Khandesh (province)
After 1601, Khandesh was one of the 15 provinces ( subah ) of the Mughal Empire . It essentially comprised the fertile valley of the Tapti with the Satpura Mountains and the Narmada River in the north as a border . The Ajanta Range formed the border with Aurangabad Province in the south. The Chador Hills formed the western end . The Baglan area was forcibly annexed in 1638. The geographical center was Nasirabad (now Jalgaon ), while the capital was Burhanpur (now in Madhya Pradesh ). The province stretched, especially since the conquest of Nandurbars , further north and east than the Khandesh district of the colonial times. In the early 18th century control of the region passed more and more to the Marathas .
history
The Faruqi dynasty , which had previously ruled as sultans, came to an end with the conquest of the fort of Asirgarh by Akbar I in 1601. After the surrender of Bahadur Shah and the capture of the remaining forts of Sambal , Dol and Jamod , Prince Daniyal became the first Mughal governor ( subahdar ) in Asir, after whom the region was renamed Dandesh . In the 17th century, the name Burhanpur Subah was also common. The Viceroy of the Deccan resided in Aurangabad since 1635.
The Mughals have been trying to penetrate the Deccan again and again since 1612 . In return, the defenders besieged the not yet walled Burhanpur in 1620. On November 30, 1615 Prince Parviz allowed the establishment of a trading post for the East India Company in Burhanpur. Another followed in 1674 in Dharangaon (formerly Dungam ), a center of textile production; this was moved in 1678 to the affluent Chodra (= Mustafabad) about 30 km away . Prince Khurram, who later became Shah Jahan , began his rebellion in the fort of Asir in 1622. The next decades saw repeated campaigns through the region. Aurangzeb was appointed governor for the first time in July 1636. Two years later, Baglan, on the way to the coast, was conquered.
The famines caused by failing monsoon rains were particularly devastating in 1630, 1638/9, 1683/4 and - as in the whole of the Deccan - 1703; the latter especially, as a plague epidemic followed the following year . In the same year, the Bhil also rebelled over ravers . Local, limited rebellions by individual Zamindari among others 1629, 1662, May 1701 and the residents of Burhanpur 1670, November 1693 and January 1700 caused further destruction. An imperial army reached Burhanpur in January 1653, Aurangzeb (Mughal emperor from 1658) began his second term as governor. The next almost 50 years were a time of comparatively calm and upswing.
- Marathas
After sacking Surat for the second time in 1670, the marathan leader Shivaji moved on to Khandesh with his marauding troops. The Battle of Dindiri (October 17, 1670) was lost for the Mughals. The Marathi incursions continued. Dharangaon was plundered three times until 1680, as well as Burhanpur and nearby Bahadurpura. In 1681, Aurangzeb's renegade son Akbar, who came to Khandesh, formed an alliance with Sambhaji , Shivaji's successor. This caused Aurangzeb to concentrate all forces on the conquest of the Deccan. However, it was not until 1685 that the attacks could be limited, during which time the area became the base for Aurangazeb's conquest of Ahmadnagar and Bijapur . Ten years later, the repeated incursions began again, until after the Battle of Dharangaon (April 1704) the Mughal sovereignty could be temporarily secured again. The next incursion began in December 1706.
The last, first appointed governor ( subahdar ) in 1707 Chin Qilich Khan, later known as Asaf Jah I , controlled about a quarter of taxes and 40% of the time when the Mughal in Delhi was besieged by Nadir Shah (1736–1738) Troops of the empire. During his first term in office in Aurangabad, he managed to organize the tax and tribute collection more efficiently, as well as to keep the ever-advancing Marathas in check.
In 1719 the Marathas were granted the right to collect tribute ( chauk ) and taxes in the Mughal countries. In the following years the area was completely under the control of the Mahrats, who devastated it with their tax collection campaigns ( mulk-giri ) every two to three years. Since the Bhils could not be defeated militarily in their inaccessible mountain areas, they were fought first by betrayal, then by targeted manhunts and, if caught, brought to death in the most cruel ways.
The Holkar campaigns in 1802/03 (with the following famine) and the third Marathan War (1817/18), as a result of which the British captured the area, left behind a depopulated and deserted area.
administration
In general see: Mughal Empire: State and Administration and Akbar: Administrative Reforms
As usual in the Mughal empire since the reforms of Todar Mals , the province ( suba ) with its over 7000 villages was divided into numerous paraganas under a governor ( subahdar ) . As districts ( sarkar under a faujdar ), there were Handia, Asir (fort), Bijagarh, Galna, Mulna, Baglan (seat in Mulher ) and Nandurbar . They were subordinate to the Parganas Thānādārs, each with 50-500 mounted men under their command. The forts and their artillery were commanded by quildars who were not to leave them without permission. In the cities, the Kotwal, as police chiefs and prison guards, were responsible for keeping order. Especially under Aurangzeb it was common to accumulate offices. At the village level, the muqaddam, who received a piece of tax-free Inam land, was the representative of state power. Control officers, especially for cities, were the court-appointed Bakshi. The lower civil servants were often hereditary.
The governors changed frequently so that they could not build up local power. Burhanpur and its district were so economically and militarily important for the Mughals that the post of governor was reserved for the sons or uncles of the Mughal emperors. The divan was also appointed by the court , responsible for collecting taxes on crown land ( khalsa ), i.e. the lands not assigned as jagir , maintaining the forts and paths, etc.
- Taxes
After a halving of the property tax by Shah Jahan in 1631 did not bring the desired upswing, part of the land was re-measured under the Diwan Murshid Quli Khan. The tax estimate was carried out by officials called Amin , who were paid fixed salaries. Different systems of taxation were in use: flat taxation per cultivated plow , division of the harvest ( batai; grain: ⅓, horticultural products: ⅑-¼ tax in kind ) or jarib, where ¼ of the harvest plus a fixed rate depending on the soil quality in Money was raised. In years of drought, the tax could be waived and state loans granted to farmers. Households of unbelievers ( Hindus ) who were not active in agriculture were again assessed for jizia (= jaziye). Craftsmen, nominally tax exempt, had to work for civil servants for free. Customs duties were charged per truckload (5-6 dam ) or camel load (3 Rs.), Plus road duties.
The total amount of taxes at the time of Akbar was 12.65 million dam , it rose in 1660 at the time of Aurangzeb to 20.7 million Rs. When the Marathi incursions became more frequent from the 1690s, only two thirds of them succeeded on average recover the sums invested.
economy
It is true that cotton cultivation did not achieve the same level as after 1860 for a long time, but such cultures existed as early as the 17th century, especially around Burhanpur. The fabrics woven and printed from them with their complicated patterns found numerous buyers in Persia and Europe, which they reached via the East India companies operating in Surat . In Bahadurpura, a rich market established about 4 km from Burhanpur, was looted in 1681.
In addition to wheat and the usual types of millet, high-quality fragrant rice ( basmati ) was grown on irrigated land . Sugar cane grew around Nandurbar and Navapur. The sweet mangoes from Baglan were appreciated. Other cash crops were fruit, opium, tobacco and especially the attached to Burhanpur and Chodra Indigo , which was almost 30% cheaper than that produced by Agra. The region achieved its greatest prosperity in the second half of the 17th century, which was peaceful for the time.
See also
literature
- Hatekar, Neeraj; Farmers and Markets in the Pre-Colonial Deccan: The Plausibility of Economic Growth in Traditional Society; Past & Present, No. 178 (Feb 2003)
- Gordon, Stewart; Burhanpur: entrepot and hinterland, 1650-1750; Indian Economic Social History Review, Vol. 25 (1988), p. 425
- Mahajan, TT; Khandesh under the Mughals, 1601-1707; New Delhi 1991, ISBN 81-7200-004-9
- Raeside, Ian; The Great Road from Surat to Agra through Malwa; Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 3rd Series, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Nov. 1991), pp. 363-381
- contemporary European sources
In the travel reports of some early European travelers, such as Ralph Fitch , Thomas Roe , Niccolò Manucci , François Martin and others, there are descriptions of the area (also called Candeish ) that inevitably had to be crossed on the way from Surat to the capital.
- contemporary Persian sources
- Abu'l-Fazl , Akbar Nama; engl. Ex .: Beveridge, H .; The Akbarnama of Abu'l Fazl; Calcutta 1939, reprint 2000: ISBN 81-7236-094-0
- Shafiq; Lachmi Narayan; Kulasat-ud-Hind; engl. Ex. Alavi, Rafi Ahmand; Mughal Geographical Accounts of Khandesh; in: Medieval India: a Miscellany; Delhi 1975, Vol. 3
- Tarikh-i-Ferishta, engl. Ex .: Briggs, John; History of the Rise and fall of the Mohamedan Power in India; 4 vol. [1829] ( full text volume 1 )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Heras, H .; The Siege and the Conquest of the Fort of Asirgarh; Indian Antiquary, Feb. 1923
- ↑ Hasan, MM; The Fall of Asirgarh; Islamic Culture, Vol. LI (1977), no. 3
- ↑ cf. JF Richards; Mughal State Finance and the Premodern World Economy; Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Apr. 1981), pp. 285-308
- ↑ 1651: Rs. 120 per month. Mahajan (1991), p. 107
- ↑ Since the time of Kijili a coin of approx. 3⅔ g corresponding to 1/40 rupee. PL Gupta; Coins; New Delhi 2000, ISBN 81-237-1887-X , p. 111
- ↑ Detailed in Mahajan (1991), pp. 124-6
- ↑ The value of the rupee minted in Burhanpur until 1635 was about 10% less than the Mahmudi rupee of Surat. Mahajan (1991), p. 151