Feudal Economy in Three Kingdoms
Indian Feudalism
Chapter – 3
- The existence of landed intermediaries, restrictions on the movement of artisans and peasants, and the decline of trade were features of the economy in Gupta and post-Gupta times, which continued under the Pālas, Pratīhāras, and Rāstrakūtas.
- The Pālas created numerous religious intermediaries in land, with endowments enjoyed by Vaiṣṇavite and Śaivite temples, and more importantly, Buddhist monasteries.
- Nalanda owned 200 villages in the 7th century, with their number increasing under Devapāla in the 9th century.
- Uddantapuri, Vikramaśilā, and Jagaddala may have held hundreds of villages.
- Brāhmaṇas were also granted villages, though these grants were a small fraction of agricultural land, with the majority of cultivators unaffected.
- Under Hārṣa’s successors, approximately 1% of land revenues may have been granted for religious and educational purposes.
- The Pratīhāras did not have large religious or educational institutions holding numerous villages but granted several villages as agrahāras (land grants) to priests and temples.
- Under the Rāstrakūtas, far more villages were granted to temples and brāhmaṇas than under the Pālas or Pratīhāras.