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History OF India 1500-1600
BA (Hons.) History
University of Delhi
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HISTORY OF INDIA ( 1500 - 1 600)
UNIT – 1 Sources and Historiography
- Critically analyse the writings of abul fazl and abdul qadir badauni as a sources for the study of akbar’s reign. ANS.- The Mughal period was pre-eminently an age of official histories or Nama. This type of history was inspired and stimulated by the influence of Persian in a cosmopolitan court. The practice of having the official history of the empire, written by the royal historiographer, was started by Akbar and it continued till the reign of Aurangzeb who stopped it. The official histories were based on an accumulated mass of contemporary records, official (waqai) records of provinces and the akhbarat-i-darbar-i-mualla or court bulletins corrected under royal direction. Often the presentation of history tended to reflect the bias of the court, social, political and religious as official or court historians could not afford to be independent in their attitude or critical of the actions of the ruler or ministers. The court chronicles tended to indulge in nauseating flattery of their patrons as well as in verbosity. Akbar’s reign (1556-1605) was prolific in historical literature. Three important chronicles were written in this period- Abul Fazl’s AkbarNama, Abdul Qadir Badauni’s Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh and Nizam-ud-din Ahmad’s Tabaqat-i-Akbari. The works of Fazl and Badauni’s are much more complex and interesting than Tabaqat-i-Akbari. Fazl and Badauni’s work mark a definite advancement in medieval historiographical traditions. Although Abul Fazl’s work is seen as the main source of information for Akbar’s period, Badauni’s Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh together with Jesuit accounts strengthens Fazl’s work. Badauni’s work is unique and valuable in terms that he wrote it in secret and without any patron/ official sponsorship. Mullah Abdul Qadir Badauni was born in 1540 at Badauni. Badauni was introduced to Akbar In 1573-74, and appointed him as court imam. But he grew to be a hostile critic of Akbar, envious of Faizi and Fazl and dissatisfied with Akbar for his free thinking and eclectic religious views, administrative reforms and for his patronage of non Muslims. Badauni’s book provided an index to the mind of the orthodoxy Sunni Muslims of Akbar’s reign. According to Prof. S. Sharma, it is not very valuable except for the account of events in which Badauni himself took part. Moreland describes his work as reminiscences of journalism rather than history. Topics were selected less for their intrinsic importance than for their interest to the author, who presented the facts colored by his personal feelings and prejudices in bitter epigrammatic language, which has to be discounted. The author not only uses uncommon words, but indulges in religious controversies, invectives, eulogiums dream, biographies and details of personal and family history which interrupts the unity of the narrative, yet these digressions are the most interesting portion of the work. Badauni’s work is divided into three volumes. The first volume deals with the history of the Muslims rulers up to Humayan. In the preface of “Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh”, Badauni acknowledges his sources and admits that he had occasionally added “something of his own” to the work. The second volume of the Muntakhab deals with the reign of Akbar. It is annual chronicle where events have been narrated under the head of the year of their occurrence. Badauni’s originality in his work lies in the way in which he analyses the personalities involved and takes into account the impact of Akbar’s policies upon people in general. The third volume is in form of a tazkira in which he gives biographies sketches of the mashaikh and ulema of Akbar’s age, as well as the physicians and poets of Akbar’s court. The basic form of Badauni’s history is similar to that of Abul Fazl’s work, although the treatment of history is different. The significance of Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh as a source of historical study is immense. Apart from the information on wars, rebellions, conquests etc., Badauni gives detailed information on the administrative organization of Akbar’s empire. He also gives information on his policies, his religious experiments and even the architecture of cities like Fatehpur Skiri. However it should be noted that his account is somewhat biased as it seeks to prove the failure of Akbar. For instance, the mansabdari system is seen by him as a complete failure, in which lower groups like tradesmen, weavers, cotton cleaners and carpenters, including Hindus without any distinguished abilities, received mansabs. Badauni also mentions in his book that the Dagh system broke the neck of the soldiers, and it is in the context of these measures that he sees the rebellions in Bengal and Bihar. Badauni also gives a detailed account of kakori system. He writes that the officers were highly corrupt and selfish. According to him many cultivators were ruined and the experiment ended in a disaster. He corroborates such information by accounts of famines and earthquakes during Akbar’s reign. Although he writes that Akbar had governed the empire well and was liberal and kind, he says that the constant quarrels of the ulema puzzled Akbar and he lost faith in Islam. Also, Badauni argues that Akbar believed that since 1000 years of Islam were almost complete, Akbar could now replace Islam. Being an orthodox man, Badauni did not endorse many of Akbar’s liberal policies and was severely critical of many of his actions. He noted a clear distinction between the principles of Din-i-Ilahi and those in the Najat-ur-Rashid, which strengthened his belief that Akbar was a heretic who had established a new religion. He further adds that Akbar replaced the Hijra era with Tarikh-i-Ilahi or divine era. This kind of an outlook blinds Badauni from understanding Akbar’s actions in an unbiased light, and he was unable to understand the significance of such policies in their totality. Similarly for Badauni, the promotion of rational sciences, instead of being a practical measure, appears to be an undermining of traditional sciences. He is also unable to see that discouragement of Islamic names was done by Akbar out of respect to the prophet and saints. This blinkered understanding is a serious limitation of Badauni. It is due to such inherent biases present in Badauni’s works that in order to effectively use them for historical purposes, it is essential to compare and corroborate them with the work of Abul Fazl. Abul Fazl was close to Akbar and gives an insight into the mind of Akbar. He was severely criticized by Shaikh Abd-un-Nabi and Abdullah Sultanpuri (makhdum-ul-mulk) who were the Ulema of the imperial court during the early years of Akbar’s reign. Soon Akbar started changing the composition of nobility and found the Ibadat khana (just when fazl entered his court) in 1574-75. Akbar
appointed Fazl to the court and gave him a mansabs of 20 and gradually raised it to 2000. Apart from the role in the discussions at the Ibadat Khana, Fazl also rendered his services to Akbar on more or less personal nature rather than political or military. Abul Fazl’s work AkbarNama and Ain-i-Akbari are both part of a large body of literature. The AkbarNama is Fazl’s monumental work. He had originally intended to write the same in 5 volumes, of which 4 were to constitute the narrative part and fifth was to be the Ain-i-Akbari. Of these Fazl was able to write only 3 volumes, two of the narrative part and the Ain. The first volume covers “The History of Mankind” from Adam to the first seventeen years of Akbar’s reign. The second volume is the narrative to the close of 46th regnal year of Akbar. The third volume which is “Ain-i-Akbari” was written by the end of 42nd regnal year of Akbar’s reign with a small addition to the conquest of Berar which took place in 43rd year of Akbar’s reign. Fazl followed a different style of writing. Unlike works that start with the origin of Islam, he began from Adam and traced it down to the birth of Akbar which is shown as a divine event and it was also intended to show that Akbar’s patron stood at the “pinnacle of the progress” of humanity. History for Abul Fazl was “the events of the world recorded in a chronological order”. The AkbarNama apart from the Ain contains extensive information on a variety of subjects within the limitation of narrative of political events. Apart from battles, Fazl also added occasional notes on subjects such as topography of an area or astrology etc. The Ain is different from the narrative part; it is some kind of gazetteer of information. Ain-i-akbari is furthered divided into 3 sections/volumes, which contains administrative rules of Akbar’s reign. Fazl gives a detailed account of ranks, schedules, the mansabdari system, the army & armaments, tents, cavalry etc. Ain-i-akbari is highly detailed account of Akbar’s administration inscribed by Fazl. He has discussed a wide range of topics in this volume which ends with the significant codes of Akbar entitled, ‘Sayings of Akbar’. Abul Fazl, while writing the Ain had collected information from well informed and prudent persons. At some places, he also makes alterations in either the words or the nuances of the evidence. For instance, a noticeable omission in the AkbarNama is the Mahzarnama. He does not emphasize on Mahzanama because it ties Akbar to Islam which goes against the image of Akbar as ‘Insaan-i-Kamil’. However Badauni gives its full text as well as an account of its preparation in the second and third volumes of the Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh. Abul Fazl’s account revolves around Akbar whom he thought that loyalty to Akbar was equivalent to obeying God. The main contribution of Fazl in writing AkbarNama is the history of reign of Akbar. The very style of Fazl’s writing, whereby in the description of each event he tried to build up a literary climax which is suggestive of his exaggerations in Akbar’s favor. In most of the battles of Akbar or his men against rebels or other opponents, Fazl tried to exaggerate the strength and determination of the latter in order to inflate the significance and the glory of the Akbar’s , or his man’s victory. The picture of perfection painted by Abul Fazl for Akbar is an incomplete one and Badauni’s work is extremely valuable as an alternate perspective in this regard. Being free from official pressures, Badauni’s work serves to provide a critical, albeit a slightly prejudices account of Akbar’s reign and his policies. Although it might not be appropriate to term Badauni’s work as a corrective to Abul Fazl since he suffers from many limitations too. Thus we see that neither Abul Fazl nor Badauni can give us a whole picture of Akbar’s reign, since both were motivated equally strong and contrasting emotions, which colored their narratives. Yet the subjective element apart, both the historians supply the same data and thus complement each other.
- With reference to tawarikh and insha writings, briefly discuss the significance of persian literary traditions as a source for the study of Mughals till the reign of akbar. ANS.- INTRODUCTION According to Muzaffar Alam, Persian has a lengthy history on the subcontinent, and over time it has come to integrate local subcontinental elements, giving it a distinct Indo-Persian flavour. During Akbar's reign, however, there was a noticeable increase in patronage and usage. In his work 'On History and Historians of Medieval India,' K. A. Nizami claims that historical literature and mediaeval historiography have advanced significantly. It expressed a range of perspectives, including imperial, sectarian, and feminine. In both poetry and verse, it portrayed Persian language in varied tints and shapes. It recognized the cultural and historical contributions of Muslims. New chronology tests were carried out, with the death of the Prophet (rihlat) being the start of the Islamic calendar. It tried to collect data through large-scale collaboration among many persons, including information on both aristocracy and commoners. The scope of history was broadened by taking into consideration the various functions of mystics and poets. Statistical data entered the annals of time. There was a fresh merging of diverse historical traditions. Thus, during Akbar's reign, history as a discipline was recreated and regarded in a new perspective, which was followed by the rise of Persian. DEVELOPMENT OF INSHA LITERATURE The Arabic term insha literally translates to "building" or "creation." It was employed in classical Arabic literature with this connotation. It started to be used to refer to prose compositions, letters, documents, and state papers as time went on. Later, it was used as a synonym for munsha'dt, which were texts written in accordance with specified standards that distinguished its form, style, and diction from regular prose. Gradually, the name insha came to be associated with a separate literary form in Arabic and, subsequently, Persian literature. It was then characterised as a field of knowledge that determined the qualities and flaws of prose production in letters and papers (rasà'il). Rasa'il are widely classified into two types, according to published definitions: (a) tauqiat and (b) muhawarat. Tauqiat is made up of rulers' and officials' ahkam and misal (orders and directions). Maktubat and mufawazat make up muhawarät (lexters and correspondence). Historians point out that inshä was more concerned with expressing inner sensations than with presenting academic sciences. NATURE AND CONTENT OF INSHA COLLECTION
Other accounts of books include battles, the great military tactics, the topography, the astrology and those persons and commanders in force under akbar etc and here fazal verifies akbar as a great emperor, also with all his good policies and great military conquests. Abul fazl implemented a very rhetoric style of writing. Ain-i-akbari, here harbans mukhia pointed out that here ain-i-akbari is divided into 5 parts, book 1 deals with imperial establishments, books 2 deals with institutions of army, book 3 gives an account of 20 different eras which were operated in different parts of the world at different times and book 4 focuses on the various concept of hindus, astronomical, medicinal, philosophical, customs manners etc and book 5 consists of wise sayings of akbar. Other historians also pointed out that ain-i-akbari give statistical account of subas, that the provines of the empire that provides territorial, fiscal and ethnographic data of the Mughal and it includes different categories of prices, salaries, revenue rates to the imperial, households, the mint, amusements, ettiquttes and details on animals also including its hunting, trading, co-hibition and dying. An interesting aspect of historians put that creation of a dichotomy between writters of akbar’s court i. abul fazl and badaoni. Historians did a compareable study which provided balance of sources, therefore here comes the muntkab-ul- tawarikh , by mulla abdul qadir badaoni and is considered as major critique of abul fazl’s akbar nama and muntkab is considered as a valuable counter point and counter balance of akbar nama. Muntkab’s significance lies in the inclusion of social details which is completely absent in fazal’s historiography. Badaoni firmly stands against the royal aristocracy and the divine right to rule which fazal has entitled to akbar in his akbar nama. Badaoni outrageously critisised akbar on religious eudological grounds and it includes memorative communications, biographical sketeches and records on uleman physicians and poets during akbar’s period.
CONCLUSION Many factors may have contributed to Persian's unprecedented rise in Mughal India: Akbar's desire to repay the Mughals' debt to Iran, the need to counter the ambitious Chaghtai nobles and thus promote Iranians in Mughal service, a desire to compete with and excel the Iranian Shah, among other things by encouraging Iranian intellectuals and poets to come over and settle in India, and the sheer force of the Persianized Muslim civilization. All of these might have had an impact on the language's evolution; perhaps just one of them, or a combination of two or three, could have been significant. During the lengthy reign of the Mughals, the language evolved from a purely state-building instrument to a social and cultural signifier, and finally to a fundamental defining feature of Mughal identity. Persian was once exclusive to the court, where it distinguished the conquerors from the defeated by its elevated gateways. However, it quickly spread past the upper echelons of government and into the bottom rungs.
- Evaluate the importance of braj or telegu literary traditions for the study of medieval india for the period of 1500 - 1600 ANS.- The term ‘Brajbhasha’ is likely to suggest associations with Krishna devotion i. meaning ‘language of Braj’. While Braj indeed owes some of its popularity to its cultivation by Krishna-worshiping literati, it was also a major court language. Braj bhasha was a form of north Indian language, closely related to Hindi, were in use as literary languages from at least the fourteenth century. Brajbhasha, the speech of the Agra district to the south of Delhi, became the standard language of Krishna poetry and court poetry; from around 1600 until the rise of literary Urdu in the later eighteenth century, it was recognized along with Persian as the leading literary language of the whole northern region. The origin, spread and acceptance of Braj poetry was the outcome of the simplicity of the language and court patronage. In the histories of Mughal India written so far, Persian chronicles were recorded as an important source of history. Even if Persian occupied the position of highest prestige in the hierarchy of Mughal literary forms, a number of emperors as well as members of the Mughal nobility also sponsored the production of Brajbhasha texts. Brajbhasha poets composed short muktak (free-standing) poems, usually on devotional or royal themes, as well as treatises on classical Indian aesthetics known as Ritigranth (poetry textbooks). The Braj dialect is not too distant from the Hindi spoken in Agra and it would in all likelihood have been comprehensible to the Mughals. Despite its importance as a literary source, the extent of Mughal participation in Braj literary culture has not been systematically traced. Often Hindi literary artisans have viewed Brajbhasha’s courtly tendencies as a wrong turn of Hindi language in its developmental path. Riti authors known for their prashasti poems and erotic subject matter are often unfavourably viewed in relation to their more spiritual Bhakti counterparts, who kept themselves away from court politics and pleasure. A major political ambition of the Mughals was to consolidate the empire by building consensus with local Rajput kings, who were not yet Persianized and spoke various local Hindi dialects. In forging Mughal-Rajput alliances, the Emperor began to accept Rajput princesses as brides and thus brought Hindi to the heart of the Mughal Harem. The mothers of Akbar’s son Jahangir and grandson Shah Jahan were both Indian Rajputs. Thus, over the course of Akbar’s reign Hindi was in some cases literally becoming the mother tongue of the Mughal princes, even if Persian remained the primary public language. Additional political factors contributed to the Mughal interest in Brajbhasha. Their capital at Agra was situated close to the Hindu cultural centres of Vrindavan and Mathura, the locus of new Vaishnava religious communities that were gaining power with both Mughal and Rajput state support. Important members of Akbar’s administration such as Todar Mal and Man Singh were patrons of Vaishnava institutions and, in1580, Mathura became part of the suba of Agra. Listening to Braj poetry and music was a means of engaging with the local. Therefore, this would have been a political choice. With the accession of Akbar, information becomes richer. Akbar was tremendously fond of music, especially dhrupad songs composed in Brajbhasha. A major poet with clear associations to the Mughal court during Akbar’s
period and one widely known, if little studied by Hindi scholars, is Gang. A number of prashasti verses to Mughal personalities have been attributed to Gang. This proves that he was associated with the court. There are compositions in honour of Akbar, Abdur Rahim Khan-i Khanan, Prince Salim, Prince Daniyal, Man Singh Kachhwaha, Birbal, amongst others. The poetry of the Mughal administrator Abdur Rahim Khan-i Khanan is a particularly promising site for an investigation of Hindi language. He was well versed in many languages and this was reflected on his Hindi literary style. Three other localities feature as sites of innovation or achievement on Braj Literature: Gwalior to the south of Agra, the Braj district to the north of Agra and Orchha. Gwalior has the significance of being almost the earliest identifiable centre of cultivation of Brajbhasha poetry. Here a fifteenth century poet named Vishnudas became the inaugurator of a tradition of narrative on Sanskritic themes. The Braj district came to new literary prominence with the awakening, around 1500, of a new Krishna devotion all across north India, Bengal, and Gujarat. Sectarian groups established themselves in the traditional sacred sites of Braj; a flourishing oral poetry of Krishna songs, both sectarian and non-sectarian, rapidly developed, as well as a literature of more elaborate narrative poetry that was early on committed to writing, and some sectarian prose. Orchha, a small principality in Bundelkhand, became an important centre of Sanskritic culture and Brajbhasha poetry in the late sixteenth century and produced in Keshavdas one of the leading poets of Brajbhasha. One of the founding figures of the courtly Braj literary tradition is Keshavdas Mishra. Keshavdas belonged to a family of learned Sanskrit pandits but chose to take up a new type of career as a vernacular writer. Keshavdas is famous in Hindi literary circles as one of the forerunners of the Brajbhasha Riti tradition, a collection of courtly and intellectual practices that flourished in an environment of mixed Mughal and sub-imperial patronage. Riti Literature demands serious attention. Their poetry would record different trends, attitudes and perceptions. Their statements if examined in spe cific literary and historical contexts may be well considered historical. Unlike his Persian-writing contemporaries Keshavdas did not process political events in a mode that would be recognized as historical, in the modern Western sense of the term. These texts according to the rule of panegyric poetry in Sanskrit need to cultivate the heroic mood (vira rasa) or emphasize the idealism of the hero. There are times when a literary necessity conflicted with a historical reality. This conflict between eulogizing and historical tendencies give rise to interpretive challenges. The historian is often discouraged by the literary superfluities of court poets. But trying to isolate the ‘literary’ from the ‘historical’ has various problems. A model that separates the historical and literary strains of discourse do not hold in light of recent theories about the rooting of all historical discourse in structures of narrativity. Therefore, poetry and history should not, and cannot, be neatly pried apart. In the works of Keshavdas the strands of historical and literary discourse are deeply interwoven. During the poet’s own lifetime, the kingdom of Orchha was subsumed into the Mughal empire. The advent of Mughal rule stimulated a desire to record it, and to try to fathom its nature. Allison Busch’s study of Keshavdas’s three historical poems brought into our view how these works serve as an invaluable window into a critical moment in Orchha history and Orchha-Mughal political relations. The Ratnabhavani is a narrative poem that highlights the valour of the Orchha prince Ratnasena who died resisting the forces of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. Particular details in these historical poems may not be true but when Keshavdas ignores events that interfere with his themes of kingly splendour and glory, such omissions can be historically revealing. Although the Bhavani does not accord the Orchha state an actual victory over the Mughals, the text through its stylistic, lexical and thematic profile establish Ratnasena’s moral victory, indirectly undermining Mughal authority. It has been argued that the primary function of the raso was to express Rajput resistance to Muslim power. In the Bhavani version of the Mughal takeover accords Ratnasena chooses his fate of dying on the battlefield, and it is an honourable end: the self-sacrifice of a noble and loyal warrior who tried to save his father’s kingdom from defeat. However, the most confusing thing is that the Ratnabhavani’s account is completely contradicted by the events reported in Keshavdas’s later Virsimhdevcharit. In the latter text Ratnasena is said to have served on Akbar’s side. Corroboration from other sources allows us to conclude that the Charit version of events is the ‘historically true’ one. Ratnasena did not die in 1578 at the hands of Akbar’s invading army. When King Madhukar Shah could resist Mughal power no longer, Ratnasena and several other Orchha princes were placed in Mughal service, and Ratnasena actually died fighting for Akbar in the 1582 Bengal campaign. The literary account of Ratnasena’s death can be interpreted as an expression of the pain the members of the independent Bundela royal clan felt at being forced ultimately to submit to the Mughals. Ratnasena’s death is thus a metaphor for the death of Orchha sovereignty. The Bhavani which depicted an early hostile moment of Mughal-Orchha contact, showed zero Persianization in its style. Sanskrit literary models seem to dictate both style and lexical content. Keshavdas’s second historical poem, the Virsimhdevcharit, takes place in a considerably altered political landscape of the early 17th century which is evident even from the poet’s choice of vocabulary and stylistic registers. The Mughals, although referred to as the ‘Pathan’ and ‘Turk’ do not have the negative connotation that characterized their usage in the Bhavani, and the term ‘Mleccha’ has completely vanished from the vocabulary. The composition of this work coincides with the accession of Bir Singh to the Orchha throne after he ousted his elder brother from power. Intimately related to the chronicling of Bir Singh’s life story, it turns out, is not just the local dynastic struggle, but also a larger story of how Orchha came under full Mughal hegemony. This historical poems by Keshavdas is a fascinating literary map of the responses of one particular regional kingdom as Mughal authority became increasingly rooted. The initial Mughal incursions under Akbar’s reign provoked resentment and hatred of the outsiders, as reflected in Keshavdas’s earliest poem the Ratnabhavani. But this tone of hatred does not persist in Keshavdas’s later works by the time he wrote the Virsimdevcharit Orchha-Mughal political dynamics were much more complex, with each Orchha brother being backed by a different Mughal faction. In Keshavdas’s last work, the Jahangırjascandrika, the Mughal emperor is compared to Hindu god kings like Rama or Indra, and portrayed in the classical Kavya styles, with an occasional Persianizing twist providing Mughals’ new legitimacy as rulers. A new tendency towards Perso-Arabic vocabulary is seen in certain parts of his last two works. Sandhya Sharma
system and the lethality and rate of fire of the weaponry involved meant that any combat was extraordinarily violent and cost ly. Battles like Panipat, Khanua and Tukaroi may have resulted in combined death tolls of over 20,000 with at least several times that many wounded, captured and missing. As an alternative to violence—which JOS GOMMANS describes as “the second-best option,” the Mughals resorted to posturing, intimidation, diplomacy and bribery. Outright cash payments and the promise of mansab, or high office in the imperial ranks, were used to induce their opponents to give up without a fight—or perhaps, for honor’s sake.
- The most important tactics used by the Mughal emperors like Babur was the skill of persuading people. If the plunder was not distributed to the soldiers, the soldiers used to withdraw their support from the ruler. That’s wise, after invading India, when Babur went to Delhi and sent his son, Humayun to Agra for plundering the treasure, some parts of the plunder was then distributed to the allies of Babur (like soldiers). After the battle of Panipat, unlike previous conquerors, Babur’s tactics was to convey the Indians so, that these people could associated themselves with the ruler, respect the ruler, provide basic amenities like food grains to the ruler. But, most of the people were not trusting Babur and were in terror because of him. Therefore, to make the people to trust him, Babur has made several attempts. For example- he went to Delhi and paid homage to the Sufi saints. However, until Akbar had not taken the throne of the Mughal Empire, people were not ready to accept the Mughals as their ruler. TECHNOLOGY
- Technology played an obvious role in the Mughal military transformation. Babur and his successors combined the traditional implements of Central Asian warfare—bows, blades, armor and horses—with new devices—muskets, cannon, bombs, rockets and ships. In many cases, these newer weapons did not compete with or replace the older equipment but instead complemented it. The Mughals were not simple imitators of Western designs but informed consumers, able to grasp the full importance and implications of gunpowder weaponry. Guns became more than just ugly but necessary tools. According to some historians, the reason behind the success of Babur was the use of muskets and cannons. But this is often seen as a misconception because Babur didn’t rely on these two rather, he was very much confident in mobile and trained cavalrymen. They were stronger and his horses were far superior in comparison with the Indian one. The muskets and canons were used to put-on the opponent in risk. But his success was emphasized on cavalrymen. Babur used to praise his success to cavalrymen.
- Although the Chinese had been using gunpowder weapons before the Mongols arrived on the scene, it is not until the end of the thirteenth century that firearms of any sort, particularly rockets, appear in the Sultanate of Delhi or in regional literary references. One can consider Mongols as the agents of technological transmission. Although cannons became somewhat common throughout India, the Mughals used them the most effectively, thus giving rise to one of the popularly called Gunpowder Empires (along with the Ottomans and Safavids). As in late medieval Europe, the expense of cannons meant that few among the nobility besides the ruler possessed the resources to purchase them. Fortress walls gave little shelter against cannons and the nobility quickly learned to acquiesce to the authority of the ruler. Although similar situations appeared among some of the regional Indian states, the rise of the Mughals brings this phenomenon into better focus. From the Portuguese, the Mughals and others learned how to make cannons from wrought iron, thus reducing the cost of the weapon, while at the same time improving it. The Mughals, who learned from Ottoman advisors, quickly grasped the importance of light artillery as it became less expensive and more easily manufactured. While magnificent in siege warfare, the lack of maneuverability of heavy cannon left it virtually useless on the battlefield. By the time of Akbar, heavy mortars and cannons were rarely used in the Mughal military. Light cannons that could be used on the battlefield were the mainstay of the Mughal artillery corps, including the shaturnal, similar to swivel guns, but carried on the backs of camels and even in the howdahs of elephants. In addition to artillery, handheld firearms also became ubiquitous throughout the Mughal Empire. We can find western influences in the technology. Western influences included new technologies in firearms manufacture. However, not all of these became widespread. As a result, stagnation occurred particularly in terms of standard weapons. The preferred weapon became the matchlock, even after other technologies surpassed it. One cannot ignore the role of the matchlock musket in the centralization of Mughal authority. Mughals also used musketeers to maintain their authority. Babur began his career with a scant musket bearing force of just over a hundred men, but by the time of Akbar, over 35,000 musketeers existed in the Mughal military. One reason for this was that, despite the cost of their weapon, the musketeers w ere actually less expensive than garrisoning cavalry forces. The expense of feeding the man and his horse grossly exceeded that of a musketeer. Thus, a small but trained force of musket wielding troops allowed the Mughals to assert their authority in even the most remote provinces. This was also possible as, for several decades, the nobility was forbidden to recruit their own forces of musketeers. At the same time, this mass force of troops with firearms undermined the Mughals. As the matchlock became ubiquitous, its cost dropped, but it also was deemed very reliable by those using it. Thus, even when other technologies came into the region, like flintlock muskets, the Mughals failed to adopt them due to economic reasons as well as the matchlock's popularity. While firearms aided the process of centralization, it also played a role in undermining the Mughal's authority. Because of the affordability of matchlocks and the relative simplicity in gaining expertise with them, one did not have to train for years to be a warrior. Ultimately, this led to the diffusion of firearms into the general populace and resistance to central authority. Beginning in the late-sixteenth century, not only political rebels, but even peasants opposed to tax collection acquired firearms. As domestic tensions grew, the widespread use and manufacture of matchlock muskets played a role in the breakdown of central authority, and the Mughals, despite several innovative attempts, failed to halt the eventual Balkanization of their empire. Conclusion While the Mughals and other Indian states adopted technology and processes from abroad, they were informed consumers, not passive imitators. They adapted and refined their new instruments to meet the unique demands and challenges of their setting.
Gun powder technology helped the Mughals expand their empire along with the support of cavalry and infantry. However, Gunpowder technology alone wasn’t responsible for strong Mughal army. The earliest Mughal emperor, Babur wrote in his autobiography that infantry, cavalry (mounted archers) were the major components of his army that led him win the battle. However, he doesn’t deny the use of Gunpowder technology in the battle but their contribution wasn’t important as the cavalry and the infantry.
- Briefly analyse the recent historiographical debate related to nature of Mughal state ANS.- Historiographies on the Nature of the Mughal State COLONIALSIST HISTORIOGRAPHY Historians have given different interpretations for explaining the nature of the Mughal state of the imperialist theorists projected pre-British India to be a static entity and argued that it is only with the coming of the British that India witnessed dynamic buoyancy in the socio- economic and political spheres. They propounded the theory of Oriental Despotism to characterise the pre British Indian states wherein he saw the Indian rulers functioning as despots besides rendering them an effeminate character. MARX’S MODEL OF AMP (Asiatic mode of production) This theory was followed by Marx’s model of Asiatic mode of production which propounded a highly state-deterministic theory and argued that state in pre British India was extremely exploitative and left no surplus with its subjects. As result there was no scope for class formation leading to any class struggle in India. He saw the village communities in India to be egalitarian in nature. However, this proposition had its own flaws as Mughal society was an extremely differentiated society, with great levels of urbanisation and huge development of trade and commerce. This theory too characterised the Mughal state as a despotic state. ALIGARH SCHOOL Starting in the early 1900s, waves of Indian nationalist historians began to contest different elements within this colonial historiography. By far the most significant challenge came from successive generations of often Marxist-oriented historians based at Aligarh Muslim University like Irfan Habib, Athar Ali, Noman Ahmad Siddiqi, Iqtidar Alam Khan, ShireenMoosvi. Between the 1940s and the 1980s, the “Aligarh School” developed a powerful counterview of the Mughal Empire. Largely focusing their attention on Mughal administrative institutions, these scholars asserted that the Mughal Empire was – not unlike a modern state – a highly centralized, systematized, and stable entity. The force ofthisargumentwas suchthatthestrengthofMughal administrative institutions now became the starting point for most discussions (and explanations) of imperial successes and failures. Religion was largely discounted as a factor in the Mughal collapse. By the early 1960s, the Aligarh view of the Mughal Empire was widely accepted within and outside India. From the 1970s onward, however, debates about the nature of empire in India took on new life thanks to a fresh cluster of historians. They questioned the Aligarh School’s exalted view of imperial institutions, arguing that the diffuse and fractured manner in which early modern societies functioned resisted the possibility of strong centralized institutions,notonly in Indiabut also inotherparts of theearlymodern world. THUS EMERGED VIEWS LIKE PATRIMONIAL- BUREAUCRATIC STATE Stephen Blake analyses the Mughal state as a patrimonial bureaucratic empire. This concept is borrowed from Weber and applied to the Mughal state. This postulate is based on the premise that in small states, the ruler governed as if it was his patrimony or household realm. With the expansion of territory and emergence of large states a bureaucracy has to be recruited for effective governance. This was the basis of patrimonial bureaucratic empire. However, the focus still remained on the state’s structure, devoiding any role to human agency, models like these ignore processes of change integral to Mughal structure. In late 1980’s Andre wink in his study stressed on understanding the processes that went into state formation. He pointed out the significance of processes of alliance making and alliance breaking in the formation of early modern states. Besides, gift exchanges, matrimonial alliances, feast activities and other informal networks of negotiations, conflicts began to be increasingly viewed as crucial activities to reproduce state. BUT the issue with processual understanding was its de-privileging of state’s coercive apparatus or rather its absolute faith in human agency. Such an understanding however appears to be flawed as state and its institutions have great constraining abilities. What emerged by the late 1990s however was a new perspective, one that considered the Mughal Empire less as a “medieval road- roller,” to quote Sanjay Subrahmanyam, and more as a spider’s web in which strands were strong in some places and weak in others, shedding light on the need to account for regional phenomena caught between the various strands. According to this interpretation, the empire hung loosely over Indian society, exerting only a fleeting impact on local societies, local landed elites (Zamindars), and everyday life. Against this backdrop, there has been a renewed push to comprehend the sources of Mughal power beyond its administrative, military, and fiscal institutions. Farhat Hasan’s State and Locality in Mughal India is of special note. Even though expressing discontent with the fiscal or military prisms through which most studies of the Mughal state are conducted, Hasan is determined to not “de-privilege” the state. State and Locality offers four particularly valuable insights: (i) The Mughal state could not simply command obedience, but had to “manufacture” it by implanting itself within local political, social, and economic networks of power; (ii) besides collecting taxes, the Mughal state also contributed and garnered support by offering security and playing a key role in redistributing monetary and social resources among the most powerful elements in Indian society; (iii) The Mughal state was continuously being moulded and constrained by the society that it ostensibly governed; and (iv) The Mughal state was a dynamic and continuously evolving entity quite unlike the static and stable creation that emerges from Mughal imperial sources or most modern accounts of the empire.
There could have been many factors why Akbar was interested in integrating the Rajputs into his courts and why he was interested in the Rajputanas. Rajputana was not only in proximity but also strategically located with the Aravallis providing a natural barrier. It was the gateway to Sindh and a link to the Western coast. Economic factors also played an important role in having motivated Akbar’s policy. As these local chieftains were well versed with the existing conditions in their locality, with the culture and language of the people and would be more acceptable in their eyes, they could serve to be important arms of the Mughal Revenue Administration and ensure the efficient and full collection of revenue. The strategic Rajputana region formed a crucial link between the Gangetic Valley and the rich and flourishing sea ports on the west coast of India on one hand, and with the prosperous tract of Malwa in Central India on the other, which was important for trade and also access to both Gujarat and the Deccan region. If not controlled from the centre it could have made the Mughal state vulnerable to attacks both from the North-West Frontier and from Malwa. The fact that the Rajputana contained a number of formidable forts, legendary for their capacity to withstand sieges, such as Chittor and Ranthambore further enhanced their strategic importance. Further, since the Rajputs were also known for their chivalry, valour and military strength and could thus be seen as a source of military power: a sword arm for the Mughal State. The potentiality of the Shaikhzadas whom he recruited was not much because of their limited numbers. According to Khan, internal rebellions further made Akbar realize the need to develop a Rajput support base and to create an effective bulwark and a class of efficient bureaucracy to balance out rebellious elements such as the existing Turani nobility. Akbar also wanted to convert t he hostility and resistance of the Rajput and other states into active support and participation and evolve their identity to that of the Mughal state, where they would become partners in governance and transform the passive support of the Rajputs into active support. We also have to note that this relationship is not one-sided. Norman P. Ziegler explains that some Rajputs viewed Mughal rule as an era of tolerance and national unification in which they participated under the banners of their clan leaders to whom they directed primary allegiances as soldiers and administrators because of the prestige and benefits they gained through association with the Mughal throne. The Mansabdari system was one such example wherein the Rajput nobles were given high mansabs. Raja Bhara Mal, the Kachhawaha ruler of Amber, was made a high grandee while his son Bhagwan Das rose to the rank of 5000 and his grandson, Raja Man Singh rose to the status of a mansabdar of the first order where with a rank of 7000 zat and 7000 sawar. This was followed by a similar policy towards the Rathors of different dominions. Rai Rai Singh of Bikaner, Pratap of Baglana and Raja Suraj Singh of Jodhpr were accorded the status of 4000, 3000 and 2000/2000 respectively. Other Rajput clans represented in the Mughal hierarchy were Bhaduria, Hada, Pundir, Tunwar, Bhati, Baghela and Chandrawat. From the early 1570s, the Rajput chiefs were also assigned significant offices. In 1572- 73, while leaving for Gujarat, Akbar made Raja Bhar Mal Vazir-i-Mutlaq of Agrawhich meant that the administrative charge of the city was entrusted to him. Mention is also to be made of Raja Bhagwan Das and Rai Rai Singh of Bikaner were made the governors of the Lahore suba, while the subas of Agra and Kabul were placed under the charge of Raja Askaran and Man Singh. The Mughal State also did not interfere in the administration of the Rajput Ranas. I. Khan mentioned how Akbar showed his appreciation of the services of the Rajput chiefs by promoting them to higher mansabs and increasing their jagirs, the income from these being far more than from their erstwhile chiefdoms. Akbar, however, did not accord any special treatment to the erstwhile principalities, treating these as part and parcel of the Mughal Empire. The revenue of these principalities was always adjusted against their salaries. Akbar made only one concession in this regard- a small part of the revenues was always assigned to them in their home territories so that their families were not disturbed from their home towns. The reason for assigning jagirs in proximity to their home towns was to facilitate accommodation of their traditional military personnel in the armed forces. This also explains the interest of the Rajput chiefs in seeking assignment around their watans. However, the resumed revenues of their principalities were included in the khalisa (imperial land) and assigned to other nobles. An important aspect to note is that Akbar made it clear that paramount power in regard of succession rests with him. If Akbar resumed full or part of the Rajput principalities, he also created new watan jagirs for his favourites. This arrangement somewhat created a favourable condition for both parties. For the Rajputs, they could retain autonomy in their homeland while actively participating in the Mughal Court and thus have extended influence over the affairs of North Indian politics as well. At the same time, Akbar still enjoyed suzerainty and even had the right to intervene in conflicts among the Rajput chiefs. Many small Rajputana states no longer became the vassals of the bigger Rajputana states but rather look up to the Mughal State as their protector. The material prosperity enjoyed made some of the Rajputs (Thakurs) to look at Akbar as an avatar (incarnation) of Lord Rama and Krishna. I. Khan also pointed out that Akbar did not confine the recruitment only to the chiefs of the clan but also gave mansabs and offices to other members of the clan in an attempt to break tribal solidarity, a strategy he consistently followed without making any distinction between the Turani, Irani or Rajput tribes. At the social plane also, Akbar treated them like other racial groups of his nobility. From the very beginning, Akbar established matrimonial relations with the Rajputs as he did with the Turani, Irani and Shaikhzada families. The real intention behind this relation was to cement the bond of friendship with the local zamindars. Both the Akbarnama and the Baburnama explicitly maintain that marriages were contracted with the girls of local zamindar families 'to conciliate' or 'to soothe the mind' of the zamindars. Bhar Mal's entry into Akbar's service and marriage of his daughter Harkha Bai to the Emperor in 1562 could be seen as a continuation of the tradition practised in feudal or mediaeval Indian polity where the superior political powers married daughters/sisters of their subordinate chiefs. Thereafter the members of the Mughal royal family married many Rajput princesses. The Rajput clans with which Akbar established matrimonial relations were the Rathors of Jodhpur, Bikaner and Merta; the Bhatis of Jaisalmer; the Gehlots of Dungarpur; the Baghelas of Bhatta; the Rajputs of Nagarkot; the Ujjainya' s of Bhojpur etc. One significant aspect of these marriages was that these were not imposed marriages and in many cases the Rajput
chiefs brought dolas themselves to marry the princesses to the members of the Mughal royal family. Not only did Akbar himself marry with the Rajput princesses, but he adopted a Kachhwa princess as his daughter and arranged her marriage with a Rajput chief. Moreover, the Rajput wives enjoyed full freedom in the Mughal harem and because of their influence, Hindu festivals like Dusshera, Diwali, Holi, Rakhi, etc., were celebrated at the Mughal courtwith pomp and glee. An equally significant aspect was the establishment of social intercourse between the two families. On special occasions, the Rajput wives of the Mughals used to visit their parental homes. Akbar also shared grieF and happiness with the Rajputs. At the moment of grief, they visited and consoled each other. When there was death in a Rajput family, Akbar paid personal visits and condoled the dead. On the other hand, we also know that after the death of Akbar's mother, Hamida Begum, several Rajput chiefs shaved their heads. Social closeness of the two families was also manifestatedin the titles such as Mirza, Farzand (son), and Bhaiya (brother) given to Man Singh, Manohar Shaikhawat and Ram Chand Baghela respectively Noteworthy is also the fact that Akbar had employed varied methods to integrate the Rajputs into the Mughal Empire. He was soft towards those who submitted easily and tough to those who had opposed. Akbar preferred the soft method in dealing with the Rajputs but opted for the hard method when that failed. Asif Qandhari explained why Akbar opted for the soft method. He said that there were two to three hundred rajas who possessed very strong forts. If each fort took one or half a year to conquer, it would have been impossible for any Emperor of Hindustan to conquer all the rajas by force during his lifetime. Therefore, conciliation was thought to be a better course by Akbar. Satish Chandra has classified the history of Mughal-Rajput relations under the Akbar into three broad phases: The first phase (1556 – 1567) was one where most Rajput rajas, accepted Mughal Suzerainty and were considered loyal allies in their existing role as the rulers of their principalities. They were expected to perform military service in or around their principalities but not outside Rajasthan. This was a rather difficult phase for Akbar who was facing rebellions from – 1) his foster family, 2) Turani nobles 3) Uzbeks. He concluded that he needed the strength of the Rajputs to break the power of the Turanis. Rajputs were employed in the conquest of Mertha in 1562 and Jodhpur in 1563 but not against the larger Rajput states like Chittor and Ranthambore. Matrimonial alliances took on a new significance as they became important in developing an alliance with the Rajputs on a permanent basis. It was in 1562 that Akbar entered into relations with Bhara Mal’s daughter Harkha Bai. At the time, the Kachhwahas were a minor Rajput clan who felt that they would be able to rise to the position of leading nobles in the Mughal court. Therefore over a period of time this alliance was beneficial for the Kachhwahas as when Akbar went on his campaign to Gujarat, Bharamal was left in charge of his court. Akbar also adopted liberal measures during this period. In the 1560s, Akbar tried to attract the Rajputs by putting forward liberal measures like the abolition of the Pilgrimage tax and Jaziya between 1562 and 1564. However despite these measures, it didn’t lead to an alliance with other Rajput states or create an atmosphere of total peace between the Mughals and the Rajputs. It nevertheless provided a platform for the second phase of Akbar’s policy towards the Rajputs. The second phase (1568 – 1580) was the period after the conquest of Chittor during which the relations with the Rajputs were further established. During this period, Akbar adopted a hard line approach, accompanied by the use of force through which he compelled the Rajputs to accept alliances. Akbar also used diplomatic means as he knew that the peaceful submission of the Rajput states was important. The more violent and conflictual narratives of Mughal-Rajput relations include – 1) Akbar’s campaign against Rana Uday Singh of Mewar 2) the siege of Chittor in 1567 and Ranthambhor in 1569 3) prolonged campaign against Rana Pratap. The Chittor campaign (October 1567 to February 1568) was the most vigorous campaign launched by Akbar against Mewar. With the exception of Mewar, the largest state ruled by the Sisodias under Rana Uday Singh, most other states had accepted Mughal suzerainty. Mewar was attacked because Akbar felt that if Mewar fell to the Mughals, so would the smaller states, which actually did happen. According to Abul Fazl, Akbar was compelled to take up arms against the arrogant Rana Uday Singh. On the other hand, Badauni and Nizammudin Ahmad felt that Rana Uday Singh had hidden Bazbahadur, an Afghan chief thereby necessitating Akbar’s targeting Mewar. The Chittor campaign ended with 30000 Rajputs losing their lives and was described by some people as a Jihad. Along with Mewar, military pressure was also used on Jaisalmer and Bikaner. After the fall of Chittor, many Rajput states entered into alliances with the Mughals including Ranthambore in 1569 and Jodhpur, Bikaner and Jaisalmer in 1570. The Rajputs were inducted in large numbers into the Mughal courts and the Rajput chiefs rose to become the military wall of defence for the Mughals. They rose from friends and loyal associates to allies who actively assisted in the expansion of the empire. By 1570, with the exception of the Sisodias of Mewar who still resisted, most Rajput states had entered into an alliance with Akbar. The Rana of Mewar did not agree to personal submission and wanted to regain Chittor. This was further emphasized as there was new resistance by the Sisodias led by Rana Pratap in the famous battle of Haldighati in 1575. It was not a struggle between Hindus and Muslims but was the pronouncement of the ideal of regional independence. Before this, Akbar had still tried to win over the Sisodias by sending emissaries such as Man Singh and Bhagwan Das but the Sisodias did not relent. Akbar was successful in the Battle of Haldighati but despite this, Mewar did not enter into an alliance with Akbar and continued to resist. Nevertheless, this inflicted a severe jolt on the Rana’s power. The third phase extended from 1580 to the end of Akbar’s reign. The Rajputs enjoyed an enhanced prestige as nobles and Akbar was sympathetic to them as they were an integral part of his court. In 1580, Akbar faced a Turani revolt in Bengal and Bihar. The Turanis were supported by Akbar’s half brother Mirza Hakim. The rebellion led Akbar to promote Rajputs in large numbers and they were deployed in the battle. They emerged as the support arm of the Mughal state and began to be accorded important administrative assignments. Thus from allies they now emerged as partners in the kingdom. Akbar’s relations with the more powerful states of Mewar and Jodhpur always remained strained but on the contrary, his relations with the not so powerful
methods in working of this system: batai , which means sharing the crop after the harvest, khatt-batai , which means assessing the crop while it was still standing in the field, and lang-batai , which means assessing the crop after it was separated from the shafts. Although this method was highly preferred by peasants as it transferred burden from their shoulders to the authorities, the Mughals found it undesirable to provide honest inspectors for this method. This system was replaced by kankut or appraisement. In this system, instead of actually dividing the grain or kan , an estimate or kut was made, by working out the rai or yield per unit area at the current harvest and multiplying this by the total area under the particular crop, so as to obtain the total produce of the crop. While the measuring of the land could be carried out any time between sowing and harvest, the rai was calculated with the aid of sample cuttings at harvest time from three small plots of high, medium and low productivity. While kankut reduced the expense and vexation for the revenue-collecting authorities, like bhaoli it continued the disadvantage of keeping them in ignorance of the amount that would be actually collected at the harvest. Moreover, the determination of rai upon the spot left too great a discretion in the hands of local officials, who might abuse this power at the expense of the state as well as the revenue payers. These considerations were probably at the root of the radical alterations in the kankut system brought about by Sher Shah. Instead of leaving the rai to be fixed at each harvest, a standard schedule was now promulgated to be applied to the sown area irrespective of the actual harvest. The schedule gave the high, medium, and low yields for each crop, and then, obtaining the average produce, fixed the tax at a third of the average. In this way, the kankut system was transformed into zabt. The assessor now had little concern with the harvest. He had simply to measure the land sown with each crop, and with the standard schedule of rai in his hand, he could tell the revenue payers in advance of the harvest how much in kind they would have to part with. The only allowance he might make for harvest failure was to declare a part of the sown area to be nabud , and remit the tax thereon. It is difficult to establish whether Sher Shah fixed the rai for particular districts like Delhi, Agra or for entire Hindustan. According to Irfan Habib, the latter seems to have been the case, since the rates in kind, even when converted into cash through dastur ul amals continued to be largely uniform for all crops in all provinces during the early years of Akbar. However, the arrival of Akbar as well witnessed major changes in the system. In the 11 th regnal year, Akbar made the rates realistic, ether by varying local rai(s) or converting the rai(s) at local prices, or by both means, in order to decrease burden upon rural population. Thus, instead of a single-price list which was used under Sher Shah, multiple price-lists suitable for various regions were prepared. In the same way, instead of measurement kankut or estimation was used to calculate the revenue. However, the system of kankut provided loopholes to local officials for corruption. Moreover, there were interminable delays in converting the rates of rai according to the rates in particular provinces. Therefore, in 1574-5 Akbar took a series of important measures, which involved a new attempt to work out the revenue rates. Information on yields, prices and the area cultivated was collected for each locality for a period of 10 years (1570-80). On the basis of this detailed information, the revenue rates were now fixed directly in cash for each crop. The provinces of Lahore, Multan, Ajmer, Delhi, Agra, Malwa, Allahabad, and Awadh were divided into revenue circles, each with a separate schedule of cash revenue-rates or dastur ul amals for various crops. There was henceforth to be no reference to rai(s) and their commutation into cash at current prices. This was the zabti or measurement system in its final form known as dahsala system. This system was largely in permanence. In order to implement dahsala system, zabt required classification of land on the basis of continuation of cultivation: polaj , which means the land which was annually cultivated, paranti , which means the land which was left fallow for some time, chachar , which means the land which was left fallow for 3-4 years to regain its fertility and, banjar , which means the land that was not cultivated for 5 years. To encourage the cultivation of paranti , chachar , and banjar , Akbar taxed them at lower rates. As the classical zabt system involving annual measurement was a worrisome process, it was done away with by accepting the area statistics obtained in previous measurement. Such acceptance, for the purposes of current assessment of area previously determined, was called nasaq. The dahsala system based on zabt was introduced in the region extending from Lahore to Allahabad. However, Irfan Habib states that it is improbable that the zabt covered the entire land in particular province. Even in areas where zabt was the standard system, other methods of assessment, notably bhaoli and kankut , continued to use in certain villages or for certain crops. It should also be stated that in addition to mal or kharaj , there were a number of rural taxes which compelled the rural population to ‘squeeze by’ their living which include: jihat (taxes on trade), sair-jihat (market or transit duties), furiat , and abwab (taxes imposed by zamindars ). A contradiction which appears to have remained largely unresolved in the Mughal land-revenue system was the one between desire to assess the revenue upon the individual cultivator or asami and the convenience of collecting the revenue from a few intermediaries. The individual assessment was desirable since it enabled the administration to have more accurate figure and prevent an unfair distribution of the fiscal burden. However, the basic unit of assessment was in practice the village and the intermediaries, primarily zamindars were the real assesses. In addition, the lands of zamindars were taxed nominally (10% to 25%). The differentiation between peasants and zamindars was aggravated by tax on crop and not on land, termed as ‘regressive’ tax. The collection of revenue was enforced by severe methods of punishments since non-payment of revenue was deemed equivalent to rebellion. The more usual methods of punishment were imprisonment and torture of headmen, followed by massacre of adult male population and enslavement of women and children. Conclusion Despite the attempts under Akbar’s administration to reform the revenue administration, they could not alleviate the situation of the rural population. Still, as I H Qureshi says, Mughal revenue system was the best organized branch of the Mughal state.
- Describe the process of state formation under nayakas in south india during the period of your study. Ans.- Vijaynagara rulers emerged in the mid- 18 th century. In the 15 th and 16th century during the period of vijaynagra rulers, krishnadevrai (1509- 1529) and ayshywadevaraya (1529-42), the military leaders or nayakas emerged in large numbers in administration. These nayakas were assigned territories, by the vijayanagara kings and in exchange the nayakas had to maintain an armed contingent and collect taxes on behalf of the state. Such a landed assignment known as the nayaka-tana or nayaka kattanam, become the basis for the emergence of independent political formations, which gradually accuire the status of kingdom during the vijaynagara rule. Some of the powerful polities were “iyers and oderars in the northern and southern Karnataka regions respectively. The Mughals were ruling simultaneously while the nayakas were in power in south india. The nayaka polities continued till 1730s. in 18th century, when Madurai the last of the major nayakas state declined. Historiography:- There have been significant contribution to the study of individual nayaka kingdoms of senji, ikkeri, odeyars, Madurai and tanjur. Some of the notable are those of R. sathianathaier on Madurai (1924), srinivasachari on senji (1943) etc. these works provide the bedrock on which late historiographical research is based upon. The recent work of velecheru Narayana rao, David Shulman and Sanjaya Subrahmanyam titled ‘symbols of substance’ (1992) followed by Philip B. Wagoner’s tidings of the king (1993) one useful contribution in understanding the history of the nayakas rule. “the symbols of substance” deals with the political decline of three major nayaka states of tanjavur, Madurai and senji, along with minor polities located on the peripheries of these kingdoms. This book explains the transition in nayaka period was due to the social flux caused by migirations of the several groups from the telegu region and social mobility of marginal groups present in the nayaka states to a postion of political influence. It also highlights the issue of war and contestations and the nature of nayaka kingship. ‘the tidings of the king’ a translation and ethnohistoricas of analysis of telegu text called ‘rayavachakamu’ deals with the period of krishnadevraya. Composed in the court of Madurai nayaka. Composed with the purpose of accuiring polit
History OF India 1500-1600
Course: BA (Hons.) History
University: University of Delhi
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