Forests Tribes, Zamindar and Land Revenue system

Beyond settled Villages:

• Vast swathes of dense forest (jangal) or scrubland (kharbandi) existed all over eastern, central, and northern India and down the Western Ghats and the Deccan plateau in peninsular India
• In contemporary writings, forest inhabitants were referred to as jangli
• However, it did not denote a lack of civilization; instead, it referred to people who made a living by harvesting forest produce, hunting, and shifting cultivation
• This, for example, used the spring to harvest forest produce, the summer to fish, the monsoon months to cultivate, and the autumn and winter to hunt
• The forest served as a haven (mals) for troublemakers for the state. External influences wreaked havoc on the woods in a variety of ways
• Because the state needed elephants for the army, forest people’s peshkash often included elephants
• The Emperor’s Hunt allowed him to travel across his empire’s vast regions and personally attend to the problems of its people
• Honey, beeswax, and gum lac, among other forest products, were in high demand. Some of them were in tall order in the seventeenth century on the export market
• Forest dwellers’ lifestyles were also affected by social influences
• Some tribal chiefs rose the ranks to become zamindars and even monarchs
• They enlisted the help of members of their own families to serve in the military
• Paiks, who provided military service in exchange for land, were employed by the Ahom monarchs of Assam
• Tribal kingdoms in the northeast are also mentioned in Ain-i-Akbari

The Zamindars:

• Zamindars were landed proprietors who enjoyed social and economic privileges due to their status in rural society
• Caste was one factor that accounted for the elevated status of zamindars; another factor was that they performed certain services (khidmat) for the state
• The zamindars held extensive personal lands (milkiyat)
• Milkiyat lands were cultivated for the private use of zamindars with the help of hired labor 
• The zamindars could sell, bequeath or mortgage these lands at will
• Zamindars were frequently able to collect revenue on behalf of the state, for which they were paid
• Another source of power was the command of military resources. Most zamindars had fortifications (kulchas) and an armed cavalry contingent, artillery, and infantry
• Clan or lineage-based zamindaris were also able to consolidate due to several circumstances. These techniques were used by the Rajputs and Jats, for example, to solidify their grip over territory in northern India
• In central and southwestern Bengal, peasant-pastoralists (such as the Sadgops) carved out powerful zamindars
• Zamindars were instrumental in the colonization of agricultural land and assisted in cultivating cultivators by supplying them with farm equipment and monetary loans
• They frequently constructed has (marketplaces) where peasants could sell their goods
• Despite their exploitative nature, the zamindars had a reciprocal, paternalistic, and condescending relationship with the peasants

Land Revenue System:

• Land revenue was the Mughal Empire’s principal source of income
• As a result, the government established an administrative structure to fix and collect the income
• The diwan’s office (Daftar), which was in charge of overseeing the fiscal system, was part of this machinery
• As a result, revenue officials and record keepers infiltrated the agricultural sector and became a significant player in agrarian relations
• Land revenue arrangements were divided into two stages: assessment and collection
• The amount assessed was Jama, and the amount collected was Hasil
• Cultivators were required to pay in cash by the Amil-guzar or revenue collector, but payment in kind was also an option
• While the state strove to maximize its rights, local circumstances occasionally hampered it
• In each province, both cultivated and cultivable fields were measured. During Akbar’s reign, the Ain produced a list of such lands

Conclusion

From ancient times, land taxation was an important source of money for kings and emperors. However, the land ownership structure has changed throughout the years. During Kingship, the land was divided into Jagirs, which were allotted to Jagirdars, who then divided the territory and assigned it to subordinate Zamindars. Zamindars forced peasants to cultivate the land in exchange for a portion of their earnings as tax.