PPT: Peasants, Zamindars and the State | History Class 12 - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

 Page 1


Peasants, Zamindars and 
the State
Page 2


Peasants, Zamindars and 
the State
Peasants and Agricultural Production
The Village
The basic unit of agricultural society was the village, 
inhabited by peasants who performed the manifold 
seasonal tasks that made up agricultural production 
throughout the year 3 tilling the soil, sowing seeds, 
harvesting the crop when it was ripe. Further, they 
contributed their labour to the production of agro-
based goods such as sugar and oil.
Varied Topography
Rural India was not characterised by settled peasant 
production alone. Several kinds of areas such as large 
tracts of dry land or hilly regions were not cultivable in 
the same way as the more fertile expanses of land. In 
addition, forest areas made up a substantial proportion 
of territory.
Looking for sources
Our understanding of the workings of rural society does not come from those who worked the land, as peasants did 
not write about themselves. Our major source for the agrarian history of the sixteenth and early seventeenth 
centuries are chronicles and documents from the Mughal court. One of the most important chronicles was the Ain-
i Akbari authored by Akbar's court historian Abu'l Fazl.
Page 3


Peasants, Zamindars and 
the State
Peasants and Agricultural Production
The Village
The basic unit of agricultural society was the village, 
inhabited by peasants who performed the manifold 
seasonal tasks that made up agricultural production 
throughout the year 3 tilling the soil, sowing seeds, 
harvesting the crop when it was ripe. Further, they 
contributed their labour to the production of agro-
based goods such as sugar and oil.
Varied Topography
Rural India was not characterised by settled peasant 
production alone. Several kinds of areas such as large 
tracts of dry land or hilly regions were not cultivable in 
the same way as the more fertile expanses of land. In 
addition, forest areas made up a substantial proportion 
of territory.
Looking for sources
Our understanding of the workings of rural society does not come from those who worked the land, as peasants did 
not write about themselves. Our major source for the agrarian history of the sixteenth and early seventeenth 
centuries are chronicles and documents from the Mughal court. One of the most important chronicles was the Ain-
i Akbari authored by Akbar's court historian Abu'l Fazl.
Peasants and their lands
1
Types of Peasants
Sources of the seventeenth 
century refer to two kinds of 
peasants 3 khud-kashta and 
pahi-kashta. The former were 
residents of the village in 
which they held their lands. 
The latter were non-resident 
cultivators who belonged to 
some other village, but 
cultivated lands elsewhere on 
a contractual basis.
2
Land Ownership
Cultivation was based on the 
principle of individual 
ownership. Peasant lands 
were bought and sold in the 
same way as the lands of 
other property owners.
3
Field Demarcation
The cultivating peasants 
(asamis), who plough up the 
fields, mark the limits of each 
field, for identification and 
demarcation, with borders of 
(raised) earth, brick and thorn 
so that thousands of such 
fields may be counted in a 
village.
Page 4


Peasants, Zamindars and 
the State
Peasants and Agricultural Production
The Village
The basic unit of agricultural society was the village, 
inhabited by peasants who performed the manifold 
seasonal tasks that made up agricultural production 
throughout the year 3 tilling the soil, sowing seeds, 
harvesting the crop when it was ripe. Further, they 
contributed their labour to the production of agro-
based goods such as sugar and oil.
Varied Topography
Rural India was not characterised by settled peasant 
production alone. Several kinds of areas such as large 
tracts of dry land or hilly regions were not cultivable in 
the same way as the more fertile expanses of land. In 
addition, forest areas made up a substantial proportion 
of territory.
Looking for sources
Our understanding of the workings of rural society does not come from those who worked the land, as peasants did 
not write about themselves. Our major source for the agrarian history of the sixteenth and early seventeenth 
centuries are chronicles and documents from the Mughal court. One of the most important chronicles was the Ain-
i Akbari authored by Akbar's court historian Abu'l Fazl.
Peasants and their lands
1
Types of Peasants
Sources of the seventeenth 
century refer to two kinds of 
peasants 3 khud-kashta and 
pahi-kashta. The former were 
residents of the village in 
which they held their lands. 
The latter were non-resident 
cultivators who belonged to 
some other village, but 
cultivated lands elsewhere on 
a contractual basis.
2
Land Ownership
Cultivation was based on the 
principle of individual 
ownership. Peasant lands 
were bought and sold in the 
same way as the lands of 
other property owners.
3
Field Demarcation
The cultivating peasants 
(asamis), who plough up the 
fields, mark the limits of each 
field, for identification and 
demarcation, with borders of 
(raised) earth, brick and thorn 
so that thousands of such 
fields may be counted in a 
village.
Irrigation and technology
Monsoons
Monsoons remained the backbone 
of Indian agriculture, as they are 
even today.
Irrigation
Artificial systems of irrigation had to 
be devised for crops which required 
additional water. Irrigation projects 
received state support as well.
Plough
The wooden plough was light and 
easily assembled with an iron tip or 
coulter. It did not make deep 
furrows, which preserved the 
moisture better during the intensely 
hot months.
An abundance of crops
Agriculture was organised around two major seasonal cycles, the kharif (autumn) and the rabi (spring). This ensured 
an enormous variety of produce. For instance, we are told in the Ain that the Mughal provinces of Agra produced 39 
varieties of crops and Delhi produced 43 over the two seasons. Bengal produced 50 varieties of rice alone.
Page 5


Peasants, Zamindars and 
the State
Peasants and Agricultural Production
The Village
The basic unit of agricultural society was the village, 
inhabited by peasants who performed the manifold 
seasonal tasks that made up agricultural production 
throughout the year 3 tilling the soil, sowing seeds, 
harvesting the crop when it was ripe. Further, they 
contributed their labour to the production of agro-
based goods such as sugar and oil.
Varied Topography
Rural India was not characterised by settled peasant 
production alone. Several kinds of areas such as large 
tracts of dry land or hilly regions were not cultivable in 
the same way as the more fertile expanses of land. In 
addition, forest areas made up a substantial proportion 
of territory.
Looking for sources
Our understanding of the workings of rural society does not come from those who worked the land, as peasants did 
not write about themselves. Our major source for the agrarian history of the sixteenth and early seventeenth 
centuries are chronicles and documents from the Mughal court. One of the most important chronicles was the Ain-
i Akbari authored by Akbar's court historian Abu'l Fazl.
Peasants and their lands
1
Types of Peasants
Sources of the seventeenth 
century refer to two kinds of 
peasants 3 khud-kashta and 
pahi-kashta. The former were 
residents of the village in 
which they held their lands. 
The latter were non-resident 
cultivators who belonged to 
some other village, but 
cultivated lands elsewhere on 
a contractual basis.
2
Land Ownership
Cultivation was based on the 
principle of individual 
ownership. Peasant lands 
were bought and sold in the 
same way as the lands of 
other property owners.
3
Field Demarcation
The cultivating peasants 
(asamis), who plough up the 
fields, mark the limits of each 
field, for identification and 
demarcation, with borders of 
(raised) earth, brick and thorn 
so that thousands of such 
fields may be counted in a 
village.
Irrigation and technology
Monsoons
Monsoons remained the backbone 
of Indian agriculture, as they are 
even today.
Irrigation
Artificial systems of irrigation had to 
be devised for crops which required 
additional water. Irrigation projects 
received state support as well.
Plough
The wooden plough was light and 
easily assembled with an iron tip or 
coulter. It did not make deep 
furrows, which preserved the 
moisture better during the intensely 
hot months.
An abundance of crops
Agriculture was organised around two major seasonal cycles, the kharif (autumn) and the rabi (spring). This ensured 
an enormous variety of produce. For instance, we are told in the Ain that the Mughal provinces of Agra produced 39 
varieties of crops and Delhi produced 43 over the two seasons. Bengal produced 50 varieties of rice alone.
The Village Community
1
Village Headman
Muqaddam or mandal
2
Panchayat
Assembly of village elders
3
Cultivators
Peasants who worked the land
Caste and the rural milieu
Deep inequities on the basis of caste and other castelike distinctions meant that the cultivators were a highly 
heterogeneous group. Among those who tilled the land, there was a sizeable number who worked as menials or 
agricultural labourers (majur). Despite the abundance of cultivable land, certain caste groups were assigned menial 
tasks and thus relegated to poverty.