THE MUGHAL EMPIRE - Educomp Online

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lands (watan) back as assignments (watan jagirs). This careful balance of defeating but not humiliating their opponents helped the Mughals to extend their influence over a large area. MANSABDARI and JAGIRDARI SYSTEM: Those who joined the Mughal services were enrolled as mansabdars. The term referred to an individual who held a mansab, meaning a position or a rank. It was grading system used by the Mughals to fix • Rank • Salary • Military responsibilities The rank and the salary were determined by a numerical value called Zat. Higher the zat more prestigious was noble’s position in the court and the larger his salary. Mansabdars had certain military responsibilities: • They had to maintain certain number of sawars or cavalrymen. • They had to bring his sawars for review, get them registered; their horses branded and then received money to pay them salaries. Mansabdars received their salaries as revenue assignments called Jagirs. However unlike the muqtis of the sultanate period, most mansabdars actually did not reside or administer their jagirs. They only had rights to revenue of their assignments which was collected for them by their servants while they served in some other part of the country. During Akbar’s reign the Jagirs were carefully assessed so that their revenues were roughly equal to the salary of the mansabdar. By Aurangzeb’s reign this was not the case and the actual revenue collected was often less than the granted sum. This made the mansabdars unhappy. Also there was a huge increase in the number of Mansabdars which meant that a long wait before they received a jagir. Various factors created a shortage in the number of Jagirs. As a result many Jagirdars tried to extract as much as revenue as possible while they had a jagir. Aurangzeb was unable to control all this and the peasants suffered a lot. AKBAR’S REVENUE SYSTEM - ZABT and ZAMINDARS • The main source of income for the Mughal rulers was tax on the peasantry. In most places the peasants paid taxes through the local elite- the headman or the local chieftain. The Mughals used one term to describe all the intermediaries, i.e. ZAMINDARS. • Akbar’s revenue minister, Raja Todarmal, carried out a careful survey of the crop yields, prices and the area cultivated for a period of 10 years, i.e. from 1580-90. On the basis of this data tax was fixed on each crop in cash. • Each province was divided into revenue circles with its own schedules of revenue rates for individual crops. This system was called Zabt. • This system was prevalent in areas where the Mughals could carry out land survey and keep careful accounts but it was not possible in provinces like Bengal and Gujarat.
• In certain areas the local zamindars exercised lot of power and along with the peasants of the same caste, sometimes rebelled against the exploitation by the Mughal administrators. Peasant rebellions became frequent form the end of the 17 th century. ABUL FAZL and AKBAR NAMA: • Akbar asked one of his close friend and courtier, Abul Fazl, to write a history of his reign. Abul Fazl wrote a three volume history titled Akbar Nama. • The first volume dealt with Akbar’s ancestors. • The second volume recorded the events of his reign. • The third volume is called Ain- i-Akbari. It gives the following details- Akbar’s administration, royal household, army, revenues, geography, customs and traditions of the people of India, even statistical details about the crops, prices, wages etc. <strong>MUGHAL</strong> ADMINISTRATION: • The Mughal Empire was divided into provinces called Subas, governed by Subadars, who carried out both political and military functions. • Each province had a financial officer called the Diwan. • To maintain peace and order in the suba the subadar was assisted by officers like- * The paymaster of the army (bakshi) * Minister in charge of religious and charitable patronage (sadr) * The military commanders (faujdars) *The town police commander (kotwal) • The Mughal armies were commanded by their nobles. • The state collected huge amounts of revenue from various sources but the main source of income was the tax on peasantry (refer to zabt and zamindars discussed earlier). • By the end of 17 th century, many nobles had built independent networks for themselves. Due to their self interests their loyalties towards the empire weakened, resulting in the downfall of the empire. AKBAR’S POLICY OF SULH-I KUL (PEACE WITH ALL) • Akbar started discussions on religions with the Ulemas, Brahmins, Jesuits and Zoroastrians. These discussions took place in the Ibadat Khana at Fatehpur Sikri • Akbar was interested in the beliefs and customs of different people. His interaction with the religious leaders of different faiths made him realize that religious scholars who emphasized ritual and dogma were often themselves intolerant of other people. Their teaching created disharmony among his subjects. • Akbar eventually evolved his policy of SULH-I KUL, universal peace. It’s important features were: *Akbar’s idea of tolerance did not discriminate between the people of different faiths.
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