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- Mughal Empire- Akbar (AD 1556- 1605) attained the throne after the death of his father Humayun
- Mughal Empire- Akbar defeated Hemu in the 2nd Battle of Panipat in 1556 and established strong control over Delhi. The Mughal troops were led by Bairam khan.
- Bairam Khan worked as his regent during the initial five years of Akbar’s reign
- Abul Fazal wrote a three-volume history of his reign named Akbarnama
- Mughal Empire- Akbar died on 27 October 1605 and was buried at his tomb in Sikandra, Agra.
Policy towards Rajputs
- The Rajput policy of the Mughal Empire- Akbar was outstanding which was a twisting point in the history of Mughals
- Akbar married the princess of Rajput who was the daughter of King of Amer, Raja Bharmal
- He gave complete religious freedom to his wives and an honored place to their parents and kin in the Mughal nobility
- One after another, all Rajput states submitted to Akbar
- Rajputs assisted the Mughals for almost four offspring
- Akbar gave senior positions in the administration to Raja Bhagawan Das and Raja Man Singh
- However, the Ranas of Mewar proved more ferocious and continued to oppose the Mughal government despite various defeats
- Rana Pratap Singh fought with the Mughal troop directed by Man Singh in the Battle of Haldighati (1576). But he was severely defeated by the Mughals
- Thus, Akbar’s Rajput policy effectively ended the centuries-old hostility between the Rajputs and the Mughals
- Also, since the latter were assimilated into the administrative structure of the empire, it affected the public policies of Akbar and helped in the development of a composite culture
- Akbar’s Rajput policy was established on broad religious patience where he revoked the pilgrimage tax and later the jizya.
- Akbar’s Rajput policy proved beneficial to the Mughals as well as to the Rajputs.
Land Revenue Administration
Dahsala System
- Mughal Emperor- Akbar did some analyses in the land revenue system and Raja Todar Mal assisted Akbar in these investigations. These experiments of Akbar were called Zaboor Bandobast which was the land Revenue System.
- The Dahsala system was finalized in 1580. Under this system, a uniform system of land measurement was introduced by Todar Mal.
- Akbar changed the land measuring unit and introduced Gaz-i-ilahi.
- The revenue, under this system, was fixed on the usual earnings of land evaluated based on the past 10 years.
- The Payment of revenue was made generally in cash.
- The land was also divided into three categories: good, bad, and middling.
It was further split into four divisions mentioned below:
- Polaj land was nurtured every year
- Parauti land was nurtured once in two years
- Once in three or four years, Chachar land was Nurtured
- Once in five or more years, Banjar land was Nurtured
Nasaq and Zabti Systems
- Nasaq: This system of land revenue assessment was widely utilized in Akbar’s time. It consists of a rough calculation of the amount payable by the cultivator based on past revenue receipt of the peasants. The peasant was provided with remission in the land revenue if crops failed due to drought, floods, etc
- Zabti system: Akbar introduced a new system known as the Dahsala or Zabti system in 1580. Under The Zabti system, the average prices prevailing over the last ten year as well as the average yield of various crops were evaluated. 1/3rd of the average produce was the state share, which was however stated in cash
Mansabdari System
- The Mansabdari system which was introduced by the Mughal Empire- Akbar became the main feature of his administration
- The term ‘mansab’ means position, rank, or status, but in this context, it indicated the rank of mansabdar who held the mansab in the official hierarchy
- Under the mansabdari system, a rank was assigned to every officer. The highest rank for the nobles was 5000 and the lowest rank was 10
- Mansabdars were paid in cash or sometimes in the form of assignments of a jagir
- Mansabdars were responsible to accumulate the land revenue and all other tariffs through an authority nominated by the monarch
- The ranks of mansabdars were divided into zat and sawar categories. Zat fixed the personal stature of an individual while sawar level implied the number of cavalrymen and horses assigned to be retained by the sawar
- Every sawar had to maintain at least two horses
- The mansab rank was not hereditary which means mansab ranks could not be transferred to the relatives of mansab
- All promotions, appointments, and discharges were promptly put together by the king
Imperial Expansion
- In Mughal Empire- Akbar imperial expansion in 1561, Akbar chose Malwa, a state of economic and strategic significance commanding the path through the Vindhya Range to the plateau province of the Deccan and containing fertile farming land
- Then he targeted the Rajputana region and all Rajput rulers except Mewar accepted Akbar’s sovereignty
- In 1573, Akbar dominated Gujarat, a region with numerous ports that oversaw India’s business with western Asia, and then veered east towards Bengal
- Toward the end of Mughal Empire- Akbar rule, Akbar ventured on a fresh round of successes. He overthrew The Kashmir region in 1586, Sindh in 1591, and Kandahār (Afghanistan) in 1595
- Khandesh, part of Ahmadnagar, and Berar had been expanded to Akbar’s empire by 1601
Conclusion
The Mughals did not believe in the rule of primogeniture, where the eldest son inherited his father’s estate. Instead they followed the Mughal and Timurid custom of coparcenary inheritance, or a division of the inheritance amongst all the sons. The Rajput policy formulated by Akbar was outstanding and is considered as a point in the history of Mughals which ended the long standing hostility between them.
