Proja
Topic: Colonial Economy: Land Revenue, Drain, Deindustrialisation · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 1 "Colonialism and the Countryside"
Meaning
Proja is a Bengali word meaning "subjects", the people under a ruler or lord. In colonial Bengal, many ryots (peasant cultivators) saw themselves as the proja of their old zamindar. Their loyalty did not end when the Company auctioned the zamindar's estate. This bond is one reason old zamindars survived after the Permanent Settlement of 1793, even though more than 75% of zamindaris changed hands.
Example
Sometimes an outsider really bought an estate at an auction in Bengal. Even then, he often could not take control of it. The old zamindar's lathyals (strongmen with clubs) attacked the new owner's agents. The ryots, acting as the old zamindar's proja, also refused to accept the new owner.
Don't confuse with
- Ryot: this is the economic and legal word for a peasant cultivator who pays rent. Proja describes how that peasant felt about the zamindar: as a loyal subject.
Related concepts
- Burdwan auction of 1797
- Raja of Burdwan
- Fictitious sale
- Benami transaction
- Lathyal
- Great Depression in India