CHAPTER-2

KARKHANAS, THE ARTISAN AND THE

TECHNIQUES OF PRODUCTION:
CONTINUATION AND CHANGE
 KARKHANAS, THE ARTISANS AND THE
TECHNIQUES OF PRODUCTION: CONTINUATION
AND CHANGE

INTRODUCTION
For understanding the handicrafts technique and its manufactures
during 18 century Northern India we must understand the prevailing
factory system in European context also. We get to know from historical
accounts and Delhi Sultanat period, there existed a large establishment
is capital town, know as Karkhanas which cater household needs of the
royalty as well as it was equally usefiil for providing the goods for war
purposes public use. The glaring example oi Karkhanas we find during
the time of Firoz Shah Tughlaq in which according to one estimate
twenty thousand slaves were working for the establishment and were
involved in production and variety of articles for royal consumption and
for public use, the same kind of establishment continued during the
whole of Mughal period, though, with the certain improvements in the
existing technology from time to time. Till the coming of 18' century
we don't find drastic changes in the technology but we find that the
volume of production greatly increased and some were meant for export
also.
Prior to industrial revolution to England European factory system
find similarity with the Indian Karkhanas system in the greater sense of
organization working condition as well as the tool and technique of
artisan same are concerned. The European factory system master
craftsmen in the factory help by some Journeymen and further assisted
by some apprentice in which young boys employed for learning a
particular trade till their maturity and perfection in that particular art.
 10

The Karkhanas also functioned in under the supervision of the

guilds which specialized with particular trade and similar was the case
in the factory system. There we can draw some parallel with the
Karkhanas of Mughal India and the factory system pre-industrial Europe
in general and English factory system in particular.
The Karkhanas generally required catering to the rulers demand
for its household need and army in the form of articles of luxury goods
and warring auxiliaries, it emerged as an industry. (A special form of
industry emerged under the Safavids of Persia in the 17^"^ and
seventeenth centuries which goes by the name of bouyutat or royal
workshop and industries) although in rudimentary form it was in
existence under the later Ghazanavids in the twelfth century. In the time
of Bahram Shah (1118-52) there were also royal workshop Karkhana
supervised by 'Mihtar' and a 'Mushrif where the rich embroidery of
'tiraz' was sewn to the robes it is very probable that royal workshops
existed under earlier sultan'. It was linked with the captive and enslaved
worker's who were captured in thousands in war waged by the Ilkhanas
(thirteenth and fourteenth century) and the Safavid rulers, (16*^-17"^
centuries) with such a vast labour force behind Persia witnessed
considerable expansion of these Kharkhanas from the 14 century
onwards. They were found in several cities in Persia which specialized
in various types of industries such as tannering, pickling, preserving,
soap manufacture, paper making and dyeing. The mints were also listed
among these state Karkhanas. The income from mint flowed constantly
into the royal treasury. The royal treasury too must be listed here. Infact
all the departments which employed manual labour for the provision of
the court households were Court workshops in the true sense. Thus the
court controlled its own booms, its own tailoring, shoes making, leather
industry. Besides many other departments there was a goldsmith's
 11

workshop and coppersmith which supplied the court with all kinds of
tools and utensil. Lastly, there were the harness makers, workshop, the
armoury, the ordinance foundry and the library in which manual scripts
were not only collected but specially produced by staff of artists. The
stable and many other offices were also part of the buyutat. In support
of his charge that the policies of Shah Abbas (a Safavid ruler) were
devoid of any entrepreneurial spirit Amin Banani cites the case of the
royal workshops {Buyutat-i-Khasa-yi-Shirfa) of which there were 32 at
the time of Jean Chardin and 33 at the time of compilation of Tnzkirat-
i-Miduk,' about 1726, it is true that many of the royal workshops such as
the kitchen scullery, stables, kennels, etc. were simply what minor sky
called 'domestic departments' some however were run like real state
owned manufacturies'* and in general these workshops gave employment
to some 5000 artisan and craftsmen and contributed to over all
prosperity of the economy.
The Delhi Sultanate period Sultan maintained very big household
staff. Besides his harem, the slaves and other attendants and his
courtiers, the sultan employed most of people to look after the protection
his person his recreation and his domestic attendants is general. To cater
to the needs of these vast household the Sultan maintained various
'Karkhanas' or Royal stores. These Karkhanas had multiple functions
in the political and social life of the rulers of Medieval India. The
Karkhanas looked after the provisioning of the royal stables and
supervision of the royal buildings for which they maintained a whole
army of masons and architects. Finally, they undertook to supply the
menial attendance and the domestic service for the palaces and other
royal buildings. The listing however, is by no means complete. The
Karkhanas were under the charge of distinguished noble who was
assisted by other subordinate superintendents (mustasrrifs) who were
 12

themselves nobles of rank and were appointed directly by the Sultan,^ all
of them were paid very high salaries, and the charge of a store was
considered quite as remunerative as the governorship of a big town like
Multan.^
Although the literal meaning of Karkhanas is the place where a
'workshop' is generally located for public use, it had a very different
connotation in medieval India. The medieval chroniclers used it to under
workshops of manufacturers, the stores the royal household. The royal
court and the animal stable etc. as most of the articles of luxury needed
by rulers to maintain the splendor and pageantry of the royal court and
household could not be manufactured in the ordinary market, the sultans
were forced to states factories producing luxury articles for them. It
become a major policy decision with the state of the Sultanate. It is
generally believed that the system of Royal Karkhanas was probably
borrowed from Persia'' though its much earlier existence in India could
not be ruled out, A clear and detailed description of the royal
Karkhanas of the sultans of Delhi before Firoz Shah Tugluq is not
available in the contemporary Persian account, but there is no doubt that
such existed prior to Firoz Shah's region and were casually referred to
by Bami.^
Bami refers to these Karkhanas in his account of sultan Balban's
regime. In Delhi the Sultans had their own Karkhanajats in which
thousands of weavers engaged for the manufacture of silk cloth and
others textiles for the royal robe. In these Karkhanajats artistic work in
gold and silver was also done. The private industries not within the
purviews of the Karkhanas specialized in the manufacture of textiles.
Calicoes Printing, Liquors, arms, brasswork, paper, clay work, bricks,
enamel work, embroidery, leatherwork, and shoe making, etc. The
accounts of the contemporary chroniclers as well as foreign travelers
 13

show that private industries of considerable importance and magnitude

were developed during this period. The biggest of them was the
manufacture of textiles of all kinds, such as cotton cloth, woolen cloth
and silks. The manufacture of textiles of all kinds such as cotton clothes
attained classical perfection and became proverbial all over the world.
Other important industries were wood work, stone work, metal work,
leather work, embroidery, indigo and paper work. The factories were
known as Karkhanas or workshops. The Karkhanas of the Sultans of
Delhi or a later date of the rulers in various regional muslin kingdoms
were best equipped and most efficiently organized. The Karkhanas
similarly manufactured vast stores of the Muslims and goods for gifts
and presents to other rulers in return for similar gift for them.
Enumerating the presents sent by Muhammad Tughlaq to emperor of
China, Ibn Batuta mention among other thing, 100 pieces of bairami
cloth made of cotton in which beauty had no equal, 100 pieces of silk
cloth called the silk of each of them being different from four to five
colours.
Under the Delhi Sultanate Firoz Shah alone had devoted his
energies toward the state Karkhanas and he had a large establishment
and separate department for them, but it is not clear from the account
given Afif whether department only stored article or manufacture them
as well. All references suggest that it only kept stores and its importance
consisted in large stock,'° and regular supplies of fresh and update
article of all kinds. The department of the royal Karkhanas does not
represent anything new in the government of Firoz Shah Tughlaq.
The only remarkable feature noticeable in his region was its vast
expansion of palace workshops. Afif writes that the Sultan attached
great importance to his Karkhanas and treated them on a par with 'Iqtas'
he used to say that the ownership of a Karkhanas is no less important
 14

than the governorship {Muqti) of a region like Multan." The Sultan

maintained 36 Karkhanas and tried his utmost to collect raw materials
for them. Brocades and other goods required for the Karkhanas were
purchased at the market price on cash basis. A complete list of these
Karkhanas is not given at one place by Afif but the following are
mentioned various parts of his text.
Afif classifies the royal Karkhanas into two categories namely
Ratibi and Ghair Ratibi. Ratibi were those which land fixed annual
grants, such as Peel khana, Paigah, Matbak, Sharab Khana, Sag Khana,
Abdar Khana, itardarkhana. One lakh sixty thousand tankas per month
was the fixed grants for such karkhanas as Peel Khana, Paigah,
Matbakh, Sharab Khan, Sag khana, Abdar Khana and Itardarkhana.
One lakh sixty thousand tankas per month were the fixed grant of
these Ratibi Karkhanas besides the plant furniture and the wages of their
accountants and other officer which also amounted to one lakh and sixty
thousand tankas. Among these Ratibi Karkhanas, Paigah was the most
important, it was scattered in division and stationed at different places.
The first and the biggest was at Saharwan Sultanpur, the second at
Kibla, the third near the Court called Paigah Mahal Khas (palace
stable), the forth shaker khana-i-khas and the fifth and last was that of
selected slaves. The Karkhanas Nafar (Camel Stable) had numerous
camels. Most of these were sent to shiqs of Doblahan, '^ where the
whole village were appropriated to them and their keepers. The number
of camels increased every year because the muqti of various iqtas
presented camels along with other presents, '^ Ghair Ratibi Karkhanas
were there which did not have a fixed grant, such as Jamdar Khana,
A lam Khana, Farrash Khana, Rikab Khana, Zard Khana, Silah Khana
and Tashtadar Khana (hamams and baths). Firoz Shah had thirty six
Karkhanas divided into Ratibi which provided daily food for men and
 15

animals and Ghairatibi which dealt with commodities produced by

human labour. The expenditure upon these Karkhanas varied from year
to year in accordance with the quality of new goods ordered to be made
each year.
In the winter season six lakh were spent on Jamdar Khana in
addition to the expenditure incurred in summer and spring. Eighty
thousand tankas were spent on Alam Khana on the purchase articles
besides the salaries of accountants and wages of artisan about 2 lakh
tankas were spent in Farrash Khana and so on.
The absence of any reference to Karkhanas during the reign of
Sultan Firoz successors in the contemporary sources is rather surprising.
This may be due to the almost non-existence of Sultanate as an effective
instrument of political expansion. As these Karkhanas involved huge
financial resources of the government which by accounts had become
extinct, there was thus no need to maintain it. Karkhanas were no longer
a necessary limb of the state both politically and economically.
In Mughal India Moreland has long ago pointed out there were
two forms of industrial organizations during Mughal India. The artisan
system in which the independent artisan supplied his own capital
however small, his own material and his own labour in manufacture and
the Karkhana system in which the artisan worked to order in state
controlled Karkhanas{the word Karkhanas was used in a very wide
sense in contemporary sources, both Persian and Maratha such as animal
stables, stores of articles of food and drink besides true manufactories or
workshop where raw materials were converted into consumable article)
or workshop. While the former prevailed generally in the majority of
town and the Karkhanas were established, e.g. Delhi, Agra about which
description have been left by Afif in the Sultanate period and Abul Fazl
and Bernier during the day of the Mughals.'*' Moreland actually
 16

summarized the existence of private workshop similar to imperial

Karkhanas' . If the artisan system represented in a way independent
single artisan labour, followed by decentralized by compulsory labour,
centralized control over numerous wage earning artisans of various
crafts and controlled cooperation. The Karkhana system differed from
the artisan system in several ways. It not only worked at different stages
of production but also constituted an important and novel development
and it exercise a significant influence on economic life in the first place,
the Karkhanas were example of collective and large scale employment
of artisan or craftsman in different industries in a big manufacturing
organization. The biggest was the imperial Karkhanas. As regards to
empirical karkhana the emperor issued instruction to governors, officers
and Jagirdar (landlords) in the provinces to induce the best master
artisans and workers in various arts and crafts from all over India for the
Karkhanas}^ Even foreign workers were invited by Jahangir from
Turkey, Persia, China and European countries to these, '^ secondly there
was a certain amount of forced calling of labourers. After recruitment, it
was like conscript labour. The workers had to work under the direction
of a malik (supervisor) on a wage basis. Thirdly, the raw materials for
the workshop were not obtained through open purchases in the market
by the artisans but these were supplied to them by means of monopoly
purchase by the state. Fourthly though the workmanship belonged to the
artisans, the initiative for design rested not with them but with the state
officials guiding them according the imperial desires, under Akbar, who
took special interest in these Karkhanas there were possibilities of
improved design and workmanship.
Like the Safavids of Persia, the term buoyutat (it is a double
plural of Arabic word bait a house) was also generally used by the
Mughals for Karkhanas. The association of the buoyutat with the
 17

household in the mind of Mughal administrators is thus quit obvious.

The more indigenous and popular Karkhanas however persisted.
The Karkhanas played in important role not only in the sphere of
the imperial household but also in military and fiscal set up of the
empire. Besides they had considerable impact upon the industrial
progress of the territories for this region the entire organization was
diwan?^ Thus the Karkhanas or buyutat as the department was called
included factories and store maintained by the central government for
purposes of the state. The Mughal emperors took special interest in the
Karkhanas and saw to it that state maintained Karkhanas were set up
not only in the capital but also in the provincial headquarters as well as
in other important industrial towns. They wanted that the Karkhanas
should not only produce article of choice and quality. The word
Karkhana however, has been used in the sources in a very wide sense
and includes animals in the state stables, article of food and drink stored
for the royal use, finished goods kept in government stores and
workshops where raw material was used and worked upon to produce
finished commodities by employed labour either on daily wage basis or
on monthly salary.
Further, in order to get clear idea of the economic activities of the
state, it is necessary to distinguish between the two classes of things
which our Persian authorities designated by the name of Karkhanas and
include in the same list viz (a) stores of animals, articles of food and
drink and things in finished or usable condition, acquired by the
government and kept the place which required no fiirther working up
and (b) factories proper where raw materials were worked up by salaried
servants of the state into fully manufactured good fit for use. In
Mughal India the state was the largest manufacturer or rather the only
manufacturer on large scale in respect of several commodities. The
 18

modern practice of government being readymade goods in tiie market of

giving orders for large quantities to contractor would not have answered
in those days of cottage industries when production on large scale by
private businessmen with a view to sale was unknown. The state was
therefore forced to manufactures the commodities the needed. Its need
was very large, twice every year in the rainy season and the winter a
robe (khilat) suitable for the season was presented by the emperor to
every 7500 and who were paid in cash, besides there were 7000
mansabdars who held Jagir. It is thus seen that the imperial
government had to keep a vast stock of cloth and ready made robes for
the need during the year. Their supply was assured by the state
maintaining many Karkhanas of its own in the principal cities of the
empire, where skilled workmen were brought together, sometimes from
distant provinces, and placed under the darogha (government
superintendent) paid daily wages, and made to produce the handicrafts
which were duly stocked in the stores. The Mughal government was
forced to supply its own wants by becoming a producer of nearly
everything the required for in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The modem private organization of production and transport were
found wanting and the government itself took a some what patronizing
attitude in dealing with the sei-vants and subjects. In these workshops
there were produced arms and ammunitions. Carriages and portable
litters for the emperor, carpet, mattresses, harness for the houses in the
imperial stable, beds, tents, clothes, jewellery, gold and silver wares,
perfiimes, medicines, shawls, turbans and other metals. The articles
were supplied to the various government departments as per market
rates. The profits were shown as the income from Karkhana.
The main function of the Karkhanas was to keep the palace and
some branches of government supplied with the commodities which
 19

they needed. These varied from the food served on the monarch's stable
to the pieces of artillery required by the imperial forces. The emperor
gave away thousand of robes of honour to officers and others, and then
it was considered economical to get the cloth manufactured and the
robes tailored directly in the imperial workshops. Precious stones were
cut, pearls pierced, ornaments made in the Karkhanas not only for the
use of the monarch but also for presents. Horses, elephants, camels and
mules were bred and trained for various duties. Animals and birds were
tamed and taught to help the monarch in the hunt. In short all the needs
of the monarch and court were met through these institutions." About
the numbers of Karkhana also the sources vary. In popular parlance
there were 12 treasuries and 36 Karkhanas. The Marathi histories
namely the Sabhasad Bakhar (written in 1694) and the Chitni's Bakhar
of Shivaji (written in 1810), mention only Karkhanas though these two
works do not agree with each other as to their names. The Zawabit-'i-
Alamgiri gives a list of 69 Karkhanas. The Ain separately describes 26
of the Karkhanas and indirectly or briefly refers to 10 other making of
total of 36. Further in the contemporary literature 36 buyutat or the
Karkhanas are mentioned. Abul Fazl mention following in the Ain; ""The
treasuries, the mint the Farrash Khana, illumination and lights, the gurkhana, (the
workshop for making the royal seals), the abdar khana, the kitchen the fruitery, the
perfuming, the wardrobe and the bedding and mattresses. The pilkhana, the stable for
horses, the camel stables, the mule stables, buildings, the library the ansenal. the workshop

for the manufacture of shawls and textiles ".

Under the Mughals the number of various factories, workshops

and stables grew in view of new needs. Some of the older ones had to be
split in independent organizations. It was not considered necessary to
confine the number to the traditional thirty six or to make out lists of
strictly logical nature. Every need which was felt had to be fulfilled and
a store or a workshop was added to the existing establishment. The staff
 20

of every Karkhana varied in accordance with the needs: for instance the
matbak or kitchen would have chefs and cook where as the library
would employ calligraphists and painters.
Classified list of Karkhana: The Mughal Karkhanas as enumerated in
the Zawabit can be classified into following five groups:
A. Animals: Horse stables (Paga or astabal khana) elephant stables
ipeel-khana) cow pens {gao-khana) camel stables {Shutr-khana)
Mule stables ashtar khana) deer park {Ahu khana) menageries of
tame hunting animals {Shikar khana) hunting Leopards {Chita
khana), aviary for falcons {qush khana)
B. Stores: They were more collection of things manufactured
elsewhere. Royal insignia {qur khana), arsenal {silah khana) Palki
khana, chandal khana or sedan chairs rath khana or carriages,
portable throve or litter {takhi-i-rawan) candlesticks and lamps
{shama and chirag) torches (Mashal) library {kitab khana).
C. Factories and Stores: Carpets {Farash khana) wardrobe or
mattresses, harness, saddles and bridles (zm khana) bedding and
advance tents for the emperor's journey {bistar khana and
pes h khana)
D. Offices or Departments of Administration and Court Life:
Band room {Naqqar khana), artillery {Top khana) including all
classes of fire arms and ammunitions. The Marathas had separate
store for gun powder, called Dani khana, building department
{Imarat khana) records {Daftar khana) Emperor' Chapel {Ja-
namaj khana or tasbih khana) store room for heirless property
{Kotha-i-baitul m 'al) purchase department {Ibtia khana). The
Maratha had a Saundagarikosh to designate this free food kitchen
{hu/gur khana or usually longer khana) school {talim khana).
Which during Firoz Tughlaq's time called ilm khana. A Marathi
 21

historian Ram Chandra pant translates talim khana as the

wrestling school.
Department of hire and wages {Kiraya wa ajura) games
(Chaugan, Chaubar) in the 17'*^ and 18^*^ centuries there was a
department called bewa khana (widows dominatory) for the
maintenance of widows of the emperors, who lived in Sohagpura
suburb of Delhi during Auranzeb's period.
E. The Emperor's Personal Service
Kitchen {matbakh or bawarchi khana) drink or butlery {abdar
khana) some Persian works read sharbat khana, some sharabi
khana but the latter term here mans wine seller. The Marathi
histories name sharbat khana and also Sharabi khana, fruits
{mewa khana) bhanda khana (large earthen pots) Sahat khana
(conservancy or latrine) store of Kauris (small shells) to serve as
the lowest small change, Khar miihra khana, Charkhi khana,
store of fire wheels, majuma khana (miscellaneous). The five
(maga khan, bhanda khana, sahat khana, karmuhra khana and
Charkhi khana) are given in the zawabit which contains, in
addition, nine illegible names of Karkhanas. The Marathi
histories add the following three:
Ambar khana or granary, Zaryat or Jins khana (this jins khana
would correspondent to the q/>2<3.s(grains) department in the Mughal
empire, that is the store of things from which the mansabdars were
supplied as part payment in kind) theatre or natak khana, besides the
sahat khana and sharbat khana already noticed under other heads.^'
In the middle of the seventeenth century the French doctor
Bernier saw these factories at work during his visit to the Mughal
capital. Bernier has left an eye witness elaborating account of these
Karkhanas which he saw them growing considerably during his stay in
 22

India. There is also available the list of Karkhanas in the official

manuals called dastur-ul-amals and certain other historical works
composed at the end of the seventeenth century and later, state factories
were also maintained in provinces at Burhanpur, Aurangabad and
Kashmir. The state Karkhanajats manufactured goods to meet the royal
demands. The Mughal emperors monopolized the best skilled workers
for manufacture.
The Muslims chronicles do not write much about industries and
trade but lot of information is found in the pages of Ain-i-Akbari and the
writings of European travelers though they cannot always be relied
upon. Moreland made a special study of the economic condition which
prevailed under the Mughals. He writes that India was more advanced in
'X(\

matters of industry than Eastern Europe. The state had Karkhanas or

royal workshops where silk was manufactured and other kinds of costly
goods for the king and nobles. Abul Fazl writes that some times as many
as 4000 weavers of silk alone worked in those karkhanas?^
The state supplied the own needs and became the principal
producer and manufacture the chief patron and manufacturer of luxury
goods. The principal banker and chief trader in the empire from the
account given by Bernier the appears that these Karkhanas were large
halls in which the artisan worked. The character of these Karkhanas
and the attitude of nobles towards the artisans employed in them is
brought out by Bernier in a well know passage. He says: workshops
occupied by skillful artisans would be vainly sought for in Delhi, which has very little to
boast of in that respect. This is not owing to any inability in the people cultivate the arts for
there are ingenious men in every part of India. Numerous are the instances of piece of
workmanship made by person destitute of tools and who can scarcely he said to have
received instruction from a master. The rich will have every article at cheap rate.
Sometimes they imitate so perfectly articles of European manufacturer that the difference
between the original and the copy can hardly he imagined. The artists therefore, who arrive
 23

at any eminence in their art arc those only who are in the service of the king of some
33
powerful iimrah (noble) and who work exclusively for their patron.

The royal Karkhanas were found all over the

country. Big centres were found in Kashmir, Lahore, Agra, Ahmadabad,
Fatehpur and Burhanpur. The workmanship of Kashmir was renewed.
Its Palkis bedsheets, trunk, ink stand, boxes and spoons were used all
over India. But its shawls were superb, great pains have been taken to
manufacture similar shawls in Patna, Agra and Lahore but not
withstanding every possible care they never have the delicate texture
and softness of the Kashmir shawls.
The Siibedars of various subahs could not have maintained state
factories of their own (except on a veiy small scale) as they were liable
to frequent transfer. But they patronized the local products as they had
to supply the emperor all the same with choice specimens of these.
In the Ain-\-Akbari Abul Fazl speaks of various state workshop in
Akbar's palace at Agra at the end of sixteenth century. The city of Agra
was renowned for its wide range of economic activities which included
commerce, in land and foreign made industries and handicrafts. Agra
remains one of the biggest commercial centers under the Mughals.
According to Sujan Rai author of the Khnlasat-ut-Twarikh articles of
seven divisions of the globe are brought and sold here. Monserrate
mention that every necessity of human life could be obtained in the
market of Agra including articles which have to be imported from
distant corners of Europe. '
Masulipatam, belonging to Golconda Kingdom, was the house of
many artisans skilled in Calicoes printing and there are letters in which
Aurangzeb, then viceroy of the Deccan, requests that some of these
artisans might be sent to work in the state factoiy at Delhi or Agra.
 24

The establishment of Kasim Bazar unit might be regarded as a

development of some importance in the emergence of the large scale
production in Mughal Bengal. This was not simply because of the size
of the unit. Though that certainly was an important element
manufacturing production on this scale under one roof on a regular wage
employment basis was rare in Mughal India. The imperial and other
Karkhanas were not fully comparable to the Dutch unit for two reasons.
First the goods manufactured in the Karkhana were intended, almost
exclusively for use by the royalty, the nobility, rich merchants and
others and for the army rather than for sale in the market second at least
some of the big Karkhanas appear to have been operated on the basis of
under paid drafted labour rather than with free contact labour Both
these factors make the Karkhanas quite different from the Dutch silk
factories which make the Karkhanas quite different from the Dutch silk
manufacturing. Bemier also gives the reference of that at Kasim Bazar.
The Dutch had employed seven or eight hundred workman in their
Karkhanas as was also done by the Englishmen and other merchants.^**
Many of the Karkhana or departments were government factories which
meet the demand for arms, weapons, jewellery cloths etc. of the palace,
others were stables for elephants, camels, horses cow etc. Some of the
Kharkhanas were meant for the supply of the daily essential needs like
food. Pan etc. or the daily supply of the medicines, perfumes etc. Amber
was another important centre where its rulers in the eighteenth century
had made elaborate arrangement of Kharkhanas organized largely on
the Mughal pattern^'^ during the 18^*^ century many of the Kharkhanas of
Maratha government seem to have been worked by means of forced
labour {Veth Begar) of the artisan of different kinds. For the
construction of government building a certain number of carpenters,
brick makers, masons and brick layers where requisitioned from in
 25

districts and sub districts for the period of eiglit to fifteen days per
annum. Similar government stables acquired necessary labour though
forced of leather workers rope makers, saddle makers and so on from
various regions for fifteen days to two months a year. These forced
workers were sometimes paid a small amount of cash or grain.'^"
Administration of Kharkhanas:
The Mughal emperor maintained Kharkhanas of factories of their
own for manufacture of article of different kinds including cotton and
silk. The interest of the Mughal emperors in the workshop can be
assessed from the following observation of Abul Fazl.
"//»• majesty pays much attention to various staff, skilful masters and workmen
have settled in the country to teach people an improved system of manufacture. The imperial
workshops in the towns of Lahore, Agra, Fatehpur, Ahmedabad turnout many master piece
of workmanship and the figures and pattern's knots and variety of fashions which now

prevail astonish experienced travelers.

Akbar patronized the public works department and personally

inspected the Karkhanas at time.'*" in the seventeenth century Bernier
obseiTed many Kharkhanas in which several skilled workers were
employed by the state.'*^ During the region of Aurangzeb the number of
these Karkhanas decreased. It is suggested that he hated luxuries
although it can not be proved conclusively later on during the period of
the later Mughals the position of the Karkhanas did not improve. The
Mughal emperor took interest in the proper maintenance of these
karkhanas. The Department of Khan-i-Samans was managed with the
greatest care regularity. He submitted the statement twice a year giving
full description of the article produced and the materials used and
required the production.'*'*
Mir-i-Saman as a regard the administration of the karkhanas, the
whole of the house hold department was under the supervision of Khan-
 26

i-Saman. The term Mir-i-Saman was not in use under the Akbar. In the
Ain his duties are not mentioned nor his power defined. In the
Alcbamama Abul Fazl however made a reference to Mir-i-Saman but
had not mentioned either his powers or duties."*^ But so far as Dastur-ul-
Amals are concerned, which were mostly drafted or copied in the region
of Auranzeb, the term Khan-i-Saman predominates.'*^ But gradually he
came to be in charge and commonly know as Mir-i-Saman under
Jahangir and Shahjahan and as Khan-i-Saman under Auranzeb and
afterwords, as the chief executive officer of the supply department. The
Mir-i-Saman was placed in charge of the intemal working of the
Karkhanas or buyutat, including factories and stores owned and
managed by the state for its own purposes, not only in the capital but in
eveiy provincial capital as well as in different parts of the empire.
Being the second highest officer in the realm the Khan-i-Saman
stood immediately below the diwan. He has been well described as
really the diwan of expenditure.'*^ He is thus instructed about his work
takeover the cash balance and collected articles in the household
department, which are kept under the seals of the mushrif and tahvildar
satisfy yourself that the stock agree with the records or else call upon
them to make the deficit good.
The staff of every Karkhana varied in accordance with the needs,
for instance the matbak or the kitchen would have chefs and cooks,
where as the library would employ calligraphists and painters. At the
head of every karkhana, however there was a darogha or a
superintendent assisted by clerks and accountants.'*^
Diwan-i-Buyutat: He was another officer of high rank. He was chiefly
responsible for the financial side of the department of karkhanas and
working of the department but not subordinate to the Mir-'i-Saman.
 27

Duties of Buyutat: Buyutat popularly shortened into buyutat, was the

title of an officer who registered the property of diseased person in order
to secure the payment of the due of the state as well as to safeguard the
property for the heirs of the deceased.^^
Darogha: (Superintendent) Each branch or karkhana had a darogha who
dealt directly with the artisan of his branch, distributed to them their
daily work and took charge of the material left in their possessions every
day and handed over to tahvildar. Thus the darogha of every karkhana
took the raw materials and the unfinished article from the tahvildar and
distributed them to the artisan. At the close of the day the darogha was
to take back the articles in wherever stage they might be on that day and
after nothing the amount of work done deposit them with the tahvilder.
The unfinished would be reissued the next day by the darogha again
handed over the artisan.
Tahvildar (Cashier and Store keeper): Like the darogha each
Karkhanas had a tahvildar who had charge of cash and material
required for his branch. He kept the cash and stored the necessary stock
of materials for use. Thus darogha took money and material from the
tahvildar and distributed them to workmen under him.
Mustakfi (Auditor): He audited the accounts of the karkhanas, verified
the expenditure with vouchers, prepared a statement signed it himself
put it before the diwan of the department and finally had the seal of the
Mir-'i-Saman put to it.
Darogha-i-Kacliheri (Establishment officer or officer
Superintendent): He was in charge of the general supervision of the
establishment of the officer. It was his duty to see that all papers and
register were taken from one officer to another, properly. He was also to
see that no one behaved rudely towards the clerks and the servant of the
office. He locked the door of the office with seal of the officer
 28

concerned and put his own seal, on each. Thus he appears to have been
the head of the clerical establishment of the entire department.
Nazlr: The nazir does not seem to have and duties, he assisted the diwan
of the department and helped him to revise and check the account before
submitting them to the central audit office.
Apart from the nobles, the princes and princes also maintained
Karkhanas for providing their own needs. For instance we read in a
latter from Aurangzeb to Shah Jahan that owing to the scarcity of skilled
hands the out put of the imperial Karkhanas of princes Jahanara had
been meager. The work of the artisan employee in Aurangzeb's own
Karkhanas was not admired by the emperor.^' During the Farrukhsyar's
regin, Mir Jumla, the Amirul Umra had full control over the the
exchequer and without his permission not even a single claim could be
had. He was busy arranging for the marriage of the emperor with Ajit
Singh's daughter, Abdullah Khan controlled the affair of diwani,
Bakshigiri and karkhana etc. But due to the presence of Mir Jumla he
did not attend and the nobility.
In the 17''^ century there existed also some private karkhanas.
According to F. Manrique the nobility appointed the labour of skilled,
craftsman in their private workshops for the production of luxury article
for themselves and to be given to the shah and other lords which was a
vital part of the feudal hierarchical ceremonial of interest is also the
information of private workshop given in the chronicle of All
Mohammad Khan, the Mirat-i-Ahmadi describing the organization of
the Kharkhanas founded by Raja Jai Singh in the village of Jai Nagar.
In the 18"^ century special establishment were organized on the
Nawabs orders for the manufacture of Shargaon Juglebaree and
Basetpoore, the largest centres of cotton cloth production in Bengal they
were included in the ntizzur, the yearly offering of the Nawab of Bengal
 29

to the ruler of the Mughal Empire. The cloth was Mulboos khas and the
building housing the workshops was known as mulboos khas kottee.^^
The English commercial resident in Dacca (such residual
appeared there in 1787) wrote 'The Incessant Inspector of the daroghas
and their people and the fear of incurring punishments for the any
deviation of the duty expected of them must have effectively differed
the weavers, while manufacturing the cloth from attempting any
improper practices.^'*
In the first half of the 17 century, Patna was famous not only for
the production of raw cotton and manufacture and supply of cotton
clothes of various kinds but also for being an important centre of silk
trade.^^
Further more during the second of the 17"^ century the English
Company sent a few English dyers, weavers, throwsters etc. to Kasim
Bazar in Bengal, who are reported to have trained craftsmen in the
European technique of dyeing some special colours (black blue) which
the latter were unfamiliar with.^*^
The imperial Karkhanas numbered 69 in the Zawabit-i-Almgiri
(fl326) towards the end of the 17^*^ century, indicating the decline in
production under the latter Mughals.^^. These lasted till the eighties of
the 18'^ century. However, the imperial tradition survived in the 18"'
century among some local rulers. Jai Singh II of Jaipur not only settled
weavers there who were expected to out do the Ahmadnagar textiles but
also provided tools of special varieties of wood in Workshop. Again
the Nawabs of Bengal and special establishments {Mulboos Khas
Kootee) in Dacca, sonargaon Jaugalbaree and Basetpoore for production
of first grade Muslins (Mulbooskhas) as yearly Peskash to the Mughal
emperor. The workshops were supervised by the darogha having
uncontrolled authority over all employees the most expert weavers in the
 30

province selected. They were registered and had to attend daily for
schedule hours till the completion of the tasks. They thread used was
carefully examined by inspectors and had to conform to the standard
master approved. In the time Siraj-ud-daula half of the wages of the
weavers was deducted as perquisites of the officers and servants. The
Nawab of Oudh and Nizam of Hyderabad also had similar Karkhanas
for supplying their own needs.^^ The 18"^ century witnessed certain
interesting trends in industrial organization thanks to the expansion of
the market by the middle of the century while the artisan system
continued as before, the practice of paying wages to artisan became
widely prevalent, if the 16"^ and 1?"^ centuries were marked by absence
of private workshop century was characterized by the advent of artisan
as capitalist entrepreneur. Traders, including Armenians in Bengal
employed winders (nakads) as wage earners in silk reeleries. Rich
weavers began to emerge in Bengal with their own capital sold their
goods freely. A few carpenters in Bengal and Bihar hired others for
working in their workship.^^ The supply of the court and the feudal elite
with luxury articles, etc. This form was most pronounced in state
workshop (those of the Shah or his courtiers) know as "'Karkhanas''' in
the Mughal empire and also in the workshop belonging to big feudal
lord.
Fr. Antony Monserrate, a missionary inform us that the ruler
''''keeps many workmen always engaged in the manufacture of muskets and swords

for the army".' The karkhana system also included the mint where
craftsmen of more than ten difficult trades minted coins.^"^ The chronicle
of Mirza Nathan. The Bahristan-i-Ghaybi, says that after the ruler of
Bengal, the Mughal Nawab Islam Khan had in 1608 transferred his
capital from Rajmahal to Decca, he organized state ware and
 31

warehouses and karkhana enlisting carpenters, black smiths, armors and

other artisans.
According to Shah Nawaz Khan's chronicle the Maathir-ul-Umra
Aurangzeb organized Karkhanas also in Aurangabad.^^ Here is how
Bernier describes these state workshop at the Delhi palace of Shah
Aurangzeb '.Large halls are seen in many palaces, called Kai-Kanays or workshop for
64
the artisan. In one hall embroiders are busily employed superintended by a master.

Skilled artisans were enlisted for work at these shops by methods of

non-economic feudal coercion. There labour was strictly regimented.
They could not leave the karkhana on their own, were obliged to do the
work they were given while the payment for their work was detennined
by feudal lord.
J.N. Sarkar, the well known Indian historian wrote that the main
portion of the articles turned out in the Karkhanas was "periodically
presented to the noble as a matter of administrative practices and the
surplus satisfying the wants of the imperial house hold and official
exigencies was old to private persons, The state workshops (annories,
mints, warehouse, etc.) in which a division of labour developed, turned
into peculiar feudal manufactories.
Various sources indicate that there was a karkhana also at the
court of the Shah of Golconda in the 17"' century .^^ In the I?"' Century
there existed also private feudal karkhanas. According to Father
Manrique, the nobility use the labour of skilled craftsmen in their private
workshops for the production of luxury articles for themselves and to be
given to the Shah and feudal lords, which was a vital part of the feudal
hierarchical ceremonial.
Of interest is also the information on private feudal workshops
given in the chronicle of Ali Muhammad Khan the Mirat-i-Ahmadi,
describing the organization of a karkhana founded by Rajah Amber Jai
 32

Singh in the village of Jai Nagar. He settled artisans in the village that
produced cloth, which he wanted to be superior to the famed Ahmad
Nagar textiles. To achieve this he ordered that the tools for his
Karkhanas be made of special kinds of wood.^' According to John
Taylor these workshops were superintended by a feudal official, the
darogha who "exercised uncontrolled authority over all persons
employed in them the most expert weavers in the provinces were
selected to work here." The names of these artisan were registered and
"they compelled to attend daily at the appointed hours, until the different
task assigned to them were finished.
Inspectors carefully examined the thread that was brought to the
looms and none was permitted to be used until it was compared with the
standard masters and approved of the English commercial resident in
Dacca (such resident appeared there 1787)". The incessant inspection of
the Daroghas and their people and the fear of incurring punishments for
any deviation of the duty expected of them must have effectually
deterred the weavers. While manufacturing the cloths from attempting
any improper practices. The Darogha defrauded the weavers "of a
considerable portion of the wages allowed them by the government."
Thus in the time of Siraj-ud-Daula pay and retained as a perquisite by
the officer and servants of the Mulbooskhas Kootees.'''^
The records of the English commercial residents Indicate that the
state workshop (karkhana) based on the feudal organization of the
labour of weavers continued to function in the 1780's i.e. after the
seizure of Bengal by the English India company.^" An important
features promoting the development and the changes in economic
structure of the crafts in a number of areas in India in the 18"" century.
One directly connected with the development of handicraft production
and commodity money relations, was a certain weakening of feudal
 33

coercions and correspondingly the wider recourse to the free hire of the
labor forces/' Thus according to the Mirat-i-Ahmadi by Muhammad
Khan, in the 1660's the administration {Mustassadi) of state
construction project, garden and other Karkhanas reported to Padishah
Aurangzeb that until recently the wages (Ujural) of hired workmen
[Mazdurani] were paid in Phalsa (a small copper coin-Ach). However
since beginning with that year (1667/68. A.Ch) new phalsa were
minted. The workmen refused to accept the new coins because they said
their value was far below that of the former phalsa. The Padishah then
ordered the Diwan of Subah to raise daily wages (Youmie) of the work
men and to pay them 1.5 tanka for every tanka they had received
before. ^^
When construction was carried on at the order of private persons,
the cooperation of the labourers work created a basis for the emergence
of an economic organization of labour of a qualitatively new form. This
applied particularly at the end of the 18"" and the beginning of the 19"^
centuries in Bengal (Dinajpur) to the labour of some rural carpenters,
living in the vicinity of town and producing simple furniture agriculture
implements. The richest of them having a capital of Rs. 40-50 employed
some workmen, similar condition could be observed during that period
in Bihar in the towns of Bhagalpur and Monger, were there were about
70 workshops (karkhana) of carpenter, producing all sorts of furniture,
palanquins, etc. some time the owner of the workshop hired several
workers, supplied them with materials and instruments and himself
worked together with them. In some cases, when the numbers of wage
workers reached a certain figure some time 100. The proprietor not only
gave up manual labour but practically ceased to supei-vise his worker's,
he thus became small capitalist enterprise based on simple capitalist
cooperation. The iron work generally produced forging of different sizes
 34

where sold to the state for the manufacture, of arms, to owners of private
workshops for the production of steel, the manufacture of sugar boilers
agriculture implements and artisan's tools and also to peasants and rural
blacksmiths, who manufactured all sorts of arm implements and various
household goods. Some workshops for example, those in Chica-
Baylicaray, produced not forgings but ploughshares. The iron was
smelted from sand and ore. In the first case for several months during
the monsoon period, When the torrents carried down sands from the
rocks special labour collected it along the river banks, washing it the
separated the ore from the sand. In the second case, the ore was mined
on mountain slopes. Crushing the rocks with a pickaxe and grinding it
with their hands, the miners picked from it small bits of ore which they
collected and carried to the foot of the mountain and from there to
workshops.
The duration of the production cycle differed from workshop to
workshop. Here the raw materials were sand which was collected for
three to four months during the rainy season. The smelting lasted
generally eight to nine months, sometimes less, because it stopped when
there was from work to be done where ore was smelted. Work lasted
nine to ten months, sometimes all the year around and was stopped only
in holidays, because of heavy rains, the illness of workers or for similar
reasons. The latter name was probably derived from the group of
community artisan into which blacksmiths were incorporated. He
generally own the instruments of labour in the large- the hammers tongs
and anvil. He took charge of the forging of the metal and in the fire in
furnace. One of the workers held the metal being forged with the tongs,
another in addition to working the bellows, removed the ashes and dress.
There still were patriarchal, primitive features in the division of labour;
the artisans for example carried out several different operations (the
 35

collection of sand and work in the forge (The making of charcoal and
work in the smeltery etc.). The emergence of professional workshop
(karkhana) labourers from the peasants and artisans, the separation of
the crafts from agriculture attained a considerable level development.
The hiring of the workmen was generally free and there was no coercion
by other than economic means. They were tied to their employer only by
the money advances they had received from him and were not allowed
to engage in other work until they had repaid their debts.
The remuneration of the wage workers differed from workshop to
workshop. In some workshop wages were paid in cash the sand
collectors received 10 faunas a month the char charcoal burners 8-10 the
smelters, 10-13. The head men of the smelting fiimace" 15: workers in
the forge 6-3 (hammers 9, bellows workers 8). The head workmen of the
forge" 12-20 faunas.^^
An organization of labour in many respects resembling that in the
iron-making capitalist manufactures of Mysore can be encountered at
the end of the 18'^ beginning of 19"^ centuries also in Bihar (district
Shahabad) where iron making was carried on. The proprietors of the
furnaces received advances from urban merchants hired people to
deliver ore and fuel and carry out the smelting. As many a 50 person
serviced a single fiimace , simple cooperation growing into capitalist
manufacturers was typical not only of the various branches of
construction extraction and processing of minerals wealth (iron
diamonds etc.) in which cooperation of labour is a natural features of
production but also of many other branches of the handicrafts in India in
the 16"'-18' centuries. There is evidence to show that such enterprises
existed at the beginning of the 18 century in Gujrat. In the Mirat-i-
Ahmadi Ali Muhammad Khan mention the existence in the first decades
of the 18 century in Gujarat of a "multitude of Karkhanas where wage
 36

worker were employed. These manufactures, which exhibited many

capitahst, features were owned by silk merchants. Not only winders
{charkha, literary "wheel turners") but also dyers (Sibagan) and even
weavers (misajan) where employed in the manufacturers, which leads us
to assume that there existed a complex organization of labour not only in
the production of silk, but also in the production of finished and even
dyed fabrics.^^ However as a result of the brutality of the feudal
authorities towards the proprietors of manufacturers and raid by
Marathas the establishment were often destroyed and part of their
proprietors of manufactures moved in the second half of the 18 century
to Banaras, where they resumed the activity. A similar state of affairs
could be observed during that period also in Bengal. In Malda for
example "if a man is rich and keeps several looms" he and his life warp
and dye and others are hired to weave.^^ In Bihar at the end of the 18'
and the beginning of the 19"^ centuries we encounter a growing division
of labour within the workshop {Karkhana). Three artisans
simultaneously operated a single loom: one pulled the thread for the
pattern, another twisted the thread and third wove it. The hiring
weavers was wide spread at that time also in Maharastra. The highest
form of labour organization could be observed in the shawl making
trade in Kashmir at the end of the IS"' and beginning of 19* centuries.
Rafai Damnibegov a Georgian noble man who visited Srinagar at the
end of the 18"^ century, tell of the considerable development there of
shawl manufacturer. In the vicinity of the town and in the itself there are
up to 24000 looms many of which specialize in the weaving of
Shawls. Large workshop were the property of masters (ustad) or
manufacture, who had form it three to 300 looms in their establishment,
which were "generally crowded together in long low apartment.'*^ This
system exhibits certain features of cartel relations, even though there
 37

was a striking inequality in engaged in the workshop. Finally, the fourth

system differed from the preceding in that the proceeds were divided
equally, the ustad feeding the workmen. This system is close to the
traditional "cartel" form of labour organization to relations of master
craftsmen and apprentice, typical of feudal workshop of medieval times.
Thus at the end of the IS"' and the beginning of the 19* centuries
the economics organization of labour in shawl manufacturing workshop
in Kashmir contained forms traditional for feudal society and also others
testifying to the emergence of capitalist relations between the
proprietors and their workers (the weavers embroiderers and soon). This
information gives grounds for the conclusion that at the end of the 18'
and beginning of 19* centuries in the shawl weaving industry in
Kashmir there emerged enterprises which possessed a number of
important features typical of capitalist manufactures.
Similar enterprises belonging to local capitalist existed during the
same period in Bengal, Bihar and Hindustan. In Bengal and Bihar the
idigo was generally delivered by peasants whose forms were 5 to 6
kilometers from the enterprise. The enterprises had from 6 to 12 big vats
for the boiling of Indigo, a building for drying the dye stuff and a ware
house.
Near Banaras Indigo production was organized in a different way.
The enterprise consisted of several small workshops with two vats
drying promises and ware house. These workshop received indigo from
peasants whose fields were within 1000 meters from the manufactures.
The owner had several workshop which together often produced more
indigo than the large enterprises in Bengal.
Yet another system in Indigo manufactures was wide spread in
Oudh. The small workshop having up to three comparatively small vats
did not only the primary processing of indigo. On a stretch of 20-25
 38

kilometers there were 100 to 150 small workshops. The product yielded
by them was delivered to central workshop {karkhana), pressing and
drying. The productivity of such a manufacturer was many times higher
than that of the enterprises in Bihar and Bengal.^^

REFERENCES

1. Bosworh, C.E.; The Ghazanvids the Empire in Afganistan and

Eastern India 994-1040, Delhi 1992 p.l37.
2. Engelbert Kaempfer, Amoenitatum, Book 1 (tr. W. Hiuz), An
Hofe des Persischen Grosskonigs 1684-85, Leipzig, 1940,
pp.l06ff; Jean Chardin, Voyages en Perse, et'autres tiewe de
L'orient, New Edu L. Langles, pp.330 ff An incomplete trans. By
E. Lloyd tilled Sir Jeanchardin's Travels in Persia, Vol. II,
London, 1720: Valdimir Minorsky, ed, Tazkirat-i-Muluk: A
Manual of Safavid Administration, London, 1943, p.50.
3. Ibid. p.30.
4. Ibid. p.29.
5. Ashraf, K. M.; Life and Condition of People of Hindustan, Gyan
Books, Delhi, 1959.
6. Afif, Shams-i-Siraj; Tarikh-i-Firoz Shah edited by Maulvi
Wilayat Hussain, Calcutta, 1800, p.30, 179, 414.
7. Alizades; ed., Jami Al Tawarikh, pp, 30, 179, 414.
8. The iron pillar of Mehraulli is a case in point which seems to have
been made in the royal foundry which however was mainly
concerned with the manufacture of arms and armours, see S.K.
Maity, Economic life in Northern India pp.135, 36.
9. Barani, Ziauddin; Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi, edited by Sir Sayyiad
Ahmad Khan, Calcutta, 1862, p. 50, 109.
 39

10. The Rehla of Ibn Batuta (India, Maldive Islands and Ceylon), tr.
With commentary by Mahdi Hussain, Baroda, 1953, p. 151.
11. Afif, Shams-i-Siraj; Tarikh-i-Firoz Shah edited by Maulvi
Wilayat Hussain, Calcutta, 1800, pp.337-339.
12. Ibid., pp.271-72, 337-340.
13. A mahal in the Sarkar of Delhi, The Ain-i-Akbari, Vol.11,
translated Jadunath Sarkar, Calcutta, 1948, p.285.
14. Afif, Shams-i-Siraj; Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi edited by Maulvi
Wilayat Hussain, Calcutta, 1890, p.340.
15. Ibid.,p.34.
16. Moreland, W.H.; India at the Death of Akbar, London, 1920,
pp. 172-174.
17. Ibid., pp. 186-187.
18. Chaudhari, Tapan Ray and Habib, Irfan; ed. The Cambridge
Economic History of India, Vol.1, pp.286-287.
19. Jahangir, Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri. A Rogers, ed. By H. Bevividge,
Vol.2, London, 1908, 1909, 1914, Vol.1, p.215.
20. Chicherov, A.I.; India Economic Development in 16"^ to 18"'
Centuries, Outline History of Crafts and Trade, Moscow, 1971,
pp.182-185.
21. Ain-i-Akbari,(text),I, p.4.
22. Sarkar, Jadunath; Mughal Administration, Calcutta 1952 pp. 122-
23.
23. Zawabit-i-Alamgiri, M.S. Br. Mu. Or. 1641, p.l5a.
24. Bernier, Francois; Travels in Mogul Empire, A.D. 1656-1668, Ed.
by A. Constable, Oxford, 1934, pp. 128, 292.
25. Zawabit-i-Alamgiri, MS (British Museum, now British Library,
London, or 1941, f 132. For further details see Jadunath Sarkar,
Mughal Administration, Calcutta, 1952, p. 125.
 40

26. For the traditional number of 36, Shakir Khan, Tarildi-i-Khani

MS (British Museum now British Library London) Add 6585, f.
136. Farrash Khana the store for carpets etc., abdar khana (water
and drinks), Pilkhana (elephant stables) for further details see I.H.
Qureshi. The administration of Mughal Empire, p.59.
27. The Ain-i-Akbari, Vol.1, ed. By H. Blochmenn, Calcutta, 1872,
p.59-61,102-15.
28. Dastur-ul-Amal-i-Aurangzeb, M.S. (Br. Museum now British
Library London), 6598, f 55a William Irvine, Later Mughals, i.
254n.)
29. The Ain-i-Akbari, Vol. 1, ed. By H. Blochmenn, Calcutta, 1872, p.
16, 52, 55, 57, 59, 68, 78, 93, 97, 113, 115, 123, 140, 151, 157,
168,232,292-96,306,39-15.
30. Moreland;Op. Cit., 172.
31. The Ain-i-Akbari, Vol.1, ed. By H. Blochmenn, Calcutta, 1872,
p.93-94.
32. Ibid.,p.l2.
33. Bernier, Francois; Travels in Mogul Empire, A.D. 1656-1668, ed.
By A. Constable, Oxford, 1934, pp. 254-56.
34. Ibid., pp.128, 292.
35. Monserate, Antony Father; Commentary on His Journey to the
Court of Akbar, tr. J.S. Hoy land, London, 1922, Annotated by
S.N. Banerjee, Cuttack, 1922, p. 160.
36. Ibid., p.35.
37. Moreland, W.H.; India at the Death of Akbar, London, 1920,
pp. 173-74. It is trace that a large number of workers had to be
assembled for constructing forts and other big building, as well as
ocean going vessels. But in these cases as W.H. Moreland has
pointed out, the organization brought into being did not survive
 41

the completion of the particular projects for which it had been

assembled. The royal mints in the various parts of the empire
were undoubtedly fairly big units also. But it should be obvious
that the implication of the production of coins by individuals
employed on a salary basis by the government were some what
different from those of the production of goods in manufactory of
the type of the Dutch silk reeling unit at Kasim Bazar.
38. Bernier, Francois; Travels in Mogul Empire, A.D. 1656-1668, ed.
By A. Constable, Oxford, 1934, p.422.
39. For Jaipur see Ashin Kumar Roy; History of Jaipur City 1978, pp.
56-57: for Amber Sumbul Halim Khan, Karkhanas of a Mughal
Noble, Evidence from the Amber/Jaipur Records PIHC, Delhi
Session, 1991-92. P. 432-38.
40. Fukazawa, H.; 'A note on the corvee system (Vethbegar) in the
eighteenth century Maratha Kingdom; Prof. D.D. Kosambhi
Commemoration Committee (Pub) Science Human progress,
Bombay, 1974, p. 123.
41. The Ain-i-Akbari, Vol.1, ed. By H. Blochmenn, Calcutta, 1872,
p.93-94.
42. Ibid. Vol.1, pp. 18-27, 115-16,272.
43. Pelsaert, Francisco; Jahangir's India: The Remonstratic of
Francisco Pelsaert, ed. By W.H. Moreland and P. Geyl,
Cambridge, 1925, pp.19, 26, 28.
44. Jahangir; Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, tr. A. Rogers, ed. By H. Beveridge,
Vol. 2, London, 1908, 1909, 414, p.96.
45. Abul Fazl Allami; The Akbarnam Vol.Ill, translated by H.
Beveridge p.877.
46. Mir-i-Saman together with the diwan-i-buyutat is placed under
the diwan of the empire and the term Mir-i-Saman is used for the
 42

office instead of Khan-i-Saman, Ain (text, p.4 Blochman has

pointed out one example of its use in a biographical note on
Khwaja Jalal-uddin Mahmud of Khursan, but there is used as a
title conferred upon his by humayun which under the
circumstances was an empty distinction Ain (tr.) Vol. 1, p.417.
47. Mannual of Officer Duties a Persian MSS, 17-21, for Details see
Jadu Nath Sarkar Mughal Administration, Calcutta, 1952, p.32.
48. Ain Vol.1, pp.59-61, 102-115.
49. Dastur-ul-Amal-i-Agahi, Br. Mu. Add. 6599, f. 36a etc.
50. Zawabit-i-Alamgiri, M.S. Br. Mu. Or. 1614 21.b for Details see
Jadu Nath Sarkar, Mughal Administration, Calcutta, 1952, p.35-
36.
51. Mulla Abdul Baqi Nihavandi; Ma'asir-i-Rahimi ed. By Shamsul
Ulama M. Hidayet Hussain. Calcutta, 1925, Vol.11, p. 1683-84.
52. 1707-1715 as seen from the reports of Amber PIHC 1986.
53. Taylor, J.A.; A Descriptive and Historical Account of the Cotton
manufacture of Dacca in Bengal, London, 1851, pp.82-84.
54. Ibid., p.82.
55. Sarkar, Jagdish Narayan; Cotton trade of Patna in Early
seventeenth century IHQ. No.4, 1936, Chapter I Sec A Peter
Mundy, The Travel Vol.1, pp.142, 145, 150-151,36.
56. Bowery, C.F.; op. cit., pp.214-15, Ahsovillhen Sloman, Bizare
design in Silk pp.110-111. For details see A.J. Qaiser the Indian
response to European technology and Culture (1498-1707), Delhi,
1982, p. 12.
57. Sarkar, Jadunath; Mughal Administration, p. 125, till the eighties
of the eighteenth century.
58. Khan, Aii Muhammad; Mirat-i-Ahmadi, ed. By Nawab Ali, Vol.2
and supplement, Baroda, 1927-28,193, p.l 1.
 43

59. Taylor J.A.; A Descriptive and Historical Account of the Cotton

Manufactures of Dacca in Bengal, London, 1851, pp. 82-84.
According to Chicherove certain features of the Mughal
workshop were similar to those of the state manufacture in France
at the close of the 17 C. p.ll. According to Chicherove certain
features of the Mughal workshops were similar to those of the
state manufactories in France at the close of the seventeenth
century and beginning of eighteenth century as well as with the
imperial manufactories in Czarist Russia in the seventeenth
century, employing mainly serfs as handicraftsmen.
60. Bernier, Francois; Travels in Mogul Empire, A.D. 1656-1668, ed.
by A. Constable, Oxford, 1934, p.254: CEHI Vol.1, p.284: Vol. II,
p.24: K. K. Dutta, Survey of India Social Life and Economic
condition in 18''' Century, Calcutta, 1961, pp. 109-110.
61. Monserrate, Antony Father; Commentary on his Journey to the
Court of Akbar, Account of Akbar (26 Nov, 1582), JPASB,
Vol.8, 1912, pp-115-116.
62. Abul Fazl, Allami; The Ain-i-Akbari, Vol.1, ed. By H.
Blochmenn, Calcutta, 1872, pp. 18-27.
63. Khan, Shah Nawaz; Nawab Samsudaula, Maathiral-Umra Vol.1,
p.205, Calcutta, 1881-1891.
64. Bernier, Francois; Travels in Mogul Empire, A.D. 1656-1668, ed.
by A. Constable, Oxford, 1934, p.259.
65. Sarkar, Jadunath; Mughal India: 17"' Century" Industries in
Modem Review June 1922, p.675.
66. Sarkar, J.N.; "Some aspects of the Qutub Shah Administration of
Golconda" JBORS, Vol.30, 1949, p. 194.
 44

67. Khan, Ali Mohammad; Mirat-i-Ahmadi, ed. by Nawab Ali, Vol.2

and supplement, 1927-28, 1930, p.l94. K.2. Ashrafyan
Stroisevemal Indie Mascow, 1956, pp.82-84.
68. Taylor, J.A.; A Descriptive and Historical Account of the Cotton
Manufactures of Dacca in Bengal, London, 1851, p.82.
69. Ibid.,p.83.
70. Sinha, N.K.; The Economic History of Bengal from Plassey to
permanent settlement, Vol. 1-2, Calcutta, 1946, p.25.
71. Abul Fazl, Allami; The Ain-i-Akbari, Vol.III, ed. by H.S. Jarrett
and Jadunath Sarkar, Calcutta, 1948, pp.727, 34.
72. Khan, Ali Muhammad Bhadur; Mirat-i-Ahmadi, Baroda, 1928,
Vol.1, 9, 267.
73. Montgomery, Martin R.; The History, Antiquities Topography
and Statistics of Bihar, Shahabad Bhagalpur, Gorakhpur,
Dinajpur, Pumiya, Rungpoor, Assam Vol. 1-3, London, 1838,
Vol.2, p. 945.
74. Ibid., Vol.2, pp.256.
75. Buchanan, F.H.; A Journey from Madras through the countries of
Mysore, Canara and Malabar, London, 1807, Vol.3, p. 175-77.
76. Montgomery, Martin R.; The History, Antiquities Topography
and Statistics of Bihar, Shahabad Bhagalpur, Gorakhpur,
Dinajpur, Pumiya, Rungpoor, Assam Vol. 1-3, London, 1838,
Vol. 1-3.
77. Khan, Ali Mohammad; Mirat-i-Ahmadi, ed. by Nawab Ali, Vol.2,
p.l39, Baroda, 1928.
78. Dutta, K.K.; Survey of India's social life and economic condition
in the 18"^ C.( 1707-18134) Calcutta 1937, p.86
79. Montgomery, Martin R; The History, Antiquities Topography and
Statistics of Bihar, Shahabad Bhagalpur, Gorakhpur, Dinajpur,
 45

Pumiya, Rungpoor, Assam Vol. 1-3, London, 1838, Vol.2 p. 972-

73 London 1938.
80. Ibid, vol.1 p.354
81. Marshal, T.; Statistical Reports On The Pergunnas Of
Pedshapoor, Belgam, Kalaniddee And Chandigarh, Khanpur,
Begullkol And Badamy In The Sourthem Maharashtra Contry
Bombey, 1822, p.51-52
82. Damibegov R. Puteshestiveyev; Indiya Gruzinskogo Dvorimina
rafaila damibegova mascow 1938, p.41
83. Moorcraft W. And Trebek G.J.; Travels in the Himalayan
Provinces of Hindustan and Punjab, in Ladak and Bokhara from
1819-1825, London vol.2 p.l 16-179.
84. Such conclusion of the organization of labor in the Kashmir shawl
weaving trade in the early 19 c. where originally draw in soviet
histography by y.v. gankovsky see.401, p65 and N I Semoyonava
see 453 p.65-67
85. Montgomery Martin R.; Vol.2 p.986; a statistical account of
Bengal, ed. by W W Hunter, vol. 8, p95 Calcutta, 1875-1878