In terms of geographical location, Mewat region was/is situated approximately 64 km south-west of Delhi, roughly corresponding to present-day Alwar and Bharatpur districts of Rajasthan, and Nuh district of Haryana. Presently, it comprises of nine tehsils: Alwar, Tijara, Kishangarh and Lachhmangarh in Alwar district; Deeg Nagar and Kama in Bharatpur district; and Nuh and Firozpur-Jhirka in Nuh district.

On the face of it, Mewat region has a varied topography comprised of Aravali hill ranges, plains and dense forests. But it is the the Kala Pahad (‘Black Mountain’) ridge of the Aravali range that has been a prominent geographical marker, since it is at the centre of Mewat, demarcating Haryana from Rajasthan. It rises abruptly to more than 300 metres at some places and is remarkable for its uninterrupted stretch. Since the pre-Sultanate period, it has been a source of food, water, shelter and protection to a number of tribal communities and animals. On both its sides lie densely populated villages and agriculturally fertile tracts. Besides, in the medieval times, Mewat was dotted with lakes, seasonal streams and springs that played an important role as a source of irrigation for agriculture.¹

In the oral traditions of the region, the term ‘Mewat’ is derived from ‘Mev’, and ‘Meo’ or ‘Mev’ from ‘Mewas’ which means a hiding place for the robbers.² Therefore, in the medieval Indo-Persian court chronicles and colonial records, the term ‘Mev’ became synonymous with robber, ruffian or rogue. Historically, the identity of the Mewat as a region can be traced to at least the 13^th century when the earliest references to Meos appear in Minhaj Siraj’s Tabaqat-i-Nasiri. Minhaj Siraj and, later, Ziauddin Barani’s Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi. Both describe the region as home to Meo tribes who were lawless plunderers and raiders, disrupting trade and travel and thereby constituting a source of great trouble for the people of Delhi and its vicinity, as well as a serious law-and-order problem for the Sultans of Delhi.³

However, it appears from their predatory lifestyle that the Meos had to struggle a lot to eke out their living. On the other hand, their geographical and social isolation enabled them to lead a life of relative socio-political freedom. Nevertheless, being in the vicinity of Delhi and Agra, Mewat remained within the reach of the Turkish Sultans of Delhi who routinely undertook military campaigns to control the lawless and predatory activities of the Meos. For instance, in 1260 ce Balban (reigned 1266-87 ce) led a successful military campaign against them.⁴ From 1266 ce onwards he tried to consolidate his control over the region: he constructed a fort to guard the south-western side of Delhi against the incursions of the Mewatis, cleared forests and set up 2000 police posts to contain the activities of the Meos. These police posts (thanas) were manned by 3000 Afghan soldiers who were assigned lands for maintenance. ⁵ These postings and land assignments, in turn, helped the Afghans in establishing and consolidating their base in the region. Sultan Alauddin Khalji (1296-1316 ce), too, would have continued Balban’s policy of suppressing the turbulent chiefs in the vicinity of Delhi. Since he made the trade route between Delhi and Gujarat reasonably secure after thoroughly subjugating the Meos. Therefore, it may be assumed that he exercised more or less full administrative control over Mewat.⁶ However, it appears that the Mewatis continued their plundering till the days of Sultan Firozshah Tughlaq (reigned, 1351-88 ce) who also conducted military campaigns in Mewat.⁷ Thus, the Meo tribes appear to have been hostile towards the central authority in Delhi ever since the establishment of the Turkish rule. Further, it appears that the Meos conducted their predatory activities in nexus with Rajputs,⁸ suggesting that the complex relationship between the Meos and the central authority till the reign of Firozshah Tughlaq may be understood in the light of a combined Meo-Rajput struggle for their survival in the thick forests and Aravali hills of the Mewat region.

It is significant that, besides being the refuge of predatory tribes, the region also become a refuge for political dissidents. This was so either due to the region’s ecological conditions that prevented easy detection and capture, or due to the nature of its inhabitants who resisted the authority of Delhi Sultans and sheltered its dissidents. For instance, in 1256 ce, Qutlugh Khan, a rebel noble of Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah, sought refuge at Santur ruled by Rana Ran Pal. Rana Ran Pal, a descendent of Jadon Rajputs of Karauli, had carved out a principality in Santur⁹ in the Aravali hills during the early Sultanate period and must have accepted the overlordship of Balban. As the chief of Mewat, he enjoyed a high reputation among the Meos. Balban reached Santur with a big military contingent and destroyed the fortress of Santur, thereby forcing Qutlugh Khan to leave Mewat.¹⁰ On another occasion, when a succession struggle broke out after Firozshah’s death (1389 ce) between his grandson Abu Bakr Shah and his son Muhammad Shah, Muhammad Shah seized power, and Abu Bakr Shah, together with many of his Firozi slaves, sought refuge in Kotla, the fortress of Bahadur Nahar, the Khanzada ruler of Mewat. In a decisive battle fought in Kotla in 1390 ce, Abu Bakr Shah and Bahadur Nahar were defeated. While Bahadur Nahar was given amnesty and restored to power, Abu Bakr was imprisoned.¹¹

In the second half of the 14^th century, especially after Firozshah Tughaq’s death, a major change took place in the socio-political life of the region. A new ruling class known as the Khanzadas (1390-1527 ce), who had descended from the Jadon Rajputs of Bayana and Thangir, established their chiefdom in the vicinity of Tijara in Kotla.¹² In order to strengthen the economic base of their chiefdom, the Khanzadas put considerable pressure on the Meos and other tribal communities in the Kala Pahad region to give up their plundering activities and take up cultivation. In this process, the conversion of forest land into agricultural land appears to have been their first major initiative. By a large-scale deforestation drive, more and more areas were brought under cultivation by the Khanzadas.¹³ Further, the Khanzadas constructed new forts and set up an administrative apparatus for land revenue collection. These measures were, in a way, a continuation of the policies of Balban to contain the Meo menace. But at the same time, the Khanzadas appear to have adopted a conciliatory approach towards the Meos who formed the majority of peasants in the Mewat region in that they entered into marriages with them and inducted them into the army.¹⁴

As a consequence, a major social change occurred among the Meo tribes: their gradual migration from hills to plains and their transformation into a sedentary peasantry. This process of peasantization that started in the 14^th century continued well into the 19^th century. As a result of their relocation to plains and peasantization, new villages and towns (qasbas) emerged in the region. This process is also implicit in a major shift in the way the Meos were described in the Indo-Persian court chronicles. The accounts of Meo raids and robberies in the Indo-Persian chroniclers of the early Sultanate period, such as those of Minhaj Siraj and Barani, are not found in the works of this genre from the late Sultanate period. After the 15^th century, the Indo-Persian court chronicles of the Mughal period, however, mention the non-payment of land revenue (kharaj) by the Meos, indicating that they had already become a settled agrarian peasant community by then. Nevertheless, conflicts of the Meo peasants with the state on the issue of land revenue occasionally erupted during the Mughal period and intensified after Aurangzeb’s death (1707 ce). In other words, with a profound change in their social character from a tribe to a peasant caste, the nature of their politico-economic relation with the state, under the Delhi Sultans, the Khanzada chiefs and the Mughal emperors, considerably changed from 13^th to 18^th centuries.

Besides creating conditions for the peasantization of Meo tribes, the Khanzadas were also the first to introduce Islamic culture in the region. The archaeological survey of the region by Alexander Cunningham in late 19^th century shows that the Khanzadas had constructed many mosques and tombs in the towns and villages of the region.¹⁵ The Non-archival Records of the Alwar State,¹⁶ too, mention that 41 mosques were constructed by the Khanzadas in the villages and towns of Alwar sarkar.¹⁷ The large number of mosques also reflects the size of the Muslim population in the region. Further, the Khanzadas appointed qazis to maintain Islamic law (Sharia) among the Muslim population and settle local disputes (criminal and civil) between the Muslims (Khanzadas) and the non-Muslims (mainly the Meos). The Islamic laws, during the period of the Khanzada rule, must have also influenced the social life of the Meos who came from a tribal background¾a phenomenon corroborated by the accounts of Alexander Cunningham and P. W. Powlett who noted in the late 19^th century that they participated in Islamic festivals and revered Sufi Saints, though at the same time continuing to celebrate Hindu festivals and practice Hindu customs.¹⁸

In the early days of the Khanzada rule, Indori, Kotla and Tijara used to be their capitals; later, they extended their territory up to the Alwar town which became their capital. The local tradition of the Khanzadas projects their claim over a vast territory in the Mewat region: they reportedly held 1,484 kheras (towns and villages) under their jurisdiction in the early 16^th century.¹⁹ The territorial expansion of the Khanzada state was partly guided by their expansionist policy. But, more importantly, the fact that the Khanzada chief Ahmed Khan Mewati had to cede seven key parganas,²⁰ including Tijara, to Sultan Bahlul Lodi (1451-89ce) as a mark of his submission may have forced the Khanzadas to move towards eastern Rajasthan.²¹ The land in eastern Rajasthan was more fertile than their heavily forested and hilly ancestral land of Mewat. Thus, more land was brought under plough leading to further peasantization of Meos.

A major event that, to a large extent, changed the region’s political future and, in turn, affected its socio-cultural character was the battle of Khanwa (1527 ce) in which Hasan Khan Mewati, the last Khanzada chief, fought against Babur. The defeat and death of Hasan Khan in the battle of Khanwa sealed the fate of the Khanzada chiefdom forever. Contemporary accounts of both Zain Khan and Shaikh Rizqullah Mustaqi inform us that after the death of Ibrahim Lodi in the first battle of Panipat (1526 ce), Hasan Khan Mewati invited Rana Sanga of Chittor, Rai Silahdi and the Khan of Nagore and persuaded them to make Mahmud, Ibrahim Lodi’s brother, the Sultan of Delhi, and fight against Babur in Khanwa. ²² Offering a regional perspective on these events, a 16^th century Mewati ballad, ‘Hasan Khan Ki Katha’, by Narsingh Meo criticizes the role of Hasan Khan in the battles of Panipat and Khanwa, arguing that there was no reason for him to fight against Babur and by doing so he had only invited trouble for himself and his subjects in Mewat. Interestingly, the author compares Hasan Khan Mewati to Ravana who had destroyed his kingdom and family by earning the enmity of Ram, the prince of Ayodhya. He also criticizes Sultan Ibrahim Lodi for his arrogance, lack of political wisdom and concern for his state and subjects. He further condemns Rana Sanga for his selfishness and dishonesty in leaving the battlefield of Khanwa. In his strident criticisms of these rulers, he articulates his perception of ideal kingship, as also the perceptions of some sections of the Meo community about the futility and tragic outcomes of these battles.

The consequences of the battle of Khanwa affected the fortunes of a number of Indian chiefs, though in varying degrees, but the Khanzadas of Mewat were the worst hit. The territory of Mewat was annexed by Babur and this shifted the control of Mewat from the Khanzadas who had enjoyed it for over 175 years to the Mughals.²³ The Khanzadas remained no longer a regional political entity of any significance, though the Mughal emperors tried to cultivate the Khanzadas by forging matrimonial relations or co-opting them into the administration. For instance, when Humayun regained his lost power (1555 ce), he tried to consolidate his position vis-a-vis the Khanzadas by marrying the elder daughter of Jamal Khan Mewati, the nephew of Hasan Khan, while his powerful Turkish noble Bairam Khan married the younger one.²⁴ According to Arzang-i-Tijara, Akbar, too, married the daughter of Hasan Khan’s brother,²⁵ though this event is not recorded in the Persian chronicles. However, Akbar did marry Bairam Khan’s widow, daughter of Jamal Khan.²⁶

Though the Khanzadas failed to preserve their political autonomy, they continued to hold on to dominant positions in the rural society as zamindars of varying statures. According to Abul Fazl’s Ain-i-Akbari, by the end of the 16^th century, the Khanzadas had acquired zamindari rights over 18 parganas out of a total of 61 parganas in the Alwar and Tijara sarkars. According to Fazl’s Akbarnama, Akbar cultivated the Khanzadas of Mewat in his land revenue administration and army on account of their past military-administrative experience.²⁷ During the reign of Akbar, the Mewat region became an integral part of the Mughal empire. It was brought under direct imperial administration: it was divided into four sarkars, viz. Alwar, Tijara, Sahar and Rewari, comprised of a total of 67 parganas and contained within two subas of Agra and Delhi.²⁸

The strategic location of Mewat had manifold advantages for the Mughal state. Firstly, from the economic point of view, its suitability for the cultivation of rich cash crops such as indigo, sugarcane and cotton made it an extremely viable source of revenue. Secondly, its proximity to Agra and Delhi facilitated the transport of foodgrains to feed the Mughal army and urban population. Hence, any political and agrarian disturbance in Mewat would have led to the disruption of trade between Gujrat and Gangetic Doab as shown by the Rajasthani archival sources. Finally, control over Mewat region was crucial for the Mughal state, since a hostile power based in Mewat could threaten the safety of Agra and Delhi, the seats of imperial power. These considerations were, to a great extent, responsible for shaping the Mughal policy towards the Mewat region.

While on the one hand, the Khanzadas were absorbed into the Mughal polity as zamindars, on the other hand the Meos were accommodated in the lower rungs of the administration. Abul Fazl informs us that a large number of young Meo boys were employed by Akbar as dak Meoras (post carriers) and khidmatiyyas (spies and palace guards). Interestingly, Abul Fazl remarks that the Meos had once been notorious for thefts and highway robberies and could not be controlled by the former rulers, but Akbar turned them into loyal and obedient servants.²⁹ This suggests that Akbar recognized their potential for administrative service and enrolled into postal system the well-built young Meos who could run fast and survive in hostile weather and terrain. Thus, Akbar not only developed the postal system as an important Mughal institution, but also successfully transformed the Meos into loyal and efficient servants of the Mughal state. It seems that Akbar understood the problems created by the isolation of the Meos who had been disparaged as trouble-makers in the earlier centuries. He thus not only administratively and politically integrated the Mewat region into the Mughal empire, but also brought about the social assimilation of the Meos. Once Akbar had developed the Mughal postal service with the help of the Meoras, the other Mughal emperors followed the same policy.

Due to their regular interaction with the Mughal court as well as other imperial authorities, the dak Meoras and khidmatiyyas found themselves closer to the Islamic culture. They gradually began to follow certain Islamic customs and rituals such as nikah and burial; celebrate certain Islamic festivals such as Id-ul-fitr, Ramzan, Shab-e-barat, and the Urs of Sufi saint Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti; and adopt Muslim names. They even invited their relatives and the friends to take part in these festivals. They started inviting qazis to perform nikah (wedding ceremony) for their children and contracting marriages with Muslim peasants. Thus, in more ways than one, they started regarding themselves as part of the Muslim community and played an important role in the diffusion of Islamic culture in Mewat region. The 17^th- and 18^th-century Rajasthani documents khatoot ahalkarans³⁰ also underline the role of qazi appointed by the Mughal state to resolve the disputes of the people. The matrimonial relations between some Khanzadas and dak Meoras further encouraged the Islamization of the Meo community.³¹ In fact, the Jagga records show that by the early 18^th century, the Meos had begun to adopt Muslim names. However, the religious identity of the Meos remained ambiguous even as late as the mid-19^th century, since the colonial records mention that about one-third of the Meo population in parganas Firozpur Jhirka, Nuh and Taoru were unaware of whether they were Hindus or Muslims.³² Well up to the early 20^th century, the process of Islamization of the Meos was slow, fragile and incomplete, since they adopted Muslim names, but continued to worship Hindu village deities and observe several Hindu and Muslim festivals.

The administrative integration of Mewat into the Mughal empire during Akbar’s reign also contributed significantly to the process of Meo peasantization. This is suggested by the fact that in his Ain-i-Akbari, Abul Fazl mentions the zamindari rights of the Meos over many parganas of Mewat, more precisely 12, 14 and 4 parganas of Alwar, Tijara and Sahar sarkars respectively.³³ Further, the process intensified during the period between Akbar’s death and mid-19^th century. This is evident from the Census of 1872 which shows that the Meo peasant households accounted for more than half the population of Alwar state³⁴¾in contrast to the situation during Akbar’s reign, when the Meos did not have zamindaris in 31 out of 43 parganas of Alwar sarkar.³⁵ However, peasantization and increase in landholdings of the Meos happened at the cost of Khanzadas. The Khanzadas suffered a decline in their socio-economic status with the decline in the Mughal empire and the Meos, who asserted their identity more forcefully, often displaced them from their fertile lands and villages.

Besides facilitating the peasantization of Meos and their absorption in the imperial administrative service, Akbar also took an important step in utilizing the resources of the region: setting up training centres for cavalry horses. Abul Fazl mentions that in some qasbas of Mewat such as Nuh, Taoru, Firozpur Jhirka, Ghasera, Kot Qasim and Ujina, horses of the Mughal cavalry used to be trained. Such horse training centres required a large number of artisans and trainers many of whom must have been part of the local population.³⁶

During the Mughal period, the region was also known for the manufacturing of salt and iron. Qasba Nuh was a famous centre for salt production. The peasants belonging to 22 villages of pargana Kotla used to manufacture salt in their fields through well water and supply it to the nearby qasbas of Haryana and Ganga-Yamuna Doah. The banjaras (nomads) carried out the salt trade,³⁷ just as they carried out trade in other articles. The Mughal state, on its part, charged a cess called hasil aghori from salt manufacturers.³⁸

During the Mughal period, iron ore was found in the Aravali hills of Mewat. The British ethnographer P. W. Powlett states that the manufacture of iron was in former times (Mughal period) a great industry in the Mewat region. He further remarks that as against 200 smelting furnaces in the past, only 37 were in operation in his time.³⁹ Traders came to these sites to buy smelted iron and carried it on camels or bullock carts to the qasbas. Blacksmith (lohars), in turn, brought iron from these qasbas in order to make agricultural tools for the peasants. Blacksmiths in certain qasbas also specialized in making war weapons.⁴⁰ Thus, the region’s iron ore was important for agriculture and weaponry and was also exported to the adjoining regions. Besides iron mines, there were many copper mines in the Aravali hills of Mewat.⁴¹Not only did the availability of copper in the region provide livelihood to a large number of artisans, but was also important for the Mughal state whose currency was made from this metal. The qasbas of Mewat performed varied functions: many emerged as pargana headquarters; some had strategic importance as centres for weapon-manufacturing, coin-minting or training of cavalry horses; and others became centres of trade and manufacturing that also established linkages with villages in that they procured agricultural produce and raw materials for artisanal production from the villages and provided the peasants with articles of domestic and agricultural use. Further, it was the agricultural surplus generated by the Meo peasants which was instrumental in the formation of qasbas and growth of a prosperous town economy based on artisanal production and intra- and inter-regional trade in the Mewat region.

The political, social and economic landscape of the Mewat region changed considerably from the 13^th century. During the early Sultanate period the region was marked as a home to robbers, plunderers and trouble-mongers who were periodically sought to be suppressed by the Delhi Sultans. Later, especially from the late Tughlaq period onwards, the region witnessed the establishment and consolidation of the Khanzada chiefdom and the gradual transformation of once turbulent Meo tribes into sedentary peasantry, Alongside, there was routine involvement of the Khanzada rulers in the political struggles of north India with varying degrees of success. After the battle of Khanwa, as the Khanzadas lost their prominence, the region was absorbed by the Mughal empire; and its ruling elite and people were, to varying degrees, accommodated into the Mughal administration. The Khanzadas survived somewhat precariously as zamindars, but, more importantly, the Meos, with whom the name and identity of Mewat is intimately associated, played a more prominent role in the Mughal state as revenue-paying peasants, postal carriers, spies and guards. During the 18^th century, the region came to be virtually divided between the Alwar state of Naruka Rajputs and the Bharatpur state of Jats that emerged in the wake of weakening control of the Mughals. Competition between them for politico-economic control of the region intensified the exploitation of Meo peasantry, provoking the filing of complaints at the Mughal court, desertion of villages and violent uprisings. Later, after the establishment of colonial rule in the region, the British declared the Meos as criminal tribes in 1871 on the basis of certain social customs and past practices. The whole region as a home to this supposedly criminal community was brought under the British surveillance. For the first time, the British ethnographers also associated the identity of the Mewat region with the Meo community divided into 13 pals or clans.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Motilal Nehru College

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:

There is no conflict of interest as the paper is my original work.

REFERENCES:

1. F. C. Channing, Land Revenue Settlement of the Gurgaon District, Lahore: Central Jail Press, 1882, pp. 4-5; pp. 4-5; P. W. Powlett, Gazetteer of Ulwur, London: Trubner and Co., 1878, pp. 28-29.

2. Rajasthani-Hindi Sangshipt Shabdakosh, vol. 2, ed. Sita Ram Lalus, Jodhpur: Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute, 1988, p. 415.

3. Minhaj Siraj, Tabaqat-i-Nasiri, in H. M. Elliot and John Dowson, eds, The History of India as Told by Its Own Historians, vol. 2, Delhi: Low Price Publications, 1990, pp. 380-83; Ziauddin Barani, Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi, in Elliot and Dowson, eds, The History of India, vol. 3, Delhi: Low Price Publications, 1990, pp. 104-05.

4. Siraj, Tabaqat-i-Nasiri, vol. 2, pp.380-83.

5. Barani, Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, pp.104-05.

6. Amir Khusrau informs us that when Sultan Alauddin Khalji launched his military expedition against Ranthambore, he went through the Mewat region. However, it may be noted that he does not mention the lawlessness and predatory activities of the Meos, though he remarks that the Mewat region was surrounded by high Aravali hills and infested with wild animals (Amir Khusrau, Khazaina-i-Futuh and the Kiranu-i-Sadain [The Poem of Amir Khusrau], in H. M. Elliot and John Dowson, eds, History of India as Told by Its Own Historians, vol. 3, Delhi: Low Price Publications, 2001, p. 540).

7. Firozshah Tughlaq posted a force at Firozpur Jhirka for controlling the depredations of the Mewatis (Alexander Cunningham, Report of a Tour in Eastern Rajputana in 1882-83, Archaeological Survey of India Reports, vol. 20, Varanasi: Indological Book House, 1969[1885], p. 14). He also constructed a fortress at Indore in the Aravali hills for the purpose of hunting as well as military expeditions (Siraj Afif, Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, in H. M. Elliot and John Dowson, eds, History of India as Told by Its Own Historians, vol. 3, Delhi: Low Price Publications, 2001, p. 354).

8. According to A. B. M. Habibullah, the frequent mention of Ranthambore in connection with the operations of the Meos in Mewat may imply a link between the Mewati rebels and the Chauhan Rajputs of Ranthambhore (A. B. M. Habibullah, The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India, Allahabad: Central Book Depot, 1961, pp. 153-54). This is corroborated by the instance of Qutlugh Khan, a rebel noble of Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah, seeking refuge at Santur, capital of a principality carved out in the Aravali hills of Mewat.by a Jadon Rajput chief Rana Ran Pal (Siraj, Tabaqat-i-Nasiri, vol. 2, pp. 375-76). Even during the reign of Firozshah Tughlaq, the Meos and a section of the Jadon Rajputs actively indulged in plundering activities. The 19^th-century Urdu work Arzang-i-Tijara informs us that a branch of Jadon Rajputs and the Meos were notorious for loot and plunder, arson and lawlessness in the Mewat region, and had created a serious law and order problem for the Sultan of Delhi (Sheikh Muhammad Makhdum, Arzang-i-Tijara (Urdu), Agra: Agra Akhbar, h.1290/ 1873 ce, trans. [Hindi] Anil Joshi, Alwar, 1989, pp. 3-4).

9. Alexander Cunningham identified Santur as Indore, which was situated six miles to the north of Kotla lake and about 70 miles to the south of Delhi. It seems that the fort was actually founded by the Jadon Rajputs, a branch of Yaduvanshi Rajputs who ruled over Karauli-Bayana regions (Cunningham, Report of a Tour in Eastern Rajputana, p. 13).

10. Siraj, Tabaqat-i-Nasiri, vol. 2, pp. 375-76.

11. Yahya bin Ahmad bin ‘Abdullah’ Sirhindi, The Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi, trans. H. Beveridge, Delhi: Low Price Publications, 1990, pp. 153-54, 159.

12. The history of the Khanzadas of Mewat begins with Bahadur Nahar descended from Jadon Rajputs, who had ruled over Bayana and Thangir before the invasions of Muhammad Ghori. During the 14^th century, Jadon Rajput Lakhanpal was the chief of a small tract of Mewat around Tijara. Lakhanpal had two sons, Sambharpal and Sanparpal. The former took the name of Bahadur Nahar and gained control over Sarehta situated four miles to the east of Tijara, while the latter took the name of Chhaju Khan and got possession of Jhirka. The two brothers embraced Islam in order to save their domains from annexation by Firozshah Tughlaq. The name of the town was also changed from Jhirka to Firozpur Jhirka (Cunningham, Report of a Tour in Eastern Rajputana, pp. 15-16). After embracing Islam, Bahadur Nahar was enrolled into nobility and given the title of Khanazad by Firozshah; there after he became a powerful and respectable chief of Mewat. Later, the word ‘Khanazad’ changed to ‘Khanzada’ (Makhdum, Arzang-i-Tijara, p. 3). The title ‘Khanazad’ or ‘Khanazadun’ was also given to those Firozi slaves who happened to be very close and loyal to the Sultan (A. M. Husain, Tughluq Dynasty, Calcutta: Thacker Spink, 1963, p. 336).

13. There is some evidence, folkloric and archival, that the Khanzadas exercised considerable pressure on the Meos to give up their predatory habits, relocate to plains and take up agriculture. For instance, in one Meo folktale, five Meo pals, viz., Chhiraklot, Duhlot, Pundlot, Daimrot and Nai, living in the Kala Pahad once used to harass people, but when the traders and citizens lodged several complaints against them with the king, he pressurized them to give up their old predatory habits and they settled down in the plains. Jagga records, genealogical records of the Meos and Khanzadas who settled several villages in Mewat, also maintain that by the end of 15^th century these five Meo pals settled down in the plains of Nuh-Firozpur-Jhirka, Ramgarh and Lachhmangarh regions in the vicinity of Kala Pahad (Jagga Records, pothi no.1, in the personal possession of Jagdish, son of Shri Ghasi Ram Jagga, village Kuteta Kalan, tehsil Ramgarh, district Alwar, Rajasthan). There is another tale of Khanzada ruler Ahmad Khan Mewati sending his soldiers to arrest the Meos of Sonkh village, situated between Nuh and Palwal, on account of non-payment of land revenue by them (bandhak no. 12, granthank no. 13, Non-archival Records of Alwar State, Rajasthan State Archives, Bikaner).

14. For instance, in the previously mentioned folk tale about the Khanzada chief Ahmad Khan Mewati sending troops to apprehend the Meos of Sonkh village who had not paid revenue, the arrested peasants were imprisoned and deployed as laborers in the construction of the fortress at Indore. Ladh Begam, the daughter of Ahmad Khan Mewati, lost her heart to a young and handsome Meo boy named Santhal who also worked as laborer. Finally, Ahmad Khan Mewati had to submit to his daughter’s wishes and marry her to Santhal. After the marriage, they were assigned an iqta where they founded a village and named it Ladhpuri after the name of Ladh Begam (Bandhak no. 4, granthank no. 83, Non-archival Records of Alwar State, Rajasthan State Archives, Bikaner). The folk tale conveys that matrimonial relations with the Meos was essential for Ahmad Khan Mewati to expand the social base of the Khanzadas among the Meos. An early-16^th-century historical ballad ‘Hasan Khan ki Katha’ by Narsingh Meo mentions 12 Meo pals (clans) serving in the army of Khanzada chief Hasan Khan Mewati, who had fought against Babur in the battle of Khanwa in 1527 ce (Narsingh Meo, ‘Hasan Khan Ki Katha’, Shodh Patrika, vol. 4, October-December, Udaipur: Rajasthan Vidyapeeth, 1970, pp. 53-62). This shows that by this time the Meos had not only become peasants but also turned into soldiers.

15. Cunningham, Report of a Tour in Eastern Rajputana, pp. 16, 117-19, 134-37.

16. Bandhak no. 3, granthank no. 66, Non-archival Records of Alwar State, Rajasthan State Archives, Bikaner.

17. Sarkar was an administrative sub-division of suba, a province during the Mughal times.

18. Cunningham, Report of a Tour in Eastern Rajputana, p. 23; Powlett, Gazetteer of Ulwur, p. 38.

19. Powlett, Gazetteer of Ulwur, p. 7.

20. Pargana was an administrative sub-division of sarkar in the Mughal times.

21. The cession of these parganas was an important event in the history of Mewat insofar as the Mewati chief was dispossessed of the core parganas of his chiefdom and his political autonomy stood compromised. Thereafter, the Mewati chiefs had to shift their capital from Tijara to Alwar though the Khanzada chiefs managed to maintain cordial relations with the Lodi Sultans till the end of Ibrahim Lodi’s reign.

22. Shaikh Rizqullah Mustaqi, Waqiat-e-Mustaqi, ed. and trans. I. H. Siddiqui, p. 116; Zain Khan, Tabaqat-i-Baburi, trans. S. Hasan Askari, Delhi: Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli, 1982, p. 138.

23. Babur annexed most parts of Mewat and parcelled out them among his nobles, assigning only a few parganas to Nahar Khan, son of Hasan Khan (Babur, Tuzuk-i-Baburi, in H. M. Elliot and John Dowson, eds, History of India as Told by Its Own Historians, vol. 4, Allahabad: Kitab Mahal, 1975, p. 274).

24. Abul Fazl, The Ain-i-Akbari, vol. 1, trans. Blochmann, Calcutta: Royal Asiatic Society, 1977, 3^rd edn, p. 334; Abul Fazl, The Akbarnama, vol. 2, trans. H. Beveridge, Delhi: Low Price Publications, 1993[1902-39], p. 76. Jamal Khan Khanzada was a famous zamindar of Mewat (Nawwab Samsam-ud-daula Shah Nawaz Khan and his son Abdul Hayy, The Maathir-ul-Umara, vol. 1, trans. H. Beveridge, rev., anno. and compl. by Baini Prasad, Patna: Janaki Prakashan, 1979, p. 50).

25. Makhdum, Arzang-i-Tijara, p. 13.

26. Khan and Hayy, The Maathir-ul-Umara, p. 50.

27. Abul Fazl, The Ain-i-Akbari, vol. 2, trans. Blochmann; corr. and ann. Sir Jadunath Sarkar, Calcutta: Royal Asiatic Society, 1978, 3^rd edn, pp. 203-06.

28. Abul Fazl, The Ain-i-Akbari, vol. 2, pp. 202-06. The sarkars of Tijara and Narnaul were transferred from the province of Agra to Delhi just before the end of Shahjahan’s reign (Irfan Habib, The Agrarian System of Mughal India, 1556-1707, Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1963, p. 8).

29. Abul Fazl mentions that 1000 Meoras were employed as dak-carriers by Akbar (The Ain-i-Akbari, vol. 1, p. 262).

30. Khatoot ahalkarans are reports written in Rajasthani and cover the period from 1633 to 1769. They provide useful information on various aspects of the internal administration of the jagirs (revenue-yielding land assignments) in Mewat whose ijara (revenue collection right) was obtained from Mughal mansabdars (Mughal officers holding military ranks) by the the Naruka Rajput chiefs of Amber in 17^th and 18^th centuries, as also the reaction of the peasantry against the non-customary taxes imposed by the Amber chiefs.

31. With the decline of the Mughal empire, the socio-economic position of the Khanzadas declined. While by the end of the 16^th century, many zamindaris in the Alwar, Tijara and Sahar sarkars belonged to the Khanzadas and Meos (Abul Fazl, The Ain-i-Akbari, vol. 2, pp. 202-06), but by the early 17^th century they were gradually replaced by the Rajput and Jat zamindars who were able to make successful encroachments upon their domains and reduce many of them to the rank of khudkashtas or ordinary peasant proprietors. The social security of the Khanzadas was thus threatened by the rising power of the Jats of Bharatpur state and the Naruka Rajputs of Alwar state in Mewat which was reflected in the increase in the Rajput and Jat zamindaris. Furthermore, the Khanzadas were often displaced from their lands by the Meos. According to Arzang-i-Tijara (p. 5), many Khanzadas migrated eastwards, i.e., to the adjoining states like Awadh, Lucknow and Bareilly, while others left in Mewat cultivated fields with the help of family labour. In order to strengthen their social base, the Khanzadas thus began to enter into matrimonial relations with the former dak Meoras who had acquired a Muslim identity by then (Makhdum, Arzang-i-Tijara, pp. 33; Channing, Land Revenue Settlement of the Gurgaon District, p. 30).

32. A. Fraser, Statistical Report of Zillah Gurgaon, Lahore: n.p., 1846.

33. Abul Fazl, The Ain-i-Akbari, vol. 2, pp. 202-06.

34. Powlett, Gazetteer of Ulwur, p. 37.

35. Abul Fazl, The Ain-i-Akbari, vol. 2, pp. 202-03.

36. For instance, the Mirasi caste, known as trainers of cavalry horses, live(d) in the Mewat region.

37. Arzdasht, Chet Sudi 2, vs 1767/1710 ce. Arzdashts are petitions or memorials addressed to the Amber chiefs written by amils (revenue officers), faujdars (chief police officers) and other officials of Amber, posted in various parganas. Available from the second half of 17^th century, they contain details of political, social and economic conditions prevailing in various parganas. They, as well as arzdashts and other categories of Rajasthani archival records, are dated in Vikram Samvat (vs) which is ahead of the Common Era (ce) by 57 years.

38. Arsatta,pargana Khohri, vs 1722/1665 ce. Arsattas are monthly treasury account of receipts and disbursements under different heads, maintained in Rajasthani by the Amber state. Available from the second half of 17^th century, they pertain to those parganas that were held by the Amber rulers as jagirs and on ijara.

39. Powlett, Gazetteer of Ulwur, pp. 76-77.

40. Arsatta, pargana Jalalpur, vs 1777/1720 ce; pargana Wazirpur, vs 1774/1717 ce; Arzdasht, Jeth Vadi 1, vs 1761/1704 ce; Jeth Vadi 3, vs 1761/1704 ce.

41. An arzdasht dated Fagun Vadi 11, vs 1738/1681 ce names several sites of copper-smelting in region, viz. Surehati, Jamrauli, Akoda and Muhi villages of the Alwar sarkar. Another arzdasht dated Sawan Sudi 4, vs 1721/1664 ce informs that Thathera, a caste of artisans in qasba Kalyanpur, manufactured images of goddesses and decorative articles and vessels from copper.

Received on 05.04.2017

Modified on 20.05.2017

Accepted on 09.06.2017

Research J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 8(2): April- June, 2017, 131-138.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2017.00019.5