ABSTRACT
On account of the climatic, geographic, geological and ecological diversity of the Asian subcontinent, it makes little sense, and it is virtually impossible anyway, to look at South Asia as a single agricultural area. Thus, general findings related to agriculture possess only limited value in the analysis of the region; this is all the more poignant when regional, or even local, conditions are extrapolated to give subcontinental dimensions. Such was the grave deficit of the early British, and later Indian, historiographical undertakings on South Asia.1 Since then, new insights have developed. The weight of these new investigations has been borne in research into the peasant-landlord relationship,2 commercialisation, capitalisation and control of agricultural structures3
as well as economic and social structures.4 Meanwhile, the resistance of peasants against the British colonial regime and independent India has also received significant attention in a number of books.5 Finally, the weight of research has shifted to highlight the environmental and ecological consequences of the colonial and post-colonial agricultural economy.6
