From Ancient to Medieval – Agrarian Changes and Rise of Landlords

At a Glance

• Crisis Kaliyuga, third-fourth centuries
• Response Land grants
• Frequent from Fifth century AD
• Officials paid in land From the sixth century
• Result Landlords between state and peasants
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Ancient History: Philosophy, Cultural Interaction and Transition

Where Does It Fit?

This is the fourth topic of the category on philosophy, cultural interaction and transition. The previous topic covered Asian contacts, and this one explains the change from ancient to medieval society. The next topic covers varna and regional identities. Previous topic: Cultural Interaction of India with Asian Countries. The story continues in Indian Feudalism – Origin and Features in Early Medieval India and Economy and Decline of Trade in Early Medieval India.

What Was the Social Crisis?

In short: peasants and labourers resisted taxes and service in the third and fourth centuries, and land grants were the state’s answer.

The central factor that eventually transformed ancient Indian society into a medieval one was the practice of land grants. The charters say the givers, mainly kings, wanted religious merit and the receivers, mainly monks and priests, needed the means to perform rites, but the practice really arose from a serious crisis that affected the ancient social order. The varna society rested on the producing activities of the peasants called vaishyas and the labourers called shudras. Taxes collected from the vaishyas let kings pay officials and soldiers, reward priests and buy luxury goods. In the third and fourth centuries a deep social crisis, described as Kaliyuga in the Puranas, afflicted the system. The Puranic texts complain that varnas had discarded their functions and the lower orders tried to take the status and functions of the higher ones, that is, they refused to pay taxes and give free labour. This led to varnasamkara, intermixture of social classes. Varna barriers were attacked because the producing masses were oppressed with heavy taxes and denied protection by kings. The Manu law-book advises that vaishyas and shudras must not deviate from their duties, which may have led to coercive measures, but the more important step was to grant land to priests and officials in lieu of salaries. This threw the burden of collecting taxes and maintaining law and order in the donated areas on the beneficiaries, who could deal with recalcitrant peasants on the spot. It could also bring new land under cultivation, and by implanting brahmanas in conquered tribal areas the tribes could be taught the brahmanical way of life and obedience to the king. The earlier varna model is in Varna System, Social Orders and Legislation in the Age of the Buddha.

How Did Landlords Rise?

Land grants became frequent from the fifth century AD. Brahmanas were granted villages free of taxes that the king would have collected, and the beneficiaries were given the right to govern the people in the donated villages. Government officials and royal retainers were not permitted to enter the gifted villages. Up to the fifth century the ruler generally retained the right to punish thieves, but later the beneficiaries were authorised to punish all criminal offenders. Villages were made over in perpetuity. In Vedic times the king was considered the owner of cattle, gopati, but in Gupta times and later he was regarded as bhupati, owner of land. However, grants eventually undermined the king’s authority, and pockets free of royal control multiplied. Royal control was further eroded by paying officials with land. In the Mauryan period officers were generally paid in cash; this continued under the Kushans and lingered under the Guptas, whose gold coins were meant for the army and high functionaries. From the sixth century the law-books recommended rewarding services in land, and from Harsha’s reign officials were paid from land revenues, with one-fourth of the royal revenue earmarked for great public servants. By the seventh century there was a distinct evolution of landlordism and devolution of central authority. The Gupta and Harsha practices are in Gupta Administration and Pulakeshin II Sources Harshacharita, Hsuan Tsang Nature of rule Feudal,…">Harsha and his Times.

What Happened to the Peasantry, Trade and Towns?

Landed beneficiaries could neither cultivate nor collect revenue on their own, so cultivation was entrusted to peasants or sharecroppers attached to the land but without legal ownership. I-tsing states that most Indian monasteries had their lands cultivated by servants and others, and Hsuan Tsang describes the shudras as agriculturists, who may no longer have been slaves and labourers. From the sixth century, sharecroppers and peasants in backward areas such as Orissa and the Deccan were asked to remain on granted land, and in north India artisans and peasants were asked not to leave granted villages, which undermined mass mobility.

From the sixth century a sharp decline in trade and towns began. Trade with the main part of the Roman empire ended in the third century and the silk trade with Iran and Byzantium stopped in the mid-sixth century; Arabs reaped the benefit of the commerce with China and Southeast Asia as middlemen. The virtual absence of gold coins shows the decline of trade for well over 300 years after the sixth century. Towns such as those in Haryana and East Punjab, Purana Qila, Mathura, Hastinapur, Shravasti, Kaushambi, Rajghat, Chirand, Vaishali and Pataliputra began to decline in Gupta times and largely disappeared in post-Gupta times, and Hsuan Tsang found sacred towns deserted or dilapidated. Artisans and merchants flocked to the countryside, villages had to meet their own needs, and some merchants became land managers. As an analytical point, India’s landlords resemble the lords who emerged in Europe after Rome fell, but Indian society used few slaves and the Huna pressure did not force peasants to surrender freedom. The urban peak is in Milinda Panho Guilds Shrenis; at least two…">Crafts, Commerce and Urban Growth (200 BC to AD 250), and the next social shift in Changes in the Varna System and Rise of Regional Identities.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Central Mains theme Transition debate
• Terms Bhupati, immunities
• Economy Decline of trade

What Came Next?

The next topic describes changes in the varna system and the rise of regional identities. Next topic: Changes in the Varna System and Rise of Regional Identities.

Key People and Terms

• Kaliyuga Age of social disorder
• Varnasamkara Mixture of varnas
• Gopati Owner of cattle
• Bhupati Owner of land
• Sharecropper Cultivator without ownership
• Landlord Intermediary between state and peasant

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask about the causes and signs of the transition. These points add depth.

• Cause Social crisis
• Mechanism Land grants
• Outcome Landlordism