Question

Kharaj was a tax on

Answer 1

Hint: In the 7th and 8th centuries, Kharaj was the special Islamic financial imposition that was demanded from recent converts to Islam. Under the law of Islam, only native Muslims or converts to Islam were allowed to own land. Thus, the non-Muslim cultivators were encouraged to adopt Islam.

Complete answer:
Kharaj was a tax on agricultural land, and its range was one-third to half of the produce.

The roots of the concept of the kharaj is closely associated to changes in the position of non-Muslims and of new converts to Islam in recently conquered territories of Islam.

Under the law of Islam, only native Muslims or converts to Islam were allowed to own land. Thus, the non-Muslim cultivators were encouraged to adopt Islam, so that they could sustain their agricultural holdings. Upon conversion, they were needed to pay the “Ushr” (or tithe), a tax equivalent to one-tenth of their produce. But they were given exemption from other taxes on their lands.

But the Umayyad caliphs (reigned 661–750), dealt with increasing financial issues, as they were imposed a kind of kharaj on the land of recent converts additionally to their payment of ushr. This extra imposition of the kharaj became quite unpopular, and majority of the converts felt that it disrupted the egalitarian beliefs of Islam.

Note: The individuals who chose not to convert were needed to pay a special tribute, generally in the form of a poll tax or head tax referred to as the Jizyah. But those who preferred to convert, would be placed on an equivalent financial standing with other Muslims.