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Peasants, Zamindars And The State
Explain Akbar’s taxation policy.
Akbar made many reforms in the revenue system. He adopted different systems of assessment of the land tax.
Akbar first adopted Sher Shah’s system of assessment. In this system cultivated area was first measured and a central schedule was drawn up. Then on the basis of the productivity of land, cropwise revenue was fixed.
This system caused inconvenience to the peasants so he reverted to the system of annual assessment. Qanungos were required to report an actual produce, state of cultivation, local prices etc.
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Examine the evidence that suggests that land revenue was important for the Mughal fiscal system.
To what extent do you think caste was a factor in influencing social and economic relations in agrarian society?
How were the lives of forest dwellers transformed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?
Examine the role played by zamindars in Mughal India.
Discuss the ways in which panchayats and village headmen regulated rural society.
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.
Visit a neighbouring village. Find out how many people live there, which crops are grown, which animals are raised, which artisanal groups reside
there, whether women own land, how the local panchayat functions. Compare this information with what you have learnt about the sixteenth-
seventeenth centuries, noting similarities and differences. Explain both the changes and the continuities that you find.
How were the village artisans compensated by the villagers for their services? Write about any one.
How did the zamindars derive their power during the Mughal period? Mention any two ways.
What was Jati Panchayat? State any two of its functions.
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