Economic & Social development under Mughals. Thread...

#ThanksMughals

𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗠𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗗𝗜 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮
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It was the normal policy of the Mughals, to encourage trade. Akbar, did so by linking together various parts of the country..

through an efficient system of roads and abolishing many inland tolls & duties

Both Akbar and Jahangir interested themselves in the foreign seaborne trade.
The Mughals welcomed foreign trader, provided ample protection and security for his transactions, and levied a very...

Low customs duty usually not more than 2.5%.

The expansion of local handicrafts and industry resulted in a reservoir of exportable goods. Indian exports consisted mainly of manufactured articles, with cotton cloth in great demand in Europe and elsewhere. 
Contd..

Indigo, saltpeter, spices, opium, sugar, woolen and silk cloth of various kinds, yarn, asafoetida, salt, beads, borax, turmeric, lac, sealing wax, and drugs of various kinds, were also exported.

The principal imports were bullion, horses,& a certain quantity of luxury..
contd.

goods for the upper classes, like raw silk, coral,amber, precious stones, superior textiles (silk, velvet, brocade, broadcloth), perfumes, drugs, china goods & European wines. By & large, however, in return for their goods Indian merchants insisted on payment in gold or silver.

The demand for articles supplied by India was so great & requirements of European goods so limited, that Europe was obliged to trade on India's own terms until the 18th century, when special measures were taken in England & elsewhere to discourage the demand for Indian goods....

India sent cloth to almost half the world: the east coast of Africa, Arabia, Egypt, Southeast Asia, as well as Europe. The textile industry, well established in Akbar's day, continued to flourish under his successors, and soon the operations of Dutch&English traders brought...

India into direct touch with Western markets. This resulted in great demand for Indian cotton goods from Europe. Even the silk industry—especially in Bengal—was in flourishing condition.

Akbar took a special interest in the development of indigenous industry...

contd...

He was directly responsible for the expansion of silk weaving at Lahore, Agra, Fathpur-Sikri, Gujarat. He opened a large number of factories at important centers, importing master weavers from Persia, Kashmir, and Turkistan. Akbar frequently visited the workshops near palace...

to watch the artisans at work, which encouraged the craftsmen and raised their status.

𝗨𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲:
All foreign travelers speak of the wealth&prosperity of Mughal cities& large towns. Monserrate stated that Lahore in 1581 was "not second to any city in Europe or Asia." .

Finch, who traveled in the early days of Jahangir, found both Agra & Lahore to be much larger than London, and his testimony is supported by others. Other cities like Surat, Ahmadabad, Allahabad, Benares, and Patna similarly excited the admiration of visitors...

Contd..

The efficient system of city government under the Mughals encouraged trade. The pivot of urban administration was the kotwal, the city governor. In addition to his executive and judicial powers, it was his duty to prevent and detect crime, to perform many of the function...

now assigned to the municipal boards, to regulate prices, and in general, to be responsible for the peace and prosperity of the city.

The Mughals tried to ensure high standards by making the kotwal personally responsible for the property&the security of the citizens..
Contd..

Most of this flourishing commerce was in the hands of the traditional Hindu merchant classes.

Bernier, writing during Aurangzeb's time, declared that the Hindus possessed "almost exclusively the trade and wealth of the country."

When a Muslim merchant did have a large business.

..he employed Hindu bookkeepers and agents. Banking was almost exclusively in Hindu hands.

Even the "war of succession" out of which Aurangzeb emerged victorious was financed by a loan of five and a half lakhs of rupees from the Jain bankers of Ahmadabad...

Contd...

Here one sees a contrast with British rule, when the British not only monopolized the higher civil service posts but also controlled most of the major industries as well as the great banks and trading agencies.

Contd.....

𝗥𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:
Conditions in the rural areas during the Mughal period were much the same as at present, with one important difference—the Muslim rulers had scarcely disturbed the old organization of the villages. The panchayats continued to settle most disputes,

except for the collection of land revenue.

The incidence of land revenue was substantially higher under the Mughals & in Hindu states like Vijayanagar than in British India, but the administration was more flexible, both in its assessment and collection....

Contd...

Apart from the remission of land revenue when crops failed, there was reduction in govt demand even when bumper crops caused prices to fall. For Ex btwn 1585-1590 very large sums had 2b written off because of good harvests had resulted in a surplus&peasants could not sell crops.

State also advanced loans to the cultivators, occasionally provided seed as well as for digging wells. Loans advanced to the cultivators for seeds, implements, bullocks, or digging of wells were called taqavi—an expression which has continued in modern land revenue administration

𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 & 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀:
Public hospitals had been provided in Muslim India, at least since the days of Firuz Tughluq (1351–1388), the system seems to have been extended during the Mughal period. Jahangir states in his autobiography that on his...

accession to the throne he ordered the establishment, at government expense, of hospitals in large cities.

Use of medicines had been developed among the Hindus, but dissection was considered to be irreligious.Muslims, who didnt hv this restriction, performed a no of operations.