Agrarian Growth under the Western Gangas of Karnataka

Abstract

The present paper is an attempt to underline the agrarian growth in the early medieval Karnataka under the Western Gangas on the basis of the inscriptions issued by them and their feudatories. The territories under discussion suggests that the agrarian economy was based mainly on the cultivation of cereal crops like paddy, millets, corn in addition to the crops like black gram, mustard and sugarcane. Besides that, cultivation of plantation crops like plantain, beetle nut, cocoanut and sandal is also attested. A study of these inscriptions suggests that one strategy to facilitate agrarian expansion was to promote creation of irrigation facilities, mainly through promoting construction and maintenance of tanks. Besides that, pieces of land and villages were also donated to the brahmanas, various religious institutions, the warriors and the dependents of deceased warriors. For this purpose, brahmanas were invited not only from the close vicinities but also from the places as far as Ahichchhatra. These grants were in a number of cases declared ‘free of all hindrances’. But a critical study of the inscriptions suggests that such grants also did carry some financial commitments to the state. This undermines an important argument of the ‘Indian Feudalism’ model that such grants liquidated the revenue basis of the early medieval states. The study also shows that with the evolution of the state, the nature of land grants also changed. A critical study of these inscriptions also suggests that when the state was directly and indirectly encouraging agrarian expansion, it was motivated by the need to expand its revenue basis, and was not forced by any crisis, social or financial, as argued by the proponents of ‘Indian Feudalism’ model.