Naqdi
Topic: The Mughal Empire: Babur to Aurangzeb · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Peasants, Zamindars and the State"
Meaning
Naqdi means 'payment in cash'. Most Mughal mansabdars were paid with jagirs, which were assignments of land revenue. A few, however, were paid naqdi, directly in cash from the treasury. In the revenue tables of the Ain-i-Akbari, Abul Fazl's record of Akbar's empire, naqdi also means land revenue that was assessed and collected in cash, not in crops.
Example
In Akbar's empire, a mansabdar without a jagir could receive his salary naqdi from the treasury. Peasants in areas where revenue was set in cash paid their dues in naqdi. The Mughal coins were the silver rupaya and the copper dam.
Don't confuse with
- Jagir: a jagir paid the mansabdar through land revenue, not cash. It was the usual method of payment.
- Jins: jins was revenue paid in kind, as a share of the crop.