ubal) of Itoabli Mnber ^Jje iHuglials; (1582-1724) ABSTRACT THESIS SUBMITTED FOR DEGREE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY Mohammad Taiyab UNDER THE SUPEVISION OF Prof. Zahiruddin Malik T2^^44 CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY, ALIGARH January, 1980 ABSTRACT The Mughal sub ah of Awadh occupied a prominent place in the history of the Mughal Entire. Since times immemorial the name of Awadh has been associated with social) religious and cultural traditions of India* A number of works have been written on ancient and modem Awadh. The kingdom of Awadh (1724-1866) has attracted attention of the historians in the modem period. But no work on the history of the subah durjng the seventeeith century has so far been atteicpted. This thesis is an humble attempt to fill the gap. It seeks to^ study the political, administrative, economic, social and cultural history of the Maghal subah of Awadh. Chapter I discusses the formation of ttie subah of Awadh under Akbar with a background of the political history durjng •^^* Sultanate and the Mughal periods, the geographical features jjibluencing the course of its history, the breakup of the zamlndari clans, the social and political role in the history of the region, description of the Uzbek Revolt of 1666-67, the subsequent era of peace and stability, 1605-1707, the period of isolaticn mi decline, 1707-1724. In fact this chapter traces the political history of the region down to 1724 together with the process of the formation aid delinaticn of the subah aid the changes In the inclusion or otherwise of certain nareanas with its area. Chapter II dials with the organisaticw and working of the Mughal administrative institutions in Awadh, its adaptation to and evolution in the subah and its peculiar problems and shape, the position of the subabdars of Awadh vis-a-vis the Central authorities md the local administration is particularly' highlighted. The powers and functions of other provincial departmeits and officials and their specific role in the context of the developments in the subah have been emphasised. Incident­ ally the character of the Mughal State as reflected by the operation of the Mughal administrative machinery in Awadh is further examined. The question as to why the subahdar of Awadh was given charge of the faujdari of Gorakhpur and later on the assignmeit of the jagirdari of the sarkar is examined. The judicial and intelligence services in the subah are further described. Chapter III deals with/griculture and its manifold A problems. It discusses the nature, scope, extension end limita­ tion of the operation of agriculture, the crop pattern, the average agricultural efficiency of the suajbh, supported by a few tables providing quantification and the regional break up of agricultural activity etc. Chapter IV deals with the land revenue, its magnitude, method of assessment, the iamadami figures and the extent of extensicn of the zabt system to Awadh. It is supported by tables. Chapter V is very Importmt to its scope and operation. It deals with the distribution, of the land revenue md related social groups. It discusses the problems and the peculiar pattern of the khalisa. la£lr, the ffiadad-.i ma'ash and the gamlndarj., lands. ^0 Ja^ir transfers, nature and scope of zamlndari system, a detail^iscussion of the madad»i ma* ash land grants and the k questims of conferment, authetitification, succession, adjudica­ tion and the acquisition of zamindari rights by mada,d-i ma* ash land grantees figure promineaatly in this chapter. The social status of the grantees and their role in the social, economic and administrative set-up have also been touched upon. Chatper VI a detail discussion of todustry, trade and commerce to the subah of Awadh and the importance of Suropem factories to carrytog on to tern al and foreign trade of Awadh is giv^. the view expressed by some modem writers to the effect that Awadh durtog the Mughal period had little commercisJ activity negated snd the volume and pattern of the trade to aid with the subah is elaborated upon. Chapter VII is another importent chapter which seeks to study to religious life and movements of Awadh during the period uiider review. The history, ideology and theosophy of the nQTstlc orders, particularly the Chishti and the Qadiri orders is given to this chapter to necessary details. ^ Chapter VIIL-i»-4«vt5tBd to a description of the growth of religious literature and learning and the system of education in Awadh. The contribution by the scholars from Awadh to the development of the sciences of Tafsir, Hadith. Floh end Arabic and Persisn literature is elaborated and stressed and the system of education and the great educational and intellectual activities and zealous efforts made by the scholars and students supported by state munificence and public and private endowments is discribed in detail. The significant development In the field of education in Awadh which took the form of the Madras a of Farangi Mahal and the system of Instruction aid curriculum loiown as the Dars-i Nizami are studied and critically assessed in this chapter. Ihe customary chapter of conclusion has been dispensed with as the Introduction Contains a lengthy description of not only the feasibility and in^jortance of the subject but the gist of all the important points of study and conclusions falling within the scope of the chapters of the thesis. The source material for the study of the thesis consists of not only the chronicles, the daily records of the Imperial Court (Akhbarat"! Darbar-1 Mualla), administrative mmuals aid documents, the works en sufism and theological tracts, tazkirahs etc but a number of hitherto unknown documents and archival material end the like. Of special importance are the documeits like the Jais Documents, Farangi Mahal Documents, Khairabad b Documents, Bllgram Documents, Allahabaji Documents, U.P, State Archive Lucknow Documents etc. which have been utilised 1^ me In the preparation of this thesis. •ubal) of ^inaiil) ®nber %\)t Jiugljalsi (1582-1724) THESIS SUBMITTED FOR DEGREE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY Mohammad Taiyab UNDER THE SUPEVISION OF Prof. Zahiruddin Malik CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY, ALIGARH January, 1980 \, V 2^ m^^i CHECKED 1996-97 C 0 ITBILT S Page No. Aclaiovledgeinen t. Sitroductim. CHAPTER - 11 FCmVlATION OF THE SUBAH OF AWADH. ?i^ CHAPTER .III ADMItflSTRATIYE STHJCTDRB. ^M CHAPTER -nil AGRICULTURE. 1A% > 167 CHAPTER - IV 8 THE LMD BBVa^UB. • • CHAPTER - V t DlSTRISJTlQJf OF THE LjgfD REVENUE AND RELATED sbctAL GROUPS. t?^ CHAPTER -VI 8 INDUSTRY. TRADE AND COMMERCE. ^.?'^ CHAPTER - VIIi SOCIETY AND CULTURE. i^i MAP 319 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT It is my pleasant duty to gratefully acknowledg.eooa* the kindness and sympath;$y v/hich Professor K.A, Nizami Saheb, my esteemed teacher and Head of History Department, always showed to me during thfd- period of my studies in the University In spite of his preoccupations he could spare time to guide me and solve difficulties by providing with all necessary facili­ ties for the successful completion of my research project. He has had ever been an uenfailing source of inspiration and encouragement which sustained me in moments of depression and despondency. Next, I feel deeply beholden to ray Supervisor Professor 25ahiruddin Malik for the kindness he has shown to me in guiding, supervising and correcting my draft of the chapters of this thesis. His valuable guidance and support has been a source of inspiration to me since February, 1979 when I was placed under his supervision. I also thank my former supervisors in succession Mr. Arshad Ali Azmi and Professor M. Athar Ali, on whose foreign visits successively I had seen frequent changes in supervision. I had submitted ray dissertation under the able guidance of Dr. M. Athar Ali. I am also grateful to Professor Irfan Habib for allowing me the use of the map of the Mughal Subah of Awadh prepared by him. It is with his kind permission that a AmTn.ovuA. print copy of it is incorporated in this thesis. I find no words to express the debt of gi^atitude ^ I owe to Captain Iftikhar Ahmad Khan for his so many acts of kindness to me. I must affectionately thank my parents and father- in-law Dr. S. Khan for their affectionate encouragement in the preparation of this thesis, My most affectionate thanks are due to my wife, Mrs. Sitara Taiyab and my dear iittle kid, Parwaz Taiyab who have cheerfully borne with me the pangs and pains of my difficult days in adverse circumstances/ I have gone through during the last two years when I had to work without scholarship or any other financial assistance from any quarter. I am also thankful to the staff of the riesosrch idbrary, Department of History, Aligarh Mislim University, particularly Mr. Jalal Abbas and the librarian and the staff of the Maulana Azad Library, Aligarh ?&isllm University, the Staff of U.P, State Archive,Lucknow and Lucknow University, I also thank Mr. Zahoor Ahmad, Department of History A.M.U. who typed my thesis laboriously and effeciently. }fy grateful thanks are due to my friend, Mr. Masood Ahmad Khan who kindly corrected the type-script. Last but not the least^I thank my friend, Mr. Javaid Qayyum most cordially for his sharing many of my responsibelities and providing me much needed relief in my days of laborious research work. M3HAMMAD TAIYAB 1 INTRODUCTION Awadh is an ancient land with a rich and varied cultural heritage. History and legend have contributed to lend it glory and splendour and fill its annals with spect- acular facts of adventure, altruism, religious fervour, social advancement and cultural efflorescence.