Peasant & The State (A Study of 18th Century Rajputana)

It is a facinating, meticulously documented study of the peasant vis-a-vis the state of Hadouti of eighteenth century, primarily based on archival records preserved at Rajasthan state Archives, Bikaner and its district repositories stationed at Kota and Bundi. The author unveils, for the first time, the growth of agrarian economy in this part of Rajputana in the back-ground of a turbulant century making or marring the state structure.

The work undertakes, at length, the related and nearly linked aspects of the stratification of village community with its ramifications, on the form of production, the relationship between demand and actual realization, the movement of prices and revenue rates, distribution of revenue among different constituents of the rural society between ‘haves’ and ‘have not’s particularly during the second- half of the eighteenth century, with the state contributiong to its own share of masterly inactivity which in turn recoiled upon it with all vengeance.

The authour, politely, refutes the theory repeated umpteen times that the theory repeated umpteen times that the system in Rajputana was, more or less, a proto-type of the Mughal system.

With highly informative tables, extensive bibliographical references the book holds out enduring appeal to both scholars and discerning readers.