Peasants, Zamindars and the State | Class 12 History Notes

1. PEASANTS AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

The village was the fundamental unit of agrarian society, inhabited primarily by peasants who performed various seasonal agricultural tasks such as tilling, sowing, and harvesting. Peasants also contributed labor to agro-based industries like sugar and oil production.

Rural India was geographically diverse, including fertile plains, dry lands, hilly regions, and extensive forests. This diversity influenced agricultural practices and the nature of rural society.

Our understanding of agrarian society in this period comes mainly from Mughal court chronicles like the Ain-i Akbari by Abu'l Fazl, which recorded state arrangements for cultivation and revenue collection. These sources present a top-down perspective but are supplemented by regional records and East India Company documents that reveal conflicts and peasants' views on fairness.

Peasants were known by terms such as raiyat, muzarian, kisan, or asami. Two categories existed: khud-kashta (resident cultivators) and pahi-kashta (non-resident cultivators who cultivated lands elsewhere on contract). Peasants typically owned small holdings, often less than six acres, and land was individually owned and transferable.

Irrigation and agricultural technology were important for productivity. Monsoons were crucial, but artificial irrigation systems like Persian wheels and bucket wheels were used to water crops. Tools such as wooden ploughs with iron tips and seed drills pulled by oxen were common.

Agriculture was organized around two main cropping seasons: kharif (autumn) and rabi (spring), with some areas producing three crops annually. A wide variety of crops were grown, including staples like rice and wheat, and cash crops such as cotton and sugarcane. Several new crops like maize, tomatoes, and chillies were introduced from the New World during this period.

Population growth was steady, increasing by about 33% between 1600 and 1800, supported by agricultural expansion and irrigation projects.

📊 Diagram: Fig. 8.2 A reconstructed Persian wheel used for irrigation as described in Babur Nama; Fig. 8.3 An early nineteenth-century painting depicting a village in Punjab.

🧪 Activity: Compare irrigation devices described by Babur with those in Vijayanagara (Chapter 7) and analyze resource requirements and peasant participation.

🔗 Connection: Leads to exploration of the village community and social structures within rural society.