Dahsala System
Raja Todar Mal had introduced the Dahsala
System. Raja Todar Mal was a successful Diwan and made some significant changes
in the revenue system which brought laurels to him. Seeing his qualities, Akbar
appointed him Diwan in A.D. 1573 in Gujarat where he measured the entire area
of cultivable land, and classified land on the basis of quality and fixed the
state revenue after extensive calculation and detailed survey. Akbar was very
much pleased by the success of Raja Todar Mal in Gujarat and ordered the entire
land of the empire should be surveyed for fixing the state revenue. Raja Todar
Mal’s labour and vast knowledge of revenue system brought name and fame for him
and Dahsala system was introduced in A.D. 1580. Raja Todar Mal was promoted as
Imperial Diwan in A.D. 1580 and Khwaja Shah Mansur worked as his assistant.
Significant Features of Dahsala System
1. So far, a rope wasusedfor the
measurement of land but Raja Todar Mal introduced bamboos for this purpose
which were joined together with the help of iron rings.
2. Bigha was accepted to be one unit
of land which measured 60*60 yeards, i.e. 3,600 square yards.
3. Prior to the introduction of
Dahsala, Gaz-i-Sikandari was used for the purpose of measurement but Akbar
introduced Gaz-i-Ilahi in A.D. 1586-87.
4. Raja Todar Mal divided all
cultivable land into four categories :
(i) Polaj :- It was the best land
cultivated every year.
(ii) Parauti :- It was the land of
second category which was left uncultivated for a year or two so that it could
recover its fertility.
(iii) Chachar :- It was left uncultivated
for three to four years in order to make it cultivable.
(iv) Banjar :- It was not fit for
agriculture and mostly left uncultivated for a long time.
The first three categories of land
were further divided into three categories each on the basis of produce.
5. The total yield of each land was
calculated for the last ten years and after ascertaining its average the
revenue of the same was fixed for ten years.
6. One-third part of the average
produce per Bigha of land was fixed as the revenue to be paid as state demand.
7. Normally, the revenue was deposited
in royal treasury in cash because the prices of crops were different in
different regions. Dr. A. L. Srivastava writes about this, “Akbar divided his
entire empire into many dasturs. All the places in a dastur were supposed to
have uniform prices for each kind of crop. An average of last ten years’ price
in respect of each kind of crop was ascertained separately for each dastur. The
average was considered as the current price of the crop. There were separate
schedules of prices of different kinds of crops and the schedules differed from
dastur to dastur.
8. Maintenance of annual account of
the area and the quality of land along with the quality of produce was the
responsibility of the government officials so that the revenue for future might
be fixed. It was not done annually but for a decade.
9. The lands given in Jagirs were
also looked after by the royal officer but their income was given to the
concerned Jagirdars.
10. The emperor issued orders for those
who had received their lands in charity to be present before him. Those who
failed to obey the orders, were deprived of their lands. The emperor further
declared that in future he would personally look after the work of granting
lands in charity in consultation with the provincial Sadrs so that only the
genuine persons are benefited from the imperial court.
11. Akbar established direct relation
with the cultivators as it was in the reign of Sher Shah Suri. His system came
to be known as Raiyatwari.
12. The system of Patta and Qabuliyat
was enforced. The cultivators were given Pattas, the quantity and quality of
land and the revenue to be paid by the cultivators were written on these
Pattas, and Qabuliyat was the acceptance of Patta by the cultivators.
13. Some facilities were given to the
cultivators in emergencies. It might be the reduction of revenue or economic or
financial help.
14. Dahsala system of Raja Todar mal
was in vague in the provinces of Bihar, malwa, Allahabad, Avadh, Agra, Delhi,
Lahore, and a part of Multan but other systems such as Galla Bakshi or Bantai
system, Nasq or Kankut system were prevalent in other parts of the empire, i.e.,
in Kandhar, Kashmir, Bengal, Kathiawar, etc.
15. The Patwaris an Muqaddams were
efficient revenue officials but their services were not recognized by the royal
court; however, they helped the imperial officers in the assessment and
collection of revenue. The post of Qanungos was recognized and they began to
receive their salaries from the royal court. The provincial Diwan had Amils and
Amalguzars for his help in the field of revenue. Akbar created a new post of Karori
later on.
16. All religious taxes such as
Jaziya and Zakat were abolished by Akbar. He also removed taxes on salt,
leather, blanket, and sale and purchase of animals and housed in order to give
relief to the cultivators. Akbar also tried to restrict the payment of local
taxes and system of bribe which was in vague during his regime.
Historians have difference of opinion
regarding the Dahsala system of Akbar. W.H. Moreland writes nothing about the
average produce but he refers to average prices which were considered essential
for the conversion of cereals into cash. On the contrary, V.A. Smith mentions
average produce without quoting average prices which helped in the fixation of
revenue for the ensuring years. But Dr. S.R. Sharma does not write anything
about average produce or average prices. He writes that the only difference
between revenue systems of Sher Shah and Akbar was that Akbar started the
practice of making cash payment of revenue in place of cereals. Dr. A. L.
Srivastava mentions that the system of average produce and average prices was prevalent
but the settlement was concluded after every tenth year.
Defects in Dahsala System
Besides the merits referred to above,
there were certain demerits in the Dahsala system of Akbar.
1. The revenue officials were
dishonest and corrupt. Akbar was very much interested in the welfare of the
cultivators but he could not save the peasants from the oppression of the
revenue officials.
2. The revenue was quite high and it
was realized sternly by the corrupt officials which troubled the cultivators
very much.
No Indian historian has pointed out
these defects. Only the British historians who wanted to highlight their own
revenue system, pointed out these defects, otherwise one-third revenue was not
high in any case. Sher Shah Suri who is popularly known for his revenue system,
not only charged one-third of the produce as revenue but also levied some other
taxes known as Zaribana or Mahasilana on the peasants. In fact, it is a
fabricated charge and peasants were not at all unhappy during the reign of
Akbar. Rather they enjoyed all the pleasures of life and led a prosperous life.
As they were liable to pay fixed revenue for ten years, they were inspired to
grow extra produce for their own benefit. In times of drought or famine not
only land revenue was reduced but Takavi loans were issued to the cultivators
for their welfare. They were also compensated from the imperial treasury in
case of any damage done to their crops during war period. Moreover, there were
no intermediaries Jagirdars to exploit the peasants as their own lands were
under the control of government officials.
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