Examine the role played by zamindars in Mughal India.
The zamindars were the people who did not directly participate in the processes of agricultural production, but they enjoyed high status in the society.
(i)The zamindars considered their land as their property (milkiyat). They had control to sell, give and mortage their property.
(ii)They enjoyed many social and economic privileges because of their superior status in society.
(iii)The zamindars belonged to the upper caste which added to their exalted status in society.
(iv)The zamindars rendered certain services (khidmat) for the state. As a result of their service they received and attained higher position in the state.
(v)The zamindars had the right to collect revenue on behalf of the state and also received financial compensation for this work.
(vi)The zamindars had kept strict control over the military resources of the state. They kept a fortress and a well knit armed unit comprising cavalry, artillery and infantry.
(vii)The zamindars also played significant role in developing the agricultural land. They helped in the settlements of farmers by lending them money and agricultural instruments. It resulted in an increase in agricultural produce and the sale and purchase of land by the zamindars. There are also evidences that the zamindars held bazaars. The farmers came to these bazaars to sell their crops.
(viii)If we observe social relation of village of Mughal age as a pyramid then zamindars were at the top. They occupied the highest position in the society.
(ix)No doubt the zamindars exploited the people but their relations with the farmers depended on their mutual togetherness and hereditary part on age. So, they were able to get peasants in case of the revolt against the state.
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.
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.
Examine the evidence that suggests that land revenue was important for the Mughal fiscal system.
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?
Discuss the picture of urban centres that emerges from Bernier’s account.
Discuss the extent to which Bernier’s account enables historians to reconstruct contemporary rural society.
Write a note on the Kitab-ul-Hind.
Compare and contrast the perspectives from which Ibn Battuta and Bernier wrote their accounts of their travels in India.
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?
What were the similarities and differences between the be-shari‘a and ba-shari‘a sufi traditions?
Do you think Ibn Battuta’s account is useful in arriving at an understanding of life in contemporary urban centres? Give reasons for your answer.
To what extent do you think the visual material presented in this chapter corresponds with Abu’l Fazl’s description of the taswir (Source 1)?
To what extent do you think the architecture of mosques in the subcontinent reflects a combination of universal ideals and local traditions?
Discuss the major features of Mughal provincial administration. How did the centre control the provinces?