assignment 5 feudalism

In medieval Europe, between the ninth and twelfth centuries , there was a model of government based on land ownership and administration by the lords of the nobility of the time. This system is known as feudalism . The name feudalism comes from the Latin word medieval feudum or faudo, which refers to the contract that had the lords of the land - known as feudal lords - for the dominion of the land and the servants found there.  The feudal lords had to pay tribute to their kingdoms by generating wealth for their kings or emperors . With the passing of time, the crusades, the barbarian invasions and the land deterioration, this system was diminishing, generating great peasant revolts and ending with the birth of capitalism and a new social class called the bourgeoisie.

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What is feudalism?

Feudalism is a political, social and economic system of organization that manifested itself in Western Europe from the end of the 9th to the 12th century . It placed the dominion of the royal territories and their vassals in the hands of the feudal lords to protect the monarchy's lands from invasion and to pay tribute to the kings through the wealth produced in the kingdom's lands. The origin of the feudal model comes from the Roman Empire, when the colonist-patronage regime existed, in which the members of the nobility kept their lands and their slaves in order to generate wealth and tributes for their kings. These riches came from agriculture and livestock in their feudal territories.

Characteristics of feudalism

Feudalism’s social structure, feudal culture, feudalism consequences.

Among the most representative characteristics of feudalism we can cite the following:

• The king or emperor was the highest authority.
• Society was divided into three strata. The nobles, the clergy and the servants. There was no class mobility, whoever was born a servant died a servant.
• In the feudal period in Europe, many castles and forts were built to protect the nobility from external enemy invaders from other territories.
• Wealth came from agriculture and livestock.
• There was no trade, no industry.
• The servants paid tribute in species to the nobles for the right to live on their lands or for clergy maintenance.
• Political, legal, and economic powers were administered only by feudal lords and clergy.
• Economic growth took place through wars, since by winning them, they conquered territories that could be exploited to produce more food or goods for the kingdom.
• The figure of the knight appears to serve the king and conquer territories for the Kingdom he serves. The knight is also linked to the Catholic faith and its promotion.
• The power of the Catholic Church was superior to that of the monarchy, since it came from God and therefore was unquestionable. Only the high officials of the Church could clothe the kings and with a crown.

Feudalism originated in late Antiquity with the transition from the slave mode of production to the feudal mode of production from the 3rd century onwards . This economic-social formation was strengthened with the dissolution of the Roman Empire in the 5th century and the construction of the Germanic kingdoms and the Carolingian Empire between the 8th and 9th centuries.

Feudalism in the Middle Ages

Feudalism in Europe marked the passage from the end of the Roman Empire to a new form of monarchical government based on land rule and a new era known as the Middle Ages.

Feudalism began in Western Europe as a military approach in which feudal lords dispensed justice, administered and protected their territories with armed force, but ended up with tracts of land in the name of a feudal lord, who ended up cultivating his lands and paying for protection for his feuds.

Feudalism spread to European countries such as Spain, France, England, Italy, Portugal , among others. Its heyday was between the 12th and 13th centuries .

Feudalism’s fall

The feudal system begins to decay for several reasons in which we can mention:

The bad living conditions of the inhabitants of the feuds (plagues, famines, wars) left the lands without vassals to work the field and the harvests were less and less due to land deterioration.

The crusades carried out as expeditions to Jerusalem to liberate the holy land of the Muslims left many territories without protection, and without a feudal lord to watch over their production.

The growth of the bourgeois class. This class developed the commerce and little by little it was taking economic power to remain out of reach of the feudal lords.

The presence of Muslim invasions in European territories.

The social structure of feudal society was made up of three social groups. These were: the warrior nobility, the clergy and the peasants.

The warrior nobility was integrated by the King and the great feudal lords who were part of the nobility. This group includes knights.

The clergy consisted of the high prelates (cardinals, archbishops, and abbots) and the monks and clergy.

The peasants’ group consisted of the serfs and villains, who were settlers of the fiefdoms who could work the lands and also practice other professions.

In the Medieval era, culture was dominated and administered by religious power , only the clergy developed monasteries for the study of the liberal arts (logic, grammar, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy ); it created universities in Europe and other training courses to study philosophy , literature and theology. An example of these study houses is the university of Bologna created in 1088.

The feudal culture also developed the Romanesque and Gothic architectural style that is still present in some European castles and cathedrals in countries such as France, Spain and Italy.

Feudalism originated from the Roman Empire’s fall and the barbarian invasions that generated multiple warlike conflicts for the dominion of territories originated by the Germanic, Slavic, Muslim and Viking peoples. The monarchies, in order to maintain their spaces of dominion, subdivided their lands into feuds so that, they could be protected and administered by the nobility , who had vassals and soldiers for the conservation and production of the land they occupied. This system was gradually implemented in Western Europe in the Middle Ages.

The implementation of the feudal system resulted in the King’s central power becoming weaker and weaker in the feuds because the feudal lords made their territories mini states, where the economy was independent of the kingdom and they were the kings of their lands. In this sense, the kingdoms were gradually fragmented.

The abuse of power of the feudal lords caused many revolts among the peasants who were often mistreated or sold by their masters. The Church wanted to stop the nobility’s abuse, but little by little it ended up making the same mistakes.

These two factors, added to the crusades and the barbarian invasions generated the fall of feudalism.

The feudal system was of great importance in its time for protecting many kingdoms in Europe . At the beginning, its foundations were linked to the loyalty, honor and heroism of the feudal lords to their King, and to the values of the Catholic religion , but unfortunately, these ideals were decaying with this government type. This also generated a kind of social stratification linked to military power and the possession of land that years later would be corrupted by abuse of power, invasions and crusades.

Examples of feudalism in Europe are presented below:

Feudalism in France

Feudalism settled in France in 700 A.D ., after the fall of the Roman Empire, becoming the classic form of medieval servitude.

The French feudalism strengthened the monarchy and the catholic church in the territory, developing a unitary and centralist absolutism that had to fight with many peasant revolts and invaders that came from other lands. In spite of all the social confrontations, the French territory expanded its territories to the east and managed to make alliances with other countries on a commercial level.

The feudal regime saw its end in the French revolution of 1789 .

Feudalism in Spain

Feudalism was born in Spain when the Roman Empire fell on Spanish soil. As in France, Spain was a country that possessed many kingdoms that were gradually consolidated in the nation that it is today. However, feudalism occupied its role in the Middle Ages to protect the monarchies and to strengthen the power of the church in state decisions.

The French revolution is taken as a reference of change in Spain to leave the present feudal system and give way to a new system of government focused on the capitalist system where the bourgeoisie played an important role in the economy of the country. Despite having changed the feudal system in Spain, this nation preserved its Kings and members of the monarchy as part of its cultural heritage and as heads of state.

Feudalism in Hungary

Hungary was founded in the year 1000 by its King St. Stephen I and had close trade relations with other European countries in the Middle Ages.

Hungary had a large kingdom, covering part of the territories of Croatia, Slovenia, Transylvania, and Slovakia. It also had economic stability and strong military power, making this kingdom one of the strongest in Europe at the time.

The king offered the land and could transfer it to another feudal lord, if he deemed it necessary, as a reward or punishment for his servants. Unlike other European countries such as France, England or Germany there was no lord below the king who granted the land. The king of Hungary treated the nobles as members of his family and had a very close relationship with them that allowed him to strengthen the bonds of loyalty with their nobles.

How to cite this article?

Briceño V., Gabriela. (2019). Feudalism . Recovered on 24 February, 2024, de Euston96: https://www.euston96.com/en/feudalism/

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Education Standards

Nebraska's social studies standards.

Learning Domain: History

Standard: Compare and contrast primary and secondary sources of history.

Argumentative SCORING RUBRIC

Empower learner_ feudalism, factors of change - feudalism, feudal social structure, intro activity feudal social structure, staging feudalism, what is feudalism.

This inquiry is designed to provide a basic understanding of feudalism in medieval Europe. This lesson is created for a 7th grade World History class. During this inquiry, students will examine maps, artwork, documents, videos, and text to build knowledge on feudalism and then demonstrate their understanding by applying it to our modern world.

Resource created by Lisa Bales, David City Public Schools, as part of the Nebraska ESUCC Social Studies Special Projects 2022 - Inquiry Design Model (IDM).

Inquiry Question

Would you want to live in a feudal society, supporting questions, what is feudalism, what was the social structure under european feudalism, what factors contributed to the change in social structure away from feudalism, overview and description.

Students will be asked to construct an argument in response to the compelling question “Does feudalism exist in the United States today?” Students will be guided by supporting questions to investigate what feudalism is, how it created the social structure of medieval Europe, and what factors led to its decline.  

Highlights the following Nebraska State Social Studies standard (2019):  

• SS 7.4.4 Analyze and interpret sources for perspective and historical context.
• SS 7.4.4.a Compare and contrast primary and secondary sources of history. For example: Compare eyewitness account of the Black Death with contemporary medical understandings.

This inquiry is expected to take 6-7 45-minute class periods. Suggested timeline:

Period 1 - Staging the question.

                  What is feudalism?

  Period 2 - Share summaries from lesson 1.

                  Feudal Social Structure Intro Activity

                  Meet the Members of Feudal Society

                  Homework/Formative Assessment: Label the social pyramid

Period 3 - Brief review feudal social structure

                  Fulbert of Chartes: On Feudal Obligations, 1020

                  Feudal Social Structure video

                  Homework/Formative Assessment: Visual representation.

Periods 4 & 5 - Factors of Change Stations

                  Cause and Effect chart

Periods 6 & 7 - Summative Performance Task 

Teachers are encouraged to adapt this lesson in order to meet the needs and interests of their particular students. Resources can also be modified as necessary to meet individualized education programs (IEPs) or Section 504 Plans for students with disabilities.

Staging the Compelling Question

Students will view a political cartoon that can be related to social class and mobility. In groups, complete the See-Think-Wonder activity. Hold a class discussion to share each group’s responses. Each student should complete the explanation.  See attached Staging Activity

In addition to staging the compelling question, the attached Empower Learner Activity can be used as a self-evaluation for students prior to and directly after this inquiry unit.

Supporting Question #1

The first supporting question is designed to lay the foundational knowledge about the concept of feudalism. Students will read about the historical background leading up to feudalism, including a gis map showing foreign invasions.

Formative Performance Task 1

Using the text and map, Sources A and B, students will complete a graphic organizer,  What is Feudilsm? (See attached), and summarize how the feudal system worked. 

Featured Source A:  History Crunch https://www.historycrunch.com/feudalism.html#/

Featured Source B: Medieval Europe: Invasions - arcgis.com

Supporting Question #2

Supporting question #2 helps students understand the social hierarchy of European feudalism.

• Featured Source A:  The Feudal Society in Medieval Europe
• Featured Source B: Fulbert of Chartres: On Feudal Obligations, 1020

An intro activity, Feudal Social Structure: Analyze and Sort, will engage prior knowledge while asking students to analyze art depicting various social classes of the medieval period. Then, students are asked to examine and sort 4 images of people from different social classes along a spectrum from lowest social rank to highest social rank. A brief discussion about their decisions can be held before students learn more about the social structure and determine if their rankings are correct. Intro Activity - Feudal Social Structure (see attached).

Formative Performance Task 2

Students will learn about the members of feudal society. Students will analyze an illustration of the feudal system social hierarchy.  All student materials are attached and  includes sources A & B. Feudal Social Structure (see attached). 

The next activity will be analyzing a letter regarding the job of a vassal and his loyalty to his lord. Students will use a reading strategy called chunking. Each student or group will be assigned one paragraph of the letter. They will circle unfamiliar words, look up their meanings, write synonyms for those words, underline and identify key people and places, read their passage, and then share the summary with others. Once everyone has shared, the group should answer comprehension questions about the passage.

Finally, students should watch an overview video about the feudal system and its social structure. The video is linked in the same document they have been using and can also Feudal Social Structure Video .

Formative Performance Task 3

After viewing the video, students will create a visual representation of the feudal system. Creativity is encouraged, so this does not have to look like a traditional pyramid and can be done electronically, on paper, or another format approved by the teacher. Each design must include the social class names, the rank of each compared to the other groups, and a basic description of each group’s role in society.

Supporting Question #3

The final supporting question examines why the social structure began to shift away from the feudal system. Students will examine documents, art, and an interactive exhibit from the National Archives of the United Kingdom to gain an understanding of the several factors that caused this shift.

All student materials with links to supporting documents and websites are included in that attachement. Factors of Change - Graphic Organizer (see attached).

• Featured Source A: Official Bayeux Tapestry digital representation · Eleventh century
• Featured Source B: Magna Carta exhibit and lesson , The National Archives, UK
• Featured Source C: Feudalism - WorldHistory.org
• Featured Source D: Second Statute of Labourers, 1351 , The National Archives, UK

Students will learn about the following 5 factors that contributed to the shift away from the feudal system:

• Confused Loyalties
• Magna Carta
• Peasant Revolts
• Population Decline
• Money & the Middle Class

Formative Performance Task 4

As students make their way through each factor, they may be reading text, watching videos, and/or examining art, maps, and primary source documents. Students will use what they have learned to complete a cause and effect graphic organizer, Factors of Change attachment.

Summative Performance Task

At this point in the inquiry students have examined the history, structure, and decline of the feudal system. In this summative performance task, students are asked to construct an evidence-based argument responding to the compelling question “Would you want to live in a feudal society?”

It is important to note that students’ arguments could take a variety of forms, including a detailed outline, poster, or essay.  Students should use specific claims and relevant evidence from historical sources while acknowledging competing views.

Questions to consider:

• Does a major power imbalance exist between social groups?
• Does the lower class have opportunities for social mobility?
• Are groups in the U.S. tied to their job like serfs were tied to the land?
• Does each social class give and receive from the others the way lords and vassals exchanged land for allegiance?
• What is the role of religion/church in our society compared to the role it played in medieval Europe?
• What factors exist in our society that allow or prohibit a system like feudalism?
• Consider different social groups (even cultural sub-groups like sports teams/fans) and ask yourself if they exhibit characteristics of feudalism like loyalty, imbalance of power, stability created out of their structure, etc.

Students’ arguments will vary, but may include ideas related to:

• Unfair forms of labor that may exist today which create an imbalance of power such as sweat shops, minimum wage struggles, migrant farm workers, etc.
• Widely available education and opportunity for growth.
• The income gap between the wealthiest 1% and the remaining 99%.
• The power structure of individual families/households (students may compare themselves to serfs and a parent as the King/lord).

A sample rubric for evaluating an argumentative claim is attached. See Argumentative Rubric Sample

Below are suggestions to extend student learning. The student(s) will:

• Create a matching game. The tiles should have various social classes in the feudal system (including an illustration/image) which will be matched with the likely opinion of each class based on the pros and cons of feudalism.
• Create a mock social media exchange between members of varying social classes within the feudal system.
• Create and perform a skit portraying “A Day in the Life” of a member of a feudal social class.
• Take on the role of someone living in medieval Europe and write a letter in support or opposition to the Magna Carta.
• Continue examining the documents and videos found in chapters 4-6 in the Magna Carta activity at the National Archives of the United Kingdom.

Taking Informed Action

Students desiring to take informed action relating to the ideas learned in this inquiry unit can identify a modern-day social structure similar to feudalism (i.e. sweatshops, migrant farm workers).

• Create a presentation to compare and contrast this modern structure to medieval feudalism.
• Contact a government representative to express their opinions on how to improve working conditions for the lower class.

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12.5: The Emergence of a Feudal Order in Western Europe

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• Andrew Reeves
• Middle Georgia State University via University System of Georgia via GALILEO Open Learning Materials

Out of the chaos and mayhem of the tenth and eleventh centuries, East Francia —the eastern third of Charlemagne’s Empire that is in roughly the same place as modern Germany—and England had emerged as united and powerful states. In the aftermath of the Abbasid Caliphate’s political collapse and the gradual weakening of Fatimid Egypt (see Chapter Eight), the eleventh-century Byzantine Empire was the strongest, most centralized state in the Eastern Mediterranean, and indeed, probably the strongest state west of Song China.

Most of the rest of Christian Western Europe’s kingdoms, however, were fragmented. This decentralization was most acute in West Francia , the western third of what had been Charlemagne’s empire. This kingdom would eventually come to be known as France. Out of a weak and fragmented kingdom emerged the decentralized form of government that historians often call feudalism . We call it feudalism because power rested with armed men in control of plots of agricultural land known as fiefs and Latin for fief is feudum . They would use the surplus from these fiefs to equip themselves with weapons and equipment, and they often controlled their fiefs with little oversight from the higher-ranked nobles or the king.

How had such a system emerged? Even in Carolingian times, armies in much of Western Europe had come from war bands made up of a king’s loyal retainers, who themselves would possess bands of followers. Ultimate control of a kingdom’s army had rested with the king, and the great nobles had also exercised strong authority over their own fighting men. The near constant warfare (both external attacks and civil wars) of the tenth and eleventh centuries, however, meant that the kings of West Francia gradually lost control over the more powerful nobles. Further, the powerful nobles often lost control of the warlords of more local regions. West Francia had little governmental authority and much war.

As a result of constant warfare (albeit warfare that was usually local in scope), power came to rest in control of fiefs and the ability to extract surplus from their occupants and to use this surplus to outfit armed men. The warlords who controlled fiefs often did so by means of armed fortresses called castles. At first, especially in northern parts of West Francia, these fortresses were of wood, and might sometimes be as small as a wooden palisade surrounding a fortified wooden tower. Over the eleventh and twelfth centuries, these wooden castles came to be replaced with fortifications of stone. A castle had two roles: it would protect a land from attackers (such as Viking raiders), but it would also serve as a base for the control and extortion of a land’s people.

The castle represented Europe’s feudal order in wood and stone. Corresponding to the physical structure of the castle was the figure of the knight. Knights in the eleventh century wore an armor called chain mail , that is, interlocking rings of metal that would form a coat of armor. The knight usually fought on horseback, wielding a long spear known as a lance in addition to the sword at his side. With his feet resting in stirrups, a knight could hold himself firmly in the saddle, directing the weight and power of a charging horse into the tip of his lance.

Knights and castles came to dominate West Francia and then other parts of Europe for several reasons. The technology of ironworking was improving so that iron was cheaper (although still very expensive) and more readily available, allowing for knights to wear more armor than their predecessors. Moreover, warfare of the tenth and eleventh centuries was made up of raids (both those of Vikings and of other Europeans). A raid depends on mobility, with the raiders able to kill people and seize plunder before defending soldiers can arrive. Mounted on horseback, knights were mobile enough that they could respond rapidly to raids. The castle allowed a small number of soldiers to defend territory and was also a deterrent to raiders, since it meant that quick plunder might not be possible.

A knight’s equipment—mail, lance, and horse—was incredibly expensive, as was the material and labor to construct even a wooden castle. Although knights had originally been whichever soldiers had been able to get the equipment to fight, the expense of this equipment and thus the need to control a fief to pay for it meant that knights gradually became a warrior aristocracy, with greater rights than the peasants whose labor they controlled. Indeed, often the rise of knights and castles meant that many peasants lost their freedom, becoming serfs , unfree peasants who, although not property that could be bought and sold like slaves, were nevertheless bound to their land and subordinate to those who controlled it.

The regions of West Francia controlled by powerful nobles were nearly independent of the crown. But even at the Frankish monarchy’s weakest, these nearly independent nobles were understood to hold their territories from the king and to owe allegiance to him if he called on them for military service. In this way, feudalism of the European Middle Ages resembled Western Zhou feudalism. The smaller fiefs that made up the territories of these great nobles likewise were understood to be held from these nobles; the knight who held a fief was, at least in theory, required to render military service to the lord from whom he held it. In practice, though, the kingdom of West Francia (and other regions of Western Europe where such a system held sway) had little cohesion as a state, with most functions of a state like minting money, building roads and bridges, and trying and executing criminals in the hands of the powerful nobles.

Global Context

Thus far, we have discussed feudalism in eleventh-century Western Europe, but a decentralized state dominated by a warrior aristocracy could emerge anywhere that central authority broke down. A similar system emerged in Heian Japan of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when mounted soldiers (in this case samurai rather than knights) came to occupy the social role of a warrior aristocracy (see Chapter Four). Such an arrangement would emerge at the same time in the Middle East: the Great Saljuq Empire was dominated by mounted warriors in control of iqtas , units of land whose revenues (often from taxation) would fund these warriors, who in turn held their iqtas from the sultan.

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What is Feudalism debate in Medieval Indian History, its perspective and understanding in larger discussion

2021, isara solutions

The feudalism debate once play a major role in any medieval researchers, but now it's long gone, still then it relevant for any medieval scholars to understand, as it is the essence of every aspect as it related to urbanisation, trade, land grant and so on. The notion of an 'Indian feudalism' has predominated in the recent historiography of pre-colonial India. Early medieval India has been described by historian, largely as a dark phase of Indian history characterised only by political fragmentation and culture. Such a characterisation being assigned to it, this period remained by and large a neglected one in terms of historical research. We owe it completely in new research in the recent decades to have brought to light the many important and interesting aspects of this period. Fresh studies have contributed to the removal of the notion of 'dark age' attached to this period by offering fresh perspectives. Indeed the every absence of political unity that was considered a negative attribute by earlier scholars in now seen as a factor that had made possible the emergence of rich cultures of the medieval period.

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The Book Review

TULIIP BISWAS

THIS IS MY ARTICLE CUM ASSIGNMENT ON THE DEBATE OF EARLY MEDIEVAL INDIAN FEUDALISM.

ZOYA SIDDIQUI, LADY SHRI RAM COLLEGE FOR WOMEN, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI

zoya siddiqui

The concept of feudalism comes from the European historiography. Feudalism is a kind of social and economic system which is characterized by the close relationship of the peasants with the land.Various historians have tried to implement this concept in early medieval India, which is further questioned by other historians; it has led to the feudalism debatein India. This debate is one of the richest historical debates in Indian historiography. We shall be pointing out the various approaches of different historians on this debate in North India specifically.

Siddhant Sarang

Use of the term feudalism to describe India applies a concept of medieval European origin, according to which the landed nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants were obliged to live on their lord's land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection. Feudalism is most likely introduced to India when the Kushan Dynasty from Central Asia invaded India and introduced new policies of their own. The term Indian feudalism is used to describe taluqdar, zamindar, jagirdar, ghatwals, mulraiyats, sardar, mankari, deshmukh, chaudhary and samanta. Most of these systems were abolished after the independence of India and the rest of the subcontinent. D. D. Kosambi and R. S. Sharma, together with Daniel Thorner, brought peasants into the study of Indian history for the first time. In this paper, we will try to find out how far it is correct to term Early India as Feudal.

Ramita Udayashankar

R.S. Sharma, in his response, wrote an essay entitled ‘How Feudal Was Indian Feudalism?’ (1985)

Huberttu Siby

The recent approaches to the study of early medieval Indian history and how it challenged the hypothesis of Indian Feudalism. This essay will be looking at the different approaches to the study of early medieval Indian history from the 1950s to the latest by looking at the ideas and concepts put forward by historians like D.D. Kosambi, R. S. Sharma, B. N. S. Yadava, D.C. Sircar, Harbans Mukhia, D.N. Jha, Burton Stein, B.D. Chattopadhyaya, and Irfan Habib and how it changed over time.

gian chauhan

Pavan Tiwari

Presently, varied schemes of periodization of history are prevalent in historical studies, the most common being the tripartite scheme of ancient-medieval-modern periods. In European history, ancient, medieval and modern eras have remained the dominant standard epochal frontiers since the eighteenth century. In the wake of colonial rule, this scheme was applied by the European historians and orientalists to the colonized regions in Africa and Asia, including India, for historiographical purposes. The concept of medieval period in Indian history is not without problems and limitations. First, not only there are conceptual intricacies involved in it, the whole process of periodization has been politicized. Moreover, the chronological frontiers of medieval India have become conceptual barriers, which restrict historical imagination. Secondly, the medieval period in Indian history, as in European history, is often referred to as the 'Middle Ages'. It is understood as a post-classical age denoting a radical shift from ancient or classical period. Moreover, there seems to be an inherent bias in it, as it implies decline and degeneration in medieval times as opposed to the splendor and glory of the ancient era. Thirdly, despite its common usage, there is no consensus among historians as to what constitute medieval India, though the construction of ancient and modern India is also controversial. As for the ancient India, almost all historians begin it with an account of the prehistoric times followed by the Aryan invasion and the Vedic age, but the problem arises where to bring ancient India to a close and

AKHILESH KUMAR

Indian Historical Review

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Indian Feudalism

Last updated on September 19, 2023 by ClearIAS Team

Indian feudalism does not fit into the definition of the Western system of feudalism. But till India became a republic, a form of feudalism existed in the country. Read here to know more.

The concept of “feudalism” as it is traditionally understood in European history does not have a direct equivalent in Indian history.

There were socio-economic and political structures in ancient and medieval India that exhibited certain features resembling feudalism in some respects.

These structures were diverse and varied across different regions and periods.

Table of Contents

History of Indian Feudalism

From the post-Maurya period, and especially from Gupta times, certain political and administrative developments tended to feudalize the state apparatus.

The most striking development was the practice of making land grants to the Brahmanas, a custom sanctified by the injunctions laid down in the Dharmasastras, and the Puranas.

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The early Pali texts of the pre-Maurya period refer to the villages granted to the Brahmanas by the rulers of Kosala and Magadha, but they do not mention the abandonment of any administrative rights by the donors.

The Mauryan Empire (322-185 BCE) made significant use of land grants to reward officials, military commanders, and religious institutions.

The same is the case with the earliest epigraphic record of a land grant, a Satavahana inscription of the 1st century BCE, which refers to the grant of a village as a gift in the Ashvamedha sacrifice.

Administrative rights were perhaps given up for the first time in the grants made to Buddhist monks by the Satavahana ruler Gautamiputra Satakarni in the 2nd century CE. The land granted to them could not be entered by royal troops, and ill-treated by the government.

Medieval period

The concept of feudalism gained prominence during the medieval period in India, particularly between the 7th and 12th centuries.

• The emergence of feudalism in India was influenced by the arrival of various foreign invaders and rulers, including the Huns, Kushans , and later the Islamic rulers .
• The land was often granted to military commanders and nobles in exchange for military service or loyalty to the ruling monarch. These grants were known as “jagirs” or “iqta.”
• The Delhi Sultanate (13th-16th centuries) and later the Mughal Empire (16th-19th centuries) institutionalized and expanded the system of jagirs.
• The jagirdars (feudal lords) controlled the lands, collected revenue from peasants, and provided military support to the central authority in exchange for these privileges.
• The Mughals, in particular, relied heavily on the zamindari and jagirdari systems to collect revenue and maintain control over vast territories.

India’s vastness and diversity led to variations in feudal structures across different regions. For example, in the Deccan region, the system of Deshmukhs and Deshpandes evolved as local intermediaries between peasants and rulers.

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• In the Rajput kingdoms of Rajasthan, the feudal system was based on land grants to nobility, often known as Thakurs or Rajputs.

Feudalism in India began to decline with the arrival of British colonial rule in the 18th century.

• The British introduced the Permanent Settlement and the Ryotwari systems , which changed landownership and revenue collection methods.
• The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was, in part, a response to the discontent among feudal lords and landholders who saw their privileges eroding under British rule.

After gaining independence in 1947, India implemented land reforms in many states to abolish feudal landholdings and redistribute land to the landless peasants.

Land reforms aimed to address social inequalities, reduce concentration of landownership, and improve agricultural productivity.

Features of Indian feudalism

Landownership and Revenue Collection:

• In various parts of India, especially during the medieval period, powerful landlords, often called “zamindars” or “jagirdars,” held control over vast tracts of land.
• These landholders collected revenue from peasants who worked on their land. The revenue collection system was similar in some ways to the feudal lord-serf relationship in Europe.

Hierarchy and Local Autonomy:

• The zamindars and local rulers had significant autonomy in their respective regions. They often had their militias and exercised both political and economic control over their territories.
• There was a hierarchical structure with powerful regional rulers who owed allegiance, in varying degrees, to higher authorities such as kings or emperors.

Service in Exchange for Land:

• In some cases, rulers rewarded their nobles and officials with grants of land (jagirs) in exchange for military service, which is somewhat akin to the European feudal practice of granting fiefs (land) in return for loyalty and military support.

Fragmented Political Landscape:

• India’s political landscape was often fragmented, with numerous small kingdoms, principalities, and local rulers. This decentralization allowed for local power centers to emerge and exercise control over specific regions.

Dynastic Succession:

• Many regions in India had hereditary rulers, and power was often passed down through family lines. This is similar to the idea of hereditary nobility in European feudalism.

Agrarian Economy:

• Agriculture was the backbone of the Indian economy, and the control of land was central to the power and wealth of the ruling classes.

Caste System and Social Hierarchy:

• The caste system played a significant role in Indian society, and it had some parallels to the social hierarchy seen in feudal Europe.
• Different castes had specific roles and responsibilities, and there was limited social mobility.
• The caste system coexisted with feudalism, and both systems often reinforced each other. Feudal lords and their intermediaries belonged to high castes, while lower-caste individuals often held subordinate positions in the feudal structure.

Impact of feudalism on Indian society

Feudalism, as a socio-economic and political system, had a significant impact on Indian society during various periods of its history. The extent and nature of this impact varied across regions and periods.

• Feudalism resulted in economic exploitation, with the feudal lords extracting surplus agricultural produce from the peasants in the form of rent or taxes. This exploitation often led to the impoverishment of the peasantry.
• Feudalism played a role in the patronage of art and culture. Feudal lords often supported the construction of temples, forts, palaces, and other architectural marvels. This led to the development of regional architectural styles and cultural traditions.
• Feudal lords enjoyed significant political power and autonomy within their domains. They often maintained their armies and had authority over local administration, justice, and law enforcement.
• Feudalism contributed to the fragmentation of political power in India, with numerous regional kingdoms and principalities ruled by local feudal lords. This led to a lack of centralized authority in many regions.
• The exploitation and oppression associated with feudalism often gave rise to resistance movements among the peasantry and lower classes. These movements sought to challenge the authority of feudal lords and the oppressive systems they upheld.

While feudalism as a formal system largely declined in independent India due to land reforms, remnants of feudal structures and practices can still be found in some parts of the country, particularly in the influence of local elites and landlords.

The historical legacy of feudalism in India continues to influence landownership patterns, social hierarchies, and economic disparities in various regions.

Read: Popular uprisings and movements

Difference between Indian and European feudalism

Indian feudalism was closely intertwined with the caste system, while European feudalism had a more rigid hierarchy based on land ownership and vassalage. Additionally, the decline and transformation of these systems occurred at different times and under different circumstances.

The Indian subcontinent is vast and diverse, and the nature of governance and socio-economic structures varied considerably from one region to another and across different periods.

The term “feudalism” is a Western construct used to describe specific socio-economic and political arrangements in medieval Europe, and applying it directly to the Indian context can be overly simplistic.

The systems in India were shaped by a complex interplay of historical, cultural, and regional factors.

-Article by Swathi Satish

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‘Sack the Sacklers’: Students Urge Harvard to Remove Sackler Name for a Class Assignment

Nine Harvard students protested Harvard’s display of Arthur M. Sackler’s name on buildings and the University’s ties to the infamous Sackler family, the former owners of Purdue Pharma, at the Harvard Art Museums for a final class assignment on Saturday.

The students handed out pamphlets to visitors to the Arthur M. Sackler Museum that detailed information on Sackler — who donated $10.7 million to the University in 1985 — and listed the names of victims of the opioid epidemic.

The students also delivered a speech in the museum’s foyer where they demanded “transparency and a commitment to ethical practices” from the University and urged Harvard to “sack the Sacklers.” Their speech was met with applause from onlookers at the museum.

The demonstration was sparked by a final project that Jason B. Silverstein, Harvard Medical School lecturer on Global Health and Social Medicine, assigned for his course, Anthropology 2796: “The Opioid Epidemic in the United States: From Abandonment to Accompaniment.”

For the course, which discusses the Sackler family’s role in the opioid crisis, Silverstein said he asked students “to go out” and “to do a creative project that would care for the memories of people who have died.”

Four students from Silverstein’s class opted to organize the demonstration for the assignment alongside five of their friends.

In an interview with The Crimson, one of the four students, Abhi S. Patel ’25, said that his and his group members’ “philosophy is that the best way to care for the memory of the dead is to seek justice.”

Though Silverstein declined to comment on the demonstration itself, he said the students’ arguments were “very compelling” and “quite correct.”

“What they’re asking us to consider is whether we ought to ever accept donations from, not just the Sackler family, but any pharmaceutical company,” Silverstein said. “They’re asking us to consider whether or not we ought to accept donations from any company that is profiting off of the pain of others.”

The demonstration comes nearly a year after students and activists organized a die-in at the Museums for a similar cause.

Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton said that “the university has established a process for considering de-naming spaces, programs, or other entities,” and adding that a denaming proposal for both the Arthur M. Sackler Museum and the Arthur M. Sackler Building is currently being reviewed by administrators.

The Sackler family owned Purdue Pharma, the pharmaceutical company that developed and marketed the painkiller OxyContin, though Arthur Sackler died before the drug was released.

After Purdue filed for bankruptcy in 2019 while facing thousands of lawsuits, the Sackler family settlement in 2023 required the family to pay $6 billion to combat opioid addiction while also shielding them from personal civil liability related to the lawsuits.

The agreement was blocked by the Supreme Court in Dec. 2023.

“In the opioid epidemic, the Scarface or the Walter White is the Sackler family — except now the Sackler family faces zero threat of criminal prosecution and were able to funnel away billions of dollars,” Silverstein said.

In addition to calling the University’s continuous display of the Sackler name “outrageous,” Patel said he and his group members would like to see the University stop “accepting money from Big Pharma.”

After cutting ties with pharmaceutical companies, Patel said, the University should “then remove the Sackler name in order to honor the memory of those that have died in the opioid epidemic.”

After seeing his students’ projects, Silverstein called their work “incredibly moving” and “powerful.”

“This idea of caring for memories of the dead, I sadly don’t think is something I’ve really seen in many courses. It would be nice to see it in more,” Silverstein said.

—Staff writer Neeraja S. Kumar can be reached at [email protected] .

—Staff writer Annabel M. Yu can be reached at [email protected] . Follow her on X @annabelmyu .

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