Chapter 8 Peasants, Zamindars And The State

Introduction

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the majority of India's population (around 85%) lived in villages. Agricultural production involved both peasants, who cultivated the land, and landed elites, who held rights to a share of the produce. This dynamic created a complex web of relationships within rural society, involving cooperation, competition, and conflict.

Simultaneously, external forces, most notably the Mughal state, exerted significant influence on the rural world. The state's primary source of income was agricultural production, leading it to establish an administrative apparatus to control rural society, ensure cultivation, and collect taxes. The presence of state agents like revenue assessors, collectors, and record keepers became a key factor in shaping agrarian relations.

As crops were increasingly grown for sale in markets, trade and money became more integrated into village life, connecting agricultural areas with urban centres.

Peasants And Agricultural Production

The fundamental unit of agricultural society was the village, populated by peasants who performed the seasonal tasks necessary for cultivation throughout the year, including tilling, sowing, and harvesting. They also contributed labor to produce agro-based goods like sugar and oil.

However, rural India was not solely based on settled peasant farming. Large areas of dry land and hilly regions were not as cultivable as fertile plains. Forests also covered significant portions of the territory. Understanding this diverse landscape is crucial for studying agrarian society.

Looking For Sources

Obtaining the perspective of the peasants themselves is difficult, as they did not typically write accounts of their lives. Our primary sources for the agrarian history of the 16th and early 17th centuries come from the Mughal court.

A key source is the Ain-i Akbari (the Ain), authored by Akbar's court historian, Abu'l Fazl. This text provides detailed information on the state's efforts to manage cultivation, collect revenue, and regulate relations with powerful rural magnates, the zamindars. The Ain's central aim was to portray Akbar's empire as harmonious and well-governed, suggesting that challenges to state authority were bound to fail. Therefore, the Ain presents a perspective on peasant life primarily from the viewpoint of the ruling class.

Fortunately, this top-down view can be supplemented by other sources. These include detailed regional revenue records from Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan from the 17th and 18th centuries. Additionally, the extensive records compiled by the English East India Company provide descriptions of agrarian relations in eastern India (Chapter 10). These supplementary sources often record conflicts between peasants, zamindars, and the state, offering insights into peasants' expectations of fairness and their perception of their relationship with the state.

Peasants And Their Lands

Indo-Persian sources frequently used terms like raiyat (plural, riaya) or muzarian to refer to a peasant. Other terms like kisan or asami also appear. Seventeenth-century sources distinguish between two types of peasants:

• Khud-kashta: Resident cultivators who owned the land they farmed in their village.
• Pahi-kashta: Non-resident cultivators from other villages who cultivated land on a contractual basis elsewhere. Peasants might become pahi-kashta by choice (e.g., more favorable revenue terms in another village) or compulsion (e.g., economic hardship like famine).

The average peasant in north India typically owned limited resources, often possessing no more than a pair of bullocks and two ploughs, and frequently even less. Affluence varied by region; in Gujarat, around six acres was considered prosperous, while in Bengal, five acres was the upper limit for an average farm, and ten acres was indicative of a rich asami.

Cultivation was based on the principle of individual ownership. Peasant lands could be bought and sold, similar to the property of other landowners. Fields were clearly demarcated with boundaries made of earth, brick, or thorn, facilitating counting and identification within a village.

The mobility of peasants was a striking feature, noted by observers like Babur (Source 1).

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Irrigation And Technology

Three factors contributed to the continuous expansion of agriculture: the availability of land, abundant labour, and the mobility of peasants. The primary goal of agriculture was subsistence, so staples like rice, wheat, and millets were most commonly cultivated, corresponding to varying levels of rainfall.

Monsoons were vital for Indian agriculture. However, crops requiring more water necessitated artificial irrigation systems. The state supported irrigation projects, such as digging new canals and repairing old ones like the shahnahr during Shah Jahan's reign in Punjab.

Although agriculture was labour-intensive, peasants used simple, effective technologies, often powered by cattle. The wooden plough with an iron tip (coulter) was common; its lightness allowed for quick assembly and shallow furrows, which helped preserve soil moisture in hot weather. While drills pulled by oxen were used for planting, broadcasting seeds by hand remained the most prevalent method. Weeding and hoeing were done with a narrow iron blade.

Babur described the irrigation devices he observed in northern India, including different types of wells and water-lifting systems (Source 2).

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An Abundance Of Crops

Agriculture in the Mughal period was structured around two main seasonal crop cycles: the kharif (autumn harvest) and the rabi (spring harvest). This allowed most regions, except the most arid, to produce at least two crops annually (do-fasla). Areas with consistent rainfall or irrigation could even yield three crops.

This system ensured a wide variety of agricultural produce. For instance, the Ain-i Akbari records 39 crop varieties in Agra province and 43 in Delhi over the two seasons. Bengal was known for its specialisation, producing 50 varieties of rice alone.

Beyond basic subsistence, medieval Indian agriculture also included cultivating crops primarily for sale. These were often termed jins-i kamil ("perfect crops") in sources, encouraged by the Mughal state for the higher revenue they generated. Cotton and sugarcane were prime examples of jins-i kamil. Cotton was widely grown in central India and the Deccan, while Bengal excelled in sugar production. Cash crops also included oilseeds (like mustard) and various lentils.

This demonstrates that subsistence farming and commercial production were closely integrated within the average peasant's landholding.

During the 17th century, new crops were introduced from other parts of the world. Maize, arriving via Africa and Spain, became a major crop in western India. Vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes, and chillies, along with fruits such as pineapple and papaya, were introduced from the Americas ("New World").

Tobacco, introduced into the Deccan and later spread to North India in the early 17th century, became extremely popular despite initial attempts to ban it, evolving into a major item of consumption, cultivation, and trade across India by the late 17th century.

The flexibility and variety in agricultural production contributed to population growth. Despite famines and epidemics, India's population increased by about 50 million (around 33%) between 1600 and 1800.

The Village Community

Agricultural production heavily relied on the intensive effort and initiative of the peasantry. To understand the structure of agrarian relations, we examine the social groups within the village community, their relationships, and points of conflict. Peasants held their land individually but also belonged to a collective village community that influenced many aspects of their social lives. The community comprised three main elements: the cultivators, the panchayat, and the village headman.

Caste And The Rural Milieu

Deep inequalities based on caste and similar distinctions made the cultivators a very diverse group. Many who tilled the land also worked as menials or agricultural labourers (majur), often from specific caste groups. Despite land availability, these groups were often restricted to menial tasks and remained poor due to their position in the caste hierarchy, similar to the situation of Dalits in modern India. These distinctions were also present in Muslim communities, with groups like halalkhoran (scavengers) living outside village boundaries and mallahzadas (sons of boatmen) in Bihar facing conditions comparable to slavery.

There was a direct link between caste, poverty, and social status at the lowest levels. However, this correlation was less clear at intermediate levels. A 17th-century manual from Marwar mentions Rajputs and Jats, despite the latter's lower caste status, living and farming in the same areas. Groups like the Gauravas near Vrindavan sought Rajput status. The profitability of cattle rearing (Ahirs, Gujars) and horticulture (Malis) allowed some castes to improve their social standing. In eastern India, pastoral and fishing castes like Sadgops and Kaivartas attained peasant status.

Panchayats And Headmen

The village panchayat was an assembly of elders, usually prominent individuals with hereditary property rights. In villages with mixed castes, the panchayat included representatives from various castes, though the village menial-cum-agricultural workers were unlikely to be represented. Decisions made by these panchayats were binding on village members.

The panchayat was led by a headman, known as muqaddam or mandal. Some sources suggest the headman was selected by the consensus of village elders and sometimes ratified by the zamindar. Headmen served as long as they retained the elders' confidence and could be removed if they lost it. Their main duty was supervising village accounts, assisted by the village accountant or patwari.

Panchayat funds came from individual contributions and were used to host visiting revenue officials and support community welfare, such as dealing with natural disasters (floods) or funding infrastructure projects like building a bund or digging a canal, which peasants couldn't afford individually. (Note on corrupt mandals highlights how headmen could misuse their position by manipulating accounts and shifting tax burdens).

A key function of the panchayat was upholding caste boundaries and norms within the village. In eastern India, the mandal presided over marriages to ensure caste rules were followed. Panchayats could impose fines or temporary expulsion from the community for violating caste norms, acting as a deterrent.

Beyond the village panchayat, each caste (jati) had its own jati panchayat, which held considerable power. In Rajasthan, jati panchayats settled civil disputes within the caste, mediated land claims, decided on marriage norms, and determined ritual precedence. Except for criminal justice, the state generally respected the decisions of jati panchayats.

Archival records from Rajasthan and Maharashtra include petitions from villagers, often lower castes, to the panchayat complaining about excessive taxation or forced unpaid labour (begar) by superiors or state officials. These petitions were sometimes collective, highlighting perceived morally illegitimate demands. Peasants expected the panchayat to act as a court of appeal, ensuring the state fulfilled its moral obligation to guarantee basic subsistence, especially during hard times. If reconciliation failed, peasants might resort to deserting the village, an effective form of resistance due to the availability of uncultivated land and competition for labour (Fig. 8.4 shows a painting depicting village elders and tax collectors, possibly showing the different attire and status of the groups).

Village Artisans

Villages included a significant number of artisans, sometimes up to 25% of households. The line between artisans and peasants was often fluid, with many individuals or families performing both roles. Cultivators and their families engaged in crafts like dyeing, pottery, and repairing agricultural tools during less busy agricultural periods (Fig. 8.5 shows textile production).

Village artisans (potters, blacksmiths, carpenters, barbers, goldsmiths) provided specialised services. They were typically compensated in various ways:

• A share of the harvest.
• An allotment of land (miras or watan in Maharashtra), often decided by the panchayat.
• A system of mutually agreed-upon exchange of goods for services (later termed the jajmani system).
• Cash remuneration, though less common than payment in kind.

These complex exchange networks at the micro-level of the village are revealed in historical documents.

A “Little Republic”?

Nineteenth-century British officials sometimes viewed the Indian village as a self-sufficient, egalitarian "little republic." However, this view was overly simplistic. Despite collective aspects, individual ownership of assets existed alongside deep inequities based on caste and gender. A powerful group of elders or influential individuals controlled village affairs, making decisions, dispensing justice, and often exploiting weaker sections.

Furthermore, the village was not isolated. A cash economy connected villages to towns through trade. Revenue was increasingly assessed and collected in cash. Artisans producing for export (weavers) and cultivators of cash crops received payment in cash, indicating the penetration of a money nexus into the rural economy (Tavernier's account notes the presence of moneychangers, shroffs, even in small villages, facilitating remittances and currency exchange, Fig 8.6).

Women In Agrarian Society

In agrarian society, production was a joint effort, with men and women often performing complementary roles. Men typically handled tilling and ploughing, while women were involved in tasks like sowing, weeding, threshing, and winnowing. With the rise of individual peasant farming centred on the household, the labor and resources of the entire family were essential for production. This made a strict separation between the home (women's sphere) and the outside world (men's sphere) impractical.

Nevertheless, biases related to women's biological roles persisted. Some practices, such as menstruating women being prohibited from touching the plough or potter's wheel (in western India) or entering betel-leaf groves (in Bengal), highlight these restrictions.

Women's labor was also vital in various artisanal tasks, including spinning yarn (Fig. 8.7), preparing clay for pottery, and embroidery. The demand for women's labor in craft production increased with the commercialization of products. Peasant and artisan women worked in the fields and also often went to employers' homes or markets.

Women's role as childbearers was highly valued in a society dependent on labor. However, high mortality rates among women due to malnutrition, frequent pregnancies, and childbirth complications often resulted in a shortage of wives. This led to distinct social customs in rural communities compared to elites, such as the payment of bride-price (to the bride's family) instead of dowry, and the acceptance of remarriage for divorced and widowed women.

While women were crucial for reproduction and labor, there was a significant fear of losing control over them. Social norms dictated that the household was headed by a male, and women were subject to strict control by male family and community members, facing severe punishments for suspected infidelity. Documents from Western India show women petitioning village panchayats for justice, often related to spousal infidelity or male heads neglecting their families. While male infidelity might not always be punished, the state and higher castes sometimes intervened to ensure families were provided for. In formal records, women petitioners' names were often omitted; they were identified through their relationship to the male head of the household.

Among the landed aristocracy, women did have rights to inherit property, including zamindaris. Instances from Punjab show women actively participating in the rural land market as sellers of inherited property. Hindu and Muslim women could inherit, sell, or mortgage zamindari rights. Women zamindars were present in 18th-century Bengal, with the large Rajshahi zamindari notably headed by a woman.

Forests And Tribes

Rural India in the 16th and 17th centuries included not just settled agricultural areas but also extensive forests. These varied from dense forests (jangal) to scrubland (kharbandi) and were found across many regions, including eastern, central, and northern India, Jharkhand, and the Deccan plateau down the Western Ghats. Contemporary sources suggest forest cover averaged around 40%.

Beyond Settled Villages

Forest dwellers were referred to as jangli, a term that didn't necessarily imply a lack of "civilisation" as it might today, but rather described people whose livelihoods depended on forest resources (gathering, hunting) and shifting cultivation. These activities were often seasonal. For instance, the Bhils engaged in distinct activities during spring (gathering), summer (fishing), monsoon (cultivation), and autumn/winter (hunting). This required and maintained mobility, a characteristic feature of forest-dwelling tribes.

From the state's perspective, forests could be problematic, serving as refuges (mawas) for rebels and those who evaded taxes. Babur noted that jungles provided a strong defense for those in a pargana who were rebellious and refused to pay taxes.

Inroads Into Forests

External forces impacted forest life in several ways. The state, for example, needed elephants for its army. Tribute (peshkash) from forest people often included supplying elephants. (Fig. 8.9 shows a hunting scene, highlighting the emperor's interaction with wild animals in forested areas, which was also symbolic of his connection to all subjects). The hunt was a common subject in court paintings, often including symbolic elements of a harmonious reign.

Clearance of forests for agricultural expansion was another significant process, sometimes initiated by rulers or local chieftains (Source 3 is a 16th-century poem describing forest clearance for settlement).

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The spread of commercial agriculture also impacted forest dwellers due to the demand for forest products like honey, beeswax, and gum lac (a major export). Trade involved both barter and cash exchange. Some tribes, like the Lohanis, were involved in overland trade between India and Afghanistan and within Punjab (Source 4 describes hill-plain trade).

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Social changes included tribal chieftains gaining prominence, some becoming zamindars or kings. They raised armies, recruiting from their lineage (e.g., tribes in Sind with large armies, Ahom kings with paiks). The transition from tribal systems to monarchies accelerated, particularly by the 16th century (Ain notes tribal kingdoms in the northeast). Wars were common (e.g., Koch kings expanding territory by subjugating tribes).

New cultural influences also spread, with some historians suggesting Sufi saints played a role in the gradual acceptance of Islam among agricultural communities expanding into former forest areas (Chapter 6).

The Zamindars

Within Mughal agrarian society existed a class of people who benefited from agriculture without directly participating in cultivation: the zamindars. They were landed proprietors who held social and economic privileges due to their superior status and services (khidmat) to the state.

Zamindars held extensive personal lands called milkiyat (property), cultivated for their private use often with hired or servile labour. They had full rights to sell, bequeath, or mortgage these lands. Their power also stemmed from their ability to collect revenue on the state's behalf, for which they were compensated. Control over military resources was another source of power; most zamindars had fortresses (qilachas) and armed contingents (cavalry, artillery, infantry).

The Ain-i Akbari indicates that zamindars formed the narrow apex of the rural social pyramid. Abu'l Fazl noted a strong presence of the so-called "upper-castes" (Brahmana-Rajput combine), a large representation of intermediate castes, and a notable number of Muslim zamindaris. Ain also provides statistics on the significant military strength maintained by zamindars across the empire (Source on Parallel army).

Contemporary documents suggest varied origins for zamindaris, including conquest (dispossessing weaker people, often requiring imperial sanction - sanad). However, gradual processes like colonisation of new lands, state-ordered transfer of rights, and purchase were more significant for zamindari consolidation. The active buying and selling of zamindaris in this period allowed individuals from relatively "lower" castes to acquire zamindari status.

Clan or lineage-based zamindaris consolidated power over large territories, particularly among Rajputs and Jats in northern India and peasant-pastoralists like the Sadgops in Bengal. Zamindars spurred agricultural colonisation, helping cultivators settle by providing resources and loans. The sale of zamindaris increased monetisation in the countryside. Zamindars also sold produce from their milkiyat lands and often established markets (haats) where peasants could sell their produce.

While undoubtedly an exploitative class, zamindar-peasant relations also involved aspects of reciprocity, paternalism, and patronage. Bhakti saints, known for critiquing oppression, notably did not target zamindars or moneylenders but rather state revenue officials. Furthermore, in many 17th-century agrarian uprisings against the state, zamindars often received peasant support, suggesting a more complex relationship than simple exploitation.

Land Revenue System

Revenue from land was the Mughal Empire's primary economic support. Thus, establishing an administrative system to control agricultural production, fix taxes, and collect revenue across the vast empire was crucial. The head of the fiscal system was the diwan. Revenue officials and record keepers significantly influenced agrarian relations by penetrating the agricultural domain.

The state aimed to gather detailed information on agricultural lands and production to determine tax burdens. The land revenue process had two main steps: assessment (jama), the amount fixed, and actual collection (hasil), the amount received. Akbar instructed his revenue collectors (amil-guzar) to prefer cash payment but allow payment in kind (Source 7 describes collection methods). While the state sought to maximise its revenue claims, actual collection was sometimes limited by local conditions.

Both cultivated and cultivable lands were measured in each province. The Ain provides aggregates of these lands under Akbar, and measurements continued under his successors (Aurangzeb ordered annual records of cultivators per village in 1665, Source 6). However, vast forest areas remained unmeasured. (Fig 8.11 and 8.12 show Mughal silver currency used for collection).

Akbar's administration classified land based on cultivation frequency (Polaj, Parauti, Chachar, Banjar) and productivity (good, middling, bad) to fix revenue (Source 5 describes land classification and assessment). The state's share was fixed, typically one-third of the average produce.

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The Flow Of Silver

The Mughal Empire, along with the Ming (China), Safavid (Iran), and Ottoman (Turkey) empires, were major land-based powers in Asia that consolidated resources in the 16th and 17th centuries. The political stability they achieved facilitated vibrant overland trade networks from China to the Mediterranean.

The Age of Discovery and the opening of the Americas led to a massive expansion of trade between Asia (particularly India) and Europe. This trade resulted in huge amounts of silver bullion flowing into Asia to pay for goods, with a significant portion gravitating towards India. This influx of silver was beneficial for India, which lacked its own silver mines.

Consequently, the 16th to 18th centuries saw remarkable stability in the availability of metal currency, especially the silver rupya in India. This spurred an unprecedented expansion of coin minting and the circulation of money throughout the economy. This monetisation also enhanced the Mughal state's capacity to extract taxes and revenue in cash.

The account of Italian traveller Giovanni Careri (c. 1690), based partly on Bernier's work, vividly describes the global flow of silver to India, highlighting the scale of cash and commodity transactions in 17th-century India (Source 8 details this process).

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The Ain-I Akbari Of Abu’L Fazl Allami

The Ain-i Akbari, completed in 1598, was a monumental work by Abu'l Fazl commissioned by Emperor Akbar. It was part of a larger historical project, the Akbar Nama, comprising three books. The first two books provided a historical narrative of Akbar's reign, while the Ain (the third book) served as a detailed compendium of imperial regulations and a gazetteer of the empire.

The Ain offers comprehensive accounts of various aspects of the Mughal Empire:

• Organisation of the court, administration, and army.
• Sources of revenue.
• Physical layout and profiles of provinces (subas).
• Literary, cultural, and religious traditions of the people.

Crucially, the Ain provides intricate quantitative information about the provinces, detailing their geographic, topographic, and economic profiles, administrative divisions (sarkars, parganas, mahals), measured areas, and assessed revenue (jama). This systematic data collection informed the emperor about the diverse customs and practices across his vast territories.

The Ain is structured into five books (daftars):

1. Manzil-abadi: Focuses on the imperial household and its management.
2. Sipah-abadi: Deals with military and civil administration, including servants and biographical sketches of officials (mansabdars), scholars, poets, and artists.
3. Mulk-abadi: Covers the fiscal administration, providing rich quantitative data on revenue rates and accounts of the twelve provinces. It includes detailed statistical tables for subas, sarkars, parganas, and mahals, detailing measured area, assessed revenue, charitable grants (suyurghal), and information on zamindars (castes, troops - cavalry, infantry, elephants).
4. Fourth and Fifth Books: Describe the religious, literary, and cultural traditions of India and include a collection of Akbar's sayings.

The Mulk-abadi section offers a remarkably detailed view of agrarian society in northern India, including the composition and military strength of zamindars.

Abu'l Fazl meticulously described his process of collecting information, using records, interrogating individuals, reducing statements to writing, and cross-checking data (Source 9 describes his methods).

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Although officially sponsored and based on official papers, the Ain was more than a simple reproduction. Abu'l Fazl's five revisions indicate his effort for accuracy and authenticity. Oral testimonies were cross-checked, and numeric data reproduced in words to prevent errors.

Despite its value, the Ain has limitations. Minor totalling errors exist. Quantitative data is skewed, lacking uniformity across all provinces (e.g., caste data for zamindars is missing for Bengal/Orissa). While fiscal data is rich, information on prices and wages is less documented and primarily reflects the area around the capital, limiting its applicability to the entire country.

Nevertheless, the Ain is an exceptional historical document. By providing detailed insights into the Mughal Empire's structure, organisation, products, and people, it broke away from earlier chronicles that mainly focused on political events. The Ain serves as a key benchmark for studying India around 1600, particularly for agrarian relations and reconstructing the social fabric based on information about people, professions, trades, and the imperial establishment.