Land Revenue system of Sher Shah Suri as discussed by Harsh
Sher Shah Suri was an Afghan from his origin and was an ordinary soldier when he started his carrier. He became noble soon after and he first captured the region of Bengal by subjugating the regions of Lakhnauti and other regions of east India. After that he slowly captured Jaunpur and come in direct conflict with Mughals. He defeated Humayun in the Battle of Kannauj in c. 1540 and became the ruler of North India after capturing Delhi and Agra and established the Sur Empire.
After establishing empire Sher Shah Suri took number of steps and undertook many reforms which become benchmark for coming rulers. The land revenue system was such a benchmark for many rulers like Akbar. During his days of Jagirdar of Sasaram, Sher Shah introduced new revenue system which used by him when he became the ruler of Hindustan.
Also Read : Land Revenue System of Delhi Sultanate
Religious Policy of Emperor Akbar
Deccan Policy of Later Mughals
Features of Land Revenue System of Sher Shah Suri
The land taxation system introduced by Sher Shah came to known as Zabti system which was rational and scientific in nature. Three categories of Land were made; good, middle and bad, on the basis of quality of land and soil. Bigha, Biswa and Gajj were used as measurement units of land (these units were the invention of Sikander Lodhi). The production was estimated by taking average of three type of lands.
He maintained balance between needs of state and interest of peasantry. He followed the liberal approach when assess revenue and was harsh when collected revenue. Patta was issued for protecting the interest of peasants. Kabuliat was taken from peasants to maintain interest of state. A list of rates was prepared which called Sher Shah’s “Ray”. Peasants were allowed to pay revenue in both cash and kind.
These arrangements of Sher Shah reduced scope of misuse of discretionary power by officials. This system of Sher also included emergency provisions. An emergency tax was also collected for providing assistance to peoples during the phase of emergency. Hence, the land this system of Sher was progressive in nature which motivated peasants to bring more lands under cultivation.
Limitation of Revenue System of Sher Shah Suri
Zabti system required to measurement of land every year and hence it was a cumbersome process which made delays in system as a result, peasants faced hardship. The price list provided by state was based on the prices prevailing in capital, they were more than prices in villages. Thus, peasants who paid revenue in cash were overburdened. The peasants having the good quality of land were under burdened and peasants who had bad quality of land were overburdened.
Sher Shah did not abolish the role of intermediaries. Although he did not allow them to collect extra revenue from peasants but after the death of Sher Shah, his successors were not that efficient hand hence, the intermediaries started exploiting peasants to maximum extent. Hence, the land revenue was highly successful and even set benchmark for ruler like Akbar who follows some elements of land revenue system of Sher Shah.