SUBA OF BIHAR
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( 1582-1707 )
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ABSTRACT
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Aoc No.
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The regional history of Mughal India has attracted
some attention in recent years,
A systematic study of the
different regions is of great importance in checking the
generalizations that have so far been made about the Mughal
Empire,
In the present study, an attempt has been made to
explore and analyse the various aspects of the agrarian and
economic history of the suba of Bihar under the Mughals.
The period of study commences shortly after the time when the
Mughal Empire was reorganized into subas by Akbar (1580)
a
and ends with the death of Aurjfengzeb in 1707,
The p r e s e n t t h e s i s has twelve c h a p t e r s and a number of
appendices.
Most of the appendices are given with the
chapters related t o .
Two general appendices are given a t the
end.
The f i r s t chapter deals with the geography of the
suba.
Bihar can be divided i n t o two d i s t i n c t geographical
r e g i o n s : the Indo-Gangetic Doab in the north and the Chotanagpur p l a t e a u in the south. The r o l e of f e r t i l e t r a c t in
the north Bihar and the f o r e s t b e l t in the south has been
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taken note of. Also the part played by the rivers and their
seasonal inxondation has been examined.
The rich mineral
wealth of the plateau region was as yet unexploited. The
chapter has two maps showing per square mile revenue (1595)
and population (1872) .
In chapter II, the General Administration of the suba
has been discussed.
Its study gives us an idea of the
administrative frame work in which the economy worked. Apart
from the general working of the suba administration under
the Mughals, emphasis has been given to its practical
working in Bihar. The functions and jurisdiction of the
faujdar as well the giladar have been dealt in some detail.
An attempt has been made to list the names of all
the important officials who served in the suba_. The list
of the subedars is complete, but only a few names of other
officials could be found, that is, the dlwan, the ba}y5hi,
the faujdar and the giladar.
Agricultural production of the suba has been discussed
in chapter III, which has three sections. The first is
devoted to the study of the extent of cultivation.
An
attempt has been made to find out relative extent of land
under the plough in 159 5 and its increase by the end of
17th century.
t^
The second section deals with soils, and the
- ii± means and methods of cultivation and irrigation. In
section three, agricultural produce (food and cash crops)
and animal husbandry of the suba/ha-s- been discussed.
In the fourth chapter, a study of the main
agricultural producing class, that is, peasantry has been
made.
All the classes who worked and drew their substenance
from the land except superior right holders have been included
in this study. Emphasis has been given to rights in the
land and material conditions of the peasantry.
feature of the suba noticed is the
One peculiar
use of slaves for
agricultural purposes, specially in the Mithila region,
Jkt
Chapter/ JilJJ Wji^ deals with the holders of superior
rights in land, i.e. zamlndars. The chapter has two sections
(i) Zamrndars and (ii) Chieftains, Aspects studied are:
the origin of the zamfndar's
rights in land; the nature
of their caste composition; their non-agrarian perquisites;
their armed strength; the nanner of their succession and
their relationship with the Mughal state.
Two tables showing
the manner of succession offzamindars are also appended
at the end of the chapter. The eighteenth century survey
records of the English East India Company throw very
valuable light on the rights and perquisites of the zamlndairs
and, hence, they have been extensively used.
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IV
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With regard/^ to the c h i e f t a i n s attempt has been made
to i d e n t i f y t h e i r t e r r i t o r i e s .
Most of the c h i e f t a n c i e s
of Bihar were s i t u a t e d in the p e r i p h e r a l region amidst
h i l l y and f o r e s t t r a c t .
From our study/Xfjjaniya r a j £ s of
Bhojpur emerge as the most powerful C h i e f t a i n s . In s p i t e
of the frequent r e b e l l i o n s by the Chiefs the Mughal emperors
could never crush them cortpletely and almost a l l t h e i r
c o n f l i c t s appear to have ended in some s o r t of compromise,
/n«- Chapter/lEKfiS^ covers the land revenue of the suba,
Thi^ chapter has t h r e e s e c t i o n s . The f i r s t deals with the
mode of assessment and magnitude of the land revenue
demand.
I t seems t h a t zabt based on the dastur r a t e s was
not introduced in Bihar,
In the second section of t h i s chapter, the machinery
of land revenue a d m i n i s t r a t i o n has been d i s c u s s e d . We find
t h a t the l o c a l o f f i c i a l s , ganungo, chaudhurl and muqaddam
were a c t u a l l y the back bone of revenue a d m i n i s t r a t i o n ,
Atterrpt has been made to analyse the o r i g i n , r i g h t s and
influence of these c l a s s e s .
The next s e c t i o n deals with the revenue s t a t i s t i c s
of the suba from 1595 to 1750,
Here we have s t u d i e d the
p a t t e r n of the jama (assessed revenue) d i s t r i b u t i o n in the
suba, the increase in the jama over a period of time, the
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h a s i l ( a c t u a l r e a l i z a t i o n ) and the r a t i o of the h a s i l
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to/jama. Effort;^ has been made to assign approximate
d a t e s to a number of revenue l i s t s a v a i l a b l e in a v a r i e t y
of sources ( d a s t u r - a l amals, c o l l e c t i o n of papers and
c h r o n i c l e s ) . Tables of sub a, sarkar and parg ana-wise revenue
f i g u r e s are given a t the end of the c h a p t e r .
The seventh chapter deals with revenue g r a n t s .
These were given e i t h e r in the form of land or cash to
c e r t a i n favoured s e c t i o n s of the p o p u l a t i o n . The c l a s s of
beneff^ciaries g e n e r a l l y included. Men of l e a r n i n g , and ' r
noble b i r t h , t r u e seekers of knowledge, d e s t i t u t e persons,
those e n t r u s t e d with the maintenance of r e l e g i o u s s t r u c t u r e s , ^i/yU
even/sanyasrs and b h a t s (the people who sang p r a i s e s of
a r i s t o c r a c y ) , In t h i s chapter I have studied the d i s t r i b u t i o n
of these g r a n t s in the d i f f e r e n t parganas of the siPja.
For the sarkar of Bihar the r a t i o of g r a n t s to the revenue
in d i f f e r e n t parganas has been worked o u t . Non-muslims,too,
were the r e c i p i e n t s of g r a n t s in very large numbers e s p e c i a l l y
in the sarkar of Shahabad and t h e s e appear to have continued
U s p i t e of Aurangzeb's orders to resume g r a n t s made to the
Hindus.
In Chapter V I I I , n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l production of the
suba has been d i s c u s s e d . T e x t i l e s occupied the p l a c e of
p r i d e among the i n d u s t r i e s t h a t t h r i v e d in Bihar. A v a r i e t y
- vx of c o t t o n t e x t i l e s such as Arribartees^ Qaimkhanrs, Khasa,
Char khan i and c h i n t z were produced in the suba;^ s i l k
c l o t h was a l s o produced in large q u a n t i t i e s . Apart from
Patna the other main c e n t r e s of t e x t i l e s production were
Lakhawar, Salimpur, Nandanpur and Baikanthpur. Carpet
weaving was a l s o done on a moderate s c a l e .
Metal works s p e c i a l l y iron i n d u s t r y a l s o seems to
have f l o u r i s h e d .
Among minerals s a l t p e t r e was the main
item produced in Bihar,
scale.
Diamond mining was on a moderate
The sxiba was famous for stone works (ornaments
and u t e n s i l s of s t o n e ) .
Boats of good q u a l i t y were a l s o
made. P o t t e r y and Qlass works a l s o a t t a i n e d a high degree
of p e r f e c t i o n in t h e suBa, The c l a y p o t t e r y made a t Patna
was taken to a l l
p a r t s of the world as a c u r i o s i t y . The
s a r k a r of Bihar produced paper of a very good q u a l i t y ,
Lac and Horn work were a l s o of a moderately high q u a l i t y .
Indigenous h o u r - g l a s s was a l s o manufactured in B i h a r .
All forms of production, from i n d i v i d u a l a r t i s a n
level/
Karkhanas « e x i s t e d in Bihar during the l 7 t h
c e n t u r y . In the t e x t i l e industry the p e n e t r a t i o n of merchant
c a p i t a l in the form of p u t t i n g - out system was f a i r l y
established.
- vii Chap tecs'IX and X deal with t r a d e and cormierce, Patna
was the main entporium where exchange of commodities from
d i f f e r e n t regions of India and foreign covintries took p l a c e .
Other t r a d i n g c e n t r e s were Hunger, Bhagalpur, Darbhanga,
Hajipur and Dariapur e t c . The commercial a c t i v i t i e s in
the sigba may be divided in t h r e e p a r t s ^ l o c a l ,
inter-regional
and foreign t r a d e . The Portuguese, followed by the English
and Dutch were the main European t r a d e r s . There were r e g u l a r
t r a d e c o n t a c t s with Nepal, Bhutan and T i b e t . Khurasanis and
I r a q i s a l s o flocked to/Patna markets in large numbers.
The main t r a d i n g c e n t r e - Patna had developed
land
and r i v e r connections with a l l the p a r t s of I n d i a . The
presence of s a r a i s on trade r o u t e s was a g r e a t help to
merchants, c a r t s driven by oxen and boats were the Chief
mode of t r a n s p o r t .
Goods from Bihar were taken to Hugli
for onward s e a - t r a n s p o r t .
Brokers and s a r r a f s were in large nurribers and
g r e a t l y f a c i l i t a t e d trading a c t i v i t i e s . B i l l s of exchange
(hundls), amounting to lakhs of rupees, were issued/and
r e c e i v e d / S f d i f f e r e n t p a r t s of the c o u n t r y . Rate of
i n t e r e s t f l u c t u a t e d according to the a v a i l a b i l i t y of the
money in the market. P a r t n e r s h i p and o t h e r commercial
p r a c t i c e s were a t a f a i r l y advanced l e v e l . The e x t e n t of
commercial a c t i v i t i e s in and through Bihar may be gauged
- viii from the number of coins issued from the Patna mint:
the turnover was larger than that of all the mints of
Bengal put together. Upto 1655, the production in Patna
mint was the largest in the region.
In chapter XI, i have examined the policy of the
Mughal Empire towards trade and cormierce and its implementation by the administration officials of the suba.
It emerges from Qur study that though the policy of the
Mughal emperors was to encourage mercantile activities,
the rank and file of the Mughal administration constantly
harassed the merchants. The main reason for administrative
interference was the absence of any legal ban on private
trade by the state officials. The chieftains also charged
taxes on merchandise passing through their territories.
The last chapter deals with towns, A study of the
available source material shows that the land-revenue
system of the Mughals gave rise to certain degree of urbanization. We find that during this period the existing
towns expanded and new ones sprang up in the suba. The
evidence at our disposal shows that it was mostly the
sarkar headquarters that emerge^ as prominent towns of
Bihar,
Increase in the trading activities also gave an
impetus to urbanization. The reasons for the rise and decline
of towns such as Daudnagar, Khurramabad, Shamshernagar and
Baikanthpur have been analysed. The urba-rural relationship
too has been studied.
Information on existing monuments,
a
i n s c r i p t i o n s and archfeological remains has been used to
list
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prepare a
of towns in Bihar,
The appendix-A^ a t the end of the t h e s i s , t a k e s note
of weight, measures, currency and p r i c e s ^ p r e v a l e n t in
the suba.
I t i s very d i f f i c u l t to have an exact idea of the
p r i c e movement but the a v a i l a b l e information suggests t h a t
t h e suba saw a steep p r i c e hike in the f i r s t half of the
l 7 t h century, b u t i t became more or l e s s s t a t i o n a r y in the
second h a l f . F i n a l l y a l l the a v a i l a b l e p r i c e f i g u r e s for
d i f f e r e n t commodities including food g r a i n s , t e x t i l e s and
metals have been p u t in a t a b u l a r form, and a comparision
(wherever possible) with the A*rn' s p r i c e s has been attempted.
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