Peasants, Zamindars and the StateClass 12 History Notes

Peasants, Zamindars and the State

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the vast majority of India's population, about 85 per cent, lived in villages. The lives of these people revolved around agriculture. Both the peasants who worked the land and the powerful landed elites, like zamindars, were deeply involved in agricultural production. They all claimed a share of the harvest, which led to relationships of cooperation, competition, and sometimes conflict. These complex relationships formed the fabric of rural society.

Beyond the village, the Mughal state was a major force. The empire's income was primarily derived from agricultural taxes. To ensure a steady flow of revenue, state agents like revenue collectors and record-keepers worked to control rural society, making sure cultivation continued and taxes were paid. As many crops were grown for sale, the rural world became connected to towns through trade, money, and markets.

Peasants and Agricultural Production

The village was the fundamental unit of agricultural life. Here, peasants performed the essential tasks that changed with the seasons: tilling the soil, sowing seeds, and harvesting crops. They also used their labour to produce agro-based goods, such as sugar and oil.

However, rural India was not just a landscape of fertile, settled farms. It also included large areas of dry land, hilly regions, and substantial forests, each with its own unique characteristics. This varied geography is crucial to understanding the agrarian society of the time.

Looking for sources

Our knowledge of rural society in this period doesn't come directly from the peasants themselves, as they did not leave behind written accounts of their lives. Instead, historians rely heavily on chronicles and documents from the Mughal court.

• The Ain-i Akbari: One of the most important sources is the Ain-i Akbari, written by Abu'l Fazl, the court historian of Emperor Akbar. This text provides a detailed record of the state's arrangements to manage agriculture, collect revenue, and regulate its relationship with the zamindars.
• A View from the Top: The main goal of the Ain was to project an image of Akbar's empire as a place of social harmony, maintained by a strong ruling class. It portrayed any rebellion against the Mughal state as doomed to fail. Therefore, what we learn about peasants from the Ain is a perspective from the ruling elite.

Peasants and their lands

Indo-Persian sources from the Mughal era used several terms to refer to peasants, with the most common being raiyat (plural, riaya) or muzarian. We also find the terms kisan or asami.

Seventeenth-century sources mention two main categories of peasants:

1. Khud-kashta: These were peasants who were residents of the village where they held their lands.
2. Pahi-kashta: These were non-resident cultivators who farmed lands in a village other than their own on a contractual basis. A peasant might become a pahi-kashta by choice, perhaps to take advantage of more favourable revenue terms in a different village, or by compulsion, such as being forced to move by famine or economic distress.

The average peasant in north India had limited resources, seldom owning more than a pair of bullocks and two ploughs. Landholding size varied by region. In Gujarat, a peasant with six acres was considered well-off, while in Bengal, five acres was the upper limit for an average farm.

Irrigation and technology

Three key factors drove the constant expansion of agriculture during this period: the abundance of land, the availability of labour, and the mobility of peasants. The primary goal was to grow food, so staples like rice, wheat, and millets were the most common crops, with their cultivation zones determined by rainfall.

• The Monsoon: The monsoon rains were, and still are, the backbone of Indian agriculture.
• Artificial Irrigation: However, some crops needed more water than the monsoon provided. For this, artificial irrigation systems were essential. The first Mughal emperor, Babur, noted two main methods in his memoirs, the Babur Nama:
  • The Persian Wheel: Used in regions like Lahore, this device used a system of ropes, wooden strips, and pitchers looped over a wheel to lift water from a well. The wheel was turned by a bullock, and the water emptied into a trough to be channelled to the fields.
  • The Bucket System: In areas like Agra, a large bucket tied to a rope was used. The rope was pulled over a roller by a bullock to draw water from the well.
• State Support: The Mughal state also supported irrigation projects, such as digging new canals (nahr, nala) and repairing old ones, like the shahnahr in Punjab during Shah Jahan's reign.
• Agricultural Technology: Though labour-intensive, agriculture was not without technology. Peasants used a light wooden plough with an iron tip that didn't create deep furrows, which helped preserve soil moisture in the hot months. While seed drills were used, the most common method of sowing was broadcasting (scattering seeds by hand).

An abundance of crops

Agriculture was organized around two main seasons: the kharif (autumn) and the rabi (spring). In most regions, this allowed for at least two harvests a year, a practice known as do-fasla. This resulted in an enormous variety of crops. For instance, the Ain records that the province of Agra grew 39 varieties of crops, while Bengal was famous for producing 50 varieties of rice alone.

Agriculture was not purely for subsistence. The Mughal state encouraged peasants to cultivate jins-i kamil (literally, "perfect crops"). These were cash crops that brought in more revenue.

• Prime Cash Crops: Cotton and sugarcane were considered the best examples of jins-i kamil. Cotton was grown widely across central India and the Deccan, and Bengal was famous for its sugar.
• Other Cash Crops: Oilseeds (like mustard) and lentils were also important commercial crops.

This shows that subsistence farming and commercial production were closely intertwined on an average peasant's farm. The seventeenth century also saw the introduction of several new crops from around the world, including maize, tomatoes, potatoes, chillies, pineapple, and papaya. Tobacco, which arrived in the early 1600s, spread so rapidly that Emperor Jahangir tried to ban it, without success.

The Village Community

Agricultural production was a collective effort that shaped social relations in the village. While peasants owned their land individually, they were also part of a village community that governed many aspects of their lives. This community was made up of three main parts: the cultivators, the panchayat, and the village headman (muqaddam or mandal).

Caste and the rural milieu

Rural society was not equal. Deep inequalities based on caste meant that cultivators were a very diverse group.

• Lower Strata: A significant number of people worked as landless agricultural labourers (majur) or performed menial tasks. These groups, much like the Dalits of today, were often relegated to poverty and had the fewest resources. In Muslim communities, menials like the halalkhoran (scavengers) were forced to live outside the village.
• Intermediate Castes: The link between caste and socioeconomic status was less rigid at the middle levels. For example, Rajputs were recorded as peasants in Marwar, working alongside Jats. Some pastoral and horticultural castes, like the Ahirs, Gujars, and Malis, rose in the social hierarchy due to the profitability of their occupations. In eastern India, fishing and pastoral castes like the Sadgops and Kaivartas also gained peasant status.

Panchayats and headmen

The village panchayat was an assembly of elders, usually influential men with hereditary rights to their property. It was an oligarchy, meaning it was controlled by a small group of powerful people, and it represented various castes in the village, though the lowest-caste workers were unlikely to be included. Its decisions were binding on all villagers.

• The Headman: The panchayat was led by a headman, known as a muqaddam or mandal. He was typically chosen by the village elders, and his appointment had to be approved by the zamindar. His main duty was to oversee the preparation of village accounts, assisted by the accountant, or patwari.
• Community Functions: The panchayat managed a common financial pool, funded by contributions from individuals. This money was used to entertain visiting revenue officials and for community welfare projects like flood relief or digging a canal.
• Social Regulation: A key role of the panchayat was to ensure caste boundaries were upheld. For instance, the headman would oversee marriages to prevent violations of caste norms.
• Judicial Authority: Panchayats could impose fines and even expel people from the community. Expulsion was a drastic punishment, as it meant the person became an outcaste and could no longer practice their profession.
• Jati Panchayats: In addition to the village panchayat, each caste or jati had its own panchayat. These bodies held considerable power, arbitrating civil disputes, deciding on marriage norms, and settling matters of ritual precedence. The state generally respected their decisions, except in criminal justice cases.
• Peasant Petitions: Peasants, especially those from the lowest rungs of society, could petition the panchayat to seek justice against excessive taxation or demands for unpaid labour (begar) by higher castes or state officials. They saw the panchayat as a moral authority that would ensure the state fulfilled its obligations.

Village artisans

Villages were also home to a substantial number of artisans—sometimes up to 25% of all households. The line between artisan and peasant was often blurry, as many families participated in both farming and craft production, such as dyeing, pottery, or making agricultural tools, especially during lulls in the farming calendar.

Artisans like potters, blacksmiths, and carpenters provided specialized services to the village. In return, they were compensated in various ways:

• They might receive a share of the harvest.
• They could be allotted a piece of land, which in Maharashtra was known as their miras or watan (hereditary holding).
• They sometimes entered into direct arrangements with peasant households, exchanging goods for services. This system later came to be known as the jajmani system.
• Cash payments were also not unknown.

A "little republic"?

Some nineteenth-century British officials described the Indian village as a "little republic," suggesting a community of equal partners. However, this view was misleading.

• Inequality: In reality, there was individual ownership of property and deep inequalities based on caste and gender. A small group of powerful individuals ran village affairs and often exploited the weaker sections.
• The Cash Nexus: More importantly, the village was not isolated. It was connected to towns through trade, and revenue was typically collected in cash. Artisans producing for export markets were also paid in cash. The presence of money-changers, or Shroffs, in even small villages shows how deeply monetized the rural economy was.

Women in Agrarian Society

In agrarian society, men and women worked together in the fields. Men typically tilled and ploughed, while women's labour was crucial for sowing, weeding, threshing, and winnowing. The household was the basic unit of production, making a strict separation between the home (for women) and the world (for men) impossible.

• Roles and Restrictions: Women were vital to artisanal production, performing tasks like spinning yarn, preparing clay for pottery, and embroidery. The more commercialized a product, the greater the demand for female labour. However, biases related to women's biology persisted. For example, menstruating women were sometimes forbidden from touching a plough or entering betel-leaf groves.
• Social Importance and Control: Women were considered an important resource because they were child-bearers in a society that depended on labour. High female mortality rates often led to a shortage of wives. This resulted in social customs in peasant communities that differed from elite groups, such as the payment of a bride-price to the bride's family instead of a dowry, and the acceptance of remarriage for divorced and widowed women.
• Patriarchal Society: Despite their importance, society was patriarchal. Women were kept under the strict control of male family members and the community, and could face harsh punishment for suspected infidelity.
• Seeking Justice and Owning Property: Women could petition the village panchayat for justice against neglectful or unfaithful husbands. However, in official records, a female petitioner was often referred to only by her relationship to a man (e.g., "the mother of..."). Among the landed gentry, women had the right to inherit property. There are records of women, including widows, inheriting and selling zamindaris, especially in Bengal.

Forests and Tribes

Rural India extended beyond settled villages into vast forests, which may have covered an average of 40% of the land.

Beyond settled villages

The term for forest dwellers in contemporary texts was jangli. This did not mean "uncivilized" but rather described people whose livelihood came from gathering forest produce, hunting, and shifting agriculture. Their lives were mobile and followed the seasons. For the state, forests were often seen as a place of refuge (mawas) for rebels and troublemakers.

Inroads into forests

External forces increasingly entered the forests, transforming the lives of the jangli.

• State Demands: The state required elephants for its army, and a tribute, or peshkash, collected from forest peoples often included a supply of elephants.
• Commercial Agriculture: The spread of commercial agriculture created a high demand for forest products like honey, beeswax, and gum lac, some of which became major items for overseas export.
• Trade: Trade networks developed between forest tribes and the plains, involving both barter and cash exchange.
• Social and Political Changes: Tribal communities also had their own chieftains, many of whom became powerful zamindars or even kings. To do this, they built armies, recruiting from their own lineage groups. For example, the Ahom kings of Assam had their paiks, people who provided military service in exchange for land.
• Cultural Influences: New cultural influences, such as Islam, also penetrated forested zones, often spread by Sufi saints, or pirs.

The Zamindars

The zamindars were a powerful class of landed proprietors who stood at the top of the rural social hierarchy. They lived off agriculture but did not participate directly in the production process.

• Sources of Power and Status: Their elevated status came from two main sources: their high caste and the services (khidmat) they performed for the state.
• Land and Military Strength: They held extensive personal lands called milkiyat, which were cultivated with hired labour and could be sold or mortgaged. Their power was reinforced by their right to collect revenue on behalf of the state and their control of military resources, including fortresses (qilachas) and armed soldiers.
• A Diverse Class: While a Brahmana-Rajput combine dominated the zamindar class, it also included people from intermediate castes and Muslims. Zamindaris could be created through conquest, but more often they were consolidated through the colonization of new lands or by purchasing rights. This process of buying and selling zamindaris allowed people from relatively lower castes to rise into their ranks.
• Role in the Rural Economy: Zamindars played a key role in expanding agriculture by helping settle cultivators and providing them with loans. They also established local markets, or haats, where peasants could sell their produce.
• Relationship with Peasants: Although they were an exploitative class, their relationship with the peasantry was complex. It often included elements of reciprocity and paternalism. Bhakti saints, who condemned other forms of oppression, rarely targeted zamindars. Furthermore, in many agrarian uprisings against the state, peasants often sided with their local zamindars.

Land Revenue System

Land revenue was the financial foundation of the Mughal Empire. The state created a detailed administrative system to control agricultural production and ensure the efficient collection of taxes. The office (daftar) of the diwan was responsible for overseeing the entire fiscal system of the empire.

The process of land revenue collection involved two main stages:

1. Assessment (Jama): This was the amount of revenue the state assessed or claimed from a piece of land.
2. Collection (Hasil): This was the actual amount of revenue collected.

The state's revenue collector, the amil-guzar, was instructed by Akbar to encourage payment in cash but to also keep the option of payment in kind (i.e., in grain) open. The state always tried to maximize its claim, though local conditions sometimes made it difficult to collect the full amount.

To make these assessments, the state tried to measure all cultivated and cultivable lands. Under Akbar, land was classified based on its productivity:

• Polaj: Land that was cultivated annually for every crop.
• Parauti: Land left fallow for a short time to regain its fertility.
• Chachar: Land that had been fallow for three to four years.
• Banjar: Land that had been uncultivated for five years or more.

The Flow of Silver

The political stability of the Mughal Empire, along with other large Asian empires like Ming China and Safavid Iran, helped create vibrant overland trade networks. The European "voyages of discovery" led to a massive expansion of sea trade between Asia and Europe.

• Silver for Goods: To pay for Indian goods like textiles, European traders brought huge amounts of silver bullion into Asia. A large portion of this silver ended up in India.
• Impact on the Economy: This was very beneficial for India, which had no natural silver resources. The influx of silver led to a remarkable stability in the availability of metal currency, particularly the silver rupya.
• Monetization: This facilitated a huge expansion in the minting of coins and the circulation of money throughout the economy. It also made it much easier for the Mughal state to collect its taxes and revenue in cash.

The Ain-i Akbari of Abu'l Fazl Allami

The Ain-i Akbari is a monumental work compiled by Abu'l Fazl, completed in 1598. It was the third book of a larger history called the Akbar Nama and was designed as a comprehensive gazetteer of Emperor Akbar's empire.

• Contents: The Ain provides detailed accounts of the Mughal court, administration, army, and sources of revenue. It contains intricate quantitative information on the empire's provinces (subas), including their geography, administrative divisions, measured area, and assessed revenue (jama).
• Structure: The Ain is made up of five books (daftars).
  • The first book, manzil-abadi, deals with the imperial household.
  • The second, sipah-abadi, covers military and civil administration and includes biographical sketches of imperial officials (mansabdars).
  • The third, mulk-abadi, focuses on the fiscal system and contains the detailed statistical "Account of the Twelve Provinces," which even lists the castes of zamindars and the size of their military forces.
  • The fourth and fifth books describe the religious, literary, and cultural traditions of the people of India.
• Limitations: Despite its incredible detail, the Ain has some limitations.
  • Historians have found minor errors in totaling, likely due to slips in arithmetic by assistants.
  • The data is not uniform. For example, information on zamindar castes is missing for Bengal and Orissa.
  • Data on prices and wages is mostly from the area around the imperial capital, Agra, and may not apply to the rest of the country.
• Historical Significance: Despite these issues, the Ain-i Akbari is an extraordinary historical document. It marked a major shift from earlier chronicles that focused only on wars and politics. By recording detailed information about the empire's people, products, and social structure, Abu'l Fazl provided a benchmark for studying India at the turn of the seventeenth century. The quantitative data it contains on agrarian society is invaluable to historians.