J-H:Jama = assessed amount; Hasil = amount actually collected.
Ain’s three books (M-S-M):Manzil-abadi (royal household), Sipah-abadi (army and services), Mulk-abadi (empire and revenue).
Zamindar’s power (L-R-M-S):Land, Revenue, Military, Status.
The Big Picture
1. Sources for Agrarian History
In short: most evidence comes from the court, so peasants’ own voices are rare.
Ain-i-Akbari (1598) by Abu’l Fazl, Akbar’s court historian, part of the Akbarnama project.
Other sources: Babur’s memoirs (the Babur Nama), later revenue manuals, petitions (arzdasht) and records from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, and East India Company records.
Peasants did not write accounts of their lives, so historians read official records carefully and look for hints of peasants’ views.
The Ain-i-Akbari
Part
Contents
Book 1: Manzil-abadi
Royal household and its upkeep
Book 2: Sipah-abadi
Military and civil servants, ranks (mansabs)
Book 3: Mulk-abadi
Administration, revenue and records of land and crops
Books 4 and 5
Religious, literary and cultural traditions; Akbar’s sayings
Aim: to show Akbar’s empire as well run and harmonious.
Strength: detailed information on crops, revenue and zamindars.
Limits: written from the elite and official point of view; mostly tied to north India; numbers can be hard to check.
2. Peasants and Their Land
Who were the peasants?
Term
Meaning
Raiyat (pl. riaya) or muzarian
Cultivators
Kisan or asami
Other terms for cultivators
Khud-kashta
Resident peasants who farmed land in their own village
Pahi-kashta
Non-resident peasants who farmed land elsewhere, often on contract
Peasants held land as individual property (milkiyat), but also belonged to the village community.
Peasants often moved between villages, as noted by Babur, because land was plentiful and labour was scarce.
Farming and irrigation
Two main seasons: rabi (winter crop) and kharif (autumn crop); some lands gave three crops a year.
Crops varied by region: rice in Bengal (dozens of varieties), wheat in the north, millets in drier areas, cotton in Gujarat.
Irrigation: wells, tanks, canals and the Persian wheel (rahat).
Peasants used an iron-tipped plough, a drill and other tools.
Jins-i-kamil (“perfect crops”) such as cotton and sugarcane earned cash and were encouraged by the state.
New crops from the Americas: maize, tomato, potato, chilli, and tobacco.
Village community
Panchayats were led by the muqaddam or mandal, chosen by village elders.
They handled disputes, enforced caste rules and kept common funds; they could fine offenders.
Caste panchayats (jati panchayats) also settled disputes.
The patwari kept the village’s land accounts.
Villages were not equal: caste hierarchy was strong; groups like scavengers (halalkhoran) lived on the edge of the village.
Artisans such as blacksmiths and potters were paid in kind (grain) or given land.
Women in agrarian society
Women did much of the farm labour: sowing, weeding, threshing and harvesting; in artisan families they spun, wove and made pottery.
Women were valued as workers and for childbearing.
Women could inherit land, and some became zamindars, yet they faced many social restrictions.
3. Forests and Tribes
Forests covered large areas; forest dwellers lived by hunting, gathering, and shifting cultivation.
They supplied forest produce such as honey, beeswax, gum lac and elephants.
The state wanted to control forests, to get elephants for the army and to extend revenue; royal hunts also showed the emperor’s authority.
Settled farming spread into forests; some tribal chiefs became zamindars.
4. Zamindars
Who were they?
Landholders with superior rights over land, drawn mostly from upper castes.
They held personal land (milkiyat) worked by hired labourers and tenants, and often forts and armed men.
Sources of power
Source
Detail
Land
Large personal holdings
Revenue
They collected revenue for the state and kept a share
Military
Forts and armed contingents; the Ain lists large numbers of cavalry, infantry, elephants and cannon from zamindars
Status
High caste and social rank
Role
They acted as intermediaries between the peasants and the state.
They also helped bring land under cultivation, founded markets and encouraged settlement.
Relations with peasants were both exploitative and, at times, protective.
The Mughal state needed zamindars’ support but also tried to control them.
5. Land Revenue System
Two steps
Step
Meaning
Jama
The amount assessed
Hasil
The amount collected
Officials known as amil-guzar collected revenue; payment could be in cash or kind, with cash preferred.
Land was measured (paimaish) and records were kept to fix revenue.
Todar Mal, Akbar’s revenue minister, is associated with improved assessment.
Classes of land
Mansabdars and Jagirs
Mansabdars held ranks (zat and sawar) and served the empire as soldiers and officials.
Instead of cash, they usually received jagirs, the right to collect revenue from a given area.
Jagirs were transferable, so jagirdars had little long-term link to the peasants.
Later, there were more mansabdars than available jagirs, adding pressure on peasants.
6. Silver, Trade and Money
The Mughal Empire used a silver rupee and was well connected to world trade.
Large amounts of silver reached India from the Americas and Japan, through trade with Europe, because India exported more than it imported.
This boosted coinage, trade and the use of cash in the countryside.
Peasants sold crops for money to pay revenue; merchants and moneylenders gained importance.
7. The State and the Peasants
The state sought to ensure cultivation and collect revenue while preventing rebellion.
Peasants expected fairness from the state and appealed to officials through petitions when treated unfairly.
Peasant discontent sometimes joined with zamindars’ resistance, and later in the 17th century there were revolts in several regions.
8. Reading the Ain-i-Akbari
What historians gain
Criticisms
Detailed data on crops, land, revenue and zamindars
Elite and court viewpoint
A picture of how the state saw its subjects
Little on peasants’ own views
A base for comparing with other records
Mostly north India; incomplete figures
Historians therefore read the Ain with other sources: revenue manuals, petitions, European accounts and company records.
9. Timeline
10. Important Terms
Term
Meaning
Raiyat / muzarian
Cultivators
Khud-kashta
Resident peasant
Pahi-kashta
Non-resident peasant
Milkiyat
Property (private land)
Jins-i-kamil
“Perfect crops”, cash crops like cotton and sugarcane
Muqaddam / mandal
Village headman
Patwari
Village accountant
Zamindar
Landholder who collected revenue
Jama / hasil
Assessed revenue / revenue collected
Amil-guzar
Revenue collector
Mansabdar
Holder of imperial rank
Jagir
Right to collect revenue from an area
Rahat
Persian wheel for irrigation
11. Ten Fast Facts
About 85% of people lived in villages.
The Ain-i-Akbari was written by Abu’l Fazl in 1598.
Peasants were called raiyat or muzarian.
Khud-kashta were resident peasants; pahi-kashta were non-resident.
Cotton and sugarcane were jins-i-kamil.
Maize, tomato, potato, chilli and tobacco were new crops.
Village panchayats were led by a muqaddam or mandal.
Revenue had two stages: jama and hasil.
Land was classed as polaj, parauti, chachar and banjar.
Mansabdars were paid through jagirs.
12. Points Often Confused
Jama vs hasil: assessed amount versus collected amount.
Khud-kashta vs pahi-kashta: resident versus non-resident.
Polaj vs parauti: polaj is cultivated every year; parauti rests briefly.
Mansab vs jagir: mansab is the rank; jagir is the revenue assignment.
Zamindar is not the same as the later Permanent Settlement zamindar of Bengal (Chapter 9).
The Ain is not a peasants’ account; it is an official record.
