To what extent is it possible to characterise agricultural production in the sixteenth-seventeenth centuries as subsistence agriculture? Give reasons for your answer.
(a) In India a great variety of crops were produced. Bengal alone produced 50 varieties of rice. But the focus on the cultivation of basic crops does not mean that only subsistence agriculture existed in medieval India.
(b) The Mughal state encouraged peasants to cultivate crops which brought in revenue especially cotton and sugarcane.
(c) Cotton was grown over a wide area including Central India and the Deccan plateau, whereas Bengal was famous for its sugar.
(d) Cash crops were grown included many varieties of oil seeds including mustard and lentils.
(e) Thus an average peasant grew both commercial and subsistence crops.
What are the problems in using the Ain as a source for reconstructing agrarian history? How do historians deal with this situation?
Describe the role played by women in agricultural production.
Examine the evidence that suggests that land revenue was important for the Mughal fiscal system.
Discuss, with examples, the significance of monetary transactions during the period under consideration.
