This volume explores the process of social changes which unfolded in rural society of early medieval Bengal, especially the formation of stratified land relations and occupational groups which later got systematised as jātis. One of the first books to systematically reconstruct the early history of the region, this book presents a history of the economy, polity, law, and social order of early medieval Bengal through a comprehensive study of land and society. It traces the changing power relations among constituents of rural society and political institutions, and unravels the contradictions growing among them. The author describes the changing forms of agrarian development which were deeply associated with these overarching structures and offers an in-depth analysis of a wide range of textual sources in Sanskrit and other languages, especially contemporary inscriptions pertaining to Bengal. The volume will be an essential resource for researchers and academics interested in the history of Bengal, and the social and economic history of early South Asia.

"This volume explores the process of social changes which unfolded in rural society of early medieval Bengal, especially the formation of stratified land relations and occupational groups which later got systematised as jåatis. One of the first books to systematically reconstruct the early history of the region, this book presents a history of commerce, economy, politics, law, culture, religion, and social order of early medieval Bengal through a comprehensive study of land and society. It traces the changing power relations among constituents of rural society and political institutions, and unravels the contradictions growing among them. The author describes the changing forms of agrarian development which were deeply associated with these overarching structures and offers an in-depth analysis of a wide range of textual sources in Sanskrit and other languages as well as contemporary inscriptions pertaining to Bengal. The volume will be an essential resource for researchers and academics interested in medieval history; especially of Bengal, and the social and cultural history of early South Asia and India"--

Nowhere on earth is the relationship between man and land more complicated and seemingly as intractable as in South Asia. India alone, with some 1.37 billion people, most of whom work the land for a living, has known famine and scarcity on a scale unknown elsewhere. This has mocked humanity, threatened world peace and urged need to investigate causes and remedies. Chapters in this volume look at issues of land, tenure, and peasant from a variety of different disciplines-history, anthropology, economics, geography, political science, sociology. They furnish fresh insights on discrete localities and problems. Each is by a specialist who deals with intricate ways in which land and lord and labour have been combined and changed. Poverty and scarcity are not the same. Abolishing poverty by economic development alone, without coming to grips with conflicts, can beg the question and end in futility. Contributors emphasize the fallacy of thinking that, with just a little more money, fertilizer or know-how (often coming from an alien environment), problems of land tenure and distribution can be resolved. Socio-economic engineering, however well intentioned, is prone to end in frustration and failure, quite oblivious of how or why.

Originally published in 1999, David Ludden's book offers a comprehensive historical framework for understanding the regional diversity of agrarian South Asia. Adopting a long-term view of history, it treats South Asia not as a single civilization territory, but rather as a patchwork of agrarian regions, each with their own social, cultural and political histories. The discussion begins during the first millennium, when farming communities displaced pastoral and tribal groups, and goes on to consider the development of territoriality from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Subsequent chapters consider the emergence of agrarian capitalism in village societies under the British, and demonstrate how economic development in contemporary South Asia continues to reflect the influence of agrarian localism. As a comparative synthesis of the literature on agrarian regimes in South Asia, the book promises to be a valuable resource for students of agrarian and regional history as well as of comparative world history.

In Environment, Trade and Society in Southeast Asia: A Longue Durée Perspective, eleven historians bring their knowledge and insights to bear on the long Braudelian sweep of Southeast Asian history. In doing so they seek both to debunk simplistic assumptions about fragile traditions and transformational modernities, and to identify real repeating patterns in Southeast Asia's past: clientelistic political structures, periodic tectonic and climatic disasters, ethnic occupational specializations, long cycles of economic globalization and deglobalization. Their contributions range across many centuries: from the Austronesian expansion to the Aceh tsunami, and from the Sanskrit cosmopolis to the Asian financial crisis. The book is inspired by, and dedicated to, Peter Boomgaard, a scholar whose work has embodied the Braudelian spirit in Southeast Asian historiography. This title is available online in its entirety in Open Access.