Class 12 History Chapter 5 — Agrarian Relations: The Ain-i-Akbari (Peasants, Zamindars and the State)
Welcome to HSLC Guru. This page provides complete English-medium ASSEB Class 12 History Chapter 5 question and answer notes on Agrarian Relations: The Ain-i-Akbari (NCERT Theme 8 — Peasants, Zamindars and the State). The chapter examines the agrarian society of Mughal India during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries through the lens of Abul Fazl’s Ain-i-Akbari, along with revenue records, chronicles and other contemporary accounts.
About the Chapter
This chapter studies agrarian relations in Mughal India between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It draws heavily on the Ain-i-Akbari, completed in 1598 by Abul Fazl, the court historian of Emperor Akbar. The chapter explores the world of the peasant (raiyat), the village community, the zamindars, the imperial revenue system and the role of women in agrarian society. It also discusses the methodology of using a court chronicle as a historical source while being aware of its limitations.
Summary (English)
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, agriculture was the most important economic activity in Mughal India. The basic unit of agricultural society was the village, inhabited by peasants known as raiyat or muzarian. Peasants engaged in seasonal cultivation suited to two harvests — kharif (autumn) and rabi (spring). They cultivated a variety of crops, with some classified as jins-i-kamil (“perfect crops”) such as cotton and sugarcane, which earned higher revenue for the state. New crops like maize, tomato, potato, chillies, pineapple and papaya entered India through trade contacts with the New World.
The village community comprised three constituents — the cultivators, the panchayat and the village headman (muqaddam or mandal). The panchayat was an assembly of elders representing different castes and communities, headed by the headman. It maintained caste boundaries, settled disputes, and managed common village funds. Each caste (jati) also had its own jati panchayat that wielded considerable authority in rural society.
Above the peasants stood the zamindars — proprietors who enjoyed extensive social and economic privileges due to their superior status. They held lands called milkiyat, collected revenue on behalf of the state, and often maintained armed retainers. Although they belonged largely to upper castes, the relations between zamindars and peasants had a degree of reciprocity, paternalism and patronage. The state under Akbar institutionalised the mansabdari system in which nobles were assigned numerical ranks — zat (personal status and pay) and sawar (cavalry to be maintained). Mansabdars were paid through revenue assignments called jagirs, and their holders were known as jagirdars.
Land revenue, called kharaj, was the chief source of income of the Mughal state. The revenue administration was systematised by Raja Todar Mal under Akbar through the zabt system, which fixed cash revenue rates after measuring land and surveying productivity over ten years. Lands were classified as polaj, parauti, chachar and banjar based on their productivity. Other revenue methods included kankut, batai and nasaq.
Women played a crucial role in agricultural production — sowing, weeding, threshing and winnowing. They also worked in artisanal activities such as spinning yarn, sifting and kneading clay for pottery, and embroidery. Despite their economic role, women were governed by strict patriarchal norms, although peasant and artisan women had to work in fields and shops alongside men. The Ain-i-Akbari, despite being a court chronicle praising imperial rule, remains an extraordinary documentary record giving statistical data on prices, wages, agricultural produce and administrative units, making it indispensable for reconstructing Mughal agrarian history.
সাৰাংশ (Assamese)
ষোড়শ আৰু সপ্তদশ শতিকাত মোগল ভাৰতত কৃষি আছিল প্ৰধান অৰ্থনৈতিক কাৰ্যকলাপ। গ্ৰামবাসী কৃষকসকলক ৰাইয়ত বা মুজাৰিয়ান বুলি কোৱা হৈছিল। তেওঁলোকে খাৰিফ আৰু ৰবি দুটা ঋতুত শস্য খেতি কৰিছিল আৰু কপাহ, আখ আদিৰ দৰে অধিক ৰাজহ আদায়কাৰী শস্যক জিনছ-ই-কামিল বা “উৎকৃষ্ট শস্য” বুলি গণ্য কৰা হৈছিল। নতুন বিশ্বৰ পৰা মাকৈ, আলু, বিলাহী, জলকীয়া আদি শস্যৰ আগমন ঘটিছিল।
গাঁৱত কৃষক, পঞ্চায়ত আৰু গাঁওবুঢ়া (মুকাদ্দম) আছিল মূল উপাদান। পঞ্চায়তই গাঁৱৰ বিভিন্ন জাতিৰ প্ৰতিনিধিৰে গঠিত হৈ বিবাদ মীমাংসা আৰু সামাজিক নিয়ম পালনৰ দায়িত্ব লৈছিল। প্ৰতিটো জাতিৰে নিজস্ব জাতি পঞ্চায়ত আছিল।
কৃষকসকলৰ ওপৰত আছিল জমিদাৰসকল, যিসকলে মিল্কিয়ত নামৰ ভূমিৰ স্বত্বাধিকাৰী আছিল আৰু ৰাজ্যৰ হৈ ৰাজহ সংগ্ৰহ কৰিছিল। আকবৰে মনছবদাৰী ব্যৱস্থা প্ৰৱৰ্তন কৰিছিল য’ত মনছবদাৰৰ পদক জাট (ব্যক্তিগত মৰ্যাদা) আৰু চাৱাৰ (ৰখা ঘোঁৰাৰোহী)ৰ সংখ্যাৰে দুই ভাগত ভাগ কৰা হৈছিল। ভূমি ৰাজহক খৰাজ বুলি কোৱা হৈছিল আৰু ৰজা টোডৰমলে জব্ত ব্যৱস্থা প্ৰৱৰ্তন কৰিছিল।
মহিলাসকলে কৃষি কাৰ্য, সূতা কটা, মাটিৰ পাত্ৰ গঢ়া আদি কামত গুৰুত্বপূৰ্ণ ভূমিকা লৈছিল। আবুল ফজলে ১৫৯৮ চনত ৰচনা কৰা আইন-ই-আকবৰী মোগল কৃষি ইতিহাস পুনৰ্গঠনৰ অপৰিহাৰ্য উৎস।
NCERT Textbook Questions and Answers
1. What are the problems in using the Ain-i-Akbari as a source for reconstructing agrarian history? How do historians deal with this situation?
Answer: The Ain-i-Akbari, although an extraordinary documentary record, has several limitations:
- Numerous errors of totalling have been detected in the figures, suggesting careless transcription by scribes.
- The data was not collected uniformly from all provinces — for example, fiscal data is recorded in detail but information on prices and wages mostly relates to the imperial capital Agra and surrounding regions.
- Caste composition of zamindars in some areas is left out and quantitative information on certain regions is incomplete.
- Being an official chronicle, it presents an idealised picture of the imperial order from the perspective of the ruling class and may downplay rebellions and dissent.
- It does not allow direct access to the voices of the peasants, women, artisans or rural poor.
Historians overcome these problems by supplementing the Ain with other sources such as revenue records of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, the records of the East India Company, descriptive accounts of European travellers, and regional chronicles. Comparison and cross-verification with these sources reveal the gaps and biases of the Ain.
2. To what extent is it possible to characterise agricultural production in the sixteenth-seventeenth centuries as subsistence agriculture? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer: Agricultural production in Mughal India was only partially subsistence-oriented. While peasants grew crops to feed themselves, agriculture was deeply linked with the market and the state demand. Indicators of commercial cultivation include:
- Land revenue was assessed and collected predominantly in cash, which forced peasants to bring at least a part of their produce to the market.
- The state encouraged the cultivation of jins-i-kamil (“perfect crops”) such as cotton, sugarcane, indigo, oilseeds and dye-stuffs which were essentially commercial crops.
- Cotton was grown over a great swathe of territory along central India and the Deccan plateau, and Bengal was famous for its sugar.
- The Mughal Empire was a vast monetised economy with extensive trade, and agricultural produce was sold in towns and markets (mandis).
- New crops imported from the New World such as maize, tobacco, chilli, potato and tomato came to be cultivated.
Therefore, although peasants grew food crops for their own consumption, the system as a whole cannot be described as purely subsistence — it had a strong commercial component intermeshed with state revenue demands and market exchanges.
3. Describe the role played by women in agricultural production.
Answer: Women played an indispensable role in agricultural production:
- They worked alongside men in the fields. Men tilled and ploughed while women sowed, weeded, threshed and winnowed the harvest.
- They participated in artisanal tasks at home — spinning yarn, sifting and kneading clay for pottery and embroidery.
- The more commercialised the production process, the greater was the demand for women’s labour to make products like cloth, oil and dyes.
- Peasant and artisan women worked in the fields and shops, breaking the seclusion that upper-class women experienced.
- Among landed gentry, women had the right to inherit property — examples from Punjab and Rajasthan record women selling and mortgaging zamindari shares.
- However, biases against women were strong; bearing of male children and reproduction were considered essential, and a barren wife could be replaced or punished.
Thus, while women were critical to production, patriarchal norms restricted their social autonomy.
4. Discuss, with examples, the significance of monetary transactions during the period under consideration.
Answer: Monetary transactions were vitally important during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Mughal Empire was a great monetised economy with the silver rupiya as the standard coin. Significance includes:
- Land revenue was usually demanded in cash, compelling peasants to sell their produce in the market.
- An expanding network of mandis (markets) and qasbahs (small towns) facilitated rural-urban exchange.
- Bills of exchange (hundis), banking houses (sarrafs) and a sophisticated credit network supported long-distance trade.
- Indian textiles, spices and indigo were exported to Asia and Europe, bringing in vast quantities of silver — much of which entered India and was minted into rupiya.
- European traveller Giovanni Careri (late seventeenth century) noted that silver from the New World ultimately reached the Mughal Empire.
- Cash wages were paid to mansabdars, soldiers and artisans, demonstrating monetisation across society.
5. Examine the evidence that suggests that land revenue was important for the Mughal fiscal system.
Answer: Land revenue (kharaj) was the most important source of income for the Mughal state:
- An elaborate revenue administration was developed: a separate department called the diwani headed by the diwan was placed in charge of fiscal affairs.
- Akbar’s revenue minister Raja Todar Mal carried out a careful land survey lasting ten years (1570–80) to fix cash revenue rates province by province (the zabt system).
- Lands were classified into four categories — polaj, parauti, chachar and banjar — depending on continuity of cultivation.
- Revenue was assessed (jama) and collected (hasil) and the state’s claim was generally one-third of the average produce.
- Provinces such as Agra, Delhi, Lahore, Awadh and Allahabad provided the bulk of revenue.
- The Ain-i-Akbari’s detailed statistical tables on land revenue from each suba, sarkar and pargana confirm its central role in imperial finance.
6. To what extent do you think caste was a factor in influencing social and economic relations in agrarian society?
Answer: Caste was a significant factor in shaping rural social and economic life:
- Despite the existence of a free peasantry, deep inequalities based on caste and other distinctions split the peasantry.
- A direct correlation existed between caste, poverty and social status — the lowest rungs were occupied by “menial” castes who worked as agricultural labourers.
- The Ain records that in Bihar, Bhakta and Halalkhor castes were considered low. In Marwar, Muslim peasants and the Raghbansi caste belonged to the lower order.
- Many lower-caste peasants were assigned only the most menial agricultural tasks.
- The village panchayat reinforced caste norms; it punished violations of caste boundaries (especially over inter-caste marriage and sexual relations).
- However, social mobility was not entirely absent — castes of intermediate-status peasants like the Pasi and Ahir-Gosain rose in prosperity through productive labour and military service.
Hence, while caste structured agrarian relations to a large extent, agrarian production also created opportunities for limited mobility.
7. How were the lives of forest dwellers transformed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?
Answer: The lives of forest dwellers (jangli) were transformed in several ways:
- Forest dwellers lived by gathering forest produce, hunting and shifting cultivation. The term jangli in contemporary texts denoted those whose livelihood came from forests.
- Mughal expansion into forest areas, demand for forest produce (honey, beeswax, gum-lac, elephants), and incursions of revenue officials disturbed traditional life.
- Some forest tribes such as the Bhils, Khonds and Mawasis came into closer contact with settled society through trade in timber and forest products.
- Influence of stronger Mughal-allied chieftains led tribes to adopt new social structures — caste-like hierarchies emerged among many tribal groups.
- The state used elephant capture (peshkash) as a tribute from forest chieftains.
- Forest chieftains often built warband following with horse and matchlocks; some emerged as zamindars over forest peasants.
- Cultural shifts also occurred — the spread of Sufi saints (pirs) helped facilitate conversion of forest dwellers to Islam in some regions.
8. Examine the role played by zamindars in Mughal India.
Answer: Zamindars played a pivotal role in Mughal agrarian society:
- They were proprietors who held extensive lands called milkiyat, which they could cultivate, sell, mortgage or bequeath.
- Zamindars enjoyed superior social status due to caste (mostly belonging to upper castes such as Brahmans and Rajputs) and their role as intermediaries.
- They collected land revenue on behalf of the state and were paid a fee (nankar) for this service.
- Many maintained fortresses (qilachas) and armed contingents of cavalry, artillery and infantry — a formidable military resource.
- They played a vital role in colonising agricultural land by helping settlers procure resources such as seeds, money and implements.
- Zamindari was often hereditary and could be bought and sold, making it a marketable resource.
- Although exploitative, the relationship between zamindars and peasants had elements of reciprocity, paternalism and patronage.
- In times of crisis, zamindars sometimes led peasant resistance against the state, though they were also part of the establishment.
9. Discuss the ways in which panchayats and village headmen regulated rural society.
Answer: The panchayat was a central institution in rural society:
- The village panchayat was an assembly of elders, usually important people of the village with hereditary rights over property.
- The headman (muqaddam or mandal) was chosen through the consensus of the village elders.
- Panchayats supervised the preparation of village accounts assisted by an accountant (patwari).
- They derived funds from contributions made by individuals to a common financial pool. These funds were used to host visiting revenue officials, take care of natural calamities like floods, and undertake community welfare activities such as construction of bunds or canals.
- Panchayats had authority to levy fines and inflict severe punishments such as expulsion from the community.
- They ensured that caste boundaries among the village inhabitants were upheld — they prevented inter-caste marriages and dealt with offences such as unauthorised relationships.
- Apart from the village panchayat, each jati in the village had its own jati panchayat, which mediated contested claims on land, decided whether marriages were performed according to the norms of the jati and so on.
10. On an outline map of the world, mark the areas which had economic links with the Mughal Empire, and trace out possible routes of communication.
Answer: Areas linked economically with the Mughal Empire included:
- Central Asia — through Kabul and Kandahar, by overland caravan routes.
- Persia (Iran) — via the trans-Persian routes.
- Ottoman Empire and the Arab world — through Red Sea and Persian Gulf routes.
- East Africa — via the western Indian Ocean.
- South-East Asia — through the Bay of Bengal and the eastern coast.
- China — via the Silk Road and through Burma.
- Europe (Portugal, Holland, England, France) — through Cape of Good Hope ocean routes from Surat, Masulipatnam, Hooghly etc.
- Americas — indirectly through the silver flow from the New World via European traders.
Short Answer Questions
1. Who wrote the Ain-i-Akbari and when?
Answer: Abul Fazl, the court historian of Akbar, wrote the Ain-i-Akbari. It was completed in 1598 after going through five revisions over a period of thirteen years. It forms the third volume of his larger work, the Akbar Nama.
2. Who was the raiyat?
Answer: The raiyat (also called muzarian, kisan or asami) was the peasant who held land and cultivated it. Sources from the seventeenth century distinguish between khud-kashta (resident cultivators of the village) and pahi-kashta (non-resident cultivators who came from elsewhere on contract).
3. What is meant by jins-i-kamil?
Answer: Jins-i-kamil literally means “perfect crops”. The Mughal state encouraged peasants to cultivate such crops because they brought in higher revenue. Cotton and sugarcane were prime examples; oilseeds and dye-stuffs were also classified as cash crops.
4. Define mansabdari.
Answer: Mansabdari was the administrative system introduced by Akbar in which nobles and officials were assigned numerical ranks (mansabs) that determined their status, salary and military responsibilities. Each mansabdar held two ranks — zat (personal status and pay) and sawar (cavalry to be maintained).
5. What was a jagir?
Answer: A jagir was a revenue assignment granted by the Mughal state to a mansabdar in lieu of cash salary. The holder, called a jagirdar, had the right to collect revenue from the assigned territory but did not own the land. Jagirs were transferable and the same noble might be moved from one jagir to another.
6. Distinguish between zat and sawar ranks.
Answer: The zat rank was a numerical figure indicating the personal status, pay and position of the mansabdar in the imperial hierarchy. The sawar rank specified the number of cavalrymen the mansabdar was required to maintain for the emperor’s service. The zat was always greater than or equal to the sawar.
7. What was kharaj?
Answer: Kharaj was the land revenue or land tax levied by the Mughal state. It generally amounted to one-third of the produce and was the principal source of income for the empire. Under Akbar’s zabt system, it was usually demanded in cash.
8. Who was Raja Todar Mal and what was his contribution?
Answer: Raja Todar Mal was Akbar’s revenue minister (diwan-i-ashraf). He systematised Mughal revenue administration through a careful survey of land productivity over ten years (1570–80), introducing the zabt system that fixed cash revenue rates per bigha for each crop in each region.
9. Mention any two methods of revenue assessment in Mughal India.
Answer: Two methods were:
- Zabt — fixed cash assessment per bigha based on past productivity (ten-year average).
- Batai (or bhaoli) — division of crop between the state and the cultivator after harvest in agreed proportions.
10. What is meant by milkiyat?
Answer: Milkiyat referred to the lands that zamindars held as their personal property. Milkiyat lands were cultivated by hired or servile labourers, and zamindars could sell, bequeath or mortgage them at will.
11. Who were jangli and what was their economy?
Answer: The term jangli denoted forest dwellers whose livelihood came from gathering forest produce, hunting, fishing and shifting cultivation. The economy of forest dwellers was non-sedentary, relied on seasonal migrations, and gradually became integrated with the wider economy through trade in honey, lac, elephants and timber.
12. What is the meaning of khud-kashta and pahi-kashta?
Answer: Khud-kashta were resident cultivators who lived in the village in which they held lands. Pahi-kashta were non-resident cultivators who came to other villages on contractual basis to cultivate land, often to escape from harsher revenue demands or famine in their own villages.
13. What is the muqaddam?
Answer: The muqaddam (or mandal) was the village headman, chosen through the consensus of the village elders, who supervised village affairs, mediated disputes, helped collect revenue, and represented the village before the state and zamindar.
14. What were the four categories of land under Akbar?
Answer: Akbar’s revenue system classified land into four categories — polaj (cultivated every year), parauti (left fallow for some time), chachar (fallow for three or four years), and banjar (uncultivated for five or more years).
15. Mention the new crops that came to India during this period.
Answer: Several crops came to India through trade contacts with the New World — maize, tomato, potato, chillies, pineapple, papaya, tobacco and groundnut. Many of these became staples of Indian agriculture and cuisine.
Long Answer Questions
1. Discuss the structure and functions of the Mughal village panchayat.
Answer: The Mughal village panchayat was a body of village elders that constituted the primary unit of self-governance in rural society. Its structure and functions can be discussed under the following heads.
Composition: The panchayat was an assembly of elders representing the major castes of the village, usually those who held hereditary rights over property. In a multi-caste village, all dominant castes were represented; however, “menial” castes were generally excluded. The headman (muqaddam or mandal) was chosen by consensus of these elders and was confirmed by the zamindar. The headman in turn appointed the patwari (accountant).
Functions: The panchayat collected funds through individual contributions to a common pool, used to host visiting revenue officials, mitigate natural calamities and undertake works such as the digging of canals and bunds. It supervised the village’s books of account, kept by the patwari. It enforced caste rules — preventing transgression of caste boundaries by inter-caste marriage and sexual transgressions — and could levy fines, exclude offenders from the community or expel them. It mediated disputes among inhabitants relating to land, water and inheritance.
Jati panchayats: Each individual caste in the village had its own jati panchayat as well, which mediated contested claims among members of the same caste, decided whether marriages were performed according to the norms of the jati and supervised social practices.
Authority and limits: The decisions of the panchayat carried great weight and were generally accepted as binding. Decisions of the village panchayat could be appealed to the higher authority of the zamindar and finally to the imperial state, but in everyday matters the panchayat held effective authority. Thus the panchayat was both an instrument of self-regulation and an enforcer of social hierarchy.
2. Critically examine the role and position of zamindars in Mughal agrarian society.
Answer: Zamindars occupied a pivotal position in Mughal agrarian society as a privileged proprietary class located between the peasants and the imperial state.
Origins and caste: Zamindari was usually hereditary, often occupying the same district for generations. Most zamindars belonged to upper castes — Brahmans and Rajputs predominated in many regions — but some intermediate castes also rose to zamindari status, particularly through revenue-farming and military service.
Property and rights: Zamindars held extensive personal lands called milkiyat which were cultivated by hired or bonded labourers. They had the right to sell, bequeath and mortgage these lands. Beyond their milkiyat, they exercised superior rights over a much wider area, collecting revenue on behalf of the state and receiving a fee or commission (nankar).
Military power: Many zamindars maintained fortresses (qilachas) and armed contingents — cavalry, artillery and infantry. The Ain mentions that the cumulative armed strength of zamindars across the empire was a force to be reckoned with.
Role in colonisation of land: Zamindars played a leading role in expanding cultivation. They helped settlers procure agricultural implements, seeds and money, attracting peasants from elsewhere to cultivate fresh lands.
Marketability of zamindari: Zamindari was a marketable right; instances of sale and mortgage are recorded in revenue documents.
Relations with peasants: Despite being exploitative and powerful, zamindars and peasants enjoyed elements of reciprocity, paternalism and patronage. Peasants often supported zamindars against the state in revenue disputes, and the same kinship lines sometimes ran through both groups.
Resistance: Zamindars sometimes joined forces with peasants against the state — the late seventeenth-century revolts of the Sikhs, Jats, Marathas and Satnamis often involved zamindar leadership.
Thus, zamindars were both pillars of imperial revenue and potential challengers to it.
3. Describe the Mughal land revenue system under Akbar.
Answer: The Mughal land revenue system reached its most systematised form under Akbar, largely through the efforts of his revenue minister Raja Todar Mal.
Departmental structure: Land revenue arrangements consisted of two stages — assessment (jama) and actual collection (hasil). The diwan was the chief revenue officer in charge of all fiscal matters at the imperial level, with subordinate offices in each suba (province), sarkar (district) and pargana (subdivision).
Land classification: Akbar classified land into four categories on the basis of continuity of cultivation:
- Polaj — land cultivated annually for each crop in succession, never allowed to lie fallow.
- Parauti — left fallow for a time to recover its strength.
- Chachar — fallow for three or four years.
- Banjar — uncultivated for five or more years.
Methods of assessment: Several methods were used:
- Zabt — Fixed cash demand per bigha calculated from a ten-year average of yields and prices. This was the most common method in northern India.
- Kankut — Estimation of standing crop and the state’s share calculated as a percentage.
- Batai or bhaoli — Division of the harvested crop between cultivator and state.
- Nasaq — A rough calculation of the revenue based on past records, used in some areas.
Rate: The state’s share was generally fixed at one-third of the average produce. In times of natural calamity, remissions and suspensions of revenue were granted.
Collection: Revenue was usually collected in cash, although peasants sometimes paid in kind. Zamindars and revenue officials served as intermediaries between cultivators and the state.
Significance: The Akbari revenue system created a stable fiscal base for the Mughal Empire, encouraged the cultivation of cash crops, integrated rural India with the wider monetised economy, and contributed to the administrative coherence of the empire. Its records, especially the Ain-i-Akbari, remain invaluable historical sources.
4. Discuss the social position of women in Mughal agrarian society.
Answer: Women in Mughal agrarian society performed crucial productive roles but were governed by strict patriarchal norms.
Productive role: Women worked alongside men in the fields. While men ploughed and tilled, women sowed, weeded, threshed and winnowed. With increasing commercialisation, demand for women’s labour rose for tasks such as spinning yarn, sifting and kneading clay for pottery and embroidery. Among artisans, the women of the family played a vital role in production.
Property rights: Among the landed gentry, women had the right to inherit property. Hindu and Muslim women alike inherited zamindaris which they were free to sell or mortgage. Women zamindars are recorded in eighteenth-century Bengal — the most famous being the Rajshahi zamindari headed by a woman.
Patriarchal restrictions: Despite their productive contribution, women were subject to severe patriarchal control. Bearing male children was considered essential, and a barren wife could be replaced or discarded. Women’s sexuality was carefully regulated, and the panchayat punished what was seen as transgression of caste and sexual norms harshly. Hindu and Muslim communities both prescribed seclusion for upper-class women, although peasant and artisan women had to work outside the home.
Petitions and agency: Documents from western India and Punjab record petitions sent by women to village panchayats seeking justice in cases of marital and property disputes, indicating that women did exercise some agency in defending their rights.
Thus, while indispensable to the rural economy, women’s social existence was deeply constrained by patriarchal and caste norms.
5. Evaluate the Ain-i-Akbari as a source of Mughal history.
Answer: The Ain-i-Akbari, completed by Abul Fazl in 1598, is one of the most extraordinary documentary records of the Mughal Empire and the third volume of the Akbar Nama.
Strengths:
- It records the financial and military arrangements of the empire in great detail — the mansabdari system, jagirs, revenue figures and the size of the army.
- It provides systematic statistical information at suba, sarkar and pargana level — area cultivated, crops, prices, wages, number of cavalry maintained — making it indispensable for quantitative history.
- It contains rich descriptions of the imperial household, court rituals, regulations, currencies, weights and measures.
- It introduces information on the topography, peoples, languages, customs and religious traditions of various regions.
- It is divided into five books — Manzil-abadi, Sipah-abadi, Mulk-abadi, on social and intellectual traditions, and a collection of Akbar’s sayings.
Limitations:
- Errors of totalling and inconsistency in figures suggest careless transcription.
- Data was not gathered uniformly from all provinces — fiscal data is detailed, but information on prices and wages is largely confined to Agra and surrounding regions.
- Caste composition of zamindars in some areas is omitted, and information on ordinary peasants and women is incidental rather than systematic.
- Being a court chronicle written under imperial patronage, it presents an idealised picture of imperial rule and downplays rebellions and dissent.
- The voices of the rural poor, peasants and women remain hidden behind the perspective of the imperial administrator.
Historians use the Ain in conjunction with revenue records of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, the records of the East India Company and accounts of European travellers like Bernier and Manucci. Despite its limitations, the Ain remains the most comprehensive primary source for the social, economic and administrative history of Mughal India.
Land Revenue Methods under the Mughals
| Method | How Assessed | Mode of Payment | Region/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zabt | Fixed cash demand per bigha (10-year average) | Cash | North India; Todar Mal’s reform |
| Kankut | Estimation of standing crop, state’s share calculated | Cash or kind | Several regions |
| Batai / Bhaoli | Crop divided after harvest in agreed proportions | Kind (share of crop) | Areas with weak monetisation |
| Nasaq | Rough estimate based on past records | Cash | Used where survey not feasible |
| Galla-bakshi | Crop sharing on threshing floor | Kind | Variant of batai |
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
1. The Ain-i-Akbari was completed in which year?
A. 1556
B. 1582
C. 1598
D. 1605
Answer: C. 1598
2. The Ain-i-Akbari was authored by:
A. Badauni
B. Abul Fazl
C. Nizamuddin Ahmad
D. Faizi
Answer: B. Abul Fazl
3. Ain-i-Akbari forms the third volume of which work?
A. Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi
B. Akbar Nama
C. Padshahnama
D. Tabaqat-i-Akbari
Answer: B. Akbar Nama
4. The peasant in Mughal India was known as:
A. Ryot
B. Raiyat
C. Both A and B
D. Mansabdar
Answer: C. Both A and B
5. Jins-i-kamil refers to:
A. Subsistence crops
B. Perfect or cash crops
C. Forest produce
D. Imported crops
Answer: B. Perfect or cash crops
6. Which of the following was a jins-i-kamil crop?
A. Wheat
B. Rice
C. Cotton
D. Barley
Answer: C. Cotton
7. The village headman in Mughal India was called:
A. Patwari
B. Muqaddam
C. Diwan
D. Qazi
Answer: B. Muqaddam
8. The accountant of the village was known as:
A. Patwari
B. Diwan
C. Mandal
D. Qanungo
Answer: A. Patwari
9. Khud-kashta peasants were:
A. Non-resident cultivators
B. Resident cultivators of the village
C. Forest dwellers
D. Landless labourers
Answer: B. Resident cultivators of the village
10. Pahi-kashta peasants were:
A. Resident cultivators
B. Non-resident cultivators on contract
C. Forest dwellers
D. Slaves
Answer: B. Non-resident cultivators on contract
11. The personal lands of the zamindar were called:
A. Khalisa
B. Jagir
C. Milkiyat
D. Inam
Answer: C. Milkiyat
12. The mansabdari system was introduced by:
A. Babur
B. Humayun
C. Akbar
D. Aurangzeb
Answer: C. Akbar
13. The zat rank of a mansabdar indicated:
A. Number of horses
B. Personal status and pay
C. Cavalry strength
D. Land grant
Answer: B. Personal status and pay
14. The sawar rank denoted:
A. Personal pay
B. Number of cavalry to be maintained
C. Provincial status
D. Religious title
Answer: B. Number of cavalry to be maintained
15. A revenue assignment given to a mansabdar was called:
A. Khalisa
B. Jagir
C. Milkiyat
D. Madad-i-maash
Answer: B. Jagir
16. The land tax in Mughal India was known as:
A. Zakat
B. Jizya
C. Kharaj
D. Khams
Answer: C. Kharaj
17. The zabt revenue system was associated with:
A. Sher Shah
B. Raja Todar Mal
C. Aurangzeb
D. Murshid Quli Khan
Answer: B. Raja Todar Mal
18. Which of these was NOT a category of land under Akbar?
A. Polaj
B. Parauti
C. Chachar
D. Inam
Answer: D. Inam
19. Banjar land refers to:
A. Cultivated every year
B. Fallow land for short periods
C. Uncultivated for five or more years
D. Royal estate
Answer: C. Uncultivated for five or more years
20. Two harvest seasons in Mughal agriculture were:
A. Khairi and Rabi
B. Kharif and Rabi
C. Bhadra and Pous
D. Vasant and Sharad
Answer: B. Kharif and Rabi
21. Which of these crops came to India from the New World?
A. Wheat
B. Maize
C. Barley
D. Sesame
Answer: B. Maize
22. Forest dwellers were known as:
A. Raiyat
B. Jangli
C. Pahi
D. Asami
Answer: B. Jangli
23. The diwan was the head of:
A. Military
B. Revenue/fiscal department
C. Justice
D. Religious affairs
Answer: B. Revenue/fiscal department
24. The Ain-i-Akbari is divided into how many books?
A. Three
B. Four
C. Five
D. Six
Answer: C. Five
25. Which silver coin was the standard of the Mughal Empire?
A. Tanka
B. Dam
C. Rupiya
D. Mohur
Answer: C. Rupiya
Key Terms and Glossary
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ain-i-Akbari | Third volume of Akbar Nama by Abul Fazl, completed 1598 |
| Raiyat / Muzarian | Peasant or cultivator |
| Khud-kashta | Resident cultivator of the village |
| Pahi-kashta | Non-resident cultivator on contract |
| Jins-i-kamil | “Perfect” cash crops (cotton, sugarcane, etc.) |
| Kharif | Autumn harvest (sown in monsoon) |
| Rabi | Spring harvest (sown in winter) |
| Panchayat | Village council of elders |
| Muqaddam / Mandal | Village headman |
| Patwari | Village accountant |
| Jati | Caste; each jati had its own panchayat |
| Zamindar | Proprietor with superior rights, revenue collector |
| Milkiyat | Personal lands of the zamindar |
| Nankar | Commission paid to zamindar for revenue collection |
| Mansabdar | Holder of a numerical rank in the imperial service |
| Zat | Personal status and pay rank |
| Sawar | Cavalry rank — number of horsemen to be maintained |
| Jagir | Revenue assignment given in lieu of cash salary |
| Jagirdar | Holder of a jagir |
| Kharaj | Land revenue — the chief tax of the Mughal state |
| Jama | Assessed revenue |
| Hasil | Actual revenue collected |
| Diwan | Chief revenue officer |
| Polaj / Parauti / Chachar / Banjar | Four land categories under Akbar |
| Zabt | Cash assessment system of Todar Mal |
| Kankut / Batai / Nasaq | Other revenue methods |
| Jangli | Forest dweller |
| Peshkash | Tribute (often in elephants from forest chiefs) |
| Rupiya | Silver coin, standard currency of the Mughal Empire |
| Suba / Sarkar / Pargana | Province / district / sub-district |
This complete English-medium ASSEB Class 12 History Chapter 5 Question Answer covers the agrarian relations of Mughal India between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries through the Ain-i-Akbari, including peasants (raiyat), zamindars, mansabdars, the land revenue system and the role of women — providing comprehensive HSLC examination preparation for Theme 8.