Jangal and kharbandi
Topic: Mughal Agrarian Society and Economy · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Peasants, Zamindars and the State"
Meaning
Jangal and kharbandi are Mughal-era terms for land outside settled farming. Jangal means dense forest. Kharbandi means scrubland, land covered with bushes and small trees. Such land was found in eastern, central and northern India, the Terai, Jharkhand, the Western Ghats and the Deccan. Historians make an informed guess that forest covered about 40 per cent of the land on average.
Example
In the 16th–17th centuries, Jharkhand and the Western Ghats were large stretches of jangal. Forest peoples there lived by gathering, hunting and shifting cultivation. The Mughal state saw these forests as places where rebels could hide.
Don't confuse with
- Banjar: This was a revenue class for land left uncultivated for 5 years or more. It was farmland lying unused, not natural forest. Forests were never measured for revenue.