Land cultivated every year without leaving it fallow.
3️⃣ Parauti (เคชเคฐोเคी) → Land left fallow for some time to regain fertility.
4️⃣ Chachar (เคाเคเคฐ) → Land left uncultivated for 3–4 years.
5️⃣ Barren (เคฌंเคเคฐ) → Land uncultivated for 5 or more years.
✳️ Flow of Silver in the Economy (เค เคฐ्เคฅเคต्เคฏเคตเคธ्เคฅा เคฎें เคाँเคฆी เคा เคช्เคฐเคตाเคน)
๐น The Mughal Empire (เคญाเคฐเคค) was among the largest empires of Asia in the 16th–17th centuries, along with:
- Ming (China ๐จ๐ณ)
- Safavid (Iran ๐ฎ๐ท)
- Ottoman (Turkey ๐น๐ท)
๐น Political stability of these empires boosted long-distance land trade from China → Mediterranean Sea ๐.
๐น Age of Exploration (เคจเคตीเคจ เคตिเคถ्เคต เคी เคोเค) → expanded trade between Europe & Asia, especially India.
➡️ Many new goods entered India’s trade network.
๐น Growing trade brought huge inflow of silver ๐ฐ from Europe to Asia, mainly to pay for Indian exports.
๐น This was beneficial for India because:
✅ India lacked natural silver resources
✅ Expansion in currency economy & coin circulation
✅ Mughals found it easier to collect cash taxes
