The topic Class 12 History Notes Chapter 8 Peasants, Zamindars and the State Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire focuses on the relationship between peasants, zamindars, 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 crucial for the functioning of the empire.
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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.
Looking for Sources
The understanding of rural society in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries is primarily based on chronicles and documents from the Mughal court, particularly the Ain-i Akbari, authored by Abu’l Fazl. The Ain meticulously records state arrangements for cultivation, revenue collection, and the relationship between the state and rural magnates, the zamindars. It aims to present a vision of Akbar’s empire where social harmony was maintained by a strong ruling class. However, the Ain’s account is limited to the top. Other sources, such as revenue records from Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan, and the East India Company’s records, provide valuable information into agrarian relations in eastern India. These sources record instances of conflicts between peasants, zamindars, and the state, providing insight into their perceptions and expectations of fairness.
Peasants and their Lands
The term “raiyat” or “muzarian” was commonly used to describe a peasant during the Mughal period. There were two types of peasants: khud-kashta, residents of their village, and pahi-kashta, non-resident cultivators who cultivated lands elsewhere. Peasants in north India typically owned less than a pair of bullocks and two ploughs. Peasant lands were sold and bought and sold similarly to other property owners. Asamis, who plowed up fields, marked their boundaries with raised earth, brick, and thorn, allowing thousands of fields to be counted in a village.
Irrigation and Technology
The expansion of agriculture in India was attributed to land availability, labor, and peasant mobility. Basic staple crops like rice, wheat, and millets were cultivated, with areas receiving 40 inches or more of rainfall being rice-producing zones. Monsoons remained the backbone of Indian agriculture, but some crops required additional water, necessitating the development of artificial irrigation systems. Peasants used technologies like the wooden plough and drills to conserve moisture and plant seeds, with hoeing and weeding performed simultaneously.
An Abundance of Crops
Agriculture in medieval India was organized around two major seasonal cycles: kharif (autumn) and rabi (spring). Most regions produced at least two crops a year, with some producing three crops due to continuous water supply. This led to an enormous variety of produce, with Mughal provinces like Agra, Delhi, and Bengal producing various varieties of rice. However, agriculture was not solely for subsistence; jins-i kamil (perfect crops) were encouraged for their revenue. During the seventeenth century, new crops like maize, vegetables, potatoes, chillies, and fruits were introduced.
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.
Caste and the Rural Milieu
Caste-based inequities led to a diverse group of cultivators, with many working as menials or agricultural laborers. Some caste groups were assigned menial tasks, leading to poverty. These groups had limited resources and were constrained by their caste hierarchy. This distinctions persisted in other communities, such as Muslim communities where menials were housed outside the village. There was a direct correlation between caste, poverty, and social status at lower strata, but not at intermediate levels.
Panchayats and Headmen
The village panchayat was an assembly of elders, representing various castes and communities in a village. Headed by a muqaddam or mandal, the panchayat supervised the preparation of village accounts and derived its funds from contributions to a common financial pool. The headman’s main function was to ensure caste boundaries were upheld, and they could levy fines and inflict punishments like expulsion from the community.
In addition to the village panchayat, each caste or jati in the village had its own jati panchayat. These panchayats wielded considerable power in rural society, resolving civil disputes, determining land claims, and determining ritual precedence in village functions. In western India, archives from Rajasthan and Maharashtra contain petitions from lower-caste peasants complaining about excessive taxation or unpaid labor demands from superior castes or state officials. The village panchayat was seen as the court of appeal to ensure the state carried out its moral obligations and guaranteed justice.
In conflicts between lower-caste peasants and state officials or the local zamindar, the panchayat’s decision could vary, with compromise suggested in cases of excessive revenue demands and resorting to more drastic forms of resistance, such as deserting the village.
Village Artisans
Villages in India had a complex exchange system between different producers, with artisans making up 25% of households. The distinction between artisans and peasants was fluid, with many groups performing tasks like dyeing, textile printing, pottery baking, and agricultural implement repair. Village artisans provided specialized services, which were compensated by villagers through shares of harvest or land allotments. In Maharashtra, these lands became artisan’s miras or watan. Another system involved mutually negotiated remuneration, often goods for services. Cash remuneration was also not entirely unknown in the village.
A “Little Republic”?
In the nineteenth century, the village community was viewed as a “little republic” by British officials, but this did not signify rural egalitarianism. Individual ownership of assets and deep inequities were prevalent, with powerful individuals ruling the village and dispensed justice. A cash nexus developed through trade between villages and towns, and revenue was collected in cash for artisans and commercial producers.
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
Rural India had vast forests, known as dense forests or jangal or kharbandi, in eastern, central, northern, Jharkhand, and Peninsular India. The forest dwellers were referred to as jangli, who derived their livelihood from gathering forest produce, hunting, and shifting agriculture. These activities were season-specific, promoting mobility among tribes. The forest was considered a subversive place for troublemakers, serving as a refuge for rebellious individuals and allowing them to pay no taxes.
Inroads into Forests
Forest dwellers in the Mughal empire faced various external factors, including the state’s demand for elephants for the army, the spread of commercial agriculture, and social changes. The hunt symbolized the state’s concern for its subjects, and regular hunting expeditions allowed the emperor to personally attend to the grievances of the inhabitants. Forest products like honey, beeswax, and gum lac were in high demand, and elephants were captured and sold. Trade involved bartering commodities, and tribes engaged in overland trade between India and Afghanistan. The transition from tribal to monarchical systems began in the 16th century, with wars and new cultural influences in forested zones. Sufi saints played a significant role in the slow acceptance of Islam among agricultural communities in newly colonized places.
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.
- Conquest may have been the source of some zamindaris, as the dispossession of weaker people by a powerful military chieftain was often a way of expanding a zamindari. The slow processes of zamindari consolidation, such as colonization of new lands, transfer of rights, order of the state, and purchase, allowed people belonging to the relatively “lower” castes to enter the rank of zamindars.
- Zamindars spearheaded the colonisation of agricultural land, helped settle cultivators by providing them with means of cultivation, including cash loans. The buying and selling of zamindaris accelerated the process of monetisation in the countryside. They often established markets (haats) to which peasants also came to sell their produce.
- Although zamindars were an exploitative class, their relationship with the peasantry had an element of reciprocity, paternalism, and patronage. Bhakti saints did not portray zamindars as exploiters or oppressors of the peasantry, and in a large number of agrarian uprisings in the seventeenth century, zamindars often received the support of the peasantry in their struggle against the state.
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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FAQs on Class 12 History Notes Chapter 8 Peasants, Zamindars and the State Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire
What does Class 12 History Chapter 8 cover?
Chapter 8 focuses on the agrarian society under the Mughal Empire, examining the roles of peasants, zamindars, and the state in agricultural administration.
Who were the key actors in the agrarian society of the Mughal Empire?
The key actors were peasants (farmers), zamindars (landlords), and the Mughal state.
What was the role of peasants in the Mughal agrarian system?
Peasants were the backbone of agriculture, cultivating land and paying taxes to the state or zamindars.
Who were the zamindars, and what was their relationship with peasants?
Zamindars were landowners who collected revenue from peasants on behalf of the Mughal state, often exercising significant control over agricultural activities.
How did the Mughal state regulate agricultural production and revenue collection?
The Mughal state established a centralized system of revenue administration, with officials overseeing tax collection and land revenue assessments.
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