CHAPTER II
ASRARIAN STRUCTURE OF ASSAM :
PRE-COLONIAL PHASE
An attempt has been made in this chapter to present a
general picture of the pre-colonial society in Assam and its.
polity. This would provide us the backdrop -for an
understanding
the
of some of the fundamental
present
agrarian
structure
objective
issues related
and
its;
intricate
relationship with polity or the power_structure. A
historical
to
detailed
inquiry of a number of issues confronted by us in
our present endeavour, no doubt, would have helped
us,
but
such a project requires a long term collective effort with a
multi_disciplinery approach. In addition to our limitations,
scarcity
of
research
programme are the two major constraints for
we
restricted
have
data
and officially
ourselves
stipulated
only
to
time
certain
for
a
which
aspects
i
of pre_colonial Assam.
By way of preliminary remarks, we may point out
the
six centuries of Ahom rule over the Brahmaputra
distinctly
that
Valley
shows a process of transition from tribal ism
to
feudalism. However, this transition remained incomplete. The
complex
social
intervention
or communal
with
more
formation
prior
to
the?
colonial
was marked broadly, by some elements of tribal
economy, a deep rooted institution
than
marginal
influence
on
of
si averv
agriculture,
and
-
:ncreasing
in+1 uence
formation
which
pre_coI onia I
ot
d
u
~
feudalism.
shaped
the
Ihis
comp lei;
agrarian
social
structure*
Assam has been discussed in this
r.
chapter .
POPULATION :
Assam
centuries
was
prior
ruled by the Ahoms
to
the advent of
for
the
six
consecutive
British.
section
of
entered
the
Brahmaputra
century
and
came
section
had established their rule in the early
century
the Northern Tai or Bhan tribe of
and
establ ished
to be known as
with
a
Valley in
their
the
the
growing
A
smaI I
Upper
Burma
early
Ahoms.
thirteenth
This
thirteenth
influence,
strong state by the end of
the
sma I I
they
had
seventeenth
century covering by and large the entire Brahmaputra Valley.
Though
the
documentation, we
source
that
Ahom
kings
had
a
rich
tradition
are hardly acquainted with
any
could provide us an exact or even
of
literary
near
exact
demographic picture of Assam at any point of time during the
six
consecutive
population
estimated by
of
centuries
of
their
rule.
Assam before the Civil War
The
total
(1769-1806)
was
Gunabhiram Barua to be about two mill ion and a
2
half.
The prolonged Civil War
of
Burmese
at
the
and
the
subsequent
series
invasions (1817-24), however, had definitely
3
reduced it substantially, and the total population of Assam
4
mil Iion.
time of British annexation was not
more
than
one
The
rule
first systematic census of Assam under
was
commenced in 1872, taut this available
information
colonial
source
of
is also incomplete in many senses and not fully
5
re Iiah Ie
for' its 1imitations.
meaningful
Assam
insights to
Yet, this provides
us
sum'1
draw a rough demographic sketi h
in the 1870s. Perhaps, this would
broadly
o-t
represent
the population scenario of pre_colonial Assam, because,
the
traditional pattern of papulation distribution
yet
effected
by
also
expected that the loss of
be
was not
large scale migration, and secondly
papulation
it
could
during
the
period of Civil War and Burmese invasions had been recovered
to
a large extent by natural growth during the
decades
some
first
of colonial rule. Therefore, we shall try
quantitative
assessments
about
the
four
to
male
precoioria!
situation on the basis of this available source.
It
is
explicit in Table - 2.1 that except
districts of Kamrup
had
for
the
& Sibsagar, the remaining part of Assam
remarkably a low density of population. Of
course,
it
was much higher in Kamrup and Sibsagar than the other
three
districts,
whole
nevertheless, the average for Assam as
a
clearly indicates a situation of an abundance of land to its
population.
Secondly, in the context of a
wholly
agrarian
6
society
indicated
1 ike
by
Assam ,
the
the
al 1
sire
same Table is also
economic importance. Almost
in
smal1
of
a
the
factor
fami 1y
of
uniformly smal 1 size of
the five districts indicates
that
nuclear
as
great
fam1 1y
fami 1y
-
32-
T a b l e - 2.1
D I S T R I C T W I S E D I S T R I B U T I O N OF P O P U L A T I O N A N D H O U S E S
IN A S S A M P R O P E R IN 1872
SL1 D I S T R I C T
NO!
1
1
A
t
I
!
1
1
B
AREA
POPULATION
IN SQ.
MILES
C
D
NO. OF
HOUSES
E
PERSON
HOUSES
PER SO. P E R SQ
MILE
MI L E
F
G
PERSON
PER
H O USE
H
\
1
1
1 . iK A M R U P
1
1
1
.....
t
1
1
2.!DARRANG
1
1
1...
.
.
1
1
1
3 . !N 0 W 6 0 N G
1
1
1 .........
!
1
1
4 . !S 1 B S A G A R
1
l
1
l
3,631
5,61,681
1,03,908
155
29
5. 4 0
3,418
2,36,009
43,558
69
13
5. 4 0
3,415
2,56,390
44,050
75
12
5. no
n j oncc
jj
2,96,609
55,604
104
19
5.30
3,192
1,21,267
26,398
38
8
4. 6 0
16,511
14,71,956
2,73,518
89
17
5.38
*
5 . !L A K H 1 M P U R
1
l
TOTAL/AVRGE
Source
: W. W. H u n t e r !A _ S t a t i s t i c a l _A c c o u n t _ g f _ A s s a m ,
Vol . 1, T r u b n e r ?•< Co. L o n d o n ,
R e p r i n t 1982, B. R. P u b l i s h i n g C o r p . Delhi.
-
system
In
had
this
entire
been
33
-
a tradition in
the
Brahmaputra
context, it must also be noted
population
of pre-colonial
rural
population
7
s ector.
Table
Assam
nearly
was
a conspicuous absence
essentially
of
an
of population in the five districts
The major castes and tribes enlisted in
together
the
urban
- 2.2 shows the pattern of caste and tribe
distribution
proper.
for
that,
Valley.
constituted
population
more than three fourth of
of Assam, the pattern of their
wise
of
Assam
the
Table
the
total
distribution
in
various districts, however, had been distinctly uneven. Less
than
5
percent
of
the
total
population
of
Assam
was
constituted by person of recent immigrant/migrant origin
or
8
immigrants/migrants themselves. The rest were indigenous and
9
slightly more than 8 percent of them were Muslims.
It
appears
from Table - 2.2 that almost half
total population of the Brahmaputra
Kalitas
half
were
of
the
Valley were Hindus. The
more prominent among the Hindus,
and
of them were concentrated in Kamrup alone. This
almost
Hindu
caste enjoyed a high position in the caste hierarchy
ranked
next to the Brahmans, Ganaks & the Kayasthas and this
caste
alone
total
had
population
a
share
of
of almost
Assam. This was
12
percent
primarily
of
an
the
agricultural
Paste, though it had certain functional sub-divisions within
10
itself .
The
constituted
Koch
was
almost
numerically the
largest
13 percent of the total
caste
which
population
of
34
Assam.
Like
mainly in
-
the Kalitas, the Koch were
Kamrup, and their
numerical
also
concentrated
strength
gradually
declines as we move towards the districts of Upper Assam. Jt
is
obvious
because, Koch was originally a tribe
of
North
Bengal and Lower Assam. They got a Hindu caste status by the
sixteenth
century. This caste status was, however, open
in
the later period to accommodate all new converts to Hinduism
from
various
tribes. Guha observed that to become
meant more than religious conversion. It meant the
of
plough
place
in place of hoe, of the mud pi inth
a
Koch
adaption
dwel 1ing
of the pile-house dwelling, and of cremation
in
of
the
11
dead instead of burial . He further noted that a tribal could
progressive! y
realize
the
caste status
of
Koch
through
stages,
and the process of the promotion
of
Bodo-kachari ,
Lalung,
Mikir
(Karbi) and other such plain tribes
up
the
12
ladder of Sanskritisation had been continuous.
Being
the
ruling
clan, the
Ahoms
had
tremendous
political as well as economic significance. They migrated to
Upper Assam in the thirteenth century and gradually absorbed
some
of the aboriginal tribes like the Chutiya,
the
and the Borahi into their fold and expanded their
strength
Assam
Horan
numerical
upto almost 10 percent of the total population
in
1872.
significantly
Apart
from
ruling,
the
of
Ahoms
had
contributed to the agricultural sector
with
their relatively superior technology and this aspect will be
discussed
in some other context, later. After
retaining
a
separate enthno-1inguistic as well as religious identity for
-
35-
Table - 2.2
Caste/Tribe wise Distribution of Population in Assaa in 1872
Si .No ’ Caste/Tribe
Kanrup
Darrang
Nongong
Sibsagar
Lakhimpur
’
Total of :he caste/Tribe
Number
'
A
: ;
■-
1
B
c
D
F
E
H
1
i
i5
4.968 !
»
0.34
;
1.78.315 i
i
i2.ii
;
2.39
;
2.09
;
G
4.849
10
94
i Kachan
76.994
62,214
8.328
15,320
14,959
■ Laluno
1.953
2
32.813
9
478
: Garo
:i
Rabha
28,483
!5
Saraniva
11,812
18,302
18
55
7c
nen
4
30.779
2,782
14.514
1,735
252
1,079
1,481
146
4,693
794
2.532
7,361
31,342
9,453
51,482
; Koch
69.277
46,788
41,051
23,965
3,747
1.84,828
; hikir
11,447
518
34,583
219
i6
i Nat
!7
1 Chutiya
!3
i 7
i Asl of the total
1 Pooulation.
1
46.759
i
>
1
!
T
i
11
!
>1
1
ii
:
ii
i
8.99
0.32
3.50
;
12.56
;
I
3.is
;
; ie
Mi ri
187
2,048
225
6.862
4.83b
14.128 :
!
0.96
* ii
1 Anos
1.280
3.490
4,o95
84,304
43.942
10.04
: li
i Brahman
31.355
5.733
6.875
12.821
1.142
1.47,711 :
ii
57.976 1
i
1 1w
i Kalita
106.958
16.993
20.972
26,973
3,406
1.75.298 !
n.9i
;
1 1*
. Kayastha
5,841
1.056
1,728
2,117
982
10.836 i
l
0.74
;
13.787
18.895
16,392
4,398
790
53.333 ;
3.63
;
; 15
Jugi it Katam
3.94
i it
; Kaibarta
40,948
3,468
13,737
2,159
975
6 1. l71 !
4.16
; 17
; Do* 4 Nadival
10,276
8.269
19.999
16.337
8,647
63.528 :
4.31
2.38.363
86,194
Grant] Total
4.3S.933
Source : Hunter. o D . c i t .
1.31.389
2.10.434
11.35.730;
,
7 / 16
:
almost
three
Asamiya
also
tor
the Aherns
centuries,
adopted
Hinduism
language in the Iater halt of their reign. It
be mentioned that, though the Ahoms ruled
and
must
over
Assam
si;-; consecutive centuries, they were neither giver-
the
status ot the upper caste in the Hindu caste hierarchy,
nor
they constituted a higher percentage of the total population
13
than what we have estimated before at any point of time. As
upper Assam was the heart of Ahom Kingdom, almost 94 percent
of the Ahoms were concentrated in the districts of Sibasagar
and Lakhimpur. Their relative absence in the other districts
must
have
had
some
repercussions
on
the
over
ai I
socio_economic processes of pre_colonial Assam.
Among
other
numerically
significant
castes,
the
Kaivartas, the Chutiyas, the Dorn or Nadiyals had significant
contributions to
the agricultural
sector.
Although
these
castes were divided into various functional groups, majority
of them had to depend primarily on agriculture. In
addition
to all these Hindu castes, as it is explicit in Table-2.2, a
sizable
portion
aboriginal
La lung
of the population was constituted
tribes,
(fiwa) ,
such
Miri
as
Kachari ,
(Wishing)
and
by
Rabha ,
Mikir
(Karbi)
the
Garo,
etc.
scattered unevenly in the five districts of Assam proper . It
must
be
learning
mentioned
the
use
that
of
most of
plough
in
the
plain
agriculture
tribes
from
were
their
14
neighbouring settled population in course of the centuries.
Besides these
Hindu castes and aboriginal tribes, we
find a significant size of Muslim population in pre_colonial
-
Assam
who
shaping
had
the
communities
37
-
an equal contribution with
15
economy and society. Both
created some artisans and
the
Hindus
the
in
religious
occupational
like, Kamar, Kumbhar, Hira, Sonar, Dhunias, Dhubis,
groups
Kasais,
tailors and carpenters etc. who had a low social status.
addition
small
to
the Hindus and the Muslims,
there
were
In
also
groups of Sikhs and Buddhists. These groups were
not
i
very
significant ip terms of their numerical strength,
they
added to the variety of the
demographic
but
composition
of Assam.
Finally,
configuration
existence
it
is worth noticing that
the
population
of pre_colonial Assam does not indicate
of any indigenous trading community or
the
caste
of
economic and commercial significance.
CR0PPIN6 PATTERN, CULTIVATED AREA AND PRODUCTION OF THE
MAJOR
CROPS :
The ■ Brahmaputra Valley is an alluvial plain and
total
geographical area it covers is almost
22,000
the
square
16
miles.
Certain
specific
conditions, laid
by
nature
other geographical factors permitted only few crops to
and
grow
17
in this valley. Nevertheless, being relatively isolated from
the
rest
of India, the cropping pattern and
its
related
agricultural practices in pre_colonial Assam were influenced
heavily at Ieast by two major factors :<a) the traditions and
customary
its
practices
associated
with different segments of
population § and (b) the local demand
because
a large sector of market including
for
consumption,
external
trade
■38 -
j
18
was
absent.
In
configuration
th e
which
content
of
the
we h a v e a l r e a d y
complex
population
outlined,
the
first
f a c t o r m a k e s it e x t r e m e l y d i f f i c u l t t o m a k e a n y q u a n t i t a t i v e
assessment about the pre_colonial
the a b s e n c e of
agric u l t u r a l
situation
in
r e q u i r e d data. Yet, h e r e an a t t e m p t w o u l d be
m a d e to f o c u s upon the m a j o r d i m e n s i o n s of the
s e c t o r which e m e r g e d by t h e end of t h e
a g r icultural
A h o m rule.
j
Table-2.3
and 2.4 w o u l d p r o v i d e us s o m e
meaningful 1
insights to m a k e some r e a s o n a b l e a s s e s s m e n t s abo u t the
area
and p r o d u c t i o n of th e m a j o r c r o p s in A s s a m b e f o r e the
War.
Of course, t h e r e is a t i m e gap of a l m o s t
between
the
one
i n f ormation
these
two
T a b l e s for o u r analytical
purpose
would
not
be
to
are a v a i l a b l e . Yet, w e can m a k e
entirely
unrealistic
if any, w h ich took p l a c e w i t h i n t h a t
largely
insig n i f i c a n t .
T he
objective
of
because,
it
that
were
for
our
a s s u m p t i o n is that, first of all, t h e a g ricultural
as
the
period
basis
p e r i o d had a l s o b e e n t r a ditional
for
use
assume
changes,
th e
century
p e r i o d u n d e r c o n s i d e r a t i o n and t h e p e r i o d
which
over
Civil
practices
bef o r e .
And
sec o n d l y , t h e initial p h a s e of c o l o n i a l i s m r e f u s e d t o u p l i f t
th e
the
agricultural
fir s t
five
s e c t o r with any t e c h n o l o g i c a l
decades
of
colonial
rule
inputs,
but
helped
in
r e c l a m a t i o n of land u n d e r d i f f e r e n t c r o p s w h i c h w a s f a l l o w e d
due to t h e p r o l o n g e d Civil War.
Rice
cultivation
b e ing
th e s t a p p l e food of
the
people,
got an o v e r w h e l m i n g i m p o r t a n c e in A s s a m
paddy
as
it
c o m m a n d e d m o r e than 75 p e r c e n t of t h e total c u l t i v a t e d area,
-
as
demonstrated in Table—2.3
mustard)
which
cultivated
39
-
followed by oilseeds
commanded almost 12 percent
of
area. It must be stated clearly
(mainly
the
that,
although
oilseeds and some other agricultural crops, such as
were
total
cotton,
exported to Bengal during the pre_colonial era, it
evident
from Table-2.3
insignificant
portion
that these crops occupied only
of the land under
cultivation.
is
an
The
r
other
agriculturalj based production in
pre^colonial
Assam
i
was
some
amount !of silk beyond the
level
of
its
self­
consumption and this was a major item of export to Bengal to
meet
the
local
demand of salt form B e n g a l .
miscellaneous crops were produced only for
and
Rest
of
the
self-consumption
they together occupied slightly more than one_tenth
of
the total area under cultivation. Except for the district of
Nowgong,
crops
the
pattern of division of land among
the
major
had been almost same. Our major concern, however,
paddy
because
paddy_culture
had
been
the
basis
is
of
pre_col oni'bl Assamese society and its economy.
Although paddy occupied a predominant position in the
pre_colonial
production
practices
show
agricultural
was
scenario, a large chunk
influenced
heavily
by
the
of shifting cultivation. There are
that shifting cultivation dominated
of
prevailing
evidences
particularly
western
and central parts of the Brahmaputra Valley and
19
was taken up on a large scale in Lakhimpur.
The
variety
cultivation
of
paddy which
was
suitable
on undulating and sloping lands
its
for
in
to
the
it
shifting
submontane
and
reverine tracts is local ly called Ahu.
paddy i s
this variety
traditional 1y sown broadcast , and it t a k e s a
duration
mature.
to
s o m e t im e s
therefore,
o i 1s e e d s >
to
or
crops ,
three
The piece of land
after
grow
the
a
a 1 1o w e d
it
Ahu
was
occupied
crop
s e c arid
used
to
shor f
by
Ahu,
ar
(pulses
h a r v e s l :eci , B u t
fiel d
ut
as ter
became
tot
; ■/•
a1,
exhausted and had to be fallowed for many years.
The
more
second variety of paddy locally called
important
for
us than
Ahu,
because
Sa]_i
Sail,
is
involved
permanent cultivation. SaJ_i is traditional 1y transplanted in
July-August
Sa]_i
and harvested in
November-December. Obviously,
demanded wet lands to grow and involved ploughing
the
land. Since it takes a longer duration to mature, Sa]_i paddy
hardly allowed a second crop to grow on the piece of 1and it
occupied. In terms of yield per unit of cultivated land,
was obviously much higher in case of Sal_i than Ahu,
the
level of
constantly
natural
enriched
transplantation involved much more human labour
care
because
fertility of the wet Sal_i fields
by yearly floods, and the
than Ahu which was sown broadcast. The
it
was
process
of
inputs
and
yield of
Ahu
used to gradual 1y go down every year.
In
addition to Ahu and Sa]_i , the another variety
paddy, locally called Bag,was also
This variety
of
cultivated to an extent.
of paddy is even now cultivated in the natural
marshes
and generally it does not require ploughing
sowing.
This
variety of paddy takes much
longer
than Ahu and Sa]_i and yields lesser than them.
before
duration
Table-2.3
AREA UNDER THE HAJOR CROPS IN EARLY 18705 (Area in Acre)
! Total
DISTRICT
Paddy
Oilseeds
Sugercane
Cotton
Other Croos
i Cultivated
! Area
kaairup
3,43.481 (76.62)
55.335 (12.34)
Darrang
1.32.172 (95.31)
3,644 ( 1.92)
hoagong
1.16.876 (49.24)
3,391 (0.76) 2,351 (0.53)
43,715 ( 9.75)1 4.48.273 (108)
850 (0.44)
3.335 ( 1.74)1 1.91.127 (130)
73,700 (31.04)
1,600 (0.67! 5,074 (2.14)
40,150 (16.91)1 2,37.400 (100)
Sihasaaar 2.10.140 (81.77)
6,948 ( 2.71)
4,218 (1.64) Not Specified
35.668 (13.88),' 2,56,974 (100!
Lakhiftour
3.008 ( 4.80)
2.927 (4.68) Not Soecified
46;73fi (74.73)
1,126 (0.59!
8.99.399 (75.18) 1,41.627 (11.92) 13.262 (1.11) 8,275 (0.69)
Total
9,875 (15.79))
62.532 (183;
1,32,743 (11.10)111,96,306 (100)
i
I
This excludes area unaer Tea.
Source : N.N. Hunter, oo.cit.
■Tioures in drackets indicate percentage share of the crop to total cultivated area.
)
-
42
-
The first and the third variety of paddy, that is Ahu
and
Bag,
which
trad 1 1ionaI Iy
were
sown
broadcast
wer e
suitable for shifting cultivation. Guha observed that in the
beginning
of
the Ahom rul e , the tribal popul at ion
of
val ley were? associated mainly with the Ahu crop or
cultivation,
Ahoms.
shitting
and wet rice culture was traditional with
Alongwith
accompanied
by
S an sk ri ti za tion,
went
t| ,-.
the
growing
the
process
shifting
influence
of
of
the
the
Ahorns,
detribalization
cultivation in
Assam
and
gradually
on shrinking. Nevertheless, it had been a practice
various
plain
Therefore,
it
tribes
can
even
be
in
said
the
that
nineteenth
shifting
ut
century.
cultivation
co_existed with wet permanent cultivation in the Brahmaputra
20
Valley through out the period under consideration.
Further,
it
cropping
should
also
be
noted
that
the
prevailing
practices reduced cropping intensity to the level of a mono­
crop culture.
A cross sectional picture of the early 1870s has been
drawn
in Table - 2.4 which shows the estimated
area
under
the three varieties of paddy and estimated quantity of their
production
comparative
in the five districts of Assam
analysis
of
this Table
with
proper.
the
Now,
population
configuration drawn in Table - 2.1 and 2.2 would help us
comment
a
on the agricultural scenario of Assam while it
at the height of its prosperity before the Civil War.
to
was
i
47
Noaaonp
Sibsaoar
L a tin spur
h.
40
i
no:
0 b P , . Clil , •
- car»
7
L . U I U
i
tros
i 105
47 7 i *
jur>a<
i I Ub 4 C
“
nCwievdi
"1*1/
rsno
bar* /
risso»s
and e ertcnta G C
12
21
5
20
! paddy Area
I 5,434
340
1 ,7 3 7
531
1,2 40
1,548
S ali
42
105
ao8
231
721
Ahu
1 1 ,3 3 7
i
7
14
148
43
483
Bao
Each v a r i e t y of Paddy t
E s t is a t o d Productio n of
; f area under each v a r i e t y
hd 1i c t y . P o l i t y * c.c cnosv,
! As i of t o ta l
Bao
«olc*f»ial
pp wi t * *
hhu and bac paddy — 7 Qtv n t r s
i 171
4
15
29
24
9
i
i
18
l0>>
i paddy Area
49
. aj - . t . .
l
i
Area i As 1 of t o t a l I Area
Ahu
30
baii^ eaddi - 9 ut/nwrej
i 404
i
! paddy area
!
^a UnuST ^andv has i - s n ta^an rre iE* >»*$ tiunitr#
«iwLy
i- * ' *
ot
*-=- * ToLdl
l Ezi^iSiatad v i d u *
87?
210
tarran a
! 193
343
haarup
i
/ tt
)
S a il
i Area i As l of t o ta l
Area under!
*5
rat
paddy
E s t is a t e d Area under each v a r i e t y of paddy
34
Totai
c u ltiva te d i-
PnuiibwiON ilF i/iFFERENI V H R i E J l t S uF rnDi/i iH EA R Li 16703
OS
OH
D is tric t
h ND
■; Area in thousand acres and production in thousand q u in ta ls )
;h
ji
OS
7,508
409
1,854
937
1,5 54
2,7 5 2
of Paddy
Total Production
-
I'he
district
paddy.
44-
most prominent aspect in Table -
wise
Ihe
variation
percentage
cultivated 'land
of
cultivated
of area under
2.4
land
Saji
is
the
under
ball
to
the
under paddy is the highest in the
ot bibsagar \A2/. ) tot lowed by LaThimpur ib'h%) and
lowest
any
total
district
is
:i
in the district of K.amrup and Nowgong <5 OH > .
doubt,
this variation
sociological
is
particularly
due
t-evond
to
factor of production, which to a large
the
extent
could overcome the topographical barricades in the districts
ot
Upper Assam. The two districts of Upper Assam,
Sibasagar
were
and
Lafhimpur, as we have seen in Table
predominated
superior
by the Ahoms and with
agricultural
practices of wet
could bring about a much
cultivation.
that
The
Iarger
area
their
y.
relatively
paddy
under
-
cultivation
settled
case of Darrang district with
Sal j
almost
percent of the land under Bali paddy reveals a proximity
the
situation
population
in
in
the
Lakhimpur
district.
despite
This
was
a
n
large
perhaps
i!
to
triba1
due
to
greater degree of detribalization in Darrang than K'amrup and
Nowgong
districts, where shifting cultivation
was
equally
popular with settled cultivation.
A
in
comparison of the total number ot family as
iable-2.1 and the total cultivated land under
shown
in
Table - 2.4 would reveal that
every
paddy
family
command over slightly more than 3 acres of paddy land.
apparent
ratio,
however, may be misleading. For
shown
a
as
had
Ihis
better
understanding of the distributional pattern of land, it must
- ' l b
be
-
kept in mind that the Paik system had been the basis
the agrarian structure o+ pre col onia!
Assam which
o:
irwo! von
a pecul u»r pattern ot distribution. We sha II deal with
t h i:
sysLem thorough Iy in some other contex t later. But , it
m
<■
be noted at tins juncture that the essence u-f disLribi."
aspect
puras
ot the Paik system, was, an equal
allotment
at
Lw •
or 2.66 acres of wet paddy land by the state
to
it.,
adult male population who were not slaves.
Hunter shows that. 52 percent
in
of the total populatin'
Assam was constituted by the males, and thus
the
lot A
number of male population could be estimated as almost
lakhs.
It could be further estimated that, one third of
total male population was constituted by the adult
and
/’.nv
this amounts to be 2.5b lakhs. Now, leaving
the
persons,
apart
the-
slaves and other such unfree people, the total number of the
Pai,ks
could be estimated as roughly 2.30 lakhs. This
estimation suggests that every Pajik in Assam, on an
had
command over 2.63 acres of
ratio
is
in
distribution
scope
conformity
with
land under
the
rough
average
Sal„i paddy.
customary
pattern
of wet paddy land which does not
provide
of concentration of such lands in the hands
ot
This
of
any
few.
Ihe distribution of dry land and marshes occupied by Ahu and
Bao
paddy
uneven,
respectively,
because
nevertheless,
was
trad it i ana I !/
the state never restricted the
reclaim such lands on their own individual
people
initiative.
might
have resulted in concentration of such lands
hands
of
few. Yet, it is revealed by our
in
estimation
to
lhis
the
tn a t
-
every
o-t
Paik
paddy
a ! 1o tted
i
n d ic a t e
46-
on an average had a share of almost four
1and including his 2 . 6 6 a c.r e s ot wet
by
the
state.
this
a very high degree
under' rthu or bao paddy m
rat io ,
could
1 .,!■
paddy
h< iwever ,
does
f
the hands of few.
be estimated that the per
capita
Table - 2.4
production
paddy for Assam as a whole was roughly 5 quintals. This
the same for
and
respectively.
mind
the
aboriginal
it
o+
was
the district of Kamrup , and highest in Harr ang
Sibasagar,
i .e
6.6
quintals
and
6.3
quint.'1
Ihe lowest per capita production was,
by Lal himpur,
reg istered
N.
! .' i
o f 111e
o f concentration
From the level of production as shown in
it
acre-.
food
however'
t .e 3.7 quintals. Now , k er?p
habit., popularity of rice
tribes, and other cultural
* r*9
among
beer
patterns and
can be broad Iy estimated that requirement of
11
th e
r it tua1s ,
paddy
peer
person was about 3 quintals in a year. Thus it can be safely
said
that
every district was self-sufficient
in
terms
o-t
paddy and roughly about two third of the paddy produced in a
year
was for self-consumption. The remaining one-third
exchanged
with
the neighbouring hill
tribes
for
was
various
forest products.
TECHNOLOGY AND
The
overall
pre-colonial
Perhaps,
I M P L E M E N T S OF P R O D U C T I O N
Assam
:
level of technological
was
much
behind the
development
rest
abundance of land with rich natural
of
in
India.
fertility,
a
-4
Iar ge
by
7
-
size o+ the pi ain-tribal papulation often
migration
hills;,
of
many other tribes
from
the
multiplier!
neigbourio:
the prevailing ethos of production mainly to
attau
self-sufficiency and its relative isolation from the rest ot
India were the pr 1 nary factors responsible tor let hnc.n
stagnation. Ihe
consequence of
technological
;
bartwardnee;
had been the practice of hoe cultivation in trie larger
of
the
Brahmaputra
plough
With
Valley which
prevented
expansion
cultivation for a considerably long period of
an exception of the we I l_settled Kac h a n
Upper
were
either
most of the aboriginal
tribes
with
tribal
hoe
involved
in some or other
form
in
British
or
has already been noted that the majority
were
time.
communities
cultivation,
2J
passing through a transition from hoe to plough.
It
associated
of
viI Iages
Assam, Buha noted that in the early years of
administration,
part
of
were
of
the
shift; inn
cultivation, arid hoes perhaps had been effective enough
for
that
was
purpose.
But,
the
wet
paddy
culture
which
popularized by the Ahoms in Upper Assam definitely
not
demanded
only the use of plough, but also extensive measures
to
prevent the cropped area from inundations and to retain rain
and flood water necessary for Saji. Robinson noted that most
of the rivers in Upper Assam were guarded by embankments
prevent
served
the
a
plains from inundations, and
dual
purpose
of bunds
as
the
wel I
as
to
embankments
roads.
He
observed, "the river embankments were crossed by high raised
pathways
which
were
again
joined
by
smaller
bunds
-
grad u atin g
term ed
down;
most
and c o n n e c t i n g
tor
M oreover, the
areas
retain in g
nssaiii, a l s o
activitie s
leveling
Such
such
of
perm anent
su rface
out
the
settlem en t,
v ario u s
of
etc.
field s
c o m m u n i c a t i o n , and
keepin g
reclam atio n
and
other
the
om ►
afforded
in u n d atio n s".
particularly
I and
for
:r
dev?- i ipiir ■.
cultivable
necessary
at
w aste
Bali,
I arid .
culture.
activities
the
w e r e t a k e n up a t a l a r g e s c a l e m t h e
nhon23
Upper A ssam , which i n v o lv e d c o l l e c t i v e e f f o r t
u
peasant
com m unity o r g a n i s e d
1 1 1 s t 1 1 u t 1 on o f
never'
such
lan d s
in to
and
also
se ctio n
of
fields.
I united
be
the
rest
to
Kachari
Valley,
valley.
abundant
and
co n ven ien t
Sim ilarly,
yield
extrem ely
crude
of
the
in
as
extent
this
wet
of
through
the
U pper Assam
in h ab ited
in
the
form
the
Ahu
and
ric e
the
con text
in
f iat
excepting
some
packets
of
p ractice
in
a
in
of
v ariety
of
paddy
im plem ents used
in
in
th eir
Hao
that
was not
the
was
n*
in
24
te rra in . '
n everth eless,
most
Iw
culture
m eans,
manure a l s o
and p r i m i t i v e
to
much o f
irrig a tio n
The
use of
any
25
B r a h m a p u t r a Val l e y .
Further,
the
trib e
the
better
state
in vestm en t
C o n seq u en tly,
of
India.
the
con trast
convert
m entioned
Brahm aputra
in
com m unity
dykes to
Sa|l
Low er Assam w as
must
how ever,
e xten siv e
embankments
by
P a i f: .
Lower A ssam ,
the
or
in vo lved
as
up t h e
dom in ated
it.
v illa g e s
com modious means o f
o p p o rtu n itie s
Upper
48-
were
as
p arts
of
in p r a c t i c e
tor-
other
not
cultivated
paddy
form .
m
cu ltu re
Though
the
the
were
use
-4 9
of
plough had been an i n c r e a s i n g trend, t h e i n s t r u m e n t
so
simple
arecanu t
that
tre e s
26
limited.
The
p l o u g h s h a r e s w e r e m a d e out
or
b a m b o o and t h e u s e of
of
was
roots
iron
of
shave
was
w as
also
us e of iron, b r i c k s and wheel c a r t s
27
e x t r e m e l y limited though they w e r e k n o w n f r o m a n c i e n t
The
of
land d e v e l o p m e n t a c t i v i t i e s inv o l v i n g the
time.
construction
a Ia r g e n u m b e r of e m b a n k m e n t s , d y k e s etc. w e r e no
extremely
necessary
fo r
expansion
of
Sal_i.,
doubt
but
these
a c t i v i t i e s w e r e c a r r i e d an w i t h v e r y s i m p l e i m p l e m e n t s
spade.
of
The s e a c t i v i t i e s t h e r e f o r e i n v olved a 1a r g e
the
coupled
crop
primarily
t h e f a c t o r of
a g ricultural
To
t o g r o w ann u a l l y , and h e n c e g e n e r a t e d a
of
relatively
agricultural
better
produce
more
surplus.
t e c h n o l o g y of
surplus than
very
Nevertheless,
production,
Lower
be
technology
with s c a r c i t y of p o p u l a t i o n a l l o w e d o n l y o n e
amount
could
portion
e x i s t i n g limited l a b o u r p o w e r c o n t i n u o u s l y .
precise,
like
major
limi t e d
with
Upper
Assam.
a
Assam
And
this
o b v i o u s l y h e l p e d t h e A h o m s in e x p a n d i n g t h e i r i n f l u e n c e
all
o v e r the B r a h m a p u t r a Valle y .
OWNERSHIP OF LAND :
During
the
last t w o c e n t u r i e s of A h o m
rule,
w i t n e s s e d a u n i q u e p a t t e r n of o w n e r s h i p of land and
administration
g i ven to
only*
Th e
Assam
revenue
w h e r e h e r e d i t a r y p r i v a t e p r o p e r t y rig h t
the Bari, and Basti l a nds (gardens
and
land u n d e r wet p a d d y c a l l e d rupjLt mati
was
homestead)
was
c o n s i d e r e d as h e r i t a b l e p r i v a t e p r o p e r t y u n l e s s b a c k e d by
not
a
royal grant. The farming community, nevertheI ess had a
access
to the unoccupied dry lands -for fire wood,
Tree
building
OU
materials, grazing and even temporary cultivation.
Except tng
(revenue
free)
the
areas under royal farms
grants
made in
favour
of
or
the
Lak.h_ir.aj
Brahmans,
religious institutions and some members of the nobility
their
distinguished
distributed
service,
equally
population
to
rice
fields
were
adult
male
who were not slaves. A Pai.k was allotted, as
93zm§ti.
obliged
wet
among the Paiks, i.e. the
have already noted, two
his
the
for
we
or 2.66 acres of rupj.t mati as
(land attached to a person) for which
render initially three months
and
he
was
later
months
of his service to the state, fhe fixed quota of
EyC§§?
however could be supplemented by any amount of
four
two
tax-
free inferior land. Further, this could also be supplemented
by an additional share of ubar mati, i.e. the land which was
surplus after meeting the demands of all local Pai.k e s .
additional
but
share of ubar mati was initially
revenue
This
free,
a marginal amount of revenue was imposed on it . in
the
later period. The share of ubar mati, or even the g§zB3§Ll of
a Paik could, however, be taken back by the state.
It
aspect
of
must also be mentioned that
wet land was essentially
the
imbued
ownership.
In
population
and hence abundance of land to the
distributlonal
with
a situation of a remarkably low
density
people,
1ol^L lying open fields were reclaimed collectively.
the
reclaimed
fields
were also to
be
communal
protected
of
the
Further,
against
-
f ioods
they
through
51
-
continuous collective
efforts.
Therefore,
were considered as communal property, and a Pajtk
held
his ga-mati. with mere usufruct right. After his death, or at
his
old
age
his wet paddy land always went
back
to
the
commun ity.
The
pattern
technological
factor
command
a
over
customarily
could
of
ownership
with
arrested the capacity of
much bigger size of
allotted
coupled
land
a
Paik
than
to him. Consequently, the
the
what
to
was
Ahom
rule
not encourage a significant level of accumulation
of
wet_land by any free peasant, although they had an access to
the
vast
families,
areas
of
cultivable waste
land.
A
few
royal
and the clerics, nevertheless, were benefited
by
the royal grants made in favour of them.
TRADE
The
overwhelming
importance on
paddy
culture
for
self_sufficiency and consequently, the low level of economic
diversification
of
the
people
could
hardly
encourage
expansion of trade in pre_colonial Assam. It is evident from
the
fact
that
its indegenous
caste
structure
does
not
indicate the existence of any trading community or caste
economic
out
significance. At least two factors can be
of
pointed
immediately which had restricted the growth of a
trade
sector in pre_colonia1 Assam. First, its physical
isolation
from
extremely
the
rest
of
India
made
external
trade
difficult,
and
a g r i c ultural
inspire
these
as w e
have
already
In
its
addition
factors, another important factor
unfavourable
to
n o ted,
s e c t o r h a d f a i l e d t o g e n e r a t e e n o u g h s u r p l u s to
t h e p e o p l e to s e a r c h f o r a m a r k e t .
two
rulers
secondly
had
be e n
and l a r g e l y i s o l a t i o n i s t a t t i t u d e of
p r o m o t e trade. G u h a
observed
that
the
to
an
Ahum
River__borne
t r a d e in A s s a m c o u l d n e v e r b e as impo r t a n t as th a t a l o n g the
G a nges, b e c a u s e of' d i f f i c u l t n a v i g a t i o n on t h e
Trade
was
rivers
1 imited by t h e c a r r y i n g c a p a c i t y
and
c a r r i e r s on
of
pack a n i m a l s
(liroitedly
Brahmaputra.
of
canoes
used)
and
on
human
29
land.
T h e a t t i t u d e of t h e A h o m r u l e r s t o w a r d s f o r e i g n t r a d e
is r e f l e c t e d well
the
in t h e o b s e r v a t i o n m a d e b y S h i h a b u d d i n
mid - s e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
neither
allowed
their
to
noted
enter
own s u b j e c t s
th a t
the
their
permitted
any
"Formerly
o n c e a year" n o t e d S h i h a b u d d i n ,
Raja,
of
foreigners
He
to
out
We
trade
quoted
Bengal
Mustard
may
in e x c h a n g e f o r salt, s a l t p e t e r ,
A s s a m w i t h Bengal f r o m t h e f i g u r e s
of
31
by
S.K.Bhuyan.
T h e m a j o r e x p o r t ite m s of
Se e d
(Rs. 3 5 , 0 0 0 ) , Sti c k L a c
(Rs. 2 0 , 0 0 0 ) , M u y a C l o t h
the
near
and
G a uhati
r i v e r _ b o r n e external
of
were Raw Cotton
it.
spikenard
sulpher
India w h i c h t h e p e o p l e of
get a f a i r idea of t h e
of
frontier
G a u h a t i ; t h e y g a v e gold, musk, a l o e woo d , p e p p e r ,
c e r t a i n o t h e r p r o d u c t s of
30
used to t a k e t h i t h e r . "
nor
"by o r d e r of
a p a r t y u s e d t o g o f o r t r a d e to t h e i r
and silk c l o t h
kings
land,
go
m
(Rs.
1808-1-809
Assam to
(Rs. 3 5 , 0 0 0 ) ,
17,500),
Muga
Silk
(Rs. 11,350), Ivory
Bel I_metal
vessels
(Rs. 6,000), S l a v e s
(Rs.
(Rs. 1,500) etc. T he total
2,0oG),
v a l u e of
the export items was o n l y R s . 1,30, Vo O. On t he o t h e r
the
impurt
1,92,500.
of
salt
from Bengal
alone
amounted
Rs.
The r e m a i n i n g part of t h e import f r o m Bengal
was
balance
is
evident
that
the
distinctly
of
unfavourable
of t r a d e was, m a i n l y d u e t o d e m a n d of Bengal
to m a tch the value, A s s a m n e v e r had e n o u g h of
agricultural
exported
A s sam
value
the import items wa s R s . 2,28,300.
It
and
hand,
lo
c o n s t i t u t e d by v a r i o u s luxary items, and t h e total
all
all
surplus
because
whi c h
to
export.
The
was
its
oilseeds
of low c o n s u m p t i o n of
of
own
could
be
oil
in
vegetable
a part of t h e food hab i t
salt,
the
tribal
p o p u l a t i o n . It is w o r t h n o t i c i n g that r a w c o t t o n and s o m e of
the forest p r o d u c t s e x p o r t e d to Bengal
were procured through
b a r t e r with the n e i g h b o u r i n g hill t r i b e s f o r p a d d y , dry fish
and
silk.
Furth e r ,
geographical
it n e e d s to
that
the
i s o lation of A s s a m f r o m t h e rest of India
and
its s i z e a b l e s e c t i o n of the tribal
pre_colonial
rest
Buha
of
emphasised
p o p u l a t i o n i n t e g r a t e d the
m o r e with the h i l l s than
India. The f o r m of e x c h a n g e was
observed
maintained
where
e c o n o m y of A s s a m
be
that
through
this
symbiotic
a cha i n of foot_hill
however,
barter
relationships
marts
and
both s i d e s met, and t h i s t r a d e b e t w e e n t h e h i l l s
the p l a i n s a p p e a r s to h a v e been n o less i m portant t h a n
32
wa s b e t w e e n pre„colonial A s s a m and t h e rest of India.
the
was
fairs
and
what
- -
54-
TRANSITION FROM TRIBALISM TO FEUDALISM :
in the? light at our discussion it. can be safely
that
sa i
.(J
the? agricul tural sector had been the whole '-•<lit- •••
pi e colonial
Hiisam.
Ihis sector', however'
had
never
significantly influenced by a very high level of
product i .a.•
technology, and remained exclusively dependent on nature.
a
result, with gradual expansion of wet paddy culture,
1abour intensive agricultural practices absorbed the
work
force.
wetpaddy
With
fields
a pattern
were
of
communal
distributed
the
entire
ownership,
equally
hs
tin?
among
peasants. The primary sector of production with such
the
unique
features did not provide the required scope for accumulation
of
wealth
economy
level
in the hands of few
farmers.
the
pre. colorn.i:
as a whole could encourage only a very
of
labour,
specialisation
involving
rudimentai /
marginal
division
and consequenty, it couid neither develop
sector
of much economic significance, nor an
which
deserves
attention.
These
broad
features
indicate
the persisting influence
However,
a close observation of the last two
a
urban
of
trade
sector
characteristic:
of
tribalism.
centuries
Ahom rule also indicate a slow process of transition of
of
the
Assamese society towards feudalism.
The
seventeenth century had been a land mark in
the
history of feudalism in Assam. A gradual expansion of plough
and
wet
generation
paddy
cultivation
in
Upper
Assam
resulted
of agricultural surplus to an extent.
Ihis
in
had
been ac c omp an ie d by r a p i d
the
introduction
of
locally
m a t c h l o c k s and c a n n o n .
the
conc o m i t a n t
material
as
of
of
war t e c h n o l o g y
manufactured
The amount o f
envelopment
strength
political
development
surplus
well
as
yu n- powdwr .
production
war t e c h n o l o g y
t o t h e Ahom K i n g s f o r
economic
wi i .
aim
p r o - / .1 df o
expansion
influence
of
then'
over
the
33
neighbouring
kingdoms.
Another
development
in t h e ar en a
p r e _ c o I on 1 a I
e c o n o my ha d b e e n a much w i d e r
c i r c u l a t ' on
local
since
coins
before.
this
worthmentioning
indicates
n o t —wi t h s t a n d i n g
scope
wa s
road
m
its
I united.
the
betel..leaf
t h e mi d s e v e n t e e n t h
Ahom
the development
pr i ce o f
In
1662,
Buying
or
rattier-
t h e r e wa s o n l y
and
the
than
a market
g r o w t h wa s
capital ,
sellers.
century
a
of
e.
sector ,
s ! ■- «w
narrow
traders
a nd s e l l i n g
the
or
.
h u •t
were
out ,
articles
of
34
food
in t h e m a r k e t was n o t
the
first
list
of
half
different
of
t h e common p r a c t i c e .
the eighteenth
food
staff
However,
c e n t u r y we f i n d
being
quoted
m
a
price
in a cop p er
plate
35
deed
of
market
the
grant.
limited
structure
this
in d ic a t e s a gradual
circulation
seventeenth
In
may
This
of
Ahom c o i n s
us
in t h e
of
last
the
part
of
century.
context,
a brief
discussion
which emerged t o w a r d s t h e
help
expansion
to
understand
consolidation
in
Assam.
appropriation,
Hussain
On
broadly
the
the
last
on
part
the
of
Ahom
c: I a s : ,
r u i -?
process
of
feudal
criterion
of
labour
devided
the
pre colonial
Ht:-Bernese
society into two distinctly antagonistic
cl y..;\e .
J6
i.e. the ruling c Iass and the toiling class. Hussain fur tin./,
ohserved
that
the ruling class of pre colonial
ii: ■ l i e v
' i./ni|i o' '.I-■*' 1
ar 1 1 .l.ocrac 1 es
et
th ree
Assam
h i ei■"■arch i ca I i y
u:
: lar the higher aristocracy , comprising
king, tire royal families, minister's and tire high
u.);
Official- ;
the middle aristocracy, mainly composed of the
classes
and
or the spiritual heads including
the
Ianded vassals etc.; (c)
primarily
hP.€i!<3Q
composed
khamuas
required
w..-
of
or the
the
the officers
the
lower
of
priest!
,
va isirnuv ii:r■
aristocracy ,
lower
rank , tlr-
privi 1eged peasants who
were
not
to render their physical labour to the state,
and
37
the
merchants.
The cl ass structure of pre-colonial
Assam
has been shown in Appendix - 6.
The
top
two segments of the
class
hierarchy
wore
38
substantially rich.
by
royal
Khats
of
These two tiny segments, being favoured
grunts held their hereditary
landed
estates
large
Paiks
and
size and bulk: of
the
si avow­
al loted to them in 1ieu of salary. The bottom of the
hierarchy
smalI
was
means
obligatory
and
occupied by the Apaikan
or
ru Img
tb.3f0y§i who
owned
of production. They were, however,
free
from
manual service to the state. In terms
of
power
privileges, this section was far behind the
sections
of
the
ruling class. The ruling
colonial
Assam as a whole was, however,
other
class
of
numerical 1y
weak , because al 1 the three segments of this cl ass
two
prequite
together
constituted some one? percent of the total population.
The
vast, majority of the society either was Paik:
slave?. Ihev const itut e:?d the toil m g class.
was
i
•)
Ihe class of 1 ji
further' divided into two categories of manual
l
aiii
f'ctiks,
.i.
who were
to
liable
or
workers;
obligatory
:i.ir
service of any kind to the state; and <b) Chainua Parks,
were permitted
specialised
contribute
products
categories
Lhamua
to
of
!:::’§ ik
k h e Is ,
such
periodical ly
or their skilled
were organised
as
those
of
wru>
share of
service.
E<oth
the
ot
t
in K h e i , and
many
go 1dsmitl i) fci?
g o 1dwasher
01 I_pressers etc. were more or less like guilds. However the
vast
majority
of
the peasantry were Kanri
precise, the Paik as a social
predominated
manual
this
lieu
of
the
adult
males
that
about one-fourth to
drawn
from
of
Pa^ks were assigned as Li.kchou to the officers
of their sal ary, and they had to work in
and households of the officers. Further,
also
a
1arge
withdrawn
from
number
their
of
Paiks
Khel_s and
who
the
attached
in
the
in
private
there
were
the
the
noted
one-third
(Shats
hr
numerical I/
class and non_slaves. It must also be
context
mobl lzed
which
Id
the pre_colonial society, was composed of
workforce
non_ruling
category,
Paiks.
were
permanently
to
the
Satras
(Vashnavite monasteries), and temples for providing specific
service. They were called Bhakats when attached to a
and
Oewa_l_ia
sections
of
40
the state
Paik
when attached to
a
Paik had no obligations of
temple.
any
Satra,
These
kind
two
towards
We find the bahatia <serfs) and the bandi~betx '
■ma Ie
and
female household slaves) at the bottom of
the <
.Iass
hierariJiy. Ihe household slaves could be bought
a. d
we
hu\e
.dread',
noted
(I:
1
they
were
e
-t
i
and
e/pwi
yeiiUdi . Ihe
liibt.cut ion of slavery was deep
pre colonial
Assam, as the ruling class to a
had
sold,
1
1
ruot h
in
Iarge ertent
to depend upon the slaves to cultivate their Khats
also for
war,
and
their households works. Mainly the prisoners
condemned
criminals
and
persons born
of
of
slaves
41
constituted
a major section of this class.
However, quite
often, the kanri talks used to sell themselves to a rich man
to get
rid
Further,
of the risk tie had be?ar at the time of
war.
slavery was also caused by debt, because a jBandha
(.the person who mortgaged himself for an indefinite period;
in course of
estimated
time could be converted
to a slave.
that the sections of slaves, serfs and
constituted appro:: imatel y
ten percent
of
buha
bondsmen
the
total
42
population of Assam in mid eighteenth century.
A close observation
apparatus
hierarchy
would reveal
as wel I as the mgdus_ggerand_i
had
been
marked
by
that
of
certain
the
state
the class
degree
of
43
centralization of authority. The class hierarchy which
a
■in
concrete shape
extraction
because,
being
in the seventeenth
of
the surplus by the
representative of
had gradually established
paddy
and waste
century
feudal
the state,
ownerships of
the
took
helped
stale
king
the entire wet
lands and enjoyed the monopoly over the
distribution o+ land and mobilization of surplus, hurt her.
class
ot
feuda I
landed
aristrocracy
had
a Iso
hr- i
established by the; state by providing the tax -free grant'.:, m
'■ !.\-.-t
l(i
! and
on
i...ul L i ' / a t e
were
u|
Is
i i,
l i 11.,- b a i t s ,
them.
favoured
I
s e r fs
and
: laves
-
11'
pries!
v,
h h
he brahman abbots ant, the
by the royalgrants constituted a
c:Iass
spiritual
1eaders
rent
general ,or a rent in cash or kind in lieu
in
cum land lords and they
>.■
exacted
fromtheir tenants. Furthermore, several hereditary
chiefs
were allowed to enjoy autonomy in
territories
and
indicate
of
the
t
of
it
vassal
respective
obligation
a process of transition and gradual
feudalism
in Assam under the Ahom
rule.
consolidation
Nevertheless,
certain elements of tribal ism as we have already
continued
Ia I j u i
to supply a fixes
44
of soldiers to the Ahom King. AlI such factors
contingent
had
their
m
their
influence over the
indicated,
pre_colonial
Assamese
society and its economy.
FEUDAL CRISIS AND POLITICAL CHAOS
The
inherited
process
certain
of
feudal
:
consolidation
structural weaknesses
in
which
Assam
manifested
themselves in the form of increasing political contradiction
between
Neither
the
class
for
1767
and
continued til I 1806 could be conceived as an outcome ot
the
ruling
itself,
the
ruling class and the
peasantry.
class, nor the peasantry was, however, a
yet
unresolved
the
Civil War which broke
contradiction
between
these
out
two
in
antagonistic
—
classes.
The
p r o l o n g e d Civil
r u i n e d the political
A
—
War
ended
indecisively
s t r u c t u r e of f e u d a l i s m and
economic process d u n n q
a
but
its e c onomy.
s c r u t i n y of t h e m a j o r s o c i o _ p o l 1 ticaI
close
reveal
60
as
well
as
the p e r i o d u n d e r c o n s i d e r a t i o n would
c o u p l e of m u t u a l l y
interdependent
factors
which
p u s h e d t h e p e o p l e to t h i s o r th a t s i d e of t h e di v i d e .
The
Civil
War
i n v o l v i n g a s e r i e s of p o p u l a r
peasant
r e v o l t s w h i c h shoal: t h e f o u n d a t i o n of A h o m k i n g d o m h a s
been
45
o f t e n d e s c r i b e d as Mgamori.a r e b e l l i o n , b e c a u s e t h e f o l l o w e r s
of a n e o _ v a i s h n a v i t e m o n a s t e r y c a l l e d M o a m a r a B a t r a p r o v i d e d
the
leadership to this armed struggle.
It is
i m p e r a t i v e to d i s c u s s b r i e f l y t h e impact of
on
pre „ c o l o n i a 1
Assam for a better
n a t u r e and c a u s e s of t h e Civil
The
neo_vaishnavite
therefore'
art
neo__vaishnavism
understanding
of
the
War.
m o v e m e n t had s e c u r e d
a
strong
f o o t i n g t o w a r d s t h e last part of the f i f t e e n t h c e n t u r y u n d e r
the
leadership
Pan_lndian
function
Bhakti
of
increasingly
common
is
its
Movement
through
extensive
network
popular
any
could
monotheistic
the
of
became
of
the
neo_vaishnavism,
caste
s a l v a t i o n by b e c o m i n g
or
loyal
social
to
d e i t y . Th i s a p p e a l e d p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e tribal
and o t h e r
relatively
it
backward communities. Obviously,
the o n g o i n g p r o c e s s of d e t r i b a l i z a t i o n and
of
proselytizing
Satras
e s s e n c e of
o n e i r r e s p e c t i v e of b i rth,
attain
cu l t
amo n g t h e d i f f e r e n t s e c t i o n s
p e o p l e . The th e o l o g i c a l
that
status
of S a n k a r d e v a . T h i s
one
such
accelerated
Sanskritization .
-
61
-
Ihe Ahom kings either remained indifferent to or ignored the
increasing
popularity
of neo_vaishnavism
in
its
initial
46
phase.
Neo-vaishnavism,
ideological
period,
instrument
while
seventeenth
it
of
became
feudalism
received royal
century.
consolidation
however,
in
a
the
patronage
For its outstanding
subsequentin
and
the
mid-
contribution
of feudalism by accelerating the
d e t r i b a I 1 2 a t i on
powerful
Sanskritization ,
process
m
ot
n e o —v a i s h i i a v i s m
received a special attention of the Ahom kings
particul arl y
4/
during
the
second
half of the
seventeenth
century,
and
extended its sphere of influence substantially.
During
being
a
the second half of the
religious ideology of
movement
in
feudalism,
Assam refused to
chalIenge
elements of Shaktaism including the
caste
hierarchy
movement
rather
enhancement
and
even
compromised
seventeenth
idol
noe-vaishnav 1 1.e
the
conservative
Vedic rituals, exist m g
worship.
with the
Neo-valshnavite
later
tor
of its acceptance. Inspite of such
re 1lg 1 ous
sucessful
in
ideology
of
bringing
the
the
r u 1ing
people
to
further
limitations
and compromises with the conservative elements of
the
cenlury,
Hinduism,
c 1ass
had
its
fol d
consequently it antagonised the section of traditional Hindu
priests.
In
addition to that, the conformist
neo-vaishnavism
within
had given birth to a section
alt i t u d e
ot
the movement itself who wanted to lead the
to its original
ideological end.
ot
ex tr omisi
movement
—
The ideological
neo-vaishnavite
62
~
differences which emerged within
movement
finally
resulted
fragmentation
towards the end of seventeenth
movement
had
been divided into four
Samhatis
;
brahmans
and
<a> Brahma,
allowed them
its
century.
with
The
orders
supremacy
to continue
rites and idol worship p (b) Purusha,
in
competing
which accepted
the
of
their
or
the
vedic
(c) Nika, and (d) Kal_a.
These four orders can be divided into two broad
ideological
camps, that is the conformist led by the Brahma Samhat i,, and
the non_conformist under the leadership of Kgia Samhat i,. The
Iater
for its liberal attitude could gain
more
popularity
among
the oppressed sections of the Hindu
caste
hierarchy
and the Hinduised tribal population.
Further,
it
detribalization
as
must
a
also
social
be
mentioned
process
had
that,
helped
in
consolidation of feudalism by alienating the tribal elements
from
the
socio_economic
unlimited
caste
practices
of
mobility, or broadly
Assam.
speaking,
However,
an
equal
social position of all classes or castes as advocated by the
non_conformist
camp
acceptable
the feudal ruling class
to
threat to the feudal
of
the
of neo_vaishnavite
movement
for
its
kas
not
potential
structure itself. The growing influence
non_conformist
ideology
therefore
compelled
the
feudal ruling class to take oppressive measures against
the
religious movement as a whole towards the end of seventeenth
century.
This had driven the nonconformist
48
ground, but could not close the chapter.
section
under
-
The
state
ongoing
to revise
final ly
had
traditional
or
rel igous
63 -
conf 1 icts -forced
the
feudal
its religious policy, and the ruling
arrived
at
an
al I lance
between
the
priests of the Shakti cult, and the
conformist camp of neo_vaishnavism in a
c: Ias-.
Img,
Brahm in ir i
situation
when
the
reformist movement experienced a sharp erosion
of
its
49
early
idealism.
Such
a politically
motivated
alliance,
however,
could
not completely isolate
camp of neo-vaishnavism from the people.
the
fact that the
non_conformist
Civil
Hoamara Satra still
ideology
and
provided
the
nonconformist
It is evident
continued
leadership
from
with
its
in
the
War.
The
century
ideological
conflicts of
had substantially reduced the feudal
caused
an
further
Paik
unresolved
acute
crisis before the state.
hegemony,
This
aggravated by a concomitant process of
services to the state, both because of
economic
before
factors.
the
Civil
It is evident from the
War, the feudal
seventeenth
had
evasion
religious
fact
state could
that
command
and
been
of
and
just
the
Paik or militia service of only about 80,000 adult males
of
50
its
total
population of
nearly 2.5 million.
Beyond
any
doubt,
this
indicates
strength of the feudal
We
have
a significant
erosion
of
state.
already noted a growing tendency among
Pa_iks to avoid obi igatory services to the state as
and
martial
many of them even preferred to be slaves.
The
th<-
mi ! t! ta ,
growing
-
64-
number
of the rieo vaishnavr! e monasteries had
outlet
to the adult males to become bhakats, and
yet
pr-ov it:h -d u
lienee
exempted from the obligatory service as militia to
(t 'Uv 11 ;l
i ree
A .
u <•
r oy d
increasing
one
lilt' '•.ilV ! c:t
g r a n t.B
1
ot
w i.lli l.l i (:■ 1.11 ij
cultivable
hand,
arid
very
experienced a gradual
significantly
arid
1and
workforce, emerged as strong feudal
the
in.
i ■ r *1
1. (:<1 i L ja 1 ly
waste
I<
estates
a;
state
-feudal
decline of its mil it la on the ot h e r .
' r 1 s i.
Another important factor responsibe for feudal
in pre_colon 1 a I Assam was inroads of money into its econom /.
for smooth functioning of the Ahom system of administr >t ion .
it. was essential
the
Paik
money
or' militia system. But, gradual
encouraged
diversification
of
for the state to maintain tin? statu.*: *;ug ot
alI,
an
upward
introduction
class
mobility
anil
of economic activities to an extent,
with introduction of money into its
I ir-d
economy
Mu-
feudal
state initial ly al lowed the Pajiks at high castes
render
their obligations to the state in the form ot
tax.
Being
themselves
so
previleged,
such
Paiks
could
as Aapa^kan Qhamua which meant an
designate
upward
market sector however limited its scope might be, a
class
a
section
Assamese traders emerged within the peasantry . Obviously
they could gain some amount ot cash. Naturally, they
to
to
money
mobility. Secondly, with expansion of trade and growth ot
of
u
substitute
enter
their corvee obligations by
into the superior status. Similar was
money
the
wanted
tax
and
situation
■
65
-
with t h e a r t i s a n c l a s s p a r t i c u l a r l y
this
s e c t i o n w a s a l s o b e n e f i t e d by t h e g r o w i n g
Mughal
trade
its m i l i t i a had a l r e a d y f a c e d an a c u t e
ot man p o wer, t h e feudal
privilege
with
any mor e . F u r t h e r , f o r an
4 to 3 Paik,s whi c h m e a n t an
obligatory
direct
crisis
s t a t e w a s r e l u c t a n t to e x t e n d
immediate
solution
c r i s i s of man p o w e r , t h e s i z e of ea c h got
from
because
India in e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
Since
the
in L o w e r A s sam,
was
i n c r e a s e of the p e r i o d
h a d be e n an i n c r e a s e d w o r k l o a d
of
reduced
s e r v i c e of P a i k s f r o m 3 m o n t h s to 4 m o n t h s .
consequence
th i s
on
ot
'the
the
p e a s a n t r y of t h e l o w e r c a s t e s and H i n d u i z e d tribal s.
A11
the
these factors together added a new dimension
c r i s i s a l r e a d y f a c e d by t h e feudal
r u l i n g c l a s s in
to
the
fir s t half ot e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y and w i d e n e d t h e gap b e t w e e n
the
r u l i n g feudal
the
increasing
oppressed
s t a t e and
contradiction
peasantry
leadership
of
its s u b j e c t s . A
had
in t h e p r o l o n g e d Civil
t h e n o n _ c o n f o r m i s t ca m p
m o v e m e n t , o r to b e m o r e s p e c i f i c ,
internal
resolve
contradiction,
the
been
conflict
the
and
sought
War
state
the
way
by
under
had
D u e to
failed
for
i n t e r v e n t i o n and f i n a l l y to t h e B r i t i s h C o l o n i a l i s t
A s s a m in 1B26
of
the
the
neo_vaishnavite
the Mgamorias.
feudal
paved
ot
resolution
its
to
external
annexed
SUMMING UP »
The pre-colonial social formation of Assam
the
persisting
institution
of
consolidation
elements
Assam
of
of
slavery
and
tribalism,
a
a
of
process
of feudalism which remained
deep
the end of the sixteenth
rooted
growth
and
incomplete.
tribalism dominated the production
untill
state,
influence
witnessed
Ihe
system
century.
The
Ahom
however, encouraged the growth and consolidation
feudalism
process
particularly
of
transition
since
from
seventeenth
tribal ism
to
of
of
century.
The
feudal ism
had
inevitably been accompanied by the growth of slavery.
Cultivation of wet paddy, which was traditional
with
the Ahoms, had been expanded by the Ahom state initially
Upper
Assam.
Expansion of wet paddy
cultivation
and
m
the
surplus generated by it had been instrumental
in territorial
expansion of the Ahom state and its political
consolidation
over
the
period.
entire Brahmaputra Valley during
the
The given geographical situation, particularly
topography of the Brahmaputra Valley, however,
a
subsequent
heavy
community
investment
for
growth
the
necessitated
of
wet
paddy
culture. Reclamation of cultivated land and construction
of
embankments
be
were
the two major tasks which
could
not
taken up without’ involving a Iarge number of people. But, we
have
seen
populated,
addition
that
and
to
the
the
Brahmaputra
economy
was
Valley
not
yet
was
sparsely
monetized.
the huge labour force required for
wet
In
paddy
-6 7
cultivation,
the state had also to maintain a strong
armed
torce tor its territorial expansion as welI as s e l . d e f e n c e .
Under
such compelling circumstances, the Ahom state had
to
device the Pai.k cum militia system.
The
the
expansion ot wet paddy cultivation
erosion
of
the
prevailing
resulted
practice
cultivation. Further, to promote wet
of
in
shifting
paddy cultivation, the
Ahom state had also made several grants of cultivable
waste
land along with the Pajik s , serfs and slaves in favour of the
upper
strata
steps
taken
of the ruling hierarchy. All
by the state paved the way
such
for
conscious
emergence
feudalism in Assam. The society had distinctly been
into
two broad classes, i.e. the exploiting
ruling
of
divided
class,
and the exploited toiling peasants and the slaves. Initially
the
war prisoners were treated as slaves, but the numerical
strength
of
this
section
had
substantially
increased,
because many free peasants were also converted to slaves.
The low level of technological development, primitive
implements used in agriculture, scarcity of human 1abour and
the existing Pai.k system are some of the major factors which
restricted
the
capacity of free
peasants
to
concentrate
cultivated
land, notwithstanding they had a free access
to
the vast area o f .cultivabl e waste land. The same factors are
also
responsible
surplus
for the limited
growth
and a narrow economic base of
Production
was
mainly
for
self
of
emerging
consumption.
agricultural
feudalism.
A
trading
68-
community
and
a
market
sector
could
not
develop
significantly because the economy was not monetised.
The
in
The
neo-vaishnavite movement played a decisive
the process of transition from tribalism
Ahom
state
was
initially
to
indifferent
roIe
feudalism.
towards
neo-
vaishnavism. But, its growing popularity had drawn attention
of the state, and with royal patronage, the
had
become
that
neo-vaishnavism
an ideology of growing feudal ism in
Assam .
At
sought
to
juncture, the neo-vaishnavite movement had
bridge
the gap between the state and the society at
large.
For enhancement of popularity and to serve the interests
growing
had
feudalism, a section of neo-vaishnavite
even
compromised
Hinduism.
This
ideological
with the
conformist
split
conservative
attitude
within the movement.
of
leadership
elements
of
resulted
in
This
finally
had
an
culminated in the emergence of a non-conformist camp towards
the end of the seventeenth century. The non-conformist
had
been
successful
economically
its
to
oppressed
bring the
sections
socially
of
the
as
well
peasantry
camp
as
to
fold.
The increasing contradiction between the feudal state
and the oppressed section of the peasantry was sought to
resolved
by the non-conformist camp of the
neo-vaishnavite
movement through violent means. This had finally
in
the
culminated
the Civil War. It was of course not a struggle waged
oppressed
peasantry
as a
class
for
be
itself
by
against
-
69 -
feudalism. Yet, it had undoubtedly ruined the economic
base
of the nobility. This was followed by the series of
Burmese
invasions.
growing
The
contradict ion
oppressed
within
political
between
peasantry
the
on
chaos
caused
emerging
one hand,
by
feudalism
and
the
and
the
contradiction
the ruling class over the issue of appropriation
of
surplus on the other, had finally paved the way for colonial
intervention.
event,
Historical1y ,
this
is
a
because, colonialism was imposed on
semi-feudal
society.
This
paved the
way
very
a
for
significant
semi-tribal .
a
complex
process of social change including qualitative change in the
agrarian sector.
-
70-
Notes and R e f e r e n c e s
1.
Here
A s s a m means A s sam proper, i.e. the five
district.
o+
the
B r a h m a p u t r a Valley u n der the
colonial
rule.
These
f ive
d i s t r i c t s are,
Kamrup , D a r r a n g , N o w g o n g ,
Sibsagar
and
Lakhimpur. The district of
Goal para
h^ :
been
e xcluded as it was not a part ot the Ahom
I. iiuu
of
Assam. See for details, S . K . fahuyan, A n g f g
A s samese
R e a l a t f o s : 1771. - 1826; D M A S , Guwahati, 1949, P .1 .
2.
ibi.cJ
3.
Bee for details,
A.j. Hoff att Mills,
RgB9Cl On The
Pi2QyiQE9 of Assam, Publication Board, Assam,
Guwahati,
i984, (Second Edition).
4.
Se e
for
details,
A m a l e n d u G u h a , Med ieva 1. And
Earl y
C o f o n i a f A s sam : Society. Pgfityj. E c o n o m y , K.P.
Bagachi
& Company, Calcuta, 1991,
P.17.
5.
The I i m i t a t ;nns are well rep o r t e d in the third censir
A s sam in 1901. See for details, Report On the C e n s u s
A s s a m x 1901 j. Vol .1.
6.
We may accept the ratio b etween p o p u l a t i o n and numb e r ot
houses
as shown in Table - 2.1 as a p r oxy indicator
of
fami 1y size .
/.
See
for details, W.W. Hunter, A S t a t i s t i c a l A ccount
of
Assam, Vol . I, T r u m b e r & Co. London, 1897. Reprint 1982,
B.R. Pu b l i s h i n g Corp . Del h i , 1982.
8.
ibid, they were E u r o p e a n , Bhutia,
other Indian
migrants.
9.
ibid .
10. See for details,
11 . ibid . P . 19
12
. ibid .
Guha,
Nepali
gp_.cit_. P P . 18-19
immigrants
nt
of
and
-
71
-
13. ibici.
14 . ibid . P.21.
lb. bee
tor' details,
Monirul Hussain, The Assam Movement.
s
Ideology and Identity,
Manak
Pub I icat ions
Pvt”.Ltd. Del hi ", 1993 . p’.P~297 19 7-200 .
16 . bee , buha , Oji_.c.i t . F* .0
1 /. For details about the geographical
op_.cit^,
PP . 8-15
factor,
see,
Cuba,
18. This will be discussed in details in some other context.
19. See tor details, Guha, gg_. ci.t_. P P . 63-66
20. See tor details, ibid, P P . 65-78
21. ibid. P.69
22. W. Robinson, A fiescriEtive Account of Assam,
Sanskaran
Prakasan Delhi, Reprint 1975, Delhi P P . 317-318.
23. To quote Shihabuddin, " In this country they make the
surface of -fields and gardens so level that the eye can
not find the least elevation in it up to the extreme
horizone."
See, Gait, History of Assam* Reprint,
Third
revised edition, United Commercial Press Ltd. Calcutta,
1967, P. 145.
24. See, Guha, gp_.cit_. P.73.
25. See, W. Robinson, gg .c it_.
26. See, ibid, P P . 219-224; and W . Hunter, gp.cit.
27. Guha, gg_.ci.t_.
-
/*.:•
3b . f-or details see, bhuyan , ■op .c it . II'. / -i.
1, PPV-jn; u.. il
og.cit., PP . 24J-2bi ; buha, Qg_.cit. PH. 44-50.
. btiha , eg . 1 iI . P .,'.
JO .
bee
, bait, op .c it . I'. 14 /.
ji. . bee, t41 uy an, up .tiL . HP. Ji~J3.
j2 .
buha , ug_.cit._ P. 2J .
33.
For in stan ce,
ibb2 .
34.
bee,
35.
b ee
tor
d e ta ils,
ib id .
36.
b ee
tor
d e ta ils,
Hussain,
J i.
ibid.. PF'. 30-33
3B.
For
example,
in m id _ e ig h te e n th
century
the
marriage
dowry o f a B a r p h u k a n ' s d a u g h t e r c o m p r i s e d two e l e p h a n t s ,
ten
h o r s e s , t i v e h u n d r a d b u f f a l o e s , one t h o u s a n d
c o ws ,
one
h u nd r ad s l a v e s , t h r e e h u n d r a d
wardrobes,
eighteen
pieces
of
gold
u t e n s i l s , eighteen
pieces
ot
silver
u ten sils,
one g o l d s a d d l e and s e v e r a l s e t s o f g o l d
and
s i l v e r j e w e l l e r y , b e e , b u h a , QB..cit . F’P . 51 - 5 2 ;
54-55.
3V.
ibid..
P . 5/.
4u.
ib id .
P.53
41
For
d e t a i l e d account
Assam, bee R o b i n s o n s ,
Kamrup
b a i t , Qp -c it^,
42 . b u h a ,
up. c i t .
P . hi 3
was
P.
incorporated
to
Ahom K i ngdorn bv
155
F'P. 2 2 2- 22 3
o p .cit.
P.
3o
ot th e i n s t i t u t i o n of
slavery
opj.ci.t_. and b u h a , o p . c i t .
j 11
-7 3
43. For detailed account of the system of
see bait, QE.-ci.t_. and Bhuyan, gB_.ci.t_.
administration,
44. buha , Qp_.ci.t_. F'. 108
45. bee tor details about the rebellion, Bhuyan, op.(it.
;
Neog ,
Hankardeva And His Time .:. tariy History of
Vaisnava Faith and Movement in Assam, Lawyers book
Stal I , buwahati, 1965; and, Sgcio_Pol itical Events in
Assam Leading to the Militancy of the
Moyamoriya
Vaishnavas^ Centre For Studies in Social
Sciences,
Lai cutta ,1982) ;and Bait, op.citj.
46. It is evident from the religious policy adopted by
Pratap Singha
(1603-1641) . He ignored the increasing
popularity
of
neo_vaishnavism
and
preferred
to
patronized the Brahmans and Temples.
47. From Jayadhvaj Singha(1649-63)
to Ratnadhvaj Singha
(1679—81),
the Ahom Kings with few exceptions, showed
due respect and courtsey to the Vaishnava Gosains, and
accepted
initiation. Neo_vaishnavism received official
recognisation and the kings made grants and endowments
for maintenance of the monasteries. During that period
of time, most of the important Satras of Esatern Assam
including Auniati, Koliabar and Majuli were set up under
the royal patronage. See, Bait, gp_.cit. P P . 289-290.
48. See for details, Buha, QP^cit^.; and S.k.
IyQ2khungia
§yC§Qj.i
or
A
History
DHAS, Buwahati ,"1990 ~
.... .
49. See for details, Buha, gp_.cit_.
50. See, Bhuyan, QB^cit^ 1949.
Bhuyan ( ed .>
gf
Assam.*