Kharaj

History glossary

Topic: Turkic Invasions and the Delhi Sultanate · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Kharaj was the land tax: the state's share of the crops a peasant grew. In the Delhi Sultanate it was the main source of revenue. It was usually about one-fifth of the produce, and some sultans raised it to one-half.

It matters because kharaj paid for the army. The iqta system, the khalisa and Alauddin Khalji's reforms all depended on collecting it. It also shows how much of the burden of running the state fell on the peasant.

Explanation

Background: where the term comes from

  • Kharaj comes from Islamic law. It was a tax on land, not on people.
  • In early Islamic law it was mainly charged on land conquered from non-Muslims, and it stayed on that land.
  • It was different from jizya (a tax on non-Muslims as persons) and ushr (a smaller tithe on some lands held by Muslims).
  • In India most cultivators were non-Muslim peasants, so kharaj became the general land tax that cultivators paid.
  • The sultan needed a large cavalry force. Land was the main source of wealth, so kharaj became the backbone of state finance.

How kharaj was collected: the iqta link

  • The iqtadar collected the kharaj.
  • An iqta was a piece of territory whose taxes a noble collected. He did not own the land.
  • The holder was called the iqtadar or muqti.

  • He kept part of the kharaj for his own costs and for the soldiers he had to keep ready. The rest went to the sultan's treasury.

  • Khalisa land worked differently.

  • Khalisa was land whose revenue went straight to the sultan's own treasury, with no noble in between [1].

  • Kharaj from khalisa land paid soldiers directly.

  • Kharaj was only part of the burden. Trade was taxed at every stage, but the heaviest weight fell on the peasantry.

How the rate changed over time

  • Normal rate: land revenue was typically one-fifth of the produce.
  • Some sultans raised it to one-half.
  • Alauddin Khalji (r. 1296–1316) brought the sharpest change:
  • He used the iqta in its strict sense. Its job was now both collecting the sultan's share of the farm surplus as kharaj and distributing it [1].
  • He fixed the land tax at half the produce, measured in weight or in value. It applied to every peasant's holding, big or small [1].
  • He enlarged the khalisa, so that more kharaj came straight to Delhi. This let him pay far more soldiers and cavalrymen in cash [1].

  • Centralisation and heavy farm taxes were the two marks of his rule [1].

  • Muhammad bin Tughluq is also remembered for raising the land tax in the Doab (the land between the Ganga and the Yamuna). The chronicler Barani links this rise to great hardship among the peasants.

  • Under the Tughluqs, the assignment system through which kharaj was collected was reworked again as the empire grew and then broke apart [2].

Results

  • For the state: a large, steady income that paid for a standing army.
  • For the peasant: at half the produce, very little was left. Contemporary accounts report considerable cruelty in collecting taxes from farmers.
  • For the nobles: when more kharaj went into the khalisa, the noble's share and his power shrank. Delhi gained control.
  • For the future: the question of how much of the peasant's crop the state can take came back under the Mughals.

Time, place and evidence

  • Period: the Delhi Sultanate, c. 1206–1526. The term itself is older and comes from Islamic law.
  • Region: the Sultanate's territory in north India, especially the fertile Ganga–Yamuna Doab around Delhi.
  • Key people:
  • Muhammad Ghuri gave officers temporary land assignments in return for collecting revenue and giving military service. This was the forerunner of the iqta that later collected kharaj.
  • Alauddin Khalji (r. 1296–1316) set the kharaj at half the produce on every holding [1].

  • The Tughluqs reworked the assignment system again [2].

  • How we know:

  • Contemporary Persian chronicles list "collecting fees and taxes" among the sultan's duties. They also describe cruelty in tax collection.
  • Ziauddin Barani, a chronicler of the 14th century, is the main source for Alauddin's revenue and market measures. He wrote the Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi.
  • Modern summaries such as Britannica describe Alauddin's revenue reforms [1].

Don't confuse with

  • Jizya: a tax on non-Muslim persons. Kharaj was a tax on land and its produce.
  • Khalisa: the land whose revenue went straight to the sultan [1]. Kharaj is the tax itself, which could come from khalisa land or from iqta land.
  • Iqta: the revenue assignment given to a noble. The iqtadar collected kharaj, but an iqta is not a tax.
  • Ushr: a smaller tithe (one-tenth) charged on some lands held by Muslims. Kharaj was the heavier general land tax that most Indian peasants paid.

Prelims Hooks

  • Kharaj = land tax, the state's share of the produce. Khalisa = land whose revenue went directly to the sultan's treasury [1].
  • Normal land revenue under the Sultanate = one-fifth of produce. Some sultans raised it to one-half.
  • Alauddin Khalji (1296–1316) fixed the land tax at half the produce, measured in weight or value, on every holding regardless of size [1].
  • Alauddin expanded the khalisa to pay more soldiers in cash [1].
  • Kharaj in iqta land was collected by the iqtadar/muqti, who kept a share to pay his troops. The iqta was not ownership of land.
  • Trap: kharaj (on land) is not jizya (on persons).

Mains Points

  • Kharaj paid for the Sultanate's army.
  • There was not enough cash in the economy to pay a standing cavalry from Delhi.
  • Assigning the kharaj of an area to a noble (iqta), or taking it directly (khalisa), turned crops into soldiers.

  • Alauddin's half-produce demand and larger khalisa show how tax policy and military power were linked [1].

  • Centre versus nobles, with the peasant paying for both.

  • Strong sultans moved more kharaj into the khalisa and cut the noble's share. Weak sultans lost both revenue and obedience.

  • Raising the demand from one-fifth to one-half paid for a strong state but left peasants with almost nothing. Accounts of cruel collection, and the Doab distress under Muhammad bin Tughluq, show the human cost.

  • Continuity: the Sultanate's land tax led into the Mughal land revenue system (zabt, jagir). Both faced the same question: how much of the surplus can the state take before the countryside breaks? This makes a useful GS-I theme on continuity in medieval Indian administration.

Related concepts

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Sources

  1. 1India — The Khaljis, Delhi Sultanate, Muslim Rulebritannica.com · tier 3
  2. 2India — Tughluq Dynasty, Delhi Sultanate, South Asiabritannica.com · tier 3