Zamindars of Bihar

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Maharaja Mitrajeet Singh of Tekari Raj
Rai Hariprasad Lal of Gaya
Kunwar Singh of the Jagdishpur estate
Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh of Raj Darbhanga in 1888.

The Zamindars of Bihar were the autonomous and semi-autonomous rulers and administrators of the Mughal subah of Bihar and later during British rule. The zamindars of Bihar were numerous and could be divided into small, medium and large depending on how much land they controlled.[1] Within Bihar, the zamindars had both economic and military power. Each zamindari would have their own standing army which was typically composed of their own clansmen.[2]

The majority of these

Maithil Brahmins, Bhumihars, Kayasthas or Muslims.[3] Most of the zamindars and the intermediary tenure holders were Bhumihar and Rajput, though Brahmin, Kayastha, Ahir, Bania, Kurmi and Muslim zamindars were also there.[4]

The

Schedule Castes, many new landlords of the post reform period hailed from groups such as Koeri, Kurmi and Yadav caste of Bihar.[6]

Relations with the Mughals

Mughal rule in Bihar was characterised as turbulent and volatile as many of the region's zamindars made continuous efforts to defy the imperial authority.[7]

The nineteenth-century British civil servant, John Beames noted about Mughal-ruled Bihar that "everyone who was powerful enough to rob the state or his neighbours, robbed to his hearts content".[8] Zamindars refusing to pay the state and gathering forces to attack neighbouring zamindars was a common practice in Bihar during this period.[8]

This attitude to authority continued into the period when the

Nawabs of Bengal and Murshidabad became the nominal governors of Bihar. Although Bihar had the potential to provide a large amount of revenue and tax, records show that the Nawabs were unable to extract any money from the chiefs of Bihar until 1748. And even following this, the amount gained was very low. This was again due to the rebellious nature of the zamindars who were "continually in arms".[9]

Relations with the British

See also: 1781 revolt in Bihar

After the collapse of the Mughals, the

British East India Company held sway over much of South Asia.[10] The colonial power wanted the revenue system "to be simple in its principle and uniform in its operation," but the zamindari system was so ingrained that even the early British rulers, from the grant of Dewani (1765) to the Permanent Settlement (1793), dared not challenge it fundamentally. The early British rulers did not want any "innovation" or "experimentation," even if the zamindars, taluqdars, and many estates were defaulters to the government for not paying the raised land fee. This was because such a radical measure would have violated the 'customary' rights and privilege.[11]

With the exception of a few new men here and there, the old landed nobility formed the social cornerstone of the new establishment in 1793. One could claim that the early British emperors were dependent on a customary class of upper caste aristocrats. Since the majority of zamindars involved in estate auctions were Brahmins or members of upper caste families, Hastings was against the open selling of estates and instead supported giving them a higher position in the rural power structure. The zamindars of Bihar seem to have suffered far less than the old zamindars of Bengal and Orissa, who suffered considerably. The Darbhanga Raj, the Hathwa Raj, the Tekari Raj, the Deo families in Gaya, and the Dumraon families in Shahabad were among the prominent zamindars of Bihar who enjoyed prosperity.[4]

The Brahmins owned the lands in

Bhumihars held possession of Bettia, Hathwa, Madhuban, Sheohar, Tekari,, Maksudpur, Rohua Warisnagar, Chainpur Kaimur, Dharhara, Budhauli, Tajpur, Bodh Gaya, and a plethora of other places. Gidhaur, Ramnagar, Ramgarh, Biher, Kulharia, and Dumraon were Rajput estates, while Kayathas controlled two other significant zamindaris, Baghi and Surajpura.[4]

The goal behind the establishment of the revenue farms in Bengal and Bihar was to obtain the highest possible share of the net produce and then fix it for all time under the Permanent Settlement. The colonial authority began to require the zamindars in place, including those who were established as landowners for all time, to make a regular, ongoing payment.[12]

Social condition in Zamindari areas

The Permanent Settlement act by the British East India Company did not significantly alter the landholding patterns in Bihar, leaving Rajputs and Bhumihars as the major Zamindars. It curtailed some of their powers, but also took away the customary occupancy rights of the peasantry.[13]

The British rule enabled Rajputs to continue their dominance by cementing their entitlements related to land and tax collection.

Naxal threat also acting as a check.[16]

Abolition and decline in political presence of Zamindars

Lalkothi palace which belonged to the Gidhaur estate

Following independence in 1947, there was large-scale support in Bihar for the abolition of

peasants, agricultural labourers and the urban middle-class who stood to gain the most from this.[19] This culminated in a large-scale movement in support of abolition led by lower-castes. The Bhumihar zamindars realised that abolition was going to occur and planned for abolition to be on their terms.[19] However, the Rajput-Kayastha
zamindars strongly resisted this. Eventually, the Bihar Abolition of Zamindaris Act was passed in 1949.[19]

In the later period of time, when the abolition of Zamindari took place in Bihar and the castes like

Upper Backward Castes.[21]

Prior to the independence of India, many

forward caste Zamindars started taking interest in politics, and they also participated in the Quit India Movement, anticipating the end of British rule, which protected them. According to DM Diwakar, a former director of Patna’s AN Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, these feudal elites had significant presence in politics of the state in first few decades of the post-independence period, but they started losing this significant position in 1970s. In the first tenure of Nitish Kumar, they staged a comeback in the politics of state, but in the next tenures, they were completely marginalised and according to Diwakar, were converted into "silent onlookers" by 2020.[5]

Notable zamindari estates

Rai Stial Prasad Bahadur, an aristocratic landlord from Gaya
The haveli of the Kayasth Rajas of Surajpura, this was one of the largest zamindari in North Bihar. The haveli now has been converted into a government school.

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-93-80607-13-9
    .
  2. ISBN 978-1-00-065152-2
    .
  3. S2CID 143558861
    . Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  4. ^
    ISSN 2249-1937
    .
  5. ^ a b "Bihar Assembly Election 2020: Royal, zamindar families remain a marginal force". Hindustan Times. 23 October 2020. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  6. ISBN 978-1009276771. Archived
    from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023. Although the end of zamindari led to a mass eviction of sharecroppers and tenant cultivators who were the actual tillers of the land, big landlords from high castes also saw their landholdings diminish. A new class of landlords belonging to the upper-middle caste groups such as Kurmi, Koeri and Yadavs- officially categorised as other backward classes in contemporary Bihar - emerged. These were mostly small and middle peasants who were able to consolidate their landholdings and position in society in the midst of zamindari reforms (Wilson, 1999; Sharma, 2005).
  7. ISBN 90-04-10303-1
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-0-521-52658-6
    .
  9. ISBN 978-0-521-02822-6
    .
  10. ISBN 978-0-521-02822-6
    .
  11. ISSN 2249-1937
    – via JSTOR.
  12. ISSN 2249-1937
    – via JSTOR.
  13. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-562979-8
    . The rape of lower-caste women by Rajput and Bhumihar landowners was common in Shahabad where , by the 1930s , anger and resentment against the frequent violation of women were openly expressed on the platform of the Tribeni Sangh
  14. S2CID 162845558
    . But the upper castes remained politically dominant in the Hindi belt also because of the pattern of land ownership that enabled them, especially the Rajputs, to consolidate their grasp over the countryside as zamindars, jagirdars, or taluqdars under the British and to retain some of their influence in spite of the efforts toward land reform after 1947.
  15. ^ Bailey, F. G. (1960). Tribe Caste and Nation (1960). Oxford University Press. p. 258. The system works the way it does because the coercive sanctions are all in the hands of the dominant caste.
  16. ^
    ISBN 9788185078885
    . According to them, before the emergence of Naxalism on the scene and consequent resistance on the part of these hapless fellows, "rape of lower caste women by Rajput and Bhumihar landlords used to cause so much anguish among the lower cates, who, owing to their hapless situation, could not dare oppose them. In their own words, "within the social constraints , the suppressed sexual hunger of the predominant castes often found unrestricted outlet among the poor, lower caste of Bhojpur-notably Chamars and Mushars.
  17. ISBN 9788187218463
    . Even as late as the 1970s , the rape of lower caste women by Rajputs and Bhumihars had almost become a tradition , " an accepted social evil , a fate which many bore unquestioningly " , in parts of central Bihar
  18. ^ Kelkar, Govind (1989). "Women and Land Rights Movements". Case Studies on Strengthening Co-ordination Between Non-governmental Organizations and Government Agencies in Promoting Social Development. United Nations (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific). Sec. "Kisan Sabha and Kisan Samiti: Peasant Movemnts and Women (India)", pp.  72–73.
  19. ^
    ISBN 978-981-320-824-7
    .
  20. ISBN 978-1-84331-709-8
    .
  21. ^ The National Geographical Journal of India. National Geographical Society of India. 1975.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zamindars_of_Bihar&oldid=1220348339"