Medieval India: The feudal system
During the Mughal period, the jagirdari (feudal) system flourished under which Mughal rulers awarded jagir (landed property) to their nobles/officers instead of paying them regular salary. However, the jagir was neither hereditary nor permanently awarded to them. Often, these nobles and officers were transferred from one place to another and likewise in their new place of appointment a jagir was transferred to them. This usually made them more powerful and richer than the locals.
However, after the death of a noble, his landed property reverted to the Mughal state. This led to the usage of the terms ‘jagirdar’ and ‘zamindar’ being commonly used in place of ra’is or thakur.
There were some categories in jagir:
• ‘Khal’ jagir was reserved for the king. Its income was spent on the maintenance of the royal household.
• Pa’y baqi was reserved for the newly appointed mansabdars.
• Zortalab was the land where people were generally rebellious and it was difficult to get revenue from there. The village and the areas which refused to pay taxes under mughals were known as zortalab.such villages were often protected by fortresses of forest hills.
In addition, landed property was of two kinds: one from where hundred per cent revenue was received and there was another type of jagir from where hardly any revenue or income was received.
During the rule of Aurangzeb Alamgir (1618-1707), nobody wanted to be given a jagir that comprised a rebellious region and wished to have land in peaceful areas. For this they either sought recommendation of some high-ranking noble or bribed them. Those who had lower ranks got barren land as jagir because they did not have any source nor could they bribe the authorities.
The whole system seemed unjust to Akbar so he decided to abolish it. In order to do this, he declared all landed property as ‘khal’ and fixed salaries for his mansabdars. However, this reformation in the system could not succeed because those who were posted in far off areas did not get their salaries on time. Therefore, Akbar used both systems to run the government: cash payment and landed jagir in exchange of salary.
François Bernier on Jagirdari
French traveller François Bernier (1625–1688) visited India in 1665 and he wrote about the jagirdari system in detail. According to his observations, poor peasants were greatly exploited by nobles who took away almost all produce of the land and left a small amount for the survival of the peasants. In addition, the peasants were treated very badly and their needs and rights were completely ignored.
Besides this, as nobles were transferred from one place to another they showed no concern for the improvement or fertility of the land because it belonged to the state. All they were concerned about was to generate more and more revenue during their tenure. The result of all this was devastating to agriculture as a whole.
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