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Zamindars and the State Agrarian

Society and the Mughal Empire

February 17, 2017 by Bhagya

Class 12 History Notes Chapter 8 Peasants,

Zamindars and the State Agrarian Society and

the Mughal Empire

• During 16th and 17th centuries, nearly 85% of Indian population lived in villages.
• Agriculture was the main occupation of the people.
• Peasants and landlords were engaged in agricultural production.
• Agriculture, the common occupation of peasants and landlords created a
relationship of co-operation, competition and conflict among them.
• Agriculture was the main source of the revenue of the Mughal Empire. That was
why revenue accessor, collectors and record-keepers always tried to control the
rural society.
• The basic unit of agricultural society was the village. It was inhabitated mostly by
the peasants.
• Peasants were engaged in the agricultural activities through the years.
• Our major sources of the agricultural history of the 16th and 17th centuries were
the chronicles and documents written by the scholars under the supervision of the
Mughal court.
• Ain-i Akbari, written by Abu’l-Fazl has records of arrangements made by the state
for ensuring cultivation, collection of taxes by the state to regulate the relationship
between state and rural zamindar.
• Sources of 17th centuries depict that there were two kinds of peasants. These
were the Khud Kashta and Pahi Kashta.
• Khud Kashta permanently lived in villages. They had their own land and practised
agriculture over there, while the Pahi Kashta cultivated land on a contractual
basis, which originally belonged to someone else.
• Abundance of land, availability of labourers and mobility of the peasants were the
major causes for the expansion of agriculture.
• Rice, wheat and millets were the commonly cultivated crops.
• Agriculture was mainly organised in two major seasons; Rabi and Kharif.
Maximum two crops were sown in a year.
• Monsoon was considered as the backbone of the Indian agriculture during these
days. Hence, agriculture was mainly dependent on rainfall.
• Many new crops like maize, tomatoes, potatoes and chillies were introduced here
from the new world in the 17th century.