The Village Community
The account highlights the significant role of peasantry in agricultural production, affecting the structure of agrarian relations in Mughal society. Peasants held individual lands but also belonged to a collective village community consisting of cultivators, panchayat, and village headman.
Caste and the Rural Milieu
Caste-based inequities led to a diverse group of cultivators, with many working as menials or agricultural laborers. Some caste groups were assigned menial tasks, leading to poverty. These groups had limited resources and were constrained by their caste hierarchy. This distinctions persisted in other communities, such as Muslim communities where menials were housed outside the village. There was a direct correlation between caste, poverty, and social status at lower strata, but not at intermediate levels.
Panchayats and Headmen
The village panchayat was an assembly of elders, representing various castes and communities in a village. Headed by a muqaddam or mandal, the panchayat supervised the preparation of village accounts and derived its funds from contributions to a common financial pool. The headman’s main function was to ensure caste boundaries were upheld, and they could levy fines and inflict punishments like expulsion from the community.
In addition to the village panchayat, each caste or jati in the village had its own jati panchayat. These panchayats wielded considerable power in rural society, resolving civil disputes, determining land claims, and determining ritual precedence in village functions. In western India, archives from Rajasthan and Maharashtra contain petitions from lower-caste peasants complaining about excessive taxation or unpaid labor demands from superior castes or state officials. The village panchayat was seen as the court of appeal to ensure the state carried out its moral obligations and guaranteed justice.
In conflicts between lower-caste peasants and state officials or the local zamindar, the panchayat’s decision could vary, with compromise suggested in cases of excessive revenue demands and resorting to more drastic forms of resistance, such as deserting the village.
Village Artisans
Villages in India had a complex exchange system between different producers, with artisans making up 25% of households. The distinction between artisans and peasants was fluid, with many groups performing tasks like dyeing, textile printing, pottery baking, and agricultural implement repair. Village artisans provided specialized services, which were compensated by villagers through shares of harvest or land allotments. In Maharashtra, these lands became artisan’s miras or watan. Another system involved mutually negotiated remuneration, often goods for services. Cash remuneration was also not entirely unknown in the village.
A “Little Republic”?
In the nineteenth century, the village community was viewed as a “little republic” by British officials, but this did not signify rural egalitarianism. Individual ownership of assets and deep inequities were prevalent, with powerful individuals ruling the village and dispensed justice. A cash nexus developed through trade between villages and towns, and revenue was collected in cash for artisans and commercial producers.
Chapter 8 Peasants, Zamindars and the State Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire
The topic Class 12 History Notes Chapter 8 Peasants, Zamindars and the State Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire focuses on the relationship between peasants, zamindars, and the state during the Mughal period. The Mughal Empire was predominantly an agrarian society, with agriculture being the main occupation. Most peasants worked as cultivators and were the backbone of the rural economy. The land revenue system was crucial for the functioning of the empire.
In this article, we will look into the summary notes of the topic Class 12 History Chapter 8 Peasants, Zamindars and the State Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire in detail. It is an important topic of Class 12 History NCERT. Students can through this article to get comprehensive notes on Class 12 History Notes Chapter 8 Peasants, Zamindars, and the State Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire.
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