Land grant debate
Also called: Indian feudalism debate · Topic: Economy of Early India: Agriculture, Trade, Guilds, Coinage · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Kings, Farmers and Towns"
Meaning
From the early centuries CE, kings gave land to Brahmanas (priestly scholars) and religious institutions, mostly by copper-plate charters. Historians disagree about what these grants meant. One view is that the grants were a plan to spread farming into new areas, often forest land. The other view is that they show royal power getting weaker. Kings could no longer control their samantas (local chiefs under them), so they bought their loyalty with land. Their prashastis (praise poems) showed them as "supermen" because their real control was slipping. This second view is linked to R.S. Sharma's idea of "Indian feudalism".
Example
Gupta rule mixed provinces with copper-plate grants to local rulers, priests and chieftains. This fits the "weakening power" reading. The Danguna grant of the Vakataka queen Prabhavati Gupta lists the rights handed over to the new lord, such as all taxes, mines and hidden treasure. Such lists show how much a king gave up in each grant.
Don't confuse with
- European feudalism: a lord gave land to a knight in return for military service. Indian grants mostly went to Brahmanas and temples. Whether "feudalism" is the right word for India is itself part of the debate.