The Mughal Land Revenue System 
INTRODUCTION
The central feature of the agrarian system under the Mughals was the alienation from the peasant of his surplus produce (produce over and above the subsistence level) in the form of land revenue which was the main source of state's income. Early British administrators regarded the land revenue as rent of the soil because they had a notion that the king was the owner of the land. Subsequent studies of Mughal India have shown that it was a tax on the crop and was thus different from the land revenue as conceived by the British. Abul Fazl in his Ain-i Akbari justifies the imposition of taxes by the state saying that these are the remuneration of sovereignty, paid in return for protection and justice.
The Persian term for land revenue during the Mughal rule was mal and mal wajib. Kharaj was not in regular use.
The process of land revenue collection has two stages:
(a) Assessment (tashkhis/jama)
(b) Actual collection (hasil).
Assessment was made to fix the state demand. On the basis of this demand, actual collection was done separately for kbarif and rabi crops.
METHODS OF LAND REVENUE ASSESSMENT
Under the Mughals assessment was separately made for kharif and rabi crops. After the assessment was over a written document called patta, qaul or paul-e-qarar was issued in which the amount or the rate of the revenue demand was mentioned. The assessee was in return supposed to give qabuliyat i.e. 'the "acceptance" of the obligation imposed upon him, stating when and how he would make the payments'.
We will discuss here a few commonly used methods:
1) Ghalla Bakhshi (Crop-sharing): In some areas it was called bhaoli and batai. The
Ain-i Akbri notes three types of crop-sharing:
a) Division of crop at the threshing floor after the grain was obtained. This was done in the presence of both the parties in accordance with agreement.
b) Khet batai: The share was decided when the crop was still standing in the fields, and a division of
The central feature of the agrarian system under the Mughals was the alienation from the peasant of his surplus produce (produce over and above the subsistence level) in the form of land revenue which was the main source of state's income. Early British administrators regarded the land revenue as rent of the soil because they had a notion that the king was the owner of the land. Subsequent studies of Mughal India have shown that it was a tax on the crop and was thus different from the land revenue as conceived by the British. Abul Fazl in his Ain-i Akbari justifies the imposition of taxes by the state saying that these are the remuneration of sovereignty, paid in return for protection and justice.
The Persian term for land revenue during the Mughal rule was mal and mal wajib. Kharaj was not in regular use.
The process of land revenue collection has two stages:
(a) Assessment (tashkhis/jama)
(b) Actual collection (hasil).
Assessment was made to fix the state demand. On the basis of this demand, actual collection was done separately for kbarif and rabi crops.
METHODS OF LAND REVENUE ASSESSMENT
Under the Mughals assessment was separately made for kharif and rabi crops. After the assessment was over a written document called patta, qaul or paul-e-qarar was issued in which the amount or the rate of the revenue demand was mentioned. The assessee was in return supposed to give qabuliyat i.e. 'the "acceptance" of the obligation imposed upon him, stating when and how he would make the payments'.
We will discuss here a few commonly used methods:
1) Ghalla Bakhshi (Crop-sharing): In some areas it was called bhaoli and batai. The
Ain-i Akbri notes three types of crop-sharing:
a) Division of crop at the threshing floor after the grain was obtained. This was done in the presence of both the parties in accordance with agreement.
b) Khet batai: The share was decided when the crop was still standing in the fields, and a division of