SUBA OF DELHI UNDER THE MUGHALS 1580-1719 ABSTRACT THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE Ph. D. DEGREE By ABHA SINGH SUPERVISOR : PROFESSOR IRFAN HABIB CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY IN HISTORY ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY 1988 ., ^N^ A2AD _ ABSTRACT ,^^r ^^^ ^^ ^ • % The thesis alms at studying varfoui?^ €!^9nondc; jiolitical and administrative aspects of the Mughal province of Delhi from 1580 to I7l9. Introduction gives the sources on which the thesis is based. All kinds of material, notably Persian historical works and records of ell kinds; Raj asthan! documents and accounts of European travellers have been used. The stud/ begins by establishing the limits of the euba, as well as of its divisions/ and the changes made in them from time to time, ^he physical geography of the area is then studied, with special reference to rainfall lines Cisohyets). An element of human geography alters by correlat­ ing Mughal administrative boundaries with the linguistic boundaries (after Griereon). An actual correspondence between administrative and linguistic boundaries has not however been established. (Chapter I). Chapter II deals with the pattern of Agricultural production in the suba. It has been found that the extent of cultivation increased greatly between the reigns of Akbar and Aurangzeb. Price variations are also been discussed. The price-data suggests that there wasaxise in the value of wheat between 1595 and 1715. - 2 - Data on mineral productions and manufactures (&3De brought together in Chapter III. This is followed by an analysis of the Land-revenue system in the guba. A comparison of dastur-rates, with Sher shah's rai* and modern yields has been attempted. Though the final dasturs do not seem to have been simple averages of the rates for the years 15-24 as suggested by Moreland, they obviously belong to the same range. A comparison of Sher Shah's rai' with the final dasturs suggests that Akbar was not using Sher Shah's rai* as the standard rate, and was thus taking a higher proportion of crops than justified by Sher Shah's rail Examination of the 1ama*dami figures should enable one to trace the changes in the gross estimated revenue assessments of province over the period. A number of j ama'dami statistics have been collected and analysed. An attempt is made to describe pattern of urban-taxation. The structure of revenue administration is delineated by describ­ ing the functions of the various revenue officials. In Chapter-5 an account is offered of the position of the revenue-grantees, their caste-composition and rights enjoyed by them. The study suggests that the grantees prefer their grants near urban areas. In addition, Muslim - 3 - grantees seem to have showed some preference In the areas where the zamindars were Muslims. Chapter - 6 deals with the position of the zarolndar- class and their caste-composition. zamindars of the distant and outlying parganas and sarkars seem to have possessed a larger share in the surplus. Between 1500 and 1900 the position of the Rajputs and the Jats seems to have greatly improved while Saiyyids, Afghans, Thathars and Ahirs have been on the losing side. The main other gainers have been Banias, Mahajans and Kayasths. The thesis then passes on to the jaqir and the kheliga adminj.stration.j«iaterial has been collected on the treatment of peasants by 1 aqirdar' s agents (Chapter 7) . Chapter 8 describes the general administration of the suba. First, the Governors, their powers, tenure and clan-composition etc. Brief biographical notices of the Governors are given to illustrate what manner of men held the post and for how long. Akbar showed preference for the Turanis, Jahangir for Indian Muslims and Shahjahan and Aurangzeb for Iranis in their appointments. Next, the Chapter deals with the powers and jurisdiction of the fauidars. A list of the fau1dars of various sarkars/Chaklas - 4 - has been compiled. A number o£ other officials« such as qagls , castellans, kotwals appear in our records, and their postion and functions are described. Chapter 9 dials with conanerce-important trade routes and the pattern of trade of the suba. The volume of commerce in the province could be reflected in the volume of money issued from its mints. The fluctuations in the coin output have been studied here on the basis of the catalogues of major Mughal coin collections. As expected the output expands greatly after the building of shahjahanabad by 1664 Delhi surpassed Agra and Lahore in coin-output. The next Chapter deals with the construction of the city of Shahjahanabad. A study of various classes living in Delhi attempted. It is vgued that Delhi was not a mere •camp-city*; there lived a sizable,permanent merchant class as well. Chapter 11 deals with the analysis of the Mughal relations with the Himalayan terr itories - Kumaun, srinagar and Sirmur. While the Kumaun and Sirraur rajas maintained cordial relations with the Mughals, Raja of Srinagar often resorted to d«fiance of Mughal authority. - 5 - The last Chapter deals with two main uprisings which occurred in parts of the province - those of the Satnands and the Sikhs, An effort has been made to high­ light their agrarian character. SUBA OF DELHI UNDER THE MUGHAUS 1580-1719 THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE Ph. D. DEGREE By ABHA SINGH SUPERVISOR : PROFESSOR IRFAN HABIB CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY IN HISTORY ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY 1988 tiJESlS SECTtOI* <s^ T3675 CONTENTS Page ACKNOVCiEDGEMENT i - ii INTRODUCTION iii - ^ CHAPTERS 1. THE GEOGRAPHY OP THE gUBA 1 2. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION 12 3. MINES, MINERALS AND MANUFACTURES 72 4. LAND REVENUE 81 5. REVENUE GRANTS 125 6. THE 2AMINDARS 141 7. JAGIR AND KHALIgA ADMINISTRATION 167 8. ADMINISTRATION OF THE SUBA 8 a. GOVERNORS 177 8 b. OTHER OFFICERS 206 9. TRADE AND COMMERCE 244 10. CITY OF SHAHJAHANABAD 270 11. HIMALAYAN TERRITORIES OF THE gUBA 293 12. REBELLIONS 321 ABBREVIATIONS 356 BIBLIOGRAPHY 360 LIST OF MAPS NOS. BETWEEN PAGES 1*1 Suba Delhi 1595-96 2-3 Administrative Divisions 1:2 suba Delhi 1707 3-4 Administrative Divisions 1*3 suba Delhi-Dialects (After Grlerson) 7 - 8 1:4 Suba Delhi - Annual Rainfall 9 -10 2:1 shekhu-ni of Akbar 26 -27 2:2 Shah Nahr of Shahjahan 35- *36 2» 3 Dastur Rates ; Wheat 54 -55 2»4 Dastur Rates : Barley 2*5 Dastur Rates j Gram 2:6 Dastur Rates : Rice 2» 7 Dastur Rates : Jowar 2*8 Dastur Rates : Bajra 6:1 Zaitdndar's Income (Estimated) 144 -145 As % of Jamaf 1595-96 ACKNOWLEDOEMEKT X must express my de^ sense of gratitude to my Superviscsr Professor Irian Habib who has given me all kinds of guidance and assistance* X ov;e much to Dr. Shlreen Moosvl who at every stage not only gave me her full guidance ai«J co-operation but was also kind to allow me to use data collected by her. I am grateful to Mr, Faiz Habib and his senior colleague Mr. Zahoor All Khan, Cartographer, who have drawn all of my maps, I am thankful to Professor S.P, Gupta who kindly helped me wltb the decipherment of the Rajasthanl documents. He also frequently helped me in the identification of Rajasthanl documents. The National Archives and Archaeological Suirvey of India very kindly gave me pemdsslon to work there. I am very thankful t© Or, Shailesh Zaldi and Dr. Shandily* for their kind assistance in the translation of the Satnajoi scripture, I am also grateful to Professor Zil-ur Rahman, Department of Ilm»ul Advia, Tibbiya College who very kindly provided me to use books in his personal collections. - ii - Among ray teachers. Professor M, Athar All, Professor A«J, Qalser* Professor Iqtldar Alam Khan, Dr. R.K, Trlvedi and Dr. S.P, Verma gave me help and guldence. I am also thankful to the Members of the staff of of the Research Library, Department of History specially Mr. Jalal Abbas, M. Yusuf Slddlgul and Mr* Arshed All. Wie meitbers of the staff of the Maulana Azad Library also _aave me kind assistance throughout. I owe to my Persian teacher Mr. Habibullah from whom I have learnt Persian. I am also grateful to all my fellow research scholars who helped and encouraged me specially Messrs Afzal Khan, Jawed Akhtar and All Nadeem Rlzvi. X should like to express my sense of gratitude to Dr. Rajendra Dixit, Head of the D^artment of Languages and Mr. G.N. vyas. Chief Librarian, RCE, Bhopal for their co- cperation and assistance. X an thankful to Mr. Suhall Ahmad and Mr. Zahoor Ahmad Khan for typing the theili. * INTRODUCTION In this thesis I have tried to assemble information on the various political, social, economic and administrative aspects of the ^uba of Delhi from the time of its formation (1580) to the accession of Muhammad Shah (l7l9)t Uptill no attempt has been made to study the ^uba of Delhi as a separate region, though Delhi and its monuments have received consider­ able notice from writers, such as panshawe, Carr Stephen, Frykenberg and Narayani Gupta« Other scholars have written on matters which are relevant to the history of the suba. These include works of reference like Elliot's Menoirs, Crooke's survey of Tribes and Castes of North-Western Provinces, Grierson's Linguistic Survey of India and Irfan Habib's Atlas of the Muqhml Empire. Other works bear upon the economy and administration of the Mughal Empire, like P. saran's Provincial Government Under the Muqhals, Irfan Habib's Agrarian System of Mughal India and Dr. Shireen Moosvi's Economy of the Mughal Empire, c. 1595» Needless to say, I have tried fully to avail of these works. But my basic evidence comes from the sources themselves.