Indian feudalism, c. AD 300-1200/ Ram Sharan Sharma.

Reprint of the third edition; originally published in 1965.
Includes bibligraphy and index.

ORIGINS AND FIRST PHASE
(c. AD 300-750)
Defining feudalism Grant of administrative rights along with
land charters to priests Grants for religious and ideological services Grants for fiscal services Officers paid through land grants in
post-Gupta times Villages granted to secular parties for religious
tmd also for secular purposes Terms for officers and administrative
units indicate land grants Feudal connotation of amdtya,
kumardmdtya and other titles Hereditary officers Growing
semifeudal role of village headmen Origin and growth of the
sdmantas and their obligations Loss of royal monopoly over the
possession of horses and elephants Litde evidence for commenda
tion Grant of barren and cultivated land Differences between
Bengal and Madhya Pradesh in respect of land charters Exten
sion of cultivation through land grants The mode of agriculture
in setded areas Agriculture in tribal areas Emergence of temples
and brahmanas as landlords Organisation of agricultural
production in religious and secular holdings Position of the peasantry Visti and contribution of rent in labour Labour service
and the European feudal practice Servitude of the peasants
through transfer to the beneficiaries The nature and extent of
serfdom breakdown of slavery and emergence of serfdom Rise of sudra peasants ’Self-sufficient’ economic units Paucity of coins
Decline of urbanism and of trade and commerce Feudalisadon
of guilds and merchants Irrigation, a local responsibility
Agrahdras and European manors Comparison with the
European feudal organisation Substantial landlords and servile
peasantry
II FEUDAL POLITYIN THREE KINGDOMS
(c. AD 750-1000)
Pala grants of fiscal and administradve rights Giving the secular administradon of criminal law and jusdce to religious beneficiaries
common in the Pala kingdom Pradh^a royal grants specified
only fiscal rights Feudatories of Pratiharas gave both fiscal and
administradve rights of private jusdce Many religious charters carrying fiscal and administradve concessions in the Rasp-akuta
kingdom Comparadve paucity of epigraphic evidence regarding
secular grants Specified taxes as payment for some Rasp-akuta
officials Subinfeudadon under the Rasprakutas and Pratiharas
Right of ejection conferred on the donees under the Ra§pakutas
A comparadve view of officials in the three kingdoms Growing feudalisation of officials Kinship and vassalship Powers,
privileges and obligations of the vassals The nature of the
overlords control over his feudatory Role of vassals in central and local politics Elevation of the village elders Feudalisadon
of guilds under the Rasprakutas No fixed capital for the Palas Imposition of clan aristocracies over setded peasants through
the duodecimal system Indentificadon of feudal elements in
early medieval polity
III FEUDAL ECONOMYIN THREE KINGDOMS
(c. AD 750-1000)
Growth of a class of landed barons at the cost of royal and peasant
authority over land Grantee’s increasing individual rights in land
at the cost of communal agrarian rights Effects of ejection and
subinfeudadon on the peasants Members of the ruling Guijara-
Pratih^a tribe reduced bytheir kinsmen to the position of semi-
serfs Practice of forced agriculture in Rajasthan and extension
of forced labour Economic subjection of the peasantry and scope
for new impositions by the grantees in the Pala and Pratihara
charters No legal redress for the peasants Billeting of cdfas and
fiAafoson the villages in Bengal, Bihar, Bundelkhand and Chamba Feudalisadon of trade and commerce under the P^as and
Pratiharas: Little scope for marketisation and growth of self-sufficient units in the countryside Restricdons on ardsans Local weights and measures and decrease in money exchange Trade
in luxury objects Elements in feudal economy Extra-economic
methods for the exploitadon of the peasantry
IV EARLY MEDIAEVAL LAND RIGHTS
(c. AD 500-1200) Debate regarding royal ownership and individual ownership of
land Evidence for communal rights from Vedic to Gupta dmes Curtailment of communal rights and growth of royal rights
Gupta law-books and other records on royal possession Nature
of individual occupation of land down to pre-Gupta times
Growth of individual rights in land in Gupta and post-Gupta dmes Resolving contradictory views of the lawgivers on land rights
Comparison with land rights in medieval Europe Comparison
with land rights under Muslim rule
V THE HEYDAY OF POLITICAL FEUDALISM
(c. AD 1000-1200) Complete polidcal disintegradon on the break-up of the GuijaraPradhara empire Origins of the principalides through service
grants Service grants of land fewer in Assam, Bengal and Bihar More service grants in Orissa than Assam, Bengal and Bihar
taken together Frequent land grants to military officials under
the Candellas in Bundelkhand More grants to civil officials under
the G^iadavalas in Uttar Pradesh Appordonment of land as
fiefs among the kinsmen under the Cahamanas All C^amana
administradon not a family affair Some Paramara land charters to members of the ruling clan Few epigraphic records of grants
to Paramara officials Paramara vassals and feudatories Areas
set apart for the personal upkeep of the ruling chief and his
kinsmen under the Caulukyas Large territories to vassals and
high officers under the Caulukyas Regular and exclusive levies
for payment to officers under the Kalacuris, Candellas,
Gahadavalas and Cahamanas Origin and evoludon of levies for
officials Functions and obligadons of the vassals Military
assignees as a numerous class Part played by vassals in polidcs
and administradon, though not as an organised collecdve body
High watermark of the feudalisadon of officials Draft of land
charters to officials Agni Purana and Lekhapaddhati on the
fiefholders Land grants for vassals and high officials well
recognised in the 12th century texts Feudal hierarchy described
in texts on art and architecture Summary of the chapter VI CLIMAX AND CRACKS
A regional survey of land grants to religious beneficiaries
Largest number of recorded landed intermediaries in the 11 th-
12th centuries Extension of the demesne of the landed beneficiaries because of undefined boundaries Transfer of
enlarged agrarian rights and resources Distinction between
receiving usufruct and rights of ownership Increase in
subinfeudation Service grants even for minor functionaries
Transfer of peasants and artisans along with the land
Enumeration of taxes levied from the peasant Peasant
contribution for the fees and maintenance of various royal ofihcials
Feudalisadon of crafts and commerce in Rajasthan, Malwa and
Gujarat Climax of feudal economy Dents in feudal economy-
colonising activities of the beneficiaries restricted Disappearance
of forced labour under the Paramaras, * Chaulukyas and
Cahamanas Formation of larger economic units in the
countryside Cash payments levied from artisans and traders in
Western India Revival of towns and trade Place of consumer
goods in foreign trade Cultivation of commercial crops and revival of trade The use of araghatta and improvement in
shipbuilding Internal trade helped by better transport
Revival of money coinage A picture of contrasts
VII THE SEGMENTARY STATE AND
THE INDIAN EXPERIENCE
Fieldwork versus historical method Concept of the state
The Alur society not a state Ritual suzerainty and political
suzerainty Ritual suzerainty and the Cola kingdom
Segmentary concept and the development of the Cola polity
The segmentary state and the Rajput polity North Indian state - segmentary or feudal? Asiatic mode of production
Caste and the state Origin of the state Problems of transition
Inadequacy of the theory of the segmentary state
VIII HOW FEUDAL WAS INDIAN FEUDALISM?
Organisation of tribal society Concept of peasant society
Feudalism defined Variations in feudalism Difference
between serfdom and feudalism Control of means of
production by landlord * Four graded stages of land rights in the same piece of land Terms used for peasants in mediaeval
inscriptions and literature EflFective control over means of production Passages of changes in the methods and"relations of production Feudalism in paddy-producing areas Outcome
of forced labour Limitations of the appearance of landlords and
subject peasantry Features of caste system Development of jajmani system Expansion of irrigation facilities The feudal
versus the segmentary state Concluding observations
CONCLUSION
Critical characteristics of a feudal formation found in early medieval India Origin and development of Indian feudalism through land grants Uneven process of creating a class of landlords Rich terminology in epigraphs for various types of vassals Causes of the subjection of the Indian peasantry
Evidence regarding the reaction of peasants Self-sufficient
economy and decay of trade and towns * The historical role of early Indian feudalism Some similarities between Indian
feudalism and its European counterpart Feudalism not identical
with administrative decentralism, but a form of social order
Stages in early Indian feudalism