The standard land-revenue system of the Mughal Empire, refined under Akbar by his revenue minister Raja Todar Mal, in which revenue was assessed in cash on the basis of measured land and average yields and prices.
- Under the zabt system, cultivated land was measured (using a standard unit, the bigha) and classified by fertility and continuity of cultivation.
- The dahsala (ten-year) settlement, introduced in 1580, fixed the state's demand using the average produce and prices of the previous ten years; the state's share was usually about one-third of the produce, taken in cash.
- Land was classified as polaj (cultivated every year), parauti (left fallow occasionally), chachar (fallow for three to four years), and banjar (uncultivated for five years or more).
- Other methods coexisted: ghalla-bakshi or batai (crop-sharing), kankut (estimate by appraisal), and nasaq (a rough lump-sum assessment).
- Todar Mal's reforms are remembered as the basis of an organised, predictable land-revenue administration.
The Todar Mal link, the dahsala (ten-year) settlement of 1580, the bigha measurement, and the land-classification terms (polaj, parauti, chachar, banjar) are recurring Mughal-revenue facts.
Zabt or dahsala (measurement-based cash assessment) is the main system; batai, kankut, and nasaq are alternative methods, not the same as zabt.
Akbar's measurement-based cash land revenue, refined by Todar Mal as the dahsala (ten-year) settlement of 1580; state share about one-third.