Medieval Administrative Systems: Iqta, Mansab, Jagir and Revenue — Part 5: Mughal Revenue System

5. Mughal Revenue System

5.1 Todar Mal's Bandobast (Ain-i-Dahsala)

The Persian term for Mughal land revenue was mal or mal wajib (not kharaj). Revenue collection had two stages: (a) assessment (tashkhis/jama) and (b) actual collection (hasil). After assessment, a document — patta, qaul, or qaul-qarar — was issued; the assessee gave a qabuliyat (written acceptance).

The landmark reform was Ain-i-Dahsala (the Ten-Year Settlement, 1580) by Raja Todar Mal under Akbar. It grew out of the karori experiment (1574–75), when karoris were appointed across North India and all jagir land was temporarily converted to khalisa to gather accurate local data. The Ain-i-Dahsala:

• Calculated the average produce of different crops over ten years (R.Y. 15–24 of Akbar).
• Calculated average prices over the same period.
• Set the state's minimum share at one-third of average produce.
• Used bamboo rods with iron rings (tanab) for land measurement, replacing unreliable hempen ropes.
• Divided regions into dastur circles and fixed cash rates (dastur-ul amal) for each crop in each circle.
• Mandated all collection in cash (under the zabti system).

5.2 Methods of Revenue Assessment

1. Ghalla Bakhshi (crop-sharing/batai): The state and peasant divided the actual harvest — at the threshing floor (threshing-floor batai), in standing fields (khet batai), or when cut and stacked (lang batai). Risks were shared equally, but expensive for the state (required large numbers of watchmen).

2. Kankut/Danabandi: Grain yield estimated by visual inspection after field measurement. Per-bigha productivity for good, middling, and bad land was appraised, and revenue fixed accordingly.

3. Zabti: The most important system. Origin traced to Sher Shah, who established a rai (per-bigha yield) for polaj (continuously cultivated) and parauti (rarely fallow) land, set at one-third of the average of three grades. Akbar adopted Sher Shah's rai and codified it in the Ain-i-Dahsala. Main provinces covered: Delhi, Allahabad, Awadh, Agra, Lahore, Multan. Merits: measurable, reduced official discretion, reduced uncertainty. Limitations: inapplicable to non-uniform soils; peasant bore full risk in bad years; fraud in recording measurement was common.

4. Nasaq: Not independent; subordinate to other methods. Used previous figures with modifications, dispensing with annual measurement. In North India: nasaqi zabti; in Kashmir: nasaqi ghalla bakhshi.

5. Ijara (Revenue Farming): Mughals officially disapproved but practised widely, especially in jagir lands where jagirdars farmed out their assignments to the highest bidder. It became the predominant form of assessment by the 18th century.

5.3 Relief Measures

In bad harvests, areas designated nabud (unsown/damaged) were excluded from assessment. Taqavi (strength-giving) loans — interest-free, repayable at harvest — were advanced through chaudhris and muqaddams to enable peasants to buy seeds and cattle. New wells were dug and old ones repaired. Aurangzeb issued a hasb-ul hukm (1674–75) forbidding officials from recovering arrears from peasants responsible for others' defaults.

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