Peasants on the move
This was a feature of agrarian society which struck a keen observer like Babar, the first Mughal emperor, forcefully enough for him to write about it in the Babarnama, his memoirs: “In Hindustan hamlets and villages, towns indeed, are depopulated and set up in a moment! If the people of a large town, one inhabited for years even, flee from it, they do it in such a way that not a sign or trace of them remains in a day and a half. On the other hand, if they fix their eyes on a place to settle, they need not dig water courses because their crops are all rain-grown, and as the population of Hindustan is unlimited it swarms in. They make a tank or a well; they need not build houses or set up walls ... khas-grass abounds, wood is unlimited, huts are made, and straightaway there is a village or a town !”
Questions:
(i) Give two aspects of agricultural life that Babar observed.
(ii) Why did the settlers need not have to build houses?
(iii) Explain the difference between the two types of peasants in the villages.
(iv) Explain any two factors that led to constant expansion of agriculture.
(i) (a) Indian farmer’s crops were all rain-grown.
(b) They make a tank or a well in their villages or towns.
(ii) The settlers did not need have to build homes because they made huts of khas, grass and wood. These both articles were available in abounds or unlimited. Huts are made and straightaway there is a village or a town. They did not need build homes or set up walls.
(iii) The two types of peasants in the villages were :
(a) The permanent farmers of a large town inhabited for years and cultivate the lands permanently. They might free from their parental villages.
(b) There were farmers or peasants, they might be called new settlers. They fixed their eyes on a place to settle. They did not need dig water course because their crops are rain-grown.
(iv) Following are two factors that led to constant expansion of agriculture :
(a) The population of Hindustan is unlimited and it swarms in, at different villages and towns. These places are set up in a moment.
(b) Due to shifting of the peasants or settling at new places the constant expansion of agriculture took place.
