Peasants, Zamindars, and The State

1500s to 1600s CE

Delhi Sultanate ruled

From 1206 till 1526

• 5 dynasties ruled

  • Mamluk (Slave) Dynasty: 1206 - 1290

  • Khilji Dynasty: 1290 - 1320

  • Tughlaq Dynasty: 1320 - 1413

  • Sayyid Dynasty: 1414 - 1451

  • Lodi dynasty: 1451 - 1526

    • Last sultan: Ibrahim Lodi (1517–1526)

Babur & establishing the Mughal empire

• From Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan

• He formed a partnership with Safavid emperor: 1511

• Daulat Khan Lodi and Alam Khan both negotiated with Babur and he captured Lahore: 1524

  • Babur didn’t fulfill his ends of the deal, giving back power to the Lodis, and every group was now fragmented.

• Babur launched a full-scale invasion of northern India, and won with Ibrahim dead(1st Battle of Panipat, Haryana): 20 April 1526

  • He won because of his innovative tactics and superior cavalry.

Mughal Empire and its first 6 rulers

1526 till 1857

• Babur: 1526 - 1530

• Humayun: 1530 - 1540 & 1555 - 1556

  • overthrown by his rival Sher Shah Suri

  • Regained empire after the death of Islam Shah Suri, the son of Sher Shah Suri

• Akbar: 1556 - 1605

• Jehangir: 1605 - 1627

• Shan Jahan: 1628 - 1658

• Aurangzeb: 1658 - 1707

Mughal population & taxation

• 15% Urban

• 85% Rural: Major source of taxation

  • Agriculture

  • Artisanal Activity

  • Forest produce & tribes

Safavid

Iran/Persia

Main map

• Babur’s reign, 1526 - 1530

  • Kabul

  • Qandahar

  • Lahore

  • Panipat

  • Delhi

  • Agra

• Akbar’s reign, 1556 - 1605(Additions)

  • Amber

  • Ajmer

  • Patna

  • Rohtas

  • Bombay

  • Bengal

• Aurangzeb’s reign, 1658 - 1707

  • Mysore

  • Madras

Rural society: overview

• 85% of the total population lived in villages

• Both peasants and Landed elites were involved in agricultural production

  • Created cooperation, competition and conflict among them

• Mughal state derived most of its revenue from agricultural production

• Agents of the state were put to control rural society and make sure the the state got its regular share of taxes

  • Revenue assessors

  • Collectors

  • Record keepers

• These crops were grown for sale, hence linking agrarian society and economy with towns and the state

Fig 8.1

• A rural scene

• Dated 1600s

• A Mughal painting

Agrarian society: Settled peasant production

• The basic unit is the village

• Peasants did the tasks that produced raw material

  • Tilling the soil

  • Sowing the seeds

  • Harvesting the crop when it was ripe

• Also worked to produce and process agro-based goods, such as sugar and oil

Agrarian society: Topography(mapping of surface features)

• Large zones of dry land or hilly regions

  • Not as fertile as other tracts of land

• Substantial amount territory was made up of forest areas

Sources used to understand the Mughal empire(16-17cent.)

• Major sources are the chronicles and documents from the Mughal court

• Ain-i-Akbari by Akbar’s court historian, Abu’l Fazl

  • Its central purpose was to link social harmony and peace with the presence of a strong ruling class

• To supplement and cross-check

  • Contemporary sources from regions away from the Mughal empire

    • Detailed revenue records from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan(17-18cent)

    • Extensive records of the East India Company of agrarian relations in eastern India

• The alternative sources provide

  • Instances of conflict between peasants, zamindars and the state

  • Insight into peasants’ view and expectation of the state

Ain-i-Akbari

• By Akbar’s court historian, Abu’l Fazl

• Provided records of the arrangement made by the state to

  • Ensure cultivation

  • Enable the collection of revenue by the agencies of the state

  • Regulate the relationship between the state and rural magnates (Wealthy, influential and powerful leaders), Zamindars

Ain-i-Akbari: Limitations

• It central purpose and bias

  • To provide a vision of Akbar’s empire, that was from the top, or only coming what the ruling class deemed right

  • Where social harmony was provided by a strong ruling class

    • This was to discourage or delegitimize any revolt or assertion of autonomous power against the Mughal empire

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Terms to denote peasants/Available labour

• Indo-persian sources of Mughal period

  • Raiyat, plural raiya

  • Muzarian

  • Kisan

  • Asami: in Bengal

• Sources of 1600s

  • Khud-kashta: Cultivator on one’s own land

  • Pahi-kashta: Migrant/non-resident cultivator of another’s land on a contractual basis

Reasons to become pahi-kashta

• Out of choice

  • Terms of revenue in a distant village are more favourable

• Out of compusion

  • Forced by economic distress after a famine

What did a peasant possess?

• Average peasant of north India had a pair of bullocks and two ploughs

• Regional differences

  • Gujarat

    • Peasants who had 6 acres of land were considered rich

  • Bengal

    • 5 acres was the upper limit of an average asami

    • 10 acres to be considered rich

• Cultivation was based on the principle of individual ownership

  • Peasants were able to buy and sell land the same way any other property(comp. with Bernier’s account)

How do peasants work the land

• Asamis ploughed the field

• marked the limits of each field

  • for identification and demarcation

  • with borders of raised earth/mud, brick and thorn

• Thousands of such fields were in a village

Feature that Babur mentions of agrarian society/ Mobility of peasants

• In the Babur Nama, his memoirs

• Towns and villages populated and depopulated very quickly

  • The resting places and houses were built using temporary and natural materials

• Most crops were grown using the rain as main water source

  • A well or tank would be build to store water

• Building materials, huts were made

  • Khas-grass, meaning grass, hay, leaves, anything strewn about

  • Wood

factors for the constant expansion of agriculture

• Abundance of land

• Available labour

• Mobility of peasants