Kharif and rabi
Topic: Mughal Agrarian Society and Economy · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Peasants, Zamindars and the State"
Meaning
Kharif and rabi were the two main farming seasons in Mughal India. Kharif is the autumn crop, sown when the monsoon rains came. Rabi is the spring crop, sown in the cool winter months. Almost everywhere, peasants raised at least two crops a year, called do-fasla ("two harvests"). Where water was always available, they grew three. This steady cropping fed a large population and gave the state a regular flow of revenue.
Example
The Ain-i Akbari, Abu'l Fazl's record of Akbar's empire (completed 1598), counts the crops grown across these two seasons. It lists 39 kinds of crops in the province of Agra and 43 in Delhi. Bengal grew 50 kinds of rice alone.
Don't confuse with
- Jins-i kamil: this means "perfect crops". These were cash crops such as cotton and sugarcane that the state pushed because they brought in more revenue. The term names a kind of crop. Kharif and rabi name the seasons when crops grew.