EMERGENCE OF FEUDAL ORDER

Feudalism

Feudalism is a social system. In this dominant social system the nobility

held lands from the poor peasents in exchange for military
service(protection) and vassals were in turn for tenants of the nobles.
While, the peasents were obliged to live on their lord’s land and give
homage, labour and a share of the produce in exchange for military
protection.

 It is a land based relationship (social system)

 In European sense, feudalism describes to a set of reciprocal legal &
military obligation among the warrior nobility revolving around the
3 concepts of lords, vassals, and fiver. However in context with
ancient India the system gradually developed in the beginning of
land grants.

RISE OF MAHAJANAPADAS (6TH BC)

MAGADHA EMPIRE

o Bimbisara of Haryanta
o Sishunaga dynasty – (Kalasoka)

Mauryan Empire (324 bc – 187 bc)

o 268 bc – 232 bc  Asoka (most imp mauryan)

o Mauryan kingdom was succeeded until 200 BC – 200 AD

Native a) Sungakanva b)Satavahanas

Foreign  a) Indo-greek b) Kushanas

South India  a) Chola b) Chera c)Pandya

Sangam Age (200 BC – 300 AD) in S.I. (Chola, chera, pandya)

 GUPTA EMPIRE (275 AD – 550 AD)
POST GUPTA

After the fall of the Guptas, imp centers of power arose

 Vardhana dynasty
 Mukharis
 Hunas
 Pushyabhotis
 Also Rajputs, Chauhans and senas succeeded later.

ORIGIN OF FEUDALISM – Post Mauryan Period

a. From the post mauryan period and especially from Gupta times
certain political and administrative devt. Centered to feudalise the
state apparatus.
b. The most striking devt was the practice of making land grants to
Brahmins & Buddhist monks and later to officials for their military
and administrative services.
c. These grants means the surrender of all the sources of revenue and
surrender of police and administrative function does gave rise to
feudalism.

FEATURES OF FEUDALISM

a. Hierarchy of feudal lords

b. Hereditary administrative position.
c. Decentralization of power
(zamindars were granted land instead of salary & proceeded to
save the ownership of the area while continuing to refer to
themselves as the vassals of the land.
d. Obsessive taxes system (wealth wasn’t’ shared equally)
e. Fragmentation of social formation. (caste was split into 1000s of
other castes and sub castes)
 f. Manorial system (The landlord granted lands to persons who would
render different services including labour in land of the lords in the
exchange of land.)

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EUROPEAN FEUDALISM & POSTMAURYAN PERIOD

 The post mauryan fdlsm was based on caste sys. Divided into 4:
bhrahmans, kshatriyas, shudras and vaishyas.
 Whereas European society is divided into church, nobility and
commoners.
 Unlike european system most of the power structures within the state
didn’t have to pay taxes.
 Western European feudal lords granted lands to the server in order to
get their own lands cultivated but Indian kings made grants to collect
taxes and surplus
 Fdlsm in india was characterised by a class of landlords and a class of
subject peasentry both living in predominantly agrarian economy
masked by decline in trade and urbanisation and drastic return in
metal currency.

Agrarian expansion:-

Types of Lands

 Kshetra – cultivate lands

 Khila – non cultivable
 Agrahata – Forest
 Pasture lands – herding, cattle rearing, Gopatha
 Vashti lands – habitable.

 Main source of revenue – land

 Copper plate inscriptions – records

Land measures:-

a. Nivastana
 b. Kulyavappa
c. Dhronavappa

Types of crops:-

a. Wheat
b. Barley
c. Paddy
d. Pulses
e. Grams
f. Vegetables
g. Cotton
h. Sugarcane

Embankments for agriculture:-

a. Bhastya – Irrigation
b. Jalanirgama – prevent flood

Tanks:-

a. Vapa
b. Thadaga
c. Dhirkwa
Eg: Sudasha in Gujarat

From wells:- Gathiyandra

LAND GRANTS IMPLICATIONS

1. Creation of powerful intermediaries wielding considerable political and
economic power.
2. Changes in Agrarian relations.
These resulted in the immobility of the population and isolation
from the rest of the world. Its implication was very preferred such as
devt of localised customs, languages, and rituals.
3. Political Decentralization
  The seed of decentralization was sown in the form of land grants
turned into yet vividly branched political organisation made up of semi
autonomous, rulers, samanthas, mahasamanthas etc.
 Sale of land by district level administrations to individual who
bought them by paying cash and made gifts of purchased land to
Brahmins who were expected to perform vedic sacrifices or to
Buddhist or jain religious establishments. But, land was not only
purchased and gifted, the practices of gifting land to religious donees
had become quite common by now.

WHY WERE LAND GRANTS GIVEN ONLY TO BRAHMINS

 Dhana or gist idea developed by Brahmins on text for acquiring merit
(punya) or destroying papa(sins).
 Conscious and systematic attempt to provide means of subsistence to
the Brahmins.
 In the practice of land grants, the present population as a whole were
reduced to a very low position in society
 Small kingdoms of new rulers and their official sections of people who
didn’t take part in agriculture created great inequalities in society and
imposed great burden on actual tillers of the soil.
 Tax on the producers also increased practice of imposing vishti (forced
labour) are unpaid labour.
 Agrahara – settlements of Brahmins
 Devgrahara – “ of merchants and writers (seculars), (land).

GRADED LAND RIGHTS

 King was the lord of the land and individuals can own the land.
 Peasants were attached to lands even when it was given.
 Forced labour – Vishti

TRADE AND COMMERCE

 100 -900 AD – 1st phase
 900- 1300 AD – 2nd phase
 In the 1st phase of all trade, it was relatively low, metallic currency
decline, urban centers declined.
 Land grants were rendered by Priests, where that amount was the
surplus extracted from peasants left with hardly anything, where
restrictions were imposed on mobility.

Media of exchange:-
 Scarcity of coins
 Use of poor quality of coins/metals like copper
 Shrinking of trade
 Barter sytem
 Trading activities limited among elites
 Very few coins like vigraha, sree adhivaraha were the coins used.
 Low purchasing power
 Fail to evolve coinage system
 Commercised activity though declined, it didn’t disappear completely.

EMERGENCE OF CLOSED ECONOMY

1. Local needs came to be made locally
2. Social mobility was restricted
3. Only soldiers and pilgrims are allowed to move
4. Dharma sasthras rectricted the movement of the peoples
5. Sea voyages were prohibited
6. Fostered strong local identities
7. Decline in trade as there was no surplus in the economy trade declined
8. Decay of urban settlements.