Jagir System under the Mughal Rulers
The revenue which was earned from jagir was assigned to the Jagirdars as per the ranks in place of their salary in cash or Naqad. Some were given both jagir and cash. During the reign of Shah Jahan, the actual basil of Mughal Deccan was very but the situations were better in the case of northern India. There were regional variations when we look at the jagir system during the Mughal period.
One important feature was the changing of the jagir holders from one to the next, for administrative purposes. The Jagir system in the late Mughal period began to be tightened up, with the jagirdars suffering and there was a deduction of the pay scale. Akbar was considerably more considerate in the case of the jagir system as compared to the later Mughals.
There existed fines or “Jurmana” for the jagirdari system during the Mughal empire, which were imposed because of deficiencies in the contingents required from the nobles.
What was the role of Jagirdars in Mughal India?
The jagirdari system during the Mughal period is considered an institution which mainly used to preserve the surplus from the class of peasants. The Jagirdari system was a form of land tenancy in which the collection of revenues from an estate and the power of governing it was bestowed on an official of the state.
It is derived from two Persian words: jagir, which means “holding land” and dar, which means “official”. The system was an adaptation of an existing agrarian system by the Delhi sultanate.