CHAPTER I

DEVELOPMENT OF AWADH
AS A REGIONAL STATE

During the Mughal period, the suba of Awadh comprised of five

sarkars, Awadh, Gorakhpur, Bahraich, Khairabad, and Lucknow; and

thirty-eight pargana5\ Ain-i-Akbari describes the suba: "Its length from the

sarkar of Gorakhpur to Kanauj is 135 kos. Its breadth from the northern

mountains to Sidhpur on the frontier of the suba of Allahabad is 115 kos.

To the east is Bihar; to the north, the mountains; to the south, Manikpur,

and to the west Kanauj....Its principal streams are the saru (Sarju), the

Ghaghar (Gogra), the sai and the Godi (Gumti)"^.

At the outset of the eighteenth century the suba was still not much

sought after by Mughal nobles, and they accepted the charge of the suba

with reluctance. When Burhan-ul-Mulk^ was asked to march towards

Abul Fazl, Ain-i- Akbari, tr. Colonel H S Jarrett, Delhi, 1978, Vol. II, p. 184.
2
Ibid, p. 181.

Muhammad Shah bestowed on him this tide in 1723, earlier he was adorned

with the title of Saadat Khan in 1720. His father a qazi in the declining

Safavid Empire, migrated to Hindustan in 1707, settled in Patna under the

patronage of Murshid Quli Khan. After the death of his father, he went to

Delhi to seek a position at the Mughal court. Saiyad Ghulam Ali Khan Imad-
 10

Awadh and take over the subedari of the province, he was not given

personal audience of the Emperor; the new appointment was perhaps a

punishment for his failures in the suba of Agra. He, however, was able to

deal with the challenges of his new subedari and successfully carved a

viable state in Awadh. He and his successors firmly dealt with the

challenges and having secured the resources, made the suba a relatively

prosperous place to govern. The appointment of Safar Jang to the post of

wazir (1748)"* indicated the growing influence Awadh had on the Mughal

court. The first two Nawabs of Awadh laid the foundation of an

autonomous regional state, independent of the Mughal imperial court.

From the early eighteenth century the control of the central authority

over the governors declined. The governors, in the early eighteenth century,

started combining governorship of Awadh with the faujdaris of the Awadh,

and also of the adjoining areas. The post of governor was at times decided

to keep a powerful noble away from the centre. The local connections and

influence were also other considerations in the appointments. The

appointments of Sarbuland Khan and Chabila Ram with additional

privileges was not simply on account of their closeness to the emperor

us-Saadat, Lucknow, 1864, pp. 5, 30; A L Shrivastav, First two Nawabs Of

Awadh, Agra, 1954, pp. 20, 35.

Two Nawabs, p. 123.

 11

Farukh Siyar, but also owing to the formers's connections with the

shaikhzadas of the Awadh, and the latter's influence in the province^

Gradually, the governors of Awadh acquired control over the post of

diwani and faujdari as well. The governors of Awadh tended to control the

faujdari either through its direct acquisition or through an appointment of

their clients to the office. The governors used their control o\&[ faujdaris to

restore stability and orderliness in their province. Moreover, the governor's

control over the office of the diwan strengthened his position and allowed

him to retain firm control over the distribution of resources andjagirs in the

province.

The administration of jagirs in Awadh also changed during the

period. The jagirdars had been using their assignments to wield

considerable power in the region. The administration of jagirs was largely

under the control of the provincial diwan, but the political stability required

for the realization of revenues depended on an efficient and effective

governorship. However, with the weakening of Imperial authority, the

governor could deal with the jagirdars on his own terms.

In early November 1707 Chin Qlich Khan (later Nizam-ul-Mulk) combined

his govemorship of Awadh with a number of faujdaris in the province and

the faujdari of Jaunpur which lay on the borders of Allahabad province. Cf.

M Alam, op.cit, pp.58-65.

 12

Burhan-ul-Mulk, and his successor Safdar Jang, introduced a

number of changes in the jagir administration. The governors sold the

jagirs to jagirdars on a contractual basis. Further, as a rule no tankhawah

jagir could be made without the signature and seal of either the Emperor or

the governor. The nawabs achieved considerable success in marginalizing

the interference of jagir holders in the province and their manipulations in

the central imperial politics. The governor and the diwan together

commanded a superior position in the province, so long as the revenues of

Awadh remained predominantly in jagirs of the mansabdars^. The office of

ihtfaujdar was also reformed during the period. At the level of sarkar, the

faujdars were replaced by naibs or nazims whose powers included the

executive, military and fiscal matters. Faujdari was thus brought within the

fold of provincial administration under the control of governor. The

powers of the madad-i-mash grantees were also reduced with the

resumption of many of these grants. The policy was, however, later

abandoned by Safdar Jang who wanted to gain local support.

Burhan-ul-Mulk firmly dealt with the rebellious zamindars with a

definite policy which was followed by his successors. The zamindars were

cowed down not only with the might of the army but their influences were

also counterbalanced by promoting non-Rajput elements in refractory

^ Ibid, pp. 72-73.

 13

Rajput zamindaris. Where these measures were not effective, the rebellious

zamindars were incorporated and pacified with specific concessions^.

The nawab, through all these measures, was able to substantially

increase the jama of the region in his possession^. A firm resource base

enabled the first two nawabs to increase their territorial possessions. By the

time of Safdar Jang, it was extended to Kora Jahanabad, Allahabad.

Benaras, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, and Chunargarh^ and was checked only later

on with the intervention of British East India Company.

For the restoration of peace and order in the region and stability of

the revenue system, the support of the local elites was indispensable. The

opposition of the Shaikhzadas, associates of Saiyyad Brothers, against

Burhan-ul-Mulk was understandable, as he was one of the benefactors of

the conspiracy against Saiyyads. But the Shaikhzadas of Kakori played a

crucial role in winning over the opposing Shaikhzadas, which subsequently,

even made the Saiyyids staunch supporters of nawabs' rule. Later, Burhan-

ul-Mulk and his successor Safdar Jang took special care to nurture their

support. The Sheikhs and Saiyyads of Bilgram fought for Burhan-ul-Mulk

in the battle of Kamal and also against the Bangash Afghans (in 1751). The

^ Ibid., pp. 212-219.

^ Ibid., pp. 252-3.

' Bamett, op.cit, pp.27-8.

 14

Mapl'

Awadh during Expansion, 1720-1774

* Cf. Bamett, p.24.
 15

local support thus saved the regime in exigencies'^. Moreover any revolt

against the regime was considered disgraceful". Their support and loyalty

became very crucial for the Safdar Jang. It was perhaps in this

background that Safdar Jang departed from the earlier policy of resuming

madad-i-mash grants.

The support of the local elite for the regime was also quite important

for it. The decline of the imperial authority resulted in a scarcity of career

opportunities. For the local elites the possible alternate avenues could be

secured only through the indigenous regime. This possibly explains the

defiance of the imperial order by the ruling classes of the suba for the

confiscation of the property of Safdar Jang following his defeat by

Afghan^^. The threats from Maratha's incursions in the region and their

extortions from the Mughal Emperor also concerned the local ruling class

and they rallied their support to the regime. Burhan-ul-Mulk and Safdar

Jang thereby successfully forestalled any Maratha encroachments in the

10
M Alam, p. 234.
11
An armed resistance by a Sheikh zamindar in Amethi, in the wake of the

disturbances that followed the invasion of Nadir Shah, was characterized by

a chronicler as a disgraceful act of ingratitude. Ibid, p. 233.

12
Ibid, pp. 233-34.
13
Ibid, p. 234.
 16

region. This not only saved the subedari but also made the ruling class

secure from major readjustments that might have come with the Maratha

conquest.

The absorption of local elements in the provincial administration

was preferred by Burhan-ul-Mulk and Safdar Jang but their employment

was confined to the secondary levels. The bulk of the central army was still

commanded by the Mughals, Qizibash (the Iranian Turks), Turanian Turks,

Kashmiris, and Gosains who had no local roots''^. The army and

administration of Burhan-ul-Mulk also employed a large number of Hindus.

In all probability, the Hindu elements serving the army and administration

of the regime might have local origin and the incorporation of them in the

provincial army and administration must have been actuated by the same

motives that governed the inclusion of other elements. It was only during

the reign of Shuja-ud-Daula and onwards that the local recruits were

preferred.

With the local support, therefore, the nawabs tried to carve out an

autonomous state, distinct in many aspects. The marks of imperial authority

like the confirmation of appointments, appointments of subordinates,

paying formal tributes nazar, reading khutba and minting coins in the name

of Emperor; were respected by the early nawabs. But the imperial authority

'"* Two Nawabs, p. 243.

 17

was appropriated by the nawabs on two important aspects. First, the right to

nominate their successor in provincial government and the other, to have

independent relations with the neighboring provinces. These nawabs and

their successors frequently received titles, robe of honor and khilats, but

Burhan-ul-Mulk nominated his heir in the subedari, a right which was

retained by the successive nawabs. Both Burhan-ul-Mulk and Safdar Jang

maintained an independent relationship with the Marathas and neighboring

provincial governors'^.

The role played by Burhan-ul-Mulk during Ahmad Shah Abdali's

attack and his independent negotiations emphasized his autonomous

existence and his unsubordinated relations with the Mughal Emperor. He

extended his support to Abdali in protest when he was denied the post of

mir bakhshi^^. His successor Safdar Jang continued to be the subedar along

with the fresh royal insignia of wazir in 1748, legitimizing the nawab's

assumed autonomous status'^.

The autonomy of Awadh was compromised with the ascendance of

the EngUsh Company. Shuja-ud-Daula and Asaf-ud-Daula had to share the

resources of the province with the British, surrendering their military

•^ Bamett, p. 30.

'^ Ibid, pp. 31-33.

•"^ Two Nawab, pp. 123-24.

control, foreign policy and opening up territory to British trade. Shuja-ud-

Daula continued to maintain internal administration with strong

centralization. Asaf-ud-Daula, however, transferred not only the rights of

administration to the British, but also allowed territorial outsourcing for

meeting out the British outstanding payments and subsidies to the troops.

This 'decentralization' had a far-reaching implication on the overall

revenue administration of the province, allowing agrarian classes to

appropriate revenue resources through concealment of revenue details. The

arrangement did not realize the repayment of outstanding British liabilities,

but disrupted the resource base of the regime. The failure gave reasons to

the British to demand territories in perpetuity with administrative control,

leading to the cession of half of the nawab's territory in 1801, as a pre

condition for the accession of Nawab Saadat Ali Khan. As per the

arrangement of 1801, the number of the Nawab's own troops was limited,

the British took over the defense of his territories against all foreign and

domestic enemies, a detachment of British troops, with a proportion of

artillery, remaining at all times attached to him'^.

The loss of political and financial powers with the state had grave

consequences for the state's relations with the agrarian classes. Saadat Ali

The Bengal and Agra Annual Guide And Gazetteer for 184, (third edition,

Calcutta), vol. 11, part. II, p. 149

 19

Khan, despite the constraints of the treaty of 1801, did try to reorganize the

revenue administration and strengthen his grip over the zamindars and

rajas.. He revalued and separately assessed the lands of each village, did

away with the inams so lavishly bestowed by his predecessors, and

deprived the old chieftains, so far as possible, of their nankar allowances as

well as their privileged position as intermediaries. With the continuous

supervision and vigilance efficiency and fairness was secured during his

reign. In certain cases he also extended concessions to these chieftains,

respecting their local connections and influences, and seeking their

assistance in revenue collection'^. The appropriation of land of the landed

class was intensified, enlarged holdings giving way to talluqdari tenure,

during the chaotic and fragmented administrative control of his successors.

The inability of Ghazi-ud-Din Haider, and his successors down to Wajid

Ali Shah, to assert power and authority in the region, allowed the

landholders to consolidate their position once again, and re-estabUsh their

autonomous centres of local authority.

The land revenue system that evolved during the nawabi rule is

marked with different stages. The predominant ijara system supplied the

added requirement of the revenue demand more or less uninterruptedly

from the reign of Burhan-ul-Mulk up to the reign of Shuja-ud-Daula.

'^ Metcalf, op.cit, pp. 23-24.

 20

Besides, the amani system also continued but on a limited scale. Asaf-ud-

Daula however witnessed difficulty in the revenue administration owing to

the British meddling with the collection of revenues but the ijara system

continued to be the mainstay of the revenue collection system.

Basic structure and unit of administration were also altered as the

territorial possession varied from Burhan-ul-Mulk down to Saadat Khan.

By the time of Shuja-ud-Daula the domain of nawab consisted of four

subahs, out of which the two subahs of Awadh and Allahabad were divided

into sarkars which was further divided into parganas or chaklas. The in-

charge of the revenue collection in the sarkar was amil and at the pargana

level tahsildar was entrusted with the responsibility of revenue

administration, while the other two subahs were headed by the faujdar with

the responsibility of revenue collection with full control over the amils and

their appointments^".

After the cession of territories in 1801, Saadat Khan divided the

territories left with him into smaller units called chakla and placed them

under the charge of chakladars, who were responsible for the collection of

revenue and maintenance of law and order. The chaklas, some twelve in

number, were then incorporated in the four nizamat of Khairabad, Gonda-

^° AL Shrivastava, Shuja-ud-Daula, 1765-1775, Agra, 1974, vol. II, pp. 289-

90.
 21

Bahraich, Faizabad-Sultanpur, and Baiswara. The nazim was in-charge of

nizamat, who exercised a general supervision over the government and

deployed the military force, which often included artillery English-officered

sepoys, posted in his jurisdiction. The chakla was divided into parganas,

remained under the charge of chaudhries or tahsildars, who, together with

qanungo, made the actual assessment in the villages and collected the

revenue from them^V

The ijara system received greater application since the time of

Saadat Khan. The ijaradari system ensured the regular supply of revenue,

and also provided encouragement to the cultivation when ijaradars were

closely supervised and retained in contract for longer period. But after the

reign of Saadat Khan the system became exploitative and ruinous for the

cultivators, as the successive rulers, either were incapable, or, if capable,

the circumstance did not allow them to check the ijaradars and exercise

control over them. The period also witnessed a frequent change of hands,

denying the ijaradars the opportunity of a long term assignment. The

anomalies which crept into the system were vehemently criticized by the

British, who unceasingly argued in favor of switching over to amani

system. The amani system too was not devoid of anomalies as the amils

who received the fixed salary had enough scope to manipulate the

^' C A Elliot, Chronicles Of Oonao, Allahabad, 1862, pp. 131 -32.

 22

assessment in favor of 0 e landlords and were therefore equally ruinous

and exploitative.

Another system ^a t appeared mOre attractive but in actual practice

was more cumbersome and labor intensive was the huzur tahsil. Under this

system the revenue management was entrusted to the head of the

proprietary body of each village. Free from all interferences of the district

authorities, the village head took the security of assessment and paid

directly to the treasury. The system required the dealing with a number of

zamindars and, therefore, was cumbersome for the government. Moreover,

it was also not taken willingly by most zamindars .

The governors of Awadh consolidated their position through diverse

means. They maintained the outward signs of subservience to the Mughal

Emperor, but exercised complete command of power and authority in the

region. The governors of Awadh incorporated new elements in the

governance and introduced changes in the administration as per their

requirements, best suited for the regime. They had to deal with the British

supremacy after the battle of Buxar, and the state was annexed to British

Empire in 1856.

^^ Metcalf, pp. 26-27.

^^ Ibid, pp. 25-26.

 23

Map 2*

Territorial Cessions, 1775-1801

Cf.Bamett,p.l08.
 Chapter II

Agricultural Production and Trade

Awadh was one of the sarkar located in the heartland of the Empire

with rich alluvial soil; fertile and productive. Man Habib has argued that

the extent of cultivation increased by a hundred percent of the total

cultivable land in the region of Allahabad, Awadh, Bihar, and parts of

Bengal from 1595 to 1909-10'. He is supported by Shireen Moosvi in her

quantitative study of Mughal economy^. Muzaffar Alam, on the other hand,

has conducted a specific study of the Mughal region of Awadh and Punjab;

and in case of the former, argues that the eighteenth century was a period of

economic growth, owing to the extension of agriculture, which is indicated

by the increase in jama (see below).

Concerning the Nawabi period, the evidence is scarce. The first

detailed recording of figures took place only after the annexation, when

British conducted detailed measurements and surveys. These reports, in

some cases, also record the fiscal history of the concerned region, and

' Man Habib, The Agrarian System of Mughal India 1556-1707, Oxford, 1999.

pp. 21-22.

Shireen Moosvi, The Economy of the Mughal Empire c.1595 A Statistical

Study, Delhi, 1987, pp. 50-51.

 25

therefore may be of use as a source for the study of economic trends. These

records do not lie within the period under study (the regular settlement and

survey starting only after 1861-62), they might in some ways be still useful

to understand the state of agriculture during the Nawabi period. The other

problem for the study Ues in the fact that the boundaries of Awadh as a

sarkar of Mughal empire underwent frequent changes and could attain

relative stabiUty only after 1801, when the Nawab had to share half of the

revenues of his province with the British.

Muzaffar Alam, who compared the available revenue figures of the mid

eighteenth century with those of the late sixteenth century (found in Ain-i-

Akbari), has shown a significant rise in the jama from 1595 to 1755. In

Awadh, the jama rose by over 85 per cent, the maximum, 267.37 per cent,

being in sarkar Gorakhpur, followed by 116.14 per cent in sarkar

Khairabad, 82.66 per cent in sarkar Lucknow, 55.16 per cent in sarkar

Bahraich and 43.40 per cent in sarkar Awadh^. In the Benaras region, the

rise was over 107 per cent (from 1595 to 1720), in sarkar Kora (on the

southern borders of Awadh) it was by over 134 per cent (from 1595 to

1720) and in the Rohilla country (in the Moradabad-Bareilly region) the

rise was, incredibly, over 247 per cent (from 1595 to 1750). This

spectacular rise in jama had definitely a bearing on the increase in

^ M.Alam, p. 103.
 26

agricultural production, according to him '*. He further argues that the hasil

figures, taken as the revenues collected by the state officials, also register a

similar increase suggesting that the hasil was following the jama in

suggesting an expansion in cultivation.

The area under cultivation in Awadh is similarly worked out in detail.

Man Habib holds that the area-wise extension of cultivation in the region of

Awadh increased by about a hundred percent in the period c. 1595 and c.

191(f. Even if the data on measured cultivable area is not available for the

Nawabi period, the available records on measured area provided by the first

survey and settlement, conducted by the British after the annexation,

become important as these were close to the Nawabi period.

The part of the Awadh that was ceded to the British in 1801, forming

the North West Province, underwent a thorough measurement and

assessment soon after the secession. In this region, according to the census

of 1853 the general average of the percentage of cultivated area to total area

was 53.0 per cent^.In the other half, the revenue surveys and Khasrah

4
Ibid, pp. 252-254.
5
Agrarian System, pp. 21-23.
6
'Minute by the hon'ble the Lieutenant-Govmor, North Western Provinces,

on the subject of making the settlement of the land revenue in the North

Westem Provinces, permanent', Dated Nayneetal, the 27'^ May, 1862,

 27

surveys started froml 862-63 onwards. Since the readjustment of

boundaries took place only in 1869, we can have the total area of Awadh

given in these settlement reports as almost the same as in pre- annexation

period. The percentage ascertained, according to the first regular settlement,

for the area of cultivation in the province of Awadh to the total area was

54.55 per cent^. The following table 2.1 gives the percentage of the

cultivation to the total area in some of the districts of Awadh:

Table 2.1:

Serial Name of the district Percentage of cultivation

no. to total area

1. Sultanpur^ 50

2. Partabgarh' 53.4

3. Lucknow'° 54.4

Correspondence Regarding the Permanent Settlement of the N W

Province(1862), p. 17.

A F Millett, Report of the Settlement of the Land Revenue of the Sultanpur

District 1873, Section-II, Para-383.

* Ibid,

^ 'Proceeding of the Officiating Chief Commissioner of Oudh, in the Revenue

Department (No 3937, dated 2 Nov. 1876)', para-7, W E orbes, SeUlement

Report of Partapgarh 1877.

'° H H Butts, Settlement Report of Lucknow District, 1873, Part II, para-15.
 28

4. RaiBareli" 49.5

5. Bahraich*^ 47

6. Fyzabad'^ 56.23

If we compare cultivable land in the province of Awadh in 1869

with that of 1909-10, it comes to around 80 per cent of e latter 14

Looking at the productivity of soil and the general soil conditions

during the eighteenth century, we find the soil in Awadh to be

extraordinarily fertile. This has been brought out by the accounts of

European observers. Northern Rohilkhand, the central districts of Awadh

around Lucknow and Fyzabad and the alluvial tracts along river Ganges

between Chunar and Benaras down towards Buxar, were noted by

Europeans in the eighteenth century as some of the most fertile and

populated parts of the whole subcontinent. The Benaras region was

exceptionally rich and, in terms of productivity, was seen as equal to

contemporary Bengal. Cultivation in central and southern Awadh could be

resumed without much capital as soil was moderately light and fertile, and

11
J F Macandrew, Settlement Report of Rai Bareli 1872, para-120 (p. 67).
12
Gazzetteer o the Province Oudh, Delhi, 1877-8, vol.1, p. 198
13
Ibid, p. 405.
14
Agricultural Statistics of India 1913-14, Calcutta 1916, vol. I, p. 46.
 29

water table was not so low as to make the cost of irrigation prohibitive. In

Benaras region, good natural irrigation was also available for watering the

rabi crops while parts of the Moradabad-Bareilly region profited splendidly

from spring torrent'^.

In spite of these natural advantages to the agriculture, the method of

agriculture appears to be more or less on the traditional pattern (see table

2.2 for implements). The irrigational devices were not advanced ones like

the Persian wheel. It was not in vogue'^. Water was lifted from the bank

through leathern bag and rope with the help of wooden weighty pulley. In

the high banks of the rivers, towards the eastern parts of Awadh, zigzag

channels were occasionally cut into which the water was raised by series of

baskets at different heights. The well-irrigation was also common but its

use was declining in the region during the nineteenth century as it was

becoming more expensive'^.

In the region of Awadh the manuring of soil was mainly done

through the traditional method of using bio-wastes. However, in the

nineteenth century Donald Butter complains that it needs a lot of

•^ M Alam, p. 254.

'^ Donald Butter, Topography and Statistics of Southern Districts of Awadh,

Delhi, 1839, reprint 1982, pp. 67-68

'^ Ibid, pp. 66-68.

 30

improvement and 'the fertility of soil could be augmented, by deep

1 Q

ploughing and plentiful manuring, with scientific compost' .

However, the cropping pattern impressed contemporary observers as

the most remarkable feature of the agriculture in the region. The rotation of

crops- harvesting of two and in some cases three crops in the year- were

also practiced in the region of Awadh.

The implements of agriculture being traditional were also not

expensive. The following table 2.2 lists the type of implements and their

cost^^:

Table 2.2:

Serial Type of Implements Cost

No. Rs. As. Ps.

1. Plough (Har) 0 2 0

2. Iron Ploughshare (P'har) 0 8 0

3. Hoe or Pick-axe (Kudar) 0 8 0

4. Broad Hoe (P'harua) 1 0 0

5. Heavy Plank (Serawan) 0 2 0

6. Yoke for Serawan and plough 0 2 0

7. Leathern Bag (Pur or Garra) (a) 1 8 0

(b) 1 0 0

18
Ibid, p. 63.
19
Ibid, pp. 62-63.