History · Ch 8 — Peasants, Zamindars and the State — Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire
Land Revenue System
Land Revenue System
The Mughal Empire’s financial backbone was land revenue. Because the empire expanded rapidly, the state had to build a reliable administrative system to control agricultural production and collect revenue from every corner of its territory. This system did not just collect money — it reshaped the relationship between the state and the countryside.
At the head of this fiscal apparatus stood the diwan, whose office (the daftar) supervised the entire revenue system. Under him, revenue officials and record-keepers entered villages across the empire. These men became decisive agents in shaping agrarian relations, because they decided what was owed and who had to pay.
Before fixing taxes, the state first needed two pieces of information: how much land existed, and what it produced. The revenue process had two clear stages — assessment and collection. The amount assessed was called the jama; the amount actually collected was the hasil. These two figures often differed, because local conditions could thwart even the most ambitious state claims.
Akbar’s decrees for the amil-guzar (the revenue collector) show the state’s practical approach. The collector was told to push cultivators to pay in cash, but the option of payment in kind was kept open. The state’s goal was to maximise its claims, but reality sometimes forced a compromise.
Measuring the land
Both cultivated and cultivable lands were measured in every province. The Ain compiled the aggregates of such lands during Akbar’s reign. Later emperors continued these efforts. In 1665, Aurangzeb ordered his revenue officials to prepare annual records of the number of cultivators in each village, village by village and peasant by peasant. Yet not all areas were measured successfully. Huge tracts of forest remained unmeasured and outside the revenue net.
Classification of lands under Akbar
Akbar classified land into four types, each with a different revenue rate. The Ain records this system:
| Land type | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Polaj | Land cultivated every year, never left fallow |
| Parauti | Land left fallow for a time to recover its strength |
| Chachar | Land that has lain fallow for three or four years |
| Banjar | Land uncultivated for five years or more |
For the first two types (Polaj and Parauti), there were three sub-classes: good, middling, and bad. The state calculated the produce of each sub-class, added them together, and took one-third of the average as the royal due. So the assessment was based on a medium produce figure, and one-third of that was the tax.
Methods of collection
The Ain describes four methods by which revenue could be collected in kind:
- Kankut — Kan means grain and kut means estimate in Hindi. The standing crop was inspected, divided into three lots (good, middling, inferior), and an estimate made. If doubts remained, the crop was cut and the estimate checked.
- Batai (also called bhaoli) — The crop was reaped, stacked, and divided by agreement in the presence of both parties. This required several intelligent inspectors, because dishonest people could cheat.
- Khet-batai — The fields themselves were divided after sowing, before harvest.
- Lang batai — After cutting, the grain was formed into heaps, divided among the parties, and each took their share home.
The mansabdari system and jagirs
The Mughal administrative system was built on a military-cum-bureaucratic apparatus called the mansabdari system. Some mansabdars were paid in cash (naqdi), but the majority received assignments of revenue called jagirs in different regions. These jagirs were not permanent — holders were transferred periodically, which prevented them from building local power bases. …
Source 5 — Classification of lands under Akbar. A listing of the criteria of classification, excerpted from the Ain:
The Emperor Akbar in his profound sagacity classified the lands and fixed a different revenue to be paid by each. Polaj is land which is annually cultivated for each crop in succession and is never allowed to lie fallow. Parauti is land left out of cultivation for a time that it may recover its strength. Chachar is land that has lain fallow for three or four years. Banjar is land uncultivated for five years and more. Of the first two kinds of land, there are three classes — good, middling, and bad. They add together the produce of each sort, and the third of this represents the medium produce, one-third part of which is exacted as the Royal dues. …
Source 6 — The jama. An excerpt from Aurangzeb's order to his revenue official, 1665:
He should direct the amins of the parganas that they should discover the actual conditions of cultivation (maujudat), village by village, peasant-wise (asamiwar), and after minute scrutiny, assess the jama, keeping in view the financial interests (kifayat) of the government, and the welfare of the peasantry. …
Source 7 — The Ain on land revenue collection. The Ain on how the revenue collector (amil-guzar) was to gather the state's share:
Let him not make it a practice of taking only in cash but also in kind … First, kankut: in the Hindi language kan signifies grain, and kut, estimates … If any doubts arise, the crops should be cut and estimated in three lots — the good, the middling, and the inferior … Secondly, batai, also called bhaoli: the crops are reaped and stacked and divided by agreement in the presence of the parties … Thirdly, khet-batai, when they divide the fields after they are sown. Fourthly, lang batai: after cutting the grain, they form it in heaps and divide it among themselves, and each takes his share home. …
The mansabdari system. The Mughal administrative system had at its apex a military-cum-bureaucratic apparatus (mansabdari) which was responsible for looking after the civil and military affairs of the state. Some mansabdars were paid in cash (naqdi), while the majority of them were paid through assignments of revenue (jagirs) in different regions of the empire. They were transferred periodically from one jagir to ano …
Map 1 is a sketch map (not drawn to scale) that shows the territorial expansion of the Mughal Empire across three reigns: Babur (1530), Akbar (1605), and Aurangzeb (1707). The map covers the subcontinent from the Arabian Sea in the west to the Bay of Bengal in the east.
The map uses three distinct shaded areas to represent the empire's growth. The smallest area, corresponding to Babur's reign (1530), is centred around the Indo-Gangetic plain, covering parts of present-day Afghanistan and northern India. The next layer, Akbar's reign (1605), expands this territory significantly — it extends westward to include Kabul and Qandahar, eastward to Patna, and southward into central India, reaching as far as the Arabian Sea coast near Gujarat. The largest area, Aurangzeb's reign (1707), covers almost the entire subcontinent, stretching from Kabul in the northwest to the Bay of Bengal in the east, and from the Arabian Sea in the west down to the Deccan plateau in the south.
Key cities are marked on the map: Kabul, Lahore, Panipat, Delhi, Agra, Amber (near Jaipur), Ajmer, Patna, Rohtas, Qandahar, Samarqand, Balkh, and Goa. These are not all Mughal capitals — some, like Goa, were Portuguese-controlled ports, and Samarqand and Balkh were beyond the empire's actual borders, shown perhaps as reference points or as regions of Mughal ambition.
The map is a sketch map not to scale, so distances and relative sizes are approximate. Its purpose is to show the direction and extent of Mughal expansion, not precise geography. …