Book No.8 (Medieval History of India)

Book Name Caste and Social Stratification in Medieval India

What’s Inside the Chapter? (After Subscription)

1. Early Rebellions

2. The Kaivarta Revolt

3. Formation of Igangai and Valangai

4. Summary and Conclusion

5. A Note on Origins

6. The Afghans

7. Caste and Peasant Rebellions

7.1. The Jat Uprising of 1669

7.2. Causes of the Revolt

7.3. The Outbreak of the Rebellion

7.4. Aftermath of the Rebellion

7.5. The Sikhs

7.6. Revolt of Satnamis (1672-73)

7.7. Caste Organisation of the Marathas

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Caste in Organised Form in Medieval India

Chapter – 5

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Harshit Sharma

Alumnus (BHU)

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Table of Contents

Early Rebellions

  • The early medieval socio-economic formation was marked by grossly unequal rights over land and agricultural produce.

  • Many landlords were not directly engaged in cultivation but lived on rent, mainly in kind, collected from the cultivators.

  • Landlords exploited the labour of peasants for various purposes, including construction and transport work.

  • Trade and handicrafts were in decline, and cash was limited in day-to-day transactions, making it difficult for peasants to seek relief at markets.

  • This inequality created conditions for popular protest.

  • Examples of popular revolts against oppressive rulers appear in the Buddhist Jataka stories from the period 300-200 BC.

  • According to B.C. Sen, when a story depicts a popular victory over royal absolutism, it often involves an alliance of Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas, using their physical forces.

  • In many cases, the Brahmanas led the revolt, even against the Kshatriya king.

  • In one story, both the town and country folk joined in the revolt, and the king was beaten to death alongside his priest.

  • The nature of conflict in the Kali age indicates the role of land grants, which were made to remunerate priests, warriors, and officials but adversely affected production relations.

  • Conflicts arose between land grant beneficiaries, the king and his vassals, and between landlords and peasants.

  • A 9th-century grant from Garhwal advises people not to create trouble (upadrava) for the grantee, and disobedience is considered mahadroha (great rebellion).

  • Litigation became a common method of resolving conflicts, but only beneficiaries and advanced peasants had the means to engage in lawsuits.

  • Land disputes were often settled in favor of the beneficiaries, with claims based on royal charters overriding claims based on custom, agreement, or religion.

  • This provision appears in the Dharmasastras and law books of Narada, Brhaspati, Katyayana, and the Agni Purana.

  • The peasants often protested by taking advantage of royal visits to complain to the king.

  • During Harsa’s reign, rural folk welcomed him but simultaneously complained about the oppression of the bhogpatis (landlords enjoying revenue from villages).

  • Self-immolation, particularly in South India, became another form of protest.

  • A dancing girl threw herself from a temple tower to assert her relatives’ right to till the land assigned to her.

  • A Brahmana immolated himself to support the cause of temple guards and servants, who also died for the same reason.

  • Jains practiced self-immolation to attain salvation by subjecting themselves to physical hardship.

  • The practice of self-immolation as a form of protest against landlord exploitation in South India continued, surviving even into the modern era, such as during the death of M.G. Ramachandran, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

  • Between the 11th and 13th centuries, violent conflict occurred between Brahmana landlords and peasants in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

  • Peasants launched armed attacks against Brahmana landlords, who retaliated by burning villages and standing crops.

  • Hero stones or viragallu were erected in South India to commemorate the bravery of those who fought or died in these conflicts, often in defense of Brahmana land.

  • An inscription from Hasan district in Karnataka (1212 AD) mentions a conflict over a pond, which led to a hero stone being erected in memory of the chief who died in the battle.

  • During the 11th to 14th centuries, many inscriptions from Karnataka mention the construction and maintenance of tanks for irrigation and conflicts over their possession.

  • One example highlights a conflict where the peasantry of a village opposed a chief’s attempt to take a larger share of water from the tank.

  • Mapping the hero stone inscriptions area-wise and period-wise could provide insights into rural conflict in medieval South India.

  • Numerous instances of peasant protest are found in Chola and other inscriptions from Tamil Nadu and neighboring areas.

  • Summaries from the Annual Reports on South Indian Epigraphy (ARE) indicate strong reactions from the peasants to the oppression of landlords and royal agents during the early 13th century under Chola king Rajaraja III.

  • The Pandya invasions caused insecurity and damage to property, followed by trouble and agitation (ksobham).

  • Temples were deserted, images removed, and most significantly, land records and title deeds were destroyed in the heart of the Chola kingdom in Tanjore district.

  • The destruction of records may have been done by vassals and rival beneficiaries, but peasants, burdened by oppressive taxes, might have been involved in damaging them as well.

  • Sometimes, temple managers sided with those serving the temple, protesting against the oppressive system.

  • An inscription from Shrirangam in the ninth year of Maravarman Sundara Pandya (1216 AD) shows temple managers colluding with the Ottar to the detriment of the temple’s income.

  • Venkataramayya interprets the word Ottar as Oddiya (people from Orissa) and links this to a Kalinga invasion around AD 1224, while Vankatasubba Ayyar suggests Ottar refers to those who had undertaken work for the temple, such as artisans and agricultural laborers.

  • The Ottars likely included devadanakammi or serfs attached to temple lands.

  • The Shrirangam temple managers led a protest of the servicing sections, reducing the income of the temple and disrupting its routine.

  • The protest lasted two years and was eventually suppressed when Maravarman Sundara Pandya expelled the managers.

  • Records citing social disorder, anti-state activities, and turmoil are found toward the end of Rajaraja III’s reign.

  • Confiscations and public sales of property occurred as a result of these disturbances.

  • A record from the 23rd year of Rajaraja (Tanjore district) details a case where two temple priests (Shiva-brahmanas) were punished by Shaiva worshippers (mahesvaras) and the village assembly (Ur).

  • The priests were accused of raja-droham (treason against the king) and Siva-droham (treason against Shiva).

  • The priests had misappropriated temple funds, given jewels of the goddess to a concubine, refused to pay dues on their lands, and committed other misdeeds.

  • The priests ignored royal commands and avoided the king’s messengers, collecting 50,000 kasus from peasants.

  • As a result, the priests were expelled from the temple, ostracized, and their property, including movable and immovable goods and servants, was confiscated by the state.

  • This record demonstrates the enthusiasm of non-brahmana Shaivas in supporting the temple grant system, which was being violated by corrupt Brahmana priests in the Shiva temple.

  • In the 19th year of Rajaraja III’s reign, a document recorded the renewal of title deeds by the village assemblies of residents enjoying land in various hamlets of the village.

  • This renewal was carried out by two functionaries with the surname Pillai, suggesting they held high positions in the state.

  • The renewal was necessary because old registers and documents had been lost during periods of disturbance in the 5th, 11th, and 16th years of Rajaraja III’s reign.

  • The land records pertained to the Sankhanarayanesvara temple in Tanjore district.

  • The destruction of land records suggests that peasants were unwilling to accept the religious beneficiaries of the land, leading to rural protests.

  • In the case of Sankhanarayanesvara, the village assembly had to renew the titles of those enjoying lands in the hamlets.

  • A similar protest occurred in the 23rd year of Rajaraja III’s reign, during a famine, when a man named Andaranda, with others, opened the temple land coffers.

  • For this act, Andaranda and his associates had their lands confiscated by decision of the village judges and residents.

  • The details of the act are unclear, but it is likely that the leader and his supporters settled temple lands with agriculturists on reduced rents due to the famine.

  • This “mismanagement” resulted in the income from the temple lands benefiting the tillers during the famine, leading to their punishment and deprivation of land.

  • Another instance involves rajadrohins (traitors to the king) being punished, but it is unclear if they acted against local landlords or the king.

  • Kulottunga Chola III, when in the Pandya country, appointed a Pandya chief to rule over a village in Tondaiamandalam to deal with traitors to the king.

  • The Pandya chief punished the traitors, expelling them from the village.

  • These examples of rural tension and violence suggest that while peasants did not always engage in organized revolt, they took advantage of rivalries between religious and non-religious beneficiaries and between beneficiaries and the state.

  • As unlettered peasants, they were often led by priests, who were either learned or disgruntled.

  • Some instances show tribal peasants rising in open revolt against the landed powers.

  • A famous revolt was that of the Kalabhras, a tribal people, around the 6th century in South India.

  • Nilakanta Sastri condemns the Kalabhras as the scourge of humanity, calling them evil kings and accusing them of resuming brahmadeya lands enjoyed by beneficiaries.

  • Pandya inscriptions from the 8th and 9th centuries speak of the loss of brahmadeya lands and encroachment by Sudras during the Kalabhra aggression.

  • The period of Kalabhra rule is referred to as a dark age in Tamil Nadu, especially for the Cholas, although their rule lasted for only about 75 years.

  • The Pandyas eventually ended this so-called dark period brought about by the Kalabhras.

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