Political Organisation and Agrarian Organisation

An agrarian settlement or agricultural society’s economics is based on maintaining and sustaining agricultural land and crops. Another way of defining an agricultural society is by knowing the proportion of a country’s total production that comes from farming. In agrarian societies cultivation of agriculture is the main reason for the wealth. An agrarian society may recognise other sources of income and work practices but emphasises the importance of farming and agriculture. Agricultural societies were present across the globe as early as at least 10,000 years and remain in existence today. They’ve been the most widespread type of socio-economic structure throughout the recorded history of humanity.

Agrarian History and Agrarian Settlements

Hunter-gatherers and the horticultural societies preceded agrarian settlements before transforming into the industry. The shift to agriculture, referred to as “the Neolithic Revolution, occurred independently several times. Horticulture and agriculture as distinct types of subsistence evolved among humans sometime between 10,000 to 8,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent region of the Middle East. The motives behind the growth of agriculture are debatable, but it could be due to climate change and the accumulation of surplus food for competition gift-giving. There was likely a gradual change from hunter-gatherer economies to agricultural over a long period. Certain crops were intentionally planted, and other food items were collected in the wilderness. Alongside the development of agriculture during the Fertile Crescent and the emergence of agriculture by at least 6,800 B.C.E., East Asia and later it was also found in Central and South America. Agriculture on a small scale could also have originated independently in the early Neolithic environments throughout India (rice) and Southeast Asia (taro). But, complete dependence on domestic livestock and crops, even though wild resources were an insignificant nutritional component of diets, was not realised before the Bronze Age.

Brahmadeyas

Brahmadeya was the name given to land in one area or in whole villages given to Brahmanas to make them landowners or land controllers. It was also distributed in many Brahmana or to numerous Brahmana families that are believed to range from a few hundred to hundreds, or more than a few thousand, particularly in South India. The land gifts were generally based around irrigation infrastructures like lakes or tanks and were thought to be functional enough to satisfy the requirements of the doers. Without facilities, the new irrigation methods were developed close to the brahmadeyas. The feudatories and the Kings had to forfeit their power over the land they had donated and could not claim it back without an heir. In the absence of an heir, brahmadeyas were transferred to an eligible person from this class. However, most of the time, the land was given away, and other items such as food paddy, grains, money, gold cattle, oxen, ploughshare, etc., were also distributed as gifts.

Brahmadeyas made the land fertile and helped integrate the current village settlement into a fresh order of economics that the Brahmanas owner dominated. They were exempted from various taxes on land and dues entirely or in part, as they were in the first stages of settlement. The taxes from donated villages were remitted to the Brahmana. Brahamdeyas also aided the ruling families, as they were able to gain ideological support to exercise their political influence. It is believed to be the essential feature of Indian feudalism.

Dharmashastras

Dharmashastra can be described as a genre that consists of Sanskrit texts that deal with the law and conduct. It is a reference to texts ( sastras) on the dharma. Various Dharmashastras, widely believed to range from around 100 to 18, have different and contradicting views. The texts are available in various versions. They all have their roots in Dharmasutra texts dating to the 1st millennium B.C.E. which emerged from the Kalpa (Vedanga) studies in the Vedic period. The Dharmashastras are based upon older Dharmasutra texts derived from the Vedas’ literary tradition (Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva), written from the 2nd millennium B.C.E. up to the early centuries in the first millennium B.C.E. The Vedic branches were split into different schools ( shakhas) probably due to geographic location, specialisation, and conflicts. Each Veda is split into two classes: the Samhita, an assortment of mantra verses and the Brahmanas, which are prose works that provide the meaning behind these Samhita verses. The Brahmana layer was expanded, and some of the more modern esoteric and speculative texts were known as Aranyakas. The philosophical and mystical sections were renamed the Upanishads. The Vedic Foundation of Dharma literature can be found inside the Brahmana layer of the Vedas.

Conclusion

The Dharmashastras are written in the sutra-like style and were an integral part of the enormous collection of texts known as the Kalpa Sutras, which provide an aphoristic description of ceremonies, rituals and practices. The Kalpa Sutras comprise three parts: the Srauta Sutras devoted to Vedic ceremonies, Grhya Sutras, which deal with rituals of passage and domestic issues, and Dharmasutras. Which also addresses appropriate procedures to follow in your life. Agrarian settlements are typically referred to as an ideology of social justice that regards an agrarian culture as superior to industrial societies and emphasises the advantages of a simple rural lifestyle and the simplicity and chaos of urbanised, industrialised living.