Region and empire : Panjab in the seventeenth century

Description

On the administrative developments and socioeconomic conditions in Punjab during the Mogul empire. This book traces the evolution of society and economy in Panjab during the seventeenth century. It reveals the dynamism and regional complexities which operated within this part of the Mughal empire. The imperial administrative system often regarded as monolithic and highly centralized, is shown here to have demonstrated considerable flexibility: it responded to and reflected the local peculiarities of the area. The increasing use of different methods of irrigation and the expanding cultivation of commercial crops, it is argued, came to play an important role in the laborious existence of the Panjab peasant. The picture that emerges is one in which town and country alike were bound firmly to each other in a relentless movement towards commercialization. Panjab, with its abundant artefacts and numerous traders, was not only drawn into a commercial bond with other regions of the Mughal empire, but was also influenced by major trends in the world economy. These tenuous yet significant linkages, Dr Singh emphasizes, were a substantial factor in the periodic changes which affected the region's economy. The image projected in this work is of a remarkably stratified society that was continually generating and adding new social sections. The extension of agriculture, for instance, encouraged the settling of pastoral tribes which had for long roamed the inhospitable fringes of the Panjab landscape. Growing social ferment disturbed the customary stability of society. Towards the end of the seventeenth century, compelling reasons existed for the emergence of social unrest; these eventually led to political conflict in the region. It is into these intricate processes that Dr Chetan Singh's book provides insights. In short, this study is an important addition to the literature on pre-colonial India, and to studies of Panjab.