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History

Paper: 3
Unit: Polity
Lesson – 3.2.2.1
Topic: Mughal Nobility
Zamindari System: 1

Glossary

Zamindar – Landholder

Qanungo – Officer in charge of keeping records and


statistics of a pargana

Malikana – the proprietary right of the Zamindar

Banth – Revenue taken by the zamindar

Talpad – Revenue taken by the state or Central


government
Farmaan – Edict or decree from the king

Zamindaran-i-umda – Big zamindar or Raja

Abul Fazl(1551 – 1602) – Vizier in Emperor


Akbar’s court and the author of Akbarnamah and
Ain-e-Akbari.

Peshkash-i-Zamindar – Zamindars who pay tribute


to the emperor on the basis of their own revenue

Mukaddam – Headman of the village who is


responsible for the administration of the village if
there is no zamindar.
Objectives

The students will:

Learn about the Zamindari System


Understand the politics of the Zamindari System
Realize the role and rights of the Zamindar
Summary

Zamindars were powerful in their own territory -


both financially and militarily. But they were not
united. The zamindars under the Mughlas paid
revenue on the harvest but the British imposed
revenue on the land itself. There were three types of
Zamindars: the big, the middle and the primary
Zamindars. There was constant tension between the
Zamindars and the Emperor. This was because the
Zamindars wanted the protection of the king but he
did not want the king to dictate terms and the king
wanted the Zamindar to give him revenue but did
not want the Zamindar to function independently.

Akbar devised ways to control the zamindars. All


zamindars under the Mughals should either attend
the court or send his son or representative of his
tribe as a sort of security. Another way to control the
big zamindars was marriage between the Emperor
and the daughter of the big Hindu Zamindar.
FAQs
1. Why was there conflict between the Emperor
and the Zamindar?

There was conflict among the Zamindars under the


Mughals because the zamindar wanted the protection
of the king but he does not want to obey his dictat
and the king wanted the revenue raised by the
zamindar but he did not want to give freedom to the
zamindar.

2. What was the difference in revenue


collection between the Mughals and the
British?

Under the Mughal system the revenue was taken


from a portion harvest that – if it is a commercial
crop the rate is higher; if there is no crop, there is no
revenue. While the English company after 1793
began to take land revenue from the land
irrespective of the harvest.
3. What are the three main points in the order
of Khan-i-Azam?

There are three main points in the order of Khan-i-


Azam, the subedar of Gujarat:

1) One-fourth of the land should be reserved for the


aboriginal people and no revenue should be taken
from them.

2) Zamindar should not collect more than 50% of the


total harvest as revenue.

3) There is no restriction on the Zamindars for the


sale or purchase of land.

4. What are the two types of big Zamindars


according to Abul Fazl?

1) According to Abul Fazl the big zamindars were


either Zamindar of the territory e.g. the raja of
Jammu and Kangra or Zamindar of the tribe e.g. raja
of Baluch.

5. What were the measures taken by Akbar to


control the zamindars?

To control these zamindars Akbar issued a farmaan:


all zamindars under the Mughals should either attend
the court or send his son or representative of his
tribe as a sort of ‘zamin’ (security). Another way
(which was taken by Akbar) was marriage between
the Emperor and the daughter of a big Hindu
Zamindar.

QUIZ

1. Mirat-i-Ahmandi was written by A) Khan-i-Azam


B) Abul Fazl C) Ali Muhammad Khan

2. The zamindar of the tribe was called A) Alus B)


Peshkash C) Diwan
3. Pratapaditya was a zamindar of A) Gujarat B)
Bengal C) Ambar

4. Abul Fazl wrote A) Ain-i-Akabari B) Peshkash-i-


Zamindari C) Zamindaran-i-umda

5. Bernier stated that the owner of all land is the A)


king B) zamindar C) king and zamindar.
Assignment

1. Discuss the controversy regarding the ownership


of the land.

2. Highlight the rules regarding the collection of the


revenue.

3. Discuss the different types of zamindars

4. How were the zamindars forced to be subservient


to the emperors?

5. Elaborate on the controversy regarding Jodhabai


History
Paper: 3
Unit: Polity
Lesson – 3.2.2.1
Topic: Mughal Nobility
Zamindari System: 1

1. Introduction

‘Zamin’ in Persian means land and ‘Dar’ refers to the


one who holds it. So ‘Zamindar’ means ‘landholder.
Can it then means that he holds the land? On the
understanding and interpretation of these two
concepts, hung the entire polity of the Mughal
Empire. Who is the owner of the land? Let us
examine the history of the Zamindari System.

Zamindari System flourished in the Mughal Empire


although it has developed through centuries of
various experiments. It has been stated that there is
no Pargana in the Mughal Empire where there is no
Zamindar. But there were certain villages ruled by
the Panchayats where there is no zamindar although
there is an official or head-man of the village or
mukaddam. The differences between the Zamindars,
not only between the different types of zamindars
but also within the Zamindari System could be seen
very clearly in the Mughal Empire due to the
evolution of this system.

2. Malikana

Who is the Owner of the Land?

The debate that came up in 1793 when the English


tried to introduce the permanent settlement was
actually started by mid 17th century French traveler
Francois Bernier. Bernier stated that the king is the
owner of all land. This statement has been accepted
by most of the travelers who came after Bernier. In
the period before 1793, there was considerable
dispute between the English officials and the Indian
officials. Philip Francis held the view that Zamindar is
the malik / owner of the land. Warren Hastings and
Richard Burwell agreed with this statement. But
most of the Indian officials did not. Kshitab Rai who
was the Nayeb-Diwan of Bihar stated that Zamindar
is the malik of the land but king is the owner of the
revenue. Another contemporary Indian official Ram
Ram Chaudhury, who was a Qanungo said that the
zamindar and the king were joint owners of the land.
Raja Raj Ballabh, who played a leading role at one
point of time and was ruling Bihar on behalf of the
nawabs said that the king is the owner of all land. In
the late 18th century Reza Khan who was the Nayeb
of the English in Bengal stated that the king is not
the owner of all lands.

Therefore there are various types of opinions


prevalent among the contemporary Indian officials
on the ‘Malikana’ or the proprietary right of the
Zamindar. W.H. Moorland, the English historian was
also a land revenue official of the English company.
He stated that there were semi-independent
Zamindars during the Mughal Period and they were
very powerful. In the recent days Parmatma Saran, a
noted Indian historian who had written ‘Provincial
Government of the Mughals’ said that Zamindars are
not found in all parts of the Mughal Empire. Also they
were not much powerful. Saran has a problem; the
problem was that he had used a faulty translation of
Abul Fazl’s Ain-i-Akbari by Blockman and therefore
came to this false conclusion.
3. Features of the Zamindars

Who needs whom?

There were two contradictory features of the


Zamindars under the Mughals:

i) The zamindar wants the protection of the king but


he does not want to obey his dictat.
ii) The king wants the revenue raised by the
zamindar but he does not want to give freedom to
the zamindar.

Throughout the Mughal Period these two tendencies


continue to work. Therefore in the Zamindari System
there was co-operation and conflict. Regarding the
‘malikana’ of the zamindar there is a considerable
dispute. The Indian officials were not very sure about
this. The English for their own justification of
permanent settlement (introduced in Bengal)
considered the Zamindars as the owner of the land.
After making such formulation the English changed
the land revenue system.

The Mughal system was that they would take the


revenue from a portion harvest, while the English
company after 1793 began to take land revue from
the land irrespective of the harvest. So from the
English point of view the term land-revenue is
perfectly all right. But from the Mughal point of view
the term ‘land revenue’ is not correct because the
revenue was not from the land; it is from the
harvest. That also depends on the kind of crop – if it
is a commercial crop the rate is higher; if there is no
crop, there is no revenue. So the two systems are
different.

The British rulers considered the Zamindars as


owners of the land (malik). Therefore the land
revenue was imposed irrespective of the utilization of
the land. The onus of collecting the revenue was on
the Zamindars.

4. Mughal Revenue System


There are documents of the early and late Mughal
Period. In the mid 17th century, the last diwan of
Gujarat named Ali Muhammad Khan wrote a book
called Mirat-i-Ahmandi. He stated that the Mughal
revenue was divided into two – i) Banth (taken by
the zamindar) and ii) Talpad (taken by the state or
Central government). Another document of the early
days says the same.

The subedar of Gujarat, Khan-i-Azam, in the late 16th


century gave certain orders regarding the collection
of revenue.

There are three main points in the order of


Khan-i-Azam, the subedar of Gujarat:

i) One-fourth of the land should be reserved for the


aboriginal people and no revenue should be taken
from them.

ii) Zamindar should not collect more than 50% of


the total harvest as revenue.
iii) There is no restriction on the Zamindars for the
sale or purchase of land.

In other words it means that if the revenue is paid


then the Zamindar can do almost anything. The
document of Khan-i-Azam giving far more latitude to
the Zamindars was perhaps prevalent all over the
Mughal Empire. But we do not have any
corroborative evidences from other provinces.

5. Types of Zamindars

There were three types of Zamindars:

Big zamindars called the Rajas and in Persian called


Zamindaran-i-umda
Middle level Zamindars who were neither big nor
very small
Primary Zamindar
There is a problem of abstraction here. The problem
is that these types are not exclusive to each other.
In other words, in a big zamindari there maybe small
zamindars and primary zamindars. But the big
zamindar is himself a primary zamindar in a certain
area. So therefore these types although classified
separately overlap each other. All the Zamindars are
not the same kind. Abul Fazl while talking about the
big zamindars said that there were two types of big
Zamindars: i) Zamindar of the territory e.g. the raja
of Jammu and Kangra and ii) Zamindar of the tribe
e.g. raja of Baluch. He calls the Zamindar of the
Tribe as Alus.

The difference between the two is very small. The


Zamindar of the Tribe has his strength mainly based
on the strength of the tribe. But the Zamindar of the
Territory is also the leader of his tribe, which is
perhaps the dominant tribe but there were other
racial groups involved. So the internal politics of
these two are different. In case of a tribal one it was
a simple matter; in case of the territory is a difficult
mater.

6. Peshkash

The big Zamindars were asked by the Central


government to send tribute, which is called
Peshkash.

There are two types of Peshkash:

a) to pay tribute or Peshkash and also give military


help and

b) to pay only Peshkash and no military help. So


they are called Peshkash-i-Zamindar.

Both types of Zamindars paid tribute. But we do not


know the basis on which tribute was paid by those
zamindars that provided military help. We get some
information from Ain-i-Akbari about the payment
made by the second type of Zamindars.

The second type of Peshkash-i-Zamindar i.e. those


who pay tribute only perhaps paid on the basis of
their own revenue because we find that Abul Fazl
had given a list of their revenue in his Ain-i-Akbari.
The big Zamindars are very powerful. That has been
acknowledged by the Central government. Babur in
his Babur-namah stated that these big Zamindars
are very powerful controlling one-sixth of the entire
land. They had plenty of elephants (the number is
given), guns, and soldiers. He said that the only
advantage for them is that they are not united. So it
is easy to defeat them.

The Peshkash-i-Zamindar like all other Zamindars


tried to remain independent while the Mughal
government tried to convert them as revenue-paying
Zamindars (Persian ‘mal guzari zamindar). So there
is always a tussle going on.
How frequently the tribute is paid is not known.
Generally whenever the Emperor is near the
zamindari or his representative is near that place the
zamindars then personally come and pay their
respects and revenues as well, which is called
Peshkash or tribute. There had been problems on
this. In case of Bengal in 1610 Pratapaditya of
Jessore, a very big zamindar (perhaps the leading
zamindar of Bengal at that time) was called Jor Talab
Zamindar i.e. rebel zamindar because he did not
personally come to see the subedar. Therefore there
are all sorts of rules and regulations, etiquettes
concerning the Mughals and the Zamindars.

7. Mal guzari Zamindars

There were certain other areas where the Zamindar


pays the revenue. These are called the Mal guzari
Zamindars. Akbar in 1592-93 issued a ‘farmaan’
stating that all zamindars under the Mughals should
either attend the court or send his son or
representative of his tribe as a sort of ‘zamin’
(security). Abul Fazl said in 1595-96 that there were
27 such zamins from Lahore alone. To control these
zamindars this was one of the measures. This led to
trouble between the Zamindars and the Mughals.
Rana Pratap of Chittor did not want to attend;
neither did he want his son to attend. Akbar invaded
Chittor, Pratap left for the hills. But during the time
of Jahangir he exempted the Chittor raja from
sending the zamin and the problem was solved. This
kind of attendance created a problem at one point of
time. It is generally believed that in the later years
this rule was not strictly followed.

8. Controlling the Zamindars

Another way to control the big zamindars (which was


taken by Akbar) was marriage between the Emperor
and the daughter of the big Hindu Zamindar. The
first such marriage was in 1563, when Akbar married
the daughter of Raja Behari Mal of Ambar i.e. Jaipur.
It is stated by later historians that the rise of the
Amber family was due to this marriage. In Abul
Fazl’s list in 1595-96, there were 61 Zamindar/
Mansabdars. Out of these 61, 40 came from Jaipur /
Ajmer area. Out of these 40, 27 came from the
Kachoa family of Ambar.
Therefore it is claimed that the rise of the Ambar
family in the Mughal administrative system, was due
to this factor. But now the recent researches it has
been seen that this statement is not correct. There
were certain other Rajputs who had given their
daughters and had gone up. But there were also
certain other Rajput zamindars or rajas that had not
given their daughters in marriage had also gone up
in the Mughal administrative system. So this
statement by the later historians particularly late 19th
and early 20th century cannot be accepted.

Jodhabai

In 1873 in the journal of the Asiatic Society Calcutta,


Beverage wrote that the daughter of Behari Mal was
called Jodhabai. She was considered to be the
mother of Jahangir. Since then the controversy had
snow-balled into great discussions. But the recent
view of the historians is that the name of the
daughter of Raja Behari Mal is not known. Jahangir
never mentioned the name of his mother. Also any
Hindu daughter coming into the Mughal family was
given a royal title and the daughter of Raja Brhari
Mal was also given one. She has issued some
‘farmaans’ which they normally do. These farmaans
have been found but no name was there. Actually it
appears that Jahangir had married the daughter of
the Raja of Jodhpur who was called Jodhabai.
Therefore this connection between the daughter of
raja Behari Mal of Ambar, Akbar and Salim is very
tenuous.

The big zamindars always tried to increase their


powers and their lands. In the late 18 th century Raja
Jai Singh of Amber could enlarge the territory of his
zamindari by grabbing the lands of others. This was
resented in the Mughal court by other Mansabdars
and pressure was given to the Emperor to stop it,
which he tried to do with the Marathas.

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