Agrarian Structure

The Model of Agrarian Classes in

India
Agrarian Structure: Network of relations among the
various groups of persons who draw their livelihood
from the soil
In what form income from the soil is obtained
Rent/ Fruit of cultivation/ Payment for labour
What type of rights in the soil are enjoyed,
and how much land is held under these rights
To what extent the individual actually
performs the required fieldwork, or whether
others are hired to do it for him
Common pattern -
There are three
principal groups
By malik we will refer to a
family whose agricultural
income is derived primarily
from property right on soil
Kisan are those villagers
who live primarily by their
own toil on their own lands
Mazdur comprises those
villagers who gain their
livelihood primarily from
working on other peoples
land
1. Proprietors or
Malik
2. Working
peasants or
Kisan
3. Labourers or
Mazdur







The Model of
Agrarian Classes in
India
a) Big landlords, hold rights over
large tracts extending over
several villages; they are
absentee owners rentiers with
absolutely no interest in land
management or improvement
b) Rich landowners, proprietors
with considerable holdings but
usually in the same village and
although performing no
fieldwork, supervising
cultivation and taking personal
interest in the management and
also in the improvement of land
if necessary
1)MALIKS
Common
interests is to
keep level of
rents up while
keeping the
wage-level down.
They collect rent
from tenants,
sub-tenants and
share-croppers
The Model of
Agrarian Classes in
India
a) Small landowners , having
holdings sufficient to support
a family, who cultivate land
with family labour and who
do not either employ
outsider labour (except in
harvest) or receive rent.
b) Substantial tenants,
tenants holding leases under
either 1 a) or 1 b); tenurial
rights fairly secure; size of
the holding usually above the
sufficiency level. The rest is
as 2 a).



2) KISANS,
working
peasants having
property interest
in the land but
actual rights,
whether legal or
customary,
inferior to those
of maliks
The Model of
Agrarian Classes in
India
a) Poor tenants, having
tenancy rights but less
secure; holdings too small to
suffice for a familys
maintenance and income
derived from land often less
than that earned by wage
labour
b) Sharecroppers, either
tenets-at-will, leases without
security; cultivating land for
others on share-cropper
basis, having at least
agricultural implements
c) Landless labourers .
3)MAZDOOR-
S, those
earning their
livelihood
primarily from
working on
others lands
Agrarian Classes in India
MALIKS Big landlords
Rich landowners

KISANS Small landowners
Substantial tenants

MAZDOORS Poor tenants
Sharecroppers
Landless labourers
**