<h5 id="1-peasants-and-agricultural-production">1. PEASANTS AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION</h5> <ul> <li>The basic unit of agricultural society was the village, inhabited by peasants who performed various seasonal tasks.</li> <li>Peasants were responsible for tasks such as tilling the soil, sowing seeds, and harvesting crops.</li> <li>They also contributed labor to the production of agro-based goods like sugar and oil.</li> <li>Rural India was not only characterized by settled peasant production, but also included large tracts of dry land, hilly regions, and forest areas.</li> <li>The varied topography of rural India should be considered when discussing agrarian society.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="11-looking-for-sources">1.1 Looking for sources</h5> <ul> <li>The understanding of rural society in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries primarily comes from chronicles and documents from the Mughal court.</li> <li>The Ain-i Akbari, authored by Akbar’s court historian Abu’l Fazl, is a significant source that records the state’s arrangements for cultivation, revenue collection, and regulation of relationships with rural magnates.</li> <li>The Ain presents a top-down view of Akbar’s empire, emphasizing social harmony through a strong ruling class and viewing any revolt or autonomous power as bound to fail.</li> <li>Supplementary sources from regions away from the Mughal capital, including revenue records from Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan, and records of the East India Company, provide insights into conflicts between peasants, zamindars, and the state.</li> <li>These sources offer glimpses into peasants’ perceptions and expectations of fairness from the state, recording instances of conflicts and negotiations.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="12-peasants-and-their-lands">1.2 Peasants and their lands</h5> <ul> <li>The most common term used for a peasant during the Mughal period, as per Indo-Persian sources, was raiyat or muzarian. Other terms included kisan or asami.</li> <li>Peasants were categorized into two types in the 17th century: khud-kashta and pahi-kashta. Khud-kashta peasants were resident cultivators who owned the land they cultivated. Pahi-kashta peasants, on the other hand, were non-resident cultivators who belonged to another village but cultivated lands elsewhere on a contractual basis.</li> <li>The average peasant in north India typically owned no more than a pair of bullocks and two ploughs, with peasants in Gujarat considered affluent if they possessed about six acres of land, and ten acres making one a rich asami in Bengal.</li> <li>Cultivation was primarily based on individual ownership, with peasant lands bought, sold, and inherited like any other property.</li> <li>The agricultural life that struck Babur, the first Mughal emperor, about northern India was the ease with which hamlets, villages, towns were depopulated and set up, with the population being unlimited and crops being rain-grown.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="13-irrigation-and-technology">1.3 Irrigation and technology</h5> <ul> <li> <p>The primary factors contributing to the expansion of agriculture in India were the abundance of land, available labor, and the mobility of peasants.</p> </li> <li> <p>Monsoons were the backbone of Indian agriculture, but artificial systems of irrigation were devised for crops requiring additional water. In northern India, during Babur’s time, water was supplied to young trees using buckets or wheels, and in Lahore, Dipalpur, and other parts, people used a wheel mechanism for irrigation. In Agra, Chandwar, Bayana, and other parts, people used a bucket system for irrigation.</p> </li> <li> <p>In Vijayanagara, the irrigation systems required resources such as the construction of reservoirs, canals, and the use of Persian wheels. These systems could ensure the participation of peasants in improving agricultural technology, as they required manual labor and skill.</p> </li> <li> <p>The spread of tobacco in the early 17th century, first in the Deccan and then in northern India, became a major article of consumption, cultivation, and trade all over India by the end of the century.</p> </li> <li> <p>Agriculture in India was labor-intensive, but technologies such as the wooden plough, drill, and iron blade were used to harness cattle energy, plant seeds, and perform hoeing and weeding. These technologies did not make deep furrows, preserving moisture during hot months.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="14-an-abundance-of-crops">1.4 An abundance of crops</h5> <ul> <li> <p>Agriculture in medieval India was organized around two major seasonal cycles: kharif (autumn) and rabi (spring).</p> </li> <li> <p>The focus on cultivation of basic staples did not mean agriculture was only for subsistence; crops such as cotton and sugarcane were encouraged for higher revenue.</p> </li> <li> <p>Such varied and flexible forms of agricultural production led to slow demographic growth, with India’s population increasing by about 33% between 1600 and 1800.</p> </li> <li> <p>During the seventeenth century, new crops and vegetables from different parts of the world reached India, including maize, tomatoes, potatoes, chillies, pineapple, and papaya.</p> </li> <li> <p>The agricultural practices described in this section are different from those in Chapter 2, with a wider variety of crops and the introduction of produce from the New World.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="2-the-village-community">2. THE VILLAGE COMMUNITY</h5> <ul> <li>Peasants in Mughal society held their land in individual ownership.</li> <li>They were also part of a collective village community, which included cultivators, the panchayat, and the village headman.</li> <li>The panchayat was a decision-making body responsible for internal disputes and community matters.</li> <li>The village headman acted as a mediator between the peasants and the state authorities.</li> <li>The structure of agrarian relations was significantly influenced by the active participation and initiatives of the peasantry in agricultural expansion.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="21-caste-and-the-rural-milieu">2.1 Caste and the rural milieu</h5> <ul> <li>The text discusses the deep inequities present in the rural milieu based on caste and other similar distinctions.</li> <li>Certain caste groups were relegated to poverty as they were assigned menial tasks, despite the abundance of cultivable land.</li> <li>In Muslim communities, menials like the halalkhoran (scavengers) and mallahzadas (boatmen) were housed outside the village boundaries or compared to slaves.</li> <li>There was a direct correlation between caste, poverty, and social status at the lower strata of society, but this was not as marked at intermediate levels.</li> <li>Castes such as the Ahirs, Gujars, and Malis rose in the hierarchy due to the profitability of cattle rearing and horticulture, while intermediate pastoral and fishing castes like the Sadgops and Kaivartas acquired the status of peasants in the eastern regions.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="22-panchayats-and-headmen">2.2 Panchayats and headmen</h5> <ul> <li>The village panchayat was an assembly of elders, usually important people of the village with hereditary rights over their property. It was a heterogeneous body representing various castes and communities.</li> <li>The panchayat was headed by a headman known as muqaddam or mandal. The headman was chosen through the consensus of the village elders and held office as long as they enjoyed the confidence of the village elders.</li> <li>The panchayat derived its funds from contributions made by individuals to a common financial pool. These funds were used for defraying the costs of entertaining revenue officials and for community welfare activities.</li> <li>One important function of the panchayat was to ensure that caste boundaries among the various communities inhabiting the village were upheld. It had the authority to levy fines and inflict more serious forms of punishment like expulsion from the community.</li> <li>Each caste or jati in the village had its own jati panchayat. These panchayats wielded considerable power in rural society and mediated in contested claims on land, decided who had ritual precedence in village functions, and so on.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="23-village-artisans">2.3 Village artisans</h5> <ul> <li>The existence of significant numbers of artisans in villages was common during the early British rule, sometimes making up to 25% of total households.</li> <li>The distinction between artisans and peasants was often fluid, as many groups performed tasks of both. Cultivators also engaged in artisanal production during agricultural lulls.</li> <li>Village artisans, such as potters, blacksmiths, carpenters, and goldsmiths, provided specialized services in exchange for shares of harvest, land allotments, or negotiated goods for services.</li> <li>In Maharashtra, artisans’ lands were known as miras or watan, their hereditary holdings. In Bengal, a jajmani system evolved where artisans received daily allowances and diet money.</li> <li>Cash remuneration existed alongside these systems, indicating the complexity of exchange networks at the village level.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="24-a-little-republic">2.4 A “little republic”?</h5> <ul> <li>The village community in the nineteenth century was seen as a “little republic” by some British officials, but this did not mean rural egalitarianism. There was individual ownership of assets and deep inequities based on caste and gender distinctions.</li> <li>A group of powerful individuals decided the affairs of the village, exploited the weaker sections and had the authority to dispense justice.</li> <li>A cash nexus had already developed through trade between villages and towns. Artisans and producers of commercial products received their wages in cash.</li> <li>The seventeenth-century French traveler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier noted the presence of a moneychanger called a Shroff in Indian villages, who acted as bankers and enhanced the rupee as they pleased for paisa and the paisa for cowrie shells.</li> <li>The text raises questions on how the panchayats described in this section were similar to or different from present-day gram panchayats.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="3-women-in-agrarian-society">3. WOMEN IN AGRARIAN SOCIETY</h5> <ul> <li>In many agrarian societies, men and women had specific roles in the production process, with men typically engaged in tasks such as ploughing and women involved in activities like sowing, weeding, and harvesting.</li> <li>Women’s labor was crucial in artisanal tasks and the production of commercial goods, with the demand for their labor increasing as the products became more commercialized.</li> <li>Women were considered important resources in agrarian societies due to their role as childbearers, but high mortality rates often led to a shortage of wives, resulting in distinct social customs like the payment of bride-price and legitimization of remarriage.</li> <li>Despite their rights to inherit property in some communities, women’s contributions in agrarian societies were often not recognized, and they were kept under strict control by male family members and community leaders.</li> <li>Women from landed gentry families, including widows, could inherit and participate in the rural land market, with instances of women zamindars (landowners) in eighteenth-century Bengal and Punjab.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="4-forests-and-tribes">4. FORESTS AND TRIBES</h5> <ul> <li>Forests provide essential resources and habitat for tribal communities.</li> <li>The relationship between forests and tribes is interdependent, with tribes often relying on forests for hunting, gathering, and agriculture.</li> <li>Deforestation can have severe impacts on tribal communities, leading to loss of resources, cultural sites, and displacement.</li> <li>Reciprocally, the knowledge and practices of tribal communities can contribute to sustainable forest management.</li> <li>Policies and initiatives should aim to recognize and protect the rights of tribal communities in forest management and conservation.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="41-beyond-settled-villages">4.1 Beyond settled villages</h5> <ul> <li>Rural India during this period consisted of not just intensively cultivated provinces, but also extensive forests and scrublands, particularly in eastern, northern, and peninsular India.</li> <li>Forest dwellers, termed jangli, were those whose livelihood came from gathering forest produce, hunting, and shifting agriculture. Their activities were season-specific, with examples like the Bhils reserving spring for collecting forest produce, summer for fishing, monsoon months for cultivation, and autumn and winter for hunting.</li> <li>This lifestyle perpetuated mobility, a distinctive feature of tribes inhabiting these forests.</li> <li>For the state, the forest was a subversive place, serving as a refuge for troublemakers and a defense for rebellious groups avoiding tax payments.</li> <li>No specific equations or formulae were provided in the text.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="42-inroads-into-forests">4.2 Inroads into forests</h5> <ul> <li>The text evokes intrusion into the forest through:</li> </ul> <ol> <li>Clearing forests for agricultural settlements.</li> <li>Levying tribute (peshkash) on forest people for supplies, including elephants.</li> <li>Regular hunting expeditions by the emperor to relate to subjects and address grievances.</li> </ol> <ul> <li> <p>The people identified as “foreigners” from the perspective of the forest dwellers are outsiders who came from various lands to settle and establish markets after the forest was cleared.</p> </li> <li> <p>In the passage by Abu’l Fazl, the modes of transport described include men, stout ponies, and goats. These were used to carry goods like gold, copper, lead, musk, honey, chuk, pomegranate seed, ginger, long pepper, majith root, borax, zedoary, wax, and woollen stuffs from the northern mountains to the plains.</p> </li> <li> <p>The articles brought from the plains to the hills may have been used for various purposes, such as:</p> <ol> <li>Gold, copper, and lead: Currency and raw materials.</li> <li>Musk: Perfume or medicine.</li> <li>Honey: Food or medicine.</li> <li>Chuk: Acid used in food or medicine.</li> <li>Pomegranate seed, ginger, and long pepper: Spices or ingredients for medicine.</li> <li>Majith root: Red dye for clothing or other uses.</li> <li>Borax and zedoary: Medicinal or other uses.</li> <li>Hawks, falcons, black falcons, and merlins: Hunting or religious purposes.</li> <li>Wooden ware: Utensils or tools.</li> </ol> </li> <li> <p>The transition from a tribal to a monarchical system had become fully developed by the sixteenth century, with tribal chiefs becoming zamindars or even kings, requiring armies for protection and military service.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="5-the-zamindars">5. THE ZAMINDARS</h5> <ul> <li> <p>Zamindars were a class of people in Mughal India who owned land and enjoyed social and economic privileges due to their superior status in rural society.</p> </li> <li> <p>They held extensive personal lands, called milkiyat, which were cultivated for their private use. They could buy, sell, or mortgage these lands at will.</p> </li> <li> <p>Zamindars derived power from their ability to collect revenue on behalf of the state and control over military resources, such as fortresses and armed contingents.</p> </li> <li> <p>They played a significant role in the colonization of new lands and the settlement of cultivators, which accelerated the process of monetization in the countryside.</p> </li> <li> <p>The buying and selling of zamindaris allowed people from lower castes to enter the rank of zamindars, leading to a combination of clan- or lineage-based zamindaris and the consolidation of control over vast territories.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="6-land-revenue-system">6. LAND REVENUE SYSTEM</h5> <ul> <li>The Mughal Empire’s economic mainstay was land revenue, which required an administrative apparatus to control agricultural production and fix/collect revenue.</li> <li>The apparatus included the diwan’s office, responsible for the fiscal system, with revenue officials and record keepers in the agricultural domain.</li> <li>Land revenue arrangements consisted of assessment (jama) and collection stages; jama was the assessed amount, as opposed to hasil, the collected amount.</li> <li>Akbar’s list of duties for the amil-guzar or revenue collector included maximizing state claims and allowing payment in cash or kind.</li> <li>The Mughal state classified lands (Polaj, Parauti, Chachar, Banjar) and fixed revenue based on produce; revenue was collected in cash or kind.</li> <li>The expansion of the empire likely increased land revenue collection, and the mansabdari system managed civil/military affairs through cash or jagirs.</li> <li>The Ain outlined various methods of assessment and collection, such as kankut, batai, khet-batai, and lang batai, to ensure fair revenue distribution.</li> <li>Aurangzeb’s 1665 order emphasized a detailed survey to assess jama accurately, considering government financial interests and peasant welfare.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="7-the-flow-of-silver">7. THE FLOW OF SILVER</h5> <ul> <li> <p>The Mughal Empire, along with the Ming, Safavid, and Ottoman empires, contributed to the consolidation of power and resources during the 16th and 17th centuries, creating vibrant networks of overland trade from China to the Mediterranean Sea.</p> </li> <li> <p>The expansion of trade, due to voyages of discovery and the opening up of the New World, resulted in a greater geographical diversity of India’s overseas trade and an increase in silver bullion entering Asia to pay for goods procured from India.</p> </li> <li> <p>The period between the 16th and 18th centuries saw a remarkable stability in the availability of metal currency, particularly the silver rupya in India, facilitating an unprecedented expansion of minting of coins and the circulation of money in the economy.</p> </li> <li> <p>Giovanni Careri, an Italian traveler, provides an account of the way silver traveled across the globe to reach India, highlighting the enormous wealth and the phenomenal amounts of cash and commodity transactions in seventeenth-century India.</p> </li> <li> <p>The Mughal Empire received gold and silver from various parts of the world, such as America, Europe, Turkey, Persia, and the Maldive Islands, with much of the gold and silver eventually finding its way to Indostan (Hindustan).</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="8-the-ain-i-akbari-of-abul-fazl-allami">8. THE AIN I AKBARI OF ABU’L FAZL ALLAMI</h5> <ul> <li>In 1526, Babur defeats Ibrahim Lodi at the Battle of Panipat, marking the beginning of the Mughal Empire.</li> <li>Humayun, Babur’s son, becomes emperor in 1530. His reign includes a defeat by Sher Shah in 1540, followed by exile at the Safavid court, and regaining lost territories by 1556.</li> <li>Akbar reigns from 1556-1605, followed by Jahangir (1605-1627), Shah Jahan (1628-1658), and Aurangzeb (1658-1707).</li> <li>In 1739, Nadir Shah invades India and sacks Delhi. Ahmad Shah Abdali defeats the Marathas in the third battle of Panipat in 1761.</li> <li>The diwani of Bengal is transferred to the East India Company in 1765. The last Mughal ruler, Bahadur Shah II, is deposed by the British and exiled to Rangoon in 1857.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="answer-in-100-150-words">ANSWER IN 100-150 WORDS</h5> <ul> <li> <p>Historians face challenges when using Ain-i-Akbari as a source for reconstructing agrarian history due to issues like inconsistencies in data, possible biases, and the sheer scale of information. They tackle these problems by cross-referencing with other sources, critically analyzing the data, and focusing on relative trends rather than absolute figures.</p> </li> <li> <p>To a considerable extent, agricultural production during the 16th-17th centuries can be characterized as subsistence agriculture. This is evidenced by the fact that most agricultural produce was used for local consumption and only a small portion was traded or used for revenue purposes. However, commercialization was also present, especially in cash crops and long-distance trade.</p> </li> <li> <p>Women played a significant role in agricultural production. While they did not typically own land, they contributed labor in various stages of farming, from sowing to harvesting. Their roles were particularly important in times of labor shortages, such as when male members of the family were away or during peak agricultural seasons.</p> </li> <li> <p>Monetary transactions were significant during this period. The emergence of a monetized economy is seen in the increased use of currency for various purposes, such as land transactions, wage payments, and tax collections. This shift from a barter system to a monetary economy facilitated trade and commerce, contributing to economic growth.</p> </li> <li> <p>Land revenue was crucial for the Mughal fiscal system. The Mughals employed various methods to assess and collect land revenue, such as the use of local intermediaries, surveys, and written records. The revenue system’s efficiency allowed the Mughals to maintain a large standing army and undertake massive architectural and infrastructural projects.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="write-a-short-essay-about-250-300-words-on-the-following">WRITE A SHORT ESSAY (ABOUT 250-300 WORDS) ON THE FOLLOWING:</h5> <ul> <li> <p>Caste played a significant role in influencing social and economic relations in agrarian society. It determined the nature of work, status, and interactions between different groups. The caste system led to a hierarchical structure, where higher castes held more power and privilege, while lower castes were relegated to menial jobs and discrimination. Economically, the caste system created a divide in land ownership and wealth, with higher castes controlling most of the resources.</p> </li> <li> <p>The lives of forest dwellers underwent significant changes in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. With the expansion of empires and trade routes, these communities faced displacement and exploitation. They were forced to pay taxes, provide labor, and surrender resources to the state and ruling classes. However, some also found opportunities in new economic activities, such as supplying forest products, and developed relationships with traders and rulers.</p> </li> <li> <p>Zamindars played a crucial role in Mughal India. They were intermediaries between the state and the peasantry, responsible for collecting revenue and maintaining law and order in their assigned areas. Zamindars often held significant power and influence, engaging in local politics and sometimes even challenging imperial authority. They also played a role in cultural and intellectual life, supporting art, literature, and education.</p> </li> <li> <p>Panchayats and village headmen were essential in regulating rural society. Panchayats, or village councils, were responsible for resolving disputes, maintaining social order, and implementing local regulations. Village headmen, often from dominant castes, acted as leaders and representatives, overseeing daily activities and coordinating with higher authorities. These institutions helped maintain social harmony and stability, but also reinforced caste hierarchies and inequalities.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="map-work">MAP WORK</h5> <ul> <li>The Mughal Empire had economic links with various regions of the world, which can be marked on an outline map of the world.</li> <li>Some of the key regions with economic ties to the Mughal Empire include the Middle East, Central Asia, and Europe, particularly Britain.</li> <li>Trade routes between these regions and the Mughal Empire can also be marked, which included land and sea routes.</li> <li>Land routes mainly consisted of the Silk Road, which passed through Central Asia and connected the Mughal Empire to Europe.</li> <li>Sea routes included the Indian Ocean trade routes, which connected the Mughal Empire to ports in the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia.</li> <li>Effective communication was crucial for maintaining these economic links, and possible routes of communication can be traced, including overland and maritime routes.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="project-choose-one">PROJECT (CHOOSE ONE)</h5> <ul> <li>The task involves visiting a neighboring village and gathering data on its population, crops grown, animals raised, artisanal groups, land ownership by women, and panchayat functioning.</li> <li>This data is to be compared with information about sixteenth-seventeenth century villages, noting similarities and differences, and explaining changes and continuities.</li> <li>A section of the Ain should be selected, read carefully, and a report prepared on how it can be used by a historian.</li> <li>The Ain section may contain information on various aspects of the village, such as crops, animals, artisans, and land ownership.</li> <li>The report should focus on the historical value of the selected section, and how it can contribute to a better understanding of the village and its people.</li> </ul> <p>======</p>