Peasants, Zamindars and the State

The One Thing

The Mughal Empire rested on a productive but unequal agrarian society. Peasants, zamindars, village communities, and imperial officials were connected through cultivation, markets, revenue assessment, negotiation, and occasional conflict.

Who and What

• Agrarian society: A society in which agriculture and related activities, including cattle-rearing, crafts, trade, and labour, provide the main economic base. Mughal political and economic power depended heavily on this agrarian foundation.
• Peasant or raiyat: A cultivator who worked agricultural land independently or with family and hired labour. Peasants cultivated crops, paid revenue, participated in markets, negotiated with officials and zamindars, and sometimes resisted state demands.
• Khud-kashta: A resident cultivator who farmed land in or near the village where they lived.
• Pahi-kashta: A non-resident cultivator who cultivated land in a village other than the one where they normally lived.
• Zamindar: A local landed intermediary with hereditary rights, social influence, control over land or villages, and authority to collect revenue. Zamindars gained income through revenue collection, ownership claims, control of cultivated and wasteland, and the use of armed retainers. They could build forts and maintain cavalry or infantry.
• Malguzari: Land revenue or tax collected from cultivators on behalf of the state.
• Jama: The assessed amount of revenue that the state expected to collect.
• Hasil: The actual amount of revenue collected from cultivators.
• Zabt system: A Mughal revenue-assessment system based on measuring cultivated land, classifying crops, and fixing rates, especially associated with Akbar’s administration.
• Dahsala system: A revenue system using the average produce and prices of the previous ten years to calculate the state’s demand, usually in cash.
• Polaj: Land cultivated every year.
• Parauti: Land left uncultivated for a short period so that its fertility could recover.
• Chachar: Land left uncultivated for three or four years before being brought back into cultivation.
• Banjar: Land that had remained uncultivated for five years or more.
• Nankar: A share or allowance received by a zamindar from the revenue collected in return for performing local services.
• Panchayat: A village council that settled disputes, regulated community conduct, managed common resources, and sometimes represented villagers before officials. It was generally headed by a muqaddam, or village headman, and included other influential residents.
• Jajmani relations: Traditional exchange relationships in which service groups supplied goods or services to cultivating families in return for payment or shares of produce.
• Commercialisation of agriculture: The growing production of crops for sale and profit rather than only for local consumption.
• Mahal: A revenue unit that could refer to a village or group of villages assessed for revenue purposes.
• Ain-i Akbari: A work compiled by Abu’l Fazl during Akbar’s reign. It provides information about crops, prices, revenue, administration, and social groups.
• Kharif season: The agricultural season associated with the monsoon.
• Rabi season: The agricultural season associated with winter cultivation.

Chronology

Causes and Consequences

• Agriculture formed the economic foundation of the Mughal Empire.

Agricultural production supported villages, towns, trade, and the imperial administration. Land revenue was the principal source of income for the imperial state, making the productivity of rural society central to Mughal power.

• The Mughal state developed systems to measure land and assess revenue.

The zabt system measured cultivated land, classified crops, and fixed rates. The dahsala system calculated revenue using the average produce and prices of the previous ten years, usually requiring payment in cash. These systems attempted to estimate the productive capacity of land and the share due to the state.

• The difference between assessment and collection reflected practical difficulties.

Revenue calculation can be expressed as assessed revenue (jama) compared with actual collection (hasil). The difference was influenced by production, prices, remissions, harvest conditions, local power, and difficulties of collection. Consequently, official assessments could not always be collected in full.

• A substantial state demand placed pressure on cultivators.

Poor harvests or periods of high demand could make revenue payment particularly difficult. Cultivators could respond by migrating, refusing payment, changing crops, joining rebellions, or seeking protection from powerful local groups.

• Peasants were active participants in the agrarian economy.

Peasants cultivated land, paid revenue, produced food and cash crops, participated in markets, and negotiated with officials and zamindars. Their knowledge, skills, mobility, and limited choices meant that imperial control was negotiated rather than imposed uniformly.

• Agricultural production was diverse and connected villages to wider markets.

Major food crops included rice, wheat, barley, millets, pulses, and vegetables. Cash crops included cotton, sugarcane, indigo, and opium. Cash crops often required greater investment and connected villages to regional, national, and overseas markets. This commercialisation meant that villages were not entirely self-sufficient or isolated.

• Agriculture followed two important seasonal cycles.

The kharif season was associated with the monsoon, while the rabi season was associated with winter cultivation. These seasons structured agricultural labour and production.

• Women were essential to agricultural and rural production.

Women participated in sowing, transplanting, weeding, harvesting, processing food, and caring for livestock. They also contributed to spinning, pottery, basket-making, and other household or village industries. Gender therefore shaped both the opportunities and hardships of rural society.

• Village communities were socially diverse and unequal.

Villages commonly included cultivators, artisans, servants, labourers, priests, and local officials. Caste and occupational divisions influenced access to land, labour, social status, and village resources. Rural society included wealthy peasants, ordinary cultivators, landless labourers, artisans, and tribal communities.

• Village institutions regulated local life.

The panchayat, generally headed by a muqaddam, settled disputes, regulated community conduct, managed common resources, and sometimes represented villagers before officials. Jajmani relations connected service groups with cultivating families through payments or shares of produce.

• Zamindars occupied an intermediate position between peasants and the state.

They were neither simply Mughal officials nor fully independent landlords. Their hereditary rights, local influence, revenue-collection functions, land claims, and armed followers gave them considerable authority. They could build forts and maintain cavalry or infantry.

• The Mughal state incorporated rather than eliminated many local intermediaries.

The state generally worked through zamindars and other local communities, incorporating them into its revenue and administrative structure. Zamindars could receive nankar, a share or allowance from collected revenue, in return for local services.

• The relationship among peasants, zamindars, and the state involved cooperation and conflict.

These groups were connected by dependence, bargaining, and negotiation. Zamindars mediated between cultivators and imperial officials, while peasants could seek their protection. At other times, disputes over land, labour, revenue, and authority produced resistance.

• The expansion of cultivation transformed land and affected tribal communities.

Forests and wastelands were brought under the plough. This created opportunities for expanded agricultural production but also affected tribal groups and communities dependent on forests, contributing to conflict over land and resources.

• Different categories of land reflected varying patterns of cultivation and recovery.

Polaj was cultivated every year; parauti was left uncultivated briefly to recover fertility; chachar was left uncultivated for three or four years; and banjar had remained uncultivated for five years or more. These categories helped distinguish the productive condition of land for revenue and cultivation purposes.

What Gets Asked

• How did agriculture and land revenue support the expansion and administration of the Mughal Empire?
• Compare the roles of peasants, zamindars, village panchayats, and imperial officials in the revenue system.
• Explain the differences between jama and hasil, and evaluate why assessed revenue could differ from actual collection.
• Compare the zabt and dahsala systems, including their methods and practical limitations.
• Assess how caste, gender, class, access to land, and commercialisation shaped opportunities and inequalities in rural society.
• Explain why Mughal authority involved cooperation, dependence, negotiation, mobility, and resistance rather than simple domination.