Introduction
In the Pre-British phase, the agrarian social structure in India was characterised by the absence of demographic pressure on land, the strong control of village council over land, an effective Jajmani system and a comfortable living for the majority of the people in villages.
Agrarian relations
The agrarian relations centre round the rulers, their nobles, officers, share croppers, tenants, peasants, labourers. Rulers did not own the land of the whole kingdom. They had their personal lands known as crown lands. There were the nobles, officers, scholars, physicians and experts in various fields who had large estates granted by the rulers. These people were Brahmins, Rajputs and Kayasthas in the North, Brahmins, Nairs, Vellalas, Okkaligas, Reddis and Kammas in the South. They became land owing castes. The best lands were in their possession. However as absentee landlords, they distributed their lands to those who supported their regime, and who belonged to their own caste groups. As such the ruling families or their grantees came to have the best lands in the villages. In this process the upper castes generally possessed extensive and fertile portions of village land. The lower castes cultivated the fields of the landowners as tenants or lessees. Several of them were working as agricultural labourers.
At the same time, the Jajmani system operated to bring together the agricultural castes and artisan castes in the villages. There was a delicate balance between agriculture and antisanry. As landowners, the upper castes patronized the village craftsmen by regularly buying from them the craft ware. The artisans rendered services to the upper caste land owners for three reasons: they received payment in kind which provided economic security to them and (ii) their sense of belonging to a landowning household had been a source of psychological security; and (iii) there was assurance of support of the landowners to all the clients especially during their sickness or any other emergency.
Thus, in the total agrarian structure land was the primary, scarce and production resource; control of land means control of livelihood a source of secular power. The control over land was exercised by the village communal mainly to present the alienation or transfer of lands to outsiders. The rulers, nobles, officers and others were a class of absentee landlords. They all belonged to upper castes. Those who cultivated their lands were inter owner cultivators, tenants or share croppers. They formed into different classes. They also belonged to the very caste to which the absentee landlords belonged. The absentee landlords were entitled to a revenue on the land. According to law, the absentee landlords collected 1/6 of the produce from the peasants and landlords as the greedy rulers collected even ¼ or ½ of the produce as revetment annual tent. In this way, the rulers accumulated surplus grains, oils, spices, pulses and other material gods. They spent, a part of their rent on keeping themselves in comfort and to meet the standing army of the officers. They was the surplus in maintaing charitable institutions and in meeting with situations of emergency.
However, became of official indifference of corruption, the surplus controlled by the rules did not often reach the people. Under the Jajmani system, the upper castes were entitled to great principles but the lower castes received an assumed supply of grains.