ABSTRACT
The fallacy of a homogeneous peasantry distorted the 1885 Tenancy Act, and allowed it to ignore the poor. Similar generalisations have affected subsequent interpretations of agrarian structure. In Bihar, categories of advantaged families already existed—a mixed bunch of landlords, petty maliks, rich tenants, ashraf and high-castes, service elites, moneylenders and skilled agriculturists. The Tenancy Act, the record of rights and commercial production helped change the balance of advantage among these families and between them and the rest of the population, especially by favouring the direct management of cultivation on zerat or secure tenancies. The Act and the survey also demonstrated the importance of articulating 'rights', or properties (in several senses), by appeals to external arbiters, the officials and the courts. They generalised a need formerly experienced by fewer, isolated agents and allies of the state, and helped consolidate disparate local groups into competing political interests. Such broad classes are necessary to modern politics and national identities. This last chapter reflects on such issues.
