Revenue collection methods of Medieval Rajasthan
- The land revenue was referred to as Lagaan, Bhog, or Hasil, and revenue fixation varied across different Riyasats.
- Three primary bases were employed for determining rent or land revenue:
- Nature of Land – Barani or Unnav,
- Market Price of the Crop and Productivity, and
- Caste of the Peasant – Jats paid more taxes than Rajputs, Brahmins, and Mahajan peasants.
- Patel or Chaudhary played an important role in determining and collecting rent.
- Following methods were employed for revenue collection:
- Lata Method:Crop was harvested under the supervision of Lata/Batai Method Recovery Officer and it was weighed and revenue was collected.
- Kunta method: Under this, it is estimated by looking at the standing crop. Used to determine taxes, no weighing or measuring was done.
- Mukata : when a lump sum assessment of revenue is made.
- Dori: determination on the basis of measurement of land
- Ghugri : it was determined on the basis of seeds provided by state
- Bighori : based on Bigha
Peasants were in a stable condition during medieval revenue collection. They were owners of land and received rebates during droughts, with the provision of charahagah land. However, this system weakened with the arrival of the Britishers.
