Medieval Indian History · UPSC Notes
Glossary of Medieval Terms — UPSC Medieval History Notes
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Glossary of Medieval Indian History Terms
UPSC and SSC often test medieval history through terms — iqta, jagir, zabt, chauth, amara-nayaka, silsila. This glossary of about 68 terms gives each term's meaning and the ruler or period it belongs to, and lists the pairs most often confused.
1. How to use this glossary
Method: Learn each term with three tags — meaning, ruler/period and region. Most statement-based questions change only one of these tags.
Order: The table runs roughly in time: early medieval and Chola terms, Delhi Sultanate, Mughal administration and revenue, religion and culture, then regional powers (Vijayanagara, Marathas, Sikhs, Ahoms).
2. Delhi Sultanate: key ideas
Iqta was the core institution: revenue of an area assigned to an officer (muqti) who maintained troops; Alauddin and Firuz changed how strictly it was audited.
Departments: Diwan-i-Wizarat (finance), Diwan-i-Arz (army, Balban), Diwan-i-Insha (correspondence), Diwan-i-Riyasat (markets, Alauddin), Diwan-i-Kohi (agriculture, Muhammad bin Tughlaq).
Taxes: Kharaj (land tax), jizya (on non-Muslims), khams (share of booty) and zakat (on Muslims).
3. Mughal administration and revenue
Mansab–jagir: Rank (mansab: zat and sawar) decided pay; pay was mostly given as a transferable jagir; khalisa revenue went to the treasury.
Revenue: Zabt with dahsala rates in the core provinces; batai, kankut and nasaq elsewhere; land classed as polaj, parauti, chachar and banjar.
Local officers: Faujdar and amalguzar (sarkar), shiqdar, amil and qanungo (pargana), muqaddam and patwari (village).
4. Religion and culture
Akbar: Ibadat Khana (1575), Mahzar (1579), Din-i-Ilahi (1582) and sulh-i-kul show the development of his religious policy.
Sufism: Silsila (order), khanqah (hospice), pir and murid, sama (music); the Chishti silsila accepted sama, the Naqshbandi opposed it.
5. Regional powers
Vijayanagara: Amara-nayaka and ayagar. Marathas: Ashtapradhan, chauth, sardeshmukhi, saranjam. Sikhs: misl. Ahoms: paik and buranji.
6. Pairs often confused
Iqta vs Jagir: both are revenue assignments; iqta is the Sultanate term, jagir the Mughal one, and the jagir was tied to a numerical mansab rank.
Chauth vs Sardeshmukhi: chauth = one-fourth (protection levy); sardeshmukhi = an extra one-tenth (hereditary claim as 'head deshmukh').
Zat vs Sawar: zat = personal rank and salary; sawar = cavalry obligation.
Mahzar vs Din-i-Ilahi: Mahzar (1579) was a legal declaration on religious authority; Din-i-Ilahi (1582) was a small discipleship order.
Wahdat-ul-Wujud vs Wahdat-ul-Shuhud: Unity of Being (Ibn Arabi, popular with Chishtis) vs Unity of Appearance (Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi).
Diwan-i-Arz vs Diwan-i-Riyasat: army department (Balban) vs market control department (Alauddin Khalji).
Practice
UPSC-style: Match: 1. Diwan-i-Kohi 2. Diwan-i-Mustakhraj 3. Diwan-i-Khairat with A. Firuz Shah B. Muhammad bin Tughlaq C. Alauddin Khalji — Answer: 1-B, 2-C, 3-A.
| Term | Meaning | Ruler / period |
|---|---|---|
| Brahmadeya / Devadana | Tax-free land grant to Brahmanas / to temples | Cholas, early medieval |
| Ur / Sabha / Nagaram | Village assembly of landholders / assembly of Brahmana villages / assembly of merchants | Cholas |
| Kudavolai | Selection of committee members by drawing palm-leaf tickets from a pot | Uttaramerur inscription (Parantaka I) |
| Nadu / Valanadu / Mandalam | Territorial units in rising order: group of villages / district / province | Cholas |
| Samanta | Feudatory chief owing tribute and troops to an overlord | Early medieval kingdoms |
| Iqta | Assignment of land revenue of an area to an officer in lieu of salary | Delhi Sultanate (Iltutmish) |
| Muqti / Iqtadar | Holder of an iqta | Delhi Sultanate |
| Turkan-i-Chahalgani | The 'Forty' — group of powerful Turkish nobles | Iltutmish; crushed by Balban |
| Zil-i-Ilahi | 'Shadow of God' — divine theory of kingship | Balban |
| Sijda / Paibos | Prostration / kissing the Sultan's feet | Balban's court etiquette |
| Barid | News reporter / spy | Balban, Alauddin Khalji |
| Diwan-i-Arz | Military department (head: Ariz-i-Mumalik) | Created by Balban |
| Diwan-i-Wizarat | Finance and revenue department (head: Wazir) | Delhi Sultanate |
| Diwan-i-Insha | Department of royal correspondence | Delhi Sultanate |
| Diwan-i-Riyasat / Shahna-i-Mandi | Market control department / market superintendent | Alauddin Khalji |
| Diwan-i-Mustakhraj | Department to recover arrears of revenue | Alauddin Khalji |
| Diwan-i-Kohi | Agriculture department to bring waste land under cultivation | Muhammad bin Tughlaq |
| Sondhar | Agricultural loans to peasants | Muhammad bin Tughlaq |
| Diwan-i-Khairat / Diwan-i-Bandagan | Charity department / department of slaves | Firuz Shah Tughlaq |
| Dar-ul-Shifa | Free hospital | Firuz Shah Tughlaq |
| Kharaj | Land tax | Sultanate and Mughal |
| Jizya | Tax on non-Muslims; extended to Brahmanas by Firuz, abolished by Akbar (1564), reimposed by Aurangzeb (1679) | Sultanate and Mughal |
| Khams | One-fifth share of war booty due to the state under Islamic law | Sultanate |
| Zakat | Religious tax/alms paid by Muslims | Sultanate |
| Tanka / Jital | Silver coin / copper coin | Introduced by Iltutmish |
| Khuts / Muqaddams / Chaudhuris | Rural chiefs and headmen who collected revenue | Delhi Sultanate |
| Ulema | Muslim scholars of religion and law | Sultanate and Mughal |
| Khalisa | Crown land whose revenue went directly to the treasury | Sultanate and Mughal |
| Mansab | Rank of a Mughal officer fixing status, pay and military duty | Akbar onwards |
| Zat / Sawar | Personal rank and pay / number of horsemen to be maintained | Mughal mansabdari |
| Du-aspa sih-aspa | Rank allowing extra horsemen without raising zat | Jahangir |
| Dagh / Chehra (Huliya) | Branding of horses / descriptive roll of soldiers | Alauddin, Sher Shah, Akbar |
| Jagir | Transferable assignment of revenue (not land) to a mansabdar | Mughal |
| Watan jagir | Hereditary home territory of a chief, held as jagir | Mughal Rajput policy |
| Madad-i-Maash (Suyurghal) | Revenue-free land grant to scholars and religious persons | Mughal |
| Patta / Qabuliyat | Title deed given to the peasant / peasant's deed of agreement to pay revenue | Sher Shah; Akbar |
| Zabt | Revenue assessment by measuring land and fixing cash rates per crop | Akbar (Todar Mal) |
| Dahsala | Cash rates based on 10-year average produce and prices (1580) | Akbar (Todar Mal) |
| Polaj / Parauti / Chachar / Banjar | Land cultivated every year / fallow 1–2 years / fallow 3–4 years / fallow 5+ years | Ain-i-Akbari |
| Batai (Ghalla-bakhshi) | Revenue by sharing the actual crop | Sultanate and Mughal |
| Kankut | Revenue by estimating the standing crop | Mughal |
| Nasaq | Assessment based on past revenue records | Mughal |
| Khud-kashta / Pahi-kashta | Resident peasant cultivating his own village land / non-resident cultivator from another village | Mughal |
| Zamindar | Holder of superior rights over land revenue in an area; also local military power | Mughal |
| Faujdar / Amalguzar | Head of law and order / revenue collector of a sarkar | Mughal |
| Qanungo / Patwari | Keeper of pargana land records / village accountant | Sultanate and Mughal |
| Waqia-navis | News writer reporting provincial events to the emperor | Mughal |
| Mir Bakhshi / Mir Saman / Sadr-us-Sudur | Head of army pay and mansabdars / head of household and karkhanas / head of religious grants | Mughal central ministers |
| Karkhana | Royal workshop producing goods for the court | Sultanate and Mughal |
| Rupiya / Dam / Mohur | Silver coin / copper coin (40 dams = 1 rupee) / gold coin | Sher Shah; Mughal |
| Hundi | Bill of exchange used by merchants and bankers (sarrafs) | Mughal trade |
| Sulh-i-kul | 'Universal peace' — policy of tolerance towards all religions | Akbar |
| Ibadat Khana | House of worship for religious debates at Fatehpur Sikri (1575) | Akbar |
| Mahzar | Declaration (1579) giving Akbar the final word on disputed religious questions | Akbar |
| Din-i-Ilahi (Tauhid-i-Ilahi) | Akbar's spiritual order of disciples (1582), not a new religion | Akbar |
| Jharokha darshan | Emperor's daily public appearance at a palace balcony | Akbar onwards |
| Charbagh / Pietra dura | Four-part garden with water channels / inlay of semi-precious stones in marble | Mughal architecture |
| Silsila / Khanqah / Sama | Sufi order / Sufi hospice / devotional music session | Sufi movement |
| Pir / Murid | Sufi master / disciple | Sufi movement |
| Wahdat-ul-Wujud / Wahdat-ul-Shuhud | Unity of Being (Ibn Arabi) / Unity of Appearance (Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, Naqshbandi) | Sufi thought |
| Alvars / Nayanars | Tamil Vaishnava saints / Tamil Shaiva saints | Early Bhakti (6th–9th c.) |
| Amara-nayaka | Military chief given territory (amaram) to collect revenue and maintain troops | Vijayanagara |
| Ayagar | Hereditary village servants (traditionally twelve) paid with land or produce | Vijayanagara |
| Ashtapradhan | Council of eight ministers | Shivaji |
| Chauth / Sardeshmukhi | One-fourth of revenue as protection levy / additional one-tenth claimed as hereditary right | Marathas |
| Saranjam | Land revenue grant to Maratha chiefs for military service | Marathas (after Shivaji) |
| Misl | Sikh confederacy (12 misls) of the 18th century | Sikhs |
| Paik / Buranji | Ahom compulsory service system / Ahom historical chronicle | Ahoms (Assam) |
Prelims tips
- Diwan-i-Arz — Balban; Diwan-i-Riyasat and Diwan-i-Mustakhraj — Alauddin Khalji; Diwan-i-Kohi — Muhammad bin Tughlaq; Diwan-i-Khairat — Firuz Shah.
- Chauth = 1/4 and sardeshmukhi = 1/10 of land revenue (Marathas).
- Polaj, parauti, chachar, banjar — land classes in the Ain-i-Akbari, by length of fallow.
- Madad-i-maash = revenue-free grant to the learned and pious (also called suyurghal).
- Amara-nayaka and ayagar — Vijayanagara; ur, sabha, nagaram — Chola assemblies.
- Khud-kashta = resident peasant; pahi-kashta = non-resident cultivator.
Mains points
- Many medieval terms (iqta, jagir, amara-nayaka, saranjam) describe the same basic problem: how a pre-modern state paid its soldiers and officers out of agrarian revenue without losing control over them.
- Changes in terminology (iqta to jagir, kharaj to zabt) reflect real institutional change towards measurement, cash revenue and centralised record-keeping.
- Religious terms (sulh-i-kul, silsila, Wahdat-ul-Wujud) show how ideas of tolerance and mystic unity shaped the composite culture of medieval India.
- Several terms survive in modern administration (patwari, qanungo, tehsil, zamindar), which helps explain continuities in land records and rural power in India today.
Did you know?
- The word 'tanka' survives in 'taka', the name of Bangladesh's currency.
- 'Rupee' comes from Sher Shah's silver 'rupiya', from the Sanskrit 'rupya' (wrought silver).
- 'Karkhana' is still the everyday word for a factory in Hindi and Urdu.