•Todar mal, who was appointed Akbar's finance minister ( diwan-i- ashraf) in 1582,set up a regulation or standard system of revenue administration known as zabti System.
• In Mughal India, it was the most important method of assessment.
• The origin of this practice is traced to Sher Shah.
• During Akbar's reign, the system was revised a number times before it took the final shape.
• Sher Shah had established a rai or per bigha yield for land which were under continuous cultivation (polaj), or those land which very rarely allowed to lie fallow (parauti).
•The rai was based on three rates, representing good, middling and low yields and one third of the sum of these was appropriated as land revenue.
• Akbar adopted Sher Shah's rai.
• Akbar introduced his so-called karori experiment and appointed karoris all over North India in 1574-75.
• The entire jagir was converted into khalisa.
• Under karori experiment, measurement of all provinces took place.
• Bamboo rods with iron rings called tanab were used instead of hempen ropes. On the basis of productivity and prices prevailing in different regions they were divided for revenue purposes into dastur circles.
• The rates of assessment in cash for each crop in every dastur was decided, and the demand was fixed accordingly.
• On the basis of the information provided by the karoris regarding the actual produce, local prices, productivity, etc. in 1580, Akbar instituted a new system Ain dahsala, where the average produce of different crops as well as the average prices prevailing over the last ten years were calculated.
• One-third of the average produce was the state's minimum share.
• Main features of the zabti system:
• measurement of land was essential;
• fixed cash revenue rates known as dastur ul amal or dastur for each crop. all the collection was made in cash.
Merits of Zabti system:
• measurement could always be rechecked.
• due to fixed dasturs, local officials could not use their discretion; and
• with fixing the permanent dastur, the uncertainties and fluctuation in levying the land revenue demand were greatly reduced.
Demerits of Zabti system:
• It could not be applied if the quality of the soil was not uniform; If the yield was uncertain, this method was disadvantageous to peasants because risk were borne by them alone.
• Abul Fazl says, "If the peasant does not have the strength to bear zabt the practice of taking a third of the crop as revenue is followed."
• This was an expensive method as a cess of one dam per bigha known as zabitana was given to meet the costs towards the maintenance of the measuring party; Much fraud could be practised in recording the measurement.
• Zabti system was adopted only in the core region of the Empire. The main provinces covered under zabti were Delhi, Allahabad, Awadh, Agra, Lahore and Multan.
• Even in these zabti provinces, other methods of assessment were also practiced, depending on the circumstances of the area.
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