Village Life in Mughal Times

Village Life in Mughal Times

In the times of the Mughals, India was considered
to be one of the more prosperous countries in the
world. Mughals, Rajputs and Afghans battled each
other just to lay claim over this prosperity. The
wealth enabled jagirdars, zamindars and
raja-maharajahs to lead lives of comfort and luxury,
and enabled Mughal emperors to erect fabulous
monuments such as the Red Fort and the Taj
Mahal. With an eye on this prosperity, traders
also came from Europe to India.
However, the wealth of India did not simply fall
out of the sky. The secret of the power of the
Mughal empire and the wealth of the Mughal
amirs lay in the fields - in the hard labour of the
peasants. Mughal emperors and amirs partook of
the yield of the peasants in the form of land tax.

Villages

Below is a scene from a village in the Mughal

period. It was painted during the time of Akbar.

The villages had rich as well

as poor people. This picture of

a common peasant’s house was

painted by an artist named

Bichitra. What materials have

been used to make this house?

Most peasants lived in huts of

wattle and daub (woven reeds

or bamboo plastered with

mud). Driven from their

homes by war, famine, drought

and oppression, the peasants

would often have to quickly

leave their houses and set up

shelter in new places.

Cloth and Clothing

If you look carefully at the picture on the top of the previous page you

will spot a charkha (spinning wheel) hanging from the wall.

In those days, the spinning wheel had begun to be used in each

house. We mentioned before that the charkha came to India with

the Turkish people. By the time of Akbar and Jahangir, people

had widely adopted its use. Women would spin cotton into thread

and the village weaver would weave it into cloth. Until this time,

the people of India wore less cloth. But, after the coming of the

spinning wheel greater quantities of cloth came to be worn.

An artist named

Miskin has made

pictures like these of

village people.

They can be seen

wearing many

different kinds

of clothes.

Milkmen,

peasants, jogis,

children, women and many

other kinds of people can be seen. Can you find someone with

a spinning wheel? Can you distinguish between those who were

very poor and those not so poor? Look carefully at the picture

to spot them.

Agriculture

As is the case today, in Mughal times too the biggest

problem in farming was that of irrigation. In those

days, people had to make do with tanks, canals and

wells. There were no motor pumps or electricity, as

we have today. Therefore, much less land could be

irrigated. Most of the land was unirrigated. Thus

only the monsoon crop (kharif ) could be grown in

many places.

The Story of a Village
(Village Kararia, Suba Agra)

Tax to be paid in cash, not in grain
In the suba of Agra lay the village of Kararia.
As villages went it was quite small - with about
80 peasant families. There were also 5 families
of craftsmen, who made things of wood, iron
and leather. Some craftsmen made clay pots
and some wove cloth. Most of the peasants
were Jats by caste, but there were also some
Gujar peasants.

It was around the year 1580. The kharif crop
stood swaying in the breeze -- bajra, jowar,
moong, moth, til and kodon. One day, a group
of horsemen came to the village from the
nearby town of Bayana. On entering, they went
straight to the house of the zamindar, Suraj Dev
Jat. In a few moments the news had spread in
the whole village that these men had come to
measure the peasant’s fields to assess how
much tax they would have to pay.
The patel (headman) of the village and the
patwari (accountant) were summoned to the
house of the zamindar. They were the wealthier
and more important peasants of the village who
helped in collecting the taxes from the people.
In the evening the panchayat was called and
all the people of the village collected at the
chaupal (square). The officer who had come
from Bayana to fix the tax was called Puranmal.
He said, “We have come here under orders from
Muzaffar Khan and Raja Todarmal, the
ministers of Emperor Akbar. The emperor has
changed the system of assessing and collecting
tax for the whole empire. This year you will
pay the land-tax not in grain, but in money.”
Immediately, a whisper started up among the
people. After some time a peasant stood up to
say, “But till now we have been paying landtax
only in grain.” Puranmal said, “You can now
sell your crop in Bayana and pay land-tax from
that cash.”