Indian Agrarian Structure-Ancient To Early British: Elements of Continuity And Change

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This volume is the third in the series of the Collected Works of (Late) Professor B R Grover. It is an attempt to present before the readers the writings of Professor B.R. Grover on agrarian problems from ancient to pre-British India. Based on original Persian, Urdu, Marathi, Sanskrit, English, archaeological, and epigraphical sources available in various Archives, Record Offices, and personal collections of erstwhile 'rajas' and officials at different places in India and abroad, these writings bring out several aspects and problems of the agrarian structure during successive periods, specifically highlighting the important aspects of elements of continuity and change from the early history of India to the pre-industrialized phase of this country.

Professor B.R. Grover, former Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research, with an academic and administrative career spanning more than 55 years, has left an indelible mark as one of India's most eminent and dedicated historians. He has left behind a massive wealth of historical research based on original Persian, Urdu, Ottoman Turkish, Punjabi and English sources. Known for doing intensive research in the archives and libraries of India, several European countries and the United States of America, Professor Grover had carved out a distinct position for himself as a moving encyclopaedia of source material on agrarian history of the Mughals, especially the land revenue administration.

The peasantry has always formed the backbone of the Indian agrarian society. At the same time, income from land has been the financial mainstay of the medieval Indian State. The stability and solvency of the state has always depended upon the sound and well-balanced land revenue system. Hence, land revenue administration has been a perennial problem of the Indian administration and governance. The subject, therefore, is of tremendous importance to the social and economic historians.

The economic historians working on ancient, medieval and early British administration in India have dealt with many an aspect of the agrarian system but have primarily stuck to their fields relying on their limited, respective source material and accounts of foreign travellers. Earlier writers did not have much access to the Persian manuscripts and contemporary original records due to their limited knowledge of the Persian language and thus lacked an understanding of the exact nature of the working of the administrative history of the Mughal age. Moreover, the earlier writers did not try to bridge the gulf between the writings on ancient, medieval, the modern Indian history by highlighting the elements of continuity and change in the various aspects of agrarian system from the early history of India to the pre-industrialized phase in this country.

Professor B.R. Grover, an eminent scholar of medieval Indian history, was one of the few historians of India who prompted agrarian history. His meticulously researched papers published in the 1960s added to our knowledge and understanding of pre-colonial rural society and economy. His findings are based on his indepth study of original Persian sources. While going through his collection of historical documents, it was a revelation to me that as far back as 1950s, he had consulted the 17th and 18th century pargana and village level records- the arhasatta and jamabandi pertaining to Sarkar Rewari of the Mughal suba of Delhi. During the period that Professor Grover was carrying on his research, the major trend was to attempt to make a systematic study of the ruling class and nature of interaction between its two constituents-the zamindars and the nobility. The other major concerns were to examine the working of land revenue system, agrarian economy and rural social structure. Many Indian historians rejected the colonial constructions of pre-colonial state, society and economy in India. Professor Grover researched the subject in the various libraries of India and abroad also contributed immensely in the area of agrarian history and his writings were widely appreciated by the scholars.

**Contents and Sample Pages**