:Revenue Free Land Grants in Mughal India: Awadh Region in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (1658-1765)

Abstract

The study of social and economic history of India is one of the dominant trends of the recent historiography. The present book explains the different aspects of the revenue free grants (madad-i-maash) of Awadh under the Mughals. The book starts with the introduction which examines the physical featues and political condition of Awadh region and an introductory outline of revenue free grants. In the second chapter the policies of the Mughal emperors for the assignment of the madad-i-maash have been explained. In the third chapter procedures of the assignment of the madad-i-maash and the nature of the grant have been discussed in detail. In the fourth chapter, the high and low concentration of the grants and the madad-i-maash holder families have been described. The fifth chapter explains the role of the grantees in the socio-economic life of the suba. In this chapter it has been shown that how their role in the different spheres of the area made them visible everywhere despite being small social group in terms of their numerical strength. In the sixth chapter the position of the grantees has been mentioned. Chapter 7 deals with the mutual relations of the grantees. Their relations with the zamindars (landed aristocrats) provincial and central authorities have been discussed. Besides conclusion, three appendices regarding of the grant in the suba of Awadh pargana wise, the size of grant holdings of some madad-i-maash holders, some women grantees and a detailed bibliography have been given.