What was the term used for the annually cultivated land during the Mughal period?

The correct answer is Polaj.

Key Points

• During the Mughal Period, the land was divided into four categories namely
  • Polaj - Which was cultivated every year.
  • Parati - Which was sometimes left uncultivated for one or two years.
  • Chachar - Which was left uncultivated for three or four years.
  • Banjar - Which was left uncultivated for five years or more.
• Polaj was the land that is annually cultivated for each crop in succession and is never allowed to lie fallow.
• Polaj was the ideal and best type of land throughout the empire.
• This land was cultivated always and was never allowed to lie fallow. 

Additional Information

• There was no Mughal land revenue system before Akbar.
• His father Humayun and grandfather Babur did not introduce any changes because they were the first conquerors of their dynasty and remained pre-occupied with subduing rebellions, consolidating empires, and maintaining order.
• A proper land revenue system was founded by Akbar.
• However, the system of Akbar was itself based on what Shershah Suri implemented during his short tenure.
• Thus, the land revenue system of Akbar was neither innovation nor an invention.
• His indebtedness to the earlier rulers is immense but this has not diminished his fame as far as the land revenue system is concerned.
• He followed the policy of Shershah with greater precision and correctness and then extended it to various subah or provinces of his empire.
• But this correction or precision did not come overnight.
• Initially was tortuous enough to turn peasants into beggars, and forcing them to sell their wives and children.
• But it was revised several times.
• The corrections done by the Akbar inland revenue system were as follows:
  • Standardization of measurement of land
  • Ascertaining the produce per Bigha of Land
  • Fixation of state’s share in that produce