HISTORY. Subject : History (For under graduate student) Paper No. : Paper - III History of Mughal India. Script

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1 History of India 1 HISTORY Subject : History (For under graduate student) Paper No. : Paper - III History of Mughal India Topic No. & Title : Topic - 3 Environment Lecture No. & Title : Lecture - 1 Forest and Agricultural Zone in Mughal India Script Forest and Agricultural Zone in Mughal India In Islam there is a close harmony between man and nature. The Mughal emperors were great lovers of nature and took delight in spending their spare time in the lap of natural environment. Detailed information about the geographical features of India may be gleaned from the Tuzuk-e-Babri, the Ain-i-Akbari and the Akbarnama. Several other contemporary Persian sources including the Padshahnama of Abdul Hamid Lahori, the Mirat-i-Ahmadi of Muhammad Ali

2 History of India 2 Khan, and the accounts of foreign travelers like Francisco Palsaert, Sir Thomas Roe, Jean Baptiste Tavernier and jean de Thevenot, provide information about such matters as the climate, weather, natural surroundings and the flora and fauna prevalent in different parts of the Mughal Empire. The Ain-i-Akbari refers to different varieties of land, on the basis of production of the land and regional variety though some portions of Bengal, Thatta and Kashmir have not been mentioned in his account. According to the Ain-i-Akbari around 50% -55% growths had taken place in the agrarian sector during the reign of Akbar. Babur refers to the forest resources of Hindustan, and states that India was thickly forested when he attacked India. Mughal rulers took recourse to cutting down trees in order to facilitate troop movement. The Alamgir-Nama refers to the jungles of Assam and the extreme north-eastern part of India. According to the Alamgir-Nama there was a dense forest along both the sides of the river Brahmaputra except some portions which were

3 History of India 3 usually used for cultivation. Another important source is the Tarikh-i-Mulk -i-assam/tarikh-i-mulk-i-a shan. It refers to Kazraban, one of the most important forests or `jungle which is usually famous for the wild elephants. It is also reported that several elephants were even captured from these forest lands. Bengal was famous for its dense forests. Rennell s `A Bengal Atlas, 1781, had given some information regarding Bengal s forest resources. Several contemporary Bengali literary sources provide some information in this regard. One of the most remarkable sources is Mukundaram Chakravarti s Kalikinkan Chandi. It refers to the different forest regions of Bengal and also the different varieties of forests of Bengal. It refers to Cooch Behar, Ghoraghat and some portions of Sylhet being covered with forests. Another account in this concern is that the delta region of Bengal i.e. the Sundarban region was a very rich forest and was famous for wild elephants. Abul Fazl has reported that during the time of Akbar, several wild elephants were captured from these forests. It may be quite possible that

4 History of India 4 these wild elephants were introduced in these forests by the local chieftains or the Rajas. The Mughal policy on forests was one of indifference, with forests being used by them mostly as game reserves for the purpose of hunting. They did show an interest in trees from an aesthetic and utilitarian point of view rather than one of preservation or improvement. They laid substantial emphasis on roadside plantations for the benefit of the public and on mulberry plantations for the silk trade. In theory forests were under the state but the state did not have direct control over these forests because the local chieftains, rajas and zamindars exercised local control over them. Orissa was also covered with dense forests. The most important account in this regard was written by Abdul Hamid Lahori (Padshahnama), in Shah Jahan s period, in which he states that the south-eastern part of the district Ganjam had seventy five miles of dense forest. Hamilton s record which is roughly an 18 th century document, gives us information regarding the forest areas which were along the

5 History of India 5 sides of the rivers and to some extent in Balasore. There were thick forest areas in the Terai or the Himalayan foothills. There are some other references relating to the forest resources in Rohilkhand also. The most extensive, unbroken forest within India in Mughal times was indeed in central India. Irfan Habib referred to this forest as The Great Central Indian Forest. It covers the different areas of extensive forestlands stretching from Balasore, between rivers Mahanadi and Godavari to Jharkhand between rivers Sone and Mahanadi. The abundance of wild elephants found in these forests has been pointed out. Forest resources included firewood, timber, charcoal, bamboo, gum, lac, beeswax, wild skin and musk. The most important and major forest products which had some commercial value were timber and firewood. Ain-i-Akbari refers to the utilization of timber in the royal kitchen of Akbar where it reflects that nearly 37, 63,890 kilograms of timber were required. Unfortunately the price of this timber or firewood has not been mentioned. But according to the account of Pelsaert which came some years later, a comparison has been made between the prices of Agra and

6 History of India 6 its surrounding areas with places like Ajmer, Allahabad and some portions of eastern India. Here he stated that the price of timber or firewood in Agra was cheaper than that in the other places. Good quality timber such teak, saal were available in India. The Ain-i-Akbari refers to seventy-two varieties of timber which were available in India. Timber was valuable not only for domestic purposes but was used in the construction of several buildings also. From the 17 th century and 18 th century onwards this timber was utilized for the making of ships and boats. Different other varieties of wood were available in several portions of the country. In Assam and Bengal different varieties of wood were available. Bernier accounted that Bengal was very famous even for beeswax, gum and lac, which were also found in several other parts of India. But the quality of beeswax in Bengal was very high and rich. The elephant was one of the most unique and useful animals which was used in war and also as beast of burden or pleasure trips. In the establishment of Akbar it is estimated that there were 5000 elephants. Agra, Awadh, some portions of Bengal and the north-eastern part of

7 History of India 7 Assam were very famous for the elephant. Another animal which got importance during the period of Akbar was the cheetah. The cheetahs were utilized for the purpose of hunting. Ain-i-Akbari reports that there were a thousand cheetahs in the establishment of Akbar which were trained for the purpose of deer-hunting. Among other animals mentioned are, antelope, gazelles and lions. The economic structure of the Mughal Empire was based on agricultural production. It is evident that different varieties of crops, vegetables, fruits and flowers were cultivated in different regions. The work of Professor Irfan Habib is considered as a unique effort in this regard. Another work which needs mentioning is the work of Shireen Moosvi on The Economy of the Mughal Empire in which she has given the statistical data of the Mughal Empire on the basis of the production of different regions. As far as the population is concerned in Mughal India it is not possible to arrive at any numbers in the absence of any form of census in the Mughal period. However W.H.Moreland had made efforts to clarify the population or the growth of population by working out the total area under cultivation at the end of

8 History of India 8 the 16 th century. According to Moreland, on the basis of contemporary documents, there were a hundred million population in Mughal India during that time. He concluded his statement on the basis of `Razzi which means area measured for revenue purposes. There are several arguments among the scholars relating to this ratio but it is well evident that 85% of the total population of Mughal India was from the rural society. Kinsley Davis had also mentioned an account. He accounted that in the year 1600 the population in India was about a hundred And twenty million and it remained almost the same till the second half of the 18 th century. Between 1800 and 1871 it was almost double because it was the period of British expansion and by the year 1800 the population was nearly 200 million which is almost double. D Bhattacharya refers to a figure of 207 million and Moris D Moris refers to a little less which is million. It is a 19 th century account. According to their observations, the population in the sixteenth century was a hundred and fifty million populations and it grew to two hundred million in the 17 th to 19 th century, which implies a growth rate of 33%.

9 History of India 9 Another important aspect in this regard is the gardens of the Mughals. Julie Scott Mesiani describes the medieval Islamic garden as a hortus conclusus walled off and protected from the outside world, in which the inner sphere was filled with features like running water and a pool to reflect the beauty of the sky, and trees of various sorts to provide shade as well as to produce fruits and flowers where birds would be attracted. The Mughals were influenced by the Persian style of gardens. Significant use of rectilinear layouts was made with fountains and waterways inside them. Different types of gardens were introduced for the first time in India by the Mughals. Babur introduced the Char Bagh system. This tradition was also carried on by Akbar and Jahangir. The reign of Shah Jahan marks the apex of Mughal gardens. The Agra Garden(now Ram Bagh), the Shalimar garden and the gardens in the Taj Mahal and Red Fort complexes were some of the outstanding gardens laid out under the Mughals. Several contemporary Mughal paintings show the social impact of the Mughal gardens. Several fruits and flowers were produced in India. Several flowers were

10 History of India 10 introduced in India by the Mughals as a result of their gardening. An important aspect of their gardening was the water-management system of the Mughal gardens. W.S.Siddiqui s work in this regard was considered the most important. The purpose of laying out gardens was only to decorate the palaces, or to be used as holiday resorts or places of retreat but had another purpose too. The environment of northern India apart from Kashmir was hot and humid for most part of the year and so to keep the palaces cool and eco-friendly the Mughals built up several gardens inside and outside the palaces. In conclusion it may be asserted that although there was abundant forest cover in India during Mughal rule, some forests were cleared for purposes of military expeditions on the one hand and for agricultural necessities on the other. The growth rate of population in the entire Mughal period shows that there had been considerable development in the field of agriculture. Although the environmental balance was not disturbed as such in Mughal India, it was with the establishment of colonial rule that large scale deforestation was carried out. The Mughals were very close to nature. The

11 History of India 11 kind of forest policies adopted by the British, caused a problem to the environment and to the society as well. And since there was a balance in nature, under the Mughal Empire we can conclude that the Mughals were reasonably conscious regarding the environment.