Classifying Non‐European, pre‐colonial social formations: More than a quarrel over a name

Abstract

The hypothesis of free peasant production in pre‐colonial India as opposed to bonded labour in Medieval Europe as the basis of denying the existence of feudalism in Indian history is critically examined. Apart from theoretical limitations, the validity of free peasant production is found questionable in light of historical evidence on the agrarian structure of Rajasthan, India, underlining the need for more issue oriented regional studies. It is suggested that in order to overcome the Euro‐centric view of feudalism it is necessary to use non‐Europen pre‐capitalist social formations as a reference point for comparative‐historical analysis. The colonial mode of historiography has led to the marginalization of princely India in Indian historical discourse. Bringing princely India from the margin to the mainstream is necessary in order to de‐colonise the discourse on Indian history. Classifying pre‐colonial social formations is more than a quarrel over a name: it is an important prerequisite if we are to unde...