Class 12 History Chapter 8 NCERT Solutions: Peasants, Zamindars and the State

There are errors and inconsistencies in the statistics, as well as regional discrepancies. The Ain was created to highlight Mughal administrative ideals, which may lead to exaggeration or idealization of actual practices. Some data in the Ain is selective or incomplete.

Historians address these problems by cross-referencing the Ain with other contemporary sources like regional revenue records, European travelers’ accounts, and local documents. Corroborative evidence helps to provide a more balanced and reliable picture of agrarian society during the Mughal period.

2. To what extent is it possible to characterise agricultural production in the sixteenth-seventeenth centuries as subsistence agriculture? Give reasons for your answer.

Answer: It is not entirely accurate to consider sixteenth–seventeenth-century agriculture as purely subsistence-based. Most peasants focused on growing basic staples like wheat, rice, and millets for self-consumption. However, commercial crops such as cotton, sugarcane, oilseeds, and indigo were also widely cultivated.

The concept of jins-i kamil (superior crops) and the existence of marketable surplus, as documented in historical sources, reflect the intertwining of subsistence and commercial production. New crops like maize, chillies, and tobacco were introduced and traded across regions.

Connections between villages and towns, the circulation of money, and the presence of local markets further indicate features beyond mere subsistence agriculture.

3. Describe the role played by women in agricultural production.

Answer: Women were vital contributors to agricultural production. They actively participated in sowing, weeding, threshing, and winnowing. Besides fieldwork, women were engaged in various artisanal tasks such as spinning, pottery, and embroidery, thereby strengthening rural economies.

Due to high mortality rates and labor demand, women held significant familial and social roles. In rural and artisan communities, practices like bride-price and remarriage of widows were accepted. In landed families, women could inherit zamindaris and enjoyed property rights, particularly evident in Punjab and Bengal.

Overall, women were indispensable to both the agricultural and broader social fabric of rural Mughal India.

4. Discuss, with examples, the significance of monetary transactions during the period under consideration.

Answer: Monetary transactions gained increasing importance in Mughal India. Villages often had shroffs (money-changers) to address banking and currency exchange needs. The collection of revenue gradually shifted towards cash payments, strengthening the monetary system.

The influx of silver from Europe expanded currency circulation. Cash advances were provided to weavers and other commercial producers, facilitating rural-urban economic links. Rural surplus was monetized as villagers engaged in trade networks and taxes were paid in cash.

Overall, the growth of monetary transactions integrated local economies, boosted trade, and played a crucial role in the Mughal fiscal system.

5. Examine the evidence that suggests that land revenue was important for the Mughal fiscal system.

Answer: Land revenue formed the backbone of the Mughal fiscal system. A substantial part of the state’s income was derived from agricultural land assessments. Key administrative positions, such as diwan and amil-guzar, were specifically created for revenue collection.

Texts like the Ain-i Akbari describe comprehensive processes for land measurement, categorization, and fixing of revenue rates. The jagirdari system was sustained by granting revenue-yielding lands to nobles in lieu of salaries.

The elaborate record-keeping, land surveys, and recurring revenue assessments all underline the centrality of land revenue in Mughal administration.

Short Essay

6. To what extent do you think caste was a factor in influencing social and economic relations in agrarian society?

Answer: Caste was a significant force in determining social and economic relations in Mughal agrarian society. The rural landscape was marked by deep caste-based inequalities. 

Cultivators comprised various castes, but those from lower castes were often relegated to menial and impoverished positions.

Agricultural laborers, largely from marginalized castes, worked for wealthier cultivators. Muslim groups, such as halalkhoran and mallahzadas, were also marginalized in rural settlements. Meanwhile, intermediate castes could sometimes improve their status by focusing on cattle rearing or horticulture.

Artisans worked within a caste-based jajmani system and made up a substantial part of the rural population. Village panchayats were dominated by higher castes, while menial castes lacked representation. Social norms and dispute resolutions often reinforced caste boundaries, as each jati had its own panchayat for internal matters.

Although some groups could move upward in status, the overall caste system profoundly influenced access to land, labor, occupations, and governance, shaping rural social and economic relations.

7. How were the lives of forest dwellers transformed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?

Answer: Forest dwellers, or jangli, traditionally survived through the collection of forest produce, hunting, and shifting cultivation. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Mughal expansion led to the clearing of forests for agriculture and greater state intervention.

The Mughal army required supplies such as elephants and forest goods (honey, lac, gum), converting forest dwellers into suppliers or tribute payers. Commercial agriculture expanded into forest areas. Some tribal chiefs became zamindars or local kings, as seen with the Ahom and Koch rulers or the Lohanis of Punjab.

Trade links increased between hill tribes and the plains, altering traditional mobility and leadership. Many groups were integrated into the wider economic and political system, sometimes retaining autonomy, but also facing displacement and new forms of taxation. Thus, forest dwellers experienced major socio-economic changes during this period.

8. Examine the role played by zamindars in Mughal India.

Answer: Zamindars were powerful rural elites who possessed hereditary land rights and collected revenue for the Mughal state. They held military resources, maintained forts, and recruited armed retainers.

Zamindars were instrumental in settling cultivators, founding markets, and developing regional influence. The zamindari class included Brahmana-Rajputs, intermediate castes, and occasionally lower castes, demonstrating upward mobility through land sale, colonization, or royal grants.

Their relationship with peasants was sometimes exploitative but also reciprocal, being involved in patronage and localized resistance to state demands. Zamindars could rival the state’s power, possessing significant military forces. Their status persisted until zamindari abolition after independence because of their control over land, resources, and local society.

9. Discuss the ways in which panchayats and village headmen regulated rural society.

Answer: Panchayats were councils of elders responsible for local governance and justice. Headed by a muqaddam or mandal, the panchayat maintained village accounts, coordinated tax collection, resolved disputes, and implemented community welfare activities such as the construction of bunds.

Community contributions funded their functions. Each caste often had its own jati panchayat for settling internal matters. The decisions of the panchayat were binding; they could settle land claims, address grievances, and sometimes mediate between the state and villagers.

While the system ensured order, it was dominated by higher castes, leaving menial castes underrepresented. Thus, panchayats maintained social order but also reflected existing social hierarchies.

Map Work

10. 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.

On a world map, regions to be marked include Central Asia, Persia (Iran), the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), Southeast Asia, East Africa, and European countries such as Portugal, Netherlands, and England.

Trade routes would incorporate the land Silk Road through Central Asia, sea routes via the Indian Ocean linking Indian ports to the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and the Mediterranean, as well as Atlantic routes from Europe for the inflow of silver and other goods.

Project (choose one)

11. Visit a neighbouring village. Find out how many people live there, which crops are grown, which animals are raised, which artisanal groups reside there, whether women own land, how the local panchayat functions. Compare this information with what you have learnt about the sixteenth–seventeenth centuries, noting similarities and differences. Explain both the changes and the continuities that you find.

12. Select a small section of the Ain (10-12 pages, available online at the website indicated below). Read it carefully and prepare a report on how it can be used by a historian.

Peasants Zamindars and the Mughal Agrarian Society – Key Concepts & Exam Tips

The chapter Peasants, Zamindars and the State explores how rural society and the Mughal Empire were closely linked through agriculture, land revenue, and social hierarchies. Understanding these connections is essential for building strong conceptual clarity in Class 12 History.

Focus on the roles of zamindars, village panchayats, and women in agrarian society, as well as the revenue systems. Pay attention to how caste, trade, and changing crops affected everyday life during this period—these are common exam themes in the 2025-26 syllabus.

Regularly revising key events, such as Akbar’s land reforms or the flow of silver, will help boost your confidence and maximize your score in CBSE board exams. Use timelines and connect social, economic, and political changes for higher-order answers.