parcelized sovereignty...
As against the concept of feudalism as a system of
The power of the exploiting class, the bourgeoisie, over the exploited class is
then exercised indirectly, through the government, the school of Marxist historians
has equated
the feudal phenomenon with a mode of production based
state apparatus and subject to the rule of (bourgeois) law, on 'feudal rent' which
subsumes the existence of a class of and not arbitrarily and directly as in FMP We
present below a list of
a) D.N. Jha, in his The Feudal Order: State, Society and Ideology in Early Medieval
India, Manohar, New Delhi, 2000,
p. 36, argues:
components or properties of the feudal mode of production which gives us some
flavour of what the concept of feudalism
The word 'feudal' or 'feudalism', often traced to the leos
entails. As against the concept of feudalism as a system of
The power of the exploiting class, the bourgeoisie, over government, the school of
Marxist historians has equated the exploited class is then exercised indirectly,
through the the feudal phenomenon with a mode of production based state apparatus
and subject to the rule of (bourgeois) law, on 'feudal rent' which subsumes the
existence of a class of and not arbitrarily and directly as in FMP (feudal mode of
landlords (landed intermediaries), a basic class of producers
production].
(peasants) with a special connection with the land which,
iv) [Link] firiont l'euhcictone'l ernnomy of the village (or the however, remains
the property of the former, and of the
being secondary for the
2 of 2
overwhelmingly self-sufficient agrarian economy with little
ndition that he produces scope for the functioning of a market system. Some
historians have thus viewed feudalism as an
li) Extra-economic coercion in the extraction of the surplus agglomeration of
institutions connected with the support and from the direct producer, as against
economic coercion as service of knights and as a system of law, government and
the basis of exploitation in CMP.
of military organization, whose central feature would appear
III) In India these aspects of feudalism have attracted
production in CMP where (a)-production is primarily of the attention of historians
like D.D. Kosambi, R.S. Sharma and commodities, i.e. to be sold for the value to be
realized on
B.N.S. Yadava who, however, have not remained uninfluenced
the market and (b)-labour power itself is a commodity.
Indian historians have sometimes been influenced by this concept of feudalism and
production and a localized structure of power, as against they have often used
feudal terms to describe a situation of
separation of economic (class) power and political (state) power within the
framework of a bourgeois state in CMP.
in a double sense (a) in that it has of the word 'feudal' or 'feudalism'-a
bifurcation which has been separated from (or 'freed') from possession of means
persisted to this day and has influenced historical writings of production (land)
and (b) that it is free from feudal and to which attention has been pointedly drawn
by David obligations to serve a lord; the direct producer is now free
Herlihy (The History of Feudalism, New York, 1970, pp. xii-
to sell his labour power or starve.
xxi). In India these aspects of feudalism have attracted production in CMP where
(a)-production is primarily of the attention of historians like D.D. Kosambi, R.S.
Sharma and commodities, i.e. to be sold for the value to be realized on
B.N.S. Yadava who, however, have not remained uninfluenced
the market and (b)-labour power itself is a commodity.
They forget, or do not know, that
'eudalism' is an economic concept and that, when we talk about feudal relations, we
usually mean relations, whether
Source: Alavi, Hamza, 'India: Transition to Colonial Capitalism', in Alavi, Hamza,
et-al., Capitalism and Colonial Production, Croom Helm, London, 1982, p. 29.
social or economic, based on a number of economic criteria. This kind
[18:56, 29/09/2023] Ibraheem Amin: separation or economic class power and political
state parcelized sovereignty....
power within the framework of a bourgeois state in CMP.
(peasants) with a special connection with the land which,
iv) Self-sufficient ('subsistence') economy of the village (or the however, remains
the property of the former, and of the
manor), commodity production being secondary for the overwhelmingly self-sufficient
agrarian economy with little direct producer; subject to the condition that he
produces scope for the functioning of a market system. Simple reproduction where
the surplus is largely consumed of 'feudalism from above' as being the first stage
in the
by the exploiting class which acquires it, instead of being development of
feudalism in India--a stage which corresponds accumulated, so that the economy and
society merely to the orthodox view of the phenomenon as a system of reproduce
themselves on the existing level of productive government. There has been
continuous debate about what
Two other explanations of feudalism are also given below:
exactly feudalism entails.
What is feudalism?
not without supporting rising consumption levels of the exploiting classes) and
consequent expansion of the forces of production and technological advance.
[feudal mode of landlords (landed intermediaries), a basic class of producers
production].
Sharma and Yadava emphasize serfdom and resources and technology, whereas in CMP
we have immobility, subjection, economic bondage and unfreedom expanded
reproduction of capital, where the surplus is of the peasantry, and yet both devote
considerable space to primarily deployed towards capital accumulation (though
feudalism as a system of government.
Sharma and Yadava emphasize serfdom and resources and technology, whereas in CMP
we have immobility, subjection, economic bondage and unfreedom expanded
reproduction of capital, where the surplus is of the peasantry, and yet both devote
considerable space to primarily deployed towards capital accumulation (though
feudalism as a system of government.
Hamza Alavi has explained the five criteria into a general use during the
Enlightenment and the French that constitute feudalism as follows:
Revolution when it stood for what appeared to be a body
I) Simple reproduction where the surplus is largely consumed of 'feudalism from
above' as being the first stage in the by the exploiting class which acquires it,
instead of being development of feudalism in India- a stage which corresponds
accumulated, so that the economy and society merely to the orthodox view of the
phenomenon as a system of reproduce themselves on the existing level of productive
government. The study of by the exploiting class of feudalism within this frame of
reference focuses attention on
wich a signiticant proportion may enter into circulation as commodities. Scanned
with CamScanner
BOX 2.2 (Continued)
Scanned with CamScanner
BOX 2.2 (Continued)