Land Revenue Administration The Mughal Empire - History for UPSC CSE PDF

Land Revenue Administration

Land revenue formed the backbone of the Mughal state's economy and administration. The system combined older regional practices with new, centrally driven reforms to assess, record and collect revenue. Methods of assessment varied by locality, availability of accurate measurements and administrative reach; where possible the Mughals attempted systematic measurement and fixed cash assessment, but in many areas older methods continued.

Methods of Assessment

Several methods were used, sometimes concurrently, depending on local conditions and the availability of reliable records. Key methods were:

• Batai or Galla-Bakshi: sharing of the actual produce between cultivator and state. Variants included:
  • Assessment taken after the harvest, by officials visiting fields and claiming the state share directly.
  • Division into equal heaps after harvest, with specified heaps taken by the state officer.
  • Pre-harvest demarcation, where the standing crop was surveyed and the state share fixed by making a line of demarcation in the field.
• Kankut: assessment by general estimate. Cultivator and official agreed on the expected produce of an area on the basis of sample surveys and mutual estimate.
• Nasaq: assessment on the basis of past records and customary or historical experience; the revenue payable was estimated from earlier practice rather than fresh measurement.
• Measurement: systematic measurement of land and assessment on the basis of its productivity. This method was promoted earlier by rulers such as Alauddin Khalji and Sher Shah Suri and later formalised under Akbar's administration.

Zabti (Bandobast) System and Todar Mal's Reforms

The attempt to replace ad hoc and varied methods by a uniform, measured and cash-based assessment was known as the Zabti or Bandobast system. The chief architect of the Mughal measurement and assessment programme under Akbar was Raja Todar Mal, whose reforms are often referred to collectively as the Ain-i-Dahsala.

• Khalisa expansion and the Karori experiment: Akbar increased the area under state control (khalisa) to enable a systematic survey. Khalisa lands were divided into units each yielding revenue of one karor; each such circle was placed under an official called a Karori. This is commonly called the karori experiment.
• Measurement tools: for measurement a rope was often used, but in many areas a tanab made of joined bamboo sticks with iron rings was preferred as a more durable measuring rod.
• Extent: measurement could not be completed in all provinces (subahs); where measurement was not possible the older methods such as batai and kankut continued. Where measurement was done carefully, it provided the basis for the new cash assessment system.
• Ain-i-Dahsala: Todar Mal introduced a ten-year average (dahsala) system. For each pargana a ten-year stage was ascertained in respect of cropping pattern and price levels, and a permanent assessment (jama) known as Dastur-ul-Amal (revenue regulations) was compiled.
• Ilahi gaz: Todar Mal introduced a uniform unit of length, the Ilahi gaz, described in the records as a medium gaz of 41 digits, to ensure consistent measurement across regions.
• Finalisation of rates: after collecting and averaging harvests and prices over ten years, permanent cash rates 'per bigha' were fixed for different localities. According to records cited by Abul Fazl, these final dasturs were prepared in the 24th regnal year and declared as standard rates; cash crops were given separate dasturs.

Classification of Land and Cropping

To assess land productively and fairly, land was classified according to its recent cultivation history. Todar Mal's system recognised four main categories:

• Polaj - land cultivated annually (regularly cropped).
• Parauti - land left fallow for a short period, typically one or two years.
• Chachar - land left fallow for three to four years.
• Banjar - land left uncultivated for five years or more.

These categories were important because they indicated soil fertility and cropping potential; higher assessments were levied on polaj lands compared to chachar or banjar.

Mode of Payment

• Under the Zabti system assessment was generally fixed in cash and payment was expected in cash.
• There were notable exceptions: in some regions such as Kashmir and Orissa payment continued in kind (a portion of the crop), reflecting local practices and administrative constraints.
• Cash payments imposed hardships on peasants. They often had to sell their harvest immediately to raise cash even when market prices were low, which reduced their incomes.
• Demand for cash increased the influence and reach of moneylenders and merchants (baniyas), who provided the cash advances needed by peasants but sometimes at exploitative terms.

Revenue Collection Machinery (Officials and Roles)

The Mughal revenue administration had an organised hierarchy of officers responsible for measurement, record keeping and collection. Key personnel included:

• Patwari (village level): kept the bahi (village register) containing details of cultivators, holdings and assessed revenue. The patwari was the first point of contact for land records.
• Qanungo (pargana/taluq level): hereditary office in many areas; maintained revenue records, served as official record keeper and was responsible for supervising measurement. In regions such as the Deccan and Gujarat the equivalent officer was often called Desai.
• Qanungos/Desais often handled distribution of taqqavi (advance) loans to peasants and assisted in assessment.
• Amil or Amalguzar (sarkar/district level): revenue-collecting officer of the district, assisted by Karkun (accountant) and Khazanadar (treasurer).
• All provincial revenue officers worked under the provincial Diwan, who in turn reported to the central Diwan (central finance minister) at the imperial court.

Main Agrarian Classes

The rural population was not homogeneous; agrarian society comprised several categories with different rights, obligations and economic positions. The principal groups were:

• Khudkashta - peasants who lived in their own village, owned land and implements.
  • They had two principal obligations to the state: regular payment of assessed revenue and cultivation of their land.
  • Some khudkashta rented out spare lands and implements to others.
  • Regional names included Mirasdars in Maharashtra and Gharuhala or Gaveti in parts of Rajasthan.
• Pahis - essentially outsiders who cultivated rented lands in a village. They were categorised as:
  • Non-residential Pahis: came from neighbouring villages, cultivated land without establishing residence in the village.
  • Residential Pahis: came from more distant places and built residences in the village while cultivating rented land; they could, over time, become khudkashta if they acquired implements and settled permanently.

  In Maharashtra such residential cultivators were sometimes called uparis.

• Muzariyams - landless or near-landless villagers belonging to the same village who lacked land and implements and were therefore dependent on khudkashta for employment, credit and produce.
  • They included tenants-at-will as well as those with hereditary tenant rights, the latter enjoying more secure and transferable claims on land.

Administrative and Social Implications

The Mughal revenue system sought fiscal stability and predictability by moving towards measurement and cash assessment, but it also produced social and economic consequences. Cash assessments created an immediate need for money in agrarian society, increasing peasant dependence on moneylenders. Where accurate measurement and records were available, assessments could be more equitable and stable; where measurement failed or older methods persisted, assessments could be arbitrary and burdensome. The administrative network of patwaris, qanungos, amils and diwans linked villages to the imperial centre, while regional variations and local intermediaries shaped the everyday impact of revenue policies.

Summary - The Mughal land revenue administration combined older methods such as batai, kankut and nasaq with systematic measurement (zabti) promoted under Todar Mal. Classification of land (polaj, parauti, chachar, banjar), a uniform measure (Ilahi gaz), ten-year averaging (Ain-i-Dahsala) and the compilation of dasturs sought to regularise revenue. Collection in cash became common, enforced through a hierarchical administrative machinery; these changes had lasting economic and social effects on the peasantry.