Examine the evidence that suggests that land revenue was important for the Mughal fiscal system.
(i)Agriculture was the mainstay of the economy. Land Revenue collected was used to pay salaries and to meet different kinds of administrative expenses. So it was considered important to establish an administrative apparatus to ensure control over agricultural production.
(ii)Thus, before fixing land revenue, Mughal state first acquired specific information about the extent of agricultural lands and their produce.
(iii)Land revenue collection arrangements was consisted of two stages of assessment. These were Jama and hasil. Cultivators were given the choice to pay land revenue either in cash or kind. The state preferred to collect land revenue as cash. Attempts were made to maximize profits from the land revenue collection.
(iv)Both cultivated and cultivable lands were measured in each province to fix land revenue. According to a decree of Akbar, it was the responsibility of malguzar to make cultivator pay land revenue in kind and it was also kept open. Thus, it is clear from the evidence that the monetary transactions were very important. To continue this policy efforts by subsequent emperors like Aurangzeb continued to measure land for collection of land revenue.
How were the lives of forest dwellers transformed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?
Discuss the ways in which panchayats and village headmen regulated rural society.
Examine the role played by zamindars in Mughal India.
On an outline map of the world, mark the areas which had economic links with the Mughal Empire, and trace out possible routes of communication.
To what extent do you think caste was a factor in influencing social and economic relations in agrarian society?
Discuss, with examples, the significance of monetary transactions during the period under consideration.
Describe the role played by women in agricultural production.
To what extent is it possible to characterise agricultural production in the sixteenth-seventeenth centuries as subsistence agriculture? Give reasons for your answer.
What are the problems in using the Ain as a source for reconstructing agrarian history? How do historians deal with this situation?
Write a note on the Kitab-ul-Hind.
What have been the methods used to study the ruins of Hampi over the last two centuries? In what way do you think they would have complemented the information provided by the priests of the Virupaksha temple?
Explain with examples what historians mean by the integration of cults.
Describe the process of manuscript production in the Mughal court.
Compare and contrast the perspectives from which Ibn Battuta and Bernier wrote their accounts of their travels in India.
How were the water requirements of Vijayanagara met?
To what extent do you think the architecture of mosques in the subcontinent reflects a combination of universal ideals and local traditions?
In what ways would the daily routine and special festivities associated with the Mughal court have conveyed a sense of the power of the emperor?
Discuss the picture of urban centres that emerges from Bernier’s account.
What do you think were the advantages and disadvantages of enclosing agricultural land within the fortified area of the city?
What were the elements of the practice of sati that drew the attention of Bernier?
Discuss Al-Biruni’s understanding of the caste system.
On an outline map of the world mark the countries visited by Ibn Battuta. What are the seas that he may have crossed?
What were the similarities and differences between the be-shari‘a and ba-shari‘a sufi traditions?
Write a note on the Kitab-ul-Hind.
On an outline map of the world, mark approximately Italy, Portugal, Iran and Russia. Trace the routes the travellers mentioned on p.176 would have taken to reach Vijayanagara.
What have been the methods used to study the ruins of Hampi over the last two centuries? In what way do you think they would have complemented the information provided by the priests of the Virupaksha temple?
Fig. 7.33 is an illustration of another pillar from the Virupaksha temple. Do you notice any floral motifs? What are the animals shown? Why do you think they are depicted? Describe the human figures shown.
Compare and contrast the perspectives from which Ibn Battuta and Bernier wrote their accounts of their travels in India.
What were the concerns that shaped Mughal policies and attitudes towards regions outside the subcontinent?