Economic And Social Condition During The Mughals' Rule

Indian society was largely based on a feudal system during the mediaeval era, which remained even under Mughal authority. The king was at the height of his dominance. The epicenter of power and wealth was at his court. The Mughal Empire had grown to its greatest extent in terms of territory by the end of the seventeenth century. It had to deal with a variety of political and administrative problems at that time. There were no fundamental changes during this time period, but there were important social and economic trends that we shall try to study. As a result, we can approach it as a single time period when it comes to economic and social issues. 

 

•    The rich, middle class, and poor comprised the three main tiers of society throughout the Mughal era. These three classes differed significantly from one another.

 

•    At the top of the socioeconomic scale were the wealthy. The benefits belonged to this class, which also enjoyed extraordinary comfort and plenty of resources.

 

•    Although it was a relatively recent phenomenon, the middle class finally played a significant role in Mughal India.

 

•    Games played indoors and outdoors were equally popular since people had the time and means to do so. The Mughal Empire was incredibly successful and rich.

 

•    Typically, merchants, businesspeople, and other professionals make constituted the middle class. They couldn't afford the grandeur of the top rich class, but they nonetheless had a pleasant and practical existence.

 

•    A few middle-class families, however, were exceedingly affluent and enjoyed a range of luxury.

 

•    The lower class was situated next to the middle class. They were generally seen as the group in society that was treated the worst.

 

•    The two classes before it had substantial variations in terms of living conditions. 

 

•    During this time, India was visited by numerous European traders and visitors, some of whom left descriptions of the social and economic circumstances in their homeland.

 

•    They have generally emphasized the richness and prosperity of India, as well as the showy lifestyle of the ruling classes, on the one hand, and the abject poverty of the common people peasants, craftsmen, and laborers on the other.

 

•    Babur was shocked by the regular people's bare appearance. He noted that "peasants and people of low standing go about naked."

 

•    The langota, or decency cloth, worn by males, as well as the sari, worn by women, are next described. Later European visitors supported his assertion.

 

•    Ralph Fitch, who travelled to India at the tail end of the sixteenth century, said that "in the winter, the men wore quilted gowns of cotton, and quilted caps."

 

•    According to De Laet, the workers lacked winter-appropriate clothes to stay warm and pleasant.

 

•    Similar remarks on footwear have been made. Nikitin observed that the natives of the Deccan walked barefoot. The expensive price of leather, according to contemporary author Moreland, is the reason he believes he could not locate any references to shoes north of the Narmada River other than in Bengal.

 

•    Regarding accommodation and furnishings, not much was necessary to explain. The mud homes that the peasants lived in are still there today.

 

•    They had only cots and bamboo mats for furnishings, along with some clay cookware manufactured by the local potter. The poor didn't frequently utilize bell metal or copper plates and cutlery since they were expensive.

 

•    Rice, millet, and lentils were important staple foods, and fish and meat were available in the southern peninsula and in Bengal along the beaches.

 

•    In northern India, chapatis composed of wheat or coarse grains were widely consumed with pulses and green vegetables. It is reported that common folk chewed pulses or other parched grains during the day and ate their major meal in the evening.

 

•    At the time, ghee and oil were significantly less expensive than food grains, and they seem to have been a mainstay of the poor man's diet. Salt and sugar, however, were more expensive.

 

•    People ate healthier as a result, despite having less things to wear and shoes that were prohibitively expensive.

 

•    They could raise more cattle if they had more grazing land, which suggests that there would be more milk and milk products accessible.

 

•    One's standard of living was ultimately decided by their income and pay. The great majority of peasants' real income is difficult to estimate because cash is rarely utilized in village transactions.

 

•    Village craftspeople received customary goods as payment for their labor. Calculating the typical size of a peasant's land was challenging.

 

•    Our knowledge indicates that there was significant inequality in the villages. For a living, peasants who lacked bullocks and ploughs frequently tilled the land of zamindars or upper castes.

 

•    'Untouchables' or kamin were frequently used classifications for landless peasants and labour. This stratum of peasants and village craftspeople suffered the most during the famines, which were common.

 

•    The Khudkasht lived as farmers and owned the land they farmed. They paid market prices for the land they sold.

 

•    Some of them had a large number of bullocks and ploughs, which they rented to their less fortunate brethren, the tenants or muzarian, who often paid a higher rate of land income. The vast majority of the village's cultivators belonged to these two groups.

 

•    The community had a very unequal social structure.

 

•    The khudkasht, who asserted to be the village's first inhabitants, frequently belonged to one or more castes that were prominent.

 

•    These castes exploited the other or weaker groups while also dominating village society.

 

•    They were then regularly taken advantage of by zamindars.

 

•    At the start of the seventeenth century, there were thought to be 125 million people living in India.

 

•    Due to the abundance of arable land in the area, it is logical to expect that a peasant would cultivate as much land as his financial situation and family's needs allowed, subject to social constraints.

 

•    Contrary to many other Asian and African nations, India had a well-diversified economy with crops utilized for both export and domestic manufacturing and processing, including wheat, rice, gram, barley, pulses, bajra, and others.

 

•    Among these were cotton, indigo, chay (the red dye), sugarcane, oil seeds, and others. These crops required cash payment and paid a higher rate of land revenue. They are frequently referred to be exceptional crops or cash crops as a result.

 

•    The peasant was willing to attempt new crops if they were profitable in addition to switching his cultivation from one crop to the next based on price changes. This led to the introduction of maize and tobacco during the seventeenth century.

 

•    There was no longer a need to import silk from China during this time because the cultivation of silk and tusser had grown so much in Bengal. The eighteenth century saw the introduction of the potato and red chiles.

 

•    The countryside was able to feed a burgeoning city population during the seventeenth century, which is important to mention in terms of production efficiency. Additionally, India supplied several of its neighbors with food grains, mainly rice and sugar.

 

•    Additionally, it was able to provide the raw materials needed for the rise of the manufactured goods industry during that time, particularly the textile industry.

 

•    Peasants were given incentives and loans (taccavi) by the Mughal government to expand and develop their agriculture.

 

•    However, without the efforts, initiative, and involvement of the local community, growth and expansion would not have been feasible.

 

•    As conservative and opposed to change as he has been represented, the Indian cultivator was not.

 

•    Indian agriculture was effective and contributed significantly to the expansion of the manufacturing industry and trade during this time despite the absence of innovative agricultural techniques.

 

•    In the middle Ages, a peasant could stay on his property as long as he paid the land revenue.

 

•    If he could find a buyer and the neighbors did not protest, he could also sell his land. Immediately following his passing, his children received the land.

 

•    The average peasant had to make do with barely enough to keep body and soul together and had no money to invest in land improvement or extending agriculture due to the hefty state dues, which occasionally amounted to nearly half of his harvest.

 

•    Despite having a difficult life, the peasant had enough to eat and to take care of his fundamental requirements, which included reproduction and productivity.

 

•    His daily routine was influenced by custom and tradition, such as fairs, pilgrimages, rites, and other events, as well as the seasons.

 

•    Menials, landless people, and certain artisans must have had considerably worse circumstances. Not all peasants, though, felt this way.

 

•    The land available to resident cultivators (khudkasht) was often larger, and a tiny percentage of them possessed enormous tracts of land to work in addition to several oxen and ploughs.

 

•    They might also offer preferential terms for the rental of a piece of their land to regular farmers (muzarian).

 

•    These districts and village zamindars have the means to fund the development and advancement of agriculture.

 

The bulk of people living in cities were impoverished, including manual laborers, soldiers, servants, and artisans. The lowest grade of a servant earned less than two rupees a month, according to travelers from Europe. Most of the laborers and foot soldiers began with a monthly salary of no more than three rupees. Early twentieth-century author Moreland noted that although employees' real income had not changed much throughout this time, their diets were more well-balanced and their costs for clothing, sugar, and other items had increased.