Agrarian Economy in Early Medieval India | History Optional for UPSC (Notes) PDF Download

Introduction

Growth of Cultivation and Land Relations in Early Medieval India:

• The early medieval period in Indian history saw the expansion of cultivation and the organization of land relations through land grants.
• These grants, which began around the start of the Christian era, eventually spread across almost the entire subcontinent by the end of the twelfth century.
• What started as a small-scale practice evolved into a widespread system.

Factors Contributing to Expansion:

• Advancements in agricultural techniques, such as plough cultivation and irrigation technology.
• Institutional management of agricultural processes.
• Control over means of production and new relations of production.

Emergence of Rural Tensions:

• With the expansion of agriculture, new types of rural tensions arose.
• There was an increase in commercial activities involving both agricultural and non-agricultural commodities.

Development of Land Grants:

• The practice of land grants began around 100 BC in Maharashtra.
• By 1000 AD, this practice had become widespread across India and gained a universal character.

Historical Timeline of Land Grants

• Around 100 BC and onwards, land grants were primarily given to Vedic priests.
• By 500 AD, the practice of granting land to religious establishments and temple priests began.
• From 700 AD onwards, land grants were also made for secular purposes.

Agrarian Expansion due to land grants

• From the fourth century onwards, the agrarian expansion began with the establishment of brahmadeya and agrahara settlements through land grants to Brahmanas. This practice later became uniform and universal in subsequent centuries.
• Between the eighth and twelfth centuries, there was a significant expansion and culmination of agrarian organization based on land grants to religious and secular beneficiaries, including Brahmanas,temples, and King’s officials.
• Despite the overall trend, there were regional variations in this development due to geographical and ecological factors.

Geographical Patterns:

• Cultivation expanded into previously uncultivated lands by clearing forests.
• Some scholars believe that land grants started in remote, backward, and tribal areas before gradually extending to the Ganga valley, which was central to brahmanical culture.
• In backward and tribal areas,Brahmanas introduced new cultivation methods using specialized knowledge in agriculture,ploughing,irrigation, and livestock protection.
• However,land grants were also made in areas of settled agriculture and other ecological zones to integrate them into a new economic order.

Chronological Pattern:

• 4th-5th centuries: Spread over central India, northern Deccan, and Andhra.
• 5th-7th centuries: Eastern India (Bengal and Orissa), beginnings in Western India (Gujarat and Rajasthan).
• 7th-8th centuries: Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
• 9th century: Kerala.
• End of the 12th century: Almost the entire subcontinent, with the possible exception of Punjab.

The Ideology behind land grants

Epigraphic records reveal a contradiction about kings.

• Descriptions of kings show cruelty, violence, and a desire for territorial power.
• At the same time, these kings show generosity to brahmana donees.

There are several points to consider regarding these land grants and the motivations behind them:

• Selfishness of Donor Kings: The large gifts were intended to earn punya(spiritual merit) not only for the donors but also for their predecessors.
• Financial Support for Brahmanas: Land grants were meant to provide financial support to brahmanas engaged in imparting learning and education.
• Diversified Vocations of Brahmanas: Brahmanas were transitioning from priesthood to becoming landowners, indicating a shift towards property ownership.
• Change in Dana Concept: The concept of dana(gift making) was evolving, reflecting a transformation in the social and cultural context.
• Role of Dharmashastras: The dharmashastras emphasized prayashchitta (expiation) for sins, influencing the practices of kings who often engaged in violent actions during wars.
• Expiation through Gifts: Brahmanas exploited the kings' sense of guilt by recommending huge gifts to avoid a miserable afterlife.
• Significance of Land Gifts: Gifting land was highly esteemed, with texts like Vyasa and various puranas highlighting the rewards for land donors.
• Policy Statements: The sacred texts were transformed into policy statements by brahmana lawgivers, emphasizing the importance of land gifts.
• Perpetuity of Gifts: Imprecations against the destruction of gifts ensured their perpetuity.
• Mutual Interests: The relationship between the donor and the donee was based on mutual interests, with all parties collaborating in the new landed order.

Agrarian Organisation

• The agrarian organization and economy of ancient India were highly intricate, as revealed through detailed studies of regional land grants and the roles of different types of settlements, including b rahmadeya, non-brahmadeya, and temple settlements.
• Understanding the growth of land rights, the interdependence among various groups involved in land, and the processes of production and distribution sheds light on the complexity of agrarian society.

Brahmadeya Settlements:

• Brahmadeya refers to land grants given to Brahmanas, either as individual plots or entire villages, making them landowners or controllers.
• These grants aimed to bring uncultivated land into use or to incorporate existing agricultural settlements into a new economic order dominated by Brahmana proprietors.
• Brahmana donees played a crucial role in integrating various socioeconomic groups through service tenure and caste groupings under the Varna system.
• Brahmadeyas facilitated agrarian expansion by being exempt from taxes, especially in the initial stages of settlement, and by being endowed with increasing privileges (pariharas).
• Ruling families benefited economically by extending the resource base and gaining ideological support for their political power through the creation of b rahmadeyas.
• Lands were often given as b rahmadeya to single Brahmanas or multiple Brahmana families, usually located near major irrigation works.
• Sometimes, multiple settlements were combined to form a brahmadeya or an agrahara, with carefully demarcated boundaries.
• Donations included not just land rights but also revenues, economic resources, and human resources like peasants and artisans.
• Brahmanas organized themselves into assemblies, managing agricultural and artisanal production.

Secular Grants:

• From the seventh century onwards, state officials were also compensated through land grants, creating a new class of landlords.
• Evidence of such grants dates back to around A.D. 200 but became more common in the post-Gupta period.
• Literary works from central India, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar, and Bengal often mention various types of grants to ministers, kinsmen, and military service providers.
• The incidence of grants to state officials varied by region, with some regions having more service grants than others.

Devadanas:

• Large-scale gifts to religious establishments, both Brahmanical and non-Brahmanical, were common.
• These centers acted as nuclei of agricultural settlements, integrating various peasant and tribal communities through acculturation.
• Temple lands were leased out to tenants, often managed by local committees, with different socio-economic groups integrated through service tenures.
• In non-Brahmana settlements, temples also played a central role, with lands administered by local non-Brahmana committees.
• The caste organization around the temple assigned different groups specific caste and ritual statuses, influencing social hierarchies.
• New intermediaries emerged between the king and producers, with Brahmanas, temples, and non-Brahmanas becoming central figures in the agrarian organization.

Nature of rights granted to the assignees with land grants

Rights Granted to Land Recipients:

• Fiscal and administrative rights were conferred upon the grantees.
• Taxes, particularly land tax, which were theoretically payable to the King or government, were assigned to the donees.

Transfer of Rights:

• The mention of pariharas (exemptions) in copper plate and stone inscriptions suggests that while payments theoretically due to the King were not entirely exempted, the rights were transferred to the grantees.
• This practice was seemingly supported by the dharmashastras, which aimed to establish royal ownership of land and justify such grants, thereby creating intermediary rights in land.

Development of Private Ownership:

• Despite some evidence of a communal basis for land rights in early settlements, the emergence of private ownership is indicated by several factors:
• Grantees often had the right to alienate land.
• They enjoyed various other hereditary benefits within the settlements.
• Land gifts were frequently made after purchase from private individuals.
• Hereditary ownership appears to have evolved from such grants, both religious and secular.

Rural tension

Sources of Tension in Rural Areas:

• Heterogeneous and Stratified Peasantry: Unlike the ancient gahapatis, there were now different categories of land-associated personnel, including kshetrik, krshaka, halin, and ardhik. Unfortunately, these terms do not clearly indicate landownership but rather refer to various types of cultivators.
• Conversion of Land: The transformation of brahmadeyas into non-brahmadeyas and subsequently into agraharas was a potential source of conflict in rural areas.

Events Indicating Distrust Against New Landed Intermediaries:

• Damara Revolts in Kashmir.
• Rebellion of the Kaivarthas during the reign of Ramapal in Bengal.
• Acts of Self-Immolation in response to land encroachments in Tamil Nadu.
• Appropriation of Donated Land by shudras in Pandya territory.

Other Indications of Tension:

• Conflict between Brahmanas and temples and within the ranks of secular landholders.
• The tendency of donors to seek land where cultivation disputes were absent indicates underlying unrest.
• The presence of hero-stones around agraharas also suggests such tension.

Rise of Brahmahatya Concept:

• The increasing emphasis on Brahmahatya(the killing of a Brahmana) during the early medieval period raises questions about the validity of the concepts of "brahmana-peasant alliance" and "peasant state and society."

Agriculture and the exchange network 

Economic Organization in Early Medieval Period:

• During the early medieval period (300-800 A.D.), the economic organization was primarily agrarian and self-sufficient, with production focused on subsistence rather than market demand.
• Craftsmen and artisans were linked to villages, estates, or religious establishments, and there was limited involvement of traders and middlemen, who mainly supplied goods like iron tools, oil, spices, and cloth.
• The market system was restricted during this period.
• However, over the next 500 years,agrarian settlements and local markets expanded, leading to increased local exchange and, eventually, organized commerce.
• This shift resulted in the emergence of merchant organizations, itinerant trade, and partial monetization from the ninth century onwards.
• Agricultural products began to be exchanged with items from long-distance trade, altering landownership patterns.
• Merchants and influential craftsmen, such as weavers and oil pressers, started investing in land, purchasing or gifting land.
• For instance, in south Karnataka, communities like the Jagati-kottali (weavers) and Telligas (oil pressers) became active participants in agriculture, with the former known for excavating tanks and creating gardens.

The characterization of early medieval agrarian economy

Different Perspectives on the Early Medieval Agrarian Economy:
There are two main views on the nature of the early medieval agrarian economy: one sees it as a feudal economy, while the other views it as a peasant state and society.

Feudal Economy:

• Hierarchical Land Intermediaries: There was a hierarchy of landed aristocrats, tenants, sharecroppers, and cultivators.
• Forced Labour: The right to extract forced labour (vishti) was exercised by Brahmanas and other grantees of land.
• Curtailment of Peasant Land Rights: Peasant land rights were diminished, with many becoming tenants or sharecroppers.
• Extraction of Surplus: New mechanisms of economic subordination evolved, with increased burdens on peasants.
• Closed Village Economy: Peasants, craftsmen, and artisans were mutually dependent and attached to the land.

Peasant State and Society:

• Autonomous peasant regions called nadus evolved in South India, organized on clan and kinship ties.
• Agricultural production was controlled by nattar assemblies of non-Brahmana peasants.
• Brahmanas and dominant peasants became allies in the production process.