A History of Agriculture in India v2.c74.s9.4

v2.c74.s9.4

The peasant of Mughal times enjoyed a right which in British India was conferred on some sections of the peasants in some provinces only by special tenancy legislation, viz. the permanent and hereditary right of occupancy. In certain circumstances this right could be considered proprietary in nature. But a proprietor must be a free agent and he must possess the right of free alienation. Since the peasant could not legally abandon his land, he was really a near-serf. If, therefore, the king was not the owner of the soil, neither was the peasant. This means in other words that in *raiyati* areas, at least, a single owner cannot be located. There were different rights over the land and its produce, and not one exclusive right of property.