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1 Component-I Component-I (A) – Personal details: Prof. P. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. Dr. Krishnendu Ray Dept. of AIHC, University of Calcutta. Dr. Swati Biswas Dept. of IHC, University of Calcutta. Prof. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. 1 Component-I (B) – Description of module: Subject Name Indian Culture Economic History of India (from the Earliest Time Paper Name to 1707 AD) Delhi Sultanate : Agrarian Taxation and the Module Name/Title currency System Module Id IC / EHI / 23 Pre requisites To know the Evolution of the tax system introduced by the Delhi Sultanate, the Objectives implementation of the new tax system, the features of the currency system of the Delhi Sultanate and the types of coins and heir value Keywords Delhi Sultanate / Tax System / Currency System E-Text (Quadrant-I): 1. Agrarian Taxation There is no reference which clearly states as to how the agricultural surplus was appropriated by the state before the Ghorian states. It is difficult to ascertain how it was exacted from the primary producers in the form of landowners claim or as taxes. The inscription gives the name of a number of taxes. The nature of it is not known though. The share of the produce is all the more difficult to ascertain. With the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate the older system was not immediately changed. The new rulers superimposed their demands on the existing system. The ruling class of the older regime paid the demand as tributes. Thus initially there are very little information as to how much was extracted from the peasantry. In the rebellious territories or mawasat such arrangements could not be made. These territories extended from the middle of Doab to Katehar in the Rohilakhand area and then to areas like Awadh and Bihar. The new rulers as informed by historian MinhajusSiraj made several attack on the rebellious regions to extract tribute. Through the plunder they could obtain cattle and slaves. One has to understand that both these products were sold in the market. This even brought down the prices of the slaves and cattle in the capital. This system did not stabilise the economy of the state. As a result of this phenomenon the nobles of Balban according to Ziauddin Barani were always in debt in the 13th century. The situation then was congenial for them to introduce regular tax based on the Islamic law with which the rulers to some extent were familiar with. In western Punjab which was under the Ghaznavid rule for two centuries Islamic taxation system prevailed. By the end of 13th century it must have been introduced in and around Delhi for sure. This process has not been recorded in history. 2 The recorded part starts from the time of AlauddinKhalji, when a large part of North India was brought under the regulation of a uniform taxation. The best information was given by Ziauddin Barani. The decree of the sultan clearly stated that the peasantry had to pay three types of taxes. First, they had to pay kharaj or kharaj i jizya which was a tax on cultivation or zirat. Second, was the charai, which was a tax of milch cattle and third was gharai or taxes on house. Kharaj had to be paid by all engaged in cultivation. There was provision of measurement or masahat and fixation of the yield per biswa or wafa i biswa. Biswa was one twentieth of modern bigha, the standard of measurement in North India. Without any exception the amount was 50% of the produce. Thus the land cultivated under each crop was measured; the yield was estimated per unit of area and then by multiplying the area by the yield the total produce was to be worked out. Half of the produce was extracted from every peasant. Later this system was called kankut. The fixed amount in kind could be converted to cash. According to Barani as per state instruction the collectors insisted for the payment immediately and the peasants had to sell their product due to this reason straightaway. Thus the payment was expected in cash. This expedited the process in many folds. The statement that confused the historians made by Barani that Alauddin Khalji only insisted on payment in kind is actually referred to the khalisa land or the land whose income went to the royal treasury. This area covered certain parts of the Doab region. Barani also confuses with the statement that the whole of Doab region was brought under the khalisa land and the income from this land that is revenue or mahsul went to the soldiers in cash. If this statement is to be believed then it shows that the revenue was collected even in cash in the khalisa land. Thus it has to be deduced that the emperor insisted that the revenue is paid in cash and in some areas in kind so that the royal granaries could keep stock for scarcity. Barani states that the extent of this tax system was wide. It stretched from Dipalpur and Lahore in the Punjab to Kara and Katehr in Uttar Pradesh and to Nagaur and Chhain in Rajasthan. The system was made rigorous and popular but surely it was not new in all the areas. It was based on the Islamic system is too obvious a claim because in all tax system the kharaj or tax on production was the basis in the medieval times. The revenue was imposed on all the cultivators and thus the headmen, khots and muqaddams, were not spared according to Barani. In the earlier times they exempted themselves from tax payment though they acquired maximum amount of land. This was difficult to do in practice because of the caste based social structure. The tax itself was very regressive and did not save the lower rung of the peasantry who had small land holdings compared to the rich. All that the state could do was to ensure their own share and prevented the rural leader from further exploitation. SirajusAfif’s statement that the process of tax collection was so ruthless that no section of the peasantry had a scope to ignore. This system of tax collection survived for long and was the base of the tax system till the 19th century. 3 Thus from this time the land tax became the principal form in which the peasant’s surplus was expropriated by the ruling class. GhiasuddinTughluq (1320-25) tried to modify the system by giving some relaxation to the khots and muqaddams. He insisted that qismat i khoti or the tax levied by them on the peasants will not be imposed but they themselves were exempted from giving any tax on their cultivation or cattle. These concessions were given to them so that they again took up the duty of collecting taxes on behalf of the state according to Ziauddin Barani. He also relieved the peasantry from giving extra cesses levied on all sown lands. Muhammad bin Tughluq (1325-51), brought the whole area of Gujarat, Malwa, Deccan, south India and Bengal under the same tax system that prevailed in Doab region. In the second phase the sultan attempted a substantial enhancement of the scale of agrarian taxation. Two chroniclers give two information. Barani said that the new additional imposts (abwab) were levied on the peasantry. Yahya says that the three major taxes were more vigorously assessed and collected. In reality what happened was the yield that was calculated or the converted price was done on an adhoc basis and not on the actual figure. The official account was thus much inflated. This resulted in uprisings in many areas of Doab and Bengal as noted by Barani. The rebellions were led by the khots and muqaddams. The rebellion, in spite of the brutal methods of suppression simmered on; and Ibn Batuta found much of the country around Kol (Aligarh) in the hands of the rural rebels. This crisis even led to the famine in Delhi and entire Doab. The rains failed and the crisis became more acute according to Barani. It is presumed from the writing of Barani that the famine began in 1334-35and continued for seven years. This calamity was blamed in its initial stage to the hike in the tax system. This led to the observation very pertinent to medieval times that is the relation between land revenue and agricultural production. This led to an observation that Muhammad bin Tughluq whose increased land revenue provoked agrarian rebellion and that again led to the disruption of agriculture and fall in the production level was responsible for systematic policy of promotion of agriculture. Thus the sultan as immediate relief to the famine extended loans called sondhar to extend cultivation and dig wells. This loan was then called taqavi in the Mughal account and was essentially pre harvest loan. In recorded history of India Muhammad bin Tughlug is the first Indian ruler to have used this device to promote cultivation on a large scale. He remained in Delhi till 1346-47 and conceived grand plan to improve cultivation and extend the area under agriculture. A department was set known as Diwan i amir i Kohi. 100 shiqdars were appointed for the plan to work. Whatever was being cultivated was changed. Thus wheat instead of barley and sugar cane instead of wheat and grapes instead of sugarcane was insisted. The people who promised to extend cultivation in the wasteland was given horses and large sum of money. These people were mostly dishonest and caused problem for the treasury. This was all penned by Barani. 4 SirajusAfif confirmed the statement of Barani and confirmed that the loan money never came back.
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