Zabt and Zamindars

Introduction

The Mughal Dynasty, which ruled India for over two centuries, was one of the most significant. The Mughals created a reliable system for tax collecting. The earnings from the sale of land were the main source of income. Akbar categorized territories and established prices for each category. To oversee the empire’s financial system, the office of the diwan was established. Several institutions, such as the Jagirdari system, the Mansabdari system, and the Zamindari system, were developed during the Mughal dynasty.

Zabt

• Akbar established a strategy of evaluating every agricultural plot through ongoing surveys to ascertain the typical production from every type of land.
• These evaluations concentrated on factors including flood and drought conditions, during these natural disasters, peasants received relief.
• The Zabt or Zabti system was a method of revenue collection based on such assessments. The dahsala system was further derived from the Zabti system.
• Todar Mal, Akbar’s revenue minister, supervised this land revenue system.
• Between the years 1570 and 1580, Todar Mal carried out a survey of the land, crop yields, and product prices.
• On the basis of his assessment, he set a tax amount on each crop.
• Cash was the favored form of payment in the zabti system.

Who were Zamindars?

• During the Mughal era, a class of people known as zamindars possessed special privileges in the countryside.
• Although they were dependent on agriculture, they did not work in it.
• Zamindars were members of the rural nobility who might be local chieftains or heads of villages. They were large landowners, and their property was known as milkiyats.
• These lands were entirely under their authority and they had hereditary rights for these places.
• The majority of zamindars belonged to the higher caste, including Rajputs and Brahmans.

Role of Zamindars

• The zamindars enjoyed their property rights in the countryside and were free to continue their ancient customs.
• The most important role of the Zamindars was to collect taxes on behalf of the state and they were compensated for their services provided.
• They often fought with the peasants for the collection of taxes and they resolve this using their military strength.

Consolidation of zamindari

• Zamindari’s stabilization took a long time. To purchase zamindari, people from lower castes had to go through a number of procedures.
• The Zamindari was auctioned by the state during the Mughal era, and it was a long and tedious procedure.
• Jats and Rajputs increased their dominance in northern India by colonizing fresh agricultural land and purchasing it from the government.
• These Zamindars established themselves, transported peasants to these new arable lands, and assisted them in farming by providing loans and other resources.
• They kept making more money through this approach, which eventually increased their authority.
• Numerous settlements were created as a result of the emergence of new Zamindars and cultivable land. The milkiyat’s goods were enjoyed by the zamindars, who also had the legal right to sell them.
• During this time, haats—marketplaces where zamindars and people flocked to buy and sell produce—became more prevalent in villages.
• Although the Zamindars’ activities are commonly regarded as exploitative, there is little evidence of this in the historical archives.

Summary

The complicated bureaucracy was created as a result of the merger of large empires. Numerous institutions, like Mansabdar, Jagridar, and Zamindars, were part of the Mughal Empire. Land revenue and taxes are the kingdom’s primary sources of income. During Akbar’s reign, the revenue of a specific land was based on the assessment and evaluation of that land, and depending on this assessment different tax amounts were taken from particular lands. This income assessment method was known as Zabt. The milkiyat, is the land that belonged to the rural elites known as the zamindars. The state employs zamindars to collect taxes on behalf of the state, while they enjoy the produces that are grown on their respective lands.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the batai system?
Ans: The batai system was a different method of collecting money. It was the earliest method of getting money from the peasants. In batai, the peasants were required to contribute the kingdom a specific portion of their harvest. The Zabti and batai systems were up for selection by the peasantry.

2. Explain the Dahsala system for tax collection.
Ans: Dahsala was a development of Zabt policy. Todar Mal, Akbar’s minister of revenue, came up with it. This strategy determined the total yield of any land over a period of ten years and then applied the average as a tax.

3. What distinguishes Zabt and Batai from one another?
Ans: Zabt, or land revenue, was paid in cash, but Batai, or revenue, was paid in agricultural output.