Ushr
Topic: Turkic Invasions and the Delhi Sultanate · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Ushr was a land tax on land owned by Muslims under Islamic law. The word means "one-tenth". The rate was usually one-tenth of the crop on land watered only by rain. On land watered by wells or canals it was one-twentieth. It was much lighter than kharaj, the land tax on land held by non-Muslims. Under the Delhi Sultanate, kharaj gave the state most of its land revenue. Ushr shows how Islamic law taxed people differently according to their faith.
Example
In the Delhi Sultanate, a Muslim landholder paid ushr of one-tenth of the crop. A Hindu peasant paid kharaj, which was usually one-fifth of the crop. Some sultans raised it to one-half.
Don't confuse with
- Kharaj: the main land tax on land held by non-Muslims. It was much heavier than ushr, and the peasantry bore most of it.
- Zakat: a 2.5 per cent religious tax on a Muslim's wealth (savings, goods, animals). It was not a tax on crops from the land.