Economic History of Kashmir During the Mughal Period {1586-1819 A.D.}
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r ECONOMIC HISTORY OF KASHMIR DURING THE MUGHAL PERIOD {1586-1819 A.D.} THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF ilB nrtnr of ~bilo50pb!' IN HISTORY BY FARZANA ASHFAQUE Under the Supervision of Dr. RUQUIA HUSSAIN CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY ALIGARH MUSLIM UN'IVERSITY ALJGARH (INDIA) 2009 , t I ~ Wxw|vtàxw gÉ `ç _Éä|Çz ctÜxÇàá (Mr. Ashfaque Ahmad & Mrs. AkhtarunAkhtarun----Nisa)Nisa) CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY lRJuJuia Hussain DEPAR IMENT Of JIISTORY Lecturer Aligarh Muslim l. 'niversity i\ligarh-:202002. IJ.P. (India) Dated: September 24,2009 This is to certify that the thesis, "Eeonomic History of Kashmir During the Mughal Period (1586-1819 A.D.)" by Ms. Farzana Ashfaque is the original research work of the candidate, and is suitable for submission to the examiners and for the award of the Ph.D. degree. ~ .. ~ w!J- )...~ \ D'1 IDq (Dr. Ruquia Hussain) Supervisor ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost I wish to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Ruquia Hussain , Centre of Advanced Study in History, for her guidance and interest in my research work. I am greatly indebted to Professor Irfan Habib (Professor Emeritus, History) for his continuous encouragement. He always provided help in the form of ideas and reference at my slightest approach. I am therefore thankful to him. I should be failing in my duty if I do not express my feelings for the encouragement and affectionate advice of Professor Shireen Moosvi. I am therefore thankful to her. My grateful acknowledgements are due to Prof. Mushtaq A. Kaw (Centre of Central Asian Studies, University of Kashmir) and Prof. Mohammed Ashraf Wani (Head, Department of History, University of Kashmir), for their assistance and co- operation during my stay at the University of Kashmir, Srinagar. I am grateful to my Sister Nadra Ashfaque for her constant care and the intelligent discussions that proved a vital support to me. I owe my thanks to my brother Mohd. Shad Alam for his pains he has been taking all along during my visit to the University of Kashmir, Srinagar, despite his heavy schedule of work. I am also grateful to him for unfailing support and co- operation that I essentially needed. It is my pleasure to thank all my friends especially Ruby, Shabeena, Arshia, Neelofer and Shaista Apa, Rupali, Fauzia, Afifa, and fellow research scholars for their cheerful company, precious advice and support that I essentially needed. ii My thanks are also due to the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR), New Delhi, for having sanctioned to me Junior Research Fellowship which made it possible to complete the thesis work. It is my pleasant duty to acknowledge the Librarian and Staff of Research Library, Centre of Advanced Study, Department of History, AMU, Aligarh, Maulana Azad Library, AMU, Aligarh, National Archives of India, New Delhi, Iqbal Library, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, for allowing me to use their collections and also for their assistance and cooperation. I would especially like to thank in this regard Mrs. Sajida Parveen and Mrs. Hajra Bano (Librarian staff of the Iqbal Library, Srinagar). I am also thankful to Mr. H.K. Sharma for typing my thesis work with diligence, care and efficiency. Last, but not the least, most exhilarating was of course, the caring, sharing, soothing and entertaining attitude of my parents, brothers Mohd. Irshad Alam (Late), Mohd. Naushad Alam, Mohd. Dilshad Alam and Mohd. Shad Alam and sisters Mrs. Seema Khalid, Mrs. Nasma Alam and Mrs. Naghma Naeem. They have supported me morally and materially during the course of my studies: feelings that can never be given the form of expression and can not be rendered in words. I owe my sincere thanks to my niece Farah, Azmeena, Samreen, Aiman, Zainab, Aisha, Mariyam, Ibrah, Armeen, Sara and nephew Faraz, Afaz, Haris, Umair, Abdullah, Zaid for their cheerful company. They are indeed very special friends. Aligarh Farzana Ashfaque CONTENTS Page Nos. Acknowledgements i - ii Abbreviations iii - iv Introduction 1 - 12 Chapter-1 AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION: 13 - 74 (a) Boundaries and Area of Kashmir 13 - 19 (b) Extent of Cultivation 20 - 38 (c) Means of Cultivation and Irrigation 39 - 47 (d) The Crops and Other Agricultural Produce 48 - 71 (e) Crop Yields 72 - 74 Chapter-2 AGRARIAN RELATIONS: 75 - 111 (a) Zamindars 75 - 94 (b) Peasant and Nature of Land Rights, Material Conditions 95 - 111 Chapter-3 NON-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION: 112 - 158 (a) Industries and Manufactures 112 - 140 (b) Craft Production and Technology 141 - 156 (c) Minerals 157 - 158 Chapter-4 URBAN CENTRES: 159 - 195 (a) Towns 159 - 170 (b) Trade and Commerce 171 - 182 (c) Urban-Rural Linkages and Linkages With 183 - 195 Outside World Chapter-5 STATE AND ECONOMY: 196 - 261 (a) Land Revenues 196 - 206 (b) Taxes and Cesses Other Than Land Revenue 207 - 211 (c) Local Administration and Economy: Land Revenue 212 - 240 Functionaries and Revenue Assignments and Grants (d) Currency / Coinage 241 - 261 Bibliography 262 - 278 iii ABBREVIATIONS AMU Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh (India) ASB Asiatic Society of Bengal Add. Additional Collection, British Museum, London Ain Ain-i-Akbari Bib. Ind. Bibliotheca Indica Bodl. Bodleian Library, Oxford CAS Centre of Advanced Study, Department of History, AMU, Aligarh Cf. Carried From Deptt. Department ed. Edited EFI W. Foster (ed.), The English Factories in India Eng. Transl. English Translation ff. Folios ICHR Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi IHC Indian History Congress IO India Office Library IESHR Indian Economic and Social History Review JASB Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal JCAS Journal of Central Asian Studies JESHO Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient JRAS Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland LPP Low Price Publication, Delhi Letters Received C.T. Danvers ed. Letters Received by the English East India Company, etc. MAL Maulana Azad Library, AMU, Aligarh iv Mis. Miscellaneous MS. Manuscript MSS Manuscripts NAI National Archives of India (New Delhi) Or. Oriental Collection, British Museum, London PIHC Proceeding of Indian History Congress pp. Pages Tuzuk Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri Introduction INTRODUCTION Historians of medieval India have long recognized the significance of regional history. Of all regions in the Mughal Empire, the valley of Kashmir was perhaps geographically the best defined. There have been modern studies of the history of Kashmir under Mughals, notably by R.K. Parmu, P.N.K. Bamzai, G.M.D. Sufi; and there has been study also of particular aspects of the Mughal administrative and taxation system, e.g. by Mushtaq A Kaw. This thesis seeks to build on their work and try to offer an integrated study of the economy of Kashmir under the Mughas and their Afghan successors from 1586 to 1819. The Mughal province of Kashmir was larger than the valley, but was certainly much smaller than the present state of Jammu and Kashmir. My work will concentrate on the areas, which were within the Mughal Suba of Kashmir, but especially concentrate on the valley. Kashmir was annexed to the Mughal Empire in 1586. Though for some time it remained a part of the province of Kabul, 1 Kashmir assumed under Jahangir the status of a full fledged province (Suba ). 2 The period of my work, roughly starts with the Mughal occupation of Kashmir in 1586 and ends with the end of Afghan rule in 1819. In the Kashmir history, the intervening period has been extra-ordinarily important. The Mughal phase, (1586-1753) was not only longer but more important for Kashmir 1 Abul Fazl , Ain-i-Akbari , 2 vols., Nawal Kishore’s edition, Lucknow, 1879-80, & Its transl. vol. I, by H. Blochmann and vol. II-III (Bound in one) by H.S. Jarrett, New Delhi, 1949, Text, vol. II, p. 169: Abul Fazl in Ain, treats Kashmir as a Sarkar of the Subah of Kabul, which was comprised of Kashmir, Pakhli, Bimber, Swat, Bajaur, Qandahar and Zabulistan. Its capital was formerly Ghaznah and later Kabul; A Sarkar is a sub-division of a Subah . Each Subah constituted several Sarkars and each Sarkar was sub-divided into parganas or Mahals, Ain , II, (transl.), pp. 95-96. 2 Prof. Irfan Habib, An Atlas of the Mughal Empire: Political And Economic Maps, Delhi, 1982, sheet 3A, p. 6. 2 because of the possible interconnections between the larger imperial resources of the Mughals and the position Kashmir occupied in the imperial economic framework. Owing to the invasions of Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali, Kashmir remained cut off from Delhi and in a very disturbed state until 1753, when Ahmad Shah Abdali annexed it to his kingdom. 3 The Afghan governors held Kashmir in their ruthless grip. Afghan rule ended in 1819, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh defeated the last Afghan governor Jabbar Khan, and annexed Kashmir to the Punjab. 4 The valley of Kashmir is a gift of the Himalayas. 5 The Jehlum or Behet 6 and its tributaries in the valley, Kishan Ganga in Pakhli, the Shayok and the Indus and their tributaries in Ladakh and Baltistan, Chinab, Tohi, Chandarbhaga and a network of streams and rivulets flowed through Kashmir .7 These multiple resources of water were very essential for agriculture. Agriculture was the mainstay of the economy of Kashmir. Kashmir being an agricultural region, the bulk of its population lived in villages and was taken to agriculture. The study of economic history of Kashmir during the Mughal period is important in the sense that the attempt is to take into account the aspects of the 3 Majmuat-Tawarikh, Farsiya Akhbar, MSS. No. 148, Manuscript Section, MAL, AMU, Aligarh, 1835-36A.D., pp. 367-68. 4 Ibid, pp. 421-26. 5 According to Ain, It is encompassed on all sides by the Himalayan ranges: Ain-i-Akbari , vol.