EHI - 4

10th Part

Q.  Critically analyse the nature of land rights in Deccan and South India during the 16-17th centuries.                                      

A.  The agrarian surplus produced by the peasantry & successfully extracted by the Telegu nayaks was the basis of the power of the Vijaynagar state. Many towns or fortified settlements were established in this period by the nayaks. They served as both political and economic centres. Palaiyan was reclaimed land held by the warrior chieftains where peasants, artisans, and merchants were integrated into the political and economic network established by the nay& chief. They extracted kudanai (local dues) and sittayam from the peasants and artisans respectively. The land tenure of the nayaks is referred to as kaniparru. It probably refers to rights in Lands, i.e., to buy and sell without the absolute right of ownership. It also refers to a variety of taxes. An inscription dated A.D. 1522 testifies to the transfer of temple land and the rights associated with land to the nayak. The rights were as follows:

1)  to collect dues from the peasants;

2)  to cultivate the land and settle people; and

3)  to receive prasadam (sacred food) from the temple.

    However, the transfer of land to the nayak did not imply the transfer of the right of ownership The nayak could use the land and collect taxes, but the temples reserved the right of ownership to themselves. 

           Kaniparru was a conditional and contractual tenure or a lease between the warrior chieftains and temples. The temples retained the right of ownership and imposed obligations on the nayaks to pay the temples a certain amount in cash or kind. The process of transfer of land did not lead to eviction of peasants. They retained their share (karai) of land. In case of transfer of temple lands to the peasants, the peasant leaders (mudaiis) took over the cultivation of the land. They paid vadavathi (tribute) to the temple. This kind of peasant land-tenure was called kudiningadevadanam. The peasants in such villages had a permanent share in the land

and could not be displaced. The rate of taxation was high. Besides, the peasant was pressed to maintain irrigation facilities. 

           The land was also leased out to individuals other than the nayaks and to institutions. The lease included houses, wet and dry land. In certain instances, the descendants of the leaseholder also enjoyed the right of sale, mortagage, etc. Taxes imposed by the central and local governments on the land leased out by the temples were paid to the temple authorities by the leaseholders. Land leased out by temples were not totally exempt from taxes. The taxes received from the leaseholders were remitted by the temple authorities to the state while retaining certain other taxes like kadamai for themselves. The leaseholders were given the right of cultivation and reclamation and colonisation of land. Generally, leaseholders did not cultivate themselves; they got it done by others. They paid taxes to the temple treasury in cash or kind. Cultivators also got a share of the produce. The leaseholders were almost the owners of the leased land. The mirasi right was an important component of the land system in South India. The miradars held tax-free land called maniyam. They were entitled to a share of the produce (kuppattam) from these lands. In certain cases, several mirasdars held village land jointly. 

         The cultivators were called payakari who were divided into two groups-ulkudis and parakudis. The former stayed in the village. Their rights were not transferable and could not be infringed upon. The parakudis were tenants-at-will whose right of cultivation was contractual. Taxes paid by the mirasdar or the government were referred to as pannu, irai, vari, etc. There were two categories of the miradars--resident and non-resident. Slave labour was also employed by the miradars to cultivate the land. The mirasdars acted as intermediaries between the government and villagers. Thus, mirasi right though hereditary was not uniform. Its nature varied from place to place. It could be transferred through sale, mortgage or gift.

Q.  Discuss the mughal currency system and working of mints under them.   

A.  Under the Mughals, the currency system was very well organised. A high level of purity of metals was also achieved. 

The Coinage

              The Mughal currency system may be termed as trimetallic. Coins were of three metals, viz, copper, silver and gold. However, the silver coin was the base of the currency. Under Akbar, rupaya as the basic currency with a weight of 178 grains (troy). Under Aurangzeb, the weight of the rupaya was increased to 180 grains (troy). The silver rupaya was the main coin used for business and revenue transactions. The Mughals issued a gold coin called ashrafi or muhr. It weighed 169 grains (troy). This coin was not commonly used in commercial transactions. It was mainly used for

hoarding purposes and also forgiving in the gift. 

             The most common coin used for small transactions was the copper dam which weighed around 323 grains. The weight of the copper dam was reduced by one third during Aurangzeb's reign because of the shortage of copper. Further, for very petty transactions Kauris (sea-shells) were used in coastal areas. These were brought mainly from the Maldive islands. Around 2500 kauris equalled a rupaya.

        Apart from the silver rupaya other types of coins were also used. The most important of these were mahmudis, a long-standing silver coin of Gujarat. Even after the establishment of the Mughal rule in Gujarat, it continued to be minted and used in Gujarat for a commercial transaction. In the Vijayanagar Empire, a gold coin called hun or pagoda was used. After the disintegration of Vijaynagar, its circulation continued in the kingdoms of Bijapur and Golkunda. In many Deccan kingdoms, an alloy of copper and silver called tanka was in use. After the expansion of the Mughals in Deccan a number of mints were established in that region to produce Mughal silver coins. 

Exchange Value of Coins

The exchange value of gold, silver and copper coins kept fluctuating depending on the supply of these metals in the market. The silver value of gold kept fluctuating throughout the Mughal period, ranging from 10 to 14 rupaya for one gold coin. For transaction purposes during Akbar's period, 40 copper dams were considered equal to one rupaya. Silver coins of small fractions called ma were also used. It was one-sixteenth of a rupee.

Working of Mints - 

The Mughals had a free coinage system. A very strict standardization was followed to maintain the purity of coins. Attempts were made to have these mints in big towns and ports so that the imported bullion-could be taken to mints easily. Every coin carried the name of the issuing mint and the year of minting and ruler's name. Any person desirous of getting money minted was to carry bullion or old currency for re-minting to a mint. The quality and purity of the metal were scrutinized. The currency was minted and delivered to the concerned person. A specific sum was charged as minting charges. This amounted to around 5.6% of the bullion minted. In the process of minting a large number of personnel and craftsmen were involved. A mint was headed by an officer called darogha. The duties of this officer were to supervise the overall working of the mint. He was assisted by a number of officials, skilled artisans and workmen. The Sarraf was employed by the mint as an assessor. He was to judge the purity, weight and age of the coin and fix deductions on their value. The mushrif was to maintain accounts. The tahwildar kept accounts of daily profit and kept coins and bullion in safe custody.

Q.  What were the main taxes other than land revenue extracted by the Mughal state?                                                       

A.     The main sources were tolls and levies on craft production, market levies, customs and rahdari (road tax) both on inland and overseas trade, and also mint charges. Apart from these, the state treasury received huge amounts by way of war booty, tributes and gifts from various quarters. Almost everything sold on the market was taxable. The main articles taxed were clothes, leather, food grains, cattle, etc. Every time the merchandise was sold, a certain tax was to be paid.

         Apart from merchants, all the artisans also paid taxes on their products. Katraparcha was a tax levied on all sorts of cotton, silk and wool cloth. Indigo, saltpetre and salt were other important commodities subjected to Lo taxation. In some cases as in Panjab, the tax on salt during Akbar's time was more than double the prime cost. 

       When the goods were taken from one place to another, a tax was levied. All merchandise brought through the ports was taxable. Aurangzeb levied sepearate transit taxes for separate groups. The rate fixed was 2.5% from Muslims 5% from Hindus and 3%% from foreigners. These rates were applicable throughout the Empire. Apart from the Mughal territory, the autonomous chieftains also levied customs and duties on goods passing through their territories. 

      Apart from customs, another tax called rahdari or transit tax was collected. This was a road-toll collected on goods passing through various territories. Though the amount at each place was small, the cumulative charge became heavy. Even the

zamindars used to collect tools on goods passing through their territories.

      The tax generated 'at mink was another source of income for the Empire. The state mint-fee was called mahsul-i darul zarb. The charges were around 5% of the value of the money minted. Besides, two other charges were also collected. These were rusum- i ahikaran (perquisites of officials) and ujrat-i karigaran (wages of artisans). 

Q.  What were the main methods of revenue collection and the magnitude of land revenue demand under the Mughals               

A.  Magnitude Of Land Revenue Demand - 

   In general, the rate of revenue demand was from 1/2 to 1/3 of the produce. Since the revenue was imposed per unit of area uniformly irrespective of the nature of the holding, it was regressive in nature--those who possessed large holdings felt the burden less than those who possessed smallholdings. Abul Fazl comments that under Akbar, Sher Shah's I/3 of revenue demand formed the lowest rate of assessment. Under the Mughals it ranged between 1/3 to 1/2 of the produce, and sometimes even 3/4 in some areas. Thus, the revenue demand varied from suba to suba. In Kashmir, the demand, in theory, was one-third while in practice it was two-thirds of the total produce. Akbar ordered that only one-half should be demanded.

        In the province of Sind, the land revenue was taken at the rate of one-third. Yusuf Mirak, explains that the Tarkhans who held Sind in jagir did not take more than half of the produce from the peasantry and also in some cases they took one-third or a fourth part of the total produce. 

         In Ajmer suba, different rates of revenue demand. Infertile regions of eastern Rajasthan, it ranged from one-third to one-half of the produce. 

     In Jaisalmer, one-fifth of the produce was collected from the rabi & one-fourth from the kharif crop.

      In Central India, rates varied from one-half, one-third to two-fifths. In Deccan, one-half was appropriated from the ordinary lands while one-third was taken from those irrigated by wells and one-fourth was taken from high-grade crops. Rates under Aurangzeb were higher than that of Akbar. It was due to the fact that there was a general rise in agricultural prices and, thus, there was no real change in the pitch of demand.

Collection of land revenue(methods) - 

       In the Mughal period, the peasant under zabti system had to pay revenue in cash. However, under crop-sharing and kankut, commutation into cash was permitted at market prices. Cash nexus was firmly established in almost every part of the Empire. Under ghalla bakhshi, the state's share was seized directly from the field. In other systems, the state collected its share at the time of harvest. 

      In the kharif season, the harvesting of different crops was done at different times and the revenue was accordingly to be collected in three stages depending on the type of crops. Thus, under kharif the revenue could only be collected in instalments. The rabi harvest was all gathered within a very short period. The authorities tried to collect revenue before the harvest was cut and removed from the fields. 

     The revenue was deposited in the treasury through the 'amil' or revenue collector. Akbar encouraged the peasants to pay directly, Todar Mal recommended that the peasants of trusted villages, within the time limit, could deposit their revenue in the treasury themselves and could obtain a receipt. The village accountant, patwari, made an endorsement in his register to establish the amount paid.

Q.  Balutedars                                              

A.  The rural servants in Maharashtrian villages are referred to as twelve balutes. It includes carpenter, blacksmith, potter, leather-worker, rope-maker, barber, washerman, astrologer, Hindu priest and mahar. There were two categories of the balutedars:- 

I)   Watan holding balutas and stranger(upari) balutas. The first category possessed a hereditary monopoly over their services. They were employed by the village as a whole and served the individual villagers. The balutedars were paid by the peasants in three ways:

1)in kind or cash called baluta;

2) in the form of perquisites, rights and privileges in cash or kind, and

3) in the form of revenue-free inam lands.

        The balutas remained the servants of the whole village and not of any family. The balutas generally belonged to different occupational castes. The priest and the accountant were Brahmins. The priests did not hold any watan. Their function was confirmed to certain castes or families because of the peculiar nature of Hindu rites and ceremonies.