Types of Taxes of Delhi Sultanate

The revenue system of the Delhi Sultanate was founded on the Hanafi school of thought’s taxation doctrine, which regulated the imposition of taxes such as Zakat, Kharaj, Khams, and Jizya. The government began collecting land revenue directly under Alauddin Khalji. As a result, the local chieftains’ rights to collect taxes were revoked, and they were also forced to pay taxes. Taxes on cultivation, known as ‘kharaj,‘ accounted for nearly half of the peasants’ produce, tax on animals, and tax on dwellings. This article will look more at taxes levied during the sultanate period and on kharaj.

Taxes were Levied During the Sultanate Period:

The Delhi Sultanate’s soldiers marched across a huge portion of the subcontinent. They defeated opposing armies and took control of cities. The Sultanate was responsible for collecting taxes from the peasantry and administering justice in its domain. The Khalji and Tughlaq rulers, like earlier Sultans, appointed military leaders as governors of varied-sized domains. These territories were known as iqta, and the person who owned them was iqtadar or muqti. Muqtis were responsible for leading military battles and maintaining law and order in their iqtas. The muqtis were paid the proceeds of their assignments in exchange for their military services. They also used these funds to pay their men. The Sultan’s administrators took thorough measurements and preserved meticulous records. Some of the Sultanate’s former chieftains and landlords worked as revenue collectors and assessors. There were three sorts of taxes: 

1. On crops, known as kharaj, which accounted for nearly half of the peasant’s produce, 
2. On animals, known as Chari
3. On houses known as Ghari

Only four types of taxes are legal according to Sharia Law:

• Kharaj: Revenue from land (Given by the other area the king invaded). 
• Non-Muslims living under Muslim authority are subject to an additional tax known as the Jizya Tax. 
• Zakat is a tax on wealthy Muslims in which two-thirds of their money is handed to the government and then distributed to the poor. Those who used to live in well-furnished homes must pay the Ghari Tax. 
• Charai or Chari Tax: This tax is imposed on those with many animals. Alauddin collected it, and Firuz shah Tughlaq abolished it.
• These are some taxes levied during the sultanate period.

Kharaj:

Individual Islamic taxes on agricultural land and products developed under Islamic law are Kharaj. With the first Muslim conquests in the 7th century, kharaj originally denoted a lump-sum duty levied on the lands of conquered provinces, which was collected by hold-over officials of the defeated Byzantine Empire in the west and the Sassanid Empire in the east; later, and more broadly, kharaj denotes the land tax levied by Muslim rulers on their non-Muslim subjects, collectively known as dhimmi. At the period, kharaj was synonymous with jizyah, which later evolved into a dhimmi per capita tax. On the other hand, Muslim landowners paid ushr, a religious tribute on their land taxed at a significantly lower rate. Only local Muslims or converts to Islam were allowed to hold land under Islamic law. As a result, non-Muslim growers were pushed to convert to Islam to maintain their agricultural holdings. When they converted, they were required to pay the “Ushr” (or levy), a tax equal to one-tenth of their produce. They were, however, excused from paying other taxes on their holdings.

Jizya:

Hindus were subjected to the Jizya tax. The jizya tax has traditionally been understood in Islam as a fee for the Muslim ruler’s protection of non-Muslims, for non-Muslims’ exemption from military service, for the permission to practice a non-Muslim faith with some communal autonomy in a Muslim state, and as material proof of non-Muslims’ submission to the Muslim state and its laws. The jizya was abolished in 1579 by Akbar, the third Mughal emperor. Many Hindu rulers and Mughal court officials were outraged when Aurangzeb choose to re-impose jizya on non-Muslim subjects instead of military duty in 1679.