The Ain-i Akbari of Abu’l Fazl Allami

Peasants and Agricultural Production

The village was the primary unit of agricultural society, where peasants performed seasonal tasks like tilling soil, sowing seeds, and harvesting crops. They also contributed to the production of agro-based goods like sugar and oil. Rural India was not solely characterized by settled peasant production, as large tracts of dry land or hilly regions were not cultivable, and forest areas constituted a significant portion of the territory....

The Village Community

The account highlights the significant role of peasantry in agricultural production, affecting the structure of agrarian relations in Mughal society. Peasants held individual lands but also belonged to a collective village community consisting of cultivators, panchayat, and village headman....

Women in Agrarian Society

In medieval Indian agriculture, women and men worked together in fields, with women sowing, weeding, and harvesting. The basis of production was the labor and resources of the entire household. Gendered segregation was not possible, but biases related to women’s biological functions continued. Women were considered an important resource in agrarian society, as they were child bearers in a society dependent on labor. High mortality rates among women led to a shortage of wives, leading to the emergence of social customs in peasant and artisan communities. Marriages in many rural communities required payment of bride-price rather than dowry, and remarriage was considered legitimate among divorced and widowed women. Women were kept under strict control by male members of the family and community, and they could inflict draconian punishments if they suspected infidelity. Women had the right to inherit property, and in eighteenth-century Bengal, women zamindars were known....

Forests and Tribes

Beyond Settled Villages...

The Zamindars

In Mughal India, zamindars were landed proprietors who enjoyed social and economic privileges due to their superior status in rural society. They held extensive personal lands called milkiyat, which were cultivated for their private use, often with the help of hired or servile labor. They could sell, bequeath, or mortgage these lands at will. Zamindaris derived their power from collecting revenue on behalf of the state, which they were compensated financially. Control over military resources was another source of power....

Land Revenue System

The Mughal Empire relied heavily on land revenue for economic growth, and an administrative apparatus was established to control agricultural production and collect revenue. The diwan’s office (daftar) supervised the fiscal system, and revenue officials and record keepers played a crucial role in shaping agrarian relations. The state sought to gather information about agricultural lands and their production before imposing taxes. Land revenue arrangements involved assessment and actual collection, with the jama representing assessed revenue and hasil representing collected revenue. Akbar, the amil-guzar, aimed to maximize claims, but local conditions sometimes hindered this. Both cultivated and cultivable lands were measured in each province, with efforts continuing under subsequent emperors. However, not all areas were successfully measured, as forests covered vast areas of the subcontinent....

The Flow of Silver

The Mughal Empire, along with the Ming, Safavid, and Ottoman empires, established political stability in the 16th and 17th centuries, leading to the creation of extensive overland trade networks. This expansion, particularly in India, led to a greater geographical diversity and commodity composition in the trade. The silver bullion brought to India, allowing for the minting of coins and circulation of money in the economy. Giovanni Carri’s 1690 travels provide insight into the significant cash and commodity transactions in 17th-century India....

The Ain-i Akbari of Abu’l Fazl Allami

The Ain-i Akbari was a historical and administrative project by Abu’l Fazl, completed in 1598, as part of the Akbar Nama project. It provides detailed accounts of the court, administration, army, revenue sources, and the physical layout of the empire’s provinces. The Ain also provides quantitative information on the provinces and their departments. The project was commissioned by Emperor Akbar and was a significant imperial exercise. The Ain is composed of five books, with the first three focusing on administration, the second on military and civil administration, the third on fiscal aspects, and the fourth on religious, literary, and cultural traditions. However, the Ain has limitations, including errors in totalling and a skewed nature of quantitative data....

Conclusion – Class 12 History Notes Chapter 8 Peasants, Zamindars and the State Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire

In conclusion, the Mughal Empire played a significant role in influencing the agrarian society of India. The chapter focuses on the relationship between peasants, zamindars (landlords), and the state during the Mughal period. The Mughal Empire was predominantly an agrarian society, with agriculture being the main occupation. Most peasants worked as cultivators and were the backbone of the rural economy. The land revenue system was essential for the functioning of the empire....

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