The Rajput Revenue Framework: Jagir, Khalisa, and Bhom

The Tripartite Land System

Medieval Rajasthan's revenue structure was built on three distinct categories of land assignment, each serving different political and fiscal functions.

Jagir was the core instrument of Rajput feudalism. A jagirdar received rights to collect land revenue from a defined territory in exchange for military service — cavalry, infantry, and elephant contingents — to the ruling chief. The jagir was not permanent land ownership; it was a revenue-assignment that the ruler could theoretically resume. In practice, powerful clans converted jagirs into quasi-hereditary possessions (watan jagirs).

Rajasthan had five broad jagir categories:

• Bhayad: jagirs held by collateral kin of the ruling family
• Sardar: held by senior nobles for substantial military obligations
• Grasiya: small subsistence jagirs, often held by minor Rajputs
• Watan: hereditary service jagirs for specialist functionaries (musicians, physicians, priests)
• Tankha: cash-salary substitutes assigned as revenue rights

Khalisa land remained under the ruler's direct control, with revenues flowing to the state treasury (Toshakhana). Khalisa villages were administered through state-appointed Kamdars or Tahsildars rather than hereditary jagirdars. The proportion of khalisa to jagir land was a key indicator of state power: a strong ruler like Maharaja Man Singh I of Amber (r. 1589–1614) expanded khalisa; a weak ruler saw jagirdars encroach on khalisa.

Bhom was a peculiarly Rajasthani category: hereditary land held by Bhomia Rajputs, typically minor clan members who provided local military-police functions for the village. Bhom tenure was non-revocable in theory and exempt from the same revenue obligations as jagir, making Bhomias a distinct intermediate layer between jagirdars and ordinary cultivators.

Revenue Assessment: Rekh and Hasil in Marwar

In the Jodhpur (Marwar) state, the term Rekh designated the standard unit of revenue potential for each village. The rekh value of a village was computed based on cultivated area, soil quality, crop types, and water access. It functioned as a kind of notional revenue capacity against which actual demand was calculated.

The state's total rekh provided a fiscal census — the Marwar Khyat and Vigat documents (compiled by Munhata Nainsi, c. 1660s) systematically record rekh values across thousands of villages.

Hasil was the actual revenue realised. The Nainsi ki Vigat (c. 1664–65) remains the single most important revenue administrative document of medieval Marwar, recording crop-wise production data, rekh assessments, and village-level population counts. Nainsi served as Diwan under Maharaja Jaswant Singh I (r. 1638–78) and compiled what historians regard as the Marwar equivalent of the Ain-i-Akbari.

The gap between rekh and hasil reveals the actual state-peasant relationship:

• In prosperous years the hasil might exceed the rekh estimate
• In drought years (Marwar averaged severe droughts every 7–10 years) hasil collapsed and arrears accumulated
• The state addressed shortfalls through Taqavi — agricultural loans from the state treasury

Revenue Terms and Cesses

Rajasthan's revenue lexicon contained numerous cesses layered above the basic land revenue:

Term	Meaning	Who Paid
Lagaan	Basic land revenue	Cultivating peasants
Begar	Forced unpaid labour	Lower castes, tribals
Lagh-bhag	Produce-share cesses	Artisans, traders
Chhath	One-sixth produce levy on certain crops	Specific cultivator categories
Rekh	Village revenue unit (Marwar specific)	Village collectively
Nazrana	Succession payment to overlord	Incoming jagirdars
Bhent	Ceremonial gifts (quasi-obligatory)	Jagirdars and subjects
Rahdari	Transit/toll tax on goods	Merchants, traders
Taqavi	State agricultural loans	Cultivators in distress

Source: Munhata Nainsi, Nainsi ki Vigat (c. 1664–65); Col. James Tod, Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan (1829–32); R.P. Vyas, Revenue System of Rajputana

Begar deserves particular attention. Jagirdars extracted begar not only for agricultural work but for porterage, domestic service, and construction labour. By the early 20th century, Vijay Singh Pathik documented 84 distinct lagh-bhag levies in Mewar's Bijolia pargana alone — ranging from taxes on weddings and births to compulsory contributions of firewood and fodder. This systematised extraction directly catalysed the Bijolia Peasant Movement (1897–1941) — see Topic #4.

Dyodhidars: The 2023 PYQ Answer

The Dyodhidars were a specialised class of palace gate-keepers and ceremonial attendants in the Rajput courts, particularly prominent in the Jodhpur and Jaipur states. The term derives from dyodhi — the threshold or gateway of a royal palace.

Dyodhidars controlled access to the ruler, managed court protocol, maintained the royal seal and firman records, and acted as intermediaries between subjects seeking audience and the ruler. In administrative terms, they functioned as a bureaucratic filter for royal communications, making them influential despite their ceremonial designation. Their role combined elements of court chamberlain, records-keeper, and protocol officer.

The 2023 RPSC question (2 marks) asked who they were — a test of specialised administrative vocabulary specific to Rajasthani court culture.

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