What was the difference between a mansabdar's jagir and a zamindar's territory?

Chapter 8 of 12

67%

CBSE Class 12 History★ 5-8 marks · CBSE Class 12 History (Themes in Indian History II) Chapter 8

Peasants, Zamindars and the State (Agrarian Society c. 16th–17th Century)

Mughal India was overwhelmingly AGRICULTURAL. The land produced the revenue that sustained the empire. This chapter examines how the MUGHAL STATE managed agriculture, who owned what (zamindars, peasants, the state), and what the AIN-I-AKBARI tells us about 16th-century rural society. CBSE Class 12 History (Themes in Indian History II) Chapter 8.

⏱ 22 min readMedium difficulty✓ Free · NCERT-aligned

Ask AI about this

🔤Build your vocabulary from this chapterLexiGenome mines the key words, explains them in your language, and schedules them with spaced repetition.Mine words →

By the end of this chapter you'll be able to…

1Explain the Mughal revenue system: the zamindari system, the role of the mansabdar, and how revenue was collected
2Describe the Ain-i-Akbari as a source and critically evaluate its reliability for studying agrarian conditions
3Distinguish between different types of peasants (khud-kashta and pahi-kashta) and explain their varying conditions
4Analyse the role of zamindars: their position between the Mughal state and the peasantry, their privileges and obligations
5Explain why peasant and zamindar rebellions occurred during the Mughal period, with specific examples

💡

Why this chapter matters

This chapter examines Mughal agrarian society through the Ain-i-Akbari — one of the most detailed administrative records of any pre-modern empire. The relationship between peasants, zamindars, and the Mughal state (and the revenue demands that connected them) is essential for understanding why peasant rebellions occurred and why the Mughal Empire eventually declined. The Ain-i-Akbari as a historical source is a key CBSE exam topic.

Peasants, Zamindars and the State — Agrarian Society

"The Mughal Empire was built on the back of the peasant. His plough fed the army. His grain paid the revenue. His village was the foundation of the state."

1. Chapter Overview

Mughal India was a FISCAL-MILITARY STATE. Its army — and its entire administrative apparatus — was funded by LAND REVENUE. This chapter examines: the AGRICULTURAL BASE (crops, seasons, technology), the SOCIAL STRUCTURE of the village (peasants, zamindars, village headmen), the REVENUE SYSTEM (how the state extracted surplus), and the AIN-I-AKBARI — the extraordinary 16th-century document that RECORDED all of this.

2. The Agrarian Landscape — Crops, Seasons, Technology

What Was Grown?

Kharif (monsoon) crops: Rice, millets, cotton, sugarcane
Rabi (winter) crops: Wheat, barley, gram, mustard
Regional VARIATION: rice in Bengal, wheat in the Ganga-Yamuna doab, millets in the Deccan, cotton in Gujarat

Agricultural Technology

Primarily: the WOODEN PLOUGH with an iron tip. OXEN. Wells (for irrigation).
Productivity was LOW by modern standards — but SUFFICIENT to feed the population and generate surplus for the state.

3. The Village Community — Peasants, Zamindars, and Others

Who Lived in the Village?

Group	Role
Khud-Kashta	Resident peasants. OWNED their land (with hereditary rights). Paid revenue to the state.
Pahi-Kashta	Non-resident peasants. Cultivated land in a village where they did NOT live.
Zamindars	Intermediaries. Collected revenue from peasants on behalf of the state. Kept a share. ALSO: owned extensive personal lands (milkiyat).
Village Headman (Muqaddam)	Local leader. Represented the village in dealings with the state/zamindar.
Village Accountant (Patwari)	Kept records of land, cultivation, revenue
Landless labourers	Worked on others' land. At the bottom of village society.

The Zamindar — Exploiter or Protector?

The zamindar BOTH: (a) exploited peasants (extracted surplus, often used force), AND (b) protected them (against the state's excessive demands, against other zamindars)
The zamindar was NOT the 'owner' of the land. Peasants had HEREDITARY RIGHTS. The zamindar had the right to collect revenue — a share of the produce.
'The zamindar was a complex figure — part tax collector, part local magnate, part protector. He was the state's agent AND the village's voice.'

4. The Mughal Revenue System

Land Revenue — The State's Lifeline

Land revenue was the PRIMARY source of the Mughal state's income
Revenue was assessed as a SHARE OF THE PRODUCE (typically 1/3 to 1/2)

Two Systems of Assessment

System	How It Worked
Zabt	REVENUE FIXED IN CASH per unit of area, based on the AVERAGE YIELD and AVERAGE PRICES over 10 years. Used in the core Mughal provinces (Delhi, Agra, Lahore, Allahabad).
Batai / Galla-Bakhshi	The crop was PHYSICALLY DIVIDED between the peasant and the state. Used in OUTLYING provinces (Sindh, Kashmir, parts of Gujarat).

The Role of the Zamindar in Revenue Collection

In most areas: the zamindar COLLECTED revenue from the peasants and PASSED it on to the state
Failure to pay: peasants could be EXPELLED from their land — or forced to sell their bullocks and ploughs
BUT: zamindars could NOT arbitrarily evict peasants. Peasant rights were CUSTOMARY and RECOGNISED.

5. The Ain-i-Akbari — A Window into the Mughal World

What Is It?

The THIRD VOLUME of the Akbar Nama — the official chronicle of Emperor Akbar's reign, written by his court historian Abul Fazl
The Ain-i-Akbari is a STATISTICAL GAZETTEER and ADMINISTRATIVE MANUAL. It records:
- The ADMINISTRATION of the empire (provinces, officials, their duties)
- The ARMY (organisation, pay scales, horses, elephants)
- The REVENUE system (crops, yields, prices, assessments)
- The IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD (kitchen, stables, workshops)
- The GEOGRAPHY and PEOPLE of India (a compendium of knowledge)

Significance

'The Ain is a document without parallel in the pre-modern world. No other 16th-century state produced such a systematic, quantitative record of itself.'
It was used by the British (translated in the 19th century) to UNDERSTAND India and DESIGN their own revenue systems.

6. Exam Focus

Village community — peasants (khud-kashta, pahi-kashta), zamindars, muqaddam, patwari
Mughal revenue systems — zabt (fixed cash), batai/galla-bakhshi (crop-sharing)
Ain-i-Akbari — what it is, what it records, significance
Zamindar's role — revenue collection, exploitation AND protection
Technology — wooden plough, oxen, well irrigation. Low productivity by modern standards.

7. Conclusion

The Mughal Empire was AN EMPIRE OF GRAIN:

THE PEASANT: The foundation. His plough and sweat fed the empire and funded the court.
THE ZAMINDAR: The intermediary. Revenue collector. Local magnate. Exploiter and protector.
THE STATE: Extracted surplus. Maintained records. The Ain-i-Akbari — a document that 'photographed' an empire.
THE SYSTEM: Cash-based (zabt) in the core. Crop-sharing (batai) in the periphery. 'An empire that knew, down to the last bigha, what grew where — and how much of it belonged to the state.'

'To understand the Mughal Empire, you must understand the village — because that's where the money came from.'

Key formulas & results

Everything you need to memorise, in one card. Screenshot this for revision.

The Ain-i-Akbari as Source

AUTHOR: ABUL FAZL — prime minister, courtier, and official historian of Emperor Akbar. WORK: AIN-I-AKBARI ('Institutes of Akbar') — the third part of the 'AKBARNAMA.' CONTENT: detailed administrative statistics of the Mughal Empire under Akbar — population of provinces, revenue collected from each crop in each region, list of zamindars, administrative procedures, court customs, biographies, prices. WRITTEN c. 1590s. SIGNIFICANCE: The Ain is the MOST DETAILED administrative record of any pre-modern Indian empire — it contains remarkable quantitative data. Historians use it to reconstruct Mughal agrarian conditions, revenue systems, and social structure. LIMITATIONS: (1) It was composed by a COURT OFFICIAL to PRAISE the emperor — it presents Akbar's rule as perfect and rational. (2) Administrative ideal vs reality: the Ain describes how the system SHOULD work; local conditions may have differed. (3) It focuses on the REGIONS Abul Fazl knew best — the northern provinces. Other regions (south India, Bengal, forest areas) are less detailed.

KEY FACT: The Ain-i-Akbari lists 3,200 zamindars in the empire — evidence of the size and diversity of the zamindar class. It also provides price data for crops in different regions, allowing historians to compare agricultural conditions across the empire.

The Mughal Revenue System

LAND REVENUE: the primary source of state income. Based on the ASSESSED VALUE of crop production. ZABT SYSTEM (introduced by TODAR MAL under Akbar): systematic measurement of land (jarib = unit of measurement), classification of land by quality (polaj, parauti, chachar, banjar), and fixing of revenue demand based on average produce over 10 years. STATE DEMAND: typically one-third of the gross produce (theoretically), though this varied enormously in practice. COLLECTION: Revenue was collected by ZAMINDARS on behalf of the state. They kept a COMMISSION (usually 10–25% of the revenue) and forwarded the rest to the state. MANSABDARI: officials (mansabdars) were assigned JAGIRS (land revenue assignments) — the right to collect revenue from specific territories. The jagir was NOT permanent land ownership — it was a revenue assignment, rotated frequently.

TODAR MAL's ZABT system is the key revenue innovation. The systematic measurement and 10-year averaging were designed to make revenue predictable. But in practice: local conditions varied, crop failures were common, and the fixity of demand regardless of actual yield created hardship. The zamindar was the PIVOT of the system — between state and peasant, taking revenue, absorbing local political power.

Peasants, Zamindars, and Social Tensions

PEASANT TYPES: KHUD-KASHTA: peasants who lived in the village they cultivated — with hereditary rights to their land plots. More secure. PAHI-KASHTA: peasants who cultivated land in a village where they did NOT permanently reside — often migrant/seasonal cultivators. Less secure. VILLAGE PANCHAYAT: the local body of village elders — regulated community affairs, adjudicated disputes, and collectively negotiated with the state/zamindars. ZAMINDARS: hereditary landowners with rights over specific territories. They collected revenue, maintained local order, and had a caste-based claim to superiority. NOT all zamindars were Rajput or upper-caste — but many were. Their POSITION: between state and peasantry — they owed loyalty and revenue to the state but also represented LOCAL POWER against the state. REBELLIONS: Peasant rebellions were common — driven by excessive revenue demands, local famines, and abuse by zamindars. Zamindar rebellions also occurred when the state tried to curb their autonomy or increase revenue demands.

The VILLAGE COMMUNITY was not a harmonious, egalitarian unit — it was internally stratified (upper-caste cultivators vs lower-caste agricultural labourers vs artisans). CBSE tests understanding of this internal stratification: not all 'peasants' were equal; caste structured access to land, water, and credit within the village.

⚠️

Common mistakes & fixes

These are the exact errors that cost students marks in board exams. Read them once, save yourself the trouble.

WATCH OUT

✗ Saying zamindars were the same as modern-day landlords who owned land outright

✓ Mughal zamindars held RIGHTS OVER REVENUE from a territory — they were hereditary revenue collectors, not absolute land owners in the modern sense. Peasants (khud-kashta) held hereditary cultivation rights in their plots. Zamindars' primary right was to COLLECT AND RETAIN a portion of the land revenue. The confusion is partly because 'zamindari' came to mean large landownership under the colonial Permanent Settlement (1793) — which IS closer to modern landlordism. The Mughal situation was different.

WATCH OUT

✗ Treating the Ain-i-Akbari as objective historical data

✓ The Ain was written by ABUL FAZL — Akbar's court official and admirer. It was designed to GLORIFY Akbar's rule and present his administration as perfectly rational and efficient. It describes the IDEAL system, not necessarily what happened in practice. Historians use the Ain for quantitative data (prices, revenue figures, number of zamindars) but read its narrative with critical caution, knowing it presents an imperial perspective.

NCERT exercises (with solutions)

Every NCERT exercise from this chapter — what it covers and how many questions to expect.

NCERT Questions and Source Ex s

NCERT Questions and Source Exercises

Source passages from the Ain-i-Akbari; questions on zabt revenue system; zamindar role; khud-kashta and pahi-kashta; village panchayat; peasant and zamindar rebellions; how historians use the Ain

Questions

Practice problems

Try each one yourself before tapping "Show solution". Active recall > rereading.

Q1EASY· key-concepts

What was the zabt system of revenue collection introduced under Akbar? Mention its key features.

▶ Show solution

The ZABT SYSTEM was a systematic revenue assessment method introduced by Todar Mal (Akbar's finance minister) during the Mughal period. KEY FEATURES: (1) LAND MEASUREMENT: Land was systematically measured using the jarib (a bamboo measuring rod fitted with iron rings). This gave the state precise data on cultivated acreage. (2) LAND CLASSIFICATION: Land was classified into four categories — polaj (continuously cultivated), parauti (occasionally left fallow), chachar (three to four years fallow), and banjar (more than five years fallow) — each with different revenue rates. (3) TEN-YEAR AVERAGE: Revenue demand was based on the AVERAGE YIELD of each crop in each region over the preceding 10 years — making revenue predictable for both the state and the peasant. (4) CASH DEMAND: Revenue was often assessed and collected IN CASH (not in kind) — which required peasants to sell their produce in markets. This integrated the agrarian economy with commercial networks.

Q2MEDIUM· zamindar-role

What was the position of the zamindar in Mughal agrarian society? How did zamindars relate to the Mughal state on one hand and to the peasantry on the other?

▶ Show solution

THE ZAMINDAR — A PIVOTAL POSITION: The zamindar occupied the crucial middle position between the Mughal state (above) and the peasant cultivators (below). RELATION WITH THE STATE: Zamindars were REVENUE COLLECTORS on behalf of the Mughal state — they collected land revenue from peasants in their territory and forwarded it to the state, retaining a commission (roughly 10–25%). They were expected to maintain order in their territory and suppress local rebellions. In return, they received OFFICIAL RECOGNITION of their hereditary status, the right to their commission, and sometimes titles or mansab ranks. However, the state also MONITORED and sometimes CHALLENGED zamindar power — trying to ensure that zamindars were not oppressing peasants excessively or retaining too much revenue. RELATION WITH PEASANTS: Zamindars held HEREDITARY RIGHTS over their territory — they were locally powerful and could use coercion to collect revenue. But they also had local SOCIAL TIES — they were often of the same caste or community as upper-caste peasants in their area. This gave them social authority as well as economic power. When revenue demands were excessive, zamindars could (and did) squeeze peasants — triggering flight, rebellion, or both. AMBIVALENCE: The zamindar was both an AGENT of the state (collecting its revenue) and a LOCAL POWER that the state could not ignore. This dual position made zamindars politically complex — sometimes loyal instruments of the empire, sometimes leaders of rebellion against excessive state demands.

Q3HARD· ain-critical-analysis

How useful is the Ain-i-Akbari as a source for studying the agrarian conditions of Mughal India? Discuss with specific reference to what it reveals and what it cannot tell us.

▶ Show solution

THE AIN-I-AKBARI — AN INVALUABLE BUT PARTIAL SOURCE: The Ain-i-Akbari ('Institutes of Akbar'), written by Abul Fazl in the 1590s as the third volume of the Akbarnama, is the most detailed administrative record of any pre-modern South Asian empire. WHAT IT REVEALS: (1) QUANTITATIVE DATA: The Ain contains remarkable statistics — the area under cultivation in each province, the revenue collected from each crop (in different units), the prices of agricultural commodities in different regions at different times, the number and names of zamindars (approximately 3,200 listed). These give historians a baseline for understanding the SCALE of Mughal agriculture and the productivity of different regions. (2) REVENUE SYSTEM: The Ain describes the zabt revenue system in detail — land measurement (jarib), land classification (polaj, parauti, chachar, banjar), ten-year averaging of yields. This tells us how the state INTENDED to assess and collect revenue. (3) ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE: Lists of officials, their ranks (mansab), their salaries (in cash or jagir), and their responsibilities — a comprehensive picture of how the Mughal state was organised. (4) CROP DIVERSITY: The Ain lists dozens of crops grown in different regions, including cash crops like cotton, indigo, and sugarcane — evidence of agricultural commercialisation. WHAT IT CANNOT TELL US: (1) DIVERGENCE BETWEEN IDEAL AND REALITY: The Ain describes the SYSTEM AS IT SHOULD WORK — perfectly administered, rationally assessed, efficiently collected. But numerous other sources (petitions, records from zamindars, later British revenue surveys) show that actual conditions were far more chaotic. Revenue was not always measured; zamindars withheld revenue; peasants fled or concealed crops; local powerful figures distorted the system. (2) SUBALTERN PERSPECTIVES: The Ain was written by a COURT OFFICIAL for a COURT AUDIENCE. The perspective of ordinary peasants — their experience of drought, debt, coercion, famine — is absent. We get the system from above, not from below. (3) WOMEN: Agricultural women are largely invisible in the Ain. Women's labour in harvesting, processing, and domestic production was essential to the agrarian economy but does not appear in Abul Fazl's administrative record. (4) REGIONAL BIAS: The Ain is most detailed on the northern provinces that Abul Fazl knew well. Bengal, south India, and forest/tribal areas are less fully documented. (5) IDEOLOGICAL PURPOSE: The Ain was written to PRAISE AKBAR — to show that his empire was perfectly administered, rational, and prosperous. Negative information (famines, rebellions, corruption) is minimised or absent. HISTORIANS' USE: Historians like IRFAN HABIB ('The Agrarian System of Mughal India') have used the Ain's quantitative data extensively — while being careful to distinguish the ideal from the real, and supplementing it with other sources like petitions, revenue records, and later surveys. CONCLUSION: The Ain is indispensable for Mughal history — no other source provides comparable quantitative breadth. But it must be read critically, as a document produced by the state to justify the state, not as neutral observation of agrarian conditions.

5-minute revision

The whole chapter, distilled. Read this the night before the exam.

•Ain-i-Akbari: written by Abul Fazl, 1590s, part of Akbarnama. Praises Akbar.
•Zabt system: Todar Mal. Jarib = measuring rod. 4 land types. 10-year average yield.
•Khud-kashta: resident peasant with hereditary rights. Pahi-kashta: migrant cultivator.
•Zamindar: hereditary revenue collector. Kept commission (~10–25%). Submitted rest to state.
•Mansabdar: Mughal official assigned jagir (revenue assignment, not permanent ownership).
•Village panchayat: village council regulating local affairs and negotiating with state.
•Ain-i-Akbari reveals: quantitative data, revenue system design, 3,200 zamindars listed.
•Ain's limits: state perspective, ideal not reality, no peasant voice, regional bias.
•Peasant rebellions: caused by excessive revenue, famine, abuse. Zamindar rebellions too.
•Irfan Habib's 'Agrarian System of Mughal India' is the key scholarly analysis of this chapter.

CBSE marks blueprint

Where the marks come from in this chapter — so you can plan your prep.

Typical chapter weightage: 5-8 marks

Question type	Marks each	Typical count	What it tests
Short Answer — Facts	3-4	1	Zabt system features; Abul Fazl and Ain-i-Akbari; khud-kashta vs pahi-kashta; zamindar's role
Long Answer — Source Analysis	5-8	1	Ain-i-Akbari as source — what it reveals and limitations; agrarian tensions and rebellions; zamindar-state-peasant triangle

Prep strategy

The Ain-i-Akbari critical analysis framework: what it reveals (quantitative data, revenue system, zamindar list) vs what it cannot tell us (peasant perspective, divergence from ideal, women's roles, regional bias, ideological purpose). Know both sides.
Zabt system specifics: Todar Mal, jarib, four land types (polaj/parauti/chachar/banjar), 10-year average. This is tested as short-answer or fill-in-the-blank.
Zamindar's dual role: agent of state (collect revenue, maintain order) AND local power (social ties, potential for rebellion). The ambivalence is the key analytical point.

Where this shows up in the real world

This chapter isn't just an exam topic — it lives in the world around you.

The Permanent Settlement and Its Legacy

The British East India Company's Permanent Settlement of Bengal (1793) fundamentally transformed the Mughal zamindar class into modern landlords. Under the Settlement, zamindars' revenue-collecting rights were converted into full private property rights over land — making them legal owners. Revenue demand was FIXED permanently at 1793 levels. This had enormous consequences: zamindars who couldn't pay were dispossessed; successful zamindars accumulated vast estates. The agrarian impoverishment of Bengal in the 19th century — famines, tenancy insecurity — can be traced directly to this transformation. The Permanent Settlement misread the Mughal agrarian system (influenced by Bernier's 'no private property' thesis) and created a new class of landlords that had not existed in the same form before.

Exam strategy

Battle-tested tips from teachers and toppers for this chapter.

For Ain-i-Akbari source questions: always mention (1) AUTHOR = Abul Fazl (not Akbar himself). (2) PURPOSE = to glorify Akbar's administration. (3) What it reveals (quantitative data). (4) What it cannot reveal (peasant perspective, divergence from ideal). Missing the author's identity loses 1 mark.
For questions on 'agrarian conditions': structure your answer around the three actors — STATE (revenue demands, zabt system), ZAMINDARS (collection, commission, local power), PEASANTS (khud-kashta/pahi-kashta, village panchayat, rebellions). This triangular structure shows you understand the SYSTEM, not just isolated facts.

Going beyond the textbook

For olympiad aspirants and curious learners — topics that build on this chapter.

Read IRFAN HABIB's 'The Agrarian System of Mughal India' (1963, revised 1999) — the landmark work that used the Ain-i-Akbari's statistics systematically to reconstruct the Mughal rural economy. Habib's argument that excessive revenue extraction was a STRUCTURAL CAUSE of Mughal decline (not just Aurangzeb's personality) revolutionised medieval Indian historiography
Compare the Mughal JAGIR system with European FEUDALISM: both involve revenue rights granted by the sovereign, both created a military class tied to the land. But key differences: Mughal jagirs were temporary and rotated (preventing entrenchment of local power); European feudal fiefs were hereditary. This difference shaped the very different trajectories of the Mughal Empire and European feudal states

Where else this chapter is tested

CBSE board isn't the only one — other exams test this chapter too.

CBSE Class 12 Board (History)High

UPSC Mains (Medieval India, Economic History)High

State PSC exams (Mughal History)High

AI helpers for this chapter

Generate more practice on the fly, or have the chapter explained at a different level.

⚡

Generate 5 more questions

Fresh MCQs + short-answer items based on this chapter, plus answer keys.

🧠

Explain at a different level

Re-explain the chapter at the level you actually want.

📝 My notes

Saved on this device — sign in to sync · how this works

0/600

Questions students ask

The real ones — pulled from the Q&A community and tutor sessions.

A MANSABDAR was a Mughal official with a military rank (mansab). Instead of salary, they were given a JAGIR — the right to collect land revenue from a specific territory for a period of time. The jagir was NOT permanent — it could be transferred, cancelled, or reassigned. The mansabdar had no hereditary rights to the land or its revenue; it was essentially an official assignment. A ZAMINDAR, by contrast, held HEREDITARY RIGHTS over their territory — their position as revenue collector was inherited, not assigned by the Emperor. Zamindars had deep local roots and social authority that mansabdars lacked. The distinction mattered because zamindars were much harder to discipline or remove than mansabdars, whose assignments could simply be transferred.

Practice more, ask doubts, find a tutor

CBSE Class 12 mock tests

CBSE Class 12 PYQs

Ask in Q&A

History flashcards

Related chapters

Students who read Peasants, Zamindars and the State (Agrarian Society c. 16th–17th Century) usually read these next.

Bricks, Beads and Bones (The Harappan Civilisation)

4,600 years ago, in the plains of the Indus river, a civilisation rose that rivalled Egypt and Mesopotamia — with planned cities, sophisticated drainage, long-distance trade, and a script that remains UNDECIPHERED. This chapter uncovers Harappa through its material remains. CBSE Class 12 History (Themes in Indian History I) Chapter 1.

Kings, Farmers and Towns (Early States and Economies)

From 600 BCE to 600 CE, India saw the rise of the FIRST STATES (Mahajanapadas), the first EMPIRE (Mauryas under Ashoka), and the first COINAGE. This chapter covers political formations, agrarian expansion, and the inscriptions that tell us about early Indian society. CBSE Class 12 History (Themes in Indian History I) Chapter 2.

Kinship, Caste and Class (Early Societies c. 600 BCE – 600 CE)

The Mahabharata is not just an epic — it's a WINDOW into early Indian society. This chapter uses the text alongside Dharmasutras and inscriptions to explore how kinship, caste (jati/varna), and class structured life in ancient India — and how these structures CHANGED over time. CBSE Class 12 History (Themes in Indian History I) Chapter 3.

Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings (Cultural Developments c. 600 BCE – 600 CE)

Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism — India's three great religious traditions — emerged and evolved during this period. This chapter explores their FOUNDERS and TEACHINGS, their SACRED TEXTS, and the STUPAS, CHAITYAS, and TEMPLES that gave material form to belief. CBSE Class 12 History (Themes in Indian History I) Chapter 4.