After Humayun’s death, the young Akbar became Mughal emperor. Stabilizing the state required reliable income, especially land revenue, because agriculture was the main source of imperial finances. Building a more predictable revenue system became central to Akbar’s long-term consolidation of power.
Raja Todar Mal served as a key finance and revenue official under Akbar and became one of the leading figures shaping imperial fiscal administration. In Mughal sources and later summaries, Todar Mal is credited with organizing land surveys, standardizing measures, and reforming assessment practices. His position enabled the empire to push toward a more uniform, data-based land-revenue system.
Akbar abolished the tax on Hindu pilgrims, a move often linked to his broader effort to reduce discriminatory levies and increase cooperation with non-Muslim communities. This policy shift mattered for revenue administration because it signaled an emphasis on legitimacy and stable rule rather than relying on socially divisive taxes. It also helped the state focus more heavily on standardized land revenue as its core fiscal base.
Akbar abolished the jizya, a tax on non-Muslims, further reinforcing a governing strategy that sought broader participation in the empire. Removing this major non-land tax increased the importance of efficient land-revenue assessment and collection. It also reduced incentives for arbitrary local extraction that could spark unrest.
Revenue reforms associated with Todar Mal relied on collecting local data on crop yields and prices over a ten-year period. This information was used to estimate typical production and convert the state’s claim into a cash demand using standard rates. Using multi-year averages aimed to reduce sudden shocks and arbitrary bargaining during assessment.
Todar Mal’s reforms emphasized systematic measurement of cultivated land. Standard tools and units (including the Ilahi gaz and measuring chains) helped the state compare holdings across regions and keep more consistent records. Accurate measurement supported more predictable assessments and reduced opportunities for local manipulation.
Akbar’s conquest of Gujarat added a rich region with major ports and productive countryside to the empire. Governing a larger and more diverse territory increased the need for consistent rules on measuring land, classifying fields, and assessing dues. Gujarat also became an important arena for implementing and testing revenue administration on a broader scale.
As Akbar reorganized the empire, provinces (subahs) were formalized and linked to a hierarchy of districts and local units. This administrative structure made it easier to apply common revenue rules across wide areas and to supervise officials. The reform connected central policy to local record-keeping and collection.
Around 1580, Todar Mal’s best-known reform—often called dahsala or ain-i-dahsala within the broader zabt (measurement-based) approach—standardized assessment using ten-year averages of yield and prices. The state’s share is commonly described as about one-third of the calculated value, generally payable in cash. The goal was a more regular, rule-based system that could be audited and replicated across core Mughal regions.
Raja Todar Mal died in 1589, after years in high financial office under Akbar. By this point, key elements of measurement-based assessment and standardized rates had been established in major imperial areas. His death marked the end of direct leadership by the reform’s most famous architect, but the system’s routines and records continued to shape Mughal fiscal practice.
Abu’l Fazl compiled the Ain-i-Akbari as a detailed administrative record of Akbar’s government, written between 1589 and 1596. By documenting offices, procedures, and fiscal practices, it helped present the revenue system as a standardized imperial model rather than a collection of local customs. The text is an important reference for how Akbar’s administration understood and described its own revenue machinery.
Akbar died in 1605 after a long reign that expanded Mughal control and strengthened administration. The revenue reforms associated with Akbar and Todar Mal helped finance imperial governance by making land assessment more systematic in core regions. His death marked a clear endpoint for this phase of reform, leaving successors to maintain and adapt the inherited fiscal framework.
Mughal revenue reforms under Akbar and Todar Mal (c.1580–1605)