Agrarian Relations and Peasant in Modern Andhra: A Study of Kalahasti Zamindari

The book is a natural outgrowth of research, the author has pursued over the past one decade on agrarian interests related to land tenures, peasant movements or anti-British revolts and in general the economic history of Andhra Pradesh in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Having written sporadically on various themes of agrarian and peasant history of Andhra region his efforts were directed towards pulling some of these strands together into a coherent history of agrarian relations and peasants in Andhra Pradesh in general and in Kalahasti Zamindari, in particular with its historical account from the beginning. The book contains eight chapters. In the first chapter the establishment of British power over Kalahasti Zamindari topography, administrative divisions, population and peshcush of Kalahasti are given in order to have a clear picture of the Zamindari. The second chapter deals with the relations of Kalahasti with the Indian ruling dynasties. The third chapter gives details about the aspects of the British-Kalahasti relations. The fourth chapter is devoted to an account of the pre-British revenue system in Kalahasti. The fifth chapter deals with the system of payments to the establishment in Kalahasti and suffering of ryots under the system. The sixth chapter surveys the effects of the systems of revenue and payments in Kalahasti before the establishment of British rule. The seventh chapter deals with the permanent settlement of revenues in Andhra Pradesh in general and in Kalahasti Zamindari in particular as introduced by the British East India Company. The eighth chapter, synthesizes the conclusions arrived at from the above study with a comparison with other systems of revenue. At the end of the book references to all the chapters are given. What is presented in the book is the result of many years of work on the records of the East India Company and on contemporary literature in the Tamil Nadu Archives and Connemera Library, both in Madras.