History Class 12:Agrarian Society and Agriculture during the 16th and 17th centuries

Approximately 85 percent of India’s population lived in villages during the 16th and 17th centuries. Peasants and landowners were both active in agricultural production and claimed a piece of the harvest. This resulted in cooperative, competitive, and conflicting relationships amongst them.

Peasants and Agricultural Production:

• The hamlet, populated by peasants, was the primary unit of agricultural societ.
• Rural India, on the other hand, was not defined solely by settled peasant output
• Dryland and hilly areas, for example, could not be farmed in the same way that more fertile ground could

Looking for Sources

• The Mughal court was a major source for agrarian history in the 16th and early 17th centuries
• The Ain-i Akbari (Ain), written by Abu’l Fazl, was one of the most important histories
• This literature documented the state’s systems for ensuring cultivation, revenue collection, and regulating the state’s connection with the zamindars
  • Ain portrayed a vision of Akbar’s empire in which a powerful governing class ensured social order. Any attempt to overthrow the Mughal Empire was certain to fail
  • In Ain, the peasants are viewed from a high vantage point
• Aside from the Mughals, through revenue records from Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat offer insight into the agrarian culture
• The East India Company’s records contain detailed accounts of agrarian relations in eastern India
• Conflicts between the state, zamindars, and peasants are documented in all of these sources

Peasants and their lands:

• In Indo-Persian texts during the Mughal Empire, the term raiyat (plural, riaya) or muzarian was most commonly used to refer to a peasant
• There are other terms like kisan and asami
• According to the sources, there are two types of peasants: pahi-kashta and khud-kashta.
  • The latter lived in the village where their lands were located
  • Cultivators who did not own property and operated on a contract basis made up the former group
  • People became pahi-kashta via choice or compulsion, for example, when the terms of revenue in neighbouring communities became more favourable, or due to economic hardships during a famine
• The ordinary peasant in North India had little more than two bullocks and two ploughs, and the majority had much less.
  • Affluent peasants in Gujarat were those who owned roughly six acres of land
  • An average peasant farm in Bengal had a maximum size of five acres
• Lands owned by peasants were purchased and sold in the same manner as that of lands owned by other owners.

Irrigation and technology

• The steady expansion of agriculture was attributed to three factors: available labour, abundant land, and peasant movement
• Rice, wheat, and millets were the most frequent crops in places with 40 inches or more of annual rainfall
• Although the monsoon remained the lifeblood of Indian agriculture, some crops required supplemental water
• Irrigation projects got state funding as well; for example, during Shah Jahan’s reign, states in northern India dug new canals (nahr, nala) and restored old ones, such as the shahnahr in Punjab
• Peasants frequently used inventions that harnessed the energy of livestock
• The wooden plough was lightweight and simple to assemble
• Seeds were planted with the help of a drill pulled by two enormous oxen
• A slender iron blade with a short grip made of wood was used to hoe and weed at the same time

Abundance of Crops

• The kharif (autumn) and rabi (spring) seasons were used to organise agriculture
• Most locations produced at least two crops per year (do-fasla), with some producing three crops where irrigation or rainfall ensured a constant supply of water
• According to the Ain, during the course of two seasons, the Mughal territories of Agra produced 39 varieties of crops, Delhi 43, and Bengal 50 varieties of rice
• In Medieval India, agriculture was more than just a means of livelihood
  • Peasants were encouraged to plant Jins-i kamil (ideal crops), such as cotton and sugarcane because they brought in more money for the Mughal empire
  • Oilseeds (mustard) and lentils were also important cash crops
  • Several new crops have arrived in the Indian Subcontinent from all around the world
• • Through Africa and Spain, maize (makka) was brought into India
  • Fruits and vegetables from the New World were brought in, including pineapple and papaya, as well as tomatoes, potatoes, and chillies

Conclusion

During the 16th and 17th centuries, villages housed roughly 85 percent of the Indian population. Agriculture was the people’s major source of income. Agricultural production was carried by peasants and landowners. Agriculture, peasants’ and landowners’ shared activity, generated a relationship of cooperation, rivalry, and conflict between them. Agriculture was the Mughal Empire’s principal source of income. That is why tax collectors, accessors, and record-keepers have long attempted to exert control over rural culture. The village was the primary unit of agrarian society. It was largely inhabited by peasants.