Agrarian expansion: land grants, changing production relations; graded

land rights and peasantry

Urban civilization relapsed to subsistence farming in the post-Gupta period.
According to B.D Chattopadhyay, the early medieval involves the expansion of
agriculture and state formation. There was an acceleration of processes than
began before the early medieval.

Land grant charters often specify the boundaries (sima) of the granted land.
These could be natural land marks or boundaries where villages began.
Increasing of settlements led to the intense use of land and now the
boundaries became more detailed and complex. Temples and cremation
grounds used to mark the boundaries of the settlements. Not all villages had
cremation grounds or temples as boundaries and they were probably shared
between villages. In other words, the early medieval period instead of looking
at the stagnation, should be seen as a period of developments in rural life.

Agrahara settlements- Brahmanas were granted lands and made to settle

there. The workers who toiled on the granted land settled on the periphery of
the Agrahara settlement. On the ground existed the Brahmana groups and
Samanta and the working group and servile classes.

From the 5th century onwards there was a growth of regional landed
aristocracy. As the varna-jati settlement spread to new areas, there is a
reconstitution of the rural society which used to be relatively undifferentiated
tribal societies. When rural society is reshaped it gives rise to more servile
groups and leads to the increase in the number of peasantry.

(Indian Feudalism) Increased subjection of the peasantry because of the land

grants and land grants to intermediaries, the rights of the peasantry curtailed
in areas where they previously possessed some rights. Harbans Mukhia says
that peasants in early medieval possessed some amount of autonomy and also
means of production. He says that Indian feudalism was different from
Western feudalism. R.S. Sharma responds to the views put by Harbans
Mukhia. He says that what is the use of owning the means of production when
all the surplus is siphoned off by the land owners. And in early medieval India
land was the most important means of production.
Exploitation of peasants by the landlords continued and slavery existed in the
houses of large landlords. Sharma argues that the nature of grants changed
over time. For instance, provisions in the grants state that the landlord is
allowed to collect all types and kinds of dues and exploit them whichever way
they wanted. After 7th century, resources such as fertile lands and water
resources which were commonly used by village communities were granted
to the beneficiaries. More and more privileges were given to the beneficiaries.
Vishti therefore amounted to the control over the labour of a person to the
beneficiary himself. Also, a produced rent (kodamai) was charged from a
peasant. So, rise in agrarian productivity and stratified society leads to more
taxes and dues getting extracted from the peasants.

The ideology of this period was instituted by Brahmanas and executed by the
rulers. From the 8th century onwards there is an extension of temples into the
rural world. Local cults were marked by small shrines on roadsides within the
village or at road-crossings. There was a growth of structural temples into
domineering edifices. Gradually temples also became landlords.

Land grants are a devise to provide payments to keep producing classes under
control and to maintain to exploitative machinery. A grant of lands to
Brahmanas is regarded by some as the weakening of the royal state and the
fragmentation of power. On the contrary, Chattopadhyay and H. Kulke see it as
an expansion the rural economy and agriculture. Rather than a period of
stagnation the early medieval was a period of expansion.

B.D.Chattopadhyay talks of Political decentralization. The state structure

during this period is characterized by decentralization and hierarchy, features
suggested by the presence of a wide range of semi-autonomous
rulers,samantas,mahasamantas and similar categories and the hierarchized
positioning of numerous rajapurusas employed by the royal court. He talks of
the emergence of landed intermediaries which is considered the hallmark of
Indian feudal social formation and is seen to be linked both to the
disintegration and decentralization of state authority and to major changes in
the structure of agrarian relations.The emergence of landed intermediaries-a
dominant landholding social group presumed absent in the early historical
period-is casually linked to the practice of land grants. The recipients of which
were almost invariably brahamanas or religious establishments. A change
over from the market or money economy to self-sufficient villages as units of
production led to the practice of remuneration in land as a substitute for cash,
to the migration of different social groups to rural areas to an agrarian
expansion and to the crystallization in rural society of jajmani
relationships(relationships of interdependence between patrons and clients).

Chattopadhyay talks of subjection of peasantry, likened sometimes to

serfdom. Characteristics of the subjection of the peasantry such as immobility,
forced labour and the payment of revenue at exorbitantly high rates all point
to the nature of stratification in post-gupta society. The condition of the
peasantry in this pattern of rural stratification was in sharp contrast to what
the agrarian structure in early historical india represented since that
structure was dominated by free Vaisya peasants and labour services
provided by the Shudras.

Urban decay- R.S Sharma, u singh

When the signs of urbanism I.e. monumental buildings, large settlements with
dense population, craft, trade etc, are found in a diminishing form, we
visualize urban decline. Inscriptional evidence shows the decline of trade and
urbanism. Toshio Yamazaki who has examined 15 copper plate inscriptions
notices certain changes in the history of towns and trade like, the exclusion of
artisans and merchants from the administration of the city in the 6th century.
Land grants by kings and chiefs were common for religious purposes and the
merchants and artisans were not generally consulted. The non-mention of the
merchants, traders and artisans in subsequent land charters demonstrates the
sharp decline of urbanism and trade. Several archaeologists refer to the
decline of the ancient towns and give their different views on the decline. Y.D
Sharma suggests that towns declined in Gupta and post-Gupta times.
C.Margabandhu, on the other hand points out that the towns lose their
importance in Gujarat, Rajasthan and M.P at the end of the Satvahana rule
broadly in c.200-400A.D.

Upinder Singh on the other hand, questions the hypothesis that there was sub
continental urban decay during 300-600 A.D ,on several grounds. Texts of the
time abound in lengthy, poetic descriptions of cities that need not be taken
literally and the very production of a sophisticated range of literature of
various genres, as well as architectural and sculptural products of this period
point to an urban milieu and an urban source of patronage. The archaeological
data on cities of this period is extremely meager. Archaeological evidence
indicates the decline of certain Buddhist establishments such as those at Pauni
in western India. On the other hand, several other monastic centers grew. The
monastic community of Ajanta flourished in western India. The ports of south
India played a pivotal role in the trade with south East Asia and China. Spices
such as pepper and cardamom continued to be produced and exported from
the Kerela region. The epics also describe the lavish lifestyle of the merchants.
Excavations at Kaveripattinam revealed remains stretching from 3-12
centuries A.D.

The growth of the decay of towns is linked with the history of trade. After the
3rd and particularly after the 6th centuries, long distance trade suffered as a
result of which towns suffered. The decline of long distance trade which
involved Romans, Chinese, Parthians, Kushanas and Satvahanas was an
important cause of urban decay in the 4th century. The end of the Kushana,
Satvahana, Han and Parthian kingdoms alongwith the internal dissensions in
the Roman Empire dimished the trade. We find that there is a sudden drop in
Roman coins and goods. Poverty of structures and antiquities in the north and
south in the post-third centuries speak of commercial decline. There was also
no significant technological advance immediately after this. With the decline
of the Kushanas the central Asian ties broke. All contact with central Asia by
the Guptas was completely destroyed by the Huna invasions.

The urban decline had also been attributed to political factors- towns fall
because kingdoms fall. It was held that political chaos led to economic
depression and towns such as Nasik, Nevasa, Kolhapur lost their privileged
positions. T. Blech suggest that the collapse of the imperial line of Gupta kings
caused the ruin and desertion of Vaishali. K.C Jain considers the foreign
invasions, particularly that of the muslims to be a very important cause of
decay of cities and towns particularly in Rajasthan. But we don’t have clear
evidence as to whether this is true. According to R.N Mehta and S.N Mehta the
struggle for supremacy between the kingdoms was the cause. Excavations
show that both in the north and in the Deccan , most towns were deserted in
the 3rd century but no invasion had taken place at this time. Another
explanation for the decline is natural calamities. Fire, flood and famine may
apply in some cases but the archaeological evidence does not show evidence
of any these occurrences that might have affected several towns at the same
time. It is also argued that towns were set up, maintained and protected by
powerful polities and the moment such polities were destroyed, towns were
ruined.

The urban decline can be divided into 2 phases. Urban centers in Punjab,
Haryana and western U.P generally suffered sharp decline after the 3rd
century. In the middle gangetic plains the trend towards sharp decline or
desertion is noticed at many sites including sravasti, kausambi,rajgir,etc. In
M.P, Rajasthan and Gujarat also, there is decline after the 3rd century in places
like noh, Ujjain and nagar. Vadgaon-Madhavapur and other sites in Karnataka
and arikamedu in tamil nadu. So it appears that the kushana and satvahana
urban centers suddenly declined during the second half of 3rd century or
during the 4th. This marked the first stage of urban decay which overtook the
majority of early historic towns. It coincided with the fall of two great
kingdoms and the end of the indo-roman trade. There was also the rise of the
Gupta power in north India. The Gupta Empire was larger than each of the 2
kingdoms and yet its cities and towns show a general trend of decline. The
difference in the habitational deposit of the 4-6 centuries can be seen from the
sections prepared by the excavators which show that mostly this deposit is
thinner than that of the 1st three centuries.
The second phase of urban decay appears after the 6th century and its
beginning coincides with the fall of the Gupta Empire. In the centuries
following the Gupta period the role of those who exchanged goods between
different areas reduced. Though Indian literary evidence for Gupta and post-
Gupta times is not so strong, yet they give us an idea of the decline. The
archaeological evidence backed by foreign accounts demonstrates de-
urbanisation in the Gupta and post-Gupta times. We find that less importance
importance is given to towns and far more importance is given to villages. The
impression left by Hsuan Tsang’s account is one of decline particularly of
towns. The archaeological decline of Buddhist towns after the 6th century is
generally attested by his account. It is also confirmed by decreasing attention
given to traders and craftsmen in literature. According to him Sravasti,
Kapilavastu, Kusinagara and Gaya were declining. His account shows that
towns in north India in the 9th century were declining. Urban decline in the
Gupta times canalso be inferred from the forecasts made in the Brihat Samhita
by Varahamihira, an astrologer. He stated that the cities of Taxila, Mathura,
Ujjayini, Kasi etc. would be either destroyed or fall on evil days. He also refers
to bad days befalling artisans , artists and merchants. His prophecies suggest
the destruction of the townspeople. Prophecies were made in the Brihat
Samhita about industrial products and other items, which suffered and
declined. Varahamihira also mentions occurrence of natural calamities.

The Gupta Empire covered several important towns in the middle gangentic
plains. Champa, Vaishali, Pataliputra, Varanasi etc. which ceased to be towns
after the 6th century. The second phase of urban decay is also linked with the
decline of trade. Until the 5th century the Byzantium carried on trade with
urban centers in India and also in Sri Lanka. Byzantium coins have been found
in south India. But once the knowledge of feeding silkworms on mulberry
leaves was acquired by the Byzantium in the middle of the 6th century, silk
trade suffered. Similarly evidence for trade between India and south East Asia
from the 4-10 centuries is found wanting. Increasing decline in long-distance
trade accelerated the disappearance of urban centers.

The decay and disappearance of urbanism can be better explained in the

context of the social upheaval; reflected in the descriptions of the Kali age in
the Puranas. Descriptions of widespread unrest are also found in the Brihat
Samhita Thus there was internal revolt in towns. The crisis, which amounted
to an upheaval in the countryside, was bound to hit tax collection from the
peasants and reduce purchasing power of the affluent. This would mean that
merchants lost both local and long-distance markets. The kali crisis seems to
have largely affected the western, central Deccan and portions of North India
where many towns were deserted by A.D 300. The social unrest led to
widespread conversion of towns into fiefs. Now the state shed away its
responsibility of policing many villages by granting them to brahmanas,
temples and monasteries. There is mention of grant of towns for
administrative purposes. There are also references showing that towns were
given away to temples and monasteries for meeting their needs. The decline
of towns forced the brahmanas to migrate to the countryside in search of new
sources of livelihood. Along with them artisans probably migrated where they
were attached to their patrons and paid in kind.

A new type of economy marked by urban contraction agrarian expansion now

emerges. Urban decline and stagnation resulted in agrarian expansion which
was promoted by the land grants made by chiefs and princes. The emergence
of new states in the early middle ages is a pointer to this. Each of these new
states was evidently dependant on a large agrarian base. Agrarian base was
boosted by migration of brahmanas and craftsmen who disseminated
advanced of agriculture and technology. Artisans and others were now firmly
attached to the soil and their patrons. De-urbanization was therefore a feature
of the first or classical phase of feudalism. The shrinkage of the urban sector
was closely connected with the conversion of the tax area into the rent area.