Gist of Medieval India IGNOU Part-2

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MEDIEVAL INDIA IGNOU

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GIST OF IGNOU MEDIEVAL INDIA PART II
Table of Contents
POLITY AND ECONOMY IN NORTH INDIA .................................................................................... 2
THE TRADING WORLD OF ASIA AND THE COMING OF THE PORTUGUESE ................ 10
A NOTE ON SOURCES ......................................................................................................................... 14
RISE OF THE MARATHAS IN THE 17th CENTURY ................................................................... 17
RAJPUT STATES .................................................................................................................................... 25
MUGHAL RULING CLASS ................................................................................................................... 35
MUGHAL ADMINISTRATION: CENTRAL, PROVINCIAL AND LOCAL ............................... 43
MUGHAL ADMINISTRATION: MANSAB AND JAGIR ............................................................... 52
Mughal Land Revenue System ........................................................................................................ 59
Agrarian Relations Mughal India ................................................................................................... 68
LAND REVENUE SYSTEM: MARATHAS, DECCAN AND SOUTH INDIA ............................ 76
FISCAL AND MONETARY SYSTEM, PRICES ............................................................................... 79
Agricultural Production..................................................................................................................... 85
Non-Agricultural Production........................................................................................................... 92
INLAND AND FOREIGN TRADE ....................................................................................................100
PERSONNEL OF TRADE AND COMMERCIAL PRACTICES ..................................................107
POPULATION IN MUGHAL INDIA ................................................................................................115
RURAL CLASSES AND LIFE STYLE ..............................................................................................121
URBANISATION, URBAN CLASSES AND LIFE-STYLE ..........................................................125
RELIGIOUS IDEAS AND MOVEMENTS .......................................................................................134
STATE AND RELIGION .....................................................................................................................141
INDIAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE ....................................................................................147
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ........................................................................................................159
ARCHITECTURE..................................................................................................................................167
PAINTING AND FINE ARTS ............................................................................................................176
DECLINE OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE ..........................................................................................184
RISE OF REGIONAL POWER ..........................................................................................................191
POTENTIALITIES OF ECONOMIC GROWTH: AN OVERVIEW ...........................................194
SELFSTUDYHISTORY.COM 1
POLITY AND ECONOMY IN NORTH INDIA

Q. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MUGHAL POWER
• In 1526, Babur and his Indian allies fought against Sultah Ibrahim at Panipat.
The artillery used by Babur for the first time in north India helped him
achieve easy victory.
• When Babur supplanted the Lodi rule by his own his Indian allies were
disappointed. The dissatisfied Afghan and non-Afghan nobles accepted
Prince Mahmud Lodi as their Sultan and decided to carry an armed struggle
against the Mughals. So, The fifteen years of combined rule of Babur and
Humayun rule is to be treated as an interregnum between the fall of the
Lodis and the foundation of Sher Shah Sur's Empire.
• Babur (d. 1530) and Humayun adopted the same state system in India that
existed here. For example,
o the policy they followed towards the zamindars was the age-old
tradition set by the Delhi Sultans.
o Babur mentions that the rais and rajas, obedient as well as
disobedient to the Muslim ruler.
o The Baburnama shows that Babur assigned the charge of territories
to the nobles, granting them the right to collect land revenue and
carry on the government there on his behalf as was the prevalent
system. The shiqqdars were posted in the parganas under khallsa. In
short. Thus they didn't bring any important change in the political
system in North India.
• The old Nobels (Afghan and non-Afghan) who fought against Babur and
Humayun under the nominal leadership of Sultan Mahmud Lodi, failed to
achieve success.In 1531 Humayun defeated them which seals the fate of
these nobels. Thereafter, the leadership of the anti-Mughal Afghans was
taken over by Sher Khan Sur (Had occupied Chunar already).
• Sultan Bahabur Shah of Gujarat was financially as well as militarily the most
powerful of the lndian rulers. International trade yielded huge revenue
through customs dues. He wanted to capture delhi, and had captured Malwa
and chittor but due to treachery of Rumi Khan while march against Gwalior
his plan failed.
• Meanwhile, Sher shah sur declared himself as Sher shah sur and raided
mughal territory and also siezed vast land from Sultan of Bengal. Humayun
had to left the ongoing task of gujraat to his brother and Nobles. Bahadur
Shah came back from Diu and chased the Mughals out from Gujarat and
Malwa.
• Humayun was defeated at Chausa in 1539 and at Qannauj in 1540.
THE SECOND AFGHAN EMPIRE
• From Indus to BoB and from Himalaya to Malwa.
• The Biloch chiefs of Multan and upper Sind and Maldeo in western
Rajputana and Bhaiya Puran Mal of Raisin were defeated.
• A centralised political system was again revived by Sher Shah Sur.
• lslam Shah (1 545-1 553) not only retained his system but also took steps
towards its improvement whenever necessary.
• Theirs was a personal government that derived its strength and glory from
their personal vigour.
ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE (Under Lodi and Sur dynasty)
• Afghan kingship also shows marked departure from the Turkish concepts.
Nature of Kingship :
1. The kingship under the Turkish Sultans was highly centralized.The Sultan's
powers were absolute.
2. But, Afghan monarchy (during Bahlul lodi) was primarily tribal in
nature. For them. king was 'first among equals'. political expediency was
the main factor:
a. Bahlul being Afghan. could not look towards Turks for support. He
had to virtually accept the terms of his fellow afghans.
b. Afghan nobles enjoyed complete local autonomy.
c. The only bond between them and the Sultan was to render militaty
service when the need arose or required to do so.
d. He used to dl his Afghan nobles masnad i ali.
3. Sikandar Lodi:
a. Introduced important changes into the political system of the Empire
that transformed it into a highly centralised political entity.
b. He demanded obedience from nobles. His military success made the
nobility completely loyal and subservient to him. It also suppressed
there sentiments of equality with the Sultan.
c. ac to contemporary writer : “any one who turned from the path of
obedience, he (the Sultan) either got his head severed off the body or
banished him from the Empire."
d. in general the Sultan did not tamper with their autonomy at local
level, at times the nobles were transferred and sometimes even
dismissed.
e. The nobles were also put to more closer scrutiny of their iqtas. But, in
spite of these changes, the afghan kingship basically remained
unchanged. Some of the offices were made hereditary. The Afghans
continued to assume high titles, Khan-i Jahan,Khan-i Khanan, Azam
Humayun, Khan-i Azam, etc. They also enjoyed freedom to maintain
informal relations with the Sultan on playground, marches, hunting
etc.
f. Thus, monarchy under Sikandar was more of a compromise between
the Turkish and tribal organisations.
4. Ibrahim :
a. The process of centralization accelerated.
b. He believed that "kingship knows no kinship".
c. Ibrahim's policy had severe consequences and proved ruinous to the

interests of the Afghan kingdom:
i. Afghan nobles were not prepared for the master-servant
relationship. This led to dissatisfaction and rebellions to the
extent that some of them even collaborated with Babur to
depose the Sultan.
5. Surs :
a. Had learned the lesson. they never attempted to establish tribal
monarchy. Instead, Sher Shah Sur succeeded in establishing a highly
centralized autocratic monarchy.
General Administration :
1. Sikandar Lodi:
a. praised for introducing a sound administrative machinery. He
introduced the practice of audit in order to check,the accounts
of rnuqtas and walis (governors). e.g Mubarak Khan Lodi (Tuji Khail),
the governor of Jaunpur, was the first noble whose accounts came
under scrutiny in. He was founu guilty of embezzlement and
dismissed.
b. Re-organised the intelligence system in order to keep himself well
informed about the conditions in the Empire.
c. Interested in the well-being of the general public and had charity
houses opened in the capital as well as in the provinces for the
benefit of destitute and handicapped people. The deserving persons
got financial aid from these charity houses. Scholars and poets were
patronized and educational institutions were granted financial aid
throughout the Empire. He imposed a ban on the use of any
language other than Persian in the government offices. This led
many Hindus to learn Persian and they acquired proficiency in
Persian within a short time. Consequently, they began to look after
and supervise the revenue administration. When Babur came to India,
he was astonished to see that the revenue department was
completely manned by the Hindus.
d. The serious interest taken for ensuring impartial justice to all and
sundry in his Empire brought peace and prosperity.
2. Sher Shah :
a. Seems to have been inspired by the history of Sultan Alauddin Khalji's
reign.
b. He adopted most of the rules and regulations introduced by the
Khalji Sultan. However, like Khalji he was not harsh in their
implementation.
i. In the doab region, the sarkar (the successor of shiqq under
the Khaljis) was the administrative-cum-fiscal unit; while
wilayat, comprising a number of sarkars in the outlying
regions, such as Bengal, Malwa, Rajputana and Sind and
Multan were retained for the convenience of defence.
ii. The sarkar comprised a number of parganas, each pargana

consisting of a number of villages. The village was the primary
fiscal unit.
c. The noble posted as incharge of sarkar or wilayat was not given
unlimited powers.He was regularly directed through royal farman to
implement new rules and regulations. The spies informed the king
about the conduct of the officers. Anyone who was found failing in his
work was punished. e.g : Khizr Turk, the governor of Bengal, was
dismissed and 'thrown into prison because he married the daughter of
the ex-Sultan of Eengal without Sher Shah's permission and acted
independently.
d. Sher shah was an absolute monatch for all practical purposes.: It was
demonstrated in the Sher Shah's policy with regard to the planting of
Afghan colonies in the territories known for recalcitrant inhabitants
(Gwaliar).
e. organizing nobility in order to safeguard the interest of dynast :
i. No group was strong enough to assume the shape of a pressure
group.
ii. Even non-Afghan nobles, Khawwas Khan, Haji Khan and
Habib Khan Sultani holding the charge of important
provinces with large iqtas. This shows that the establishment
of a pure Afghan nobility was never a consideration with
Sher Shah.
3. Islam Shah:
a. He shifted his capital from Agra to Gwaliar and also brought his
father's treasures from Chunar. Thus Gwaliar became the centre of
Indo-Muslim Delhi culture.
b. Islarn Shah went a step further from Sher Shah in centralizing the
polity of the Empire.
c. He took away the iqtas of the nobles and brought the whole Empire
under khalisa. The officers were paid in cash instead of iqtas.
d. The nobility and army were reorganized into new grades. Officers
were appointed from among them to look after and inspect the proper
maintenance of soldiers and necessary army equipment by the nobles.
e. The nobles were also denied the possession of war elephants: it was
a king's prerogative.
f. Was very harsh in dealing with the nobility but he was
benevolent towards the public.
g. He provided people with the security of life and property by holding
the officer in charge of a territorial unit responsible for the loss of
property and life in his jurisdiction. When any crime was committed
that officer went out to arrest the culprit.
h. Like sher shah, Islam shah also ensured the administration of
impartial justice in the Empire.
ECONOMY
• Contemporary writers praise the affluence and low prices of the essential
commodities during Sikandar's reign.
o According to Shaikh Rizqullah Mushtaqi (the author of the Waqiat-
i-Mushtaqi), foodgrains, cloth, horses, sheep,gold and silver which
people needed for comfortable living were available in plenty and at
low rates.
Agrarian Structure:
• Sultan Sikandar Lodi formulated a definite agricultural development-

oriented policy. This he did because his was a landlocked Empire in which
only the reclamation of land for cultivation could augment his financial
resources. There was abundance of arable land which could be brought
under plough only if the peasants expected to enjoy the fruits of their toil. In
an attempt to encourage the peasants to extend cultivation, the Sultan
introduced following changes in the administrative system.
o He prohibited the system of begar (forced labour).
o The peasants were encouraged to bring new lands under the plough
through other concessions.
▪ Rizqullah Mushtaqi states that even an inch of land was not
left lying uncultivated.
o The state share was one-third and it was collected with the
assistance of the village officials the patwari, (hereditary village
officials) khot and muqaddam (village headman).
o The zakat tax (Sales and transit tax) was abolished.
o The Sultan also allowed the peasants in the Empire to accept freely
any one of the three modes of assessment prevalent in those days. The
three modes of revenue assessment were
▪ crop-sharing(batai), measurement (called zabt system)
and the kankut (appraisal).
▪ The first two methods were common in north India. The third
one also seems to have continued during the Lodi period.
Sultan Sikandar was particular about a standard measurement
system for its merits.
o He is said to have introduced the gaz-i Sikandari (means 32 digit of
measuring system of cultivated lands) for the convenience of the amin
and patwari. It was used at the time of harvest.
o The patwaris were charged with the duty of maintaining the accounts
of per bigha yields and the measured area of the fields under
cultivation.
• Sher Shah and Islam Shah :
o They overhauled the revenue administration of the Lodi period.
o Sher Shah appointed new revenue officials at the pargana and

sarkar level and curtailed the powers and privileges of the land
assignees (i.e. wajahdars and muqtas).
o The unruly zamindars were forced into submission. They were also
made accountable for every crime committed within the boundaries
of their zamindari.
o The methods of crop-sharing and revenue farming were abolished
and that of zabt (measurement) was enforced everywhere.
o The extra taxes called jaribana and muhassilana (fee for measuring
the land and revenue collection) were also abolished. The offenders
among the officials were punished.
o Sher Shah ordered the land under cultivation to be measured every
year at the harvest time. The state's share in the produce was
determined according to the royal regulation.
o This system was prevalent throughout the Empire except for the
combined provinces of Multan and Sind. The territory of Multan had
been ruined by the oppressive Biloch rule. Therefore, Sher Shah
directed its governor to develop the region and realize from the
cultivators only one-fourth of the produce in accordance with the
crop-sharing method. This system had prevailed under the early local
rulers i.e. the predecessors of the Biloch chiefs. The state revenue
demand in other provinces was one-third of the agricultural produce.
o Abul Fazl tells us that Sher Shah on the basis of fertility of soil divided
the lands into three categories, the good, middling and bad. An
average produce of these three types of soil was taken as standard
yield per bigha. One third of this standard yield was fixed as state
share. A rai (schedule of crop-rates) was prepared for the
convenience and guidance of the revenue collectors. The state share
now could be easily converted into cash rates, according to the market
prices.
▪ According to Abul Fazl, "The revenue demand levied by Sher
Khan (Sher Shah), which at the present day is represented in
all provinces as the lowest rate of measurement generally
obtained, and for the convenience of the cultivators and the
soldiery, the value taken in cash money."
o Thus, it is clear that the state's share was fixed in kind per bigha but
collected in cash after it had been commuted according to the
prevailing prices in the area.
o On the death of Islam Shah, chaos and anarchy prevailed.The peasants
fled to distant places in order to save themselves from starvation.
Iqta System:
• The entire empire was divided into khalisa and iqta.

• The khalisa under Lodi :
o Administered by he state directly through, diwan-i wizarat i.e. the

Revenue Ministry.
o The revenue collected from the khalisa went directly to the state
treasury.
o certain sarkars and parganas were reserved for khalisa where
the shiqqdar carried on the military as well as revenue
administration as the Sultan's representative. He was paid his salary
and allowances in cash up to twenty per cent of the revenue collected
under his charge.
o Unlike him, the high nobles, to whom the Sultan assigned the
revenue of an administrative unit (parganas or an entire sarkar)
had to maintain a larger army contingent than the shiqqdar. The
assignee was generally a khan, holding the rank of 5,000 to 10,000
sawars (horsemen). Such an assignee was called either muqta or
wajahdar.
• The nature of the iqta system under the Lodis:
o The nobles to whom the iqta was assigned in lieu of cash salary and
allowances for his soldiers, was also held responsible for the
maintenance of law and order and the defence of the territorial unit
under his charge. His revenue accounts were annually checked and
settled in the diwan-i wijarat.
o The iqta assigned to the noble was different from the land-grant made
by the state to the men of learning or other deserving persons.
o The iqta also differed in size. An iqta might comprise a pargana, less
than a pargana, or even the entire sarkar.
o If the revenue collected in the iqta exceeded the amount due to the
assignee, the surplus (fawazil) was transmitted to the state exchequer.
o The iqtas were seldom transferred in practice during this period. And
therefore assignee took keen interest in the economic development of
his iqta.
▪ The powerful nobles also developed friendly relations with the
zamindar of their iqta and were thus able to enjoy the local
support against the centre. Such a situation arose after the
death of Sultan Sikandar Lodi when conflict of interests took
place between the nobility and Sultan Ibrahim Lodi.
• Iqta under sher shah : To avoid above problem iqta was made transferable
under Sher Shah. Any iqta could be transferred from one to the other noble.
For example, Shujaat Khan Sur, one of the senior nobles was transferred
four times from Bihar to Malwa to Hardiya sarkar and then to Malwa'again.
Urbanisation :
• Economic growth was associated with the growth of urbanisation during this
period.
• As the reign of Bahlul Lodi ushered in an era of peace, new towns were
founded in the Panjab and other regions. The process of urbanization
accelerated during Sikandar Lodi's reign.
• The brief references available in the sources to the cities and towns founded
during the period suggest that'an effort was made in all seriousness by the
Sultan and his nobles in this regard. The
• important towns founded : Sultanpur (in Jallundhar district), Sikandarabad
(Bulandshahar district) and Sikandara Rao (in Aligarh district). Pilakhna
(Aligarh district) developed into a township.
• Construction activities got a boost during this period. The lofty gate of the
Pilakhana's Jama mosque is suggestive of the characteristic features of the
Lodi style of architecture.
• Metropolis of Agra was the most important city founded by Sultan Sikandar
Lodi.
o For the rapid development, the Sultan made it the headquarters of a
newly carved out sarkar (a bigger territorial unit) as well as the seat
of his government in place of Delhi.
o The Sultan and his nobles owned karkhanas in Agra. These attracted
skilled artisans from different cities and towns in the country.
o Likewise, the court-generated trade attracted merchant caravans
even from foreign countries, and in due course, Agra became a
trading centre of international importance.
THE TRADING WORLD OF ASIA AND THE COMING OF

THE PORTUGUESE
• The Portuguese emerged as an important naval power in Indian waters

especially after their occupation of Goa in 1510.
• The conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by the Turks is thought by some
scholars (but questioned by others) to have disturbed the route conecting
the East and the West which led the Europeans to look for an alternative
trade with the East.
• After the initial breakthrough made by Vasco de Gama, organised attempts
were made by the Portuguese to utilize the commercial potentialities of Asia
in general and India in particular.
• Christian faith Intermarriages, conversions and settlements of Europeans led
to the emergence of new social groups.
• The Portuguese example prompted other European nations to come to Asia
to get a share in trading activities.
Note:
Finance for Portuguese trade:

• An Italian estimated in 1506 that the total investment needed for
conducting trade with the East was 170,000 ducats every year.
• The king of Portugal provided only one-forth of this amount and the rest was
raised by the merchants and financiers who collaborated with the
Portuguese king.
• Revenues collected in the form of booty, tributes and taxes levied on ships of
the private merchants also provided funds for the conduct of trade with
India.
FACTORIES, FORTRESSES AND COMMERCIAL ARRANGEMENTS
• The Portuguese, too, founded factories on the coastal regions of India and
certain other places in Asia.
o Factory defined as a commercial organisation having an autonomous
existence set up within the country with which another country had
commercial relations.
o Each factory had an officer called factor who was assisted by a
number of persons appointed by the Portuguese king. He was the
agent of the Crown to promote economic, financial and administrative
activities of all sorts
o to consolidate and strengthen their power the Portuguese also
attempted to fortify their factories.
o A chain of factories and fortresses came into existence for the support
of the maritime trade conducted by the Portuguese. These fortified
centres were expected to serve the Portuguese to check the

movements of vessels owned by the others and to function as areas
for the reserve of military and naval forces.
o The system of factories had a great role to play in the commercial
arrangements in the period beginning with the sixteenth century till
the mid eighteenth century.
NATURE OF THE PORTUGUESE TRADE WITH INDIA
• Right from the time Portuguese arrived at Calicut they had demanded that
other merchants, Indian as well as foreign, should be ousted and a complete
monopoly over trade be granted to them. Portuguese ships equipped with
arms and ammunitions threatened other merchants and confiscated their
merchandise and vessels.
• By 1501 the Portuguese king assumed a grandiloquent title evincing his
proprietary right over the Indian Ocean regions. The title proclaimed him
Lord of Navigation, Conquest and Commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia and
India.
• Cartaz : In 1502, the Portuguese demanded an exclusive right over trade at
Calicut to which the Zamorin, the king of Calicut, did not yield. The Vasco da
Gama declared war on all ships plying in the Arabian Sea and Indian
Ocean. He introduced an expedient under which those ships which carried a
cartaz duly signed by the Portuguese authorities, namely the royal factor,
were not to be attacked. This certificate was first issued in 1502.
• It facilitated monopoly on items : lndian merchants, rulers and all those
engaged in maritime trade, had to take cartaz from the Portuguese. While
issuing such passes, it was specifically mentioned that certain items like
pepper, horses, ginger, coir, ship pitch, sulphur, lead, saltpetre, cinnamon, etc.
were not to be loaded on their ships. All these were monopoly items of the
Portuguese. Routes and destinations of such ships were also sought to be
controlled.
o Rulers like Akbar, and his successors, Nilam Shah of Ahmednagar, Adil
Shah of Bijapur, kings of Cochin, the Zamorins of Calicut and the rulers
of Cannanore purchased passes from the Portuguese to send their
ships to various places.
Monopoly Trade : (Monopoly over commodity, ships and route)
• When Portuguese arrived, merchants from various quarters of the world
were found on the coastal regions of India engaged in trade and commerce.
As Vasco da Gama reported in 1498, there were merchants from Mecca,
Tenasseri, Pegu, Ceylon, Turkey, Egypt, Persia, Ethiopia, Tunis and various
parts of India at the port of Calicut. It is well-known that Chinese merchants
as well as merchants from the Red Sea areas used to frequent the Indian
ports.
• There is no record of any group of merchants demanding exclusive right of

trade in general, nor of any attempt made to declare a few or all commodities
set apart for any body.
• But, with the arrival of the Portuguese, this state of affairs underwent
considerable change. Kings were pressurised to forbid other merchants from
trading with their ports. Similarly, certain commodities were declared
forbidden to be traded by others. In other words, the Portuguese demanded
monopoly of trade. The treaties concluded with the Indian rulers specifically
mentioned this.
• The setting up of Portuguese fortresses at strategic places, surveillance by
their patrolling vessels, and the insistence on passes for other ships
were the attempts made to establish monopoly of trade in Asian waters.
Trade of the Indian Rulers and Merchants :
• The Portuguese attempts at establishing total monopolydid not bring
about a situation in which trade conducted by the Indian rulers and
merchants was totally uprooted. The king of Cannanore, for instance, used
to collect passes from the Portuguese to send his vessels laden with
commodities to Cambay and Hormuz.
o He imported horses from the above mentioned places though this
was identified by the Portuguese a monopoly item.
o Sometimes such vessels ran the risk of being confiscated by the
Portuguese. The same was the case with the kings of Tanur, Challe and
Calicut on the Malabar coast. The nobles of Gujarat continued their
trade despite the Portuguese monopoly.
o Malik Gopi, Malik Ayaz, Khwaja Sofar and others interested in trade
plied their ships with or without passes from the Portuguese.
• Monopoly was not very effective:
o Besides, the local and foreign merchants settled in lndia carried on
their trade with or without cartaz.
o It was estimated that out of the 60,000 quintals of pepper produced
annually in the area between Calicut and Cape Comorin, only 15,000
quintals were delivered to the Portuguese factories and the remaining
three-fourths were taken to other ports. This was termed illegal by
the Portuguese.
o The Portuguese were not willing to enhance the price of pepper
agreed upon in 1503 even after several decades. Hence, the producers
of pepper did not have any alternative other than supplying it to the
merchants who might buy it and send it to other centres of trade
without the knowledge of the Portuguese.
o Moreover, several Portuguese officials conducted their own
private trade in various commodities without the knowledge of their
government.
o Portuguese monopoly was never effective in the Red Sea zone.
Trade and Production:
• Overseas trade (16th century) was generally of long distance in nature.The

commodities exported from lndia reached various parts of Europe.Pattern of
this trade was distinguished from just "peddling'' trade.
• Demand of Pepper:
o Cultivators strove to increase the production because of high demand.
o It is calculated that the production of pepper in the Malabar area
went up by 200 to 275 per cent in the period between 1515 and 1607.
o As there is no reliable account of the volume of production before the
arrival of the Portuguese.
o The production of pepper in lndia increased after the Portuguese
advent. But the internal demand for pepper from the Mughal Empire
and the external one from the Safavi Empire also might have
contributed to the increase in pepper production in India.
A NOTE ON SOURCES
Important contemporary sources:
• Persian Sources:
o Memoirs of Babur (Baburnama) : It contains information from
Babur's birth in 1483 to 1529. Originally written in turkish.
o Humayunama written by Gulbdan Begum (daughter of
Babur): covers mainly the reigns of Babur and Humayun and was
completed during Akbar's reign at his instance.
o The Tuhfa-i Akbar Shahi (Tarikh-i Sher Shahi) of Abbas Khan
Sanvani (after 1586) it preserves the details regarding the life ind
works of Sher Shah.
o The Muntakhab-ut Tawarikh of Abdul Qadir Badauni is the only
work of Akbar's reign not dedicated to Akbar. Badauni is highly
critical of Akbar for his "heresies* and "innovation”.
▪ The first volume deals with the history from Subuktgin to
Humayun. This volume is a political narrative.
▪ The second volume contains the events of the first forty years
of Akbar's reign.
▪ The third volume is tazkira where he gives short biographical
sketches of the mashaikh, ulama, physicians and poets of
Akbar's reign.
▪ Various important matters not dealt with' in detail in the
Akbarnama find their place in the Muntakhab (mahzar, etc.).
o The Akbarnama of Abul Fazl : Written during Akbar's reign. It
consists of three volumes, the first two are the narrative part and the
third is the Ain-i Akbari.
▪ 1st volume: from Adam to the first seventeen years of Akbar's
reign.
▪ 2nd volume covers the narrative at the close of the 46th regnal
year (R.Y.) of Akbar.
▪ 3rd volume (the Ain-i Akbari) was completed by the end of
the 42nd R.Y. Ain gives an account of
• the various imperial departments such as, the mint,
calligraphy and painting, arsenal, royal stables etc.
• information on prices of numerous articles.
• duties of various revenue and administrative officials.
revenue rates, etc.
• Cultural and philosophical aspects
• detailed suba, sarkar and pargana-wise figures for
measured land, revenue statistics and other details-of
Akbar's Empire.
o The Tuzuk-i Jahangiri or Memoirs of Jahangir (1st R.Y. to 19th R.Y. of

Jahangir), written by Jahangir himself, provides information on
Jahangir's reign.
o During Shahjahan's period, three official historians wrote the official
history of his reign. The works of all the three are called
Badshahnama or Padshahnama.
▪ Amin Qazwini wrote the account of the first 10 years.
▪ Abdul Hamid Lahori wrote the account of the first 20 years of
Shahjahan's reign
▪ Mohammad Waris who covered 21st R.Y. to 30 R.Y. of
Shahjahan.
o Shaikh Farid Bhakkhari's Zakhirat-ul Khawanin : A biographical
account of nobles (Akbar to Shahjahan).
o A official chronicle Alamginama (by Mohammad Kazim): the first ten
years of Aurangzeb's reign. After that, Aurangzeb decided to
discontinue the task oi official history writing.
▪ Other contemporary accounts:
▪ Khafi Khan's Muntakhab-ui Lubab,
▪ Isardas Nagar's Futuhat-i Alamgiri (1-34 R.Y.)
▪ Saqi Musta'id Khan's Ma'asir-i Alamgiri (1710-11)
▪ Nuskha-i Dilkusha of Bhimsen (1708-9) are other useful
works of Aurangzeb's reign.
• Rajasthani Sources
o The most important is Munhta Nainsi's Marwar ra Pargana ri Vigat
(c. 1666) and his Khyat (after 1667).
o The Aradhakathanak of Banarasidas Jain
o The Vir Vinod of Shyamal Das compiled much later is full of
important facts and documents.
• European Sources :
▪ He nature of information available is in two forms: (i)Memoirs,
travelogues and letters (of the Jesuits); (ii) The Factory
Records:
▪ Memoirs, travelogues and letters (of the Jesuits);
• Monserrate, a Jesuit, who wrote his "Commentary
(1597) in Portuguese, leaves a graphic account of
Akbar's court.
• William Hawkins' work gives details of Jahangir's
court.
• Sir Thomas Roe's (Enbassy, 1615-1619) during
Jahangir's reign offers political and economic
information.
• The Travels of Peter Mundy (1628-34) and Fray
Sebastian Manrique (1629-43) provide important
information about Shahjahan's reign.
• Travels of Francois Bernier, (1656-48) gives vivid

description of Agra and Delhi, revenue resources of the
Mughal Empire, etc.
• Niccolao Manucci (1656-1712, in Storia do Mogor)
RISE OF THE MARATHAS IN THE 17th CENTURY

With the rue of the Maratha power a new dimension was added in the Deccan
politics. This not only changed the complexion of the Deccani states but also
influenced the Mughal-Deccani relations.
SOURCES AND GEOGRAPHY
Sources
• The most important Marathi work is Shivaji's biography (bakhar) written
by Sabhasad in 1694.This was further elaborated by Chitragupta.
• Sambhaji's Adnapatra or Marathshahitil Rajniti of Ramchandra Panta
Amatya (1 7 16) is another Marathi work of importance which traces the
events from Shivaji to Sambhaji.
• Jayarama Pindye's Radhamadhav Vilas Champu (in Sanskrit): primarily
deals with the life of Shivaji.
• Bhimsen's Nuskha-i Dilkusha (Persian) : throws light on Mughal-Maratha
relations.
Geography
Its hill-forts provided natural defences. Strategically, it was one of the best fortified
regions in India. Its hilly terrain and impregnable forts practically remained
impregnable to the invaders.
RISE OF THE MARATHA POWER: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Various views and opinions:

• Grant Duff: Result of 'conflagration' in the forests of Sahyadri.He
also acknowledges the Mughal factor in their rise.
• M.G. Ranade : National struggle of independence against foreign
domination. He formulated the idea that it was 'Maharashtra dharma' that
resulted in the political independence of the Marathas (V.K. Rajwade also
supported it). He described it as jayshnu (aggressive) Hinduism as against
the sahishnu (tolerant) Hinduism.
o (-)ve: If the Mughals were foreigners then Bijapur and Ahmednagar
rulers were also equally alien. If the Marathas could accept the
domination of one power then why not of the Mughals?
• Jadunath Sarkar and G.S. Sardesai: A 'Hindu' reaction against the
communal policies of Aurangzeb.
o (-)ve:
▪ Shivaji applauded Akbar's ideas of sulh kul.
▪ Their earliest patrons were Muslims, i.e., the rulers of Bijapur
and Ahmednagar.
▪ One does not find Shivaji fighting for the cause of Hindus and
their welfare outside Maharashtra.
▪ Even within Maharashtra one does not find him undertaking

social reforms.
▪ It is said that his assumption of the title haindava
dharmoddharak at the time of his coronation was not much
new in that period.
• Andre Wink: Their rise was due to growing Mughal pressure on the Deccan
Sultans. But it was perhaps more than that.
• Satish Chandra : Finds socio-economic content in the rise of the Marathas.
o Shivaji's success lay in his ability to mobiiize the peasants in his area.
It is generally argued that he discontinued jagirdari and zamindari
and established direct contact with the peasants thus freeing them
from exploitation.
o But according to Satish Chandra, he did not do away with the system
at all. Instead, he curtailed the powers of big deshmukhs, reformed the
abuses' and established necessary supervisory authority. Hence, he
made the old system work better.
o Besides, their power was also restricted by curtailing their armed
retainers. This is the main reason that Shivaji's military strength did
not consist of 'feudal levies' of the bigger deshmukhs.
o Petty landholders, who were often at the mercy of bigger
deshmukhs, benefitted by this policy. In fact, it was in these petty
landlords that his strength lay. For example,the deshmukhs of Mavle,
who were the first to rally to Shivaji's side, were petty landholders.
Similar was the case with Morays of Javli, Khopdes of Utroli and
Nimbalkars of Phaltan.
o Besides, his emphasis on extension and improvement of cultivation
benefitted not only the peasants in general but also these petty
landholders in particular.
o This view has not been disputed and is more convincing.
• Irfan Habib: points out the connection between the rise of the Maratha
power and the rebellious mood of the oppressed peasantry.
Other Reasons:
• There was struggle for control over land among bigger, middle and smaller
deshmukhs, mirasis (resident owner cultivator) and the uparis (outsiders).
To expand one's watan was an "all absorbing passion." Political authority at
that time also depended on the control over land.
• There also lies the social content of the Maharashtra movement:
o Shivaji tried to raise the status of his family by entering into
matrimonial alliances with the leading deshmukh families-Shirkes,
Morays, Nimbalkars.
o Thus he followed a dual policy, i.e, curtailing the political power of
the bigger deshmukhs on the one hand, and entering into matrimonial
alliances with them for claiming equal status on the other hand.
o His coronation (1674) not only put him higher in status among other
Maratha clans, but also put him at par with other Deccani rulers.
▪ His assumption of superior status of suryavamsi kshatriya

with the help of the leading brahmans of Benaras, Gagabhat,
was a definite move in this direction.
o Shivaji not only got prepared suryavamsi kshatriya geneology of his
family linking it with Indra, but also claimed the high sounding title of
kshatriya kulavatamsa (the ornament of kshatriya families). Thus,
by confirming higher status among the Maratha families he claimed
exclusive right to collect sardeshmukhi which was earlier enjoyed by
other Maratha families under the patronage of Shrikes, Ghorpade, etc.
• Socio-economic reasons:
o Above point clearly emphasises the social tensions prevalent in the
Maratha society. They were mainly agriculturists and also formed a
fighting class. Yet, they were not kshatriyas in status.
o Thus the social movement launched by Shivaji served a powerful
means to weld together the Marathas and the kunbis (cultivating
class). Kunbi peasants, kolis and other tribals of Maval area who
rallied round Shivaji in large numbers were also motivated by the
desire to raise their status in the social hierarchy.
o Thus, the Maratha rise was not just a result of a desire to overthrow
the yoke of foreign rule: it had deep-rooted socio-economic reasons.
• Contribuion of bhakti movement:
o The intellectual and ideological framework for their rise was provided
by the bhakti movement which got crystallised into "Maharashtra
dharma".
o This helped in providing the Marathas a cultural identity as well.
Emphasis of the bhakti saints on egalitarianism provided ideal
background vis-a-vis justification for the mobility in the varna scale
by individuals and groups.
• Success of the movement:
o Rise of Marathas of such humble origins as the Sindhias exemplifies
the success of the movement.
o During this time, a sizeable number of groups improved their status in
the varna hierarchy and legitimised their right to political power.
• Maharashtra dharma as a 'psychological tonic' to mobilize :
o The earliest trace of the term Maharashtra dharma occurs in a 15th
century work Gurucharita, but in the context of "an ethical policy of a
great enlightened state".
o 17th century saint-poet Ramdas, gave it a political overtone, who
expressed unfavourable opinion about the Turko-Afghan-Mughal rule.
Shivaji used it to his advantage. He used this popular ideological chant
of Maiarashtra dharma against the Deccanis and the Mughals.
o Marathas' religious feelings were centred around the goddess Tulaja
Bhavani, Vithoba aad Mahadeva. The battle-cry of the Marathas "Har
Har Mahadevr" touched the sentiments of Maratha peasantry.
o But, as rightly pointed out by P.V. Ranade, "Hindu hostility to Muslim

hegemony was not the primary motivating factor nor the dynamic
element of medieval Indian political scene".
o The hollowness of the ideology is well evident when Shivaji and other
Maratha sardars collected chauth and sardeshmukhi (a legalised
plunder) across their boundaries.
o In fact, it was a "psychological tonic" to mobilize the peasantry in its
early phase of ,Maratha expansion.
• Regional reaction against the centralising tendencies:
o It is difficult to accept that Shivaji wanted to carve out a 'Hindu
Swarajya'. Rather it should be seen more as a regional reaction
against the centralising tendencies of the Mughal Empire.
o The Marathas wanted to form a large principality for themselves, for
which an ideal background was provided by the disintegration of the
Nizam Shahi power of Ahmednagar and the introduction of a new
factor-the Mughals.
o Its inherent socio-economic contradiction also helped in mobilizing
the local landed elements in general.
ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE OF THE MARATHAS
The Maratha administration derived from the Deccani structure (major) + Mughal
(Few).
Central Administration
The Maratha polity was essentially a centralized autocratic monarchy but an
enlightened one. The king was at the helm of affairs. The king's chief objective was
the happiness and prosperity of his subjects (raja kalsya karanam).
The council of state ministers (ashtapradhan): The ashtapradhan was neither the
creation of Shivaji nor was at first organised at, the time of his coronation. The
peshwa, mazumdar, wakins, dabir, sunris (and the sarnobat) existed under the
Deccani rulers also.
1. Peshwa(Prime Minister) : He was the head of both civil and military affairs.
2. Mazumdar (auditor) : He looked into the income and expenditure of the
state.
3. wakins : He was the incharge of king's private affairs.
4. Dabir : Foreign secretary
5. Surnis (superintendent) : He used to take care of all the official
correspondences.
6. Pandit Rao : Ecclesiastical head.
7. Sehapati : Commander in chief
8. Nyayadhish : Chief Justice
Note:
• All, except pandit rao and nyayadhish were asked to lead military
campaigns.
• Under Shivaji these offices were neither hereditary nor permanent: they held
office till the king's pleasure and they were frequently transferred.
• They were directly paid by the exchequer and no jagir was granted to any
civil or military officer.
• The council (ashtapradhan) could advise the king but it was not binding on
him to accept its advice.
• Later, under the peshwas, they assumed hereditary and permanent
character.
• Each of the ashtapradha'was assisted by eight assistants: diwan, mazumdar,
fadnis, sabnis, karkhanis, chitnis, jamadar and potnis.
o Chitnis (secretary):
▪ It was next to ashtapradhan,
▪ dealt with all diplomatic correspondences
▪ wrote all royal letters.
▪ Letters to provincial and district officers were also written by
him.
o Fadnis:
▪ Responded to the letters of commanders of forts.
▪ Was a subordinate secretariat officer under Shivaji.
▪ This office rose to prominence under the peshwas.
o Potnis:
▪ Looked after the income and expenditure of the royal treasury,
while the potdar was an assay officer.
Provincial Administration
• The country was divided into mauzas, tarfs and prants. All these units were
already existing under the Deccani rulers and were not the innovation of
Shivaji.
• But he reorganised and renamed them:
o Mauza (lowest unit) < Tarfs (headed by a havaldar, karkun or
paripatyagar) <prants (i.e provinces, under subedar, karkun (or
mukhya desbadhikari)).
o Over a number of prants there was the sarsubedar to control and
supervise the work of subedars.
o Each subedar had eight subordinate officers: diwan, mazumdar,
fadnis, sabnis, karkhanis, chitnis, jamadar and potnis.
o Later, under the peshwas tarf, pargana, sarkar and suba were
indiscriminately used.
• Under Shivaji none of the officers was permanent and hereditary. All officers
were liable to frequent transfers. But under the peshwas, the office of
kamavisdar and mamlatdars became permanent.
• Darkhdars:
o To check the mamlatdars,
o were hereditary provincial officers.
o They served as a check on mamlatdars and other naval and military
officers.
o Neither the mamlatdars could dismiss them nor compel them to

perform any particular job if not specified.
• None of the eight provincial level officers derived their power from
mamlatdar. Instead, they served as a check on his power.
Military Organisation
• Forts found the prime place in Shivaji's scheme of military organisation.
Shivaji built such a long chain of forts that not a single taluka or pargana left
without a fort. During his life, Shivaji constructed around 250 forts.
• No single officer was entrusted sole charge of a fort. and there was a good
system of checks and balances applied by Shivaji to keep them under control:
o In every fort there were a havaldar, a sabnis and a sarnobat.
o Big forts had five to ten tat-sarnobats.
o All these officers were of equal status and rank and were frequently
transferred. This system acted as check and balance on each others'
authority.
▪ The havaldar was the incharge of the keys of the fort.
▪ The sabnis controlled the muster-roll and dca!t with all
government correspondences. He also looked after the
revenue-estimates of the province (under the jurisdiction of
the fort).
▪ The sarnobat was the incharge of the garrison.
o Besides, there was karkhanis who used to take care of grain stores
and other material requirements. All daily accounts of income and
expenditure were to be entered by the karkhanis.
o None held absolute power: Though the sabnis, was the incharge of
accounts, all orders had to bear the seal of the havaldar and the
karkhanis.
o Besides, no single officer could surrender the fort to the enemy.
• None of the officers was allowed to form caste groups. It was clearly specified
that:
o Havaldar and sarnobat should be a Maratha,
o Sabnis a brahman,
o Karkhanis a prabhu (kayastha).
• The army organisation of Shivaji was not a noval experiment.
o Under Muhammad Adil Shah of Bijapur also we hear three officers as
incharge of the fort. They were also frequently transferrable.
• The army organisation of Shivaji continued on the same lines under the
peshwas as well.
• Shivaji maintained light cavalry and light infantry trained in guerilla and hilly
warfare. The Mevalis and the Hetkaris were his most excellent troopers.
• Infentry : naik< havaldar < jumledar < hazari < sarnobat.
• Shivaji's cavalry consisted of bargirs and the siledars.
o The bargir troopers were supplied horses and arms by the state while
the siledars had to bring their own horses and arms.
o bargirs < havaldar < jumla < hazari < panch hazari < sarnobat.
o The siledars were also placed under sarnobat.

o For every group of 25 horses there was a water-carrier and a farrier.
• Pindharis:
o were allowed to accompany the army under the peshwas (i.e after
shivaji).
o were robbers and plunderers.
o In lieu of their services, they used to get the right to collect palpatti
(which was 25 per cent of the war booty).
o They hardly spared any one — friend or foe; general public or temples
(they plundered at will).
• Shivaji's army was well served by an efficient intelligence department
whose chief was Bahirji Naik Jadav.
• Shivaji also maintained body-guards.
• In time of need, the watandars were also asked to supply forces. But Shivaji
hardly depended on such feudal levies of watandars or on siledars.
• Shivaji paid his soldiers in cash.
• Wounded soldiers used to get special allowance while the widows got state
pensions.
• Later Under peshwas:
o The entire country was divided into military tenures. They relied
more on feudal levies.
o Separate artillery department was established. Even they had their
own factories for manufacturing cannon and cannon balls.
o The strength of the cavalry increased. They maintained their own
troops- khasgi paga.
o The peshwas tried to maintain disciplined battalions on European
lines called kampus, but corruption crept among them also and they
also did not lag behind in plundering the territories like their
counterpart.
• Other changes during Peshwa's time:
o Shivaji's military strength lay in swift mobilisation, but peshwa's
camps spread 'for miles in different direction'.
o Shivaji emphasized on strict discipline. Under the peshwas that
discipline was gone. The Maratha armies were now full of luxuries and
comforts. They possessed costly tents and splendid equipments. Wine
and women became the very life of the contingent-a feature
unthinkable in Shivaji's time. Shivaji never allowed any woman-
female slaves or dancing girls-to accompany the army.Under the
peshwas even ordinary horsemen were accompanied by their
womenfolk, dancing girls, jugglers and fakirs.
o The peshwa's army was invariably paid in the form of jagirs
(saranjams).
o All this shows distinct decline in the military strength of the Marathas
under the peshwas.
o Shivaji preferred to recruit men of his own race in the army but in the
navy there were many Muslims. But the peshwas recruited men from
all religions and ethnic group: Rajputs, Sikhs, Rohillas, Sindhis,
Gosains, Karnatakis, Arabs, Telingas, Bidars, and Christians
(Europeans).
Navy
• After the conquest of Konkan Shivaji built a strong navy as well.
• His fleet was equipped with ghurabs (gunboats) and gallivats (row boats).
• He established two squadrons of 200 vessels each (may be exaggerated).
• Daulat Khan was one of the admirals of Shivaji's navy.
• Shivaji used his naval power to harass both the indigenous and European
traders/powers.
• Peshwas also maintained a strong fleet to defend the western coast. But the
Maratha naval power reached distinction under the Angiras, practically
independent from the peshwas.
Judiciary
• The Marathas failed to develop any organised judicial department.
• At the village level, civil cases were heard by the village elders (panchayat)
in patil's office or in the village temple.
• Criminal cases were decided by the patil.
• Hazir majalis was the highest court for civil and criminal cases.
• The sabhanaik (judge president) and mahaprashnika (chief interrogator)
gradually faded away under the peshwas whose duty was to examine and
cross-examine the plaintiffs.
RAJPUT STATES
• Mughal alliance with the Rajputs did create an atmosphere of interaction
between Hindus and Muslims but it was limited in scope. It basically served
the purpose of realpolitik for both the Rajputs and Mughals. Recourse to
religion was by and large a measure of political expediency.
• The Mughal policy towards the Rajputs contributed to the expansion and
consolidation of the Mughal Empire under Akbar and his successors.
• For long it has been held that the Mughal alliance with the Rajputs was
determined by personal religious beliefs of the individual rulers. On this
basis, Akbar's liberalism and Aurangzeb's orthodoxy were considered the
touchstone of their policies and its impact on the political scene.
• However, recently the Mughal-Rajput relations are being studied within the
framework of Mughal nobility as well as the tensions within the different
segments of the nobility itself.
• What governed the political vicissitudes of Mughal Empire:
o The struggle for supremacy or autonomy by the aristocratic elements,
i.e., the Mughal bureaucracy and, the autonomous rajas and
zamindars.
o The socio-cultural factors and the geo-strategic context of the country
are equally important to be taken into account.
• The Mughal-Rajput conflict developed against the backdrop of the decline of
the Delhi Sultanate and the emergence of a new state system in Rajasthan,
Malwa and Gujarat.
BACKGROUND: BABUR, HUMAYUN AND THE RAJPUTS
Babur and The Rajputs:

• Towards the end of the 15th century (After the decline of Jaunpur and the
weakening of Malwa), a new situation developed in North India. There was
the contest between Rana Sanga of Mewar and the Lodis for domination over
eastern Rajasthan and Malwa.
• Rana sanga opened negotiations with Babur against the Lodis. As Babur
progressed in accordance with the agreement, Sanga retraced his steps. He
had not envisaged Babur's arrival in the Gangetic valley. His plan was to
detain Babur in the Punjab while he confronted the Lodis in the Gangetic
valley. The ascendancy of Babur in the Gangetic valley took Sanga by
surprise.
• These developments led to the formation of an alliance between the Afghans,
Rana Sanga and a host of other Rajput princes. The aim was to hold back the
advance of Babur towards Delhi and the surrounding areas.
• The conflict between Sanga's coalition and Babur at Khanwa was not a
contest between Hindus and Muslims.
o This is amply borne out by the very nature of the composition of
Sanga's coalition. Babur condemned the Afghan chieftains who
collaborated with Sanga as Kafirs infidels and mulhids and also

proclaimed the contest against Sanga as jihad.
o These actions do not suggest religious zeal but reflect the attempt to
meet the challenge by appealing to the religious sentiments of his
soldiers.
o Later on, Babur concentrated more on countering the Afghan danger
than fighting the Rajputs.
• Babur succeeded in taking Mewat and Chanderi in Malwa and also outposts
such as Bayana, Dholpur, Gwalior. The death of Rana Sanga settled the
problem as far as Rajasthan was concerned.
• During Babur's time, the relations between the Mughals and Rajputs did not
develop along definite and positive lines, rather it was in consonance with
the political needs.
Humayun and The Rajput:
• When Humayun ascended the throne, the political scene in Malwa and
Rajasthan had changed considerably.
o Bahadur Shah, the ruler of Gujarat, had captured Malwa after
defeating its ruler Mahmud Khalji II. Rana Ratan Singh of Mewar had
sided with Bahadur Shah against Malwa for which he was generously
rewarded. However, a rupture between Rana Vikramjit of Mewar and
Bahadur Shah led to siege of Chittor by the later.
o Though Humayun was aware of the threat posed by the augmentation
of the power of Bahadur Shah in Malwa and Rajasthan, he was
hesitant to get involved in the conflict with Bahadur Shah till the
Afghan threat had been sorted out.
• Humayun's stance as regards Rajasthan was essentially defence oriented: an
offensive policy was postponed for a later date.
• He realised that due to internecine warfare in Mewar its power was waning.
Therefore, for Humayun, its military importance as an ally was inadequate.
Thus, Babur and Humayun's relations with Rajputs should be viewed in the context
of the Afghan problem which deterred them from making friendly overtures to the
Rajput rulers.
AKBAR'S RELATIONS WITH THE RAJPUTS

We can perceive three phases in the shaping of Akbar's Rajput policy.
• In the first phase (ended in 1569-70), Akbar continued with the policy
followed by the Delhi Sultans;
• In the second phase, Akbar tried to develop and extend the alliance with
Rajputs but certain components of the earlier policy were retained;
• The third and last phase is marked by Akbar's break with Muslim orthodoxy.
The First Phase:
• There are different views on Akbar's relations with the Rajputs.
o Some argue that his policy initiated a system in which there would be
no discrimination on the basis of religion in public appointments.
o Others hold that it was a deliberate attempt to exploit the martial

attributes of the Rajputs for the expansion of the Empire and also to
play them against each other thereby ensuring that they would not
unitedly pose a threat to the Empire.
o Some also say that Akbar's Rajput policy was a part of a broad policy
of wooing the zamindars and martial classes which included the
Rajputs and Afghans. Majority of the zamindars were Hindus and
specially Rajputs. It is pointed out that the policy was aimed at using
the Rajputs to counter the power of the Uzbegs and other disaffected
nobles. Faithfulness of Rajputs was legendary. They could serve as
important buttresses both within the court and outside.
• Rajputs had made an impression on Akbar's mind way back in 1557 when a
Rajput contingent under Bhara Mal, the ruler of Amber, had demonstrated its
loyalty to Akbar. This led to a matrimonial alliance between Bhara Mal's
daughter and Akbar in 1562.
• But this matrimonial alliance was not unique and such alliances were a
common feature before Akbar's time also. These marriages were in the
nature of political compromise and did not imply conversion to Islam and
break with Hindu traditions.
• Era of personal fidelity: Bhara Mal had submitted to Akbar by personally
paying homage to him in 1562. By encouraging this practice, Akbar was
trying to establish intimate relations with those chieftains who submitted to
him personally. A personal relationship, it was felt, would best ensure
political allegiance. Akbar's period thus ushered in an era of personal fidelity.
• Matrimonial alliances did not lead to any kind of special bond between
Rajputs and Mughals. Nor were these alliances with Rajputs intended to be
aimed at countering recalcitrant elements or using the Rajputs for military
gains. → i.e view num-2 is invalid:
o The fact that Rajputs did participate in Mughal wars against their
compatriots was not unprecedented. The liberal measures such as
'abolition of jiziya, remission of pilgrim taxes, etc. which Akbar
introduced between 1562-64, strengthened people's faith in Akbar as
a liberal ruler. But these measures did not create an atmosphere of
total peace between the Mughals and Rajputs.
o The war with Chittor, is an apt example. The Rajputs offered firm
resistance despite the presence of Bhagwant Singh with Akbar. Akbar
on the other hand proclaimed the conflict as jihad and martyrs as
ghazis giving the whole affair a religious colour. He ascribed his
victory to God's will, thereby emphasizing the religious dimension of
the conflict.
• In the first phase, Akbar's attitude towards Rajputs softened:
o Rao Dalpat Rai, the governor (hakim) of Ranthambhor, was accepted
in the imperial service and given jagir.
o Akbar married Rhagwant Singh's (Kachhawaha prince) sister.
o Bhara Mal became a close confidant of Akbar is evident from the fact
that when Akbar proceeded on the Gujarat campaign, agra was placed
under his charge a gesture shown for the first time to a Hindu Prince.
• However, Akbar's religious views his public policies and attitude towards
Rajputs developed along separate lines and coincided only at a later stage.
The Second Phase:
• The Gujarat expedition of Akbar was an important landmark in 'the evolution
of Mughal-Rajput relations. The Rajputs were enlisted as soldiers
systematically and their salaries were fixed for the first time.
• The Rajputs were deployed outside Rajasthan for the first time and were
given significant assignments and posts.
o During the Gujarat insurrection of the Mirzas, Akbar depended largely
or Rajputs (Kachawahas) Man Singh and Bhagwant Singh.
• The Rana of Mewar did not agree to personal submission and wanted to
regain Chittor. Akbar remained firm on the principle of personal homage. In
the meantime Marwar was subdued by Akbar.
• The battle of Haldighati:
o Was not a struggle between Hindus and Muslims.
o As important groups from among the Rajputs sided with the Mughals,
this struggle cannot be termed as a struggle for independence from
foreign rule.
o To some extent it can be characterized as the pronouncement of the
ideal of regional independence.
o The Rana's power suffered a severe jolt and Rajputs were
transformed from mere collaborators into allies of the Mughals.
• Till the end of the second phase, Akbar's Rajput policy had not acquired a
shape which would be disapproved by the Muslim orthodox religious
elements or which would be a threat to the Muslim character of the state.
The Third Phase:
• The reimposition of jiziya by Akbar in 1575, which was a step in
preparation for war with Mewar, shows that Akbar had to rely on religion for
serving political ends.
• The fall from power of the chief sadr Abdun Nabi and the proclamation of the
mahzar are important events which constitute the starting point of Akbar's
break with orthodoxy.
• During the invasion on Punjab by Akbar's brother Mirza Hakim (the ruler of
kabul) in 1580, Akbar relied upon Rajputs such as Man Singh and Bhagwant
Singh who displayed considerable valour during the siege and successfully
resisted it. Akbar rewarded them by making Bhagwant Das the governor of
Lahore and Man Singh the commander of the Indus region.
• Consequence of Mirza Hakim's invasion: The Rajputs became the sword-arm
of the Empire and became actively involved in Mughal administration.
• A group among the nobility displayed fear over the ascendancy of Rajputs.
However, Akbar was strong enough to brush aside such feelings and
continued to rely on the Rajputs.
• Akbar tried to forge close relations with the Rajput ruling houses, especially
through marriages with prince. e.g: the daughter of Bhagwant Das, was
married to Prince Salim, Mota Raja Udai Singh (Marwar) daughter was
married to Salim. Prince Daniyal was married to a daughter of Raimal of
Jodhpur.
o These marriages reveal Akbar's desire to compell his successor to the
throne to carry on the policy of maintaining close relationship with
the Rajputs.
• In 1583-84, Akbar initiated a new policy of selecting loyal Muslim and Hindu
nobles for performing administrative tasks. e.g: Raja Birbal was a close
associate of Akbar and was responsible for justice. Rai Durga Sisodia of
Rampura and Raja Todar Mal were assigned administrative tasks in the
revenue department.
o It cannot be said with certainty to what extent this policy of deploying
Rajputs for carrying out administrative tasks was successful. Abul Fazl
gives the impression that it was not properly implemented.
• By 1585-86, Akbar's Rajput policy had become fully developed. The alliance
with Rajputs had become steady and stable. The Rajputs were now not only
allies but were partners in the Empire. Conflict with the Rana of Mewar did
not lead to bitterness in relations with other Rajput states of Rajasthan.
Finally, the dispute with the Rana was settled and he spent the rest of his life
in Chawand in South Mewar (his capital).
• For analysing the relations with Rajputs in Akbar's reign, the year 1585-86
can be taken as a convenient point. Among the Rajputs enlisted in the
Imperial Service, the Kachhawahas reigned supreme. In the list of
mansabdars, as given in the Ain-i Akbari of the 24 Rajputs 13 were
Kachhawaha.
• The state structure of the Rajputs on the eve of the Mughal conquests:
o The administrative structure was based on bhaibant system.
o It was a sort of a loose confederation in which a region was held by a
clan or khap by one or more family which had close kinship ties with
the clan. A member of the leading family was called rao/rai-rana.
o There was no defmite law of succession both primogeniture and the
will of the ruler prevailed. But the deciding factors were the support
of Rajput sardars (chieftains) and military might.
o A clan held a region relying on the support of Rajput warriors. The
leading family of a clan held only a few parganas or mahals under
direct control in a region and the rest were assigned in patta to
individual members of the family who erected their own fortresses or
places of residence called basi or kothri. Holders of these fortresses
were called dhani or thakur. These holdings were hereditary.
o In these circumstances the Rana tried to extend the holding at the

expense of the thikanedars (clan brothers) whereas the clan
attempted to gain at the cost of neighbouring clans.
• The concept of watan jagir:
o When a Rajput raja was enrolled in the Imperial service, he was given
jagir against his mansab which consisted of mahals or tappas where
the clan members lived. The mahals were a part of one or more
parganas with a fort or garhi where the raja resided with his family.
This region was the real watan of the raja, but occassionally the term
was extended to mean the entire tract held by the raja and his
clansmen.
o Jahangir refers to this as riyasat. The term watan jagir came into
vogue only at the end of Akbar's reign.
o Jagirs in close proximity to watan were considered a part of the watan
and were not transferrable except in case of rebellion, etc. These
watan jagirs were granted for life within Rajasthan.
o Outside Rajasthan, jaglrs were transferrable.
o The term watan jagir is not referred to by Abul Fazl and other
contemporary historians. The first reference to this is contained in a
farman of Akbar to Raja Rai Singh of Bikaner. The Rajput chronicles,
for example, Nainsi has a word utan which could be a corruption of
watan.
• How was it a step towards the evolution of a stable and centralized state
structure:
o The change in the state structure of Rajasthan and the evolution of the
concept of watan jagir which replaced bhaibant is an interesting
phenomena.
o By Jahangir's time the concept of watan jagir was firmly entrenched.
o Areas held by clan memben and other clans were brought under the
control of the raja
o Watan jagirs allowed the rajas to consolidate their position vis-a-vis
the pattayats which was a step towards the evolution of a stable
and centralised state structure.
o Watan and riyasat at times overlapped.
• When a raja died all the parganas controlled by him as watan jagir were not
inevitably inherited by his successor. His successor was given a few parganas
according to his mansab which was lower than that of his predecessor. Thus,
jagir rights in a pargana were partitioned. This was a means of exercising
control over the Rajput rajas.
• The Mughals did not try to create dissensions among the Rajputs but they
were aware of dissensions among the Rajputs on the basis of clan and
personal holdings and took advantage of these differences for their own
ends. e.g: they transferred disputed parganas from one to another.
• The Rajput rajas were granted jagirs outside their watan in neighbouring
subas or in subas where they served. The jagirs were situated either in
productive areas or in zortalab (rebellious) areas.
• Pax Mughalica:
o The establishment of a sort of Pax Mughalica (Mughal peace) was
important if the Rajput rajas were to serve in different parts of the
Empire without being bothered about their homelands.
o This meant regulation of inter-state disputes and disputes among
the Rajput rajas and sardars.
o No subordinate Raja could extend his territory without the consent of
the Mughal emperor.
• The Mughal policy of conferring honour on anyone was a part of the process
of weakening the aristocracy by instigating the middle and lower strata to
assert their independence from aristocracy. Therefore, the Mughals enlisted
in the Imperial service many miner feudatories of the Rajput rajas
themselves.
• The concept of Mughal Paramountcy implied controlling succession to
the throne in Rajput states.
o The issue of succession had invariably caused fratricidal civil wars in
Rajput states.
o This was not an easy task: it depended on the strength of the Mughal
ruler.
o Akbar had pronounced that the grant of tika was the prerogative of
the Mughal Emperor and could not be claimed as a matter of right.
o The fact that the Mughal Emperor could give tika to sons of the
deceased raja or his brother or brother's son could lead to conflicts.
But, at least, the issue could be settled without a civil war due to
Mughal intervention.
• Akbar tried to promote heterogeneous contingents to cut across the ethic-
religious distinctions. Akbar tried to encourage nobles to maintain mixed
contingents consisting of ethnic groups like the Mughals, Rajputs
etc. However, all these didn't give much result and ethnic-religious ties could
not be weakened.
o The Rajput soldier was paid a salary lower than his Mughal
counterpart but how far this encouraged nobles to employ Rajputs is
not known.
Conclusion:
• Akbar's alliance with the Rajputs began as a political coalition but later, it
developed into an instrument of closer relations between Hindus and
Muslims which formed the basis for a broad liberal tolerant policy towards
all, irrespective of faith.
• Mughal-Rajput relations were seen as the beginning of a secular, non-
sectarian state in which all sections of people would have some interest in its
continuation. But this was not in accordance with the social and political
reality.
o The Rajputs were generally orthodox in their social and religious

outlook. They refused to enroll themselves in Akbar's tauhid llahi
and also did not support Akbar in opposing sati.
o Like the Rajputs, the Mughal elite was also generally orthodox, The
Mughal elite and ulema feared,that a broad liberal policy would be
detrimental to their dominant position.
• Their opposition could be put down only by furthering the Mughal-Rajput
alliance supported by powerful non-sectarian movements stressing common
points between followers of the two religions.
• These movements were limited in their influence and the Mughal-Rajput
alliance having no powerful bulwark became strained and collapsed.
MUGHAL-RAJPUT RELATIONS IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
• Mughal-Rajput relations in the 16th century developed according to the
political requirement of the two main ruling elites in North India-the
Mughals and Rajputs.
• In the 17th century however it suffered a setback against the backdrop of
steady expansion of the Empire, internal conflicts among the Rajputs and
proclamation of the principle of regional autonomy by different sections.
Jahangir:
• The most creditable achievement of Jahangir was the cessation of war with
Mewar. He did not press upon personal submission of the Rana and accepted
the homage paid by his son. To Rana were restored all those territories
which had been taken from him either in Akbar's time or Jahangir's time.
Rana's son was also favoured with a mansab and jagir.
• Jahangir established the tradition that Rana's son or brother should serve
the Emperor.
• Matrimonial relations with Mughals were not forced upon the Rana. The
Chittor fort was a powerful bastion which had consistently disregarded
Mughal power and Jahangir did not want it to be repaired to its former shape.
• Jahangir carried forward Akbar's policy of establishing matrimonial
relations with the Rajput rajas. However, after Mewar's submission these
marriages took place less frequently. Most of them took place while Mewar
was opposing the Mughals. Once Mewar had been humbled, the alliance with
the Rajputs had become stable. Thus, to some extent,these marriages served
only a fixed political aim. Marriages did bring about amicable relations
between Mughals and Rajputs. They were mostly contracted in anticipation
of imminent contest for power.
• During Jahangir's reign the rulers of four leading states of Rajputana-
Mewar,Marwar, Amber and Bikaner-held the mansab of 5000 zat or above.
• The Kachchawahas lost their dominant position in the nobility.
• The rulers of the Rajput states now got higher mansabs in comparison to
Akbar's time. During the first decade of Jahangir's reign there was a sharp fall
in the total mansab granted to the Rajputs following Khusrau's rebellion.
• An analysis of the mansab and offices conferred during Jahangir's reign

shows that they were type-cast on the basis of ethnic origin, caste, etc. The
Rajputs were mainly employed as qila' dars of forts or as faujdar. But this
type casting was not inflexible nor rested on communal considerations as
Jahangir was liberal in matters pertaining to religion.
Shah Jahan:
• They were given important commands and were granted high mansabs. This
reflects that he trusted the Rajputs and assigned them important duties.
• Shah Jahan, however, discontinued Jahangir's policy of not granting subadari
to the Rajput rajas of leading houses. However, these assignments were few
and infrequent.
• The Rajputs continued to be given posts such as qila' dar and faujdar. The
differentiation between civil and military was still made on the basis of caste
and ethnic origins.
• During Jahangir's and Shah Jahan's time, the alliance with the Rajputs
established by Akbar was strengthened despite certain hurdles, the Rajputs
continued to be allies but their role in administration was negligible.
• Two conflicts against Bundelas and Mewar took place during Shah Jahan's
reign and both occurred due to conflicting interpretations of concept of
paramountcy and suzerainty.
o the class allies-Rajputs and Mughals-had common interests as far as
collection of land revenue and maintenance of law and order were
concerned, but there were differences as far as rights and privileges
were concerned.
o The Mughals tried to make it clear that no subordinate raja could
extend his territory without the consent of the Mughal Emperor. This
reflects the class nature of the struggle between Mughals and Rajputs.
Aurangzeb:
• Aurangzeb's policy towards the Rajputs from 1680's onwards caused worry
both to the Rajputs as well as to a section of the Mughal nobility. This is
evident from the Rajput-Mughal nobles' complicity in the rebellion of Prince
Akbar.
• He was lukewarm towards the Rajputs. Rajputs were not given important
assignments.
• He interfered in matters relating to matrimonial alliances among the Rajputs.
• However, Aurangzeb's breach with Mewar and Marwar did not man a breach
with the Rajputs in general.
• The rulers of Amber, Bikaner, Bundi and Kota continued to receive rnansabs.
But they were not accorded high ranks or positions in Aurangzeb's reign like
during the reign of Akbar and his successors Jahangir and Shah Jahan.
• It cannot be said that wars with Mewar and Marwar signaled the
discontinuation of Akbar's policy of alliance with the Rajputs. In fact, the
wars reflect the conflict between the policy of alliance with the Rajputs
and the broader policy of winning over the local ruling elites, i.e.
zamindars.
• We cannot say that Aurangzeb's orthodoxy solely shaped his Rajput
policy. There were other factors at work. As the Mughal Empire got
consolidated in the north, the next step was to extend its boundaries
southwards which meant alliance with local ruling elements, i.e., the
Marathas.
• The Rajputs lost their prominent position in the Mughal system. The
importance of the Marathas increased in the second half of the 17th century.
Now the Rajputs needed the alliance with the Mughals.
• The wars with Mewar and Marwar were a drain on the treasury but not a
serious one and did not in any substantial way affect the overland trade to
the Cambay seaports.
• However, Aurangzeb's Rajput policy reflected his incompetence to deal with
issues effectively which affected the prestige of the Empire. It led to political
and religious discord which demonstrated lack of political acumen. All this
gave impetus to rebellions by the Mughal Princes in league with the Rajputs
MUGHAL RULING CLASS

• The Mughal ruling class was multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-regional.
• It comprised both civil bureaucrats as well as military commanders.
• They all held mansab and received their salary either in cash or
through assignment of the revenues of various territories (jagir).
• Therefore. the numerical strength of the mansabdars (nobles) materially
influenced politics,administration and economy of the Empire.
THE RULING CLASS UNDER BABUR AND HUMAYUN
• During Babur:
o Turanis (Central Asian 'Begs') and a few Iranis.
o After battle of Panipat:
▪ some Afghan and Indian nobles of Sikandar Lodi's camp were
also admitted.
▪ Many local chieftains also accepted Babur's suzerainty.
o It appears from the Baburnama that out of a total of 116 nobles. 31
were Indians including Afghans and Shaikhzadas.
• During Humayun:
o During the early years, there was a decline in the number of Indian
nobles as many of the Afghan nobles deserted the Mughal service and
joined Bahadur shah of Gujarat.
o During 1540 and 1555 most of his Turani nobles deserted him and
joined Mirza Kamran.
o Iranis increased in the nobility. Humayun also raised a new Turani
nobility by promoting low ranking Turani nobles to couter the power
of the old nobility.thereby strengthening his position.
▪ There were 57 nobles who accompanied Humayun back to
India, of whom 27 were Turanis and 21 Iranis.
o Although by raising Iranis and low ranking Turanis to higher ranks,
Huhayun could create a loyal ruling class which helped him in
reconquering Hindustan, the dominant sections in his nobility were
still confined to a limited number of class-cum-family groups with
their roots in Central Asian traditions.
o Thus, the Mughal ruling class in its formative stage under Babur and
Humayun was not a disciplined and effective organisation to cope
with the problems facing the newly established Empire in India. Babur
and Humayun did not fully succeed in making it loyal and subservient
to them even by bringing about a few changes in its composition.
DEVELOPMENT UNDER AKBAR
• The position remained unchanged during the early years of Akbar's reign.
The two foreign elements Turanis and Iranii enjoyed a predominant position.
• After the dismissal of Bairam Khan, a crisis developed at the court which
ultimately led to the rebellion of the Turani nobles. To balance their pressure,
Akbar introduced two new elements - Indian Muslims and Rajputs in his
nobility. He also promoted Iranis to higher ranks as a reward for their loyalty
during the crisis.
• After the exit of Bairarn Khan (1561), Akbar started recruiting Rajputs and
Shaikhzadas in his service. In order to win recruits from these sections, he
adopted certain measures of placating and befriending them. e.g: established
matrimonial relations with the Rajputs Chieftains, abolished pilgrimage tax
(1562) and the jiziya (1564) which was imposed earlier on the Hindus.
• Akbar's attitude towards Rajputs changed radically after the suppression of
the Uzbek rebellion as he adopted a vigorous policy of reducing them to
submission by force.
• During the period 1575-80, Akbar, with'a view of creating wider support for
the Empire amongst rhe Muslim community in India, adopted an attitude of
promoting and befriending the Indian Muslims through several conciliatary
measures,
COMPOSITION OF THE MUGHAL RULING CLASS
• It was an 'International' ruling class: for recruitment 'nationality' was no
bar. However, mere fulfillment of certain criteria of merit and competence
was not the sole requirement to gain entry into it: clan or family links were
the most important considerations for recruitment.
• It consisted of certain well-recognised racial groups. The important ones
were Turanis, Iranis, Afghans, Shaikhzadas, Rajjputs and also the Deccanis
(Bijapuris, Haidrabadis and Marathas).
• The khanazads (the house-born ones), who were the sons and descendants
of those officers (mansabdars) who were already in the Mughal service, were
the best and foremost claimants. They constituted almost half of the ruling
class throughout the Mughal period and the remaining half of the ruling class
comprised of variety of persons not belonging to the families already in
service.
• The zamindars or the chieftains were one of them. Though they had been in
the state service ever since the time of Delhi Sultans, they attained great
importance under Akbar who granted them high mansabs and jagirs in
various parts of the Empire. These jagir were in addition to their ancestral
domains which were now treated as their watan jagir.
• Nobles and high officers of other states were also taken into the Mughal
ruling class on account of their experience, status and influence.
o Leading commanders of the enemy state, in particular, were offered
tempting ranks to make them desert their masters.
• A very small portion of the Mughal ruling class consisted of persons
belonging to the accountant castes, that is, Khatris, Kayasthas, etc. They were
usually appointed in the Financial departments on low ranks, but they could
rise to higher ones. Todar Mal under Akbar and Raja Raghunath under
Aurangzeb belonged to this category. They served as diwan and received
high ranks.
• Scholars, saints/sufis and theologians, etc. also received ranks and offices in
the Mughal service. e.g: Abul Fazl under Akbar, Sadullah Khan and
Danishmand Khan during Shah Jahan's reign, and Hakim Abul Muk Tuni Fazil
Khan in Aurangzeb's period.
• Racial and Religious Groups:
o Various racial groups were taken into the Mughal service largely as a
result of historical circumstances, but partly (as for example the
Rajputs) as a result of planned imperial policy of integrating all these
elements into a single imperial service.For that purpose, very often,
officers of various groups were assigned to serve under one superior
officer.
o Akbar's policy of sulh kul was also partly motivated by a desire to
employ persons of diverse religious beliefs - Sunnis (Turanis and
Shaikhzadas), Shia's (including many Iranis) and Hindus (Rajputs) -
and to prevent sectarian dierences among them from interfering with
the loyalty to the throne.
• The Foreign Elements -Turanis (or Khurasanis)and Iranis(or Iraqis):
o In the beginning Turani was dominant class. But later as result of
political exigencies situation changed.
o According to the Ai'n-i Akbari: about 70 per cent of Akbar's nobles
were foreigners by origin. This high proportion of foreigners
continued under Akbar's successors and among them Iranis enjoyed
the most dominant position.
o In the early years of Jahangir's reign, Mirza Aziz Koka had alleged that
the Emperor was giving undue favour Iranis and Shaikhzadas while
the Turanis and Rajputs were neglected.
o Though Shah Jahan tried hard to emphasize the Central Asian
affiliations of the Mughal dynasty, it had no adverse effect on the
position of Iranis under him.
o Bernier: The greater part of Aurangzeb's nobility consisted of
Persians.
o Tarvernier: occupied the highest posts in the Mughal Empire.
o Decline: Athar Ali finds a declining trend in the number of nobles
directly coming from foreign countries ever since the time of
Akbar. This decline of foreigners,according to him, further sharpened
during the long reign of Aurangzeb. Reasons:
▪ The fall of the Uzbek and Safavi kingdoms.
▪ The concentration of Aurangzeb's anention in the Deccan
affairs for a long period.
▪ His not following a forward or militaristic policy in the North-
West.
o The Iranis, however, could maintain their dominant position in the
nobility because of the continuous influx of Iranis from the Deccan
Sultanates. e.g:
▪ Muqarrab Khan, Qizilbash Khan and Mir Jumla (under Shah

Jahan);
▪ Ali Mardan Khan Haiderabadi, Abdur Razzaq Lari and Mahabat
Khan Haiderabadi (under Aurangzeb).
o The Sunni orthodoxy of the Emperor also did not affect the positon of
Iranis.
• The Afghans:
o The Afghans had been distrusted by the Mughals, especially suspected
after the Mughal restoration under Humayun.
o Most of them were kept at a distance by Akbar.
o They, however, improved their position under Jahangir who assigned
a high position to Khan Jahan lodi.
o During Shah Jahan's reign,the Afghans again lost the imperial trust
and suffered a setback after Khan Jahan Lodi's rebellion.
o During the latr years Aurangzeb's reign, however, the number of the
Afghan nobles considerably increased. This was mainly because of the
influx from the Bijapur kingdom.
• Indian Muslims (aka Shaikhzadas):
o Compised mainly the Saiyids of Barha and the Kambus and certain
other important clans.
o The Saiyids of Barha and the Kambus who had enjoyed a leading
position since Akbar's time, were no longer equally prominent during
Aurangzeb's reign.
o The Saiyids of Barha, who, on account of their martial qualities, once
enjoyed the honour of constituting the vanguard of the Mughal
armies, were distrusted by Aurangzeb. It was perhaps because thcy
had been loyal supporters of Dara Shukoh in the war of succession.
o Some of the Kashmiris also got prominence during the later years of
Awangzeb's reign: Inayatullah Kashmiri was one of the favourite
nobles of the Emperor.
• Rajputs and Other Hindus:
o were inducted in the Mughal ruling class during the reign of Akbar
who adopted a friendly and liberal attitude towards them. It is clear
from the contemporary sources that the Hindu nobles in general ad
rajputs in particular achieved a position of respect and honour in the
reign of Akbar which they continued to enjoy down to Aurangzeb's
reign.
o Shah jahan was a devout Muslim, who adopted several measures to
display his orthodoxy. Yet there was a great increase in the number of
Rajput mansabadara during his reign.
o Aurangzeb was also a devout Muslim and he is generally blamed for
adopting anti-Hindu policies. But the fact remains that during the
early years of his reign, the position of the Rajput nobles actually
improved over what it had been in Shah Jahan's time.
▪There had been no Rajput officer throughout the reign of Shah

Jahan holding the rank of 7000 zat. Now Mirza Raja Jai Singh
and Jaswant Singh were promoted to the rank of 7000
zat/7000 sawar.
▪ Ever since Raja Man Singh's recall from Bengal in 1606, no
Rajput noble had been entrusted with an important province.
• In 1665, Jai Singh was appointed the viceroy of the
Deccan, the highest and most important charge which
normally only princes were entrusted with.
• Jaswant Singh was also twice appointed governor of
Gujatat in 1659-61 and 1670-72.
▪ It may be pointed out that with a slight fall (21.6 %) in the first
phase of Aurangzeb's reign (1658-78), the number of Hindu
mansabdars remained almost the same what it had been
during Akbar (22.5 per cent) and Shah Jahan's (22.4 per cent).
▪ During the last phase of Aurangzeb's reign (1679-1707).
however. the proportion of the Hindu nobles appreciated to
31.6%. Highest than ever before.The increase in the number of
Hindus during this period was because of the influx of the
Marathas who began to outnumber the Rajputs in the nobility.
• Marathas and Other Deccanis:
o The recruitment-of Marathas began during the reign of Shah Jahan at
the time of his Ahmednagar-campaign. Aurangzeb followed this trend.
o The Mughal attempt to win over the Maratha chieftains by granting
them high mansabs, however. proved a failure. The allegiance of the
Maratha nobles under Aurangzeb was always unstable and,therefore,
they never attained any real position of influence within the Mughal
ruling class.
o As regards the other Deccanis. they were the nobles who belonged to
the Deccan kingdoms of Bijapur or Golkonda before joining Mughal
service.They could be of Indian origin (Afghans, Shaikhzadas or
Indian Muslims); or of foreign origin (Iranis and Turanis).
▪ In the first period (1658-78):
• The Deccanis did not form a very large section of
Aurangzeb's nobility.They were regarded a subordinate
class of nobles: one fourth of their total pay claim was
deducted according to the regulations for pay in the
Deccan.
▪ In the second period(1679-1707):
• The influx of the Deccanis (Bijapuris, Haiderbadis and
Marathas) in the later years of Aurangzeb's reign was so
great that it caused much resentment among the older
section of the nobility - the khanazadas.
ORGANISATION OF THE RULING CLASS
• The Mughal ruling class was organised within the framework of the
mansab system,one of the two important institutions (the other being the
Jagir system) which sustained the Mughal Empire for about 200 years.
• The mansab system was based on the principle of direct command, i.e., all
mansabdars, whatever be their rank. were directly subordinate to the
Mughal Emperor.
• Mansab System: Technically, mansab means office, position or rank. Under
the Mughals the functions of mansab were threefold:
o It determined the status of its holder (the mansabdar) in the official
hierarchy;
o It fixed the pay of the mansabdar accordingly.
o It also laid upon him the obligation of maintaining a definite number
of contingent with horses and equipment. Each officer was assigned a
dual rank (a pair of numbers) designated zat and sawar.
▪ Zat was a personal rank which determined the status of the
mansabdar in the official hierarchy and also indicated his
personal pay.
▪ Sawar rank was a military rank which determined the number
of contingents the mansabdar was required to maintain and
also fixed the payment for the maintenance of the required
contingent.
o The Mughal mansabdar received his pay as determined by their zat
and sawar ranks either in cash (naqd) or in the form of territorial
assignments (Jagirs).
o For recruitment as mansabdar nationality was no bar. Sources:
▪ The Khanazads (or sons and descendants of mansabdars
already in service) had the first claim to the appointment.
▪ The second source of recruitment were the immigrants from
Iran and Central Asia.
▪ The third channel of recruitment was recommendation
(tajwiz).
▪ Another category from which recruitment was made were the
leading commanders of the enemy camp who were often
tempted to desert their masters.
o The Central ministers, princes of royal blood, provincial governass
and important military commanders used to recommend persons for
appointment and promotions.
DISTRIBUTION OF REVENUE RESOURCES AMONG THE RULING CLASS

• Shireen Moosvi have shown that 82% of the total revenue resources of the
Empire was appropriated by 1,671 malasabdars.
o top 12 mansabdars controlled 18.52% of the total income of the
Empire.
o 1,149 mansabdars controlled only 30% of the revenue. Thus. there

was an immense concentration of revenue resources in the hands of a
few persons.
• A. Jan Qaisar has calculated that 445 mansabdars under Shah Jahan claimed
61.5% of the revenue. And the top 25 mansabdars contolled 24.5% of the
revenue.
• Nobles did not spend the whole amount on their troopers which they claimed
against their sawar ranks. This led to further concentration of wealth in the
hands of the nobles.
LIFE STYLE OF THE RULING CLASS
• With huge amounts of money at their disposal the ruling class led a life of
great pomp and show. They maintained large establishment of wives,
servants, camels and horses. Harem was the main part of household.
• They also spent on the construction of stately houses and works of public
utility.
o From Shaikh Farid'Bhakkari's biographical work Zakhirat-ul
Khawanin (1642),it appears that Mughal officers and nobles were
fond of contructing attractive and imposing houses for their
residence.
o Murtaza Khan Shaikh Farid Bukhari was a great builder of Akbar's
time. in Ahmedabad he built a sarai, mosque and other buildings.
▪ He built mosques, sarais, khanqahs and the tanks at Lahore,
Agra etc.
o During Jahangir's reign, Abdur aim Khan Khanan, Azam Khan, Khwaja
Jahan Kabuli, etc. were great builders.
o Large number of sarais, hammams (public baths), wells, slep-wells
(bablis), water tanks, markets, roads, and gardens built by the nobles
throughout the Empire.
o The wives and staff of nobles also took equal interest in constructing
works of public utility.
o We get several references about religious and educational buildings
such as mosques, madrasas, khanqahs, tombs and temples (devrah)
built by Mughal nobles. Some of the Hindu nobles and officers also
built mosques.
o Construction of tombs during one's own life time and for the deceased
persons of one's family was a popular trend in the Mughal period.
o Beautiful gardens were laid out around these imposing structures.
o In constructing these tombs, the nobles sometimes vied with each
other. Tombs were also built for sufis by their disciples.
o Mughal nobles and officers constructed public welfare buildings
outside India.
▪ A number of Irani nobles at the Mughal court are reported to
have funded the construction of mosques, sarais, etc. in Iran.
o Many nobles and officers also founded cities, towns and villages in
their native places or in the territories under their jurisdiction.
Sometimes the old existing towns were renovated and beautified with
gardens, trees, roads and structures of public utility.
o Whenever a new city or town was built is was provided with all the
necessities of civil life and amenities of an urban settlement with the
purpose of encouraging the people to settle down there. Laying out of
gardens was a part of the nobles' cultural activities.
o linkage between social values and building activity of the Mughal
elite: A. Jan Qaisar says that these values were a continuation of the
long established Indian traditions.
▪ It seems that prestige factor was important. It nourished
competitive spirit for cultural exercises with a view of scoring
over their compatriot. The desire was to perpetuate one's
name for indefinite period. The aspiration unfolded itself in
both the forms of their activities, private and public.
▪ Religious sanction, too, spurred the elite to Construct
charitable works, particularly mosques.
▪ Role model/expectation also motivated the elite to perform
charitable acts.
▪ Masses looked to affluent sections to provide public utilities
which were culturally identifiable, for example, hospitals,
mosques, sarais, etc.
▪ Masses expected that materially prosperous persons should
alienate a part of their wealth in their favour. This role was
played pretty well by the Mughal nobles. It also resulted in the
distribution of material resoure — whatever magnitude —of
the society among masses.
• The nobles maintained their own karkhanas to manufacture luxury items
for their own consumption. Carpets, gold embroidered silks and high quality
jwellery were the main items produced. Besides, they imported large number
of luxury articles from different countries. The British and Dutch records give
innumerable references to the demands made by the ruling class for which
they,used to pay handsomely.
• Besides. hunting and other leisure and sports -activities, marriages in the
family, festivals, etc. were other occasions where this wealth was squandered
freely.
MUGHAL ADMINISTRATION: CENTRAL, PROVINCIAL

AND LOCAL
• Objective: exercise control over the different parts of the Empire so that
recalcitrant elements challenging the Mughal sovereignty could be
checked. It was difficult because each part of the Mughal Empire was
inhabited by diverse set of people over whom their respective rulers or
dominant chieftains exerted considerable influence.
• Ingenuity of the Mughal polity: It not only incorporated these refractory
rulers and chieftains into its administrative setup but also enrolled them into
military service.
• The logical corollary of sustaining the huge administration was
to appropriate maximum rural surplus in the form of land revenue for which
the Mughal polity was geared to.
ADMINISTRATION UNDER SHER SHAH
• Under Sher Shah Suri the experiment in the formation of a bureaucracy
under a centralised despotism had taken place. Akbar gave it a definite
shape. Thus. we can say that Sher Shah anticipated Akbar.
• Sher Shah was an autocrat and kept everything under his direct control and
supervision.
• Village (head = muqaddam)< pargana <shiqq (= Mughal sarkar).
• However, in few areas, such as Punjab. Bengal. Malwa. etc. several shiqqs
were placed under an officer whom we can equate with the Mughal
subadar.
• Muqaddam (village headman):
o Link between the government and the village.
o Not the government servant
o He was responsible for maintaining law and order in his village.
• Next comes the patwari, a village record-keeper. He was also not an
employee of the state but of the village community.
• Shiqqdar:
o Incharge of the pargana.
o Chief function: to collect the revenue at pargana level.
o He was frequently transferred under Sher Shah.
o He was assisted by two karkuns (clerks) who kept the records both
in Hindi and Persian.
o The munsif was responsible for measuring the land. etc. Both
(shiqqdar and munsif) were directly appointed by the govenurrent.
o The qanungo maintained the records at pargana level. He was a
hereditary semi-official.
o The fotadar was entrusted with the treasury of the pargana.
• shiqqdar-i shiqqdaran:
o Head of sarkar (shiqq).
o was the supervisor and executive officer over the shiqqdars of all the
parganas in a sarkar (shiqq).
o The munsif-i munsifan performed the duties of amin (created later
by the Mughals) at sarkar (shiqq) level.
o There were 66 sarkars (shiqqs) in Sher Shah's Empire.
• Administration of justice:
o Sher Shah attached great importance to it.
o Civil cases of the Muslims were taken care of by the qazi,
o criminal cases were tried by the shiqqdar.
o The largest responsibility for detecting crimes rested upon
muqaddams. If the muqaddam of the village, where the crime was
committed, failed to capture the culprit, he was liable to severe
punishment.
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION: ITS EVOLUTION
• The Mughal Empire had pan-Indian character.
• Babur and Humayun for reasons of their brief reign and that of being busy in
military matters could not concentrate on establishing a definite system or
pattern in administration.
• By the end of Akbar's reign. there established elaborate offices with assigned
functions to the heads of offices. The rules and regulations guiding both their
public and private conduct had all been fixed so that the officers were
converted into'what can be termed the Appaiatus of the Empire.
The Emperor:
• The ancient Indian traditions had always supported a strong ruler. The
Muslim jurists and writers also held the same view. Thus, the concept of
divine origin of monarchy could easily find credence among the Indian
peopie.
• Jharokha darshan:
o It was publicised with great deal of pomp and show in which
the Emperor appeared at an appointed hour before the general public.
o The myth was that a mere look of his majesty would redress their
grievances.
• With such popular perception of the ruler, it is obvious that all officers in
Mughal administration owed their position and power to the Emperor. Their
appointment promotion, demotion, and'termination were subject to the
ruler's personal preference and whims.
Wakil and Wazir:
• The institution of wizarat (or wikalat since both were used interchangeably)
generally traced back to the Abbasi Caliphs.
• Under the Delhi Sultans,the wazir enjoyed both civil and military powers. But
under Balban his power were reduced when the Sultan bifrcated the military
powers under diwan'arz. As for Sher Shah, this office remained almost in
abeyance under the Afghans.
• Under early mughals, position of the wazir revived.
o Babur's wazir Nizamuddin Muhammad Khalifa enjoyed both the civil

and military powers.
o Humayun's wazir Hindu Beg also virtually enjoyed great powers.
o The period of Bairam Khan's regency (1556-60) saw the rise of the
wakil-wazir with unlimited powers under Bairam Khan.
• Akbar:
o Took away the financial powers of the wakil and entrusted it into the
hands of the diwan kul (Finance Minister).
o Separation of finance gave a jolt to the wakil's power. However, this
office continued to enjoy the highest place in the Mughal bureaucratic
hierarchy despite reduction in his powers.
Diwani Kul:
• Akbar strengthened the office of the diwan by entrusting the revenue powers
to the diwan.
• The chief diwan (diwani kul) was made responsible for revenue and finances.
His primary duty was to supervise the imperial treasury and check all
accounts.
• He personally inspected all transactions and payments in all departments. He
maintained direct contact with the provincial diwans and their functioning
was put under his vigil.
• His seal and signatures were necessary for the validation of all official papers
involving revenue. The entire revenue collection and expenditure machinery
of the Empire was under his charge. No fresh order of appointment or
promotion could be affected without his seal.
• To check the diwan's power, the Mughal Emperor asked the diwan to submit
the report on state finances daily.
• The central revenue ministry was divided into many departments to look
after the specific needs of the Empire. For example: diwani khalisa, diwani
tan (for cash salary), diwani jagir, diwani buyutat (royal household), etc.
o Each branch was further subdivided into several sections 'manned by
a secretary, superintendents and clerks. The mustaufi was the auditor,
and the mushrif was the chief accountant.
• The khazanadar looked after the Imperial treasury.
Mir Bakhshi:
• The mir'arz of Delhi Sultante changed its nomenclature to mir bakhshi under
the Mughals.
• Duty:
o All orders of appointments of mansabdars and their salary papers
were endorsed and passed by him.
o He personally supervised the branding of the horses (dagh) and
checked the muster-roll (chehra) of the soldiers. On the basis of his
verification, the amount of the salary was certified. Only then the
diwan made entry in his records and placed it before the king.
o Mir bakhshi placed all matters pertaining to the military department

before the Emperor.
o The new entrants, seeking service, were presented before 'the
Emperor by the mir bakhshi.
o He dealt directly with provincial bakhshis and waqainavis. He
accompanied the Emperor on tours, pleasure trips, hunting
expeditions, battlefield, etc.
o His duty was to check whether proper places were allotted to the
mansabdars according to their rank at the court.
o His darbar duties considerably added to his prestige and influence.
• The mir bakhshi was assisted by other bakhshis at central level. The first
three were known as 1st, 2nd and 3rd bakhshi. Besides, there were separate
bakhshis for the ahadis (special imperial troopers) and domestic servants of
the royal household (bakhshi-i shagird pesha).
Mir Saman:
• The mir saman was the officer incharge of the royal karkhanas. He was also
known as khan saman.
• Duty:
o He was the chief executive officer responsible for the purchase of all
kinds of articles and their storage for the royal household.
o to supervise the manufacture of different articles, be it weapons of
war or articles of luxury.
o He was directly under the Emperor but for sanction of money and
auditing of accounts he was to contact the diwan.
• Under the mir saman there were several officers, including the diwani
buyutat and tahvildar (cash keeper).
Sadr-us Sudur:
• The head of the ecclesiastical department.
• Duty:
o To protect the laws of the shari' at.
o He was also connected with the distribution of charities - both cash
(wazifa) and land grants (suyurghal, in'am, madad-i ma'ash).
o Initially as the head of the judicial department, he supervised the
appointment of qazis and muftis.
o Before Shah Jahan's reign, the posts of the chief qazi and sadr-us
sudur were combined and the same person held the charge of both
the departments. However, under Aurangzeb, the post of the chief
qazi (qazi-ul quzzat) and the sadr-us sudur got separated. It led to
sharp curtailment of sadr's power. Now in the capacity of sadr, he
supervised assignment of allowances and looked after the charitable
grants.
o He also looked into whether the grants were given to the right
persons and utilized properly.
o He scrutinized applications for all such grants, both fresh and
renewals, and presented before the Emperor for sanction.
o Alms were also distributed through him.

Qazi-ul quzzat:
• The chief qazi was known as qazi-ul quzzat. He was the head of the judiciary.
(prior to Aurangzeb's reign his powers were combined in sadr-us sudur.).
• Duty:
o To administer the shariat law both in civil and criminal cases.
o In the capacity of the chief qazi, he looked into the appointment of the
qazis in the suba, sarkar, pargana and town levels. There was a
separate qazi for army also.
• Besides the qazi-ul quzzat, another important judicial officer was mir 'adl.
o Abul Fazl emphasized the need to have a mir 'adl in addition to qazi,
for the qazi was to hear the case and decide while rnir 'adl was to
execute the orders of the court.
• The muhtasibs (censor of public'morals) was ensure the general observance
of the rules of morality.
o His job was to keep in check the forbidden practices- wine
drinking,use of bhang and other intoxicants, gambling, etc.
o In addition, he also performed some secular duties - examining
weights and measures, enforcing fair prices, etc.
PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION
• Akbar : In 1580, Akbar divided the Empire into twelve subas (later on, three
more were added).
o Suba > Sarkar > Parganas > Mahal.
• Shah Jahan: Another administrative unit chakla came into existence. It was
a cluster of a number of pargana. ie: Pargana < Chakla < Mahal.
Provincial Governor:
• The governor of a suba (subadar) was directly appointed by the Emperor.
• Usually the tenure of a subadar was around three years.
• The duties of the subadar:
o The most important one was to look after the welfare of the people
and the army.
o He was responsible for the general law and order problem in the suba.
o A successful subadar was one who would encourage agriculture,
trade and commerce.
o He was supposed to take up welfare activities like construction of
sarais, gardens, wells, water reservoirs, etc.
o He was to take steps to enhance the revenue of the state.
Diwan:
• The provincial diwan was appointed by the Emperor.
• He was an independent officer answerable to the Centre. He was the head of
the revenue department in the suba.
• Duty:
o Supervised the revenue collection in the suba and maintained

accounts of all expenditure incurred in the form of salaries of the
officials and subordinates in the suba.
o He was also to take steps to increase the area under cultivation. In
many cases advance loans (taqavi) were given to the peasants
through his office.
o A roznamcha ( dailly register) was maintained by the diwan which
carried entries of amount that was deposited in the royal treasury by
the revenue officials and zamindars. A large number of clerks worked
under him.
• Thus , by making the diwan independent of the subadar and by putting
financial matters under the former, the Mughals were successful in checking
the subadar from becoming independent.
Bakhshi:
• The bakhshi was appointed by the imperial court at the recommendation of
the mir bakhshi.
• Duty:
o He performed exactly the same military functions as were performed
by his counterpart at the Centre.
o He was responsible for checking and inspecting the horses and
soldiers maintained by the mansabdars in the suba.
o He issued the paybills of both the mansabdars and the soldiers.
o It was his duty to prepare a list of deceased mausabdars, but often
news reporters (waqai navis) of the parganas directly sent infomation
to the provincial diwan.
o Often his office was combined with waqa'inigar: In this capacity his
duty was to inform the Center the happenings in his provinces.
• To facilitate his work, he posted his agents in the parganas and various
important offices.
Darogha-i Dak and the Secret Services:

• Developing a communication network was very essential to govern a vast
Empire. A separate department was assigned this important task.
• The imperial postal system was established for sending instructions to the
far-flung areas of the Empire. The same channel was used for receiving
information.
o At every suba headquarters, darogha-i dak was appointed for this
purpose.
o His duty was to pass on letters through the postal runners (mewras)
to the court. For this purpose, a number of dak chowkis were
maintained throughout the Empire where runners were stationed
who carried he post to the next chowki. Horses and boats were also
used to help in speedy delivery.
• waq'ai navis and waqai nigars : were appointed to supply the reports
directly to the Emperor.
• sawanih nigar: to provide confidential reports to the Emperor.

o Many reports of these secret service agents are available to us. They
are very important sources of tlie history of the period.
Thus, the Mughals kept a watch over their officials in the provinces through offices
and institutions independent of each other. Besides, the Mughal Emperors' frequent
visits to every suba and the system of frequent transfers of the officials after a
period of three years on average, helped the Mughals in checking the officials. But
the possibility of rebellion always existed and, therefore, constant vigil through an
organised system of intelligence network was established.
LOCAL ADMINISTRATION
Local administration can be discussed at Sarkars,pargana and mauza (village)
levels.
Sarkars: At the sarkar level, there were two important functionaries, the faujdar
and the amalguzar.
• Faujdar:
o The executive head of the sarkar.But his area of influence seems more
complex.
o He was not only appointed at the sarkar level, but sometimes within a
sarkar a number of faujdars existed. At times their jurisdiction spread
over two full sarkars. Some times different faujdar appointed to
chaklas as well. His jurisdiction was decided according to the needs
of the region.
o Duty:
▪ to take care of rebellions, and law and order problems.
▪ To safeguard the life and property of the residents of the
area under his jurisdiction.
▪ He was to ensure safe passage to traders within his
jurisdiction.
▪ To keep vigil over the recalcitrant zamindars.
▪ In special circumstances, he was to help the amalguzar in
matters of revenue collection.
• Amalguzar (aka amil):
o The most important revenue collector was the amil or amalguzar.
o Duty:
▪ To assess and supervise the revenue collection through other
subordinate officials.
▪ A good amil was supposed to increase the land tinder
cultivation and induce the peasants to pay revenue willingly
without coercion.
▪ All accounts were to be maintained by him.
▪ Daily receipts and expenditure reports were sent by him to the
provincial diwan.
• Thanedar:
o The thana (Head = Thanedar) was a place where army was stationed
for the preservation of law and order. Generally
established specifically in disturbed areas and around the cities.
o They were to arrange provisions for the army as well.
o Thanedar was appointed at the recommendation of the subadar and
diwan. He was
o Generally placed under the faujdar of the area (i.e Thanedar
< Faujdar).
Pargana Administration:
• Pargana < Sarkar.
• The shiqqdar was the executive officer of the pargana and assisted the amils
in revenue collection.
• The amil looked after the revenue collection at the pargana level also. His
duties were similar to those of the amalguzar at the sarkar level.
• The qanungos kept all the records pertaining to the land in his area. He'was
to take note of different crops in the pargana.
Village Administration:
• The lowest administrative unit.
• The muqaddam was the village- headman.
• The patwari took care of the village revenue records.
• Under the Mughals, the pattern of village administration remained almost on
the same lines as it was under Sher Shah.
TOWN, FORT AND PORT ADMINISTRATION

To administer the cities and ports, the Mughals maintained separate administrative
machinery.
Kotwal
• For urban centres, the imperial court appointed kotwals.
• Duty:
o To safeguard the life and property of townsmen.
o To maintain a register for keeping records of people coming and going
out of the town. Every outsider had to take a permit from him before
entering or leaving the town.
o To ensure that no illicit liquor was manufactured in his area.
o He also acted as superintendent of weights and measures used by the
merchants and shopkeepers.
Qil'adar:
• The Mughal Empire had a large number of qilas (forts) situated in various
parts of the country. Many of these were located at strategically important
places. Each fortress was lie a mini township with a large garrison.
• Each fort was under an officer called qil'adar.
o generally mansabdars with high ranks were appointed.
o He was incharge of the general administration of fort and the areas
assigned in jagir to the qiladar.
o Sometimes, the qiladars were asked to perform the duties of the

faujdar in that region.
Port Administration:
• The Mughals were aware of the economic importance of the sea-ports as
these were the centres of brisk commercial activities.
• The port adminiseation was independent of the provincial authority.
• The governor of the ports was called mutasaddi, who was directly appointed
by the Emperor.
• Sometimes the office of the mutasaddi was auctioned and given to the
highest bidder. The mutasaddi collected taxes on merchandise and
maintained a custom-house.
• He also supervised the minthouse at the port.
• The shahbandar was his subordinate who was mainly concerned with the
custom-house.
NATURE OF MUGHAL ADMINISTRATION

• Some historians (Irfan Habib, Athar Ali etc.) hold that Mughal
administrative structure was highly centralised.
o This centralization is manifested in the efficient working of land
revenue system, mansab and jagir, uniform coinage, etc.
• Stephen P. Blake and J.F. Richards:
o accept the centralising tendencies but point out that the Mughal
Empire was 'patrimonial bureaucratics. For them, everything
centred around the imperial household and the vast bureaucracy.
• For Streusand and Chetan Singh:
o Despite being centralised, the Mughal structure was less centralised at
its periphery.
o In Chetan's opinion, even in the 17th century the Mughal Empire was
not very centralised. Centralized structure controlled through the
efficient working of jagirdari seems to hold little ground. According to
him, jagir transfers were not as frequent as they appear, and the local
elements at the periphery were quite successful in influencing the
policies at the centre.
• Thus, the extent to which the Mughal Empire was centralised in practice can
be a matter of debate. However, theoretically the Mughal administrative
structure seems to be highly 'centralised and bureaucratic' in nature.
• The Emperor was the fountainhead of all powers, and bureaucracy was mere
banda-i dargah (slaves of the court).
• In spite of the vast range of powers enjoyed by the central ministers, they
were not allowed to usurp and interfere in each others' jurisdiction nor to
assume autocratic powers. The Mughals through a system of checks and
balances prevented any minister or officer from gaining unlimited powers.
MUGHAL ADMINISTRATION: MANSAB AND JAGIR

• The mansab and jagir systems under the Mughals in India did not develop
suddenly; they evolved steadily through the time. These institutions were
borrowed in some form from Western Asia and modified to suit the needs of
the time in India.
• The mansabdars:
o an integral part of the Mughal bureaucracy and formed 'an elite
within elite'.
o They were appointed in all government departments except the
judiciary.
o They held the important offices of wazir, bakshi, faujdar and the
subadar, etc.
MANSAB SYSTEM
• It indicate a rank in the mansab system under the Mughals.
• During Babur's time, the term wajhdar was used which differed in some
ways from the mansab system that evolved under the Mughals after Babur.
• Akbar gave mansabs to both military and civil officers on the basis of their
merit or service to the state. The lowest unit was of ten horsemen, then came
one hundred, one thousand and so on.
o Abul Fazl states that Akbar had established 66 grades of mansabdars
ranging from commanders of 10 horsemen to 10,000 horsemen,
although only 33 grades have been mentioned by him.
• Mansab denoted three things:
o It determined the status of its holder (the mansabdar) in the official
hierarchy.
o It fixed the pay of the holder.
o It also laid upon the holder the obligation of maintaining a specified
number of contingent with horses and equipment.
The Dual Ranks: Zat and Sawar:
• Initially a single number represented the rank, personal pay and the size of
contingent of mansabdar
• After some time, the rank of mansabdar instead of one number, came to be
denoted by two numbers - zat and sawar. This innovation most probably
occurred in 1595-96.
o The first number (zat) determined the mansabdar's personal pay
(talab-khassa) and his rank in the organisation.
o The second number (sawar) fixed the number of horses and
horsemen to be maintained by the mansabdar and, accordingly, the
amount he would receive for his contingent (tabinan).
• Controversy about the dual rank:
o William Irvine thought that the double rank meant that the
mansabdars had to maintain from his personal pay two contingents of
troops.
o Abdul Aziz close to modern point of view, held that the zat pay was
purely personal with no involvement of troops. He rejected the theory
of Irvine by stating that it meant the maintenance of one contingent
and not two.
o Athar Ali clarified the position. He says that the first number (zat)
placed the mansabdar in the appropriate position among the officials
of the state and, accordingly, the salary of the mansabdar was
determined. The second rank (sawar) determined the number of
horses and horsemen the mansabdar had to furnish.
The Three Classes of Mansabdars:
• In 1595-96, the mansabdars were classified into three groups:
o Those with horsemen (sawar) equal to the number of the zat;
o Those with horsemen half or more than half of the number of the zat
and
o Those whose sawar rank was less than half of their zat rank.
• The sawar rank was either equal or less than the zat. Even if the former was
higher, the mansabdar's position in the official hierarchy would not be
affected.
o e.g: A mansabdar with 4000 zat and 2000 sawar (400012000 in short)
was higher in rank than a mansabdar of 3000/3000.
o But there are exceptions to this rule particularly when the mansabdar
was serving in a difficult terrain amidst the rebels. In such cases, the
state often increased the sawar rank without altering the zat rank.
Obviously the system was not a static one: it changed to meet the
circumstances. Thus reforms were undertaken without modifying the
basic structure.
o One such reform was the use of conditional rank (mashrut), which
meant an increase of sawar rank for a temporary period. This was an
emergency measure adopted in the time of crisis, that is, the
permission to recruit more horsemen at the expense of the state.
o Another such reform took place was the introduction of do aspa sih
aspa under Jahangir. Mahabat Khan was the first to get it in the 10th
year of Jahangir's reign. According to this, a part or full sawar rank of
mansabdar was made do aspa sih aspa. e.g:
▪ if a mansabdar held a mansab of 4000 zat/4000 sawar, he may
be granted huma do aspa sih aspa (all two-three horses), In
this case the original sawar rank would be ignored, and the
mansabdar will maintain double the number of do aspa sih
aspa (here 4000 + 4000 = 8000).
▪ Again, if the rank was 4000 zat/4000 sawar of which 2000 was
do aspa sih aspa. The total number of horsemen would be
6000.
o The reasons for adopting do aspa sih aspa system: Jahangir,
after becoming emperor, wanted to promote nobles of his confidence
and strengthen them militarily, but there were some practical
problems. As the sawar rank could not be higher than zat rank. In
such a situation, any increase in sawar rank would have meant an
increase in zat rank also.
▪ The increase in the zat would have led to additional payment
as personal pay thereby increasing the burden on treasury.
▪ Moreover, there would have been an upward mobility of the
noble in the official hierarchy which was likely to give rise to
jealousy among the nobles.
▪ In fact do aspa sih aspa was a way out to grant additional
sawar rank without disturbing the zat rank or mansab
hierarchy. It also meant a saving for the state by not increasing
the zat rank.
Appointment and Promotion of Mansabdars:
• The mir bakshi generally presented the candidates to the Emperor who
recruited them directly. But the recommendation of the leading nobles and
governors of the provinces were also usually accepted.
• An elaborate procedure involving the diwan, bakshi and others followed
after which it went to the Emperor for confirmation. The farman was then
issued under the seal of the wazir. In case of promotion the same procedures
were followed.
• Granting of mansab was a prerogative of the Emperor. He could appoint
anybody as mansabdar. There was no examination or written test as it
existed in China. Generally, certain norms seems to have been followed.
• The most favoured category were the sons and close kinsmen of persons who
were already in service. This group was called khanazad.
• Another group which was given preference was of those who held high
positions in other kingdoms. The main areas from which such people came
were the Uzbek and Safavi Empires and the Deccan kingdoms. These
included Irani. Turani, Iraqi and Khurasani.
o The atttaction for Mughal mansab was such that Adil Shah of Bijapur
in 1636 requested the Mughal Emperor not to appoint mansabdars
from among his nobles.
• The rulers of autonomous principalities formed yet another group which
received preferential treatment in recruitment and promotions. The main
beneficiaries from this category were the Rajput kings.
• Promotions were generally given on the basis of performance and
lineage. However, in actual practice racial considerations played important
role in promotions. Unflinching loyalty was yet another consideration.
Maintenance of Troops and Payment
• Dag o chehra: Mansabdars were asked to present their contingents for
regular inspection and physical verification. The job of inspection was
performed by the mir bakshi's department. It was done by a special
procedure. It was called dagh o chehra. All the horses presented for
inspection by a particular noble were branded with a specific pattern to
distinguish these from those of other nobles through a seal (dagh). The
physical description of troops (chehra) was also recorded. This way the
possibility of pesenting the same horse or troop for inspection was greatly
reduced.
o This was rigorously followed. We come across a number of cases
where a reduction in rank was made for nonfulfilment of obligation of
maintaining specified contingents.
• Abdul Hamid Lahori in his book Badshahnama mentions that under Shah
Jahan it was laid down that
o If a mansabdar was posted in the same province where he held jagir,
he had to muster one-third of the contingents of his sawar rank.
o If he was posted outside. he had to muster one fourth
o If posted in Balkh and Samarqand, he had to maintain one-fifth.
• The scale of salary was fixed for the zat rank. the salary did not go up or go
down proportionately with other zat rank.
• under Akbar, zat rank above 5000 was given only to the princes. In the last
years of Akbar, the only noble who got the rank of 7000 zat was Raja Man
Singh.
• The salary for the sawar rank was the sum total of the remuneration given to
each trooper which was fixed and uniformally applicable, whatever the
number of the sawar rank might be.
o In the time of Akbar, the rate of payment was determined by a
number of factors such as the number of horses per trooper
(presented for dagh), the breeds of the horses etc. The rates fluctuated
between Rs. 25 to 15 per month.
• Month Scale:
o The mansabdars were generally paid through revenue assignments
(jagirs).
o The biggest problem here was that the calculation was made on the
basis of the expected income (jama) from the jagir during one year. It
was noticed that the actual revenue callection (hasil) always fell short
of the estimated income.
o In such a situation, the mansabdar's salaries were fixed by a method
called month-scales. For example, if a jagir yielded only half of the
jama, it was called shashmaha (six-monthly). If it yielded only one-
fourth, it was considued sihmaha (3 monthly). The month-scale was
applied to cash salaries also.
o There were deductions from the sanctioned pay.
▪ The largest deductions were from the Deccanis, who had to pay
a fourth part (Chauthai).
▪ There were other deductions known as khurak dawwah
(fodder for beasts) belonging to the Emperor.
▪ Those who received cash (naqd), two dams in a rupee were
deducted (dodami).
▪ Often there were fines (jarimana) imposed for various reasons.
o With the reduction of salaries, there was thus a definite decline in the
income of the nobles.
• It is estimated that 80% of the total revenue resources of the Empire was
appropriated by 1,571 mansabdars. This shows how powerful the
mansabdars were.
The System of Escheat (zabt):
• Many contemporary accounts, especially those of the European travellers,
refer to the practice whereby the Emperor took possession of the wealth of
the nobles after their death. The practice is known as escheat (zabt).
• The reason was that the nobles often took loan from the state which
remained unpaid till their death.
• It was duty of the khan saman to take over the nobles property and adjust
the state demand (mutalaba), after which the rest of the property was given
to the heirs or sometimes distributed by the Emperor among the heirs
himself without any regard for the Islamic inheritance laws. It seems that in
most cases it depended on the will of the Emperor.
• Sometimes the state insisted on escheating the entire wealth. In 1666,
Aurangzeb issued a farman that after the death of a noble without heir, his
property would be deposited in the state treasury.
• Another farman in 1691 instructed the state officers not to attach the
property of the nobles whose heirs were in government service because the
latter could be asked to pay the mutalaba.
COMPOSITION OF MANSABDARS
• Despite the theoretical position that mansabdari was open to all, the
Mughals, in practice, considered heredity as an important factor. It appears
that the khanzads (house-born; descendants of mansabdar) had the first
claim.
o Out of a total number of 575 mansabdars holding the rank of 1000
and above during the reign of Aurangzeb, the khanzads numbered
about 272 (roughly.476).
• Apart from the khanzads, a number of mansabdars were recruited from the
zamindars (chieftains). Out of 575 mansabdars in 1707. there were 81
zamindars.
• The Mughals also welcomed Persian,Chagatai,Uzbeks as well as the Deccanis
in the mansabdari.
• Certain racial groups were well entrenched. They were the Turanis (Central
Asians). Iranis, Afghans. Indian Muslims (shaikhzadas), Rajputs. Marathas
and the Deccanis, the last two were recruited by Aurangzeb on larger scale
due to military reasons.
JAGIR SYSTEM
• This is very much similar to Iqta during sultanate period.
• The Mughal Emperors gave assignments in lieu of cash salaries. The areas
assigned were generally called jagir, and its holders jagirdar.
• it was not land that was asigned, but the income/revenue from the land/area
was given to the jagirdars.
• This system developed over a period of time and underwent many changes
before stabilising. However, the basicframework was developed during
Akbar's reign.
The Early Phase
• Babur, after his conquest, restored to the former Afghan chieftain; or
conferred upon them assignment of approximately more than one-third of
the conquered territories. The holders of such assignments (wajh) were
known as wajhdars (wajh means remuneration).
• A fixed sum was assigned as wajh out of the total revenue of the area. The
rest of the revenue of the territories was deemed to be a part of the khalisa.
• The zamindars continued in their respective areas, but in other conquered
areas Babur ruled through hakims (governors).
• The same pattern continued under Humayun.
Organisation of Jagir System
• During Akbar's period all the territory was broadly divided into two: khalisa
and jagir. The revenue from the first went to Imperial treasury, and that from
jagir was assigned to jagirdars in lieu of their salary in cash (naqd) according
to their rank.
• Some mansabdars got cash salary, and, hence, they were called naqdi. A few
were given both jagir and cash.
• The bulk of the territory was assigned to mansabdars according to their rank.
The estimated revenue was called jama or jamadami as it was calculated in
dam (a small copper coin, 1/40th of the silver rupaya on he average).
o The jama included land revenue, inland transit duties, port customs
and other taxes which were known as sair Jihat.
• Another term used by the revenue officials was hasil, that is, the amount of
revenue actually collected.
• The revenue officials used yet another term, that is, paibaqi. This was
applied to those areas whose revenue were yet to be assigned to
mansabdars.
• Status of Khalisa during Mughals:
o In the 31st year of Akbar'sreign, the jama of the khalisa in the
province of Delhi, Awadh and Allahabad amounted to less than 5% of
the total revenue.
o Under Jahangir, almost 9/10 of the territory was assigned in jagir and
only 1/10 was available for the khalisa.
o The ratio of jagir and khalisa kept fluctuating. Under Shah Jahan, it
rose to one-eleventh and, by the 20th year, it was nearly one-seventh.
o In the 10th year of Aurangzeb, the jama of the khalisa amounted to
almost one-fifth of the total. However, in the later part of Aurangzeb's
reign, there was a great pressure on the khalisa as the number of

claimants for jagir increased with the increase of the number of
mansabdars.
• Another important feature of the jagir system was shifting of jagir-holders
from one jagir to another for administrative reasons. This system of transfers
checked the jagirdars from developing local roots. At the same time, its
disadvantage was that it discouraged the jagirdars from taking long term
measures for the development of their areas. They were merely interested in
extracting as much revenue as possible in a short time.
Various Types of Jagirs
• There were generally four types of revenue assignments:
o jagirs, which were given in lieu of pay, were known as jagir tankha;
o jagirs given to a person on certain conditions were called mashrut
jagirs;
o jagirs which involved no obligation of service and were independent
of rank were called in'am jagirs, and
o jagirs which were assigned to zamindars (chieftains) in their
homelands, were called watan jagirs. Under Jahangir some Muslim
nobles ware given jagirs resembling to watan jagir called al-tamgha.
• Tankha jagirs are transferable every three or four years, watan jagirs
remained hereditary and non-transferable.
• Sometimes watan jagir was converted into khalisa for a certain period as
Aurangzeb did in case of Jodhpur in 1679.
• When a zamindar or a tributary chief was made a mansabdar, he was given
jagir tankha,, apart from his watan jagir, at another place if the salary of his
rank was more than the income from his watan jagir.
o Maharaja Jaswant Singh, holding watan jagir in Marwar, held jagir
tankha in Hissar.
Management of Jagirs
• The jagirdar was allowed to collect only authorised revenue (mal wajib) in
accordance with the Imperial regulations. He employed his own officials
(karkun) like amil (amalguzar), fotadar (treasurer), etc. who acted on his
behalf.
• The Imperial officials kept watch on the jagirdars.
o The diwan of the suba was supposed to prevent the oppression on the
peasants by the jagirdars.
o From the 20th year of Akbar, amin was posted in each province to see
that the jagirdars were following Imperial regulations regarding
collection of revenue.
o The faujdar often helped the jagirdar to collect revenue whenever
difficulties arose. It appears that from the period of Aurangzeb, bigger
jagirdars were having faujdari powers, too.
Mughal Land Revenue System

•Alienation from the peasant of his surplus produce in form of land revenue
was the central feature of agrarian system under Mughals.
• British administrator regards land revenue as rent of the soil because they
had a notion that the king was the owner of the land. The subsequent study
of Mughal India have shown that it was a tax on the crop and was thus
different from the land revenue as conceived by the British.
o Abul Fazl in his Ain-i Akbari justifies the imposition of taxes by the
state saying that these are the remuneration of sovereignty, paid in
return for protection and justice.
• The Persian term for land revenue during the Mughal rule was mal and mal
wajib. Kharaj was not in regular use.
• The process of land revenue collection has two stages: (a) assessment
(tashkhis/jama), and (b) actual collection (hasil). Assessment was made to fix
the state demand. On the basis of this demand, actual collection was done
separately for kbarif and rabi crpps.
METHODS OF LAND REVENUE ASSESSMENT
• Under the Mughals assessment was separately made for kharlf and rabi
crops. After the assessment was over a written document called patta, qaul
or qaulqarar was issued in which the amount or the rate of the revenue
demand was mentioned. The assessee was in return supposed to give
qabuliyat i.e. 'the "acceptande" of the obligation imposed upon him, stating
when and how he would make the payments.
• Few commonly used methods:
o Ghalla Bakhshi (Crop-sharing): In some areas it was called bhaoii
and batai.
▪ The Ain-i Akbnri notes three types of crop-sharing:
• Division of crop at the threshing floor after the grain
was obtained. This was done in the presence of both the
parties in accordance with agreement.
• Khet batai: The share was decided when the crop was
still standing in the fields, and a division of the field was
marked.
• Lang batai: The crop was cut and stacked in heaps
without separating grain and a division of crop in this
form was made.
▪ In Malikzada's Nigamama-i Munshi (late 17th century) crop
sharing has been mentioned as the best method of revenue
assessment and collection. Under this method, the peasants
and the state shtred the risks of the seasons equally.
▪ But as Abul Fazl says it was expensive from the viewpoint of
the state since the latter had to employ a large number of
watchmen, else there were chances of misappropriation before

harvesting.
▪ When Aurangzeb introduced it in the Deccan, the cost of
revenue collection doubled simply from the necessity of
organising a watch on the crops.
o Kankut/Danabandi:
▪ The word kankut is derived from the words kan and kut. Kan
denotes grain while kut means to estimate or appraisal.
Similarly, dana means grain while bandi is fixing or detemining
anything. It was a system where the grain yield (or
productivity) was estimated.
▪ In kankut, at first, the field was measured either by means of a
rope or by pacing. After this, the per bigha productivity from
good, middling and bad land was estimated and the revenue
demand was fixed accordingly.
o Zabtl: In Mughal India, it was the most important method of
assessment. The origin of this practice is traced to Sher Shah. During
Akbar'r reign, the system was revised a number of times before it took
the final shape.
▪ Sher Shah had established a rai or per bigha yield for land
which were under continuous cultivation (polaj), or those land
which very rarely allowed to lie fallow (parauti). The rai was
based on three rates, representing good, middling and low
yields and one third of the sum of these was appropriated as
land revenue.
▪ Akbar adopted Sher Shah's rai. Akbar introduced his so-called
karori experiment and appointed karoris all over North India
in 1574-75. The entire jagir was converted into khalisa. On the
basis of the information provided by the karoris regarding the
actual produce, local prices, productivity, etc. in 1580. Akbar
instituted a new system ain dahsala, where the average
produce of different crops as well as the average prices
prevailing over the last ten years (15-24 R.Y. of Akbar) were
calculated. One-third of the average produce was the state's
minimum share.
▪ Under karori experiment, measurement of all provinces took
place. Bamboo rods with iron rings called tanab were used
instead of hempen ropes. On the basis of productivity and
prices prevailing in different regions they were divided for
revenue purposes into dastur circles. The rates of assessment
in cash for each crop in every dastur was decided, and the
demand was fixed accordingly.
▪ Main features of the zabti system:
• measurement of land was essential;
•
fixed carh revenue rates known as dastur ul amal or
dastur for each crop.
• all the collection was made in cash.
▪ From an administrative point of view, zabti system had some
merits:
• measurement could always be rechecked;
• due to fixed dasturs, local officials could not use their
discretion; and
• with fixing the permanent dastur, the uncertainties and
fluctuation in levying the land revenue demand were
greatly reduced.
▪ There were some limitations of this system aleo:
• It could not be applied if the quality of the soil was not
uniform;
• If the. yield was uncertain, this method was
disadvantageous to peasants because risk were borne
by them alone.
o Abul Fazl says, "If the peasant does not have the
strength to bear zabt, the practice of taking a
third of the crop as revenue is followed."
• This was an expensive method as a cess of one dam per
bigha known as zabitana was given to meet the costs
towards the maintenance of the measuring party;
• Much fraud could be practised in recording the
measurement.
▪ Zabti system was adopted only in the core region of the
Empire. The main provinces covered under zabtl were Delhi,
Allahabad, Awadh, Agra, Lahore and Multan. Even in these
zabti provinces, other methods of ssessment were also
practiced, depending on the circumstances of the area.
o Nasaq was not an independent method of assessment; it was
subordinate to other methods. It was a method or procedure which
could be adopted whatever be the basic method of revenue
assessment and collection that was in force.
▪ In North India it was nasaqi zabtl, while in Kashmir it was
nasaqi ghalla bakhshi. When it was applied under zabtl the
annual measurement was dispensed with and previous
figures were taken into account with certain variations.
▪ Since zabtl system involved annual measurement, the
administration and revenue payers both wanted to replace it.
Zabtl-iharsala or annual measurement was, therefore, set aside
with some modifications.
• Revenue Farming (Ijara):
o Ijara system or revenue fanning was another feature of the revenue

system of this time. Though, as a rule Mughals disapproved of this
practice, in actual fact certain villages were sometimes farmed out.
o Generally, these village, when peasant did not have resources
available for undertaking cultivation or where owing to some calamity
cultivation could not be done, were farmed out on Ijara.
o The revenue officials or their relatives were not supposed to take
land on Ijara.
o It was expected that revenue farmers would not extract more than the
stipulated land revenue from the peasants. But this was hardly the
case in actual practice.
o The practice of Ijara, it seems, could not have been very common in
the zabti provinces, Gujarat and the Mughal Dakhin. In the khalisa
lands also this practice was very rare. However, in the jagir lands it
became a common feature. Revenue assignees (jagirdars) farmed out
their assignments in lieu of a lump sum payment, generally to the
highest bidders.
o Smetimes, Jagirdars sub-assigned part of their Jagirs to his
subordinates/troopers.
o During the 18th century Ijara system became a common form of
revenue assessment and collection.
MAGNITUDE OF LAND REVENUE DEMAND
• Abul Fazl says that no moral limits could be set for the demand of the ruler
from his subjects; "the subject ought to be thankful even if he were made to
part with all his possessions by the protector of his life and honour," He adds
further that "just sovereigns" do not exact more than what is required for
their which, of course, they would themselves determine.
• Aurangzeb explicitly said that the land revenue should be appropriated
according to shariat, i.e., not more than one half of the total produce.
• European traveller Pelsaert, who visited India in the early 17th century,
declared that "so much is wrung from the peasants that even dry bred is
scarcely left to fill their stomachs."
• Irfan Habib comments: "Revenue demand accompanied by other taxes and
regular and irregular exactions of officials was a heavy burden on peasantry".
• Sher Shah formed three crop rates on the basis of the productivity of the soil,
and demand was fixed at 1/3 of the average of there three rates for each
crop. Abul Fazl comments that under Akbar, Sher Shah's I/3 of revenue
demand formed the lowest rate of assessments. Recent studies show that
revenue demand under the Mughals ranged between 1/3 to 1/2 of the
produce, and sometimes even 3/4 in some areas. The revenue demand varied
from suba to suba.
o In Kashmir, the demand in theory was ono-third while in practice it
was two-thirds of the total produce. Akbar ordered that only ono-half
should be demanded.
o In the province of Thatta (Sind), the land revenue was taken at the
rate of one-third.
o For Ajmer suba, we find different rates of revenue demand. In fertile
regions of eastern Rajasthan ranged from one-third to one-half of the
produce.
▪ Irfan Habib on the basis of the Ain-i-Akbari that in the desert
regions. proportion amounted to one-seventh or even one-
eighth of the crop.
o In Central India, rates varied from one-half, one-third to two-fifth.
o In Deccan, one-half was appropriated from the ordinary lands while
one-third was taken from those irrigated by wells and one-fourth was
taken from high grade crops.
o Aurangzeb's farman to Rasik Das Karori stipulates that when the
authorities took recourse to crop-sharing, usually in the case of
distressed peasantry, the proportions levied should be one-half, or
one-third or two-fifths. Rates under Aurangzeb were higher than that
of Akbar. Perhaps it was due to the fact that there was a general rise in
agricultural prices and, thus, there was no real change in the pitch of
demand.
o In the case of Rajasthan it is reported that revenue rates varied
according to the class or caste of the revenue payers.
▪ Satish Chandra and Dilbagh Singh have shown that Brahmins
and Banias paid revenue on concessional rates in a certain
pargana of Eastern Rajasthan.
• It may be safely assumed that in general the rate of revenue demand was
from 1/2 to 1/3 of the produce. Since, the revenue was imposed per unit of
area 'uniformly' irrespective of the nature of the holding, it was regressive
in nature—those who possessed large holdings felt the burden less than
those who possessed small holdings.
Mode of Payment:
• In the Mughal period, the peasant under zabti system had to pay revenue in
cash. No provision is on record for allowing a commutation of cash into kind
in any circumstances. However, under cropsharing and kankut, commutation
into cash was permitted at market prices. Cash nexus was firmly established
in almost every part of the Empire.
COLLECTION OF LAND REVENUE
• Under ghalla bakhshi, the state's share was seized directly from the field. In
other systems, the state collected its share at the time of harvest.
o Abul Fazl maintains that "Collection should begin for rabi from holi
and for Kharif from Dashehra.
• In the kharif season, the harvesting of different crops was done at different
times and the revenue was accordingly to be collected in three stages
depending on the type of crops. Thus, under Kharif the revenue could only be
collected in instalments.
• The rabi harvest was all gathered within a very short period.
• The authorities tried to collect revenue before the harvest was cut and
removed from the fields. By the end of the 17th century, the authorities in
desperation started preventing the peasants from reaping their fields until
they had paid their revenue.
o Irfan Habib comments: "It shows how oppressive it was to demand
the revenue from the peasant before the harvest, when he would have
absolutely nothing left. The practice was at the same time the work of
a well developed money economy, for it would have been
impossible to attempt it unless the officials expected that the peasants
would pay up by pledging their crops before hand to grain merchants
or moneylenders".
• Usually, the revenue was deposited in the treasury through the 'amil' or
revenue collector.
• Akbar encouraged the peasants to pay directly, Todar Mal recommended that
the peasants of trusted villages, within the time limit, could deposit their
revenue in the treasury themselves and could obtain receipt. The village
accountant, patwori, made endorsement in his register to establish the
amount paid.
• Irfan Habib considers these regulations as precautionary measures on the
part of administration to avoid fraud and embezzlement.
RELIEF MEASURES
• Abbas Khan in the Tarlkh-i Sher Shahi writes, "Sher Shah declared that
concessions could be permitted at assessment time, but never at that of
collection".
• Aurangzeb in his farman to Muhammad Hashim karori, instructed that no
remissions were to be allowed once the crop had been cut.
• Whatever be the method of revenue assessment, there was some provision
for relief in the case of bad harvests.
o In ghalla bakhsi and kankut, state's share would rise and fall
depending upon the current harvest.
o In zabtl, relief was given by excluding the area designated nabud
from assessment.
• In practice, it was not possible to collect the entire amount, and there was
always a balance which was to be collected next year. It also seems to have
been a common practice to demand the arrears, owed by peasants who had
fled or died, from their neighbours. Aurangzeb issued a hasb ul hukm in A.D.
1674-75 to check this practice in khalisa and jagir lands, arguing that no
peasant could be held responsible for arrears contracted by others.
• Taqavi (strength giving) loans were granted to enable the peasants to buy
seeds and cattle.
o Abul Fazl writes, "the amalguzar should assist the empty handed
peasants by advancing them loans".
o Todar Mal had suggested that taqavi should be given to cultivators
who were in distressed circumstances and did not have seeds or
cattle.
o These loans were interest-free, normally to be repaid at the time of

harvest.
o These were advanced through the chaudhris and muqaddams.
o Abul Fazl says that the loans should be recovered slowly.
• New wells were dug up and old ones were repaired for extension and
improvement of cultivation.
LAND REVENUE ADMINIST RATION
• We get ample information about the revenue machinery for khalish lands.
But our information for Jagir administration is quite scanty.
• Since Jagirdars were transferred after every two or three years, they had no
knowledge of revenue paying capacity of the people and local customs. So we
find three types of officials:
o offcials and agents of jagirdars;
o permanent local officials many of whom were hereditary. They were
generally not affected by the frequent transfers of the Jagirdar,
o imperial officials to help and control the Jagirdars.
• At the rural level, there were many revenue officials:
o Karori (or amil):
▪ In 1574-75, the office of karori was created. Describing his
duties, Abul Fazl says that he was incharge of both assessment
and collection of the revenue. An important change took place
during Shah Jahan's reign. Now amins were appointed in every
mahal and they were given the work of assessment. After
this change, karori (or amil) remained concerned chiefly whith
collection of revenue which amin had assessed.
▪ The karori was appointed by the diwan of the province. He was
expected to look after the interests of the peasantry. The
accounts of the actual collection of the karori and their agents
were audited with the help of the village patwori's papers.
o Amin: It was next important revenue official. This was created during
Shah Jahan's reign. His main function was to assess the revenue. He,
too, was appointed by the diwan. He was responsible jointly with the
karori and faujdar for the safe transit of the collected revenue.
▪ The faujdar of the province kept a vigilant eye on the activities
of Amin and karori. He also used to recommend their
promotion.
o Qanungo: He was the local revenue official of the pargana, and
generally belonged to one of the accountant castes. It was a hereditary
post, but an imperial order was essential for the nomination of each
new person.
▪ Nigarnama-i Munshi holds qanungo responsible for
malpractices because "they have no fear of being transferred
or deposed." But a qanungo could be removed by an imperial
order if he indulged in malpractices, or on account of
negligence of duty.
▪ He was supposed to maintain records concerning revenue

receipts, area statistics, local revenue rates and practice and
customs of the pargana.
▪ The Jagjrdar's agents were generally unfamiliar with the
locality; they usually depended heavily on the information
supplied to them by the qaoungos.
▪ The qanungo was paid 1% of the total revenue as
remuneration, but Akbar started paying them salary.
o Chaudhari: He was also an important revenue official like the
qanungo. In most cases he was the leading zamindar of the locality.
▪ He was mainly concerned with the collection.
▪ He also stood surety for the lesser zamindar.
▪ He distributed and stood surety for the repayment of the
taqavi loans.
▪ He was a countercheck on qanungo.
▪ From Dasur-ul Amal Alamgiri it appears that the allowance to
the chaudhari was not very substantial. But it is possible that
he held extensive revenue free (inam) lands.
o Shiqqdar: Under Sher Shah, he was the incharge of revenue collection
and maintained law and order. In Akbar's later period, he seems to be
a subordinate official under the karori.
▪ Abul Fazl mentions that in case of an emergency, the shiqqdar
could give the necessary sanction for disbursement which
was to be duly reported to the court. He was also responsible
for thefts that occurred in his jurisdiction.
o Muqaddam and Patwari: The muqaddam and Patwari were village
level officials.
▪ The muqaddam was the village headman. In lieu of his
services; he was allowed 2.5 percent of the total revenue
collected by him.
▪ The patwari was to maintain records of the village land, the
holdings of the individual cultivators, variety of crops grown
and details about fallow land. The names of the cultivators
were entered in his bahi (ledger). On the basis of information
contained in these bahis, the bitikchi used to prepare
necessary papers and records according'to which assessment
and collection was carried out.
o In each pargaana, there were two other officials-the fotadar or
khazandar (the treasurer), and karkun or bitikchi (the accountant).
Under Sher Shah, there were two karkuns, one for keeping the records
in Hindi and the other in Persian. But in A.D. 1583-84 Persian was
made the sole language for accounts.
o The faujdar represented the military or police power of the imperial
government. One of his main duties was to help the jagirdar or amil in
collecting revenue from the zortalab (refractory) zamindar and

peasants.
o There were waqai navis, sawanih nigar (news writers), etc., whose
duty was to report the cases of irregularities and oppression to the
centre.
Agrarian Relations Mughal India

• The Emperor was the sole claimant as discussed. However, in actual practice,
apart from the state and its agents, a number of intermediaries also took
away huge amounts through various channels.
REVENUE ASSIGNEES AND GRANTEES
• The state adopted two ways to realise the land revenue from the peasants.
o First, the jagirdars were assigned certain areas with rights to collect
revenue and utilise the same for their salary and to meet their military
obligations.
▪ The jagirdar had no permanent rights over the areas so
assigned due to frequent transfers. His claims were confined to
the authorised land revenue and other taxes.
o Secondly, it collected revenue through imperial revenue officers from
the khalisa.
• Grantees:
o Suyurghal or madad-i maash:
▪ Some people was given revenue grants for their subsistence.
these people were generally religious men who were
patronised by the state. These grants were known as
suyurghal or madad-i maash (aid for subsistence). A separate
department under the charge of the sadr us sudur looked
after these grants.
▪ If the aid was given in cash, it was known as wazifa. There
were certain categories of people who were qualified to
receive madad-i maaah. These grants did not invest the grantee
with any right over land but were entitled to the prescribed
revenue from its produce.
▪ Akbar put the ceiling of such grants of land to 100 bighas per
person. The policy of Akbar was to grant half cultivable and
half waste land to improve agriculture.The grant was for the
lifetime of the grantee and the heirs could apply for a renewal.
Generally only a part of the grant was allowed to heirs.
Jahangir confirmed all the grants made by Akbar while Shah
Jahan began to examine all grants given during the previous
reigns. He allowed 30 blghas to be inherited, Aurangzeb
reduced it to 20 bighas. In the 30th year of his reign, he
allowed the grant to be entirely hereditary, by calling such
grants as loan ('ariyat') and not property. In the latter part of
his reign as well as after his death, the grantees started
enjoying the right to sell or transfer the land, which, then,
acquired the characteristics of a zamindari.
▪ In Akbar's period, it was found that the revenue of such grants
would not be over 5.84% of the total jama. The most of these
grants were concentrated in the upper Gangetic provinces

(highest in Delhi and Allahabad). these grants were also mainly
in the urban areas. We find that over 70% of the suyurghal lay
in the parganas which were under the control of the non-
Muslim zamindars.
▪ These grants were intended to create pockets of influence and
to develop waste lands. Generally, these were given to Shaikhs
and Sayyids and other men of learning. In emergency they
joined the government forces to curb local disturbances. The
total revenue alienated-in such grants was not large. There was
a tendency on the part of the grantees to acquire zamindarl
rights in their area and elsewhere. Thus, some of them
transformed themselves into small zamindars. By the first half
of the 18th century, these grants were treated as zamindari
land in all transactions.
o Waqf: It was another type of grant given to institutions, etc.
Revenues of certain lands - were permanently assigned for the
maintenance of religious tombs, shrines, madrasas, etc. Such grants
could be given by the jaglrdars also, and lasted till the term of the
jagirdar in that area.
THE ZAMINDARS
• The zamindar were present in practically every part of the Mughal Empire
and held the most significant position in the agrarian structure of Mughal
India.
• During the pre-Mughal period, the word zamindar has been used in the sense
of the chief of territory. The fact that a chief had acknowledged the
supremacy of a superior sovereign power made no difference to his position
within his own domain, so long as he was allowed to retain it.
• From Akbar's time onwards, this term was officially used for any person with
any hereditary claim to a direct share in the peasant's produce. The early
local terms such as khot and muqnddam in the Doab, satarahi and biswi in
Awadh, bhoml in Rajasthan and banth or vanth in Gujarat were replaced by
the term zamindar. However, many of these terms continued to be used
interchangeably with zamindar in contemporary accounts. The areas without
zamindar were termed raiyati (peasant held).
• Nurul Haran divides the zamindars into three categories.
o Primary zamindars who had some proprietary rights over the land;
o Secondary zamindars who held the intermediary rights and helped
the state in collecting land revenue;
o Autonomous chiefs-had autonomous rights in their territories and
paid a fixed amount to the Mughal State.
Zamindari Right
• Zamindari did not signify a proprietary right in land. It was a claim on the
produce of the soil, co-existing in a subordinate capacity, with the land
revenue demand of the state.
• Yet, like any article of private property, it could, and was, freely bought and
sold. It was also inheritable and divisible, that is, the heirs of a zamindar
could divide the fiscal claims and perquisites of their inherited zamindari, in
accordance with the law of the land.
• The zamindar acquired his rights by virtue of the historical tradition of
control he and his kinsmen exercised over the inhabitants of particular
villages. At some time, the zamindar had settled villages and distributed its
land among the peasantry.
o In eastern Rajasthan, wasidar (a category of peasants) were settled by
the bhomia (zamiadar as known there) in the village to undertake
sometimes the cultivation of his personal lands. The zamindar rights,
therefore, were not created by the ruling classes, but preceded
them.
o The king, however, could create zamindari in villages where none
existed. He could also dislodge a zamindar, but this was a right he
exercised only in case of sedition or non-payment of revenue.
• The medieval rulers recognised the rights of the Zamindar, but were equally
insistent on treating them as agents of the government for revenue
collection. When the Zamindar took this form, that is, it came to assist the
government in the collection of revenue, for the service (khidmat) so
rendered, the Zamindar was entitled to a percentage of the total revenue
collected. This percentage in official documents is stated to be 10% and is
described as nankar ("allowance"). When the administration decided to
collect the revenue through its own agents, by-passing the Zamindar, the
latter was entitled to a share in the collection of revenues called malikhana
(proprietary right), and like nankar, was fixed at 10% of the total revenue
collected.
• In Gujarat, this claim of the zamindar was described as banth or vanth, but
unlike malikana in Northern India, it was considerably higher. Like malikana,
it was paid in the form of cash.
• In the Deccan, it was called chauth ("one fourth"), and as the name suggests,
stood at one-fourth of the revenues collected. Sardeshmukhi, another fiscal
claim of the zamindar in the Deccan, was equivalent to 10% of the revenues.
• Under the Marathas, the cesses of chauth and sardeshmukhi came to be
realised not through a legal claim based on actual zamindari right, but by the
sheer use of force. Under Shivaji, while the claim of the king cumprised one-
fourth of the chauth and the whole of sardeshmukhi, the other three-fourths
of the chauth was to be retained by the Maratha feudatory barons.
• Besides their principal fiscal claim, the zamindars also exacted a number of
petty perquisites from the peasantry. e.g:
o (dastar shumari) (turban tax), house tax (khana shumari), cesses on
marriage and birth, taxes from weekly markets in their areas, toll tax
on merchandise passing through their territories.
o Such perquisites are difficult t estimate but in relation to their
principal fiscal claim, it was not quite considerable.
• Apart from primary zamindars, there were chiefs or chieftains-the rajas, raos,
ranas and rawatas-who were more or less autonomous in their estates,
governning them without any interference from the imperial administration .
Their obligation to the king did not go beyond paying him a fixed amount as
tribute (peshkash).
o According to Irfan Habib, the difference between the zamindars and
autonomous chiefs "lay most clearly in the relationship with the
imperial power which allowed autonomy to the chiefs. but made
ordinary zamindar mere propertied subjects of the Emperor".
Military Strength of Zamindars
• The zamindars employed their footmen and cavalry. These troops helped
them in the realisation of land revenue and subjugation of peasantry. Almost
all zamindars had their own small or big qilachas/garhi or forts.
• According to the Ain-i Akbari, the troops of the zamindars in the whole
Mughal Empire exceeded forty four lakhs. In Bengal they possessed
thousands of boats.
Chaudhuris
• Some of the zamindars were designated as chaudhuri for the purpose of
collection of revenue. One of the prominent zamindars of a pargana was
appointed chaudhuri, generally one in each pargana.
• The chaudhuri was suppose to collect the revenue from other zamindars of
the pargana. Apart from thier customary nankar, these chaudhuris were
entitled to another share in the land revenue collected by them. This was
termed chaudhurai which amounted to two and a half per cent of the
revenue collected.
• Unlike the zamindar, the chaudhuri was appointed by the state and could be
removed for improper functioning.
Other Intermediaries
• Village headman:
o The most important official (muqaddam in Northern India and patel
in the Deccan). He was the person responsible for the collection of
land revenue and maintenance of law and order in the villages.
o For the services so rendered, he was granted a part of the village land
revenue-free, though, in some cases, he was also remunerated in cash
at a percentage of total land revenue realised. In addition, he was also
entitled to receive some amount of produce from peasants.
• Village accountant:
o In the task of the collection of land revenue the muqaddam was
assisted by the village accountant (patwari in Northern India and
kulkarni in the Deccan). The patwari's task was to maintain a record
(bahi) of the revenue collected from the individual peasants and its
payment to the state authorities. His records, therefore, were of
immense help to the administration in assessing the revenue-paying
capacity of the peasants and in fixing the total land revenue claim on
the village.
o Like the muqaddam he was also remunerated by the grant of revenue-

free land or by a fixed commission in the total revenue collected.
However, being an employee of the village organisation, his allowance
was much smaller than that of the village headman.
• The office and the accompanying privileges of both the muqaddam and
patwari were hereditary.
PEASANTRY
• Peasantry were the main producing class. This class had a number of strata
within it and were primary class in the rural society. Bulk of the peasantry
lived on the subsistence level of existence and large part of their produce
were paid as land revenue.
Land Rights of Peasantry
• There has been a long debate among historians regarding the rights of the
peasantry over land. Peasant's claim to land was not disregarded by the state,
yet he was never allowed the right to free alienation. It appears that peasants
had all the rights over land as long as he cultivated it. The zamindar or
state had no right to evict the peasant as long as he cultivated the land and
paid the revenue.
• It seems that proprietary rights in land were not quite developed during the
Mughal period. However, the most important aspect of the period is the
varying claims over the produce of the land.
• In contemporary accounts we come across a number of references to the
flight of the peasantry from villages because of oppression or other
problems. A number of instances are available about peasants settling
individually or in groups in various regions. The mobility of the peasant was
an established practice in Mughal India. This mobility was more pronounced
in cases of their oppression in one region or natural calamities like floods and
famines.
Stratification of Peasantry
• The peasantry was not a homogenous class. The stratification was due to
inequalities in wealth and social status.
• Rich peasants could acquire head-ship of a village (muqddam or patel) and
enjoy a superior share in the produce of other peasants.
• The divisions were so well-established that they are differently designated
even in official accounts and records.
o Rich peasants are referred to as khudkasht (self-cultivated) in
Northern India, gharuhalas in Rajasthan and mirasdars in
Maharashtra.
o The poor peasants are referred to as reza ria'ya (small peasant) in
Northern India, paltis in Rajasthan and kunbis in Maharashtra.
• Reasons for Economic inequalities:
o The wide prevalence of cash-nexus:
▪ Since land revenue in the larger part of India had to be paid in
cash, peasants and cultivators were forced to carry their
produce to the markets or sell it to merchants or moneylenders
on the eve of harvest. In such a situation, those peasants who

could cultivate cash crops would be placed in a better position,
because of the higher prices they fetched in the market than
those who, owing to their scarce resources, could only cutlivate
food crops for which the prices were comparatively low. Not all
peasants could shift to cash crop cultivation since it involved
much expenses (good seeds, better fertilisers, irrigation or
facilities, and also more productive soil).
o Regressive nature of land revenue demand was another major
factor that caused and intensified divisions within the peasantry. The
incidence of land revenue demand being uniform for both the rich and
the poor peasants, in actual fact it fell more heavily on the latter than
on the former.
o Lower revenue rates on the khudkasht peasants: The village
organisation, or what has often loosely been described as the "village
community", further perpetuated these divisions by levying lower
revenue rates on the khudkasht peasants, and calling upon the rent
ri'aya to meet the deficit thus arising in the total revenue claim.
• Economic inequalities were not the only basis of divisions within the
peasantry.
o They were also divided between the permanent residents of the
village (Khudkasht Northern India, mirasdar in Maharashtra and
thalvaik or thalkarin Deccan) and the temporary residents (pai
'kasht in Northern India; upari in Maharashtra).
o Caste associations and kinship ties (bhaichara), even as they served
as linkages that afforded supra-local affinities were also at the same
time sources of divisiveness.
• A significant portion of the rural population constituted a class
called menial workers (below the class of peasants). They are described in
the contemporary literature as chamars, balahars, thoris and dhanuks, etc.
They were a cheap source of labour for the peasants and zamindars to work
on their fields. It was, therefore, in the interest of both of them (i.e., the
peasants and zamidars) to suppress and exploit them. The creation of a huge
reserve of labour force for agricultural production reduced the cost of
production, which enhanced the "surplus" produce of the peasant, and thus
allowed a greater exploitation of land revenue by the ruling power. In the
suppression of the menial workers, the state, the zamindars and the peasants
were equal collaborators.
Village Community
• Generally the peasants of a village had a majority of the same caste. Such
villages were established historically by one clan or family. Apart from the
peasants of the dominant caste of a village, there were menial workers who
came from lower castes.
• From the contemporary accounts it appears that in many activities these

villages functioned as a community. It should not be taken to mean that there
were any communal land holdings.
• The fields were definitely held by individual peasants. The revenue officials
found it convenient to treat village as a unit for revenue assessment and
collection. The description of the patwari as a village official supports this.
• The payment to state was made by the village as a unit. The revenue from
the individual peasants was put in a pool whose incharge was the patwari.
• From this pool, land revenue, fees and perquisites of certain officials and
sundry common expenses of the village were paid. Even the loan taken from
the moneylenders was paid back out of the village pool.
• Village panchayat: The dominant group of people in a village constituted
the village panchayat.
o used to decide village affairs regarding dispute over land rights,
disposal of waste land, etc.
o Responsible to the state for arresting criminals,compensating for the
value of goods stolen or tracing them.
• Mahajans: The mahajans was a social group in village who acted as
middlemen between the state and peasants and had considerable control
over the rural society and economy. They would advance loans to individual
peasants and village collectively for buying seeds and equipments or pay
revenue or for social needs.
• Artisans: They used to provide their services and were paid at the harvest.
The system was very well organised in Deccan and Maharashtra. These were
called balutedars.
• The system of village community, panchayats or balutedars was not
uniformly applicable to all the villages of the Mughal Empire.
• Most villages had some sort of community structure, though varying in
degrees of control on their members.
RELATIONS BETWEEN AGRARIAN CLASSES

• Zamindar, jagirdars and peasants:
o Both the zamindar and the jagirdars fed upon the surplus produce of
the peasant, and therefore, insofar as the exploitation of the peasantry
was concerned, both acted as each other's collaborators.
o Zamindar-peasant relation: zamindar, being permanently based
would not allow exploitation that went beyond the alienation of
surplus produce, for that would lead to exodus of the peasantry and
desertion of agricultural operations which would in turn affect his
own fiscal claims during the following year.
o Jagirdars-peasant relation:
▪ It is best reflected in Bernier's account who visited India in
the mid-17th century. He writes that, because of the frequent
transfers of jagirs the jagirdar,governors and revenue
contractors were not bothered about the deplorable state of

peasantry. They therefore were interested in exploiting the
peasantry to the maximum even at the cost of their desertion
and fields lying unattended.
▪ Irfan Habib writes that "as for peasants, the jagirdars claimed
powers to detain them on the land, like serfs, and bring them
back, if they ran away."
o Zamindar-jagirdars relation: Jawahar Mal Bekas, an 18th century
writer observes that the Jagirdar of the day can in a moment remove a
old zamindar and put a new man.
o Irfan Habib writes : Such attitude of jagirdar not only inhibited
extension of cultivation, but also involved the Mughal ruling class in a
deepening conflict with the two major agrarian classes, the zamindars
and the peasantry.
• The divisions within the peasantry and between the peasants and
agricultural workers, acted as severe constraints and weakened the
capabilities of this class. This disunity made this class incapable of
confronting the medieval despotic states. However it revolted for two
reasons:
o When the revenue demand appropriated more than the surplus
produce of the peasants, thereby threatening their very subsistence.
Peasant revolts in these circumstances never went beyond asking for
a reduction in revenue demand.
o Peasants also revolted as followers of a zamindar who was leading a
revolt against the state or jagirdar (mostly on the question of his claim
to the produce of the soil), either in the hope that the end of revolt
would lead to better conditions of living for them or simply as
rendering a service to their overlord. Peasant revolts of this nature
were actually zamindari revolts: the zamindars led them and the
peasants served the purposes of the zamindars alone.
LAND REVENUE SYSTEM: MARATHAS, DECCAN AND

SOUTH INDIA
• Land structure and the administrative divisions of the Deccan and the South
Indian states:
o The entire land was divided into three parts.
▪ state land known as khalisa, bhandaravada or muamala.
▪ land granted to the military commanders for the maintenance
of troops (amara, moqasas) while the land allotted to the
officials in lieu of their salaries was known as jaglrs and
saranjams.
▪ revenue-free land grants (manya, inam).
o Peasant holdings were known as miras and peasant rights as mirasi
rights.
o Land under direct management of the state was placed in the charge
of moqasadars who could be transferred at king's will, but generaiiy
held the post for long and even, at times, were succeeded by their
sons.
o The peasant was the owner of land. Instances of communal ownership
also existed. Some land (mostly waste) also belonged to the entire
village with the panchayat as its custodian.
o The lowest unit of assessment was mauza (village). Group of villages
formed mahal (for revenue purposes), taraf, tapa, qaryat. A number of
parganas constituted a suba (prant, province).
REVENUE SYSTEM: MARATHAS AND THE DECCAN STATES

• The land revenue system of the Deccan states owes much to Malik Ambar-
the Nizam Shahi Prime Minister. It was he who for the first time adopted the
most scientific methodology to assess and collect the revenue. He, in turn,
was influenced by Todar Mal's regulations. All the Deccan states (Bijapur,
Golkunda and Ahmednagar), including the Marathas, copied his regulations
with minor modifications.
Mode of Assessment
• Under Malik Ambar, it was based on the assessment of actual area under
cultivation and the cash value of the crop produced. But he actually did not
order for the survey of the land and the assessment was done not by actual
measurement but byobservation. Assessment was done with the help of
hereditary village officials- deshmukhs and patils.
• But Shivaji paid foremost attention to the measurement of land. Seeing the
inaccuracy of rope (which was liable to variations in different seasons).
Shivaji substituted it by a kathi (a measuring rod). Twenty kathis constituted
a bigha.
o Annaji Datto was entrusted the task of systematic assessment in
1678.
o Annaji also took the help of pargana and village officials for this
survey work.
o But he did not rely wholly on those officials. To counteract and check
their assessment, he himself did the spot assessment of one hilly, one
marshy and one black soil area within a tapa. In many cases he made
25 to 100 per cent enhancements over the assessments of local
officials.
o He also consulted the villagers regarding the assessment of their
holdings.
• Malik Ambar classified the land broadly into two categories: baghayat
(garden land) and zirayat (cultivated land). The latter was further divided
into four categories. In Shivaji's time this member increased to twelve.
• Waste land was generally excluded from the assessment. But, when the
pressure on land increased, more and more cultivable waste land was
brought under cultivation.
o Malik Ambar followed the system of progressive assessment for the
assessment of these new reclaimed lands. No revenue was imposed
for the first two years, but from the third year onwards, the state
started claiming small share in the produce. In the 8th year revenue
was claimed at the full rate.
o Under Marathas :
▪ Land tax (on reclaimed land) was imposed from the very first
year. Every year its rate was gradually enhanced and finally by
the 8th year, it was assessed at full rate.
▪ Sometimes these lands were assessed by the number of
ploughs (hai) and not by the bigha. Sometimes, even 6-7 bighas
were assessed as one blgha for revenue purpose.
• Revenue assessment:
o varied on the basis of the fertility of the soil
o varied on the basis of the nature of the crops sown, e.g., sugarcane,
pulses, cotton, etc.
o was lower for second crop sown (compared to principle one).
o was done on individual peasants separately, but for the realization
purpose the entire village was treated as a single unit.
• According to the, fertility of the soil and the estimated produce, the demand
was fixed once for all.
• Adil Shahi rulers of Bijapur also seem to have followed the same methods of
assessment (i.e based on observation) as those of Malik Ambar. Here tanab
(measuring chain) was used.
• About Golkunda we are not sure whether the assessment was done on the
basis of actual measurement or observation.
Incidence of Revenue Demand
• Malik Ambar claimed 2/5th of the produce as state share in kind which,
when converted into cash demand amounted to 1/3 of the total value of the
crop.
• The same amount was claimed by the Marathas, too. However, when Shivaji
abolished other asses, a consolidated share of 40 per cent was claimed by the
state.
• In some Maratha tracts batai was the prevalent form of assessment. Here, the
state's claim amounted to 1/2 of the produce.
TAXES OTHER THAN LAND REVENUE

• Besides land revenue a number of illegal cesses and abwabs were paid by
peasants. Under the Marathas and the Bijapur kingdom number of such
cesses was around 50. Besides, forced labour also prevailed. Shivaji seems
to have abolished all illegal cesses.
• Custom dues formed an important source of income. But the dues levied on
import and export were fairly low.
• In the Golkunda (Kurnool) and Bijapur (Raichur Doab) kingdoms diamond
mining formed important source of state's income.
• Various taxes were imposed on salt, tobacoo, vegetables, tari (fermented
juice of date palm), etc. Jidya, too, was a source of Adil Shahi income.
• Income from minting and peshkash (tributes) and war booty, etc. also
formed important sources of states' income.
Chauth and Sudeshmukhi
• These two formed the major sources of income for the Marathas. Some have
termed it sheer plunder and loot.
• Sardeshmukhi was an exaction of 10 percent imposed upon the revenues of
the entire Maratha kingdom. Shivaji claimed it as the supreme head of the
country (sar deshmukh, i.e., head of the deshmukhs).
• Chauth: The Marathas claimed chauth(i.e. 1/4th of the total revenue) from
the neighbouring chieftains whose territories did not form part of their
homeland/swarajya.
FISCAL AND MONETARY SYSTEM, PRICES

Fiscal System
• Contemporary sources give sketchy and brief information (about taxes other
than land revenue). So, it is very difficult to ascertain the exact share of taxes
other than land revenue in the total income of the Empire.
o Shirin Moosvi has calculated them to be around 18% and 15% for the
subas (provinces) of Gujarat and Agra, while in rest of the subas it was
less than 5%.
Taxes other than Land Revenue
The main sources were tolls and levies on craft production, market levies, customs
and rahdari (road tax) both on inland and overseas trade, and also mint charges.
The state treasury also received huge amounts by way of warbooty, tributes and
gifts from various quarters.
• Market levies: Almost everything sold on the market was taxable. The
general accounts suggest that these taxes were quite harsh. Even women
bringing milk for sale were not exempted.
o Katraparcha was a tax levied on all sorts of cotton, silk and wool
cloth.
o Indigo, saltpetre and salt were other important commodities
subjected to taxation. In some cases as in Panjab, the tax on salt
during Akbar's time was more than double the prime cost.
• Customs:
o When the goods were taken from one place to another, a tax was
levied. All merchandise brought through the ports was taxable.
▪ Abul Fazl says that during-Akbar's time the duties did not
exceed 2.5%.
▪ One early seventeenth century account suggests that at Surat
the charges were 2.5% on goods, 3 per cent on provisions and
2 per cent on money (gold & silver).
▪ Towards the close of the 17th century, the customs ranged
from 4 to 5 per cent.
o Aurangzeb levied separate transit taxes for separate groups. The rate
fixed was 2.5% from Muslinis, 5% from Hindus and 3%% from
foreigners. These rates were applicable throughout the Empire.
o The articles valued at less than 52 rupees were exempted.
o Inspite of the Emperor's instructions, the merchants were often
charged more than the prescribed customs. We find the foreign
merchants complaining about the custom dues. The English in 1615
complained that three separate duties were collected on goods
brought from Ahmedabad into Surat. Time and again the English and
the Dutch obtained farmans for the exemption of customs, but they
were made to pay duties at the custom-houses.
o Apart from the Mughal territory, the autonomous chieftains also

levied customs and duties on goods passing through their territories.
▪ Moreland says that it is not possible to define the burden on
commerce in quantitative terms, since any one might claim a
tax of any amount, even if goods had paid taxes in an adjoining
jurisdiction.
• Transit taxes:
o Apart from customs, another tax called rahdari or transit tax was
collected. This was a road-toll collected on goods passing through
various territories. Though the amount at each place was small, the
cumulative charge became heavy. Even the zamindars used to collect
tolls on goods passing through their territories.
▪ According to one contemporary account of the 17th century
(Khafi Khan), rahdari was considered illegal but large amounts
were collected from merchants and traders.
o This tax was collected on river routes also.
• Income from Mints
o The state mint-fee was called mahsul-i darul zarb. The charges were
around 5% of the value of the money minted.
o Besides, two other charges were also collected. These were rusum- i
ahlkaran(perquisites of ofticials) and ujrat-i karigaran (wages of
artisans).
Mechanism of Collection
• Like land revenue there was a well organised machinery for collection of
these taxes.
• The effort of the state was to keep separate accounts for the income from
land revenue and other taxes. For this purpose, the taxes were classified into
two mal o Jihat and sair Jihat. The former related to land revenue and the
latter to taxes charged on merchandise and trading.
• For the convenience of assessment and collection, separate fiscal divisions
called mahalat i sair or sair mahals were created in big cities and towns.
o The mahal was a purely fiscal division and was different from the
pargana which was both a revenue and territorial division.
o The Ain-i Akbari gives separate revenue figures for towns and sair
mahals for places like Ahmedabad, Lahore, Multan and Broach, etc.
o In most of the 17th century revenue tables, the sair mahal figures for
each town are given separately. the list given for Surat contains
revenue mahals such as mahal farza, mahal khushki, mahal namakzar
etc.
• These revenue districts were either given in jagir or their collections were
sent to the state treasury.
• Officials:
o Except custom houses and mints, most of the officers responsible for
the collection of taxes carried the same designations as land revenue
officials (amin, karori, qanungo, chaudhari).
o Ports had a separate set of officers, The mutasaddi was the chief
official or superintendent of port. He was directly appointed by the
Emperor and was responsible for the collection of taxes.
o The Mutasaddi had a number of officials working under him who
assisted him in valuation and realization of custom dues and
maintaining accounts. Some of them were the mushrif, tahwildar, and
darogha-i Khazana. These also were directly appointed by the court.
• In the absence of relevant data it is difficult to calculate the net amount-
collected. It has been estimated by Shireen Moosvi that the share of these
taxes was around 10% of the total income of the state.
CURRENCY SYSTEM
Under the Mughals, the currency system was very well organised. A high level of
purity of metals was also achieved.
The Coinage
• The Mughal currency system may be termed as trimetallic. Coins were of
three metals, viz, copper, silver and gold. However, the silver coin was the
base of the currency.
• Silver Coin:
o The silver rupaya was the main coin used for business and revenue
transactions. The silver coin has a long pre Mughal history.
▪ It was used during Delhi Sultanate for long as tanka.
▪ Sher Shah for the first time standardized the silver coin. It was
called rupaya and had a weight of 178 grains.
o For minting purposes, an alloy was added which was kept below 4
percent of the weight of the coin. Akbar continued the rupaya as the
basic currency with more or less the same weight. Under Aurangzeb
the weight of the rupaya was increased to 180 grains.
• Gold Coin:
o The Mughals issued a gold coin called ashrafi or muhr. It weighed 169
grains.
o This coin was not commonly used in commercial transactions. It was
mainly used for hoarding purposes and also for giving in gift.
• Copper Coin:
o The most common coin used for small transactions was the copper
dam which weighed around 323 grains.
o The weight of the copper dam was reduced by one third during
Aurangzeb's reign presumably because of the shortage of copper.
• Further, for very petty transactions kauris (see-shells) were used in coastal
areas. These were brought mainly from the Maldive islands. Around 2500
kauris equalled a rupaya.
• Apart from the silver rupaya other types of coins were also used. The most
important of these were mahmudis, a long standing silver coin of Gujarat.
Even after the establishment of the Mughal rule in Gujarat it continued to be
minted and used in Gujarat for commercial transaction.
• In the Vijaynagar Empire, a gold coin called hun or pagoda was used. After
the disintegration of Vijaynagar, its circulation continued in the kingdoms of
Bijapur and Golkunda. In many Deccan kingdoms, an alloy of copper and
silver called tanka was in use.
• After the expansion of the Mughals in Deccan a number of mints were
established in that region to produce Mughal silver coins.
• Exchange Value of Coins:
o The exchange value of gold, silver and copper coins kept fluctuating
depending on the supply of these metals in the market.
▪ The silver value of gold kept fluctuating throughout the Mughal
period, ranging from 10 to 14 rupaya for one gold coin.
▪ As for copper coin, taking 1595 as the base year, Irfan Habib
shows that by the early 1660s it rose to 2.5 times, but by 1700
it came down to the double and again by 1750 it reached the
level of the 1660s.
o For transaction purposes during Akbar's period, 40 copper dams were
considered equal to one rupaya. After his death, as the rate of copper
appreciated sharply, this ratio could not be maintained.
• All the land revenue assessment and calculations were done in dams. So, it
was as notional fractional units of rupaya. Silver coins of small fractions
called ana were also used. It was one-sixteenth of a rupee.
The Minting System
• The Mughals had a free coinage system. One could take bullion to the mint
and get it coined.
• The state had the sole authority to issue coins and no other person could
issue them.
• A very strict standardization was followed to maintain the purity of coins.
• A large number of mints were established throughout the Empire. Attempts
were made to have these mints in big towns and ports so that the imported
bullion-could be taken to mints easily.
• Every coin carried the name of the issuing mint, and the year of minting and
ruler's name.
• The newly minted coin in the current or previous year was called taza sikka
(newly minted). The coins issued and in circulation in the reign of an
emperor were called chalani (current). While the coins minted in the earlier
reigns were called khazana. Except for the taza all other coins were
subjected to reduction in value.
• Reduction in value:
o Due to age: A certain amount was deducted on the value of the coin
for successive year from the year of issue. If a coin was for more than
one year in circulation around 3 percent was deducted; if it was for
more than 2 year then 5 per cent was to be reduced.
o Due loss of weight of coin: Abul Fazl says that if the loss of the
weight was less than one rati it was to be overlooked and the coin
was treated as standard. If the loss of weight was between I and 2

ratis, a deduction of two and a half percent was made, and if it
exceeded 2 ratis the coin was treated as bullion.
o The above stated deductions were decided by state, but in actual
practice arbitrary deductions were decided by sarafs (money
changers) depending on the market.
• Working of Mints:
o Any person desirous of getting money minted was to carry bullion or
old currency for reminting to a mint. The quality and purity of the
metal was scrutinized. The currency was minted and delivered to the
concerned person. A specific sum was charged as minting charges.
This amounted to around 5.6% of the bullion minted.
o A mint was headed by an officer called darogha i darul zarb. His
duties were to supervise the overall working of the mint. He was
assisted by a number of officials, skilled artisans and workmen.
▪ The sarraf was employed by the mint as assessor. He was to
judge the purity, weight and age of the coin and fix deductions
on their value.
▪ The mushrif was to maintain accounts.
▪ The tahwildar kept accounts of daily profit and kept coins and
bullion in safe custody.
▪ The muhr kan (engraver) was a person who engraved and
made dies.
▪ The Wazan kash (weightman) weighed the coins.
▪ There were many artisans like the zarrab (coin maker),
sikkachi (stamper), etc.
o It is difficult to estimate the output of mints because it depended on
the size of the mint and the commercial activities of the area where
the mint operated. By the close of the 17th century, the output of
Surat mint was estimated around 30,000 rupaya per day.
• Location of Mints:
o Abul Fazl gives a list of mints in the Ain-i Akbari. According to him,
copper coins were issued by forty-two mints, silver coins by fourteen
and gold coins by four mints.
o The number of mints issuing silver coins increased by the end of the
17th century to forty.
o Numismatic study shows that a large number of mints which figure on
coins do not find a mention in either the A'in or other literary sources.
o At times, mints accompanied the Imperial camps also that issued
coins en route.
PRICES
• The prices for a large number of commodities are listed in the Ain-i Akbari.
These prices generally relate to the Agra region around the end of the 16th
century.
• Due to lack of records of price for subsequent period, It is difficult to trace

the movement of price of different commodities throughout the Mughal
period.
• lrfan Habib has studied the movement of prices (pertaining to different
areas of the empire) in 16th and 17th centuries.
o Gold, Silver and Copper:
▪ The value of gold to silver was 1 : 9, by 1670s, after various
fluctuations, it reached 1 : 16, but it came down again to 1: 14
by 1750.
▪ The silver price of copper coins also increased from the end of
the 16th century to 1660s by 2.5 times; by 1700 it came down
to double of the 16th century.Again by 1750 it rose to the level
of 1660s.
• The main problem in analysing the prices of food grains is that they had a lot
of fluctuations and variations.
o Price of the food grain recorded in the A'in: Wheat per man: 12 dams;
Black gram per man: 8 man; Mung per man: 18 man.
• Sugar and Indigo were Two widely grown cashcrops in Mughal India.
• The A'in-i Akbari provides figures for the wages of a large category of
workers.
Agricultural Production
Extent of Cultivation
• In the absence of relevant data, it is difficult to discover out the exact area
under the plough. Nevertheless, the available data helps us to have an idea
about the cultivable land during Mughal period.
o Abul Fazl in his Ain-i Akbari gives area figures for all the Mughal
provinces in North India except Bengal, Thatta and Kashmir. The
figures of the Ain-i Akbari belong to the year c. 1595. It gives area
figures in most cases for each pargana but it is hard to say to what
extent the pargana was actually measured.
o The area figures for the 17th century for several regions are available
in an accountancy manual of A.D. 1686. he same figures have been
reproduced in a historical work Chahar Gulshan (1739-40).
o The set of figures available from Aurangzeb‘s reign give a better
picture. These shows that approximately fifty per cent of the villages
were not measured till A.D. 1686.
o The figures for Aurangzeb‘s reign illustrate that the measured area
increased compared to the Ain (1595). But it is hard to say that the
total augment in the measured area was due to extension of farming.
This may as well have been due to the inclusion of some of the earlier
unmeasured area under measurement.
• There is a debate among the historians as to what these measurement
figures actually represent. The questions raised are: whether these figures
are for the area actually under crop, or cultivable land or the total measured
area?
o W.H. Moreland was of the view that these figures represent the total
cropped area.
o Irfan Habib holds that it would have incorporated cultivable area
which was not sown and also area under habitation, lakes, tanks, parts
of forests, etc.
o Shireen Moosvi agrees with Irfan Habib and has calculated this
cultivable waste as ten per cent of the measured area. But she feels
that even after deducting this ten per cent, the remaining area cannot
be taken as net cropped area because large tracts of cultivated areas
were not measured. She also thinks that several a times the land
under kharif and rabi crops was measured separately and, after
adding the two, it was recorded as measured area.
• In such a situation, measurement figures of Mughal period alone are not of
much help to ascertain the extent of farming. Irfan Habib and Shireen Moosvi
have taken the help of other available data such as detailed figures of some
areas available in some revenue papers, jama figures and dastur rates.
These have been compared with the figures of actually cultivated area in the
beginning of 20th century.
• According to their estimates the cultivated area between the end of the 16th
century and the beginning of the 20th century approximately doubled. The
augment in Bihar, Awadh, and parts of Bengal is ascribed to the clearance of
forest. In Punjab and Sind the spread of canal network also contributed to the
extension in farming.
Means Of Cultivation And Irrigation
The Indian peasant used a variety of implements and techniques for cultivation,
depending on the nature of soil and need of the crops.
Means and Methods of Cultivation

• Plough: Tillage was performed through harnessing a pair of oxen to the
plough. Plough was made of wood with an iron ploughshare.
o European travellers noted with surprise that Indian plough just
turned the soil and that deep digging was not done, it seems that this
suited to Indian circumstances because deep digging would result in
the loss of moisture in the soil. Moreover, it was only the upper layer
which was more fertile.
• Patella: A separate devise was used for breaking the clods or lumps of earth.
This was done with the help of wooden boards called patella in parts of north
India. Like plough this flat board was also harnessed to a pair of oxen. Usually
a man would stand on the board to give weight. The patella was dragged on
the field through oxen.
• The sowing of seeds was usually done through scattering through hand. In
16th century Barbosa also refers to the use of a sort of seed drill in the
coastal region for sowing rice.
• Manure: Efforts were made to augment the fertility of the soil through
artificial means. Flocks of goat and sheep were widely used. Usually flocks of
these cattle were made to spend a few nights in the agricultural field for their
droppings were measured good manure. It was assumed that if a flock of
1000 spend five or six nights in one kani of land (1.32 acres) it was enough to
keep land fertile for 6 to 7 years.Fish manure also seems to have been used in
coastal areas.
• Rotation of crops was used for the optimum utilization of land throughout
the year.
• Semi circular sickle was used for cutting the crop.
• The harvested crop was spread on the ground for threshing. Our sources
refer to two methods: (i) Crop was beaten with sticks; (ii) Animals were
made to move on the spread out crop.
• Winding was used for separation of the chaff and the grain.
Means of Irrigation
• Indian agriculture was heavily dependent on rains for irrigation needs.
Apart from rain water, a number of devices were used for artificial irrigation.
• Well-irrigation was the most common. A number of methods were used to

lift water from wells depending on the water table and technology accessible.
o The Northern plains both masonry and non-masonry wells were
dug. The nonmasonry wells were not durable and some digging was
required every year.
o The masonry wells were durable and made of bricks and stones.
These wells were usually set inside with terracotta rings. These are
also recognized as ring wells. Devices used for lifting water from the
wells:
▪ Draw water with rope and bucket by hand: Had limited
capability.
▪ Use of Pulleys over the wells along with rope and bucket:
Large amount of water could be drawn with less effort. But
still capacity of limited.
▪ Rope-pulley + pair of oxen. The use of animal power in this
method helped in irrigating larger areas.
▪ The fourth device worked on a lever principle. In this method
a long rope is lashed to the fork of an upright beam or trunk of
a tree to put it in a swinging position. The bucket was fastened
to rope tied on one end of the pole. The pole‘s other end
carried a weight heavier than filled bucket. One person is
required to operate it.
▪ The fifth method required the use of a wheel. In its earlier
form the pots were attached to rims of the wheels which was
to rotate with the help of animal power. It was used to lift
water from shallow surface and was of no use for wells.
▪ The use of wheel for lifting water from well was also made. In
this form a garland of pots was used with 3 wheels, a gear
mechanism and animal power. With the help of this device
regular supply of large amounts of water could be ensured for
irrigating large fields. This was also helpful for lifting water
from deep wells. The complex machine and animal power
would have made the device expensive. Only rich peasants
could have access to it.
• Lakes, tanks and reservoirs of water were also used uniformly in all parts
of the country.
o In South India, this was the most prevalent method used for
irrigation. Construction of such reservoirs was beyond individual
means. It was so the responsibility of state, local chiefs and temple
management to make such facilities.
▪ The huge Madag lake built through Vijaynagar rulers is a
marvel of civil engineering of the time. It was built on the
Tungabhadra.
o Rajasthan is another region where large reservoirs for storing water
abound.
▪ The Dhebar lake, Udaisaga, Rajsamand and Jaisamand were

some significant lakes built during this period.
o According to some sources, in the 1650s, Mughal administration
proposed to advance Rs. 40,000 to 50,000 to the cultivators in
Khandesh and Berar for erecting dams for irrigation.
o During Shah Jahan's reign:
▪ The Nahr Faiz built which carried the water from the Yamuna
to a large area.
▪ Another canal was cut from the river Ravi close to Lahore.
o Irfan Habib is of the opinion that the main deficiency of Mughal canals
was that they did not often run above the nearby plain, and so the
water that could be obtained from them for irrigation was limited to
what could be lifted from them.
o Canals are not reported from South India.
Agricultural Produce
India with extensive land area, different types of soils and varying climatic
circumstances had a large diversity of agricultural products.
Food Crops
• In north india, Rice was the main kharif crop and wheat was rabi. In some
peasants grown 3rd crop in between.
• In South India, these separate crop-seasons with different crops were
absent. Here, on wet lands one paddy (rice) crop was in the fields from
June/July to December/January and another from January/February to
April/May.
o In North Arcot, dry crops (kumbu, red gram, horse gram, castor) were
sown from May to September/October and harvested from August to
December/January on the wet lands, in August/September the ragi
and cholam and in February/March the paddy crop, were harvested.
• Rice and wheat were the two major food crops throughout the country.
o Rice:
▪ in South India there were two main seasons of rice farming
kuddapah-kar and samba-peshanam. They were named
after the variety of rice cultivated throughout the summer and
winter seasons.
▪ Rice farming is also reported from irrigated areas of Punjab
and Deccan. Regions of Bengal and Bihar produced the finest
excellence of rice.
o wheat:
▪ Punjab, Sind, Western Uttar Pradesh and other regions with
little rainfall produced wheat.
▪ In Bihar, Gujarat, Deccan and even some parts of Bengal are
also produced.
• Apart from these two major crops:
o Barley was grown extensively in the Central plains. The Ain-i Akbari
refers to barley production in Allahabad, Awadh, Agra, Ajmer, Delhi,
Lahore and Multan, etc.
o Millet is reported with some exceptions mainly from wheat producing
zones. Jowar and bajra were the two main millets.
o Pulses are reported from different regions. Important ones are gram,
arhar, moong, moth, urd and khisari. Abul Fazl says that Khisari
consumption was injurious to health. The same is confirmed through
modern researches.
o Makai or makka: It was believe for long that maize (makai or makka)
was not recognized in India throughout 17th century. Some recent
works establish beyond doubt that it was grown definitely in
Rajasthan and Maharashtra and perhaps other regions also
throughout the second half of the 17th century.
Cash Crops
• Cash crops are referred in Persian records as jinsi kamil or jinsi ala
(superior gradecrops).
• Unlike seasonal food crops, these occupied the fields approximately the
whole year. The major cash crops were sugarcane, cotton, indigo and opium.
• All these crops were known in India from earlier times but in the 17th
century their demand increased due to enhanced manufacturing and
commercial activities.
• Major cash crops:
o Sugarcane was the most widely grown cash crop of the period. The
Ain-i Akbari records it in most of the dastur circles of Agra, Awadh,
Lahore, Multan and Allahabad. Sugar from Bengal was measured to be
the best in quality. Multan, Malwa, Sind, Khandesh, Berar and regions
of South India all testify to the presence of sugarcane in the 17th
century.
o Cotton: It was also grown throughout the country. The region with
large scale cultivation were parts of the present day Maharashtra,
Gujarat and Bengal.
o Indigo was another cash crop widely cultivated under the Mughals.
Its presence is recorded in the dastur circles of Awadh, Allahabad,
Ajmer, Delhi, Agra, Lahore, Multan and Sind. Its cultivation is referred
in Gujarat, Bihar, Bengal, Malwa and Coromandal in South India and
Deccan.
▪ Bayana and Sarkhej varieties had high demands. Bayana, a
place close to Agra, was measured as producing the best
excellence of indigo and fetched high price. Sarkhej, close to
Ahmedabad, was measured second in excellence and also
fetched a high price.
▪ Other notable places for quality indigo were regions
approximately Khurja and Aligarh (in U.P.), Sehwan (in Sind)
and Telingana (in Deccan).
o Opium: The Mughal provinces of Bihar and Malwa seem to have

produced good opium. It was also cultivated in Awadh, Bihar, Delhi,
Agra, Multan, Lahore, Bengal, Gujarat, Marwar, and Mewar in
Rajasthan.
o Tobacco: The Ain-i Akbari does not mention it as a crop in any of the
dastur circles or other regions. It seems to have been introduced in
India during the 16th century by the Portuguese. Its farming was
noticed in approximately all parts of the country (specially in Surat
and Bihar).
o Coffee: Cultivation of coffee seems to have started during the second
half of the 17th century while teawas not a common beverage.
o San or sunn-hemp, a fibre yielding plant, was cultivated in all the
core provinces of the Mughal empire (Awadh, Allahabad, Agra,
Lahore, Ajmer, etc.).
o Sericulture are (rearing of silkworms on a mulberry plant) was
accepted on in Bengal, Assam, Kashmir and western coast. However,
Bengal was the main region of production.
• Oil extracting seed come under the category of food as well as cash crops.
The main oil yielding crops listed are rapeseed, castor, linseed. Rapeseed is
reported in all provinces from Allahabad to Multan as also in Bengal. Farming
of other oilseed plants was relatively less widespread.
Fruits, Vegetables and Spices

• Horticulture flourished during the Mughal period. The Mughal Emperors and
the nobles planted lavish orchards.
• A number of fruits available today were introduced in India throughout 16th
and 17th centuries.
o Pineapple (anannas) is one such fruit which was brought from Latin
America and introduced in India through the Portuguese. In a short
period of time it became popular and was extensively cultivated all
over the country.
o Papaya and cashew-nuts were also introduced by the Portuguese
but their spread was a bit slow.
o Leechi and guava seem to have been introduced later.
o Potato and Tomato seem to have been introduced in the 17th
century and after.
• Cherries were brought from Kabul and grown in Kashmir through
grafting. The practice of grafting was in order to improve the excellence of
a number of fruits. Quality of oranges and other types of citrus fruits,
apricots, mangoes and a host of other fruits was greatly improved through
grafting.
• Coconut was grown not only beside the coastal region but also inland.
• Seeds of different variety of melons and grapes were brought from Kabul
and successfully grown in the gardens of Emperors and nobles. Ordinary
melons were grown everywhere on riverbeds through the peasants.
• A large variety of vegetables were grown all over country. The Ain-i Akbari
gives a long list of vegetables in use at that time.
• Spices: Pepper, clove, cardamom were plentiful. Ginger and Turmeric were
grown extensively. The Dutch and English purchased large quantities for
export.
• Saffron grown in Kashmir was celebrated for its colour and flavor.
• Pan (betel leaf): The Maghi Pan of Bihar and several other varieties from
Bengal were famous. Betel-nut was also produced in coastal regions
• Lignum used for medicinal purpose and lakh were exported in large
quantities.
Productivity and Yields
• Shireen Moosvi has worked out the productivity of crops and per bigha
yields for Mughal India.
• The Ain-i Akbari gives schedules of crop yield and revenue rates for zabti
provinces (Lahore, Multan, Agra, Allahabad, Awadh and Delhi). For each crop
yields are provided separately for high, middling and low categories. An
average yield can be worked out on the basis of these.
• Shireen Moosvi has worked out the agricultural productivity for some major
crops on the basis of several data available from the 16th century records
(e.g Ain-i Akbari).
• He also compared the yield of the Ain-i Akbari with yields around the close of
the 19th century. She discovers that on the whole there is no major change in
the productivity of food crops between the two periods. Though, in case of
cash crops a definite increase in the productivity in the 19th century can be
noticed.
Cattle And Livestock

• The cattle played a very significant role in agricultural production. And was
avilable in large population.
o Employed in agricultural activities like ploughing and irrigation.
o Dung was used for maturing.
o Dairy products contributed considerably to the agriculture-related
production.
• Irfan Habib suggests that the per capita cattle population in Mughal India
compares favorably with modern statistics.
• Abundance of butter or ghee is said to be the diet of the common people; this
also suggests a large cattle population.
• Oxen were used for transporting goods as pack animals or for bullock carts.
The banjaras (migrant trading community) are said to have maintained
flocks of a few hundred to thousand animals. Flocks of thousands of sheep
and goats were also reared.
Non-Agricultural Production
India has High level of craft production during the period of our study. The craft
production was linked with the pattern of trade and commerce.
The Persian chronicles provide limited information about the crafts and techniques
of production. European travelers and documents and correspondence of
various European trading companies supply more detailed information.
Craft production was basically governed by the demand and consumption in the
home market. The increase in demand in overseas markets in the 17th Century was
so great that it started influencing the production activity.
Agro-Based Production
India had a high level of production of cash crops like cotton, sugarcane, indigo,
tobacco, etc. Therefore, crafts related to these also flourished.
Textiles:
• Cotton:
o Cotton textiles were manufactured practically all over the country
since with the exception of sub-Himalayan region, cotton could be
grown approximately everywhere. Abul Fazl provides a list of
significant centres of production of cotton textiles.
▪ Gujarat emerges as one of the significant region of textile
manufacture. Here the main centres were Ahmedabad, Broach,
Baroda, Cambay, Surat, etc.
▪ In Rajasthan: Ajmer, Sironj and several small towns.
▪ In U.P.: Lucknow and a number of small towns around it,
Banaras, Agra, Allahabad, etc. were prominent centres.
▪ Other areas in the north like Delhi, Sirhind, Samana, Lahore,
Sialkot, Multan and Thatta produced textiles of good quality.
▪ In Bengal, Bihar and Orissa: Sonargaon and Dacca. Rajmahal.
Qasimbazar and Patna and a number of small towns
approximately it were famous textile centres.
▪ In Deccan. Burhanpur and Aurangabad produced cotton cloth
of a fine variety.
▪ On the western coast of Maharashtra Chaul and Bhivandi had a
flourishing weaving industry. The Qutab Shahi kingdom was
also well-known for its textiles.
▪ Masulipatnam and Coromandal also produced cotton textiles.
▪ In the South, Coimbatore and Malabar were also known for
producing good quality cotton.
o Many centres specialised in producing only yarn which was taken to
weaving centres and even exported. Spinning of yarn therefore
became a specialised occupation. Gujarat supplied yarn to Bengal in
the second half of the seventeenth century. The fine yarn required for
Dacca muslin was spun through young women with the help of takli or
spindle.
o Few significant varieties of cotton textile:
▪ Bafta (from Gujraat) is described in the Ain-i Akbari as a type
of high quality calico normally white or of a single colour.
▪ Tafta was a silk cloth some times inter-woven with cotton
yarn.
▪ Zartari was a cloth which was inter-woven with gold or silver
thread.
▪ Muslin (from Sonargaon,Bengal)was a very fine quality of thin
cloth. Khasa was a kind of muslin. It was expensive cloth of a
fine quality.
▪ Chintz (Chheent) was cotton cloth with floral or other patterns
printed or painted. Some clothes were named after the place of
production, such as
▪ Some clothes were named after the place of production, such
as Dariabadi and Khairabadi, Samianas (Samana), Lakhowries
(Lakhowar close to Patna), etc.
o The most common cotton cloth much in demand was superior quality
white calico cloth called through different names such as Ambartees
(in Bihar, Bengal etc.), Bafta in Gujarat, etc. Other famous diversities
were fine muslin of Bengal called Khasa, Chintz, a printed cloth and
fabric made with mixing silk yarn. Ahmedabad acquired fame for its
printed cloth recognized as chintz (Chheent).
o Manufacturing steps:
▪ The first was ginning, that is, separating seeds from cotton.
▪ Later, the carder (dhuniya) cleaned cotton with the bowstring.
▪ After that, yarn was spun on the spinning wheel. The yarn was
used on looms through the weavers. The most common loom
was horizontal, the pit-loom with foot treadles.
▪ Next step was to get it bleached or dyed before being used.
o Though these processes were performed everywhere, some centres
became prominent. Broach in Gujarat was supposed to be the best
bleaching place because of the special quality of it s water. The English
East India Company sent baftas purchased in Agra, Lahore, etc. to
Broach and Nausari (Gujarat) for bleaching before exporting them.
o Dyeing and printing also became specialized profession. Rangrez
(dyers) had specialised in it and were measured a separate caste.
Vegetable dyes were usually used. Red dye was produced through
chay or lac and blue through using indigo.
• Silk: Silk was another significant item for the manufacture of textiles.
o Abul Fazl mentions Kashmir where abundant silk textile was
produced.
o Patna and Ahmedabad were known for silk fabrics. Banaras was
equally famous.
o In the seventeenth century, Bengal produced the largest amount of

raw silk which was exported abroad as well as to other parts of India.
In Bengal silk fabrics were manufactured at Qasimbazar and
Murshidabad.
▪ In 1681, the London silk weavers petitioned to the British
Parliament to ban its import through the English East India
Company. The import of Bengal silk fabrics was stopped in
1701. Nevertheless, Bengal remained the premier centre in
India for producing silk textiles and raw silk.
• Wool:
o The most famous was the Kashmiri shawl, exported all over the
world. The fine wool used in these shawls was imported from Tibet.
o Akbar promoted its manufacture at Lahore but it could not match the
quality of Kashmiri shawls.
o Finer diversities of woolen textiles were usually brought in through
the Europeans for the upper classes.
o Blankets were made from wool almost all over of North India.
• Other textile items :
o Cotton durries,
o Carpets (of silk and wool): Carpet weaving was yet another branch of
textile production. Bihar , Delhi, Agra, Lahore and Mirzapur were well-
known centres in the north. Warangal in the south was also
wellknown for carpet weaving. The output of carpet weaving was not
very large and Persian carpets sustained to be in use. Akbar took
special interest in developing the manufacture of silk carpets in the
royal Karkhana after the Persian variety.
o Tents used mostly through royal establishment and nobles were also
manufactured. Abul Fazl mentions eleven types of tents.
o Embroidery on all types of textiles with cotton, silk or silver and gold
thread was also an allied craft.
• Indigo:
o The demand for it in the country and for export was very high.
o Except for the hilly regions, indigo was available in all parts of the
country. The best variety was secured from Bayana, near Agra. The
after that best variety was from Sarkhej near Ahmedabad.
o In North India, Agra and Lahore were two other cities where indigo
dye could be purchased in vast quantities.
o On the Coromandal coast, Masulipatam was another significant mart
for this dye.
• Sugar, Oil, etc:
o Since sugarcane was cultivated widely, sugar was also manufactured
all over the country.
o Usually, we get references to three types of sugarcane products; the
gur or jaggery; the powder sugar and the finer excellence granules
called candy.
▪ The jaggery was made in all sugarcane producing areas and

was mainly consumed locally.
▪ The other two qualities were manufactured mainly in Bengal,
Orissa, Ahmedabad, Lahore, Multan and parts of Northern
India.
o Cane-press was operated manually or with animal power.
o Bengal sugar was considered the best and was in great demand for
export to Europe and Persia.
o Extraction of oil was also mostly a village-based industry. The oilseeds
were put to a simple oil-press operated manually or through animal
power. The specialised caste involved in extracting the oil was called
telis. The residual product was used for animal feed.
Minerals, Mining And Metals
Deep mining was not carried out in the 16th and 17th centuries in India, but surface
mining for a large number of minerals and metal was practiced.
Mineral Production
• Salt: it was the essential commodity in which India seems to have been self-
sufficient.
o The sources of salt were the Sambhar lake in Rajputana, the Punjab
rock-salt mines and sea water. Sea salt was made mainly in Sind, the
Rann of Cutch, other coasts of Gujarat, Malabar, Mysore and Bengal,
etc.
o Since salt was not available in all parts of the country, it was one of the
major articles of trade at regional and inter-regional stage.
• Saltpetre was one of the most significant mineral products and primarily
used as an ingredient for gun powder.
o Initially, saltpetre was extracted at Ahmedabad. Baroda, etc. But since
the supply could not meet the demand, it started to be made even in
the Delhi-Agra region. Though, through the second half of the
seventeenth century, Patna in Bihar became an significant centre for
procuring saltpetre.
o While obtaining, Indian artisans used earthen pans for boiling. The
Europeans used iron or copper pans for boiling. Tavernier (17th
century) found that Dutch were using boilers imported from Holland.
• Other minerals such as alum and mica were produced on small level.
Metals:
• India did not have gold and silver mines in the proper sense. The wellknown
gold mines of Kolar were not explored. Though, small quantities of gold were
obtained from river beds, but the cost of procurement was more than its
value.
• Rajasthan was the main centre for copper production where copper mines
existed (at Khetri).
• Iron was the most commonly found metal. Iron mines were widely
distributed in the north, east, west, central and southern parts of the country.
o Abul Fazl records Bengal, Allahabad, Agra, Bihar, Gujarat, Delhi and
Kashmir as iron producing regions. Chhotanagpur in Bihar and
adjoining regions of Orissa also produced large quantities.
o The iron found in the south was converted into steel. This steel was
used for the manufacture of Damascus swords, admired all over the
world.
• Lead was found in north and western India.
• Damond: The diamond miners of Golconda were most famous. Other places
like Panna in Madhya Pradesh and Chhotanagpur in Bihar.
Wood-Based Crafts
• Palanquins and bullock-drawn carts.
• Boats. both small and large one.
• The ports on the Arabian sea as well as the Bay of Bengal, such as Thattah
Surat, Bassein, Goa, Cochin, Masulipatam Satgaon and Chittagong were
significant ship-building centres.
• When the Europeans intensified their activities, they got their ships repaired
at these places. They found Indian ships better suited for eastern waters and,
hence, they purchased ships built in India.
• Other uses: doors,windows, furniture boxes etc.
Miscellaneous Crafts
• Stone-cutting was an significant craft as stones were widely used in the
construction of houses, palaces, forts, temples, etc. Indian stone-masons were
recognized for their skill.
• Other items of non-agricultural production were leather goods such as shoes,
saddles, book covers, etc., manufactured all over the country.
• Paper:
o Paper was manufactured in a number of centres, such as Ahmedabad,
Daulatabad, Lahore, Sialkot, Biharsharif close to Patna, etc.
▪ Ahmedabad paper was of several variety and was exported to
Arabia, Turkey and Persia.
▪ The paper from Kashmir was also famous.
o The manufacture in South India was limited.
o Most of the paper was hand made and of a coarse variety.
• Pottery:
o earthenwares for cooking, storing water and granules, etc.
o The most of the houses had earthen tiled (khaprail) roof.
o Apart from coarse pottery, fine crockery was also made. Manucci
(1663) mentions the manufacture of earthen crockery which was
finer than glass and lighter than paper.
o Glass manufacturing was also undertaken in many parts of the
country.
o Other items produced through Indian craftsmen included soap,
objects of ivory and shell, articles of horn, etc.
o Many crafts were forest-based. Among them, lac was used for the
manufacture of bangles, varnishing doors and windows and toys and
for preparing a red dye. Bengal lac was measured to be the best. It was
also used for sealings.
o Pearl fisheries were also practiced in the sea waters along
the southern coast.
Organization Of Production
The organization of production varied in dissimilar crafts and industries in
accordance with the needs and requirements of that craft.
Village Artisans:
• The artisans in rural areas, who produced articles of daily use, shaped a
regular part of the village establishment called jajmani system.
• The most crucial services were those of the blacksmiths, carpenters, potters
and shoemakers. Usually, they were paid in kind.
• The system was much more organised in Deccan and Maharashtra where
village artisans and servants were called balutedars. There was one more
group of workers in Deccan called alutedars which were also included in
some regions.
• With the money economy penetrating into the rural areas and also the rising
demand. the situation in this subsistence-oriented system started changing.
o By the 17th century, Payments in cash and type for kind for
additional work, or entirely on a piece-work basis, co-existed with the
more widespread practice of allocating fixed shares of the rural
produce and/or land to the artisan families.
o By the mid-18th century the entire production for the long and
medium distance trade was dependent on artisans who were fully
weaned from the jajmani system.
• With the increase in demand, it seems the rural artisan catered to urban
markets also. The village artisan seems to be quite mobile and would move
from one village to another or to the nearby towns.
Production for the market:
• Production for the market was mainly done at the independent artisan-level
production.
• The high stage of specialization is most apparent in the textile manufacture.
o Almost every operation was performed through a different group of
workmen like carding, spinning of yarn, winding silk thread, weaving
of cloth, bleaching, dyeing, printing and painting of cloth, etc.
• Peasants in villages played a important role by taking up several
manufacturing activities. In almost all the agro based crafts like indigo, sugar
and others like spinning of silk and cotton yarn, manufacture of salt and
saltpetre, they were at the core of manufacturing activity.
• The localization of manufacture was a important feature.
o The different regions specialised in the production of certain crafts.
o The European traders tell us that they had to go from place to place to
procure the desired commodities.
o Masulipatam and Benaras each are said to have around 7000 weavers.
Likewise, Qasimbazar had approximately 2500 silk weavers.
• At the individual artisan-level production, the artisan himself procured the
raw material and tools, performed the manufacture and also retailed the
products. The working place was invariably the house of the craftsman or
artisan. The artisans had little capital to work with. So, the individual output
was small and merchants had to create great efforts to procure it. The quality
also differed.
• Dadni: These problems gave rise to a revised form of production called dadni
or a sort of putting-out system. In dadni the money was advanced to artisans
through the merchants and the artisans promised to deliver the goods at a
given time. Here the merchant was in a position to dictate his
specifications. The practice in textiles sector became so widespread that it
was hard to obtain cloth without making advance payment to the artisans. In
South India, practically all the artisan settlements along the Coromandal
coast were under the control of one trader or another.
o The system of dadni empowered the buyer to dictate the quality and
quantity of the goods produced. The artisan got the much needed
money to buy raw material with the guarantee of the sale of the goods
made, but he lost his control over sale.
Manufactories:
• In 1620-21, the English factory at Patna estabilished probably the first such
unit for winding silk yarn and employed approximately 100 workmen. The
Dutch at Qasimbazar employed 700-800 weavers in their silk factory. But
such instances are just sporadic.
• Another specialised area where large number of workmen were assembled
to work at one place were ship building and building construction.
• There were two other production sectors where large number of workmen
(though not very skilled artisans) were employed.
o Diamond mines of Golconda and Deccan. The miners were paid
wages per day. Similarly, in Bihar approximately 8000 men used to
come to diamond mines in the season of mining (December-January).
These people were usually peasants and workers who came to work
here after sowing their fields.
o Production of saltpetre: In this case also large number of people
worked under one master in small groups. In Bihar they were called
nooneas. With the rising demand, the Dutch and English recognized
their own units for refining saltpetre. The workmen in their refineries
were to work with the equipment provided through these European
companies.
Karkhanas
• Karkhanas were part of the royal establishment and also of the nobles. These
produced things for the consumption of the royal household and the court.
• Many high nobles also had their own karkhanas. Usually expensive and
luxury items Were produced here. Skilled artisans were employed to work
under one roof to manufacture things needed. They were supervised through
state officials.
• The need for such karkhanas arose because the artisans on their own were
not in a position to invest vast amounts required for royal needs. Because of
valuable raw material, the state also did not want to provide these to artisans
to work at their own places. Their production was not for the market but for
personal consumption of the king and nobles.
Thus, the process of production was undergoing a change during this period. A lot
was happening, but on a limited level, and the sum total of new developments did
not amount to a break with the past. Continuity was still the dominant feature. Yet
the changes in organization were more basic than those in technique.
INLAND AND FOREIGN TRADE

During this period, political stability and enhanced production gave fillip to trading
activities.
Inland Trade
Local and Regional Trade

• Land revenue was realized in cash. This meant that the surplus agricultural
produce was to be sold. Bulk of this was sold in the village itself. Most of
this purchase was made through banjaras—the traditional grain merchants.
They in turn, carried it to other towns and markets.
o Tavernier (a French traveller who came to India in the second half of
the 17th century) says that in approximately every village could be
bought rice, flour, butter, milk, vegetables, sugar and other sweets. In
some villages even sheep, goat, fowl, etc. were available. Every big
village would have even a sarraf or money-changer.
• Every locality had markets in the nearby towns where people from the
nearby areas would come to buy and sell things.
• Also there were hat and penth where people from the villages could
exchange or buy things of their daily need. These hats or penths were
periodic markets which were held on fixed days in a week. Sometimes there
were hats for specific goods.
• In these local markets, foodgrains, salt, simple tools and equipments of wood
and iron for agriculture and domestic needs and coarse cotton textiles were
available.
• These local markets existed in all small townships and bigger villages.
Banarsi Das writing in relation to the Jaunpur approximately the middle of
the 17th century noted that it had 52 parganas, 52 markets and 52 wholesale
markets or mandis. This suggest that approximately every pargana had a
market and a wholesale market.
• These markets were linked to bigger commercial centres (cities) in a region.
These cities had large number of sarais (rest house) for convenience of
merchants and travellers.
• There were some towns that specialised in the trading of specific
commodities: for example, Burhampur (cotton mandi), Ahmedabad (cotton
textiles), Cambay (gems market), Surat-Sarkhej (indigo), Agra for Bayana
indigo, etc.
• Commercial centres had mints which struck silver, copper and at some places
gold coins.
Inter-Regional Trade
During this period trade between different regions of India was quite developed.
The main commodities of large level interregional trade were foodgrains and
various sorts of textiles. Luxury items, metals and weapons also occupied a
prominent place in the long distance trade.

• In the east:
o Bengal had well developed trade relations with all parts of India.Hugli
was one of the most prominent centres of trade. Bengal supplied
foodgrains to all parts of the country.
o Textiles produced in Lakhawar (nearby Patna), were bought by
merchants coming from all parts of India and even abroad.
o The large-scale silk manufacture in Gujarat and Bihar was totally
dependent on the raw silk from Bengal.
• In the west:
o Ahmedabad and Surat, the biggest commercial centres of the period,
attracted textiles from south, north and the eastern parts of
India. Here they were bleached and dyed for onwards sale.
o Gujarat received all its supply of pepper and spices from Malabar
coast. Textiles were taken from Gujarat to Multan and Lahore. Gujarat
received lac from Bengal; the Sarkhej indigo, well-known for its
quality, was also taken from Gujarat to all parts of India.
• In the north:
o Agra received large quantities of silk from Bengal. Carpets and
textiles from the Awadh region were taken to Gujarat, Bengal, Patna,
Lahore and Multan.
o The saffron, wood products, fruits and woollen shawls, etc. from
Kashmir found their method to the markets of north, west and east
India. Kashmir supplied ice to Lahore, Multan, Agra and Delhi.
o Paper from Shahzadpur (close to Allahabad) was taken to all parts of
India.
o The famous indigo from Bayana (close to Agra) was taken to Lahore,
Multan and southern parts.
o The famous marble from Rajasthan was taken to all parts of the
country.
o Foodgrains from north were taken to Gujarat.
• In the south:
o Most of the trade from south was beside the coast.
o Large quantities of Bengal indigo were sold in Masulipatan. The
tobacco from Masulipatam was taken to Bengal.
o Pepper and spices of the Malabar coast were taken to Bijapur,
Coromandel, the Konkan coast,
o Diamonds from Golkunda mines were taken to all parts of India.
o Salt produced mainly in Rajasthan and Punjab was taken to all parts
of north and south India.
o The main sources of iron were Gwalior in central India, Rajasthan,
Punjab and Sindh.
o Good quality steel was made in Cutch in Gujarat, some places in
Deccan and South India.
Coastal Trade
• This coastal trade was most prominent on the western coast.

• Piracy on the western coast was rampant. As a result most of the traffic here
was conducted through convoys. While on the eastern coast small boats plied
throughout the year.
• Boats ladden with copper, zinc, tin, tobacco, spices and chintz came from
Coromandal coast to the coastal towns of Bengal. Coromandal coast in turn
received copper, mercury, cinnanbar, pepper etc., from Gujarat, and spices
from Malabar.
• The movement of coastal trade was most prominent between Sind-Cambay;
Gujarat-Malabar; Bengal-Coromandal; and Malabar-Coromandal.
Foreign Trade
Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries also India had a flourishing trade with a
large number of foreign countries. The important aspect of foreign trade throughout
this period is the coming of the Europeans. This increased India's foreign trade
manifold. Most of this trade was in the form of exports of Indian goods. The imports
were very small.
Exports
Textiles, saltpetre and indigo shaped the major share of Indian exports. Other
significant items were sugar, opium spices and other sundry commodities.
• Textiles:
o The rising exports contributed to the increase in production and
production reached new heights.
o Before the coming of the Europeans, the main purchasers of Indian
cotton textiles were the Mughals, Khorasanis, Iraqis and Armenians
who carried them to Central Asia, Persia and Turkey. These goods
purchased from all parts of India were taken through land route via
Lahore.
o The main diversities of cotton fabrics were baftas, Samanis, Calico,
Khairabadi and Dariabadi, Amberty and Qaimkhani and muslin and
other cotton cloths. Later on, several diversities of cotton textiles
from Eastern coast were also procured.
o Chintz or printed cotton textiles were the most favourite items of
export. Carpets from Gujarat, Jaunpur and Bengal were also bought.
o Silk cloth from Gujarat and Bengal also occupied a prominent place.
Beside woven cloth, there was a demand for cotton and silk yarn also.
• Saltpetre:
o Saltpetre, one of the significant ingredients for creation gunpowder
was much in demand in Europe.
o There are no references to its export in the 16th century. In the 17th
century, the Dutch started exporting it from Coromandal.
o In the first half of 17th century, the Dutch and the English were
exporting moderate quantities from Coromandal, Gujarat and Agra.
o In the second half of the 17th century, its trade from Bihar via Orissa
and Bengal ports started. Soon Bihar became the most significant
supplier.
• Indigo:
o Indigo for blue dye was produced in most of northern India — Punjab,
Sind and Gujarat. The indigo from Sarkhej (Gujarat) and Bayana (close
to Agra) was much in demand for exports.
o Europe‘s demand was very large for dyeing woollen cloths.
o Merchants from Persia purchased it for Asiatic markets and Eastern
Europe.
o In17th century, the Dutch, English, Persians, Mughals, and Armenians
competed to procure Indigo.
• Other Commodities:
o Opium was bought by the French, the Dutch and the English
Companies mostly from Bihar and Malwa.
o Bengal sugar was bought by the Dutch and English Companies.
o Ginger was exported to Europe through the Dutch.
o Turmeric, ginger and aniseed (saunf) were exported by the
Armenian.
o Large level trading operations were mannered flanked by the ports of
Gujarat and Indonesian archipelago. From here cotton textiles were
taken in bulk to Indonesia and spices were brought in return. Brightly
coloured cotton cloth and chintz from India were in great demand. A
large part of this trade was later on taken through Coromandal from
where textiles were exported to Indonesian islands and spices were
imported from there.
Imports
As compared to exports from India, the imports were limited to only a few select
commodities.
• Silver (main item of import), copper, Lead and mercury were important.
• Silk and porcelain from China were imported into India through the
English.
• Good quality wine, carpets and perfumes were brought from Persia.
• Some items like cut glass, watches, silver utensils, woollen cloths and
small weapons from Europe were in demand through the artistocracy in
India.
• Horses from Central Asia were imported in large number for military uses.
The state was the main purchaser. Besides,
• India had trade relations with its immediate neighbors in the hill kingdoms.
Musk was brought from Nepal and Bhutan to India. Borax was also imported
from Tibet and Nepal. Iron and food granules were supplied in return to
these hill regions.
Trade Routes And Means Of Transport
Trade Routes
• Inland Trade Routes:
o There was an elaborate network of trade routes linking all the
commercial centres of the Empire by the beginning of the 17th
century.
o Rains badly affected the condition of road. There are records from
travellers lamenting the bad muddy condition of Surat-Burhanpur
route throughout the rains.
o To mark the alignment of roads as also to indicate the distance
travelled, the state provided towers recognized as kosminars.
Though, only those routes which were traversed more regularly had
kosminars.
o All the prominent routes had sarais at short intervals.
o Important trade routes:
▪ Agra-Delhi-Kabul.
▪ Agra-Burhanpur-Surat.
▪ Surat-Ahmedabad-Agra.
▪ Agra-Patna-Bengal.
• Routes for Foreign Trade:
o Overland Route:
▪ The most frequented overland route throughout the medieval
period was the one linked with the 'great silk route‘. The
great silk route’s beginning from Beijing passed through
Central Asia via Kashighar, Samarqand and Balkh and Kabul.
Indian hinterlands were linked with this great route at Lahore.
▪ It passed through Multan, Qandahar, Baghdad, and after
crossing the Euphrates it reached Aleppo. From there, the
commodities were taken to Europe abroad ships.
o Overseas Route:
▪ Western route:
• Before the discovery of the sea route via the Cape of
Good Hope, the most frequented sea routes in the north
were:
o From Cambay, Surat, Thatta to the Persian Gulf
and Red Sea;
o From other parts like Dabhor, Cochin and Calicut
to Aden and Mocha (a port city on the Red Sea
coast of Yemen). At Mocha certain commodities
were carried via Red sea and then through
overland route to Alexandria via Cairo.
• With the rounding of the Cape of Good Hope, the

European countries got new openings. Now they no
more depended on Alexandria or Aleppo.
▪ Eastern routes: From Hugli, Masulipatnam and Pulicat,
commodities were sent directly to Achin, Batavia and Malacca.
Means of Transport
• Land Transport:
o Oxen used as pack animals for carrying load on their backs. We get
references to grain merchants traveling with 10000-20000 pack
animals in one caravan called tanda. Apart from the banjaras, other
merchants also used them for transporting goods.
o Oxen-drawn carts were also used to transport goods.
o Camels were commonly used in the western part of the country for
carrying goods.
o On high mountain regions, mules and hill ponies were used to carry
heavy loads. Here human Labor was also employed.
• River transport:
o Boats was used most frequently in Bengal and Sindh. There was
regular traffic between Agra and Bengal through boats.
o Patella was also used (a type of flat boat).
o Faster and cheaper.
▪ From Multan to Thatta the goods through river would cost Rs.
3/4 per maund, while for a shorter distance through land it
would cost approximately Rs. 2 per maund.
Administration And Trade

The Mughal Emperors took keen interest in the trading activities. Their policy was
to encourage trade and offer concessions to merchants from time to time.
Customs and Road Tax

• The policy concerning these taxes changed periodically.
o Jahangir abolished customs on the trade with Kabul and Qandahar.
o Throughout the famine of Gujarat, tax on a number of commodities
were remitted.
o Aurangzeb at his accession in 1659, abolished tolls and taxes on food
stuffs.
o Aurangzeb at one stage abolished all road tolls.
• There are number of royal orders and decrees abolishing taxes and customs
on certain items.
• According to the decrees of the Emperors, the state policy towards trade
appears to be liberal but in actual practice the scene was different.
Attitude of the Administration
• The provincial governors, subordinate officers of the markets and customs
officers were most of the time reluctant to enforce liberal policies.
• They were always looking for methods to fleece the merchants. The dues
collected were often appropriated through officials themselves. The problem
was further aggravated when the officials themselves indulged in trade.
Nobles and high officials regularly tried to establish monopolies on certain
articles of trade.
o Prince Shuja, the son of Shah Jahan had wide ranging trade interests.
o Mir Jumla, a high noble, tried to establish his monopoly in Bengal.
o Shaista Khan also forced the English to sell all their goods and silver
to him in return of which they were assured free supply of saltpetre.
• Legally, the officers and nobles were not debarred from undertaking
business activities. The problem was that competition was replaced through
coercion and exploitation by those in power.
• Often foreign Companies,merchants and individuals complained against
official high-handedness. There are royal orders and decrees granting relief.
But, because of the poor means of communication and long distances the
relief was delayed or at times not implemented at all.
• In spite of these hurdles, trade kept rising, attracting merchants from several
countries.
PERSONNEL OF TRADE AND COMMERCIAL

PRACTICES
PERSONNEL OF TRADE
Main personnel were merchants, sarrafs, moneylenders and brokers. The same
person did two or more tasks at the same time.
(1) Merchants:
Theoretically, vaisyas were supposed to indulge in commercial activities, but in
actual practice people from a wide range of background could and did participate in
it.
Banjaras:
• The banjaras was a trading group who carried on trade between villages and
between villages and towns in a region and even at inter-regional level. They
were an important link for rural-urban trade.
• The Banjaras confined their trading activities to some limited commodities
like grain, pulses, sugar, salt, etc. They procured a number of animals (mainly
oxen to carry the load) and moved from place to place buying and selling
goods.
o Jahangir in his Tuzuk-i Jahanglri records: "In this country the
Banjaras are a fixed class of people, who possess a thousand oxen, or
more or less, varying in numbers. They bring grain from the villages to
the towns, and also accompany armies".
• The Banjaras generally moved with their families and household in groups.
These groups moving together were called a Tanda. Each Tanda had its chief
called Nayaka. At times a Tanda could have upto 600-700 persons (including
women and children), each family having their oxen.
• The Banjaras were both Hindus and Muslims. Some scholars divide them into
four groups on the basis of commodities they traded in: grain, pulses, sugar,
salt, and wood and timber.
• The Banjaras operated in many parts of North India, but there were other
similar traders known by different names.
o The Nahmardls was one such group of traders operating in Sindh.
o Another was the Bhotiyas operating between the Himalayas and
plains.
Merchants in Different Reglons:
• Baniyas (a vaisya subcaste):
o Were the leading merchants in North India and Deccan.
o They belonged to the Hindu and Jain (mainly in Gujarat and
Rajasthan) communities. Their counterparts were the Khatris in
Punjab and Kornatis in Golkunda.
o Many of the Baniyas carried surnames pointing to the place of their

origin.
▪ The Agarwals came from Agroha (in present Haryana) and the
Oswals from Osi in Marwar.
▪ Marwar gave probably the highest number of traders who are
generally referred to as Marwaris. They were the most
eminent merchant group during that period and were found in
all part of India.
▪ There was a close caste bond between these merchants. They
had their councils (mahajan).
o Contemporary European travellers (Linschoten, 1583-89; Tavernier,
1656-67) marvelled at the skills of the Baniyes as merchants and had
all praise for their accountinq and book-keeping.
o The Baniyas unlike Banjaras were involved in all sorts of trading
activities.
▪ At the village level, they traded in grain and other agricultural
produce. They also acted as moneylenders, giving loans to
peasants and other people including state officials and nobles.
▪ In towns they dealt in grain, textiles, gold, silver, jewels, spices
and sundry other commodities.
o Some of them possessed assets of millions of rupees. They owned
ships also. The community as a whole was known for simplicity and
frugality.
• Khatris: In the region of Punjab, the Khatris were a major trading
community. Guru Nanak was also a Khatri. Many of them were converted to
Islam. They belong to Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.
• Multanis were an important trading community of Delhi, parts of Punjab and
Sindh in the 13-17th centuries.
• Bohras were important merchants of Gujarat. They were mostly Muslims.
They were an urban community mainly based in Gujarat and other western
parts. Apart from Gujarat, they had some settlements in Ujjain and
Burhanpur.
o The Bohra merchants like Mulla Muhammad Ali and Ahmed Ali had
assets of millions of rupees.
• Khojahs and Kutchi Memons of Gujarat were Among Muslims, other
merchant communities operating on the western coast.
South India: There were various merchant groups:
• Chetti (from Sanskrit Shreshthi (Seth)): were very wealthy merchants.
• Kling: were along the Coromandal coast up to Orissa.
• Komatis: Worked as brokers for textiles and were suppliers of various
products from hinterland to the port towns on southern coast. They were
mainly Telugu speaking.
• Chulias were also divided into four sub-groups. Of these, the Marakkayar
were the wealthiest merchants dealing in the coastal and South East Asian
trade. This was a very mobile group. They mainly dealt in textiles, arecanuts,
spices, grain, dried fish, salt, pearls and precious metals. They had also
settled in Ceylon,Maldives,Malacca etc.
• Chrutian Paravas: were active in trade from Coromandal to Malabar and
Ceylon. They specialised in coastal trading and brokerage.
• Among the Muslims:
o Golkunda Muslims were involved in overseas shipping. They were
prominent in south of Madras and were the main merchants in Bay of
Bengal region.
o Mopilla Muslims of Indo-Arab origin were also important merchants
in the region.
Foreign Merchants
The foreign merchants were present in almost all commercial centres of the period.
• Europeans.
• Armenians: dealt in all sorts of commodities from textiles to tobacco. They
were settled in Bengal, Bihar and Gujarat.
• Khorasanis, Arabs and Iraqis also frequented Indian markets.
(2) Moneylenders and Sarrafs:
• In large parts of Northern India, the traditional merchants played a dual
role as traders as well as moneylenders.
o In villages we hear of traditional Baniya lending money to individual
peasants to pay land revenue.
o In towns and bigger places also merchants acted as moneylenders.
• Sarrafs: Another category among the personnel of trade which played a
significant role. They performed three distinct functions:
o As money-changers;
▪ As money-changers, they were considered as experts in
judging the metallic purityof coins as well as their weight.
They also determined their current exchange rate.
▪ The sarraf was also a part of Mughal mint establishment. Every
mint had a sarraf who would fix the purity of bullion. He also
verified the purity of coins after minting.
o As bankers:
▪ As bankers, they would receive deposits and give loans on
interest. They used to issue bills of exchange or hundis and
honour the ones issued by others.
▪ According to Tavernier, "In India, a village must be very small
indeed if it has not a money changer called "Cherab" (Sarraf),
who acts as banker to make remittances of money and issue
letters of exchange".
o As traders of gold, silver and jewellery.
(3) Brokers (Dallals):
• They worked as middlemen in various commercial activities and
transactions. Merchants from foreign lands and distant regions heavily
dependend on them.
• The need for brokers in India was mainly due to

o Centres of production for the same commodities were scattered all
over the country;
o Individual output of these centres was small (some centres
specialised in particular commodities only)
o Large number of buyers competing for the same commodities in the
same markets.
• There are innumerable references to the transaction done through brokers.
o The English East India Company records refer to brokers being
employed at their different factories.
o Fryer (late 17th Century) says that "without brokers neither the
natives nor the foreigners did any business".
• Indian brokers were to be found in foreign ports also. They were operating at
Gombroon (Bandar Abbas), Basra, Bandar Rig, etc.
• Sometimes, the whole family worked as brokers in partnership.
o Bhimji Parak, a prominent broker, had a joint business with his
brothers.
• A. Jan Qaisar divides brokers into 4 categories:
o Those employed by companies or merchants.
o Those who worked for several clients
o Those who worked on an adhoc basis as broker-contractors, and
o State appointed brokers at commercial centres to register sale and
purchase of article.
• The brokers operating independently can be divided in various groups on the
basis of their areas of partnerships.
o Some dealt only in one specific commodity like silk, saltpetre, cotton,
textile, indigo, etc.
o Others dealt in more than one commodity.
o Some worked as sub-brokers or under brokers for a well-established
broker.
• Fee and Commission: Brokers' fees or commission was not strictly fixed. It
depended on the commodity and the efforts of the broker to strike the deal
or the labour involved in procuring the commodity.
o In ordinary dealings, the brokerage was two per cent of the value of
transaction. One per cent was charged from each of the parties
(buyers and sellers).
o Brokers who were in regular employment were paid fixed salaries
and also some commission in some deals.
• Besides helping their clients in procuring and selling goods, the brokers
played a key role in the organisation of production. Most of the money
advanced (dadni) to the artisans were made through brokers.
Commercial Practices
Bills of Exchange (Hundi)
• Hundi was a paper document promising payment of money after a period of

time at a certain place.
• Practice started because of the troubles involved in carrying large amounts of
cash for commercial transactions.
o The merchants interested in carrying cash to a scrupulous place
would deposit it with a sarraf who would issue a hundi to the
merchant. The merchant was to present it to the agent of the sarraf at
his destination and encash it.
• Widespread use of Hundi:
o In due course, hundi itself became an instrument of transaction. It
could be presented against a transaction. It could also be freely
bought or sold in the market after endorsement.
o Irfan Habib: The negotiability of hundi led to a situation in which
large number of hundis were simply drawn and honoured against
other hundis without the intermediation of actual cash payments. In
this process, it became a medium of payment.
o The use of hundi was so widespread that even the imperial treasury
and state were using it.
▪ In 1599, the state treasury sent Rs. 3,00,000 to the army in
Deccan through a hundi.
▪ Tributes paid through Golkunda (Rs. 10,00,000) and Ghakkar
Chief (Rs. 50,000) to the Mughal Emperor were also
transferred through hundis.
o We have few references where provincial officials were instructed to
transfer the revenue through hundis. Even the senior nobles would
take the help of the sarrafs to transfer their personal wealth.
▪ Muqarrab Khan, the governor of Bihar, when transferred to
Agra, gave Rs. 3,00,000 to the sarraf at Patna to be delivered at
Agra.
o Several big merchants also issued hundi. Such merchants and sarrafs
had their mediators at significant commercial centres. At times,
members of one family (father, son, brother, nephew) worked as
mediators for each other. Big firms had their mediators even outside
the country.
• Rate charged:
o A commission was charged through the sarrafs on each hundi.
o The rate of exchange depended on the rate of interest prevalent and
the period for which it was drawn. The period was calculated from the
date of issue to its presentation for redemption.
o The rate fluctuated as it also depended on the availability of money at
the time of issue and maturity. If money supply was good, the rate
would drop. In case of scarcity, the rates rise.
▪ According to Irfan Habib, a sudden spurt of payment in any
direction might make pressure upon the sarrafs for cash at one
place, while leaving more in their hands at another, a situation
that they could rectify through discouraging remittances from

the former to the latter and encouraging reverse remittance
through modifying the exchange rate.
o In normal times 1.5 per cent was charged for hundis from Patna to
Agra and 7-8 per cent from Patna to Surat.
Banking
• The sarrafs, separately from issuing bills of exchange, also received money
for safe deposit. This was returned to depositor on demand. The depositor
was paid some Interest on his deposits. The rate of interest payable to
depositors kept changing.
o The rates accessible for Agra, for 1645 and Surat for 1630 works out
approximately nine and half per cent per annum.
• The bankers in turn would provide money on loan to the needy on a higher
rate of interest.
• We have references where state officers gave money from treasury to these
bankers and kept the interest with them.
o The rise of Jagat Seth of Bengal to financial eminence was partly due
to the access they had to the Bengal treasury as a source of credit".
• The sarrafs were honest in dealings. Even strangers could deposit thousands
for safe keeping and demand it any time.
Usury and Rate of Interest
• Much of trading was mannered through the money taken on interest.
• Usually the sarrafs and merchants both indulged in money lending.
Sometimes the moneylenders were called Sah, a separate category.
• The loans were taken for several purposes.
o The money was taken on loan through peasants for paying revenue
and repaid at harvest.
o Nobles and zamindars would take it for their day-to-day expenses
and repay it at the time of revenue collection.
o Money lending for business purposes was also very common.
• The rate of interest depended mainly on the individual's need, his credit in
the market and his bargaining power.
o Peasants took loans at a high rate of 150 per cent per annum in Bengal
in the eighteenth century.
o Sources usually refer to interest rates per month. Irfan Habib says that
the rate of interest expressed for the month suggests that the loans
were usually for short periods.
o The rate of interest for Patna in 1620-21 is given as 9 per cent per
annum, while approximately 1680 it seems more than 15 per cent.
o The rates at Agra and Surat throughout the 17th century ranged
flanked by 6 and 12 per cent per annum.
• The English factory kept a vigilant eye on the interest rates and would supply
money to their factories in several regions after taking loans from the places
where interest was lowest.
• The diffrence in interest rates in various regions suggests that the integration
of financial market had not taken place.
• Bottomry:
o A number of uncertainities and risks were involved in long distance
sea voyages. These uncertainties gave rise to a new practice called
'avog' or bottomry.
o It was a type of speculative investment. Money was lent at high rates
ranging between 14 to 60 per cent (depending on the risks involved).
o The money was lent to be invested in a cargo for a particular
destination. The lenders were to bear all the risks of voyage.
Partnership
• In partnership, the merchants pooled their recources to carry on trade. Some
persons shaped joint ventures for overseas trade.
• Two nobles, Nawab Qutbuddin Khan and Nawab Qilich Khan built a ship and
taken to trading jointly throughout Akbar's reign.
• Even brokers at times accepted their joint ventures.
o In 1662, two brokers Chhota Thakur and Somiji of Surat, bought a
ship (Mayflower)in partnership.
Insurance/Bima (Inland and Marine)
• It was prevalent in limited scale. In several cases, the sarrafs used to take
responsibility for the safe delivery of goods.
o The english factory records refer to such practice.
o The rate for sea voyages(both the ship and the goods aboard were
insured) were higher than going though land.
• By 18th century, the practice was well established and widely practised.
Merchants, Trading Organizations And The State
• The merchants were also charged customs and toll taxes on movements of
goods. Though, the income from these sources was very small as compared
to land revenue.
• The kotwal and his staff in the towns had responsibility for the maintenance
of law and order and providing peace and security.
• The rules and laws governing the day-to-day business were usually framed
through the business community itself. Merchants had their own guilds and
organizations which framed rules.
• In Gujarat, these were called mahajan. The mahajan was the organization of
traders dealing in a specific commodity in a particular area irrespective of
their castes. The term mahajan was at times used for big merchants also
because they were the heads of their organization. There were separate caste
based organizations also.
o The mahajans resolved disputes among the merchants. Their
decisions were respected by all.
o The Mughal administration also recognised these mahajans and took
their help in matters of conflicts and disputes or to seek support for
administrative policies.
• The most influential and wealthy merchant of the town was called nagar seth.
Sometimes it was treated as hereditary title, Nagar seth was a link flanked by
the state and the trading community.
• The merchant organizations were strong and fought against high-
handedness or repressive events of the officers of town and ports.
They called for hartal against administrative events. The huge loss of revenue
made administrators respond to the protest. Examples of such events
o In Surat in 1669, a large number of businessmen with their families
left Surat to protest against the tyranny of the new governor. They
settled at Broach and sent petitions to Emperor Aurangzeb. The
trading activities in the town came to a halt. The Emperor quickly
intervened and the problem was resolved.
o In 1639, Shah Jahan invited Virji Vohra, one of the biggest merchants
of Surat, to enquire into the grievances of merchants against the
governor of Surat.
o Throughout the war of succession in the middle of Shah Jahan‘s sons,
Murad raised Rs. 5,50,000 through Shantidas, the nagar seth of
Ahmedabad. After Murad‘s death, Aurangzeb owned the responsibility
for paying it.
• The merchants did not take much interest in politics.
• While merchants kept absent from court politics, the nobles did venture into
trading. Big nobles used their official position to gain profit from trade.
o Shaista Khan tried to monopolise a number of commodities, especially
saltpetre.
o Mir Jumla, another prominent noble, was a diamond merchant.
• A number of subordinate officers at local stage also indulged in business
activities using coercive methods.
POPULATION IN MUGHAL INDIA

The Indian population statistics properly begin only with the census of 1872. For the
Mughal Empire, there is practicallly absolute dearth of demographic data: Akbar is
said to have ordered a detailed account of population, but its result have not come
down to us. Even the Ai'n-i Akbari which contains variety of statistical information,
offers no estimate of population.
ESTIMATES OF POPULATION OF MUGHAL INDIA

• No phase of economic history can be studied without allowing for
demographic factor. For pre-modern societies, population growth is often
considered as a major index of economic growth.
• Estimating population on the Basis of the Extent. of Cultivated Area:
o Moreland was the first to make such estimate and he used land: man
and civilian: soldier ratios to estimate the then Indian population.
o He with help of A'in-i Akbari tried to estimate population of north
India. He took arazi (measured area) to represent the gross cropped
area. He assumed a constant correspondence between the extent of
cultivation and the size of the population. He concluded that from
"Multan to Monghyr" there were 30 to 40 million people at the end of
the 16th century.
• Applying Civilian: Soldier Ratio:
o For the Deccan and South India, Moreland took as the basis of his
calculations the military strength of the Vijaynagar Empire and
Deccan Sultanates. Taking a rather arbitrary ratio of 1:30 between the
soldiers and civilian population, he estimated the population of the
reign at 30 millions.
o Allowing for other territories lying within the pre-1947 limits of India
but not covered by his two basic assumption, he put the population of
Akbar's Empire in 1600 at 60 millions, and of India as a whole at 100
millions.
• Limitation of Moreland's work :
o These estimates received wide acceptance. Nevertheless, Moreland’s
basic assumptions (and therefore his figures) are questionable. For
estimating the population of Northern India he makes the
assumptions that (a) measurement was made of the cultivated land
only; and (b) it was carried out by the Mughal administration to
completion in all localities for which any figures are offered.
o It has been shown on the basis of textual as well as statistical evidence
that the arazi of the A'in was area measured for revenue purposes
which included, besides the cultivated area current, fallows and some
cultivable and uncultivable waste. Moreover, measurement by no
means was completed everywhere.
o Thus, Moreland's estimate of the population of Northern India loses

much of its credibility.
o It is weaker still for Deccan and South India. The army: civilian
ratio is not only arbitrary but undependable; The military: civilian
ratios maintainable in modern states and economies are so variable.
Any of these can by no stretch of the imagination be used to set limits
for the range of military: civilian ratios in pre-modern regimes in the
tropical zones. Moreland's count of the number of troop in the
Deccan kingdoms was based on very general statements by
European travellers.
o Moreland has given inadequate weight to the areas outside the two
regions (North and South). To make an appropriate allowance for
these regions, Kingsley Davis raised Moreland's estimate for the
whole of India to 125 millions in his book Population of India and
Pakistan. This modification does not remove the more substantial
objections to Moreland's method indicated above.
• In spite of the various objections to the estimates of Moreland, it still remains
legitimate to use the extent of cultivation to make an estimate of
population. The arazi figures of the A'in can provide the means of working
out the extent of cultivation in 1601.
• Work of Shireen Moosvi:
o Making allowance for cultivable and uncultivable waste included in
the arazi and establishing the extent of measurement in various parts
of the Mughal Empire, Shireen Moosvi in her book “Economy of the
Mughal Empire” has concluded that the area under cultivation in
Mughal Empire in 1601 was about 55 per cent of the cultivated
area in the corresponding region in 1909-10.
o This estimate receives further reinforcement from the extent of
cultivation worked out by Irfan Habib from a detailed analysis and
comparison of the number and size of villages in various regions of
the Empire in the 17th century and in 1881. Irfan Habib suggests that
the area under plough in the 17th century was more than one-half but
less than two-thirds of the ploughed area in 1900.
o On the basis of the above mentioned analysis, Shireen Moosvi makes
the following three assumptions:
▪ The total cultivation in 1601 was 50 to 55 per cent of what it
was during the first decade of the present century.
▪ The urban population was 15 per cent of the total and, thus,
the rural population was 85 per cent of the total population.
▪ The average agricultural holding in 1601 was 107 per cent
larger than in 1901.
o Shireen Moosvi gives the estimate of the population of India in the
17th century as between 140 and 150 millions.
• Using Total and Per Capita Land Revenue:
o Work of Ashok V. Desai :
▪ He made another significant attempt to estimate population, by

using different kinds of data. This required rather complex
assumptions. Desai compared the purchasing power of the
lowest urban wages on the basis first of prices and wages given
in the A'ln and then, of all-India average prices and wages of
the early 1960s. The yields and crop-rates given by Abul Fazl
provide him with a means of measuring the total food
consumption in Akbar's time which was 1/5th of what it was in
the 1960s (cultivation was then concentrated in the areas with
highest yields). He found that the productivity per unit of the
area should have been 25 to 30 percent higher in 1595 than in
1961. This in turn enables him to estimate the productivity per
worker in agriculture at a level twice as high in 1595 as in
1961.
▪ Basing himself on the statistics of consumption in the 1960s,
Desai extrapolated the level of consumption in 1595 and found
that the consumption level was somewhere between 1.4 and
1.8 times the modern level. He then proceeds to breakdown
the average consumption at the end of the 16th century for
each major agricultural item.
▪ With these figures at hand and taking into account other
relevant modem data, Desai worked out the area under the
various crops per capita which he then multiplied by the
revenue rates, to estimate per capita land revenue.
▪ Dividing the total jama (which Desai treats as the total land
revenue) by this estimated per capita revenue, the population
of the Empire works out at about 65 millions which
confirms Moreland's estimate.
▪ In short : He used average prices and wages and on that
basis he worked out per capita area under various crops
during the reign of Akbar and multiplied it with current
revenue rates to estimate per capita land revenue and then
divided this estimated per capita revenue by the total jama
of Akbar's period; this yielded the total population of the
Mughal Empire.
o Criticism of Desai's work:
▪ Alan Heston's main objection is that the yields for 1595 have
been overestimated.
▪ Shireen Moosvi makes some more serious objections,namely,
he used modern all-India statistics to compare with 16th
century data.
• Since the prices and wages in the A'in are those of the
imperial camp and, therefore, apply to Agra (and
possibly to Lahore). it is surely inappropriate to
compare these with modern all-India average.
• In the same way, the A'in's standard crop-rates applied

either to the immediate vicinity of Sher Shah's capital,
Delhi, or at the most to the region where the later
dastur-ul amals (schedules of revenue rates) were in
force, i.e., mainly Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and
Punjab.These are thus not comparable to all-India
yields.
• Moreover, Desai divided the total jama of the Empire by
the hypothetical land-tax per capita without making any
distinction between the zabt provinces (for which the
various cash-revenue rates had been framed) and the
other regions where the tax incidence might have been
at a different level altogether.
• Another assumption of his which requires correction is
that the jama was equal to the total land revenue
whereas, given the purpose for which it was fixed, it
could have only been an estimate of the net income
from tax-realization by the jagirdars to whom the
revenue were assigned.
• Moveover, the pattern of consumption in Akbar's India
was not comparable to that of 1960s because the
Mughal Empire was mainly confined to wheat-eating
region, and oil-seeds consumption could not possibly be
as high in 1595 as in the 1960s.
o Shireen Moosvi makes use of the basic method suggested by Desai
but modifies his assumption for 1870s to meet the objections raised.
She uses the data available for 1860-70 for purposes of comparison
and extrapolations; first, working out the population for five
provinces of Akbar's India that were under zabt and then assuming
that the population ratio of these provinces to that of the Empire, and
of the latter to the whole of India, have remained constant since 1601,
estimates the population of Akbar's Empire at 100 millions and that of
India (pre 1947 boundaries) at 145 millions.
AVERAGE RATE OF POPULATION GROWTH
• Taking the population of India to be around 145 millions in 1601 and 225
millions in 1871-this being the total counted by the first census of 1872 (as
modified by Davis to allow fuller territorial coverage), the compound annual
rate of growth of the country's population for the period 1601 to 1872 comes
to 0.21% per annum.
• Adopting this rate and given the two population figures for 1601 and 1872,
one gets for 1801 a population of some 210 millions. This offers a welcome
corroboration of our estimates: the most acceptable estimates for 1801
based on quite different arguments and calculations range from 198 millions
to 207 millions.
• The rate of population growth during the last three decades of the 19th
century (1872-1901) was 0.37 per cent per annum-a rate higher than the one
we have deduced for the long period of 1601-1801, but not in itself a very
high rate of growth.
• Comparison with Contemporary Europe:
o The accompanying Table gives population growth rates (compound)
calculated from estimates of European countries drawn from a well-
known text book of European economic history.
o These estimates show that compared to the European demographic

experience, the Mughal Empire was by no means exceptionally
sluggish in raising its population. The rate of 0.21 per cent on the
contrary suggests an economy in which there was some room for
‘national savings’ and net increase in food production, although the
growth, on balance, was slow. The slowness must have come from
natural calamities like famines as well as man-made factors (of which
the heavy revenue demand could have been one).
• Implications of the Rate of Growth: (Indian economy was not absolutely
static during Mughals)
o In overall annual rate of growth of 0.2 per cent for the period 1601-
1801 suggests some interesting inferences about the Mughal Indian
economy. If population growth is regarded as an index of the
efficiency of a pre-capitalistic economy, the Mughal economy could
not be deemed to have been absolutely static or stagnant for the
population tended to grow between 36 and 44% in two hundred
years.
o Davis, on the basis of arguments that have been heavily criticised,
believed in a stable population of 125 millions continuing for
practically through the two hundred years from 1601 to 1801, thus
yielding a zero rate of growth.
COMPOSITION OF THE POPULATION : RURAL AND URBAN
• There is again no direct data about the proportion of urban population.
• Irfan Habib has made an attempt to estimate urban population on the basis
of the pattern of consumption of agricultural produce. The Mughal ruling
class tended to lay claim on one half of the total agricultural produce, but all
of it was not taken away from the rural sector. Assuming that about a
quarter of the total agricultural produce was reaching towns, and,
making allowance for the higher ratio of raw material in the agricultural
produce consumed in the towns, he assumes the urban population to be

over 15 per cent of the total population.
• Estimated Population in Various Towns:
o Nizamuddin Ahmad in his Tabaqat-i Akbari (c. 1593) records that
in Akbar's Empire there were 120 big towns and 3,200 townships.
Taking the total population of Akbar's Empire to be nearly 100
millions and the urban population as 15 per cent of it, the average size
of these 3,200 towns works out at about 5000 each.
o However, in the Mughal Empire there were quite a few big towns. The
European travelers provide estimated population of some major cities
as follows:
RURAL CLASSES AND LIFE STYLE

India is a land of villages. Even today the bulk of its population resides in villages.
And what is true today would be even truer for those periods of history when
industrial production was small, never going beyond a few scattered artisan and
handicraft industries, and agriculture was the major vocation for a very large part of
its population.
STRUCTURE OF RURAL SOCIETY

• The basic unit of rural society in India was the village. A village had two
principal physical features: (i) A group of families and a collection of
dwellings (ii) cultivated land.
• Peasants : Peasants were one unit of rural population on whose productive
efforts rested the survival of all other rural (and indeed also non-
rural) classes. Peasants were divided by the inequalities of wealth and
social status.
o There were rich (viz. khwudkasht, gharuhala, and mirasdar) and
poor peasants (viz. rezariaya, malti and kunbi).
o There were permanent (mirasdar, thalkar) and the temporary
residents (paikasht, upari).
o Caste associations and kinship ties (bhaichara) were also sources of
divisiveness among the peasantry.
• Craft and service communities : Significant part of the rural population of
India consisted of groups like weavers, potters, blacksmiths, carpenters,
barbers and washermen. These commpnities rendered valuable services.
They also acted as a cheap source of labour for agricultural work.
• Intermediate proprietors: They were uniformly known as
zamindars. They claimed a share in the agricultural produce and exercised
control over the village by virtue of a historical tradition.
o They were recognized by medieval rulers as they assisted the
government in the task of collecting revenue from the peasants. For
the service so rendered, they were entitled to a percentage of the total
revenue collected.
o As a social group, the zamindars were considerably fragmented on the
lines of caste associations and social ties.
STANDARD OF LIVING
• The rural society in medieval India was highly segmented. Thus, one would
expect considerable inequalities within the same village. But the references
in our sources do not highlight these inequalities, and the rural population is
generally treated as a monolithic block.
• Clothing: The quantity of clothing is an index of the poverty of rural classes.
o Men : Menfolk in rural areas have been described by Babur as
wearing only a short cloth (lungi) about the loins. The travellers
testify this description, but add that during the winter men wear
cotton-gowns and caps, both made of quilt.
o Women : They have been described as generally wearing cotton
saris. There was, however, regional variation in their use of the
blouse.
▪ Malabar and eastern India : women (and men, too) generally
wore nothing above their waist.
▪ In other regions blouse known as choli or angiya was worn by
rural women.
▪ In parts of the western and central India, women wore
lahangas (skirts) in place of sari, with a blouse above.
o Wearing of shoes among rural folk was not quite common. Perhaps
shoes were used by the richer section in the villages.
▪ Satish Chandra uses the works of the Hindi poets, like Surdas
and Tulsidas, to mention panahi and upanaha as the two
words in vogue for shoes.
• Housing:
o A major segment of the rural population lived in houses made of mud
with thatched roofs. They were generally single-room dwellings.
o Pelsaert, who visited India during Jahangir's time, has given a graphic
description of the rural housing.
▪ “Their houses are built of mud with thatched roofs. Furniture
there is little or none, except some earthenware pots to hold
water and for cooking, and two beds, one for the man, the
other for his wife.Their bedclothes are scanty, merely a sheet,
or perhaps two, serving both as under and over-sheet; this is
sufficient in the hot weather, but the bitter cold nights are
miserable indeed, and they try to keep warm over little
cowdung fires which are lit outside the doors, because the
houses have no fires-places or chimneys”.
o There was, however. considerable variation in these houses due to the
availability of local material.
▪ Thus,the huts in Bengal were made by roping bamboos upon a
mud plinth.
▪ In Assam, the material used was wood. bamboo and straw.
▪ Huts in Kashmir were made of wood, and
▪ in north and central India the principal building material was
mud thatched with straw.
▪ In the South the huts were covered with Cajan leaves.
o While the poor sometimes shared their dwellings with their cattle, the
rich in the rural areas had houses having several rooms, space for
storing foodgrains and an enclosed courtyard.
o The house of the ordinary peasant was deprived of any furniture save
a few cots and bamboo mats.
o It also did not have any metal utensils barring iron pan used for
making breads. The commonly used pots. even for cooking purpose,
were made of earth.
• Food:
o The diet of the common people in most parts of India consisted mainly
of rice, millets and pulses.
▪ Pelsaert says, "They know little of the taste of meat."
o In regions where rice was the major crop, viz., Bengal, Orissa, Sindh,
Kashmir and parts of south India, it was the staple diet of the rural
masses. Likewise, in Rajasthan and Gujarat millets such as juwar and
bajra were the main food.
▪ According to Satish Chandra, wheat was not apparently a
part of the diet of the common people, even, in the wheat-
producing Agra-Delhi region.
o In addition to foodgrains, the rural people used beans and
vegetables. Fish was popular in the coastal regions of Bengal and
Orissa, but was not eaten regularly or in large quantity. There was,
however, a taboo on beef. The very poor among the rural population
had to remain satisfied with boiled rice, millet and grass-roots only.
o There was only one major meal for most of the people in rural
areas. It was taken at midday or earlier. At sunset, only a lighter meal
was served.
o Interestingly ghi was apparently a staple part of the diet in Northern
india, Bengal and Western India.
▪ Bengali poet Mukundarama mentions a few delicacies made
of curd, milk and jaggery (gur), which the poor could afford
only on occasions of marriage and festival. However, gur seems
to have been commonly consumed in the villages.
SOCIAL LIFE IN RURAL INDIA
Though sparsely documented, reconstruction has been attempted on the basis of
scattered information gleaned from contemporary literature as also from stray
references in the chronicles of the period.
• Family Life:
o Joint family has traditionally been the most important institution of
domestic life.
o Some of the broad features of family system:
▪ In most parts of India, the family system was mainly
patriarchal in character.
▪ The senior male member was the head of the family.
▪ There was no individual property within the family.
Members enjoyed only a right of maintenance from the
property.
▪ Women members were generally subject to the dictates of the
males of the family.
▪ Families gave distinct preference to male over female. Thus

a son was preferred to a daughter, and among the sons,
preference was given to the first-born.
o On the whole, the family system developed the feeling of mutual
dependence and joint relationship and thus the consciousness that
without each other's help life would be difficult.
• Social Institutions and Customs:
o Marriage was the most notable social institution in rural India. The
responsibility of marrying sons and daughters vested primarily with
the parents.
o Early marriage was a preferred practice.
▪ Abul Fazl (in Ain-i Akbari) that Akbar attempted to fix a
minimum age for marriage-sixteen years for males and
fourteen years for females. But we are not certain about the
execution of this order.
o Different customs of marriage were followed among the Muslim and
non-Muslim segments of rural population.
▪ For instance, marriage among the Hindus was a sacrament as
against a contract among the Muslims.
▪ However, girls in both cases were unable to exercise their own
choice. Similarly, dowry was a bane common to both the
segments.
• Festivals and Amusements:
o A variety of festivals and amusements were popular. Although based
on different religions affiliations different kind of festivals were
celebrated by the Muslim and non-Muslim population, there is no
reason to believe that these two segments of rural population did not
participate in each other's festivities.
o Most of the festivals of the non-Muslims coincided with particular
seasons. Their timing was such that the peasantry was in a state of
comparative leisure (e.g after harvesting), and thus in a mood for
enjoyment. The most popular of these festivals were Basant
Panchami, Holi, Deepavali and Shivratri.
o The Muslim festivals, too, by this time (i.e., 16th-18th century), had
become influenced by the Indian environment. 'eid, Shabbarat and
Muharram were the most popular festivals among the Muslims in the
rural areas.
▪ K.M. Ashraf : Shabharat was probably copied from the
Shivratri.
o Dancing and singing were the most popular forms of amusement
among the rural masses.
URBANISATION, URBAN CLASSES AND LIFE-STYLE

• Mainly four types of urban centres emerged:
o Administrative:
▪ The administrative towns obviously functioned primarily as
seats of governance. For the Mughal Empire, towns like Delhi
and Lahore, come un er this category.
o Religious:
▪ The religious centres were pre-eminent pilgrim attractions, e.g,
Varanasi and Mathura.
o Military/strategic:
▪ The military or strategic towns developed essentially as
military contonment. and, in due course of time attracted
civilian population also. e.g: Attock and Asirgarh.
o Market:
▪ Finally, there were urban centres as the focus of large scale
commercial activities or were predominantly production
centres. Sometimes both these activities together characterised
an urban centre. We have, for the Mughal Empire, towns like
Patna and Ahmedabad falling under this category.
• Note:
o An average town in the Mughal Empire was in fact an extension of the
village in the sense of social unities and attitudes. This rural-urban
continuum is thus a notable feature of urbanisation during the Mughal
period.
o Moreover, given the diversity of urban economies in the Mughal
Empire, the stereo type of an Indian town would be a misnomer. Thus,
the character of two apparently similar cities (at least functionally)
would often be different.
URBAN LANDSCAPE
Even while accepting the caveat about Mughal towns, it is possible to identify some
common features.
Physical Configuration
• Fortification wall: Most of the towns had some sort of a fortification wall
with one or more gates. The example of a typical Mughal town can be found
in the description of Agra by John Jourdain at the beginning of the 17th
century:
o It is walled, but the suburbs are joined to the walls.
o The nobles or princes built their mansions or gardens outside the
gates of the town. Thus, in many cities like Delhi, Agra, Patna,
Ahmedabad and Allahabad these settlements developed as suburbs.
• Markets: In planned towns markets were properly laid.
o Shops could be found on both sides of the main roads.
o Many of these markets specialised in a particular commodity. Names

of various areas suggest their speciality for example in Agra- Loha
Gali (iron objects), cheenitole (sugar mart), sabzimandi (vegetable
mart), churiwala (bangles) etc.
• Mohalla: The residential areas of towns called mohalla were often identified
by the professional groups that resided there.
o A few names like mochiwara (shoemakers), kucha rangrezan (dyers)
are notable instances.
o In some cases these mohallas or wards were known by the names of
influential men who resided there.
• Sarai: Another important feature of the town was the presence of sarais
which were halting places for merchants or travellers.
o Even the smallest towns had one. The larger towns like, Delhi, Agra,
Patna, Lahore,or Ahmedabad had sarais by the dozens.
o Generally, nobles, royal ladies, big merchants or the state itself took
up the job of constructing these sarais.
o The travellers were provided with amenities including storage space
to stock merchandise. These were managed by the families of
bhatiyaras who specialised as keepers of sarais.
• Note:
o The foreigners visiting the towns were supposed to inform the city
administration about their arrival and departure.
o On the whole, most of the towns lacked any detailed town planning.
Except the major street, other, lanes and bylanes were congested and
muddy.
o The city had its own administrative machinery and regulations to run
the day-to-day administration.
Composition of Population (Urban Classes)
• The urban population was not a homogenous one. Various categories of
people were residing in towns. These can be classified into four broad groups
:
o Nobles and their retainers, officials of the state and troops;
o Persons engaged in merchantile activities (merchants, sarrafs,
brokers, etc.);
o People involved with religious establishments, musicians, painters,
poets, physicians, etc., and
o Artisans, menials and workmen of sundry sorts.
• The composition of different categories of people in different towns
depended on the nature of towns, i.e., administrative centres, or commercial
centres.,
o In case of imperial headquarters, perhaps the biggest group was that
of the retainers and troops of the king and nobles.
o Bernier (1658) estimated the total strength of Shah Jahan's great
camp around 3-4 lakh.
• As most of the big town were commercial centres of importance, the

mercantile community of the towns was quite important.
o At Ahmedabad it was estimated that there were around 84 castes and
subcastes of Hindu merchants alone.
o In 1640 there were 600 brokers in Patna.
• Another important group in town comprised of people associated with the
professions of medicine, learning, literature, art and music. Generally, the
religious and charitable grants were given in the vicinity of towns. Besides, a
large number of poets, musicians, physicians also made their abode in towns
because here money could be earned or patronage of the king and nobles
was available.
• Artisans, workmen and labourers formed one of the biggest groups in towns
having large commercial activities. The people working as artisans in various
crafts may be divided in many groups:
o The individual artisans working at their own places and selling their
wares;
o Artisans working in the karkhanas of the kings and, nobles, and in
largescale building construction undertaken by the kings and nobles.
There was a large workforce of semi-skilled and unskilled workmen
who would assist artisans or work in such largescale enterprises as
shipbuilding, diamond-mining, saltpeter and saltmaking. A number of
workmen were employed as domestic help and daily wage labourers.
Urban Demography
• The Tabqat-i Akbari (c 1593) says that during Akbar's period there were
around 120 big cities and 3200 qasbas (small towns). In the 17th century,
with the increasing trade and commerce this number would have grown
further.
• Irfan Habib estimates that around 15 per cent of the total population in
Mughal India lived in towns.
• As for the size of the individual towns is concerned, scattered references are
provided by some European travellers.
URBAN LIFE
Sources for the study of the Mughal Empire abound with descriptions of urban life.
Standard of Living
• Standard of living in a Medieval city shows striking contrast.
• While the'upper strata led a life-style akin to the royalty, the urban poor
found it difficult to achieve the bare subsistence level.
• Linschoten says about the life-style of the common populace at Goa that
their life was miserable,wages were low. Workmen get one regular meal a
day; the houses are wretched and practically unfurnished, and people have
not
• sufficient covering to keep warm in winter.
• The Ain-i Akbari and other contemporary European travellers (e.g. Pelsaert)
accounts show that an average monthly wage of the urban workers ranged
between Rs. 3 to 4.
• Shireen Moosvi has shown that the purchasing power of an unskilled
worker was significantly higher in 1595 than in 1867-1871-2. An unskilled
worker during Akbar's reign was able to purchase much more wheat, inferior
foodgrains, ghi, sugar, etc. than his successors did in 1867. However, his
purchasing power was poor in terms of clothing. Thus, the urban wages were
much higher in c 1600 than in 1867.
• Middle classes, specially the petty revenue officials, lower rank mansabdars
and the physicians appear to be fairly prosperous. However, intellectuals
were, in general, poor and depended for their livelihood solely upon their
patrons.
• The nobles and other upper classes in Mughal India led a luxurious life-style.
We are told that an amir's son spent 1 lakh rupees in a day in Chandni Chowk
to buy the necessities.
o Moreland comments that "spending not hoarding was the dominant
feature of the time".
• Shireen Moosvi has analysed the pattern of consumption of the 'Royalty' and
the nobles which clearly reflects the nature of the life-style the 'Royalty' and
the Mughal nobles enjoyed. expenditure on Ornaments and Gems > Harem
>Wardrobe .... .
o His analysis clearly shows that a Mughal noble spent almost 75
per.cent on luxury and comforts.
• The luxurious life-style of the Mughal nobles resulted in their
impoverishment.
o Bernier states that " ... Omrahs: on the contrary most of them are
deeply in debt; they are ruined by the costly presents made to the king
and by their large establishment. "This, in turn, pressed them to
extract more from the peasants than the required dues".
• However, nobles appear to help, the development of craft production.
o Shireen Moosvi has calculated that 63.26 per cent of the nobles'
salaries were spent to support the craft sector. Average estimated
expenses on craft production amounted to 37.38 per cent of the jama.
o But, this was more for personal consumption than for the market.
Therefore, in spite of large investments it failed to generate a "home-
market".
• Clothing:
o The style of clothing of the middle and upper strata was by and large
similar. Both could be distinguished on the basis of the quality of cloth
they worn.
o Men:
▪ Men wore drawers (shalwar) and breeches (churidar
payjama), and a shirt. In the winter they also wore arcabick
(vest stuffed with cotton) and a long loose fitting coat
(qaba). Besides, they put a shawl on shoulders and a patka

round the waist and a turban.
▪ Humayun is reported to have introduced a new design of
overcoat which was cut at the waist and was open in front. He
used to wear it over the qaba. This coat was also presented as
khi'lat (robe of honour) to the nobles.
o Women:
▪ Women wore a long chadar and a bodice (choli). In the doab
area, lahanga (a long loose skirt) and choli and a long scarf was
quite popular.
▪ The Muslim ladies usually wore loose drawers, a shirt and long
scarf together with their usual veil.
o The cloth used was mostly cotton, plain and printed, and silk, plain
and striped.
o Akbar paid special attention to his clothing. Abul Fazl mentions that
every year 1000 suits were made for him. Akbar is reported to
distribute his entire wardrobe among his servants.
o Merchant's clothing:
▪ Bernier, comments that rich merchants had a tendency to look
indignant for "lest that they should be used as fill'd sponges."
▪ Barbosa applauds the rich dress style of Muslim merchants of
Calicut.
o The Hindu nobles followed the Muslim counterparts in their dresses.
The Brahmans put tilaka on their forehead and Rajput wore earrings.
o Lower strata for most part were scantily clothed.
▪ Barbosa remarks about the common masses of the Vijaynagar
Empire that they "go quite naked with the exception of a piece
of cloth about their middle".
▪ Linschoten (1580-1590) mentions that common people of
Goa, "live very poorly; go naked".
▪ Babur remarks that "peasants and people of low standing go
about naked. They tie lunguta, a decency cloth, which hangs
two spans below the navel ... another cloth is passed between
the thighs and made fast behind".
o In winter men wear quilted gowns of cotton and quilted caps. In the
South most of the people went barefoot.
Social Life
• Joint family system was common.
• Woman was subordinate to man. The higher class women observed purdah.
o Barbosa comments that in Khambayat, though, women observed
purdah, they frequently visited their friends. There was ample
freedom of social intercourse within the limits of the purdah.
• The custom of jauhar was almost entirely confined totally among the
Rajputs.
o Their women, in time of despair (during war, etc.), seeing the

imminent defeat, to save their pride, used to set themselves afire.
o Babur gives a vivid description of the jauhar performed by Medini
Rai's ladies at Chanderi.
• Sati was practiced: Among the upper caste Hindus, the practice of sati or
self-immolation was quite common. Akbar took a serious view when the
daughter of Mota Raja of Marwar was compelled to bum herself against her
wishes. Akbar appointed observers in every town and district to ensure that
while those who on their own impulse wished to commit sati might be
allowed to do so, they should prohibit and prevent any forcible sati.
• Akbar also took steps of permitting widows to remarry (1587).
• Both Hindus and Muslims favoured an early marriage age for boys and
girls. Akbar criticised child marriage. He raised the minimum age limit for
boys to 16 and for girls to 14 years.
• Birth ceremony was of great importance. Among the Musiims, the rite of
aqiqa (shaving the hair of the head) was performed.
• The Hindu child was placed in the charge of a guru at the age of five while, as
per Muslim traditions, a child was put in a school (maktab) after the
completion of four years, four months and four days. The'ceremony was
known as bismillah Khwani.
• Usually in the 7th year, the Muslim child was circumcised and the occasion
was celebrated with great rejoicing. Akbar prohibited circumcising before
the age of 12 and even then left it to the option of the grown up boy.
• The Hindus performed upanayana samsakara, i.e., tying of the tripple
sacred thread at the completion of the 9th year.
• Marriage ceremonig hardly differed from the present day celebrations. A
Hindu marriage began with tilak or mangni, then a marriage date (lagan) was
fixed. Marriage was performed with elaborate rites.
• Elaborate ceremonies were performed at the time of death also. Priests
chanted mantras, distributed alms, etc., put sacred Ganga water followed by
shraddha ceremony after a year. The practice of burning dead was quite
common among the Hindus. Muslims performed siyum (completion)
ceremony on the 3rd day of death.
• Nobles and rich merchant spent huge amount of money on marriages.
o Khemchand, a rich merchant, intended to spend 15 lakhs rupees on
the marriage of his daughter, but he was robbed on the way.
o Thirty two lakhs rupees were reported to have been spent on the
marriage of Prince Dara Shukoh.
o A 17th century traveller to Sindh, Boccaro, reports that even an
ordinary Hindu spent 4000-5000 rupees on a marriage.
• Education:
o Women education: In general, education was beyond the reach of a
common woman. But women of elite class got opportunity to study.
Princesses were taught to read and write.
▪ Akbar was greatly interested in female education. Badauni

comments that he recommended a new syllabus. He
established a school for girls at Fatehpur Sikri.
▪ Some royal ladies were also interested in promoting education.
Bega Begum, Humayun's consort, founded a "college" near the
mausoleum of Humayun.
▪ Maham Anaga, the foster mother of Akbar, established a school
at Delhi.
▪ Gulbadan Begum was well versed in Persian and Turki and
wrote the Humayunama. She had a library of her
own. Similarly, Nur Jahan, Jahan Ara and Zaibunnisa (daughter
of Aurangzeb) were literary figures of their age.
▪ Aurangzeb educated all his daughters well. But dance and
music were frowned upon.
▪ Nur Jahan and Jahan Ara (daughter of Shah Jahan) played an
active role in Mughal politics.
o The mansabdars were generally weli versed in Persian. Some also
studied mathematics, knew little bit of medicine and practised
calligraphy. In Mughai India, the nobles maintained their personal
libraries.
▪ Abdul Rahim Khan Khana had a huge library manned by 95
calligraphers, guilders, bookbinders, painters, cutters,
illuminators, etc.
o Babur himself was a great scholar of Turkish. His autobiography, the
Baburnama, is still considered one of the masterpieces of Turkish
prose. He also knew Persian and was also a skilled calligrapher.
o Humayun and all other later Mughal Emperors knew good Persian.
Though circumstances did not allow Akbar to have formal education,
he patronised poets, philosophers, painters, physicians, etc.
Entertainment and Festivities
• Gambling, elephant fights, chaupar, chandal-mandal, chess, cards, polo, etc.,
were the sports greatly indulged in by the higher strata.
o Chaupar playing was very popular among the Hindus, specially the
Rajputs. Akbar later substituted human figures for the pieces of
chaupar and turned it into the amusing game of chandal-mandal.
• Cards (ganjifa) appears to have been first introduced in India by Babur. It
became quite popular during Akbar's reign. Gambling was common. Pigeon-
flying and cock-fighting were common. Akbar used to feed his own birds and
call the game (pigeon flying) by the romantic term ishqbaazi (love affair).
• Hunting was the most popular pastime of the royalty.
o The Mughals organised qamargah hunts. This was large scale
manoeuvre organised in one of the imperial hunting preserves.
Sometimes around 50,000 cavalrymen and others encircled t
o he hunting preserve and they gradually came closer to a point when

the animals were confined into a sort of ring. The Emperor and other
big nobles then entered the ring and hunted the animals.
o Deer, goats, elephants, etc., were also domesticated for the sake of
hunting. Cheetahs were trained for hunting deer. etc.
o In many parts of Northern and Central India, imperial hunting
preserves had been established.
o Hunting tigers, lions and elephants was royal prerogative.
• Generally, ladies of harem did not participate in outdoor games. But some
played chaugan (polo). Nur Jahan is the lone example who shot tigers and
lions. But pigeon flying, and blind man's buff (ankhmicholi) were common
pastimes.
• Festivals and Fairs:
o Religious festivals and pilgrimages to holy shrines were popular
means of amusement.
o Huge urs celebration were organised at the tomb of the sufis. At Delhi
such celebrations were held at the tombs of Bakhtiyar Kaki and
Nizamuddin Auliya.
o At the tomb of Hazrat Nasiruddin Chiragh Delhi, (Nizamuddin Auliya's
successor) on every Sunday, both Hindus and Muslims gathered,
specially during the month of Dipawali.
o 'Id-ul fitr, 'id-ul zuha, nauroz, shabbarat, holi, dasehra, dipawali,
rakshabandhan, basant panchami, etc. were also celebrated with great
pomp and show.
o Fairs were also organised. The famous Garh Mukteswar fair, still
celebrated in the traditiohal style, can be traced back to the Medieval
times.
o Dasehra was popular among the kshatriyas and all agricultural
classes.
o The Kumbha fairs on the Ganga was most famous of all the fairs.
o On the occasion of Muharram, taziya (imitation rnausoleums of the
martyrs of karbala) processions were taken out through the streets of
the town.
• Music:
o Big amirs arranged "mushairas" (literary evenings) in their mansions
where poets recited their compositions. Singers and musicians
performed their recital in the harem every day. Shah Jahan's
favourites were Kavindra, Chitra Khan, Lal Khan and Sriman.
o Shah Jahan's amir Shah Nawaz Khan had a large number of musicians
and singers.
o Muhammad Shah was also fond of music.
▪ Boli Khan, Jallah, Chamani and Kamal Bai were the most
celebrated ones during his reign.
▪ Nia'mat Khan was the bin (flute) player and an expert in the
khayal form of singing. Panna Bai, his disciple, possessed good
voice.
▪ Taj Khan Qawali and Muinuddin, experts in Qawali, were other
famous singers of Muhammad Shah's reign.
o Eunuchs performed dances in public. Miyan Haiga used to dance in
the square of the Urdu Bazar, in front of the Shahjahanabad fort. A
huge crowd assembled to watch him. Asa Pura, a Hindu dancing girl
was also a great name.
o Alhakhand and the stories of Nala-Damayanti were recited by the
balladeers. Sravana songs (Hindola and Sravani) were quite popular.
o Garabha, the Gujarati dance, was popular on the west coast.
o Puppet shows, antics of the monkeys, snake-charmer shows, tight-
rope walker, etc. were eye-catchers.
o Indoor entertainment parties (jashn) were organised which were
accompanied with dance and banquet. Humayun introduced the
system of river picnics on the Jamuna. He also started the practice of
Mina Bazar for royal ladies which flourished and developed greatly
under his successors.
o Drinking was common. Akbar believed that moderate drinking was
good for health. Opium eating was also quite common. Bhang was
another favourite drug.
o Prostitution was prevalent. During the 16th century, tobacco smoking
was unknown. When in the early 17th century tobacco was
introduced, its use became widespread.
RELIGIOUS IDEAS AND MOVEMENTS

• The religious, milieu of India when Islam reached this subcontinent, presents
a phase where Buddhism had lost its supremacy, Brahmanism was trying to
consolidate its position by compromising with Buddhist doctrines as well as
with pre-Aryan practices.
• Islam influenced Indians with its principles of universal brotherhood and
human equality.
o Tarachand: "Not only did Hindu religion, Hindu art, Hindu literature
and Hindu Science, absorb Muslim elements, but the very spirit of
Hindu culture and the very stuff of Hindu mind were also altered, and
the Muslim reciprocated by responding to the change in every
development of life".
• An everlasting process of give and take started and this was encouraged acts
of many rulers and writers. The result was that Mirza Jan Janan rose in the
18th century to declare that both Rama and Krishna were prophets.
• During this period, two significant trends in the realm of' religion : Bhakti
and Sufi.
BHAKTI MOVEMENT
• In spite of the pantheistic philosophy of Shankaracharya, at the time of the
arrival of the Muslims in India, the Hindu society, comprised the followers of
Saivism, Vaishnavism and the cult of Shakti. But there were intellectuals who
had no faith in the prescribed path of action (karma marg), but who
regarded the path of knowledge (gyan marg) to be the appropriate method
for attaining salvation.
• The disputes between the upholders of these views totally ignored the actual
ethical behaviour of man, improvement of his status in life and fulfillment of
his destiny on earth.
• The people who were looking for ethical and emotional cult in which it was
possible to find both satisfaction of the heart and moral guidance moved
away from brahmanism. and thus the path of Bhakti, devotion blended with
love of God, found a favourable atmosphere.
Ideology:
• The relation of the soul with the Supreme Being, is the main ideaology of
bhakti.
• The word Bhakti in the Pali literature takes its origin back to the 8th century
B.C.
• The Bhagavadgita, pre-Buddhist texts and Chhandogya Upanishad, contain
some references which underline the emergence of devotion to a single
personal God.
o So, Argument of some scholars like Weber that Bhakti was a foreign
idea which reached India through Christianity is no seems to be true.
o Many scholars (Barth and Senart) is of view that Bhakti, in the sense
understood in India and the tradition by which it is inspired, belongs
to Indian thought. However in the process of evolution, it also

accepted external influences especially after arrival of Islam in India.
• From the time of the Bhagavadgita to the 13th century, the concept of Bhakti
evolved with a process of compromise between the traditional classical
philosophy of the Upanishads and the urge for a personal God.
o Monotheism and pantheism were clubbed together with the warmth
of Bhakti in the Bhagavadgita.
o Up to the 13th century, Bhakti to a greater extent ramained within the
folds of Vedic intellectualism. This is evident from the fact that caste
division is recognized in the Bhagavadgita.
Major Schools:
The concept of Bhakti was defined and analyzed in different ways.

• The doctrine of Advaita (allowing no second, i.e. monism):
o Shankara, a South Indian Shaivite Brahman, preached Upanishad
doctrine of salvation through Knowledge.
• Visistadvaita (qualified monism):
o Ramanuja, another South Indian Brahman, though a monist did not
accept that God may be exempt from form and qualities.
o Salvation could be attained through devotion and Bhakti.
o Yoga was the best mystical training.
o Mutual relationship between the devotee and God was that of a
fragment of the totality.
o Prapti (attainment) was the second means of salvation.
o Ramanuja's God was a personal Being. He argued that as people need
God, God too needs people.
o The individual soul created by God out of his own essence, returns to
its maker and lives with him forever, but it is always distinct. It was
one with God and yet separate.
• Ramananda (c. 13W-1470):
o Was a disciple of Ramanuja.
o Created a new sect which was the most important movement in the
religious history of Medieval India. He had a better idea of the
progress of Islam in North India under the Tughlaqs.
o By travelling all over India, he gathered ideas and made careful
observations. He renounced the rigidity of the Hindu ritual and his
disciples took the name of Advadhuta (the detached) and regarded
themselves free from all sorts of religious and social customs.
▪ But in his Anand Bhashya he did not recognize the right of a
Sudra to read the Vedas. Thus, social equality was not his
concern.
▪ Yet,Raidas and Kabir were among his disciples.
o His teachnigs produced two distinct schools of thought among the
Hindus: Saguna (Tulsidas) and Nirguna (Kabir).
• Tulsidas:
o Gave literary form to the religious Bhakti.

o Preserving the authority of the Vedas.
• Kabir:
o Strictly monotheistic.
o Advocated abolition of Varnaashrama and doubted on
the authority of the Vedas and other sacred books
o His references are available in the Sufi literature as well.
▪ Mirat ul asar (17th century account) a biography of Sufis in
Islamic history called him a Firdausiya sufi.
▪ Dabistan-i Mazahib (is an examination and comparison of
South Asian religions and sects of the mid-17th century)places
Kabir against the background of the Vaishnavite vairagis.
▪ Abul Fazl called Kabir a muwahhid(monotheist).
o Bijak is the best known of the compilations of the compositions of
Kabir, and and became the holy scripture for followers of the
Kabirpanthi religion. He had never thought of finding a religion but
it happend after his death.
o He believed that salvation is possible not by knowledge or action but
by devotion (Bhakti).
o He neither favoured Hindus nor Muslims, but admired all that was
good in them.
• Sikhism:
o Guru Nanak:
▪ His philosophy comprised three basic elements: a leading
charismatic personality (Guru), ideology (Shabad) and
organisation (Sangat).
▪ Nanak evaluated and criticised the prevailing religious beliefs
and attempted to establish a true religion which could lead to
salvation.
▪ He repudiated
• Idol worship
• Did not favour pilgrimage nor accepted the theory of
incarnation.
• Formalism and ritualism.
• Caste system and the inequality which it
perpetrated. He said that caste and honour should be
judged by the acts or deeds of the individuals.
▪ He believed in the unity of God and laid emphasis on having a
true Guru for revelation.
▪ He advised people to follow the principles of conduct and
worship: sach (truth), halal (lawful earning), Khair (wishing
well of others), niyat (right intention) and service of the lord.
▪ He believed in Universal brotherhood of man and equality of
men and women.
▪ He championed the cause of women's emancipation and

condemned the sati pratha.
▪ Nanak did not propound celibacy or vegetarianism.
▪ He laid stress on concepts like justice, righteousness and
liberty.
▪ Nanak's verses mainly consist of two basic concepts: (i) Sach
(truth) and Nam (Name).
▪ Sabad (the word), Guru (the divine precept) and Hukam (the
divine order) form the basis of divine self-expression.
▪ He laid emphasis on kirtan and satsang.
▪ He introduced community lunch (langar).
▪ Tarachand regards the influence of sufi upon the religious
thought of Nanak of fundamental importance. The similarity
of thought in the verses of Nanak and Baba Farid: the
sincere devotion and surrender before one God.
▪ But at the same time Nanak did not hesitite in criticising the
sufi for leading a luxurious life.
▪ Nanak made an attempt to unify the Hindus and Muslims and
certainly succeeded in synthesizing within his own teachings
the essential concepts of Hinduism and Islam.
o The religious book of the Sikhs the Guru Granth Sahib was compiled
by Guru Arjun.
o After Guru Gobind Singh the divine spirit did not pass on to another
Guru but remained in the Granth and the community of the Guru's
followers.
o The Gurus mostly belonged to the Khatri mercantile caste whereas
their followers were mostly rural Jats.
o It was Guru Gobind Singh who inaugurated the Khalsa (brotherhood)
among the Sikhs. The Khatris and Aroras as well as Jats constituted
important groups within the Sikh community.
o The artisan castes known as Ramgarhia Sikhs and converts to Sikhism
from scheduled castes represented other groups within the Sikh
panth.
o Caste consciousness did exist in the Sikh panth but was not so
prominant.
• Dadu Dayal (c. 1544-1603) was also inspired by Kabir's doctrine.
o Dadu believed that devotion to God should transcend religious or
sectarian affiliation, and that devotees should become non-sectarian
or nipakh.
o In his Bani, a collection of his hymns and poems, he regards Allah,
Ram and Govind as his spiritual teachers.
o Dadu's thoughts and preaching sufi influence.
o In the 18th century, the Dadu Panth got transformed into Nagas or
professional fighters.
• Maratha Vaishnavism (or the Bhagavata Dharma)
o By the close of the 13th century, steady enrichment and vigour was
imparted to the Bhakti movement in Maharashtra by a number of
poet-saints. The poet-saints tried to bring religion to the lowest strata
of the society.
o The most outstanding of these was Gyaneshwara (1275-96) a
Brahmin who is considered to be the greatest exponent of the
Maratha Vaishnavism. He wrote a Marathi commentary on the
Bhagavadgita called Bhavartha Dipika or Jnanesvari. The main
centre of the movement started by him was Pandarpur.
▪ By interpreting the Bhagavatgita in melodious Marathi tunes,
Gyaneshwar laid the basis of the Bhagavata Dharma in
Maharashtra by giving a fillip to the Varkari sect which had
initiated and instituted regular popular pilgrimage to the
shrine of Vithoba (the form of the great God Vishnu) at
Pandarpur.
o The shrine of Vithoba of Pandarpur later became the mainstay of the
Bhakti movement in Maharashtra. The Krishna Bhakti movement of
Pandarpur was intimately linked to a temple and a deity, but it was
not idolatrous in nature.
▪ Vithoba was more than a simple deity: its importance lay in its
symbolism.
▪ Vithoba was the god of the Varkari sect. Its followers were
householders who performed pilgrimage twice a year to the
temple. Its membership cut across caste boundaries. The
movement in Maharashtra witnessed mass participation by
different social groups such as sudras, Atisudras, Kumbhera
(potter) mali, mahar (outcaste) and Alute balutedars.
▪ Some of the saints belonging to lower strata of society were
Harijan Saint Choka, Gora Kumbhar, Narahari Sonara, Banka
Mahara, etc.
o The main features of the Vaishnava religious devotion-anti-ritualism
and anti-casteism in Maharashtra-were similar to those of other non-
conformist movements in the North.
o In the post-Gyaneshwar period, Namdeva (a tailor by caste),
Tukaram, and Ramdas, were important Marathi saints.
• Eknath (a Brahman) furthered the tradition laid down
by Gyaneshwar. His teachings were in vernacular
Marathi. He shifted the emphasis of Marathi literature
from spiritual text to narrative compositions.
▪ Tukaram and Ramdas (Shivaji's teacher) also raised anti-caste
and anti-ritual slogans.
• Tukaram's teachings are in the form of Avangas or
verses (dohas) which constitute the Gatha. It is an
important source for the study of the Maratha
Vaishnavism.
o Varkari Maratha saints developed a new method of religious

instruction, i.e. Kirtan and the Nirupana.
o The Maratha movement contributed to the flowering of Marathi
literature. These saints used popular dialect which paved the way for
transformation of Marathi into a literary language. The literature of
the Varkari school gives us some idea about the plebeian character
of the movement. It addressed itself to the problems of the Kunbis
(farmers), Vanis (traders) and the artisans, etc.
o M.G. Ranade points out that this movement led to the development of
vernacular literature and upliftment of lower castes, etc.
• Gaudia Vaishnavism:
o The Gaudia Vaishnav movement and the Chaitanya movement (neo-
Vaishnav movement) which derived its inspiration from the life and
teachings of Chaitanya had a tremendous impact on the social,
religious and cultural life of the people of Assam, Bengal and Orissa.
o The people were not only influenced by his message but began to
regard him as an incarnation of God.
o The social and religious conditions in the pre-Chaitanya Bengal and
Orissa:
▪ The social structure was based on Varnashrama. The Sudras
and the lower castes suffered from various disabilities.
▪ Among the religious systems the Sakta-tantric creed
predominated.
▪ Bhakti in Bengal was influenced by two streams-Vaishnav and
non-Vaishnava (Buddhism and Hinduism).
• Jayadeva's Gita Govinda written during the time of the
Palas provided an erotic-mysticism to the love of Radha
and Krishna.
• Buddhism was also on the decline and this decadent
form of Buddhism influenced Vaishnavism which in
turn affected the Bengali Bhakti movement.
• The emphasis was on eroticism, female form and
sensuousness.
▪ In the pre-Chaitanya Bengal and Orissa, oppression of lower
castes by the Brahmins was rampant. Moral decadence was the
order of the day.
▪ Chandidas, a Bhakti poet, was influenced by Gita Govinda and
Sahajiya doctrines (Buddhism).
▪ It was in the midst of social and religious conservatism and
moral decadence that the Chaitanya movement dawned and
brought far-reaching changes.
o Chaitanya:
▪ The founder of the Gaudia Vaishnav(or Neo-Vaishnavite)
movement,
▪ Remained free from all sorts of social and religious

conservatism.
▪ Gaudia Vaishnav was basically not a social
reform movement, though it rejected caste barriers.
▪ Although a Brahmin, Chaitanya had no respect for the idea of
the superiority of Brahmins.
▪ He openly violated caste rules and used to mix up with the
members of the low occupational castes.
▪ Vrindavan Das the author of the Chaitanya Bhagavat
mentions how he socialised with the lower castes.
▪ He discarded the symbols of Brahminism.
▪ The Neo-Vaishnavite movement found its adherants in such
disparate social groups-untouchables to scholars.
• The influence of Bhakti doctrine made Mira a distinguished poet and a
symbol of love and attachment to Lord Krishna. In her poem called Padavali,
she speaks of herself as a Virgin and her fervent devotion to Lord Krishna
seems to have made her totally indifferent to wordly life. Mira advocates
image-worship and the observance of special fasts.
Impact of the Bhakti Movement
• The doctrine. of Bhakti helped the uplift of the contemporary society in-
many ways.
• Litrature:
o The Indo-Aryan dialects such as Bhojpuri, Magadhi and Maithili of
modern Bihar, Avadhi of Avadh region, Braj Bhasha of Mathura region
and Rajasthani, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Sindhi and Gujarati, also assumed
new forms and meaning through Bhakti poetry.
o Notable progress in Tamil and Marathi literature during medieval
times, was made through the writings of famous saints of the Bhakti
order.
o The hymns, ballads, legends and dramas centring around Chaitanya's
interpretation of Krishna, made valuable contribution to the Bengali
literature.
• The Bhakti doctrine and its practice by the saints of this order, had an impact
upon socio-religious concepts which prepared the ground for improved
social conditions in medieval times.
o It is true that the Bhakti cult was essentially indigenous, but it
received a great impetus from the presence of Muslims in this country.
It prepared a meeting ground for the devout men of both creeds.
o It preached human equality and openly condemned ritualism and
casteism.
o It was radically new, basically different from the old traditions and
ideas of religious authorities.
o It cherished the dream of a society based on justice and equality in
which men of all creeds would be able to develop their full moral and
spiritual stature.
STATE AND RELIGION

• One feature of the period under study was the firm belief of the majority of
the people in religion.
• Secondly, recognising the importance of religion in public life, the temporal
heads freely used it in their personal and political interest.
• Thirdly, the 'ulema' (muslim theologians) were held in high steem. They
wanted the rulers to follow Islamic code in their administration and treat the
non-Muslims accordingly.
• In most cases, rulers did not accept the verdict of the religious groups if it did
not suit their policies. Alauddin's attitude towards religious orthodoxy and
political affairs had became a precedent
Contemporary Historiography
• A medieval Muslim historian, had his training in the religious atmosphere of
the madrasas (medieval centres of learnings). This profoundly affected his
style of writing.
o For the army of his patron he would use the term lashkar-i Islam
(the army of Islam) and for that of the enemy Lashkar-i Kufr (army of
the infidels).
o He justified the casualties in the ranks of his patron as shahadat
(martyrdom), and lost no time in sending the dead ones of the
opposite side to hell.
• This style created confusion. A careless interpretation of these expressions
may readily conclude that the nature of struggle in Medieval India was
basically religious, and that it was a tussle primarily between Islam and
kufrs.It was basically a matter of style. e.g:
o Mohammad Salih (the author of the Amal-l Salih), a historian of Shah
Jahan's reign, while describing the uprising of the Afghans, condemns
the rebels under their leader Kamaluddin Rohila as dushman-l din
(enemy of the Faith).
o In 1630, when Khwaja Abul Hasan (a noble of ShahJahan) resumed
his Nasik expedition, Abdul Hameed Lahori, (the court historian of
Shah Jahan), used the term mujahidan-i din (warriors in the defence
of the Faith) for the Mughal forces inspite of the fact that the
opponents comprised more Muslims than non-muslims, and many
non-Muslims were in the Mughal forces. He again terms the Mughal
soldiers mujahidan-i Islam (warriors in the defence of Islam) when
they faced the Nizam Shahi army which overwhelmingly consisted of
Muslims.
Modem Historiography
• British historians (ans also Jadunath Sarkar, A.L. Srivastava and Sri Ram
Sharma) applied the term "Religious Policy" to the actions and reactions of
the rulers and the ruled only when the two had different religions. It was not
applied when there was similar action of the ruler against his co-religious
ruler.
ATTITUDE OF THE MUGHALS TOWARDS RELIGION
Akbar
Between 1560-65:
• Below measures gave Akbar the image of a "secular" emperor. In his personal
beliefs, however, Akbar was a devout muslim.
o established matrimonial relations with the Rajputs,
o abolished the pilgrimage tax,
o prohibited the conversion of prisoners of war to Islam
o abolished jiziya.
• The works like Gulzar-i Abrar and Nafais-ul Maasir, suggest that the
emperor showed deep respect to the ulema and bestowed upon this group
abundant favours. Encouraged by emperor's bounty some of them
persecuted even the non-Sunni sects of the Muslims and suppressive
measures were taken against the Mahdavis and the Shias.
• In the absence of any reliable Muslim support Akbar had little alternative but
to seek alliance with the Rajputs and Indian Muslims. These measures were
infact concessions given to the non-Muslims to win their support.
After 1565:
• There is "a marked retrogression in his attitude in matters pertaining to
religion".
o A document signed by his wakil Munim Khan (August-September
1566) refers to the order regarding the collection of jiziya in the
vicinity of Agra.
o In 1568, Akbar issued the famous Fathnama of Chittor (preserved in
the Munshat-i Namkin) which is full of terms and idioms that can be
compared with any other prejudiced and bigoted declaration.
▪ He declares his war against the Rajputs as jihad, takes pride in
destroying temples and in killing the kafirs.
o Then we have Sharaif-i Usmani which tells that the Emperor
ordered Qazi Abdul Samad of Bilgram to check the Hindus from
practicing idol-worship there.
o To crown all this, in 1575, according to Badauni, Akbar reimposed
jiziya though it did not work.
• It is interesting that despite "an atmosphere of religious intolerance" most of
the Rajput chieftains joined his service during the years 1566-79.
• Religion, thus, was not the main concern of the Mughal Emperor. Religion
was used only as a tool to attain political goals( i.e to subdue the local
chieftains). When this strategy did not yield substantial gains, Akbar dropped
it.
• Another interesting aspect is the establishment of the Ibadat khana (in
1575).
o It was established with the aim to have free discussion on various
aspects of Islamic theology.
o But the Emperor got disillusioned the way Muslim jurists used to
quarrel over questions of jurisprudence. In the beginning only the
Sunnis were permitted to take part in the discussions.
o But, from September 1578, the Emperor opened the gates of Ibadat
khana to the sufi, shi'as, Brahmins, Jains, Christians, Jews, Parsis, etc.
The discussions at Ibadat Khana proved to be a turning point as
they convinced Akbar that the essence of faith lay in "internal
conviction" based on 'reason'.
• Akbar made an attempt by proclaiming himself mujtahid and declaring
himself as Imam-Adil, to claim the right to interpret all legal questions on
which there existed a difference of opinion among the ulema. This led to
violent protests from a section of the Mughal society, but Akbar succeeded
ultimately in curbing the predominance of the orthodox elements.
• Akbar's Tauhid-i Ilahi (mistakenly called Din-i Ilahi) is another significant
measure of this reign. R.P Tripathi:
o It had no sacred book or scripture, no priestly hierarchy, no sacred
place of worship and no rituals or ceremonies except that of initiation.
o A member had to give a written promise of having accepted the four
grades of entire devotion:
▪ Sacrifice of property, life, honour and religion.
o It was not a religion and Akbar never intended to establish a church
neither force nor money was employed to enlist disciples.
o It was entirely a personal matter, not between the Emperor and the
subjects, but between Akbar and those who chose to regard him as
their pir or guru.
• It seems that Akbar wanted to build up a devoted band of people around
him, acting as their spiritual guide. Thus tauhid-i llahi had nothing to do
with Akbar's religious or political policy.
• Conclusion:
o Akbar, in the interest of political consolidation, did not generally
resort to religious discrimination.
o Yet he never hesitated in taking strong measures against those who
threatened his position or exceeded the limits of social or ideological
values regardless of their faith or creed.
o Stern actions were taken against individuals, and not against the
religious groups as such.
Jahangir
• On the whole made no departure from his father's liberal attitude.
• R.P Tripathi:
o Jahangir was more orthodox than his father and less than his son
Khurram.
o He took harsh steps against the Sikhs, Jains and Sunnis.
o The victims of his wrath were only individuals viz. Guru Arjan Singh,
Man Singh Sun and Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi not the religious group
perse.
• On the other hand, Jahangir visited Jadrup Gosain three times and discussed
with him Hindu philosophy.
• Sometimes he got provoked by the sectarian opinions of other persons. This
trait had led him to imprison the Sunni religious leader Shaikh
Ahmad Sirhindi mujaddld alif sani for three years id the Gwalior fort.
• The percentage of the Hindu mansabdars did not decrease during Jahangir's
reign. He never launched a policy of the destruction of Hindu places of
worship. He also did not reimpose jiziya, nor believed in forcible conversion
to Islam.
Shah Jahan
• Akbar had introduced in his court the practice of sijda or prostration, but
Shah Jahan abolished it since this form of veneration was deemed fit for the
Almighty.
• The author of Amal Salih informs us that seventy six temples in the region of
Banaras were demolished at the order of the Emperor.
o The argument was that "new idol houses" (taza sanamkbana) could
not be constructed. However, the old ones built before Shah Jahan's
accession were left untouched.
• The Muslim orthodoxy could not exercise its influence on the Emperor in
regard to the patronage given to Music and painting.
o Dhrupad was the Emperor's favourite form of vocal music. The best
Hindu Musician Jaganath was much encouraged by the Emperor, to
whom the latter gave the title of Maha Kavi Rai.
• In spite of deviation from earlier trend, Shah Jahan did not impose jiziya on
the non-Muslims. Nor did the number of the Hindu mansabdars fall below
the number under his predecessors.
Aurangzeb
1. The opinion of scholars is sharply divided. There are essentially three main
categories of scholars:
a. Jadunath Sarkar, S.R. Sharma and A.L. Srivastava, find Aurangzel,
guilty of religious bigotry and persecution.
b. Shibli Nomani, Zahiruddin Faruki and Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi justify
most of Aurangzeb's actions as political expedients.
c. Satish Chandra and M. Athar Ali, attempt a "neutral" analysis of
Aurangzeb's acts without getting embroiled into the "for". or "against"
controversy.
2. Aurangzeb's measures can be divided in two parts:
a. Minor inconsequential ordinances, and
b. major ones that could be considered as part of "state" policy.
3. Minor inconsequential ordinances:
a. Aurangzeb forbade the kalima (Islamic confession of faith) from
being stamped on his coins lest the holy words might be desecrated
under foot or defiled by the non-believers.
b. Nauroz celebrations going on since his predecessor's times were
abolished.
c. Old mosques, etc, neglected earlier, were ordered to be repaired, and

imams and muezzins, etc. were appointed on a regular salary.
d. A Censor of Morals (Muhktasib) was appointed "to enforce the
Prophet's Laws and put down the practices forbidden by Him" (such
as drinking spirits, use of bhang, gambling and commercial sex).
e. The ceremony of weighing the Emperor against gold and silver on
his two birthdays (i.e. according to the lunar and solar calendars) was
stopped.
f. In 1665, the Emperor instructed the governor of Gujarat that diwali
and holi should be celebrated outside the bazars of the city of
Ahmedabad and its parganas. The reason: Hindus "open their mouths
in obscene speech and kindle the holi bonfire in chaklas and bazar,
throwing into fire the faggot of all people that they can seize by forcc
and theft".
g. The practice of jharokba darshan was discontinued after the
eleventh year of his reign. → The Emperor took it to be unIslamic.
h. Aurangzeb forbade the court musicians to perform before him "as he
had no liking for pleasure, and his application to business left him no
time for amusement. Gradually music was totally forbidden at court.
However, the musicians were given pension. On the other hand,
qaubat (the royal band) was retained.
4. Apart from point number 'f', all other's reflects Aurangzeb's Islamic concern
and his zeal for social reforms as well. None of these could be called "anti-
Hindu". Only the sixth measure touches the Hindus directly.
a. Jadunath Sarkar: It was really a police regulation as regards holi, and
act of bigotry in connection with diwali".
b. This should be juxtaposed with Aurangzeb's order for "putting a stop
to Muharram processions in all the provinces, after a deadly fight
between rival processions had taken place at burhanpur in 1669.
c. Muharram processions ban, too, was a "police regulation" but in
contrast with diwali and holi, it was not confined to any particular
province.
5. Major ordinances:
a. The demolition of Hindu temples which were newly constructed.
i. Shah Jahan had also used the same argument but ( for Banaras
only). Aurangzeb's orders were operative in whole of the
Empire (especially in North India).
ii. He also instructed that old temples were not to be repaired.
b. In 1670, a farman was issued that all temples constructed in Orissa
"during the last 10 or 12 years, whether with brick or clay, should be
demolished without delay". Some of the important temples destroyed
during Aurangzeb's reign were Vishwanath temple of Banaras, the
Keshav Rai temple of Mathura and the "second temple of Somnath".
i. Aurangzeb converted Mathura temple into a large mosque and
the name of Mathura was changed to Islamabad.
c. In 1644, when he was the viceroy of Gujarat, he had desecrated the

recently built temple of Chintaman at Ahmedabad by killing a cow in it
and then turned this building into a mosque". Killing of cows in other
temples, too, was deliberate.
d. The re-imposition of jiziya in 1679 which was abolished by Akbar
long ago.
i. Jadunath Sarkar: a clear case of bigotry
ii. Satish Chandra: links it up with the Deccan problem
(Golkunda, Bijapur and Marathas) and says that the Emperor
was in a deep political crisis which led him to do something
spectacular in order to win the unflinching support of the
Muslims, especially the orthodox group.
iii. It is also thought that the imposition of jiziya might have been
due to the financial crisis. But this is untenable because the
income from jiziya was insignificant.
e. The issue of orders (in 1655) asking the Hindus to pay 5% custom
duty on goods, as against 2 and 1/2% by.the Muslim merchants.
f. Another farman was issued in 1671 to the effect that the revenue
collectors of the khalisa land must be Muslims.
g. he unwillingly allowed the Hindus to be employed in certain
departments only, provided their number was kept at half of that of
the Muslims.
6. In contrast with his acts of intolerance:
a. Aurangzeb did not reduce the percentage of Hindus in the mansab
system; rather it was higher compared to his predecessors.
b. Many Hindus held high posts, and, two were appointed governors.
c. He also issued grants in several instances for the maintenance of the
temples and priests.
7. A psychosomatic explanation for these acts of Aurangzeb suggests that he
had developed an intense consciousness of guilt. He was the person who
had killed his brothers and imprisoned his old father—something that had
never happened in the Mughal history from Babur to Shah Jahan. The last act
even violated the turah-i Chagbatai by ascending the throne while his
reigning father was alive. He was overtaken by unprecedented remorse.
a. His actions, possibly, emanated from this feeling, and he took shelter
in the Islamic shell. In this respect all his acts were ultimately the
consequence of his individual decision.
INDIAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

• The Mughal rule created some semblance of political unity m India. Further,
it not only encouraged an integtated internal matket and an increase m
foreign trade, but also generated an atmosphere of creative intellectual
activity. Apart from the Emperors, the Mughal princes and nobles, too,
patronised literary activity. The regional courts of the Rajput Rajas and the
Deccan and South Indian rulers also did not lag behind.
• Mainly inspired by the Bhakti movement, a parallel popular literature in
different veanacular languages also developed during this period.
ARABIC AND PERSIAN
• Arabic works under the Mughals were largely confined to religious
subjects, though a few poets composed verses in Arabic poetry.
• Persian was the official language of the Mughal court. The Mughal Emperors
and princes often themselves composed poetry in Persian.
o Babur,
▪ was an accomplished poet and he wrote his memoirs in Turki
which was later translated into Persian by Abdur Rahim
Khan Khanan.
▪ He also wrote a didactic work known as Mathnavi Mubin
(Mathnavi is a poetic form). His chief contribution to the
development of Persian literature in India lies in having
brought with him a number of Persian poets.
o Humayun:
▪ The major influx of Persian writers into India started with the
return of Humayun from Iran.
▪ He composed a Persian diwan.
o Akbar and Shah Jahan provided patronage to the stream of Persian
poets who visited India and created a rich synthesis in a new genre of
Persian literature known as (Sabaq Hindi) ('Indian style'). This
included notable Indian and Persian writers like Faizi, Urfi, Naziri,
Talib Amuli, Kalim, Ghani Kashmiri, Saib and Bedil.
o Akbar : Abul Fazl writes that thousands of poets resided at Akbar's
court. Faizi and Ghazali Mashnadi were extremely talented man.
▪ Ghazali Mashnadi : he wrote mathnavis.
▪ Faizi succeeded Ghazali Mashhadi.
• His principal work included a diwan (diwan is a
collection of poems by one author) named Tabashir al
Subh, which consisted of Qasidas, Ghazals, Elegies,
Qit'as and Ruba'is.
• He had planned to write a Khamsah (Five
Poems) according to the literary fashion of the time, but
could complete only a few; for example, Nal Daman (a
Persian imitation of the famous Indian epic Nala and

Damayanti).
• Faizi's prose works included a Persian adaptation of
Lilavati, his epistles and Persian translations of
Hindu religious books.
• According to some critics Faizi enjoyed great prestige
in Turkey and it was his influence which carried the
Indo-Persian poetry beyond the borders of India.
▪ Abdur Rahim Khan Khanan, an accomplished'scholar and
talented poet, lived during Akbar and Jahangir's reigns. His
fame chiefly rests on maintaining a library that contained more
than four thousand books. He was known for his patronage
extended to numerous writers like Naziri Nishapuri, Urfi
Shirazi and Mulla Abdul Baqi Nihawandi.
o Shah Jahan: was one of the greatest patrons, who according to the
contemporary Persian poet Ali Quli Salem, enabled the full flowering
of Persian poetry in India.
▪ Abu Talib Kalim (came from Hamadan of Iran): was Shah
Jahan's court poet. Completed his own diwan and epic poem
Padshahnama describing Shah Jahan's achievements.
▪ Mirza Muhammad Ali Saib (traveled to India and was
received into the court of Shah Jahan), On his return to Isfahan,
he recorded his indebtedness to India by calling her as a
second paradise.
o Adil Shahi rulers of Bijapur (In South): They provided generous
patronage to persian literature.The court of Ibrahim Adil Shah II
(1580-1627) attracted a large number of poets and writers both from
North India as well as Central Asia.
▪ Malik Qummi (d. 1640) was one of the best known poets
patronised by the Adil Shahi dynasty.
▪ His contemporary Mulla Zuhuri was decidedly the greatest of
the Persian poets who flourished in the Deccan. Known to
possess a distinct style in both poetry and prose, he wrote a book
called Saginama based on the model of the Gulistan (Gulistan
is a landmark of Persian literature, perhaps its single most
influential work of prose) of Sadi.
o Qutab Shahis of Golconda were also known as great patrons of
Persian scholarship and literature.
▪ Muhammad Hussain Tabrezi's Persian dictionary Burhan
Qati was compiled.
▪ Bustami's Hadiqal Salatin - a collection of the lives of eminent
Persian poets - was completed.
▪ Abu Imad's Khiraqatul 'Alam is an encyclopaedic work of
considerable merit. It has six volumes. It testify how warmly
persian scholars were received in qutab shahi kingdom.
o Note : Thus, Persian as the regional court language at Bijapur and

Golconda gained a niche in the South.
o Mystical or sufi literature:
▪ These are another category of literary work written in persian.
Under this category:
• The treatises written by the sufis on mysticism;
• Collection of letters written by sufis;
• Malfuzat (discourses by sufi saints);
• Biographies of sufis and
• Collection of sufi poetry.
▪ Prince Dara Shukoh wrote:
• Sakinatul Uliya is a biographical account of the sufi
Miya Mir and his disciples.
• The Majm'aul Bahrain (Mingling of two Oceans) is his
other work related to sufism. In this work he has
compared the Islamic sufi concepts with Hindu
philosophical outlook.
o Translation of classical Indian texts into persian: Persian
literature was enriched by the Mughal Emperors by getting classical
Indian texts translated into Persian.
▪ During Akbar's period Singhasan Batisi, Ramayana and
Rajtaringni of Kalhan were also translated. Badauni was
associated with all these translations.
o The Persian literature produced at the Mughal court exercised a
tremendous influence in the formation of regional literature,
especially those cultivated by the Muslims, the greatest innovation
being the evolution of a literary Urdu language. Other languages
modelled on Persian tradition are Punjabi, Pushtu, Sindhi, Baluchi
and Kashmiri. All these share a written script with Persian.
SANSKRIT
• In north : During this period, Sanskrit ceased to flourish as the main
language of the Imperial court. Though Mughal Emperor and princes like
Dara patronized Sanskrit scholars, it never again gained the same importance
in Northern India
• In South: Due to the inspiring presence of Madhavacarya and Sayanacarya,
that Sanskrit literature continued to enjoy the patronage of the kings of
Vijayanagar. After 1565, the rulers of Tuluva and Aravidu dynasties, the
Nayakas of Tanjore and the chiefs of Travancore and Cochin kept alive the
custom of patronising Sanskrit.
o The various genres of Sanskrit literature -Mahakavyas, Slesh
Kavyas, Champu Kavyas, Natakas and particularly historical
Kavyas continued.
▪ Raghunatha Nayaka, a ruler of Tanjore and his court poets
made notable contribution in Mahakavya, .
▪ Srinivasa Dikshit a minister of the Nayakas of Gingee was a

prolific writer. He had composed eighteen dramas and sixty
kavyas.
▪ Govinda Dikshita another literary figure who flourished at the
Nayak Court of Tanjore. His works are Sahitya Sudha and
Sangitsudhanidhi
▪ Sanskrit Scholar Appaya Dikshita (1520-92) was patronised
by the Nayak chiefs of Vellore. He wrote > 100 books.
▪ Niliknatha Dikshit (17th century) was a minister of
Tirumalanayaka of Madura. He wrote a number of Mahakavyas
among which two dealing with Siva-leela and the penance of
Bhagirath are important.
▪ Chakrakavi, a notable sanskrit poet and the author of Janaki
Parinaya and Narayana or Narayana Bhattatire.
▪ Manadeva Zamouri, the king of Kozhikode (1637-1648):
made profuse and varied contribution covering the fields of
Kavya, Mimamsa, grammar, etc. However, he excelled most in
Mahakavyas and is considered as one of the greatest poets of
Kerala.
o Historical 'Kavyas' and 'Natakas' written during this period that give
us a glimpse into the social perception of these Sanskrit writers.
▪ The first of these historical kavyas was composed by a woman
-Tirumalamba - who is described in the inscription as 'the
reader'.
• Her work Varadgumbika parinaya deals with the
marriage of Achutadevaraya. It has historical value + It
is also most beautiful 'Champus' of the later period.
o Sahityasudha (by Govinda Dikshita) and Raghunathabhyudaya (by
Ramabhadramba) throws light on the heroic exploits of Raghumalla
Nayaka of Tanjore. These contain references to many historical
events.
o Many Mahakavyas based on the life of Shivaji and his son are
important source of Maratha history.
▪ Anubharata or Sivabharata are most important Kavya in this
context. This work was begun by Kavindra
Paramananda (contemporary of Shivaji), continued by his son
Devadatta and grandson Govinda who now incorporated the
life of Shambhuji in their narrative.
o Tarkasongraha (c. 1625) (by Annambhatta) is the most popular
manual on logic written in South India.
o Viyasaraya (d. 1539) and his pupil Viyayindra (1576) made
important contribution to Dwaita philosophy.
o Dalpati (1490-1533), a high officer at the Nizam Shahi court of
Ahmednagar, wrote Nririmhaprarada which is an extensive work on
religious and civil laws.
• Some Muslim rulers also came to be included in a historical Kavya as heroes

by their court poets like Pandita Jagannath who wrote Jagadabh in praise
of Dara Shukoh, and Asaf Vilasa addressing Asaf Khan.
o Dara Shukoh himself composed a prasasti in honour of Nrisimha
Sarasvati of Benaras.
• In spite of the examples mentioned above, Sanskrit literature was on the
decline. Writers were obsessed with writing numerous commentaries rather
than,composing original works, and though scientitic texts, works on music
and philosophy continued they were few and far between.The bulk of the
works were commentaries on existing texts or grammar. Cause of decline:
o One of the major causes was the rise of vernacular literature in this
period. The Bhakti movement which swept the country earlier
inspired the regional poets who now composed elegant lyrics in a
language which was closer to the spoken words. The popularity of
these literary works lay in the instant response which they drew from
the common people as well as the aristocracy
NORTH INDIA
In North-India the major languages in which literature was being produced were
Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi.
Hindi:
• A number of dialects spoken in various regions of northern India contributed
to its development. The main dialects' from which Hindi emerged are B
rajbhasa, Awadhi, Rajasthani, Maithili, Bhojpuri,Malwi, etc. Khari Boli, a
mixed form of Hindi, also came into existence in the 15th-16th centuries.
• Origins of Hindi date back to 7th and 10th centuries. It was during this period
that Hindi was evolving out of Apabhransha. The early period of Hindi
poetry is called Virgatha kala (age of heroic poetry).
o During this period, the exploits of Rajput kings and chieftains, were
narrated in poetic form. Some of the famous poems are Prithivirda
Raso, Hamir Raso, etc.
• The form of poetry which developed during the subsequent period was
devotional (Bhakti).
o Kabir was the most famous eqwnent of this form. The same tradition
continued during the 16th and 17th centuries.
• Hindi literary language (Derived from a broken form of Sanskrit) called
“Maghadi-Prakrit” bloomed Under influence of the Bhakti movement.
o Gosvami Tulsidas (born 1523, UP):
▪ began writing Ramcharita-Mansa in 1574. The popularity of
this work rested on its language which closely resembled
Tulsidas' native Awadhi dialect.
▪ Also wrote Vinaya-Patrika or a prayer book brings out his
philosophy best.
▪ He inspired many writers like Agradas and Nabhajidas. They

composed the Bhakta a well-known account of the Vaisnava
saints dating back to the ancient period.
• Surdas(1503-1563) was the best among a set of poets who were known as
Ashtachapa (eight me,all disciples of Vallabhacharya) and wrote poems in
devotion to Krishna.
• Mirabai : addressed Krishna as a lover and portrayed the final subjugation of
a 'bhakta' to the Supreme Being. Composed in Marwari dialect of Rajasthan
were later altered into Brajabhasha.
• The Awadhi dialect of Hindi was enriched by a number of Sufi poets.
o Maulana Daud the author of Chandayan.
o Kutaban the composer or Mrigavati.
o Malik Muhammad Jayasi composed Padmavati between A.D. 1520-
1540. ← excellence of Awadhi language.
o Osman Shaikh Nabi, Kasim and Mir Muhammad → some mughlim
poet of 17th & 18th century.
• Literature in Brajabhasa flourished under the patronage of Akbar.
o Tansen and Abdur Rahim Khan Khanan (composed lyrics on the
'leela' of Krishna).
Urdu:
• Came into existence as a dialect among Muslims who ruled in the Deccan
and South India from the 14th century onwards. The literary speech arising
out of this dialect was known as 'Dakken' and can be traced to the 15th
century.
• This language though retaining traces of pre-Muslim dialects developed
mainly by drawing its form and themes from the current Persian
literature. script continued to be Perso-Arabic.
• The major centres of Dakhni literature were Gujarat, Bijapur, Golconda,
Aurangabad and Bidar.
o The famous Sufi poet Sayyid Banda Nawaz Gesudoraz (author of the
Me'raj ul Ashiqi).
o In Gujarat, two important poet: Shah Ali Mohammad Jan and
Sheikh Khub Muhammad.
o Qutab Shahi Sultans of Golkonda: The major patrons of Dakhni
literature.
▪ Muhammad Quli Qutab Shah (1580-1612) was both a poet
and the romantic hero of a love poem by his court poet Mulla
Wajhi.
▪ Ghawasi, Ibni Nishati and Tabi was other notable poets.
o Ibrahim Adil Shah II (1580-1626) the Sultan of Bijapur, was a great
patron and himself an author of a book on music in Dakhni.
o Local events often featured in the works of the Dakkni poets as seen in
the work of Hasan Shawqi who wrote a poem commemorating the
battle of Talikota (1565).
o Though most poets were Muslim like Rustumi and Malik Khusnud,
the most important poet was a Hindu Brahmin.(pen-name Nusrati).
▪ Nusrati's work:
• A long poem Alinama eulogised his patron Ali Qdil Shah
II (1656-1672).
• Gulshani Ishq: a romance of a Hindu called Manohar
and his love for Madhumalati.
▪ Rusthmi's work: Khavar Nama.
o Wajhi was author of Qutbo Mushtari, a masnavi and Sab Ras ( a
work of prose).
• Wali Dakkani was the most important Urdu writer of the period. he brought
Urdu ghazal in line with Persian traditions. His contemporary urdu poet
Mirza Daud also contributed to the literature of the period.
• By 1750, Urdu became well established in the Delhi region and Dakkani
declined after the conquest of the Deccan by Aurangzeb.
Punjabi:
• This language evolved from a broken form of Sanskrit known as Sauraseni
Prakrit (or Sauraseni Apabhransa).
• Prior to Guru Nanak (1469-1 538), there is no written record of Punjabi
literature.
o earliest text is 'Adi Granth' whose compilation was completed by
Guru Arjun Dev in 1604.
o Since it was a sin to add or delete even a single word from the original
text, it has come down to us in its pristine form. It, therefore, serves as
the best model for medieval literature.
• Besides the composition of the Gurus, significant poetical work propagating
the Sikh faith was done by Bhai Gurdas (1559-1637). His work is followed
by devotional poetry enriching the Punjabi or the Gurumukhi language.
• Apart from poetry, a number of prose writings, mainly biographies called
Janam Sakhis and expositions of the principles and tenets of the Sikh faith,
emerged.
• Qissa (writing on romance) written mainly by Muslim writers.
o The romance of “Hir and Ranjha” and “Mirza and Sahiban” are among
the most popular.
o Waris Shah(a gifted poet) was best exponent of the Hir and Ranjha
story.
o The writing of Peelu was the best version of Mina-Sahiban romance.
• In 1782, a Hindu poet Aggara (aka Agra or Aggar Singh) composed the Var
(poem) of Haqiqat Rai, a Sikh Hindu youth martyred for his faith.
• Sufi poets also made considerable contribution in the development of
Punjabi literature.
o Sultan Bahu, expressed himself through intense poetry.
o Shah Husain (1553-1593) also made notable contribution. He wrote
passionate lyrics set to music. This genre is known as Kafi.
o Bulhe Shah is best known. His works have passed into folklore and
form a rich part of Punjab's literary tradition.
WESTERN INDIA
Gujarati:
• The 2nd phase in the history of Gujarati literature started from beginning of
16th century. This phase lasts for almost two centuries before being taken
over by modern Gujarati. Like other languages, the major strain in the
literature of this period is religion and mysticism.
• At the beginning of the 16th century Vaishnava Bhakti movement had
become the dominant social theme in Gujarat Therefore most of the
literature of this period relates to the Bhakti tradition. The major poets:
o Bhalana : 1426-1500 : was a classical poet.
o Nirsimha Mehta 1500-1580 : Father of Gujrati poetry.
o Akho : 1615-1674 : innate genius and keen spiritual and social insight.
• We have devotional,didactic, quasi-metaphysical and secular forms of
literature.
• After the end of the 17th century, decadence set in the lituature of Gujarati.
Marathi:
• The Marathi literature of 16th and 17th centuries is characterized by two
main trends - religious and secular.
• Religious poetry:
o Khavista-Purana of Father Thomas Stephens.
o Poetic narratives of Muktesvara: the episodes of the Ramayana and
the Mahabbarat.
o Abhanga of Tukaram.
• Secular literature:
o The poetry of Ramdasa:
▪ Combines the spirit of liberation and national reconstruction
with devotional and religious fervour.
o The works of Vaman Pandit (1615-1678): His approach was was
academic and literary. His famous work is a commentary on Gita.
o the Povadas (kind of ballad) and the Lavnis(romantic in character) of
the Senvis.
EASTERN REGION
Bengali:
• After the advent of Sri Chaitanya, Bengali language and literature
flourished. Vaisnava poets, inspired by him composed a number of lyrics in a
new literary language with a blend of Maithili and Sanskrit. This is known
as Brajaboli and the lyrics - Padavali.
o Murari Gupta wrote Chaitanya's biography in sanskrit. It was
followed quickly by Brindabandas in Bengali.
o Brindabandas's Chaitanya Bhagavata or Chaitanya Mangal was
probably composed within a decade of the saints' death and is
considered to be the most authentic account of the social conditions of

his time.
o Krishnadas Kaviraj wrote Chaitanya-Charitamrita. It was the first
philosophical treatise which elevated Sri Chaitanya into an
incarnation of Sri Krishna and laid the philosophical foundation of
Gaudiya Vaisnavism.
o Jayananda and Lochandas wrote biographies of chaitanya (both in the
same name) called Chaitanya Mangal. Lochandas is known for
introducing a new style of folk songs called Dhamali (dealing
exclusively with the love affairs of Krishna).
• Padavali (padas = verse) lyric is another importat branch of Vaisnava
literature. Here, the many moods of amour termed 'rasa' in Sanskrit
literature was incorporated as the main norm for the construction of the
'Padas' (verse). The romance of Radha and Krishna formed the major theme.
In all the works Sri Chaitanya was hailed as the united manifestation of both
Radha and Krishna.
• Vaisnava literature began to be patronised by Hindu zamindars and Muslim
governors.
• Apart from Vaisnava literature narrative poems known as 'Mangal kavyas'
became popular. The themes propagated the importance of the local cult-
deities like Chandi, Manasa Dharma.
• A number of Muslim writers wrote in Bengali. e.g :
o Daulat Qazi. He rendered into Bengali a number of popular romances
prevalent in the Gujarat-Rajasthan area such as Laur-Chandrani or
Mayna Sati.
o Alaol:
▪ Rendered into Bengali Malik Mohammad Jayasi's Padmavat.
▪ Through his translations of Persian poetry and other romances
into Bengali instilled a secular theme in Bengali literature.
o Though Mushlim writers wrote mainly on secular theme, they also
wrote on the tragedy at Karbala.
o Sayid Sultan's Resularjay included some Hindu gods.
Thus, overlapping the frontiers of the two religions.
Assamese:
• Assamese literature also developed in response to the Bhakti movement.
o Sankaradeva who ushered in Vaisnavism and, being a good poet, he
enriched Assamese with many poems.
o His disciple Madhavadas followed him. His works: Bhakti-ratnavali
and Baragitas.
• Characteristics of Vaisnava poetry in Assam that sets it apart from those of
Bengal and Gujarat is the lack of eroticism usually found in the themes of
Radha and Krishna. In the Valsnava poetry of Assam, the amorous love-play
of Krishna is avoided, the emphasis being laid only on his childhood.
• Translations from the epics and Puranas also formed a part of the literary
projects of the Assamese writers.
o Rama Rarasvati : translated parts of the Mahabharata.

o Gopal Chandra Dvija: wrote the story of Krishna as told in the
Bhagavata and Vishnu Purana.
• Assamese prose developed mainly through the compilation of historical
chronicles known as Buranjis. These were written at the command of the
Ahom kings. The Sino-Tibetan dialect of the Ahoms is known to have
greatly influenced Assamese prose just as it gave a cultural identity to the
people.
Oriya:
• Oriya literature in this mod was still under the spell of Sanskrit.
• Poets like Madhusudana, Bhima, Dhivara, Sadasiva and Sisu Isvaradasa
composed number of Kavyas on Puranic themes.
• Rasa Kallol (Dinakr̥ shṇa Dasa) is a poetical experiment which deals with the
love of Radha and Krishna. Among other notable works of this genre are
Ushabhilasa, the Rahasyamanjari and the Rukminlbibha.
• It was in 17th century, when Ramachandra Pattanayaka wrote Haravali
that that Oriya literature developed a popular base.
• Vaisnava works like Prema-Panchamrite by Bhupati Pandita also
contributed in popularity.
• 'Though the Oriya poets generally wrote in the conventional language
derived from Sanskrit, an artificial style came to be established in the 18th
century marked by an overt eroticism.
o Poet Upendra Bhanja was the greatest exponent of this new style
and ushered in a new era in Oriya literature.
SOUTH INDIAN LANGUAGES
Tamil:
• In Tamil literature of the period, A large number of works are related to
Shaivism and Vaishnavism.
o Haridasa a Vaishnava poet, wrote Irusamaya-vilakkam (an exposition
of Saivism and Vaishnavism).
Telugu:
• Telugu as a language has affinities with Tamil and Kannada, but literary
idioms depended on Sanskrit.
• The most glorious phase of Telugu literature was during the reign of
Krishandeva Raya (1509-1529) of Vijaynagar. He himself was an acclaimed
scholar.
o His Amuktamalyada is considered one of the great Kavyas in Telugu
literature.
o Poet from Astadiggajas:
▪ Allarani Peddana was the most celebrated poet at his
court. He was given the title of Andhrakavi Tepitamha
(grandfather of Telugu poetry): Manucarita is his most known

work.
▪ Nandi Timmaba, another poet at Krishnadeva Raya's court,
wrote Parijatapaharana in verse which is an episode of Sri
Krishna's life.
▪ Rama Raja Bhushan (Bhattumurti): He was one of the
Astadiggajas. His works:
• vasucaritra (a work of poetry based on one episode of
Mahabharata).
• Hariscandra Nalopakhyanamu.
▪ Pingali Suranna:
• Raghava-Pandaviya, capturing the stories of both
Ramayana and Mahabharata.
▪ Kumara Dhirjati: wrote Krishnadevaraya Vijaya in a poetic
form narrating the victories of the famous king.
▪ Tenali Ramakrishna: most popular figure.
• His Panduranga Mahatmya is one of the great works
of Telugu poetry.
o Molla: a poetess,who is said to have belonged to low caste, wrote the
popular Telugu version of the Ramayana
• Quli Qutb Shah (1550-83) also was a patron of Telugu literature.
• After the fall of Vijayanagar empire, smaller states (Gadikota, Nellore,
Sidhavatam, Gingee, Tanjore and Madurai) gave patronage to Telugu
literary figures.
Kannada:
• Most of the early Kannada works were written by the Jainas; their
contribution continued during the 16th and 17th centuries.
• Important contributors:
o Vadi Vidyananda compiled Kavyarasa.
o Jaina scholar Salva, wrote a Jaina version of the Bharata
Ratnakaravarhi.
o Works of Lingayat literature:
▪ Cenna Basava purana. Its hero, Cenna Basava, is considered
an incarnation of Siva.
▪ Prandharayacarita of Adrisya.
o Saiva work:
▪ Sidhesvara-purana of Virakta Pantadarva.
▪ Nijaguna Shivayogi (15th cen, follower of Veerashaiva faith
)wrote: Vivekachintamani and Siva yoga pradipika.
o Vaishnavita literature:
▪ A part of Mahabharata was translated by Kumaraa Vyasa.
▪ Lakshmira composed Jamini Bharata.
▪ The popular songs of dasas (mendicant singers) was another

form in vaishnavida literature. These were inspired by
Madhavacarya and Vyasaraya.
• Chaitanya's visit to the South in 1510 stimulated the
growth of this popular type of song.
• Purandas Dara (d. 1564) is the most famous in this line
of singers.
Malayalam:
• Originated as a dialect of Tamil in the Odeyar region. In the 14th cen, it
acquired an independent status.
• Rama Panikkar was one of the important poet. His work: Bharata Gatha,
Savitri Mahatmyam, Brahmandepuranam and bhagavatam.
• Cherruseri Nambudiri, a great poet of 16th century, is credited for
developing modern Malayalam literature. His famous work Krishnagatha.
• A popuiar form of dance-drama literature called Attakatha or Kathakali
also seems to have originated during 16th century. Raman Attam is one of
the earliest Attakatha. A large number of new Kathas enriched Malayalam
literature.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Here we will focus on the new articles of technology and agricultural crops
and fruits, etc. brought by the Europeans during the 16th and 17th centuries.
And also on state of science during this period.
• Study of science and technology of this period can be divided as:
o Indigenous development:
▪ In Science: No noteworthy contribution by the Indians.
▪ In technology: some inventions were made and new methods
employed, especially in the military sector. In the chemical
sector also, e.g : rose-scent and the use of saltpetre for water-
cooling was new.
o Indian response to European Science and Technology.:
▪ The Indian response in this respect was not uniform. For
example, while in shipbuilding we come across some positive
responses it was not so with regard to glass technology.
Positive, negative and indifferent responses varied from one
technology to another due to diverse valid reasons. As for
Science, the Indians do not appear to have profited from the
European experience.
SCIENCE:
• No breakthrough was made in scientific studies concerning physics,
astronomy, chemistry medicine, geography and mathematics.
• A French traveller, Careri observes about the Muslim scholars in India:
o “As for sciences they can make no progress in them for want of Books;
for they have none but some small manuscript works of Aristotle and
Avicenue in Arabick”.
• But there were some very learned and able scientists:
o Mir Fathullah Shirazi who joined Akbar's court at Agra in 1583 (d.
1588).
▪ Abdul Fazl opines that "If the old books of wisdom had
disappeared, he could have laid a new foundation [of
knowledge] and would not have wished for what had gone".
▪ Akbar mourned his death in these words: "Had he fallen in
the hands of the Franks [Europeans], and they had demanded
all my treasures in exchange for him, I should gladly have
entered upon such profitable traffic and bought that precious
jewel cheap."
▪ His major contribution:
• invented some mechanical devices and
• introduced a 'true' solar calendar (called Ilahi) at
Akbar's order in 1584.
▪ But he did not propound any new scientific theory or fonnula

distinct from the traditional ones in India at that time.
• Indians were exposed to European learning. Abul Fazl were aware of the
discovery of America by Europeans: he gives the Persian term alam nau
for the "New World". But this knowledge does not appear to have become a
normal part of the teaching of geography in India.
• Galileo's discovery (in contrast to Ptolemy's world-view) that it is the Earth
that moves round the Sun did not reach the Indian scientists.
• Similarly, Newton's three Laws of Motion as well as his Law of Gravity were
unknown in India at this time.
• Bernier, a French physician, who came to India during the second half of the
seventeenth century, claims to have been in the company of a Mughal noble
Agha Danishmand Khan for five or six years, to whom he used to explain
the new discoveries of Harvey and Pecquet concerning circulation of the
blood.
o Bemier held a very poor opinion of the Indias' knowledge of anatomy.
o Our hakims and vaids did not show any interest in Harvey's discovery.
AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY:
• We do not find any radical change during the Mughal period in sofar as the
plough, iron ploughshare, irrigational devices, methods of sowing,
harvesting, threshing and winnowing are concerned.
o Dibbling (method of sowing): However, for sowing, apart from
broadcasting and seed-drill, we get evidence for dibbling also. It was
mainly employed especially for cotton cultivation. A whole was made
into the ground and the seed was put into it and covered with earth.
• introduction of some new crops, plants and fruits.
o Many of these were brought by Europeans, especially the
Portuguese.
▪ Tobacco, pineapple, cashew-nuts and potato are important
fruits came from from America.
▪ Tomato, guava and red chillies were also brought from outside.
▪ Maize is not listed in Abul Fazl's Ain-i Akbari. It seems that it
was introduced by Europeans from Latin America.
▪ Tobacco led to huqqa-smoking (liubble-bubble).
o Mughal elite had started growing Central Asian fruits in India from
the days of Babur.
▪ The seeds of numerous varieties of melons and grapes gown
around Agra were brought from Central Asia.
▪ Cherries were introduced in Kashmir during Akbar's reign.
• Fruits of better quality were grown by seed propagation.
• Grafting techniques:
o P.K. Gode thinks that grafting became prevalent in India only after
A.D. 1550.
o Mangoes of the best quality were exclusively produced in Goa

through grafting by the Portuguese.
▪ Alfonso : Some European travellers to India paid glowing
tributes to this delicious mango of Goa.
• Shah Jahan got two canals dug (nahr faiz and Shah nahr). He is the only
among Mughal emperor to do so.
TEXTILE TECHNOLOGY:
• No radical addition or improvement seems to have been made during the
seventeenth century.
• But two major develpments:
o carpet-weaving under Akbar's patronage at Lahore, Agra and
Fatehpur-Sikri.
o production of silk and silk fabrics on a large scale.
• The Europeans did not bring their own textile techniques to India, during the
first half of the seventeenth century.
o Italian silk filatures were introduced into India in the 1770s.
MILITARY TECHNOLOGY:
• Guns and Pistols : Matchlocks technique (to fire a gun) was in use mostly
till Aurangzeb.
o Abul Fazl claims the manufacture of handguns without matchcord in
Akbar's arsenal, but he is silent on the alternative mechanism. This
could be a flint-lock because wheel-lock even in Europe was
employed for pistols.
▪ These handguns (flint-locks) were produced on a limited scale,
most probably for Akbar's personal use.
▪ Mughal-paintings regularly depict matchlocks down to
Aurangzeb' s times.
o Europe knew about wheel-lock (1520s) and flint-lock (1620s) in
which matchcord was dispensed with.
▪ Sometimes Europeans gave pistols in gifts to Indians. But the
Indians did not learn the art of wheel-lock.
• Cannons of various sizes were manufactured in India for the Indian rulers.
• Swords : Indians in general preferred curved swords, in contrast to the
European's straight double-edged rapiers.
• Abul Fazl writes:
o For cleaning gun-barrets: “Akbar invented a wheel, by the motion of
which sixteen barrels may be cleaned in a very short time. The wheel
is turned by a bullock."
o Akbar invented a mechanism by which seventeen guns were joined in
such a manner as to be able to fire them simultaneously with one
matchcord.
SHIPBUILDING:
• The entire vessel in medieval times everywhere was constructed of wood.
o To join the planks rabbeting was widely practiced in India.
o The next step was to smear the planks with indigenous pitch or tar,
and lime with the double purpose of stopping up any fissures and
preserving the timber from sea worms.
o Fish-oil was also used for doubing the planks.
• The Indians did not adopt the European method of caulking :
o The reason was caulking did not have any technical superiority
over the indigenous method ,
o Moreover, caulking was more expensive than the Indian practice.
• India adopted use of iron nails and clamps from the Europeans.
o Varthema (an Italian traveller, around 1510) ; noticed "an immense
quality of iron nails" in Indian ships at Calicut.
o Abul Fazl (A.D. 1593-94): Informs us that for a ship of Akbar 468
mans (maund) of iron were used.
o Some Mughal paintings establish the presence of iron nails, strips
and clamps for constructing vessels.
• Iron anchors were also adopted from European'during the seventeenth
century. Earlier, anchors were made of big stones.
• The European Iron chain-pump was started to be used in
India. Earlier buckets to bail out the leaked water in the ships. But
o It was not used widely, during the second half of the seventeenth
century.
o These were not manufactured in India : they were purchased or
borrowed from Europeans.
METALLURGY:
• The main features of metallurgical practices in India:
o Fuel : for smelting was wood charcoal (coal was not known). Thus,
smelting was generally carried out at places which were near the
source of wood supply.
o small furnaces : The smelters used small furnaces which perhaps did
not have refractory or heat-resistant clay.
o The bellows were ribless and small which did allow efficient air-
blast to generate very high temperature in the furnaces to reduce the
ore to a totally liquified state.
o In case of iron and bronze, the metal was melted in diverse small
furnaces (sometimes eight in number) wherefrom the molten
material went to the mould. Since the quality of the molten metal in
each furnace was not necessarily the same, the fabricated object could
not have always been of high quality.
• Abul Fazl describes the technique of making iron canons and handgun
barrels at Akbar's arsenal. Perhaps these techniques were newly invented.
Cannons were made of bronze, brass and iron.
• Zinc metallurgy : Started in India somewhere around twelfth century A.D.

Abul Fazl mentions Jawar (modem Zawar) in Rajasthan where zinc was
procurable. Archaeological studies near Zawar testify this.
• Copper mines were located at Khetri in Rajasthan. Tin was imported from
other asian regions. Bronze was in use right from the days of the Indus valley
culture. Alloys like brass (coper and zinc or tin) were fabricated in India.
• "wootz" iron : (Since 400 B.C)
o Since 400 B.C it's production was happening in India, especially in
Andhra Pradesh. Probably "wootz' ' is a corruption of the Telugu word
"ukku".
o It was exported to centres of swordmaking like Damascus in Syria.
GLASS TECHNOLOGY:
• With the arrival of Muslims, pharmaceutical phials, ,jars and vessels of glass
cane to India from the Islanic countries, but there is no evidence to show that
Indians had started fabricating these objects in imitation.
• What European brought : A variety of glass articles were brought to India
by the Europeans (During the 16th and 17th centuries). e.g: Looking-
glasses (We did know how to make mirrors of metals (bronze and copper)
but not of glass), Spectacles , drinking-glasses, magnifying or burning
glasses and prospective glasses (telescopes).
o Europeans gave these things to Indians as gift and, sometimes, they
also sold them.
o Thus, the Indians started using European glass articles without
manufacturing them. Manufacturing started only in 2nd half of 17th
century.
o The technique of fabricating sand or hour-glass was known in
India during the 15th century, but the Mughal paintings exhibit
European made sand-glasses only. which were brought to India by the
Europeans. However, the positive evidence for its manufacture in
India comes from the second half of the seventeenth century.
PRINTING PRESS:
• European movable metal types were brought to Goa around A,D. 1550 by
the Portuguese.
• Emperor Jahangir is once reported to have expressed doubt about types
being cast in Persian or Arabic scripts during a discussion with the Jesuits,
whereupon the latter promptly showed him a copy of the Arabic version of
the gospel, probably printed at Vatican in A.D. 1591. This topic was not
brought up again by Jahangir.
• Bhimji Parekh ;
o He introduced the first printing press, to Bombay in 1674-75. He
was a chief broker of the English Company at Surat, took a keen
interest in this technology. A printer was sent to India in A.D. 1674 at
Bhimji's request, along with a press at the latter's expense.
o Bhimji intended to design types in "banian characters”, but it could

not be feasible since the English printer did not know type-cutting and
founding. No type cutter was sent from England to assist Bhimji.
Nevertheless, Bhimji persisted in this endeavour to realize his dream
of a printing-press with Devanagari fonts. He employed his own men,
obviously Indians, to do the job.
o The English factors at Surat testify (A.D. 1676/77) that, "we have seen
some paper printed in the banian character by the persons employed
by Bhimji which look very well and legible and shows the work
feaqible".
o But then, at that crucial moment, Bhimji lost heart and abandoned the
project midway.
TIME-RECKONING DEVICES:
• The history of horology unfolds a variety of devices adopted by mankind in
different countries. Among them, gnomons, sundials, clepsydras (water-
clocks), sand-glasses, mechanical clocks and watches stand out as the most
significant contrivances for time-reckoning with varying degrees of accuracy.
• Tas gharial (bowl and gong):
o In India, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, clepsydras
of the sinking-bowl variety was mst commonly used. Tas is persian
name for the bowl. 'Tas gharial' denoted the whole mechanism (bowl
and gong).
o Water-clock is mentioned in Afif's Tarikh-i Feroze Shahi which
relates the installation of a tas gharial by Sultan Feroze Shah Tughlaq
at Ferozabad.
o Babur also describes the mechanism in the Baburnama. Abul Fazl,
too, takes note of the details.
• Europeans' clocks and watches were often given in gift to Indians elite
groups (Jahangir was presented a watch by Sir Thomas Roe, but the
Emperor's memoirs does not mention this fact).
• The Jesuit church at Agra had a public clock-face with a bell whose "sound
was heard in every part of the city".
• Indians didn't accepted European clocks : Though Indian were exposed to
European mechanical clocks and watches for long time.There is no evidence,
to indicate its acceptance among any social group of Indian society for
general use.
o The one important reason for non-acceptance was the
incompatibility of the Indian time-reckoning system with that of
Europe at that time.
o While the Indian system consisted of four quarters (pahr) in the day
from sunrise to sunset and another four quarters in the night from
sunset to sunrise. Further, each pahr was divided jnto gharis of 24
minutes each.
o Thus, the Indian system had 60 “hours" (of 24 minutes) to the full day,
and the European consisted of 24 hours of 60 minutes each.
MISCELLANEOUS:
• Building :
o True Arch, dome and lime-mortar were already introduced in India by
the Turks. No significant development took place in building
technology during the seventeenth century. However the practice of
preparation of a sort of "blue print" of the building to be constructed
was started. This was called tarh (outline) in Persian.
▪ The Indian buildings did not have window-panes and chimneys
which Europeans used back home.
• Boilers : Indian continued with earthen pots to refine saltpetre. And did not
employ metallic (copper) boilers like the Europeans.
• Communication :
o Oxen-drawn carts were in common use, especially for transporting
commercial goods.
o Horse-drawn carriages were very rare: they were meant only for
passengeRs.
▪ Sir Thomas Roe presented to Jahangir an English coach drawn
by four horses. The Emperor enjoyed a ride in it (he called it
rath furangi).
▪ The sovereign, and some nobles got such coaches built by
Indian carpenters for their use. But this interest was short-
lived; it did not catch on during the seventeenth century.
• chemical discovery :
o Itr Jahangir : It was the rose-scentm which was a chemical discovery
was made in the early years of Jahangir's reign. The Emperor records
in his Memoirs (Tuzuk-i Jahangiri).
o Saltpetre : Used for cooling water.
▪ Abul Fazl comments that saltpetre, which in gunpowder
produces the explosive heats, is used as a means for cooling
water. He also gives the details of how to do so.
• Akbar invented an oxen-drawn cart which, when used for travelling or for
carrying loads, could grind corn also. For grinding,
o Watermill and windmills (asiya-i bad; pawan chakk) were scarcely
used.
▪ One Mughal painting (A.D. 1603) depicts an undershot
watermill to illustrate a story set outside India proper.
▪ One Windmill was erected at Ahmedabad in the seventeenth
century whose partial remains could be seen there.
o Handmills made of two stones were generally used for this purpose.
It was a very old practice.
ARCHITECTURE
• The establishment of Mughal rule in India revitalized Indo-Islamic
architecture. the prevalent architectural forms and techniques
were amalgamated with those brought from Central Asia and Persia.
• The foundation of a new style of architecture in India had already been laid in
the thirteenth century with the introduction of the arcuate technique where
spaces were covered with domes and entrances were made with the help of
arches.
• The Mughals carried this tradition and created a synthesis of the pre-Turkish
technique, viz., trabeate with the arcuate. The final result of this blending
(trabeate + arcuate) was the emergence of a distinct style of their own.
Babur:
• Had no time to devote to big architectural projects.
• He laid out several gardens in India.
• In Baburnarna, he claims credit for some pavilions. Unfortunately very few
of his buildings survive today.
Humayun:
• He also had very less time for such work.
• The impact of a long contact with the Persian culture can be seen in the
designing and execution of his mausoleum under the supervision of his wife
Hamida Banu Begum.
Akbar:
• Under him, the flowering of the Mughal architecture.
• He encouraged a hybrid style, containing foreign as well as indigenous
element.
Jahangir: was not a notable builder.
Shah Jahan:
• Was one of the greatest patron of the building art.
• Marble replaced red sandstone as the principal building material and the
decorative art of inlaying achieved distinction with the introduction of
semiprecious stones as inlay material, called pietra dura (prachin kari).
• Introduced the bulbous domes and convoluted arches in his buildings.
Aurangzeb: His temperament reflected in buildings. Therefore, they are austere in
both material and style.
BEGINNING OF MUGHAL ARCHITECTURE

The Mughal style of architecture took a concrete form during the reign of Akbar, yet
the basic principles of Mughal architecture were provided by Babur and Humayun.
Buildings of Babur
• Though had very less time, he took considerable interest in building secular
works (e,g: gardens and pavilions). Very little of this work is extant today.
• Standing structures are only two mosques(built in 1526) at Panipat and

Sambhal. But both these structures are common place, and possess no
architectural merit.
• Babur's secular works mainly comprise the laying of gardens and pavilions.
o Garden of Dholpur : Only the excavated ruins of this garden are
visible.
o Ram Bagh and Zahra Bagh at Agra : have undergone many
alterations.
o None of Babur's pavilions are surviving today.
Buildings of Humayun
• The surviving buildings have the same inconsequential character as that of
Babur.
• Two mosques from among several other buildings erected during the first
phase of his reign survive. both are devoid of any architectural marit.
o One of these lies in ruinous condition at Agra.
o The other is at Fatehabad (Hissar).
• There is no notable building from Humayun 2nd term.
• Humayun's tomb: This building is a landmark in the development of the
Mughal style of architecture. This structure was inspired by the Persian
culture.
o Constructed during Akbar reign(work began in 1564), under the
patronage of his widow Hamida Bano Begum.
o Architect: Mirak Mirza Ghiyas (a native of Persia). He brought many
Persian craftsmen to Delhi to work on this structure. The tomb has
thus become representative of an Indian rendition of a Persian
concept.
o Though it built during Akbar reign but because of peculiar features, it
has been treated separately.
o One of the earliest specimens of the garden enclosure (Garden tomb).
o Is raised high on an arcaded sandstone platforrn.
o The tomb is octagonal in plan and is crowed by a high dome. which is
actually a double dome.
▪ The method of making double dome was practised in Western
Asia before it was imported into India.
INTERREGNUM: THE SUR ARCHITECTURE:
Surs embarked on profound architechural projects. Their buildings laid the ground
work on which the Mughals built.
The architectural heritage produced under diverse conditions and in two separate
localities of the Surs may be divided into two separate and distinct periods.
• 1st phase:
o Emerged at Sasaram (Bihar) under Sher Shah between 1530 and
1540.
o A group of tombs was built illustrating the final fulfilment of the Lodi
style, by which it has been inspired.
▪ 3 belonging to the ruling family and 1 to Aliwal Khan who was

the architect of these tombs.
o Buildings reflect the ambition of Sher Shah to create monuments
grander than anything round in Delhi.
o The first project of this scheme was the construction of the tomb of
Hasan Khan, Sher Shah's father, in 1525.
o The tomb of Sher Shah (Sasaram):
▪ An architectural masterpiece and major representative of this
group.
▪ Considerably enlarged the normal proportions of the earlier
building.
▪ Set it in a beautiful tank approached by a causeway.
▪ Increased the number of stories thus producing a beautiful
pyramidal structure in five distinct stages.
▪ Constructed using the finest Chunar sandstone.
▪ Stands on a stepped square plinth.
▪ The main building comprises an octagonal chamber
surrounded by an arcade.
▪ There are domed canopies in each corner of the platform.
• 2nd phase: (from 1540 to 1545)
o Several architectural innovations were adopted which got reflected in
mature form in the consequent Mughal style.
o This phase of development took place in Delhi.
o Sher Shah built the Purana Qila intended to be the sixth city of
Delhi. Today, only two isolated gateways survive.
o The Qilsai Kuhna Masjid : Built about 1542 inside the Purana Qila
citadel.
▪ The facade of the prayer hall is divided into five arched bays,
the central one larger than the others, each with an open
archway recessed within it.
▪ The facade is richly carved in black and white marble and red
sandstone, and the central arch is flanked by narrow, fluted
pilasters.
▪ One notable feature in this building is the shape of the arches
- there is a slight drop (i.e flatness) in the curve towards the
crown. It is indicative of the last stage before the development
of the four-centred "Tudor" arch of the Mughals.
ARCHITECTURE UNDER AKBAR
• Akbar's reign can be taken as the formative period of Mughal architecture. It
represents the finest example of the fusion of Indo-Islamic architecture.
Structural Form
• The architecture of the reign of Akbar represents encouragement of the
indigenous techniques and a selective use of the experiences of other
countries.
• The chief elements of the style of architecture that evolved under Akbar:
o used red sandstone as the building material.

o a widespread use of the trabeated construction.
o arches used mainly in decorative form rather than in structural form.
o dome was of the 'Lodi' type, sometimes built hollow but never
technically of the true double order.
o the shafts of the pillars were multifaceted and the capitals of these
pillars invariably took the form of bracket supports;
o the decoration comprised of boldly carved or inlaid patterns
complemented by brightly coloured patterns on the interiors.
Building Projects
Akbar's building projects can be divided into two main groups, each representing a
different phase.
• The 1st Phase:
o The first group comprised buildings of fort and a few palaces mainly
at Agra,Allahabad and Lahore.
o One of the earliest building projects was the construction of a fort at
Agra.
▪ Delhi Gate of the Agra fort and Jahangiri Mahal (inside the
Agra Fort) are the only representative buildings of Akbar's
reign.
o Delhi Gate of Agra Fort probably represents Akbar's earliest
architectural effort. It formed the principal entrance to the fort. The
architecture of the gate shows an originality signifying the start of a
new era in the building art of India.
o Jahangiri Mahal: built by Akbar.
▪ Use of red sandstone.
▪ It is a fine specimen of the fusion of the Hindu and Islamic
building designs.
▪ Combination of beam and bracket used.
o The same style is manifested in the other palace-fortresses at
Lahore and Allahabad.
o But the fort at Ajmer represents a different class. Since it
spearheaded the advancing frontier of the Empire, the walls of the
forts were thickly doubled.
• The 2nd Phase:
o The second phase of Akbar's architectural scheme coincides with the
conception and creation of a ceremonial capital for the Empire at
Sikri, this new capital was named Fathpur.
o The city was built in a very short span of time (1 571-1585) and does
not follow any conscious overall plan. An asymmetry seem to have
been deliberately incorporated into the setting-out and design of the
complex.
o All the buildings are rich in red sandstone, using traditional trabeate
construction.
o The pillars, lintels, brackets, tiles and posts were cut from local rocks
and assembled without the use of mortar.
o The buildings in Fathpur Sikri may be resolved into two categories:
religious and secular character.
▪ Religious buildings: (a) Jami Masjid; (b) Buland
Darwaza and(c) Tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti.
• Jami Masjid uses the typical plan of a mosque- a central
courtyard, arcades on three sides and domed skyline.
• Buland Darwaza: Red and yellow sandstone with
white marble inlay outlining the span of the arches.
o built to commemorate Akbar's conquest of
Gujarat in 1573.
• Tomb of Salim Chishti (completed in 1581) stands in
the courtyard of the Jami Masjid.
o It is an architectural masterpiece as it exhibits
one of the finest specimens of marble work in
india.
o The serpentine brackets supporting the eaves
and the carved lattice screens are remarkable
features of this structure.
▪ Buildings of secular nature are more varied and thus
numerous.These can be grouped under (a) palaces (b)
administrative buildings; and (c) structures of
miscellaneous order.
• Palace complex in Fathpur Sikri comprises a number
of apartments and chambers.
o Jodh Bai palace: is the largest of these
buildings. It is massive and austere in
character.
o Panch Mahal: A unique building of the palace
complex.
▪ a five storeys structure,
▪ The size of the five storeys diminishes as
one goes upwards.
▪ the columns on which the five storeys
have been raised are all dissimilar in
design.
• Administrative buildings:
o The most distinctive in this category is the
Diwani Khas.
▪ The plan of this building is rectangle
▪ Is in two stories from outside.
▪ Inside, there is a magnificent carved
column in the center.
o Another notable building in this category is

Diwani Am:
▪ It is a spacious rectangular courtyard
surrounded by colonnades.
• Buildings of the miscellaneous character are scattered
all over the cily complex:
o 2 caravansarais.
o Karkhana building.
o Water-works: comprises a single deep baoli
flanked by two chambers.
▪ The religious buildings are invariably built in the arcuate style
while in secular buildings dominates the trabeate order.
ARCHITECTURE UNDER JAHANGIR AND SHAH JAHAN
After Akbar,a secure Empire and enormous wealth in legacy permitted both
Jahangir and Shah Jahan to pursue interest in the visual arts.
New Features
Marble took the place of red sandstone (so it is called age of marble)during period
of Jahangir and Shah Jahan. This dictated significant stylistic changes:
• The arch adopted a distinctive form with foliated curves, usually with nine
cusps;
• Marble arcades of engrailed arches became a common feature.
• The dome developed a bulbous form with stifled neck. Double domes became
very common.
• Inlaid patterns in coloured stones became the dominant decorative form
• In the buildings, from the latter half of the Jahangir's reign, a new device of
inlay decoration called pietra dura was adopted. In this method, semi-
precious stones such as lapis lazuli, onyx, jasper, Topaz and cornelian were
embedded in the marble in graceful foliations.
Major Buildings
• The tomb of Akbar:
o Located at Sikandra, eight kilometers from the Agra on Delhi road.
o It was designed by Akbar himself and begun in his own lifetime hut
remained incomplete at the time of his death. Subsequently, it was
completed by Jahangir with modifications in the original design.
o It is a curious mix of the architectural schemes of both Akbar and
Jahangir.
o Tomb is located in the midst of an enclosed garden.
o A square structure built up in three stories.
o The gateway is ornamented with painted stucco-coloured stone and
marble inlay.
o Materials = Red sandstone + stucco-coloured stone + marble.
o The decorative motifs include, besides the traditional floral designs,

arabesques and calligraphy, gaja (the elephant) hamsa (the swan)
padma (the lotus), swastika and chakra.
o The architectural importance of Akbar's tomb at Sikandra can be
gauged from the fact that several mausoleums built subsequently
reflect the influence of this structure to varying degree. e.g: The tomb
of Jahangir at Shahadara near Lahore and of Nur Jahan's father Mirza
Ghiyas Beg at Agra (i.e tomb of Itimadud Daula).
• The tomb of Itimadud Daula (1622-28):
o Built by Nur Jahan on the grave of her father Mirza Ghiyas Beg marks
a change in architectural style from Akbar to Jahangir and Shah
Jahan.
o The transition from the robustness of Akbar's buildings to a more
sensuous architecture of the later period is evident in the conception
of this structure.
o The tomb is a square structure raised on a low platform.
o There are four octagonal minarets,at each comer, with domed roofs.
o The main tomb is built in white marble and is embellished with
mosaics and pietra dura.
o Four red sandstone gateways enclosing a square garden.
• Jahangir was a much greater patron of the art of painting. His love of flowers
and animals as reflected in the miniature painting of his period, made him a
great lover of the art of laying out gardens rather than building huge
monuments. Some of the famous Mughal gardens of Kashmir such as the
Shalimar Bagh and the Nishat Bagh stand as testimony to Jahangir's
passion.
• In contrast to Jahangir, Shah Jahan was a prolific builder. His reign was
marked by a extensive architectural works in his favourite building material,
the marble. Some of these were:
o The palace-forts, e.g, the Lal Qila at Delhi.
▪ Is a regular rectangle.
▪ There are two gate-ways — the Delhi and Lahore Gates.
▪ Inside, there are several notable buildings: Diwani Am,
Diwani Khas and Rang Mahal.
▪ All of these buildings have floral decorations on the walls,
columns and piers.
o The mosques, e.g. the Moti Masjid in the Agra Fort and the Jami
Masjid at Delhi.
▪ Moti Masjid:
• Shah Jahan made experiment with an alternative
scheme- an open arcaded prayer hall.
• The designer has also dispensed with the minarets. In
their place, chhatris have been used on all four comers
of the prayer hall. (i.e no minaret but 4 chhatri.)
• There are three bulbous domes.
• Use of white marble.

• blackmarble calligraphy.
▪ Jami Masjid:
• An extended and larger version of the Jami Masjid at
Fatejpur Sikri and thus becomes the largest building of
its kind in India.
• It is built on a raised platform surrounded by arcades.
• There are two smaller gateways in the middle of the
norther and southern wings.
• Three bulbous domes in white marble.
• Building material used here is red sandstone + white
marble
o Garden-tombs, e.g., the Taj Mahal.
▪ Construction work began in 1632, and most of it was
completed by the year 1643.
▪ The plan of the complex is rectangle with high enclosure
wall and a lofty entrance gateway.
▪ There are octagonal pavilions, six in all
▪ Taj stands on a high marble platform.
▪ To the west of this structure is a mosque with a replica on the
east side retaining the effect of symmetry.
▪ A beautiful bulbous dome topped with an inverted lotus finial
and a metallic pinnacle.
• Finial was originally made of gold but was replaced by a
bronze one in late 19th century.
▪ At the four coniers of the plaTfonn rise four circular minarets
capped with pillared cupolas.
▪ The decoralive features:
• In exterior: Calligraphy and inlay work.
• In interior: pietra dura .
▪ Main building material: Marble, Finest quality brought from
Makrana quarries near Jodhpur.
▪ The garden in front of the main structure is divided into four
quadrants with two canals running across, forming the
quadrants.
▪ The cenotaph in the main hall was ei~closed originally with a
screzn in golden
▪ Uaccry. But it was later replaced by Auraigzeb witli a inarble
screen.
THE FINAL PHASE
Buildings of Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb had none of his father's passion for architecture. Under him, the
generous encouragement given by his predecessors to the arts was almost
withdrawn. Very few buildings are associated with his name. The major buildings
include
• The mausoleum of his wife Rabia ud Dauran in Aurangabad:
o An attempt at emulating the Taj Mahal. but serious miscalculation
happened and went wrong.
o Minarets are superfluous and are the only major deviation in copy
from the original scheme of the Taj Mahal.
• Badshahi Masjid in Lahore:
o Vast court.
o Free standing prayer hall.
o Minarets at each comer of the hall.
o building material: Red sandstone + White marble.
o Atop the prayer hall, three bulbous domes in white marble rise
beautifully.
• Moti Masjid at Lal Qila, Delhi:
o Marble used in its construction is of a very fine quality.
o Similar to the Moti Masjid built by Shah Jahan in Agra fort.
o The three bulbous domes cover the prayer hall.
The Safdar Jang's Tomb (post-Aurangzeb's period) : It was a period of decline.
In disturbed political scenario Later emperor hardly paid attention in buildng
activities.
• Emulation of Taj Mahal.
• It is double storeyed and is covered by a large and almost spherical dome.
• The minarets rise as turrets and are topped by domed kiosks.
• The main building stands on an arcaded platform
• Used red sandstone + marble paneling.
PAINTING AND FINE ARTS

• 16th century (esp. 2nd half): marks a watershed in the development of the
art of painting and music in India.
• Akbar gave liberal patronage to the growth of fine arts during his rule. His
successors also showed great interest in these arts, so that by the end of the
17th century painting and music in the Mughal court reached unparalleled
height.
• Simultaneously, in the Deccan, was evolving another great tradition of
painting and music somewhat independent of the Mughal influence.
• Later, in the eighteenth century, the patronage to painting shifted from the
Mughal court to regional kingdoms, such as Rajasthan and Punjab
Painting Under Early Mughals:
Babur: Could not contribute anything to the growth of painting.
Humayun:
• He brought to India to Persian master: Mir Syed Ali and Khwaja Abdus
Samad.
• An important painting from his period: 'Princes of the House of Timur' and
dated c. 1550. It has been executed on cloth, quite large in size.
EVOLUTION OF MUGHAL SCHOOL UNDER AKBAR
Akbar took deep interest in the promotion of this art.

• Ain Akbari:
▪ Called tasvir.
▪ It as a means, both of study and amusement.
▪ he conferred rewards according to excellence of workmamhip,
or increases the monthly salaries.
▪ The minuteness in detail, the general finish,the boldness of
execution observed in pictures, are incomparable; even
inanimate objects look as if they had life
▪ Especially the Hindus have become famous masters of the art,
whilst the number of those who approach perfection or of
those who are middling is very large; their pictures surpass
our conception of things.
• Establishment of Royal Atelier:
o The first major project undertaken during Akbar's regime: illustrating
the Hamza Nama.
o The place where the painters worked was known as Tasvir Khana.
▪ among the painters the majority were Hindus. Interestingly,
several low caste people (e.g: Daswant, the son of a Kahar), due
primarily to their artistic skill, were also raised to the status of
royal artist. ← S.P. Verma.
▪ The artists were salaried employees.
o The painting was a collaborative team work.
▪ There are paintings which bear the names of two artists

(Sometimes even three artists). On one painting from
Akbarnama four artists have worked.
o The atelier was supervised by daroghas with the assistance of clerks.
• Style and Technique:
o The illustrations of the early phase are clearly influenced by the
Persian tradition, the identifying features:
▪ symmetrical compositions;
▪ restricted movement of figures;
▪ fineness of the lines of drawings;
▪ flat depiction of architectural columns; and
▪ profuse embelbhnent of buildings in the manner of jewels.
o Later, the paintings acquired a distinctive character of their own. They
assumed a more eclectic character composed mainly of the Persian
and Indian traditions with touches of European influence.
• Distinctive Features:
o By about 1590 it acquired a distinctive form which was marked by:
▪ Naturalism & Rhytham.
▪ clothing objects of daily use assuming Indian forms.
▪ picture space having subsided scenes set in background
▪ extraordinary vigor of action and violent movement
▪ luxuriant depiction of foliage & brilliant blossoms
o It was a fusion of the Persian and Indian traditions. But, “the
depiction of action and movement” is not found in either the pre-
Mughal art of India or the art of Persia.
o Themes:
▪ daily events of the court, and
▪ portraits of leading personalities.
o While portrait painting was known in Persia, painting as a chronicle of
actual events was certainly a new emphasis. Painters used familiar
forms for hunting or battle scenes.
o Possibly, painters conceived scenes according to a repertoire of types
e.g. the seize of a fortress, crossing a river, an audience or battle
scene.
▪ In the working of whole volumes such as the Akbar Nama, the
artists seem to have reworked or adapted these compositional
types. Painters usually created new compositions only when
no prototypes existed, and only a few artists were capable of
such invention.
o in chronological order famous illustrated manuscripts of this period:
▪ Hamzanama → c. 1562-1580
▪ Anwar-i Suhaili → 1570
▪ Tutinama → c. 1570-1580
▪ Tarikh-i Khandan-i Timuriya → c. 1570-1590
▪ Baburnama → c. 1570-1590
▪ Akbarnama → C. 1570-1600
▪ Tarikh-i Alfi → c. 1570-1600
▪ Razm nama → 1582
DEVELOPMENTS UNDER JAHANGIR AND SHAH JAHAN
• During Jahangir and Shahjahan, Mughal painting achieved its zenith.

• Jahangir took a deep interest in painting even as a prince.
o His own studio apart from Akbar's large atelier.
o Preference was for paintings of hunting scenes, birds and flowers.
o He also continued the tradition of portraiture.
• Under Shahjahan:
o Colours of the paintings became more decorative.
o Gold was more frequently used for embellishment.
Introduction of New Styles:
• During Jahangir's rule (1605-27):
o Manuscripts became less important than individual pictures.
o Jahangir, with his personal involvement, may have functioned
effectively as the head of the royal studio
• Two important new elements in the style of Mughal painting during the first
half of the 17th century:
o formalist style, i.e. realistic painting :
▪ preferring the precise recording of contemporary reality.
o The painting of this period have broad margin which are gorgeously
decorated with the depiction of flora and faces of human figures, etc.
designs from plant motifs.
Thematic Variations:
• Jahangir was a keen naturalist. We have paintings of birds and animals in
the most realistic fashion.
• Shah Jahan was a great patron of architecture, but he did not neglect the
painting.
o Tradition of doing portraits, preparing albums, and, illustrating books,
was continued.
o depicting charming love scenes
o portraits of female members.
o Super imposition of animals and the scenes of performing acrobats.
Final Phase:
Aurangzeb:
• The arts were ignored during his regime. Painting did not stop altogether,
though it lost the patronage of the Emperor and became confined to the
studios of the nobles.
• Large number of karkhana records (on paintings) are located in the
Rajasthan state Archives, Bikaner. There also exist a few pictures of the
emperor himself during his campaigns.
• These paintings are more formal and seem to have lost their earlier
liveliness.
Muhammed Shah (1719-48):
• Interest got renewed in depicting pleasure loving scenes.
• But by this time many of the painters of imperial studio had begun migrating
to provincial courts. The loss of the Mughals, thus, was the gain of the
provincial styles.
EUROPEAN IMPACT ON MUGHAL PAINTING
• In its later phases (during the 17th cen), the Mughal painting was influenced
by the European art.
o Some themes (of European art) + few of the techniques of European
artists were incorporated.
• Many original prints from Europe were collected and preserved in the
albums of Jahangir and Dara Shikoh and several Mughal nobles.
• Initially Mughal painters made exact copies of European paintings.
• They also experimented with European themes and made new paintings.
• There had been attempt to make them 3-dimensional.
• The effect of light and shade (mostly utilized in fight scenes) was Eurbpean
convention accepted to Mughal painters.
• Depiction of motifs like 'hals', winged angles and roaring clouds (was
influence of European paintings).
• oil painting from Europe ← did not attract the Mughals. There is no work
from this period that was executed in oil.
PAINTING IN THE DECCAN
• A distinct style of painting emerged in the kingdoms of Ahmadnagar,
Bijapur and Golconda in the Deccan in the late 15th century and predates
the Mughal painting.
• the Decanni style reached its zenith in the 17th century.
Court Patronage:
• Ahmadnagar: illustrated manuscript of Ta'rif-i Husain Shahi.

• Bijapur:
o Illustrated manuscript of Nujum-ul-Ulum. This work was
commissioned by Ali Adil Shah who had several painters working at
his court.
o lbrahim Adil Shah (1580-1627):
▪ was an accomplished painter and a calligraphist. He was the
greatest of the Bijapur line.
▪ Towards the close of the 16th century, there had emaged a new
tradition of painting in Ahmadwdgar and Bijapur, known as the
Ragamala painting.
▪ Ragamala painting tradition reached the highest point.
• Golkonda:
o There is another category of paintings in the Deccan style which

depict the pomp and grandeur of the royal processions.
o Several paintings of this type have come down to us from the reign of
Abdulla Qutb Shah (1626-72) of Golkonda.
• Hyderabad:
o The painting of Azam Shah returning from bird-shooting and
approaching his pleasure garden at the foot of the Golconda fort.
o the album of Himmatyar Khan, a noble of the Nizam's court.
Style and Themes:

Numerous influences seem to have affected the formation of the Deccani tradition.
• The influence of the Persian tradition:
o however, assimilation is not precise and disciplined.
o Many of the features have been taken over without the refinement of
the Persian paintings.
• The influence of the Mughal school:
o contact developed by exchanges of artists between the two court
and also gifts of paintings.
But the Deccan paintings cannot be analysed primarily on the basis of various
derivative influences. The best specimens of Deccan paintings creatively reshape
extraneous suggestions and become aesthetically original. The features typical of
Deccan paintings are:
• Hierarchical scaling, i.e., the principal figure being bigger than the
subordinate figures.
• Richness of the palette, in which white and gold are used as they are in no
other Indian miniatures.
• Typical Jewelry, e.g., plaque of the necklace.
• Exaggerated swirl of the girdle and stole, especially in the case of feminine
figures,
• Intersection of diagonals so as to form an arch around the principal figures.
RAJASTHANI PAINTING
The Rujasthani paintings have a distinct aesthetic quality. In its early phase, it
showed a great vigour, though it absorbed
Mughal influence later. After the collapse of the Mughal power, it reemerged and
flourised under the patronage of different Rajput kingdoms.
Style and Themes:

• Since its beginning, adopted nature as the main theme.
• The illustrations are almost like landscape paintings where human figures
seem to play only subordinate roles.
• Some of the main elements of nature depicted in these paintings are:
o a variety of tree forms;
o a dense foliage;
o singing birds and frolicking animals;
o rivers full of lotus blossoms; and

o drops of rain falling from deep blue clouds.
• The Rajasthani miniatures are also known for the intensity of colours used.
some of the most prominently used colours:
o Deep blue for clouds,
o Streaks of gold showing flashes of lightening,
o Emerald green for foliage.
• The major themes:
o hunting scenes;
o portraits, and
o musical seasons.
• The use of compartmental pictures in which space is divided into bends
and rectangles and used as frames for figures and groups.
Main Centers:
• Mewar School:
o Nisar Din (1606) and then Sahib Din (worked from 1627 to 1648
and took Mewar School at its height).
o The illustrated series ran into hundreds covering a very wide range of
life, including mythology.
o Under the patronage of Jagat Sing I (1628-52), a long series of
illustrations called Nayakabheda was executed by a number of
painters in a poetic and sentimental style.
o In the subsequent half-a-century period, the influence of the Mughal
style gradually weakened the vitality of the Mewar school, and it
gradually became more and more subdued.
• Bundi School:
o There had been two important periods : 1620-35 and 1680-1700.
o During the 18th century, While retaining its originality of
expression, it followed the Mughal school in subject-matter and
technical details, The main emphasis now was on the display of
feminine grace in which it seemed to excel.
• Kishangarh School:
o The Kishangarh style was lyrical and sometimes sensuous.
o It was encouraged by Maharaja Sawant Singh, (aka.Nagari Das)
(1699-1764).
o Although Mughal secular influence in painting affected every court in
Rajasthan, in Kishangarh deep Hindu devotionalism seems to have
survived.
o Under Sawant Singh's patronage, there was a spurt in the art of
painting based on the love-lore of Radha and Krishna.
o The Kishangarh paintings are mostly the work of the talented artist
Nihal Chand.
o The elegant forms of the Kishangarh females, with their sharp
noses, almond eyes and arched mouths, set up a new tradition in
Rajasthani painting.
▪ Bani Thani is one of the Indian miniature, belong to this

school. The portrayed woman is knwon as India's Mona Lisa.
FINE ARTS
Fine arts during the 16th-18th century seem to have developed more in the
regional kingdoms than in the Mughal state. Available historical information is also
scanty.
Music:
South India
• Janaka and Janya ragas: Existed in south around the middle of the 16th
century.
o Swaramela Kalanidhi by Ramamatya (written in 1550) describes 20
janak and 64 janya ragas.
• Somanatha wrote Ragavibodha in which he incorporated some concepts of
the North Indian style.
• Caturdandi-prakasika by Venkatamakhin: a famous treatise on music
(middle of 17th cen).
o system propounded in the text has come to form the bedrock of the
Carnatic system of music.
North India
• The development of music in North India was largely inspired and
sustained by the bhakti movement.
o In Vrindavan, Swami Haridas promoted music in a big way. He is also
considered to be the teacher of the famous Tansen of Akbar's court.
• Tansen:
o The great exponents of North Indian system of music.
o He introduced some famous ragas viz., Miyan ki Malhar, Miyan ki
Todi and Dabari.
• Raja Mansingh of Gwaliar (1486-1517) played a distinguished part in the
growth and perfection of Dhrupad, a variant style of the North Indian music.
• Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah encouraged music in North Indian style.
o Sadaranga and Adaranga were two great composers of Khayal
gayaki at his court.
o Several new forms of music such as Tarana, Dadra and Ghazal came
into existence.
o Moreover, some folk forms of music were also incorporated in the
courtly music.e.g:
▪ Thumri → employing folk scales.
▪ Tappa → developed from the songs of camel drivers of Punjab.
• In the South the texts of music enforced a stricter science, in the North the
absence of texts permitted geater liberty.
• There were thus several experiments in mixing the ragas carried out in the
North. A loose code-of North Indian style of music is a feature that has
continued to the present day.
Dance and Drama:

• Evidence is less but important sources are the texts on music, dance and
drama, and the creative works of literature in the different languages of
India.
o Orissa: Two 17th century texts on dance and drama:
▪ Abhinaya Chandrika by Mahesvara Mahapatra
▪ Sangit Damodara by Raghunatha.
o South India:
▪ Adi Bharatam, Bharatarnava,
▪ Natyavedagama by Tulajaraja (1729-1735)
▪ Balaramabbaratam by Balaravarman (1753-1798) .
o Court of Muhammad Shah: Sangita Malika treatise on dance and
music.
• In comparison dance and thereat remained only at the initial stages of
development
DECLINE OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE

• About the 1st half of eighteenth century the political boundaries of the
Empire shrank, the decline also saw the collapse of the administrative
structure so assiduously built by rulers like Akbar and Shah Jahan.
• The processes of the decline and the emergence of regional polities have
been intensely debated among historians. The scholarly opinion is more
sharply divided than on any other aspect of Mughal history.
The historiographical perspective on the Mughal decline can be divided into two
broad sections.
(1) The Mughal-centric / Empire-centric approach:

• This was propagated by Jadunath Sarkar, Stanley Lanepoole, V.A.
Smith, William Irvine.
• Historians attempt to identify the causes of the decline within the structure
and functioning of the Empire itself.
• Attributed the decline to a deterioration in the characters of the Emperors
and their nobles.
• Jadunath Sarkar had analyzed the developments of this period in the
context of law and order. He Aurangzeb as the arch culprit. He said:
o Aurangzeb was a religious fanatic. He discriminated against sections
of the ,nobles and officials on the basis of religion. This led to
widescale resentment among the nobility.
o Aurangzeb's successors and their nobles were mere shadows of their
predecessors and were thus unable to set right the evils of Aurangeb's
legacy.
• Jagirdari Crisis:
o Satish Chandra (Parties and Politics at the Mughal Court. 1707-40),
Mughal decline has to be seen in the Mughal failure, towards the end
of Aurangzeb's reign, to maintain the system of the mansabdar-
jagirdar. As this system went into disarray, the Empire was bound to
collapse.
▪ S. Chandra was the first one to make serious attempt to study
the structure of the Mughal Empire. This led to shift of focus
from personalities and policies of individual rulers to larger
and broader developments that were weakening the very
structure on which the Mugbal edifice had been built.
o Athar Ali (The Mughal Nobility under Aurangzeb, Bombay, 1966 ) :
The nobles competed for better jagirs, which were increasingly
becoming rare due to the influx of nobles from the south. The logical
consequence was the erosion in the political structure which was
based on jaglrdari to a large extent.
o S. Nurul Hassan puts forward the argument that the agrarian
relations as they developed during the Mughal rule gave rise to an
authority structure which worked like a pyramid. In this form the

rights of various kinds came to be superimposed upon each other. As
a result bulk of the revenue demand of the state was transferred on to
the cultivators. In the eighteenth century, with the decline of the
Mughal authority, and with pressure on jagirs, agricultural economy
began to face a crisis.
▪ The zamindars as a class, were quite loyal to the state. But
agrarian situation worsened, conflict between them and the
state as also among themselves could not be checked. This
often resulted in law and order problems and decimated the
authority of the state. After the death of Aurangzeb and
weakening of the imperial authority this equilibrium got
disturbed. The zamindars in this situation could be contained
only by a group which would he independent of the support of
the zamindars. Since such a class had not emerged by this time,
the pattern of agrarian relations could not be changed. The
collapse of the system became inevitable.
• Agrarian Crisis :
o Irfan Habib ( The Agrarian System of Mughal India): the mechanism
of collection of revenue that the Mughals had evolved was inherently
flawed.
▪ Habib argued that peasant protests weakened the political
and social fabric of the Empire.
▪ The imperial policy was to set the revenue at the highest rate
possible to secure the greatest militery strength for the
Empire, the nobles. On the other band, tended to squeeze the
maximum from their jagirs, even if it ruined the peasantry and
destroyed the revenue paying capacity of the area.
▪ Since, the nobles' jagirs were liable to be transferred
frequently, they did not find it necessary to follow a far-sighted
policy of agricultural development. As the burden on the
peasantry increased, they were often deprived of their very
means of survival. In reaction to this excessive exploitation the
peasantry, protested.
▪ The forms of rural protest in Medieval India were varied in
nature. In many areas the peasants took to flight. Entire
villages were left deserted due to the large scale migration of
peasants to the towns or other villages. Very often the peasants
protested against the state by refusing to pay the revenue and
were up in arms against the Mughals.
• Re-examination of 'Crisis': J.F. Richards, M.N. Pearson and P. Hardy are also
of the view that Mughal involvement in the Deccan and the affairs of the
Marathas as the main reason of the decline of the Empire. However, they
differ from the Aligarh historians in their understanding of the nature of the
Empire
o M.N. Pearson : Once Mughal patronage slackened due to the lack of

any further military expansion, and, a shortage of fertile areas to
be allotted as jagirs arose, the "personalised bureaucracy" of the
Mugbal Empire showed signs of distress. This sounded the death-knell
for the Mughal system.
▪ He said, The nobles were bound to the Empire only by
patronage, which depended on the "constant military
success" of the Emperor. And there was absence of an
impersonalised bureaucracy (i.e there was personal bounding
betweem emperor and nobles.)
▪ He said, Mughal rule was indirect. It was not state control but
local ties and norms which governed the lives of people. It was
only for the nobles that the concept of the Mughal Empire
outweighed other "primordial attachments".
o J. F. Richards : Questioned the long held belief that the Deccan was a
deficit area which generated bejagiri leading to the Mughal decline. He
used archival material from Golkonda for his study.
▪ He said, the jagirdari crisis was of an administrative and
managerial nature. The augmentation of the revenue resources
of the Empire following the annexation of the Deccan states
roughly kept pace with the expamion of the nobility during the
second half of Aurangzeb's reign.
▪ The lack of pai baqi land was due to a deliberate decision on
Aurangzeb's part to keep the most lucrative Jagirs under
khalisa in order to provide for a continued compaigning in the
Karnataka and against the Marathas. Thus, the crisis was an
administrative one and not caused by bejaglrl.
o Distinction between bejagiri and the crisis in Jogirdari: Satish
Chandra resolved problem of bejagiri to some extent.
▪ The crisis of the Jagir system did not occur because of the
growth in the size of the ruling class and the corresponding
decline in the land earmarked to be assigned in jagir. Jaglr
system was in crisis because of its non-functionality.
▪ How Jagirdari system functioned ? :
• A tripolar relationship between the peasants, the
zamindars and the mansabdar/jagirdar formed the base
on which the Mughal edifice rested.
• The ability of the mansabdar/jagirdar to collect land
revenue from the zamindars and keep the raiyat
engaged in agricultural production was the key to
successful working of the jagir system.
• The jagirdar could perform his functions properly if he
could maintain his military might.
• This of course was based on his ability to muster

enough revenue and resources from his jagir in order to
maintain the requisite contingent of troopers.
• Any factor which could disturb this neat balancing
of jagirdar-zamindar-peasant parameter would
ultimately cause the decline of the Empire.
▪ Satish Chandra argues that in the 17th century, Mughals were
unable to resolve the social conflicts within the broad
framework of the class alliance forged by them, were reflected
in financial crisis and in the crisis of the jagir system, the two
being interrelated. The crisis of the jagir system had made its
appearance fairly early in the history of the Empire. The
problem re-surfaced under Jahangir and Shah Jahan when the
Empire had expanded to fringe arms beyond the fertile tracts
of the Ganga-Yamuna doab. Towards the end of Shah Jahan
reign, the difference between jama (assessed revenue) and
hesil (revenue actually collected) in jagir lands became too
glaring. A mansabdar was lucky if the realisation from his jagir
was more than five-monthly (i.e., revenue equivalent to five
months'revenue only in a year). The number of sawars he
maintained had to be reduced proportionally. In Deccan, the
realisation was even less—about three-monthly, and the
power and influence of the jagirdar proportionally lower. Once
the military power of the jagirdar was eroded, the tripolar
relationship which sustained the Empire fell apart.
▪ Crisis of Jagirdari system could have been deferred if there was
rapid economic development both in agricultural and non-
agricultural sectors (trade).
• Trade : Trade was a supplementary source of income
for rulers and nobles. But the trade and politics
remained segregated in Mughal India. Trade was made
to yield money for the ostentatious living of the nobles.
The growth in the size of the ruling class and growing
ostentatious life style of the nobles limited the surplus
available for expanding production and resulted in
slow economic growth which were contributory factors
to the growth of the crisis.
• Agricultural sector: The state policies were aimed at
preserving the small peasant economy. e.g the khud-
kasht (the rich peasants) were not allowed to cultivate
their lands with the help of hired labour or to extend
their cultivation at the expense of the land held by
pahis. Satish Chandra says, the fundamental basis for
the jagirdari crisis was the medieval social system
which limited agricultural growth.
o The "Great Firm” Theory of the Decline of the Mughal Empire

(by Karen Leonard):
▪ The Mughal decline has also been explained in terms of
participation in the eighteenth century politics of groups
conventionally regarded as non-political.
▪ "indigenous banking firms were indispensable allies of the
Mugbal State", and that the great nobles "were more than likely
to be directly dependent upon these firms". When in the period
1650-1750 these banking firms began "the redirection of their
economic and politicel support" towards regional politics and
rulers, including the English east India Company in Bengal, this
led to bankruptcy, a series of political crises and the down fall
of the Empire.
▪ But this theory do not get adequate support from other
historians.Pearson refrains from suggesting that the Mughal
finance system was dependent on merchants' credit. Calkins
also limits his generalisation.
(2) The region-centric approach:
• The perspective goes out of the precincts of the Empire into the regions to
look for the causes of turmoil or instability in different parts of the Empire.
Muzaffar Alam and Chetan Singh have used this approach.
• Centre-Region Relationship : By studying the regional literatures of Mughal
Subas of Awadh and Punjab, Muzaffar Alam gave his argument.
o He suggests that the Mughal Empire signified a co-ordinating agency
between conflicting communities and the various indigenous socio-
political systems at different levels.
o The Empire's strength lay in the inability of the
local communities (Thus basis of the Empire in a measure had been
negative) and their systems to mobilize beyond relatively narrow
bounds.
o He is of the view that the late 17th and early 18th century, at least in
the Awadh and Punjab regions, registered unmistakable economic
growth. Alam said, social groups that had hitherto shared Mughal
power and contributed to the political stability of the Empire, now
began to take advantage of the economic boom in their regions. Many
of them amassed wealth which helped them to increase their power to
encroach on, the rights and privileges of others. The political edifice of
the Empire was bound to suffer in the face of these developments.
▪ This is in sharp contrast to the more generalized
argument that it was financial crisis which led to mughal's
decline, as postulated by Satish Chandra and others.
o Political integration in Mughal India was, up to a point, inherently
flawed. It was dependent on the realization of local magnate (nobles)
that they could not amass fortunes by themselves.
o Madad-i ma'ash holdings were scattered in the zamindaris. They

were meant to establish pockets of influence for the Empire in the far
flung regions of the countryside. The emperors were of the view that
the madad-i ma'ash grantees would keep in check the power of the
recalcitrant zamindars and thereby aid in balancing the social and
political groups that constituted the base of the Empire.
▪ The Mughal decline in the early 18th century has to be seen in
the inability of the state to maintain its policy of checks
and balances between the zamindars, jagirdars, madad-i
ma'ashholders (men of learning, who were given revenue free
grants of land by the Mughal Emperors) and the local
indigenous elements; like the shaikhzada in Awadh.
▪ Tension between these social group was not new and had
happened earlier also but in the hey-day of the Empire these
tensions had been contained, sometimes using military force
and at other times by balancing out the power of one social
group by settling another in the vicinity.
o Muzaffar Alam concludes that the decline of the Mughal empire was
manifested both in Awadh and the Punjab in a kind of political
transformation and in the emergence and configuration of the
elements of a new subadari. The genesis for the emergence of
independent regional units was present in both the provinces. But in
Punjab it ended in chaos, while Awadh witnessed a stable dynastic
rule.
• Contours of Regional Polities: Chetan singh followed Muzaffar Alam and
tried to understand Mughal decline by looking at regional development in
early 18th century.
o Chetan Singh (book: Region and Empire ,study focused on Punjab)
argues that the Mughal administrative infrastructure no doubt linked
the region to the Mughal administrative core. Yet, this conventional
form of integration had its limitations.
o He sees the process of dissociation at work in the hey day of the
Empire.
o By the late 17th century the silting of the river Indus had adversely
affected the riverine traffic of Punjab. Its most serious implication was
the gradual erosion of the highly commercialized Punjab economy.
The political upheavals in contemporary Turkey, fall of Qandahar to
the Shah of Iran and the Mughal attempt to recover it virtually
brought overland traffic to a standstill. This development coincided
with the Yusufzai uprising (1667) in North-West Punjab and the
Afridi rebellion (1678). Singh argues that these political
disturbances had grave social and economic consequences for Punjab:
they disrupted trade and thereby gradually eroded the economy
which was based on a commercialized agrarian sector.
o The loosening of Punjab's socio-economic structure led to social

unrest in Punjab. However, Singh contends that since the benefits of
trade and commerce had been unequally distributed in the region, the
discomforts caused by the decline of trade varied in different areas of
the Punjab. Thus the areas most closely associated with the Sikh
rebellion were those that were also among the most commercialized
and therefore most easily affected by economic regression.
o he concludes, the social unrest which eventually led to the
dissociation of Punjab from the Empire was the product of long term
processes. These processes had silently and steadily been at work in
the region even before the political weakening of Empire had gained
momentum in the 18th century.
conclusion :
• Not only did different subas of the Empire dissociate from it for different
reasons, but very often the dissociations were caused by political, social and
economic developments beyond the purview of the Mughal Empire. There is
not a single explanation commonly applicable to the problems of the Mughal
Empire in all its regions and provinces. Thus, it is difficult to accept a view of
Mughal decline which applies uniformly to all parts of the Mughal Empire.
• The Mughal Empire at best represented a consensus of both the centre and
the peripheries. In the eariy 18th century, it was this consensus which was
disturbed. Different peripheries that had constituted the Empire followed
their own different paths of developments.
• Regions, held together by these heterogeneous (administrative,economic and
cultural ) linkages to the Mughal core, were bound to be vulnerable to the
kinds of social, economic and cultural changes that swept through 17th
century Mughal India. Different regions were affected in different ways.
While in some regions links with the Mughal core were severed, in others
they were retained.
RISE OF REGIONAL POWER

• Subsequent to the decline of, the Mughal Empire, there was emergence of
independent regional states. However, there has been a tendency in the
writing of contemporary Persian and the early British historians to overlook
this developoment by overprojecting the decline of the Mughal Empire and
by glorifying the establishment of the British rule.
• Contemporary researches on the 18th century have drawn our attention to
the need of studying the 18th century India on its own, not from the
perspective of the decline of imperial authority or the beginning of colonial
rule.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE EMERGENCE OF REGIONAL POLITIES ?
• Understanding the dynamics of the Mughal provincial polity during 18th
century is important to identify the trend and process of the emergence of
regional powers.
• Through the control over appointment, the Emperor indirectly controlled the
provincial administration.
o Two most important functionaries, The diwan (head of the revenue
administration) and the nazim (the executive head) was appointed by
Emperor.
o Other officials like amils, faujdars, kotwals, etc. were also appointed
by the Emperor.
o The provincial governors also depended on the goodwill of the
Emperor to continue in their job.
• The central administration was crippled by financial crisis and factional
rivalry among the nobles. The Emperor was not in a position to prevent the
crisis. It failed to provide the required protection to the provincial governors.
As a result, the provincial governors engaged themselves at the beginning of
the 18th century to develop an independent base of power. Some of its
indications were
o The local appointments were made by them without the prior
permission from the Emperor,
o Attempts were made to establish dynastic rule in the provinces.
o Except the theoretical allegiance to the Mughal Emperor in the form of
sending tributes, the provincial governors virtually established their
independent authority over the provinces.
• The autonomous states in Deccan, Rajputana, etc. who were not directly
under the Mughals but acknowledged the authority of the Mughals also cut
off their ties with the Empire.
• The states that emerged during this period can be classified into threee
broad categories:
o The states which broke away from the Mughal Empire;
o The new states set up by the rebels against the Mughals; and
o The independent states.
SUCCESSOR STATES : Awadh, Bengal and Hyderabad fall in the category of

successor states. All these three provinces were directly under the control of the
Mughal administration.
THE NEW STATES : Also called rebel states. these states were outcome of their
struggle against the Mughal e.g :The Marathas, Punjab, and The Jat State.
INDEPENDENT KINGDOMS : These regions were not under direct control of

mughal and were already semi independent The Rajput, Mysore and Kerala
NATURE OF REGIONAL POLITIES

• In whatever manner they emerged, each state tried to develop its own
administrative mechanism. Take for example Hyderabad and Mysore. In both
the states a new autonomous administrative system developed, but their
functioning was different.
o In Mysore, emphasis was given to strengthen the army organization
and to augment the financial resources of the state curbing the power
and influence of the local chieftains. In Hyderabad, the local chieftains
were allowed to remain intact.
o There were also differences in army reorganization and in mobilising
revenue for the state.
• However, in spite of these differences there were some common
characteristics in the functioning of regional powers in the 18th century.
o They maintained ties with Mughal imperial authority: Though the
Mughal Emperor lost its earlier control over the provincial
administration, its importance as an umbrella ,over the provincial
authority still remained. The newly emerged regional powers
acknowledged this importance. Even rebel chieftains of the Marathas
and Sikhs sometimes recognized the Emperor as the supreme
authority.
o Mughal administrative system was often adapted by these states :
In successor states it was quite natural to follow the Mughal
tradition. Even states like that of the Marathas adopted Mughal
pattern of administration.
▪ However; it should be noted in this context that though there
was continuity of some Mughal institutions, the Mughal
political system did not survive.
o The polity that emerged in the early 18th century was regional in
character. There are no indications that these regional polities were
different from the Mughal one in so far as the basic characteristics are
concerned.
• How the regional polity generally worked:
o These polity worked with the collaborative support of the
different local groups like the zamindars, merchants, local
nobles and chieftains.
▪ Merchants: With the weakening of the imperial authority and

the finances in the 18th century, the merchants played a
crucial role in the emergence and functioning of the
regional polity. They provided the necessary financial support
to the nobles and rulers and naturally had important say in
the administration.
• The Agarwal bankers of Banaras controlled the revenue
matters.
• The house of the Jagat Seths in Bengal played decisive
role in the local power politics.
▪ Zamindars: The zamindars and local chieftains in the absence
of central security emerged as protectors of the local people.
In their respective areas of control, the zamindars ruled over
both revenue as well as judicial administration.The
common people had to depend on the mercy and benevolence
of these zamindars.
o The provincial rulers had to take care of these various local interests
in order to maintain themselves. There were exceptions, too. For
example, the Mysore rulers did not recognize the local chieftains
o Weaknesses of the regional polity.
▪ The provincial rulers failed to develop a system based on
sound financial administrative and military
organization. So they had to depend on the cooperation and
collaboration of the local groups. To some extent this was one
reason for the failure of developing a stable polity
▪ The constant warfare among the different neighbouring
regional powers. e.g : The Marathas and the Southern states
were constantly in the race for expanding their territorial
boundaries.
o Disunity among the regional powers paved the way for the external
forces to establish their dominance over India.
POTENTIALITIES OF ECONOMIC GROWTH: AN

OVERVIEW
Q. Why India failed to industrialize and evolve a capitalistic economy before
the British conquest?
Or;
Was there any potentiality of emergence of capitalism in Mughal India along

the lines of what happened in Europe?
• Many historian (in 1920s : W.H. Moreland, Brij Narain; in 1960s : Toru
Matsui. Bipn Chandra and Tapan Raychaudhuri) has probed into this but
their views largely dwell on the 19th century India.
• Irfan Habib made a pioneering enquiry into this question with focused
attention on the status of the Mughal economy.
• Europe did not possess capitalist economy in the 17th century. In England,
Capitalism started emerging from the second half of the 18th century only.
And it was merchant capitalism that prevailed in England at this time, not
industrial capitalism.
• Important features of early capitalism:
o Control of capital over production-processes;
o Money or market relations;
o "Immense accumulation of commodities” (Karl Marx); and
o Breakthrough in production-technology.
• The merchants of Medieval India possessed considerable capital, Estimates of
their wealth come from European records. Some merchants of Surat (in
1663) owned more than 5 or 6 million rupees.
o Mulls Abdul Ghafur of Surat had assets worth 8 million rupees
and twenty ships (between 300 and 800 tons each). The English
factors testify that the volume of his trading transactions was no less
than that of their company.
o Virji Vora is reproted to have held an "estate" of the value of 8 million
rupees.
o Manrique (1630) was amazed by the immense wealth of the
merchants of Agra; he saw money piled up in some merchants'
houses that "looked like grain heaps”.
• The merchants put their money into commercial circulation. The non-
mercantilrc groups(e.g Mughal Emperors, royal ladies, princes and nobles-)
too was invested in trading ventures. All these increased the size of "money-
market".
• Financial practice: The system of credit and banking in Mughal India was
well developed.
o Sarraf acted as a banker, remitting money and issuing bills of

exchange called hundi. They also discounted the hundi of merchants
thus enlarging the volume of money for commerce.
o There was practice of insurance of goods in transit (both inland and
marine).
o Institutions of money lending (and interest), for commercial
purposes including bottomry ( loan upon the ship )and
respondentia (loan upon the goods)
• Thus, it the basic financial and economic institutions were in operation in
good measure during the 17th and 18th centuries. This may have put the
Medieval economy on to the road to capitalism.
• Commodity production was taking place on a vast scale, especially of
textiles, saltpetre, indigo, etc. institution of brokery made Procurement of
these commodities easier. Means of transport, too were fairly well (by
standard of that time.)
• True capitalist relations may develop only when capital would dominate
and control large areas of production process.
• Difference between industrial and merchant capital :
o Merchant capital is not directly involved with manufacture i.e
production was not controlled by merchants.
▪ Production was carried out by independent artisans who
owned the tools, invested their money in buying raw material,
worked at their respective homes (Domestic Craft System),
owned the finished goods and sold at the market.
o Capitalism destroys all these features and gives birth to Industrial
capital , turning the independent artisans into wage-workers.
o But the changeover from merchant to industrial capitalism was not
abrupt or sudden. There was a transitory stage that arose within
merchant capitalism itself. It is called putting-out system.
o As an result, Industrial capital takes over gradually the means of
production and controls the entire system.
• The nature and extent of this transitory phase (or putting-out system or
dadni) in Medieval India:
o It sees to have been quite an established practice, though on a small
scale, even prior to the 17th century.
o The penetration of merchant capital into the existing artisan-level
mode of production happened through the putting-out system
(dadni).
o The brokers come into the picture because the advances to the
primary producers by the merchants were made through them.
o Economic structure of the putting-out system:
▪ Indian economy during the 17th century was a, sellers' (i.e
producers) market. There was tremendous demand and the
large number of competitive buyers flooding the market.
▪ Thus from merchants' point of view: the putting-out system

excluded his rivals and secured him timely delivery of
stipulated quantity of commodity in accordance with
previously agreed rates.
▪ The primary producer accepted advance since he had to cope
with extensive orders for which he may not have adequate
money to buy raw materials.
▪ Thus, the putting-out system rendered economic services to
both the merchant and the artisan.
o The degree of penetration of merchant capital into the
production-process through the putting-out system could be
assessed by examining whether the merchant advanced cash or raw
materials (or both) and the tools of production to the artisan.
▪ Textile industry : There is adequate evidence for
advance being given in cash. And there is insufficient evidence
of advance made in raw material and negligible for
instruments of production.
▪ Need for giving raw material (yam) to the weavers arose
because the yarn obtained by weavers themselves was often of
inferior quality, even when granted cash in advance. Some
profit accrued to the weaver when he himself purchased yarn
or raw silk of inferior quality. It is for this reason weaver did
not always welcome the supply of raw materialfrom the
merchant. This partly explains the scarcity of data about
practice of advance made in raw material.
▪ Chicherov explains that "the supply of raw material's never
posed a problem" in the rural areas because "cotton-growing,
which was extraordinarily extensive and in some areas almost
universal, was a typical economic-geographical feature of
India; cotton could be grown on every farm or bought on the
nearest market". spinning was widespread even in peasant's
ordinary families. All this created a constant and vast source of
raw materials for the weaving trade".
▪ Thus it can be concluded that the most distinguishing feature
of the putting-out system during the 17th century was the
practice of cash-advance.
▪ we do not notice any distinct tendency on the part of the
merchants to intervene deliberately in the production process
in such a manner as to bring about a radical change in the
relations of production. True, the producer was "tied" to the
merchant in the sense that now he was under an obligation to
fulfil his commitment, But the artisan still retained the
ownership of the tools of production and in this case raw
materials, too. What really happened was that he had merely
sold off his produce in return for advance payment out of his
free will.
▪ There does not appear to exist any extraordinary economic
compulsion (except poverty) for him to accept such orders
from the merchant; nor does the latter appears to have
employed non-economic coercion to compel him to enter into
such a deal. Here, the merchants felt obliged to the weavers for
their acceptance of the advance money. But even this "tie-up"
was very slender.
▪ Thus the relations between the merchant and the producer
during the 17th century lacked "economic bondage","economic
dependence", "physical coercion" and "merchant monopoly".
o The artisan had merely turned into a "contract-producer" from and
"independent" one. True he was no longer the owner of his produce,
but he was not yet alienated from the ownership or raw material and
tools of production.
▪ As long as the artisan worked within the domestic system of
craft-production, real capitalistic relations of production could
not be generated.
▪ The putting-out system did not deprive the producer of his
tools and often raw material clearly indicates that the control
of labour by merchant capital was indeed very weak.
▪ Until this alienation took place, commodity-production
manufactory or, in other words, assemblage of large number of
workers at one place at the same time for the production of the
same commodity under a superior capitalist direction could
not emerge.
▪ At this stage the putting-out system itself, along with the
brokers, would ultimately disappear, yielding place to new
relations of production.
• Nor do we find any evidence for the creation of surplus value, say,
through "depression of wages". so that a part of the labour time could remain
unpaid for.
o Absence of the exercise of non-economic coercion by the merchants,
this was not possible so long as the tools of production were retained
by the artisan, working within the domestic system.
o The tools were simple and cheap to be made or purchased (by
average artisan) and no technological breakthrough was achieved
rendering them costlier,beyond the means of an average artisan, The
artisan were not alienated from them.
o Marx : “The process that clears the way for the capitalist system is
the process which takes away from the labourer the possession of his
means of production”.
• But It is not that merchant capital did not exercise any influence on the
organization of production.
o The putting-out system through which it operated did transformed

the "independent" status of the primary producer into a contract-
worker". It also cut him off from the market.
o the sporadic examples of karkhanas maintained and the dyeing and
refining "houses" erected by the foreign merchants in Gujarat and
Bengal do indicate the direction of change during the latter half of the
17th century.
o Yet these changes were not fundamental nor so widespread as to
compel us to discover in them elements which could promote real
capitalistic relations.
o Merchant capital had a very feeble hold over the production process.
Therefore, it will be incorrect to say that merchant capital "broke
through the traditional bonds of production".
• Why did merchant capital, operating through the putting-out system,
fail to exercise any worthwhile control over labour?
o Has been examined by Irfan Habib : failure was not due to lack of its
development.
o The absence of any extraordinary economic compulsion or non-
economic coercion left the artisan free to strike a deal with
whomsoever he considered best.
o The coexistence of the independent artisan-level production with
the putting-out system. probably on a scale larger than the putting-
out system or at least on equal footing.
o The territorial and occupational mobility of the artisan which
often may have rescued him from falling into "economic bondage" or
"dependence".
o The interests of the broker and merchant did not always
coincide. Broker tried to seize upon and opportunity to get some
irregular income. Broker's victims were both the producer and the
merchant. Thus he did not always act in a manner which could
promote the interest of merchant capital; rather he
worked sometimes in collusion with the artisan.
o Marx said : Development of capital as merchant's capital is essentially
equal to the non-subjection of production to capital.
o Perhaps some merchants, especially "broker-contractors"
(middlemen merchants) who were in close proximity with the
production-process, may have evolved into manufacturing
entrepreneurs: the examples of karkhanas maintained by the
Mughal emperors, nobles and occasionally by the foreign companies
should have served as models. But a mere change in the
organization of production unaccompanied by basic changes in
technology could not cut much ice.

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SELFSTUDYHISTORY.

COM: Gist of IGNOU Medieval India: Part-II

MEDIEVAL INDIA IGNOU

POLITY AND ECONOMY IN NORTH INDIA

c. Ibrahim's policy had severe consequences and proved ruinous to the

ii. The sarkar comprised a number of parganas, each pargana

• Sultan Sikandar Lodi formulated a definite agricultural development-

o Sher Shah appointed new revenue officials at the pargana and

• The entire empire was divided into khalisa and iqta.

o Administered by he state directly through, diwan-i wizarat i.e. the

THE TRADING WORLD OF ASIA AND THE COMING OF

• The Portuguese emerged as an important naval power in Indian waters

Finance for Portuguese trade:

FACTORIES, FORTRESSES AND COMMERCIAL ARRANGEMENTS

centres were expected to serve the Portuguese to check the

NATURE OF THE PORTUGUESE TRADE WITH INDIA

• There is no record of any group of merchants demanding exclusive right of

• Overseas trade (16th century) was generally of long distance in nature.The

o The Tuzuk-i Jahangiri or Memoirs of Jahangir (1st R.Y. to 19th R.Y. of

• Travels of Francois Bernier, (1656-48) gives vivid

RISE OF THE MARATHAS IN THE 17th CENTURY

SOURCES AND GEOGRAPHY

RISE OF THE MARATHA POWER: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Various views and opinions:

▪ Even within Maharashtra one does not find him undertaking

▪ His assumption of superior status of suryavamsi kshatriya

o But, as rightly pointed out by P.V. Ranade, "Hindu hostility to Muslim

o Neither the mamlatdars could dismiss them nor compel them to

o The siledars were also placed under sarnobat.

Babur and The Rajputs:

collaborated with Sanga as Kafirs infidels and mulhids and also

AKBAR'S RELATIONS WITH THE RAJPUTS

o Others hold that it was a deliberate attempt to exploit the martial

o In these circumstances the Rana tried to extend the holding at the

o The Rajputs were generally orthodox in their social and religious

• An analysis of the mansab and offices conferred during Jahangir's reign

MUGHAL RULING CLASS

▪ Muqarrab Khan, Qizilbash Khan and Mir Jumla (under Shah

▪There had been no Rajput officer throughout the reign of Shah

DISTRIBUTION OF REVENUE RESOURCES AMONG THE RULING CLASS

o 1,149 mansabdars controlled only 30% of the revenue. Thus. there

MUGHAL ADMINISTRATION: CENTRAL, PROVINCIAL

o Babur's wazir Nizamuddin Muhammad Khalifa enjoyed both the civil

o Mir bakhshi placed all matters pertaining to the military department

o Alms were also distributed through him.

o Supervised the revenue collection in the suba and maintained

Darogha-i Dak and the Secret Services:

• sawanih nigar: to provide confidential reports to the Emperor.

TOWN, FORT AND PORT ADMINISTRATION

o Sometimes, the qiladars were asked to perform the duties of the

NATURE OF MUGHAL ADMINISTRATION

MUGHAL ADMINISTRATION: MANSAB AND JAGIR

reign, there was a great pressure on the khalisa as the number of

Mughal Land Revenue System

watchmen, else there were chances of misappropriation before

o Ijara system or revenue fanning was another feature of the revenue

o These loans were interest-free, normally to be repaid at the time of

▪ He was supposed to maintain records concerning revenue