Economic condition of panipat region under the great mughals

Panipat remained a place of strategic location and significance in Indian history. It was on the high road from Sarhind to Delhi and very close to the capital of India during the Great Mughals. Panipat formed a link in marching the armies of invaders or the kings of Delhi for their success and three decisive battles were fought. The economic life of people subsisted on agriculture. Panipat had a few industries on a cottage scale, engaged a minority of population. The rabi and the kharif were the two harvests of the region. Much of the land was irrigated by inundation (salabi) and the richness of soil was remarkable. There were three types of soil sandy, clay and kallar. The irrigation system of Panipat area can be divided in two main categories i.e. river works and lift irrigation. Due to uncertainty of rain the people restored the artificial methods of irrigation and the chief of which was the wells, a traditional method and as old as the farming. The methods employed for irrigation was rahat (arhat), well-gear and charas. A channel was excavated that diverted water by way of Panipat and sonipat to the north western part of the subah of Delhi. To pay revenue to the government zabti system was in use. Peasant’s income consisted of agricultural produce, part of which they consumed while the rest was sold or bartered to buy things like salt, clothes, utensils and money to pay the revenue. In the village society the local elite groups had achieved a remarkable control over the surplus. Famines were frequent in those days due to lack of artificial irrigation, droughts, floods or heavy rain-falls, improper means of communication. The government policies of prevention were not adequate enough. Wool spinning and weaving had been one of the major cottage industries. Panipat has been an important blanket weaving centre. Drums, ropes, scale-pans, oil jars (kuppas and kuppis) were also made at Panipat. Special kind of glazed-art pottery was made at Panipat. Kagazi pottery was was made by kuzgars in and around Panipat. Makers of this pottery were different from kumhars. Saltpeter was manufactured here. For transporting merchandise the oxen and camels were used but most of the people moved from one place to the other on foot. Panipat was on the trade route (land) of Lahore to Fatehpur. There were two categories of the towns, one was hatt or markets where rural commodities were brought and sold and the other where both rural as well as urban commodities were brought but sold in other regions. Panipat was a big town. The rural market was very much a feature of the intra-local trade of the period. A considerable traffic was also carried on by the cultivators themselves. Delhi traders often sent their agents for purchasing of cotton, ghee and other commodities from villages. This local traffic was of immense advantage to the farmers who could eliminating the agency of middle men, the local dealers, and always get a good price for their produce. So, one of the specific features of the medieval Indian economy was the trade relationship between rural and urban areas. The traditional village community was based on connection of agriculture and crafts and it was supplied to the urban market in large scale by the peasants.