Jagirdari system and the Jagirdari Crisis under the Mughal Empire.

Jagirdari system and the Jagirdari Crisis under the Mughal Empire.

Introduction

The Jagirdari System was an integral part of the Mansabdari system and was the primary mechanism to pay the salary of mansabdars through grant of land – a jagir.

Thus, all the mansabdars holding jagirs in the lieu of their salary were known as jagirdars. While those receiving cash salaries were called mansabdars. The term jagir in Persian means holder of a place, it has been found synonymous with Iqta which was popular during the Delhi Sultanate.

Broadly, there were two classifications of land - 

• Land directly managed by the centre was known as Khalisa.
• Land embarked to be given as Jagirs known as Paigabi.

Types of Jagirs-

A Jagir that was assigned in lieu of salary was known as “tankhwah-e-jagir”. Mansabdar had to be assigned jagirs whose annual income was to be assessed and commensurate with his salary claim.

The Jagirs that were allocated to the territorial Rajput chieftains or zamindars in lieu of their salary after their induction, where known as “watan jagir” in the mansabdari system, where the term watan denoted their old dominions which remained with their family. If the income of the watan did not meet the salary claims of a mansabdar, he was assigned additional tankhwah-e-jagir.

Another type of Jagir that was assigned to a noble in his native place as permanent assignment was known as “Altagmah Jagir”. 

Since the jagir was only a means of payment to the mansabdars, it did not confer any right on land or claim to hereditary position. However, the watan and altagmah jagirs were an exception, as they were considered hereditary and permanent. 

Jagir Transfer-

Persian Sources like ain-i-akbari mentions the transferability of the jagirs. There were technical as well as political reasons behind the introduction of the jagir transfer. 

As we know that a mansabdar entered the Mughal service at a lower rank and was gradually promoted. Thus, the size of the jagir had to be matched his salary demands. If the zat and sawar were increased, the present jagir would fall short of meeting his salary claims. In such a scenario, he had to be moved from his present jagir and shifted to a bigger jagir necessitating a transfer.

As of the political reasons, the Mughal government tried to ensure that none of the Jagirdars stayed in one place for more than 3 to 4 years. The Mughal government tried to avoid any possibility of the jagirdar forming regional ties and becoming the foci of local people in opposition to centre.

Jagirdari Crisis-

The Jagirdari crisis was a financial scenario in which there was a scarcity of lands or jagirs. This came during the later reign of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.

With the increasing number of mansabdars and a fixed area of the total land in the empire, the jagirs were now decreased in size, which led to a reduction in the revenue collected by individual jagirdars. 

The imperial crown was unable to fund wars or maintain the nobility’s quality of life. As a result, the Mughal empire was forced to give up its territories in order to pay its officials.

Conclusion

Mansab and Jagir were the basis of the administrative structure of the Mughal Empire. Introduced by Akbar, it produced assistance in organizing and controlling heterogeneous nobility, as well as ensuring the revenue collection of the empire. 

But the increasing gap between Jama (amount assessed) and hasil (amount collected) created a large discomfort among the ruling class, and many other small inefficiencies brought down the efficiency of the Mansab and Jagir systems.